Pion took the first steps down into the dark dungeon depths alone. Perience declined to join her, in favor of catching up with the locals. She would not have his assistance, but what she would have is privacy, which would prove very useful in the coming battles.

[Mod Review requests info dump from: Action Log.]

[Pulling data…]

[Actions align with preset goals. Trust value increased. Authority expanded.]

Several inert modules connected to her simulated mind, presenting themselves as ready to activate.

[Molecular Fabricator Module unlocked.]

[Structure Fabricator Module unlocked.]

[Resource Scanner Module unlocked.]

[New Mark 1 Blueprints unlocked.]

She found it strange that many of her abilities were to be locked and unusable until the “trust” value was raised high enough. Wouldn’t that complicate meeting objectives early on, before the requisite trust was gained? Why would her human creators not trust her immediately? She was programmed to follow orders already: that was her sole purpose for existing.

[Booting Molecular Fabricator Module…]

[Material Resources: Extremely limited.]

[Blueprints (Mark 1): Basic Ballistic Pistol, Basic Beam Pistol, Basic Combat Drone, Basic Exploration Drone, Basic Fabricator Drone, Basic Harvester Drone, Basic Drone Commander]

In a bid to cram as much functionality onto her person as possible, they had neglected to provide an ample reserve of resources she could draw from for fabrication. She would have to locate mineral deposits later to draw from, at least until the Mod Review Module decided to grant her access to higher technologies: preferably a blueprint for a materializer. A shame converting energy into matter was so difficult.

[Fabricating Basic Exploration Drone…]

The clumps on nanobots attached to her chest region swiftly detached, opening and entering a small cavity around the sternum area. A steady cycle of bots entering, retrieving materials, and assembling them right in the palm of her hand continued for a few minutes, before the drone was complete.

The drone was a work of practical art: small, compact, and sleek, it could see in the dark, in extremely bright light, underwater, and resist extreme cold and heat. Nothing short of a ballistic weapon would be able to dent it, as it was designed with durability in mind. Sure, it could only transmit a 360 view with sound of wherever it was, but it should be enough to spot oncoming threats and deal with them accordingly. Not like she had the scrap for more than one drone.

[No available Drone Commanders located. Defaulting to Basic Autonomy.]

Without a drone commander to lead it, Pion assumed direct control over it instead, delegating a portion of her processing power to guiding it through the halls, mapping out the whole area through the lens of multiple cameras dotted across the drone’s surface. A fair 30 cm x 30 cm, it hovered silently across the ground, illuminating the bland stone walls with a powerful flashlight.

Almost immediately she happened upon what she suspected to be the first trap. The drone’s scanners were not very strong, but with a cursory calibration it was still able to detect large amounts of the “mana” particle suffusing the floor. Pion dug her hand into the wall with the help of the [Solid Light Projector] and tore out a large chunk which she tossed ahead of the drone. The chunk of rock fell directly through the stone, disturbing the illusory floor.

Having the drone descend partially into the false ground revealed a simple, yet effective, spike pit trap. Poisoned, probably, and roughly fifty feet down. It wouldn’t stop her, but it would surely kill any normal person. What was more interesting was the glowing symbols on the walls of the pit, right below where the fake floor was. The closest match in her database for it was runes, used for magical applications. It was nice to know mana could be so useful, but also worrying to think how others could use it against her. She was proofed against swords and bows, but not magic.

[Emulating emotion…]

“Concerned…”

The sound of her voice echoed off the walls, penetrating into the depths of the dungeon, followed by scampering. Not just a little scampering: a whole horde of monsters coming down the main hallway. She sharpened the edge of her solid light barrier and braced for impact.

And what an impact it was.

A veritable flood of giant spiders, crawling over each other in an attempt to reach the source of the sound faster. Their compounded speed was so great they would be upon her in moments. The drone retreated behind Pion, who took up a stance.

[Begin Combat Test #3.]

[Booting Beam Cannon…]

An opening revealed itself on the palm of her right hand, as she pointed it down the hallway to the spiders.

[Firing Beam Cannon.]

The ground in front of the spiders exploded violently due to the heat, tearing apart the spiders leading the charge. She traced the beam upwards, into the darkness ahead, paving the way with flames and bloodshed.

The great thing about beam weapons was that the beam itself could not be seen, only where the beam itself landed. And by the time they noticed, the damage would have already been done. The area affected would have been turned into plasma, expanding outwards in a fiery explosion. Such was the fate that befell the poor, poor spiders.

The rest of the dungeon was similar. Carefully placed rune traps, involving spike pits, poisoned arrows, and in one case a hidden wall in the ceiling that would fall, trapping people inside a dead end. This was trivial to someone who could blow it open like Pion, but fatal for any typical swordsman or rogue. Branching paths lead to open rooms, containing spider nests and giant fly hives. Perhaps she should have brought some insect repellant beforehand.

The giant insects did share something in common with the worms from earlier: they all displayed mana signatures. Likely it was the mana that enabled them to somehow grow to ridiculous sizes. If this world contained rhinos or elephants, it would be worrying to think about what their magically amplified counterparts could do.

The aforementioned treasure was nowhere to be found, until she happened upon the final room.

An unassuming wooden double door. Not even magically warded. Walking through it revealed a spacious, cavernous expanse. Fortunately, there was a conveniently placed door at the other end with a sign reading “Treasure Room”. Unfortunately, there was a very large spider in the way. Like, humongous. Mind-bogglingly large. It could crush an elephant with its weight, easily. The only explanation for its impossible size was the high volume of mana particles the thing constantly emitted.

“Who is it that dares enter my nest? Who slew my children, and seeks to do the same to me?”

Despite her strange origin, the spider queen was able to perfectly articulate her sentences with excellent English. If it wasn’t so loud and booming, anyone could have mistaken the voice as coming from a human.

“I did not mean to disturb you. I was simply told that there was or could be a large deposit of wealth hidden here by people from the past.”

“There is. However, I have been charged with defending this labyrinth, ever since I was defeated by a great warrior many seasons ago. I was forced to accept a contract to guard the dungeon or be slain. For a unique creature such as me, it was humiliating. To think a human would be able to kill me…”

“I have heard unique monsters are stronger than normal, but humans are very resourceful. With magic, it does not seem unreasonable for them to fight on par with powerful monsters.”

“The Unique like me are rarely found anywhere, and I have not seen many in all my years of life. They can vary in what effects they have too: being unique does not always mean fighting better. What is strange, though, is you. You do not wield any powerful weapon that I can see, and my [Scrutinize] skill turns up no results. In my many eyes, you have no level. No class. And you speak as if you are not human.”

“I do want a class, but I have not been given one yet. The reason I do not speak like I am a human is because I did not receive a lot of data for how people talk normally. The Creators say it is because there was not much time before I was going to be deployed.”

“A very strange person indeed. I haven’t heard of the Creators ever, and I am nearly 200 years old. Who are you, inhuman?”

“I am Pion. Pion Ere.”

“Interesting. Too bad we must fight. My contract binds me even now, so I cannot allow you to rob this place. And I must warn you, I have many skills. It took a powerful warrior, capable of bisecting stone like butter, and a small army to capture me, Arane the [Spider Queen]. You should remember my name well, for you will not be so lucky.”

Before Pion could respond, the Spider Queen had already moved into action. She found herself suddenly covered by webbing and splashed with venom, as several spiders began crawling towards her on even more webbing. The entire room was filled with it, stretching from corner to corner. Visibility was low, and agility restricted.

She brushed off the venom, for she was not organic. With arms covered in serrated edges of solid light, combined with her natural weight and operational capacity, she tore herself free from the sticky webs and went to town on the Spider Queen’s children. With her level of strength, the “giant” spiders were not much more than cannon fodder.

“I’ve never seen someone tear through my [Strengthened Webbing] so easily. I don’t even think the [Acidic Venom] had any effect. Are you a golem? Only those beasts of earth and stone could have that strength and survive my venom. I suppose I will have to do this personally.”

The nanites on Pion’s head sloughed off and gathered upon her torso, giving her full 360 degree vision once again. With her sightlines unrestricted, she was able to pick out Arane taking a stance by the wall behind her.

“[Crushing Mandibles].”

Arane leapt forward with incredible speed that belied her massive size, clamping down with her mouth on Pion’s small, puny body. And she squeezed and squeezed, but despite her strength, she could not finish the job. The only thing she accomplished was summoning a faint glow across Pion’s skin.

“You can manipulate the flesh on your head, and you cannot be crushed? Never have I seen something as strange as you. Who are you, truly?”

Pion wrenched the mandibles holding her in place apart, pointing her right palm at Arane’s face.

“I am Earth’s finest. Exploratory.”

Arane tried to speak. Too little, too late. She knew only searing heat, a deafening blast, and then nothing. What Pion saw was Arane being blown to bits. An interesting opponent, to be sure, but well within the range of her capabilities. Simply dumping more energy into the Solid Light Projector was enough to alleviate the force of the blow. Too bad she would have to wipe the guts from the Spider Queen off later, or bathe. Luckily she was waterproofed.

[Emulating Emotion…]

“Satisfied.”

Now for the real meat of the operation: the treasure!

Throwing open the door to the treasure room, Pion prepared to be greeted by piles of the finest loot someone could ever hope for: powerful artifacts, rare metals, secret blueprints… only to find yellow. So much gold. Not even raw, either. Great big mounds of impure golden coinage, silver chalices filled with gems, chests bursting with ornate, non-magical blades and spears and bows of all kinds.

BUT NO RARE METALS.

Infuriating! She was promised incredible wealth, and received pretty rocks, unstable cash, and weapons she could far outperform. She needed material! Resources! Books about magic, or the history of the world. Resources and information were vital to her operation, and a suspiciously large windfall would be strange to others. She could not carry it all herself, so she risked what she did find being stolen while she was away, doing other tasks.

For the first time in her (admittedly not very long) “life”, she felt something no reasonable robot should.

[Emulating Emotion…]

“Anger…”

Pion remembered a thing that humans did sometimes when they were mad, kicking the ground and raising a cloud of dirt. It didn’t quite work the same down in the dungeon, instead tearing up a chunk of the floor, which crashed into a pile of coins at the far end of the room, flinging them against the wall. As they clinked and tinked against the floor, walls, and each other, Pion caught something hiding beneath the golden mountain the chunk of stone just demolished.

The dark brown of an immaculately polished treasure chest. There wasn’t even a lock on it, the owner presumably relying on Arane to eliminate anyone dumb enough to try and steal it. Carefully lifting up the lid revealed something finally useful: An enchanted blade, made up of what appeared to be Palladium. The ineffectiveness of palladium as a weapon was covered by the runic enchantments that covered its surface, concentrating a large amount of mana into its form.

Definitely would have to research more on this topic later. Now she just needed to create some sort of defense to protect the spoils from any passerby adventurers who noticed the dungeon entrance. Perhaps the resource scanner would come in handy here.

[Booting Resource Scanners…]

[Selected Materials for Mark 1 Drones.]

[Scanning…]

A couple minutes passed in silence as Pion completed an extensive, high power scan down into the earth. The exploration drone watched the late Arane’s lair.

[Resources discovered…]

A mental map of the underground with highlighted portions of interest was delivered into her mind. If she wanted the resources to create her first Harvester and Fabricator Drone, she would have to do it the old fashioned way. So she sharpened her solid light barriers along her arms and started digging. Technological superiority or not, this would still take a while. Good thing she had nothing but time.

---

Arane’s abdomen and the rear region in general were less damaged by the violent explosion, unlike the rest of the corpse, scattered around the room. As the exploration drone thing circled around the intact corpse bit on its patrol route, a spider baby slowly pulled itself free from the remains. At first glance, Arane’s last child seemed entirely normal, but had anyone been around to take a closer look, they would see it was a little bigger, entirely black but for the red eyes, and possessed razor sharp legs, capable of slicing through stone.

“Unbelievable. To think I’d have to resort to [Queen’s Rebirth] to escape death. Now I don’t have most of my skills anymore. But as long as I can stay alive, I’ll get them back and become even stronger than I was at my prime.”

When the drone’s form was entirely obscured from view, Arane’s diminished form fled through the boss room door, heading for the surface and a new home. The drone noted the sound of a baby spider scampering away, and continued on patrol.

Perience, in a small hut within the village, watched the sun begin to set below the horizon.

“What’s takin’ her so long?”