Becoming Monsters: In the Mirror 53

This is still a story of the Becoming Monsters universe by Ai Loves, setting used with permission. All canonical and mechanical errors are my own. The yarrb is the exceedingly cute creation of FelisRandomis, used with permission.

"Humble and Kind," by Tim McGraw, is the life lesson referenced here.

--

Chapter 53: What to Expect

Marshal Shapiro and Gloria were sitting next to each other on the bus stop bench, on that slightly-overcast day, and though his expression didn't tell me much, HERS told me that her entire world was being shaken apart in front of her. The quiet sobs were pointed, a sound I had not heard from her in our admittedly-brief time together. It was time for me to join the conversation. Whether it would be as a Guild Leader, a lover, or a friend remained to be seen.

I listened closely as I walked over, leaning hard into the enhanced Perception score she herself had given me. She was talking to him, her voice coming in halting sobs. "Sir, that isn't what I've been taught. Truth is truth, lies are lies, and if the system I've been a part of rests on a fact which is untrue then the rest cannot stand."

Oh. I was suddenly very glad the Marshal was here. My ability to deal with that kind of statement was limited at best, and Gloria would not settle for broad philosophy.

"While I do agree that truth is truth, and no amount of insisting a lie is correct will make it so, you've skipped a few steps. The test of a system of belief is its ability to keep being good in the face of the new." His face was bland, but I could sense the Marshal's emotions. Far from boredom, I could sense a kind of focus. This was something he'd likely have been dealing with, both personally and in his congregation, for years. Including at Camp.

"But without what I have known, how will I know I'm still being good?" Gloria's emotions were such a tangled mess that I'd need five hours and four cups of coffee to make a dent in them. Guilt and shame. Dread fear of the unknown. It was powerful stuff, making it difficult for me to stand firm, but I did.

The Marshal... no, that's not who he was. Not then. Rabbi Shapiro shook his head. "You don't need a book or a scroll for that. You know what good looks like. Hold the door, say please, say thank you. Don't steal, don't cheat, and don't lie."

My head snapped up. "Did... did you just quote country music?"

He smiled a bit, right back at me. "When someone else has said it better, there is no shame in using their words. Were Gloria of my faith, my advice might have sounded differently. You are all actively engaged in the act of repairing the world, seeking justice and law, permitting religious practice, and you don't steal or eat flesh torn from live animals as far as I know. Add that you do not engage in what I would call adultery, and you've already passed one set of objective measures of righteousness."

Gloria had stopped her tears. Her emotions had calmed by several steps, which was something of a relief for me. "I... can't say I know what you speak of."

"Do look up Parshat Noach at some point, then. The flood is only one part of that story. But I digress. I'll use another example. Do you know about the Pope's Class?"

I shook my head, but Gloria responded. "It was an embarrassing one. A Bubble, wasn't it?"

"That's right. A man so powerful and prominent coming out of the Change with... something so seemingly petty. No great Race, no prophetic ability like many who served him. And yet, he held it together, and made it work. He's still Pope."

"I'm... not sure what that has to do with my troubles."

"Then we will have more to talk about later after you have some time to think about this. It seems that our bus has arrived." The Gate shuttle was, indeed, pulling up. Given how bad the thing was for deep conversations, the present one was at an end.

Nine of us got onto the bus, Nibbles hopping up onto Gloria's lap as I flopped into the chair next to her. "You doing okay, Gloria? Only caught the last bit of that."

"I'm glad we aren't hunting for major demons today, but I'm alright. Or... I will be."

"If you aren't up for Delving, you can stay up top. We have it covered."

She looked at me more directly then, and I could feel her focus coming back to her. "No, I don't think that's a good idea. Focusing on the mission Below is going to help."

If I hadn't had extra senses to lean on, I wouldn't have believed her for a second. Too many people had overestimated their state of mind too many times for me to trust that kind of evaluation. Especially when going to the Gate, especially when tears had been streaming from her eyes minutes before we were set to delve. I did, however, have those senses. I could, in fact, feel her calming and focusing on what was in front of her. I decided to nod and accept it. Just this once.

The shuttle bus came to a bumpy halt before too long. We dismounted, circling up. I was the leader of this expedition Below, despite the Marshal being with us. It fell to me to ensure everyone was on the same page. Long ago, when I was with the Raiders, my team leader had been a retired Army veteran. He always insisted on mission briefings, and it was something I did whenever I could.

"Okay, everyone. Make sure your gear is set and ready. We are going on a Training mission, and for the four of you," I nodded at Nathan, Stephen, and the Twins, "it will be the first time working with us. Here's the general order. Nibbles will be the main Tank below in order to let you practice your skills as appropriate. Nathan, you are skirmishing and access. Chaske, Misun, you have scouting and damage. Stephen, you are on crowd control and damage. The five experienced Delvers will be on overwatch. We will advise and observe, but we will intervene only if needed or to resolve unexpected situations. Any objections?"

Whitney raised her hand. "Paige and I need to Feed while down below. With your permission, once we hit the end of the route and are on the way back, we would like to be on the front line to do so and to get them used to what that looks like."

"Approved." All four of the new Delvers looked at each other, confused. For most Guilds, the pre-delve directions were one way kinds of things. You got your orders, you obeyed them, and only took initiative if something demanded it on the spot. There was no dialogue. That a Guild Leader entertained such a thing while within line of sight of the Gate was wildly outside of what they had known. The Marshal, though, nodded at me. It seemed I'd made a decent impression this time, which was a relief compared to the meeting.

A silvery hand shakily came into the air. Nathan had a question, and proceeded once it was clear my eyes were on him. "Sir? Um, I didn't catch what the end point was for this."

My grin came right back. "Excellent question, and I didn't say it yet. There is not one for this particular run, since it's mostly to test you four. We do not have a specific mission or target, and will proceed a minimum of thirty minutes in before the escort team decides you're ready. Given that you're going to have our two main Strikers helping you out on the way up? That means we can go further. Remember that this is not all about just fighting. I'm looking for how you hold yourselves together, observation, identification, teamwork, and a hundred other minor factors. The only other thing I will tell you is that one of them is going to be identification of what we find. All four of you should be able to give me some information about what we come across. Whether it's trying to kill you or what you pick up off the ground afterward. Feel free to ask us any questions you might have as we go. Even seemingly-pointless things can become important, and I'd rather answer a hundred stupid questions than have someone make one stupid assumption at the wrong time." I looked around, the Human waiting at the Gate Post was gesturing at us. "Looks like it's time, everyone. Let's go."

The bored-looking man had me sign in and show that I had a Messenger Egg, one of the one-time use enchanted items that could get a distress call out of the Labyrinth. As I was doing so, he noticed just exactly who was coming with us, paled, and skipped a lot of the safety paperwork so that the most dangerous person in the state could get to what he was doing without interference. Fastest I'd ever been through this part of the process. Rank hath its privileges on occasion... but I noticed that the Marshal was taking notes. He was irritated under the surface... and I realized that he was likely using this trip in part to make sure procedures like that got followed. That was probably going to be an unpleasant conversation later.

I was just glad it was one I wasn't going to be a part of.

The Dungeon Gate welcomed us like an old friend, the early afternoon heat fading instantly to a pleasant, neutral coolness. Chaske and Misun immediately set loose two of their drones each, one to stick with them (carrying a new, oddly-shining gun courtesy of Quiverbow's experiments) and one flying forward as they used their odd technological telepathy to scout ahead. Stephen's purple-glowing tome was out and floating at his side, and Nate had his batons out (but still collapsed). The rest of us got alert quickly as well, no matter how close you were to the Gate there was always danger here. There were no locations in the Seattle Dungeon which were safe enough to bring tours or traditional camera crews, unlike so many others. I could feel the change of tension in the air, smell the ozone as Marshal Shapiro made sure he was charged, see my ladies ready weapons.

The first question, though, came only a few steps in. One of the Twins, I think it was Chaske, looked down sharply. "What is up with these shadows? They don't seem to be quite synced up to the light... and for that matter, where's the light coming from?"

That's what I liked to hear. "Both are oddities of our Dungeon. The light comes from everywhere and nowhere at once, everything is lit consistently from all sides at the same time. As for our shadows, you might think what I just said contradicts us even having them... and it does. You see how our fronts are still lit despite the shadows we cast ahead? They always point away from the Gate, so you always know the direction to get back home. At least roughly."

The Twins muttered something quietly at each other. "Boss, when we get back, do you mind if we check something?"

"Just tell me what you're doing before you do it."

"You got it."

The pace we set on the way was not exactly a demanding one. I've moved faster walking Nibbles in the past. Still, it meant that they were ready. The first thing to have the misfortune to come across us was a pack of about a dozen Skeletons, which none of the escorts needed to lift a finger to help with. Not even Nibbles, despite being the nominal main tank for this expedition. One moment, Chaske called out a warning. The next, both of the Twins' attack drones plus Stephen were launching minor mystic bolts of power forward to soften them up. Nate's batons made short work of what was left. He was the only one to even come within arm's reach of them, and only actually had to use his Class Abilities to dodge one time. In moments, the four stepped forward to gather shards of bone and obsidian, along with some spare coppers.

"Good job." It was Jordan. "Nice and clean. Jeremiah, what are their Levels?"

"Stephen is a Level 5 Dimensional Magus, sir. The others are Level 3, two Technopath Tinkers and a Specter Rogue."

"I just got to four!" It was, perhaps inevitably, Nate. Made sense, I'd been putting him through his paces recently.

"Congratulations, Nathan! If it's only Attribute points at this level, go ahead and assign them now according to the plan you made with your tutor. If you have any bigger decisions to make, hold it for when we aren't down here."

"Just stats this level. Gaining two Agility."

"Excellent! Let's continue, then." The emotions under the Marshal's surface indicated that he'd been asking something that he hadn't voiced... and whatever it was, he was satisfied with the answer he got. While I could appreciate the raw capability at multitasking, this wasn't the place. I could not take the time to give him the answers he wanted in a more direct way. Which, come to think of it, was probably also the point.

We proceeded once again, the way relatively quiet after the one pack of enemies. We did divert twice on the recommendation of our scouts. Once to pick off a target of opportunity, a small pack of Slimes that had not gotten the chance to grow into something dangerous just yet. The other to retrieve a sealed treasure bag. It would unlock when we got out of the Dungeon, this was how it gathered up small things left behind. Usually minor reagents or Coins that got lost in a corner, on occasion they had been found to contain even things like keys or cell phones that someone dropped while on mission. Vish, back when he worked for me, referred to them as "the stuff the Dungeon found between its couch cushions."

Not the best of delves, but the new guys were shaking out more than adequately. My watch helpfully reported that we'd been down here for nearly 45 minutes, more than enough to get a feel for things, so I opened my mouth to announce that we were turning around. The sudden movement of Gloria and Nibbles both sighting down a smaller side corridor gave me pause, they didn't do that without good reason.

My Hunter was first off the mark. "Marshal! Are any delves planned along this route? Sounds of combat, and it's an even fight!"

"Absolutely not."

I found my voice. "Nate, you're fastest, get there to reinforce them, time now! Gloria, empower Nibbles to stick with him. Chaske, Misun, push all your drones with them as we follow!" None of us were taking our time, but the Twins couldn't move as quickly as the rest of us. A split second decision was required when there were no good ones to be had. "Gloria! Stick with the Twins. Everyone else, move it!"

As we took off, I realized something. Jordan could ride the lightning and get to the fight faster than we could hope to, even Nate. He chose to run with us. No time to ask... though he didn't let the pace stop him. "Jeremiah! I thought general wisdom was to never split the party?"

"Exceptions to every rule, sir! When a life needs saving, you do what you need to make it happen. Paige! Whitney! Stop holding back and use those wings of yours!"

They flapped forward, getting to the source of the commotion not too long before the center group. A standoff was in place, my ladies taking a defensive position alongside Nathan and Nibbles to guard a team in distress. Staring them down was a pack of icy blue Winter Wolves, looking to number around twenty. Nasty customers, nearly four feet at the shoulder and with frost breath to back up their claws, fangs, and pack tactics.

Four Delvers were there, injured to greater or lesser degree. A Dwarf in mail armor carrying two large hammers seemed best off, a Human in caster robes on the ground next to a blond Gunslinger with a buzz cut, but the short Squirrel Beastfolk seemed oddly familiar. They were barely holding together, despite getting some breathing room from my team's arrival.

"Hold the line! Do not dive forward, they will overwhelm you if you do. Pick off any of them that are braver than they are smart, but we need to stick to ranged attacks other than that!" I wasn't wasting time. My party composition was a bit light on ranged damage, but the Twins' drones started pelting the Winter Wolves with pot shots as I joined in with Flame Rays. One of the Wolves got impatient and tried to dive in, only to get bisected by Whitney.

"Charlie! Ye're the only one standing who can join in, so do it!" The Dwarf called out to his team.

The robed man and Gunslinger were on the ground, but the Squirrel brought clawed hands together to pull power together. "Looks like I owe you guys another one, hero!" With a throwing motion, a team of three Wolves that had started to come forward got rapidly distracted by what sounded like a string of firecrackers exploding in their midst. The distraction had them off-guard for a critical second, which permitted my four on the front line to rapidly dismantle them for parts.

Wait. Short Squirrel who recognized me and used distraction abilities? "Oh, long time no see! Not since the whole bank thing."

"Thanks for not making the obvious joke about being hard to recognize without the makeup."

My remaining teammates were pulling up. "Less talking, more slaying. Frontliners, hold the line. Ranged, take them down!"

The team we rescued had been suffering at four members. We were well on the way to winning once half my group joined in. At full strength? Even without the Marshall supporting us with lightning strikes? The Winter Wolves went down quickly. The two on the ground were thankfully just injured and exhausted, not dying, and they hadn't left any of their number Below. With a grateful grumble, they agreed to the standard Rescue split for treasure (75-25 in favor of the rescuers).

As the teams were cleaning up, I went to them. "What the heck happened to you?"

The Gunslinger looked down and to the side instantly. It was the Dwarf who responded. "We can't get trainers, Guild Leader. Came Below after we were commiserating and realized we could do it together. Need to get Levels and materials."

I sighed. "Been hearing that a lot. Please believe me when I say I'm working on it."

The sudden emotion spike was so powerful I could almost see it physically. The Gunslinger was so mad that he almost grabbed his weapons and started in on me personally. His face wasn't hiding anything, and neither was his voice. "Then why did you refuse when we asked?"

... and that would be why I recognized him. I had refused to help exactly one bunch of people in recent memory. "You were with the Soldiers. You needed to do it right, or otherwise... well, exactly this happens."

The soldier's face was hard. "You say that like you think I had a choice. I have a mission, and from my entire team I was the only one with a Delver card already. Instead of the five of us with coordinated tactics, I'm down here in a Freelance team." The Squirrel... Charles, now that I knew his name... glared at him.

I was faster. "Not asking about your mission. If it was personal, you could have told me you were qualified. If it's for the military, you're still at it the wrong way. This isn't the time. We need to get you all out of here. Hope you got what you were here for, because the only way you're heading is back to the Gate, and I don't much care if I have to tranquilize you and carry you back myself to make it happen."

Charlie was still glaring at him. "Show some freaking gratitude, man! Heck, this is the second time he's saved my fluffy tail, and you owe him big time after you ran out of ammo."

The soldier slumped. Ah. So he didn't get whatever his assignment was for. Misun tapped me on the shoulder with one of his tentacles to let me know the teams were done gathering and divvying up loot. It was time to head back. Nothing bothered us on the way, our slow steps echoing against the smooth walls of the Labyrinth. As we approached the Gate though, just as we were getting ready to step back into the light, Misun stopped us again. "Boss, if it's okay by you, I need to check what my brother asked about on the way down. We just need everyone to stand still while we make some chalk marks from their shadows. It should take thirty seconds, tops"

I nodded, and asked everyone to hold still for the moment it took. The Marshal and the party we rescued took their leave while my own group took a breather at the field outside. I stuck with the Twins as they looked at the chalk lines on the ground. This close to the Gate, they had some good separation of angles. Shadows always pointed away from that point, after all, and...

"Boss, you might want to see this." Chaske was looking at things with intensity. They had calculators out, and were sighting down laser pointers.

"What is it?"

"You told us the shadows come from the gate, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"They don't. Not quite."

"What do you mean? I can see them pointing towards it."

Misun jumped in before his brother could come up with the words to respond. "That's just it. The lines don't converge on the Gate. It looks like they come together about... two or three meters past it."

I looked, and now that he mentioned it I could kind of see it. "Okay, that's cool. What does it mean, though?"

They both looked and felt frustrated. "We don't know, boss. You just told us that you wanted us to ask anything that we thought of, and this was it."

"Write it down, definitely. This could be nothing but a quirk of the Dungeon, or it could be critically important. Either way, we've got loot to inventory now. Come on."

It should be noted here that I'd intended for this part to be boring and routine. It should also be noted that I really should have known better.

Standard procedure for bags if you had a pickup team was for someone to claim it and open it later. Just a nice surprise. When it's a Guild dive, though, you usually open them first so that you can organize the drops and sort them in with everything else. When Whitney pulled a sorting and bagging kit out of her Extradimensional Space (oops, that was probably supposed to be my job...), I opened up the bag to see what was in it. Most was typical. Some Copper and Silver coins, a couple of small gemstones, someone's lost keychain. What wasn't at all typical lay in the bottom of the bag.

The key was about the size of my palm, much bigger than typical specimens, and quite ornate. It was made of what looked like pure gold, with a very simple mechanism and grip. The other thing that stood out was its weight. Despite its size, it had to weigh more than ten pounds. I recognized it instantly, and I wasn't the only one who did so.

Stephen, the Dimensional Magus who had been launching strike teams into the dungeon for years, would of course be familiar. "Is that a Dungeon Key? I thought those were made of copper?"

My heart rate was beating at a million miles an hour, and I know for fact the others could feel some of it through my Aura no matter how hard I tried to suppress it. "You are correct as far as it goes. Most are copper, and they usually have to be assembled from about a dozen shards apiece... each of which is considered a worthwhile individual target for a full delver team. If this is what I think it is, what we just did was the highest return of value any run has ever had in the Labyrinth. Bar none. Possibly ANY Delve. Bronze Dungeon Keys get a team of up to ten people into the second level, the Biomes. Silver ones will get you down to the Lairs."

Whitney's eyebrows furrowed. "I thought you told me that was it. The Lairs are the bottom floor."

"It looks like I was wrong. The rumors that there may be something past them seem to have merit. Whatever it may be? This key will let us in."