The Admin watched the kobolds of Floor 16 wave good-bye to Via and Nikki. The catgirls waved back, promising to bring macaroni and cheese next cycle. Their pacifist run was going surprisingly well; only the mimic maze had given them trouble.

The next floor was the dinosaur floor. He couldn’t wait to see what they did there.

There was a beep as someone requested to enter his space. Jumping slightly, he hit record, minimized the window and sent an invite.

Admin 5 appeared. She gave a small wave, eyes going to his screens. “You said you have the hive mind code ready?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said, pulling up his email. “It’s not perfect, and I have a lot of notes on what not to do, but you should figure it out.”

“Ok, thanks,” she said, pulling a thumb drive out of her inventory. “Here’s the three-cycle routine code, and the music player code.”

“Nice, thanks,” he said, taking it.

“I like sitting in my park listening to pop music,” she said, smiling. “I imagine you’re gonna take boss music to your predator-filled maze?”

He laughed. “Being chased by dinosaurs is always more fun with Hall of the Mountain King playing in the background.”

Admin 5 shrugged slightly. “I don’t know that song.”

Admin 6 hesitated. The kobolds on Floor 97 had played it so many times he’d presumed everyone in the universe knew the song. It was their default song, one he’d caught himself humming from time to time. The Floor 8 goblins played it on drums, and the Floor 42 mosquitoes had figured out how to buzz different notes using that very song.

He glanced away, just in time to see the marker on his minimized screen go from Floor 16 to Floor 17. The catgirls were about to forcibly befriend dinosaurs.

“It’s just a random song,” he said. “I’ll have to send it to you.”

“Cool,” she said, noticing the change as well. “How are your players doing?”

“Pretty good. They’ve learned the ropes, so having things change each cycle should stop things from getting boring. Yours?”

She motioned to the window marker, smiling. “Let me see. Some just got to a new floor, I want to see their strategy.”

Admin 6 panicked. He picked up his iced coffee and took a sip to hide the worried look on his face as he maximized the window.

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The spinosaurus was running away in terror as a silver-haired catgirl chased him, holding arms wide.

“The velociraptors!” Nikki shouted at her, pulling a tray piled high with meatballs out of her inventory. “That one’s too big! Catch a velociraptor!”

“Ok!” Via changed direction, streaking towards the velociraptor flock.

The spinosaurus kept running away.

The velociraptor flock turned to Via, prepared to attack. One recognized her, and fled. Two jumped to attack, but Via caught them in a hug. Happily snuggling them as they kicked and bit, she took them to Nikki.

“How many are there?” Nikki asked, setting down the meatball tray.

Via set her raptors down, pinning them lightly but firmly in place. “Four. Should I get the other two?”

“Mmmmmnah, we’ll start with these two. If the others see them having a good time eating, they might come over on their own.”

“Ok!”

Admin 6 glanced over to Admin 5.

She was staring at the screen with a mix of confusion and horror. “What are they doing?” she asked.

Admin 6 shrugged nervously. “They… didn’t like the pets I got from 1, so they decided to make pets out of my velociraptors.”

“And you’re allowing that?”

He motioned to Via, happily petting the still-frightened raptors. “I mean, it makes them happy.”

“Yeah, but, if they take your monsters, won’t that mess things up for the other players? And what if they decide to adopt an NPC? Or one of your… people monsters?”

“It’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Admin 6 said, taking another sip of iced coffee.

“And where the heck did she get meatballs? I don’t remember spaghetti and meatballs being one of the-“

“Hey, you worry about your players, I’ll worry about mine,” he said, cutting her off. He minimized the window again. “Yeah, these girls are a bit odd, but it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. You wouldn’t want me going to your dungeon and questioning what your players do, right?”

“…Yeah, you’re right. I just… Look, we all know you didn’t want to be an admin when this started, and I guess I’m just worried you aren’t taking this seriously. If you don’t prepare your players properly, you know what’s at stake. And this… doesn’t look like you’re preparing them right.”

Admin 6 tapped his fingernails on his cup. He wanted to say so many things. But he’d said them all before. Loudly. When this whole thing had started. None of it had been listened to.

“I’m taking this seriously,” he finally said in a low voice. “Don’t worry about me. My players will be fine.”

Admin 5 watched him judgingly for a few seconds. “Ok. Will you be there Thursday night?”

Admin 6 glanced at his screen. The rest of the catgirls would be with Gigi by then, and he really wanted to know what the girl he’d split had to say. But he could record it. And if he missed too many more admin gatherings they’d ask why. He didn’t want to answer that question.

“Yeah. I’ll be there.” He smiled at her. “Thanks for the codes.”

“No worries,” she said. “Thanks for yours. See you around.”

“Bye.”

And with a flash, he was alone.