《AutoDot》 1: Conversion Birds chirping. The wind rustling through the trees. The sound of children playing in the courtyard. People shouting at one another down the road in the market square. Dorothy could hear it all and see none of it. Her bedroom window would normally have a great view of the world below, but from her bed all she could see was sky and a bit of a leaf from a close tree. Her room was on the second floor of a town home overtop of her mother¡¯s alterations shop. Lots of other shops lined the road with plenty of families with kids and grandparents and people from all over the empire. Dorothy¡¯s family was mostly human, though there was some demon on her mother¡¯s side thanks to great grandad. Other than a red tinge at the edges of Dorothy¡¯s eyes and tiny bits of scale on her cheeks that looked more like freckles, you wouldn¡¯t know it. Her mother had, more or less, the same traits but a bit more pronounced. Her scales would glint in the sunlight and the red sclera of her island born heritage was just a bit more noticeable. Papa, on the other hand, was pretty scruffy with his wild and untamed hair and patchy beard. Dorthy¡¯s skin ended up being a pretty even mix of her father¡¯s espresso and her mother¡¯s chocolate cherry which left her looking like she was embarrassed most of the time. It didn¡¯t seem too long ago that Dorothy had been running around with the other kids, laughing and screaming. Then starting on the celebration day of her twelfth year, she had a bit of a cough and started feeling excessively tired all the time. Within a month¡¯s time, Dorothy was unable to leave her bed and would be racked with intense coughing fits. Her parents sought the local neighborhood healer when she first fell ill but none of their potions or spells seemed to do the trick. A doctor was also brought to see her from the upper district of Capital City but they couldn¡¯t help her either. From the way that the healers and doctors would take her parents to the side to talk to them, she could tell that she probably didn¡¯t have much time left. Her mother¡¯s eyebrows would tense just a bit each time she came in to see Dorothy. She could feel herself getting weaker by the day. Just staying awake was getting harder. On this particular morning, her mother gently opened the door with her backside as she backed into the room with a tray. Mama brought the tray over to a small table by the bed and set it down, on the tray was a bowl of broth and a syringe. She pursed her lips ever so slightly before smiling and taking the syringe and filling it with some of the broth and sat down on a chair by the bed that hadn¡¯t moved in weeks. ¡°Mawnin¡¯ my love, I have breakfaas right here fi you. Yuh Fada brought home some chickie Bone soup fi yuh last night before he headed out to the guild.¡± Dorothy looked away from the window at her mother and tried to give her a weak smile. Mama took the syringe and put it to Dorothy¡¯s lips and pushed the broth into her mouth. Most of it went down and what didn¡¯t was wiped up with a ready cloth by Mama. As Mama fed Dorothy breakfast, she talked about silly things that her father might have done or clients that were annoying her. Dorothy didn¡¯t have much focus to really understand everything that was being said but she loved hearing her mother talk conversationally to her. As she ¡°ate¡±, Dorothy watched as the sunlight glinted off her mother¡¯s scales as well as the occasional bits of bead and glass that were woven into her thick locs. ¡°So, my love. Yuh going to get a visitor. Don¡¯t worry, wi finish with the doctors jookin¡¯ yuh up. This will be a gentleman...at least I tink he¡¯s a he, comin from di Primercy. Him comin¡¯ to talk to you, okay? Just wants to see what yuh tink about sumtin.¡± Mama wiped again at Dorothy¡¯s mouth and brushed a wild strand of hair from her face. As she looked into Dorothy¡¯s eyes, Dorothy could tell there was more there than what her mother was saying as mom¡¯s eyes became glassy, and threatened to tear up. There was a distant knocking sound that broke her mother from her trance. She sat up straight and dabbed at her eyes with the cloth in her hand. ¡°Ah yes, that is him now. Mi soon come back, mi love¡± she said as she gathered up the tray and hurried out of the room. Dorothy could hear her mother talking with something down below on the first floor but she couldn¡¯t make out what was being said. Then she could hear the sound of her father¡¯s voice, which was odd because he should have been at the Adventurer¡¯s Guild for work. There was a gentle knock at the door and her mother poked her head back in. ¡°Dorothy, my love, this is Janos. He¡¯s from di Primercy to see yuh.,¡± Mama gestured to a cloaked figure as she stepped into the room followed by the person and then her father. Dorothy tried to smile in greeting but she couldn¡¯t tell how much was conveyed. Seeing her father was a welcome surprise since he was working all the time to cover her medical bills and the loss of income from her mother cutting back on client work to take care of her. The person, Janos, stepped past her parents and gestured to the chair. ¡°May I?¡± they said in a rich yet effeminate voice that sounded like it was coming through a vocoder. Dorothy gave a slight nod and Janos sat next to her bed before pulling back the cloak to reveal a person of metal. Their face was smooth and reflective with a human look, but it was difficult to tell if the face was meant to be male or female. Around the face, silver hair of thin wire strands were pulled back into a delicate braid. The metal person wore normal looking clothing like you might find adorning an important person from the upper district. They gently pulled off soft, leather gloves and Dorothy noticed that Janos had two fingers and two thumbs on each hand. ¡°Miss Dorothy,¡± Janos began, ¡°my name is Janos and I work for the Primercy. Do you know what we do? No? Our mission is to search for people like yourself that are in trouble and to help them. I don¡¯t know if your parents or doctors have told you but you probably know already, your condition, right? I thought as much. We do not make this offer lightly but when medical and magical means have failed you, we can offer a solution.¡± Dorothy gave Janos a curious look. ¡°I am an Automata Miss Dorothy. I was once like you. I got sick and there was nothing that anyone could do for me. Thanks to the Primercy, though, I was able to have my soul transferred into an Automata body. I¡¯ve been living as an Automata now for ten years and we¡¯d like to offer the same chance to live to you¡ª but only if you¡¯re willing to continue on in a form such as mine. The choice is entirely yours. I know it might seem like short notice, but what do you think? Would you like to become an Automata and leave that bed and that sickness behind?¡± For the first time since she became ill, Dorothy felt a spark of hope. Her smile came naturally and she gave Janos an encouraging nod of her head. Janos gave Dorothy a warm smile, it was interesting to see their metal face distort and change shape to mimic a regular person¡¯s facial expressions. Janos reached out and patted Dorothy¡¯s hand. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to work out the details with your parents to see how much we can do for you. This won¡¯t be an easy choice but it will be one that lets you live with it.¡± Janos got up from the chair and put their gloves back on before turning to follow Dorothy¡¯s parents out. Her mother was tearing up as she left but her father gave her a big thumbs up. She looked again at the window, at that clear blue sky, and that bit of leaf from the branch of the nearby tree. Things would be different soon and she¡¯d be able to see so much more of the world that that tiny slice. Dorothy fell asleep imagining what it might be like to have metal skin and what other changes might come with being an Automata. Dorothy woke to her mother gently shaking her, she didn¡¯t know how long she¡¯d been asleep but the sky didn¡¯t look too different out her window so probably not long. Her father was standing behind her mother but Janos didn¡¯t seem to be with them. ¡°Well, mi love, Janos seh fi meet dem ova di AutoFoundry and we should bring yuh right aweh.,¡± her mother told her. ¡°He... She.. They? Were quite adamant about it,¡± her father interjected. Dorothy couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the time she had left was growing frightfully short indeed as her father scooped her up in his arms. He walked with a limp but refused to let anyone help him carry Dorothy. He was all smiles but he kept squeezing Dorothy to him a little tighter than he needed to. Over the course of her illness, Dorothy had lost a lot of weight and her father had no trouble at all carrying her all the way to the Upper district where the AutoFoundry was located. When they arrived, Dorothy saw a bright building with lots of people of all types and shapes and sizes going in and out of the building. Many of them looked like they were made of metal like Janos but where Janos still looked very much like a regular person apart from their skin, most of these people looked more like giant clockwork toys or knights of some sort. Janos was waiting for them at the large set of doors at the top of stairs that marked the main entrance. They gestured and the doors opened as if by magic, possibly exactly by magic. Inside the building was a grand hall with high ceilings and walls that seemed like they were made from solid window allowing the light and view from outside to flood inside without any of the noise. In the center of the hall was a metal statue of what looked like a toy robot. The robot seemed a bit on the short side given the size of its head as well as its large hands and feet. It was standing in a confident pose with a fist pointed to the sky. Dorothy wondered what or who it was. They walked down hallways following after Janos, turning corners, through doors, more hallways. The place felt like a maze to Dorothy but everywhere she looked she saw interesting looking people either made of metal or partially metal. Finally they came to a comfortable looking room with soft chairs to sit in, dim lighting, and a table with some food and drinks. There also appeared to be a bed with wheels in the middle of the room and a large window to one side that looked down into another room that was well lit. Dorothy couldn¡¯t get a good look at the window as she was gently laid onto the rolling bed. Beside the bed sat a cart with a dark red pillow on it. Sitting on the pillow was a strange looking ball. The ball was made of metal and was covered in grooves and lines but seemed to be empty to Dorothy. Along with the bed and comfortable furniture, there was another Automata waiting. Dorothy could tell they were an Automata because they didn¡¯t look the slightest bit like a person. Their head was rather box shaped and had a single eye in the middle with no other facial features. The eye was glowing a warm yellow color but the rest of the Automata¡¯s appearance gave no sense of warmth. They had long skeletal arms and a body that was covered in ribs. Dorothy couldn¡¯t see the lower half of this person¡¯s body but their presence was making her feel very nervous. Was this creature the sort of thing she was going to become? ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Janos said, gently touching Dorothy¡¯s hand. ¡°This is Doctor Shack. He is very experienced and has performed this procedure countless times. You¡¯re in good hands.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Janos then took a step back to allow Dorothy¡¯s parents to hug and kiss her. She was scared, and nervous, and excited, and all mixed up, but most of all she longed to be able to hug and kiss them back. Her mother was fully crying now and turned into her father¡¯s chest as he squeezed Dorothy¡¯s hand. ¡°You¡¯re going to do great, my little Dot,¡± he said, giving her a bright smile. ¡°We¡¯ll be right here waiting for you when you¡¯re all done and we¡¯ll be able to see everything that¡¯s going on from that window. Dorothy gave her dad the best smile she could manage and squeezed his hand back. ¡°Door Oh Thee,¡± Doctor Shack said, sounding out the name. ¡°Doro thee. Dorothy. I am Doctor Shack. I am a doctor for Automata, not for organics. I will be performing your conversion. This,¡± he said, gesturing to the metal ball, ¡°will be your soul core. All of your memories, thoughts, hopes, dreams, everything that makes you, you, apart from your physical meat body will be contained here. Once you have been contained, we will install your core into a new Automata body based on what your parents could afford. Do you have any questions? No. good.¡± He scuttled more than walked away from the bed before anyone could ask anything and returned with an empty syringe and 3 vials of different color liquids. One of red, one of white, and one of green. ¡°One question for you, Dorothy,¡± the doctor asked. ¡°Which do you choose? Cherry, Vanilla, or Sour Apple? I understand you are dying and can¡¯t speak. Merely stare longingly at the flavor of your choice. Very good, Vanilla it is. That was my choice as well. When you drink this liquid, you will fall asleep. You will feel no pain. When you wake up, you will be in your new body.¡± Dorothy was sure she had been looking at the Sour Apple but there was no way to stop the doctor now. He filled the syringe with the white liquid and placed it to her lips. The liquid was warm and sweet, she thought of cookies, of holidays, of snuggling between her parents in front of a fire on cold winter nights. Before she realized it, her eyes had closed and she was thinking only of the feeling of her mother¡¯s arms. Before long, even that feeling began to fade and there was nothingness. Endless black extended all around her and she felt like she was floating in the water in the middle of the night. She looked around her but there was more nothing. Not even a body or self to view when she looked down and she felt no sensation of having form. The feeling didn¡¯t last long though as she could feel... something urging her in a direction. She felt compelled to somehow move in this direction though there was only blackness and no body to move. In the far distance she could see a pin prick of light. As she started to head towards it, she heard... no wait, heard isn¡¯t quite right. Felt? A sound from behind her. A buzzing sort of sound feeling, like an alarm or a warning. She turned from the distant light towards the sound feeling and saw a blue square. The square had clearly not been there before. She drew closer to the square and could see writing on it.
Dorothy. This is Doctor Shack. Your Soul Core is ready and waiting for you. Touch this square to begin the transfer process.
Dorothy moved close to the square. She looked back at the distant light and remembered her parents were waiting for her, that she wasn¡¯t ready to move on just yet. Without form or shape, she touched the square and felt her sense of self get drawn into it. The square consumed her and she had the sensation of passing through a tunnel full of lights and sounds and feelings. When she exited the tunnel she was back in an endless void of blackness though this time there was no distant light. ¡°Did... did it work?¡± Mama asked, looking to Janos. The metal ball was now alight with a cool white light, emanating from within. Another Automata had stepped into the room and wheeled Dorothy¡¯s body away. Mama reached out for it, but Janos gently placed their hand on her arm. ¡°That¡¯s not her. She¡¯s not there any more. Come, you can talk to her.¡± Janos held a hand out to the metal ball and said words of magic, ¡°[Console && Terminal_Window({target:¡°visual lock¡±, public: true, keyboard:true})].¡± A blue screen appeared in front of the ball with a second screen below it. The first screen showed a connection message while the second one, angled flat like a table, was covered in glyphs and letters. ¡°Simply type here, and Dorothy will be able to see and respond to your messages,¡± Janos said, gesturing to the screens.
Connected: Dorothy-1171285
:/hello dorothy are you there?
In front of Dorothy a huge screen appeared. She could see some sort of message about connecting and then her name followed by several letters. ¡°Um... Hello?¡± she called to the screen. Mama burst into tears and covered her mouth as she saw Dorothy¡¯s response appear on the screen below her message. ¡°It¡¯s really her? It¡¯s my baby?¡±
Connected: Dorothy-1171285
:/Dorothy my love this is mama. >MAMA! Oh Mama, I don¡¯t know where I am! :/its okay love, youv been transfrrd to teh sould thing >sold?? :/no baby! sorry! mamas not used to typing >Oh phew. So now I¡¯m in that ball? :/Thats what janos says >Oh, I see. What happens now? :/the doctor has gone to get your body ready and is just waiting for us to finish talking to you >Mama, I can¡¯t wait to see you and dad again. I¡¯m scared. :/it will all be over soob im right here baby i love you >I love you so sooo so much! Papa! I love you too! :/they need to take yuo way and put you in you new body now we see you soon!!xoxoxoxoxo
Dorothy tried giving the screen a hug but without arms or a physical form it proved difficult. The screen she had seen with her mother¡¯s words vanished and she was alone in the dark once again. The doctor had returned and wheeled the little cart with the red pillow and the metal ball out of the room. Mama turned to Papa and let him hold her as Dorothy was taken away. Papa gently pulled her over to the window and looked inside. They were looking down from an upper level into a large room with a table in the middle and several strange instruments and panels all around. On the table was a rather plain looking Automata body, the size of a child. It had a proper face with eyes and a mouth, though it lacked a nose or any ears or hair. The new body was unadorned and its chest was open. Inside, there was a large cavity where assistants of the doctor were packing a fine gray powder in the shape of a heart. ¡°That heart that they are packing now,¡± Janos offered, ¡°is the old Dorothy. It doesn¡¯t offer anything in terms of function for her new body but we¡¯ve found that the inclusion of the cremated remains helps to ground a new Automata in their new body. To help them feel like they are still the same person inside.¡± ¡°That¡¯s... very thoughtful,¡± Papa remarked. ¡°We¡¯ve been doing this for a while now. Our founder was a revolutionary in the field of Automata conversion to bring as high a quality of life for those that become converted as possible.¡± When the ash heart was packed in, various tubes and wires ran through it and around it. Like it was an integrated part of the body. The assistant poured a liquid over the ash heart that hardened the powder into stone. When it was ready, the doctor carefully placed the soul core into the cavity and connected the various internals to it before closing up the chest plate. A new white screen appeared before Dorothy and she could see numbers and words flashing by but she couldn¡¯t make any sense of them. When the words finished flying past, they were replaced by an illustration of that toy robot looking statue from the lobby. The illustration waved at her and she looked around and thought ¡°waving back thoughts.¡± ¡°Congratulations on making the big decision to become an Automata,¡± the illustration said. ¡°I¡¯m sure it wasn¡¯t an easy decision to make and we don¡¯t take your trust in us lightly. We¡¯ll make every effort to ensure that your conversion goes as smoothly as possible. Your original body has been changed into a stone heart that now cradles and protects your soul core. What makes you who you are will always be with you and no one can ever take that away. ¡°Before you wake up, there are a few questions for you to answer that will help the doctor to finish configuring your new body. First, what color would you like your eyes to be?¡± Dorothy thought about it and the first color to come to mind was the blue of the sky out her window, but she was so very tired of looking at that color. ¡°Sky Blue it is, great choice!¡± the illustrated robot said. ¡°What? No! I didn¡¯t want blue, it was just the first color to come to mind!¡± Dorothy shouted, but the illustration didn¡¯t seem to hear her. ¡°Next, your current body is the mid-child model so it won¡¯t be as specialized as the higher end body frames but you can always upgrade at a later time. The mid-child model has starting base stats of Health: 10, Strength: 5, Speed: 5, and Focus: 5. Based on your soul age, you have a starting Mana stat of... 80, congratulations.¡± Dorothy had no idea what any of those numbers meant. She¡¯d heard her dad talk about stats and abilities in regard to the Adventurers that came to the guild, maybe it was like that. ¡°You will be starting out with the Primary Operating System, or POS, version 1.0. As you upgrade your system, later versions will be released to you, unlocking new functions. This version has two plugin slots available. Which plugins would you like to install? Plugins can always be changed out later but will require a reboot to initialize them in your code base.¡±
Starter Plugins
  • Map 1 - this plugin allows the user to view a map of their immediate area. A minimap widget can be added to the user¡¯s HUD.
  • Dismantle 1 - this plugin allows the user the knowledge to process a dead creature enough to retrieve it¡¯s mana crystal and collect raw materials.
  • Basic Unarmed combat - this plugin allows the user the knowledge to attack with basic level martial arts at melee range. Hit accuracy is improved based on speed + focus. Damage dealt if successful is base strength stat. Does bludgeoning damage.
  • Basic Blade combat - this plugin allows the user the knowledge to attack with edged weapons at melee range. Hit accuracy is improved based on speed + strength. Damage dealt is determined by the weapon.
  • Basic Ranged combat - this plugin allows the user the knowledge to attack with ranged weapons. Hit accuracy is improved by the focus stat.
¡°Wait...¡± Dorothy wondered aloud. ¡°So I pick something and then the knowledge is instantly in my head? That¡¯s so cool! Okay, think now Dorothy with these skills you can become an Adventurer and help dad out. Map could be really cool to have when exploring dungeons... and Dismantle would mean that I wouldn¡¯t have to always bring stuff back to the guild all the time... but I¡¯d need some combat skills for sure... Oooo why only two?! It¡¯s not fair! Okay, okay... thinking... I can always buy a map to new areas... and I can get kills processed at the guild any time... I¡¯m going to go with... Blade combat... and Ranged combat... that way I¡¯ve got both covered. And if I don¡¯t have a weapon, it¡¯s not like you have to know martial arts to smack somebody.¡± ¡°Basic Blade combat and Basic Ranged combat installing. Nice choices,¡± the illustration praised. ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk about add-ons. Your soul core has two add-on slots. Add-ons are permanent and will be bonded to your soul core. While you can¡¯t change them out like plugins, they can be leveled up over time with higher POS versions. It is also possible to install add-ons into other body parts later, though keep in mind that the add-on will be permanently bound to the part. Which add-ons would you like to install?¡±
Starter Add-ons
  • Inspect 1 - Provides detailed information about Common level targets.
  • Inv 1 - Inventory provides a ¡°pocket dimension¡± that is keyed to the user and allows them to carry items in storage without concern for weight or physical space. Inv 1 provides 10 units of space.
  • DevCon 1 - The Developer Console allows users to be able to inspect magiCode running on a given target. It is also a requirement for crafting magiCode and installing it into items. DevCon 1 only has permissions to view and modify code in the user¡¯s possession and cannot access code that does not belong to them.
  • Proxy 1 - Proxy allows the player to connect to an external body and manipulate it as if it were their own. Proxy 1 provides 1 proxy slot.
¡°Oh these are amazing! Ugh... and again I can only choose two! Who came up with this system? Okay, let¡¯s see now... I have to go with Inv.. having a personal Inventory would be soooo useful... and... well Inspect would be useful in the field though it¡¯s nothing I can¡¯t just learn on my own at the library or by learning about stuff... and I don¡¯t know what that Proxy thing even means... Being able to craft my own magic sounds really awesome though... Okay, I¡¯ll go with the Inv 1 and the DevCon 1.¡± ¡°Fantastic choices! You can¡¯t go wrong with those,¡± the illustration congratulated her, ¡°Installing Inventory 1 and Developer Console 1. You¡¯re all set now. I hope you have a very happy and long life as an Automata. I¡¯ll see you again at your next POS update!¡± With that, the illustration vanished and Dorothy could feel herself becoming... more real. The darkness gradually lightened until she realized that she was seeing the ceiling of a large room. Words and numbers hung in the air wherever she looked. With a glance she knew the current time, the ambient air temperature, how much health and mana she had available, what the status was of any of her systems... there were even settings to be able to change what wavelengths of light she could see in. Above her she could see a window with her mom and dad looking down on her. A smile broke across her face and she waved to them. Her mother was holding her hands over her mouth and jumping up and down while her father laughed and waved back. ¡°Mama! Papa! It¡¯s me!¡± she called out to them. Her voice surprised her and she covered her mouth with a hand. Her voice reminded her of the chopped sound from when she was younger and would yell into a lightning crystal powered fan with a touch of yelling-into-a-well. Her hand, against her face, felt strange. The sense of touch was there but then not there at the same time, like wearing a glove but then having someone explain in detail what you were feeling. She pulled her hand away and examined it. It was metal, the hand of a robot. Like Javos, she now had two fingers and two thumbs on her hand, though her hands didn¡¯t look as elegant as Javos¡¯ hands. ¡°Welcome to your second life,¡± the doctor said as he took her hand and helped her to sit up. 2: Orientation Tutorial Dorothy sat at the edge of the table as she went through various movement exercises at the doctor¡¯s direction. Some of the movements felt sluggish at first, like the body¡ª no, her body, wasn¡¯t listening to her. After a couple of times, the movements came easily and naturally. Once they had gone through the basic movements, Doctor Shack instructed her in more complex movements that normal people can''t do, like completely rotating various joints around in a continuous circle. The doctor also walked her through the process of calibrating her vision, testing different settings, and customizing her HUD or Heads Up Display to provide the information she was most interested in. To test her legs, Dorothy got to walk and then run on some sort of moving floor section. As the floor moved beneath her, she had to keep moving in order to stay in the same place. It got faster and faster until she was sprinting as fast as she could, though she wasn¡¯t feeling winded at all. It was simply a feeling of ¡°this is the limit of my speed right now.¡± Small ridges started appearing on the moving floor and Dorothy had to hop over them. After all the time she¡¯d spent in bed, it was amazing to be able to walk and run and jump again. She felt way faster and stronger than she had ever been, even before she had gotten sick. Once her new body was completely tested and calibrated, Doctor Shack brought her over to a corner of the room and turned her to see a padded target on the far wall. ¡°Now Dorothy, to get you started Janos has requested that you be installed with a My First Blaster arm upgrade. Focus on your left arm and think about the blaster,¡± the doctor instructed. Dorothy did as asked and was shocked when her left arm split apart, flipped around, and closed back up again. Instead of a hand, she now had some sort of pipe. She looked at the pipe and could almost angle it to look down the opening but the doctor gently pushed it away from her face. ¡°That, is your blaster, and you must not point it at your face,¡± the doctor chided. ¡°Now here.¡± He pointed to a cart nearby that had several densely packed bean bags of various sizes sitting on it. ¡°Focus on your blaster and speak the magiCode word [load].¡± Again, she did as asked and her arm split open again but this time it remained open and she could see a compartment inside large enough to hold four of the smaller bean bags. The doctor took 2 of the small bean bags and placed them into the compartment and tapped a spot inside her arm and the whole thing closed back up again. In her HUD she could now see an icon in the shape of a cylinder with a drawing of a bean on it and the number 2 next to it. ¡°I have two cans of beans?¡± she asked. ¡°Two bean bag rounds, yes. Now point your blaster in the direction of that target over there and you will see a new icon show up that looks like a small window with four panes. That is your targeting site and it shows you where your bean bag is likely to go when you send it on its way. Do you see the little window? Good. Okay, now think about pushing the round¡ª¡± A round flew out and hit one of the control panels but it didn¡¯t do any damage. ¡°...Now think about pushing the round out when the little window is over the target,¡± Shack continued with the tone of one who has had to repeat this particular line a great many times. This time, Dorothy lined up the little window over top of the padded target and thought about pushing the bean bag and, with a little thoop sound, it went sailing across the room and hit the target and fell into a little tray on the floor with other such rounds. ¡°That was really neat!¡± Dorothy exclaimed. ¡°Mmm, yes. Now your blaster can hold four rounds before it needs to be reloaded, however since you opted for the Inventory add-on, we have linked it to your loading functions. So if you have rounds stored in there, you can simply use the magiCode word [reload] and specify which round type and it will automatically load it for you.¡± ¡°Mister Doctor, sir? I had opted for the blade skill too, do I also have a sword or something?¡± The doctor tilted his head slightly before answering, ¡°A blade augmentation was not purchased.¡± ¡°Oh, I see...¡± Dorothy said, a bit crestfallen. ¡°Are you all finished with her, doctor?¡± Janos said, from the room¡¯s doorway. ¡°Hmm? What? Oh. Yes, yes. She can figure the rest out as she goes,¡± he said waving one of his skeletal hands in a shoeing manner. Dorothy gave the doctor a big hug, ¡°Thank you doctor!¡± Then she turned and ran for the door where Janos was waiting. ¡°Yes, well... just part of the job,¡± Shack mumbled before turning his back to focus on one of the control panels. ¡°There are some people in the waiting room that are very much looking forward to seeing you. The AutoForge doesn¡¯t allow guests into the operating area, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Janos said casually. Dorothy followed Janos down the hall to a small room no bigger than a closet. When they entered, the doors closed on their own and Dorothy could feel the room shaking. ¡°What¡¯s going on? What is this room?¡± Dorothy said nervously. ¡°Nothing to worry about,¡± Janos calmed as the doors opened back up again. The hallway looked exactly like how Dorothy expected it but Janos stepped out. This time instead of the side door leading to the operating area, it led to the waiting room. Before Dorothy could ask about the strange, shaking closet, she saw her parents and all thoughts of such rooms evaporated. She raced over to them and wrapped her arms around the both of them, squeezing. ¡°Augh!¡± her dad called out. ¡°Sorry! Sorry!¡± Dorothy apologized, ¡°I guess I¡¯m still getting used to this new strength and body.¡± Her dad made a big show of how hurt his back was now and how he might not make it back home and that now Dorothy will have to carry him back instead. Dorothy laughed while her mother just squeezed and squeezed her. Dorothy absolutely loved the embrace of her mother but it felt different now. She could detect the heat coming from her mother and the amount of mass that was displaced on her mother¡¯s body when it pushed against her, and she knew that her mother¡¯s tears and hugs were a release of emotion and stress... but for some reason she didn¡¯t feel like she was properly processing the hugs. It wasn¡¯t like something was lacking on her mother¡¯s end but more like Dorothy had forgotten how to be hugged. ¡°I guess now, you¡¯re my little AutoDot,¡± Papa joked, giving the tried and true dad ¡°eh, eh?¡± face. Dorothy rolled her eyes at being compared to the elite Automata/Botanica Royal guard unit that the empire employed, but couldn¡¯t help but laugh at her dad¡¯s terrible jokes. Janos sat on one of the plush chairs and motioned for the others to join them. When everyone was seated, Janos retrieved a stack of documents, most of which already had her parents'' sigil prints pressed into them. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, for having to do this after your conversion Dorothy. Normally this would all be sorted beforehand, but your condition had worsened to the point that we felt you might not have made it to the AutoForge in time and you certainly weren¡¯t in any condition to have a proper conversation about these sorts of things. I hope you can forgive them, but your parents made most of the decisions on your behalf, leaving the final decision to you.¡± ¡°Just... just what decisions did they make?¡± Dorothy asked, looking from Janos to her parents. Her mother squeezed Dorothy¡¯s hands in her lap as her father took a deep breath before clearing his throat. ¡°Well, Dot... as you know, I¡¯ve been working a lot of hours at the guild so that your mom could stay home to take care of you... but the thing is, working as a clerk for the guild doesn¡¯t pay nearly as well as working as an Adventurer for the guild... and I¡¯m afraid that we went through all of our savings on doctors and treatments for you... It¡¯s just...¡± ¡°Oh mi love, I so verr sorry. I know we shooda talked wit you faast, but I was juss so scared I was gon lose yuh,¡± mom added as new tears threatened to burst out. ¡°What... What did you agree to?¡± Dorothy asked with growing apprehension. Janos shuffled the papers a bit and looked pointedly at Dorothy. ¡°What we do at the Primercy is find Automata candidates like yourself, we can then apply for imperial grants and loans on your behalf to cover the costs of the conversion. We¡¯re like a middle agency to help move the process along for folks that can¡¯t normally afford the conversion costs.¡± ¡°So what does that mean now?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°In order to pay back the loans, your new body will be put to work. Half of your earnings will be applied to paying off the debt.¡± ¡°And I keep the other half?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°What is it that I have to do?¡± ¡°Normally, you would have the choice of working at the mana grid where excess daily mana is collected from Automata to supply the city mana banks, enlisting in the guard¡ª which is no place for a child¡ª, or working for the Capital¡¯s Courier force; but your parents decided, instead, to make you an Adventurer for the guild where your father works.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry Dot, I know Adventurer work can be a little rough but it pays the best and I thought that I¡¯d be able to keep an eye out for you...¡± Papa said, knitting his eyebrows, pleading for Dorothy to understand. Dorothy suddenly stood up, to everyone''s surprise, and shot a finger in her father¡¯s direction. ¡°HA! That¡¯s exactly what I was planning on doing when I picked out my skills! You and I are gonna be coworkers, Papa!¡± A silence hung in the air for several seconds and Dorothy started to feel very self conscious all of the sudden. Then her father burst into laughter and nearly fell out of his seat and the laughter flowed to Mama and even Janos had brought a gloved hand to their mouth to stifle a chuckle.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Dorothy turned to Janos and held up her left hand. ¡°The doctor said that you had requested the blaster augmentation. You did that because you knew that I was going to be working at the Adventurer Guild, huh?¡± ¡°Got it in one, Miss Dorothy.¡± ¡°Well thank you. I won¡¯t let you down.¡± ¡°Glad to hear it. The guild will send over our cut of your earnings automatically but I¡¯ll still check in on you from time to time.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, who was that little toy robot I keep seeing everywhere? There was even some sort of drawing of one when I was picking out my skills and stuff.¡± ¡°Oh him? That was Prime, our founder.¡± ¡°THAT was Prime? I¡¯d heard about him in school and the freeing of the Automata and all... I thought he would have been... I dunno... bigger?¡± Janos laughed, ¡°yeah... we hear that a lot.¡±
By the time that Dorothy and her parents left the AutoForge, it was already evening and the first of the three moons had already started to appear in the sky. Dorothy laughed at her father¡¯s terrible jokes and held her mother¡¯s hand as they walked the city streets back home. Light stone lamps were coming on, to light the way as the shops closed up and restaurants and bars opened up. A scream sliced through Dorothy¡¯s jovial mood, and she saw a hooded figure clutching a purse and running in their direction. Beyond them she could see an older goblin woman on the ground. It looked like she had been knocked over and might be hurt. Dorothy recoiled from the sight of the thief racing in her direction and pulled behind her mother. Papa put himself in front of his family and raised his fists, ready to attack or defend as needed. A thin snake of light zipped across the street, hitting the thief in the back. The thief¡¯s whole body went rigid and their eyes rolled back in their sockets before they collapsed on the ground, twitching. Now that the figure was closer, and on the ground, Dorothy peeked around her mother to look and could see a young, male harpy; at least, she thought he was a harpy. Strange that he hadn¡¯t flown away then. A blue light flashed from across the street and one of the Knight Patrol slowly pulled up on a large motorcycle. The shock bolt must have come from the knight to subdue the thief. The knight got off of their motorcycle and stepped over to the prone harpy. She pulled her helmet off to reveal bright golden eyes, long blood red hair, red skin, and dainty horns. The motorcycle converted into a large Automata and walked over as well. ¡°That him?¡± the motorcycle asked in a low rumble as the knight pushed the thief onto his back with her boot. ¡°Nah, looks like another harpy kid though,¡± she replied matter-of-factly. ¡°Um excuse me?¡± Dorothy spoke up. The knight looked over at Dorothy¡¯s family, then down at her and tilted her head. ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to him?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Well aren¡¯t you just the cutest?¡± the motorcycle said as they stepped over to her and squatted down to get a better look. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll be taking the kid to the station where we¡¯ve got a healer that will look ¡®em over. The kid will probably get some community service. What¡¯s your name kiddo?¡± Dorothy looked up at her parents and her father gave her a small smile. ¡°I¡¯m Dorothy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you Dorothy, my name is Jenny. Did you just convert?¡± ¡°Um... yes? Just today. How did you know?¡± ¡°Well, one day I¡¯d like to try for a detective position, but your body is all shiny and new and doesn¡¯t have any upgrades or cosmetics. So it¡¯s pretty easy to tell.¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t think about that...¡± ¡°Yo, Jen! Let¡¯s get this kid back, I¡¯ll get the statement from the vic!¡± the knight yelled out. ¡°Well, duty calls. Have a good night folks,¡± Jenny said as she stood up and walked back over to the harpy. ¡°Jenny!¡± Dorothy called out, ¡°can I talk to you sometimes?¡± ¡°Sure kiddo, I work out of station 4. Come see me anytime,¡± she said, giving Dorothy a wink before she transformed back into motorcycle mode. The knight picked the harpy up and sat them in a new seat that definitely wasn¡¯t there before. The knight had placed restraints on the harpy and those restraints then locked into place on the motorcycle seat. Jenny drove off with the harpy secured and her blue light flashing. Dorothy watched her go as the knight walked up to them. ¡°Okay folks, I¡¯m going to need a brief statement about what you saw,¡± the knight said. ¡°Sure, sure. Though there isn¡¯t much to tell,¡± Papa offered. Dorothy stopped paying attention to the adults speaking and walked over to the old lady that was now sitting in a chair that someone had brought out for her. ¡°Don¡¯t yuh git too faar nah,¡± her mother warned. Dorothy gave her a bit of a wave of acknowledgement and stood in front of the old lady. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked the goblin. ¡°You¡¯re sweet to ask,¡± the lady replied. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just a bit shaken is all. Must have been one of those harpy gangsters you hear about lately.¡± ¡°Harpy gangsters?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Oh you hadn¡¯t heard? Yes! I heard from Martha, who¡¯s son is friends with someone in the watch that there¡¯s been a growing number of gangs on the rise. All young harpies and none of them able to fly! Quite the mystery. I heard from Gina, who¡¯s husband heard it from somewhere that all the knights are busy trying to find... The mastermind.¡± ¡°Oh my! A mastermind, behind it all?¡± ¡°I know! I can¡¯t wait to tell the ladies in the bridge club that I was assaulted by a real harpy gangster!¡± she said with a bit of a mischievous giggle. ¡°Oh that Anya will just be green, well more green than usual. She thinks she¡¯s some hot stuff just because her son in law builds suspension bridges but everyone knows that trusses are better anyhow, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never thought about¡ª¡± ¡°Yes, I think so too, though you can¡¯t beat a nice covered bridge over a tranquil stream for charm. My Herburt, bless his soul, used to shingle the roofs on covered bridges, you know.¡± ¡°Did he now? That¡¯s an interesting line of w¡ª¡± ¡°I told him it was dangerous work, of course, but did he listen to me? Of course not. What do you think happened, well of course he slipped right off one day, bless his soul.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so sorry.¡± ¡°What for dear?¡± the old lady asked, looking confused. ¡°Well, for your loss.¡± ¡°Loss? I should be so lucky, that lump is in the bar across the street.¡± Dorothy couldn¡¯t help it and started giggling. The old goblin gave her a sly smile and a wink as the knight finished up with her parents. ¡°Off you go dear,¡± the old lady said, turning her attention to the knight. ¡°It was nice talking to you!¡± Dorothy called back as she ran back to her parents. The rest of the walk home was uneventful but Dorothy couldn¡¯t help replaying the events in her mind. How might things have gone if the Knight Patrol hadn¡¯t shown up? What if she had stepped in front of her father to protect them instead with her new Automata body? She was now supposed to be skilled in both ranged and bladed combat, though she wasn¡¯t currently armed with anything more than an empty blaster. Maybe she should have gone for the unarmed combat plugin after all. When they got home, Mama started to make dinner and Papa brought Dorothy up to the small attic space that was over her parents room. ¡°So Dot, you know that I used to be an Adventurer, right?¡± he asked. ¡°Sure, till you took an arrow to the knee.¡± She¡¯d heard the story plenty of times about how Papa and Mama were both Adventurers and trying to stop some criminals from escaping when Papa was shot and his knee never healed properly. The injury took him out of the field and he¡¯d been working as a clerk for the Adventurer Guild ever since. ¡°Right, so if you¡¯re going to become an Adventurer then you¡¯re going to need some gear to get started.¡± Papa opened up an old chest, inside was various tools, weapons, belts with pouches, and some armor. ¡°This stuff might be kind of old, but it should still be serviceable and we can try to alter what doesn¡¯t fit to make it work for you.¡± ¡°Oh! Thanks Papa!¡± Dorothy exclaimed, giving her father a hug. She started going through the chest contents. Some of the leather goods had become brittle and weren¡¯t holding together so well, though his old leather cuirass was still good if you replaced the straps. She found an old short sword that would work well for her size, the scabbard was faded but was clean and free of any rust or mold. She found some pouches full of what were once smoke bombs, some potions, a length of twine, a compass... all of which had long passed their individual shelf lives. The twine might come in handy though, so she kept that. She pulled out her father¡¯s old boots, they were far too large for a human child but her Automata body had different proportions than a human; namely her lower legs and forearms were a bit thicker and her extremities a bit larger. They might fit. Her father¡¯s adventure pants were in mostly good condition, except for a hole in the knee. They had reinforced gussets, extra padding at the hips and knees¡ª which were useless to her now¡ª and pockets. Nice big pockets too, on the thighs. Dorothy had the Inventory add-on but it had a finite storage space so the more she could save it for really important things, the better. When she¡¯d finished raiding her father¡¯s old Adventurer chest, they headed back down to the main family room where Mama had finished preparing dinner. ¡°We dun have much till mi get to da mahket,¡± her mother explained, ¡°But I wah still able ta make da plop bread yuh like sah much Dotty mi love.¡± Dorothy sat down at the table and instinctively tried to smell the food before her but without lungs or even a nose there was no way to inhale. Instead she simply became aware of the chemical compounds in the air. She picked up one of the plob breads that her mother had made, she loved those, especially with the chickie bone soup and some butter. Instead of eating, she just looked at the bread in her hand. There was no sense of hunger, no desire to eat this, no matter how good it looked. She gently felt her mouth and though it opened and closed, she realized that it wasn¡¯t actually an opening. There were teeth and a tongue, but the teeth were actually all one solid ridge and when she explored with her tongue she found the back of her mouth to be solid. She focused on keeping her mouth closed and straight and asked her father if she could go to the guild hall with him in the morning. To her surprise the sound of her voice came out and her words were spoken perfectly even though her mouth hadn¡¯t moved. ¡°Well sure, that¡¯s the plan,¡± Papa answered. ¡°Great, thanks,¡± she said, giving him a smile. Dorothy realized that her mouth was entirely cosmetic. Its sole purpose was to make facial expressions and to communicate with others. You never really think about how much communication is done without words and simply by reading people¡¯s faces, Dorothy thought. ¡°Erra ting okay, mi love? Yuh not eatin¡¯ a bite,¡± her mother asked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Mama... I don¡¯t think I can...¡± Dorothy said sadly, setting down the bread. She opened her mouth to show her mother how it was a fake. ¡°Well if that don¡¯t beat all,¡± Papa said. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll save some money on food expenses!¡± Mama gave him a glare. ¡°If it¡¯s okay, can I get up?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Uh ¡®course mi love,¡± Mama answered, though she gave a worried look to Papa when Dorothy wasn¡¯t looking. Dorothy got up from the table and brought the collection of Adventurer gear that she¡¯d claimed into the family room and set up a work area for herself. She sorted what could be used right away from what needed repair and got to work popping rivets and removing damaged leather straps. ¡°Mama? Can I get some new leather straps from your shop?¡± ¡°Yuh know where day be?¡± ¡°Yup,¡± she called back as she raced out of the room and to the front of the building where her mother¡¯s store front was. She returned to her work station with a selection of different leather strapping of various thicknesses and widths along with some rivets, grommets, and some tools. ¡°¡®Ey now, I don¡¯t tink I aut¡¯orized alla dat now,¡± Mama said with a bit of faux indignation. ¡°Yuh best put it all back whera yuh foun¡¯ it when yuh done.¡± ¡°Yes Mama,¡± Dorothy replied absently as she got to work. To Dorothy¡¯s delight, she found that with her new Automata strength, she could punch the awl through the leather without any effort at all. She also discovered that she could be extremely precise with the tool without shaking hands or finger cramps. As an added benefit, she could spin her wrist around in continuous circles while holding the tool and be her own drill. She was so excited by the discoveries that she had to show her mother who told her that the next time she has any client work that deals with punching leather that Dorothy will be the one handling it, which filled Dorothy with joy and she bounced lightly on her way back to her work. Mama cleared up the remains of dinner and would check on Dorothy¡¯s work from time to time as she worked on her own hand sewing. Papa was lost in the pages of a novel and rarely heard anything that was said to him. At this point it was pretty much a running joke between Dorothy and Mama. ¡°Owa kay now mi loves, e¡¯ time for bed,¡± Mama said, gathering up her supplies and powering down the light stone lamps. ¡°Comme now Papa, up yeh git.¡± Dorothy looked at her father to see that he was already sleeping in his chair. Mama poked him with the end of awl but he didn¡¯t stir. Eventually she gave up with a shrug and left him sleeping. ¡°All right Dotty Oh, yah too.¡± ¡°Mama, I¡¯m not even tired. Not even a little bit, besides I¡¯m finally free from that bed. Can I stay up a bit longer? I¡¯ll keep an eye on Papa and the fire.¡± Her mother sighed, but relented. ¡°Fine, yeh can stay oop till yuh faha come to da bed.¡± ¡°Thanks Mama!¡± As luck would have it, Dorothy¡¯s father slept soundly through the night in his chair. When morning came and Mama emerged from her bed room, bleary eyed and scratching her hip, Dorothy had completed all of her equipment alterations and had coffee and breakfast ready and waiting for her. ¡°Wass all dis now?¡± her mother asked. ¡°Deed yeh git up early after stayin¡¯ oop late?¡± ¡°No Mama, I¡¯ve been up the whole night! And I¡¯m still not tired at all!¡± ¡°Ah mi love, yuh s¡¯posed ti go to da guil¡¯ wit yuh faha todee. Yuh gon be too tied ta a¡¯vencha.¡± ¡°Maybe Automata don¡¯t need to sleep,¡± Dorothy wondered aloud. ¡°Wee joss see ¡®bout dat,¡± Mama said as she sat down to the prepared meal. She took a sip of the coffee and immediately spit it back out. ¡°Mama! What¡¯s the matter?¡± Dorothy asked, concerned. ¡°Dorothy mi love... dit yuh use da filtah?¡± ¡°Filter?¡± Mama closed her eyes and took a deep breath and let it out slowly before putting on a smile. ¡°Tanks fah da t¡¯ought mi love.¡± She then got up and dumped out the coffee and started a fresh pot. ¡°Come. I show yuh da right way ta doit. Mayb I shood ha¡¯ sa¡¯ed some fah yuh faha.¡± Dorothy felt bad for making a mess of the coffee but still had to laugh at the idea of her Papa trying to drink it down. He would have pretended it was the best coffee he¡¯d ever had too and probably ended up sick for his efforts. ¡°Git up nao yuh lump!¡± Mama shouted as she tossed a spoon at Papa. The spoon was on a collision course with Papa¡¯s head but in a flash, his arm lashed out and he appeared wide awake as he snached the spoon out of the air. Dorothy noticed that while he gave the impression of being wide awake, his eyes were still focusing as he was piecing together where he was and what had happened. Must have been those old Adventurer honed reflexes. Papa¡¯s battle alertness faded and he slumped back into the chair before groaning and slowly pulling himself up. He smacked his lips and looked at the spoon in his hand, then looked around the chair confused. ¡°What¡¯s the matter Papa?¡± ¡°Um... I have a spoon. Did I fall asleep eating? I don¡¯t see a bowl or anything,¡± he said scratching his head. Mama and Dorothy burst out laughing and he shuffled over to the table to sit down to a breakfast of burnt toast and undercooked grackle eggs. 3: Party Time Papa gave a valiant effort in consuming his breakfast but Mama made him something proper and banned Dorothy from using the kitchen without an adult around again until further notice. She didn¡¯t think she did that bad of a job, though if she was honest, her new systems could easily tell exactly how burnt the toast was and what the internal temperature of the eggs were. After burning the toast, she was too cautious with how long she cooked the eggs. It wouldn¡¯t happen again now that she knew what to look for, but Mama wasn¡¯t hearing any of it. Papa freshened up and took Dorothy by the hand after kissing Mama goodbye. They¡¯d be heading for the guild hall where Papa worked, to get Dorothy registered as a Rank E Adventurer. As they walked down the market row, Dorothy could see all sorts of people setting up stalls, booths, blankets with assorted odds and ends, and even musicians getting ready to saranaid passersby. Automata, while not rare, weren¡¯t yet common so she did get a glance or two. Though not as many looks as Papa got. Humans like him, actually were pretty rare in Capital City. Everyone seemed to have a mix of something else so a ¡°pure human¡± was a fading species. Once in a while, you¡¯d see some crazy-person that would rant and rage about extinction or how ¡°pure humans¡± were being ¡°wiped out¡±, but no one really paid them any mind, and Papa had never said anything about ever feeling like he was being wiped out. When they arrived at the guild hall, the early morning Adventurer crowd was already starting to trickle in. Generally speaking, you wanted to get in as early as possible so that you had the best choices of what ReQuests you could accept. Of course, ReQuests came in at all hours so sometimes it was just luck and being there at the right time. ¡°Morning Fran,¡± Papa called out to an older kitsune. Fran was a bit heavier around the middle and her nine tails weren¡¯t nearly as perky as they once were. Still, her guild uniform was expertly tailored to fit, and you could tell that she must have been a knockout in her younger years. Heroforge doesn''t actually allow for multiple tails but thanks to photoshop we got there in the end ;) ¡°Hello Strider, who do you have with you today?¡± Fran asked, peering over her spectacles. ¡°This is my daughter, Dorothy,¡± he said, placing a soft hand upon Dorothy¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Good morning Miss Fran. It¡¯s nice to see you again,¡± Dorothy said, respectfully. ¡°Oooh, you did the conversion yesterday? That¡¯s why you took the day off of work, eh?¡± ¡°Yup. Big day for my little Dot. No way I¡¯d miss it.¡± Fran smirked and looked to Dorothy, ¡°I guess he¡¯s an okay Papa, huh? Should we keep him?¡± ¡°He¡¯s the best!¡± Dorothy exclaimed, a bit too loudly, and suddenly felt embarrassed when others started looking her way. Shyly, she tried to hide behind her father. Papa raised an arm to the side to look around at her. ¡°You know, if you¡¯re going to be an Adventurer, you might have to get a little more bold,¡± he teased. ¡°Adventurer registration, eh?¡± Fran asked. ¡°Come on over missy. I can get you all set up while your dad clocks in and gets settled.¡± ¡°Thanks Fran,¡± he called out, but she was already waving him away. Dorothy walked up to Fran¡¯s station and plunked down the gold coin that her father had given her to pay for the registration fees. Fran looked at the coin and slid it back over to Dorothy and put her finger to her lips. She then took out the registration globe and a registration form. ¡°Ohkee now... Full name... Dorothy Singer... Species... Automata... Age... twelve... Function... Adventurer... Home of Record... What¡¯s your address again? Something Market Street?¡± Fran asked as she filled out the form for Dorothy. ¡°Number seven.¡± ¡°Right, number seven market street, Capital City... I don¡¯t suppose you have a specialty yet?¡± ¡°No ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Right, right... okay, I think that¡¯s that, I just need your sigil mark at the bottom there,¡± she said, turning the form around so that Dorothy could see it. Dorothy took the sigil marker from Fran and placed it onto the indicated area and pushed a little mana into it. The area where the marker contacted the paper glowed for a bit and when she pulled up the marker a circular design was left in its place. Even though everyone could use the same marker, each sigil mark that was produced was unique to a person. It had something to do with a person¡¯s personal mana signature but most of that sort of stuff was lost on Dorothy. ¡°Huh,¡± she said looking at the mark. ¡°It¡¯s different.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re different, aren¡¯t ya?¡± Fran said, giving a wink. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s true. I was just getting the hang of ice magic too, before I got sick.¡± Fran took the form back and placed the registration globe on top of it. She then took a metal plate and slid it into a slot on the base of the globe. ¡°Okay Dorothy, go ahead and put your hand on the globe and push a bit of mana into it. Are you currently loaded with any mana crystals?¡± Dorothy shook her head ¡°no¡±, and did as she was told. The globe glowed white for a moment as wisps of fog swirled around inside. When the glow faded, the metal plate was spat back out, but now it was engraved with markings. The markings on the plate weren¡¯t any language that Dorothy recognized, though she could see patterns repeating in them. Fran looked at the plate for a moment before handing it over, apparently satisfied that it was produced properly. ¡°What do the markings say?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, really. I was always told that they are some ancient magic code. That whatever those markings are, the magic reads them and does what it¡¯s supposed to do. I don¡¯t know anyone that can actually read them though.¡± ¡°Huh... that¡¯s pretty interesting... ¡° Dorothy said, staring at the markings on her plate. ¡°I guess, though I don¡¯t care enough to bother finding out. You¡¯re all set now, just put a bit of mana into the card and it¡¯ll tell you your status. Now don¡¯t lose it or we¡¯ll have to make a new one and there¡¯s a fee for that. Plus, that card will serve as your identification everywhere you go now.¡± Dorothy bounced on her toes a bit with excitement, she was finally an Adventurer like her parents had been back in the olden times. An involuntary chirp escaped her and she covered her mouth and giggled. Fran gave her an amused smile then looked at her expectantly. ¡°Oh right!¡± Dorothy said as she pushed some mana into the card. A blue screen appeared above the card with text and numbers on it.
Name: Dorothy Singer Species: Automata Rank: E Promotion: 0/100
Magic: n/a Health: 10/10 Mana: 80/80 Recovery: 1/1 Status: Available Level: n/a Exp: 0000/0000 Strength: 5 | Speed: 5 | Focus: 5
Skills: Blade1, Range1, Inv1, DevCon1, MyFirstBlaster Titles: None
Dorothy looked over the information and most of it lined up with what she had been told by that illustration of Prime, but she still had some questions. ¡°What is the promotion?¡± she asked. ¡°Every time you complete a ReQuest, you get promotion points. When you get enough, you can be promoted to the next rank. Going from E to D just requires enough points but anything higher will also require an exam. Anything else?¡± ¡°I¡¯m supposed to have the Ice affinity but it just says n a here.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know myself, but I¡¯ve heard that Autos don¡¯t have any affinity so they can¡¯t do any magic on their own, sorry. I don¡¯t think Autos can gain experience either so that¡¯s why your level says the same thing.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s not in my favor,¡± Dorothy grumbled. ¡°Sorry kiddo.¡± ¡°Um... I guess I see why my plugins and add-ons would be listed under skills but why is my blaster? Wouldn¡¯t that be equipment or something?¡± ¡°That I couldn¡¯t tell you. While the guild does have a couple of Automata Adventurers, they are still pretty rare. You¡¯ll probably have to try and find one to talk to them. I will say though, that it¡¯s only been about ten years since Automata were even granted the right to join the guild freely, but the system is still learning how to properly track the stats for you guys.¡± ¡°I see... okay, thanks for the help Fran!¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome kiddo, now go take a look at the ReQuest board and see if there¡¯s anything your speed.¡± ¡°Will do!¡± Dorothy said, beaming. She then ran over to the ReQuest board and started looking at all the different tasks that the guild currently had available. Most of them were well beyond her abilities or rank and those that she was qualified for, her father would probably shoot down for her first ReQuest. Dejected, Dorothy sat down on a nearby bench to find a young arachne that looked to be about her age taking up most of it. Her skin was so pale as to be considered a chalky white and her hair was straight, black and shiny, and hung to her waist. An earthy green headband kept her long hair out of her face and eight almond shaped red eyes. She wore a simple muzlin tunic with a green vest over her upper half and her lower spider half was an iridescent blue purple color, depending on how the light hit it. Dorothy found the effect to be captivating, though she tried not to stare. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Can¡¯t find any good ReQuests either?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°I found one that doesn¡¯t look too bad,¡± the arachne answered, ¡°but you need at least two people.¡± Her voice was high and airy, with a drawn out, yet melodic lilt to it. ¡°Oh! I¡¯m a people! What¡¯s the ReQuest rank?¡± ¡°Um... Rank E. It¡¯s to gather steel grass in an open field just outside of the city.¡± ¡°Why would that need two people?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°I guess so that one person can gather the grass while the other person watches for predators?¡± ¡°My name is Dorothy, rank E,¡± Dorothy said, sticking her hand out. ¡°Charlotte, also rank E,¡± Charlotte replied, taking Dorothy¡¯s hand. ¡°Would you like to party up?¡± ¡°That, would be amazing.¡± ¡°We need a good name though... all the best parties have really good names.¡± ¡°How about... Web Bots,¡± Dorothy said, spreading her hands in the air for emphasis. ¡°What¡¯s a web bot?¡± Charlotte replied, looking confused. ¡°You know... web for you and the spider part, and bot for me and the Automata part.¡± ¡°Eeeh...¡± Charlotte said in a trying not to be offended sort of way. ¡°I¡¯d rather not base the party name entirely on our species... and not all arachnea have webs you know...¡± ¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t think about that! Hmm... okay something else then... We both have a protective shell and armor plating... Anything there?¡± Charlotte crossed all of her legs in thought and tapped the side of her head. ¡°Maybe something with knight in the name?¡± ¡°Oh I like that! Maybe the Knights of Awesome!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t feel like that¡¯s a party name that we¡¯ll look back on fondly,¡± Charlotte said with brows pinched in concern. ¡°No I guess not. This is harder than I thought it would be,¡± Dorothy said, slumping against the wall and folding her arms. ¡°Yeah... and we haven¡¯t even started the ReQuest yet...¡± ¡°How about the Sparkle Knights?¡± Fran suggested, looking up from processing a ReQuest application. ¡°Sparkle?¡± Dorothy asked? ¡°Well, you both are pretty sparkly,¡± Fran reasoned. ¡°I mean, the summer sun at noon will probably be pretty blinding bouncing off of the two of you.¡± ¡°How about the Blinding Knights?¡± Dorothy suggested. ¡°The Starry Knights?¡± Charlotte countered. ¡°Ooh.. Starry Knights... like a starry night sky... Well I¡¯m sure you two are bound to be... Rising stars,¡± Papa said, returning to the front counter. ¡°Papa!¡± Dorothy yelled. ¡°I withdraw my suggestion, we¡¯ll go with Blinding Knights,¡± Charlotte said, closing her many eyes. ¡°You wound me, truly,¡± Papa said, clutching at his heart. Still he pulled out the proper forms and motioned them over to register their new party. Dorothy and Charlotte handed over their guild cards and Papa touched them to the form once the party name had been filled in and he¡¯d unlocked the member section with his own guild staff card. When Dorothy¡¯s card touched the paper, her name, rank, and status was automatically filled in on the form. Likewise for when Charlotte¡¯s card touched. Once the members were added, Papa touched a symbol that looked like an open gate with his card and a little portcutlas came down, closing the gate. ¡°Alrighty, Blinding Knights, you¡¯re all registered. Now when you look at your status screen, you¡¯ll see a new tab for your party members and can see a bit of their information. You can also send them simple text messages through the cards. Why don¡¯t you try it out?¡± Papa asked. Dorothy pushed some mana into her card and sure enough, the new ¡°Party¡± tab was there just like Papa had said.
Blinding Knights
> Charlotte Weaver [E]
  • Info
  • Messages [0/0]
Dorothy touched the ¡°messages¡± text and a form appeared with an empty box and a small grid of characters and glyphs. She typed out a message and touched the ¡°Send¡± text. Charlotte looked down at her own card in surprise. ¡°Oh! My card turned really cold for a moment! It did it again!¡± ¡°Yeah...¡± Papa complained, ¡°you won¡¯t want to keep that card tucked inside your shirt... I learned that the hard way. It¡¯d be great if the artificers could come up with some other signal to let you know that you received a new message but I guess that Capitol City wasn¡¯t built in a day. You kids are lucky. The guild cards weren¡¯t this fancy in my day. The best we got was a vague map showing where our ReQuest starting point was and a discount on Inn fair.¡± Charlotte brought up her own status screen and saw the Party tab and touched it.
Blinding Knights - 1 unread message
> Dorothy Singer [E]
  • Info
  • Messages [0/1]
When Charlotte tapped the messages text, she saw the same form and box that Dorothy had seen, but hers already had a message in it.
Blinding Knights - Dorothy Singer Messages
DS: Hey Charlotte! It¡¯s me Dorothy!
Enter your message SEND
Charlotte touched out a little message back and Dorothy giggled when she saw it appear on her own screen. ¡°Do you have a ReQuest you wanted to accept?¡± Papa asked as he filed away the party registration form. ¡°Oh right! Yes this one,¡± Dorothy said as she took the ReQuest from Charlotte and handed it over. Again, Papa took their cards and tapped them on the paper. This time the info on the paper changed to show that the Blinding Knights party had accepted the ReQuest along with the starting time and date. ¡°Okay,¡± Papa said, handing back the cards, ¡°off you go, before I have to submit my own ReQuest for you to go get me lunch.¡± Dorothy and Charlotte left the guild hall in high spirits, heading for the West Gate. ¡°Is this your first ReQuest?¡± Dorothy asked as they entered the market district. ¡°Nnn,¡± Charlotte mumbled with a slight shake of her head. ¡°Second.¡± ¡°Oh, this is my first one. I don¡¯t even know what to expect, really.¡± ¡°Aah. Well then... As the junior Adventurer you¡¯ll have to be sure to follow my lead... and listen to my years of experience. It might save your life one day.¡± ¡°Yes! Please teach me the ways of the Adventurer,¡± Dorothy giggled. ¡°Oh! There¡¯s an Auto Shop. Can we run in for a second? I have my Papa¡¯s old sword, but I don¡¯t have any ammo for my blaster.¡± ¡°Sure... I¡¯ve never seen a blaster before.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve fired it exactly twice. With bean bags.¡± ¡°I feel much safer with you around.¡± The girls walked into the shop and Dorothy looked around. Hanging on the walls were various Automata body parts and upgrades. Some of them looked fancy, others looked brutal, and some of the items looked to be purely cosmetic. It was amazing to see all of the different options that were available to individualize oneself. ¡°Good morning young sir, young miss. Can I be of service?¡± a high, male-ish voice called out. From around the counter, a tall, lanky Automata stepped out. Their frame was covered in ornate, inlaid scrollwork with golds and copper ribbons running through ivory colored plating. Even their eyes gave off a golden glow. ¡°You look... very expensive,¡± Charlotte said before looking embarrassed and covering her mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t I though? It¡¯s true,¡± the salesperson said, admiring their own hand. ¡°I need ammo for my blaster,¡± Dorothy spoke up. ¡°Which model do you have?¡± Dorothy converted her arm to blaster mode to show the clerk. ¡°It¡¯s a MyFirstBlaster?¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll want to upgrade that. The specs on that model are just laughable. Poor range, low ammo count, a single small crystal port... No, what you need is this over here. Just the thing for a young man looking to make his mark on the world.¡± The salesperson directed Dorothy over to a blaster model that was sleek and black with every attachment you could think of, then they glanced at Dorothy and thought better of it and redirected to another model. This model had a sign that read ¡°Sting Mark IV¡± and had a price tag of 2G3S, or 2 Gold and 3 Silver. ¡°It¡¯s very nice...¡± Dorothy began cautiously, ¡°but I¡¯ll stick with my current blaster for now. I just need some ammo.¡± ¡°Also, Dorothy¡¯s a she,¡± Charlotte corrected. Dorothy gave her a small grateful smile. ¡°Ah, my apologies,¡± the salesperson said, ¡°with your current frame and outfit, I naturally assumed you wished to be seen as a male.¡± Dorothy looked down at her clothes. She was wearing her Papa¡¯s old Adventurer gear but she didn¡¯t think that the gear looked innately male, though she certainly didn¡¯t look girly. Dorothy caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror used for trying on things and had to stop and look. Her head was bald, her features were plain, her gear was mostly blacks and browns. Okay, maybe she did look like a boy. ¡°Hmmph,¡± she said with a disgruntled look at herself. ¡°Maybe... Maybe a chest enhancement? To look more feminine?¡± the salesperson suggested. Dorothy broke her gaze from her reflection to see a shelf full of various models of chest panels designed to look like a mimicry of different mammalian chests. ¡°What? Eww, no, gross.¡± ¡°Hey Dorothy... There¡¯s hair styles over here... made of thin wire,¡± Charlotte offered. Dorothy ran her eyes across the row of heads sporting different styles and textures. One of them looked like a collection of solid spikes, another looked like a mohawk with some sort of vent built in. Most of the ¡°hair¡± styles were on the short and spiky side. Dorothy thought they looked more like wire brushes than actual hair. ¡°What do you think of this model?¡± the salesperson offered, holding out a head with long, straight hair that looked like Charlotte¡¯s but in white. The strands flowed more like actual hair, though a bit thicker. It was very nice, it was also very expensive. Then something caught Dorothy¡¯s eye, a head of hair with thick locs, tucked behind the others and marked ¡°clearance¡±. ¡°What about that one?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Which one? Oh that? It¡¯s not very fashionable these days. As you can see the hair is more like ropes. It can move around and bounce a bit but it doesn¡¯t feel as soft as the materials we use now-a-days. I¡¯d recommend going with something from the satin line instead.¡± Dorothy checked the price tag on the head of locs, 5 silver and two coppers. It looked just like Mama¡¯s hair but in silver instead of pink. ¡°I¡¯ll take it,¡± she announced as she picked it up. ¡°Very well, dear customer,¡± the salesperson said, backing down. ¡°You wanted ammo for your blaster too, right?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right, yes.¡± The salesperson directed Dorothy¡¯s attention over to a row of bins behind the counter containing a small selection of different ammo types and sizes. She remembered that she needed to get the small sized ammo for her blaster, but that size was only available in clay and flare rounds. Still, it wasn¡¯t too expensive at 10 rounds per copper for the clay. The flares were pricier though at a copper each. ¡°I¡¯ll take 30 rounds of the small clay and 2 small flares, please.¡± The salesperson nodded and set the requested items on the counter. ¡°Will that be all?¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± ¡°The hair upgrade plus the ammo comes to 5S,7C please.¡± Dorothy took out the gold coin from Papa and set it on the counter. The salesperson took the coin and looked at it for a moment. Dorothy noticed a line of blue cross the salesperson¡¯s eyes from top to bottom as they stared at the coin. They then smiled at Dorothy and placed the coin into their drawer and counted out her change. ¡°What skill was that?¡± Dorothy asked as she pocketed the change and sent the ammo to her [Inventory]. ¡°I saw a blue line cross your eyes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a variant of the [Inspect] plugin,¡± the salesperson explained. ¡°It lets me determine if a coin or a promissory note is fake or not.¡± ¡°Do you get a lot of fake coins?¡± Charlotte asked. ¡°You¡¯d be surprised. Would you like me to install the new hair for you?¡± they asked Dorothy. ¡°Um... yes... I have no idea what I should be doing with it.¡± Dorothy admitted. ¡°Have a seat,¡± they said, patting a chair by the mirror. Dorothy did as asked and watched in the reflection as the salesperson removed the hair from the display head. They then opened up a blue screen and tapped her head. She felt a tingling sensation as a screen popped up in front of her.
Attention
¡°Romie¡¯s gilded Auto¡± is requesting ¡°Equip¡± access.
  • Allow?
  • Deny?
Dorothy touched the word ¡°Allow¡± and the screen went away and the salesperson tapped their screen some more and panels on Dorothy¡¯s head opened up to reveal anchor points and sockets. ¡°Are you Romie?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°No, that¡¯s my partner. I¡¯m Zoosh. We have a business account that we use for upgrade modifications and installations. Keeps things simpler in your history logs so you can see where you got the installation done. Besides, it¡¯s required by law.¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t know that.¡± ¡°Yup, I don¡¯t have a personal developer license anyway. Okay, all done. I know I tried to upsell you on the hair products, and this one isn¡¯t as fashionable, but it does offer +10 armor to the head given the material. It looks cute on you.¡± Dorothy looked at herself in the mirror. She looked more like Mama which made her happy. The locs fell in her face though and were a bit heavy in the back. She¡¯d have to do something about that later, but for now they had a ReQuest to do. Dorothy thanked Zoosh for the help and headed back out into the market area with Charlotte. ¡°Anything you need before we head outside the city?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Hmm... not really... maybe a snack... but I can probably find something in the field...¡± Charlotte replied in her slow, lilting way of speaking. ¡°I guess I should have asked earlier, but what skills and stuff do you have? So we know who can do what,¡± Dorothy asked, walking in the direction of the gate. ¡°Well... I¡¯m mainly a magic user... I have push/pull magic like all arachnea that I can use to climb and jump off of stuff, but I¡¯ve worked hard to develop my spells in botany based magics.¡± ¡°Botany? Oh like plants and stuff?¡± ¡°Yeah... specifically vines and tendrils and stuff... to... to make webs...¡± Charlotte mumbled. Dorothy was curious about the web part, but Charlotte didn¡¯t seem like she wanted to talk about it. ¡°What can I do, you ask?¡± Dorothy said, changing the subject, ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked. Actually, I¡¯m not really sure. I¡¯ve only had this body since yesterday... but I¡¯ve got blade and ranged attack skills to go with my short sword and blaster. I¡¯ve also got [Inventory 1] and [Developer Console 1]. Um... with the clay shot and flares in my Inventory, I¡¯ve got... 6 units of space left... and I¡¯m not really sure what the Developer Console does yet... it¡¯s supposed to help with magic stuff.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t even imagine having an entirely new body... Sometimes, that sounds pretty nice though...¡± The girls had reached the West Gate and held out their guild cards for inspection. The guard on duty took their cards and tapped them on a register document. Dorothy could see their names appear in a column labeled ¡°Exit.¡± ¡°I wonder why they record our names,¡± Dorothy asked after they¡¯d gotten their cards back and moved through the gate. ¡°It¡¯s so that they know who¡¯s in the city. In case of an emergency or something... Or at least that¡¯s what my older sister said when I asked her.¡± ¡°It must be great to have an older sister! I¡¯m an only child so I have to figure out a lot of stuff on my own or ask my parents for help.¡± ¡°Lucky. I have 138 siblings... so far... I think I met my mom once... but I¡¯m not sure if that was actually my mom or really another older sister...¡± ¡°That''s... wow. I mean... wow... I have... I can¡¯t even imagine a family that big. Dinner time must be crazy.¡± Charlotte shrugged, ¡°Even though the family is large, we¡¯re mostly left to fend for ourselves.¡± ¡°Your house must be a mansion to fit that many people.¡± ¡°Most of the family lives in a cave system located deep in the Fangwell Forest... I moved here a couple of weeks ago to try and make a life for myself.¡± ¡°That¡¯s amazing. It all sounds so grown up. Oh, I think this field has some Steel Grass. I see some little blades sticking up in places.¡± Charlotte took out a short dagger and cut a blade of grass free. ¡°Yes... this looks like it. I¡¯ll gather it up and you can keep an eye out for predators.¡± ¡°On it!¡± Dorothy exclaimed with a grin as she converted her arm to blaster mode and drew her sword. 4: how hard can gathering grass be? The field that Dorothy and Charlotte were exploring was pretty close to the city walls. The chances of a serious threat showing up were pretty small, but Dorothy stood vigilant, scanning the treeline near the woods for any signs of attack. Nothing presented itself though. She looked back to see how Charlotte was doing and was considering just helping to gather the grass instead. The grass that Charlotte had gathered, lay spread on the ground as her eyes were transfixed on something. Her head twitched with jerky movements as she tracked something in the grass. Charlotte tensed her legs like springs, ready to send her flying through the air. A green smoky glow was coming off of her hands as tendrils of vine sprouted up around her, writhing like snakes. Dorothy heard a screech from overhead as a hawk came swooping down in the same instant that Charlotte launched her attack. Charlotte was a fraction of a second faster to the prize as her vines snatched a mouse on the run and drew it back to her. The hawk wasn¡¯t happy about losing it¡¯s prey and turned its attention on Charlotte. Another shriek but this time Dorothy could see as a thin strand of light shot out of the hawk¡¯s mouth. The strand flew like an arrow and would have hit Charlotte if she hadn¡¯t moved in time. The ground where the light hit, exploded as dirt and clumps of grass flew a half meter into the air. ¡°It¡¯s a Blast Hawk!¡± Charlotte yelled out. The blast hawk circled around for another pass but was far too high for Charlotte¡¯s vines to reach. Like with the beanbag practice, Dorothy raised her blaster and took aim. She pushed a clay shot round at the bird but it easily dodged. The hawk sent another blast in her direction this time. She tried to dodge but wasn¡¯t fast enough. The strand of light hit her in the shoulder and the small concussive force sent her spinning. The attack didn¡¯t actually do much, if any, damage to her metal plating. Quickly she jumped back up and got ready for another attack run from the hawk. The hawk had switched targets again and harassed Charlotte, flying about her head and taking diving grabs at the mouse she¡¯d caught. Dorothy fired another clay shot at the bird but it pulled back, narrowly avoiding the attack. Another shot and this time she struck it in the chest. The clay broke apart on impact but still sent the bird reeling in the air. ¡°Charlotte! Can you push me up if I jump on you?¡± she yelled, racing full speed toward Charlotte and the hawk beyond her. ¡°What?? I¡¯ve never tried anything like that!!¡± Charlotte yelled back in panic. Dorothy launched another shot at the bird and struck it in the wing. With a leap that she never would have even considered two months ago, she vaulted onto Charlotte¡¯s spider butt. Charlotte screamed and [push]ed Dorothy off and into the air. Dorothy twisted mid air and slashed at the bird with her sword. The blade connected and sliced across the hawk¡¯s back. Dorothy landed in a crouched position as the bird crashed to the ground. Charlotte was ready and waiting and lashed the bird to the ground with her vines. Dorothy stood up and walked over to the tied up bird, ready to finish it off. ¡°Um...¡± Charlotte started. Dorothy readied her sword but before she could deliver the final blow, the hawk screeched at her and shot her in the face with one of its blasts. The force of the blast lifted her a few centimeters off of the ground by her chin and she landed with a thump on her backside. There was the sound of a squawk cut short and Dorothy saw that all of the vines wrapped around the bird were now sprouting long thorns. ¡°We did it!¡± Dorothy laughed. Charlotte giggled and popped the mouse into her mouth, crunching happily and finally slurping the tail in like a noodle. Dorothy made a face like she might be ill at the sight. ¡°So... Um... what do we do with the hawk now?¡± Dorothy asked without looking directly at Charlotte. ¡°Well... the mouse will hold me till lunch... so I guess you can have some... but I want half of it for later...¡± ¡°Nope. Nope nope. All yours. Anyway, I don¡¯t think that Automata can eat anything.¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s sad. I like eating. I think this guy will be lunch then, maybe dinner if there¡¯s leftovers. Oh yeah, we need to collect the experience...¡± Charlotte retracted her vines from the bird and took out her dagger. Carefully, she extracted a small crystal orb from the bird¡¯s chest. She closed her eyes and a faint glow emanated from the crystal then flowed off like mist and settled into her palm. ¡°I only took half,¡± she said, holding out the orb to Dorothy. Dorothy took the marble sized crystal and tried to absorb the experience points like Charlotte had done. The glow appeared around the orb but it just sat there and refused to enter her hand. Dorothy huffed and handed the orb back. ¡°I guess I can¡¯t eat, and I can¡¯t absorb experience either,¡± she said, feeling annoyed. Charlotte gave her a pitying half smile and absorbed the remaining experience from the orb. As Dorothy watched the experience fade into Charlotte¡¯s hand, a new icon appeared on the crystal once it was depleted. ¡°Hey, can I see that?¡± She asked. Charlotte shrugged and handed it over. ¡°It¡¯s empty though.¡± In Dorothy¡¯s HUD she could see an icon floating near the crystal. When she focused on it, it expanded into a dialogue note that said: Crack open crystal and analize with Developer Console to record magiCode Snippet. ¡°Are you going to want this crystal?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°No... It¡¯s not worth much.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to try something. [DevCon].¡± As soon as Dorothy spoke the magiCode keyword, a large screen opened up in front of her. In the middle of the screen was a smaller window with a message welcoming her to the Developer Console. There were tabs and indicators for inspecting, modifying, and searching for magiCode related things but none of it made any sense to Dorothy. She took a metaphorical breath and cracked the orb between her fingers. The message floating near the crystal changed to: Analize. She tapped the word and the icon was replaced with a white rectangle that looked like it was filling up with blue from the left. When the rectangle completely filled up, it went away and was replaced with a note that said: MagiCode Snippet found. New Snippet added to Snippet Library. Dorothy touched the tab labeled Snippet Library and saw a small collection of things listed.
Snippet Library
Assign Attribute
IF Condition
ELSE Condition
LOOP Statement
TRIGGER Statement
NEW Explosive(small) Attribute
¡°Huh.. okay...¡± Dorothy said, confused. ¡°What happened? Did it do something when you cracked it open?¡± Charlotte asked. ¡°I guess? I got something called a snippet but I have no idea what that means. I¡¯ll have to ask Mama about it tonight.¡± Dorothy and Charlotte spent the rest of the morning gathering up more grass but the most they had to deal with were a couple of random slimes that appeared out of the ground and a hydrofox that was glaring at them from the edge of the woods. By lunch time they had gathered 18 bundles of steel grass and 4 jars-worth of slime. They didn¡¯t actually have any jars, but they found that a single jar¡¯s worth of slime took up 1 unit of space in Dorothy¡¯s [Inventory]. Two of their bundles of Steel grass also went into storage, maxing her out, and the rest was split between saddle bags that Charlotte had belted to her spider abdomen and Dorothy¡¯s large rear pouch. When the girls passed through the gate back into the city, Dorothy noticed that when the guard touched their cards to that tracking document, their names moved from the ¡°Exit¡± column to an ¡°Enter¡± column. She couldn¡¯t help but wonder what happened if she had come in from another gate other than the one she left from or if she had never been to this city before. Dorothy and Charlotte headed directly to the guild hall to finalize their ReQuest. The sooner they turned in the requested items, the sooner they could get paid. The hall was pretty empty. Most Adventurers would either be out at lunch or out still working on their own ReQuests. Papa was still at the counter though Fran didn¡¯t appear to be around. The girls stepped up to the counter and Papa put down his newspaper to assess them. ¡°Hey, Hey!¡± Papa said when he saw Dorothy. ¡°Look who got some new hairs! You almost look like your mom with that style, she¡¯ll be tickled pink when she sees you. Well... more pink than usual, I guess. So. all finished up? Looks like you survived.¡± ¡°We ran into a Blast Hawk and a bunch of slimes but that was about it,¡± Dorothy answered. ¡°A Blast Hawk, huh? How did you do? Did you scare it off?¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be lunch,¡± Charlotte said, patting one of her saddle bags. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine that there¡¯s a whole lot of good eating on a raptor like that...¡± Papa said, stroking his stubble. ¡°Say, I¡¯m about to take off for lunch as soon as Fran gets back. Why don¡¯t you sell the hawk to the guild and you can come home with us. Dorothy¡¯s ma is a pretty good cook.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to impose...¡± Charlotte said, staring down at the floor. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Oh! It¡¯ll be fine!¡± Dorothy exclaimed as she grabbed Charlotte¡¯s hand. ¡°My mama just loves cooking for people. Besides, now that I¡¯m an Automata I can¡¯t eat anymore so you can have my share.¡± ¡°Great, it¡¯s all settled then,¡± Papa said with a half smile. ¡°Okay, before we can close out the ReQuest form you need to head across the hall to the materials processing shop. Hand over whatever you collected and they¡¯ll give you a receipt. Bring that back over to me and we¡¯ll close it out.¡± Dorothy nodded and the two headed across the hall to another counter. Behind the counter sat two tough looking cat people. They had similar fur patterns of black and white. They could be twins if not for a large black patch of fur over the eye of one of them. They looked male, judging by their well muscled physiques, though that wasn¡¯t always an accurate indicator. On the counter, between the two, sat an illusion board that was showing a rocky cave floor with a hex grid laid over top. Sitting on the board were some stone discs that were casting illusions on top of them of what looked like a party of adventures on one side and some feral monsters on the other. ¡°You¡¯re dead Josh, there¡¯s no way you¡¯re getting out of this,¡± the one with the patch said. ¡°Talk all you want Jake, but my party beat your hordlings pretty badly last time.¡± ¡°Luck, just luck. Besides, I got the Rage Commander in a booster pack yesterday. You¡¯re dead.¡± ¡°Pfff! As if!¡± Josh said, rolling his eyes as he advanced one of his pieces. As soon as Josh let go of the stone disc, the illusion of the heavily armored crocodilian on top raised a fancy looking spear to the sky. A small illusionary storm cloud gathered and struck one of the monsters with a bolt of lightning. Little red numbers flashed over the monsters head before it fell over and vanished. ¡°Tch,¡± Jake said, sucking his teeth and biting on a thumbnail. ¡°I forgot the croc was a paladin...¡± ¡°Um... Excuse me?¡± Dorothy spoke up. ¡°This is the shop for material processing, right?¡± Both of the cats looked up at her, noticing the girls for the first time. ¡°Oh! Right! Sorry! Yes!¡± Jake said in quick succession, standing up. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell the guild master...¡± Josh pleaded, bowing his head and pressing his palms together. ¡°We just need to turn in our loot...¡± Charlotte said, looking over the game board. ¡°Wow... a little kid sized Automata... That takes me back,¡± Josh said, giving Dorothy a glance and a thumbs up. ¡°Right?¡± Jake agreed. ¡°Anyhow, what can we do for you?¡± Dorothy and Charlotte handed over their bundles of steel grass, the blast hawk, and the slime. Thankfully the materials shop had jars on hand as Dorothy didn¡¯t like the idea of just dumping it all on the counter. She couldn¡¯t actually feel the slime in her [Inventory] but she was glad to be rid of it just the same. Once all the materials and items were handed over, the cats wrote up a receipt and handed it over to Charlotte. ¡°Just take that over to the guild clerk and they¡¯ll close out your ReQuest,¡± Jake instructed. ¡°For the stuff that wasn¡¯t a part of the quest, we go by the current market rates. If you have the [Appraise] skill then you can look it up, otherwise you¡¯ll need to install the Exchange app on your cards and subscribe to the updates.¡± ¡°Got it. Thanks!¡± Dorothy said with a wave as they headed back across the hall to see Papa. Papa was ready and waiting for them with their ReQuest form when they arrived. Charlotte handed over the materials receipt and Papa set the ReQuest form on top and tapped his guild card on it. The information from the receipt transferred over to the ReQuest and its status changed to Completed. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see now,¡± Papa said, opening up his money drawer. ¡°4C per bundle times 18 bundles... plus 7C for the hawk... and 2C per slime times 4... comes to... 8S, 9C... split 2 ways is... 4S, 4C, 5I each. Not bad for a morning¡¯s work. Sorry Dorothy, but the Primercy gets half of yours till the debt is paid off.¡± ¡°Yeah, I expected as much...¡± she said, a little deflated, adding the 2 silver, 2 copper, and 2 iron coins to her money purse. ¡°Don¡¯t worry little Dot, the debt will be paid off before you know it and then you¡¯ll be raking in the gold. Mama and I will be putting money towards the debt too.¡± ¡°Thanks Papa.¡± Papa counted out the payment and pushed it to the other side of the counter. ¡°Okay now, let''s get out of here and get some grub.¡± ¡°I like grubs...¡± Charlotte said, perking up. ¡°No.¡± Dorothy said definitively. ¡°There will be no grubs in my mama¡¯s cooking. Right Papa?¡± ¡°Oh I dunno... depends on what''s on sale in the market I guess,¡± Papa said with a wink as he came around the counter. Fran was back at her station so Papa called out to her and gave her a wave. In return, she just gave a slight glance up from a novel she was reading and went immediately back to reading. Papa led the way back home through the crowded market. During this time of day, the smells of hundreds of different types of food filled the air. All of the vendors were busy making food as quickly as they could for the throngs of hungry patrons. Some days Papa would stop and bring something home for Mama and Dorothy but things got tight when Dorothy fell ill. Now she wouldn¡¯t ever get to have any of these foods again. The thought of it left her a bit depressed along with the thought that the last thing she ever tasted was that Vanilla syrup during the conversion. Dorothy wondered if there was some magic infused in the syrup since it conjured so many wonderful memories of her family and a love of being alive with it. Maybe that was to help keep her from heading towards that cold white light she saw. When they arrived home, Mama was in her workshop adjusting the length of a pair of pants. She had stacks of clothes and equipment on either side of her in various stages of disrepair or repair. ¡°Wow,¡± Papa said, looking at all the work to be done. ¡°Business really picked up, eh?¡± ¡°Yuh dun know di haff of eet. I switched da sign on. Open fah bidniss afta only takin¡¯ mi clients fah sevra munts. Yuh tink there was a line all di way down mahkit street waitin¡¯ ti get een. I ain¡¯t di only sort out shop in Capital City, but yuh try tellin¡¯ ¡®em dat.¡± ¡°Well, the Adventurers in this guild know quality,¡± Papa said, giving an overwhelmed Mama a kiss on top of her head. ¡°How about I make lunch then?¡± ¡°OOH No yuh don¡¯t! Lass time yuh try, I almost loss mi kitchen. Now. Where mi Dorothy? Boonoonoonoos! Oh, mi love... Yuh... Yuh has hair now! Yuh hairstyle a happen! Oh come. Come let mama squeeze you.¡± Mama grabbed Dorothy and held her tight. It still felt somehow strange to Dorothy though. Maybe it had to do with her own lack of squish. Still she loved her mama and gently squeezed her back. Mama kept touching Dorothy¡¯s new hair and looking at it from different angles. ¡°Mama. Mama, wait a second. Mama! We have a guest!¡± Dorothy pleaded. ¡°Mama, this is my new friend, Charlotte. We¡¯ve formed a party together.¡± ¡°Oh, yuh fahst pahty? Come Charlotte, good ti know yuh,¡± Mama said as she extended an arm to embrace Charlotte as well as Dorothy. ¡°Maamaa,¡± Dorothy whined. ¡°Sorry! Sorry. I just so happy ti see yuh makin¡¯ frens already. I don¡¯t mine tellin¡¯ yuh I was worried ¡®bout it. Oh! Where mi manners? We need ti git yuh food now before yuh fahda mash up mi kitchen tryin¡¯ ti make a cheese san¡¯wich.¡± Mama released the girls and rushed off towards the living area to prepare something before Papa could attempt it. ¡°Sorry,¡± Dorothy apologised. ¡°My mama can get... excitable at times...¡± ¡°She... hugged me?¡± Charlotte said, looking a bit dazed and confused. ¡°Oh no! Do you not like hugs? Some people don¡¯t like hugs, I didn¡¯t even think about that, and Mama just goes off and hugs everybody.¡± ¡°I think... that might have been my first hug... It was nice.¡± ¡°A hundred, somethin¡¯ siblings and that was your first hug... huh... If you keep coming over, then that will probably be the first of many.¡± ¡°That sounds nice,¡± Charlotte said, smiling. Back in the kitchen, Papa was, in fact, attempting to make a cheese sandwich coupled with some slices of leftover porkoopine. Papa loved a toasted sandwich and was just starting to fiddle with the food forge when Mama walked in. ¡°Strida, I may not be a ranga no more but yuh know mi aim is still true,¡± Mama said with a glare and threatening gesture with a knife from her apron. Papa placed his sandwich into the still cold food forge and backed away with his hands in the air. Slowly, he turned around to look at his wife with a lopsided grin and a raised eyebrow. ¡°Now Anan, just toasting a sandwich.¡± ¡°Donchu juss toastin¡¯ a san¡¯wich me. We boht know what happen di lass time yuh try! Yuh dun know, yuh waste man. Now git!¡± ¡°I git, I git!¡± Papa said, laughing and making his way to the table. ¡°Um... I guess, have a seat?¡± Dorothy suggested to Charlotte. The chairs were, obviously, made for humans and other two legged creatures. Charlotte pulled out a chair from the table and looked at it, considering if her much larger spider body would fit onto the seating area with the back support in place. She then decided it wouldn¡¯t and pushed it back in. ¡°Hmm... well that¡¯s not going to work, is it?¡± Papa said, scratching his chin. ¡°Oh, I got it, maybe a bench?¡± Papa got up from the table and returned shortly with a small bench seat. He pulled away one of the chairs and put the bench in its place, turned perpendicular to the table. Charlotte straddled the bench with her eight legs and then lowered her body down onto it. She then looked up and gave Papa a big smile, full of lots of sharp teeth. Mama turned around and already had lunches ready for Papa and Charlotte. She set them on the table and then started working on her own lunch. ¡°Ah hope some porcupine is fine wichu, Charlotte. Is all ah got till I git ti di mahkit.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Charlotte answered as she examined her own sandwich. ¡°Now Dorothy, yuh still not eatin¡¯?¡± ¡°Sorry Mama... I wish I could, really...¡± Dorothy lamented. ¡°Ahkay mi love, mehbe later,¡± Mama said, settling at the table with her own lunch. Dorothy sat in her father¡¯s evening chair and opened up her [Console]. ¡°Okay... let¡¯s figure out what this snippet thing means...¡± Again, she saw the Welcome Screen when she accessed her Developer Console. The screen had a number of tasks listed that were probably common or ones that she might want to use often. She tapped on the label for ¡°Start new project¡± and the Welcome Screen went away and she was presented with a new set of options with the heading of ¡°wizard¡±. Was she a wizard now?
New Project Wizard
Console is not focused on any items. Would you like to attach a project to an equipped item?
  • Loc head decoration [0 ports]
  • MyFirstBlaster [1 small port]
  • arm_Right [1 small port]
  • Torso [0 ports]
  • Leg_Right [0 ports]
  • Leg_Left [0 Ports]
Dorothy didn¡¯t understand what ports meant in this context, or why her blaster and right arm had a small one but nothing else did. She did think it was kind of funny that her limbs and body were considered equipped items though. Dorothy figured that she might as well go with the only thing that actually felt like an item and tapped on MyFirstBlaster. The screens changed again and she saw a workspace screen with a side screen for her Snippet Library as well as another labeled ¡°Functions¡± that had a list of items like ¡°Load¡±, ¡°ReLoad¡±, and ¡°Fire¡±. Dorothy tapped on ¡°Load¡± and the workspace screen filled up with lines and lines of text with a warning above it that said ¡°Can Not Be Modified with Snippet System.¡± The text seemed to be directions or commands of some kind that told her blaster what to do, step by step, to load a new ammo type manually. She closed the screen and tried the ¡°Fire¡± function. This time when the text loaded into the work area it had a lot of extra text that started with slashes and described what the direction did. It also had a lot of holes for lack of a better term. Little boxes in the middle of the text that said ¡°Drag and drop a code snippet here.¡± Dorothy tried to drag the ¡°loop¡± snippet into the first box but the snippet flew back into her library and a message popped up saying: A Loop cannot be used here. Try using an Attribute snippet. When she paid attention, she could see that the snippet spot was located under a line that said: //Drop an Attribute snippet here to apply that attribute to your ammo before it is launched. Multiple attributes can be applied but be aware of how much mana will be required per shot as well as what mana crystals might be needed. Your function won¡¯t work if you don¡¯t have the required mana crystals installed. It is recommended that you make a copy of this function to create variants instead of working directly in your only copy. She dragged the Explosive (small) attribute snippet from her library into the spot and this time it snapped into place and she could see it change into commands like the rest of the function. It would seem that any of her shots would now have a small explosive effect when they hit, but to use it she would need a small explosive based mana crystal and the shots would cost her 6 more mana than a normal shot; which apparently cost her 2 mana each. She didn¡¯t even realize that she¡¯d been using any mana to shoot them so she made a mental note to pay more attention to that number on her HUD when she was using the blaster. Dorothy noticed that there was a little picture of a book with a quill near the top and another that had a plus next to it. She tapped on the one with the plus and a new screen appeared asking her to name the new function. She thought for a second then decided to name the new function [Blast] after the Blast Hawk that she¡¯d gotten the snippet from. A little hourglass spun around for a moment and was replaced with a new message telling Dorothy that her new function had been added to her code base. She closed out the screens and got back to the Welcome Screen and noticed another common task for ¡°Code Simulation.¡± When she touched it, a screen labeled ¡°Custom Functions¡± appeared, but it only listed [Blast]. She touched Blast and a box expanded below it and she could see the direction text scroll by. When the text got to the snippet she¡¯d added, the scroll stopped and she saw new text in the box with red letters. The new text told her that the function had failed because the required mana crystal was missing. It seemed unfair to Dorothy that she had to break the mana crystal in order to get the snippet but once it was broken, she couldn¡¯t use it for the function with the snippet in it anymore. ¡°Little Dot, we¡¯re heading out,¡± Papa said, standing near the door back into Mama¡¯s shop. She was so absorbed in her [Console] that she hadn¡¯t noticed that the others had finished eating already. ¡°What? Oh! Right! Sorry!¡± she cried as she hastily closed out her screens. Dorothy hopped up and followed after Charlotte and Papa to the front of the shop. She gave Mama a hug and headed back out again. ¡°So, you two going to try to find another ReQuest? Not usually much after lunch though,¡± Papa asked. ¡°I think... that I might need a nap after that lunch...¡± Charlotte said sleepily. ¡°I¡¯m going to head back to the room I¡¯m renting for a bit.¡± ¡°Ah, okay. See you tomorrow at the guild?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Sure... later...¡± Charlotte waved as she headed into the crowd. ¡°What about you then Dot?¡± ¡°During lunch I made a new function for my blaster... but I need a small explosion crystal to make it work. So I was thinking of heading back to the spot where we gathered the steel grass to see if I can find another blast hawk.¡± ¡°Okay, sounds good. Swing by the guild when you¡¯re done. I¡¯ll see if I have any ReQuests I can throw your way.¡± ¡°Thanks Papa! See you later,¡± she called out as she ran through the crowd. 5: Solo Leveling Dorothy stepped out into the open field near the West Gate and looked around. Last time it was the temptation of catching a mouse that brought out a Blast Hawk. There were probably plenty more mice living in this field but Dorothy didn¡¯t know the first thing about how to track or catch any. Her chances of finding another explosive crystal seemed to be fading fast. High in the sky she could see some large birds circling around but they were well outside of the range of her blaster. Thinking that she might have better luck in the forest, she hesitantly took a look through the trees. Mama and Papa had never let her go into the woods before but she was an Adventurer now. Danger was part of the job, right? She wouldn¡¯t go too deep, just a little bit. The tops of the trees blocked out the sun pretty well and it was a lot darker than she would have expected. Dorothy remembered that now that she was an Automata she could change how her eyes worked. Other than normal vision, she had the options in her HUD to overlay something called ¡°InfraRed¡± and ¡°UltraViolet¡± vision. There were also some options called ¡°Radio¡±, ¡°X-Ray¡±, and ¡°Gamma¡± but they seemed to be locked. She tried turning on the UltraViolet vision and not much changed other than everything looked more purple. Occasionally certain leaves or bird scat or something would glow in some strange bright color and plants that had magical properties had a sort of glowing aura about them. It was kinda neat, but not useful right now. Dorothy noticed that her mana had gone down to 79. Apparently using the different vision types used up mana. Maybe they would have something at the library or at the AutoForge that she could read that could explain all this for her. She tried turning on the InfraRed one. This time everything had a sort of dark red tinge to it, spots where the light broke through the canopy looked slightly brighter but not as much as she would have expected. When she looked at the ground she noticed a glowing set of animal tracks. She could actually see footprints! They were fading quickly though and disappeared in one direction while looking stronger in the other so she decided to follow them. She didn¡¯t really know what kind of tracks they were though. Each print looked like two beans with the rounded parts pointing outwards and some little marks at the back. She put her hand next to the print and it was about half the size of her palm. Dorothy trotted off, following the prints, hopeful that the animal might be something useful. The tracks led to a cross road of sorts and turned to join another set of prints that were nearly faded. The new prints had four blobs that reminded Dorothy of leaves on a plant with a bigger blob at the bottom but these were much smaller than the first ones. As she followed them, the first set of prints cut off of the path and into the underbrush. Dorothy decided that a smaller animal might be better to track and kept with the second set and picked up her pace to catch up with the animal. The trail led to a small clearing and Dorothy spotted a baby hydrofox, a kit, playing and diving after some large and colorful insect. On the one hand, the animal was very cute. On the other, Dorothy couldn¡¯t bring herself to hunt the thing and felt like she¡¯d completely wasted her time following it. Just as she was about to turn around and see if she could find the first set of prints again, she heard the tell-tale shriek of a hawk. What luck! The hawk was in a dive from up high, focused on the kit. The kit didn¡¯t seem to be aware and was only focused on the bug. Where was the mom?! Dorothy dove into the clearing with her blaster ready. She hit the ground and rolled onto her back pointing at the sky as the hawk lined up. The hawk spread its wings to slow and change course but it was going too fast. Dorothy fired a clay shot and hit it squarely in the chest, then another shot, and another. The third shot hit it in the face and it plummeted to the ground. Dorothy sprung up to finish off the hawk, but wasn¡¯t keen on a repeat of the last time. She drew her sword and carefully approached the dazed hawk. With a quick motion, she slashed with her sword. The motion felt familiar to her though she¡¯d never touched a sword until last night. Must have been the blade skill she had installed that was providing the knowledge to her. Same for how she was able to knock the hawk from the sky this time when she felt steady and focused. The blade of her sword sang through the air and just like that, the hawk was an ex-hawk. Dorothy felt compelled to clean the blade so she did so before returning it to her sheath. The ex-hawk then went into her [Inventory] and she looked around to see what had happened to the hydrofox kit. The kit was found nearby but it looked like it wanted to run away but couldn¡¯t. When Dorothy approached it, it snapped and yipped at her. Water began pouring from its mouth and it attempted a water based attack at her, but it amounted to getting splashed by a squeeze bottle. ¡°Don¡¯t worry little fella. I¡¯m not going to hurt you,¡± Dorothy tried, kneeling down and holding her hand out to it. Another yip water attack came, but this time from the side and strong enough to knock her over. Dorothy looked up surprised and saw an adult hydrofox growling at her. ¡°Oh there you are Mama, I only saved your kit from being bird food you know!¡± Another water attack and she was knocked back over again. ¡°Hey! That¡¯s a fine thank you!¡± Dorothy shouted at the mama fox. The hydrofox¡¯s attention shifted to something else and yipped something at her kit before darting off back into the underbrush with the kit following close behind. ¡°Hmmff,¡± Dorothy grumbled. ¡°Ungrateful much?¡± Dorothy turned to look for the way she¡¯d come in and her feet began melting into the ground. ¡°What?! What¡¯s going on?!¡± Dorothy reached down with her hands to pull her feet free and her hands were starting to grow little vines and flowers out of her joints. ¡°AAUGH!¡± she screamed. Was this magic? What was going on? Dorothy whipped her head around and spotted a hulking shape running for her from the edge of the clearing. The mass of a creature smashed into her and she was flung up in the air. Dorothy crashed onto her back and rolled over to see a large boar snorting and pawing at the ground as it lined up for another charge. She shifted her arm back to blaster mode and took aim as little flowers started growing out of it again and her supporting arm started melting like ice cream on a hot day. The boar charged again but Dorothy rolled out of the way. Each time the boar attacked, the flowers went away and her hands and feet were unmelted. Whatever the boar was doing, it didn¡¯t seem to be able to do it and charge at the same time. Was it casting illusions to confuse her? Dorothy sprung up and took aim at the boar, this time the numbers and glyphs in her HUD grew little arms and legs and started dancing around. She ignored them as the boar rushed her again. She fired off a flare round at the oncoming mass, striking it in the face. The flare exploded in a burst of light and flame but only diverted the charging boar a bit and it smashed Dorothy to the side. Dorothy tumbled and crashed through the underbrush and out of the clearing. The boar crashed around blindly, squealing and smashing into trees, against the ground, and flailing in the air. Maybe she could stab it with her sword while it was distracted? Dorothy pulled her sword out and tried to sneak up on the thrashing boar. Just a step outside of striking range, the flame died off and the boar turned a badly burned and furious face in her direction. ¡°GAAAH!¡± she screamed and stumbled backwards. The boar charged again and Dorothy scrambled out of the way but was clipped as it ran past, sending her spinning to the ground and her sword flying. The idea that Dorothy could take on this boar and sell it at the guild was long gone, now staying alive seemed like the best course of action. Little flowers were starting to dance in her HUD now, so another charge would be coming. Rather than wait around for it, Dorothy ignored the dancing flowers and spotted her sword trying to slither away like a snake. She grabbed the sword and took off running. Dorothy less saw what was in her path and more felt it as she crashed through the underbrush, thickets, low tree branches, anything that could be in the way was suddenly directly in her path as the boar chased after her. Light ahead! Dorothy crashed through the brambles and out into... nothing. The ground was suddenly not where it should be and Dorothy flailed and screamed as she flew through the air over a small ravine. Thankfully she was only a couple meters in the air and she came down with a splash in the shallow creek at the bottom. Dorothy took a moment to collect herself and just stared at the sky as she lay on her back in the creek. She risked a glance back the direction she¡¯d come from but the boar had given up. She could feel something slightly squishy under her and fumbled around to find that she managed to actually land on a large fish. The fish was about a meter in length and appeared to have been killed when something heavy landed on it. Dorothy laughed out loud at the situation and was glad that Charlotte wasn¡¯t there to see what kind of Adventurer Dorothy really was. She did manage to get that hawk pretty cleanly though. Dorothy pulled herself out of the creek and dragged the fish with her. No sense letting it go to waste. She tried to put it into her [Inventory], but the thing was too big. Dorothy loaded her blaster to capacity and stuffed the rest of her clay and flare rounds into her belt pouches, gladly, the hawk could fit into her rear pouch. With the [Inventory] emptied out, she was able to fit the big fish. Getting an [Inv] upgrade went to the top of her wishlist. Even if the fish wasn¡¯t worth anything, Mama would be able to cook it up. Dorothy followed the creek until she got to the edge of the woods and could see the walls of Capital City. It wasn¡¯t as late as she thought it would be, but maybe she¡¯d had enough adventure for today. Dorothy was soaked and made squelching sounds as she walked. The sound annoyed her. The guard at the gate gave her a wide eyed look as she checked Dorothy¡¯s card back in, but Dorothy tried to ignore her. Dorothy squelched her way through the streets to the guild, getting increasingly more annoyed as people stared or remarked on her smell. By the time that she squished her way to the guild hall she was in a pretty foul mood. Dorothy stood in front of the Material Processing counter and glared at the cats behind it. For their part, they only glanced at each other but had seen enough Adventurers return home to not ask questions. Dorothy pulled out the hawk, thumping it onto the counter, and looked back at the cats. ¡°Another Blast Hawk, eh?¡± Jake asked. ¡°Nice,¡± Josh offered. ¡°I need the mana crystal,¡± Dorothy growled. ¡°No problem, I can take care of that¡± Josh assured her and took the bird back into the shop.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Anything else?¡± Jake asked. Dorothy made dramatic sighing sounds and pulled the fish out of her [Inventory], letting it flap over the counter. ¡°Oh, this is a Smart Bass,¡± Jake said, picking the fish up and giving it a sniff. ¡°A what now?¡± Dorothy asked, giving Jake a skeptical look. ¡°I¡¯m serious,¡± he laughed, ¡°This guy casts illusions to trick prey into coming closer as well as for scaring predators off. How did you manage to catch it? They¡¯re notoriously hard to catch and are smart enough to see a trap or bait for what it is.¡± ¡°I... um... I landed on it...¡± Dorothy said, suddenly embarrassed and examining the countertop. ¡°Ha!¡± Jake yelled. ¡°Looks like instead of a Smart Bass, you managed to catch a Dumb Bass!¡± Dorothy couldn¡¯t help but smile at the dumb joke and took her reciept with a smirk. Josh returned from the back and handed over the small explosion crystal from the Blast Hawk. It was clean and polished, and Dorothy could see in her HUD that it still had all of its Experience Points in it. ¡°Thanks guys, see you tomorrow,¡± Dorothy waved as she backed away to head over to the ReQuest counter. ¡°Later, Dot!¡± Jake called. Dorothy paused and gave him an odd look. Josh smacked his brother in the chest. ¡°She said her name is Dorothy.¡± he corrected. ¡°I thought Strider said her name was Dot, he even made that AutoDot joke at the staff meeting¡± Jake glared as he rubbed his chest. ¡°He did,¡± Josh admitted, ¡°but that¡¯s not what she said her name was. Maybe just her dad can call her that.¡± ¡°Oooooh... I didn¡¯t think of that...¡± Jake deflated and his ears laid flat on his head. ¡°Guys!¡± Dorothy called, getting their attention. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You can call me Dot. I don¡¯t mind... But not AutoDot...¡± ¡°Phew,¡± Jake said, ears perking back up. ¡°Later Dot!¡± ¡°See ya later, Dorothy,¡± Josh said shaking his head, but smiling. Dorothy had nearly dried off by now, though her boots were still wet and leaving small, moist footprints across the hall as she crossed over to see her Papa. ¡°Hey little Dot... you... you fell in the creek, huh?¡± Papa said, giving her a cautious look. ¡°You can tell by looking, huh?¡± ¡°I can tell by smelling. That creek that runs into the city has a pretty particular odor. Most Adventurers come back smelling like it when they pick up ReQuests to catch a Smart Bass.¡± ¡°Oh... well I caught one,¡± Dorothy said, puffing up with false pride. ¡°That¡¯s my girl, okay let¡¯s see the receipt.¡± Dorothy handed over the slip of paper. There wasn¡¯t a ReQuest to go with it this time so she wouldn¡¯t be getting any promotion points but hopefully the Bass was worth a bit. ¡°Okay now... that¡¯s 7C for the hawk again... and for the bass, it¡¯s 4S... and 2S for its loaded illusion crystal,¡± Papa said, counting out the money. ¡°It had an illusion crystal?! Shoot, I should have analyzed it or kept it,¡± Dorothy muttered. ¡°They didn¡¯t ask you?¡± Papa asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°They¡¯re supposed to ask if you want the crystal. Most folks need to at least collect the XP from it. I¡¯ll skin those cats when I see them at the next staff meeting...¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine Papa! It¡¯s fine! I can¡¯t absorb the XP anyway... and illusions wouldn¡¯t be very useful for my equipment modifications.¡± ¡°Well alright, they get to live. But only because you said so,¡± he said, giving her a wink. Papa split the money in half and gave Dorothy her share. The rest went into a special leather bag to be delivered to the bank with an amount receipt marked for The Primercy. Dorothy pocketed her pay, she was a bit surprised how much the bass was worth but she wasn¡¯t going to turn it away. It wasn¡¯t quitting time yet so Dorothy waved goodbye to her father and headed out of the guild. She nearly had a gold¡¯s worth of money again and was interested in doing some window shopping. As much as she liked having Papa¡¯s sword, the idea of having one built into her arm that couldn¡¯t be knocked or lost was appealing. She also wanted to load up on some more types of ammo and look into a blaster upgrade, but all of that would have to wait until she could get cleaned up. Shop owners might not like it if she came in, smelling of the creek even though she couldn¡¯t smell it like they did. Dorothy poked her head in the front door of Mama¡¯s shop and Mama appeared from the back at the sound of the door chime. ¡°Oh Dorothy, yuh back soon din I thought. OH tan deh! Mi love... yuh done fell in di crick and got di green arm, eh?¡± Dorothy¡¯s shoulders drooped. ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Gwaan now, round di back. We git yuh cleaned up an¡¯ yuh tell Mama all ¡®bout it.¡± ¡°Kay... thanks Mama.¡± Dorothy left the shop and Mama locked the door after her and flipped her open sign around, shoeing Dorothy to get going. To get to the rear entrance, Dorothy had to walk to the end of the block and head down a back alleyway to get to the common alley that accessed the rear entrances for their building row as well as the one behind them. Mama was waiting for her with a bucket of clean water, soap, and brushes. Dorothy stripped off all of her gear and sat on a little bench as her mother scrubbed at her armor plating and brushed out mud and creek gunk from places that Dorothy didn¡¯t even realize she had. As Mama scrubbed, Dorothy told her about her afternoon adventure and how things went for her. ¡°Yuh know, dat vision ting would be verra useful to a tracka. I bet dey would pay well ti have a body like yuh wit dem. I wunda if all dem Autos could do dat back in di days an¡¯ dey jus¡¯ neva tol¡¯ no body...¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± Dorothy shrugged. ¡°I know mi love. So tell meh more ¡®bout dat boar.¡± Dorothy told her about the strange things she saw like flowers sprouting or her limbs melting, even about the sword slithering like a snake. ¡°Was it illusions?¡± Dorothy asked when she was finished. ¡°I don¡¯t tink so, but mebbe. I hear der sometin call da psi-boar in dem woods. Mebbe you foun¡¯ it.¡± ¡°A psi-boar, huh? I¡¯ll ask Charlotte about it tomorrow, she grew up deep in the Fangwell Forest. Maybe she¡¯s heard of it.¡± ¡°Coul¡¯ be, coul¡¯ be,¡± Mama said as she worked on cleaning the individual cables of Dorothy''s ¡°hair¡±. ¡°So tell meh, what utta upgrades yuh git? New weapons? Mebbe sometin like dat Knight Patrol Auto we saw?¡± ¡°Just the hair. I got some ammo for my blaster too, but just the hair for my first upgrade so I could be like you,¡± Dorothy said, giving her mother a big, close-eyed smile. ¡°Kiss mi neck, really? Oh mi Dorothy,¡± Mama teared up as she squeezed Dorothy. ¡°Ma! I¡¯m all soapy!¡± ¡°I dohn care,¡± Mama said, squeezing and gently rocking from side to side. There would be no stopping her, so Dorothy had to just ride it out. When Mama was done, she dumped the bucket of water over Dorothy and started toweling her dry. ¡°I can do it Mama!¡± Dorothy complained as she tried to grab the towel from her. ¡°Nonsense,¡± Mama said, continuing to buff and dry. Dorothy tried again to snatch the towel away from her but still couldn¡¯t manage it. With an Automata¡¯s increased speed and strength she should have been able to but kept coming up empty. Eventually she gave up and crossed her arms in a huff. ¡°I fought bigga and badda Autos den yu, Dorothy Nightingale Singa,¡± Mama said with a smirk and a flourish of the towel. ¡°Now, meh gone git dis cloths clean up. Yuh can getcha tings.¡± ¡°Yes Mama...¡± Dorothy said, resigned to her fate. She gathered up her gear and left the pants, boots, and cuirass to her mother. Most things cleaned up pretty well with the damp cloth and in no time she had everything sitting out and drying. The blaster ammo could go back into her [Inventory] now that she didn¡¯t need to carry a big fish around. As she was setting things out to dry, she came across the small explosion crystal. It was only a couple of centimeters diameter, milky white, with red and black marbling winding around it. Dorothy looked at her left arm and converted it into blaster mode. She then thought the manual function [Load] and it opened up like it had back at the AutoForge. She could see four clay rounds setting in the hopper, ready to go but now she noticed a small circular socket near the mechanism that grabbed the next round in line. It looked like it should fit, so she dropped the crystal into the socket. The crystal hit some sort of trigger in her blaster that pulled it inward and then clamped it in place. Her HUD updated and now she could see the usual trigger [Fire] when she had the blaster active as well as her custom function [Blast]. She closed up the blaster and the temptation to try out the new function was overwhelming. Everything was finally cleaned up and was hanging to dry on the rack so Mama started getting dinner ready. She still hadn¡¯t gotten to the market, so it looked like leftovers for Papa again. Papa would be home soon and Mama always liked to have dinner waiting for him. Dorothy was sitting in Papa¡¯s chair again, looking at her [DevCon] trying to make sense of some of the things she¡¯d seen earlier; now that she had the time. She had missed it earlier, but across the top of her screen were a number of words that could be touched. Things like ¡°File¡±, ¡°Edit¡±, ¡°View¡±, ¡°Terminal¡±, and ¡°Help.¡± ¡°Help!¡± Dorothy exclaimed. ¡°Yes, I think I could use some help.¡± ¡°Wassa matta mi love? Evra ting okay?¡± Mama asked. ¡°Oh sorry Mama, yeah. I found a help section.¡± ¡°Ah good. Lemme know if it can help yuh fahda git home on time.¡± Dorothy smiled at Mama¡¯s joke and touched the word to see what it provided. When she touched it a new box appeared with a list of items and a small box at the top that said ¡°search.¡± The first item listed, read ¡°Automata FAQ.¡± ¡°Hey, Mama, what¡¯s a fack?¡± ¡°Fack? How it used?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a thing here called Automata Fack.¡± ¡°I dunno. I hope it not sometin inappropriate. Dorothy touched it to find out. The box with the listings went away and a new large screen opened up. At the top read ¡°Automata Frequently Asked Questions.¡± ¡°Oooh...¡± Dorothy said, putting together the acronym. Right at the top was ¡°Do Automata eat or sleep?¡± Dorothy was pretty keen on knowing about this herself and touched the entry to have the screen whiz the text up until it stopped at the answer to the question.
Do Automata eat or sleep?
The short answer is ¡°no¡±. Automata live off of mana and absorb the ambient mana from the air. Everytime that something uses magic, the mana that is consumed in their spell is returned to the atmosphere to be reabsorbed. Automata do best in areas rich in mana like dragon vein intersections where magic is strongest. Since Automata feed on mana and absorb it from the air, they do not need any food and as long as their inner mana is full, they do not require sleep. Bonus: Automata don¡¯t breathe either! So long as there is mana to absorb, an Automata will do just fine.
What is inner mana?
When we look at the status of an Automata we can see a value for their mana, but this is only part of the story. The mana we see listed is the Outer Mana. Just like non-Automata, the Outer Mana is what is consumed when casting spells. Your inner mana is what powers your body and keeps you running. You can think of inner mana the same way as non-Automata think of Stamina. The more active you are, the more of your inner mana you will use, however as you are constantly absorbing mana from your environment, simply being inactive for a while will recharge you. Your body is designed to recharge your inner mana first and when that¡¯s filled up it will recharge your outer mana. Your body will deplete your outer mana to recover inner mana, in cases of emergency. Automata don¡¯t feel ¡°tired¡± like non-Automata do so keep an eye on your mana levels and rest when you need to.
¡°Huh,¡± Dorothy said aloud. ¡°So it says here that Automata don¡¯t eat, or sleep, or even breathe. We just sorta suck the mana out of the air and that¡¯s all we need.¡± ¡°Dat makes mi a bit sad,¡± Mama said, looking at the food she was preparing. ¡°Me too... I love eating your food, and the smell of a feast on holidays... Though now I can¡¯t even really smell anything either.¡± ¡°I s¡¯pose dat why a body got di idee ti use Autos as slaves in di first place.¡± ¡°That must have been terrible.¡± ¡°Yeh, well... watah unda di bridge.¡± Dorothy read on, learning about a brief history of Automata, starting with the very first one named Marie up to how Automata are used in modern times to do jobs that aren¡¯t safe for others due to environment or how really old kings or queens sometimes convert to Automata in order to live longer as an adviser for the next leader. Papa got home and gave Dorothy and Mama hugs and remarked on Dorothy smelling much better, which inspired Dorothy to remind Papa that Automata don¡¯t have noses. Papa gave her the ol¡¯ finger arrows and a doofy grin in return. As evening turned to night and Mama and Papa turned in for bed, Dorothy continued reading all she could in the help section. It seemed like Automata missed out on a lot of things that made being alive something to look forward to, including things that were well beyond her interest level. All those ¡°simple joys¡± and ¡°truly feeling alive¡± were now gone for her, and there were tons of ¡°life experiences¡± that she would never experience. Automata had some cold, logical representations for some of them, but the experience was far from the same. It seemed like for what Automata gave up, they got back in time. An Automata ages at half the rate of a ¡°Non-Automata Indiginous Life¡± or ¡°NAIL¡±, as the help section sometimes used. It seemed that during the conversion you got back the amount of natural life you would have had, doubled. Then without the need to eat or sleep, it was no wonder that you saw so many Automata in the academic fields or in production services. Like them, Dorothy would need to find ways to spend her time. Being by herself at night without a project to focus on or a sleeping Papa in the chair felt lonely. The house, suddenly too big; and her bedroom, alien. Dorothy closed out all her screens and got up from Papa¡¯s chair. Quietly, so not to disturb her parents, Dorothy crept to her room and climbed out the window. From there, she was able to climb up to the roof of the building. Dorothy sat on the roof and watched the stars and the moons dance across the sky. She couldn¡¯t go anywhere now since her parents were asleep but, tomorrow night, tomorrow night she would ask about visiting Jennifer at the Knight Patrol. 6: System Update As the sounds of the night filled the air, Dorothy could hear people shouting, some singing, a crash, a siren, some cats, the distant growl of something big in the forest outside the walls... Eventually all these things died down as well as a stillness fell on the city. The stars and moons needed no music to dance to so they kept on with their dance across the sky. Dorothy opened up her [DevCon] again and went to the section for managing her internal systems. The more she could learn about how she worked, the better. When she accessed the section she saw a little red bell wiggling next to her POS version number. She touched the bell and a small screen appeared with an update.
System Update Available
30/10 Build quality acquired for update to v1.1 30/20 Build quality acquired for update to v1.2 30/30 Build quality acquired for update to v1.3 Update Now?
Dorothy touched the update text and the screens went away to be replaced with a white rectangle that filled with blue from the left. When it finished, her screens came back with a new message box at the front.
System updated to v1.3
The Primary Operating System has been updated to version 1.3. 3 Build update point(s) available for assignment. Assign Build Update Points:
  • Health [10]
  • Mana [80]
  • Strength [5]
  • Speed [5]
  • Focus [5]
  • Recover Health [1 per hour]
  • Recover Mana [1 per minute]
¡°Aaah, so this is how an Automata levels up,¡± Dorothy said to herself as she looked over the options. According to the system, she gained ¡°Build Quality¡± by installing better upgrades or upgrading her current parts with new functions and spells. If someone was rich, they could totally ¡°speed level¡± and become a high end Automata really quickly by just buying and installing better stuff, which seemed unfair to Dorothy but she figured that¡¯s just how the world worked. Some folks could Pay to Win and others had to keep grinding. After some thought Dorothy selected Speed to help her Blade skill, Focus to help her Ranged skill, and Health Recovery so she could heal twice as fast since things like health potions and stuff wouldn¡¯t work on her. When Dorothy confirmed her selection, she saw that little hourglass spin around again for a bit before the system told her that she now had 6 Speed, 6 Focus and would Recover Health at 2 per hour. It was amazing to think that she could go from near dead, which she assumed having 1 Health meant, to being back to normal in 5 hours. Maybe she had low health to start out with so it was only fast because she didn¡¯t have far to go until she was full. Should she have upped her Health instead? Next time. The first rays of light streaked across the sky and Dorothy realized that she had a layer of frost covering her. Her joints felt a little stiff so she rotated each one in turn to warm them up a bit. Mama would likely be getting up and getting ready for the day. Actually, she might worry if she couldn¡¯t find Dorothy, so Dorothy climbed back down from the roof and into her room. ¡°Ah there yuh be,¡± Mama said as Dorothy entered the common room. ¡°Didja sleep okay?¡± ¡°I watched the stars and the moons from the roof and inspected some of my internal systems. Ends up I was due for some minor updates and had some build points to spend.¡± ¡°Build points?¡± Papa said, following Dorothy into the room and taking a seat at the table. ¡°That sounds like leveling up. Adventurers collect XP from the mana crystals of things and when they hit a certain amount they get a new level and can increase one of their stats.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think this is just the Automata version of that since I can¡¯t absorb XP.¡± ¡°Oh, I like that. I didn¡¯t think that Autos could level up at all.¡± ¡°Yeah, I dunno. I went for speed, focus, and health recovery.¡± ¡°Nice, nice. Don¡¯t forget to up your health though. Healing is great but the further away from zero you are, the better,¡± Papa advised with a mouthful of fried meat. ¡°You hit zero and it doesn¡¯t matter how good your recovery is or how many potions you have. I¡¯ve seen plenty of Adventurers learn that the hard way.¡± ¡°Got it. I think I¡¯m going to go ahead to the guild,¡± Dorothy said as she gathered up her gear. ¡°Early worms getting birds and all that.¡± ¡°Layta mi love,¡± Mama called out. ¡°Yuh gone come home fah lunch?¡± ¡°If I¡¯m not in the middle of something, can I bring Charlotte?¡± ¡°Ah course now. I see yuh den,¡± Mama said with a wave of her juice glass. Dorothy made her way through the early morning crowds of vendors getting their stalls ready for a day of peddling. When she got to the guild hall, Fran was posting new ReQuests on the board and a small group of early risers were waiting to look them over. Dorothy took a spot next to a tall lanky demon and waited for a chance to find work for the day. ¡°Hey,¡± the demon said. ¡°Haven¡¯t seen you before. Come to join the worms?¡± Dorothy looked over at the demon. Aside from tall and skinny, she couldn¡¯t tell if the demon was male or female. The demon looked to be of the celestial species. They had bright golden feathers instead of hair and their skin was covered in tiny pearl colored scales. A row of tiny horns or spikes grew from their eyebrow ridge and their face was pretty, or possibly handsome. Their voice was high for a typical male, but then low for a female. Their gear didn¡¯t look nearly as fancy as the person wearing it though, and truthfully looked a little shabby by comparison. They wore a simple leather jerkin over a muslin shirt with leather sleeves attached to well worn steel pauldrons. A thick leather cumberbund and belt went around their waist, holding many pouches and bags as well as a thin dagger. Tan reinforced cotton adventure pants and knee high boots covered their legs, while a ragged black or possibly brown or possibly green hooded cape wrapped around their neck and shoulders. ¡°Um, sorry? Worms?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Early worms. Getting those birds. You know, like the ol¡¯ saying. That¡¯s what the guild tends to call us that are ready and waiting as soon as the ReQuests are posted. Anyway, I¡¯m Razz, rank C, they/them¡± Razz said, sticking out a gloved hand. ¡°Dorothy, rank E. They who?¡± Dorothy replied, shaking their hand. ¡°My pronouns. They and them. I¡¯m a celestial and we¡¯re actually both male and female at the same time. I get tired of folks tip-toeing around asking me which I am, so now I just roll that right into my introduction. Saves time.¡± ¡°I see. Um.. I guess I¡¯m a she then... or at least I used to be. Automata don¡¯t have any male or female parts at all so...¡± she shrugged. ¡°In my experience, what parts you have on the outside play a very limited role in what you feel on the inside. My brother, for example, is just as celestial as I am but says that he feels like a male on the inside. I flip and flop back and forth depending on the day so using they is just easier.¡± ¡°That sounds like it can get confusing.¡± ¡°Not really, I mean, it boils down to just calling people what they want to be called, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true... How long have you been an Adventurer?¡± ¡°Two years, though I should be getting close to hitting rank B soon.¡± ¡°Oh wow, you must be awesome!¡± ¡°I do okay. Oh, it looks like Fran¡¯s done, time to find what I¡¯m doing today. It was nice chatting with you Dorothy.¡± ¡°Likewise.¡± Razz was quick to slip in front of the group and started scanning all the ReQuest forms like they were in a race. In less than a minute they had pulled 6 sheets down from the board and were headed over to see Fran. Dorothy would be lucky to find a single ReQuest she could handle and Razz already had six. The upper ranks really knew how to hustle. Eventually, an opening at the board presented itself and Dorothy slipped in. As she scanned the pages of ReQuests, she noticed that there were very few high or mid ranking ReQuests. All of these early worms must be rank C or better. Dorothy spotted a task that looked like it might be interesting and pulled it from the board.
Rank: D (solo)/ E (Party 2+) Type: Pest Control
Subject: Clear Cabbage Trolls from Tweed¡¯s Farm
Summary: Cabbage Trolls have invaded the Tweed farm and are attacking the vegetable crops. Remove the Trolls from the farm and help Farmer Tweed repair his security net to keep them out.
Rewards:
  • 100 Promotion Points to be split between participants
  • 4 Silver total to be split between participants
  • Bonus: 3 Copper per Cabbage Troll (must collect cabbage head as proof)
Dorothy had never actually seen cabbage trolls, but then she¡¯d never been on a farm either. The pay wouldn¡¯t be that great after splitting the reward with Charlotte and The Primercy but the 50 promotion points would be a nice help to get her to rank D. Dorothy still had a couple of hours before she expected to see Charlotte since it was still just a bit after dawn. Scanning for ReQuests that she might be able to handle on her own, she found one that amounted to a package delivery so she decided to pick it up. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Rank: E Type: Delivery (recurring)
Subject: Flour Delivery
Summary: The Dusted Rose is looking for a regular delivery person to pick up flour from the mill and deliver to the bakery every morning at dawn. See Baker Ryan for details.
Rewards:
  • 10 Promotion points
  • 1 Silver
The ReQuest was recurring too, so it should be easy enough to take care of first thing in the morning before heading over to the guild. It didn¡¯t pay much, but it should add up over time. Dorothy took the ReQuest slips over to Fran, who took her card and assigned Dorothy to them. ¡°For the delivery ReQuest,¡± Fran instructed, ¡°you¡¯ll be dealing directly with the clients so best behavior. Also, since you won¡¯t be bringing anything back here, you¡¯ll be using the ¡®receipt¡¯ function on your guild card. Open up the card functions, now see that tab at the top that says ¡®ReQuests¡¯? Good. Those are the ReQuests that you have active. You¡¯ll need two receipts per delivery. One from who you¡¯re picking up from and one from the drop off. You¡¯ll just bring that up, touch the ReQuest, and you¡¯ll see where to have the person push their mana to sign off. When you¡¯re done, come back here and your card will update the ReQuest sheet. Now you might want to run, they wanted that delivery by dawn, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! Okay thanks Fran, see you later!¡± Dorothy yelled as she took off running for the door. It would have been nice if the ReQuest sheet had stated which mill the Dusted Rose was using so that she could go straight there but it looked like she¡¯d have to go to the bakery first and talk to Baker Ryan. At the current hour, the streets were still pretty empty except for early vendors selling breakfast items to other vendors and people on their way to work. Dorothy ran as quickly as she could through the district. Thankfully, she knew where the Rose was, having been there once with Papa when they first moved to Capital City. As Dorothy was running, she tripped over a thick snake tail that suddenly flopped into her path. She tumbled onto the ground and shot a glare at the owner of the tail, a male lamia that looked like a grandad wearing a thick leather apron and multi-lensed glasses. ¡°Watch where you¡¯re going!¡± the grandad yelled at her. ¡°Eh?!¡± Dorothy squeaked indignantly. She didn¡¯t have time to argue, so grandad was getting off lucky this time. She scrambled back to her feet and kept running. She had to dodge around a couple more people that weren¡¯t paying attention but managed to stay on her feet the rest of the way to the bakery. The sun was fully visible when she arrived and pushed on the front door. ¡°Excuse me?¡± Dorothy called. ¡°I¡¯m Dorothy, I¡¯m from the guild?¡± ¡°Finally!¡± came a shout from a door behind the counter. On shelves around the small store front were baskets full of biscuits, rolls, assorted breads, and jam filled pastries. They looked tasty and once again Dorothy missed being able to smell things properly. A tall raven person stepped out from the back. They were wearing a white apron over their simple work clothes and had large black wings on their back that had been bound in place. The raven clapped their hands together repeatedly and a small cloud of flour formed before they were satisfied that enough had been dislodged for a hand shake. ¡°I¡¯m Ryan, good to see you Dorothy. We need that flour as soon as possible for the lunch rush. Our regular person had to quit and I¡¯ve been picking up the delivery myself for the last couple days waiting for someone from the guild to pick up our ReQuest. I¡¯m running behind today so I¡¯ll be relying on you.¡± ¡°You can count on me, Ryan,¡± Dorothy said, puffing her chest out. ¡°Which mill do you get your flour from?¡± ¡°From the Pepperidge Farm, they¡¯re outside the North Gate. It¡¯s a bit far but I like their quality. Anyway since we¡¯re running behind already I can take you there but I don¡¯t have time to help bring the delivery back.¡± ¡°Oh, do you have a transport?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Heh, not quite,¡± Ryan said, pulling the strap from his wings. Ryan led Dorothy out the front door and moved to stand behind her. ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of heights are you?¡± ¡°Heights? Um, I¡¯ve never¡ª,¡± Dorothy began but turned into a scream as Ryan scooped his arms under hers and around her waist. His wings unfurled and seemingly filled the street. Briefly, he raised them and then with a leap, he thrust them down with a burst of wind magic. Dorothy and Ryan shot up into the air, alternating between being flung higher and then falling for a bit before being flung higher still. Dorothy¡¯s eyes were locked on the ground below as her legs kicked at nothing and her hands dug into Ryan¡¯s arms. Without the need to breath, Dorothy¡¯s scream was both loud and continuous. ¡°OW! OW! OW! OW!¡± Ryan cried. ¡°Your grip! Please let up, that really hurts! I might drop you!¡± Dorothy forced herself to relax her grip on Ryan¡¯s arms and reigned in her scream to a low hum. Below her, people on the street looked up and chuckled at the sight of a small robot girl screaming her head off as she¡¯s carried off by a big, black, birdman. Dorothy didn¡¯t notice any of the laughs or chuckles as she flew up into the air, but seeing the street below her turn into the view like a map took her metaphorical breath away. Ryan flew over the city, making a straight line over the people, streets, carts, buildings... Once Dorothy calmed down, the sensation was incredible. To be able to travel like this at will was amazing. The city rushed past below her feet, though she noticed that Ryan flew around the Castle grounds rather than as the crow flies and before she knew it, they had made it to the North Gate. Dorothy was surprised when Ryan gently landed before crossing the wall so that they could pass through the gate. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just fly right over the wall or the castle?¡± She asked. Ryan looked up and gestured with his beak to the archers positioned on top of the wall. ¡°I¡¯d rather not be shot, thanks.¡± ¡°They would shoot you down if you tried to fly over?¡± Dorothy asked as she handed her card over to the gate guard. ¡°More so trying to get back in than trying to get out. It is the Capital after all. Okay, Dorothy, you can take it from here; I need to get back to the bakery. See you soon!¡± Without waiting for a response, Ryan tossed her a small backpack and was gone in a matter of flaps. Dorothy passed through the gate and could see the fence edging the farm property a short distance away. She took off at a run to find the miller¡¯s building at the top of a low hill. A giant fan blade attached to the top of the building caught the slightest breeze and gently turned. Dorothy could hear the sounds of giant cogs and machinery from within. Dorothy found the door and opened it with a knock. ¡°Hello?¡± she asked, stepping into the poorly lit space. From the gloom she could see a set of eyes glowing and looking back at her. A soft ¡°eep¡± escaped her as she began to back away. ¡°You here for the pickup?¡± a well muscled goblin asked, stepping closer to the light. ¡°Um, yes! For the Dusted Rose?¡± ¡°Charlie! Take care of it!¡± the goblin shouted into the darkness. A small mouse person scurried up to Dorothy. They wore white overalls and a puffy hat, though Dorothy couldn¡¯t tell if Charlie¡¯s fur was a light tan or more of a darker color due to all the flour that was mixed in. ¡°Right this way miss,¡± Charlie directed. ¡°Normally, you should go to the store house to pick up the flour. I have duties though so I can¡¯t wait around there all day. The pickup is pretty late today, eh?¡± ¡°It would seem so. What time should I come back tomorrow?¡± Dorothy asked as Charlie led her to the store house. ¡°I get started at 3rd bell, but most folks don¡¯t come by until at least the 5th bell.¡± ¡°Oh great. I don¡¯t sleep so 3rd bell should be fine. Okay, Ryan gave me this little bag, I guess he needs this much flour? It doesn¡¯t seem like much for a bakery though...¡± Dorothy said, handing over the backpack. ¡°Ha! That¡¯s a good joke miss,¡± Charlie said as he took the bag and headed off for the stacks of flour and grains. As Dorothy watched, Charlie took the bag and flipped it inside out before touching the bag to the flour sacks. Each time the bottom of the bag touched a sack of flour, the sack vanished into a collection of square chunks like it was evaporating into building blocks. When Charlie had stored five sacks of flour he righted the bag and handed it back over to Dorothy. ¡°There you go. Five sacks. I have to sign for it, right?¡± Charlie prompted. ¡°Oh! Right!¡± Dorothy chirped remembering the pickup procedure that Fran had told her about. Charlie touched the appropriate place and had Dorothy do the same for a document for the farm¡¯s own tracking. With the flour safely stored in the [Inventory] bag, Dorothy slung it over her back and sprinted back the way she¡¯d come. Through the North Gate, past the castle and the court residences and into the market district. Dorothy dodged carts, jumped over people, spun around horses and dragon mounts and flew through the gathering crowds. Finally, she arrived at the Dusted Rose and noticed that her mana had dropped to 68. All of the continuous sprinting and jumping must have worn down her inner mana reserves but they would replenish soon enough. Dorothy stepped into the shop and saw Ryan and a white raven person with bright red eyes behind the counter, frantically making breakfast sandwiches and serving the morning rush of customers. ¡°Dorothy?¡± Ryan said looking up for the moment. ¡°Joy, take Dorothy in the back real quick to unload the flour delivery.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± the albino raven said with a beckoning wave to Dorothy. Joy opened the counter top gate and directed Dorothy into the back room where things were a bit of a mess. Someone had clearly been in the middle of making something and had to stop. ¡°Is it always this busy?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Eh, we do usually pick up a breakfast rush but not like this. I heard that the Emperor''s grandson is having a birthday so there¡¯s probably a lot of people visiting the city right now. Oh right, you can¡¯t unload the bag. Give it here.¡± Dorothy handed over the bag as asked, and Joy pulled the five sacks of flour out of the [Inventory] and set them on the storage shelves. She then tossed the bag back to Dorothy. ¡°Tomorrow you can just go straight to the mill since you¡¯ve met Charlie and have the Inv bag.¡± ¡°Right, now that I know about the job I can make sure you get your delivery before dawn. Okay, I just need your mana signature here...¡± Dorothy said, bringing up the receipt function of her guild card. Once Joy had signed for the delivery, she rushed to get back to helping Ryan out front. Dorothy was just about to head out the door when she heard Ryan call her name. She turned to see a small paper sack flying in her direction. Dorothy caught the sack and peeked inside to find several sugar dusted fried dough balls in the shapes of roses. Clearly, the bakery¡¯s signature item. Dorothy smiled and gave Ryan a wave before heading out. By the time she made it back to the guild hall, Papa was already at his counter and Charlotte was inspecting the wall of ReQuests with a disgruntled look. ¡°Morning Charlotte!¡± Dorothy called out. Charlotte folded her arms and scowled at the board. ¡°I can¡¯t find anything decent...¡± she complained. ¡°All... the good ones got snatched up already...¡± ¡°Lucky for you then that I was here with the Early Worms and already got us a ReQuest,¡± Dorothy said, smugly. ¡°Oh?¡± Charlotte said, finally turning to look at Dorothy. ¡°In fact, I just completed a delivery ReQuest now and need to report to Fran but then we can get started. If you check your guild card, I think it should be listed.¡± ¡°Oh! Well, alrighty then,¡± Charlotte said, perking up and pulling out her card to inspect it. Dorothy headed over to Fran¡¯s counter and slid her card over. ¡°How¡¯d you do kiddo?¡± Fran asked with a smirk. ¡°Not bad, tomorrow will be better though since I¡¯ll actually be able to get started in time.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see... what was the ReQuest ID number...¡± Fran tapped Dorothy¡¯s card with her own and the list of active ReQuests came up. Fran then muttered the ID number as she went to her file drawer and pulled out the related ReQuest form. When she tapped Dorothy¡¯s card to the form, it updated to show that the delivery was picked up from Charlie and accepted by Joy along with the signature times. Fran then counted out Dorothy¡¯s reward of 5 Coppers and put the other 5 Coppers into that delivery envelope for The Primercy. Dorothy pocketed the coins and thanked Fran before heading over to Papa¡¯s counter. ¡°What¡¯s up little Dot?¡± Papa asked when Dorothy approached him. Dorothy didn¡¯t say anything and instead placed the paper sack onto the counter in front of him and gently slid it in his direction. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s this now?¡± he asked. Papa delicately opened up the bag and took a glance inside. His eyes got wide and quickly closed the bag back up and looked around. ¡°Is this what I think it is? Where¡¯d you get this?¡± ¡°I believe those are called Dusted Roses from a shop of similar name,¡± Dorothy said in a conspiratorial whisper. ¡°I did a delivery for them this morning and the owner gave me these on my way out.¡± ¡°Oh lawdy... they¡¯re still warm too. If Fran catches a wiff of this, it¡¯s all over. That nine-tailed vixen is still packing an awful lot of magical power for someone... well, however old she is. I¡¯m surprised she didn¡¯t assault you while you were squaring your ReQuest.¡± ¡°I had the sack in my [Inventory] at the time...¡± ¡°Wise, very wise.¡± Sniff. ¡°Strider?¡± Sniff sniff. ¡°Do you smell something?¡± Fran called over. In a panic, Papa grabbed three of the roses from the bag and shoved them in his mouth. He then pushed the rest of the bag to Dorothy and started frantically shooing her away. ¡°Go!¡± he instructed. ¡°Share them with Charlotte or something, but just get out of here! Don¡¯t worry about me, I¡¯ve led a full life! You have to run!¡± Dorothy glanced over at Fran and saw that all of Fran¡¯s nine tails were high in the air as purple and blue magical energy began to collect around her and her eyes burned white behind her bifocals. ¡°Strider, I smell sugar... and fried dough! What do you have Strider??¡± Fran called, her voice amplifying power. Papa vaulted the counter and took off at a hobbling run across the hall. Purple lighting began to crackle around Fran as she appeared to start levitating. Other adventurers had also started running for their lives or erecting magical barriers. Dorothy grabbed Charlotte by the hand and started running for the door. The two were pushed along by the crowd of people trying to get away and in a final glance before the door closed, Dorothy could see Papa grabbing an enchanted shield from the armory shop inside the hall. ¡°What in the tri-moons is going on?¡± Dorothy called out. Everyone that had rushed to get out of the guild hall was now lingering around outside of it. An old and grayed minotaur looked down at Dorothy. ¡°Someone musta brought somethin¡¯ sugary into the hall,¡± the minotaur explained. ¡°If she wants it that bad, shouldn¡¯t we just give it to her?¡± Charlotte asked. ¡°Nah, she¡¯s not allowed to have any sugar. Diabeasties. Makes her go feral,¡± the minotaur said matter-of-factly. ¡°Will my Papa be okay? I mean Strider? Will he be okay in there?¡± Dorothy said, worried. ¡°Eh.. He¡¯ll be fine. Probably. This happens at least once a week. He always calms her back down. No one knows how he does it though on account of it not being too safe in there.¡± ¡°Huh... is Papa that strong?¡± Dorothy asked. Papa mainly complained that he couldn¡¯t do things like when he was younger but then he never seemed to put much effort into things either. ¡°You kidding? Strider was a rank SS back in the day. I mean, sure he doesn¡¯t get around like he used to but he¡¯s still plenty strong.¡± Strider, back in the day ¡°Wow! I had no idea!¡± Dorothy said, flabbergasted. ¡°Usually takes 20 minutes or so. You can wait around, or go find some food or somethin¡¯ I guess. I think I¡¯m gonna find a drink.¡± ¡°Okay, thank you for your help!¡± Dorothy called out as he ambled off. ¡°I guess... we might as well... get started on that cabbage quest, eh?¡± Charlotte asked. 7: Cabbage Trolls ¡°So... where is this Tweety Farm?¡± Charlotte asked as she and Dorothy walked away from the chaos at the guild. ¡°Um... hold up... I think I saw something on the guild card... Oh, here. You can eat these,¡± Dorothy said, handing the sack of remaining dusted roses to Charlotte. Charlotte took the paper sack and looked inside. ¡°Oh,¡± she said pleasantly with raised eyebrows. She reached inside and took a fried dough puff that had been shaped to look like a rose and dusted with powdered sugar and carefully inspected it as Dorothy fumbled through the guild card functions. Charlotte stuck her tiny pink tongue out and licked a bit of the sugar off. Her eyes grew large and a funny smile crawled across her lips. She placed the toe of one of her forelimbs on Dorothy¡¯s shoulder and closed her eyes as she set the rose into her mouth and chewed slowly. ¡°Ah! Here it is,¡± Dorothy announced. Under the Active ReQuests tab, in the corner of the ReQuest info screen, was a small picture of what looked like the sort of compass symbol that you see on maps. When Dorothy touched the symbol a new screen opened up with a map of sorts. The map was incomplete with large chunks of the city missing. It looked as if the map of the city had been covered by dirt and only a few paths like a worm making tunnels had been removed revealing the picture below. Upon closer inspection, Dorothy realized that she was that worm and the revealed parts of the map were all paths that she had taken since she got her guild card. On the right side of the blacked out map, a little green circle blinked away. That seemed to be the starting location for their ReQuest so they just had to head in that direction. The map would fill itself out as they went. In fact, Dorothy could see a small tunnel being dug in the blackness as they walked, though there wasn¡¯t any other indicator of where they were on the map. ¡°Looks like we need to head east... it¡¯s probably past the East Gate so we need¡ª¡± Dorothy began and completely lost her train of thought when she saw Charlotte. Charlotte looked back at her with an innocent expression, though her face and chest were covered in powdered sugar. It was even in her hair. She gave a little cough and a puff of sugar burst from her mouth. ¡°There um... some mistakes were made...¡± Charlotte said, blinking away some of the sugar around her eyes. Dorothy couldn¡¯t contain herself and burst into laughter. After she regained her composure, she helped her friend find a cloth from her saddle bag to clean up with. ¡°So you liked them, huh?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Those were cursed... you gave me a cursed item... I need more...¡± Charlotte replied as she wiped her face and dusted off her chest. ¡°Maybe I can get some more tomorrow when I deliver to the bakery again.¡± ¡°Cursed.¡± Charlotte repeated and tucked away her cloth. ¡°ANY way... The farm we want is Tweeds farm and I think it¡¯s out past the East Gate. Do you know anything about Cabbage Trolls?¡± ¡°No... Never seen one.¡± ¡°Well that makes two of us then... Oh yeah, I meant to ask you: have you ever heard of a psi-boar?¡± ¡°Oh yeah...¡± Charlotte said in a tone that suggested she was very familiar with them. ¡°They use psychic attacks to make you hallucinate to distract you before they attack. Very territorial. I¡¯ve never eaten one though... I hear that the meat makes you see visions...¡± ¡°Yeah that sounds like what I ran into yesterday...¡± ¡°Oh right, you went back out again. How did that go?¡± ¡°Other than running into a psi-boar and just barely escaping with my life, I did manage to find and kill another blast hawk so I can charge my shots with an explosion effect now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty neat... It must be great to be able to just upgrade yourself like that whenever you want...¡± ¡°I do like that aspect... but I miss my mama¡¯s cooking a lot. And those dusted roses... I could sorta smell them in a way that tells me exactly how much of every ingredient that was used in making them along with what kind of soap the baker used when they washed their hands... But there¡¯s no good or bad or anything... just... ingredients and numbers...¡± ¡°Really? Soap?¡± ¡°Lavender. Which means it was Joy that made that batch. Ryan just smells like yeast.¡± ¡°That¡¯s crazy... You should be a detective...¡± ¡°Heh, Detective Dorothy, private investigator! No job too small, no fee too large!¡± Charlotte giggled at the joke and handed her guild card over to the guardsman as they passed through the gate. ¡°So what time are you doing the delivery? Maybe I could meet you at the bakery...¡± ¡°I got the ReQuest late, so today was a lot later than they wanted. Tomorrow I¡¯ll go straight to the mill to pick up the delivery at 3rd bell.¡± ¡°Nevermind!¡± Charlotte said, looking hard to the side. ¡°I have plans already and I simply can¡¯t break my engagement I¡¯m afraid.¡± ¡°I figured you¡¯d be sleeping then.¡± ¡°Yes. Those are the plans.¡± The girls giggled and joked as they left the city. There was a small collection of buildings belonging to different farmers and merchants as well as a camp sight for those that arrived past the gate closing time. Dorothy also spotted a small package goods shop. Papa always said that you should only shop at these sort of places if you¡¯re desperate. According to him, they just buy the same stuff from the same shops as inside the city and then charge double or triple in their shops. It was a bit of a racket that preyed on convenience. On either side of the road they walked were fields behind fences. Unlike the wheat fields on Pepperidge Farm, these fields looked to be used for growing other crops like vegetables, some orchards filled with different fruit trees, and even open areas for grazing horses or cattle. ¡°Why can¡¯t these farm quests be closer to the city...¡± Charlotte complained. ¡°Yeah, it takes so long to get to them when walking. I¡¯m tempted to start running to get there quicker.¡± ¡°Running? As it is, I¡¯m going to be exhausted by the time we show up for the job! These legs were not made for long distance travel...¡± ¡°I feel like I could keep walking forever... the boredom would kill me though... OH! I forgot to tell you, this morning when I met Ryan from the bakery, he picked me up and flew me up to the North Gate. Oh, Ryan is a raven person. I was terrified, but it was still amazing seeing the city from so high up.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I can talk to you right now. Not only is this hike through endless farmlands not bothering you, but you got to fly like a bird...¡± ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry! It was pretty crazy. Would you ever want to fly?¡± ¡°No, I think I¡¯d silk myself...¡± Charlotte said, looking disgruntled. Dorothy nodded in sympathy. Not having the ability to soil herself was probably the only thing that prevented such an embarrassment during her trip in the air. Dorothy brought up the map again and she could see the little tunnel digging away and revealing the parts of the map that they traveled through. It was hard to tell exactly where the starting point was since it was still in black territory but it looked like they were headed in the right direction. Using the tunneling of the map to tell where they were, Dorothy veered off of the main road and into one of the fields. They ended up having to climb two fences but found themselves in the backyard of a farmhouse sitting right where the glowing green dot was on the map. Dorothy and Charlotte could hear bangs and thuds coming from a shed followed by a small explosion and thick black smoke erupting from the windows and doorway. Dorothy ran to the door and tried fanning away the smoke to see inside. ¡°Are you okay??¡± she yelled into the room. ¡°Whaa? Who¡¯s that?¡± a gruff voice called back, followed by rasping and coughing. Dorothy pushed into the smoke and fumbled around following the sound of the coughing until she felt a thick and furry body. She grabbed the person as best she could and pulled them out of the shed until they were laying outside in the open air. An old gnoll with thick and matted fur with tufts of white around his muzzle, long salt and pepper hair, and a thick, white, braided beard; coughed the remains of the smoke from his lungs. He rolled over and propped himself up onto his elbows to hack the last of it up. Heroforge doesn''t have a legless option or wheelchair, so I had to fake him sitting on a box... ¡°I... I can¡¯t feel my legs...¡± the gnoll groaned. Charlotte drifted her eyes down the length of the gnoll and shrieked when she saw that his legs ended at the knees. ¡°His legs! Where are his legs!¡± Charlotte shouted, looking around in a panic. Dorothy rushed back into the shed and frantically looked around. Most of the smoke had now cleared out and she could see a room filled with various contraptions in various states of completion¡ª all covered in a layer of soot. At a work table, she found a chair that had fallen backward, with wheels on the sides. Her worry over the old man suddenly evaporated and she casually wheeled the chair out of the shed. ¡°I, um... found your legs,¡± she said, pushing the chair over to the old man. The gnoll threw his head back and laughed, slapping the ground a couple of times. Some more coughing spasms took him and he settled down enough to push himself up to a seated position. Then, with effortless strength, he pulled himself up into his chair and Dorothy noticed how broad and muscled his upper body was. He was stripped to the waist with only some bandages wrapped around his middle and old, patched pants that were tied off below the knees to cover his stumps. One of his eyes was a bright and clear brown, but the other appeared to be blinded by a cataract.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Give me back my concern...¡± Charlotte said to the gnoll, as she folded her arms and humphed. ¡°Norrak Tweed, you done having a laugh with those kids and ready to get back to work?¡± an old gnoll woman said from the farmhouse back door. Her fur had a lot of gray and white mixed in now but was still dark in some places. She wore a simple tunic and apron over her full figure and leaned against the door frame with an amused expression. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about his sense of humor girls,¡± the gnoll woman said sympathetically. ¡°What can we do for you?¡± ¡°We¡¯re... from the guild...¡± Charlotte said. ¡°We¡¯ve accepted your ReQuest about the cabbage trolls?¡± Dorothy added. ¡°Ah! Great!¡± Norrak said, ¡°I¡¯ll take you down to the plumpkin fields where they¡¯ve been attacking. You ever dealt with cabbage trolls?¡± ¡°No sir,¡± Dorothy answered. ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard of them... but that¡¯s it. I¡¯ve never seen one.¡± ¡°Me neither... we never saw them in the deep forest where I grew up...¡± Charlotte added. ¡°Alright, follow me,¡± Norrak directed. ¡°Gina! Where are my field legs at?¡± Gina rolled her eyes and pointed to the side of the shed where a contraption that looked like a small carriage crossed with the body of a four legged ant was collapsed on the ground. Norrak muttered something that could have been gratitude, or possibly a curse. It was hard to tell. He wheeled his chair over to the contraption and lowered his body onto it. After strapping his leg stumps into specially fitted grooves, and a belt around his waist, he flicked a number of switches and what looked like the ¡°ant¡± abdomen lit up with the edge lights typical of a large mana battery. The ant body came to life and lifted Norrak up onto the mechanical legs. ¡°Here we go,¡± Norrak grumbled. ¡°Only get an hour or so on each charge so let¡¯s get you to work.¡± He put his hands onto the control handle and visibly concentrated on something. Then the legs started moving and in a jerky fashion he walked off in the direction of the fields. Dorothy and Charlotte jogged to catch up with him and returned a wave to Gina as they left the farmhouse. ¡°Okay, so listen up. These cabbage trolls have been attacking my plumpkins,¡± Norrak stated. ¡°Attacking?¡± Charlotte asked, ¡°They aren¡¯t stealing them or eating them?¡± ¡°What? No, these aren¡¯t like the pests you might be used to. Cabbage trolls are a highly territorial and invasive plant species. They see my field as a great spot to expand their territory into and my plumpkins as the native residents to be conquered.¡± ¡°Wait... So these things are basically a raiding party attacking what they think is a plumpkin village?¡± Dorothy summarized. ¡°That¡¯s the long and short of it,¡± Norrak agreed. ¡°You can think of this as very aggressive weeding. They¡¯re too quick for me and Gina and I¡¯m not about to go poisoning my fields to get rid of them. I supply a fair amount of produce to the castle after all.¡± ¡°Do we just chase off or kill whatever we see in your field?¡± Charlotte asked. ¡°That won¡¯t be good enough. You¡¯ll need to find their source root, it¡¯s like a nest, and kill that. Without it, the individual trolls won¡¯t be able to survive. You¡¯ll also need to kill all the little buggers off before one of them gets picked to dig in and become a new source root for the others.¡± ¡°This... is starting to sound like a bigger deal than I thought it would be...¡± Charlotte sighed. ¡°That¡¯s the field there,¡± Norrak said, pointing. ¡°Come see me up at the house when you¡¯re done.¡± Dorothy and Charlotte glanced at each other to steel themselves and entered the plumpkin field. The field was a mess. Smashed and crushed plumpkins littered the field, their large purple husks torn open and the seeds and flesh strewn about. Something had been very angry that these vegetables were here. A plumpkin is a bit of a cross between a large round gourd with a hard, shell-like, purple skin and a tomato with a soft, fleshy interior and goopy seeds. Mama has a fantastic recipe for plumpkin sauce and pasta that was handed down from her mother, who got it from her mother, who got it from a traveling merchant. Plumpkins were usually a pretty hearty plant and easy to grow since most pests couldn¡¯t get through the thick shell and normally grew up to half a meter high if well cared for. Movement caught Dorothy¡¯s eye and she drew her sword and transformed her gun arm to track something that had darted between the rows. She tried adding the other vision modes but whatever it was blended right in with the surrounding vegetation. Charlotte held a handful of seeds in each hand, the green magical energy beginning to gather around her. A plant creature of some kind was pummeling away one of the plumpkins with a heavy rock. The creature, presumably a cabbage troll, was slightly larger than the plumpkin it was smashing. It was humanoid in shape, but with short stumpy, footless legs that looked more like tree trunks and long arms that ended in two clawed fingers and a thumb. Its head resembled that of a rabbit¡¯s with long ears and a small bunny face with large eyes, though five of them. Instead of fur, it was covered in leaves of various sizes. If you squinted then its head did sort of resemble a cabbage with long leafy ears. Dorothy took aim and released a shot with [Blast] at the troll. The creature didn¡¯t even notice the incoming shot and was hit by the clay round directly in the chest. The force of the blow knocked it back, then the explosion effect kicked in and leaves and chunks of plant matter were sent in all directions within a meter radius. The sound of the small explosion must have startled the others and Dorothy and Charlotte found themselves surrounded by a dozen or two more trolls as they popped their heads up from among the broad leaves of the plumpkin vines. Charlotte cast her seeds in a wide area around her and thorned vines instantly took root, reaching for and ensnaring trolls. The trolls didn¡¯t seem to care about Charlotte¡¯s thorns and started chewing on the vines with wedge shaped buck teeth. Dorothy raced from one trapped troll to the next, lopping their heads off with her sword. As fun as it was to make them pop with her explosive rounds, she had a limited amount of ammo. More trolls took off running in different directions, forcing Dorothy and Charlotte to give chase. They ran across the fields, hunting down the creatures using a combination of clay rounds, sword, dagger, and plumpkin vines. The creatures didn¡¯t try to attack Dorothy or Charlotte, though they were still focused on trying to finish off the plumpkins and would only run away if the girls got close. ¡°Now where¡¯s that source root?¡± Dorothy asked, looking around for more of the trolls. Charlotte folded her legs under her and closed her eyes, placing her hands on the ground. The green plant magic energy swirled around her hands and seeped into the dirt. After a moment, Charlotte¡¯s eyes sprung open and she took off at an eight legged run. ¡°Come on! This way!¡± she shouted. Dorothy chased after her, out of the field and through the uncultivated area edging the forest. A few more trolls popped their heads up only to explode from one of Dorothy¡¯s [Blast] rounds. Into the forest, Charlotte led. She was clearly tracking something that Dorothy couldn¡¯t see or sense. She would stop and look around, run for another couple of meters and stop again to touch the ground with her magic then take off running again. As they wound their way through the trees and underbrush, Dorothy would kill any more trolls that they came across. Finally, at the edge of the river, Charlotte stopped and waited for Dorothy to catch up. When Dorothy arrived, Charlotte just pointed to a twisted knot of plants and vines and leaves forming some sort of living cave right on the river bank. ¡°That¡¯s the source root,¡± Charlotte confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s huge... I don¡¯t know how we¡¯re supposed to kill it...¡± ¡°As a veggie mage, what do you think would be its biggest weakness?¡± Dorothy asked, the beginnings of an idea forming. ¡°Probably... blight... weevils... maybe slugs...¡± Charlotte said, trying to think of more potential hazards for the huge knot of a plant. ¡°What about fire?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°I guess? Though if it¡¯s this close to the river then it probably... has a very large water content... and probably won¡¯t burn well...¡± ¡°Can you dry it out with your magic?¡± ¡°Some... but it¡¯ll keep drawing more in from the river...¡± ¡°Crumbs... I have a flare and I was hoping to be all clever and just shoot it with a flare and call it a day,¡± Dorothy said, dejected. ¡°You might... be onto something...¡± Charlotte considered, giving Dorothy hope. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s... stuff it with kindling... I can dry as much as I can... and you can light it up...¡± ¡°This is a great plan!¡± Dorothy said, enthusiastically. The two searched the surrounding area for fallen branches and sticks and started piling them up inside of the source root cave. Inside, Dorothy could see more trolls in the process of forming from the walls. Little, half formed, plant-rabbit-monkey monsters just waiting to crawl out and spread the root¡¯s territory. When Dorothy and Charlotte had the cave filled up with branches and dried leaves they stepped back and Charlotte used her plant magic to try and reverse the flow of water through the roots to dry the source out as much as possible. It didn¡¯t want to listen to her magic and fought against her but she was able to hold back the flow of water and nutrients for a bit. With sweat dripping from her brow, she turned to Dorothy and nodded for her to send in her flare. Dorothy switched out her ammo for the flare and took aim into the opening of the source root and fired using [Blast]. The flare round sailed directly into the hole, and through the tangle of branches, striking against the inside of the source root. The small explosive effect sent blazing hot embers throughout the plant and quickly ignited all the tinder that had been placed inside. In a matter of moments the leaves and dry branches were ablaze and thick, white smoke plumed out of the plant. Charlotte backed away from the heat and smoke pouring out but Dorothy found that she wasn¡¯t particularly bothered by either. She started grabbing larger branches that they had prepared and shoved them into what was becoming a roaring bonfire. It would probably take hours for this entire thing to burn up as well as digging out the root ball to make sure it didn¡¯t grow back. ¡°Hey,¡± Dorothy called out to her friend. ¡°I¡¯ll watch the fire, if you want to go back to the farmhouse and tell Farmer Tweed our progress. We also need to collect the troll heads for a pay bonus.¡± ¡°Hmm... okay...¡± Charlotte nodded and scuttled off, back through the woods. Dorothy regarded the fire again and added another thick branch. Thankfully, nothing wanted to grow near this thing so there wasn¡¯t any danger of the fire spreading, though the smoke could probably be seen from the city. Dorothy looked out on the river, she didn¡¯t know her geography really well, but it should be the same river that feeds into the city. The river was wide enough to allow merchant ships to travel along it and bring imported goods from the coast. At this point in the river, it looked to be pretty far to the other side. Just how far was it? Little numbers and arrows were always showing up in Dorothy¡¯s HUD but it had gotten easy to ignore them after a while. This time she paid attention to a little symbol that looked like a bunch of vertical lines packed close together. When she focused on it, the symbol moved around to where she would look and jumped onto different things in her vision. She looked down at her boots and the symbol jumped onto her toe. The thought came to her head that somehow she was locking the symbol to that point. When she looked up again, the symbol came with her but now there was a thin glowing line leading back to her toe. She looked across the river and thought again about locking the symbol to a place on the opposite side. This time, the symbol went away and was replaced with ¡°838m¡±. ¡°Well that¡¯s handy,¡± Dorothy said aloud. ¡°What¡¯s handy?¡± came the gruff voice of Norrak from behind her. Dorothy turned around to see him making his way through the forest underbrush in his contraption legs with Charlotte leading the way. ¡°Oh, nothing,¡± Dorothy said, embarrassed to be caught talking to herself. ¡°I just learned that I have a function that can measure distances...¡± ¡°That IS pretty handy,¡± Norrak agreed. ¡°I¡¯ll have to get you to come help out when it¡¯s time to redo the field plots.¡± ¡°Sure... I guess just let the guild know...¡± ¡°So this is the source root, eh? Looks like you girls got all the cabbage trolls too, nice work. I can take care of digging up the root ball, you don¡¯t need to worry about that. Come on back to the house and we can square up.¡± ¡°What about the fire?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Eh, I¡¯ve got an imp that helps me out in the fields. He wouldn¡¯t be able to take care of the trolls, but he can watch a fire. He likes eating the coals anyway.¡± Norrak whistled and a small imp came crashing through the trees after a couple of minutes. It growled and snarled and yipped, and Norrak growled and snarled and yipped back at it. The two seemed to be having a conversation composed of guttural sounds that Dorothy couldn¡¯t decipher. At last, Norrak nodded and the imp scampered off to the bonfire and carefully crawled inside of the plant-based furnace. It seemed to be perfectly content at the heart of the flames and would occasionally pull a chunk of roasted, half-formed, plant-rabbit-monkey from the walls and chomp away on it. Dorothy wondered if she should have collected those heads before lighting the pyre for their bonus but it was too late now. The adventurers and farmer headed back to the farmhouse and not a single troll head was to be seen. Charlotte must have gathered them all already and found a way to store them in her bags. When they got to the house, Gina opened the door to them and beckoned them to enter. Inside, she¡¯d set the table for lunch and was clearly excited to have visitors. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind,¡± she said, ¡°you girls have been working hard for Norrak so I wanted to give you a little reward of my own. I¡¯ve made plumpkin pie with winter sausage.¡± ¡°That sounds... delicious...¡± Charlotte remarked as she wasted no time finding a spot at the table. ¡°That does... sound tasty...¡± Dorothy began, ¡°but I can¡¯t eat food with this automata body, I¡¯m afraid... Would you mind if I brought some home to share with my parents?¡± ¡°Aww... such a good girl, isn¡¯t she Norrak? Of course dear. I¡¯ll wrap some up for you.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t eat anything at all?¡± Norrak asked. ¡°Just mana... and I guess you could say I sorta consume mana crystals,¡± Dorothy offered. ¡°Hmm,¡± Norrak thought, rolling his wheelchair up to the table. ¡°Hey Gina, you still got those old mana crystals laying around?¡± ¡°Oh! I do! Half a mo,¡± she said, perking up and bustling out of the dining area to a back room. She returned holding an old jewelry box and opened it up, sifting through the contents. ¡°I have these four here, dear,¡± she said, handing them over to Dorothy. ¡°They aren¡¯t worth much, I¡¯m afraid. I just kept them because I thought they looked pretty.¡± ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t need to! Really,¡± Dorothy protested. ¡°Nonsense,¡± Norrak grumbled. ¡°We have a strict policy of not letting people go unfed on this farm. I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re an Automata or rock gnome. If we can offer something, we¡¯ll offer it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re very kind... thank you,¡± Dorothy said, touched. Charlotte was well into her portion of the meal, with no signs of slowing down. Norrak had started eating as well, but Gina looked at Dorothy expectantly. ¡°So what do you do with the crystals, dear?¡± Gina asked. ¡°I um... I break them? And then I can analyze them and collect a part of whatever spell is inside of it? Something like that... I think... I¡¯ve only done this once before.¡± ¡°That¡¯s very interesting dear. Why don¡¯t you try it out? I¡¯m very curious to see what you find. It¡¯s almost like one of those prize-inside games, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I never thought of it that way, but it totally is! Okay, let¡¯s see what we find...¡± Dorothy picked a yellow marble with white and gray flecks on it. Her HUD didn¡¯t recognize any of them by type without the [Inspect] plugin, maybe that would have been good to pick up after all. She cracked and analyzed it like before and saw the message about a new snippet being found and added to her library. When she checked, it looked like she had found another ¡°Loop Statement¡±. Maybe those were just a common drop for snippets. ¡°What¡¯s a Loop Statement,¡± Gina asked. ¡°I¡¯m not really sure... I haven¡¯t used one yet. All of these snippets are kind of like building bricks that you can use to build new spells that you enchant your gear with.¡± ¡°How very clever. Isn¡¯t that right, Norrak?¡± ¡°Hmm? Yes, very handy,¡± Norrak said between mouthfuls. Dorothy picked up the next crystal. It was a pale pink with dark blue swirls wrapping around it. She cracked it between her fingers and analyzed it to find a snippet labeled ¡°Variable(small) Attribute¡±. ¡°I have no idea what that even means,¡± Dorothy said dismissively as she picked up the next one. The orb was a faint blue with tiny white starbursts and ribbons of darker blue flowing around it. ¡°Oh... I know that one...¡± Charlotte said. ¡°That¡¯s an ice crystal...¡± ¡°Hmmm... maybe I¡¯ll hold on to that one without breaking it then... just in case I can use it...¡± Dorothy said, pocketing the marble. The last crystal was green with purple blobs on it. Dorothy was worried that it might be a poison crystal, it had that sort of vibe to it. Opting to go for the snippet instead of saving the crystal, she broke and analyzed it to find ¡°Charge Element¡±. ¡°That sounds useful... No clue what it means but it sounds impressive,¡± Norrak stated. The rest of the table laughed as they finished up eating. ¡°Thank you so much for the crystals,¡± Dorothy said as she and Charlotte exited the farmhouse. ¡°And the food for my parents!¡± ¡°Think nothing of it dear,¡± Gina said warmly. ¡°If you need anything... just let the guild know...¡± Charlotte said, waving. Norrak gave half a wave as he wheeled back to his shed, but Gina continued to wave with a large smile on her face. ¡°Come back and visit, any time!¡± she called. 8: The rewards of a job well done ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to make it...¡± Charlotte complained. Dorothy looked sideways at her friend. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You know... a nice big meal... always makes me sleepy... and we have this long walk back to the city... my poor little feet... they just can¡¯t take it...¡± ¡°You know, I¡¯ve never seen an arachne with shoes before... they¡¯re very cute. Like little baby dancing shoes.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a robot... and you¡¯re wearing boots,¡± Charlotte countered. ¡°Fair point, these were my Papa¡¯s boots when he was an adventurer. Are your shoes custom made?¡± ¡°No... they¡¯re baby dance shoes...¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°I like them though... and it¡¯s not like I use little hooks on my feet to climb like spiders do.¡± ¡°You ever want to go dungeon diving? I bet your ability to climb walls would be really useful in a dungeon.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know... as a plant mage, I¡¯m fond of having sunlight available...¡± ¡°Oh, right. Though there are different kinds of dungeons around. I heard that there¡¯s one near Bowen¡¯s Warf that¡¯s almost entirely underwater. I think they call it The Hydrongeon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s... a pretty terrible name...¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it just? I love it. I wonder if the dungeon is just a normal dungeon but at the bottom of the ocean or something or if it¡¯s completely flooded... You think you have to swim around in it?¡± ¡°This might shock you... but I¡¯m not a great swimmer...¡± ¡°We should go someday. I think it¡¯d be a lot of fun.¡± ¡°My feet... are really killing me... we¡¯ve done so much running around today...¡± Charlotte complained again, falling behind Dorothy. Dorothy stopped and turned to regard her friend. Charlotte stopped too, and slumped to the ground. ¡°Poor thing. Eight legs and still can¡¯t last all day.¡± ¡°That just means I¡¯m working four times as much... just to keep up. It¡¯s a bipedal world out there, you know...¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to make fun. Okay, come on. I¡¯ll carry you.¡± ¡°Finally! I mean... really?¡± Charlotte said, perking up. Without waiting for a response, she climbed up onto Dorothy¡¯s back and wrapped her legs around her. ¡°Wow... um... I feel like I¡¯m being hugged by four people at once.¡± ¡°Arachnea are the best huggers...¡± ¡°Yes, I can see that,¡± Dorothy laughed as she jogged back to the city¡¯s East Gate. She kept an eye on her mana levels the whole time but the additional weight of Charlotte didn¡¯t tax her systems at all. Dorothy was starting to get curious about just how strong she actually was. In far less time than it would have taken if they had been limited by Charlotte¡¯s pace, they reached the guild hall. The place looked a lot calmer than the last time they¡¯d seen it, and Adventurers were just milling about in the various lounge areas. You wouldn¡¯t know that some potentially boss-level event may have occurred earlier. Fran was behind her station and Papa was behind his. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Sitting sideways in a large, plush chair was Razz. They had one leg up, over the arm of the chair and the other was flopped over the back with their head resting on the opposing arm. It looked like they were examining something on their guild card and flipping through different screens. ¡°Hey Razz, done all those ReQuests already?¡± ¡°What? Oh hey. Dorothy, right? Oh. Um... You, uh...¡± they paused, tapping their lip with a finger in concern. ¡°You, uh, have a... I mean... don¡¯t move too quickly... and I don¡¯t want to alarm you... but there is a very large spider on your back, right now.¡± ¡°Ha. Ha.¡± Charlotte said in an annoyed tone as she climbed down from Dorothy¡¯s back. Dorothy chuckled. ¡°So anyway... Razz, this is Charlotte, my party mate. Charlotte, Razz.¡± ¡°They, them,¡± Razz said, giving Charlotte a little wave. ¡°They... who?¡± Charlotte said, confused. ¡°His pronouns¡ª I mean their pronouns. So not he or she, but they,¡± Dorothy tried to explain. ¡°That¡¯s... weird. You¡¯re weird,¡± Charlotte said, giving Razz multiple side eyes. ¡°Says the girl riding her friend like a mount,¡± Razz responded with a smirk. ¡°My... feet just got tired... that¡¯s all...¡± Charlotte responded weakly. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s fine, I don¡¯t care,¡± Dorothy interjected. ¡°So... yeah. I mean, no. No, I¡¯m not done with my stuff yet, just taking a lunch break,¡± Razz offered. ¡°I got four of them done though, two more to go.¡± ¡°What¡¯s left?¡± Dorothy asked, curious about what an almost B rank would pick up. ¡°Nothing special,¡± they replied. ¡°One is... collecting Inferno Centipede eggs... and the other... is recovering some special whatsit from the caves of Doromon. That one, I¡¯ll probably have to camp overnight before coming back.¡± ¡°Doromon...¡± Charlotte asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t that a dungeon?¡± ¡°Mini Dungeon really,¡± Razz answered, ¡°but I don¡¯t need to run the whole thing. Just to the fourth chamber, that¡¯s where this whatsit is supposed to be.¡± ¡°Do you have a party?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Nope. Just lil¡¯ ol¡¯ me.¡± ¡°Do you want one?¡± Charlotte asked, curiously. ¡°Tell you what. Come ask me again when you¡¯ve caught up to me in rank,¡± they said with a wink. ¡°I... I wasn¡¯t asking you to join,¡± Charlotte said defiantly. ¡°I was just curious if... if you worked alone by choice... or because no one would want to work with you.¡± She stuck a tiny, triangle shaped tongue out for emphasis. Razz just laughed, which caused Charlotte to turn beet red and turn in a humph. ¡°And with that... we need to check in,¡± Dorothy said as she gently pushed her friend towards the material counter. ¡°It was nice chatting again, Razz. Good luck on your final ReQuests.¡± Razz gave her a wink and a smirk before going back to whatever they had been looking at on their guild card screens. ¡°I... don¡¯t like that person...¡± Charlotte said as Dorothy shepparded her to the material counter. ¡°Oh, Razz isn¡¯t so bad. They, um. They just like to push buttons when they see them... I think...¡± ¡°Probably a rogue... all rogues like pushing buttons... to see what they do.¡± ¡°Could be, could be. They weren¡¯t heavily armed, and both of their remaining tasks could benefit from being extra sneaky.¡± ¡°Definitely a rogue... and also a scoundrel... and I definitely do not find them exceedingly attractive...¡± Dorothy chuckled and shook her head as she tapped on the material counter to get the cats¡¯ attention. Neither one was at the counter but Dorothy could see them in the back, working on breaking apart a petrified maple elk. ¡°Hey Dot!¡± Josh called out. ¡°Dorothy,¡± Jake said, giving his brother a judging look. ¡°What do you guys have for us today?¡± ¡°Cabbage Troll heads,¡± Charlotte said as she started unloading her bags. ¡°Cabbage Trolls?¡± Jake repeated, looking through the collection. ¡°Not something I¡¯d want growing in my garden...¡± ¡°Oh... you have a garden?¡± Charlotte asked as she lined up the heads, looking suddenly interested. ¡°I do not,¡± Jake said flatly. Charlotte deflated a bit and Dorothy smiled and turned away to keep from laughing. Jake finished counting out all of the Cabbage heads and wrote up a receipt for them and handed it over to Charlotte. ¡°You guys heading out again after lunch?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Dorothy offered. ¡°I haven¡¯t lined anything up for us, but I wouldn¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Eh... I don¡¯t know... I might need a nap...¡± Charlotte countered, ¡°Dorothy¡¯s a machine¡ª I mean, yes she¡¯s an Automata but she just keeps going and working, you know! I don¡¯t... I don¡¯t have the stamina for that...¡± ¡°Seems like you nap a lot...¡± Dorothy pondered. ¡°I guess it¡¯s a spider thing... I can go a pretty long time between meals... so after I eat, I need to sleep it off... Our ancestors were trap hunters... so lots of hanging around... and not a lot of running around...¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ll be here till 16th bell,¡± Jake warned. ¡°We¡¯re cutting out a bit early to go visit mom so you¡¯ll need to bring anything in before then, or wait till tomorrow when Gini is on duty.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Got it, thanks Jake,¡± Dorothy waved as she pulled Charlotte off the counter. They headed across the hall to close out their ReQuest and found that Papa was currently with another Adventurer party so they went to Fran¡¯s counter. ¡°Hey Fran, we¡¯re finished up with a cabbage troll ReQuest,¡± Dorothy said cheerily as she handed over their guild cards. ¡°Alright, let me take a look at your material slip...¡± Fran replied, taking the slip from Charlotte. Once she found the ReQuest form, she was able to close out the ReQuest and add the bonuses to it. ¡°You girls did pretty good, huh? Let¡¯s see now... You get 50 promotion points each... the reward was 4S plus 3C per troll head, and you got... 26 of them... and then the River Commission wanted to throw in a bonus of 2S for also taking care of the source root... so that¡¯s 6S 9C each. Sorry, Dorothy, half of yours goes to The Primercy, of course.¡± Fran counted out the money and handed their cards back. ¡°That¡¯s not a bad little payday. You should go celebrate.¡± ¡°We just might! As soon as I figure out how to in this new body...¡± Dorothy said, wilting. ¡°Don¡¯t worry kiddo, you¡¯ll get the hang of it sooner or later,¡± Fran said with an encouraging wink. Dorothy and Charlotte collected their earnings and headed out of the guild hall. Charlotte was looking forward to sleeping off her meal and headed back to the inn that she was staying at, leaving Dorothy to figure out how to spend the rest of her day. Dorothy had the new code snippets to play with, but she also had 12 silver, 17 copper, and 12 iron coins burning a hole in her pocket. It was time to do a little window shopping. Dorothy strolled along the row of shops and various street peddlers. There were clothing stores, food stalls, cobblers, a haberdashery, even a millinery full of fancy hats for fancy ladies. None of it interested Dorothy in the slightest. She glanced in some of the armories, there were some nice sets of enchanted armor pieces or swords guaranteed to never lose their edge, but nothing sang out to her. Largely because a lot of the magic items wouldn¡¯t work for her since she no longer had a magical affinity of her own. She puttered along until she saw ¡°Magic Mike¡¯s Tools of the Trade¡±. At first it looked like another Adventurer armory but sitting in the window was clearly an Automata arm with a blade sticking out of it. Dorothy walked inside and was greeted by shelves and barrels full of Automata limbs, weapons, and parts that she couldn¡¯t begin to guess at. Where Romie¡¯s Gilded Auto was all highly polished and seemed to be fashion oriented, Magic Mike¡¯s was fairly dirty and oily but everything looked tough and formidable. ¡°Yeah? So? Whattya want?¡± a gruff voice called to her from behind the counter. Dorothy looked in the direction of the voice and could just barely see the top of a balding head and long rabbit ears sticking up. A small, stocky figure, shorter than Dorothy, climbed up onto a stool and looked down at her. The voice belonged to a horned rabbitman, other than the bald patch on top, the rest of his hair was long and salt and peppered. His face and ears were covered in piercings though his gaze seemed to contain just as much steel. ¡°You¡¯re a new Auto, right? What¡¯s your POS at?¡± the rabbit man asked. ¡°Um.. yes I am. My POS is 1.3?¡± Dorothy replied, though she didn¡¯t understand why he¡¯d asked. ¡°Over there is the newb stuff,¡± he said jabbing a finger in the direction of a bin full of items. ¡°Don¡¯t even bother looking at anything else unless you want to get depressed.¡± ¡°But I see some things I can afford...¡± Dorothy reasoned. ¡°What did I just say? Don¡¯t even bother, doesn¡¯t matter if you can afford it or not if your POS is too low you can¡¯t install it. Newbs... you read your docs, right?¡± ¡°Most of them, yeah?¡± Dorothy said indignantly. ¡°But you¡¯re not a...¡± ¡°Not an Auto? Who cares? Money is money,¡± he said snorting. ¡°I guess that¡¯s true... still, why Automata stuff? You seem pretty knowledgeable...¡± ¡°If you must know, my husband is an Automata, and I¡¯m an Auto Artificer. I built everything in this shop.¡± Dorothy looked again at the wares with a new sense of wonder, there was a LOT of stuff here. She went over to the newb bin and rummaged through it. Most of it looked like replacement limb parts but she had no way of knowing if they were any good or what they did. ¡°I¡¯m interested in getting an integrated sword... I¡¯d also like to be faster on my feet, if possible... maybe some ammo for my small blaster... any recommendations?¡± she asked. The rabbit man got down from his stool with an annoyed look and walked over to the bin and searched through the items for a bit until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a bulky forearm part and a set of parts that looked like they might be feet with wheels built into the heels followed by some sort of internal components with large metal tubes projecting from them. ¡°What¡¯s your build level at?¡± he asked, narrowing his eyes. ¡°Um... 30 of 40?¡± ¡°And how much gold you got?¡± ¡°I can spend up to 1 gold and 3 silver... but I don¡¯t want to spend everything in one place...¡± He then tossed everything back into the bin and waved away her comment. ¡°You¡¯re an auto now. What else you going to spend your money on? An Inn? Good Food? Health potions? Looks like you¡¯re an Adventurer too so I doubt you¡¯ve got some artistic hobbies you¡¯re working on. Sorry kid, for an Auto, and an Adventurer at that, this is where your money is going.¡± Dorothy was taken aback at the rudeness of his statement but she couldn¡¯t find any fault with it and slumped a bit. ¡°You could go to other shops I guess, but you won¡¯t find this level of detail or commitment to our customers. My George is an Adventurer too and there aren¡¯t that many of you guys in that profession. He¡¯s my first customer so I guarantee the quality since I want him to make it back home.¡± Dorothy shrugged, resigned, ¡°okay sir, what do you have?¡± The shopkeep gave her a smirk and pulled out another arm upgrade. This one was more streamlined than the first, but also looked more expensive. He then rooted through another bin and held up a blocky object with a piston at one end. ¡°You got Inventory?¡± he asked, giving her a judging look. ¡°Inv 1, yes.¡± ¡°Good, good. Okay you¡¯ll want these.¡± He took the arm and the weird, blocky thing up to his counter and got back onto his stool before waving her to come closer. ¡°Okay, this blade conversion arm has a retractable blade of 30cm, 2 small mana crystal ports, and 2 spell slots. If you install a spell and a crystal it should get the build quality up to 10 which would get you your next POS update. Spend your upgrade on speed if you want. This here,¡± he said holding up the block, ¡°is an ammo compressor for small bore blasters. It only has the [Ammotize] spell and it will convert whatever C class raw material you target into ammo for your blaster and store it in your Inventory. It requires POS version 1.4 or better though so you¡¯ll need to upgrade before you can install it.¡± ¡°Wow, thanks! That sounds pretty great!¡± ¡°Yup, the blade is 1 gold and the compressor is 12 silver, but I¡¯ll give them both to you for 2 gold.¡± Again, Dorothy deflated. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just take the blade.¡± ¡°What? You mean, 13 silver is really all you have?¡± the rabbit said, looking shocked. ¡°Yes? Well... plus some coppers and irons...¡± ¡°Oh for¡ª Look kid. I¡¯m not trying to rob you here or anything, but in the future always tell a vendor less than what you have. Ugh... okay okay, I¡¯ll never hear the end of it from George... okay, give me the 13 silver and I¡¯ll give you the blade and install it for you. Let¡¯s see... what about the balance... look, I¡¯ve recently run out of ink for my printer and I need more. If you can get to my supplier in the industrial district and get me more and sell me your old arm then we¡¯ll call it square and I¡¯ll install the compressor for you.¡± Dorothy lit up with excitement, ¡°Oh thanks! That¡¯s great mister!¡± ¡°Mike,¡± he said, sticking out a gnarled looking paw. ¡°You¡¯re Magic Mike!¡± she said giggling and shaking his hand. Mike gave her a half smile, ¡°yeah, I¡¯m Magic Mike.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Dorothy!¡± Mike took Dorothy¡¯s money and installed her new forearm. Having the ¡°hair¡± installed didn¡¯t seem that strange, it was almost like having a wig or a hat put on her head, but replacing parts of her arm was a decidedly different sort of experience. Mike had started by disconnecting her forearm at the elbow and then disassembling her old arm to free the wrist and hand from it. Inside, it looked pretty basic, like there might have been a lot of room for improvement. Mike installed her wrist and hand into the new forearm and then attached the new arm. As soon as the connection was complete, Dorothy saw that little spinning hourglass again followed by a new system message.
New Hardware Detected
Primary Operating System has detected a new arm unit. Install required drivers?
  • Yes
Enzio conversion Blade Arm installed
New hardware installed and ready for use. Use trigger word [Enzio] to toggle blade extension.
¡°Enzio?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Name of the blade. I always set the triggers as the name of the weapon instead of some generic blade or blaster trigger. Mainly because if you have more than one, you can run into trigger conflicts.¡± ¡°Makes sense,¡± Dorothy agreed as she tried out the trigger. A panel popped out on the underside of her forearm and a multipart blade snapped out from the hidden compartment. It¡¯s positioning made it a little awkward to swing around, but she¡¯d get used to it. She would have preferred the blade on top of her arm rather than below for parrying and slash attacks but this blade looked better suited to thrusting stealth attacks. Mike took her old arm and put it into a basket behind him. Again, it felt strange. A part of her body was no longer hers and was sitting in that basket while on her arm was an all new part. She retracted the blade and wiggled her fingers around, everything seemed normal; or at least this new normal. Mike gave her the name and address of his ink supplier and promised to install the compressor if she could get him the ink as well as update her system to version 1.4. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard for Dorothy, but first she wanted to stop by home to check on Mama. It was nearly the 15th bell when Dorothy poked her head into Mama¡¯s shop. Mama was busy with a customer, so Dorothy took a seat in the waiting area and opened up her [Console] to take a closer look at her new gear, items, and spell snippets.
Snippet Library
Assign Attribute - Apply attribute snippets to a variable target based on a trigger effect
IF Condition - Run contained snippets only when condition is true
ELSE Condition - Run contained snippets when attached IF condition is not true
x2 LOOP Statement - Run contained snippets repeatedly while implied IF condition is true
TRIGGER Statement - Run contained snippets when trigger event occurs
Variable(small) Attribute - takes on elemental attribute of mana crystal used
Charge Element - applies 2 mana worth of an elemental effect to the target equipped item
¡°Hmm, what can I do with these...¡± Dorothy wondered aloud. As she read through the snippet descriptions, the Variable (small) one stood out to her and she pulled out the ice crystal that she¡¯d gotten from Gina. So with the ice crystal, the Variable(small) could take the ice element and act like it was an ice attribute all along. That was so much better than having to have both the blast attribute as well as a blast crystal to power it. So she could give something an ice attribute, if she linked that with the Charge Element one, then she could give Enzio an ice element based attack to do cold damage on things... but was 2 mana worth a lot? Was it only a little bit? With the help of the Project Wizard from before, she started a new spell that she called [IceFang]. Since Enzio didn¡¯t have any spells already to trigger from, she had to start with the Trigger Statement so that when she used the Trigger word and supplied the spell with mana it would run. Inside of her Trigger, she added a loop and set the condition to keep going as long as she was supplying the spell with mana. Inside the loop went the Variable(small) and Charge Element snippets. Dorothy stared at her new spell for a minute before saving her work and decided to rename it [MegaCharge] since it would only be ice if she used the ice crystal and with the variable, she could swap out different crystals for different elemental attacks. She saved and closed out the editor, then opened up the access panel in her new arm to reveal the mana ports and dropped the ice crystal into its spot. Just like the Blast crystal, she watched a mechanism clamp around the crystal and pull it into her arm and lock it in place. Then in her HUD the little hourglass spun for a second and a message told her that the crystal had been installed. The new spell and crystal were enough to trigger the update and she clapped when the system message popped up.
System Update Available
51/40 Build quality acquired for update to v1.4 51/50 Build quality acquired for update to v1.5 Update Now?
Dorothy whooped and clenched her fist before her mother gave her an odd look and she regained her composure.
System updated to v1.5
The Primary Operating System has been updated to version 1.5. 2 Build update point(s) available for assignment. Assign Build Update Points:
  • Health [10] -> 20
  • Mana [80] -> 90
  • Strength [5] -> 6
  • Speed [6] -> 7
  • Focus [6] -> 7
  • Recover Health [2 per hour] -> 3ph
  • Recover Mana [1 per minute] -> 2pm
Dorothy remembered what Papa had said about health and put a build point there, the other, she decided would go into mana recovery. When hunting the cabbage trolls, it felt like she was constantly near the bottom of her mana pool and waiting for it to recover enough to use [Blast] again. When the system finished updating, Mama was finished with her customer and waved Dorothy over. ¡°Wah Gwaan,¡± Mama greeted her. ¡°Mi deh yah, yuh know,¡± Dorothy responded with the expected return phrase. ¡°Come,¡± Mama called, ¡°I have sometin fah ya.¡± Dorothy did as bid, and Mama handed her a green, fabric bundle. Dorothy looked at the bundle curiously and unfolded it, holding it out at arms length. In her hands, she held an old and worn, but well maintained ranger¡¯s cloak. ¡°Mama? Is this... ?¡± ¡°Ya gone bein¡¯ an Adventurah now. Ya got ya fahda¡¯s gear, so ya might as well have mine too. I altered it dis morning.¡± ¡°Oh Mama... thank you...¡± Dorothy said, feeling choked up though lacking the physiology to express it. Mama waved her hand in the air dismissively. ¡°Tink nothin¡¯ of it mi love. Dat cloak have some stealth spells in it an¡¯ should help keep ya safe when ya in da woods.¡± ¡°Oh thank you mama, I love it,¡± Dorothy said, giving her mother a big hug. ¡°So, I was doin¡¯ some research askin¡¯ about an¡¯ even went down the book hall. Di¡¯ ya know, dat Automatas don¡¯ eat no food?¡± ¡°Mama!¡± Dorothy said exasperated. Mama gave her a wink. ¡°It¡¯s true, I say. Dey jus¡¯ suck up what dey needs. Right out da air, like plants. So here¡¯s da ting. Dey don¡¯ normally eat any ting. But I hear dere¡¯s a fancy Automata chef dat can make tings dat Automatas can taste.¡± ¡°What?¡± Dorothy said, shocked. ¡°There¡¯s something that I can eat? Or at least taste? I... I must know what this is!¡± ¡°I taught ya might tink dat. So if my baby can¡¯t have da food she usta, den as her mama, it¡¯s up ta mi ta fine da foods she can have, yeh?¡± ¡°Sounds like quite the epic quest,¡± Dorothy teased. ¡°Well, fahst we need ta fine dis fancy time chef. I keep lookin¡¯ round, yeh?¡± ¡°Tanks Mama,¡± Dorothy said, slipping into her mother¡¯s accent a bit. ¡°Oh! Check it out! I got an upgrade!¡± Dorothy showed her mother the blade conversion and how it could slip in and out of her arm. ¡°Ya know, whit dat an¡¯ da cloak, yuh make a fine Ranga huntah. Mehbi yuh sign up da assassin guild, yeh?¡± ¡°What? No! I¡¯m perfectly fine being an Adventurer like you and Papa, thank you very much. Anyhow, I need to go into the Industrial district to fetch some ink for a merchant so I can get a deal on another upgrade. I might try to grab another ReQuest if there¡¯s time so I¡¯ll see you this evening then.¡± Mama sighed and looked a little sad for just a second before returning to her usual confident smile. ¡°Okay, mi see yuh likkle more den.¡± 9: Inky Business Dorothy took a look at the map function on her guild card. Most of the map was still covered in black with the little worm trails of paths that she¡¯d travelled. She resolved to clear 100% of the map and wandering around at night when Charlotte and her parents were asleep might be a good use of her time. Plus, she¡¯d get to know the layout of the city really well, which could be super useful for future quests. Magic Mike had given her the address for the ink supplier that she was supposed to visit. It was too bad that this wasn¡¯t an official ReQuest, otherwise the location would show up on the map to help her. The place was located in the city¡¯s industrial district which was in the southern portion of the city, near where the river looped inside the walls for a bit. She took off running through the back streets, over fences, and through backyards on her way to the river loop. It wasn¡¯t that she was in a particular hurry, but walking just seemed so slow these days. Her stamina wouldn¡¯t allow her to run forever, at least not yet, but if it got low enough to start eating into her outer mana then she could walk for a bit before it was filled back up again. With so many different kinds of people and creatures in the city doing magic, Dorothy was topped off again quickly and wouldn¡¯t have to worry about going hungry any time soon. The more that Dorothy ran and jumped and dodged around things as she navigated the city, the easier it seemed to get. It wasn¡¯t like she was getting any stronger or faster but she seemed to be gaining greater control over her body and its limits. Dorothy vaulted a fence into a backyard where someone¡¯s pet snake dog was laying, curled up in the sun, a short distance from where she¡¯d landed. She could feel the magic of the cloak kick in as the snake dog lifted its head, but its gaze just slid off of her and she hopped onto a barrel before jumping onto an awning and springing out of the yard and up onto the roof of the neighboring building. In the distance, she could see the break in the wall where the river cut in and knew she was getting close. She dropped back down to the street level and slowed down to a walk. The place should be around somewhere close. The stretch of river that cut into the city was a bit narrower than what she¡¯d seen near the farm, but not by much. It was still wide enough to allow for boat traffic and was likely an important shipping point for importing goods into the city. A few large shipping boats were moored in the wharf and workers could be seen unloading large crates. Above her, a huge Automata that appeared to be anchored to the dock swung a single long arm over the boat and reached directly into its hold to pull out a crate. It then swung the arm around over to the dock where workers could grab the crate. Dorothy was transfixed watching the giant Automata work, though the idea of being anchored to the spot all the time didn¡¯t sound like the life she wanted. ¡°Pretty incredible, huh?¡± a croaky voice said behind her. Dorothy turned around to see an old dockhand chewing on a pipe. He was one of the turtle species with a ring of white hair around what looked like a little bowl on top of his head. A Kappa, maybe? His skin was wrinkled and saggy, and sparse and wiry gray and white hairs sprouted from his cheeks, but his eyes were a clear blue like the sky after a storm. He wore a pair of sun bleached coveralls without a shirt or any shoes that looked like it might be more salt than fabric at this point. No Kappa bowls in Heroforge, I''m afraid :/ ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°The big Auto Crane. Used to take us all day to get a ship unloaded but since we got that thing, the work goes a lot faster,¡± the old turtle said, proudly. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen an Automata that big... though isn¡¯t it terrible that they are anchored to the dock like that?¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about that. It¡¯s not a real Automata like you are. See those Autos sitting in those special seats at the base?¡± he said pointing out three Automata that were strapped into seats that were built into the base of the crane. ¡°When we got the thing, we had to hire those guys. They provide the power for it, and then there¡¯s a fourth guy that¡¯s inside of it that has the [Proxy] skill. He operates the thing.¡± ¡°Wait... so those guys in the seats... they get paid to just sit there all day and feed the crane their mana?¡± ¡°Yup. Not a bad gig, huh? Sure beats having to haul the cargo once it¡¯s unloaded.¡± ¡°It¡¯s certainly easy enough... but I don¡¯t think I¡¯d like being a battery all day.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± he yelled, slapping Dorothy on the back. ¡°True enough tadpole, true enough! We need action, eh? To feel the wind in our faces and the salt in our eyes!¡± ¡°Oh yeah, I¡¯m looking for Cephalopotted Inks, they should be around here?¡± ¡°Right through that alley way there, and to the left about another block,¡± he said gesturing in the direction of the buildings. ¡°Thanks mister!¡± Dorothy called out as she took off again. ¡°Heh,¡± the dockhand said under his breath, ¡°kids today... so much energy. Hey! You flea-bitten river rats, easy with that crate!¡± He shouted at some of the other workers fumbling¡ª and nearly dropping¡ª one of the crates. ¡°Any of that merch gets damaged and it¡¯s comin¡¯ out of your pay!¡± She followed the old turtle¡¯s directions and easily found the ink shop. It had a small sign hanging over the door that read ¡°Cephalopotted Inks¡± but was otherwise unassuming and looked like any other building in the district. Dorothy stepped through the door and saw shelves full of clay pots of multiple sizes as well as workers at vats as they distilled and refined inks of every color. A woman looked up from her work and walked over to Dorothy with a definite spring in her steps. She appeared to be of one of the demon frog species. She was short, about Dorothy¡¯s height, but athletically built with strong looking legs with the webbed feet and hands typical of her species. Her skin was a muddled collection of purples and blues and eyes were an icey blue with horizontal slitted pupils. Unlike more common frog species, she had a long frilled tail along with head and limb frills, a three-horned crest, and a row of frilled spikes running from her horns down her back to her tail. She wore a simple leather brassiere and a short, heavy weight skirt. To Dorthy, she looked like she was ready to go swimming at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°Can I help you?¡± the frog woman asked. ¡°Hi! Yes, I¡¯ve been sent by Magic Mike. He asked me to fetch ink for his printer?¡± Dorothy explained. ¡°Is this for a ReQuest?¡± ¡°No, Mike said that he¡¯d give me a deal on a new upgrade if I could pick up the ink for him.¡± ¡°I see... well, he hasn¡¯t put in an order or anything but I¡¯ll check and see if he has any past orders we can go off of. Can you wait here for a minute?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Dorothy agreed. The woman bounced off to a back room, leaving Dorothy waiting near the front door. Dorothy noticed that all of the workers seemed to be an amphibious species of one sort or another. Come to think of it, other than the Automata batteries, all the dock workers were water species as well. Most looked to be reptilian or piscine, though there were several mammalian species like the ratmen and otter folk as well as some combination of the two. Dorothy wondered if they had any merfolk working in the river itself, though the only mer village she knew of was off the coast. A mer this far inland, even in the river, would be rather strange now that she thought of it. The frog person came bouncing back. She wasn¡¯t hopping like a frog, but she walked as though she had springs in her legs and sort of hopped from step to step. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Magic Mike¡¯s has placed a number of orders with us, but he always gets the shocktopus ink. I was supposed to collect some more this morning but we¡¯ve been swamped with other work!¡± The woman fretted and looked genuinely sorry, as though she had just delivered the worst possible news to Dorothy. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault!¡± Dorothy soothed. ¡°Sometimes you just get busy and you have to deal with the orders you have. Not the orders you don¡¯t have, right?¡± ¡°Yes! Exactly!¡± the woman agreed enthusiastically. Then she quickly looked from side to side and leaned in and cupped her mouth. ¡°But try telling the boss that...¡± Dorothy chuckled at the joke but then sagged as she realized that she wouldn¡¯t be able to get the upgrade after all. ¡°Um... You¡¯re an Adventurer, right?¡± the woman asked. ¡°Yes? I mean, yes! Yes I am.¡± ¡°Great! How about I give you a SideQuest to collect the ink? We¡¯ll pay you two and a half silver per bottle you can collect.¡± ¡°Wow! That seems like a lot per bottle, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve never seen a shocktopus, have you?¡± Dorothy admitted that she hadn¡¯t, what all was she getting herself into? The woman introduced herself as Anahita. She was the owner¡¯s daughter and not much older than Dorothy and Charlotte at 15, though Dorothy had no way of gauging the age of Anahita¡¯s species. Anahita retrieved a document from the back office for SideQuests. A SideQuest was similar to a ReQuest in terms of objectives and rewards but instead of going through the guild, the quest was directly between the client and the Adventurer. The guild still knew about them, thanks the guild cards, but since it was a direct quest they didn¡¯t get a cut. On the other hand, no promotion points were awarded either. Anahita finished writing up the document and stamped it with her mana seal before handing the page over to Dorothy to tap with her guild card. When Dorothy brought up her guild card screen, she could see that she was now marked as ¡°active¡± on a quest with the relevant information visible. ¡°I¡¯ve marked the location of a shoctopus nest that I usually go to when I need to collect some. You shouldn¡¯t have any trouble finding it when you get into the river. They usually aren¡¯t too bad and don¡¯t normally attack, unless they have babies. Here, I¡¯ll give you this,¡± Anahita said, handing Dorothy a strange device that looked like a combination claw grabber and milking machine. ¡°Just get close enough to attach this to a shocktopus and it¡¯ll do the rest. It¡¯ll pop off after it collects the ink. It keeps empties and full bottles in its own internal [Inventory].¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Handy,¡± Dorothy replied, taking the device. ¡°Um... are you okay to go in the water like that?¡± Anahita asked, gesturing to Dorothy¡¯s clothes and cloak. ¡°Hmm, probably not...¡± ¡°You can stow your gear in my locker if you want. I¡¯ll even give you the key to hold onto.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯d be great! I¡¯d hate to have to go all the way back home.¡± ¡°Do you need a swimsuit or something? We¡¯re about the same size.¡± ¡°No thanks. I don¡¯t actually have anything that needs covering up...¡± Dorothy said, a bit embarrassed. ¡°Oh I¡¯m so sorry!¡± Anahita blurted out, going from a cool purple color to a deep beet shade. ¡°The lockers are right this way!¡± Dorothy followed Anahita deeper into the building, past the vats of ink being refined and into the locker rooms. She carefully folded her cloak and set it inside the locker, then stripped off the rest of her gear and stowed it away. She was just about to close up the locker when she caught a glimpse of herself in a full length mirror. When she¡¯d come home from the AutoForge, she¡¯d been naked in her new body and hadn¡¯t thought anything of it. Jenny, the motorcycle knight hadn¡¯t been wearing any clothes and just looked like a big robot wearing motorcycle parts; and the Automata batteries didn¡¯t appear to be clothed. Looking at herself without all of her gear and equipment on, Dorothy suddenly felt embarrassed about leaving the locker room without it. ¡°Hey Anahita?¡± she called, sticking her head out of the locker room. Anahita walked over in her springy way. ¡°What¡¯s up? Everything okay?¡± ¡°Um... I think... I think I¡¯d like to borrow a swimsuit after all...¡± she answered, now feeling completely embarrassed. She had no idea if Automata could show embarrassment but other than her voice, Anahita didn¡¯t seem to notice anything. ¡°Sure, no problem. I always have a bunch of spares. As you might guess, we end up in the water a lot.¡± Anahita went to her locker and pulled out a small drawer that was built into it, revealing a crumpled mass of bathing suits and other fabric items. She sifted around in the pile until she found a matching top and bottom and held them out to Dorothy. She then looked at Dorothy¡¯s chest then at the swim top and put them back into the drawer, fishing out a blue one-piece suit. ¡°Hey Ana,¡± a crocodilian male said, sticking his head in the door. ¡°Oi! A lady is changing in here!¡± Anahita shouted. Her tongue shot out of her mouth and punched the croc in the face, knocking him back out of the locker room. ¡°Sorry! Sorry! I didn¡¯t see nothin¡¯!¡± he shouted from the otherside of the door. ¡°Ugh... I swear to the three sisters... Sorry about that Dorothy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s, it¡¯s fine! Thank you! Um, that was really cool, with your tongue!¡± ¡°Oh... sorry...¡± Anahita said, looking embarrassed again. ¡°I¡¯ll um... I¡¯ll let you get changed.¡± Dorothy grabbed Anahita¡¯s hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine, really. No big deal, see? No bits to hide, I¡¯m just being weird.¡± Anahita just turned darker and looked away as Dorothy put on the swimsuit. The suit fit surprisingly well and stretched over Dorothy¡¯s robot body. ¡°Oh. You have toes.¡± Anahita remarked, looking down at Dorothy¡¯s bare feet. ¡°I do, yes.¡± ¡°For some reason, I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d have toes... OMIGOSH that was so rude of me! I¡¯m so sorry!¡± Dorothy just started laughing and put her hand on Anahita¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s FINE, really! Ha ha ha! I¡¯m actually pretty new to this whole Automata thing but if you have weird questions or something, I¡¯m happy to answer if I can.¡± ¡°Um, I¡¯ll keep that in mind if I find that I¡¯m not embarrassed enough... so... your sword probably won¡¯t be too good underwater... Do you want to borrow my diving knife? There can be some dangerous creatures in the water.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ll be okay,¡± Dorothy said, converting her blaster arm and extending her enzio blade. ¡°OH WOW! That is so killer!¡± Anahita screamed. Dorothy smiled as she retracted her weapons. It felt pretty nice to have someone admiring her, even if it was probably just novelty. ¡°Ana!¡± the crocodilian called again, though without opening the door this time. ¡°I better get back to work and see what John wants...¡± Anahita sighed. ¡°And I have ink to collect,¡± Dorothy finished, taking up the weird ink milking device. Dorothy headed out of the shop and back toward the river docks where she¡¯d seen the boat being unloaded. The sword at her hip had become a comforting weight that she¡¯d liked resting her hand on. Without it, and clad only in a swimsuit with a weird device, she felt decidedly more self conscious. ¡°Hey, tadpole!¡± the croaky voice of the old turtle called out. ¡°An Automata in a swimsuit. Now that¡¯s something I never thought I¡¯d see.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not about to go swimming naked,¡± Dorothy defended herself. The old turtle stroked the wisps of hair at his chin and looked thoughtful. ¡°Well I guess you got me there. At least not out in public and not down here at the shipping docks... So what you going swimming for? This ain¡¯t exactly a tourist spot.¡± ¡°Shocktopus ink.¡± ¡°Aah. Okay, that makes sense. Be careful then tadpole, they can be nasty. Actually, this is a good time to look for them, they¡¯re night hunters so you should be able to catch them napping before they get active.¡± ¡°Thanks old turtle, I¡¯ll be careful!¡± ¡°Hmmph,¡± he said with a half-smile and rolling his eyes. Dorothy found the spot marked on her map that indicated where the nest would be and got as close as she could before getting into the water. It was nearing the 17th bell already and Dorothy figured that she only had 2 hours or so until nightfall. So far, she hadn¡¯t really noticed the ambient temperature, hopefully it would stay that way. The idea of going swimming at this time of year wasn¡¯t appealing. Especially in the river, which always ran cold no matter what time of year. She carefully dipped a toe into the water. According to her sensors, the water temperature was about 10 degrees above freezing. That was it? That was all that she experienced in terms of the icy chill of the river. She stepped into the water with her whole foot, then the other. No new alerts or sensations came. It was a bit anticlimactic and another thing to toss onto the growing pile of pros and cons of becoming an Automata. Jumping into the river on a blistering hot day was something that every kid could relate to. Well, maybe not Charlotte. The experience was always one that was preceded with dread and fear of the cold, then a rush of torturous exhilaration or prolonged torture that got you laughed at until you got used to it. Another experience that was now gone. Dorothy wasn¡¯t particularly keen on the freezing sensation but there was a certain thrill to it. She waded into the water feeling, again, like she¡¯d lost another part of herself. As the water reached her neck, she instinctively tried to suck in a large breath to hold but, of course, nothing of the sort happened without any lungs or breath to hold. She slipped under the water and everything continued being just the same for her. No breath to hold meant no needing to breathe and no fear of drowning. Dorothy pushed up off of the river bed and her head crested the surface for just a moment before she sank back to the rocky bottom. She couldn¡¯t drown and didn¡¯t need to breathe, but she also couldn¡¯t swim and sank like a rock. The water was a bit murky but the current was swift enough to keep things from getting too muddy. The early evening sun filtered through the water enough for Dorothy to make out her surroundings and she walked further, keeping an eye on her surroundings as dark shapes in the distance moved in and out of her visible range. For the most part, it wasn¡¯t too different from walking around on a really foggy day, except that the fog was colored green. Movement near her feet caught her eye and she spotted a collection of apparent rocks scuttling across the riverbed. Dorothy picked up the creature to see multiple sets of legs and large claws beneath the animal. Mama was quite fond of rock lobster and crustaceans in general so into the [Inventory] it went. Dorothy looked around to see if she could spot another for Papa but instead found two glock shrimp and a diamond crab. Into the [Inventory] with them as well. Distracted, as she was, Dorothy didn¡¯t notice an undulating shadow stalking her. She bent over to search behind a boulder when the shape attacked. A thick, muscular body wrapped itself around her, pinning her arms to her sides and the wolfish face of an eel struck from the gloom to clamp down on her shoulder. Dorothy could detect various chemicals being released from the eel¡¯s skin and fangs, but none of it was having any effect on her Automata body. The eel seemed to be confused why its attack wasn''t working, nor why its fangs weren''t sinking into tasty flesh. It pumped out more of the chemicals and tried squeezing harder. Dorothy struggled but couldn¡¯t free her arms. Even with her enhanced strength, it wasn¡¯t enough to force this solid muscle. She groped around with her hands until she could grab the end of its tail and grabbed hard, pinching it between her knuckle joints. The eel thrashed and instantly released her in its attempt to swim away, but Dorothy had a firm grip. She converted her blaster arm and shot a [Blast] round at its head. Under the water, the round went wonky and refused to travel in a straight line, corkscrewing off in random directions. Dorothy converted her arm back and switched hands holding the wriggling eel. With her blade extended, she yanked it close with one hand and pierced it through the throat with the other. All the wriggling stopped except for a few death twitches. Dorothy stored the eel away in her [Inventory] and picked up the ink milking device. She looked around her but there was no sign of the nest she was looking for at this depth. Deeper into the river she walked. The deeper she got, the thicker the fog got and the less light from above could filter down. Dorothy turned on the infrared overlay on her HUD. With her new mana recovery rate, she could keep the overlay running all the time and not lose a single MP if she wanted to. Still, it didn¡¯t seem to help much as none of the dark shapes in the murk seemed to be any warmer than the water around them. Dorothy spotted a jagged pile of rocks forming a small cave with its opening facing down stream. Inside, she could just barely make out the shadow of something moving inside. She switched to the ultraviolet overlay and could see faint lines of mana pulsing through the animal. She¡¯d found the nest! Now what? In the darkness, Dorothy could see the hint of the shocktopus¡¯s arms bunching on each other along with the glint of bone spikes. Anahita had said to just attach the device but she didn¡¯t say how. She angled the device so that the claws were pointing at the animal and slowly got closer, thinking that she might just shove the thing into the cave blindly. As she got closer, a thick arm with a cluster of bone spikes protruding from the end lashed out, smacking the device from her hands. ¡°Rude!¡± she said to the animal before she realized that she could actually talk underwater. ¡°Oh. I guess that makes sense, no breath and all.¡± The shocktopus wasn¡¯t as interested in conversation and lashed another spike covered arm at her, this time at her head. Dorothy tried to duck under it, but only succeeded in lifting her feet off the ground and crunching suspended in the water before she could sink back down to the riverbed. The move earned her a wallop from the arm that sent her into a slight spin. A second arm snaked out of the cave opening and aligned with the first one. The tips of the arms came close but didn¡¯t touch. Instead a thin arc of electricity crackled between the horn clusters of each arm. With each crackle, Dorothy¡¯s HUD glitched. Frantically, she kicked and flapped her arms, trying to get out of the way but she wasn¡¯t able to move freely at all until she could get her feet back onto the ground. The arms shot at her, slapping her in the chest as the electricity discharged around her. Her HUD shattered into a collection of disjointed lines and went completely white before totally shutting down, leaving Dorothy bodiless and floating in cold blackness. Words floated in front of her and went away, replaced with more words that she didn¡¯t understand. Dorothy realized that she was rebooting. The electrical shock must have completely shut down her systems, who knew what was happening to her body while she reset. When she came back online, her systems ran through their usual diagnostics and told her that everything was functioning normally, though her health had gone from 30 down to 10. She was instantly grateful that the heavy locs gave her a bonus 10, given that¡¯s where the first strike hit her. When her HUD stabilized she found that she was laying on her back and being dragged by a foot toward the cave opening. Several of the shocktopus¡¯s arms were touching her all over, but gently, almost tenderly. Her sensors indicated that she was still covered in whatever chemical slime that the eel had covered her in and it seemed to be having an effect on the shocktopus. At least it wasn¡¯t trying to fry her, or eat her, or kill her... at the moment. She reached out and could just barely reach the ink milking device and grabbed one of the clawed leg things, pulling it along with her. When she felt herself get lifted up to be pulled fully into the cave, she shoved the device at the shocktopus, claws first. When the device came in contact with the animal, it seemingly came alive and started climbing around the creature. The shocktopus was, well, shocked to say the least. It immediately dropped Dorothy and flailed around trying to dislodge the device. Dorothy gently settled onto her back as the flailing cephalopod rolled over her in a mass of writhing arms and mantel and weird device. The device worked its way around to attach to the underside of the animal. Trying to pull the device off didn¡¯t work for the animal and it couldn¡¯t seem to swim away from it either. At last it attempted to blast the device with ink so it could escape but the device was ready and syphoned up every bit of ink right from the source the instant it was expelled. As soon as the device finished collecting the ink, it dropped off and the animal swam off in a fright. Dorothy noticed that it didn¡¯t go far though and was hugging the ground and slowly crawling back to the device in a way that suggested it was trying to be sneaky. Tentatively, it would reach out an arm and poke the thing before running away again. The device just lay there in the silt though, waiting for Dorothy to come collect it. Dorothy felt a nudge at her arm and fear washed over her like a cold rain. Mechanically, she turned in the direction of the nudge, afraid that the first shocktopus had a mate waiting in the cave that she was now sitting at the mouth of. If Dorothy had a heart, it would be beating at a feverish pace and in her throat. What she saw, nearly made her pass out. Instead of another large shocktopus mate waiting to rend her limb from limb, she saw about two dozen baby shocktopuses and they were exploring her arm with their little baby arms. They would have looked like miniatures of their parents, if they didn¡¯t have comically large heads and eyes with tiny arms and little nubs instead of the terrifying bone spikes that covered the head and arms of the adult. They were actually quite cute and Dorothy wanted to play with them, but she didn¡¯t think that their mama would be too keen on the playdate. She could feel little zaps on her arm as the babies tried to electrocute her. Dorothy gently brushed the babies off of her arm and tilted her body out of the cave so that she could push off of the rock floor and slide on her stomach for the device. The adult shocktopus was getting bolder and was close to examining the thing until it broke. Dorothy slid across the riverbed with her push and grabbed the device by a leg as she sailed past. The shocktopus reached for her and the device but thought better of it when Dorothy extended her blade and triggered [MegaCharge]. As the ice magic charged up in the blade, the water around it crystalized, forming into heavy shards of ice that reached out in all directions with the flow of the current. Dorothy retracted the blade and released the spell but the big chunk of ice didn¡¯t dissipate. Instead it just floated in front of her and gently started making its way to the surface. Both Dorothy and the shocktopus watched it go like a balloon gently headed for the clouds. In a burst of speed, the shocktopus jetted after the ice chunk and grabbed it. The cold must have been unexpected and painful as it kept juggling the chunk from arm to arm until it figured out it could pincer the chunk between the bone spikes on its arms and not be frozen. The shocktopus gently sank back to the riverbed and carried the ice chunk back to its cave where it batted at it and let it float then grabbed it back again while keeping the babies away from it. The quality of light was beginning to drop dramatically and larger, darker shapes were lurking in the deeper areas of the river. Dorothy hoped that what the device had collected would be enough but she knew that she¡¯d certainly had enough for today. She gave a last look at the cave and could see babies peeking out at her and it almost seemed like the adult gave her a little wave. Intentional or not, she gave it a little wave back and headed for dry land. 10: The end of a REALLY long day Dorothy pulled herself up out of the river and up onto a large rock near the dock. During her time underwater, the sun had begun to set and was already touching the horizon. She flopped onto her back and watched the sky turn from shades of orange and pink to purples and deep blues. The first hints of Lana, the smallest of her world¡¯s three moons, were already taking shape in the evening sky. As an Automata, Dorothy didn¡¯t feel exhaustion per say, but her mana levels were still quite low from the recent activity. As she lay still on her back, her body absorbed the mana from the environment around her. According to her system status screen, she would be fully charged back up in about 10 minutes. ¡°How¡¯d you do?¡± came a gruff voice from above her. Dorothy looked over at the dock nearby and saw the old turtle squatting down to sit on the edge. She held up the ink milking device and then let it flop back down next to her. ¡°Success!¡± she said proudly, though wearily. ¡°Ah nice, I¡¯m guessing it didn¡¯t go too smoothly though. You don¡¯t usually see an Auto look pooped.¡± Dorothy told him about getting attacked by the weird eel and then fighting the shocktopus and its strange behavior after it had hit her with a lightning attack. ¡°Aah,¡± the turtle said knowingly. ¡°That eel. I can see you¡¯re still covered by its slime a bit. Be sure to fully wash that stuff off of you or anyone that touches you will fall in love with you for a while.¡± ¡°WHAAAT??¡± Dorothy said incredulously, sitting up and snapping her head in the old guy¡¯s direction. ¡°Ha ha ha ha!¡± he laughed. ¡°That¡¯s what¡¯s called an amore eel. They wrap their prey and exude a thick slime that has a mild toxin that makes its prey fall in love with them to keep them from trying to escape.¡± ¡°Well, it did seem pretty confused when it was squeezing me,¡± Dorothy said, thoughtfully. ¡°Yeah, so I bet that probably saved you from the shocktopus. It zapped you then went to grab you to rip you apart or something and touched the slime. The effect is only temporary though and not too strong but was probably enough to stop it from trying to further hurt you.¡± ¡°Wow, I guess I really lucked out then.¡± ¡°Yeah, sounds like it,¡± he said as he extended a hand to her to help pull her up onto the dock. Dorothy accepted his hand and climbed up. The sun had nearly slipped completely away for the day and soon the stars would be coming out. Mama might be getting worried. ¡°Are you all finished work for the day?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Eh... almost. Well, there¡¯s still a bit left for these lazy river rats to get and I can¡¯t go home till they¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Oh, are you the foreman?¡± ¡°Today I guess I am. My usual dock foreman is molting or something. I¡¯m Kawataro, owner of the River Trading & Trust shipping company.¡± ¡°Owner?? But you¡¯re so shabby!¡± Dorothy said before she could catch herself. Her eyes went wide and she slapped her hands to her mouth before apologizing. Kawataro just gave her a full bellied laugh. ¡°Shabby, eh? Bah, I don¡¯t care about any of that fancy stuff. I mean, I get dolled up when I have to, but I¡¯d rather have the salt and the waves any day.¡± Dorothy couldn¡¯t help but giggle at his reaction. ¡°You¡¯re a strange old turtle. My name is Dorothy, I¡¯m a rank E Adventurer.¡± ¡°Heh, maybe, maybe. Dorothy eh? You wouldn¡¯t happen to be the Automata that helped us out on the river bank earlier today would you? With that cabbage troll infestation?¡± ¡°Oh! Yes, that was me and my friend Charlotte.¡± ¡°I see, I see. Well thanks again. The cabbage trolls set up their mother plant, or whatever it¡¯s called, right on the river bank and start sucking up all the nutrients and such while releasing a toxin into the water that kills off all the fish and critters living near it. I guess so that they become food for the plant.¡± ¡°I had no idea!¡± Dorothy marveled. ¡°For those of us that live on the river, it¡¯s not a great thing to have around.¡± ¡°No, I wouldn¡¯t think so. I¡¯m glad it¡¯s gone then. Thank you for the bonus! Fran at the guild told me that the shipping company gave us an extra reward.¡± ¡°My pleasure. Say, if you ever need some extra work, come see me. Don''t worry, I won¡¯t make you work as a battery.¡± ¡°Thank you Kawataro,¡± Dorothy said, giving him a little bow. ¡°I better get back to the ink shop before they close.¡± Kawataro gave Dorothy a wink and headed off to go yell some more at the workers while Dorothy ran back to the ink shop. Most of the shop workers had already gone home for the night and they were closing up, but Anahita was still there. She was sitting on a table, playing with an illusion stone. The stone was in the shape of a disk with intricate runes carved into it, and was similar to the ones that Dorothy had seen the cat brothers at the guild playing with. This one had the illusion of a baby fire drake sitting on it, happily eating a comically large chunk of meat. ¡°You like playing Battle Beasts too?¡± Dorothy asked. Anahita looked up, surprised and embarrassed before shutting off the illusion and looking away. ¡°Um, no. Not really... I mean... it¡¯s a game for kids, right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. I mean, I¡¯ve seen big tough guys at the guild fighting each other with dungeon teams before,¡± Dorothy offered, remembering when she first met Josh and Jake. ¡°Do, um... Do you like Battle Beasts?¡± Anahita asked, hesitantly. ¡°I¡¯ve never gotten into dungeon team battles, but I have a couple. I haven¡¯t messed with them since I got sick though... Let me think... I¡¯ve got... the uncommon Forest Sage Centaur... the Fire Elf... oh, it¡¯s the archer one, so it¡¯s a common... and the rare Void Wraith... I also have one that I haven¡¯t hatched yet. I¡¯d gotten it for my birthday but then I got really sick and wasn¡¯t able to play with it.¡± Anahita¡¯s eyes got big, taking on a gleam, and she grabbed Dorothy¡¯s hands, much to the surprise and shock of Dorothy. ¡°Oh, the Void Wraith!¡± Anahita exclaimed. ¡°I have the complete Void series from the second wave! That¡¯s a great one! The Forest Sage is pretty good too but not as good as the Forest Bard, if you know how to use it, but then it is just an uncommon and the Bard is a rare. What wave is the unhatched one? What do you think it is? I wonder if you got something good¡ª¡± Dorothy laughed and pulled her hands back. ¡°I don¡¯t know Anahita, I guess it¡¯s been nearly two seasons since I first got sick... I don¡¯t know what wave it is or anything.¡± ¡°No! Right! Of course not!¡± Anahita blurted out, turning a dark shade of maroon. ¡°Um! Right, so the ink, yeah? Were you able to get it?¡± Dorothy handed over the ink milker thing. ¡°Yup, though it was a bit tougher than I thought it was going to be. I got zapped pretty good.¡± ¡°Ohmigosh! Are you okay? The shocktopus is usually more curious than combative.¡± ¡°Well... there were babies, about a dozen or so of them. They were adorable though...¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I wish I could have seen them, I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re okay!¡± Anahita said, giving Dorothy a hug. ¡°No, wait!¡± Dorothy yelled, trying to pull back, but it was too late. ¡°Dorothy... I know we just met today... but I think I¡¯m in love with you...¡± Anahita said in an intoxicated sort of voice, squeezing Dorothy tighter in her embrace. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡± Dorothy cried. ¡°We need to get this stuff washed off right away! Anahita, we need to get to the showers.¡± ¡°The showers? Together? That¡¯s so bold, but... if it¡¯s with you, I don¡¯t mind.¡± Dorothy pursed her lips and walked awkwardly to the locker room with Anahita hanging on her. They got to the showers and Dorothy went straight into the hot water without bothering to strip anything off of herself or Anahita and got to work scrubbing away all of the eel slime. Once the slime had been completely removed, it only took a couple of minutes for Anahita to recover from the toxin¡¯s effects. She apologized profusely and her whole body had turned the color of a strawberry frog. Dorothy wasn¡¯t mad though and tried to console Anahita, letting her know that it was all her own fault for not getting the slime cleaned off right away or warning Anahita of it. Once they were fully cleaned and dressed, Anahita explained that the raw ink would need processing before it could be sold for use in printers, and that the process would take overnight. The ink milker thing had collected 4 jars worth of raw ink so Dorothy was paid a gold for her efforts and the SideQuest was cleared. She promised to return the next day to pick up the ink for Mike, as well as to find her unhatched Battle Beast illusion stone and inform Anahita of what she ended up getting. By the time that Dorothy got home, the sky was completely dark and the stars had come out. Lana was leading the way across the sky, with her sister moons trailing behind. Lana was the smallest and slowest to cross the sky though and would get overtaken by Rido, the largest, at the 22nd bell; and then Moora, the fastest, at the 25th bell marking the beginning of the next day. It was a bit past the 18th bell when Dorothy walked through the door. Mama was rummaging through the frost chest, looking for ingredients for tonight¡¯s dinner. Papa was looking over some documents, but he quickly put them away when he saw Dorothy. ¡°Ah, there¡¯s my little Dot! Where ya been?¡± he asked. ¡°I thought you were going to come back to the guild to pick up another ReQuest. You been shopin¡¯ this whole time?¡± ¡°Sorry Papa, I did do some shopping, but then I had to run an errand in exchange for an upgrade... which then led to a SideQuest... It¡¯s been a long day...¡± ¡°I bet, you¡¯ve been goin¡¯ non stop since first light.¡± ¡°Well... when you don¡¯t eat or sleep, you gotta keep busy, I guess.¡± ¡°There may be some truth to that, but don¡¯t go over doin¡¯ it little Dot.¡± ¡°Yes Papa. Hey Mama, did you start dinner yet?¡± ¡°Oh now she ¡®members her mama. Not like I bin sittin¡¯ a¡¯ home waitin¡¯ an¡¯ worryin¡¯.¡± ¡°Mama! You weren¡¯t really worrying, were you? I told you I might pick up an afternoon quest, plus I¡¯m made of some tough stuff,¡± Dorothy banged a fist against her chest with a loud, metallic tong sound, for emphasis. ¡°Dat may be da case, but as ya Mama it mi job ti worry ¡®bout ye, yah? When ya fahda git home an dint see ya, what mi ti tink?¡± ¡°Sorry Mama, I didn¡¯t mean to make you worry.¡± Mama let out a long sigh. ¡°I know mi love... it juss...¡± Mama collapsed to the floor and hid her face for a moment, sobbing softly. Dorothy and Papa rushed over to her and held her until she could compose herself. Dorothy felt horribly guilty and would have been a mess of tears and snot herself, if she was physically capable of it. Instead, her body twitched and shook as it tried to process the emotional overload without any sort of outlet. Papa easily scooped Mama up in his strong arms and carried her like a princess over to the small chaise by the fireplace and laid her down. Then he gently draped a blanket over her and walked back to the kitchen to squat down next to Dorothy. ¡°Is Mama okay?¡± Dorothy asked, still shaking. ¡°She¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry my little Dot. Your Mama... well, she¡¯s been worried about you for a long time now, worried that we were going to lose you to that sickness. And then you had to get converted into this automata body... Your Mama and me, well, we had a pretty bad run-in with some Automata back in the old days so that might be part of it too. She tries not to let you see it, and hides it away but that much worry can be pretty exhausting. She just needs to rest for a bit.¡± ¡°Papa... am, am I bad?¡± ¡°What? No, no of course not little Dot,¡± he said, wrapping his arm around her and holding her tightly. Eventually, Dorothy¡¯s shaking stopped and she sat for a while letting her Papa hold her. It was different than when Mama hugged her. It was warm, comforting, and made her feel safe in a way that had nothing to do with the physical act. Dorothy realized that Papa was enfusing his hug with mana and actually pushing his thoughts and feelings into her. Dorothy sat up surprised and looked at him. ¡°Papa, you¡¯re feeding your mana into me?¡± she asked, confused. Papa smiled and gently stroked her hair. ¡°Good, I was hoping that would work.¡± ¡°What was that? It felt all warm and cozy... like I could actually, really feel you and not just whatever my sensors are telling me.¡± ¡°Well... I¡¯m a little embarrassed to be honest.¡± ¡°Just tell me!¡± she pleaded. ¡°You know I used to be an Adventurer, right?¡± ¡°A rank S I think?¡± ¡°Double S, anyway, I have a skill called [Killing Intent]. It works by infusing your mana with your emotions, usually your anger or wrath, your desire to destroy something. Then the skill kicks in and that feeling is magnified and radiated out at your target and they feel that emotion pushing directly into their soul. It¡¯s used for intimidation. I just used it to push feelings of love and peace to you.¡± ¡°You... you used a skill called Killing Intent on your own daughter...¡± ¡°Hey, a skill is a skill. You don¡¯t get to be double S by only thinking about things in the way they were originally intended or designed.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s true... still...¡± Papa shuttered like a cold chill ran down his spine and looked over at the chaise that he¡¯d left Mama on. Mama was glaring at him and Dorothy suspected that she had the [Killing Intent] skill herself and was now using it on Papa. The icy grip of death that had taken hold of Papa¡¯s soul let up and he slumped in a cold sweat as Mama ran over to Dorothy and wrapped her arms around her. This time, beyond the strong embrace and the pressure from her mother¡¯s strong, S ranked archer arms, came a tidal wave of blinding heat and white light smothering Dorothy and threatening to overwhelm all of her systems. Dorothy tapped at her mother¡¯s arms. ¡°Mama... I can¡¯t... breath...¡± Mama released Dorothy, looking dumbstruck. ¡°But, but... Automata don¡¯ breath.¡± Dorothy grasped at her chest and looked at Mama, ¡°I can¡¯t explain it... I just suddenly felt like I was being smothered all at once by the sun...¡± ¡°Mi sorry, love. Guess I still need ti learn ti hol¡¯ back a bit.¡± She then kissed Papa on the forehead. ¡°Thank yi fah figurin¡¯ we can use da skill dat way.¡± Papa laughed and kissed her back. ¡°So, what are we gonna do about some dinner?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Dorothy shouted. ¡°If you haven¡¯t started anything yet, on my SideQuest I found a Rock Lobster, a Diamond Crab, and some Glock Shrimp.¡± ¡°Well dat settles dat!¡± Mama yelled, jumping up. She then started rooting through the cupboards. ¡°Where mi crab pot at?¡± ¡°I saw it out back!¡± Papa yelled, jumping up and running off. ¡°Dorothy, fetch mi deh horseradish an¡¯ meh dried coconut!¡± Mama shouted as she started tossing spices onto the table. Few things got Dorothy¡¯s parents as excited as shellfish. The next thirty minutes was a blur of activity as various cooking herbs, cabbage leaves, and rice were tossed into the giant pot along with some wine. The lobster, and shrimp were put into the pot, and covered with salt and her secret blend of spices. Mama then covered the pot and set it onto her stove. While the lobster and shrimp soaked in the spices and wine, she focused her attention on the diamond crab. Diamond crabs, like the rock lobster, were covered in mineral deposits and had actual rock formations growing from their armored shells. The rock lobster¡¯s shell would be softened enough at the joints for a knife to get in thanks to the wine, but a diamond crab was much tougher. The diamond plating was nearly impossible to break, even at the joints, only a master class blade would be able to get through. ¡°Stridah,¡± Mama called, ¡°git ya¡ª¡± ¡°Already got it Sugar Plum,¡± Papa said nonchalantly. Across his shoulders rested a massive ¡°hero sword¡±. ¡°Yah know what... less take dis out back...¡± Mama cautioned. ¡°Good idea,¡± Papa agreed. They headed out the back door and Dorothy watched curiously as Mama set the crab in the center of a small stone plinth in the middle of their small courtyard and backed away to the doorway where Dorothy was standing. She then pulled Dorothy in a ways and they both peaked their heads around to watch. Papa began chuckling to himself as he hefted the massive sword with ease. Papa dropped into a combat ready stance and readied the hero sword. He started chanting a looping spell and glowing energy poured from his eyes as tendrils of blue flames danced across the blade. Papa sucked in a big breath as he charged his attack. With a war cry of ¡°Become DELICIOUS!¡± Papa shot forward with explosive force, light and flame trailing in his wake. He slashed and cross-slashed at the diamond encrusted shell of the crab, figure-eight-ing his war blade as sparks and flashes of light burst into the night. With a final cry and a thunderous slash, he brought the massive blade down, splitting the stone plinth the crab sat on into neatly divided sections. A glowing mist dissolved into the air as Dorothy and Mama cautiously stepped out into the courtyard. The diamond crab had been perfectly cut in half and sectioned so that each leg could be individually picked up and contained a chunk of the inner crab meat. The shell along each leg had been sliced in such a way that with minimal effort it could easily be opened up like a chest. Mama scooped up all of the crab pieces and rushed back to the kitchen with them. ¡°That was SO COOL!¡± Dorothy yelled. ¡°I¡¯ve never even seen an attack like that! So precise! So powerful!¡± ¡°Well, you know...¡± Papa gestured vaguely, ¡°I¡¯ll probably pay for that later. My recovery isn¡¯t what it used to be... but it¡¯ll be worth it for that crab you got us.¡± he gave her a wink and patted her head before heading back into the house. Dorothy followed Papa into the kitchen to see Mama standing in front of the stove with waves of heat and fire magic rolling off of her as she channeled her magic into the large crab pot. The intense heat flash boiled away all of the wine in the pot, infusing the flavors of the wine, herbs, and spices into the meat. Mama lifted the lid off of the pot and a fragrant fog filled the small kitchen. As it dissipated, Papa was already drooling and sitting at the table with his utensils at the ready. Mama expertly removed the shell from the lobster with an enchanted hunting knife and plated the meat with some of the rice from the pot. The rock formations on the shell weren¡¯t valuable at all, being common ore, but they would be great for adding flavor to a seafood stock later. The shrimp were shelled, deveined, dredged in chickiepoo milk and breaded using the dried coconut. She then air fried the shrimps in an instant with her fire magic and set them in a spicy sauce made from tomatoes and horseradish. Papa tore into the lobster and rice, tears streaming from his face. Dorothy laughed at his reactions, but was overjoyed to see her family this happy about what she¡¯d caught for them. She didn¡¯t see the crab though and thought it would have been in the pot with the others. Mama had sat down to eat as well and was enjoying the spicy, coconut toasted shrimps. With each bite, she would close her eyes and take a deep breath before chewing and going for another bite. When the lobster and the shrimps were gone, Mama got up and went to the frost chest and retrieved the diamond crab. The cut portions had been set in ice and Dorothy could see tiny ice crystals had formed within the meat. The body meat had taken on a mousse like texture that reminded Dorothy of iced cream. She wondered if the meat was sweet like iced cream or if it had a savory flavor. Papa took a leg and carefully cracked it open and scooped out the meat with a small spoon. ¡°What does that taste like?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°You want some little Dot?¡± Papa replied, holding out a spoonful of the frosty meat. ¡°Not really, just curious.¡± Papa put the spoon in his mouth and hummed a happy tune before answering. ¡°Well... if I had to compare it to something... I¡¯d say it¡¯s similar to red bean cream with heavily salted caramel.¡± ¡°That... doesn¡¯t sound like a combination that I¡¯d be interested in...¡± Dorothy said, wincing a bit. ¡°It¡¯s clearly an adult flavor. Children don¡¯t get it.¡± Papa said smugly. Mama laughed and took another leg for herself, giving Dorothy a warm smile. On the one hand, Dorothy missed being able to take part in the joy that her parents were feeling regarding the food. Her sensors told her about the ingredients used and such but none of it was good or bad; just data. On the other hand, she wasn¡¯t particularly fond of shellfish before she got sick. So instead she just sat happily and watched as her parents enjoyed themselves. It was during this time that Dorothy discovered that she could take ¡°snapshots¡± of the things she saw and took several of her parents stuffing their faces with expressions of bliss. 11: Citizens on patrol Mama and Papa headed to bed with full and happy stomachs. Dorothy was happy that she could provide her parents with something that they enjoyed so much. The night would be Dorothy¡¯s third night as an Automata. So much had happened already that it was amazing to think that it had only been two and a half days. The first night, she had become absorbed in the handcrafts of adjusting Papa¡¯s old Adventurer gear to fit her, and the second night she was focused on learning more about her systems. Tonight, though, she didn¡¯t have any such distractions and the idea of sitting, alone, in the house while her parents slept, suddenly felt very lonely. Dorothy wondered if all the nights to come in her, potentially, long life would be long stretches of loneliness; waiting for the dawn and the rest of the world to wake up. Her FAQ had told her that she could ¡°power down¡± to conserve energy and replenish her inner mana as well as speed up her repair systems. When she was at full health, it didn¡¯t seem to make much sense though. It would be like sleeping, but instead of spending time moving around she¡¯d be in that void space she went to when she was offline. Not exactly ¡°dream land¡±. Before they went to bed, Dorothy had talked with Mama about it and gotten her to agree to letting Dorothy visit Jenny in the Knight Patrol. This was going to be Dorothy¡¯s first time spending any sort of social time with another Automata. She was a bit nervous but also excited. Jenny was sure to have loads more experience in dealing with Automata life and the transition to feeling comfortable in one¡¯s own metallic skin. Jenny certainly seemed comfortable. Dorothy stepped out into the night. There were still plenty of taverns and pubs open for business as well as night entertainers looking for clients. All in all, it was relatively quiet. She strolled through the city in the direction of the Imperial castle and before long neared the compound for the Imperial Guards. As she walked by their entrance gate she snuck a peak past the guards to see if she could spot any hint of the elite company of Automata and Botanicas that her father had told her about, the AutoBots. All she could see though was buildings and the occasional soldier and maybe a bit of the training grounds. Dorothy got directions to Station 4 where Jenny was assigned and headed back the direction she¡¯d come. When she was going through the setup process when she first got her Automata body, she was given a choice of different ¡°plugins¡± that could be installed. The illustrated robot had said that her version number could only support two of them but that had to mean that if she could level up her version number higher then maybe she could install new ones. That guy had also said something about being able to change out plugins. That Map plugin was sounding better by the day. Dorothy wondered if that meant that meant she could swap them out like equipment. She made a mental note to ask Jenny about it. As she walked, Dorothy noticed some adults skulking around in a back alley but they didn¡¯t seem to actually be doing anything; just leaning against the walls and smoking herbs. They did watch her as she walked by though, which inspired her to pick up her pace. As she got closer to the station, she could see more knights in the area. Some were laughing and talking with each other, while others were double checking their gear as they came on shift. She even saw a couple of knights with people in restraints, leading them into the station building. Dorothy found the main entrance at the top of a large set of marble stairs. The building wasn¡¯t as large or as grand as the guild hall, but it had a feeling of authority to it. The entrance was flanked by two large statues. On one side was a gryphon and on the other was a blindfolded elf in mage robes with a sword. Beyond the entrance way, Dorothy found a reception desk staffed by a Botanica. Botanica were very similar to Automata in that they had an almost manufactured look to them; like they could have been made by a skilled artificer. Dorothy didn¡¯t know much about the species, but they seemed to her to be Automata made from resin cured wood and vines rather than magisteel and mana fiber. She wondered if they had a HUD and POS like she did or if they were completely organic. The Botanica at the desk resembled a wooden puppet, though one with abnormally long fingers and long green hair made from vines. Its face was either covered by a large featureless mask, or was the large featureless mask. Otherwise, it was dressed in the uniform of the Knight Patrol and looked up at her as she approached. ¡°Can I help you?¡± it asked in a voice that reminded Dorothy of the sound of dry leaves blowing through the forest floor, and gave away zero hints as to a gender. ¡°Um, yes! Hello, I¡¯m looking for an Automata Knight? Her name is Jenny, she said she worked here? My name is Dorothy, we met a couple of days ago.¡± ¡°Ah, Knight Wakeman... Motor Unit XJ9. I am paging her now.¡± Dorothy couldn¡¯t see the Botanica actually doing anything. It just sat there and looked back at her. Dorothy looked around anxiously and back at the staring Botanica. The silence drew out to the point of becoming awkward. Just before Dorothy was about to say something, the Botanica spoke up. ¡°I¡¯ve located Motor Unit XJ9. She will be with you in a moment. Please have a seat,¡± it said in a rather monotone deadpan. Dorothy gave it a nod and looked around to find a small group of chairs on the other side of the large room, against the wall. She found a seat and settled herself. Dorothy watched as the knights went about their business, some were dressed in a more comfortable uniform and looked like they could be officers or maybe they were support staff while others were in full armor. Occasionally one would come in dragging a drunk person and take them beyond the reception desk and deeper into the building. After a 13 minute wait, Dorothy heard her name, though the voice was high and effeminate, though still had the metallic sound of an Automata. She looked up to see a thin and girly looking Automata dressed in a light leather armor version of the Knight Patrol uniform. Her face was similar to Dorothy¡¯s in that she had large eyes that glowed with a teal color, an expressive mouth, and the same lack of nose. She had short, spikey wire hair that matched the teal of her eyes and she was grinning at Dorothy. ¡°Wow! I hardly recognize you from the factory fresh kid I saw a couple days ago. I like the locks a lot! Come on, you¡¯ll have to show me what other upgrades you¡¯ve gotten.¡± Dorothy stood up, this Automata was about a head taller than her and seemed to radiate energy. ¡°I¡¯m sorry... you are?¡± Dorothy asked, confused. ¡°I¡¯m Jenny!¡± she laughed. ¡°This is me!¡± ¡°Um... The Jenny I met was um... much bigger...¡± Dorothy said, giving this Jenny a suspicious side eye. Jenny rolled her eyes with a lopsided grin and grabbed Dorothy¡¯s hand. ¡°Come with me factory fresh. Yo, 1-84B, I¡¯m taking my friend Dorothy on a ride-along,¡± she called to the Botanica. ¡°Acknowledged, a report ticket has been generated,¡± 1-84B replied. ¡°You know, it¡¯s funny,¡± Jenny said as she pulled Dorothy past reception and down a corridor. ¡°We¡¯re technically the robots, but they sound and act more like robots than we do but they¡¯re entirely organic.¡± ¡°I wondered... I¡¯ve never met a Botanica before,¡± Dorothy admitted. ¡°It kinda creeps you out, right?¡± ¡°YES! I mean... when I asked for you it said it was paging you but all it did was stare at me.¡± ¡°Yeah, that one is tapped into the building. It kinda lives in that spot and has roots running everywhere.¡± ¡°Huh... so you¡¯re really the same Jenny?¡± ¡°Yup,¡± she replied without offering any further explanation. After some twists and turns, and down a couple flights of stairs, they arrived at a large underground room with a massive set of doors that opened out to the street. Around the room, Dorothy could see several transport wagons as well as heavy weapons and armors. Jenny stopped in front of what looked like a large Automata that had been partially turned inside-out. As Dorothy looked closer, she could see some of the details that looked familiar to the ¡°Jenny¡± that she remembered, but its upper half was split open like a clam. ¡°This here is my trusted partner, my motor armor. I can¡¯t let you climb inside but you can check it out,¡± Jenny offered. ¡°Wait... so, it¡¯s not an Automata?¡± Dorothy asked, confused. ¡°Not as such, no. It¡¯s not alive, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking. I¡¯m what you¡¯d call a load bearer. I can generate enough mana to fully power a body that size as well as handle the bike configuration.¡± ¡°That¡¯s kind of amazing. How does it work?¡± ¡°Here, I¡¯ll show you. We¡¯ll go for a ride.¡± Jenny climbed into the armor, sliding her legs into its legs but grabbing some handles that were located within the torso. She gave Dorothy a big grin and chuckled a bit before the whole thing folded in on her. Lights came to life, running along the accents of the armor ending with glowing white eyes flaring behind a dark visor. ¡°Pretty cool, right?¡± Jenny asked in that deep mechanical timber that Dorothy remembered. ¡°SO COOL!¡± Dorothy exclaimed. ¡°I¡¯ve! I mean! I¡¯ve never seen anything like that! I had no idea that there could be smaller Automata inside of bigger Automata! That¡¯s. That¡¯s just crazy!¡± Jenny transformed into her motorcycle form and pulled up next to Dorothy. ¡°Get on, let¡¯s go for a ride.¡± ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s okay? I mean, what about that devil knight? We¡¯re not going to get in trouble, right?¡± ¡°Regina? Nah, don¡¯t worry about it. She¡¯s off duty tonight. Hop on.¡± Dorothy did as ordered, and climbed onto Jenny and sat in the saddle, not exactly sure what she should hold onto or how to properly sit on the motorcycle; she¡¯d never even been on a horse before. Jenny pulled forward, aiming at the large doors leading to the street. Dorothy nearly fell off, but quickly learned to hold on with her legs and where the hand holds were. The sensation of traveling by motorcycle was pretty exciting as they rode around with the wind in Dorothy¡¯s face. It was hard to hear anything or be heard over the sound of the rushing wind when they got up to speed so Dorothy gave up on conversation and just enjoyed the ride.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Jenny drove them around the capital, sticking to the larger, high traffic roads, but when they got near the slums she slowed down. Dorothy noticed a steel cabinet of some sort on the street corner, a blue light was flashing on top of it. Jenny pulled over, near the cabinet and had Dorothy get off before transforming back into armor mode. She placed a hand on the cabinet and something inside clicked and unlocked. When it was opened, Dorothy could see a crystal ball inside. ¡°Motor Unit XJ9,¡± Jenny said as she placed a hand on the ball. ¡°Motor Unit,¡± a hollow sounding voice replied. ¡°Suspicious activity spotted near your location. Number 12 Male with gray feathers and red tunic in the vicinity of 212 Cleric street reportedly acting skittish and took off running on foot when approached by healer unit. Healer unit had been responding for a domestic service call.¡± ¡°Copy that, show me in service.¡± ¡°Acknowledged.¡± Jenny withdrew her hand and closed the cabinet back up. It locked on its own and the flashing light went dark. ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll see some action,¡± Jenny said to Dorothy as she converted back to motorcycle. ¡°Cleric street is a block from here.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a number 12 male?¡± ¡°That¡¯d be a harpy.¡± ¡°Oh! Like the other day. I heard there are harpy gangs now, causing trouble, and that you guys are looking for the mastermind.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about a mastermind harpy or any proper gangs, but there has been an increase in petty theft and shabby looking harpies running around on foot instead of flying.¡± ¡°That is odd, now that you mention it. They don¡¯t exactly have walking feet.¡± ¡°Not at all. The ones we catch all seem to be sickly and their feet are messed up from running around for a while. Ah, here we are, 212. Um, I see you¡¯ve got a sword so I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re an Adventurer now. Any spells or other weapons I should know about?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got a MyFirstBlaster loaded with clay rounds that I can cast [explosion(small)] on, and an integrated blade I can charge with ice element,¡± Dorothy explained as she got off of Jenny. ¡°Okay good. If anything is crazy or gets scary then I need you to stay back and out of the way... but it¡¯s good to know that you can defend yourself if it comes to it.¡± Jenny converted back to armor mode and looked up at the building. It was a shabby looking apartment building in a shabby looking part of town. She had her headlamps activated as she carefully searched the area. Dorothy switched her vision over to the infrared and ultraviolet overlays and looked on with curiosity. It seemed odd that Jenny kept her headlamps on, but maybe that was because she wasn¡¯t actually trying to sneak up on anyone. No one seemed to be around that Dorothy could see. She could see the residual heat of foot prints from people that had been here and then left a short while ago. The healer unit must have left along with whomever had made the original call for help. When Dorothy looked at the building, it also looked empty, though she could see the glow of mana coming from the second floor. Jenny could see it too and gently tried pushing on the door to find it open easily. She then moved to the side, her motor armor was far too large to comfortably get through the door, so she opened it up and climbed out. Dorothy noticed, though, that Jenny now had a large blaster type cylinder on her left arm. She motioned with her head for Dorothy to follow her so Dorothy converted her own blaster and carefully entered the building behind the knight. The interior was filthy. It looked like the place hadn¡¯t been cleaned since before Dorothy was born. Dirt and grime covered everything, old food, questionable stains, and small heat sources behind the walls were the hallmarks of the building. Something squeaked and scurried near Dorothy causing her to squeak herself and grab Jenny. ¡°You okay?¡± Jenny asked. ¡°You want to wait outside with my armor?¡± ¡°No! Thisisfine! Everythingisfine!¡± Dorothy blurted out in a bit of a panic before feeling embarrassed, then jumping again when she heard a scratching noise come from the wall near her head. ¡°C''mon kiddo, you got this,¡± Jenny reassured her. ¡°The only things in this building are ratches and such and they can¡¯t hurt tough Automata like us, right?¡± Dorothy tried to agree, but it came out more like a chirp. They found the stair well and carefully headed up, each stair creaking loudly and announcing their displeasure at being disturbed. On the top floor, Dorothy could see multiple rooms branching off from the central hallway. A door near the front of the building was half open, and they could see more mana glow coming from it in the ultraviolet spectrum. ¡°Knight Patrol,¡± Jenny announced as she tapped on the door with her blaster, gently pushing it open further. Dorothy couldn¡¯t see any heat signatures coming from the room but there was probably policy that Jenny was following. Or maybe there were things that didn¡¯t give off any body heat... Inside the room, the mana hung in the air like a cloud, filling the apartment. Molted feathers were everywhere along with waste and other trash. The place appeared to be a harpy nest, though one that was poorly cared for. Harpies weren¡¯t known for being a particularly tidy species to begin with but Dorothy thought this whole building was pushing it. They made their way through the apartment, following the mana cloud to a room that looked to be set up as some sort of alchemy lab. Jenny carefully picked up a bottle with a glowing liquid residue in it and a faint etching of a human hand print on it. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°My guess? Illegal potions. I don¡¯t know what kind though, we¡¯ll have to take this back to the station to find out what it is they¡¯ve got here.¡± ¡°So what do we do now?¡± ¡°Not much, I¡¯ll have to write up a report and in the morning they¡¯ll send over an alchemical investigation unit to dismantle this place.¡± ¡°Do we have to like, stand guard or something? You know to make sure that nobody hides the evidence!¡± ¡°Ha! Nah, we don¡¯t have to worry about that. I¡¯ll show you.¡± The two headed downstairs and exited the building much quicker than they had entered. Dorothy would be happy to never have to enter the building again. Jenny put the blaster back into its storage area inside of her armor and retrieved an elongated cube the size of a soup canister. She then gave Dorothy the ¡°wait here¡± signal and headed back into the building. After an excruciatingly long time that was actually only about five minutes a magical barrier spread out from somewhere over the building, covering the area in a shifting green energy dome. Jenny returned shortly after, dusting off her hands. ¡°See? All good,¡± she told Dorothy with a cheesy grin. Jenny placed the etched bottle into an [Inventory] space and climbed back into her armor. After she converted to motorcycle mode, she had Dorothy get on and they passed through the barrier and headed back to the station. When they got back, Jenny parked her armor in the large room with all the other transports and led Dorothy to a room with several desks. Each desk had stacks of papers with a variety of forms as well as writing implements. Jenny sat down at an empty desk and sifted through the form stacks until she found the one that she needed and patted an open area on the desk, indicating that Dorothy should sit down. ¡°You know,¡± Jenny began, ¡°a lot of folks think that the Knight Patrol is all chasing down bad guys and solving crimes, but honestly most of this job is filling out paperwork.¡± ¡°Did you start out on the Knight Patrol? When you were converted, I mean,¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Yeah, well sorta,¡± she replied as she tapped her Knight badge on the form and her information automatically filled out on the paper. ¡°I was a knight before my conversion. I¡¯d only been on the force for a couple of years and ended up getting on the wrong side of some really bad guys. They caught me at the wrong place at the wrong time. Nearly killed me, messed me up real bad and left me for dead.¡± ¡°Oh no,¡± Dorothy said, biting her knuckle, ¡°oh Jenny, I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Jenny waved away her concern. ¡°Regina¡¯s the one that found me. I was too far gone for the healers, so to save me...¡± she gestured towards her body. ¡°The Patrol covered the costs and locked me into a 20 year contract, but I was planning on retiring from here anyway so nothing really changed in that regard. Besides, I can do stuff now that I never even dreamed was possible before my conversion. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed plenty of stuff like that already, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. I¡¯m way stronger and faster now than I ever was, even before I got sick. Plus having the upgrades, being able to make up my own spells, my HUD, all that stuff... It¡¯s really cool.¡± ¡°Right? Thanks to that stuff, I can do things that none of the other knights can do. I¡¯ve become a really useful team mate and I love my job.¡± ¡°Do you ever miss it? Your old body?¡± ¡°It was definitely tough starting out. I couldn¡¯t help but focus on all the things I was missing out on; things I thought were a part of life that I couldn¡¯t have. But after a while, I realized that those things didn¡¯t mean that I was lacking in my life... just that my life was now different.¡± ¡°I really miss my mama¡¯s cooking... and I feel sad that I¡¯m never going to fall in love or have a family...¡± Jenny put down the quill and paper and looked at Dorothy, placing her hand on Dorothy¡¯s knee. ¡°Hey, food, okay I¡¯ll grant you that one but you¡¯ll find other things that you can enjoy just as much. But just because you¡¯re an Automata now doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t fall in love. You won¡¯t be able to have babies like an organic but that doesn¡¯t mean you won¡¯t have family. You¡¯ll adopt people into your life that you treasure, you¡¯ll create your own family. It just might be in a different way than what you have thought it should be before now. You still have your mom and dad, right?¡± Dorothy nodded. ¡°And you still love them, right?¡± Again, Dorothy nodded. ¡°Well, there¡¯s your proof right there. We may have a heart of stone in the most literal sense but we can still love and laugh and cry just as much as any other species out there. Except maybe the Botanica... I have no idea about those guys.¡± Dorothy laughed as her body shuttered a bit, which she now realized was simply how Automata ¡°Cried¡±. Jenny stood up and put her arms around her and held her close until her shuttering stopped. ¡°See?¡± Jenny said, ¡°just like anybody else, it just comes out a bit different. We can¡¯t do the whole ugly cry sort of thing though, this is about it. Really emotional spikes can wreak havoc on your systems and potentially put you into a system lock until you cool back down. So never bottle things up, okay? Talk to me, talk to your parents, talk to your friends. If ever things are bothering you, you have people you can rely on.¡± Dorothy nodded. ¡°Thanks Jenny.¡± ¡°Anytime kiddo. Now let¡¯s submit this report and go interrogate a prisoner.¡± ¡°Eh??¡± Dorothy said incredulously. Jenny just laughed and grabbed the report form and headed out of the room with Dorothy following behind. Dorothy was introduced to Jenny¡¯s leftenant when they turned in the report and she was asked a couple of questions about what she thought of patrol work, details about the shabby apartment, and if she thought she might want to become a knight. They seemed nice enough but being an Adventurer was the only job for Dorothy. After submitting the report, they went down into the lower levels of the building where the prisoners were held. It wasn¡¯t long term incarceration, criminals were taken to a proper prison for that. This was mostly people that were being held for a couple of days at most while they waited for a trial or a hearing. Jenny interacted with other knights that were on duty to watch over the people being held and was directed to one of the cells. Dorothy counted eight cells total and they varied in size. Likely to accommodate multiple sizes of people. Most of them were empty, thankfully, though she did see a bunch of drunks grouped together in one of the cells. Jenny told her that they had a number of regulars in the group that often got into trouble at the local pubs and would need to spend the night here to sober up. She even greeted some of them by name. In the cell that Jenny had been looking for, Dorothy recognized the harpy boy that had assaulted the old goblin lady. He was sitting on a stone slab in the corner with his legs tucked up and had his wings wrapped around him. He looked tired and worn out with heavy bags under his eyes; just staring at the wall. Jenny waved her badge at a security plate and the door unlocked. She stepped in and closed the door behind her, having Dorothy wait outside the cell. She squatted down to be able to look at the harpy but didn¡¯t get any closer to him than the door. ¡°Hey Tomms, how you feeling?¡± she asked the harpy. Tomms glanced up at her but didn¡¯t say anything before going back to looking at the wall. ¡°Your hearing¡¯s in the morning. You excited? You might get to go home.¡± Tomms ignored her. ¡°So Tomms... tonight I was out riding around, you know getting some fresh night air, and I found a really interesting looking bottle. Check it out, it¡¯s got this etching on it. Kinda looks like a human hand print.¡± Tomms looked in her direction as she pulled the bottle out of her storage space. Jenny held the bottle up to the light as if she was examining it, allowing the small amount of liquid inside to roll around. ¡°Oh look, there¡¯s still some stuff inside of it.¡± Tomms screeched and lunged at her, but before he could cross the room she¡¯d already converted her arm into a thin blaster and hit him with a shock bolt. He hit the ground unconscious and Jenny put the bottle back into storage and exited the cell. ¡°I guess that didn¡¯t work. He didn¡¯t say anything,¡± Dorothy huffed. ¡°Not so, my young friend. We actually got quite a bit of information.¡± ¡°We did?¡± ¡°We now know for certain that the handprint etching is meaningful and that it¡¯s related to these harpy kids. We also know that whatever this potion is, it¡¯s something that would cause this kid to try to attack a knight in the middle of a jail for just a couple drops, even though he¡¯s been in there for the last couple days. So this stuff is either highly addictive or powerful enough to make him want to gamble on it. We¡¯ll take this to the lab and let them figure it out. Meanwhile, I¡¯ll talk to Regina about learning more about this etching.¡± ¡°Wow! I didn¡¯t catch any of that. You¡¯re definitely going to be a great detective one day. I don¡¯t know how you keep it all straight.¡± ¡°Well you know,¡± Jenny said, leaning in and lowering her voice, ¡°I¡¯ve got a bit of a cheat.¡± ¡°Oh? Do tell,¡± Dorothy said, getting excited. ¡°Here,¡± Jenny said, tapping two fingers on Dorothy¡¯s forehead.
Attachment Request
Attachment Request received from Jennifer Wakeman: - Notepad.exe
  • Accept
  • Decline
Dorothy accepted the request and received a new program called [Notepad]. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± she asked. ¡°I use that all the time, it puts a little icon on your HUD for notes and stuff. Now when you make a mental note about something, you can make an actual note... in your head.¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s so useful! Thanks!¡± ¡°No problem, there¡¯s higher ranked versions that will let you store the things you see or hear too. I use those for work stuff. Really useful for providing evidence at a trial, but the basic Notepad is handy on its own.¡± ¡°Yeah for sure. So is there anything I can do to help out? I mean with this bottle harpy thing,¡± Dorothy asked. ¡°Ha! Not unless you¡¯re looking to get on the payroll,¡± Jenny laughed, patting Dorothy¡¯s head. Dorothy smiled warmly, for the first time since her conversion, she felt happy about being an Automata. Rather than missing her old life or simply accepting her conversion.