The Admin collapsed onto the couch, putting his head in Emmy’s lap. She smiled, setting her book down.
“Bad meeting?” she asked, running her fingers through his hair.
“3’s catgirls are in revolt again,” he sighed, annoyed.
“Again?” she echoed.
He rubbed his face. “I’m pretty sure they’re just bored. They keep sending messages through his dungeon and organizing uprisings. Apparently talking to them is absolutely out of the question. It’s so far out of the question that asking the Director if he can talk to them is…”
“Out of the question?” Emmy finished.
“Yeah.” He looked around. “What are you reading?”
“One of the books from the book club. It’s not all that good.”
“Hmm.”
The Admin closed his eyes, relaxing. Emmy went back to reading.
He let himself doze, enjoying the feeling of being near someone who understood. Emmy was the only person he could talk to openly, and he loved her for it. Being next to her, no touching or talking necessary, made him happy.
A faint ding interrupted his haze, making him cringe and open his eyes.
Admin 3 wanted to join him in his office. Great.
Wait.
The Admin cursed, scrambling to his feet. “Have to go, sorry!” He teleported back to his office, smoothing his hair.
Quickly pulling up a few random screens, he summoned an iced coffee and chugged half. Dropping into his chair, Admin 6 sent an invite.
Admin 3 appeared, looking annoyed. “Hey, I… you’re right.”
Admin 6 minimized a screen at random, turning to fully face Admin 3. “About?”
“The options are either reset everything, or ask the Director if I can arrange something with the non-players. You talked to her about your non-playerss, right? How should I approach the matter?”
“Why don’t you let me talk to them?” Admin 6 asked. “Let me be your NPC Whisperer.”
Admin 3 thought it over, then asked for a chair. Once seated, he pulled up a message box and gave control to Admin 6.
Admin 6 took a sip of coffee and began to type.
To: Cedar (Item 149), Pine (Item 150), Cypress (Item 151), Birch (Item 152), Oak (Item 153), Willow (Item 154)
From: Admin
Subject: Revolt
Hey,
I’m sure taking control of my dungeon has been very fun, but would you mind not? You’re making it incredibly difficult for me to do my job.
Thanks,
Admin
Admin 6 sat back, looking over the names.
“That’s it?” Admin 3 asked, sending the message.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
“Now we wait for a reply,” Admin 6 said. “Birch is the ringleader, isn’t she?”
Admin 3 was about to reply when he paused, pulling up a reply message.
To: Admin
From: Birch (Item 152)
Subject: Re: Revolt
No. It’s too fun.
Admin 6 smirked.
“How did you know?” Admin 3 asked, hitting reply and sending the screen to him.
“You named a girl ‘Birch’, what did you expect?”
Is there anything more fun I could give you to do?
“What difference does a name make?” Admin 3 asked, sending the message. “They’re all tree themed.”
“That’s such a stupid statement I’m not going to bother explaining.”
“Oh, shove it up your ass. Why are you being so nice to them? We’re Admins, we can threaten them a little.”
Admin 6 leaned back. “Nah, see what they ask for first. Might be a minute. Coffee?”
Admin 3 begrudgingly accepted, and Admin 6 checked what screens he had up. Oxygen levels were normal, a player he’d tagged was being dissolved by a slime, shared inventories continued to be popular, and there was a new song from the mosquito band. Nice.
It took six minutes for the catgirls to respond.
As long as you ask, we do have a few requests:
Let us change our names and magic colors.
Let us change our outfits and hair styles.
Give us musical instruments.
Give us more food ingredients to work with, preferably base ingredients.
Give us art supplies, in a variety of colors that don’t change.
Give us gears in different shapes and sizes.
Give us books to read.
Let us leave our floor when there aren’t players on it.
Let us talk to other people in the dungeon freely, specifically the wyverns on Floor 12.
That should be it for now.
Thanks! XD
Admin 3 was horrified. Admin 6 was also horrified, but for a different reason.
“They want to change their colors?” Admin 3 asked. “Why do they need gears and food ingredients?”
“Let me reply,” Admin 6 said, horror turning to anger.
Admin 3, still wondering why they wanted to change their clothes, sent him a screen.
Here are some rules I can’t break: No two creatures in the dungeon can have the same name, and no two catgirls on a floor can share a color.
So. You will be allowed to change your name and color once, at the beginning of next cycle. Figure out what colors you all want beforehand. If you can’t get your preferred name, sorry but you can’t say I didn’t warn you.
Outfits: Allowed.
Hair styles: Letting you change these would be dangerous. Sorry.
Musical instruments: Allowed.
Ingredients: Allowed.
Art supplies: I can give you different types, but anything with a customizable color will automatically change when you touch it. Sorry.
Gears: Allowed. Please don’t make any war machines.
Books: Don’t have any. Write your own. Notebooks are available.
Leaving the floor: Not allowed.
Talking to other people: Sending stones will again be allowed. It would be appreciated if you didn’t use them to organize uprisings.
Note: All changes will happen at cycle reset.
Admin 6 gave the screen back.
Admin 3 had a fit. “Why do they need these things? You can’t tell them I can’t do things! I’m not giving them sending stones again! If you tell them hair changes are dangerous they’ll just keep asking for them. Why should I give them musical instruments? Do we even have those? Why-”
“Write whatever you want!” Admin 6 snapped. “It’s your dungeon! We do have all those things, everything I said you could do you can do. Phrase it however you want.”
“I just don’t see why they need it!”
“Because they’re bored. They’re people. People need things to do.”
“They have things to do! Tend their shops!”
“Yeah, that no players are at like ninety percent of the cycle!”
Admin 3 shook his head, looking away. “You care about non-players way too much.”
Admin 6 smiled bitterly. “Probably. But I don’t have any trouble with them.”
Still shaking his head, Admin 3 sent the message and vanished.
Admin 6 groaned, leaning back. He finished his coffee, rubbed his face, and teleported to Emmy’s place.
She looked up from her book when he appeared. “Everything ok?”
He watched her for a few seconds. “Did- Was I ever… I don’t know. You were never bored, right? I think I tried to give everyone creative things to do. Right?”
She got up and took his hands. “The first three or so cycles we were too busy figuring things out. Then things got boring, until cycle… eight? We had Lewis ask for a few things, then more things, until every cycle we got new stuff to play with.” She smiled. “It’s not that you didn’t listen, it’s that we didn’t ask.”
He sighed. “Thanks.”
“Although, if it would make you feel better to give everyone in the dungeon access to a theme park floor with roller coasters and a dolphin show, I’m sure we wouldn’t complain,” she said, grinning.
The Admin laughed. “That…” He paused. “Actually, I could do that.” He looked at her. “Want a theme park?”