As they went down, their lights painted a path for them that was around twenty meters out in front of them. They were quiet, their plasma guns out of their inventory, slowly making their way down the sloping tunnel. It was eerily quiet in this underground road. The unknown luring, but Sophie felt calm. Her finger on the trigger. She had been in these kinds of situations before. The space station was just as dark, the fight with the Sholf just as exciting. Now she even had two other people with her to protect her back.

They had walked around fifty meters when they saw their first monster. It was sitting, holding what seemed like a bone in its clawed hands in front of it. The monster was looking in the opposite direction as they approached it from the back. It looked like a miniature bear with its long fur brown and its ears pointy, but rounding off at the top. It seemed like it was looking up as they could see its snout in the sky. Its beady black eyes staring at the ceiling.

Weird, Sophie thought as they got a little closer. Aiming their plasma guns at the bear, Sophie looked at her two companions nodding the question that must be on everyone's mind, do we shoot it? They nodded back, and she pulled the trigger, firing a shot in direction of the bear. As the shot of plasma hit the back of the creature, it passed right through the fur, into the empty air behind it. They stared at it with some incomprehension when they heard a loud bang. Caused by the shot of plasma that had continued to travel further until it met resistance.

They walked toward the bear hide, their boots making hollow plop sounds in the slightly moist ground of the tunnel. As they arrived, they looked behind it. There was nothing. The bear hide had been stringed along a cross made of wood that had been stabbed into the ground. The hole that was shot into it by Sophie, was not easily missed. The bone they had seen, stuffed into the claw.

As they stared at it, two creatures that looked strange came around the corner of the tunnel. As Sophie saw them approaching, she aimed her plasma gun at them. She knew it wasn't ready again, she just needed to alert Bee and Maya. As she made her move the other two followed her gaze. Maya made a small sound before pointing her weapon, following Bee who had already done so.

The creatures had very thin arms and legs that seemed to be made of steel. Their elbows and knees were a little thicker, but not by much. Their torso was made of more steel with what looked like a large backpack on their backs. Their heads were can like with two glowing eye balls and a big bulb of light on top that shone in all directions like a candle. It was their hands that looked the most sophisticated of the whole machine. Minute details, plus in both their left hands a pick axe. Sophie tried to focus at the machines, see if she could figure out what they were. It hadn't worked with living creatures yet, but these were machines, right?

Mining machine I

Common Quality

Good for farming materials if you don't enjoy swinging a pickaxe yourself - review by Blacksm1th

She sighed, lowering her plasma gun. Standing up straighter, she whispered to her friends "They seem to be Mining machines, Common Quality, what would be the chances they won't attack?" They didn't have time to answer her as both of the machines launched at them. Pick axe raised in their left hands, ready to mechanically cave their skulls in. The brother-sister duo didn't even flinch, both shooting their gun. Sadly, they both shot the same one as its torso got seared through it ceased to function. Its light fading from both its head and eyes, it sacked into a pile of metal. The other one didn't even look back and kept rushing towards them.

As Sophie saw what had happened, she dashed forward. Dodging the pickaxe that was brought down at a speed faster than she would have liked before slamming the bud of her gun into its steel face. It staggered but wasn't out of order yet as it tried to pierce her with the pick axe yet again. She tried to dodge, but this time it tore through the outer layer of fabric, just barely missing her arm. She bashed the head again. Lights went out. A little plastic card fell from its steel back pack. 20 credits.

Due to being in a group the credits got split into three, with the leader getting the biggest split if it didn't split equally. Sophie couldn't care less about the one credit Maya had gotten more than her. She looked around, her light shining into the darkness of the tunnel. There seemed to be no more movement for now, which was good. She looked up, seeing Maya and Bee talking. While walking towards them, she heard Bee mumble something about sleep while Maya said sleep was for the weak. Maya began pouting when Bee looked at her a little more firmly.

Turning on her heels, Maya turned toward Sophie and grumbled "Sorry Sophie, we need to get some sleep. We have been up for way too long and its almost six in the morning for us... Will you be fine if we leave for like 8 hours?" A sour smile turned Sophie's face a little wrinkly, but she didn't want to show too much of the slight disappoint she felt. She straightened her face back to normal, nodding. The apologetic smile Maya made and Bee's strict face softened the blow to her adventure lust. She had not expected the exploration to be cut off so early but if she was in their shoes, she would not have made it into the last six hours. She sighed snickering "Sure I will just log off and do a little pre-time studying so I can play when you guys are online. Sweet dreams!" she winked at them, logging off, they were waving stating something similar.

As she got out of the POD looking for Frank, she spotted the lunch. Roasted bread with cheese and some water. Yup, Frank had found out about her skipping the swimming pool. Oh well. She walked towards the table sitting down. Her study material already next to the simple meal, something about flora and fauna of grass plains and how to best train the mind. Frank was tracking her progress. It was a boring four hours; Frank didn't show himself and she didn't feel the urge to call him for a little chat. This was also part of their routine. She was used to it and so was Frank. It might be unruly for any other teenager, but this was their system and until now it hadn't messed her up.

She went through the dull lessons like they were syrup; slow, sticky and holding her back from her goal. Which was; being finished. The fauna had little to nothing of use and so did the mental exercises. Follow the rules, get fun stuff to learn; don’t and suffer. When the time was up and she could go back into the game, she almost did a little dance. After answering the call of nature, she slid back into the POD, closing the lid.

Back in game she looked around. The tunnel was darker now that Bee and Maya weren't helping with their lights. She could still continue without them. She knew she could handle two of the miners alone, three might be a challenge. Four was not really possible but so far there were only two, so why not proceed? The party was still in effect, so Maya and Bee would still get credits. Getting rich while sleeping; perfect plan. She walked further into the tunnel. The moist ground making her footsteps slide a little further than intended but nothing that would take her off her feet. There were no sounds, only the sound of her own footsteps that traveled down the dark path.

After a hundred meters three light bulbs came into view, she halted her step, aiming her gun. The light bulbs in the dark tunnel were like mini lighthouses guiding players to their location. Not complaining, Sophie kept walking, her gun up. It was going to be an experimental first skirmish. Not knowing how many burst shots it would take to kill one, she wasn't sure if she could take on two of them in hand to hand combat. It was a risk, but a risk she was willing to take. She went for the tactic she was most confident about. When she came close enough, she aligned her gun with its bulk, shooting a full shot into the back of the first mechanic miner. It died instantly, its torso melting away, a little plastic card hitting the ground before its steel did. The other two miners turned around and focused their flashlight eyes on her.

A little pause preceded their rush towards her, their metallic feet hitting the moist ground making slogging noises. In a calm manner, she inserted her plasma gun into her inventory. Now that both her hands were free, she slowly shifted her posture and stood into a boxing stance. She had been trained in real life to survive these kinds of attacks, but that didn't say all that much. Her muscles here had no muscle memory, the suit she was wearing cumbersome and heavy. All factors that made fighting in game more difficult than in reality. Not that it was that much different, the basics were the same; you destroy your enemy.

As the machines arrived, she dodged the axe of the first. Diving underneath it, using its inertia against it by planting her fist in its steel belly. She felt a spike of pain going through her hand. Another difference with reality as her bones here didn't have years of strengthening. Grimacing, she didn't have time to think too much about the pain. The danger of being spiked by a pick axe; still very real.

As she had hit the first in its steel underbelly, the second had already targeted her face. Barely preventing it from entering her cheek. The pick axe swung past and her right fist connected to its left eye ball, breaking it. She stepped passed the tin can, making it a shield for its buddies’ favorite weapon. The first machine had not even registered the blow and had swung its pick again, finding its coworker in its way. Morality was not a top priority in its transistors and the pick went into the second machines light bulb skull. Slumping down, it released its credit content to the ground, taking the now stuck pick axe with it.

The machine and Sophie stared for a while. She was standing in a defensive position. The machine had no weapon anymore and seemed to be unsure what its transistors thought about that. Thinking of finishing it, Sophie stepped forward. She swung her non-hurting fist, the right one, into its eye ball. Then the other before breaking its lightbulb skull. Without the pick, the miners were not a problem.

As the fight was over, she checked her left hand by balling her fist repeatedly. Nothing seemed to be broken which was a good sign but didn't take away the pain. Note to self: don't hit the miners in the gut. She walked further, still balling her fist a little, moving the pain away, or at least she tried. She took out the gun again, ready for the next batch. Groups of miners after groups of miners, all-in pairs or triplets fell to the rinse and repeat techniques she used on the first group. Shoot, wait, use the body against it, bash their lights out. As she came to the end of the tunnel, she had killed eight more groups. Totaling twenty miners, for which she got paid 260 credits in total and a hefty 16% percent in spatial awareness plus 5% in agility. Now she had visual on something she hadn't seen before. She stared at it intently, trying to trigger inspect from quite the distance. Finally succeeding.

Security Droid I

Common Quality

Shoots like a regular space trooper, but it's a little slow on the intake. - review by M0bster

She stared at it. Its head was a little similar to the miners. Its light not bright like the miner but red, its eyes sticking out less, armored in steel. A small speaker where its mouth could be imagined. Its upper body again a little similar to the miner but its arms bigger. The steel bag the miner had was missing. Instead of the pickaxe it had a plasma gun that looked like hers. Where the hands of the miner were sophisticated, this specimen had hands that looked like mittens, with only its trigger finger out.

Then there was the underside. It looked like a mini tank, but then without the barrel as that might have entertained in a different way than they had wanted at Nsquared. Its steel track standing in the mud, the mudguard at the front was brown of mud and four little road wheels were waiting to spin. It formed a triangle, but a sturdy one. She didn't know if she could win a fist fight against it, a problem as they had two guns and she had one. Ah yes, they were with two, one on each side of the entrance of a cave.

She mulled it over for a while. In the end deciding to try and lure one away with a burst shot. She lined up, taking aim. Holding her breath, she shot at her target, hitting it straight in its armored face. As it hit, the lights on its head began turning around like a police light while its speaker kept making weird noises. Probably stating something along the lines of intruder, intruder, in whatever language it was programmed.

As it came into motion, its tracks span in the ground and it drove off. Not quick but its gun was already aligning with her head. She fired more shots while the other security bot kept still and on guard next to the cave. Success! Sophie thought, right before a plasma shot caught her shoulder. She could smell her own smoldering flesh. Bellowing in pain she emptied her own plasma gun into the security droid. Her gun ceased to cooperate before she sprinted towards it, trying to remove some of the distances, making it harder for the droid to shoot at her. Not all of her shots had been accurate, on the other hand the droid was on target. It shot three more times into her flesh taking about fifty percent of her health bar. She kept screaming, partially from the pain, partially from rage that some stupid machine was shooting holes into her.

She reached the droid after an adrenaline induced rush. Jumping up into the air she kicked both her legs into its torso, toppling it over. As she fell on her back so did the droid, the difference being that Sophie got up. The droids` tracks couldn't find a foothold and kept spinning, shouting through its speaker.

She heaved a gulp of air, her breath ragged more from the pain of her still burning flesh then from the sprint. Strolling towards it, kicking its head lamp in. It wasn't enough to shut it down, so she waited a minute for her battery to get full, shooting it point blank in its face. It ceased to exist.

Spatial awareness gained 2% toward Gen 2. Persistence gained 10% toward Gen 2.

She couldn't care less, ignoring the message. Silent for a while she looked at the small plastic card, eventually picking it up with some anticipation. A slight frown covered her face when it only gave her and the party 60 credits. Which was 20 credits for her. She sighed, looking at the other one that was still staring into nothing, as it had yet to take notice of the demise of its brother in arms. Slow on the intake indeed. The downed droid had dropped another plasma gun but as she already had one and didn't need another she had thought of just leaving it there.

That was before she took another look at the security droid still alive, smelling the smell of medium done. She picked it up. Walked forward. Checked the batteries of both guns and as they were full shot a full shot of plasma into the face of the still inactive droid. It sputtered to life. Its speaker damaged by the initial shot of plasma, blabbering and screeching now, taking aim non-the less. She grabbed the other gun and shot another blast. This time the speaker stopped functioning. A fist sized hole in its hull appearing, making all the wires visible.

Not letting the Droid fill her suit with more holes she rushed forward, taking one shot to the other shoulder. Reaching the droid, she slammed her open and stretched out hand through the gaping hole where its speaker used to be. Grabbing hold of the internal wires, she pulled them out before it had the chance to fire at point blank. The droid slowly lost all life as she kept pulling out more until the red light blinked out a little grey card falling out.

Sophie looked at her health, only 40% left. She had risked it and won. The droids had looked tough and had been tough but not as difficult as she had expected. Mostly because they had been slow. Someone who had tried to play from a defensive position, would have lost in a war of attrition. Looking into the cave, she saw four miners that were digging their way into the walls, ignoring Sophie as she turned back into the tunnel and sat down for a while. She needed to rest. As she sat against the stone wall of the tunnel, she thought of what to do with the miners.

In her head, it was simple. She needed to dispatch at least two before they can arrive in front of her. So, she had to switch guns again. The distance was to short so a third shot was probably impossible. But by now she had dealt with two miners enough times she was sure she could take them on without too much trouble.

Getting up with a little groan, she had regenerated till 80 percent. The burns had gone down to mild annoyances. Picking up the two plasma guns, she kept one underneath her arm and one in an aiming grip. She took aim. Held her breath for a moment and fired at the closest miner. At the sound of the shot the rest looked over as the head of the first miner exploded. The second ran towards Sophie. Dropping the gun and in one motion, taking the other from underneath her arm pit, taking aim, the second shot. Missing its head by centimeters.

She looked to the third gun on the floor, but she would not reach it before the miners arrived swinging. Dodging underneath the first pick, she swung the gun as a club towards its legs, dropping it to the ground. Immediately dodging towards the left, the pick axe aimed for her head. She passes by the third miner as she rolls out of reach of the fourth even before it tries to swing. She stood there, in the cave, while her entrance route was blocked by three miners.

Looking at the gun gone club she smiled, starting her attacks. The miners were not fighters. They constantly struck each other or bumped each other out of the way, as she dodged underneath, passed and jumped over their swings. As the second miner overreached with its pick, she slammed the gun square on its metallic head. While the third got stuck in a wall, she leaves it there until she had dealt with the fourth who dies by losing both its eyes and breaking its skull. The last one, miner the third gets rewarded as the last man standing by a shot of plasma in the face.

fifty-two credits and 4% into spatial awareness plus agility. She looked around the cave, disappointingly there is not much else then rock, a cart where the rock can be placed into and two other tunnels. One to the left and one to the right. Her eyebrows slowly meeting, nose twitching, the corners of her mouth going down, it was clear she was not too happy. This was not the pot of gold that was supposed to be waiting for her.

Moping, she takes the left tunnel, stamping towards it, venting her anger on the innocent soil. As she passed the threshold of the cave and steps into the tunnel, she hears a snap sound of a wire breaking. A blinding light and an explosion followed shortly after. A force field smashed into her body and throws her off the ground as pain washes over the front of her body. Her HP bar plummets. Then darkness.

Slowly a sound reached her ears, somebody was calling her it seemed. Trying to open her eyes they felt like they have been glued together. Her mouth felt like a desert, sand included. Succeeding the task of opening her eyes she groggily saw a face right above her. A mouth creeping closer, a hand holding her nose, as if they are trying to reanimate her. It was game, wasn't it? She was in a game, wasn't she? Then why was somebody trying to use CPR? A thought came to her as wet lips hit her own. She tried to sit up but was pushed back down. Her eyes shot open wide as the face lifted Maya came into view with a glimmer in her eyes and a smile on her face.

Sophie tried to punch it off, but Maya dodged backwards. Sophie sat up, still disoriented as she mumbled "Why the hell were you using CPR instead of the injector?" She turned her head that was sporting a glare towards Maya. Who in turn was hiding behind the apologetic looking Bee. Her head appeared over his shoulder, smiling at Sophie and winked before giggling "Afternoon special achieved! But honestly I forgot, now that you remind me that would have been a way better option." She didn't stop smiling that fiendish smile. Sophie just sighed and got up.

As she got up, she noticed her suit. Covered in sooth from top to bottom, it also sports at least a dozen little holes that had not been there earlier. She sighed again. Trying to wipe some off but it didn't butch. Giving up she turned to the brother sister pair that had left earlier that day. "How was your beauty nap, helped little I see." Sophie growled to the hiding girl, still feeling tricked by the fox called Maya. Maya just smiled, came out of hiding and said in a cheerful tone "At least I didn't almost blow myself to pieces. Were you tired of being alive or just stupid enough to miss the trip wire?" Sophie snorted at that arguing back "Maybe I should take back all those hard-earned credits I made us in the last four hours."

Just as Maya was about to retort Bee smoothed the wrinkles with a firm "Oh stop it you children, Sophie thanks for continuing the dungeon, but I suspect you grew in Genesis, so no complaining about your own decisions. Maya stop trying to sexual harass Sophie, just because your viewers are obsessed with you guys making out doesn't mean you should oblige." They both pouted with arms folded over their chests but in the end, both agreed. They had bigger fish to fry. Steel, mechanical fish.

In the minutes that followed, Sophie told them about her little adventure. Well mainly how she had dealt with the security droids. After that they checked if the wire had reset. Finding no such thing they stepped over the small crater that the explosive had left and went into the tunnel.

Three really was much better than one, when it came to the security droids. They had been extremely tough alone but now that they could all shoot their guns, they practically blasted the security droids to the junkyard every time they met one. They seemed to be stationed in groups of two and in total they massacred eight before the end of the tunnel came into view, netting them a nice 160 credits each.

Being the nice person she was she let Maya and Bee rotate on the last shot so they could get some Spatial awareness too. Perhaps she technically had stolen away those opportunities while going solo.

As they killed the last security drone, they finally reached the end of the dark and moist tunnel. A faint green light came from the outside as they slowly looked in. What they saw was a state of the art laboratory. Forty square meters of steel cabins, desks, glass vials, scales, beakers. Some very large freezers were stationed in the back. Centrifuges, spectrometers, some machines that looked like computers, Bunsen burners covered the desk. Even a ventilation shaft with multiple entrance points and no idea where they would exit. That was not including the equipment Sophie couldn't see its functionality.

Not that she didn't want to, it was fascinating. The room was ordered like a little class room. The desk in rows, with a huge board in the back that had dozens of formulas on it. In the end, nothing was more attention grabbing then the two-meter-high spider-man shaped robot that was sorting vials with its eight legs while looking at a formula on the board. Its legs were mechanical, little claws at the ends so it could grab vials and whatever else necessary. They were big of their own, spanning about two meters of black steel, intertwined by hydraulics and cables that were not bothered to hide away. But the top part was in the image of a man, its arms lean, its hands as sophisticated as the miners. Its torso the same black steel as its legs, coated with some kind of alloy or coating that didn't melt when some acid or other chemicals were spilled. As to its head; it didn't seem to have one. Furrowing her brows, she tried to see what it was. Probably some kind of mini-boss.

Lab droid II [Boss mob category I]

Uncommon quality

Used to work easier in the lab, and a handy bag holder when I go shopping - Review Labbie

Damn, this is new, definitely a mini-boss. Quality is too low for it to be the final boss. Plus, whatever is in that other tunnel is probably just as tough or tougher. She looked behind her, seeing Maya and Bee looking around as well. She nudges them, retreating into the tunnel before the lab droid can spot them. They needed a plan. Walking back, Bee is the first to ask "So what do you guys think? Personally, I think we should go back collect some of those dropped plasma guns and shoot the thing to pieces." Maya nods, of the same mind.

Sophie isn't so sure, arguing "I think this mob will have area of affect skills, it's good with chemicals and it seems the steel is a lot tougher to penetrate then with the others. I'm not sure if we will be able to hide while it attacks. Sure, we could hide behind the desk but what if it can throw stuff or something? I think we should use our numbers, spread through the room. Then shoot it from different sides, slowly making our way closer so we can manually pull its hydraulics` cables from its legs so it won't be able to move. Then we can just bash it to death. It would fit the scenery if this machine was not build for battle, thus had some flaws. I'm just scared that we won't get far shooting alone, that we get killed due to passivity."

They both looked at her for four seconds before Bee nodded and chimed "That makes sense, let's try that first. So, you will be the one that goes close to those legs of death, right? As you are the best trained and all?" he smiled a little mischievously and Sophie noticed that it might be a family characteristic.

She sighed shaking her head in resignation. If you had a plan, you should be willing to do it yourself otherwise it might be worth rethinking it. "Alright, just keep in mind that you will be gaining its attention. So, keep your visor up as we don't know what it uses as a weapon and don't forget to put your weapon on burst." She ordered them around a little more before they were ready to go in again.

Going in low, with their visors down, they each went in a different direction, Maya and Bee went to the right while Sophie went to the left of the room. As soon as they were all positioned behind a desk, Bee would start shooting and Maya would follow drawing its attention away. As soon as Sophie was behind her desk, crouching and keeping her head low, the shooting started on the other side. She took a peek over the desk, in time to see how the burst of plasma did absolutely nothing to the lab droid. She was glad they had followed her plan. Also, afraid that her plan wouldn't work either. As Maya and Bee began their onslaught, the lab droid turned its body. As it took a look at what was bothering it, Sophie could see its face. It had four eyes that were spread out over its torso.

Sophie looked at it and wanted to smack her head for not having a Comm up. She could only hope they would aim for the eyes. Not waiting too long she got out from her position at the same time that the lab droid threw vials of unidentifiable green fluids at her two companions. As one vial hit the desk in front of Bee, it melted the steel desk away. This gave all three a little pause, but only in their expressions as Bee and Maya kept firing, Sophie went up to the legs.

She was sure she could pull out the tubes in the hydraulic systems but she wasn't sure if she could pull out all eight. As she arrived, a plasma shot hit an eye and the lab droid let out a screech. Intensifying its barrage of throwing acid towards its assaulters. One vial hit Maya straight on her visor forcing her to pull it up as it melted, taking her vision with it.

As the two camps assaulted each other with fluids and plasma, Sophie had claimed her first victim. The legs that were the furthest behind were not in play and she had easily pulled both tubes at ones. The lab droid had screeched again, spinning its upper body towards her. Scurrying away, a vial of acid hit her in the back before she could hide behind a desk, it wanted to pursue but Maya and Bee kept shooting it, luring it back to them.

She hid for a moment panting a little from the pain in her back and the excitement of the fight. Coming out from behind the desk again, the Spider like robot was more cautious this time, positioning itself against a wall. She crept closer, witnessing the light show of plasma and glowing bottles that were thrown through the air. As she came closer, she could hear the mechanics in the lab robot working, it was new. Before she had heard nothing.

She kept going closer. When she was within reach again, Sophie pulled out two more tubes, disabling two more of its right legs. Unbalancing it further. Feeling that was an opportunity ,she did not retreat but instead dove for the last leg on the right. At the last moment, as she had its tube almost in her hand, it jerked up, out of reach.

As she lay there, underneath its lack due to the dive she had taken she saw how its leg was brought down with much more power than she had thought possible. She desperately rolled out of its way and underneath the spiders body. Avoiding the leg that tore into the ground like it was butter, but now caged underneath it. The spider tried to squash her by bending its legs, but she rolled towards the right where all its legs were three of the four legs were out of order and couldn't bend. Avoiding another crushing.

She tried to tiger out of the back but the wall prevented her plan. There was only one option left. She risked getting squashed, rushing towards its left legs to pull the middle two legs hydraulic tubes. As she was half way the spider bend its legs again, about to slam its main body into her she turtled up, bracing for probable death.

No death came. The lab droids movement stopped as Bee stood next to the left legs with two tubes in his hands. While Maya was still shooting at it. Now was the time Sophie thought as she crawled underneath and through its hind legs and climbed on top. Bee followed her example. Together they shot straight into its unprotected eyes. Only its two front legs were still active but it couldn't reach its back or throw them of by moving. A couple of seconds later the droid ceased all of its movements. Exhausted they slumped down, Maya sitting on the ground, half her suit gone and only 30% health left while Bee wasn't in a much better condition. They had won. The boss was dead.

Congratulations! For defeating a Boss of category I, you have earned 500 credits!