No logical or calculated commands, just run. Run and do nothing but run, plowing through underbrush and tearing down vines without slowing. Stop only when a second roar sounds out in challenge to the first, this time from an equally large feline without stripes but with a massive mane of tawny fur.
It was standing on top of a rocky outcropping that Tapper was running alongside, and no sooner did he dive to the side then the creature leaped forward. Impossible to tell whether he had truly dodged the attack or if it just hadn't been aiming for him, but the two giant felines collided with each other and Tapper didn't want to waste the opportunity.
For a very brief second the robot thought he had escaped, until he heard a loud cascading crack. One of the shorter trees with a trunk as wide as Tapper's body tilted in his direction, making the top whip around and throw out a shower of falling leaves. It was quite distracting, despite the imminent danger, and a lucky spindle catching on a vine steered Tapper away from getting crushed. The tree shattered into pieces as it fell, throwing up a debris field that parted like a curtain to reveal a new entry.
A third beast lumbered forward, with thick brown fur but equally large. And standing on its hind legs at over three meters tall with claws as large as its teeth, tearing gouges out of whatever it scraped past on its ambling walk towards the conflict. Tapper, still tangled in the vines, had a moment to observe the fight as he struggled to free himself, and it was only in the forced moment of calm that he noticed the oddities of this scenario. The three beasts were now fighting in a large circular clearing, the ground dead and flattened save for the occasional rock or small tree, but 'fighting' was no longer the correct word to describe them.
Claws and fangs still swiped at one another with enough force to take off his head, but all three had slowed down and were now just trading glancing blows without any real damage. It all looked like a dance underneath a rocky cliff face, and a glint drew his eye upwards to the highest point on the rock wall. There, directly above the three beasts on top of the cliff, sat a rectangular box that stood out in contrast to the more natural surroundings. It was around one meter at each side and possibly made of wood, with a bulging top and golden filigree drawing his attention in. Impossible to tell the exact metrics from this distance, but what Tapper could tell was that this box wanted to be opened, needed it even.
Tapper was so transfixed by the strange box that he stopped paying any attention to the creatures and their inefficient fighting, consumed by a burning desire to untangle himself and claim the mysterious contents. Thankfully, three separate massive animals all roaring at once shattered whatever siren's call the object was broadcasting to the robot.
Snapping his attention back down showed Tapper that the creatures were back to lunging and slashing at each other with proper deadly intent while also steadily moving the conflict in his direction. In fact, it looked like they were now fighting to be the first to reach Tapper, tripping and shoving each other aside, all because he had freed his entanglement and now stood just inside the circle of flattened dead grass. Whatever the cause, colliding with a whirlwind of tooth and claw meant instant dismemberment, so all interest in the odd container purged from his system as Tapper turned tail and ran.
Despite the rough terrain, Tapper quickly gained speed and ran faster than these awkward legs had ever carried him before. It felt like the domestic robot reached a full sprint, though an outside observer would probably describe his sprinting as a continuous and chaotic attempt to fall down and failing at every opportunity.
Legs, arms, and even back spindles would snap out at the last instant to arrest his tumbling or propel him forward using every rock, tree, and dirt mound within reach. Collisions became springboards as Tapper pinballed through the forest at speed with no direction other than forward. The sounds of crashing foliage and growling chased him all the while, and the hard-learned lesson from Drillbert's chase ensured that Tapper never looked back to see how far away they were.
Occasional gateways and displays also flashed by his vision without time to ponder, but he slowed at the massive wall of glass that appeared as he rounded a corner. It was different from the glass wall he had entered through, as this one lacked a metal barricade over the windowpanes, but it did have a partial fence. Trees and vines morphed into short metal poles and rope, forming narrow pathways that funneled down to kiosks before opening up to the other wall. Surprise slowed him but Tapper still had enough momentum to carry him straight through the kiosks, and he crashed headlong into the wall.
The door took an eternity to open. Time seemed to slow down just to prolong the dreadful experience, because there was no more time to wait or dodge or form a Plan c. The robot braced himself in acceptance, and waited.
Nothing happened. Slowly opening his eyes showed an open and inviting door and Tapper toppled forward, turning around in mid-air for his curiosity and he instantly regretted it. Yellow, orange, and brown masses of fur and tooth and claw, stood just barely on the other end of the kiosks. The three monsters showed visible damage and a thirst for more violence but they just stared and snarled, unable or unwilling to cross the threshold.
Tapper collapsed on hard, smooth ground, and the doors closed their frosted hues of green glass between them. No sound or scent or sight remained of the false jungle, just the crashing adrenaline of the zombidermy monsters.
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"Oh my."
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After a few moments with his plastic bag Tapper calmed down, letting the crinkling help focus things until he could start to look around. He lay on a smoothed plasticrete floor and directly above him a giant sign hung over the top portion of the glass wall. It said 'The Gentleman Hunter,' stylized as the plaque of a mounted moose head, which thankfully did not lunge at Tapper. Below that several shapes were painted onto the glass: a skull, an enclosed squiggle with legs and sharp teeth, a gun, and a… goblet? Chalice?
Tapper couldn't make sense of it, but also felt certain that these were arranged as pictograms with meaning and not random graffiti. Putting the puzzle out of sight and out of mind, Tapper rolled over and was surprised to find another, more proper, fence. A few meters away an unbroken line of metal railing stretched out in both directions, serving as the sole barricade to the floor vanishing in a massive circular hole.
He was in an expansive cavern, just as large as the first one that he fell into under the pavement but built with intent. The top of the cavern curled into a perfect dome, the space dominated by a floating display that glowed with enough energy to light up the entire space. In the center hovered a yellow sphere with the diameter of a shipping container, orbited on all sides by three thin bands of silver. Two of the bands were bare, but one contained a red ball a quarter of the larger one's size and spun around it like a planet orbiting on a track.
Slightly below that a wide rectangular panel also floated on its own orbit, and when the rotation turned his direction Tapper could read Welcome to the PROTIUM MALL, where retro is always in fashion! The rest of the open air was filled with holograms, glitching advertisements that flickered into and out of existence too quickly for the eye to follow.
Edging to the railing showed Tapper his cliffside was actually a balcony with a ground floor below him, and around the outside perimeter three hallways branched out at equal distances. Everything, from the faux marble Roman columns to the odd wood paneling to the sleek black benches, was in some state of disrepair, but it looked to be mostly the ravages of time. And also mostly cosmetic damage, surprisingly few things were completely broken and the area looked structurally sound.
All along every wall, rectangular spaces were cut out with most of them covered by metal shutters, but a few were open spaces that emitted a warm and inviting light. With no real plan available Tapper made his way to the nearest open space, over which a sign hung shaped like a large cartoon pill and said 'Super Pharmacy' in colorful font. Oddly that was the only thing he could clearly see, his visual sensors slid right over the gap itself and refused to focus on anything beyond a vague sense of white shelving units. The visual glitch grew quite distracting as he approached and Tapper grasped for anything that would explain the film.
"— why these rat bastards keep showing up, but free loot is free loot." Dead silence exploded into a mess of overlapping voices the instant Tapper crossed the store's threshold, the same time as his vision snapped into focus for the inner space. A simple white room held rows of simple white shelves and small colorful containers, but the sudden visual shift was so disorientating that the robot almost fell.
Tapper caught himself on a kiosk and only knocked a few small cardboard boxes to the ground. The jovial voices snapped shut and several organics appeared in view, a mix of genotypes but all were wearing similar spiked armor and wielding weapons. Some of which were smeared in blood.
"The hell, what's security doing here? We didn't steal shit," a canine hybrid asked, twitchy with nervous energy and rubbing the worn gun in his hand.
A human clapped a mollifying hand on the other's shoulder as he stepped to the front of the crowd and said, "That ain't a security bot, obvi. You!" The sudden syllable barked in his direction made Tapper jump slightly, who had frozen in a vain attempt at camouflage. "What kinda bot are you and what're you doing here?"
The bot ran through a dozen different lies he could possibly tell, but without knowing who these people were it was impossible to guess what cover story would save him and what would doom him. "Greetings! I am an expert bartending and mixologist unit, and I am currently lost." At least with the truth he could speak with confidence, but Tapper was still surprised when the human responded with a grin.
"See, Tuzi? Put the gun away already, it's not a danger. In fact, I think this bartender bot is why the lounge isn't working. Let's plug it in and see if we can't get some drinks!" This earned a chorus of whoops from the group and all six humanoids surged forward to surround Tapper, not giving him a chance to ask any questions before multiple sets of hands grabbed and dragged him back out of the pharmacy. Crossing the threshold a second time was thankfully not nearly as disorientating and the tide of bodies pulled Tapper along, at least they actually knew where they wanted to go.
Tapper attempted to ask the group who they were and why they were living down here, but it quickly became apparent that they weren't actual.ly interested in having a proper conversation with a robot. Logically he knew this was normal, but Tapper had grown accustomed to interacting with the residents of Fableton and fell silent with a pang of melancholy. On the upside, since he was just a robot the humanoids were comfortable enough to talk openly and Tapper's espionage programming searched for context among the idle chatter. They spoke of looting some coin out of the pharmacy, a new store opening up that was mostly clothes but still needed to be checked out, and a general restlessness about wanting some real action instead of just killing monsters.
By the time the group had walked down one hallway and around a curved path, the robot only had more questions than anything else. They didn't speak of shops as merely places to purchase goods, but like something closer to lethal battle arenas; instead of talking about work schedules and errands in their home they sounded like an invading force that looted the dungeon on a daily basis. But at least they seemed to loot slain enemies the same way he did, allowing Tapper to start building the foundation of understanding off that one similarity.