"Lance Corporal Carl, why have you come to see me today?"

"Quartermaster, I need to replace my halberd sir."

"Your halberd? Again? That is the third one this year. What happened to it?"

"Lost it in a training exercise."

"A training exercise, eh? You know this will come out of your pay, right?"

"...yeah."

"Well, at least you're in the army. I'd hate to see what a lost ship would cost..."

--Conversation between enlisted, Lenorian Army. From: "Why You're Undersupplied: A Quartermaster's Story." AC 1309.

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I rouse from sleep as I feel an abrupt temperature change. Bill's mouth is open, and the cold ocean instantly cools the warm water we're immersed in. As I rub my eye stalks, I see that Luna and Todd are also waking up and they join me in exiting.

As I emerge, the first thing that catches my attention is the sheer brightness surrounding me. The whale has landed on the sea floor and the entire area is completely visible. One of the sources of light is next to me, and I [coast] closer to take a look.

It appears to be a metal lantern floating in mid-water. It's anchored by a chain to the ground, and I can see a glowing fire within. The light radiates into the distance and as I turn, I see a series of them in concentric rings. Their burning radiance banishes all shadows from the area and lets me view my surroundings.

I realize that we're located in some kind of oceanic mountain range. Two mountains reach into the water on either side of us and Bill has landed in the narrow valley between them. Up ahead, a bizarre wall stretches to the peak of the mountains. It... doesn't seem natural, perfectly smooth and grey. Portholes are spread throughout the structure, and I can see something moving at the top. It's massive, probably a quarter mile in height and width. I look to the others as Bill speaks,

"I let y'all sleep, it seemed like you needed it. Let's get you to the gates and they'll take you from there."

We walk and swim closer to the monolith structure and Bill continues,

"So, I know them ground pounders will try to recruit you when you get in there. But don't listen to them ya hear? The Navy could always use mechanics and maintainers."

I look at him with a raised claw, "I don't... I don't think I understand anything that you're saying."

The whale gives out an abrupt *hurr*hurr*hurr* which I manage to interpret as laughing. He shakes as he says, "What I'm saying crab is that this armor isn't going to make itself," one of his fin’s gestures to his side. "And you floor types with your arms and appendages make it better than us swimmers with our flippers."

Luna chimes in with a question, "What do you mean by recruitment? The man in... the guy with the medallion said that we were being drafted. He made it seem like we didn't have a choice."

At that, the whales’ eyes grow furrowed, and he shoots a glare into the distance. He says, "I forgot y'all were first gen... Listen here girlie. Everyone has a choice. Some choices are just better than others. Also, some people on the front lines get a little bitter about people staying back home. They forget that when you're in the mud, you need something to be fightin' for. They'll explain it better than I can. I'm just an old whale moving people around."

Nodding, I pretend to understand and go with the flow. I'm sure things will start making sense eventually. Minutes pass and before we know it, we reach the gates of the wall.

The walls are perfectly smooth and grey, without any signs of masonry and I send out a mana ping, puzzled by the method of construction. It doesn't seem to register any individual rocks, just a perfectly flat grey surface. Any corners I can sense ends in perfect ninety-degree angles, and I lower my body to get a better angle to look upwards. In the water, far above me, I can barely make out patrolling creatures.

I level out my legs and examine the door. The gate is a giant metal construction. It's massive, and perfectly forms with the straight edges of the stone. It's wide enough to allow for the whale to swim through easily and it appears to be made of some kind of blackened iron. As I look closer, I can see a distinct sheen on the outside. It's as though oil and magic were applied to the surface.

I imagine it's to keep off rust.

I shake my head to focus on the moment. The whales talk of mechanics raised a bunch of indistinct murmurings from the akasha and now I'm thinking about how metal reacts in sea water. Gotta stay focused Crabby! Dangerous waters, remember?

As we approach, I notice a small side door opening in the wall and a fish swimming towards us. He's colored in grey and blue like Bill and addresses the whale.

"Petty Officer Bill! I didn't know you were coming back so soon. Is the unit on rotation?"

Bill responds, "No, Seaman. This is just a special delivery." He gestures with a fin towards us. "I have a couple of first gen here that popped out next to the front lines. Go ahead and introduce them to the city and send them to the recruiting station. I gotta head back."

The fish responds, "Aye aye." He flicks his tail and turns around, calling back to us. "Follow me, we'll get you processed and sorted out."

I look at the huge whale once more and say, "Err... thank you Bill. I appreciate the ride."

He shrugs it off and says, "Yeah kid, I hope I see you out there. Good luck." He then turns and begins to swim out of the valley. I'm left there watching his departing figure as the fish calls out from the hole in the wall. "Come on now! I can't keep this door open for long." Rushing, I grab Luna and Todd and the three of us follow him through the open door.

As we enter, the door closes behind us with a resounding clang. I notice that we're in a long well-lit hallway, extending off into the distance. Something that Bill said stuck with me and I ask the fish,

"He said we were first gen. What does that mean?"

The seaman responds, "Ah, it means you're first-generation dungeon born. When the [system] initiated it established concentric rings of dungeons around the incursion site to curtail the [CORRUPTION]. With time and effort, enough of the sapient monsters survived to have children. Those children had children and so on and so forth until this city was built."

I say, "So... you didn't gain [sapience] in a dungeon?"

He turns to look at me and responds, "I'm a one hundred percent pure, old-fashioned, natural born fish. Born free right here in the real world. Genuine child of Incursion city."

"Huh..." I think about the implications of that for a minute as Luna says, "So... you didn't have to gain sapience the hard way?"

The fish looks to Luna and says in a sickeningly sweet tone, "Nope. When two sapients love each other very, very much they..."

I wave my claw, cutting him off. I'm not sure what he's getting at but I'm certain that I wouldn't like it. But something else catches my attention. I ask him, "If this city was built around the time the [system] initialized, then how long has it been here?"

We turn a corner, and I can see another door up ahead. As we approach the fish continues. "I can't tell you when it was founded, because we honestly don't know. But the current year is 1750, after the cataclysm. And honestly? We've developed a lot since then..."

As he finishes speaking, the door opens in front of him. We follow and see a wonderous vista.

We're standing on a balcony, looking out into a massive city. Towering buildings rise from the valley floors, hundreds of feet in height. Neat rows of those selfsame structures recede into the distance. I look above and see the wall joined by a ceiling that encompasses the entire area.

I see blinking lights heading through the streets at all levels, directing traffic three dimensionally through different lanes. Whales, crabs, seals, a hundred different lifeforms strange and familiar move in orderly lines, traveling to their final destinations. The entire area is lit up with thousands of sources of light and I'm awestruck by the massive scale and teeming life.

The fish next to me quietly says, "Welcome to Incursion city, home of the sea monsters."

I'm motionless, awestruck by the sight before me. I finally manage to squeak, "how... how many..."

The fish answers my unspoken question. "Current population: Nine million souls."