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MT 343 - Volunteered
🕑 Added 2026-02-01 21:52:24 +0000 UTC“What happened?” asked Varrin. “Were we pulled into the Labyrinth?”
“We’re mostly in the same place,” I said.
“Mostly?” asked Major Kai.
“Location is relative.” I pointed up. “Relative to the sky, we moved. Relative to everything else, we didn’t.”
“Wasn’t it the sky that moved?” asked Guar.
“Depends on your perspective.” I held up a hand to forestall any further questions, leaving Guar looking disappointed. “What I’m trying to say is I don’t think we were pulled into the Labyrinth. I think the Labyrinth grew to encompass this Dungeon.”
“What difference does that make?” asked Kai.
“It breaks the rules,” Grotto jumped in. “Delves and other level-granting zones claim territory when initially established. Afterwards, they can grow slowly over time but do not forcibly overtake areas where Delvers or other sapients are present.”
“A fundamental tenant of the System is choice,” I added. “It won’t force you to enter a Delve.”
“We did not choose to enter the Cage,” said Varrin. “We were forced through that portal.”
“Sure, but evil Etja shoved us in there because Orexis wanted her to infiltrate the place. The System didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Does this tell us anything?” asked Kai.
“Either another entity is responsible for the sudden growth of the Labyrinth, or there are extraordinary circumstances that have led the Delve Cores to bend the rules.”
“Labyrinths have multiple Cores?” I asked.
“There should be one for each obelisk.”
Guar took off his helm and scratched behind an ear. It flicked a few times as he dug in. “Would the emergency objective be enough to make this happen?” he asked.
“Approval for the creation of an emergency objective merely authorizes additional incentives that can be offered to Delvers to entice them to enter.” Grotto’s tentacles undulated in a shrug-like manner. “The System will not force Delvers to intervene, even if it means that a Delve is destroyed.”
“Okay, let’s take one scenario off the list,” I said. “What kind of entities could seize control of a Labyrinth and force it to expand so suddenly?”
“Perhaps a System Architect that has gone rogue. Otherwise, there is a remote chance that an avatar has a concept that would allow it, but I am not aware of any. It is vastly more likely that the Cores are responsible.”
Varrin looked between me and my familiar. “Can you not simply ask the System?” he asked.
I shared a look with the little octo. “Well,” Grotto began reluctantly, “you see, there is the matter of system rep…”
“We’d have to spend some to ask,” I added. Varrin and the others gave me a ‘so-what’ look. I crossed my arms. “It’s not easy to come by.”
“It should not be used frivolously.”
“Would it really cost so much?” asked Kai.
“It depends on how much we are willing to pay.”
“Sometimes it’ll be like ‘oh yeah, just 1 rep to do this thing you want,’ but then when you agree the System is like ‘oh but actually you also need this other thing to really do the thing you want and that’s 10 rep,’ and you end up with the problem of sunk cost and deciding whether you should cut your losses or keep doubling down.”
“Then offer the smallest amount you can,” Varrin suggested. “If the situation is dire enough, the System will respond. If it tries to extract everything it can out of you, then we will know the circumstances aren’t so grim.”
I tilted my head from side to side in thought. “I guess it’s worth a shot.”
“If you think so, then you will not mind spending your own rep.”
“Really?”
“There are many operational upgrades I wish to make to our Delve cluster.”
“Uhhh,” said Guar, “how many of those things do you two have?”
“It’s not important,” I said, pulling up the menus I had due to being the co-arbiter of Closetland’s Delves. I had 14 system rep.
As a Delver in my unique position, I could use the Dungeoneering skill to make System Calls, but that was a weird workaround I’d figured out in a moment of crisis. Before I committed to anything, I hesitated and looked at Grotto. Cores had less roundabout ways of connecting to the System. “Don’t you literally have an intrinsic skill called System Call?”
“I do, but the primary benefits are related to Override Code 003 and anything within the 900 series. Dungeoneering should be fine for a general request.”
“Code 003 is the preservation of a Delve Core,” I said. “I guess there’s no reason to believe that’s applicable for the moment. The 900 series is all about wanting stuff without a good reason, right?”
“They are requests based on emotional appeal, which the System allows for but heavily disfavors.”
“Does that mean you evolved your System Call skill so you could whine your way into more concessions from the System?”
“It is the most logical series of codes to enhance. If you are making appropriate use of the other codes, your request will be granted without issue.”
“Then why did you buff Code 003 as well?”
“If I am asking the System to save my life then I am not terribly concerned with whether my use of the attendant code is fully within scope.” He flicked an armored tentacle at me. “Why are you interrogating me about such things? Make your System Call and be done with it.”
I watched the core for a moment. Regardless of what he said, I suspected the System would be more willing to respond to a System Call when using a skill that was literally named after it. What Grotto was proposing was similar to “you can make a wand with Woodworking,” but why would I do that if I have a Wandmaking skill? Instead of jumping in with Dungeoneering, I focused on our soul connection. I recalled the experience of borrowing the Core’s Golemancy skill and tried to follow a similar path as I spoke.
“System Call: Provide context for the recent Labyrinth expansion.”
I felt a rush of knowledge, but thankfully my mind didn’t get thrust into Grotto’s past like it had with Golemancy. What I did get was a familiar string of error messages.
Would you like to acquire the System Call intrinsic skill?
You have 0 of 13 intrinsic skill slots available.
You cannot acquire System Call.
System Call is a restricted intrinsic skill.
You are not a System entity.
You cannot acquire System Call.
…
You have acquired the System Call intrinsic skill!
ERROR! You have filled 14 of 12 intrinsic of 14 of 13 of ???
You have filled __ of __ intrinsic skill slots.
You have -2 intrinsic skill slots remaining.
Attempting to resolve…
Unable to resolve.
Escalating error code…
Escalation cancelled by administrator.
Your System Call skill has increased from Level 1 to Level 10! Choose from one of the following evolutions!
ERROR! Level 10 evolution has already been selected.
Attempting to resolve…
Escalating error code…
Error code has bypassed sub-system resolution procedures.
Connecting to SYSTEM CORE 1…
“Maybe I don’t even have to spend rep,” I said.
Grotto froze for a moment, then glared at me. “What did you do?”
Hey!
It smells like some real monkey business in here and that is not a good musk to have, friend. What’s even worse is that you’ve got the Blacking Out achievement.
If there’s one thing we hate, it’s a room full of primates who’ve gotten shitfaced at the banana daiquiri stand.
Confused?
Fuck it, let’s take a look at these codes.
First up, too many intrinsic skills… Pshh, whatever. If the man wants to stuff too much shit into his mana matrix, who are we to stop him?
The next problem is that you’re not a System entity, and System Call is restricted, and… Who cares? You’ve got all these Delve admin permissions anyway, so you’re practically working for us already.
Last thing is to just– Ohhh, now we see. You’ve got the Blacking Out achievement because we’re supposed to delete everything as soon as we–
DELETE rec:UN_ARLO para:System_Call
Aaaaand all the notifications deleted themselves.
You have earned the Blacking Out 2 Achievement!
Blacking Out 2: We were analyzing your data uplink for some reason and we can’t remember why!
AGAIN!
You’re being added to a list of possible contributing factors for a whole mess of aberrational programming. If we find out that you’re the cause, we won’t kill you ourselves, but we’ll find someone or something that will!
Prepare to be double-scrutinized.
I ignored the threat to my life and rubbed my beard, giving the System a few seconds to finish sorting itself out.
Your System Call request “Provide context for the recent Labyrinth expansion,” cannot be automatically completed because you are not an arbiter of this Labyrinth, nor do you have administrator permissions.
Because the requested action is informational only, you can acquire this information by spending System Rep.
Would you like to spend 1 System Rep to acquire this information?
I snapped my fingers. Major Kai flinched, but relaxed when nothing exploded.
“Dang,” I said. “It’s not free, but on the bright side, it only asked for 1 Rep.”
“That is not a bright side,” said Grotto. “That does not bode well at all.”
I went ahead and paid the rep while Guar and Kai followed up on Grotto’s ominous statement.
The recent Labyrinth expansion was the result of a successful Override Code 001: Preservation of Delve System. The following data was submitted in support of the code.
I was hit with a wall of incomprehensible text that was some form of System machine speak.
“Neither me nor Arlo are connected to this Labyrinth,” Grotto explained to the Littans. “Such an information request should have been more expensive, which means the System wants us to have the information we requested.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” asked Guar.
“The System has started using our party to put out fires,” I said, giving Grotto a psychic nudge and sending him the data I’d just gotten. “We only get offered Delves that are royally screwed up. Easy intel feels like we’re walking into something like that.”
“Indeed.”
“So this is the System’s equivalent of running out into the street screaming for the fire brigade,” Kai summarized.
“Probably not that extreme,” I said. “More like a count begging a passing squad of soldiers for help because they have a problem their personal retainers can’t handle.”
“That would speak to a much bigger problem than a house fire,” said Major Kai.
“This is certainly worse than setting fire to the wrong building,” Grotto said. “Code 001 only applies to circumstances that could impede the System’s execution of its primary directives. The equivalent for your government would be something that would disrupt your entire empire. The annihilation of one Labyrinth would not qualify, but there appears to be some manner of critical infrastructure hidden within this place. The Cores refer to it as ‘the filter’, and claim that this object is under threat of being converted to enemy use.”
“Any idea what that is?” I asked
“I have never heard of such a thing,” Grotto replied. “Essential System functions are generally handled via decentralized processes that are not vulnerable to coordinated attacks on a single location.”
“What about the System Cores?” I asked.
“That is beyond my access permissions, but I suspect the System Cores have redundancies buried around the planet. Even if one were entirely destroyed, another System Core would likely be hidden elsewhere, ready to activate as needed.”
“Should we be hearing this?” asked Kai.
“Probably not,” I said, then turned back to Grotto. “Do you think SC1 is fucking things up by barely functioning well enough to prevent another Core from replacing it?”
“I am going to ignore your invitation to descend into an irrelevant side tangent in favor of speaking on matters more germane to our present circumstances.”
“There’s never time for the big questions,” I lamented.
“In summary, this Labyrinth is home to an object of critical importance to the System’s capacity for executing its functions, and it is under assault by a hostile force, presumably Brae’ach’s United, for the express purpose of accessing and converting this object to their own ends.”
I snapped my fingers again. Nobody flinched this time. “I bet it’s one of those monoliths.”
Grotto narrowed his big octo-eyes at me. “Why would the System be reliant on one of Unity’s monoliths?”
“They’re core components for the ritual process to resurrect the first avatar from its slumber,” I said. “That doesn’t mean they can’t be used for other things. I bet they’re quite hefty, magically speaking.”
Varrin snapped his fingers between me and Grotto. This time I flinched. “The Labyrinth expanded to force us inside,” he said. “Did it include everyone else?”
“Psycomms have been interrupted,” said Major Kai. “Delves always cut off our communications.”
“Can you fix that, Grotto?” I asked.
“The others would assume it to be an attack,” said Kai. “Grotto never included himself in the relay, so he does not have a signature created by Earworm.”
“Should we burn another rep to find out if everyone else is in here with us?” I asked.
“No,” Grotto said, swiping a feeler through the air. “Rather than spend Rep to acquire information piecemeal, I will formulate a more comprehensive request for access to a Labyrinth dashboard.” He made a frustrated clicking noise. “It will be more expensive now, but save us Rep in the long run.”
“All right,” I said. “While he does that, do any of you have strong feelings about which exit to use?” I gestured towards the treeline and the three circular platforms beyond.
“Exits?” asked Varrin.
“Well, they were entrances. I guess they’re more like interior doors than anything now.”
“We can leave to one of three other Dungeons,” said Major Kai, pointedly ignoring me. “Blunt, Blades, or Piercing.”
Varrin stared thoughtfully into the distance for a moment. “We should stay together if possible,” he said. “I have the Brawling skill, which augments all melee fighting, and I’m competent with hammers and maces. I can fumble my way through Blunt if need be.”
“I also have Brawling,” said Kai. “I believe I can do the same.”
The pair looked at me and Guar.
“I’m Blunt Weapons all the way, baby!” said Guar, pulling his hammer and hefting it into the air.
“That is not a virtue at the moment, Sergeant,” said Kai. Guar let the hammer fall to rest against his shoulder. The man looked like he disagreed with the major, but wasn’t about to say that out loud.
“Blunt is my only weapon skill, as well,” I said, “and Grotto can borrow it.”
“Then our decision is made,” said Varrin.
A/N: POLLS!
Comments
Throh_goblin Lord
Let's go Hammers! And there's definitely multiple United in the labyrinth.
