We get to the fourteenth floor and the danger has multiplied considerably from the previous four floors. No longer are the patrols little cylindrical-shaped robots that we’d seen on the previous three floors. These robots are taller than me by half a head. They are far closer to human in appearance, sporting arms and legs that have actual musculature, rather than being flexible. Their heads are shaped like human heads are, except instead of two eyes of white, this robot has a single red glowing lens in the center of its forehead.
It scans the area periodically, and as we step into the main lobby of the floor, its unsettling gaze descends upon me. It spares the briefest glance for Chloe before again turning its attention to me.
We start to tiptoe around much like we had with the previous floors, but the guardian robot of this floor moves to intercept us once we get halfway through the space. It doesn’t attack, instead barring our passage with its body. And unlike those before, it speaks.
“This is… restricted space.” The tone is as robotic as the old voice synthesizers from the 1980’s, which I find odd, considering how advanced modern technology is by comparison. “Outsiders are not permitted.”
I take a step back, pulling Chloe back behind me. “What is this building? What purpose does it serve?”
“This is Tower Gauntlet 36121N-96000W. I am not authorized to answer the second question.”
“Why do you block our path? Is it not the purpose of this tower to challenge anyone who wishes to ascend and discover the secrets within? I would have thought allowing us to proceed unabated would be in accordance with your primary directive.”
“You are ill-equipped to reach the top of this tower in your present state. This gauntlet is designated as rank F+, designed for challengers of level 35 to level 45. My scan of your combat parameters and skills demonstrates conclusively that your chances of reaching the pinnacle on floor fifty are zero.”
“Wait,” Chloe says. “You have the ability to scan our combat parameters? Why does the System not grant us that ability?”
“I do not have the knowledge to answer this question. I must now ask you to leave. This tower is not yet fully operational. You may attempt the challenge at your discretion beginning in 17:52:36.” The robot gestures toward me, and a new timer appears in my System interface.
We decide it’s best not to press our luck against the guardian of the fourteenth floor, and turn around and head back down to the thirteenth the same way we came.
“I would say that explained a few things,” I say. “Such as why the lobby and first nine floors of the tower are completely mundane, as well as why the sentries on the previous three floors were willing to completely ignore us until we attacked.”
“I guess you’re right. If the tower is still under construction, then…” Chloe trails off.
“And it makes sense to start from the top of the tower rather than the bottom. If there’s some sort of prize at the top, the last thing you’d want to do is leave it undefended.”
“So what do we do now? We can’t exactly go home, can we?”
“Not likely. I’d like to see the basement. Best case scenario, there’s some sort of device that gets us out of here.”
“And the worst case?”
“Well, the same worst case as always.”
“How can you joke about something like that at a time , Sera?”
“I mean, what else are we going to do? The world is going to hell, our institutions are ill-equipped to handle the fallout, and we have no idea what might come next. Is a little bit of dark humor not to be expected at times ?”
I get the expected single-fingered salute. We make our way down the stairwell, which actually leads all the way back down. There are some interesting questions about how this building contains so many different stairwells and elevators. I don’t have an answer beyond ‘System shenaniganry’, though. It did just claim to increase the size of the Earth by roughly forty percent in a matter of minutes, not to mention the dungeon we’ve already gone through on the other side of town. I cannot assume that any System space, as I’ve decided to dub the tower and dungeon collectively, adheres to the principles of Euclidean geometry. The inside of this tower is likely much, much larger than it appears on the outside, likely due to some sort of space-warping glyphs.
Unfortunately, my knowledge on general relativity and curved spacetime is virtually nonexistent, other than that mass-energy curves spacetime around it. Ether can probably do the same in sufficient quantities even without glyphs, but I have no way of testing this.
We make our way down to the basement. As expected, the door is locked. Conveniently, however, this door contains the same locking mechanism as the door we previously encountered on the tenth floor, and I am able to bypass it just as easily.
How is this door supposed to be opened normally? [Mechanist] is probably not a super common class. Moreover, this tower is meant to be explored by anyone who wants to attempt the challenges contained within. No mean amount of strength is going to break down the door. Perhaps a [Warrior] or [Fighter] who has specialized in [Strength] and with a suitable weapon could do it. There may be some sort of [Unlock] spell not unlike what I can do manually. A [Rogue] or similar class, should they exist, likely also has the ability to disable or bypass Ethertech locks. Maybe the goal is to force people to work together in parties after all?
The basement is dark and cold. The stench of stale, soulless air assails the entryway as I open the door, not unlike the lowest basement of a parking garage, but more extreme in every way. I half-expect something to jump at me. Our footsteps echo no matter how hard we try to be quiet.
I turn on my flashlight. Nothing but emptiness as far as I can see. No combat patrols, none of the robots from above, no signs of a hidden weapon or item stash. No walls or ceilings or even a floor. Just blackness in every direction, past the edge of what our lights can illuminate.
Chloe reaches into her bag and pulls out a piece of plastic to use as a makeshift doorstop. She shakes as she approaches me. I don’t want to be here longer than we have to, either. My heart races and my fingers start to jitter despite my mental effort to calm myself. Still, there’s the potential for some sort of fantastic discovery, and perhaps more importantly, another way out that bypasses the police barricade.
We walk along the wall, heading right from the perspective of walking into the chamber for the first time. I realize that my earlier assessment was incorrect. The walls and ceiling are painted or otherwise marked with a black surface that absorbs nearly all light from any surface. I am curious of the implications, and how that could be utilized offensively. Is it purely a physical phenomenon, or is the result of Ether-based nanotech? Whoever built(?) Created(?) Birthed me must have understood Ethertech to a degree far, far beyond even my wildest speculations.
I wrack my mind for any memories that might help me unravel these mysteries. None are forthcoming.
The basement proves much smaller than the vast expanse I had feared. It is roughly rectangular, and comparable in size to a gridiron football field. Further, there are square columns interspersed throughout the room. They are arranged in a grid pattern with spacing of about twenty feet between adjacent columns. In the very center of the single chamber is a much larger structure, spanning maybe fifteen feet square.
In ideal circumstances, I would like to study everything within this basement and throughout the tower for the next several weeks. Months, if I can spare them. However, I need to gain more levels if I’m to conquer the challenges of the tower. I’ve managed to sketch a number of glyphs throughout my afternoon here, and I have more than enough to continue other research and investigation into Ethertech. Still, there is something contained within, and I need to give more than a token effort into unraveling whatever mystery lies in wait.
For what feels like half an hour, I try anything and everything I can to break whatever enchantments protect the central column. Everything short of actively trying to destroy the column, that is. It doesn’t have any obvious panels or buttons that suggest a way to access what lies within. The enchantments absorbing light in the basement also absorb the faint traces of Etheric energy that my eyes have started getting better at seeing.
My brows furrow as I think of what else I can try. I trace the glyph of Locking onto the side nearest the door back into the stairwell, then channel a small amount of my [Ether] into the glyph from the reverse. In theory, at least, this should allow me to link the unlock command into the rest of the network. In practice, however, I have no idea how to combine glyphs in that manner, and my attempt fails. Chloe gives a half-hearted effort, but with no Skills, no spells, and no class benefits relating to disabling Ethertech locks, her attempts prove no more fruitful.
With a sigh and no small amount of annoyance, I am forced to abandon my pursuit into the mysteries contained within. According to Chloe’s phone, dinnertime is approaching quickly, and dusk will be our best time to sneak out of the complex without getting into any unfortunate entanglements. I might have about as much love for the police as I do for rattlesnakes, used car salesmen, or bubonic plague, but I’m not exactly keen on launching a one-woman counteroffensive against the entire police department, backed up by the National Guard.
We make our way up the stairwell opposite from the one in which we came down here, making use of a door I wouldn’t have realized was there had I not been feeling the walls while surveilling the area. We make our way back up to the ground floor and my head instinctively tilts. So much confusion pervades my mind.
First, where in the hells are we? This is… I don’t even know what part of town we’re in now. Second, did we just go through some teleportation complex? There is no way we should be outside of downtown otherwise. I start cycling through my mental map of the city and looking for any sort of landmarks I can make out through the window. Also, did this structure, wherever we are, also just sprout up out of nowhere? And if so, why hasn’t anyone pointed out that there’s a new building here? Seriously, what the actual hells is going on, and…
“You okay, Chloe?” I ask, seeing her in a state of near panic.
She shakes her head. I hug her. “It’s okay,” I say. “If you’re not ready to try to get out of here, we can wait as long as you need.”
“So hard to believe all of this is happening.”
“It is. In any other context, we’d call it a miracle. If it weren’t for the echoes of my past life helping to keep me calm, I don’t think I’d be able to process it all, myself.”
“You’ll stay by my side? No matter what happens, no matter where we end up?”
“I promise, Chloe. Best friends forever means forever.”
“Thank you.” Her shaking is gone, replaced by stern determination. “Now let’s get going. Time to find out where we are and how we can get home.”