Dungeon 42

Opening Communications

Chp 81

There was a flicker, a pause of absolute darkness, and the impression of people speaking—no nightmare visions, no pain. What I felt was almost mundane, and then nothing. I was sitting in my chamber with a vague feeling of something having happened but no idea what.

I wasn't sure what I expected, a personality index, a Voight-Kampff test, maybe a brief Eldritch horror episode. The knowledge that something had happened but that I had no idea what was new and disturbing in its own right. Still, I suppose it didn't ultimately matter.

Beside me, Henry gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. Time was moving again. That made me feel a little better, and I started taking stock of my interface.

Thankfully my mana had refreshed. Unfortunately, nothing else had changed. My store was still unusable.

Overall I felt underwhelmed and a little scared by everything that had happened. I'd come to expect that prompts meant something fairly serious was going to happen. Yet even when I checked my alignment, I found the same odd runes.

Looking at them, I didn't feel pain or disorientation. I was starting to suspect they were an error text or a placeholder.

"Well, my mana refreshed. So that's something," I said, then sighed. It looked like I was in for another day of deconstructing items, which suited me fine. Now that I had a reason to think things would improve, it wasn't a situation that filled me with anxiety.

"Good… H-How are y-you feeling?" Henry asked. He'd scooted closer now that we were alone again.

"Better now," I said honestly. I rested my head on his shoulder. It probably would have hurt if I had normal sensation levels. He was literally just bone. Instead, with my limited tactile sense, I just found it comforting.

"Feel up to a walk? I kind of want to get the hang of my wobbly baby deer legs," I said. I felt an urge to do something other than being a lump. Resting for a full day hadn't made me feel better. It was time to try something else.

"As you wish," Henry said, standing up. He helped me to my feet which wasn't a quick process. I could form and hold legs without an issue but getting them to work was a different matter. They were kind of bendy and elastic if I didn't focus, more like a split version of my tail. Not an ideal support system.

Henry was a champ about helping me along as we made our way to the Necropolis. By the time we reached it, I'd halfway mastered walking. I even managed a little dignity as we passed through the bleachers and into the main area. We settled at a table and played a few board games.

I had agreed with Henry about sending out a text about what happened initially. But, thinking about it more, I had concluded that being seen would help more in the long run. I wasn't at my best, but I was alive and unharmed in any meaningful way—something the skeletons could confirm with their own jewels now.

My plan seemed to work as more skeletons than usual made a point to detour over for a visit. That I'd also taken the liberty of pulling out a new game to draw them over shamelessly might also have had something to do with it. Either way, I soon was chatting about what I intended to do with the girls and the farm with various denizens.

It felt kind of nice to talk to everyone, a few people at a time. The halflings, as usual, were more chatty. They didn't hesitate to let me know they'd be interested in living outdoors if there was an opportunity.

The genuine surprise for the day was when the humans offered me feedback. None of it was shocking content-wise, just ideas about Necropolis improvements. It was still very much the first time for them to come forward like that.

Feeling kind of sorry for the girls in the safe zone, I included a pack of playing cards and some paper and pencils as a care package around lunchtime.

Hello,

I'm 42, the core of this Dungeon. Given that you entered under the influence of a mind-control item, I'm inclined to offer you a deal to leave safely. If you are interested in discussing the matter, please respond on this or one of the provided pieces of paper.

Thank you,

42

I didn't have a lot of hope for them to want to communicate yet, but I figured sending a note wouldn't hurt. They'd ignored the food I'd left them the prior evening.

To be fair, they still had some of their rations left. They didn't look appetizing to me, but they likely felt safer about eating things they'd brought in themselves. I couldn't fault them for that.

Once I started to feel social burnout, Henry helped me back to my chamber of machinations. I was tempted to teleport instead of walk but decided against it. Nevertheless, the activity wasn't physically draining and gave me something to do other than wallow.

After I was able to flop back on my couch, I felt myself relax a bit. That was also when it struck me that Henry had been looking after me for two days. That had to have been a pretty terrible combination of tedious and nerve-wracking.

"You know, I'm feeling pretty okay now. It wouldn't hurt for you to work on your projects while I work on mine," I offered.

"... I'm f-fine," Henry replied flatly.

"Alright, but feel free to cuddle up with a book. I'm just going to spend my time deconstructing things again," I said, not wanting to push.

"Cuddle?" Henry asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Like when… Easier to show than tell," I muttered the last half. I turned my back and settled in against Henry in my preferred configuration. My head resting against his chest with his arm draped over mine.

"I-I thought you m-meant for me to leave," Henry said softly. I didn't intend to but let out a snort at that. That meaning to the configuration of my words had not occurred to me.

"Nope, I like you right where you are," I replied. Henry made a pleasant humming sound, and we sat like that for a few minutes.

This would have been an excellent moment to start a certain conversation. But, unfortunately, I wasn't up to it. Not with things still so uncertain with the server transfer.

Needing to get myself back on task, I returned to my busy work. Everything I hadn't gotten to the previous day went in the deconstruction tab. While the timers were going, I worked on low-effort art projects. Drafts of raiding team logos went out for revision and approval as I sought to kill time.

Around what I assumed would be a good dinner time, I checked back in on Andrea and Mina. The deck of cards was untouched, along with the food I'd left. No surprises there.

Feeling a bit mischievous, I added a checkers set to the room and a pair of upgraded bedrolls. The bedrolls were variations Elim had found, and I'd upgraded. Not as nice as his, but plenty comfortable.

Curious if they'd even bothered to read my note, I checked the paper I'd left. I found a reply to my message.

FUCK YOU!!!

I couldn't help but laugh. I hadn't expected them to reply, so even this felt like a bit of a win.