by Matthew Peed
Station 64: The Doll Dungeon
Book 1
Frenzied Rebirth
Matthew Peed
About the Author
Matthew Peed is a single father who works hard to provide for his daughter and also for his loyal readers. He has read or devoured millions of pages of novels, web fiction, and any other media that he can get his hands on. He started this project in order to shape something with his own mind that he could leave for his daughter to read.
Feel free to reach out to him.
Dungeon Robotics Home
Discord
Patreon
Copyright © 2020 Matthew Peed
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
First publishing, Febraury 2021.
Matthew Peed
Sprocketed Ink Publishing
P.O. Box 481
Dover, TN 37058
https://www.Patreon.com/DungeonRobotics
Dedication
To all the people who have helped me along way: Thank you! Here we are seven books in the series. Without yours and everyone else’s support, I’m not sure I would have gotten this far. I plan to continue expanding this world as far and as wide as possible, and I hope everyone stays with me every step of the way.
Reviv3pls
T3iaian
Ben Stringer
Jack
R hansen
Ruaraidh Gilbert
Smudi Corp
Contents
About the Author
Dedication
Chapter 1: Dungeons and Goddess
Chapter 2: Angry Unicorns
Chapter 3: Just My Luck
Chapter 4: Summoning
Chapter 5: Construction
Chapter 6: New Skill?
Chapter 7: More Summoning and Constructioon
Chapter 8: Dive
Chapter 9: Changes
Chapter 10: Time’s Up!
Chapter 11: Hunt’s End
Chapter 12: Monster and Murderer
Chapter 13: Debut
Chapter 14: Mom and Pop. A Look Outside.
Chapter 54: Diving Take Two!
Chapter 16: Interview with a Dungeon
Chapter 17: You’re a What!?
Chapter 18: Helping the Dungeon
Chapter 19: Level Up!
Chapter 20: Back on the Streets
Chapter 21: Isn’t That a Bit Large?
Chapter 22: Shopping!
Chapter 23: Delicious Frenzy
Chapter 24: Post Café Rumble
Chapter 25: Housekeeping!
Chapter 26: New Image
Chapter 27: Explosions and Stargazing
Chapter 28: Plans of Revenge and Hunting
Chapter 29: Seeing Double and Carnage
Chapter 30: Crippling Debt
Chapter 31: Peace and Quiet
Chapter 32: PARTY!
Chapter 33: Reunion?
Chapter 34: Captured
Chapter 1: Dungeons and Goddess
Azaria
It was a normal morning by the standards of most people. Well, actually that wasn’t true. What made it different was that it was the first time my parents allowed me to leave the estate without an escort. I’d taken all the normal precautions that we could think about. I wore clothes that I normally wouldn’t be caught dead in, and had a wig, sunglasses, and even a hat! No one could recognize me.
I never thought it would lead to something like this!
~~~
“Now boarding! Now boarding! Please enter calmly and orderly!” the PA system announced, causing me to jump. This was the first time I’d ever ridden the subway. It might not be a big deal for some people, but for me it was quite the adventure.
I walked over to the ticket booth and bought a ticket for Uptown. I didn’t have any business there or anything, I just wanted to wander the city a little bit. I’d lived in this city my whole life but had never gotten the chance to do so. Plus, I knew my parents had something planned for my birthday up there, though they were trying to keep it a surprise.
I moved over to the crowd of people gathering for the train. Their diversity just blew me away. A lady who looked like she was wearing over ten thousand dollars in jewelry stood next to a man who could have just crawled out of the sewer. I joined the outer edges of the crowd.
“Why do I have to do this? There are other people. Damn Terleza,” muttered a tall handsome man to himself next to me. He was easily a head taller than me, and I was already six feet tall. He had a well-chiseled jawline, and his eyes resembled an abyss. I had to quickly look away, feeling I was going to drown in them.
The man kept muttering, but I did my best to ignore him. I wasn’t going to let someone ruin my day out. The train arrived and the crowd moved as one to get on the vehicle. I could have taken a seat but wanted to experience the train moving like in the movies. The train jerked as it started moving, then stopped almost as quickly.
I looked around to see what was going on and caught sight of the tall man from earlier—who was glowing a yellow, unearthly color. In the same glance, I noticed that everyone had gone completely still. If I couldn’t see some of them breathing, I would have thought time had stopped.
“Ferio Aseuon Aueios,” said the man as the glow grew brighter. I had no idea what language it was, and my parents had versed me on quite a few.
I felt my muscles lock up. Under me, an intricate etching of some sort began to form, containing symbols I’d never seen before, and it glowed with a power that even I could feel. Yellow chains started to wrap around my legs. I would have panicked if I could have moved.
The man shook his head, but the harsh expression on his face didn’t change. “A pity. I’m sure. You only have yourself to blame. Your luck and fate were higher than a hundred million people combined. Sadly, this led to us noticing you. Don’t worry. Everything will be explained later.”
I couldn’t move my mouth to even attempt to talk. The chains wrapped around my neck and arms, fully binding me. It didn’t stop the tears from flowing. I could only think I was about to die or meet a fate worse than death. I cried out over and over in my head for my parents.
“Kor Feri Aoerf!”
With his voice reaching what seemed to be a peak, a wave of energy shot from me into the surroundings. Everyone who was standing turned and walked toward me. I could only stare as the man who looked like he’d crawled out of a sewer touched my shoulder and burst into flames. The fancy woman was next, followed by nearly a hundred people on the train. With each flame, I could feel a force rising in my chest.
Soon it was just me and the tall man left on the train. I prayed that it was over, then noticed the man finishing another chant. What more could he do?
Before I could find out, the train jerked again. Maybe whatever magic he used on it was wearing off, but my stiff body started to fall forward. My head smacked his chest, and just like the others on the train, he burst into flames.
I blinked as the world faded to darkness.
~~~
“I can’t believe a perfectly good dungeon has been sitting here wasting away. If I find Wez, I’m going to kill him!”
“Hello?” I tried to say, but nothing came out. I tried to open my eyes, but still, nothing happened.
“Azaria? Are you finally awake?” asked the voice. It was cold, making it sound like this was all my fault. I tried to reply again, to no effect. “Look inside yourself. You should sense a ball of power there. Try to push it out.”
&nbs
p; I did as I was told and looked to the center of the darkness. At first, I floundered around like a fish out of water, but I eventually found the spot the voice was talking about. It pulsed, reminding me of a heartbeat. I pushed and felt the darkness around me lift considerably.
When I paused, I found I was in what looked like a ruined tunnel. A burned-out husk of metal and glass were at the center of the tunnel. With a stab of pain, the memories of what had just happened flooded back to me. Was I dead? Surely, if I could feel pain, then that wasn’t the case. I expanded the field more, and suddenly a woman glowing a brilliant yellow appeared in my vision.
“Ah! Finally. You know it is rude to make a goddess wait five days,” said the woman with a glare in my direction.
“What’s going on!?” I tried to scream. I was, however, still voiceless.
She looked something over with a critical eye and nodded. “Good. It appears you’re mostly there. I am the goddess Terleza. You have been chosen by us to become a dungeon. Why and how is none of your concern. The Earth you once knew is no more.” She paused as if mulling something over. “That’s not actually true. Your planet is remarkably steadfast in sticking to what they’ve created. As a result, our projections have had to be corrected.”
The whole time the woman monologued, I was screaming in my head. If I’d had a physical form, I would have rushed her and tried to strangle her. Sadly, I just had my ghost-like outline that couldn’t touch a thing. This was unfair! Why did I have to put up with this!
The woman looked at her wrist and nodded. “It has officially been a year since the beginning of the change. You’re behind your siblings. Hopefully, you don’t end up destroyed too quickly.” She took a deep breath and rubbed the back of her head, then waved her hand. A burst of light flooded into my the perception’s center. “That should help you get started. And as an added bonus, I’ll allow you to bring one item from your past here.”
With that she vanished in a burst of light. I was left alone in the ruined subway tunnel with only my thoughts. Needless to say, I silently screamed into the stillness for a good while.
~~~
I eventually screamed myself out. Whether it took just a few minutes or a day, I personally had no way of knowing. I knew if I had a physical body, I likely would have been huddled in a corner crying my eyes out. When I finally calmed down, I took a good look around. The first thing that caught my eye was a clock in the corner of my vision.
27 Days 23 Hours 45 Minutes
I blinked as I thought about what that countdown could possibly mean. Probably something else equally as mortifying as what I was currently dealing with. I decided to ignore it for now. The tunnel barely changed no matter how many times I looked at it. I couldn’t be sure, but I felt I could see a good sixty feet in each direction. I barely had a car and half the old train in my field of vision.
With nothing else to do, I started pushing my field out more. It appeared to be the only thing I could currently do. If so, this life was going to get boring fast. I noticed a green glow and saw a few rats on the tunnel floor, as well as some mold where a trickle of water came in. I filed that away for now.
When my field reached about two hundred feet, I hit a roadblock. The field stopped expanding. Not matter how hard I tried, it wouldn’t budge. I just wanted to curl up in a corner and cry. None of this madness made sense.
I stared for a while at the darkness. While I could see everything, I knew that there was no light. I wasn’t sure how long I just gazed at nothing. Actually, that was a lie. The clock in the corner of my eye told me exactly how long it’d been. Two days. Two days of doing absolutely nothing.
“I wish there was a setting button to remove this stupid thing!” I screamed in my head, while thinking about the options button from my cellphone. The clock suddenly expanded, and a block of text appeared in front of me.
Azaria Highlock
Age: 14
Level: 1
Race: Dungeon
Type: Undefined
Aether: 20,000
Floors: 2/1
Skills: Creation
Deconstruction
Summon (0/101)
Teleport Matrix (1/1)
Achievements: God Killer – Killed a god, albeit a weak one.
Pending
Item selection
I stared at the information for several minutes. Even I’d played enough games to understand the basics. The thing that scared me was the God Killer achievement. The only god I’d ever met was Terleza from a few days ago. Wait, that might not be true. I supposed I’d inadvertently killed the man who’d caused me to be in this situation. He could have been a god.
“Heh. Served him right,” I mentally mumbled to myself.
I decided to ignore it for now. It didn’t look like it would help me at the moment. Likely, if Terleza found out, she would kill me all over again. That was one problem I preferred not to have to deal with.
I focused on the last thing in the list. Terleza had said I could bring one thing from my past here. I doubted she’d let me bring my body back. I also had no way of knowing anything about the world. From what she said, it was different yet the same. So, a cellphone probably wouldn’t help much. I guessed I would just bring something that had some sentimental value.
I thought about all the things lying around my room. Since she’d said the past, I shouldn’t have to worry whether whatever I chose still existed, that was, if my parents had had to get rid of my belongings after I’d disappeared . . . The thought soon had me crying my invisible tears again.
I managed to pull myself together about thirty minutes later. My parents were strong and smart individuals. They were likely still alive and thriving in whatever twisted world the Earth had become.
Growing up, I’d had a massive collection of dolls, puppets, plushies, figurines, and other stuffed animals. I’d even started getting into models. My favorite was a life-sized unicorn my father had gotten me for my tenth birthday. I couldn’t even count how many times I’d fallen asleep on it over the years. It would be perfect to bring me a little comfort in this messed-up hole I currently called home.
“I choose Starburst. My stuffed unicorn,” I said in my mind, a cringe-worthy name for a cringe-worthy ten-year-old. On another note, I really hoped I’d become capable of speech in the future. I had liked to talk to people when I was a human, after all.
A magic circle-like thing formed in the middle of the tunnel, and the stuffed animal appeared, looking exactly as I remembered it. A large white horse with a silver mane, and a rainbow horn that extended a good foot from the head. The moment it appeared, I flung myself onto it, but instead found that my perception flew right through it.
“Curse this nonphysical form!” I screamed before devolving into another cry session.
Chapter 2: Angry Unicorns
Azaria
I managed to collect myself in a record five minutes this time. While I couldn’t touch Starburst, he did offer me some emotional support by being in my sight. I mentally cracked my knuckles and hardened my mind. I needed to get to work. On what exactly was still a gray area.
“I suppose I could try out these skills . . .”
I decided to use Deconstruction first. There was plenty in the tunnel that I wouldn’t mind getting rid of. On the edge of my field lay a pile of rocks, likely from some earthquake or similar event. Focusing on the top of the pile, I used the skill. I felt . . . something leave me, and the rock turned to gray motes of light that flew over to what I considered my head at the centermost part of the tunnel.
I could tell that the material entered a space of some kind. I could bring it back out if I needed to. I glanced at my list again, but nothing changed. I figured my Aether, whatever that was, would have changed, considering I’d used an ability. That was how it usually worked in most games, but my Aether didn’t budge either way.
I moved on to the Creation skill. With nothing to go on, I took a shot in the dark and tried to make a cellphone. I pi
ctured the one I had. When nothing happened for several minutes, I knew it was useless. I thought about what I might have to do if this was a game but came up with a blank. My gaming experience was mobile games, after all.
“That just leaves Summon!”
I concentrated on the skill with the intent to use it. A flood of information suddenly hit my head. It took a moment for me to understand what I was seeing.
Animals
Goblins
Kobolds
Ghosts
Ghouls
Sprites
Trolls
Gnolls
Imps
Ogres
The list went on, but the options were all crossed out. I began to worry that I wouldn’t be able to summon anything, then I found one that was still glowing. Doll. I glanced over to Starburst. Maybe when I summoned him, it had counted against whatever system this thing uses.
“If it is on the list, that means it’s just as good as the others, right?”
I chose the doll option, and another list of options appeared. I could design quite a bit of the summoned doll. The more I looked at it, the more confused I grew. After staring at it for three hours, I found an option that let me designate a target. I looked over to Starburst. It would be lovely to see him actually alive.
I went with that and clicked the finish button. A stream of light flowed from my center and made its way into the stuffed animal. It took a good ten minutes, which I hoped was normal. The light show finally ended, and the doll started to twitch. He slowly got to his feet and looked like a real unicorn.
“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Starburst shouted suddenly. He jerked his head around. “YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”
I drew back from him, not expecting this kind of outburst. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I cried, even though I knew no one could hear it.
Starburst jerked his head around and looked directly at me. “You!” he yelled while beating the ground with a hoof. It made barely a sound. “What have you done to me!?”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“Stop apologizing! Answer my question!”