Red was trembling on his knees, hands raised towards the heavens as he wailed in agony over the sin that he had committed. Cracks formed across his avatar as the stability of his being was wracked with the guilt of what he had done in the name of doing something good. Lotus was saying something, but he could not hear her as his mind raced a mile a minute trying to understand this agony.
It had all started when he had heard the brothers in the garden, speaking about how they were planning on killing the woman of their party. The hate they had in their eyes filled Red with the fear of what they would do to her before they finished their dark dealings. He had told his dungeon to go full force against them, bring down those three as invaders so the other two could survive as friends. What a loathsome and pathetic thing he was, commanding his friends to kill and betray their natures.
He had forced the honorable and passionate Snips to attack in ambush against Twe, instead of the boisterous sword fight he wanted with Velua. Then kind, sweet, intelligent Arabella was reduced to a deceitful trickster all so that he could get poison into Twe’s system. Some niggling part of his mind tried to reason out that the holy slime on the steps could have healed him, or at least he died without pain thanks to the paralytic. It was all the words of a coward trying to make himself feel less guilty.
The eldest and youngest of the trio had died not by his direct hand, but by the actions he insisted that others took for him. He could lie to himself, and make himself believe that he was not the one doing it so there was no blood on his hands. Only by taking up the hammer to save Velua’s life did he realize it was all honeyed words to soothe his ego. It was not any of his minions or monsters that killed the three brothers MeltBlaze, it was all his actions. That thought sent another splintering crack through his avatar as he cried and begged for mercy or retribution. He wasn’t sure which he deserved by this point.
The notification fell on blind eyes as it appeared before him, some semblance of the decision being made by his system. It was giving him an out, a way to heal from this pain and grow from it.
Dungeon Core Stability at 30%. Forced Shutdown for emergency maintenance activated.
Red’s cracking form shattered, fractalizing into motes of mana as Lotus’ hand passed through what had previously been his leg. His mind was still in pain as he fell into the deepest sleep that he had experienced as a core. It was not the same as the blackness that came with his second room, or even the soft grey of pretending to sleep at night while all his creatures rested. This was a sleep of dreams.
====
Red sighed as he ran his fingers through his beard, looking down at a cup of coffee that ***** had made for him. It was getting close to the end of the month and he was certain that it was going to be another start of the month where all their food was coming out of the back of the restaurant. It didn’t exactly help his margins to feed them with what he was supposed to be selling, but it was better than starving. He never wanted to see ***** or ***** ever go hungry. He brought the milk, sugar, and cream-filled cup to his lips, drinking a hearty amount before reaching up and trying to make sure that there were no dripping remnants in his curly red beard. It was delicious, only she could make it like this for him. No coffee shop could make it like she did.
He set it down, gazing at two tanned, hairy arms that were more at home in a construction yard than behind the counter of a restaurant. There was always seeing if he couldn’t get a night job, or at least do some odds and ends for the sake of getting more cash in his pocket. ******’s birthday next month, and there was no way he was going to be empty-handed again.
Red pulled himself from the thoughts as he heard the bell, excitement in his chest as he hoped that it finally meant that he was going to be making some money today. While his face kept a smile, his heart fell as he saw the familiar figure pull herself up to the counter. She was a small, frail old thing with papery skin that was so aged some wrinkles hung off her face in permanent marks. Hair was stringy silver that hung around her face, except beyond the hood where it was a matted bird’s nest that had not seen brush nor comb in years.
“Hey there, Diana. Is it Tuesday already?” He asked with a chuckle as he looked at the woman, her head nodding slowly as if the mere action of doing so was as taxing as the walk to the store. He turned away from her and set to work on the grill, beginning to make a soft juicy burger that wouldn’t be too hard for the old woman to chew. While it cooked, he grabbed a bowl of salad made that morning and poured some into a smaller bowl for her to eat from. His kitchen was an extension of himself, and while it was small so that he could run the entire store from barely a few steps from the counter; it was perfect.
After a short period, the old woman had in front of her a bowl of salad, a classic burger on a brioche bun, soft potato wedges, and a tall glass of fresh orange juice. Fresh from the carton, as much as Red would love to serve fresh oranges he didn’t have the time or money for it. He kept it chilled however so at least his customers wouldn’t have a complaint about that. To be fair, the only thing people ever complained about on Tuesdays was Dianna since her ratty appearance and foul-smelling black shawls were not appreciated in a restaurant setting. The woman looked like everything wrong that could have happened in her life did, and that was why Red fed her. Just so she would know that there were still good things in the world.
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“Thank you…” Whispered the trembling voice of the crone before she reached for the glass of juice and took a sip, light returning to her eyes as she felt refreshed and renewed beyond just the empty nature of being a wastrel.
“Now before you dig in, you know the rules. Payment before eating.” Red said with a playful smile, knowing that she would want to leave to nap after such a hearty meal. He didn’t ask for the money that the old woman didn’t have, but instead just simply shared some wisdom. The older someone was, the wiser they should be. No one had ever looked as old to him as Diana did.
She looked at him and set down the potato wedge she was about to eat, her hands gently putting it down like it would vanish if she mistreated the spud. She took a deep breath and wondered for a moment as she picked out what grain of wisdom to share from that long-trodden beach within her mind.
“I once knew a man who lived a life of regret, because he had not reached his ideal height yet. I once knew a bird that looked sadly at a pond, for the idea of swimming did seem so fond. I once knew a fish that wished to dig into the earth, and find metals and jewels to know their worth. I once knew a beetle happily living on a tree, because he was everything he wanted to be. Four lives lived and three in regret, because they insisted the impossible would happen yet. Only the beetle lived a life of worth, because it understood and accepted the constraints of its birth.” She said in an almost lilting tone, as she tried to make the rhyme almost a tune for him.
“Do what you can and ignore what you can’t,” Red said with a grin, knowing he was showing off a missing tooth on his right side. Only a few customers ever saw his real smile, but Diana was always one of his favorites. He lifted his coffee cup in a mock toast and drank deeply while the old woman stuffed her face.
===
Red’s core lit up after hours of being dormant, the ruined church that had been his core room began to have the life breathed back into it. In the time between consciousness, the room had reset, Molin and Dle’s bodies were gone. The mushrooms that Lotus had summoned with her power had faded into nothing as the room was once again a rotting hole.
Red’s avatar appeared in low mana mode, even though he should have had full strength from the guests. While he wasn’t aware of it, this was his system’s way of making sure that he was alright. Like a computer system it was starting files systematically to ensure no traces of a virus remained.
He blinked as he looked towards where he left, his head and hands having appeared in front of his core. At first, he simply saw the dungeon, then he saw two glowing forms. One was curled on the ground, arm regrown and clothing mended. It glowed a deep crimson with ribbons of purple running through it like foam on waves. The other figure was standing, glowing a deep earthy brown with flecks of grey, like stones in rich soil.
“System. What happened?” He asked seriously as he averted his eyes from the two glowing figures that could only be Velua and Lotus.
Status Report:
After witnessing [Guest] Dleender MeltBlaze murder [Guest] Molin Avalair SterlingTrumpet the core experienced great amounts of stress. That stress compounded when all slime units in the area were dispatched.
[Guest] Dleender MeltBlaze then proceeded to use a dark magic artifact to pull all mana in the room into itself. This caused a destabilization of the core due to abrupt mana loss.
After remanifestation, Core Red chose to dispatch the threat with the [Dungeon Usable] tagged item. This caused extreme mental distress and a cascading destabilization that resulted in emergency safety measures being activated.
All processes except for several essential programs were paused while the core healed. This included pausing the flow of time within the dungeon to prevent mana loss from temporal factors.
Time Elapsed: 18 hrs 37 mins
Essential Processes:
Item Absorption: All items non-dungeon were absorbed for greater mana reserves to heal the core.
Minion Restoration: All minions could regenerate to full health/respawn during the elapsed time to better protect the core.
Monster Restoration: All monsters could regenerate to full health/respawn during the elapsed time to better protect the core.
Critter Restoration: All critters could regenerate to full health/respawn during the elapsed time to better protect the core.
Exterior Minions: Minions outside of the dungeon space were not paused to stand guard over the dungeon entrance.
Affliction Nullification: One or more dungeon individuals were using an affiliation nullification passive skill. This was allowed to persist.
“Fuck. I was asleep for almost a day. That dream was like five minutes.” He muttered before realizing the shock of what he had dreamt. He was in his old body, human again, and he remembered that he had a restaurant. It left an odd feeling in his chest, making him wonder what else he could have forgotten. A new notification pulled him from the memories of his life and the dream.
Dungeon Reactivating. The flow of time is restored. Please wait and observe until all individuals are moving and conscious.