Continue? Chapter 3.2 : Underground Facility

"Do you know what happened here?" Quin asked.

"Negative. I was on Standby for many years. Many Processors and my Mana Circuit were badly damaged. Intensive Repair required, but not currently possible." The Android Answered.

"That... is kinda sad. How do you do the Intensive Repair?"

"Requirements : Power to Sector B-3, Metallic Metals such as Gold, Iron and Copper, and a Mana Crystal of B Rarity or higher."

'...How the hell am I gonna do that?'

"Are those Items within the Facility Building?"

"Affirmative. However, there is only 1 Giga Crystal within this Facility. B-3 requires Extensive Mana of the Same Quantity, or a Crystal of the Same Quality Skills."

"The {Self Generating Mana}, right?"

"Correct."

'...This is starting to kill me.'

"Is there a different way for you to speak? It's kinda hard to talk with you when you're too serious and... robotic."

"I am an Android. I do not have a different Speech Function. However, I can replicate Speech Patterns and Alter Voice Pitch to create a new, Modified Voice. Would you like me to proceed?"

"It's better than nothing. Fire away."

"Confirmed. The Process may take a while. Please do what you like as long as it is within Stage 1 Jurisdiction."

'If that's the case, then I should go get the others.'

"I'll be back. I'm bringing more people, so don't lazer them. They're my companions."

"Alright."

'They already changed their Voice and Speech!? ...Why a Feminine Voice? I don't recall there being... Maybe the person from the Notes? They could have been Female. It also sounds like they stayed here the most... Forget it. Let's go.'

. . .

"Are you sure it's safe? It looks like a really long drop." Trayfi looked through the Hatch, but was greatly concerned.

"It was... an extremely long drop. Even with 2 Skills I still hit the ground hard." Quin answered.

"How did you even get out?"

'I'd rather not recall my attempt to Wall Jump.'

"There was a Button for a Ladder."

"Brother, what did you find inside?"

Sayu was outside of the large Bush, reluctant to walk in.

"There was nobody there. There was just this Orb Robot and a Humanoid Robot."

"The Security Androids? Did they attack you?"

"At first. However, most of the Facility is unpowered. After they saw the Knife, I was granted something called 'Stage 1 Access'."

"Stage 1? But... The Man who had that Knife had Stage 4 Access..."

"Authorized Personnel maybe? They probably had an ID for their Rank. Maybe I can find something inside, but the Facility is absolutely massive."

"Quin, what should we do about Mel?" Trayfi asked.

'Mel? ...Oh, Sunlight.'

"Mel, any Ideas on how you'll be able to get Energy while underground?" Quin asked.

"Hmm... How about this?"

She burrowed a few of her Roots into the ground, and from those Roots grew a large amount of Different Colored Flowers.

"The Flowers will get Sunlight for me. It won't be much, so I'll only have about half an hour."

'That's... actually really smart. Then...'

"Can your Roots reach that far down?"

". . ."

'...She didn't even think about that, did she?'

"Well, only one way to find out. Shall we head down?"

"Are you sure they won't attack us?" Trayfi asked.

"If you're that worried, then I'll head back down first."

As Quin begins to climb down the Ladder, Mel grabs onto his back.

"I can go down slowly like this."

. . .

To his surprise, Mel managed to extend a Vine of sorts to the bottom.

'Well, we have that sorted. Are the others coming?'

When he finished his thought, Remi jumped off the ladder, with Sayu then Trayfi following.

"Woah... It's so dark down here." Trayfi looks around.

"We should start moving. Mel only has about 50 Minutes lef-." Quin takes a step forward, before slipping and falling backwards.

'That's new. What did I slip on?'

Sitting up, he could see a black liquid on the floor, along with an Open Door along the Wall.

"A Door? When was that there? Hey..."

Looking around, it seemed as though everybody was frozen.

"...Guys?"

Trayfi was still on the Ladder, Sayu was looking down one of the Hallways, Remi was looking at Quin, and Mel was squatted down, admiring the shine on the metallic beneath the Ladder.

On a different note, they were all still. Motionless.

'What is... going on...'

Looking at the door, the black liquid seems to have originated from there, leaving both a Trail and a Puddle.

Getting on his feet, Quin followed the Black Liquid, and walked to the front of the new Room's Entrance.

It was Pitch Black.

Looking around, everything still had color.

'This doesn't feel right...'

Reluctant, Quin slowly brings his hand closer to the Doorway.

He stopped before he came into contact.

". . ."

[Appraising...]

'...Why do I have a bad feeling about this.'

[Appraisal Paused]

'What?'

[Warning : Attempting to Appraise something of Unreasonable Value. Do you want to Continue?]

'Unreasonable Value? ...Yes.'

[Confirming Answer]

[Are you sure?]

[Caution : May cause Unknown Side Effects]

'...Continue.'

[Appraising...]

[Appraisal Complete]

[Void of the True Fallen]

{An Empty Abyss filled with only Hate and Regret. Those who have died with Strong and Heavy Feelings of Hate and/or Regret will all stockpile until the Void of the True Fallen expands into the Physical Realm, resulting in a Nightmare Parade. Targets those who Slumber near}

'What in the literal Hell caused this to appear? Did... did the Science Guys do this?'

{Effects : Nightmare IV, Curse V, Hate V, Pain III, Madness IV, Illusion V}

'Those are some scary sounding effects. What... what would happen if I touched this thing?'

Without a warning, the Inky Black Doorway began expanding at a slow speed.

'What in the litteral hell is it doing now!?'

The Black Void jumped forward...

...striking him directly through his chest.

'It... hurts?'

With a sudden jolt, Quin awoke, laying on the Metal Floor, hearing the final step of Trayfi getting off the Ladder.

Quin sat up in a rush.

He felt like he was going mad.

[Would you like to acquire the Skills {Nightmare Immunity}, {Curse Immunity}, {Hate Immunity}, and {Madness Immunity}?]

'PLEASE.'

[Acquiring...]

He calmed down Immediately.

"Master! Are you okay!?" Mel rushed to his side.

"I'm... I'm fine. Just a little shook. What did I..."

Nectar.

The pale yellow color that was puddled along the floor was Nectar.

"...Mel. What is this?"

"That!? Well, it's, kind of... I got hungry, and, well..."

'So she spilled Nectar on the way down? ...Then what was...'

"Mel."

"Yeth!?" She bit her tongue.

"Just... make sure it doesn't happen again."

Quin gets back on his feet.

Looking down the Hall, there was no Black Door.

"Quin, are you okay? I heard a loud noise." Trayfi said from behind.

"I'm alright. I just... slipped a little. Watch out for the Nectar on the ground."

Still confused, he swallows his fear.

"Let's get going. Follow me."

. . .

Because they weren't in a rush, it took 5 Minutes to reach the Room with the Mana Crystal.

At the end of the room was the Android, who seemed to be reading the Notes that were now on the Desktop of the Mana Crystal Machine.

"I'm back." Quin waves in the Androids Direction.

"Hey. Almost done." She flipped over the page, and moved on to another.

'That's an uncomfortable amount of change. Not just their voice, they also changed their attitude and speech. Even the way they move seems more... fluent.'

With the final flutter of pages, she turns towards him, and looks from one person to the other.

"I'll register you all as guests. Except for you, Subject-172 : Race Mix Project." She point's at Sayu.

"Race Mix Project?" Quin asked.

"Simply put, they tried making an 'Amalgamation' of sorts, mixing a bunch of Races together, and resulting in, well, her."

"Amalgamation... How many Races did they try mixing?"

"I believe the number almost reached 40. My guess is 38, but I could be wrong."

'40!? Wouldn't that mean that Sayu is 40 different creatures!?'

"Brother..." Sayu seemed uncomfortable.

"Oh. Sorry. It just came as a surprise. Anyways, I need some information."

"Ask away. I'll answer as much as I can." The Android says.

"Where would I find a B-Rank Mana Crystal? Or a Mana Crystal with {Self Generating Mana}?"

"B-Ranked Monsters are not too far from here. Just go down the Road for about a Mile and you should find some Tanker Wolves. As for the Crystals with Skills... you're on your own there. Even I don't know where to get those. All I know is that Giga Crystals automatically have it Pre-Installed, so there was never a problem. As for where to get them... I can't answer that."

"So we just need to find these Tanker Wolves and beat them?"

"That would be the easiest choice. If you had higher clearance, and if there was power, you could go into the Labyrinth beneath this place, and try your luck at getting a 'Skill Shard'. Those come with Skills attached, so those would do nicely."

'A Labyrinth? There's something more Game-Like.'

"I guess we'll be heading back out. Mel, how are you holding up?"

"I have a few minutes left, and I'm getting a little tired." She seemed slightly dazed.

"Quin, are you sure a Tanker Wolf is something we can handle?" Trayfi asked.

"Why not? We have a Decent Human, a Dryad, 2 Dragons, and Sayu. What else would we need?"

"Dragons?" Trayfi was confused.

"Yeah... You are a Dragon, aren't you?"

"...No. Me and Remi are Dragonoids. Dragons can't turn into a Humanoid Form without the use of Ancient Magic."

'What!?'

[Appraising...]

[Appraisal Complete]

[Trayfi Silin] [63]

[Level : 81]

[Exp : 355/4100]

[HP : 1200]

[MP : 900]

[Class : Dragonoid]

[Sub-Class : Hard Brawler]

'What the hell is this? ...I'll just pretend I didn't... Hard Brawler?'

[Would you like to acquire the Sub-Class {Hard Brawler}?]

'I don't even know what it is.'

[Appraising...]

[Appraisal Complete]

[Hard Brawler]

{A Sub-Class given to those who don't often fight in Close Combat with a Weapon}

{+300 HP}

'Oh. It's not as bad as I thought it was. I'll take it.'

[Acquiring...]

[Sub-Class added : [Hard Brawler]]

[HP +300]

'Nice.'

"Master... can we go back up now?" Mel was drained.

"I almost forgot. I'll head back first with Mel. We'll talk about this more when we get outside."

"Okay, but I still don't know what to think about this."

Carrying Mel on his back, Quin rushes back to the entrance at high speeds.

"Man, you guys have it rough. I'ma take a nap. See ya." The Android sleeps in her Station.

. . .