Pylioth's eyes opened, and he knew he wasn't where he first entered HYTOMA. His digitization pod lid opened up, to his right was a blank wall, but when he looked to his left, he could see digitized pods lined up. It was a gigantic room, dwarfing the trade floor his old workstation was located, he had never seen anything so big. While the room was gigantic, the slight buzzing from his pod sounded deafening, Pylioth could help but wince at the noise disturbing the silence. He coughed once, wanting to test what kind of echo he could make, he was surprised at the higher pitched noise that came from his throat.

Remembering when he finished his first tutorial, he rubbed his tongue across his teeth, and he was greeted with sharp points. Bringing his hands to the side of his head, he was greeted with bigger, pointed ears, and he thought that maybe his pod was so loud was due to his sensitive ears. Looking at his hands, he was thrown off by seeing green palms and fingers that ended with claws, but at the same time, he wasn't uncomfortable with the hands that followed his wishes.

Pylioth began to laugh, but with his new changes, it quickly turned to cackling. He suddenly cut off his cackles, and he continued to smile, as an evil villain laughed back at him.

As he stepped out of his digitization pod, he looked down and realized that he was completely naked. He didn't have a nano-suit, the technology that worked on people while digitized, and he frowned.

"Well, I guess I had to see it sometime." Tyler shrugged, then looked around his pod. "Maybe I can find a nano-suit in the pod storage?"

"I appreciate you talking out loud, saves me from trying to guess what you're thinking." A voice came from all around him, he didn't recognize it. A crow came from out of nowhere, and landed on top of the pod. "You can order some clothing from the panel there." The crow pointed at a panel that came to life at the foot of the pod. After a few seconds, it looked at the extended wing, and began to preen it.

Pylioth didn't move, just stood staring at the crow, feeling fear grow in his chest, remembering the form VI had taken in HYTOMA. "Uhhhhh…" The crow paused it's preening, holding an individual feather in it's mouth. As Pylioth cut off the noise he was making from the conflicting feeling, he swore he could see a questioning look on the birds face. "Who are you?"

"It's me you little fatty, it's Syrix." It returned to preening.

"But, Syrix is a companion bot?"

"Well, a long story short, I was given some upgrades, and can now take control of this form as a companion AI." The bird had no issue to continue to preen while talking, which Pylioth knew would become very annoying as time went by. "From what I understand, every Adventurer will get a companion AI when they leave the Tower, and have functions which works with your companion UI. Before you ask, I cannot tell you how it works with your companion UI."

Pylioths ears drooped slightly, making it clear to anybody watching the disappointment to the answer of his unasked question. Pylioth knew things were different since he exited his pod, and normally he would press his question, but for some reason, he was able to accept the fact he wouldn't get anything further, and decided to let the matter drop. Turning to the station the crow originally pointed to, he didn't have many options to choose from.

** Welcome to the Recovery Station, please select from the options below:

Equipment

Companion AI

Hidden

Hidden

Please note, since you are currently in alpha testing, additional options may appear in the future **

Deciding that he was in what was called alpha testing, he decided to choose Companion AI first. He was greeted by a quick error in response.

** Please be aware of your surroundings, your Companion AI is in line of sight. If you continue this option, unexpected results may occur, proceed with caution **

Pylioths let out a breath, thankful that there were safe guards in place, but a realization that being in a testing phase, he may find himself in serious trouble if he acted recklessly. Picking the Equipment option, a new prompt came up on the screen.

** Order received, please wait while order processed. Estimated wait time is currently 0 minutes. Order processed, please stand by while order is delivered. **

A small opening appeared on the wall just above the screen Pylioth was using, and 4 drones carrying a box flew from the opening. The drones lowered to the floor, as soon as the box touched down, the drones released the wires connected to the box then turned and flew back through the opening, and the door closed behind them. He didn't know what to think, as deliveries were typically left to residents of the Tower who were looking to earn some extra credits, he was clearly starting to see how things were changing as he readied to leave the Tower.

While thinking through how similar these drones were acting like the fairies that trades people used while in HYTOMA, he opened the box that was left beside him. He was greeted by the exact same beginner items that he was wearing while he was in HYTOMA. He quickly put on the cotton shirt, lether vest and denim shorts, and quickly did some basic stretches to test his range of motion, and he questioned if he really was out for a walk, or if VI was playing some sort of prank on him.

Looking around the floor space, he decided that there wasn't anything more to see, and made his way to the only door he could see in the room. Only needing a few steps, the door automatically opened for him, and he found himself in a cubic room twenty feet by twenty feet, and twenty feet high. Large reinforced doors on opposite walls, and he saw four people waiting for him. First he saw Mason, he familiar frown was plastered on her face, then he saw TitanicVoice who was staring at his hand while it was opening and closing. The third person was vaguely familiar, and while he stared at the older man, the man held his hands out to his side and started wiggling his fingers. Pylioth remembered the wanderer who embarrassed him by escaping Tower Security by tickling him before he digitized for the first time. Quickly turning to the last person, he knew that he had no idea who it was, a short man was moving his hands around, and four small drones were weaving following his hand gestures. The short man noticed Pylioth was watching the dance of the drones, then smiled at Pylioth.

"About time you made it, Prime said you would be a few minutes getting used to your body, but it's been closer to twenty minutes." Dropping his hands to his side, the drones stopped their dance, and flew and landed on the short man's back. "I'm not surprised that you don't recognize me, but I'm FairyHammerTime." The man introduced himself while holding out a hand.

"Uh, nice to meet you? I thought you were a female Gnome?" Tyler shook the man's hand while asking his questions. "I mean, you are clearly presenting yourself here as a man, so how did you end up with a female avatar?"

"Ehhh, don't worry about that, V made sure to tell me not to tell anybody how I managed to pull that one off." The man said while shrugging his shoulders. "You can call me Hammer, just so there is no confusion here."

Mason cleared her throat, and joined the conversation. "No, we'll call you Fairy from here on." She said dryly, clearly not as entertained as Fairy in the current situation. "I was surprised that you ended being the Shop Keeper, that employee Pylioth. Prime gave us all a quick run-down of the details you didn't provide to us on our adventure."

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He scratched the back of his head while thinking, not exactly sure how much Prime had told his group. He looked towards the wanderer, and couldn't understand how the man fit in the current situation. Instead of guessing, he just decided to cut to the chase. "How do you exactly fit in here?"

"Well, first off, Prime isn't going to send you off into the world without a guide. You aren't going to have a map that was populated by adventurers who discovered everything before you even digitized, so you're going to need a guide. Secondly, and most importantly, you brought me along on this ride when we were escaping from those Newts or those damned Tippin' Top Hats." Pylioth didn't say anything, but his crooked ears and raised eyebrows made it clear he still didn't know who the wanderer is. Sighing, the man just answered with a simple statement. "I'm Sarge."

The statement made everybody drop their jaws, and TitanicVoice was the one to respond. "Wait, you aren't a TI or AI? Your character has been running since just after HYTOMA was opened to be discovered."

"Well, you aren't wrong with that, Sarge is actually managed a majority of the time by a variety of AI based off our directions."

"What do you mean our directions?" Mason asked.

"Well, Sarge is an avatar that is used by wanderers. While to the public wanderers aren't supposed to have full access to the Towers, spending time in HYTOMA is a vacation of sorts for us." Sarge shrugged his shoulders.

Just as Sarge finished his introduction, Prime appeared in the middle of the group as a holographic orb. "While it's good to see you introducing ourselves, we're going to have to cut this short. You will have plenty of time to talk once you leave the Tower, but first we need to have send Pylioth here out first. There are a few things he will need to take care of before you can join him outside."

"Uh, like right now?" Pylioth couldn't help but feel leaving the tower was getting very anti-climactic. He pictured his leaving the Tower would be in front of large crowds, onlookers curious to see the event take place. In his mind, someone leaving the Tower who wasn't a wanderer would be the first thing everybody would be talking about. Instead, it felt like he was secretly exiting through a side door, and a majority of the Tower residents wouldn't even know that someone had left. Maybe Emma and Beatrice would notice his absence, but he quickly pushed that thought aside, they had joined the Tippin' Top Hats and left him behind, there was no reason for them to notice his absence.

"Yes, right now. There is no reason for you to stand around here and go through introductions like you haven't met each other before. It's almost like you have forgotten your tromp with the Dragon Newts and the Tippin' Top Hats." As Prime finished, one of the doors let out a cloud of steam, but instead of the whole door raising up to let Pylioth leave, a small opening, just big enough for a Goblin to fit through opened.

As Pylioth walked towards the opening, he could hear Mason behind him chuckling softly. Shaking his head, he could see the humor, but his nerves were practically smoking. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that he would be leaving the Tower, especially as a Goblin, and not as Tyler his human body. As Tyler stepped through the opening, his feet landed on grass, and the door behind him slammed shut. He quickly turned his head to look over his shoulder, and was greeted by a solid wall, the blast door had completely vanished, and before he could even think about what happened to the gigantic door, he heard a deafening road. As his head turned back to look ahead of him, he was greeted to the sight of a Dragons maw coming down on him. Tyler didn't have any time to react, but in his mind, he was left with a single thought. Shouldn't he have been wearing boots?

--------

Mason was watched the door shut behind Tyler, no, Pylioth she though, not being completely sure about agreeing to this new adventure Prime told her about. She was given the chance to pass, and continue her duties in the Tower, and would be able to rejoin the group she found herself with once Pylioth finally returned to the Tower. She was warned that it was unknown when the group would return, and that she could find herself way behind the group.

For Mason, this was an opportunity to dive head in on adventures and achievements way before anybody else in the Tower would see. It was what she lived for, why she took her duties so seriously, and why she sacrificed her reputation with the City Guard. She knew ever since she helped Pylioth escape from Myneria that she was on the right path, and every time she set off with Pylioth, events happened that showed her that big things were building up.

"What are you thinking about this whole situation?" She directed her question to TitanicVoice.

"Well, I can't help but think that this is amazing. I'm usually scuttling about in a small box on wheels in this Tower, and since I signed up for this, look at the body I was given." He flexed his metal alloy right arm. "Not only that, I'm almost always alone while in HYTOMA, but now I get to explore the world that your ancestors came from? This is like a dream come true for me Jars."

Mason raised an eyebrow from what the TI called her. He didn't call her Mason, he referred to her avatars name, and instead of correcting the TI, she liked the way it sounded. When she heard it, a small bit of weight lifted from her shoulders, her Tower duties were behind her, and she was on an adventure like she really was a powerful Warrior from history.

"What about you Jars, I get the feeling of cold feet from you."

"I wouldn't say that, it's just, I don't know, I've been a Tower Agent for as long as I could remember. I guess it's hard to give up the comfort of routine and dive into something new." She knew she wasn't being honest, but she didn't know how she felt about what she was getting into. Before she could go any further, a new voice joined the conversation.

"I don't know about all of you, but this is a dream come true for me." Fairy inserted himself into the conversation. "I'm sure you have all heard of many of my exploits in game, but since we are here together, I can let you in on a little secret. A lot of the success I had in HYTOMA was forcing my way through the built in mechanics, and I manually created stuff basing things off from our history books. The steam table that I used to build the world from wasn't something my class should have been able to make. But since I knew how it worked from a book I read, I created the actual things I needed to make it work. The steam came from my fire elemental to boil water, I built the encasements and pressurized vessel myself, and a few other trinkets and tricks, I created the item, and since it was accurate, it started off as a crafting station, I didn't even need to create a ticket to have it reviewed and approved." Fairy was hopping from foot to foot, clearly excited to talk about things he did.

Mason almost stepped backwards, she did not expect to be the one who would be second guessing what was in front of her. From what she was hearing, it didn't even sound like anybody was even thinking about leaving the Tower, TitanicVoice was so enthralled with having a group to adventure with, and Fairy just seemed, off. She would guess that Sarge felt nothing about what was happening with his history of being a Wanderer, how could she feel so uncomfortable with her being a Tower Agent.

Before she could get any more lost in her thoughts, Sarge stepped in. "Do you still remember when we first met? I ducked and dodged you for days, and the closest you ever got to me was just before I tickled some poor kid. Do you know why I was even in the Tower to being with?"

"The results of our investigation was that you were on a supply run for food and parts. There were a number of storage closets that were found to be missing materials."

Sarge began to chuckle. "Sorry, but nothing was missing, VI decided to assist me by adding those materials to the manifest, but not actually send anything. See, what I was doing there was planting a chip on our little employers there that bonded to him during his registration to HYTOMA."

"Wait, so you're telling me this was already predetermined?"

"Well, not everything. Tyler was selected, the council forced his parents into a tough situation, so he was set on this path very early on in life. I won't say that it went as planned, but he got where he needed to be eventually. Me, I found out a few years ago that I may be needed, but I didn't really find out until we made our escape. As for the three of you, I don't know where you fit in or when you were selected."

"So we may not even be needed? I don't know if that makes me feel any better."

"Not needed? Are you kidding me right now?" Sarge had genuine shock on his face. "Did you forget who exactly our employer is?"

Mason answered, confusion infused in every word. "He is an adventurer selected by the Council to leave the tower?"

"Well, you aren't wrong, but not the exactly the answer I was looking for." Sarge sighed. "He is a kid, who has spent what, a week in HYTOMA? He's technically a non-combat class, who decided it was a good idea to get a sword lesson while in the middle of a combat situation."

Jars smiled. "Yea, he decided to stop moving forward in a escort quest, he really doesn't know anything."

"Exactly. To be honest, I'm happy to see some hesitation on someone's face right now. Our employer is so clueless, he literally left the protection of the Tower by himself without boots, and he didn't even ask a question." Sarge reflected Jars' smile. "I would say the three of you are very much needed for this, you three have the knowledge of what it really means to go on adventures. More than that, I feel that I need to remind you who exactly is overseeing this adventure, and the three of you each have skills that compliment each other and what Pylioth needs to survive outside."

Jars took in a deep breath, and she could feel her resolve beginning to harden. The reminder that she was needed on this adventure, and that she wasn't just someone who was following a current down a stream. Before she could reply, the door opened from where Pylioth originally exited from.

Jars' mouth opened and closed a number of times, Sarge began to point at the person who exited the door, then pointed at the blast door that Pylioth exited out of, and continued to switch back and forth between the door and person. TitanicVoice squinted, but didn't have any other reaction, and FairyHammerTime was the only one able to ask the question that was on everybody's mind.

"Uh, didn't you just leave the Tower?"

"No, I just got up after our escape." Pylioth crossed his left hand across his body and hooked his hand onto his right forearm. "I will say with how you are reacting, I don't know if I should have chosen Pylioth now."

"No no, Prime warned us before hand that you were going to be joining us as your avatar, we've had some time to prepare." FairyHammerTime stepped up to Pylioth, and began to look the Goblin up and down. "We watched you leave this room with the direction from Prime, which was supposed to get you to leave the Tower."

Suddenly, the orb that was still floating in the room shimmered, and the telltale VI hovered above the ball. In the same chaotic voice from in HYTOMA barked out, almost laughing while talking.

"You died! You really should have been wearing boots, not that it would have helped you though."