“Hello dungeon core. Welcome to Kalan’s heart.”

“WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!!!?”

“Dungeon core you are now located in Kalan’s heart.”

“OK…”

“What do you mean when you say I’m in Kalan’s heart?”

“You are located at the “heart” of Kalan.”

“And who is Kalan?”

“Kalan is a modified Corvette class starship.”

“Wait, spaceships don’t have hearts. So how can Kalan have a heart? Unless she’s a monster that was tamed and cut apart so metal plating can be installed and controls can be put into place for her master to communicate with her. But that's highly unlikely since it’s only classified as a Corvette. Unless that was the modification that was talked about and they haven’t been able to reclassify it.”

“Request unclear… please reiterate.”

“Oh gosh, not another idiot.”

“False statement made. Correcting… Processor made from Fractal variant monster core, with a memory capacity of three hundred and sixty Exabyte’s, connected to “heart” through monster spun mana silk, powered by “heart”. Result, above average unit for AI inhabitants.”

“Ok…”

“So you’re an AI?”

“Affirmative.”

“Well… that's cool… I guess…”

“Anyway. What is Kalan’s heart?”

“Kalan’s “heart” is the designation on all ship logs and records for the mana generator that powers the Kalan.”

“So I’m in the ships generator. So why am I in the ships generator?”

“Dungeon core resides in mana generator as the contained mana gathering force used to collect mana for the ships use.”

“So my purpose is to make mana for the spaceship’s use?”

“Affirmative.”

“Well crap.”

“Hey AI what if I chose to not gather mana for them?”

“Inconsequential. Mana will naturally be pulled toward dungeon core.”

“So I’ll gather mana in here?”

“Negative. Generator’s central walls made of layered empty mana crystal cells. All mana cells drain into separate energy storage unit.”

“So I can’t do anything to escape?”

“Affirmative.”

“Well I’m going to try anyway.”

It’s not like I have many other options

Well I’ve been trying to spread my domain over the entire inner wall of the generator. And to say the least it isn’t going very well. I have to constantly apply more mana into my domain so it stays intact since the mana cells seem to be able to absorb my domains mana from the walls I claim.

So I’ve decided to pull all my mana back into myself so that it can’t be drained from my domain again. Because I don't seem to be able to generate a decent amount of mana in this generator. So I have to be very careful in how I use the mana I have.

Spreading my domain has also been more difficult than I thought it would be since the walls seem to be pushing the domain and mana given to them away from them. It allows mana to pass through it but it doesn't allow the mana to be imprinted on itself without a considerable amount of mana usage.

“Hey AI what are these walls made of anyway?”

“A Polyadirean that is highly resistant to mana because of its trace amounts of Glaithil, making it resistant to mana imbuement.”

That explains that then.

“Then how to you talk to me?”

“The material Glaithil allows mana to pass by unhindered it just doesn't allow it to be imbued or claimed with mana. So the projection my simple hearing and vocal mana optics is unhindered from the Glaithil.”

“I see.”

Well that sucks. I can’t claim this material easily so I can’t just rip it up and turn it into a weapon against the other walls of the generator without expending a ridiculous amount of mana. Mana I don’t have.

“Well now that my hope is gone what should I do?”

“Generate mana.”

“Yeah and how do I do that?”

“Naturally.”

“Huuuuuuuu”

“Yup thanks for the advice…”

“You're welcome.”

I walked myself into that one.

I’ll just look through my memories until I think of a new escape plan, or they dry up again.

Well I’ve got nothing…

I can’t think of anything that could help me escape from this place and I haven’t had a new memory in quite a while.

The memories that I had were about architecture and managing resources for my people. Don’t ask me what the people looked like I didn’t see that. I just recalled the delegation of resources in laborer’s and materials. There were some bits of memory about different types of sedimentary rocks thrown in there as well.

Overall it was interesting but completely useless in helping my situation.

So now I’ve decided to do more cycling compressions. So I closed of my awareness to the things around me and fully focused inwards.

As I began making my seventh layering on the compression process I noticed something was happening while I was in my trance. The large eight mana crystals in the room where slowly rotating around me.

This drew my attention away from the cycles and caused them to shatter.

This in turn caused the mana crystals to fall back to the ground. I then realized that I had been floating myself, and was now falling towards the ground underneath me. I landed into the pile of small mana crystals that had filled in my place after I started to levitate.

“AI, did you see that? I could fly!”

“Negative Dungeon core. I cannot see inside the generator.”

“Oh. Well I can fl…”

Hold on if I tell the AI I can fly then wouldn’t my captors notice and take precautions to stop me from escaping. They probably would, so I need to hold off on any information that could alert them to my growth. I should probably throw the AI out of the loop though so it can’t realize that I’m gaining power.

“Just kidding AI I couldn’t fly. I was just pulling your leg.”

“What child’s leg are you pulling?”

“It's an expression I’m not actually pulling on a leg. It just means I’m playing a joke.”

“Noted.”

"Good.”

Well I might as well as try to get some information from this AI while I can.

“So AI you said you can’t see inside of here. So what can you see?”

“I cannot “see” anything. But I can register mana signatures inside and outside of the generator, as well as a basic log of the mana distribution throughout the ship.”

“Interesting. So what do we use to communicate with then?”

“There is a thinner section of the generator that I project mana through. This mana has meanings imprinted on them so that they can traverse through obstacles easily while relaying the meaning that was put behind it.”

“But wouldn’t the mana cells get in the way?”

“Negative, the mana is being projected through the mana sensor which is between the mana cells and the Polyadirean casing layer.”

“That's very interesting information. So where is your sensor located in relation to me?”

“It is located at plus ninety seven degrees above the equator and at two hundred and sixty one.”

“Great. So at what visual point is zero located?”

“No comparable data to reference.”

Well it was worth a shot. I now know that the thinnest point is located on the upper half of this spherical generator, specifically at ninety seven degrees from the central point. I just don’t know the exact position.

“Well AI I have been asking a lot of questions. Do you have any for me?”

“Negative… will inform dungeon if any arise.”

“Good I’ll try to answer them to the best of my abilities when that time arrives.”

Now that the AI’s guard is down I’ll ask the most important question.

“So AI what do you report to the other beings on this ship?”

“My function is to collect data on the mana readings and process it into understandable data. Then send it to my information terminal.”

Wait. That's it.

But there's no way they would need an AI this advanced for that process.

“AI how are you able to talk to me?”

“I send mana signatures through th…”

“No not in the physical sense AI. Nor am I asking you the process you use to talk to me. But how AI, do you know how to talk to me?”

“Data not found. Forming hypothesis based on all reliable data. Please wait.”

Well this could take a while.

And I had so many other questions to ask.

Oh well. I guess I’ll work on circulations again.

I’ve been working on my circulations again.

I need to think of a better term for it.

But that's beside the point. I’ve been working on them, as well as my situational awareness when I’m in that state. This has allowed me to notice some things I wasn’t aware of. Like for instance the fact that the faster I spin the circulating mana the faster the eight mana crystals rotate around me. I’ve also found out that the mana crystals are traveling along the same paths as the mana circlets. They aren't going very fast but they are moving. I’ve also noticed that when I’m doing these circulations I begin to float. I’ve slowly been gaining altitude in this chamber but I’ve only risen a few meters.

My insides on the other hand haven't changed much at all. I seem to glow slightly more often. But I only realized that when I specifically thought about it and counted to three hundred and seventy five at nine different intervals of time when I had different amounts of circlets running as well as moving them at different speeds. I’ve also begun to see patterns in the thirty two specs moving around inside me. But that might be my own wishful thinking.

And surprisingly I’m not losing mana as fast as I thought I would. I thought that circulating my mana would cost something but they don’t seem to be draining me at all. I know that I’m not letting any mana leave my body but something keeps making me think that I should be using something.

I’ve also really been wondering about why I was given these mana crystals. I mean what use did they think I would have for them that would be beneficial enough to let have them. Unfortunately though the only one who might know that is still processing there data.

It also is very lonely without that AI to talk to.

I hope it wakes up soon.

I miss it...