Lunch had just ended so Fern took her position on the bronze cube. It looked like it was becoming a tradition to stand on the cube to address the people.

“Let’s give our thanks to our cooks,” she said, preserving another just started tradition. After the applause died down, she said, “and we have a new Chef in charge of the kitchen. Actually Chefs. I want everybody to give a round of applause for Cody Fisher and Juanita Olmos. Cody used to be a flying instructor and also was a chef for the ‘Outback Steakhouse’ in Tulsa and Juanita used to manage her family’s Mexican restaurant here in Sapulpa, La Margarita. They both decided that they would tackle it part-time to give themselves more time to do what we’re all doing… trying to figure out this new world. They'll be dividing up the menus, working on figuring out how they are going to run our foodservice together. If anyone wants to help, they are always welcome.”

She paused to let the applause die down and then continued. “Billy who you’ve all met now and my son Jake have been talking. Sorry, Jake, I forgot I was supposed to keep that on the down-low. But in any case, they have come up with an idea for how we can move forward. In his reading, Billy mentioned that aside from Sects their usually existed organizations called ‘Adventurer’s Guilds’. In any case, these guilds would act as a place where people could earn money by performing jobs. Things like cleaning streets, finding missing pets or even killing monsters. The guild would post the job, a member of the guild would take it and when they finished, they’d get paid. The guild would collect the money upfront from the person or organization that wanted to have the job completed, and pay the person or group of people when they presented proof that the job got done. It sounded like a good idea to me. What do you all think?”

She looked around the room, making eye contact with both Billy and her husband, who smiled at her. Table talk started around the room with people starting to discuss the proposal.

Finally, Withers stood up and asked, “Who would pay? How would people doing jobs receive their pay? What would somebody have to do to join this guild?”

“All good questions,” Fern answered. “I suspect that people interested in joining the guild should come up with the answers. I know from talking with Jake, I will have the capability of setting up the mechanics of how people will get paid. It’s up to you all to figure out the rest of it. I’m thinking that I’ll turn over the meeting after we finish here to my husband who can moderate and get things started. I expect I will be a member of whatever guild the group comes up with but I will not be a part of the leadership of the guild. I will have enough to do running my sect.”

“So,” she continued, “after this meeting is done, you all can either go swimming, talk amongst yourselves or stay for another meeting about setting up the guild. Now, before we go any further, I’ve had a couple of people reach out to me about joining the clan or sect, the ‘Dungeon Born’. If Georgia, Dianna, and my family would all rise, I’d like to get the first swearing-in done. This way you all can see what it means and how it happens.”

There was a moment of silence and then everybody named rose and faced her and a blue window appeared in front of each of them.

Soul Bond (Equality - Greater)

A group wishes to enter into a soul bond willingly with the dungeon, Jake Sylvestre.

They have agreed to the following bond:

‘I pledge to the sect: I will keep myself strong, keep myself mentally awake, be always prepared, be trustworthy, be loyal, be friendly, be courteous, be kind, and be clean. I will act responsibly, not against the interests of my sect, nor any member of it. I will accomplish the tasks which I have been given and which I have accepted’

Benefits:

Beings can communicate with each other at a distance Beings can communicate with each other’s servants or companions All promises made in the bond will become enforced and regulated.

At higher levels of bonding, additional benefits may accrue.

Penalties

Bondees in violation of the bond will lose one mana point or stamina point per day until death or the violation is repaired.

Agree to be bound

Deny bond

Fern said, “Hold on, don’t click anything yet. I want these others to see it.” She then shared the window with everybody in the dining room.

There were a lot of exclamations and one or two profanities when the window appeared in front of the people.

“I shared that window so you all could see. Nothing nefarious, just people joining a group. If you want to belong, you can contact one of us and start discussing it. If we feel that you’d be a good match, all you’ll need to do is agree to these same terms. Just like we are going to do, right now.”

And with that, she unshared the window from the group in the dining room and said, “Go ahead and say yes if you still want too.”

Once again that feeling as if a small fraction of a very large being looked in on the room and then, nothing. But the people that were not included in the bond could evidently feel the presence of that being because they shivered a bit and another outpouring of exclamations came from the crowd.

“And that’s it,” said Fern. “Welcome to the Dungeon Born!” and stepped off the cube and made her way over to the two women and gave them both big hugs.

After she finished, she said, “That’s all I’ve got for this afternoon. Like I said, you are welcome to stay and help launch the ‘Adventurer's Guild - Sapulpa’ or whatever name you come up with. My husband will be leading that discussion. Billy will be there as well to answer what questions he can. I’m going to meet with my two latest sect members and talk about the sect and what we need to get done!

The meeting in the dining room had gone on all afternoon. People were interested, they just wanted to know what they were joining if they decided to do so. Eventually, the crowd seemed to have decided on a framework very like the ones in the stories Billy had read. He’d been talking most of the afternoon. Will had called on him pretty often. There also were several gamers in the crowd who talked about their online guilds and their experiences with ‘Adventurer’s Guilds’ in games.

They all also talked about quests and other things that they generally got for completing them. Everybody was starting to get excited about the possibility of leveling. Everybody wanted to be prettier, smarter, faster, or stronger and saw this as a potential way to do it. Not to mention, everybody wanted to earn some money. Everybody here had worked most of their lives. They didn’t like the feeling of being penniless.

They decided to let people join the guild which they’d decided to name, ‘Sapulpa Adventurer’s Guild” after they got some more of the mechanics worked out. Will was appointed temporary “Guild Master,” and instructed to work out the badges or cards or whatever the guild was going to use to allow people to prove they were a member of the guild. Also, he was to figure out the way they were going to be paid and maybe how much, although that was left pretty much up in the air. Nobody knew what type of jobs would be available yet.

They decided that they’d hold another meeting in the afternoon the following day after Will got some more information.

Jake had been listening most of the afternoon. Well, part of him had been and not all the time. He’d also been busy talking with his mom and her helpers and calming a pissed off Hildi down. She’d be en upset that he’d started talking to her little brother. He’d finally got that settled down after he promised to allow her to be part of any future conversations he’d have with Billy.

Fern and the other two plus their helpers had spent the afternoon trying to communicate with the shocked. They’d tried sign language, spelling things against the person’s hands, everything that they could think of. They’d even resorted to placing their hands in ice water to see if it made a difference.

It did not. Their bodies seemed to grow uncomfortable, to move automatically away from the stimulus, even violently if they were held down, but nothing else.

‘No spark,’ as Georgia said. It was like the person in the body’s shell had stepped out, gone away. Jake had been watching these attempts too and thought they looked a lot like his dungeon monsters when he didn’t tell them to do something. They both just existed.

Fern, Georgia and Dianna and their helpers had looked over the children. Most of them were in the pools, but some of them were playing board games or just talking to others in their rooms.

Fern had asked the question early on, ‘What can we do to make sure all these children are “fed, clothed, loved, and educated (whatever that means) until they are thirteen?” And then they’d spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out ways to achieve all four of those goals.”

When Fern stood in front of the group again after dinner, there was clearly something different about the people. She wasn’t quite sure what it was, but she thought mainly it was that the people looked a little less apathetic. They looked as if they had somehow rediscovered their own lives. So, she started in with a question, “How many of you feel better about your lives this afternoon then you did this morning?”

Like a dam breaking people started talking then, all kinds of people. People that had sullenly stared at her. People that used to be polite, but distant. People that she thought were a step away from joining the shocked all attempted to speak.

She thought about getting a talking stick going but then decided that was too 90’s. But it boiled down to that between their classes, the newly forming Adventurer’s Guild, the safety that they felt in Max’s, they felt they had some control over their lives again.

Finally, after almost everyone had started to run down, she took back control of the meeting.

“Thanks for sharing,” she began. “I’m glad that things are growing and changing. Tomorrow, we’ll continue this and start to get going on some of the changes that we’ve talked about today. Also, tomorrow, we’ll need to start on the wall, on the houses, on the Adventurer’s Guild. We’ll need to start building again. Making our new lives.”

“I’m glad that today was a productive day. As you all probably didn’t see since we all hit the hay early last night, the lights go out in the building at ten o’clock. Well, according to Jake they fade to a very dim glow. They brighten up again at 5 am. If there's an emergency, a call of “Emergency On” will turn all the lights on throughout the whole building. Saying “Lights On” will turn the nearest light back on at full, until you get out of range which is about 8 meters.”

“If you’re a night owl, be quiet. Talk quietly here in the dining room. Or in one of the conversation areas. Don’t be loud. I suggest you go to bed early. Tomorrow promises to be a busy day.”

She pointed toward the gardens and continued.

“Now Dianna and I are going over to the gardens and begin planting some vegetables. Jake says that they ought to grow like mad because of the high mana in here. I’m not sure how fast ‘like mad’ is, but since our diet depends on it, I’m hoping it means like a time-lapse film.”

“Kids, Dianna and I and all the helpers have decided that bedtime is at eight o’clock. That sounds early, but we’ll be getting you up at five o’clock in the morning. Tomorrow’s first lesson will be with Billy here in the dining room after the adult’s morning meeting. You’ll be unlocking your mana and Qi and learning how to meditate. You’ll also learn the spell ‘Mana Bolt’ and the Qi ability, ‘Jade Lotus Touch.”

At this, a rumble came from the crowd. A man, one of the adults who had children and a shocked wife said, “I’m not sure I want my child learning spells. Or that Qi stuff.”

Fern looked at him and then said, “That’s certainly your prerogative once you leave this building. I would urge you not to leave and not to handicap your children. They need to learn how to fight, how to survive.”

There was a little pause then while she let that sink in.

“In this building though,” she continued, “everyone will learn how to fight. Everyone will have the greatest chance of survival that we can give them. It’s not just Wade and his men we need to worry about. It’s mutated coyotes, possums, squirrels as big as dogs. I suspect there are true monsters out there. Things like vampires, werewolves, hell things we don’t even have names for yet. Anymore, even earthworms can be giant. My girl Hildi here says she was attacked by a twenty-foot long earthworm with a drill bit for a mouth that spit rock like a gun. What the hell is that I ask you? Everything wants to kill us now and I’m not going to handicap a child because he’s or she’s a child. They are going to be as able to protect themselves as I can make them. From all predators, human or otherwise.”

“Are you saying that you’d kick us out?” the man said. “What gives you the right?”

She reached into her inventory and pulled out four arrows.

“People! Listen to me,” Fern said. “Why are you even talking about rights? Look, these two arrows,” she said as she pulled two apart from the other two arrows and waved them around, “were shot into the door this afternoon. That makes four arrows those men have shot into our door. Do you think they are concerned with your rights?”

She was almost yelling at this point.

“People you need to understand. Two weeks ago our world changed. You have no rights anymore. You have only what you can take or what has been granted to you if you don’t want to take them. That’s it. What we’re trying to do here is make a place that men like this,” she paused and shook the arrows at the crowd, “won’t have a say in your lives. If you aren’t strong enough, those men or men just like them will take everything you have.”

She took a minute to calm down, staring at her audience.

They stared back.

But before anyone else could speak, she started again. “I’m sorry if you don’t want to hear this. But this is the world we now live in. You, your kids, your wife or husband, all of you are in the same boat. We can either grow strong or die weak. Me and mine are not going to be weak. And I desperately hope that you all make that same choice.”

“Damn mom!” said Jake. “Should I drop another cube?”

It was probably Rex or Bernie, it seemed to start from the corner where they were sitting, but a handclap started, then another joined and pretty soon the whole dining room was applauding and yelling.

Fern stood there looking a little bit embarrassed but also firm.

“Settle down, settle down,” she said. “Thank you for that. I actually got a notification that my oration ability went up. It’s a weird world we live in anymore, isn’t it? Now, as I said, Dianna and I are going over to the gardens and we’re gonna plant some stuff."

She continued, "If any of you were gardeners and want to see if you can raise your skills or gain some skills, I invite you to come. I have seeds from plants in my old garden that I’d be happy to share out. Otherwise, stay here and talk or get in the pools. Jake made us some firewood so we can finally use these fire pits he’s created all over the place. It’s over by the kitchen, in the little hallway by the Fisher’s rooms, so if you want to start a fire, grab a bundle and feel free."

And then she finally wrapped up with, "Oh, and the door that’s at the end of the hallway, is off-limits. Do not go in there for your own safety's sake. That leads to the dungeon part of my son. A whole different set of rules applies if you set foot through there.”

She and Dianna left then accompanied by Billy and his crew, a bunch of the kids, and maybe a third of the adults in the room. The two garden beds were sitting ready for the plants.

One of the men, a former gardener who already had the herbalism skill said “What about lights and water. These lights don’t seem to be special, no offense Jake. And there ain’t no water near here. The closest water is the bathroom sink.”

“Tell him I can make new lights and water is easy too. But, if things go like Billy and I talked about, we shouldn't need them,” Jake said.

“He said he can handle the lights and water, but for some reason he has yet to explain, he doesn’t think that either will be necessary,” she said.

“That’s right, Mrs. Silvestre,” Billy said. “We, that is Jake and me, think that because the mana’s so high in here the other things are just kind of optional. We haven’t tested it yet, but the plants should just grow!”

“Huh?” she said, accompanied by murmurs from the crowd.

“Well, let's get on with it. I’ve got seeds to pass out and Dianna will show you where we want them to be. Wait, Jake can you make us a chalkboard and a bunch of chalk? Make that two. I’d like to document what plants went where.”

“No problem, mom. Hang on a minute,” Jake said and got busy.

The pattern was a copy of an old wooden-framed chalkboard that he remembered from his church's rec room. Dark black slate surface, surrounded by a wooden frame. He made the whole thing out of wood and slate to keep the cost of it down. The slate surface was about two meters long by one meter high. The wooden frame was made out of black ash.

He started to create them and realized that they were expensive. Two materials with a lot of material used added up pretty fast. Even if the crafting was easy on this one.

He told his mother, “Sorry, not happening. Too expensive. I’ll make you some paper instead. Wait, don’t you have paper in your inventory? And pens?”

“Well, yes, but…” his mom said.

“Mom, I can’t be your get-out-of-jail-free card. I need mana. I can’t spend it all on crap that you just ask for. I need to make monsters and dig and do a bunch of dungeony stuff. It’s like the pressure is building up inside of me. I need to be a dungeon. At least a little bit, well, maybe a lot.”

“Ok, honey,” she said. “We’ll talk later.”

And then to the group, she said, “Hang on a second, I’ve got some paper here and a pen two.”

She pulled out a small notebook and drew a picture of the garden plot. It was easy to do because the plots were already arranged in a grid. She just copied the structure and started labeling.

The group started to plant then. She’d passed all her seeds to Dianna who began passing them out and telling people where to plant them. The bigger garden got zucchini, butternut squash, corn, watermelons, cantaloupe, muskmelons, strawberries, iceberg lettuce, spinach, asparagus, beets, turnips, celery, carrots, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, jalapeno peppers, bell peppers, basically every plant that the standard kitchen garden would have. It also had wheat. Even Jake wasn’t sure about this one. Normally, it took a field to make enough wheat to be worthwhile. But they had the seeds and he was prepared to grow them.

The smaller garden got the rarities and the herbs, dill, thyme, oregano, cilantro, Italian parsley, mint, and avocado. Also, coffee and cacao seeds which Jake slipped Dianna. His mom had saved some seeds from the local asian market and also had star fruit, coconut, and banana plants too. They even had a tea plant which they rescued from Mary's house along with the coffee beans.

After the planting was done, a little boy asked, “So how long does it take?”

Jake was watching the soil and saw the first shoots of the plants breaking the surface.

“Look, mom! I told you! It’s fast!” he said.

“Oh my god! Would you look at that!” Fern cried out and everyone gathered around to watch the plants grow.”

People, especially the kids, would hold their hands just above the plant just to let it grow into their palms.

One of the younger men said, “It’s a Festivus miracle!” and the crowd, at least those who used to watch Seinfeld, cracked up.

The crowd settled down, the adults staring at the plants, watching them grow while the kids soon left back to the pool.

“It’s been just thirty minutes and already the lettuce has heads, not big ones, but still,” said Dianna.

“It’s good,” said Fern quietly to her. “I didn’t want to cause an uproar but I was about out of fresh vegetables. Well, no about it, I was out of vegetables. Those carrots that were in the stew were the last of it. My garden couldn’t feed this many people for that long.