Descend- First Steps

by David Burke

  “What sort of stuff is in it and why do you say that it’s too expensive?” Jay asked.

  “Just some examples, a day’s worth of basic food rations for one person was 1 credit but there were meals as far up as gourmet meals for 4 which cost 20 credits. Apparently those little house things we saw in the distance can be rented for what it called a safe and relaxing place to rest your head, but the cost was 20 credits and 5 per extra person that you allow into the bungalow,” Amelia said, obviously tense.

  “Well that doesn’t seem so bad, what about the weird stuff?” Liam asked.

  She shrugged her shoulders. “The list is too long to tell you all of it but there was all kinds of clothing, some stuff that it called weapons like spears and clubs as well as bizarre stuff like birth control.”

  Jay nearly choked on his tongue at that last one. “I mean it makes sense if we are stuck here, but I would think that whatever force could take us here could have found a way to prevent accidents like that without putting it in the store. It’s almost like they are putting the responsibility on us.”

  “Yeah it gets weirder though,” Amelia began, “but why don’t you just check it out for yourself.”

  With that, one by one the other four in the group all walked up to one of the sides of the obelisk and placed their hands into the respective spots. Each side started pulsing and Jay got a white screen with black letters filling his vision.

  Welcome to Terminal 0-512.

  As this is your first time operating a terminal, basic ground rules will be explained. You are completely safe while using the terminal and so may use it for as long as you like without fear of attack. Any equipment that you have placed upon the brick on your side of the terminal will also be safe.

  This is a Level 0 terminal and so may only sell items of the appropriate level. Because it is a surface terminal it also has access to certain comfort items not available on other-level terminals. Higher-level terminals are capable of selling items of a lower level.

  Items are broken up into the following categories:

  Food

  Clothing

  Weapons and Armor

  Personal Comfort

  Housing

  Dungeon Supplies

  “Hm, seems pretty straightforward game-type stuff except maybe the personal comfort section,” Jay thought before clicking on the food section to find it was pretty much exactly what Amelia had said. That kinda reassured him. He had enough credits to buy three years of basic rations if he could find a water supply. He assumed there must be one since there was no water listed on the food menu although there were fruit juices and a number of alcoholic beverages listed, some of them costing up to 50 credits for a bottle.

  He moved onto the clothing section but didn’t spend much time there. His jeans and t-shirt had been a bit warm but they were comfortable enough for now. He did note that there appeared to be everything from trousers and shirts to undergarments and lingerie to dresses. The prices also varied a lot from 10 credits for a basic outfit to 500 credits for some of the fancy dresses. Predictably the women’s clothing seemed to be much more expensive than the men’s.

  He jumped to the weapons and armor section and found:

  Crude Weapons/Armor-

  Sling (must provide own rocks)- 5 credits

  Club- 10 credits

  Spear- 20 credits

  Fur Armor- 15 credits

  Shoddy Weapons/Armor-

  Sling (must provide own rocks)- 7 credits

  Club- 15 credits

  Dagger-18 credits

  Spear- 27 credits

  Hatchet- 27 credits

  Short bow- 35 credits

  Arrows- 4 credits/per

  Quality Fur Armor- 30 credits

  Basic Weapons/Armor-

  Dagger- 30 credits

  Spear- 45 credits

  Hatchet- 45 credits

  Hand Axe- 75 credits

  Mace- 75 credits

  Short bow- 75 credits

  Longbow- 125 credits

  Arrows- 6 credits/per

  Light Crossbow- 200 credits

  Quarrels- 12 credits/per

  Short sword- 225 credits

  Padded Armor- 50 credits

  Leather Armor- 125 credits

  Fur Shield- 50 credits

  Wooden Round Shield- 100 credits

  Quality Light Buckler- 150 credits

  Now Jay was starting to see what she meant about everything costing so much. It made him wonder how many credits everyone had started with, although he was worried about bringing it up as he didn’t want to cause a rift between people, but if some had only 10 and others had 1000 like he had, then it might be inevitable.

  He looked at the next-most interesting category: housing. It only had one entry under it.

  Nightly Bungalow Rental: 20/night + 5/extra person admitted. Rental runs from sunset to 2 hours after sunrise.

  The only other thing it said was that further options might become available in the future.

  Under the dungeon supplies category, he found tools ranging from hammers to shovels, all manual in nature. Additionally there were things like sleeping bags, backpacks, and torches. The most interesting were the potions for injury, Psi, and Stamina recovery but even the most basic of them were 100 credits.

  Finally he went back to the personal comforts section and found a strange list ranging from toothbrushes, hairbrushes, and shaving kits, to make up, mirrors, and foldable chairs. Even things like sheets and pillows were available. In general most of the items seemed on the higher end of the price scale compared to the other items. For example a tube of unknown size of toothpaste cost 20 credits- as much as a supposed gourmet meal for 4 people.

  As Amelia had alluded there was also the most bizarre item:

  Crude Birth Control- effective up to level 2 male 30 days duration- 10 credits

  Shoddy Birth Control- effective up to a level 5 male 30 days duration- 50 credits

  Basic Birth Control- effective up to a level 15 male 30 days duration- 200 credits

  The shop was apparently sexist because it only had oral contraceptives which could be taken by the girls and nothing for the guys. Jay’s head spun trying to wrap his mind around the reasons for a system like that. It was sorta like he was dropped into some singles Club Med, but the mention of a dungeon and the weapons sorta put the kibosh on that idea.

  The last item at the very bottom was even more confusing to him:

  Water Purifier- removes the aphrodisiac effect from 1 gallon of water- 20 credits

  Chapter 8 - What’s Next?

  Jay finished his shopping trip by buying a basic dagger and spear as well as a daily ration. He wanted some protection but was afraid to spend too many of his credits without knowing how easily they could be replaced. The only other items he indulged in were a backpack and a dozen canteens for water. Those combined to set him back 75 more credits but he figured that the people back at the beach might really be in need of water by the time they got back. Now he just had to find out where to fill them up and hope that they could deal with whatever other properties were in the water without having to spend a fortune in credits.

  Liam apparently didn’t have any such fear as he was decked out in leather armor with a dagger, hand axe, and light crossbow. He also had bought one of the backpacks which was slung over his shoulder. Both their daggers came with a sheath and belt to hang it on while his hand axe also hung from his waist by a specialized sheath and apparently his crossbow had come with a small quiver because he had ten quarrels sitting in it across his back.

  “Wait, how did you two get all that stuff? You must have spent hundreds of credits.” Amelia said.

  Jay delayed answering and predictably Liam rushed in and said, “So I still have over 400, what’s the big deal. I can spend my credits however I like. I’m only surprised that you girls didn’t get yourself something.”

  Huong and Charlotte had finished perusing the shop and were intently listening in as Amelia s
aid, “How? I only got 10 credits to start. What kinda game is this?”

  “Huh, only 10, but I got 1000 credits,” Liam said before looking over to Jay for support as all of the girls chimed in that they had only gotten 10 credits to start.

  “It must be the difference between guys and girls, cause both Liam and I got 1000 credits to start. I don’t know about Oliver, but I do know that Jasmine only got 10 credits,” Jay finally said, not seeing a way out of it.

  “And how do you know how many credits she got? Are you two in on this somehow?” Amelia accused.

  “Nothing like that,” Jay responded with his hands up in the air. He then proceeded to explain to them about how you can share your status page with someone else. That caused Charlotte and Huong to clamor for everyone to share their status pages and Jay had to think on his feet so he said, “Well I will show you mine if Amelia shows us hers first.”

  “Have you been using that same line since junior high?” Amelia barked before adding that she wasn’t going to share her screen with anyone until she knew them better.

  Huong got a serious look on her face before she asked, “Well do we all at least have the categories of Awareness, Durability, Kinesis, Metabolism, and Formation?” Everyone nodded their heads so she continued, “And I guess that we all have some skills below those categories and probably all have a line for something called Psi and for Stamina, right?” Again as everyone nodded, she said, “My scores are: 1, 1, 4, 1, and 3 in order. My important skills seem to be Cellular Regeneration: 3, Plant Coaxing: 3, and Plant Formation: 1.”

  Charlotte revealed that her scores were 2, 1, 5, 1, and 1 with what she called her important skills being: Perceptive Hearing and Electric Arc. Liam went next and told everyone his scores were 1, 6, 1, 2, and 1 with important skills of Bull Rush, Enhanced Strength, and Reduced Stamina Consumption.

  When it was Jay’s turn he insisted he would only go if Amelia went first and since she refused, after a bit of bickering they finally decided to head back towards the beach. It was midafternoon and if it took them as long to make it back as it had to get here then it would be past dinner time when they got there and none of them had had anything to eat all day. Jay eased the tensions a bit by offering to share his daily rations pack with everyone. It wasn’t anything special, just some carrots, jerky, a paste that tasted like peanut butter, and some bread that tasted like oatmeal.

  Eating made everyone realize just how thirsty they were and they all agreed that the next item on the agenda was to find a water supply. Pleasantly only a few minutes of searching brought them to one of the few copses of trees around. All straight pine trees between four and six inches in diameter. In the middle of the copse was a fountain of crystal-clear water bubbling up into a white marble basin about six feet across and a foot deep. Definitely not big enough for a quality bath as Charlotte pointed out but filled with plenty of water. Jay handed out the canteens and Liam looked a little embarrassed that he only had one canteen but still helped with filling the twelve canteens Jay produced from his backpack. They were large and each must have held close to a half gallon of water.

  Charlotte, Huong, and Liam all drank their fill of water while Jay and Amelia only sipped just enough while staring suspiciously at each other. Jay took out his hand axe suddenly and Amelia jumped back. “What are you doing?”

  Staring dumbly at her, Jay said, “I’m gonna cut down some wood to bring back. Oliver was gonna find us some crabs and if we can make a couple of fires then we will be able to have something for everyone to eat.”

  “Okay but how are we gonna carry any wood back. It’s like six miles up and down the hills,” Huong pointed out.

  “Um, me and I guess Jay will carry them back, or did you get a 1 in durability too?” Liam grinned as he asked.

  Not rising to the baiting Jay replied, “No I got a 3 but that is all you are gonna get out of me. It doesn’t matter though in case you weren’t adding it up, these twelve canteens weigh over 100 pounds.”

  “Well I guess I will be carrying the wood back,” Liam said laughing as if he was half drunk. “I’m used to carrying big wood.” Amelia and Jay both rolled their eyes but whatever effect that the water was having on them made Charlotte outright giggle at the joke while Huong gave Liam a sly smile.

  “Damn, maybe I should just have gone with it,” Jay thought before realizing that they didn’t really have time for this. If they could get safe, then he would worry about trying to hook up. It wasn’t like there was any shortage of hotties here.

  The mood was broken when a sudden cacophony of growling and roars erupted from the ziggurat. It was miles away so for them to hear it this far away was truly terrifying even as faint as it was.

  “Well, I don’t think I want to be here when the sun sets. So cut whatever wood you are gonna cut and let’s get moving,” Jay said.

  Charlotte asked, “Should some of us start going back. I know that you two were going slower than you needed to because of us on the trip here.” She nodded at the guys as she spoke.

  “No, that’s not gonna happen. Splitting the party is never a good idea,” Jay said.

  “What’s that, some video game rule?” Amelia asked mockingly.

  “Laugh all you want, but did it ever turn out well in a horror movie for the co-eds to go off on their own?” The serious glint in Jay’s eyes must have driven his point home because they all got quiet or tried to help him as he trimmed off any small branches off of the logs that Liam was cutting. However Enhanced Strength worked, the big man was making short work of the logs, cutting through them almost as fast as a chainsaw would have and with an axe that wasn’t actually designed for cutting wood.

  The roaring sound kept getting louder and more than once one of the girls asked if it sounded like it was closer. Jay finally said, “Okay, that’s enough. We need to head out now.” Liam simply nodded and picked up four five-foot-long logs and slung them over his shoulder. Everyone fell in behind Jay as he picked up his backpack laden with water and they headed back to the beach.

  Chapter 9 - Crab Meat or Crab Food

  The trip back was much faster even with the extra load. The girls were all anxious to get back and so they really picked up the pace. It turned out to be easier to follow the path they had already found coming here than it was to be constantly looking for the quickest, safest path. So by the time they made it back to the beach it was likely around the equivalent of 6 or 7 pm but no one had any watches or phones with them to tell the time. In fact they had realized at some point in the day that all technology they had was gone. The only thing they had arrived with was the clothes on their back.

  Jay was glad to see Jasmine and even gladder when she returned his smile with a bright smile of her own. “Dang, her lips are just perfect. I bet they would be amazing to kiss,” he thought to himself, and then cursed himself for a fool. “Focus, man.” He tried to look at something other than her lips but when he looked down he realized that she must have taken off her shirt at some point in the heat of the day and was working in only her bra and shorts. Her toned tummy caught his attention just as much as the curve of her breasts put on prominent display by her bra, damp with sweat. Even when he tried to look up he almost found himself drowning in the chocolate pools that were her lovely eyes.

  She must have caught him staring for too long because she gave him that knowing look a girl gives a guy when she knows that he is into her. He had seen it too many times in the past from Trina, but this time it felt a bit different. Instead of feeling like a fly stuck in the web, waiting for the spider, he felt the warmth of her gaze and it made him experience life more fully. “So tell me what you found and I can tell you all the information that I’ve been able to gather.”

  “Should I tell everyone at once?” Jay asked.

  “We took a vote while you all were gone. Sorry, I know you didn’t get a say in it but it was unanimous so it wouldn’t have mattered if you all were here.”

  “Huh, a vote on what?”

&n
bsp; “On temporary leaders. We decided on a panel of five leaders with one chairperson as the leader of the council. Because we are almost all women here, four of the people voted in were women, but it was decided that it would be unfair not to hear the male perspective so you were appointed to the panel or council or whatever we end up calling it.”

  “And you are the chairperson?” Jay asked as though the answer wasn’t obvious.

  “Yeppers, right again. Hope you don’t mind working under me,” she said mischievously and Jay could have sworn she had a teasing grin on her face.

  Try as hard as he might, he couldn’t help but start to form images of just what he would like to do under her. Yet with a supreme act of will he pushed those thoughts away and said as soberly as he could, “Of course not. You seem like a natural leader.”

  With that, Jay described everything that he had seen. Once he told her about the canteens she called for some helpers to come over and take six of the canteens to share with a beach full of thirsty people. He couldn’t help but admire how she immediately realized it wouldn’t be a good idea to use all of the canteens at once. It took about half an hour for him and Huong to share all the information. It turned out that she was also voted onto the leadership council apparently based upon her helpful attitude earlier on the beach and her willingness to go on the scouting party. The other two girls were ones that Jay couldn’t remember the names of although he remembered them as having helped out with anyone who was particularly distraught that morning. He did his best to dedicate their names to memory, Mia was a tall slender girl who looked like something of a cross between a runway model and a WNBA player. Kenzie was her exact opposite. She was even shorter than Huong and couldn’t have been more than 4’10” but still curvy in all the right spots and possessed of a bubbly personality. Jay hated himself but he couldn’t help but be distracted again and again as everywhere he looked there were gorgeous girls.