The gargantuan chamber held basins, machinery, computers, and whatever else would normally be in a water treatment plant. I mean, I don’t know that for sure, because I’d never been in one, or wanted to be in one, but it looked legit… except for one crucial change: fifty or so Karjok were crammed inside, tinkering with the equipment, operating machines, and chattering endlessly.
I hoped this wasn’t how our water treatment plants really worked.
Some of them wielded precision tools and actually worked on the machinery, while others just whacked it with hammers and wrenches. Some crawled alongside or swam in the pools, which made me never want to drink tap water again—not that I ever did in the real world, anyway. I’m not a peasant.
Will was a blue and green cephalopod with yellow eyes, which narrowed when he saw me. “Oi, Silas, who’s this bloke?”
“He’s an associate. He agreed to help me out, and it’s been alright so far. A few divots in the sand, but humans, you know? The lady is a prime example of the best of their people.”
Will traced my form with suspicion, then he lingered on my Octo-Boxers. “Youse gave him the eldritch trunks?”
“The git was naked! What was I supposed to do? Besides, the prophecy says any nutter can keep ’em warm until our hero arrives.”
Will shrugged all eight of his shoulders and sighed. “Very well. I trust your judgment. C’mon in.”
I thought one Karjok was bad, but this had potential to escalate to new levels of agony.
Sync bit back more laughter. Glad someone was enjoying this.
Several Karjok watched us and muttered to themselves while others ignored us and carried on their duties.
Three of the plant workers were variations of the chrome-faced androids I’d seen earlier. None of them seemed to mind the ongoing Karjok invasion. They all wore hard hats—which seemed unnecessary since their heads were already made of metal.
One was crouched down, working on the inside of a computer terminal. As we passed by, he stopped, slowly angled his head, and stared at me with only glowing yellow indents for eyes. It went on too long, so I looked away. But I couldn’t help myself, so I stole a look back. The android was still watching me. It sent a shudder up my spine, and I looked away again.
Sync surveyed the space. “Will, have you seen two other humans here? Their names would be Dirk and Stecker.”
“Huh?” Will blinked at her, then what might’ve passed for recognition crossed his face. “Oh, yeah. They was here, but they got chased out by some rugged types. Fooled us into letting ’em in. Oi! Youse must be who they was waiting for! They wanted me to give youse a message.”
Sync motioned for him to continue while I counted the seconds until we could bail.
“Oh, barnacles… I don’t remember the message. Sorry about that.” Will rubbed his head and pinched his eyes shut. “Something, uh… something about a latent code fragment buried within the Maintenance Simulator here they managed to access, and how youse should check it out and then meet them at the Factory Simulator. As I said, I don’t quite recall the specifics.”
“That was very helpful, thank you.” Sync was already tapping at the terminal next to the one the android was working on—the android who was still staring at me.
Silas surveyed the area. “I don’t see Chancellor Hachem or Myrmidon Bingley. There are only a few of us here. What’s going on?”
Will sighed. “Yeah, spot of bother. Turns out crashing into the heart of the city is exceedingly illegal, even if youse didn’t mean to, which I’ve explained to the human dignitaries ad nauseam.” He offered a mirthless chuckle. “It seems the Karjok have incurred a fair amount of debt. And by a fair amount, I mean holy shrimp, it’s a lot.”
Silas recoiled. “How much?”
“Suffice it to say, the amount sent all three of me hearts into cardiac arrest,” Will answered. “Before youse ask, no, they don’t accept sand dollars—not even golden ones. Our currency’s no good here. Since then, we’ve lost contact with Chancellor Hachem, Myrmidon Bingley, and the rest of our people. They, uh, hopped into a canal and buggered off. Just us few got caught and forced into indentured servitude.”
“Our Star Charts were missing,” Silas said. “Did you grab them?”
Will’s eyes shifted to worry. “No… but maybe the chancellor or Bingley did? Someone had to if they wasn’t on the Nautilus. Neptune’s Trident… youse don’t think someone stole them?”
I winced. If I’d known this place was a bastion for Karjok side-quests, I would have avoided it like I avoided Nate after Taco Tuesday.
I glanced at Sync, hoping and praying she was capable of hacking something that would free me from this place and its endless brew of space octopus side-quests.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Several Karjok children gathered around her, chattering. She smiled and spoke with them while she worked. I exercised extreme saint-like patience in not curb-stomping those little octo-noids, and let my questions wait.
“Mate, mate,” Silas jabbed my leg, “we gotta free the Karjok!”
I shrugged, having no intention of following this any further. “Do we? Seems like they’ve got a debt to pay, and I’m not in the habit of cosigning with cephalopods.”
Apparently, the AllVerse had other plans.
| Objective Updated: Find Remaining Karjok Colonies – 1 of 6 |
| Bonus Objective: Locate and speak with Chancellor Hachem |
| Bonus Objective: Locate and speak with Myrmidon Bingley |
| Bonus Objective: Discover a Method to Clear the Karjoks’ Outstanding Debt |
| Bonus Objective: Locate the Karjok Star Charts |
I tilted my head back and sighed. “That objective was updated without my consent. And what is that Terra Incognita game about? Is it all just octo-politics from space? Sounds so, so boring.”
“You seriously haven’t played it?” Sync asked. “It started out as a killer sci-fi book series, and now both the games and the books are considered cultural phenomena. Legendary, even.”
“I’m not gonna argue with you about some stupid-asp books, and definitely not about video games. They’re nothing but a waste of time.” I sighed and turned to Silas. “Okay, if we stumble upon more Karjok colonies like we did here, fine, but I’m not going out of my way to look for them.”
Will narrowed his eyes. “A real ‘Good Samaritan’ attitude there, mate. Your compassion warms the cockles of me hearts.”
Silas rolled his eyes. “You don’t know the half of it. He’s like a singularity for any modicum of positivity or altruism.”
“Uh, okay, I’m not gonna find anything more here, but this confirms my suspicions. So that’s progress,” Sync said from the terminal. “C’mon. We should go find the boys at the factory. But we need to be careful; there might be more hit squads.”
A Karjok with what appeared to be eyeliner and eyelashes pointed to the sewer tunnels. In a female voice, she said, “Take those. They lead all over the industrial district and will help you elude any pursuers.”
“Thank you.” Sync nodded and strode toward the tunnels, motioning for me to follow.
“It’s been a gas, fellas, but we gotta go.” I gave all the Karjok a wave.
Silas climbed back onto my shoulder. “We won’t forget about you! We’ll find the others and liberate our people! We’ll see Karjopia again!”
“Maybe,” I muttered in a feigned attempt at Silas’s enthusiasm.
As we hurried into the tunnels, the stench hit me like a Godfeather bat to the face. Another strange thing… we shouldn’t be able to smell anything here, yet the AllVerse had distinct aromas, most of which were awful.
I hated playing twenty questions with Sync, but she seemed to know the most about what was happening, while I barely understood the basics, let alone the complex behind-the-scenes stuff.
“Mmkay, something I’ve been thinking about before we were interrupted by… whatever that was: You said the real world is still moving, or at least you think it is. Why hasn’t anyone out there done anything? Can we communicate with them?”
Sync checked her WHIM map. “This way. First question: I don’t know, but it might have something to do with the level of control the AI can exert. It might not let them shut down the servers. Second, no. We’ve tried everything. There doesn’t seem to be any way to communicate with the outside.”
I frowned, wrinkling my nose and the rest of my face, both from the bad news and the ever-worsening smell.
Our feet splashed in the sludgy water running through the tunnels. I was still barefoot, and let me tell you, the sensation of walking through sewers without shoes or socks is not one I care to repeat.
I noticed a tunnel branching off with a digital translucent covering and the word “LOCKED” scrolling across it in bold red letters. I thought I saw a hunched-over figure lurking in the gloom beyond, but when I blinked, nothing was there.
A chill swept over me, but I moved on.
“Where are we going now, and why?” I motioned toward the locked tunnel. “I thought the answer we’re looking for was supposed to be in there? Also, why were the Godfeathers trying to kill you?”
She sighed. “It’s hard to explain. Just trust me—we’re almost there. I’ll explain later.” Her face twisted with frustration. “Why won’t they return any of my messages?”
“Who? Dirk and Stecker?”
“Yeah. I haven’t heard from them in almost an hour. Either of them. That’s… not like them at all.”
My heart beat faster, wondering if they’d found a way out. We might only be seconds away from escaping this place. I could almost taste the freedom, and it tasted like my favorite single-malt scotch, a bottle of which cost more than most people make in a year.
In reality, the sewer smell was so bad, I could taste it instead. Whoever had programmed this piece of the AllVerse had done too good a job.
We exited the sewer tunnel via ladder into the custodial area of a factory building. Sync and I both took advantage of the faucet and drain meant for refilling mop buckets to rinse the sludge off our legs and feet. Once it was all gone, I could finally breathe normally again.
We left the room and the sewers behind, only to find more creepy-asp androids carrying out various duties on the factory floor. Thank heaven, none of them gave me the eyeless death glare this time, but the sheer number of them was enough to give me the willies.
As we walked onto the factory floor, a low whir sounded, intermingled with the clangs and clinks and hissing of hydraulic machines and tools throughout the place. Overhead, bright lights illuminated the space, just as artificial as the fake sunlight shining outside.
I’d never worked in a factory and never would, but I had to admit this stuff was all pretty cool to see, even if none of it was actually real. I also couldn’t tell what the androids were making. It might’ve been something that actually factored into the AllVerse games, or it might’ve been complete nonsense for all I knew.
“Dirk? Stecker? It’s me, Sync,” she called across the factory. “Where is everybody?”
The low hum grew louder as we crossed the factory floor, careful to stay within the paths marked by black-and-yellow caution tape on the floors and the guard railings framing them. We made our way toward what I realized were enormous air filtration fans, whirring like jet engines.
As we came within clear view of the fans, Sync gasped. “Oh, no… no.”
At that point, I could barely hear her over the roar of the fans, but I read her shocked expression easily enough.
“What?”
I followed her line of sight toward the fans, which were covered in sparkles and glitter.
Two loot crates sat just in front of them.
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break--Royal Road. They call us the Critical Hitters.
In the desolate desert of the North American Sector, the government harvests the Soul Energy of siblings Eos and Maxima in secret.
When their powers attract the attention of a dangerous criminal organization, their routine lives are shattered. Eos and Maxima must search for freedom and the truth about their past as hostile forces close in.
The answers they seek lie behind one word—!
Occam's Favor
A grizzled ex-mech pilot is drawn back into the Everwar, a decades-long conflict raging across Jupiter’s moonscape.
This time he refuses to fight alone, bringing a crew of misfits and a mech powerful enough to rewrite the war itself.
is a can't-miss power-scaling mech series. Read it now!
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Dungeon Crawler Carl Audio Immersion Tunnel for Soundbooth Theater, and he's the lead writer for the Dungeon Crawler Carl Role Playing Game.
