by David Burke
Before anything got out of hand, they heard the voices of the others approaching. They rejoined the larger group and Jay watched as Jasmine and Huong spoke but they were far enough away that he couldn’t hear what they had to say. He opted to stay busy rather than wonder why she had chosen to speak to Huong to learn what they had found out rather than speaking to him.
He took it upon himself to show the newcomers where the water fountain was so that the existing canteens could be filled. He decided to save his credits rather than buying more canteens. Water was a core survival need but they had it now and while he was sure that there were many hungry bellies here they would be able to buy enough rations if it came to that. Now however he started to wonder about other needs. They were going to need some more items from the personal comfort menu like toilet paper. They had managed to survive more than a day but other calls of nature were going to become urgent.
It was really kinda gross to think about so Jay instead sat and pondered what they might find in the dungeon. That led him to thinking about what it would take to survive and in turn to examining his Status. He really needed to learn how to use the abilities that according to it he now possessed. Time passed very quickly as he both recalled the one that he had been able to use in a moment of desperation and thought about what the other abilities might mean. He was just getting ready to go off in private to experiment when he heard Jasmine’s voice calling for everyone to gather round.
As he listened to her, he realized she was really cut out for this. Whether it was her Empathetic Persuasion skill or natural leadership he couldn’t say for sure. Probably a combination of the two, he thought. It didn’t matter though as she laid out what they had learned so far and tried to paint as rosy a picture as possible. The one thing that she stressed was that they wouldn’t push anyone but that eventually everyone was going to have to contribute. The way that would start was by getting credits from the first dungeon quest. She stressed how that would allow them independence and give them food and allow for renting the bungalows.
Many questions were asked about the dungeon but of course there were no real answers to be had. She was yelled at about how it was unfair, as though she had something to do with it. A few people actually cried at thinking about having to go into something called a dungeon. Jasmine took it all in stride.
After being told that they would likely have to fight for their survival and without any answers about how or why they were here, Jay thought that the worst had passed. He couldn’t have been more wrong. The final thing that Jasmine revealed was the spiked nature of the water. Accusations flew faster and hotter than about anything else. One girl even accused the “guys” of having something to do with that. That was a bit of an eye-opening moment for Jay. He hadn’t really considered the downside to being one of only two guys surrounded by a bevy of beautiful women. Now though he realized that his place here might not be as safe even from his companions. He and Liam made up a tiny minority and one which for whatever reason had been given a huge amount of starting credits compared to the rest. It would be easy for blame for any problem, real or imagined, to settle onto them. Jay couldn’t help but wonder if this was what it felt like to be a minority back home.
He quickly realized though that he couldn’t control how the majority felt about him. He could work to be useful but that would at best always make him dependent upon them or at worst their servant. No, his path lay in forging independence. He needed to be as self-sufficient as possible. It was an unsettling realization and one which left him feeling as alone as he had ever felt in his life despite being one of many trapped together.
His grim musings were ended when Jasmine called his name, “Jay, are you willing to go with the first group into the dungeon?”
From the way everyone was looking at him, she must have asked him more than once so he kept his answer simple. “Sure.”
“Okay so we have our first team of 4. I won’t make those who bought their own weapons share them with others, but I will use the extra credits we got to buy some communal weapons that can be shared for others who want to go into the dungeon based upon what they find in there. For now if you aren’t part of dungeon team one then you should learn about the terminal and where the water is, maybe take a look around. I just ask that you stay in groups of 3 or 4 for safety, please.”
Everyone started to wander off and soon it was only the council and the others who comprised the first dungeon team. Jasmine seemed to be waiting for this as she had stood there silently, lips pursed. “First off thank you for being willing to go in first. Is everyone in agreement that the best idea is to just try out the first quest rather than any of the others?”
Mia said, “No reason to take more risk than necessary. That quest gives us the chance to scout out what is there first and gives us some much-needed credits.”
“Love how you are always positive,” Kenzie said, “but 100 credits isn’t going to last very long.”
Huong nodded. “Agreed but I think the point was that it is a good starting point, no need to rush this.”
“Yes, a step at a time. Now, though if we are going to get everyone through this quest then our explorers need to get to it,” Jasmine said with a smile. Something about her smile made Jay feel that it was just for him. Yet something in his head went off at that. Was he being emotionally manipulated? Was it intentional? Suddenly he understood the outrage that so many of the girls had expressed about the aphrodisiacs in the water. It was anger based in fear, fear of being controlled.
Rather than fret though, he simply said, “I’m ready, I will meet the rest of you over at the ziggurat.” Then without looking back he just started walking.
Chapter 13 - Enter the Dungeon
A nervous energy hung in the air as Jay, Liam, Huong, and Amelia stood atop the ziggurat. The climb up the stairs had been strangely nerve-wracking. They all knew what they were about to do was risky but equally knew that they didn’t have a choice. It made for a rather somber moment. Jay patted the pocket of his jeans to make sure the three flat rocks he had picked up were still there as he tried to calm himself.
Waiting outside the door at the top no one seemed to want to be the first to step in, Jay sucked in a deep breath as he thought, “No point in stalling.” There was no actual door to open just the doorway. He walked into the room atop the structure. Inside it was about 15’ x 15’ but most of the floor was just a hole. Then as he looked closer he saw that it was actually a spiral staircase descending into the floor. There was some intricate carved stone work around the floor. Whereas outside all of the stone was that same flawless white marble, in here the stone appeared worn and weathered. It was normal brown earth tones and instead of one smooth piece was made of closely fitted 2’ x 1’ bricks.
His mind began to wander as he tried to imagine why the outside was so different from the inside. The only thing he could come up with was that the outside had been built around the inside at a later time, perhaps even by a different culture. As a history major he was certainly no archeologist but the markings in the stone and especially around the hole in the floor didn’t bear any resemblance to any Earth-based language that he had ever seen.
The rest of the team pushed into the room behind him. Liam walked in so fast that he ran into Amelia’s back, but for Jay’s quick thinking she would have fallen down the hole. For the briefest of seconds Jay saw her hard facade break and something approaching gratitude crossed her face. Then it was gone and she pulled her arm back from his grasp. “Hey let go of me,” she barked before turning on Liam. “And you, be careful, you oaf. You could have killed me.”
“Uh yeah. Sorry. Didn’t realize there would be a hole in the floor,” Liam sputtered.
“That’s just it, you didn’t think. I’m not gonna go into some creepy dungeon with you if you can’t be at least bothered to slow down and think. Sheesh.”
“Okay, okay, lesson learned,” Liam protested with his hands up.
“You only get one second
chance with me and this is yours.” Then without waiting for a response Amelia started walking around the edge of the hole and looking at the carvings. When she got to the far side she said, “So it’s a spiral staircase. Oh and you should come see this.” She said it in general but her eyes were fixed on Jay as she spoke.
Once he was standing next to her he could see what she thought was so significant. He immediately saw it. “That isn’t very promising.”
“What is it?” Liam asked, careful not to try to crowd around to the other side.
Jay shook his head and replied, “The hole in the floor is the entrance to a narrow spiral staircase that goes down around the walls of a shaft so deep and dark that I can’t see the bottom of it. Worse, the stonework around the rim of the hole is made to look like a mouth, like you are walking into the belly of the beast.”
Liam made the symbol of the cross like an altar boy while Huong shivered. “That is so creepy. Do we still have to do this?” Then as Jay looked at her incredulously she said, “Never mind, I don’t mean that. I’m just nervous.”
“Well putting it off isn’t helping, so here we go. Have your weapons ready,” Jay said as he stepped down onto the first stair, his spear in hand.
As soon as his foot hit the first stair a white screen opened in midair for everyone to see:
Welcome, M1789, you are about to enter Dungeon Floor 1 for the first time. As the first from your cluster to enter, all rewards obtained on this first trip will be doubled. This is known as the value of exploration.
You may bring up to 3 other people with you. Do you wish to bring M1790, F49312, and F49363 with you?
Jay looked at the others. “Can you all read this?” When they all nodded or answered in the affirmative he asked, “Are those designations the ones marked on your Status?” He was greeted by a round of “Yes” or “That’s my number.” So he turned back to the screen and mentally chose Yes.
You have gained the Value of Exploration- Floor 1.
Strive and seek to become more. Much is expected of you.
Then that was it. The screen disappeared. No guidelines or further rules. Just that. So with nothing else to do, Jay started to descend the stairs. It was a tight fit and he had to imagine it would be even harder for Liam, as much muscle as he had. The others all followed one by one and Jay kept going down, leading the way. After descending what he guessed was a good 100’ all the while clutching his spear and painstakingly checking to make sure that the next stair was solid and able to support him before placing all his weight on it, he felt another one of those ripples like before.
Suddenly somehow all four of them were standing on a stone platform right in front of a 10’ doorway. Each was looking around and trying to get their bearings.
Huong asked, “Did we just get teleported here?”
“I guess, but I didn’t feel any sense of movement,” Jay replied.
“Me neither,” Liam said.
Amelia kept quiet but the way she was chewing on her lip showed just how disturbed she was.
As they calmed down, Jay started to notice other things. The air felt different. It was humid whereas before it had been rather dry. He could smell a scent akin to being in the forest, that blend of plant life and decay. Oh and it sounded like running water too. He peeked his head inside the doorway and saw a veritable jungle in front of him. Pulling his head back he looked and once again the doorway was empty. Pushed back in and saw the same jungle, vast and spread out before him. There was no way that it could have possibly fit inside the ziggurat.
“Um you guys aren’t gonna believe this, but it’s bigger on the inside,” Jay said but apparently none of them were Dr. Who fans because no one said anything other than Amelia, who anxiously shoved her head into the doorway to look for herself.
Chapter 14 - Jumanji Anyone?
“This is BS. What the heck is going on and how is there a freaking jungle in there?” Amelia asked between curses. Seeing the blonde cutie so vehemently cursing was oddly humorous to Jay and he had to fight to keep a smile from his lips. This was really just another reminder that he didn’t know her at all. He had seen her crying and vulnerable, angry, untrusting, rude, and even briefly grateful, but he had never seen her this kind of spitting mad.
“It is what it is,” Jay said.
“Oh how very Zen of you. Did you get that out of a fortune cookie?” Amelia snapped at him.
“Woah, calm down. We are here to fight the dungeon, not each other. What’s in there that is so bad?” Liam asked. He was the only one who hadn’t looked through the doorway, something which Huong was doing right now.
“It’s what he said,” Amelia said while gesturing at Jay. “It’s a whole freaking jungle in there.”
“How? This place isn’t big enough to hold a jungle?” Liam said with a dumbfounded look on his face.
“I told you, it’s bigger on the inside.” Jay thought maybe it would land better the second time but no dice. Maybe he was the only nerd in this group. Come to think of it that might not be far from the truth. Liam always had that jock aura and while he was pretty sure the guy was a straight-up nice guy it didn’t mean that he wasn’t a jock. Amelia wore many hats but most of the time was rocking her mean girl vibe and while Huong might be a bit nerdy it was definitely more of a science nerd than a science fiction nerd. Besides, any girl as hot as her had plenty of social life, science nerd or not.
When Huong pulled her head back finally, she had a bleached look to her face like she had seen the impossible. No one rushed her but they all stared, waiting for her to say something. When she finally did it all rushed out of her at once, “Oh god, we are so fucked. This totally proves it. I wondered, but this totally proves it. I mean how is this even possible. It shouldn’t be but it is right there in that jungle or whatever it is.”
“What’s impossible?” Jay asked.
“We aren’t on Earth anymore. Some of the vegetation in there is clearly not from Earth.”
There was silence as they all let this settle in. Jay knew this would be a hard blow for some to accept because if they were just on an island somewhere on Earth then it was a simple matter of obtaining a ship or even communication devices. If on the other hand they were on an entirely different planet then the odds of ever making it back home were slim to none. “Okay, so let’s talk about that later. Right now we all already selected the first quest and now we just need to step into that place for 15 minutes in order to get another 100 credits.”
“As much as I want to scream or something, doofus is right. We just need to do this and get it over with,” Amelia said.
They all looked at each other and nodded then one by one stepped through the door. On the other side the air was humid and full of sounds and scents. There were colorful birds in the trees but they were somehow both familiar and alien at the same time. The colors were off even if the forms were the same. The trees, vines, and undergrowth all looked slightly off. Vines with small purple beads running along their length were wrapped all around wide clusters of trees which had many trunks merging into one and wide open branches that ended in fat green leaves tipped in brilliant red. Monkey-like creatures about the size of a small dog leapt amongst the branches playfully but even they were off with their twin tails.
“Damn, you’re right, Huong,” Liam said in a low voice.
No one bothered to respond to the obvious as they took in the alien sights, sounds and smells. Eventually though the oddness stopped being a curiosity and instead made them feel uncomfortable. It is ever the nature of people to feel awkward silence with words so Jay said, “Well, should we explore and see what we can find? Maybe there is food here that we can bring back.”
“We only have to stay here for 15 minutes to complete the quest right?” Huong asked.
“Yes, but we are going to have to explore this at some point. 100 credits isn’t going to last very long,” Jay argued.
“He is right again,” Amelia said. “We might as well get a little look arou
nd.” Then looking at Jay she added, “But don’t get used to me agreeing with you.”
They all looked at the wall of foliage in front of them. On this side, the door was carved into a sheer cliff face that rose up like a skyscraper into the clouds. In front of the door the ground was open out to a distance of about 50 feet but beyond that it was a solid wall of foliage. As they looked at it, Jay saw that there was what might be the beginning of a narrow trail. Liam must have seen the same thing because he suggested that they try that. Jay wasn’t sure though as it was likely a game trail and so any predators might be used to hunting along it. He pointed that out but since it was the only path they found, it was that or start trying to hack their way through the dense vegetation.
Ultimately, they started down the trail. Jay in front, then Huong, Liam, and Amelia insisted on being in the rear. As their resident plant expert, Huong insisted that they try to limit any contact that they had with the plants against their bare skin to a minimum. She said it was already a miracle that they were able to breathe the atmosphere on an alien world, they shouldn’t push their luck.
About that moment something, white and furry and bearing a strange resemblance to a rabbit only with a tail like a beaver, came breaking out of the undergrowth and ran right past them. Jay gripped his spear ready for whatever was chasing the creature. The others instinctively looked at the fleeing creature but there was something to the way his skin was tingling that made him think danger was on him, just like when the crab had been thrown at him.
It couldn’t have been more than 2 seconds but it seemed interminable as his knuckles turned white squeezing on the spear. He really had no idea how to use it but hoped that pointing the business end in the right direction would be enough. The urge within him to thrust it into the bush the beaver bunny had leapt out of became almost overwhelming. Just as he finally started to push forward with the spear, the snarling face of a half cat, half reptile leapt out of the bush. Only listening to that instinct saved him from being bowled over as the metal tip of his spear drove deep into the creature's chest, driven by its own momentum.
