Lair

by Carl Stubblefield

  Loot available

  Gus used an ether leash to pull the ten-foot creature on its side. The force of the impact dislodged a silvery, metallic, crystalline ball out of the overstretched mouth. The outside was jagged and rough like the inside of a geode.

  Gus picked up the ball and found that checking The One, there were no other items to be had. Gus reviewed his logs as he walked home.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Runnin’ From the Devil

  Gus checked his logs as he tossed the crystalline ball back and forth.

  You have leveled up the skill: Wreck-tums! to Level 3!

  +5% chance to trigger (15% total)

  500 XP awarded

  300 FP awarded

  You have leveled up the skill: T-Wrecks to Level 2!

  500 XP awarded

  200 FP awarded

  LEVEL UP! Congratulations, Level 12 reached!

  500 FP awarded

  LEVEL UP! Congratulations, Level 13 reached!

  500 FP awarded

  LEVEL UP! Congratulations, Level 14 reached!

  500 FP awarded

  You have (15) additional stat points to assign.

  You have obtained a Mandrite shard. Mandrite shards are precipitates of pure intelligence and can confer new abilities when absorbed and integrated by your Nth.

  Gus focused on the crystal and Wreck-ognize triggered, showing him some more information:

  This Mandrite shard contains:

  Psi-link (skill): Once integrated, allows the user’s interface to display other Nth within the vicinity, even if not visible by line of sight.

  Leech (skill): Once integrated, allows the user to extract data from the target’s Nth, and copy the information and abilities to their own Nth. Users can disable temporarily or erase this information once extracted.

  Gus stopped walking as he read the shard’s properties. This could be HUGE!

  “Gus!!!” Nick yelled, startling him. “You need to get back to the manor control room, now! You have to reset the flows there too; the magma channels are backing up even faster now that they’re reset.”

  Gus began to Dash, and made it back in record time. Sirens blared and red lights were flashing all along the halls. A female voice kept warning, “Please evacuate, situation critical. Destruction imminent.” The message kept repeating as Gus ran through the entry and entered the elevator. The doors slid shut painfully slow, as elevators always do. It crawled up floor by floor, leisurely taking its relaxed trip to the command center. As the doors slowly opened, Gus burst forth from the elevator and ran to the command center. Throwing the door open he pulled up the access to the main command console. Red alert windows flashed along multiple screens. Gus frantically looked around, the flashing lights making it harder to navigate.

  He tried to access the menu that controlled the flows, but was denied because he didn’t have access to the Alpha Protocols. Gus rushed to the scanner and almost slipped in his haste. He placed the severed hand on the scanner. The green line scanned up and down, obviously having difficulty reading the corrupted sample.

  “Hurry up, dammit!” Gus said through gritted teeth, as the line slowly repeated scanning, Gus looked over at one screen, which showed that there was already lava spilling down multiple sides of the volcano. Gus pushed the back of the hand into the screen to see if it would elicit a better imprint. A nearby pressure gauge showed that the volcano was already past predictions for eruption. His countdown said he had a couple hours left. The inaccuracy made him even more irritated.

  Finally, there were enough data points to trigger the system to recognize Methiochos’ hand.

  Recognized: Methiochos, DNA and handprint recognized. Alpha Protocols unlocked.

  Gus quickly opened the menu and finally found the appropriate window to give him admin privileges.

  Reset root access? (Y/N)

  A prompt directed him to use the scanner to finalize the process. Placing his hand on the scanner, he felt the characteristic green scan line pass up and down his hand, then a sharp prick as the machine collected a DNA sample from a drop of blood. A pop-up on the display showed the anticlimactic change.

  Confirmed. New Master of the Manor: Gus Vannett

  Gus saw that all references to Methiochos were being erased line by line from command options in the directories as the change was made.

  The computer displayed the prompt: Alpha commands transferred.

  “What now, Nick! Hurry, what do I do?”

  “Open tunnels 1A and 1B, then 2B, after that you should be fine,” Nick advised.

  Gus opened the tab with Alpha commands. Where was it? Under the ‘Diagnostics’ tab there was a warning that showed there were blockage errors on tunnels 1A and 1B, and 2B. Entering the command to open the channels, Gus let out a long sigh, slumping in his chair now that he had finally dealt with the crisis at hand. The sirens continued their grating cadence and the lights did not shut off, but Gus assumed it would take time for the pressure to equalize.

  After a minute, Gus reexamined the screens, and all the alerts were still in effect. In fact, the pressure continued to rise.

  “Uh, Nick? Why are the pressure levels not leveling out!?”

  “Let me check… That should not be happening.

  “Oh boy. It appears that the door seals are not responding to the signal to open. I can’t tell if it’s because the wires are just too old, or that the heat has melted them, but I’ve got some bad news for you, boss. You’re going to have to go down there and open those channels manually.”

  “Wait, what?! Opening a barrier sealing off molten magma, by hand? What kind of idiot design is that?”

  “Actually, there are three channels you need to open. Two are to divert the flow to energy converters. Then, you’ll have to open the main conduit. Finally, you’ll have to dash like you did around the island. Except without the help of your playlist, sorry. Cooldown and all. You can access the channels through the jungle exit tunnel. I’ll update the map. But hurry!”

  “Grmmmmm! Nothing’s ever easy!” Gus yelled as he alternatively ran and used Dash to get to the accessway as quickly as possible. Opening the manhole-sized entry port, he slid down the ladder, holding the sides with his feet and hands. Reaching the tunnel, Nick auto-updated his minimap to show where to go.

  A nondescript side tunnel led to a dead end with a hand-scan panel. Gus slammed his hand down and waited for the agonizingly slow green light to scan up and down. He’d have to look into upgrading these, they were horrendously slow, and he always had to access them when time was scarce. After an eternity, the system recognized him and the large door buzzed and electromagnetic locks disengaged. Gus pulled hard on the door and could not budge the large slab of metal. Even with his higher strength stats, he struggled to pull with all his might. This door probably had all kinds of rust and grime locking the hinges in place.

  “Umm, boss? Doors that push reduce the speed of those who pull before they read…”

  Gus stopped pulling and looked to the side to see where Nick had placed a flashing yellow box on his display around a small panel that simply stated, ‘PUSH.’ Gus rolled his eyes in exasperation and pushed on the door. It easily and silently slid forward. Gus almost tripped, stepping into a groove just behind the door. Looking up, he saw a large slab of rock suspended beyond the door in an alcove.

  “Dude!” Nick mentally shouted at Gus, who shook his head to focus and began running down the passageway, mad at himself for always being so easily distracted. The walls appeared to be bored straight out of the rock, being perfectly cylindrical except for the floor, which was thankfully level. The passageway beyond was long and straight, and Gus began spamming Dash. He wasn’t sure if the uncertainty of when the volcano would erupt was more or less nerve-wracking than a countdown would be.

  Occasional tremors and an ominous resonating rumble would shake the tunnels, spurring him to push his limits and move even faster. The grating noise got so loud that Gus was worried something w
ould shift and the tunnel would be filled with molten rock, but fortunately, it held.

  Coming to a T-intersection, he jogged through a series of twists and turns. Gus came to the first door Nick had marked. Instead of a scanner, this door resembled a submarine door with a large handwheel.

  Gus grabbed and wrenched the wheel. After a tense second where Gus wondered if he was turning it the wrong way, the wheel shifted and began to turn. The door opened and Gus was off again to the second door. The pathway to the next door was even more convoluted, and the inability to dash in the narrow curving passages made Gus all the more anxious. Stinging sweat dripped into his eyes and he swiped it away with his sleeve. Was it hotter or was it just because he was exerting himself so much?

  Before he could ask, Nick responded, “It’s a little of both. Hurry, you don’t have much time, Gus.”

  Gus pushed on, slamming into the second door and began yanking on the wheel to open it. A tremor knocked Gus off his feet, and he scrambled back up, pulling on the wheel. After a loud screech that sounded like nails on a chalkboard, the door relented and opened.

  It was definitely getting hotter, Gus realized. Following the minimap, he headed for the last marker. Gus thanked his luck stat that this last passageway was straight. Irising the minimap out, he could see his escape path once he opened the last chamber. Three straight hallways and then he would be out. He just hoped the pressure wouldn’t be so high that he couldn’t outrun the magma once he opened the release valve.

  As Gus neared the end of the hallway, it became harder and harder to breathe. The air was becoming hotter and it was quickly becoming uncomfortable to move. He was two hundred feet from the end of the hallway, and the heat became an almost physical barrier he had to push against. The super-heated air began to make him cough, lungs already burning from his extended run. Gus blinked as he began to get lightheaded.

  He stumbled drunkenly and fell to his knees. The floor of the chamber was hot and singed his hand as he reached his hand forward to brace himself from falling onto his face. He yanked the hand to his chest; the pain of the burn gave him a moment of clarity. He tried to force his brain to think. He began to have a coughing fit, as if his lungs were rejecting the hot air, but his brain was trying to override them as it became more starved of oxygen.

  Gus looked at his burned hand, squinting from the heat. A red welt was already starting to rise. A silvery sheen floated over it, like heat waves on a hot desert road. He stared for a bit as the shimmer played across his skin, watching the red welt shrink like a pool of water drying up in the desert, being slowly absorbed. Absorbed. His mind perked up for some reason at the word.

  Blinking, he recognized the shimmer as his Nth. Nth that had the Energy Absorption skill. Holding his hands out, he tried to imagine the heat flowing into the shimmering Nth. It was so difficult to focus amid the coughing fits and his delirious state. He closed his eyes, and pulled on the heat.

  Instantly, his mind clarified. Still coughing, Gus envisioned a web of Nth in front of his mouth. He gasped in air that was much easier to breathe, stripped of the suffocating heat. Gus pushed forward, absorbing energy from all around his body. It felt like he was walking into a strong wind with how the heat whipped around him, ever intensifying.

  Gus began to feel supercharged with the excess energy that the Nth directed into his entire being. His lungs stopped burning, and he could actually feel them recovering from the damage of the scalding air.

  All his senses seemed amplified, as if his whole life had been in black and white and low volume, then suddenly burst into full IMAX glory of sound and color. Currents of energy became visible to him, and he could see them bleeding some of the excess energy off into the ether. His muscles thrummed with energy with each step forward.

  Gus approached the end of the hallway and saw a shimmering bubble surrounding the access panel. It crackled and sparkled with purplish energy; apparently it was some kind of force field that protected the interface. Gus tentatively reached toward it and it enveloped his hand as he accessed the scanning panel beneath. Placing his hand on the surprisingly cool panel, he waited for the scanner to do its thing. A message popped up on the display:

  Authorize tunnel 1A opening?

  Gus readied himself to run and pushed the button. He exploded away, activating Dash as a loud creak occurred. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the wall at the end of the hallway began to slide into the roof. Bright magma began shooting into the rift below the door and Gus turned and focused on his escape. Seeing the first turn up ahead, Gus improvised attaching an ether tether along the corner of the hallway to slingshot him into the next hall without losing too much momentum.

  It worked! He kept dashing, keeping an eye on his MP gauge, but the extra energy absorbed from the heat must have been supplementing his skill expenditures as it was not nearly as depleted as it should have been from all his skill usage. Gus was approaching the next turn, and then it would be straight on until the end. Gus could hear a rushing noise behind him, but refused to look as he progressed closer to the end of the tunnel.

  He took the fact that he didn’t feel any heat behind him as a good sign and continued to the end of the hallway. Instead of climbing, Gus slingshot himself to the top of the ladder using two ether leashes.

  Gus grasped the rungs of the ladder and encountered another hand wheel. Opening these wheels one handed was difficult. Unsure if it was the energy boost or just adrenaline, Gus managed to loosen the wheel, open the door, and slide out. Slamming the door shut he twisted the handwheel on the other side and tightened it until it was securely shut.

  Woof to the woof! Gus sat there for a bit, mentally exhausted.

  “We’re golden,” Nick said. “Power levels are stabilizing and pressure levels dropping. Good work!”

  The longer he stayed sitting down, the more his body was powering down and yearning for sleep. Gus stood, stretched, and shuffled to the elevator. Even though it was only mid-afternoon, it was time for some shut-eye. Gus looked at the crystalline sphere and got the prompt to absorb the skills and consume the Mandrite.

  “Gus, I’d recommend you wait until you are in bed before doing that; it can take a while to assimilate a new skill, especially a powerful one.”

  Gus nodded, then numbly made it to his suite. He took a long enough shower to get clean. Grabbed a robe and crashed into bed. He activated the crystal and accepted the prompt to absorb both skills. He was asleep in less than a minute. He didn’t hear the crash of chimes and notices that filled his log.

  Epilogue

  Gus had a lazy day, enjoying the chance to just do nothing for a change. Eventually he made his way to the control room to see what he would plan next to develop the manor. For once, he ignored his logs and just existed. Nick repeatedly reassured him everything was normalizing and Gus ate, napped, and took a relaxing swim.

  With the magma rerouted, his available energy bar was significantly larger. He would run out of FP long before he exhausted the energy capacity of the manor now. The bio-stasis field, unfortunately, was non-functional. Diagnostics showed that the capacitors to initiate the field’s creation had been essentially fried due to maintaining the field for so long.

  He took a well-deserved break, and occasionally he worked on improving skills. Eventually he checked his logs and experience gains. For the first time in a while, Gus got to relax and enjoy himself.

  Unbeknownst to him, a red light began to flash, indicating a message had been received.

  The control panel was dusty, because he had not used them at all during his stay at the manor. The display read:

  One (1) message received.

  Play now? (Y/N)

  The unanswered message carried a warning. On it, a sinister voice that would have sounded vaguely familiar whispered, “Thank you, whoever you are. We have been looking for the manor for sooo long. Now that we know where you are, we will be seeing you soon to reclaim what is ours!”

  Afterword

  We hope
you enjoyed Lair! Since reviews are the lifeblood of indie publishing, we’d love it if you could leave a positive review on Amazon! Follow this link to be redirected to the Henchman: Lair Amazon product page to leave your review.

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  About Carl Stubblefield

  The author began his plans for world domination by first becoming a dentist. It is a well-known fact that dentists have unearthed the ancient secrets of how to crush the hearts of men and to hear the lamentations of women and children. When this was insufficient, he created worlds where he could torment the good guys before moving to the next phase of his plans. Known for nefarious accomplishments that involve crippling dad-jokes and debilitating puns.

  From his secret lair hidden in the Pacific Northwest, he lives with his wife and three children. They haven’t left yet, but the mountain is covered with genetically altered wolves and other creatures. I’m sure that’s just a coincidence, though.

  Connect with Carl:

  HenchmenUnite.com

  Patreon.com/HenchmenUnite

  Twitter.com/ouroboros999

  Facebook.com/groups/CarlStubblefield

  About Mountaindale Press

  Dakota and Danielle Krout, a husband and wife team, strive to create as well as publish excellent fantasy and science fiction novels. Self-publishing The Divine Dungeon: Dungeon Born in 2016 transformed their careers from Dakota’s military and programming background and Danielle’s Ph.D. in pharmacology to President and CEO, respectively, of a small press. Their goal is to share their success with other authors and provide captivating fiction to readers with the purpose of solidifying Mountaindale Press as the place ‘Where Fantasy Transforms Reality.’