Havok Bringer

Chapter 18. Safe zone

“Tiff, do you copy?” I said as I lay on the small cot, finally trying to rest a bit.

“Andrew? Is that you? Are you okay? Where are y…” Tiff asked in rapid-fire succession.

“Hey, hold on there. Let's do one question at a time. I'm sorry it took me so long to contact you, but it took Sherlock this whole time to locate a safe zone,” I said, sitting up on the bed.

“Andrew, how long has it been for you?” Tiff asked in reply.

“A little over 12 hours, why?” I asked.

“It has been barely an hour here; that is very odd. Wherever you are, there must be a fairly large amount of time dilation. Who is Sherlock?” Tiff asked.

“Oh, yeah. Sherlock is the localized AI that Elvis programmed into the Havok Bringer armor. He didn’t have a name, and Sherlock stuck. Honestly, he has been a big help, if a bit of a dick,” I said with a shake of my head.

“That is good. I was worried about you being out there alone,” Tiff said.

“You…were worried?” I asked, realizing she had explicitly said she was worried instead of saying we were worried.

“Uhh… yeah! I was worried; we were all worried, though; I mean,” Tiff stumbled over her words as she tried to recover, but I didn’t miss what she said.

“Tiff, how are we talking in real-time? Time obviously works differently here, so how are we talking in real time now?”

“You said you were in a safe zone, right?” Tiff asked.

“Yeah, the Coeus told me to be on the lookout for them. They said there would be one on each floor, though I expect they won't be easy to find since this one took an entire day to track down,” I replied.

“I have heard of dungeons utilizing a similar layout to what you are explaining. It is a sort of tower with progressively harder floors and a boss at the top. There should be a safe zone on each level; you are right. You are correct that locating and entering will be harder as you progress. On higher levels, it will usually be surrounded by mobs or some uniquely strong individual enemy. Be careful, Andrew. Regarding your question, the safe rooms will usually sync with your home system in terms of time alignment. That is how we can talk without delay on either side,” Tiff explained.

“Well, I will be honest, that is comforting. It seems like I will be here for a while. I am not sure how to pass the first level, and I have been killing mobs all day. Again, Sherlock has been a big help, but I am basically on my own here,” I said; I was purposefully making an effort to talk Sherlock up. I didn’t know if flattery would work, but I was going to try.

“Is that XO Tiffantrimore? Oooh, Tell her I said Hi!” Sherlock interrupted, oddly excited.

“Sherlock, calm down. Tiff and I have a lot to talk about, and I am not sure how long we have,” I replied, waving my hand in the air.

“I don’t ask for much, Captain; I ask for one tiny favor, and you immediately shut me down, not wholly unexpected, I guess,” Sherlock replied.

“Okay, if I tell her hi, will you let me get back to our conversation?”

“Why, yes, of course, Captain,” Sherlock replied.

“Tiff,” I said, activating my comm again.

“Yes? What is it, Andrew?” Tiff asked.

“Uhh… Sherlock is very insistent that I tell you hi from him. Not sure why, but I wanted to pass along,” I said.

“Ooooh, and tell her that I am watching out for you and that I won’t let you die, no matter how many dumb mistakes you make,” Sherlock excitedly added.

I just shook my head and sighed. I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on here, but since it seemed like I would be stuck with Sherlock and only Sherlock for the foreseeable future, I needed to try and make things easier on myself.

The comms cracked as Tiff's response came through, “Oookay, tell Sherlock I also said hi,”

“He also said to tell you that he is watching out for me and that he won’t let me die,” I said

“You left out the part about your dumb mistakes; tell her the part about your dumb mistakes,” Sherlock was practically bouncing off the walls.

I sighed again as I gritted my teeth and passed on the message, “He also said that he won’t let me die, no matter how many dumb mistakes I make,” I said the last part through gritted teeth.

“Okay, Sherlock. Are you happy? Can I get back to updating Tiff on the life-or-death situation I am in that has the potential to change the direction of the universe?” I said, obviously more than a little frustrated.

“Tell Sherlock I said thank you. Tell him that it means more to me than he knows,” Tiff replied.

The tone in her voice spoke to the seriousness of her response. There was something there; I couldn’t quite place it, though. I convinced myself that it was stress from my sudden disappearance and moved on. I passed the message to Sherlock, who was…giddy with excitement.

“So, Tiff, I am not sure exactly how long I will be here. My plan for tomorrow is to try and find an exit from the first floor. It seems like every twelve hours spent in the dungeon equates to about one hour back on Earth, so it will not be nearly as long for you guys as it is for me. If I take an 8-hour rest in the safe zone, then I can knock out nearly three full days to your one. I want you to try to ensure that nobody gets into trouble before I return,” I said, “I am also going to need you to work with Kaj and Elvis to try and help me plan ahead, if possible. I don’t know what to expect on the next floors, but hopefully, with your combined knowledge, you can give me some advice,” I said.

“Andrew, I don’t really have much to go on. Elvis and Kaj may have some insight, but I don’t think we can offer you much to help. I don’t even understand how you got transported. I know the Coeus are powerful, but they are supposed to be gone, right?” Tiff asked.

“It was a surprise to me as well,” I replied, “ Apparently, they left a small portion of their consciousness just to ensure this next task got completed. Tiff, if this works, it will be huge. We cannot fully grasp how the consequences of activating this world seed will affect everyone. How will things change if everyone has access to the system? How will people react when everyone can choose a class and gain power? The Council has had the luxury of controlling who gets access and when that is over if this works. I need you to educate the people of the settlement and prepare them for what is coming. We will need strong allies on our side,” I said.

“I can do that, Andrew,” she replied. You just need to focus on staying safe. We can handle things out here for now. Andrew….” Tiff started to say something but dropped off before she finished.

“Yeah? Is everything okay?” I asked; I could hear something in her voice. It was like she wanted to tell me something but stopped herself.

“It’s nothing,” she said, “I had a good talk with your mother earlier. She is worried about you but is also confident that you are where you need to be. I am going to spend some time helping her and your sisters with some things in the settlement today.”

“Be careful now. Spending time around my sisters might make them think you are trying to get their approval. After all, you’re the first girl I’ve brought home in years,” I joked.

“No, no, it isn’t like that! Why would I… what would I need their approval for?” Tiff stammered.

“Calm down, Tiff. It’s a joke. I’m sure they just want to get to know you more. Don’t let them intimidate you, though, okay?”

“Andrew, I happen to be fully capable of handling myself in social situations,” Tiff snapped back.

“You haven’t been interrogated by my sisters before Tiff. Believe me, they would fit right in with the Council enforcers,” I laughed.

“Tiff, one last thing,” I said.

“What is it?” Tiff asked.

“I need you to contact Matty. I don’t know if there is any military or government left on Earth, but if there is, we need someone to warn them. Let them know what is coming, and hopefully, they can use it to help fight the Lacertines. Once I am out of here, we will need to move quickly and strike hard,” I said.

“I will contact him as soon as we are done, but I think we may have bigger problems. Natasha is still AWOL, and we have identified at least three ships hanging in low orbit. They could just be resupply vessels, but based on the way Natasha jumped the Bloodhound away, I… I just don’t have a good feeling,” Tiff said.

I understood how she felt. Once Natasha said she was jumping away, I knew something was up. All we could do was focus on the problems one at a time, and the biggest problem Earth had right now was the Lacertine occupation force.

“I will try to get out of here as quickly as I can, Tiff,” I said.

“I know you will, Andrew. Just be safe. I will be here if you need to talk,” Tiff replied.

“Thanks, Tiff. Really, thanks for everything,” I said.

There was more I wanted to say. Tiff had proven herself to be a friend and had put herself at risk time and time again. She was nothing like any woman I had ever known, probably because she was a literal alien. I couldn’t let personal feelings grow into something that would jeopardize what we were building, and I was nearly positive that those feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated.

“I’m going to sign off and get some rest now. I will be here for the next seven or eight hours. Contact me if anything happens, Okay?” I said.

“Understood, Andrew. Get some rest,” Tiff replied before the comms went dead.

“Soooo, that was awkward,” Sherlock said, his voice dripping with snark.

“What? What do you mean?” I asked.

“It is obvious that you hold Tiffantrimore in high regard, Captain. Is it your intention to mate with her?” Sherlock asked.

My face flushed immediately,” What the hell, Sherlock?” I choked out.

“Captain, are you unaware I am constantly monitoring your vitals? Your heart rate increased when you began talking with XO Tiffantrimore. You made attempts at humor and spoke about your past mates. All of these are subtle hints that you are interested in making XO Tiffantrimore your mate. I must admit that I am not well versed in the courting rituals of biologicals, so I may have misjudged,” Sherlock admitted.

“I was just having a conversation, Sherlock. Don’t read more into it,” I was trying to steer the conversation away from the topic, “Why were you so insistent on passing a message to her anyway?”

“Oh, yes, that. XO Tiffantrimore is a fantastic specimen of the abilities of advanced AI civilizations. To localized AI like myself, she is basically royalty. If the Bloodhound's subroutines find out that she is my friend, they would be positively envious,” Sherlock replied.

I filed this information away in the back of my mind. Sherlock had proven that he was going to be a massive help, but his demeanor was less than pleasant. I could use this in my favor and possibly handcuff his tantrums.

“Fair enough,” I said, “Listen, I need to eat, shower, and rest. After that, we need to get back out there. Do you have any ideas on how we make our way to the second floor?” I asked.

“Based on our progress so far, the first floor seems fairly linear. We have been steadily moving inward to the center of the swamp. I did some initial scans when we first entered this floor, and I believe I was able to piece together a rough approximation of a map,” Sherlock replied.

“That is great! Can I see it?” I asked, feeling more than a little optimistic at the news.

“you will need to re-equip your helmet first,” Sherlock replied.

At his request, I only equipped my helmet. It struck me how silly I might look if someone saw me at this moment. I had stripped down to my undershirt and boxer briefs and was sitting on the cot, relaxing, also wearing only the helmet of my advanced alien battle suit. I chuckled softly as the map materialized in front of me.

Sherlock had not only pieced together a map but also created a 3D topographical map of the area. There were approximately 20 red Xs scattered on the map. The Xs indicated dead enemies, and they worked their way from the swamp's edge to an area close to where we were now, in the safe room. The safe room was identified with a small green door.

“This is amazing, Sherlock!” I exclaimed,” This is going to be useful for sure,”

“Your admiration humbles me,” Sherlock said in a complete deadpan.

“Look, Sherlock, we are stuck together, like it or not. You may as well try and be a little more positive about it,” I said.

“Positive? I thought I was being positive. There are other AI that would completely disdain working with what they consider to be nothing more than filthy monkeys,” Sherlock said the obviously derogatory name slowly, just to let it sink in.

Baby steps….I thought to myself.

“Fair enough, Sherlock,” I said as I loaded the second half of my statement,” But I happen to be a very close friend with Tiffantrimore. She would be appalled to know that I was being treated with anything less than the respect due to me as the wielder of the Havok Bringer armor and Captain of the Bloodhound.”

“Wha… Whatever do you mean Captain? I, of course, intend to assist you in every way possible. Let us not let first impressions dictate what is sure to be a blossoming,” Sherlock intimated a gulping sound,” friendship.”

I smiled as I recalled my helmet. My master plan was already working.