Escape From Litchfield

by Isra Bhuthimethee

  "Thanks for your vote of confidence!" Sitting back to relax in her chair, she commanded, "AI, please identify yourself."

  Research3 announced, "My designation is Research3, but I was nicknamed Medical Moll or Moll for short."

  "Please designate Jare and Auth as officers. Please give us an update on the state of the base and any historical references to the lack of human personnel."

  Moll said, "Auth and Jare have been designated officers. State of the base report compiled. Historical records have been corrupted. I am currently piecing them back together. Hold for more information."

  "Please share the state of the base report while repairing the records."

  "This base has functioning: Fusion Power Plant 100MW, Fabricator I, Advanced Medical Research Lab, Research Lab, Lab Chemistry, barracks, and Smelter. No functioning workers or defensive platforms."

  "Guys. Since we have a Fusion Power Plant, there should be enough power to create a portal home. The question is should we try and secure the base, destroy it, or leave it alone?"

  Auth said, "I think we should secure it."

  "Does blowing it up mean we kill a bunch of goblins?" Everyone shared knowing looks, and Jare said defensively, "What? I don't always choose killing goblins."

  Azdel said dreamily, "If you need someone to defend the base, I volunteer! I can even make use of the research lab." He was barely paying attention to the conversation, more interested in examining the door mechanism, but he perked up at Tamara's comment.

  Sol said nothing.

  Moll said, "The facility has a self-destruct feature with several modes. The least severe mode should effectively disable all equipment within the facility with little to no splash damage to the area. The most severe mode will detonate the fusion reactor. Also, please keep in mind that any anti-matter weaponry consumed will cause large explosions." Many of the ancient weaponry relied on exotic matter to power the equipment. For instance, they had plasma rifles that had exotic matter batteries. The rifles themselves used plasma to create high temperature particulates that could be fired at opponents. But really the exotic matter made weapons like that incredibly dangerous to use in a battle.

  Tamara asked, "Moll, how is the state of your power plant? I have an extremely high drain use in mind."

  Moll said, "The power plant is in 100% working conditions. We can output 100MW at max continuous draw and up to 130MW peak draw over an hour."

  Nodding, she turned to her friends and said, "We should have enough to get back home in two hops. First hop to Dungeon Crimson. Then we messenger bird Hopetown for a portal back. Or we can walk back, but I really want a hot shower and my own bed!"

  "We still have to decide on the dungeon master role," said Azdel. "I vote for Tamara."

  Jare said, "Second!"

  Auth said, "Me too!"

  Tamara shook her head, "Guys! I love that you feel that I'm up for the job, but I have a lot on my plate right now. How about Auth or Jare you want it?"

  Azdel said, "I have never been a dungeon master, but if all parties agree, it should be relatively easy to pass the title on to another person."

  Jare shook his head, "I just like to kill things. Setting up a dungeon isn't my thing, but Auth might be interested."

  Auth smiled at Jare but also shook his head. "I have too much on my plate as well. I will do it if there are no other takers, but I'd prefer not to."

  Sol spoke up. "If no one objects, I am willing to take on the role. When I leave Tamara's service, I can leave the position with anyone she designates."

  Tamara looked thoughtful as she said, "So we are keeping the base then?"

  Azdel said, "I think blowing up the base is a bit premature. You own the dungeon and can put up superior defenses. If Jenny and the orcs decide to try and take it, they will face stiff resistance, giving you time to decide the fate of the base at your leisure."

  Tamara nodded her agreement. "Moll, are there any other entrances or exits?"

  Moll replied, "There are only one entrance and exit point. The base is well protected. The exterior walls are several meters thick."

  "Please create some worker drones to begin gathering resources and building. Also, we will need permacrete to block the hallway leading to the base. We also have a Fabricator that you can install somewhere."

  Moll replied, "Order Received. Complying."

  Tamara said, "OK guys. We need to get to work. I'll start drawing the runes to portal to Dungeon Crimson. We need people to start creating permacrete walls. After I finish the portal, I can lay down traps between the walls to deter Jenny."

  "Jare and I can start laying down walls. I've got two tons of permacrete to work with. Azdel can familiarize himself with the layout of the base and ferry permacrete to us."

  Jare made agreeable noises.

  "Wait! Before we break out into teams, we should vote Sol as the dungeon master. He can start setting up the dungeon in our favor as the first line of base defense. He should get to work on the dungeon settings immediately!"

  Everyone nodded and voted Sol as dungeon master. Jare and Auth separated out to build their walls, while Sol took a seat to meditate over his new position. Azdel wandered off to explore.

  Tamara took off for the military wing. She wanted the portal to be far away from the entrance in a somewhat fortified position. She picked one of the armories as the site for the portal. Interestingly, she found some new weapons. In a rack in the corner, she found projectile weapons, laser weapons, and more plasma rifles. The laser and projectile weapons were interesting since they had a full auto feature. On some shelves, lay multiple armored jackets and pants. The materials were high quality, but not geared for modern weapons. They were made with projectiles and laser weapons in mind. She took everything except the massive suit of armor in the corner. She had never seen anything like it. She was pretty sure that it was a suit, rather than a type of robot, but she was uncertain how it worked. The armor was at least an inch thick, so the suit must weigh an enormous amount. There were no holes or glass on the helmet area, so she assumed there must be another method to see.

  "Moll, please explain the use of this item."

  Moll replied, "The Mobile Tactical Suit is one of the most powerful weapons deployed against the Foe. The armor is made of several layers of composite ceramics, steel, and bucky paper and has powered hydraulics for movement. It has a versatile armament system which can take on lasers, plasma rifles, small missiles, and projectile weapons. The top continuous running speed is 30 miles per hour."

  "How do I enter the suit?"

  "There are two latches that can be accessed from behind the suit while the unit is powered down. When active, the internal controls lockout the latches so that enemy combatants won't prematurely open the armor. When you open the suit, the interior should accommodate humans of various sizes. This suit is equipped with a gravity engine, so there will be no power issues."

  "Does the gravity engine provide flight?"

  "No. But it can lighten the suit. In addition, with the correct power pack, you can add flight."

  Highly intrigued, Tamara gave the suit a respectful nod. "I'l have to try the armor out after I finish the portal runes."

  "Moll, can you route power to this room? I will need up to 130MW of power."

  "Director. This room is rated up to 50MW of power, but since it has multiple separate connections to the power plant, I'd suggest combining three connections. All four power connections in the room are on separate circuits, so you can feel free to connect three outlets."

  Tamara began working in earnest to complete her portal. She wanted to try the new suit out before her friends claimed it. It ran faster than Auth, sported weapons, and had extremely thick armor. What was there to not like?

  When her circle was completed, she viewed the results. It was simple in theory, but the design itself looked incredibly complicated. Circles, runes, and other decorations used for misdirection made for an impressive piece of functional artwork. Finished with
her portal, she wandered over to the Mobile Tactical Suit and opened it via the latches. It opened easily enough, with hidden hinges and counterweights to keep it from tipping over or opening too quickly. She stripped down to her gambeson and pants then slipped into the armor. She pulled the front back up with a click. The suit powered up, the HUD display showed a bar indicating the startup process. Despite the suit not being fully powered up, she tested out the suit unpowered. It was incredibly heavy, but it gave her a good workout.

  The startup indicator ticked up to 100%. The limb movement became effortless and the display gave her full frontal view. Her eye movement tracked a small indicator in the HUD menu. Apparently, one blink would activate the selected menu item, while two blinks would give more information. Conveniently located to the side of her HUD, she could see the weapon loadout and ammunition stores. The suit was loaded with two autolaser rifles, a side holstered plasma cannon, and a set of ten anti-tank self-guided missiles.

  The first thing she needed to test was her personal gravity. She grabbed it and it was significantly stronger. It seemed that the machine was included in her personal space. Giving a small jump, the machine flew up to the ceiling. She stayed floating on the ceiling, amused that this machine was perfect for her. She slowly allowed herself to float down to the ground. She was learning to control her gravity skills. She began walking around the base to get used to the feel of the suit. She loved the new suit.

  She came across Auth and Jare industriously completing another wall. They both shot up and readied their weapons at the sight of her, but they quickly realized it was her via their HUD and map features.

  Jare laughed and said, "Sweet suit! Got another one of those laying around?"

  Auth simply groaned. "Could have given us a warning instead of giving us a heart attack!"

  "And ruin the surprise? Anyhow, I'm finished with the portal. We can head out when we finish up the traps and defenses."

  "We've already finished up 4 walls. Go ahead and trap and close them."

  Nodding, she walked out. The first wall she encountered, she added a proximity trigger and placed a liberated rifle battery as the explosive device. In the next room, she added a number of iceball traps. The third wall trap was a larger trap that detonated several rifle batteries embedded in the walls closer to the portal room, which should catch any group that employed trap clearers and the main group that trailed closely behind. After dozens of traps and walls, they filled the passageway with deadly payloads all the way up to the front doors of the base.

  Sol reported on his changes to the dungeon. "I've allowed the mobs to drop more air but made the floors past level 10 significantly harder. They should need an army to make it down here. And fortunately, Jenny can't conjure an army to defeat the levels since she lost the dungeon master position. Unfortunately for her, I can summon a small army and place it wherever I want."

  "That's awesome, Sol!"

  Auth said, "Let's get back home!" The party followed the eager mage back to the portal room. They activated the portal. For a full ten counts nothing happened, but then a portal appeared, showing the distinct portal room for Dungeon Crimson. The group went home.

  ***

  It felt good to be back home. Her workroom was in close to the same state as she had left it. The main difference was the multiple tracks of footprints leading to the portal room. Additionally, there were multiple Portal Guards moving through her room at each change of their shift. She needed to move the portal room out of her suite of rooms. Her projects were sensitive and potentially in full view of any travelers, depending on their talents. Some people could literally see through walls.

  Her latest project was a flying machine modeled off of an Ancient shuttlecraft for inner system flights. Fabricating the shell was as easy as viewing the historical documents of the ships. Research1 was able to extrapolate the shell from the documents, but since they didn't have the blueprints nor the exotic matter, the engine was the bottleneck. Fortunately, Tamara had the key to gravity engine technology floating around her, literally. She just needed to upscale the project, then adapt controls to steer the ship.

  [Bob89: Or you could have me steer the craft. I've been controlling your Orbs for all your fights. It would be a piece of cake for me to steer your spacecraft!]

  [Tamara: Are you volunteering to be helpful?]

  [Bob89: Of course. They call me Helpful Bob.]

  [Tamara: Can you handle the dragons and other giant flying creatures too?]

  [Bob89: Dragons? Did I miss that conversation, I don't recall anyone mentioning them. I don't see any weapons on your shuttle either.]

  [Tamara: Yeah. It's the test shuttle. We can add real Plasma Rifles and other weapons on the final version. No reason to overbuild until we have a final working design.]

  [Bob89: Dragons. Let's avoid them. I understand that they are highly territorial.]

  [Tamara: Let us do that.]

  [Tamara: By the way. I think I know the answer to your question earlier.]

  [Bob89: Which one?]

  [Tamara: About atoms and how to move your ship.]

  [Bob89: What's the answer?]

  [Tamara: The space around an atom is filled with an ocean of energy and you could use positive and negative fields to move your ship. Out in space, you have an ocean of gravity. All you need are oars and wind. I think anti-gravity would fill part of that role.]

  [Bob89: Me too. Conceptually, you've discovered the oars and the ocean. Not quite FTL but close. The Ancients used this method to flee their homeworld, while the Foe was limited to nuclear drives. A difference of travel time from years to centuries.]

  She had a few packs and boxes on one corner of the room - preparation for the expeditions to the Elves and Dwarves.

  A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.

  She stood up and walked to the door, opening it to reveal a smiling Auth. His hair was slicked back and he was wearing a black suit with gold accents. She grinned at him and commented, "Sweet Suit! You look great!"

  Blushing slightly, Auth dipped his head, then extended his arm to her. "May I escort my lady, to the party?"

  "Why, yes. I would love that!" She exclaimed as she took his arm. "I'm so happy that Hopetown hasn't forgotten me while I was gone!"

  Smirking, Auth shook his head. "You have no idea how much they love you! Everyone knows of your sacrifice to protect them. And how your magic is revolutionizing the world! They know that they are a part of something bigger. And I'm pretty sure the Brownie luck that you negotiated has had a noticeable effect. Everyone talks about how much more effective their jobs have been since they moved here!" They slowed down as they approached the door to the palace, coming to a stop when they reached the portal.

  "Why are we stopping here?" Asked Tamara as she turned to look at Auth.

  "Your people love you. This party isn't just because we had to cancel the last one due to the battle with the orcs." After he said his piece, he opened the door, allowing Tamara to see what lay beyond.

  The courtyard was filled to the brim with tables, food, and smiling townspeople. Merchants were hawking their festive wares. Shockingly, they weren't charging any money. In the crowd, she spotted old friends. The whole yard turned as one like as if they had practiced it to perfection. "Welcome Back," they cheered. And her eyes came to rest on a massive sign made from cloth that said, "WE LOVE TAMARA DAY. WELCOME HOME."

  She smiled and felt welcome and her heart was bursting with happiness.

  Author's Note

  Thank you for reading Escape from Litchfield! If you have a bit of time, please leave a review. Every review helps me in my journey to be a writer. I'm always learning, reading, and writing.

  I'm an author with a BS in Computer Science with a bit of knowledge in engineering. I've tried to ground this particular series with some speculative science. Most of it will be ballpark, with only a handful of pure fantasy elements to get the novel moving. If the technology seems too fantastic, it probably has to do
with the fantasy devices, aka "magic" used to move the novel forward. Perhaps these devices happen to be real (it's not completely impossible).

  I'd like to think of my works as speculative science fiction. I have always been fascinated on how most of the major discoveries that have changed the world were accidental discoveries. You don't need a fancy, expensive laboratory to be the next inventor that changes the world. It does help but not necessary. Also, I'd like to put it out there that despite all our technology and knowledge, there's still so much we don't know. We know how to use things like electricity, gravity, and math. But at the end of the day, the more you dig, the more you realize, everything is built on observations that can be overturned by the next discovery.

  Take in example the various models of the atom that have been made, each one getting better. Plum pudding model, Rutherford model, Planetary model, Bohr model, and then the Atomic Orbital model. I'm sure that one of my readers can discover the next model! I'm sure the scientists that made the models would be proud of their achievement. Their work propelled the scientific community to create even better models.

  Even the forces that hold the planets together had several models. The Ether model, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether_theories, which was disproven using a an interferometer, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%E2%80%93Morley_experiment. The theory that replaced that was the gravity model proposed by Einstein and proven correct using a different interferometer, LIGO(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIGO). It's nice to recycle ideas! Environmentally friendly!

  This book has an associated text based game. I've been using it to set the bounds of what can be done. Many of the battles are available for you to try. The game is mostly reliable, however, it was written mainly to set my boundaries. So you should not consider anything in the game to be set in stone. The fights actually highlight that the battles in the book are realistic and Tamara and party are not invincible. And the chance to fail are far more likely than not. Also, the game (as of this moment) starts with everyone having full mana and health, while realistically, mana and health take time to refill. So you could use up expensive ingrediants, inventory, items, credits, etc. But it wouldn't be realistic. Tamara and party, in the book, try and preserve their credits, items, and time as much as possible. But technically, Tamara could sit around in the Dungeon for much longer at a safer and slower pace. (takes about 10 to 20 minutes to refill an empty mana bar for the true mage) Also, if she goes overboard, she'll have to pay the Mage Guild back in credits, which is not a particularly good deal. Even rich mages could end up broke, however, Tamara is the exception since she happens to have a very profitable profession and town.