Chương 4: Aftermath

Ch. 4 - Aftermath I peeled my eyes open to the carnage before me. But my inventory bot was hard at work, clearing up everything. And I do mean everything that I had killed. My mech's energy reserves were done, it was just a really big paperweight now. There was no real way to recharge them in the Dungeon. Phil's mech wasn't moving but he'd be fine, physically. He hadn't said anything for a long time, though.

"Hey newbie," he said.

"It's going to be a long walk, but head to the room at the end of the hall, just past the pillars. And take your helmet just in case."

"Why?" I asked. He ignored my question.

"Help will be here soon to get us out of here. So get in there and grab whatever is in there and then we'll get home. There might even be a mech in there. I need a moment. A long moment."

"Alright. Yes, sir," was all I could say. The descent rope was gone the second the armor was sheared off, so I had to climb down. Each step was slippery. Luckily, there were so many holes in the gatherer that it let me climb down. As I climbed down, I couldn't help but feel pity for Phil. I had just met Jacob and Eric, and they seemed to like each other. They didn't know me and I didn't know them, but they helped as best they could. I felt awful that I didn't feel worse.

I found my helmet cracked and useless, so I left it. When I reached the ground, the purple blood that had sprayed onto my shirt had eaten at the fibers but stopped to only what was purple. A sigh of relief left my lips that it didn't land on my face or any of my skin. The ground was clear of blood, a quirk of the Dungeon to avoid tampering. Some of the first Delvers had tried to dig further down but there is a limit to how far they can go before they hit something impenetrable.

Can't study it because you can't bring it with you because you can't chip it, cut it, or blow a chunk of it. The trek was indeed long and I had to avoid sharp objects on my way. It must have been a ten mile jaunt. In that entire time, Phil had spent the majority of his time recovering the pieces of Eric's mech. He waited until I reached the end the of the hall before approaching Jacob's mech. The area itself was weird. It had pillars that had carved faces of things I had never seen.

One was human so it had to be the faces of other species out there in the universe. The area itself was like an empty temple, with the end of the hall having the decoration. The walls themselves were built of stone or something like it. And the door that Phil was talking about, was as high as the ceiling. For reference, I couldn't see the ceiling. How on earth did Phil expect me to open this thing? I put a hand on it and gave it a gentle push. It nudged and my eyes went wide in surprise.

The door itself had to be stone as well, yet was lighter than a feather in zero gravity. I pushed forward and the lights in the room erupted one by one. They flashed brighter than my eyes could handle and I had to cover them. They adjusted slowly and my eyes went wide. It was a choice... but not really. A sound came through from seemingly nowhere. Like speakers or from above. I didn't know. No personality to the voice other than an amorphous robotic sound.

"No registered Armor Frame detected. Treasure Room will recalculate appropriate prize." I struggled to remember what a treasure room was supposed to be like. It had to be from one of the classes I fell asleep during. But judging from how the prizes were aligned, they were meant to be accepted outside a mech. The repair hangar to my left was probably a prize in and of itself.

"Calculations complete. Please select two prizes from the prize pool." A shimmer from a glass cell turned the opaque glass, transparent. There were a total of 5 glass prizes and I didn't know where to start. I checked each them one at a time. Each cage had an information panel with an " ACCEPT" button. Inside each cage was an inventory disk that illuminated a blue led strip. Useless until absorbed by the inventory bot. My mind went to the first scan. When I first arrived flew in.

Like I was being spoken to all over again.

[Lvl 3 GRAPPLE HOOK][TRAVERSAL][CAP: 17] [COMPATIBLE FRAMES: FLEX] [VALUE: UNKNOWN] WARNING: NO REGISTERED FRAMES DETECTED FOR AUTO INSTALL [ACCEPT] The second cage: [1, 000, 000 CREDITS][CURRENCY][RANK: N/A] [ONE TIME DISBURSEMENT] [VALUE: 1M CREDITS] INFO: USABLE AT NPC SHOPS FOR TRADE [ACCEPT] The third cage: [COMPANION][RANK X] [DNA LOCK] [VALUE: INDETERMINATE] WARNING: NO REGISTERED FRAMES DETECTED FOR HOUSING WARNING: CANNOT BE PLACED INTO INVENTORY [ACCEPT] The fourth cage: [LVL 0 FRAME][WALKER][RANK F] The narrative has been taken without permission.

Report any sightings. [DNA LOCK] INFO: MAXIMUM FUTURE CUSTOMIZATION AVAILABLE WARNING: CANNOT BE PLACED INTO INVENTORY [ACCEPT] The fifth cage: [LVL 15 FRAME][BEAST][RANK E] [DNA LOCK] INFO: MINIMAL FUTURE CUSTOMIZATION AVAILABLE INFO: FULLY EQUIPPED WITH LVL 1 SKILLS AND WEAPONS WARNING: CANNOT BE PLACED INTO INVENTORY [ACCEPT] There was a rule. Well, not really a rule, but a suggestion. It seemed so dumb but there was a reason it was suggested.

I pressed the accept button on the third cage causing the glass to glimmer and vanish. The disk LED spun with anticipation, disappearing at the lightest touch in a pop of light. I had seen companions and the academy was pretty adamant about what to do if you ever get the option. Something about a one in a thousand chance to pull one. And if you ever do, take it no matter what. They added a function to the inventory bots, a hidden subroutine that gave them personality and intelligence.

In essence, the Dungeon AI gave them sentience. But as a prize it was extremely rare. And as a drop, forget about it. So I didn't really have a choice in what to pick. The inventory bot came screaming at me. No, literally screaming like it was on fire. It crashed into my chest sending me flying onto my back. I cradled it on my chest while catching my breath.

"Holy smokes," said the inventory bot. There were no speakers, but the voice clearly came from it like a radio tuner adjusting its frequency with different pitches. Like it was settling on how it wanted to sound like. It shook in my hands until it floated up to eye level. It was about the size of my upper torso.

"You would think sentience wouldn't be so warm. My internals are screaming red in heat. Oh, hi! You must be my partner. I am Autonomous Inventory Companion 198-7462-7564. I serve many functions, including as your HUD while you are away from your Frame... Say, where is your Frame?"

"I don't have one," I said.

"I came in a Gatherer standard model."

"Interesting choice!" the bot settled on a friendly male voice that was slightly higher pitched than you'd expect.

"It's a mathematical wonder you're alive. Congratulations!" Fanfare played from the bot and on its... face? We'll call it its face. It changed the solid gray metal sheen into a screen like projection of a big thumbs up.

"I see you have one more prize to choose from. Say, what is your name so that I might register it into my databanks?"

"Stefano. Do you want my last name too?"

"Noo!" There was an unexpected glee to their remark.

"That is unnecessary! Becoming attached too soon is considered clingy. My job is to keep you alive and thriving. But it is not possible without a locally sourced, all natural, Cradle Frame!"

"So I should pick the 'E' rank one. I'm not a fan of the Beast mech, but the advtange it brings is clear. Even though a Walker Frame would be more comfortable." The inventory bot looked like he was analyzing the scenario before it responded.

"That is ill advisable. While you are free to make terrible decisions, Stefano, if you wish to venture into the deep floors, then you shouldn't pick a mech that is already tailored to a particular fighting style. While weaker, it offers the most customization options, ensuring it is made to your particular brand of piloting. I will now resize myself to allow for easier communications." The metal before me wobbled its shape like it was being molded from unseen hands.

It stretched and contracted until it was as small as an extended to about the size of an earring. A metal gleam from the stud shined like it bounced all light, just hovering in the air. It slammed itself onto my ear and clipped itself. The pain and blood were almost in sync as it almost felt like it was drilling into my ear lobe.

"Ah!" I yelped, reaching for my burning hot and bloody ear. Blue light seemed to shine before me like a projection that followed wherever my head was pointing. There were menus that went in and out at a thought but it didn't overcome my field of vision. When I pulled the map, it was entirely grayed out. The semi-opaque nature of the menus made it possible to see through it. Also, my ear was screaming from pain.

"There we go. It's cozy in here," said the inventory bot from practically inside my head.

"I am restricting Treasure Caches until we reach the safe zone on the third floor. It can be... overwhelming." My eyebrow raised in confusion.

"What's that? Treasure Caches?"

"Caches are earned by receiving achievements, completing quests and exploration. You are currently in a treasure room, which gives you a choice outside of the interface. Currently there are approximately 23, 000 registered Participants that have a direct connection to the AI interface. You are one of them. Congrats!"

"You still haven't told me what it is, but alright. Is it bad?"

"No! All loot is good and is transferred directly to me when found in a prize box." I shrugged. I didn't know enough to fight against the lingering voice of doubt in my head. But I also knew I had to get out of here and it wasn't going to be doing nothing. I followed the recommendation of the Academy and I got a Guide... sort of. Everything else came second. The E-rank Beast mech was staring me in the face. It would make the top floors easy. But I was stuck with a Beast mech.

That bothered me because mom always said, "If it's too good to be true. It usually is." It was so dumb to pass this up. If I stayed in the upper, heck even the middle floors, I'd be able to make a decent living. There was no way I'd ever be good enough for the deep floors and even still the furthest anyone had ever gotten was floor 15. I took a breath and just as I was about to press the button on the Beast, the message from earlier replayed in my head. Did I hallucinate that?

It played so quickly that I almost didn't register it. I shouldn't have registered it. But I did. I closed my eyes in frustration, trying to remember what I saw.

"You are struggling with this decision, Stefano."

"Yeah. Mostly because a million credits would be life changing. It's not a 'retirement forever' amount, but it's enough that my mom wouldn't have to work for a while. And I could move her to Z-Block..." I trailed off because I knew the right answer. I walked to the screen and pressed the accept button on the Walker. The inventory bot was right. Starting at level 15 would've been like a gift, but it could've been a bunch of attachments that capped early because the initial level was so high.

It was why it was recommended to go with a balanced squad. Some higher levels early to get through the early floors easier and to deal with bosses. It's why I was paired with squad 1. But now I only had Phil. The repair drones came to life as I pondered how my Delving career would turn out if I had Jacob or Eric to guide me and help me raise my level. Each drone zoomed to the hangar bay near the entrance and went to work printing my new unit.

It was creating metal from nothing, following a predetermined mesh that it traced. The green lights seemed to dance as they were filled with whatever dark-matter, nanomachine filament magic the Dungeon used to create infinite resources. The prevailing question was, why? The theories in school made my head hurt, so I mostly ignored them. Phil walked into the room before I could spiral into universal philosophy. He looked haggard and tired. His mech was left outside the treasure room.

His hair was combed slick back before he got into the mech earlier, now it was shaggy and all over the place. His bloodshot eyes weren't red from irritation as he walked closer into the room. His dark skin was pale in the artificial lighting.

"Hey rook," he said.

"Your frame is printing. That's good. Once we get to the third floor. I think I'll stay there."

"What?" I asked.

"Yeah. I think I'll become an adviser. I can't do it... this anymore. This is the second squad I've lost. The second family. And no offense, you weren't family. So I'll just ride out the solar year." He paused and pulled the flask that Eric was drinking from to take a swig.

"Now I know why he drank so much... There was no help coming. We were in a pretty remote section of the second floor. You know how portals send you to random places, this place was the most random. My Tank has enough juice now to get to the third floor. So as soon as your frame is done, that's where we're going."

"Are you sure? That means squad 1 will be just me..."

"Sorry for your luck, kid. But I'm done. Besides, I've seen you pilot." He pointed to the repair bay, printing a fresh mech.

"In one of those you'll probably be one of the best. But it'll be a grind." He stopped and stared at the engraving on the flask.

"Eric was a gambler, an idiot and terse. Jacob always had bad luck, and acted like everything was fine. They both would've wanted me to help you. So when I become an adviser... it's the best I can do for you. I'm sorry." The will to fight in his eyes was gone. It happened before and I saw it often in mom's clinic. Some chose to stay in the safe zones and take in a squad, while others went back to the colony and advised there, becoming teachers in the academy.

Being a Delver was a revolving door with a crap load of turnover if there ever was one. A steady but meager income in which experience Delving was mandatory. Not including the risks involved.

"Stefano," said the bot yet to be named.

"Your Frame is ready."

"Wow," said Phil, eying the new stud on my ear by following the voice.

"You got a Companion. You have the opposite of what Jacob had." He turned to walk to his mech, gulping the final drops from the flask.

"But it runs out, eventually."