Chapter 43

Red Sands Desert, Contested Border Region.

Dungeon Factory, Core Room.

"Lady Crystal." Said Artok as he bowed down, quickly followed by his companion.

"Guild leader Artok." Answered Alexandra through CQ's body, before raising an eyebrow and nodding to the beastkin. "I don't believe we've met. I am Crystal, dungeon core and mistress of this dungeon. And you are?"

"I am Eismi Lorien, lady Crystal. I am an artificer and enchantress, graduate from the New Raleigh University of the Sciences."

Alexandra nodded, like if the last part meant anything to her. She'd have to ask Emilia about it.

TO-DO LIST UPDATED.

"I see. Well, enchantress Eismi, what brings you here today?"

Artok cleared his throat, and stepped in before the fox-eared girl could answer.

"Actually, we are here on behalf of guildmaster Starvak, to...deliver something."

Alexandra and Emilia immediately perked up at his words. They waited for a few seconds, then Alexandra rose the bait.

"Deliver what, exactly?"

"This." Artok gestured at Eismi, who opened one of her seemingly minuscule pouches very, very wide...and brought out a crystal 5 times the volume of said pouch out. "A communication crystal."

Alexandra nodded, as she made a note to acquire spatial bag technology at some point. These pouches were insane. Maybe she could load them with explosives...a thought for later.

TO-DO LIST UPDATED

"Ah, I see. You are most welcome then. We had been awaiting the delivery of this crystal with impatience."

Artok nodded.

"I can imagine. Miss Eismi here will install it in the room of your choosing."

"Thank you. In that case, please follow me!" Said Alexandra as she gestured at a room she had set aside for later.

They quickly stepped in -there wasn't anything inside besides light sconces and bare walls-, and Alexandra gestured at the center of the room.

"Here please. I can also have a pedestal be brought in, if that would help."

Eismi smiled.

"It's alright, I brought my own."

With that, she plunged her hand back into her pouch, and brought out a long, ornamented metal pedestal, probably specifically made to hold such crystals. The way she pulled it out of her pouch reminded her of old cartoons, with the characters pulling ridiculously long objects out of their pockets.

Maybe good old Walt Disney had a vision of this place, she thought as she looked at the fox-eared girl setting up the pedestal.

It took only a few seconds, then Eismi put the crystal in the metal cage atop the pedestal, which perfectly hugged the device and held it in place, before starting to incant. Alexandra suppressed a frown, she would have loved to look at what she was doing with her avatar's eyes, to hopefully replicate it, but unfortunately they would most probably recognized it for what it was, and that would lead to...issues. Besides, her avatar was her ace in the hole, and she wasn't willing to waste it over something this trivial.

The incantations took around 3 minutes, before Eismi stepped back, sweating slightly, and panting. The process had evidently taken its toll on her.

"It's done. The crystal should have finished calibrating tomorrow, at the latest."

Alexandra nodded in thanks, with her and Emilia smiling.

"Thank you." Said the Earth-born. "Would you like to rest and cultivate a bit before departing? It's the least that I can do."

The fox-eared girl bowed deeply.

"Thank you, and I would love to take you up on that offer, but my sister is setting up our shop, and I do not want to worry her unduly."

Alexandra's smile softened.

"Of course." Her smiled vanished as she turned towards Artok. "Now, there is the matter of payment. Do not think I didn't realize you let us install the crystal before asking your price, guild leader. So speak, what is it?"

Artok opened his mouth, then closed it, before smiling, a bit embarrassed.

"Well...It is surprisingly simple. This is on behalf of guildmaster Starvak of course, although I am very pleased by his choice for reasons that will no doubt be quite obvious. He would like, as payment, to have you...consider making a randomized, if possible on a daily basis, part of your dungeon."

Alexandra almost blinked, but stopped herself. That was...

"That is...a fair price, guild leader. Very well, I accept, and inform the guildmaster that I will put it in place with all due haste."

"Thank you, lady Crystal."

Crystal smiled, and waved as they left. Once they were through the door -and it closed behind them-, she smiled, and turned towards Emilia.

"Well. That was lucky. Looks like our password system will do nicely for that!"

The vampire girl wasn't even listening. Alexandra had impressed upon her to maintain her composure during the negotiations, as to not appear to eager, but now that the dwarf and the foxgirl had left...she was eyeing the communication crystal with more intensity than gollum looked at the one ring of Sauron.

"Right. Well, I'll leave you to calling your family then."

Alexandra turned around, and started walking towards the door, before being brutally stopped as Emilia grabbed her arm with surprising strength.

"Oh no! Absolutely not! I need to present you to my mother! And the rest of my family."

Alexandra's eyebrow rose. What was she, her wife? Actually, given the fact that they were bonded, and basically going to spend their life together...Wife wasn't the right term, but there had been a similar phenomena on Earth, with people that had suffered catastrophic brain damage, and could only function in symbiosis with an AI. They called them bonded symbiotes. It wouldn't do in this case, but most people called them companions. That should do.

For now at least.

"Uh, sure." She said as Emilia dragged her off to the communication crystal.

Well, at least this should be a nice change of pace, she thought to herself. She hadn't quite realized how much she'd missed talking with people she wasn't trying to bamboozle or get something out of. Emilia was nice, but...well, she was trying to actively hide stuff from her.

Hell, maybe she could even find a member of her family to talk her into being less uptight about her 'mission'.

*****

"Is it morning already?"

Allya smiled as she turned back to the bed, and caressed her girlfriend's hair.

"Yes, it is. Come on, get up, we have things to do."

Pyn mumbled, and sat up in the bed, yawning and rubbing her eyes. Allya felt a pang of adoration as she saw her girlfriend like that. She looked so cute it almost hurt. Once again she wondered just how in the world she could have ended up with such a wonderful partner.

Then, Pyn stretched, causing the blanket on her chest to fall away, and said chest to bounce slightly, making Allya's attention suddenly focused slightly downward from Pyn's sleepy face. The elf smiled wrily, and Allya shook her head resolutely, before smiling back, and leaving the room, lest the elf tempt her into doing...something that would definitely put them late for their schedule.

No matter how enjoyable it would be, they had stuff to do.

Besides, she would make the elf pay tonight, once they were back in bed.

An hour later, after a leisurely breakfast, with the usual comments about the amount of sugar she was ingesting due to her honey soaked crêpes, and her retorts about how much milk Pyn was ingesting, as if she was afraid her chest wasn't already big enough, they sat down at the council table, this time with only Anders and Willard.

"So, what do you think?" Asked Pyn as she sat back into her chair, having just finished her presentation.

"That is...definitely ambitious." Simply said Willard.

Anders chuckled, and shook his head as the noble merchant gave him a sidelong glance.

"I don't disagree. Still, given the...issues we've had, I'm heartily in support of such measures."

Willard winced.

"Usually I should say 'you have no need for this, for my uncle will protect you', but...yeah. It pays to be proactive about these things, and honestly the more you are capable of defending yourselves, the less resources we have to use to do it for you, and the more secure the trade routes, which ultimately makes us richer as well." He grabbed his tea cup off of the table top, and took a sip. "So I approve as well. It is definitely a bit ambitious, especially since you haven't even finished building the first proper solid house yet. Still, I appreciate the fact that you included my uncle's house into the defensive apparatus and plans."

Allya and Pyn nodded. The plan currently spread on the table was a map of the planned city, with the finished schematics and plans that Allya had asked Pyn to write days ago, which was the preliminary fortification plans. 'Preliminary', because when they were truly done Allya wanted this city to be one of the most defensible places in the world, if they could make it happen. Right now, the plan called for 3 defensive layers. The first one would be centered around their soon-to-be-built residence, in front of the dungeon, and basically serving as a dungeon/castle, to make their final stand, and especially interdict the entrance to the dungeon, making sure that an enemy couldn't exploit it's resources effectively without either taking out the castle or coming to an agreement with them.

The second layer was a curtain wall integrating the inner mesas of the giant mess that surrounded the dungeon. It encompassed the initial city, and overall was a very respectable fortification for any city. It wasn't extremely fancy either, at least not initially, with a few towers to house and protect mages, as well as a few emplacements for ballistas for anti-airship defence, and possibly counter-battery on enemy siege artillery. But overall it was there to delay as any serious assault by an army would eventually go through. Willard's 'house' was integrated into the wall, with walkways to reach it, and easy ways to separate, should the fortifications be compromised. It would act as a form of fallback position and, if necessary, a stepping stone to retake the wall.

The third, and final layer, was what Allya envisioned as a way to repell, not just delay, an attacking force. A massive, enchanted and reinforced wall, thick enough to house barracks and internal artillery systems, with towers that would have qualified as fortresses in their own right, as well as salient triangular bastions, to make sure that anyone trying to rush the wall would be taken right into a killzone with at least 3 overlapping fields of fire from the defenders. Those plans were pulled straight up from her own memory, on the fortresses of...well, of the spirit fields. Cassissa had told her extensively about them, in an effort to try to bond her and Armik together, or at least have them stop hating each other, over their shared passion for the military.

At least something good could come out of that...and Allya would make sure the primary command center was named after her. It was the least she could do.

She shook herself internally, and focused back on the table and the people assembled around it.

"Well, if we are all in agreement then, I will give Pyn the greenlight to begin building it. I've also signed the permits for your house, mister Willard, they should be delivered to you today."

"Thank you milady." Said Willard as he got up and bowed. "Now if you'll excuse me."

Allya nodded, and the noble merchant left. Anders looked as he left the tent, then went back to his superiors.

"So, what did you not want him to hear?" He said right after the noise cancellation enchantment went back on.

Allya smiled. Out of all of her councilors -barring Pyn of course-, Anders was the one she trusted the most, literally with her life in fact. He was also the one that had gotten the most experience with them, and he was getting better at reading them, and more relaxed over time, although it was a slow process, and he was still formal as all hell when his soldiers or other people besides their bodyguards were presence.

"Well, it's simple. As much as I would like to trust our good friend here, I'm afraid that doing so would be....unwise." She held up her hand. "It does not mean I have any reason to doubt him yet, or think of him as a traitor, just that I'd rather not count on him not becoming one. Not yet."

Anders nodded.

"So, in that case, I would like you to contact your friends in the Far Reach. See if they could bring one of Tark's...specialties. A set of building demolition charges, long lasting, and highly stable ones. I want an insurance policy, and giving his 'house' some special foundations sounds like a good way to do that." She smiled at Anders' slightly worried expression. "Don't worry, I'm not intending to blow it up on a whim, it's a last resort option. But I'd still like an armed compound inside my city, whose forces aren't loyal to me or Elkaryos to have some extra safety measures." She chuckled. "Besides, in the case of an invasion this might come in handy. If the house is ever overrun, evacuate everyone and kill the invaders. What do you say captain?"

"I...can't make any promises. And I'll have to be discreet about it. But I'll see what I can do."

"Excellent! Well, in that case, dismissed captain."

*****

Alexandra sat down, and took a deep breath she no longer needed. The last few hours had been...a whirlwind. Dealing with some adventurers -her floors weren't completely autonomous yet, although she was getting there-, continuing to run some internal simulations, designing prototypes and going through her gigantic TO-DO list, while also answering questions and listening in to the conversations Emilia had with her family. Fortunately, she had gotten better at multitasking, although whether it was due to sheer training or her higher level she couldn't tell, but even more fortunately, past a few initial discussions Emilia's relatives seemed more interested in bombarding their baby daughter/niece/sister/insert-familial-relationship-here with questions about how she was doing than herself, which was nice.

It was also very ironic to see Emilia, who usually bossed her around without effort, get reduced to saying 'Yes mom, I'm fine. No, I don't need anything. Yes I'm sure. Yes I have enough clothes. No, I don't need more snacks. No you don't need to send Sara and Ella. What do you mean they're already on their way?!?'

Alexandra suddenly processed Emilia's words, and came back to her body with all haste.

"Who is on their way?"

Emilia looked at her, and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Sara and Ella. They're my handmaidens. My maids, if you don't know the terms. They've been looking over me since...well, since before I was born really, since they were in my mother's service beforehand." She elevated her voice, looking pointedly at the crystal. "And I am perfectly able to live without them! Gods, I'm even able to lace my own shoes now!"

The mature voice of Etheria Von Oswald, Emilia's mother, answered through the crystal.

"Honey, I am aware of that. But they were always very fond of you, and they practically couldn't stay in place after we got the information about the new dungeon. So I sent them. If you feel that they indeed aren't welcome, you can just send them back when they arrive."

Emilia huffed, but said nothing, and Alexandra took notes at how handily Etheria manipulated her daughter into accepting the maids. Emilia obviously wouldn't make them 'unwelcome', as she was obviously fond of her maids, no matter what she was saying, and by phrasing it this way Etheria had basically made sure Emilia accept them. Oh, she would grumble, but she wouldn't turn them away by fear of hurting their feelings.

"Miss Alexandra?"

"Yes?" Said Alexandra, a bit startled. There was an...edge to the woman's voice. An edge of command. She wasn't as responsive as she once would have been, for....reasons, but there were still some deeply ingrained reflexes into her psyche about obeying superior officers, and Etheria's voice subtly exhuded authority and assurance. She shook her head, and banished the feeling.

"I have informed the duke and duchess of your...status. We have all sworn secrecy, but I must say that this is indeed concerning. An artificial dungeon...hasn't happened in centuries, and never, not once, has a dungeon had the advantages of an extradimensional. Not just the extra mana, but..."

"My knowledge."

"Yes. Given the capacities of your dungeon....That makes you dangerous. Very dangerous."

"The real question, lady Etheria, is if you have a problem with that." Said Alexandra bluntly. She was taking a gamble, but if she was reading the woman right...

Etheria chuckled. Obviously she was more receptive to 'blunt soldier mode' than subtle statements.

"No, I don't. The deadlier the dungeon core bonded with my daughter, especially when people have already tried to kidnap or kill her, the better."

"Excellent then."

"Still, I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"Who were you?"

Alexandra froze. There was an edge to her voice, and she picked her words carefully.

"I was lieutenant-commander Alexandra Rousseau, assigned as the chief engineering officer of the Eternity-class light cruiser EFSNS Duty Eternal."

"And before that?"

Alexandra smiled sardonically.

"Do you want a list? I served 52 years in the EFSN, well, if you count the academy. If you want it all it's going to take a while."

Etheria chuckled, but Alexandra felt something below her laugh. The other woman was aware that she was dodging the answer. And her tone suggested that she was going to let it go...for now.

"Fair enough! Fair enough. Well, I suppose that is all. If you need anything Emi, don't hesitate to call."

"Yes mom!"

And Emilia promptly turned off the crystal, terminating the call with almost indecent haste. It was pretty clear that Emilia had loved reuniting with her family...but would rather not have another round of simply nodding and saying 'yes or no' as they fussed over her.

"Well, that was nice!" Said Alexandra, mischief twinkling in her eyes as her mind was processing the implications of her discussion with Etheria. Something with her queries...definitely didn't sound right. Why would she ask about such things? None of it would make sense to her.

Unless it did.

The realization hit Alexandra like a dreadnought. What if someone had managed to bring their implants into this world, and unlike her, not get destroyed? But not implants filled with schematics, but historical data, personnel records, that kind of things.

She shook herself out of it as Emilia answered.

"Indeed. Well, except the 5 million 'are you okay? Are you adapting well to dungeon life?' parts."

Alexandra smiled.

"Well, it looks like families are the same everywhere. The little bird has left the cage!"

She barely dodged Emilia's thrown notebook, and started laughing, while she meticulously archived her suspicions for later. After all, there was a time and place for everything, and right now she could relax a bit with her friend and advisor.

Unbeknowst to her, a program far more advanced than anything the EFSN could have ever hoped to make scanned her new entry. The program stopped for a second, as what was contained inside was far outside it's operating parameters. In fact a lot of things that dungeon did were. The program waited patiently -not that it was complex enough to understand the concept of time- for it's query's answer. A brief, light speed defying communication link was opened, and thousands of kilometers away, in a station leisurely orbiting the planet at speeds that would have made the best artificers on the world below faint, a database answered.

The program did the electronic equivalent of a mental shrug, and left the memory alone, before deactivating itself and plunging back into the incomprehensible depths of Alexandra's core, safely hidden below layers and layers of other subsystems and arcane protocols, all necessary to the dungeon's core continued operations.

Yet something was watching. A program, passively monitoring everything, noted down the phenomena, and continued updating a database. A database in a locked corner of Alexandra's mind. A database she had put in place over a decade ago, with the help of a dear friend and associate, long before she was ever called 'lieutenant commander Alexandra Rousseau'. Long before a world called Europa died in the nuclear hellfire of orbital bombardment.