Chương 23: Ch. 21 - Phil's Place

I woke up first after Caddie woke me up. Living on a floating ship in space, there was no real day or night cycle. When mom was on shift, it was her morning, but it was someone's night time. There was a central time, just to keep order, but for the most part, it was just numbers that ticked ever forward. After a while, you get used to it, and sleep is measured in hours. My room was so spacious I thought it was a mistake. It was large, larger than any room in even Z-Block.

The bed sat in the center of the room, double the size of the one I had, so comfortable that the one in my room might as well had been sleeping on a stone slab. The room itself had an old feeling to it. But something felt so advance, so magic, it was like I stepped into a different world. A single rune on the ceiling, lit up as I exited the bed. The wooden flooring creaked as I stepped to the magic shower. And when I stepped out, my jumpsuit was freshly laundered with a sweet floral scent.

Heck, the fabric they gave me for my stay swaddled me in warmth when I felt cold and the opposite when I was warm. I almost didn't want to leave. But I had a stop to make. These clothes also wouldn't work outside the room.

"Did you hibernate well?" asked Caddie.

"It's really weird when you talk to me while I'm putting on clothes," I said.

"But, yes. I did. Probably the best sleep I've had. Ever." It wasn't a lie. All the things that stressed me, melted away when my head touched the pillow. They didn't go away, they were there now. But for that moment, nothing else mattered. It made me wonder if mom could use a day like this.

"Understandable," said Caddie.

"Human bodies appear frail and spongy."

"I…I guess." I zipped up my jumpsuit and made my way downstairs. Strentor was behind the counter, brimming a wide smile as I walked up to him.

"Good morning, Stefano Pilot. How might I be of assistance?" He asked. He put a hand on his chest and gave a slight bow.

"I want to talk to my adviser. Is there a doorway nearby?" He nodded again and gestured to a passageway behind the stairs. If he hadn't pointed it out, I'd have never known there was something there. The door was well hidden and made of a fine wood. It looked much the same as the one Phil had last shown me. I took a deep breath and pushed open the door. It was like stepping through a blank canvas. Everything in the background was bleach white. An almost suffocating emptiness that stretched forever.

It was bright and muted. Like an incomplete world. Yet it's what made Phil's home stand out all the more. The lawn was so lush it was like it was pulled from the second floor. The single story home was crafted with a sense of love and care. Each wooden piece that lined it's outer walls was made of an other wordly lumber that gleamed a soft radiance. The path naturally led the eye to the stoop, holding a small swing at the end. The air smelled fresh. Non-recycled. Non-artificial.

Despite the void in the periphery, this place was homely. It was a look at what Phil would've wanted if we had a planet. A mist of moisture descended atop the greenery, watering the scattered flowers on the lawn. My steps crunched on the sand that cut through the center. The wood creaked at each step of the stoop. Creak. Creak. Creak. I knocked on the door, feeling a gentle breeze that seemed to come from nowhere. A moment later, the door opened and Phil answered with a sad smile.

A gold snout, full of fur poked from underneath his leg and through the crack on the door. It barked once before it was pulled back, letting Phil fully pull the handle.

"Hey kid," he said.

"Come in." He stepped out of the way, letting me enter. The inside smelled like fire and earth. The fireplace crackled with the wood burning inside. Two couches sat in the middle of the room, facing each other.

"Hey, Phil!" I said.

"I like your place."

"It took a long time to get it the way I wanted," he said. He closed the door and took a seat on the couch across from me. The gold furred dog, sniffed at my leg before jumping onto the couch with Phil, laying its head on his lap.

"What's its name?" I asked.

"Malcom," said Phil.

"It was the name Sabrina named our virtual pet back home. Actual pets are better." He pet Malcom who got even more comfortable.

"I'm glad you waited until after the reset."

"Yeah…About that," said Stefano. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"We ventured before the reset because Stefano was trying to aid his mother. We managed to escape via extraction with 0. 5 seconds left before the radiation burst," said Caddie. Phil didn't say anything for a moment. Taking in the sheer stupidity of what I had done. I should've listened. I wasn't able to help my mom. Got a massive amount of debt. And all for some levels.

"I'm glad you're okay," said Phil.

"So then what brings you to me?"

"I wanted to see the place. You told me to come next time," I said.

"Yeah. I just thought you wouldn't. You have that thing," he pointed to my ear. Caddie left my ear and hovered in the air, reforming into it's basketball sized shape.

"I can answer that," said Caddie.

"It's because there are questions I'm not at liberty to answer. I see that although I am more useful in every conceivable notion." Phil didn't interrupt. He just raised an eyebrow.

"I concede that my limitations are hardwired while yours aren't. More a bandwidth or recall issue for you, as opposed to me being unable to answer." Phil shrugged.

"Makes sense," he said.

"Alright. I'll do my best to answer."

"I guess, the important one. I heard that a squad is skipping floors. How?" He rubbed his chin as he pondered an answer.

"I only know what I've heard. Skipping floors is a subroutine in the mechs. But it's tied to an pilot augmentation too. It needs both from what I've heard. I never experienced it."

"But how do you get it?" He leaned back on his chair, Malcolm snoring just a bit louder than the crackle of the fireplace.

"You have to find a hidden settlement." He leaned in, putting a hand on his knee.

"It's not worth it. At best, and I mean this honestly, you'll waste your time. Once a squad is INVITED in, they are the only ones allowed entry. They transcend floors. They are like safe rooms but for the entire population living in there. It's not worth your time. Plus, no one knows how this latest reset is going to mess everything up."

"About that…"

"Are you serious…" Phil pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out an exasperated sigh. He didn't look up when he spoke.

"Please enlighten me."

"Caddie here mentioned something about a dungeon break. I don't know what that means, but it has to do with the Gatherer units I found on the first floor."

"Gatherer units?" He looked up, confusion painted on his face.

"You found another squad?"

"No. The dungeon made them. Look, I know how that sounds. But I had to fight them. So I know what I'm talking about. There was no one in the cockpit but I swear I heard breathing."

"No," said Phil.

"You're wrong. That would imply that Gatherer units were re-created and sent to the first floor."

"I know what I fought. They weren't normal. And I don't know what a dungeon break is. Caddie won't tell me because he can't, so I was hoping you had an idea," I said. My arms were waving with each word. I had to catch myself.

"I haven't heard of that. But it doesn't sound good." He got up, agitating Malcolm who curled next to the fireplace. Phil walked towards his kitchen and grabbed a tablet, bringing it back to the living room.

"I'll ask around. I have some things I can do now that I'm an adviser. But that's all I can promise."

"Thanks," I said.

"Then there's the second thing I need help with."

"Well, considering you left alone before a reset, I'm assuming you're in debt and can't head back home until you have enough credits because then you're grounded?"

"How did you know?"

"I've seen it before. Better pilots than you were made pawns of the elite. Made to do whatever the owner of their debt wanted. Indentured servants."

"I'd like to avoid that." A ping on his tablet lit up the screen on his tablet. He grabbed it from the coffee table and tapped the screen.

"Well, I have good news and bad news," said Phil.

"What's the bad news?" I asked. Caddie interjected.

"Why did you want to hear the bad news first? I had projected a lower set of odds that you would pick that," said Caddie.

"So I can listen to the good news so the bad news doesn't sting so bad," I said.

"I don't understand," said Caddie.

"There is no empirical basis for your decision or reasoning."

"Its just what I like. Not everything has to make sense. You know, chaos theory."

"You are completely incorrect. Chaos Theory is not chaos. It makes sense. Am I malfunctioning? Did you just divide by zero? I need a moment." Clearing his throat, Phil said, "Bad news. No one has seen what you've seen. Only you've seen the Gatherer units or any mention of dungeon break." A hint of rage brewed in my gut. Whatever it was, the fact that I alone saw it, meant I wouldn't be believed. And much less Luna who was still on her first delve. But as quick as the rage filled my stomach, it left with a breath.

"What's the good news?"

"I know what the reset changed." He tossed the tablet back onto the coffee table.

"We might be able to pay off your debt." I perked up. He just told me the single best piece of news I could've had.

"How?!" I jumped to my feet. Malcolm raised his head at my outburst. I went down to a knee and pet his head.

"Sorry, Malcom. Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's not easy, but you and your squadmate have to take a quest."

"The Academy says not to take one until you have at least a D rank mech."

"Yeah. But this is the real world and those are suggestions. Kind of like what I'm doing now," Phil flashed a smirk so fast it may as well had been a lightning strike.

"It won't be easy, but see if you can find one wherever you are. They also tell you not to because you're way less likely to find one."

"Alright, what for?" I plopped back down on the chair, my head spinning at what awaited me. Not only did I have to race against others trying to find quests. They were also low risk, high reward for D rank mechs. So if they could do a quest on the third floor, it meant more equipment and an easier time in the fourth through sixth floor.

"The reset changed how the floors operate. You can go back now. Travel between each floor." I raised an eyebrow. That really was a game changer.

"But, you need to accept a quest to do it. Do you know how it works?"

"Kind of. I can stumble into one or accept one. Since I have Caddie, I can stumble onto one. Otherwise I'd have to physically accept one from an NPC."

"Yeah. So when you do, your bot will send you a notification and you accept it that way. Your squad will be pulled into it." I got to my feet as he took a breath.

"I'm assuming others know about this?" He nodded with a smile. He knew what I was doing.

"Then," I said.

"I'd better head out before everyone else beats me to it." Caddie slammed onto his tablet as if anticipating what I wanted.

"I'll keep in touch!" I ran outside and sprinted to wake Luna.