41_Planing

___

Quest: Inform Slippy’s mom (Martha) that her son is alive and well.

Rarity: Legendary.

Penalties of failure: Potential banishment to the void realm and a fate far worse than death.

Rewards for success: Dependent of time and success.

___

Quest: Prevent the nanoids from reaching critical mass.

Possible solutions:

Option 1: Kill the Frogomancer.

Option 2: Kill Larry Prime.

Option 3: Negotiation?

Rarity: Legendary

Time remaining: 3 hours 45 minutes 2 seconds.

Penalties of failure: The nanoid swarm will get a permanent foothold in the virtual realm of Generica Online.

Rewards for success: Variable, dependent of success.

___

"So what do you guys think about the nanoids? I mean how did they even get here? What if the rumors of things moving between the digital and real world are true? These could be the same nanoids from Earth?" Polya said to the rest of the group as they traversed the now well lit tunnels, thanks to Herman and Slippy’s tiny golden crowns.

"Whatever they are, this Frogomancer is definitely related to them. The System confirmed it with that quest we all got." Staple added.

"And don’t believe everything you hear. Those rumors are nothing more than fairy tales. It is probably some new event or something that Generica conjured up. If we assassinate the Frogomancer, the nanoids should follow. All tamer classes work the same way." The mechanoid said from atop her perch on the now fully grown Sunflower monster.

"Hmm, I am pretty sure that is not how nanoids work in the real life." Herman said with a grimace. “They are mindless machines that consume and copy other things, then replicate and repeat. There isn’t a single brain or nexus that they link to. If there was one we would have exterminated them long ago."

"Yes but this isn’t the real world, you yourself gained resistance to their effects, so System logic applies to them. Or maybe these ones have mutated since coming from Earth.” Polya argued.

"I say we just go and assassinate this Frogomancer character and be done with it." The bot said with confidence.

"Not everything can be solved with assassination or cooking." Polya retorted.

"Not wit that attitude it won't." The mechanoid countered.

"Urgh… Ok, let's say for the sake of argument that killing this mystery Frogomancer would make the nanoids magically disappear. How do we even find him? Generica and the Internet are a big place." Polya said.

"I don’t think the System would have given us the quest if we couldn’t do anything about it. Unless it is a world quest and everyone everywhere got it." Herman said.

"It is not, it would have said so in the description if it was. As to finding the target, don’t worry about that, I have it covered." The bot replied smugly.

"Let me guess, it’s one of your assassin skills." Polya said, unable to restrain rolling her eyes up. She had forgotten just how consumed her aunt was by her old profession. Cooking had tempered the obsession somewhat, but now with the mechanoid having abandoned the safety of the kitchen, her old personality was re-emerging.

"Ha! Not this time! Well yes, I do have a track target skill. But this time one of my cooking abilities is also synergizing with it. There is a large concentration of frogs this way. And according to track target, our Frogomancer is right in the middle of that." The bot indicated with an eye flicker.

"You could sense where the frogs are?!" Polya blinked in surprise.

"Well yes, I thought it would be useful to be able to track cooking ingredients and then catch them with my assassin class. It is a double win, those two have great synergies actually." Staple explained.

"Huh, I never suspected." Polya pondered, her eyes glazing over as she examined the assassin and cooking skills descriptions and other details in the System wiki.

"So it is settled then? We go and kill the Frogomancer, then we rescue my husband, if he needs rescue after the nanoids and their master is dead that is." Staple said.

"Sure sounds like a plan." Herman said

"Okie dokie." Slippy chirped.

"Rustle NOM rustle." Heartsun replied as he devoured the last of the ration cubes, flexed his big muscles as a body builder, then threw the empty wooden crates away.

"Amm… auntie Staple, I hate to be the voice of reason here, but how exactly are you going to assassinate anyone? You are just a head. Also, should we even be bringing you anywhere near the nanoids. Last time they ended up possessing and nearly killing you. What if the respawn doesn’t bring you back after their mental attacks?"

"Ah it’s going to be fine." The bot said dismissively. "Last time they got me by surprise that’s all. This isn’t my first encounter with the creepy crawlers. Me and Topo have dealt with plenty of their kind and survived fine."

"Hey Slippy, take notes here, you might be an AI with a soul space armed for bear, but it doesn’t hurt to be extra prepared. The trick is to disable all your external connections. So no WiFi, Bluetooth or whatever else kids today use to communicate."

"Also disable your audio sensors, the nanoids have a nasty tendencies to encode their viruses in audio format that gets automatically decoded by mechanoid and AI protocols."

"Also NEVER look them in the eyes! Look with your periphery vision and avoid

blinking flashing lights as well. The damn critters are incredibly crafty at transmitting their infection through all sorts of ways!"

"General rule is if you hear number chanting, shut everything down at once. Then purge your active memory and pray that the damage isn’t too severe."

Staple said in a rapid barrage of words as if discussing how to prepare her favorite pancake recipe.

"Slippy, are you following this? Your life will depend on it." The bot said at the confused and anxious baby AI.

"Am, am, I think so? So go to flight mode, and don’t look them in the eyes?" The slip hesitantly sumarised.

"Eh, good enough." The bot said.

"In your case it will be a little bit different." Herman interjected.

"AI’s have tremendous processing capabilities, and thus have their own soul spaces. If something breaks through the measures Staple mentioned, the nanoids will have to fight you on your own terms inside your soul space, but you already know this from experience."

"In any case, don’t worry too much, after your soul space redecoration, you are more than capable of handling anything nanoids can throw at you. Just.. Don’t take this for granted, the nanoids are incredibly adaptable and your static defences have to advance and adapt as well. Otherwise the swarm will adapt and eventually find a way through."

"Oh, am, owwkay…" Slippy again said with hesitation, the info dumping Herman and Staple were inflicting on him doing more to confuse and frighten AI than anything else.

Seeing the concern on his charge’s digital face Herman hastily added. "Don’t worry about it for now. You are well armed and you have us to aid you out if you need the help. We can always hop into your soul space and lend you a hand."

That seemed to satisfy the AI, however Polya was still not convinced. "Well that settles the mind attacks and risk of possession, but I am still concerned about your body, or lack there of.”

“You know… There is a new spell that I have been itching to try out…" The necromancer said as she grinned evilly at the chopped off head of the mechanoid.

___

"This is wrong, this is all wrong… I am a master chef, a first class assassin, a creature of the shadow and darkness. A sinister and BKAWK!" The bot lamented as she examined her new appearance.

"Well your feathers are dark, that has to count for something." Herman said, barely managing not to burst out laughing at the new form of the supposed badass mechanoid.

"Uuu, you look so cute!" Polya squealed, picking up the dark feathered and very plump chicken off the ground and smothering it in her embrace.

"Ah, unhand me! Let me go I said!" Or at least that is what Staple tried to say. What came out of her beak though was a random jumble of quacks and peeps.

"Ahh so fluffy!" Polya squeaked as she continued to cuddle the polymorphed mechanoid.

___

Eventually the moment passed and the hen of darkness was released. Just in time for the group to finally reach the end of the tunnel network. At the ceiling stood a wooden hatch not so dissimilar to the one they used to enter the smuggler tunnels in the first place.

"Ok, so this is the end of the line. According to Staple, the Frogomancer is 200 meters that way, however he is surrounded by more of his amphibian minions." Herman said in a dramatic fashion.

"Why are you repeating what I just said?" Staple asked.

"We were all here, we did hear her clearly." Polya also interjected.

"Rustle rustle?"

"Maybe it’s the dementia talking." Slippy whispered to the group.

"I am not demented!" Herman snapped.

"You know… I just wanted to summarize the plan… That’s what they do in movies and such…" The man said sheepishly.

"Aaaanyway…" Staple said.

"Everyone knows the plan, so move it!"

Heartsun began to unfold and shift his form and coalesce around Herman, engulfing him in vines leaves and other parts of his body, until the human was wearing a plant-like living armor across his entire body.

Herman in turn waved his hands this way and that, tinkering with his interface, until he finally found the proxy options.

With a single click his avatar changed to one of a warefrog cultist, wearing a white robe with a frogish hood.

Then Staple spread her wings wide and hopped into the arms of the human, the proxy working its techno magic and transforming her into an ordinary chubby green toad, which the man held with both arms to his chest.

"Alright we are all set. Polya you are next." The mechanoid half croaked half clucked.

"Eh… I, really don’t want to resort to this…" The woman hesitated.

"If I can be turned into a chicken and enchanted with a toad skin, then you can take that necromancer armor off." Staple complained as she shifted in the arms of the human. The illusion wasn't bothering her per say, but the chicken body transformation just felt wrong.

"Eh, I don’t know, this armor is all that stays between my curse and the rest of you. Without it balancing things out I don’t know what would happen to any of you. Well not you staple, mechanoids are immune to typical mental attacks." Polya said.

"Stop stalling and take the damn thing off. I haven’t seen you in anything else but this armor for years. It isn’t healthy to be encased in that metal coffin all the time." Staple urged.

"Don’t say I didn’t warn you…" Polya said reluctantly as, with a snap of her fingers, the her full set of enchanted metal armor disappeared. On the place of the intimidating necromancer stood a regular woman.

Her long, dark hair fell over a slim, fit frame. She wore a plain t-shirt and hoodie with ordinary sweatpants, and fluffy slippers shaped like plush chicks. Surprisingly her glowing green eyes stayed the same, as well as her pale white skin.

All in all, the woman looked quite ordinary, perhaps a bit too ordinary, as if she had stepped out from her home on a lazy Sunday, rather than projecting the mighty superhero persona she usually aimed for.

Staple didn’t see what the deal with this curse was. The mechanoid didn’t feel any mind manipulation skills at effect, and neither Slippy or Heartsun seemed to be affected either. However, their other human party member was a completely different matter.

___

Herman couldn’t believe his eyes. He had never seen someone as beautiful as the woman before him. He theoretically knew that Polya was quite attractive, but he never really paid much attention.

But this…

The woman looked as if she had descended from the godly pantheon itself, sent to the mortal realm where her beauty and might were unrivaled among the people of the land. He never realized how cool she was, her posture, those piercing green eyes, he was completely unworthy to even look at her, let alone talk. She deserved better, she needed to be worshiped and praised above all else!

+ 0.2 to mental resistance.

+ 0.2 to mental resistance.

The popups and notifications flowed through his mind and vision, yet he couldn’t tare his eyes away from the ethereal woman. Her beauty piercing through the popups themselves and appearing in front of everything in his overlay.

+ 0.2 to mental resistance.

+ 0.2 to mental resistance.

….

….

___

"Herman. Wake up, HERMAN!"

Slap!

Congratulations you have gained the skill mental resistance (Legendary).

"Huh, wha, where?!" Herman said as he shook his head, trying to get rid of the dizziness.

"Herman! Quick, tell me how do I look? Am I a butterfly?" The black haired woman asked with worry.

"Argh… my head…" Herman groaned. "You… you…" Herman thought for a moment. He felt the compulsion in his mind compelling him to say that she was the prettiest most rarest of butterflies, but he shook his head again and spoke.

"You will always be a moth to me." The man said with a grin.

"Oh thank god he is back." Staple said, relief in her voice.

"Polya I am so sorry for doubting you. I never suspected your power had gotten so powerful. I .. I had no idea…" The bot apologized.

"Urgh… So that is what you meant by being irresistible…" Herman said, rubbing his aching head. "For a while there, I really felt like I would have done anything for you. If you told me to jump off a bridge I would have happily done it just to please you… Damn that was really weird experience…"

"I am so sorry… I was hoping it wouldn't affect you since you have the Super Duper Legendary package, but I wasn't really sure. I am so sorry, I never should have removed my armor…" Polya profusely apologized.

"It’s ok, don’t worry about it, I did gain resistance to your influence at the end. So it is all good now." The man replied reassuringly.

…

Eventually the group recovered and readied themselves for what awaited them next. With determined expressions they opened the hatch and hopped outside, ready for whatever the enemy had in store for them.