AT THE BOOKSTORE
While Merrick was finishing up on the Earth Platform in Dungeons Below, Alex Drea arrived at a certain antiquated bookstore. Her former master, the owner of the shop, had already prepared the pack that she requested for her trip to the floating district that hovered over the bay. It included a week's worth of preserved meals, a few helpful tomes, some odds, a few ends, and a large knife.
"What's the knife for, Master Abernathy?" Alex asked as she pulled the blade free from its home. It was more of a machete than a knife now that she was looking at it more closely.
"The trails might be overgrown again, depending on where you are headed and who else has been there recently." The owner of the bookstore replied, "Plus, there is also the local megafauna so be wary."
"I don't think a giant beast will be slowed much by a blow from this." Alex said as she turned the blade over. As she did, the light caught on the edge, revealing the discolored nature of the blade's edge. At first she thought it was warped, but when her finger ran over the surface she realized that it was infinitesimally small markings carved into the blade. "What is this supposed to do?"
"Deal with the megafauna." was all the explanation that Master Abernathy gave. Alex sheathed the marked machete and stuffed it back into the pack. While she was lifting the pack over her shoulder, Master Abernathy spoke up. "Why again must you go up there?"
"To find the person who put Dungeons Below at risk."
"Wouldn't it be easier to just lock out the player?"
"They're too close to the System Core. If we lock them out entirely, the… database might try to recreate the connection. Plus, I don't know what else they exposed and I don't want to find out too late."
Master Abernathy nodded slowly, "That is the problem with these types of creations. They operate extremely well as long as you lay out the details in fine grain. When the lines start to blur however, they start to show their quirks."
"Quirks I can deal with…" Alex answered, "The database granting full access to a random player because one of our testers wanted to see how far they could push the envelope… That will only come back poorly on my team."
"And depending on how bad… Those On High at Mouseion might just scrap the entire project."
Now it was Alex's turn to nod slowly, "They might understand what KLEIO does but I don't think they understand how far the System Core's reach extends. If they 'pull the plug' too slowly, or if it figures out what they're doing… We will have a lot more problems on our hands than those rogue AI sci-fi thrillers predicted."
Just then the door opened and an odd pair walked into the bookstore. "That's what you get for digitizing a mystical being."
Alex glared at Master Abernathy but he waved her off, "They know. I called for them. If you're going up there, you'll want experienced guides. Rat and Molly are the best in the business."
"The best still living," one of the pair replied. He was a tall, lanky man wearing what looked to be special forces field equipment. He looked like something out of a Tom Clancy novel. Alex assumed that he was Rat and that his companion, a young lady dressed in a floral jumpsuit was Molly, but she was wrong.
Rat, the young lady, extended her hand, "I'm Master Abernathy's current apprentice, Rat, on loan to the no-go-bounty-hunter Molliander Charm."
Alex looked back at her former Master, "New apprentice?"
"She has talent but I have no time." Master Abernathy shrugged his shoulders, "she was left with me after her artifact-hunting parents went off to Atlantis, or at least in search of it."
"Field study, at what… twelve?"
Rat cleared her throat, Alex looked in her direction to see the young lady being exceedingly well-mannered. It was hard to believe she was an apprentice to Alex's own former master. Rat explained, "I've mastered all the basics but I cannot see to break through into the intermediate material. Master Abernathy recommended that I go with Molly up to Atborea to see if we can shake some talent loose through --ahem-- fear of death."
Now that sounded more like Master Abernathy. Alex glared over her shoulder, "Trying to kill off another one?"
"Now now…" Molly spoke up next, "I'll let you know, I've made twenty expeditions into the depths of that floating monstrosity and I have not lost a single one of my clients."
After a second Molly added, "And I've only lost two assistants in that whole time."
Then another second later, "Out of three assistants total, including Rat."
Alex sighed and they were off.