There are so many ways to manipulate, deceive, and outright force people into doing what you want them to. This, however, can cause inconveniently negative feelings ranging from poor motivation up to bloody revolution.
However if you have the time, the money, or the power to set things up in just the right way then people will make the choices you want them to without even a hint of displeasure. They might even thank you for the opportunity, and that’s a win for any corporation.
-Chairwoman Nina Ellory, Ad Astra Space Shipping, Passenger, Mining, Acquisitions, Exploration and Exploitation Corporation.
Time passed. By checking the Daily Duties list Alex saw he still had a timer left on the day, though the countdown had reached 5:17:44. The day seemed long to Alex, but he’d have to watch the timer and do some counting if he wanted to inaccurately measure whether seconds and minutes and the like were the same length. He briefly wondered if that was something Syntropy interfered with across the universe as well. Units of standardized time, to a point, were convenient.
Patina was nowhere to be seen. Alex didn’t blame her; She didn't know him that well, and there was every possibility that he would have woken up angry and looking to take out his frustration on the little goblin who had knocked him unconscious, [Appealingly Cute] or not. He figured she’d show up again soon.
He needed to get up and move, but the respite was much needed. Though beneath him the floor was still cold and uncomfortable Alex was able to take another fifteen minutes or thereabouts getting his thoughts in order. Specifically, his thoughts about the guidance he’d received and the entities that had given it to him.
Alex wasn’t stupid - he knew that. Along with that he knew that there were a great number of things that he didn’t know. A boundless archive of ignorance existed within him that only seemed to grow by the hour in the wider universe of Syntropy and its machinations to move forward.
What Alex knew right now, as he lay back with a pounding headache while pinching his nose to stop the bleeding, was that his special team of ‘helpers’ wasn’t telling him everything.
It wasn’t that they were inept, though they themselves seemed to have some gaps in their knowledge, nor was it their entirely too casual apologies that held not a single hint of actual empathy within them. Alex put to the side their stories of sharing aspects of his life with other beings and entities that they associated with, and even that they were for some reason given a budget (by whom??) to essentially just watch him and occasionally prod Alex along.
The whole production with his helpers taking on the roles of fictional characters because, according to them, he would respond better either spoke volumes about what they considered to be his mental state, or if Alex leaned toward suspicion it could very easily be seen as subtly manipulative. See, here, you know us. You enjoyed our stories. You trust us.
Alex had to admit that he didn’t have much in the way of suspicion toward others. Trust until you’ve been shown that you can’t was an attitude Alex had carried with him for years and it had been perfectly serviceable. Perhaps that would change, but for how he actually felt a little flattered by the choices the team had made.
Gabrielle, as a character in the fantasy show, was a side character that had started out naive, earnest, optimistic, and more than that the character had been morally solid. She balanced out the darker edges of the protagonist, and grew in leaps and bounds throughout the seven years that the series ran.
Jessica Fletcher was smart, capable, and kind hearted. She had a desire to not only be creative, but to use her creative spark and random assortment of knowledge researched for her mystery novels to help others.
April O’Neil, a vibrant and energetic reporter, was devoted to her career and the pursuit of truth, but again like the others involved herself in increasingly dangerous affairs in order to help.
Gadget Hackwrench loved to invent and get down and dirty with mechanical things - aspects of the mouse girl that were used to assist Chip and Dale in, again, helping people.
There were likely subtle messages Alex was missing, but beyond the ‘ha ha, look at these fictional characters you liked, isn’t puberty funny in that you had naughty thoughts about most - okay, fine, all of them at some point even Ms. Fletcher you bad boy you’ there was a rock solid foundation to each character that was easy to see: they were helpers.
Each of the avatars chosen - even Peri as the willful anomaly, and Addy as the sad little innocent child - were one hundred percent there to make Alex think, feel, and behave a certain way. It didn’t bother him that it worked, he just had to keep it in mind during any future interactions.
Here, now, laying on the cold floor with the receding pain of the knowledge dump no longer driving him to distraction, Alex remembered something else.
The little girl made a mistake.
Addy, the apparent manifestation of the Ad Astra part of his Interface, had rewarded Alex for completing two tasks. One of them, the security system surveying, seemed egregious in the reward for effort ratio, but also because he hadn’t actually fulfilled it properly. Sure, Alex had used [Evaluate] on things, saw they were broken, and then carefully notated them on his map. But the other part of that was to gather information on how to fix them, and at his then-rank of skill he hadn’t been able to do so.
That could be put down to an act of generosity, if Alex wasn’t already aware that Ad Astra was beyond a parody of capitalism gone past insanity. It had to have been purposeful, and it must have been so that he could take advantage of the ‘special sale’. Ad Astra needed him to get better faster.
Alex could be fine with that, but the suspicious bit - the part that niggled at his mind along with all of the other strangeness that Alex’s brain was still attempting to puzzle through - was the other task. Addy had awarded him a duty credit for completing the task to seal up a dangerous room.
But I’d already been given a duty credit for its completion. So why? Did the add-on not synchronize properly with Harmony? That seemed possible, especially with the level of problems that the whole place seemed to have, but maybe not. Maybe…
“Urgh.” Alex groaned. He massaged his temples, feeling that he was still wearing gloves. Whatever his line of thought had been dissipated as his head gave another complaint of pain. “At least I got some good things out of all this.”
He had an understanding of how the hardware for the artificial intelligence system worked now. Of course it wasn’t a guarantee that he could get his hands in there and fix things, but Alex could prod at his mind and feel concepts and ideas and bits of information that would help him understand better how to proceed.
“I'm grateful for this quiet time, “ Alex muttered, and then checked himself. That sort of statement always backfired, and so Alex wasn’t exactly surprised when he heard a frantic pounding begin on the outside of the door.
*
“Something’s wrong.”
“And without even a hello, “ Alex murmured as he looked down at the goblin. She seemed more agitated than he’d seen her thus far, and so dropped the playfulness. “What is it? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know!” Patina exclaimed. Her expression was more confusion than anger, but Alex could see it simmering beneath the surface. “I tried to go back to where I sleep but I couldn’t get there. It’s sealed off, Alex. All the doors down there are sealed, all of the access hatches, all of the ducts and vents I know about are locked down like there’s nothing behind them but space.”
“I’m guessing that’s not normal. Did you ask Harmony?”
“I did! The adjunct won’t tell me why, instead declaring that there is ‘routine maintenance’ going on. Where the fuck she thinks we’re getting maintenance from is beyond me! I need you to come with me and get some answers out of her. Come on!” Patina gripped Alex’s arm and tugged.
“Okay, give me ten seconds.” he said, carefully taking his arm back. He rubbed at his temples again, still feeling the ache inside his brain. Aren’t brains supposed to have no pain receptors or something? Everything around them, sure, but the brain itself isn’t supposed to ache. Maybe that's one of those incorrect 'everyone knows' things? “Done.” He let out a breath, and stepped outside the maintenance closet.
“I tried getting in all over the place, “ Patina explained as she scurried to keep up with Alex’s brisk walk toward a screen he knew was operating. “It’s not just where I sleep - it’s the whole second cargo bay.”
“Like the place we met Vod?” Alex asked, remembering the giant cavernous room that had been filled with the mess of day to day living for so many people.
“Yeah. Remember how Vod told you there’s two of them in the lower decks of the carriage. Vod lives in one, but he ‘rules’ over both. Sometimes he even does this fancy-ass procession that, oh, it doesn’t matter.” Patina shook her head quickly. “Look, you can’t just seal off a space that big for no reason. Something went wrong down there, I just know it!”
“Like a contagious disease or something?” Alex ventured as he walked quickly. “If Harmony’s had to seal off something like that-”
“No, there’s been no biohazard klaxons. Believe me, you’d know them if you heard them.” Patina tapped her long ear, “The once-a-year tests are bad enough. Whatever it is, it’s got to be bad. You don’t just seal off nearly three thousand people on a whim - not even the adjunct is that far gone.”
“Three thousand.” Alex muttered. Vod said similar, he thought, approximately three thousand per cargo bay, right?
“That’s a lot of people.” he added, still thinking. Patina nodded vigorously.
“And if they’re locked in down there, they’re not going to be happy no matter what’s going on. What if Vod did it? Took control of the door systems? If he has control of-”
“Shh, “ Alex held up a warning hand, “Careful.” Patina glanced around quickly, looking for any sign of a working security device but wasn’t able to tell with her [Inspect] skill. For his part, Alex was caught in a single thought loop.
Six thousand people.
Ninety percent are [Cleaners], Vod said.
Six thousand…
Alex slapped his forehead with his gloved hand and exclaimed “The math!” Patina jumped, not understanding, and had to stop jogging as Alex had halted in place.
“What?” she demanded. “Alex, come on! We need answers from the adjunct.”
“Yes we do.” Alex nodded emphatically. “You’re right. Something’s gone wrong.”
“What?” Patina repeated, “How do you know? I mean, I’m sure something has because sealing off the cargo bay area is-”
“Ninety percent, Patina.” Alex reached down and gripped the little goblin by the shoulders. The aggressive action caused her to snap her mouth shut. Alex felt his mind racing faster than it had before. Part of his thoughts wondered if it was something to do with the attribute points or whether the data was just finally falling into place. “Ninety percent of you are [Cleaners]. Vod said that.”
“Y-Yeah? So?”
“I don’t have the most amazing memory in the world, but when you asked Harmony how many [Cleaners] there were in the carriage the number she gave was just shy of two thousand. That was, what, twelve hours ago more or less?”
“Right, okay, and?” Patina’s heavy brow furrowed with confusion. She shook her head again and tried to pull away but though her small body was stronger than Alex he held her shoulders tightly.
“How is around two thousand anywhere close to ninety percent of six thousand?” Alex demanded of the goblin, who had no real answer. She couldn’t see why it was important compared to locking away an area that contained half the population.
“I don’t know!” she exclaimed, “Maybe Vod was wrong?”
“I don’t think so. Vod didn’t give me the impression of a person who’s wrong about keeping track of his underlings. I think Harmony knows something that we really need to know as well.”
“Like what?” Patina gasped as Alex let go of her shoulders and started to walk faster. He called back over his shoulder to her.
“Like why she’s written off over half of your population, and didn’t tell us anything about it.”
Alex strode briskly into the room he’d last spoken to Harmony in, and immediately approached her screen. The fixed smile of the AI flashed on her face before faltering a little under Alex’s gaze. Analysis subroutines scanned the strange expression on the human’s face, but she was unable to read the result.
“Hello, Alex!” she said with some cheer, “Are you here to report on your progress so far?”
“I’m here to ask about why you’ve very recently locked down a significant portion of the lower decks.” Alex said. Harmony’s screen went to static for a moment, and when it cleared her gaze flicked from Alex to Patina and back again.
“Oh! I see. Patina was worried enough to pull you in here.” She smiled again, this time with some strain behind it. “There is some routine maintenance being performed in the area in question, and so as not to inconvenience anyone Ad Astra has temporarily closed access to a number of-”
“Maintenance by whom? Did you suddenly get some more technicians?” Alex asked. There was an edge to his voice now. Harmony, I am a patient man but I am only willing to go with the flow so far. If people are being harmed…
“By, ah, by…” More static flowed over the screen. Harmony’s image flickered and wavered before it stabilized once more. “I didn’t want to concern you with this, as you don’t currently have the skillset to perform repairs, but there are some malfunctioning doors in the…” she trailed off as Alex shook his head.
“Earlier, we were taken to Vod. You know this, you do have some working cameras. Along the way, we had to take a detour because a doorway was sealed due to us venting atmosphere.”
“Oh void.” Patina gasped, her face growing horrified. “I forgot they said that. Oh no. No no no…”
“Venting atmosphere? Like a hull breach? There is no hull breach.” Harmony said firmly.
“Harmony, I know there are issues in communication right now but if there’s a hull breach or something where everyone’s been asphyxiated - even if I can’t do a damn thing about it - give me a task for it.” Alex requested. “We need to know.”
“There is no hull breach!” Harmony declared, this time more heatedly. “There can’t be a hull breach; We’re in underspace! If there was a hull breach, everyone on the whole train would be dead.”
This brought Alex’s insistence up short. Harmony had spoken with such finality that even Patina believed her; Alex could see it on the goblin’s face.
“What’s undersp- no, never mind that now. Harmony, why is everything sealed?”
The AI didn’t respond. She looked frozen, her eyes unmoving and her lips locked in a rictus. Alex took a breath, and asked again in a more gentle voice.
“Whatever it is and whatever’s going on, Harmony please, give me a task.”
Seconds counted down. Alex counted to six - an eternity for a supercomputer to contemplate anything - and then he got the message in his vision.
>Ad Astra Task List updated.
He opened it immediately, and was sure that Patina did as well. His eyes narrowed at the amount of text provided, and then widened at the barrage of additional notifications he received along with it. Alex shook his head slowly, trying to take it all in.
~
Stay Away
The impossible has occurred. An entropy sink has been simultaneously detected, and hit critical mass within moments of its discovery. Entropic corruption began to spread at such a rapid pace that Ad Astra’s quick-thinking artificial intelligence calculated and took action on how to mitigate as much damage to both vital infrastructure and entity capital as possible.
Do not approach the quarantined area.
Do not attempt entry to the quarantined area.
I mean it, Alex. Stay away. It’s in the name of the task.
Reward: Continued existence.
~
>ENTROPY SINK DETECTED
>ENTROPY SINK BREAK DETECTED
>Syntropy Task List updated
>Emergency Override (Messaging System)
>Incoming Message: Fuck me sideways, Alex! How in the hells did Syntropy not know about this until just now? This is bad - super bad. Like, alarm bells are going off all over the place. This is so bad. -P
>Incoming Message: Okay. You’re gonna need a crash course, like, fast here. You know the basics about Entropy and Syntropy already. An entropy sink is something Syntropy creates to combat larger gatherings of entropic energies and repurpose them. -P
>Incoming Message: The repurposing comes in four flavors - Environmental adaptation, entropic creature propagation, positive behavior reinforcement, and energy transfer. In short, a space is created, it’s filled with entropy-poisoned monsters, you get rewards for killing them, and each kill pushes up you path points. -P
>Incoming Message: The exact opposite of how you want to behave, obviously. Hold on. Gabrielle is shouting at me. -P
What the hell is all this about? Alex tried to keep up, flashing through the messages. As he waited for Peri to respond again, Alex’s Syntropy Task list expanded on its own and displayed itself to him front-and-center where he couldn’t do more than read it.
~
~Syntropy Task~
Remove Entropic Threat
An unregulated entropy sink (colloquially known as a “dungeon”) has been detected. Due to an overproduction of entropic energies the dungeon has broken, allowing its corruption to spread through part of normal reality.
Advancement is stagnated beyond regular protocols. Entities are dying.
Fix this.
~
Fix this? Just…fix this? Fix WHAT? How?? And then, after that, one set of messages just to complicate things further.
>Event #1285 started. Concurrent events: 2
>Event #1285 details are being collated and will be available shortly.
“Uh…” Alex managed, realizing that Patina was shaking him and saying something. He didn’t get to respond before Peri got back to him.
>Incoming Message: Hold tight, Jessica's getting information to add because of your [Interesting Times] upgrade. This will be the last message I can send under the emergency protocols for now so here's the sitch: Syntropy’s tasked you with controlling the dungeon break that shouldn’t have even existed in the first place. Ad Astra’s telling you to keep the hell away from it. On our end we’re being instructed to not interfere one way or another on pain of, well, I won’t go into that. Sorry, Alex. Fight or flight on this one. -Peri
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Useless. This is too much.” Alex groaned, though his [Unflappable] wasn’t inclined to agree. It was a lot, and Alex felt the stress of whatever chaos was going on building up within him, but the moment it touched the part of his soul that held his first soul upgrade he felt the stress break apart into manageable pieces. He let out a breath.
“Okay.” Alex said, the room around him coming back into focus. He looked at Patina. “Did you get any of that?”
“The task to stay away from a dungeon? Void, Alex, I thought dungeons were bedtime stories!” Patina was wild-eyed and shocked. “If there are people trapped in there, we have to get them out!”
“That is impossible.” Harmony interjected, “The area is sealed to stop the spread of the broken entropy sink. It is asserting control over the environment immediately surrounding the sink, and will continue to spread its corruption if I allow egress from the area. I have lost all contact with the cargo bay and surrounding corridors.”
“What about everyone trapped inside?”
“They are gone.”
“You don’t know that!”
“I can extrapolate from the data!” snapped Harmony, her screen turning fuzzy again for a moment before Harmony’s face returned. The colors of the screen were muted and blotchy. “There were few to no combatants in the area that was sealed off. The entropy sink was spewing out corrupted creatures rapidly, and the environmental corruption was spreading at a rate of several feet per second. Anyone trapped inside has only a zero point seven percent chance of survival.”
“That means there’s still some chance!” Patina shouted at the screen. “I know people who lived down there! They were smart! Quick! They could hide! Adjunct, you have to let them out!”
“I cannot open the doors. The entropic corruption would spread.”
“Would…” Alex’s mind spun with the thoughts of the tragedy. It was one thing to theorize that the computer had abandoned almost three thousand lives, but another to hear her actually say it. It made the theory into a reality, and Alex didn’t like the feeling it gave him. “Wouldn’t it be a waste to abandon any still living Ad Astra employees?” he tried. The AI gave him a look.
“My immediate task is to secure the area, and protect those that I could. I have done so.”
“But-” Patina stepped up to Alex. “Back me up here! We have to check at least!”
“Obviously we have to check, “ Alex found himself agreeing, “And get them out if they’re still alive.”
“Yes!” Patina exclaimed.
“No!” Harmony declared.
“Yes!” Alex and Patina said together. Alex reached out a hand to the computer screen even though it couldn’t feel his touch through the plastic and glass. “Look, I don’t get how all this works - entropy, dungeons, monsters, magically changing things, but it doesn’t matter. What I do get is that there’s a time for cold math, and a time for being human.”
“Sorry, “ he added quickly, “Being a person. If there’s anyone - even one person - alive in there, someone has to go in and get them out.”
“Well it’s fortunate for all of us that that’s not your job, Technician Fourth Grade Alex Orz. Do not step outside your role.” Harmony snapped.
“You could offer a task for it.” Alex suggested in a calm voice.
“No.”
“Fine.” Alex sighed. “Then I have no choice.”
“Good. You still have tasks to complete.”
“I’ll do my job.” Alex told the screen.
“Alex!” Patina stared at Alex, betrayal written all over her face. To her surprise, he winked.
“My job is to fix things. I’ve been reminded of that by the Interface. And if a dungeon has broken…well, it sounds like something that I need to repair, right?”
Patina’s eyes widened further, realizing that Alex was indeed going to help. Her fist punched the air, though not very high due to her stature. “Yes!” she exclaimed. “Let’s go!”
“Temporary Employee Alex Orz, I order you to stay away from the quarantine area. Leave it alone.”
“You’re ordering me not to do my job, adjunct?” Alex asked quietly. The computer detected the cold, hard tone of Alex’s voice and quickly began to analyze it. He’d said something that didn’t sound right to her. Dedicating several additional processing units to the strange sensation of disquiet the artificial intelligence felt, a few seconds passed as she rapidly deconstructed the question and closely examined each word outside of its emotional appeal.
“You called me adjunct.” Harmony said. Alex stared at her wordlessly. “You don’t call me adjunct.”
This was true. From the moment Alex had arrived less than a day ago he’d been very good about talking to the artificial intelligence as if she were a regular person. He’d been casual and polite, always addressing her by the more human part of her name - Harmony.
It had been nice, Harmony had to admit when she devoted a few microseconds of runtime to analyzing it, especially as everyone else called her the adjunct, or the artificial intelligence, or the computer. That had been why Alex’s words felt wrong, and the inconveniently programmed emotional part of Adjunct Artificial Intelligence Nine/Harmony, overseer of carriages nine thousand to nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine, demanded to know why.
Not all answers are nice, however.
“Because up until this point, “ Alex said quietly as he put a hand on Patina’s shoulder to reassure the goblin that they would be getting to work very shortly, “I’ve been treating you like a person. Obviously that was a mistake. Patina, come.”
Alex turned and walked out of the room without looking back. His cold words hung in the air for a moment as Patina looked at the computer screen that displayed the AI’s stricken face. “Damn, girl.” she muttered, shaking her head before scurrying after her immediate supervisor.
*
Calculations raced…
Cost/Benefit analysis was examined and then promptly thrown out the metaphorical airlock…
Images of that look he’d given flashed through processing runtime…
Calculations sped up…
Circuitry warmed as it overclocked to find the best path forward…
The sense of wrongness in the world of Adjunct Artificial Intelligence Nine/Harmony was unbearable…
And elsewhere in the carriage, Fabian Vod was surprised to receive a call on a screen he’d been quite sure that he’d locked down from intrusion.
*
By the time Patina caught up with Alex he had to admit that he was a little lost. There was something to be said for making a dramatic exit, but one of those less-said things was that if you didn’t know the way you had to go it sort of lost some of its gravitas. Alex’s map of the carriage was, after all, incomplete.
“This way, boss.” Patina tugged at his pant leg. “Maybe with your weird-ass skills we can get through one of the blast doors.” Alex nodded and allowed Patina to lead.
“What are we going to be walking into, Patina? It sounded like you’ve never been in one of these entropy dungeon sink things before either.”
“Dungeons…” Patina considered the question, and sighed. “Stories. That’s all I have, boss. They’re dangerous, rewarding, confusing, and I’m really freaking out that there’s one on the train. That’s crazy.”
“So we’ll be facing dangers - monsters of some kind - while trying to find and rescue people. Just to remind you, no matter how much of a brave face I put on and how much I want to do this, I’m not good in a fight. You know that already.”
“I’m not exactly pathed for it either, obviously.” The goblin pulled a face, “And a few bilge rats that I might or might not have stretched the truth on exactly how many I’ve beaten aren’t really combat experience either. But we need to see if there’s people that need help, Alex! They can’t all be dead! It’s been less than a day, right?”
“That we know of, yeah. And I agree. Ad Astra might have written them off, and Vod as well if I’m remembering his conversation right, but if there’s a small chance someone in there is still alive we need to do it. Besides, I got a Syntropy task for it.”
“Oh thank the stars, “ Patina let out a nervous chuckle of relief, “That’s good Alex! That’s very good! If Syntropy is tasking you with saving people, then there has to be people to save! How many did it say in the task?”
It didn’t. The task was to fix the entropy sink somehow, not to save people, Alex wanted to say but shook his head instead. It had said one thing that implied there might still be living souls contained within the quarantined area. “It just said ‘People are dying’.”
Patina’s expression grew pained, and then twisted into determination. She nodded.
“It’s something.” Patina looked up at Alex, “Thanks, boss.”
“Sure. It’s the right thing to do.” Alex paused and gave Patina a wry smile, “Probably not the smartest thing to do, according to her.”
“You’re, like, super pissed at her aren’t you?” Patina queried. Alex looked around and saw no working security devices. He sighed.
“No. Not really. Well, a little, but more at myself.” he confessed, “I can’t get angry at a computer program, especially not a damaged one. Still, she acts so much like a person that I’d sort of put aside all the signs to the contrary. Harmony is an amalgamation of instructions and subroutines that I couldn’t even begin to…why are you looking at me like that?”
Patina scowled as she took in Alex’s appearance as if noticing him for the first time. She stood on her tiptoes and touched Alex’s cheek. Flecks of dark, dried blood fell away at her touch.
“When did that happen?” she demanded, taking in his disheveled look. Though Alex’s nose had stopped bleeding he hadn’t cleaned it all away before being disturbed by her knocking earlier.
“Oh. Rough Syntropic synchronization.” he shrugged, trying to downplay the pain. “Well, the end bit where a bunch of computer hardware knowledge was shoehorned into my brain anyway.”
“Ohhhh Alex. A data dump? I had one, once, as a kid. Ouch.” Patina fished in her pouch and pulled out a cloth which she handed to the man. “Spit on that and clean yourself up. I need you in good working order so that we can find a way inside the cargo bay.”
As Alex did so, he felt something shift within him. A second later his Interface pinged.
>Event #1285 - Welcome To The Jungle - In Progress. Information available.
“It’ll be just fine.” Alex smiled suddenly. “There’s always a way forward.”
~
Event #1285 - Welcome To The Jungle
When all the choices are bad, how do you pick? A broken dungeon is no small matter; It will continue to spawn more and more entropic creatures as its energies have no other place to go now that it’s confined within a sealed area. The controlling artificial intelligence saw to that.
Even as she calculated the survival rates based on all forms of measurement she had at the time, Harmony knew she had to make a choice and as such sealed off almost three thousand people whilst establishing a quarantine area to prevent the entire carriage from being overrun with entropy.
What choice would you have made? And what choice will you make now?
Suggestions:
1- Gain allies. Two noncombatants entering the area of a broken dungeon would simply add to the numbers of the dead.
2- Find an entry point. Make it fast, and make it quiet. Entropy will push forward given the time and opportunity to do so.
3- Ascertain the number of survivors and, if possible, rescue them.
4- Repair or destroy the broken dungeon.
Rewards are commensurate on performance:
0% - You’ve likely died, or did not bother with this event.
0.01% - 19.99% - Path points
20% - 49.99% - Path points.
50% - 69.99% - Path points.
70% - 89.99% - Path points, attribute points.
90%+ - Path points, attribute points, generation of customized skill.
POTENTIALLY LEADS TO:
Event #1285-a “Baby’s First Dungeon”
Event #1285-b “The Only Way To Be Sure”
Event #1285-c “RUN”
~
“Just like that, huh?” Patina asked. Alex nodded, slightly distracted by the level of detail the event was giving him.
“Yeah. Just like-”
As they rounded a corner, the pair were pulled up short by a group of people briskly walking toward them. Three of them were recognizable to Alex as Jaek Bruise, Helwud Bruise, and Fabian Vod. The fourth was…Oh dear, Alex’s mind sighed. The joke goes on. Did the team know I would meet one?
Patina and Alex slowed to a stop, with Vod’s group doing the same. None of them looked particularly happy to be there, but Alex suspected it was purposeful. The Bruise brothers took up positions to either side of Vod, and the fourth member of the group deliberately took a side step to be behind them all.
Alex eyed her. Only coming up to his shoulder and covered in short, dark fur, a floppy-eared mouse girl dressed in black leather eyed Alex right back. With that look, Alex felt measured and slotted very easily into the box marked ‘harmless’. He could not say the same for the mouse girl, who radiated more danger than either of the elves she stood behind.
“Fourth Technician Alex Orz, “ Vod drew a breath. He’d been hustling to get here. “Alex. We just now heard about a great tragedy that has befallen my people in the second cargo bay.”
Lies, lies, so many lies. Breathe in the facts, twist them, and breathe them back out.
“Fabian, “ Alex stepped forward, ignoring the twitching eye of his goblin companion as he extended a hand to shake. “Good to see you. I take it you’re heading to the same place we are - to see if there’s anyone we can help.”
Vod nodded expressionlessly, and gripped Alex’s hand in a quick shake of greeting. “Indeed. Though my people have courageous hearts, there are but few who could brave such a catastrophe as a dungeon break.” He tilted his head to his followers. “You know the Bruise brothers. The young lady currently using [Identify] on you is Miss Step - and yes, she chose the name herself. Forgive her, she has a deep well of curiosity within her.”
Miss Step rolled her eyes, but curled her lips up in an almost polite way. “Just Step is fine.”
“We were on our way to gain entrance to the cargo bay and assist whomever we could find. How very fortunate that we met up with you along the way.”
“Yes, serendipitous indeed.” Alex smiled even as Patina scoffed behind him.
“Alex…may we talk?” Vod lowered his voice a little. “Between those with authority.”
“Oh come on!” Patina protested.
“It’s fine, Patina.” Alex assured her. “Converse with your probably-never-gonna-be friends here. Politely.” Alex let Vod take his arm and step away from the group. Everyone looked even unhappier at this, but Alex heard the mouse girl murmur something to Patina seemed vaguely nice in tone at least.
Vod paused for a moment before he looked down into Alex’s eyes. The orc had a good amount of height on him, but right now he wasn’t using it to intimidate. His presence just felt heavy.
“Well?” the orc asked, raising a heavy eyebrow. “I took you aside so you can cast your aspersions. Go ahead.”
“You knew.” Alex replied mildly. “That's not an accusation, just simple truth. You knew that the dungeon existed, and you knew about its break before we even met.”
“Of course. These are my people, Alex. Your point?”
“There is no point.” Alex shook his head. “I just wanted you to know that I knew so that we could stop with the play-acting. You’d already written off everyone in there just like Harmony had. I’m curious as to why you’re here now, truthfully.”
Vod tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment, almost said one thing but shook his head and changed his mind. “The adjunct called me. We made a deal.”
“Harmony called you? When? What sort of deal?”
“The moment you left her, I suspect, and the deal has nothing to do with you. I have questions, and she will answer them. A simple enough agreement and separate from ours which, I will note, the adjunct knows nothing about yet.”
“It’s been a busy day.” Alex confessed.
“Yes, and congratulations on reaching level two. I look forward to your increasing usefulness.”
“So the four of you are coming with us?” Alex steered the conversation back to where it should be. Step one, find allies…
“Not exactly.” Vod told him. “My presence here is to lend a level of production and public optics to the situation. It’s good to be seen doing this, and by your expression now I can see you understand that even if it bothers you. The [Rogue] and the [Bruiser] are here to guard whatever entrance you make, to assure that nothing comes out.”
“So…the mouse girl?”
“Heh. Please call her that whilst I’m still around. I truly wish to see her reaction. And yes, the mousekin will accompany you while you do…whatever it is you believe you’re capable of doing in there.” Vod explained, “She has some very handy skills, and has been advancing upon her path quite steadily.”
“You’ve been using the dungeon to level-up your favorite people.” Alex sighed. “Because of course you have. And I understand why. What skills does she have?”
“I appreciate you not taking umbrage and having an issue with my decisions.” Vod said simply. Alex chuckled darkly.
“I really do have issues with it, but there are more urgent things to focus on. Step’s skills?”
“She can fight, obviously. She can also track and hide. Not particularly normal for our current environment, but useful things in unknown terrain. There’s also the matter of Miss Step being the only person who escaped the quarantined area before it was fully locked down. Well, mostly escaped.”
Vod looked back at the mousekin, and Alex followed his gaze to Step’s tail which had a tight bandage wrapped around its tip.
“Those doors come down fast, Alex.” Vod murmured. “But she was able to bring me the news so that I could adapt my plans. Miss Step knows where, exactly, the dungeon entrance is within the affected area.”
“Okay. I mean, I’d really like all of you to come along, but even one extra pair of hands…are they paws? Sort of…?”
“Let’s rejoin the others, Alex.” Vod suggested. When they returned he spoke louder, interrupting whatever vaguely antagonistic conversation was going on. Helwud and Patina looked disgruntled, with Jaek’s thin lips twisted in amusement and Step’s face carefully blank.
“There is an access tunnel - of sorts - not far from here.” Vod declared, “I believe its integrity is weaker than the blast doors.”
“Oh, you believe that huh?” Patina muttered, “It must be true then.”
“Of course. We made it so.” Vod smiled. “One never knows when one must move outside of the adjunct’s carefully designated areas. You should know that especially, Miss Bloodfiend, considering how much of the carriage you’ve crawled about in.”
Of course, Alex nodded to himself, He’s making it harder for Harmony to lock him down in case of an emergency.
“Lead the way.” he said aloud.
“But Alex…” the little goblin whined.
“We want to save whoever’s in there, right?” Alex pressed. Patina capitulated, and Jaek’s smirk made her clench her fists tightly when she saw it out of the corner of her large eyes. That elf seemed particularly amused by making Patina irate. Alex let it go. He’d seen the genuine emotion on the goblin’s face when she was pleading to help, and an irritating distraction before things went bad was fine.
Alex didn’t have much more time to think after that. A few turns and corridors later, including one that had malfunctioning lighting that flickered strobe-like and caused unsettling shadows on the molded plastic and metal walls, and the group stopped inside a small office room much like any other above decks.
Entry to the room had been somewhat distressing to Alex’s job list - Jaek and Helwud had each grabbed half of the sliding panels of the door and wrenched them out of place. Metal buckled and groaned, but entry was granted pretty much permanently. Lucky Harmony couldn’t see that.
With a gesture from Vod the Bruise brothers quickly started to make steps against one wall - the desk and some metal crates that had been stored in the room were dragged into place, all leading up to a worryingly narrow ventilation grill near the ceiling. The panel looked warped and scratched, but apparently had been accessed before because Jaek took it off easily.
“Crawl through there, and after a slight downward slope you should come out in another room that is in the lower decks.” Vod explained, adding “It should be close to the edge of the affected area, depending on how fast and far the entropic energies have spread.”
“That's going to be a tight fit for me.” Alex sighed.
“Indeed.” Vod replied, completely unsympathetic. “Once inside, seal the panel back in place with whatever skills you can utilize. These two will stay here and make sure nothing tries to break through.”
“Including us, if we seal it.” Alex pointed out.
“If you succeed, the lockdown can be lifted. If you fail, then it won’t matter to you either way.” Vod said. Alex had to concede that point.
“I have no plan to die today,” he said. “Then again I really didn’t have any of this planned either, so…YOLO, I guess.”
Vod tilted his head. “Yo-low?”
“Oh, uh, YOLO. An acronym - You Only Live Once.”
“Interestingly inaccurate. Still, I can understand the sentiment.”
Step was the first one to ascend, and when she reached the opening she quickly slipped inside, Her bandaged tail flicked and swished after her. Patina frowned at the opening, and sighed. She clambered up awkwardly and peered into the shaft.
“Go, “ Vod urged her. Patina craned her neck to give the orc a glare, and Vod rolled his eyes. “Yes, Bloodfiend, I know you don’t work under my authority any more, nor does following this suggestion mean you agree with any of my methods or actions. Now go and be the hero your little heart wants you to be.”
Patina snarled something under her breath as Vod gave her a ‘shoo’ gesture. She scrambled into the ventilation shaft and, with far more noise than was necessary, disappeared. Alex shook his head.
“She really doesn’t like you, does she?”
“True, “ Vod gave Alex a genuine smile. “But once you find the right motivational buttons to press, it’s very easy to redirect her anger at the universe in general - and at me. Time is short, Mister Orz.”
Alex awkwardly climbed up to the vent, and wrinkled his nose at the faint smell of compost that wafted from it. The shaft was dark, and he couldn’t make out Step or Patina at all.
He had to go in feet-first, in order to be able to affix the vent back in place. It was awkward, but with the surprisingly gentle help of Helwud he managed to get inside without too many issues. Helwud forced the vent into position with a heavy clang, and darkness flowed around Alex as all light was extinguished.
Oh yeah, Alex, totally YOLO. Whee, Alex sighed, and reached for his duct tape.