Trium took our island westward, skirting around the wyvern islands a bit more than I’d have expected. As we traveled we encountered one of the most difficult challenges of the floor.

Boredom.

We were so far north that there were almost no islands for us to watch pass by, let alone interact with, and so we spent long periods of time with nothing to do. My daughters talked amongst themselves, but I spent my time watching the compass. If there was any deviation from our course, one that made no sense to me, I planned to politely ask Trium what he was up to.

In the end that never happened, as soon a single island that was quite small floated into our view. It had a waterfall that ran off of it, pouring a never ending stream of water into the ocean below. Aside from a few rocks, and the pool of water that fed the waterfall, there was only the portal on it.

As our island floated in closer I looked over every part of the isle in front of us that I could see. I looked for any signs of an ambush, or even anything that’d mark recent activity, but all I saw was untouched wilderness.

Once the two islands were in contact with each other I crossed first, leaving my daughters to make certain Trium didn’t strand us. Though the portal looked to be there, it was a possible hologram or other type of trick.

I only felt secure in calling them over when I touched the sphere. They gathered around me quickly enough, while the Architect took his time.

“Make certain you are wearing your collars,” Trium told my daughters, “allow me to handle identification requests.”

“Identification requests?” Lisa asked, though she made certain to put the collar on her neck. When it was on she helped Mika put her’s on as well.

Trium looked at me, as though expecting me to answer the question, but when I remained silent he replied, “Surveillance on next floors, no identification will result in triggering alarms.”

Lisa tilted her head at his words, the confusion obvious on her face. “He means they’re watching for intruders and checking everyone,” I explained to her, “so don’t punch people unless I tell you to.”

Trium looked us from head to toe, and then pointed at my daughters. “Not disheveled enough.”

Even I struggled for a moment to figure out what he meant, but then I realized a very simple fact. My daughters were very pristine, they’d managed to avoid soiling their clothing during our venture through the labyrinth.

“He’s right, go rub some dirt on your clothes and faces,” I told them, “you don’t look like slaves at all.”

Out of the two it was Lisa who was most hesitant to soil herself. Whether that was because her outfits were consistently white, or something equally light, she seemed to almost grimace as mud was smeared onto her dress.

Mika showed no hesitation, as instead she picked up the mud and put it all over her clothing. She worked grime into her black hair, and tried her best to make it as unkempt as possible.

“Presence of a weapon not tolerated,” Trium commented as he eyed Lisa’s back.

This time Lisa didn’t need any help in translating what he meant, and she handed her sheathed sword over to the Architect. The fact that she didn’t bat an eye at doing it showed either extreme confidence in herself, or an utter lack of fear in Trium.

He slung the weapon onto his back, much like Lisa had, though he didn’t seem all too comfortable with it being there. “Forward progression,” he said, as he walked over to the sphere, “avoid instigating.”

Trium was the first to go through, a move that made me marginally concerned. “Be on your guard when we get through, in case it’s another ambush,” I warned my daughters.

“Be kind of nice if it was, I don’t like all this skulking around,” Lisa muttered as she used the portal.

Mika didn’t say anything, as she approached the sphere, and instead offered her hand to me. I took it with my own, the mud on her fingers squishing against the shell’s fingers. Then we were gone.

Floor 69

The Broken Web

It was a unique floor, that was one way to describe it. We appeared on what looked like a massive branch, one that was connected to a tree so gargantuan that it dwarfed any we’d encountered before.

Far above us was a grand canopy of leaves and branches, the leaves themselves easily bigger than any of us. I knew from personal experience that the rain drops were absurd as well, but we’d managed to come onto the floor when there was no rainfall.

We were not attacked when we appeared, and instead Trium stood quietly to the side waiting for us. All around us we could only see wilderness, a welcome respite from what I had thought might be an infestation of metal.

There were only four ways to get through the floor. The first was to cross the branches, going through the labyrinthine layout until you found the portal. The second was to jump, risking a fall that would surely kill anyone. The third was to fly, if one could do that.

The final mode of crossing the floor was the one that I preferred. Without a word to the others I walked out onto what seemed to be thin air.

“What are you doing!” Lisa yelled as she reached for me, though by that point it would’ve already been too late.

Yet I hadn’t fallen, and instead I seemed to them to be floating. Instead I’d stepped on one of the many near invisible threads that covered the forest. “If you look hard enough you’ll see the strings, let’s get moving,” I told them, as I continued to walk across the gap between trees.

When I felt the vibrations through the strings I was already using, I knew that my daughters were following after me. We progressed through the floor, going from tree to tree via the pathways of threads which were spun across the entire locale.

Yet one thing bugged me after a few hours of walking, and that was we hadn’t encountered any trouble yet. This floor had once been infested with spiders, as large as one would expect given the webs they had spun. Their threads had remained, but the monsters were gone.

The answer to that question came soon enough as we neared one of the final trees, and even from a distance we could see it wasn’t normal. Gone was the regular tree, and in its place was some strange monstrosity of metal and wood. A platform had been built around the tree and Architect drones could be seen walking about.

When I reached the end of the thread and stepped onto the platform every single drone turned to stare at me. I didn’t walk any further, and instead waited for my daughters and Trium. If one of the drones tried to cut the string to kill them I wanted to be able to stop it.

None of them made a move, and when Trium stepped onto the platform every drone once more started to ignore us. Trium didn’t say anything, but instead motioned for us to keep moving, and so we circled around the trunk of the tree.

On the other side were no more strings, instead a walkway had been constructed between the final two trees of the floor. From our spot we could see the portal, as it floated near one of the branches of the last tree.

When we went to cross the bridge a single Architect stepped forward, blocking us. He was clearly not a drone, but with his combination of pants and dress shirt he was just as generic.

“Identity?” the Architect asked Trium, as he looked past both my daughters and I.

“Manager Trium, reconnoiter duty.”

The Architect formed a small item out of nanites and studied it, before reabsorbing the nanites. “Permitted,” was all he said, and then stepped aside.

None of us talked as Trium took the lead, and we crossed the bridge. When we reached the other side there were only two drones standing guard. They glanced at us, but made no move to interact with us at all.

Once more we gathered around the portal, with Mika taking my hand. A few seconds later we were gone, and heading for the first time into the realm of the Architects.

Floor 70

The City of Metal

Checkpoint 7

We appeared in a room of titanium, with a criss-cross pattern of girders overhead. Along the bottoms of the girders were numerous spherical objects. I knew from past experience that they were a defense system.

There was no need for any guards to be present in the arrival chamber. Aside from an executive, most Architects wouldn’t be able to handle the lasers.

Trium was the first to move, as he walked off of the arrival platform. He stepped up to a door, and with a wave of a hand opened the way to the next area of the floor.

He waited for us to follow him, and only when we’d gathered near the door did he step through. I went next, preferring to be the first one stricken if there was an ambush on the other side.

Instead I stepped out onto a curiously empty street in the middle of a city. All around us half-constructed spires stretched up into the sky, the open sections giving the place a forboding feel.

Trium had already started to move down the street, heading in the direction which the compass pointed in. My daughters, on the other hand, were a bit too shocked as they stared at the unfinished metropolis around us.

I nudged the both of them before I followed Trium. As we walked I studied the place. I noticed how even though it was more than capable of housing millions, there were at best a few dozen Architects.

The vast difference between people and housing only furthered the mystery that’d been developing. Without the Architects they couldn’t even finish building the city, and if they couldn’t finish that how could they spread to the lower floors.

Between that and the organ theft at their prison, I began to feel like there’d been some drastic change in the leadership of the Architects. Yet no matter what it was, I doubted they could handle my daughters.

The further we went through the floor the worse it became, in regard to an absence of people or even noise. I hadn’t seen another Architect for a while by the time we reached our destination.

The building that contained the portal was as skeletal as some of the nearby spires. It was large, with a front section that was completely open. I looked around for any guard, but all I saw were more security spheres embedded in exposed support beams.

Trium confidentiality strode through the entrance and over to the visible portal. “You said you needed to stop by another floor first?” he whispered when we gathered near him.

I nodded my head, as I wished to avoid saying anything that might trigger a security alert. My daughters touched the portal, Lisa vanishing first, while Mika waited with an extended hand to me.

“I will wait at the arrival point for you,” Trium said.

I studied his face, looking for any sign of deception, and eventually gave up and grasped Mika’s hand. A few seconds later we were gone.

Floor 50

The Strays

Checkpoint 5

The fist thing I saw was a sword coming at my face, and so all I could do was respond by stumbling away from it. The blade cut through the air near my face, barely missing, but no second attack came.

“Sorry about that!” Lucas apologized as he shoved his sword into a scabbard on his hip, “I didn’t know you were coming back.”

“I forgot to disconnect and warn you,” I admitted, as I looked around.

The area was nothing short of a disaster zone. The ground smoked in numerous spots, with craters here and there, and bodies were strewn. Every body was familiar, as they were all the Architect drones.

Lucas was the only person present, wearing his combat suit that I’d given him. I scanned the rest of the area, but couldn’t see anyone else.

“So they started to invade?”

“Yup, every so often a couple come through. We’ve been killing them on sight since you didn’t say otherwise.”

Behind me my daughters picked their way across the corpse-laden field. Neither looked altogether happy, though given they were still coated in dirt and collared I wasn’t shocked.

“Take those off,” I told them, “until we go back.”

They didn’t require much encouragement, as they hastily took off the collars. “I am going to shower,” Mika said as she started to pick her way across the corpse-laden battlefield.

Lisa ran after her sister, not even bothering to say what she was going to do. I followed after them, and while they thought on the upcoming showers I instead wondered on something else.

Why was their city a ghost town?