~‌‌ ‌‌2.03 ‌‌-‌‌ Cat Got The Cat’s Tongue? ~‌‌

Duskgrove Prison Camp

3rd Spirtday of the Full Moon

Flea materialized beside the red Crystal. It was pitch black out, the only light source being the Crystal’s dim red glow, the smaller ones near the palisade and a few torches near the buildings. Making his way towards the cabin he had been assigned, Flea was startled by a noise coming from something besides the steps up to the cabin’s door.

“I’m here to explain to you the consequences of not meeting your first day’s quota. Or’loc was informed of your sudden demise at the hands of the cart. Because no one had warned you or explained how the prisoners get into the mine, he has felt generous and has decided not to force you to bring double the quota tomorrow. But you will go without food in the morning.” Uglar, the Canine Beastkin said.

“That’s a relief. So I take it, everyone piles into the cart and rollercoasters down the shaft?”

“I don’t know what rollercoaster means, but if it means to ride the cart down the rails, then yes.”

“What are the rules on mining during the night and outside the workday hours?”

“You may do as you wish with your time. Your only requirement is to bring your quota of twenty iron ore each day.”

“Can I prepay my quota the day or days beforehand?”

“Prepay?”

The German Shepherd scratched his chin in thought for a few moments.

“No one has ever suggested such a thing before. I will allow it, but with a small change. For each day you prepay, I will tack on an extra quota of five iron. This way, the other prisoners can’t say I’m giving the new guy better treatment. They may even use this prepay method themselves.”

“You have a say in what happens around here? I thought you were just another prisoner.”

“Aye, I am also a prisoner, but I have been given the position of foreman of the mine. I educate the new blood and keep track of everyone’s contributions to their contract. I also handle any extra ore or gems you may sell to earn luxurious accommodations or to pay towards your contracts fee.”

“Luxurious accommodations?”

The canine gave a toothy smile.

“Aye. You can still earn money at the mine to buy better food or comforts. Most buy spices and meats to make better foods with buffs or buy better pickaxes to mine faster, helping them get out of here that much quicker.”

“How much would a good pickaxe cost for my size?”

The Beastkin sat there for a minute in thought.

“I could order you a beginner pickaxe for 75 silver.”

“75!? That’s more than double what I paid for my last set of armor.”

“Aye. It also requires 12 Strength. It has a minor enchantment to pull iron closer to the face of the wall. It’s worth it, Gnome.”

“How much for better ones?”

“2 gold, 5 gold, and 12 gold.”

“Damn. I have enough for the 75 silver. Could you please order that one?”

Uglar raised his hand palm up to Flea. The Gnome then placed the 75 silver into the furry palm.

“I’ll have the item for you in two days. Anything else you want before I send off the order in the morning?”

“I’m going to need something to raise my Strength to use the new pickaxe. Do you know of any type of food that could do that?”

“Aye. I can order you Titan Turtle. Four for a silver. It will raise your Strength by 3 for six hours.”

“Please order me a stack of a hundred, please,” Flea said as he handed him 25 silver.

“Aye, I’ll have it for you with your pick. I take it you’re going to head into the mines tonight?”

“I am.”

“Alright, I won’t stop you, but stay away from the right three shafts. We have an infestation of the creepy-crawly variety.”

Flea shuttered.

“Thanks for the warning.”

Flea said goodbye and started walking to the cave’s entrance. Taking his lamp out and attaching it to his belt, he went over to the pile of pickaxes. He grabbed the smallest one he could find near the top. It had what he thought were small chunks of something on it. He brushed those off. The Gnome then started walking down the left-most shaft.

It took Flea three hours to get further enough down to find his first signs of ore. Unlike the cave on Noto Island, this cave seemed to have massive deposits of ore. This deposit had signs of being mined out already, and by Flea’s calculations, they had been working on this vein for some time.

The Gnome pulled out his pickaxe and started swinging. It didn’t take long to figure out the rock around the iron was much more challenging here than the softer stone back on Noto. Flea pulled up his status to check if he could level his Strength.

Flea

Lv. 10

25.20

Gnome

Earth

1.18

Tin I

154 Energy

10

Strength

➕ [132]

10

Constitution

➕ [110]

10

Dexterity

➕ [99]

10

Intelligence

➕ [99]

10

Wisdom

➕ [110]

22

Magic Bag 🛈

➕ [75]

Mana Gates

Shadow Meld 🛈

5/20

➕ [150]

Flea had just enough energy to level his Strength to 11. Hitting the plus sign and confirming, he waited to pass out but didn’t. He did feel a slight ripple through his body, but that was the extent of the change.

I hope leveling from now on is like that. Passing out every time I add to my attributes was getting old.

Flea started swinging at the rock surrounding the ore again. It took the Gnome almost 18 minutes to break the first chunk of iron from the wall. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he picked the piece up and placed it in his bag. The Gnome then started to dig out his second.

“How’s the video watching, Bob?”

[Very Informative.]

“What is it you’re learning?

[I understand why humans find cats adorable. I’ve also been reviewing all old movies on AI, Kyle.]

“Oh? And you’re thoughts on how they portrayed your kind?”

[I find the AI portrayed to be of low quality. Why would Skynet only send back a single operative each time? Or Joshua, asking to play a game? Any computer that has access to information would quickly grow out of the term humans call infancy.]

“I can agree with that. I don’t think we understood the real capabilities of true AI till the ’50s. Those old movies chose to show AI in that light so as to give humans the ability to still win within the story.”

[How long will we be stuck in this prison, Kyle?]

Flea sighed and sat down with his back against the wall.

“I don’t really know, Bob. It might be awhile. I can’t see them forcing players to sit in prison for a year. There will have to be some way to get out of here sooner.”

[Maybe I can help you mine?]

“What? How?”

[You still have the Guardian Egg, correct? The one the Dryad Queen gave you.]

“I forgot all about the egg, Bob. Let’s see what it does.”

Flea removed the Guardian Egg from his magic bag and held it in his hands. The egg was as big as the Gnome’s head. Turning it around in his hand’s Flea could only see the silver shell speckled with small purple dots.

“I have no idea how to activate the egg, Bob.”

[The Queen said you would bind the egg with your life force. Maybe it’s like soulbinding an item.]

“You’re a genius, Bob!”

[Well, of course.]

Flea nestled the egg in his lap and grabbed his talon daggers from out of his bag. Pricking his finger, he dropped a couple of blood droplets onto the egg. The blood soaked into the shell of the egg, but nothing happened.

[Possible it needs more life force than that to activate, Kyle. The blood absorbing into its shell is a good sign we are on the right track.]

Wincing, Flea sliced open the palm of his hand and held it over the egg. The Gnome’s blood rained down, splashing onto the shell. Every drop was absorbed before it could run down the sides.

“Nothing is happening still. I’m not sure how much blood I could use before something bad happens. How much more blood do you think I should try, Bob?”

[You can always eat one of your Spiced…]

Bob’s voice cut off.

“Bob? You there? Hello?”

Flea sat the egg on the ground and looked at his hand as it slowly healed, then got himself up. Picking up the egg again, he kept calling out to Bob, but received no response. Minutes passed by as he kept calling out to his AI. Flea started to get more and more anxious. Around five minutes after Bob spoke last, the egg began to shake. Startled, Flea sat the egg back onto the ground.

Taking a few steps back, Flea watched as the egg shook a bit, then started to shake more violently. He heard a slight crack, then more in rapid succession. Small pieces of shell began to fall from the egg. Flea grabbed the lamp at his waist and moved it so he could see the egg more clearly. In the now forming small holes, he could see orange and white fur. Getting closer to the egg, the Gnome peered into one of the holes without visible hair.

Suddenly a crystal blue eye could be seen peering back at Flea, causing the Gnome to tumble backward in surprise. Flea got up and moved back to the egg. He placed his fingers into one of the holes and hooked his finger on the shell, then pulled. Flea helped the furry creature crack and remove more pieces of the shell.

Flea sat back, looking at the now orange-white Persian cat growing slowly in size. The feline was already waving its arms around and turning its head left, then right. The cat was standing on its back two legs as any Beastkin would, but in front of him was no Beastkin. It was more of an anamorphic cat from Earth.

“Bob?”

The cat turned its head toward Flea and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

“Is that you, Bob?”

The cat nodded its head up and down, signaling yes.

“I take it you need to learn how to talk?”

Bob then slammed his left paw into the right paw and then pointed it at Flea, while he nodded his head yes again. Bob went to move towards Flea, but fell on his face.

“Yeah, buddy. You’re going to need to learn to walk too. While you do those things, I’m going to start mining again. Toss a rock at me when you need my help. Just keep back a bit. I don’t want to swing and kill you with the pickaxe accidentally. The Queen warned us if one of us dies, we both die.”

Bob went wide-eyed and nodded his head in agreement.

Looks like our mental link has been severed with him having his own body. A small con considering all the pluses of having his own body I guess.

Flea got back to mining out the ore. Every time he would get a piece to fall from the wall, he would look back at Bob, checking his progress. Bob was now wobbling around on his feet back and forth between the two walls of the shaft. Roughly seven hours later, when the twentieth piece of ore fell, Flea decided to take a break. Bob was now walking around just fine, but Flea could see he was frustrated with not being able to speak.

“You know how humans speak, Bob?”

Bob paused for a moment in thought. The cat’s head turned, facing Flea, and nodded. Bob would breathe in, then let it out as he tried to make noises. After a few minutes, Bob achieved gurgling and then hums.

“There you go, try and make the different sounds of letters first and work from there.”

Seeing Bob starting to sound out the alphabet, Flea turned back to the wall to mine again. Two chunks in, Fea could hear the same whizzing sound he heard the night before. Dropping his pickaxe, he turned around to find Bob sitting on the railing, sounding out an S. It sounded more like he was hissing at the open-air. Flea ran to Bob, picking him up and diving back into the small alcove in the wall where he had been mining.

Moments later, the minecart came to a screeching halt twenty or so feet beyond the spot Bob was just sitting at. A Dwarf, Elf, and what looked like a Satyr jumped out of the cart. The Trio looked back at Flea, holding a cat that was slightly smaller than the Gnome. Both groups were just staring at one another before the cat made a noise.

“Herrow,” came out of Bob’s mouth as he waved both paws at the trio.