by Taj McCoy El
“Hey girl!” Mayah yelled with a smile on her face. Vergie didn’t move.
She probably can’t hear me.
She called again as she walked out onto the bridge. This time Vergie chuffed and let out a low growl. Mayah realized that something was wrong and sped closer to Vergie.
“You okay girl?”
Vergie’s growl deepened causing Mayah to pause.
“Can I at least talk to you about what it is?”
Vergie opened one eye to look directly at Mayah and closed it again with an indignant chuff and turned her head away from her summoner.
Mayah had been snubbed by cats before, but this was on a whole other level.
“Can I at least ask what I did wrong so I don’t do it again?” Mayah implored.
Vergie’s posture relaxed some. She lifted her head and swung it around to look at Mayah with an intense glare through slit eyes. She studied Mayah for a moment, and then rolled her eyes and sat up on her haunches.
Mayah slowly moved closer to Vergie asking, “Are you okay?”
Vergie’s head slowly turned from side to side her eyes slitting again.
“I’m going to assume that you are mad at me for something?”
Vergie Nodded
“Whatever made you mad, am I doing it right now?”
Vergie tilted her head to think about it and shook her head no and turned to lick her shoulder.
“Are you hungry?”
Vergie’s head snapped back fixing Mayah with a predatory look.
“I’m gonna take that as a yes.” She pulled out two of her rations and took the one with the most meat and opened it. She took a few steps forward and laid it in front of the Vergax.
Vergie looked at her waiting. Mayah opened a second ration and put it down next to the first. Vergie put her paw next to the first ration, and then next to the second. Finally, she moved her paw again and placed it where there was no ration and stared at Mayah again.
“You want another one?” Vergie nodded slowly and licked her lips. Mayah let a small smile creep onto her face.
“Sure thing, girl. And there’s more if you want it.” She placed the third ration on the ground and watched as Vergie tucked in. In less than three minutes all the rations and their wrappers were licked clean and Vergie’s mood had cheered dramatically.
“So, can we talk about what happened?”
Vergie stopped cleaning her paw to nod an affirmative, and then resumed her preening.
“So, my best guess is that you didn’t want to stay here all night and fight.”
Vergie gave Mayah a big vigorous nod, and then looked at her with the vergax equivalent of duh.
“I’m so sorry, girl. I thought your timer would run out and you’d go back to the shadows. I treated you kinda rough, didn’t I?”
Vergie nodded yes with a squinty glare.
“That just leaves the question of why you didn’t dissipate back to the shadows?”
At this Vergie pointed up at the flame with one paw and growled again. It wasn’t directed at Mayah this time but Vergie became almost inconsolable.
“Well, how come you didn’t walk back up to us?”
Vergie walked down the bridge, stopping at the archway waiting for Mayah to follow. Mayah walked up to her and stood next to her shoulder. Vergie kept eye contact with her picked up her paw and chuffed. Vergie’s eyes followed her paw as it inched towards the shadows in the tunnel. Mayah’s eyes did the same.
Slowly Vergie stretched out with a single pad of her paw, slowly inching it forward. Her eyes narrowed, and she tensed up as if she was about to touch a rattlesnake. She finally made a quick stab forward into the shadows and left her paw there for a moment. Mayah watched as the tip of a single pad began evaporating into shadow, layer by painful layer. Vergie hissed and pulled her paw back shaking it out. The fur and muscle started regenerating instantly and she settled in to lick her wound.
“Oh, you poor kitty!” Mayah gasped. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
Vergie looked at her hopefully and licked her lips.
“Okay, okay. I get your drift. Silly cat.”
Three more rations and lots of frill scratches later Mayah Started up their conversation again.
“So, it’s the weird fire, huh?”
Vergie nodded.
Mayah studied it intensely for a moment. She turned to Vergie and asked, “Do you wanna hang out and keep me safe in here for a little bit before I send you home? I would really appreciate it?”
Vergie tilted her head in thought then pat her paw on the ground three times while licking her lips.
“Three? How about another one now and another one in an hour?”
Vergie's head bounced in thought tilting one way, and then the other, then nodded yes.
DING!!!
Skinflint level 5
Talking a predatory cat out of a meal, do we need to say more? When activated you receive a 13% discount from any vendor
+13% to presence
“Heh,” Mayah laughed, swiping the notification away and pulled out another ration from her supply. Vergie made short work of it, and they continued into the city.
“Hey girl, let me know if you catch wind of anything or you find something you think I should see.”
Vergie eagerly chuffed in response.
They walked through the gate and found that the light was shining almost directly downwards. All the streets were bathed in the weird light from the flame. Any shadows were silently hugging the buildings and seemed non-threatening. The city itself was still and the creepy presence still lurked behind her, though not as oppressive as yesterday. They explored the city from end to end but did not pass the line that circumscribed the temple.
They searched a few buildings with broken shutters that Mayah could climb through and the buildings were stripped of all the metals. There were claw marks on walls where fixtures were ripped out, ripped fabrics, empty cupboards. Other than that, Mayah spotted nothing out of the ordinary, or worth any attention, and they returned to the gate, post haste. Mayah slowed before walking through the gate, her eyes sweeping across the cityscape. She hadn’t seen a single solitary weesp the whole time she was there.
So, the weesps come out at night? that’s gonna be rough. How is there a night and day cycle anyway? The flame doesn’t even move!
Mayah put a hand on Vergie and rubbed her shoulder getting a small bit of comfort from her fluffy friend.
“Well, I’m about to go back. I wish you could come with me, but I bet you’d rather go home.”
Vergie nodded then rubbed her big head against Mayah who braced herself and turned to hug the big cat. Mayah made sure to scratch around her frill.
“Okay then girl, here’s your reward.”
Mayah pulled out two more rations and placed them on the ground. As the Vergax ate the rations Mayah stroked her powerful shoulder admiring the cat. Vergie finished and sat licking her lips to catch every crumb, and then looked to Mayah.
“Can I call you later? Just to hang out like I wanted? No fights or anything.”
Vergie nodded with that toothy feline smile.
“Good, I’ll see you for dinner.” Vergie’s eyes widened as she loudly purred. Mayah leapt at Vergie so fast it surprised the big cat. Mayah had thrown her arms around Vergie’s neck in a death grip. Vergie realizing it was a hug relaxed and nuzzled Mayah back. Vergie wrapped Mayah up in a paw and purred. Mayah smelled the vergax’s musky scent and grabbed handfuls of her silky fur.
So fwuffy. She rolled her face all the way into Vergie’s fur and whispered, “See you later, girl,” and dismissed Vergie. Mayah closed her eyes feeling Vergie melt away in her grasp.
Her arms lowered to her sides, and she opened her eyes with a deep breath. And quoted one of her favorite songs. It had been sampled for hip-hop and club music since the nineties which is how she found it. It seemed to work perfectly in this setting. So, with the sound of Gilbert O’Sullivans piano tinkling in her mind she said,
“Alone again, naturally.”
She checked her six and immediately and pulled out two frozettos.
With the mystery of “what’s this whole empty city for” nagging her, Mayah’s brain turned the gears of thought. The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. There has to be some way to get into the temple without fighting all those skaduweesps. There’s gotta be a trick here or it’s gonna take some major firepower. She scratched her chin with the ring of the knife. Maybe we could just watch the sunset from the gate? Nah…we’d have to fight some nasties while waiting—I’d rather clear the area. But how do I do that?
She paused in the middle of the square and took a quick look around to make sure she was “mostly” safe and pulled out her runebook and leafed through it.
After a minute, she thought, these might work.
Place (Lt)
A directing rune that will focus light runes increasing mana efficiency by 5% Each additional place rune will add 1%
Mana cost: 0
Her mind reeled at Place (LT).
I must’ve been upset last night if I missed that. I can save mana and get a better product for Light runes—and Kalima’s got that book for me once I figure out his quest clue. She began constructing in her mind. Gonna need separate circles that lead into the focus rune using the mana current symbols from the runeagram controls. Or can I circle another circle to focus all the interior runes. Maybe inked onto the end of a stick. Like a torch. I may want to double or triple the Light (W) balls, though.
She cocked her head in thought, still gotta solve that mana trigger so we can recharge our gear. Hmmmfff…. I needs me some batteries like a 90’s kids on Christmas morning.
After a cursory check of her six, she made some notes on her screen and put the runebook away. Mentally noting that sunset was her time limit she moved towards the gate. Her main task for today was to find clues and any secret areas. Secret areas with bonus loot. I hope.
Man I wish Vergie was still here. I should’ve done a more thorough search. But the poor kitty had a rough night.
A wind blew through the normally still streets and sent a shiver running up her spine. It passed by, blowing small bits of dust as it traveled down the street. She heard the squeal of metal slowly moving over metal from behind a high fence on the side of the square and fought against her lizard brains urgings to run.
There’s a rusty door in here that is just screaming “come find the loot!” I feel like the stupid person in the horror movies right now, but I am so going to go look.
The shadows were still tight against the buildings, so she realized she had an hour or two to explore. She followed the shabby fence to the end of an alleyway that led to the city wall next to the gates. Peering through a loose board she was rewarded with what looked like a structure that could best be described as a twenty-by-twenty shack set up against the city wall. She looked all around, scrambled through the loose board and moved in stealthily. The door at the corner of the shack was torn almost all the way off the hinges and there were more than a few holes in it. It swung slowly in the ominous breeze. She sniffed and thought of what she wasn’t seeing.
The absence of evidence, is not the evidence of absence.
She slowly stalked the entrance, trying to stay out of the line of sight for anyone—or anything inside. Her ears perked, straining for any sound other than the wind rustling the dust and the squeak of the door. She approached, quietly and quickly peeked around the corner then jerked back like they do in cop movies. Seeing no one in the immediate doorway she scampered past.
She decided to clear the perimeter around the shack and peek into any windows before she committed to going in. She moved down the side of the building looking for any clues about what might’ve happened here. Traversing the third side she found what at first appeared to be a small window. It turned out to be a grilled vent of some sort.
Making the completed circuit with the frozettos in hand she peeked deeper through the door to the shack and pulled her head back. It was completely dark, but her Shadow Eye had let her see what little there was to see. She strained her ears as she waited with her eyes glued to the door frame for any movement. Neither sound nor sight were alerted so she edged into the room.
The light streamed in from the doorway behind her casting a bare gloom on the wall of piping in room. Pipes and plumbing of brass, steel and lead intertwined creating a solid mass of impenetrable piping. The room had pipes crammed into every square inch of its interior. Along the wall to the door there was small walkway Jensen would have to turn sideways to get down. Dust motes floated through the light and into gloomy darkness.
At this point Mayah had two thoughts. This isn’t a shack. And what are all these pipes crammed in here for.
Along the walkway there seemed to be a hole that she could crawl through to enter deeper into the shack.
These pipes aren’t a barrier. But what is it then? It looks like a jungle gym labyrinth after godzilla stepped on it.
She tapped her lip in thought.
This plumbing is too purposeful. It controls something. I don’t think anything is in here—but it’s way too quiet. Quiet and dark two things that are in every horror game. Don’t wanna let somebody in behind me.
Mayah stepped out of the building and did another quick perimeter check.
Still too quiet.
Seeing nothing, she ducked back into the building. The walls were made of planks nailed onto the outsides of the studs. The inside was exposed and unfinished with no insulation or wiring. She moved deeper in letting her eyes and Shadow Eye adjust to the dim light and examining every inch of the piping. There was a 3x3 foot, square opening formed in the interior of the pipes. She examined it momentarily before glancing behind her at the door. The opening in the pipes went six feet deep. The last three had an empty space on the bottom where the crawlspace must’ve dropped downward.
Dark holes you don’t wanna climb in—yep I’m definitely climbing in there later.
She walked further in and found a diagram tacked onto the far wall and read it aloud.
“Pressurized Gate Feed. I wonder if…”
She took a picture of the map and used analyze. She noticed a few symbols from the control box that denoted flow direction and a large ball on the bottom of the schematic denoted itself as a mana well. As she studied further, she realized that the pipes did more than route the flow of mana up to the keep but was also setup to contain and catch any overflow that would be wasted. If this regulator station failed the mana would reroute to the main keep via another set of pipes that was buried extremely deeply.
It had the signature of one “D. Lister – Technician, 3rd class.” She flipped the paper over and found a handwritten recipe for chicken vindaloo.
What is that all about?
She flipped the paper back over to study the piping diagrams again.
“Maybe if I cut the mana off, I can get those flarfing gates open. She popped out the chocolate snack she stole from Vergie’s rations. Chocolate is no good for kitties? So, it’s more for me! Anyway, may as well get started.
Mayah took the diagram off the wall, rolled it up, and put it in her bag. She took one last look outside of the door, and then climbed into the crawlspace formed by the pipes. She took the downward turn, gently lowering herself down. At the bottom of the 3 foot drop the shaft turned right, and she pulled herself along. After another three turns she would have lost her position in this maze if it hadn’t been for her cartography, and the fact this crawlspace doesn’t branch at all.
She had taken another turn and was pulling herself along on hands and knees. Shadow Eye kept pulling out details and small symbols that she would guess were notations of flows and contents. All the while oblivious to the fact that any remnant of light from the open door had rapidly diminished to nothing in her current location.
She pulled around another corner and took a deep breath, feeling a bit claustrophobic and banged up by the uneven surface of the pipes un
der her knees. She remembered her breathing and had almost a neutral mental state when she heard the chittering.
“Oh, shaz no…” she whimpered. Her lizard brain dumped adrenalin into her veins getting her ready to flee or fight. Flee won out as soon as she focused on a pair of red eyes that materialized between the pipes.
That’s it! Not dealing with rats in a tube where I can barely stand, and they can attack from all angles.
Mayah may have been of a genius intellect but even geniuses with somewhat questionable E.Q.s where subject to some fears. While not afraid of one rat, Mayah knew that one rat could easily become twenty. To add trouble to that equation her mobility was severely hampered by being stuck in this crawlspace being just shy of three feet square it was small enough to force Mayah to crawl on hands and knees. And with the surface being made up of pipes, there was enough space that a rat could easily squeeze through.
She scrambled to turn around in the tight confines, grateful for her diminutive size. As she was finally oriented to escape something bit the back of her leg.
You have been attacked
???
Level ???
-13HP Bitten
1435/1448HP
She flailed wildly to remove the creature from her calf when the hand she was supporting herself with was viciously bit on the webbing between thumb and forefinger.
“Shazzing flarfing sonnuvva…” she shrieked.
Instinctually she sought to return the favor and managed to wrap her hand around the offending creature. She then sat down to trap the rat that was attacking her legs, clamping it between her calf and thigh. She pulled it away from her leg and held both of them in front of her. She quickly ID’d the two creatures
Skadurötten?…Skadu-mittens is more like it.
