I quickly ordered the skeletons to line up in front of Brad, my excitement making me forget to ask him what was wrong. The defender on cleanup duty had finished by now, so all six undead were soon lined up. The original skeleton’s health wasn’t back to full yet, but it was slowly increasing with the dungeon’s assistance.

After ordering the skeletons to obey Brad and Steve’s orders and learn from them, I stood back and observed. “Watch closely,” Brad told the waiting defenders as he took charge. “Hold the shield like this.” He slipped his left arm through the handles on the back and then gripped the far one tight to keep the shield from shifting. He told the skeletons to pick up a shield and try it.

The undead were a little awkward as they bent over to grab a shield off the floor, but they all soon had one and were attempting to hold it on their left arms. That part wasn’t going so well, with more than a couple of the metal shields dropping to the ground with a loud clang. I watched in fascination as my defenders kept trying, showing no signs of frustration or of wanting to give up.

Brad finally had them all stop and watch him again as he stood the shield on the ground and held it with his right hand, tilting it forward slightly. Then he slowly threaded his left arm through the handles, exaggerating the gesture, and curled his fingers around the one on the right.

This time, the skeletons did a better job, and before too long they all stood tall with a shield on their left arms. Brad nodded approvingly, then moved everyone into the center of the room and called Steve over to him. “You should stand like this,” he told my defenders. He put his right foot back and leaned into his shield, bracing it with his other hand as well. He explained what he was doing as he moved, and why.

Then he had Steve run at him and jump into the shield shoulder first, trying to knock him back. Because he was balanced and prepared for the blow, he was only forced back a couple of steps. Then he moved forward quickly, shoving back against Steve who, off balance, ended up stumbling back a couple of meters.

The two officers repeated this several times before Brad told Steve to stop. Rubbing his shoulder with a pained look on his face, Steve gladly moved off to the side. Brad put the shield down, almost dropping it as he shook out his arms. The weight had obviously strained him. He commanded the skeletons to pair up and try what they’d been shown. The undead slowly turned their heads to look at each other, not moving. I was reminded of how the skeleton had hesitated during the attack when it was between the Void-possessed lady and the snake. They could obviously follow simple orders, but decision making was still beyond them at this level.

Finally, Brad walked over to them and, a little gingerly at first, grabbed their bony shoulders and arms and moved them into two lines of three. I tensed, ready to intervene if the defenders interpreted it as an attack, but relaxed when they didn’t react to the manhandling.

Once he got them in position, Brad ordered the line nearest him to brace themselves behind their shields and for the skeleton opposite to charge at them. The sound of reinforced bones impacting metal sounded out loudly, quickly repeating as the skeletons got themselves set for another attempt and tried again. Brad and Steve walked amongst them, correcting positioning by physically moving the defenders and giving simple orders. The skeletons methodically went at it again and again. They gave no indication of discomfort like Steve had after repeatedly slamming his shoulder into the hard metal barrier, and I was glad to see I’d been right about the weight of the shield not being an issue for them. I did notice a very slight dip in their health bars as they banged themselves up, but I knew the dungeon would take care of that.

Seeing that the two officers had the matter in hand, and knowing I had nothing to contribute to the training, I decided to get some other things done. I did briefly consider joining in and seeing if I could gain a skill for using shields the manual way, without needing to spend xp. But there was too much to get done if I ever wanted to get out of here. Besides, since my weapon of choice was a staff, I couldn’t see myself ever really using a shield.

I made my way back over to the Void-puppet corpses and absorbed them one after the other. I was especially excited to gain the pattern for the powerful kangaroo. I smiled a little when I realized that since the bodies were made up of so much Void energy, they counted towards ranking up Absorb. I’d been worried about how I would progress the ability now that ordinary things didn’t count, so I was happy to see it still ticking up towards its next evolution.

With those three special bodies taken care of, my eyes fell on the others piled up in the far corner, and my face scrunched up. I wasn’t looking forward to this, but I wanted to get as many new patterns as possible. If I was able to gain the ability Cax had told me about that let me design my own defenders, the more patterns I had to combine, the better.

Dragging my feet the whole way to the corner of death, the smell that the dungeon had been purifying from the air hit me, making me gag repeatedly. So close to the source of the foul smell, the odor didn’t have time to be magically broken down before reaching my nose. I hurriedly put my hand on one of each kind of animal and absorbed it, doing my best to breathe through my nose. I was really regretting not evolving the ability into a ranged one when I had the chance.

By the time I was done, I’d obtained the patterns for a variety of birds, snakes, spiders, and many other types of wildlife. Unfortunately, they didn’t count towards ranking up Absorb. I’d been hoping the energy inside them causing the infection would be enough of a change for them to no longer be considered regular animals, but I guess not. That did remind me of something I’d wanted to ask Cax about, though.

Backing away quickly and taking deep mouthfuls of sweet, clean air, I created a pack of body wipes and cleaned my hands off thoroughly as I put my question to him. “How does Create work exactly? I had to evolve the ability specifically to let me restore and save an item in its original state. But after I absorbed the Void monitor lizard, I was able to make a normal one without doing anything special.”

Happy to have another opportunity to educate me, he answered, “Well, with living things, there is information contained within the tissue and bones. The magic can reconstruct the form based on this stored information. It is similar to your world’s understanding of DNA. It’s obvious that the Void energy didn’t completely overwrite this information when it took over. As to why the animal was created without any trace of the Void, it is probably because that energy is so foreign to this world and your abilities. There is no way for you to be able to utilize it or recreate it, so the magic simply made the base version of the animal using the information it had.”

I dropped the dirty wipes and let the dungeon take care of them as I thought over his explanation. I’d studied business at university and hadn’t been much into science in high school, but what he said was logical and simple enough for me to understand. At the end of the day, I guess it didn’t really matter why, just as long as there was no chance I’d accidentally make Void animals myself.

I looked over the remaining tainted bodies, considering what to do with them. I knew the scientists would want to get their hands on them and run tests, but I thought it was too risky. It was only a matter of time before the Void energy inside them reanimated them, and if that happened before they could be secured, people could get seriously hurt. That left me with two options. I could either get the dungeon to take care of them by ordering it to break down their bodies, or I could wait till they reanimated and then have my defenders kill them for some more experience.

I called out to Brad and Steve, interrupting the training to get their advice on what I should do. They both thought I should get rid of the bodies. “It’s too risky,” Brad explained. “You saw how the other ones retreated. If that bunch decide to flee instead of fight, you might be able to take out a few but most would probably get away. The last thing we need is more of them running around the forest.”

“How about I keep just a couple, then? We should be able to take them out, and I could really use all the extra experience energy I can get.”

They looked doubtful. “I don’t know, mate. Another issue is they might be able to communicate with the ones out there,” Steve said, gesturing towards the tunnel, “and let them know what we’re doing here with the skeletons. The way that lady and snake knew exactly what to do as soon as they entered…” He shook his head. “That looked like some kind of freaky telepathy.”

I replayed the scene in my mind and realized he was right. They hadn’t hesitated, as though they’d already had a plan. If they’d been watching through the attackers’ eyes somehow… Better safe than sorry. I ordered the dungeon to dispose of the bodies and watched as they flowed into the ground. Goodbye, easy xp, I thought with a regretful sigh. With that taken care of, I made my way back to where the skeletons’ training continued, checking my status on the way to make sure I hadn’t been infected by my contact with the bodies. I was relieved to see no mention of the infection. I wondered if it was because of my higher level and constitution now, or if it was due to the dungeon’s influence. Cax was unable to shed any light on which it might be.

I stopped near the training group, and, remembering how the animals all leaped across the pit, tossed Steve the pack of wipes I was still holding. “Here. See if they can block airborne targets.” Giving me a thumbs up, he threw it up and towards Brad. Having heard what I said, Brad lifted his shield and the pack hit it dead center, dropping down to the ground. As he picked it up and tossed it high at a random skeleton, I could see they were already better at moving the shields around than they had been at the beginning as it managed to get the shield in place in time to block the pack. I created a couple more packs of wipes so they could all practice at the same time and passed them over. A thought occurred to me as I watched them train.

“Can I absorb one of the skeletons once they finish training, shield and all, and then create a copy that will have the same skills?” If I could do that, we wouldn’t need to worry about training more skeletons if these ones perished. I could just create a copy of one that had already been taught. It would be especially useful for quickly setting up a more capable defense in future dungeons.

Cax was silent for a while. I could sense him considering my idea, so I left him to it and just watched as Brad and Steve supervised the defenders and demonstrated the movements again when the undead made a mistake.

“Do you think I can put this on my promotion application?” Steve joked as he repositioned one of the skeleton’s legs to give it a better center of gravity. The two officers seemed much more comfortable around the undead, no longer hesitating to touch them. “Right there in the skills section. ‘Training an undead army to withstand assaults’.”

“You’d get locked up instead of moved up if you wrote that on the form,” Brad replied, not taking his eyes off another pair of skeletons as he watched them go through the latest drill.

My focus was taken off them as Cax excitedly responded to my question. “Based on everything I know about how your abilities work, I believe it may succeed as you hope. It is definitely worth attempting.”

“Good to hear. If I’m going to try it, though, might as well build them up a little more.” I called out to Brad, “How about putting them in some gear? Helmets, chest plates, that kind of thing.”

He looked the skeletons over consideringly before finally shaking his head. “They’re already fairly ungainly. Weighing them down with protective gear would limit their mobility even more.”

Alright, not that. “How about a weapon, then?”

“If it’s something simple, sure. They’re picking up the shield work well enough, but I have no idea how well they’ll handle something on top of that. How intelligent are they exactly?”

“Haven’t got a clue,” I admitted. “But let’s find out.” I looked through the options in my Weaponsmithing profession, and Spears caught my eye. “I can make a spear,” I suggested. “They’d just need to poke things with it.”

“Simple enough. Let’s try it.”

I called up the outline of the base weapon and manipulated it with practiced ease. I’d used this feature of my interface often enough now that I felt comfortable moving through it quickly. I wanted to use metal, so with the weight issues of the shield in mind, I knew I’d have to compromise on the length of the spear to make sure it wasn’t too difficult to use. I didn’t want to weigh the undead down too much. I made the spear 80cm long, which was about from the tips of my fingers to my shoulder. I left the tip as a simple triangular point, adding slightly jagged edges to it that I imagined would help it do more damage.

Thinking about the shaft, I looked at the skeletons’ hands. The smooth bones had me worried they wouldn’t be able to hold onto the metal, so I made some simple grooves to assist with gripping. I couldn’t combine materials yet, so it was the best I could do to make it easier to hold. With the design done, I wanted to try out my latest evolution for Create.

“Hey Steve, hold out your right hand. No, palm up. Ok, now don’t move.” I confirmed the design and tried to activate Create, imagining it forming with the handle just above the young officer’s outstretched hand. However, the ability wouldn’t work. The error message I got said I was trying to create it too close to an interfering aura. I guess it was the same problem as when the dungeon cleaned the floor earlier and couldn’t affect the area around the two guys.

“What are you doing?” he asked, shoulders tensing up. The intent way I was staring at him was obviously making him nervous.

“My ability got an upgrade,” I answered absently, still focusing intently. “I’m trying to make the spear appear in your hand when it finishes being created.” I tried to create it slightly further above his palm but had the same problem.

“What?!” he asked in a slightly high tone, snatching his hand back quickly and hiding it behind his body. “What if it appears inside my hand instead?! Why don’t you just make it on the ground over there?!”

I shrugged. “Honestly? I thought this would look cooler. It’s not working, though, so yeah, I’ll just do that.”

I focused on a spot on the ground off to the side of everyone and poured mana into the outline. A couple of minutes later, it gave one final pulse and solidified. I went and picked up the spear, then handed it off to Brad. He took it and had a few practice thrusts with it.

“It’s got a nice balance to it,” he commented. “Still a bit heavier than I’d like if I need to use it for a long time, but your skeletons should be ok with their freakish strength. Good job with the length, too. After some practice, they might even be able to throw it at a target.”

Huh. Hadn’t thought of that. “Umm, yep. That was the plan,” I said. Based on their expressions, Persuasion hadn’t kicked in on that one. “Anyway,” I continued quickly, “let me give it the same repair enchantment, then I’ll make more.”

Doing just that, the officers and skeletons were all soon equipped with shields and short spears. Brad ran them through another series of exercises combining blocking and thrusting. To the accompanying sound of metal shields being hit repeatedly, I looked at the simple notification that had appeared concerning my Enchanting profession.

You have reached Rank 2 in the [Self Repair] enchantment.

Items will be repaired slightly faster.

I was very happy it had already improved, but it didn’t sound like enough of a change for me to want to re-do all the equipment with the higher-ranked version. So, while Brad and Steve trained the skeletons on using the simple weapons and how to block them, I decided to finish off the rest of the defenders.

First, though, I spent 75xp to level up. I needed to get my mana pool up to 200mp anyway so I could use the Awakening discs, and the additional level would bump the total number of defenders I could support up to twelve. When the energy finished coursing through my body and altering it, I was pleased to find only minor changes had been made to my physique this time. According to what Cax had told me previously, that meant the outward changes were likely completed and further levels should consist of only internal enhancements.

After I finished checking myself over, I made a level-6 rockauncher to join the original one that was now almost back at full health. I had it take a position against the wall opposite the tunnel entrance. After that, I made two max-level monitor lizards and ordered one to the edge of the pit and the other to the camp entrance just in case a regular animal made its way in. I wasn’t sure how long the presence of the Void creatures would linger up top, keeping the animals away, but it was only a matter of time before something else came in. Any lingering regrets I had about spending too much time down here disappeared when I got yet another notification, letting me know that taking the extra time to work on the defenses and my abilities was paying off.

Congratulations!

You have reached Rank 3 in [Defenders] within your [Dungeon Construction] profession.

Your defenders will now automatically level up in order to be the same level as that of the dungeon.

This will happen using energy provided by the dungeon itself and will take longer for every level they need to be brought up.

Defenders will not draw on the experience earned within the dungeon.

That…is…bloody…beautiful! My grin almost split my face in two. This meant I wouldn’t need to replace every single defender each time I leveled up. The dungeon itself would take care of that now. The defenders would grow with me, meaning my dungeons would always have the strongest guardians protecting them. And with any luck, the longer the defenders like the skeletons were around, the more skilled they would become. If I could absorb a skeleton who’d used its shield in actual battles, all future ones I created would be that much more skilled. Slow down, I cautioned myself, cutting off that train of thought. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

For now, I had two more defender positions to fill. I got started on creating two kangaroos. As soon as I’d seen the intimidating figure bound into my dungeon, I’d wanted one of my own. A little later, the powerful beasts stood before me, taller and wider than me. I grinned in admiration as I looked them over. Now these are defenders, I thought proudly. Being flesh and blood, they were inferior to the skeletons as a front-line defence against the Void, but they were a strong backup for the undead. I gave them the standard orders to attack anything except non-Void humans and to protect all humans, and then had them stand off against the wall. With how big they were, they would easily get in the way if I let them roam.

I turned to see how the training was going only to find Brad and Steve watching me. “Change in plans?” Brad asked with a raised eyebrow, gesturing at the kangaroos with his head. Steve was clearly impressed, and I half expected him to walk over and start petting them.

I shrugged. “I leveled up again, so I could make an extra two defenders.” I looked back at the kangaroos. “You saw how hard they can hit. And they aren’t limited by positioning like the rockaunchers. Seemed like a good choice.”

“Can’t disagree,” Brad said. “Anyway, we’re done here. The skeletons are as good as they’re going to get. They can block and hit without hurting themselves or the one next to them, so they should be able to hold the line against most of the basic attackers we saw before.”

“Champions!” I gave them both a grateful nod. “Thank you so much!” I walked up to the nearest skeleton, replaced the self-repair enchantment on its shield and short spear with the slightly better Rank-2 version, and then got ready to absorb it. I focused on the skeleton, spear, and shield as one unit, imagining the three together as one large pattern.

You are attempting to store a pattern composed of multiple complex elements.

This will increase the cost and strain of using [Absorb].

It will also drastically increase the cost and strain of using [Create] for this pattern.

Are you sure you want to learn this pattern?

What?! I hadn’t gotten anything like that when I absorbed the cot, pillow and blanket all together as a set. Although, I grudgingly admitted to myself, they were all everyday objects, so it’s not exactly the same thing. For this, I was trying to combine a magical defender, an enchanted weapon, and an enchanted shield into one pattern. For all I knew, the knowledge the skeleton had picked up on how to use a shield and weapon was factored in as well.

Thinking about it like that and breaking it down into the components involved, I realized I shouldn’t complain. This would be one of the most advanced things I was able to create, combining elements of all four of my professions. I should just be happy it was possible at all and not complain about it being more difficult to make happen. The part about the drastically increased strain for Create was worrying, but I was still going to go ahead with it.

I confirmed that I wanted to learn the pattern, and then I had the option to name it. I turned to the two officers for help. “I need a name to store these guys under so I can easily create these fully equipped versions in the future.”

Giving it some thought, it wasn’t long until Steve exclaimed confidently, “Got it! Stormtrooper. Look how white they are.” I looked at him like he was crazy. “What?! It’s perfect!”

“They were the bad guys! We’re trying to save the world here.”

“How about bonetrooper?” Brad volunteered after a few seconds.

Steve and I looked at each other, then we grinned and nodded at the same time. “Love it!” I announced. “Bonetrooper it is.” I didn’t miss the little smile that appeared on Brad’s face. Locking the name in with a thought, Absorb activated. I noticed a difference immediately. Whereas I could usually let the ability guide the energy and turn my attention to something else, I sensed my mana almost breaking free of the ability’s control.

After using my abilities and spells so many times now, I had begun to realize that they all had something in common. It was that they all had their own style, a specific way of guiding the energy and applying it. Now, it was like Absorb was struggling to guide my mana as it branched off into the three distinct objects. I knew it wasn’t only because there were three targets it was trying to make into one pattern. I had already done that with the cot, blanket, and pillow. No. It was because each of these things was much more advanced, and each required more energy. If this much mana was directed towards just one object, I felt it would be easier for the ability to automatically handle it. But with it needing to guide three such strong splits of energy, the ability was struggling to maintain control.

On instinct, I mentally assisted. I helped direct my mana, concentrating on making it follow where the ability was telling it to go. I had no idea why it had to flow in this particular way, and I didn’t need to. I just had to make sure my mana kept following where Absorb was directing it. It required constant focus on my part, and it left me oblivious to what was going on around me.

When the skeleton and the gear it was holding finally shimmered out of existence, and the combined pattern was successfully added to my core, Absorb ended. I blinked rapidly, suddenly coming back to myself, and realized I had a little sweat dripping down into my eyes. My head was also aching slightly.

“Now you have a better idea of how lucky you are to have the enchantments that provide you with an interface and facilitate the use of your abilities and spells,” Cax told me. I didn’t miss the bit of satisfaction behind his words. “Imagine having to do that manually, without any guidance. That’s what people who used magic needed to do back before they discovered such a form of assistance.”

“What you said before, about me being spoiled? You’re definitely right! I could never do that without help.” I wasn’t too proud to admit that.

“Don’t worry,” Cax replied. “All modern adventurers are, compared to those who came before them. It is the abilities you got from me that make you truly spoiled. If you are interested in gaining more control and skill, though, your Light magic is at Tier II now. You can start experimenting with Light energy in simple ways to further your understanding of how magic works.”

“When I have time, I’ll definitely give it a go,” I told him. I was curious to see what I could work out for myself. And if the practice would help me out with things like this in the future, I was all for it. And who knows, a bit of magic training might actually be fun.

“Are you ok?” Brad asked, his voice getting through to me. He looked concerned. I realized he’d been trying to get my attention for a while now while I was talking to Cax. That, and the fact it must have been obvious to them that I was having more trouble than usual, was enough to worry them.

I took a moment to check in with my body and seriously consider if I was before answering. “Yeah, I think so. Sorry, I was talking to Cax. And that was intense,” I admitted tiredly. “That was more complicated than anything else I’ve absorbed, so I really had to focus. But the good news is it worked!” I added happily, smiling weakly. “Now to create a bonetrooper.”

“Sure you’re up to it?” Steve asked. “You’re not looking all that good.”

I thought of what the message had said about how the strain to create it was going to be worse than to absorb it, but hid my unease. Instead, I just shrugged, trying to appear more confident than I felt. “Only one way to find out.” If it’s too hard, I’ll just cancel the ability. Should be fine.

“Ok,” Brad said firmly before I got started, “but this is the last thing you’re doing down here. We’re heading up straight after this.”

I nodded my acceptance, then sat down. If it was too intense for me to handle, I didn’t want to fall over. I activated Determination to give my mental focus a boost, and then found the Bonetrooper pattern. Taking a deep breath, I focused on the space just in front of me and activated Create. Instead of a mild struggle, this was a full-on fight. My mana immediately began breaking free of the control the ability was exerting on it, and I forcefully imposed my will on it. I lost track of time as it took everything I had just to hold onto my energy and keep it following the direction Create wanted it to flow in. Without the boost to concentration my skill was providing me, I didn’t think I’d have been able to maintain my hold all the way until the end. Finally, though, Create ended and the flow of mana cut off.

I blinked sweat out of my eyes, and squinting through the pounding in my head, saw I’d succeeded. A skeleton with a shield on its left arm and a short spear held in its right hand stood before me. My bonetrooper, I thought proudly as I healed myself, the pain disappearing immediately but leaving the mental fatigue behind.

“It will get easier as you advance in your professions,” Cax told me gently. “At the moment, though, that was at the very edge of what you’re capable of. The fact it incorporated all of your professions at the same time added a lot to the strain. I recommend you not do anything that intense for a while.”

“No arguments there,” I told him, glad to hear it wouldn’t always be like that. I saw that my mana pool was almost empty. Making the bonetrooper had taken almost two-thirds of my mana, and then Heal had used up most of what was left. I was especially glad my defenders were now able to level up automatically. It was a huge drain on my mana and mind to make new bonetroopers, but thanks to that evolution, I wouldn’t have to unless they died.

I accepted Brad’s hand and let him pull me up. The way he stayed close after letting go made it seem like he was expecting to have to catch me. “Ok, that’s enough,” he told me, watching me closely. “You look ready to drop. Let’s go up, get some food, and talk to Ms. Anders.”

I just nodded, still trying to get over the shock of the intense mental activity I’d just been through. I knew I’d probably be good enough in a minute or two, but I would need a decent night’s sleep to fully recover from the mental fatigue. Before taking a well-earned break, though, there was something I needed to check. “Can you just quickly run the new one through some tests? I want to know if the training you gave the original one has carried over.”

He looked like he might object, but then changed his mind. He was probably just as curious as I was. “Fine. But just quickly.”

I gave the new defender the same orders to obey Brad and Steve, and they quickly ran the bonetrooper through a few exercises. By the end, it was clear that it was just as good as the ones who had received the training. It could block the flying pack of wipes, it could brace itself against a charge, and then thrust out with its spear at an off-balance target.

I breathed a happy sigh. “That’s fantastic. Thanks guys.” I ordered the new defender to guard the camp entrance in order to deal with anything that came from that way, with instructions to support the others at the pit as soon as anything attacked from the tunnel. I looked at where the five skeletons were lined up behind the pit, and thought about what else I could do to make it harder for anything coming in. Maybe a low wall, angled out over the pit a little. That would make it harder for anything that survives the fall to climb out. And if I put spikes on the top of the wall, anything jumping over would land on them. And maybe some… I noticed Brad and Steve staring at me impatiently as I stood there unmoving, lost in my thoughts. “Sorry,” I said a little sheepishly. “I was just thinking about what else I could do to improve the defenses.”

Brad came over and put his hand on my shoulder. “I get it. But there will be time for more later. Trust me, this lot should be able to deal with almost anything the Void can bring against them,” he looked around at all the defenders as he said that. “As long as those puppet things don’t get any more crazy abilities,” he admitted. “But you have to be careful not to overdo it. You need to take the time to look after yourself.”

“And us!” Steve chimed in. “We have to go where you go, and we would really love it if you go get some food.”

I smiled. I clapped Brad on the upper arm to show my appreciation. "You’re right. Let’s go up now.”

“Great! I’m starving!” Steve declared happily, face brightening immediately as he began walking to the camp entrance.

“Actually…,” Brad started to say, and Steve swung to face him, eyes pleading as he seemed to sense his chance of getting out of the dungeon and eating disappearing. “I need you to stay down here until I can send someone to relieve you. We need to keep at least one person in here at all times to go and notify everyone if it comes under attack.”

“You want me to stay in here all alone?!” he objected

“Yes. But it won’t be for long. And I’m also telling you to run away at the first sign of trouble, so suck it up.”

Steve grumbled a bit under his breath but didn’t argue more. “Also, can you put our new shields and spears near the camp entrance?” Brad asked Steve. “They’re too heavy to use for long, but they’ll be good options for whoever’s on guard down here until Dean can make something else for us.” He then went and got his damaged riot shield, presumably to pass off to the scientists.

“Yes, Boss,” Steve mock saluted him, clearly unhappy.

I gave him a sympathetic pat on the back as Brad and I began to leave. As we got closer to the entrance, I noticed Brad’s frown return. I remembered that I hadn’t asked him what was bothering him before.

“What’s up?” I asked, concerned. “Is something going on?”

He turned his head my way and gave a small nod. “When I went up earlier, Ms. Anders told me something that has me a little worried. We didn’t have time to get into the details, so I’d rather wait and let her tell us both the full story.”

Of course, I immediately wanted to know more, but I reigned in the desire to question him. If he wanted to wait, I could respect that. I’d come to trust this man, despite only knowing him for…. I had to stop and think. Was it two days now? Three? So much had been happening recently, it felt like much longer. I was a little shocked to realize how little time had actually passed since this all began. Shaking my head to clear it of the distracting thoughts, I told him, “Ok. I can wait.” Despite saying that, I couldn’t help asking one question. “Just tell me this. Does it affect me?”

His frown deepened. “Honestly, I’m not sure. But I’m afraid it might.”

My expression shifted to match his. I subconsciously increased my pace, wanting to find out what had been going on while I’d been down in the dungeon.