Chương 77: Human Firmware

Day 9 The trip wasn't as bad as the last one. I didn't suddenly start flying away. Instead I kept my eyes closed throughout most of it and had inflicted a couple of bleeding wounds on Jamie, as my talons dug deeper and deeper into his shoulder. I didn't realize we were out again until I noticed the sun warming my feathers and the lack of motion.

"You did it, Eve," Jamie said. I opened my eyes. We were back outside. The same exit we'd come through last time I was in the tunnels. I was shaking pretty badly.

"Sorry for fucking up your shirt."

"Don't sweat it." I jumped off his shoulder and canceled out of the crow shape. I had tons of places to be, but first I'd stick with them until they were in the tower. Looking down at my hands, I noticed only the human hand was shaking. I shook my head.

"Let's get going." As we approached Mammon Tower, we began seeing signs, literally, of the former Mammon-touched kobolds' initiative. Signs with crudely painted text on them and very mixed signaling.

'Stay Out''No Loot!'

'UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE SIN SLAYER''No More Dragon! Just Dragon-Slayer!'

'We Are Peaceful'"They aren't exactly well-versed in diplomacy, are they?" Stephen asked.

"Feel free to give them some pointers. I'm just glad they already thought of this. Means they are serious about not messing with people." As we got closer, I noticed a small group of them. At least one was standing outside a building, while others were working inside. But the moment the lookout spotted us, he gave a signal, and they all scrambled to return to the tower. If it hadn't been for my enhanced senses, I doubted I would have even noticed them.

"Huh," I said.

"What's up?" Jamie asked.

"I think I left them with insufficient supplies. I allowed them to freely move in only a couple of levels of the tower, and that might not be enough to supply them with what they need. No wonder they dislike the Mall Kobolds. Those are set for a long, long time."

"Why restrict them?" Ash asked.

"Mostly as a boundary thing. I don't do well sharing spaces with others. And if those are people who were created with the sole purpose of being killed by us as they try to kill us, that complicates the relationship a bit. I'll need to sit down and talk with them." When the tower finally came into view, I realized another mistake with granting them those floors. We saw the final kobolds who'd been looting outside getting pulled into the tower, on ropes, all the way up to at least the fourth floor.

Because, obviously, they couldn't enter through the ground floor. Now that they had free rein over their own security, they'd have trapped that area to hell and back. Behind the last kobolds, heavy metal plates slid into place where they had removed the reinforced windows of the tower.

"Do you want to brave the murder trap dungeon or find a way to climb up there?" I asked as we approached the building.

"I could get in and open up for you."

"Can't you tell them to open up?" Jamie asked.

"I am not exactly sure. They definitely would, but there appears to be a certain respect thing with kobolds and outsiders. I think they respect you less if you can't make your own way through to them, you know?" Liz walked up next to me and eyed that metal barrier.

"But intimidation is fine?"

"Yeah, I think scaring them works." Throughout our discussion, I could hear the kobolds whispering inside. They were already terrified because they locked me out, and I'd totally retaliate against them. But it was probably still for the best if the others also made a good first impression.

"Leave it to me then," Liz said. She pulled a set of four metal handles out of her inventory, like dumbbells without the weights. They floated in the air in front of her and served as a floating ladder. Whenever she moved her foot or hand off one, it'd float up to a higher spot. That trick was new. My mind started working through all the combat applications.

"How much can those carry?"

"When I'm fully armored up, it takes three to carry my weight," Jamie said.

"Just two, and I crash down pretty fast."

"But she can't lift herself up directly?"

"Nope," Ash said.

"No bootstrapping. She can't move them while under load. At least at this point. And other living things only at limited capacity." Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Huh," I said. I remembered the boost she'd given me on that first flight attempt. Obviously it would be too good if she could fling two hundred pounds of demons around like that. When she reached the top, she used one of the handles to bang against the metal sheet. After some screaming and scrambling, one brave kobold responded.

"What?"

"Open this thing at once, or I will huff and I will puff and I will flatten some of you with this metal plate," Liz replied. Seconds later bolts were shifted and the metal plate was moved aside. Liz went inside, collected her handles out of the air, took one of the ropes the kobolds had used, and lowered it for us. Beyond the opening, a couple of kobolds were waiting for us, notably a female one with a clipboard.

There was half a second in which she gauged my reaction to what they'd done, and when she noticed I wasn't furious, she immediately switched to sass—she rolled her eyes at me.

"We couldn't possibly have known you'd bring people who couldn't just fly like you," she said.

"Or who'd be hindered by a couple of traps." I took a deep breath. Letting them know they could get sassy with me was actually a benefit. I would rather not command them, and this aided that effort.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Me? I'm Leilah." That was different from the Mall Kobolds.

"Okay, Leilah. Are you in charge right now?"

"In charge? No. We don't have anyone who is 'in charge.'" Smart as she was, she didn't even try to sell the lie to me. She was as much not in charge as I was not in charge. Not in charge but also not challenged. The scavengers I had seen outside had all been male. And here the one in charge was a caster. In the mall the males had been deferential to the Wise, too. A couple of days, and that'd be the entire class structure of this tribe.

"I noticed that you are sending scavenging parties out there without a caster to assist them. It is not my business, but I highly encourage you to discuss changing that with the other casters. Would be a shame if your guys missed something valuable because they lacked the guidance of someone smarter than them, wouldn't it?" At that glare she gave me, I had to make sure to check my health bar for damage. It certainly was a glare with lethal intent.

"Yes, Miss, you might be right about that. Anything else I can assist you with at this moment?"

"Yes. Give me two of your smartest guards, they'll accompany us into the higher levels. They can claim anything you need down here for your people. Besides that, an update on the liaison with the other kobolds?"

"Talks are underway. There will be no further conflict, rest assured."

"Good, I will go there later. I have my own issues to discuss with them." She pointed out two nearby guards, most likely just the unlucky bastards who were chosen to get rid of me as soon as possible.

"You two. Accompany the Lady of the Tower and her companions." They both saluted.

"Yes, mistress," said the first, before his colleague elbowed him.

"Yes, ma'am!" After that, we made our way into the depths of the tower, with the two kobolds close behind us.

"You can claim just about anything for your people. I call dibs on the first current-gen console we find, relics of human culture and human-sized weapons." They both looked like they just learned Santa was real, and he looked like a half-infernal human woman. Next I pulled out the Master's Key and handed it over to Stephen.

"This should open every door in here for you. I will leave you in charge of getting the most out of this place for today. There are some other things I need to take care of while you are at it."

"Do you… have your own room somewhere? Anything that's off-limits?"

"Nope, I spent barely an hour in here being awake. I'll find some place. Take note if you find something really comfy that doesn't reek of billionaire." We all piled into the elevator, and I pressed the button for one of the top floors, the entrance to Mammon's former hoard. I put a hand on Ash's shoulder.

"Mammon's hoard. I've seen some books in there. Might be interesting to you." That added another happy Christmas boy to the list.

"Oh? Anything technical?"

"I have no idea. But you are our archivist, aren't you? Maybe some remnants of our soon-to-be-lost culture ain't too shabby either?" Ash nodded eagerly.

"Do you remember any of them?"

"Just a print of Prometheus Lucy recited yesterday."

"And one warning to all of you. Don't get greedy. This place wants you to." I looked at the kobolds.

"This goes for you as much as my friends. Keep each other in check. If you get too greedy, they hold the key, and they can kick you out again." The kobolds nodded.

"Yes, mistress." I facepalmed. This was enough organizing for ten minutes. I pulled out a gnoll heart and began chewing it up in the middle of the crowded elevator. I left the elevator as a furry extra on a Mad Max set. Scavenged metal pieces as 'armor,' with far too insufficient coverage to count as armor. But, oddly enough, it came with enough attitude that I didn't mind. It was also acutely aware of all the various scents that made up all the people who had been with me in the elevator.

All of which was by far not as interesting as the reward I had gotten. I had been right. Ten humanoid shapes came with a Task Reward. [Alter Self (Spell) Duration: 60 Minutes Cost: 2 Mana Modify the appearance of your current humanoid shape without changing its underlying attributes. May alter apparent species, sex characteristics, gender presentation, age range, coloration, hair, body proportions, non-magical clothing, and other superficial features. Note: Caster needs to envision the new shape while casting. Level of detail and mimicry depends on spell level. Does not count as shapeshifting. Requires humanoid shape.] This was kind of awesome. It didn't even come with a cooldown, and it was extremely cheap. While the others explored the hoard in awe, I stayed behind. I envisioned my kobold self, suit and all, but tried to think of the white and black suit the Blessing had granted me and activated the spell. I shrank down. My stats remained the same.

It didn't grant me the Magical Missile spell and still firmly felt like the gnoll. The senses remained those of the gnoll, too. I tried elf next. That, too, worked the same way. When I was certain no one was watching, I rubbed an ear between my fingers. Yeah, those ears were sensitive. Probably the gnolls had been, too, now that I thought about it. Running gnoll hardware in an elf casing with a gnoll operating system on human firmware. A truly unique and somewhat distracting experience.

I wished I had planned the dinner another day so I could have that date with Sarah today. I removed the kobold shape from the collar and slotted in the gnoll instead—even though I somewhat suspected it was partially responsible for my heightened desire to be with Sarah right now. That shape was hungry.

"Hey, look!" I announced.

"New spell! I can change looks!"

"Isn't that your entire class identity?" Liz asked. She was inspecting a case of swords.

"This one is different. I still have to figure it all out. I'll leave you all to it now. Remember: no greed!" Before I left, I sought out Stephen. He had what I needed. A big pot of lentil soup.