Ava hated waiting. She understood why Gora did not want her to go after Rita, but that did not make it any easier to sit still, knowing that her ticket to fame and fortune was out there and potentially blundering into lethal danger.

She kept glancing at the doorway and fidgeting for the entire time that Rita was gone, wondering if she had let potentially the greatest discovery of her peer group slip through her fingers.

It was not the ‘pre-world’ stuff she was interested in, though. Flying metal birds? Those were cute and interesting and all, but so what? Where would you even fly to? And the ‘guns’ Rita mentioned, not only did she have no idea how they worked besides ‘bullets’, but they also just sounded like weak versions of what magic could already do, given the right essence.

No, what drew her attention were the innocuous comments Rita had made about waking up in her current form. Soaking wet bedding and a wet spot on the ceiling? That sounded like she had either splashed into existence or had been extruded from above. If that was how spawning happened, if she could nail down how exactly spawning occurs and what triggers it, she could revolutionize the essence collection industry!

Gone would be the days of small groups of adventurers putting their lives at risk to gather a few vials of the precious fluid. Instead, gigantic farms could possibly be erected, where monsters spawned right into lethal traps that instantly snuffed them out and automatically collected their sweet, delicious essence.

But for that, she needed more details. Such as where this ‘apartment’ of hers had been and some more information of her first few moments of life. If she could collect some samples of the slimy afterbirth…

“What’s up, Ava?” Gora rumbled, chewing on a dried fruit. More of the Campsite’s bounty. “You’ve been staring at the fire for a while. Thinking about your new friend?”

Ava glanced up. “Something like that. Can we please take the shortest route out of here after this?”

Gora sighed. “Not unless Samual agrees.”

Ava turned to give Samual her best puppy dog eyes.

“No. We have spoken about this. We have a contract.”

“Oh, fuck you,” she exclaimed, getting to her feet.

“He’s right. I’m under contract. And my contract states I have to deliver you all to the base of the Tree,” Gora called after her as she headed to check the cabinets for some food.

Hmph. And to think she had been somewhat attracted to the whole air of mystery that Samual had had when they had started the expedition. Not that she would have done anything as disgusting as physical intimacy… but she might, might have consented to hold his hand. Turned out he was just annoying and stubborn.

The sound of skittering feet across the floor heralded Rita’s arrival in their small entry corridor. She seemed out of breath as she stumbled inside, glancing behind her with eyes wide with panic.

Oh dear. That did not seem good.

“Rita’s back,” Gora remarked unnecessarily. “Looks like trouble. Why am I not surprised.”

“Do you think she can get back inside?” Ava asked when Rita closed her eyes and leaned against the opposite wall for a few moments.

Gora shrugged. It did not look like she had any intention to drag Rita in, so Ava briefly considered stepping outside to do so. But that would mean… touching her… eww. Maybe she could figure it out herself?

When Rita opened her eyes again, Ava noticed something interesting. Her posture had changed. Not in a significant way, but the difference was there. Her movement was less fearful, and more like that of a predator. Wary, but deliberate. Interesting.

This time Rita leaned against their wall, missing the doorway once before finding it on the second try and stumbling inside. For just a moment as she looked up at the three of them staring at her (Zaxier was sleeping next to the fire and Bob was… somewhere, she didn’t really care), Ava could see her body tense and a snarl form on her face. And then it was gone, and Rita was back to normal.

She immediately began waving her arms and babbling until Ava fished out the translator tronic and the vial of Conjoint and fed in a small drop. Clearly whatever Rita wanted to communicate was important. Not even Gora could argue against the expenditure here.

“Yes? What is it?” Ava asked once she had gotten the device working.

“There’s something downstairs! Maybe even more than one! Some kind of super wrinkly faced lady with huuuge claws!” Rita babbled, indicating with her hands how big the claws were. “She cornered me in the apartment downstairs before wandering off, but I think I heard another one from the stairwell!”

“What did she say?” Gora asked.

“Something about a wrinkly old lady with huge claws downstairs,” Ava relayed.

“Wrinkly faced with huge claws?” Gora asked, suddenly tense. “Tell Rita it is very important that she remember what clothes they were wearing and what their condition was.”

“What? Why’s that important?” Ava asked.

“Because there are two species of Droopies and one is a lot worse than the other. Now ask her!”

Ava sighed but relayed anyway. Their clothes? Really?

Rita paused, thinking hard. “Umm, I think she wore a dress, actually? That’s how I knew it was a lady since her face was just this blob of wrinkles. It was like one my grandmother would have worn. From the sixties or something.”

“And the condition?” Ava asked, pre-empting Gora.

“Bit dirty I suppose?” Rita admitted. “And years out of style. Like real old people clothes.”

When Ava relayed, Gora swore.

“Shit, they’re Stalkers, not Ferals,” she said before swearing a blue streak.

“What’s a Droopy?” Samual asked. He already had his weapon out and seemed ready for a scrap.

“And why do they present a problem?” Zaxier added, yawning from beside the fire. He’d woken up at some point and was now regarding the situation through heavy-lidded eyes.

Gora sighed and slumped. She waved at everyone to sit down again and calm down. “Sorry, I had just hoped that we’d avoided running into them since we got this far.”

“What’s going on?” Rita asked Ava. “Did I make Gora angry?”

“No, relax. Gora’s mad that those things are around. Here, take your tronic back, you should have regained some essence by now” she replied, handing over the chunk of cell phone.

Rita took it, but when the first words out of her mouth were complete gibberish Ava sighed and held out her hand to take it back. It appeared that she was going to have to keep relaying.

“Droopies are the reason I was paranoid about Rita when we first met,” Gora began her explanation. “Well, part of the reason. They behave a little differently than most other creatures you encounter here. When they encounter a group of delvers, they don’t simply attack. Ferals will wait for a moment of weakness. Such as when they rest or are otherwise occupied with something else. Only then will they strike, when the delvers are at their most vulnerable, and going after ‘soft’ targets first.”

“Ferals, you say? That sounds more like some kind of stalking. How do they differ from Stalkers then?” Ava interrupted her relaying to Rita to ask.

“Well, Ferals have clothes that are torn and shredded and look like little more than rags. Stalkers, on the other hand, wear intact clothes and are much worse. They don’t attack at all. Instead, they will find other creatures and either drive them to or lure them into their victims. They never attack themselves until the group is either already mostly dead or so worn down that they can barely defend ourselves.”

“What if they are actually non-aggressive, like me, and this is all just a big misunderstanding?” Rita asked after Ava had told her what Gora had said.

“Then I’ll eat my armor” Gora replied. “They don’t just lure one monster in, they do it over and over and over. And if you ever corner one, they fight like madmen with those razor sharp claws of theirs. Trust me, they are not ‘friendly’.”

“How do delving groups usually counter them?” Samual asked.

“Find a Campsite. Pray they get bored and leave,” Gora said with a shrug. “Which is why we are going to be staying here as long as we possibly can.”

Just then, the fire flickered, going out for a brief moment before flaring back up and making Ava jump.

“Which appears to be ten more minutes,” Gora continued smoothly. “Everybody, pack your stuff. Looks like things might be getting a bit dicey from here on."