DF246 - The Model (Mel) (Patreon)

“Oh, hello,” Kelsey said, looking up from what she was doing. This proved catastrophic, at least locally.

The only meaning to the ghostly avatar of Kelsey that existed within her domain was that it indicated where she was devoting the majority of her attention. She was aware of everything that went on inside her, but she was more aware of some things than others.

Before she’d been distracted, she’d been supervising some sort of test on the new level. Unfortunately, they didn’t yet have skeletons of the right type for whatever Kelsey was doing, so they needed constant supervision. As soon as Kelsey was distracted, they made a mistake.

One end of the metal tube lit on fire and the whole assemblage shot forward, shedding metal parts in all directions. It didn’t go straight, though, and almost instantly hit the ceiling, exploding in a ball of fire. The workshop, the tools and the skeletons were all instantly destroyed.

Kelsey sighed and started absorbing the debris.

“And this is different from the explosives, right?” Mel asked.

“Right. Until now, we haven’t had the space to properly test aeronautics.” She gazed around the ruined level. “Done right, it explodes over there. Which is a whole different thing.”

“If you say so,” Mel said doubtfully. “What distracted you?” She could access Kelsey’s perceptions and find out for herself, but this was how they did things.

“We have a visitor. Tyla. I’m clearing out a route for her now. Want to guide her to the hospitality suite?”

“Don’t be silly, she can’t see me.”

“Dungeon Wife gave her a Trait that lets her see avatars and fairies,” Kelsey said. “I’d go myself, but I figured you’d want some alone time…”

“What? Why?” Mel thought back over her history with the elf girl. “Wait! She’s not here for that, is she?”

“I dunno. But it would only be natural if she did. You showed her a pretty good time, her last visit.”

“That was—wasn’t—” Mel started to feel very strange. “You made me do that!”

“You looked like you enjoyed it, though,” Kelsey said. She had a look on her face that meant she was teasing Mel.

“I didn’t! I couldn’t! Dungeon Fairies don’t enjoy things!” she declared. Stating basic facts was the best way to get out of whatever trap Kelsey was setting.”

“If you say so,” Kelsey agreed. “But Tyla’s going to get lost in a minute or two without you there to guide her…”

“Fine! I’m going!” Mel said, and flitted off. She knew where to go, just by wondering, and flying across the entire dungeon was quick enough when you didn’t have to worry about walls.

She intercepted the elf as she was coming through the third mana-lock, into what was, again, the loading bay area. Kelsey had already removed the arena—she was planning a larger one further down.

The elf tracked her as she flew through the open space, and Mel was forced to concede that the elf could see her. She drew up just ahead of the girl.

“Hello, Mel,” Tyla said softly. “Have you been well?”

“Hmph! Just because you can see me doesn’t mean I have a body!” Mel said. “I don’t have to worry about feelings that change from day to day!”

“Noted,” Tyla said politely. “So you don’t feel hunger or ever get sick? That must be nice.”

“It is! So don’t try and trick me into having any feelings!”

“I won’t,” Tyla promised. “Did you come to meet me?”

“Yes.” Mel narrowed her eyes as she inspected Tyla closely. She didn’t seem to be trying to trick Mel. “Kelsey wanted me to show you to the hospitality suite.”

“Ah. That would be most appreciated. I was hoping to find an out-of-the-way nook to Commune with Kelsey, but…” She looked around. “The place is so open.”

“Yeah, it’s normally pretty busy here,” Mel explained. “Kelsey cleared out all the workers so they wouldn’t attack you. This way.”

She led Tyla through the bay. The hospitality suite on this level was fairly close, but Kelsey had to open a passageway before Tyla could reach it.

“That was kind of her. Actually, there is a test I would like to do on a Tier One skeleton, if she could spare one.”

Mel eyed the elf walking beside her. “She heard you, but she didn’t say anything. She’ll probably drop one on top of you when you don’t expect it.”

“That does sound like her,” Tyla said with a rueful chuckle. “Though, her hospitality has improved of late.”

“Tell me about it,” Mel said sourly. “She let hundreds of people come in… and then let them leave! She didn’t kill any of them!”

They passed the massive block of stone that Kelsey had moved aside with her motors. Tyla didn’t notice it until it rumbled back into place behind them.

“Is that necessary?” Tyla asked.

“With the stone in place, Kelsey can put up a mana barrier between here and the rest of Floor Three,” Mel explained. “Then she can take down the barrier between here and Floor Two. If you’re on the second floor, she can regain control of the third and resume operations.”

“I see… do dungeons do a lot of this sort of manipulation?”

“Not really,” Mel said. “Kelsey can only do it at all because she can move doors with electricity instead of magic. That lets her make changes on occupied levels, which most dungeons can’t do.”

Now that they were in the Suite, a normal door took them to Tyla’s assigned room. She sank into the comfortable chair with a grateful sigh, then looked around.

“Are there any monsters in the suite?”

“No,” Mel replied. “There are supposed to be Skeleton Maids in here, but Kelsey is still working on stopping them from murdering people. If she’s going to drop a skeleton on you, she hasn’t put it in place yet.”

“Oh, good,” Tyla said. She slipped off her shoes and socks, letting her bare feet rest on the ground. “I’m going to Commune now. Will you go with me, or will you stay and watch over my body?”

“I don’t understand,” Mel said. “They’re the same—”

The scenery changed. They were in Kelsey’s office of many windows. Kelsey lounged in her swivelly chair behind her desk. Tyla was seated in the large leather lounge chair. Everything was the same as the last time, except for one notable change.

“—place,” Mel finished.

Tyla stared at Mel, then looked around. “What do you mean…”

Her attention got caught by Kelsey’s trophy, but she dragged her gaze back to Mel. “… the same place? It’s clearly different!”

“It looks different,” Mel allowed. “But it’s the same.”

“I’ve had a lifetime to try and wrap my head around the way Mel sees things,” Kelsey called from behind the desk, “But you’ll just have to accept that perspectives differ, in this case.”

“Sure,” Mel agreed. “I’m right, and you’re wrong.” That was just true and she would never stop correcting Kelsey on that.

“But… fine.” Tyla turned to a new topic. “What is that doing here?”

“You like it?” Kelsey asked. “It’s not the actual corpse, you understand. I’ve still got that on ice, just in case I find anything special about it. This is just a model. Isn’t it magnificent? The highest level target I’ve ever bagged!”

“Anton bagged him,” Tyla corrected.

“Still counts,” Kelsey said smugly. “As long as they die in me, it doesn’t matter how.”

“Why is he naked?”

“It, dear, it’s just a model. As for why he’s nude, it’s to show off his magnificence to its full extent.”

“Is that what you’re calling his—” Tyla broke off, gesturing at the member in question, unwilling to look directly at it. “—is that why it’s—”

“Magnificent, yes?”

“It looks painful,” Tyla replied.

“It’s barbed, yes, but it’s made of flesh, like the rest of it,” Kelsey told her. “It shouldn’t be too painful. You can touch it, if you like. I worked hard on getting the texture right.”

“No, thank you.” Tyla sank back into the chair and covered her face in her hands. “Can you take it away? I can’t remember what I came here for.”

“I’m surrounded by philistines,” Kelsey lamented. She waved her hand and made the offending model disappear.

“Wait… you have his body. Are you going to revive him?”

“That’s not what I do,” Kelsey said. “But I am going to make something that looks and acts like him the centrepiece of a new level. No spoilers, though.”

“Don’t let Soraya know,” Tyla said quickly.

“Hmph! Like Soraya is ever gonna make it down to my bottom levels,” Kelsey said dismissively.

“Just knowing something like that is down there would be enough to unnerve her,” Tyla said. “And you’ve been known to release monsters before.”

“Only for the very best of reasons,” Kelsey said. “And letting that guy out anywhere but the bottom of a dungeon would be hella expensive.”

Tyla seemed to accept that answer, but Mel knew that it wasn’t a real one. Sure, Kelsey was very reluctant to spend mana, but her new Death Knight wasn’t prohibitively expensive. Not for short excursions.

But educating elves wasn’t a part of Mel’s duties, so she kept silent.

“So, what brings you here?” Kelsey asked, leaning back in her chair. “Should we chat over some tea? Mel, do you want some tea?”

“No,” Mel said flatly. The tea was a trap, she was sure. It would probably turn out to be some sort of sex thing.

“Fair enough.”

There was a flicker, and Kelsey was sitting on the lounge next to Tyla. A small table appeared in front of them, with a pot of steaming tea and two elaborate china cups.

“I brought out the good stuff,” Kelsey said with a wink.

Tyla started when Kelsey appeared next to her, then blinked as she was offered a cup of hot, dirty water. Mel didn’t see the appeal.

“Thank you,” Tyla said cautiously. She took the cup and carefully sipped from it.

Kelsey took her own and greedily slurped from it. No matter how much she drank, the level in the cup never went down.

“So,” Kelsey said. “Ready to talk?”

Tyla took another sip of tea to compose herself. “I Communed with my core,” she said. “I made contact.”

Kelsey frowned. Mel frowned as well. Tyla’s core was dead—in fact it was the remains of multiple dead cores. There was no single thing for Tyla to contact.

“Tell me what you saw, what it said,” Kelsey demanded.

“It was… an elf child, with many faces. It just said one word before I lost the connection. Hello. In Elvish.”

Kelsey glanced at Mel, inviting her to speak up.

“It wasn’t Elvish,” Mel said. “It sent you the concept, and you heard it in your native tongue.”

“But I hear you and Kelsey in Tiatian Trade,” Tyla objected.

“It’s what you expect to hear,” Mel dismissed. “You expect foreigners to speak Trade, so that’s what happens.”

“Yeah, that’s real fascinating, I’ll be sure to let Chomsky know all about it, but aren’t you missing the point, Mel?”

“She was wrong about the language,” Mel said stubbornly.

“Cores are supposed to be dead, Mel; that was what you told me!”

“They are dead! Everyone knows that!”

“They’re not completely dead, though,” Tyla pointed out. “Magic still flows from them.”

“Just a trickle,” Mel countered. “Enough for a human’s spells, but nowhere near enough to sustain a dungeon.”

“Is it enough to sustain a person, though?” Kelsey said thoughtfully. “Wait, cancel that. If it’s alive, is it going to start making a dungeon inside me? Dungeonsception?”

“Of course not,” Mel said scornfully, glaring at Kelsey. Puns weren’t supposed to be possible in this place, but she had the sneaking feeling that Kelsey had managed one. “Just look at it!”

She pointed at the stone hanging around Tyla’s neck, as inert as it had ever been. Kelsey looked for a second, and then snorted.

“That’s not the real one.”

“It is!” Mel insisted, but Kelsey was already making an image that showed Tyla sitting, insensate, on the chair in the Suite. That had to be for Tyla’s benefit, since Kelsey, like Mel, was perfectly able to view the core directly.

“It’s not any more active,” Kelsey admitted. “But the energy seems… differently organised. Can you try Communing with it again?”

“I’d have to leave here,” Tyla said.

“No, you don’t,” Mel snorted. “You can do it from here.”

“But I—”

“Give it a go,” Kelsey urged. “I’d love to see a Commune Inception.”

“I don’t know what that means… and the core isn’t touching my flesh. I left it outside my clothes so there wouldn’t be interference when contacting you.”

“So just reach your hand up and grab it,” Mel said. Why did material beings have problems with this? They had hands; they grabbed things all the time!

“Try it. You’ve got a live view there, so you can see what you’re doing, and I don’t think you’re paralysed…”

Tyla looked dubious, but she started concentrating on… something. Mel couldn’t tell. Then her hands moved up and grasped the stone around her neck.

Both Kelsey and Tyla seemed surprised and pleased when the hands in the image reached up too. Mel didn’t know why. They were the same hands!

You didn’t need to say its name to activate a Trait. But here, the meaning of the act was so pure that you might as well have.

Commune.