Chapter 18

 

“What kind of weapons are your fighters using?” Allistor asked as two droids descended the stairs ahead of him.

“Automatic rifles with armor-piercing ammunition.” The old man gulped, clearly afraid.  “They also carry swords, spears, and have a supply of grenades.”

“And where do they plan to attack?”

“I am sorry, I do not know.  I was not privy to their planning.  But I suspect that my nephew will pretend to welcome you in his throne room, and ambush you there.  It is what I would do.”

Allistor glanced sideways at the man.  He quickly cast Identify and saw that he was too low level to survive such an attack.

First Minister Agni

Level 30

Health: 18,000/18,000

 

Allistor tried to remember what his health pool had been like back when he was level thirty.  He was pretty sure it had been significantly higher.  Which told him that the old man had probably put his attribute points into more mental than physical stats.  It made sense for an elderly man who was an advisor, not a fighter.

“You should move to the back of this group when we reach the throne room, First Minister.  If they begin firing, Prime will have two of his droids protect you.  Don’t panic when they move close.  Those shields are bulletproof.”   The old man nodded and gave Allistor a grateful look.

There was an elevator one floor down from the roof, but it wasn’t nearly large enough to accommodate their group, so they took the stairs.  The building was only eight stories tall, and it didn’t take them long to descend.  They turned down one hallway, then another, and halted when Agni pointed at a set of large double doors.  “That is the throne room.”

Allistor nodded and advanced, noting that the old man waited for the rear guard to catch up before following.  When he reached the doors, he didn’t wait to knock or allow someone else to open them.  He cast Barrier in front of himself, then kicked the left-hand door off its hinges.

There was a surprised outcry from multiple voices within the room as he stepped through the door.  Without pause, he continued forward, taking in the room as he moved.  Ahead of him was a young man sitting atop a large chair, two steps up from the rest of the room.  On either side of the long room were several thick painted steel columns that held up structural steel beams running the length of the room and crossing it in several places.  Allistor assumed that any ambushers would be concealed behind those columns.  Several people in attire similar to Agni’s stood in the space between Allistor and the throne, or off to either side.

Earl Rajesh was on his feet and shouting something at Allistor, who ignored him.

“You summoned me here under false pretenses, Rajesh!  Explain yourself!” he shouted at the man.

“How dare you?!” Rajesh practically screamed back at him.  “I am Earl Rajesh! You burst into my home unannounced, flinging false accusations?  I will have you flogged!”  Spittle flew from the man’s lips as he forced the words out.  The courtiers standing between the two men quickly vacated the center of the room, joining the rest standing off to one side or the other.  A few crouched down in fear covering their heads with their arms.

Allistor laughed, quickly joined by those behind him.  The reaction caused Rajesh to pause, momentarily unsure of himself.

“I don’t think so, Earl Rajesh.  Even if I were to stand here and let your men attack me, it would take them ten minutes to kill me.  And they won’t have ten seconds.”  He paused and looked significantly from one set of columns to the other.  “Any man who fires a weapon at me or my people will be dead before he can fire a second round.  I am level sixty five, and most of the people behind me are over level fifty.  Your bullets won’t harm us, even if we let them strike.”  He took a look at the nervous bystanders.  “Hold your fire, and you won’t be harmed.”

Rajesh hopped down off the throne, taking several steps toward Allistor.  He drew an ornamental curved dagger from his belt sash and raised it above his head, snarling as he advanced.  When he was just a step away and ready to thrust the dagger forward, his face impacted Allistor’s barrier, followed a fraction of a second by the rest of him.  The dagger broke free of his grip and clattered to the floor as the rest of Rajesh fell backward.

Allistor stepped forward, bending down to grab hold of Rajesh’s neck as the man shouted, “Kill them!”

Two rounds ricocheted off of Allistor’s barrier, quickly followed by two screams as the shooters were hit with Mind Spike spells, arrows, and stone spikes erupting from the floor at their feet.  They were dead in seconds.

Allistor lifted Rajesh off the floor, his enhanced Strength easily handling the weight.  As he straightened up, he raised the man higher until his feet left the floor, dangling six inches in the air.  “Anyone else fires, I snap his neck!”

He waited a solid ten seconds for more shots, or the sound of a grenade hitting the floor. Hearing none, he let out the breath he’d been holding.  He had been prepared to toss Rajesh’s body on top of any grenade he saw.  “Come out and set down your weapons.  You won’t be harmed if you don’t make any hostile moves.”

Rajesh struggled weakly, his entire weight supported by his jawbone as Allistor held him aloft.  His air supply had been cut off, and he was quickly burning through whatever oxygen he held in his lungs.  Allistor’s people moved forward, pushing through the bystanders to disarm and search the fighters who emerged from behind the columns.  Agni stepped forward when Allistor called to him.  “Are these all of his men?”

Agni shook his head, looking sadly up at his suffocating nephew.  “No, but the rest are out on the wall, I believe.  These are his elite fighters.”

Allistor released his grip on Rajesh, dropping the man to the floor where he gasped for air and coughed, rubbing his sore throat with both hands.  Snot ran from his nose and his eyes watered.  Allistor let him recover for a moment.

“I will kill you for this!” The first words rasped out of the young man’s throat.  Allistor looked at Agni, wanting to kill the moron on the ground at his feet, but remembering the old man’s request. 

Allistor hooked his foot under the man’s back, then lifted him up, flinging him back toward his throne.  His body flew about five feet before landing and rolling to a stop against the dais.  “You already tried, and failed.  You will not kill me, or anyone else, you arrogant little shit.  I’m going to give you a choice.  You will right now get up on your knees and swear a vassal oath to me, one that will prevent you from harming my people or anyone else.  Or you die here and now, sniveling like a spoiled child on the floor in front of your people.  You have ten seconds to decide.”

As everyone in the room watched and waited, Rajesh fumbled his way up the dais to his throne.   As he took a seat, he glared with pure hatred at Allistor, spit a wad of phlegm in his direction, then flipped open the arm of the chair and drew a pistol.  He got off two shots before he was simply erased from existence by a barrage of spells from Allistor’s people.  Flame Shots, Lightning Strikes, and Acid Sprays landed on him alongside arrows and crossbow bolts.  A spear flew over Allistor’s shoulder and passed through the man’s chest, as well as the chair back behind it. 

Five seconds after the second shot rang out, the Earl was little more than a burnt and decaying lump of flesh, partially melted into the metal of the throne.

Allistor turned his back on the smoking ruin and addressed Agni.  “I’m sorry.  I gave him a chance to surrender.”  He looked down at his arm, which was bleeding slightly.  The first bullet from Rajesh’s gun had shattered his barrier, which had already taken hits from the previous kinetic rounds.  The second bullet had grazed his arm, leaving little more than a scratch.

Agni nodded, tears streaming down his face.  “As I suspected.  He left you no choice, Emperor Allistor.  Please forgive us.”

“It wasn’t you.  I believe that you had good intentions here, Agni.” He turned to face the obviously nervous fighters who’d been set to ambush him, now rounded up into a cluster and guarded by droids. “I’m going to assume that you acted under orders, and had no choice in the matter.”  Several of them nodded, looking grateful.  A few just stared stonefaced back at him.

“For those of you who haven’t heard, I’m Allistor, the new Emperor of Earth.  I came here today because I was told you were under attack from an alien race, and needed our help.  That was clearly a lie perpetrated by Rajesh.  He’s no longer in charge here.  So let me start fresh with the rest of you, and see if we can’t all be friends.”  He began to walk toward the prisoners as he spoke.

“All of you here, all of Rajesh’s people, have a chance to become citizens of Invictus, which is my princedom.  Or, I guess, empire now.  Whatever.  All you need to do is swear an oath, and contribute however you can to the community.  The oath is simple, and basically breaks down to promising not to hurt each other, and to support each other.”

He waited for that to sink in.  For the next two minutes he gave the short version of his recruitment speech, outlining their basic laws, the penalties for breaking them, and the benefits of being a citizen.   When he was done, he finished with, “I will give you all one day to consider my offer.  Let me be clear.  This Stronghold is now mine.  If you wish to remain here, you will swear the oath and become a citizen.  If you refuse, you’ll be given a week’s worth of food and water, a weapon, and an escort out through the gates.  If a large group of you choose to leave, I’ll have my people secure a place for you somewhere nearby.  You can build your own Stronghold, and we will leave you in peace.  But you’ll receive no further support from us.  You’ll need to be able to fend for yourselves.”

Looking at the prisoners, he asked, “Who’s your leader?”

A tall man maybe forty years old stepped forward.  “I am Fayed, former chief of security”  He met Allistor’s gaze without flinching.

“Good to meet you, Fayed.  I presume that since you and the rest of these men did not fire, you’re not exactly heartbroken over the change in management?”

Fayed looked down briefly, an expression of shame flashing across his face.  But it passed quickly, and he raised his gaze again.  “We are not.  Earl Rajesh had become… difficult.  As I am sure minister Agni has already explained to you.”

Allistor just nodded.  “I understand you’ve had some trouble with non-human neighbors.  Would you like to show us where they are?”

Fayed nodded.  “I would swear your oath, if you’ll have me.  And join you in battling the jelly creatures.”

Allistor was glad to hear it.  He looked around the room, first at the other fighters, then the bystanders.  “Anyone else already decided to join us?  We can administer the oath here and now.”

All but two of Fayed’s remaining men stepped forward.  As did about twenty of the civilians, and Agni.  When Fayed raised an eyebrow at the two holdouts, one of them shrugged.  “I wish to hear the words of this oath, and see its effect on you.  If it does you no harm, I will follow.”  The other fighter nodded in agreement, along with several of the civilians.

“Fair enough.” Allistor motioned Helen forward, and she had all those who wished to become citizens step to one side.   They repeated the oath after her, clearly surprised at its simplicity.  A moment after the lights finished swirling around the new citizens, the two fighter holdouts and most of the rest of the others stepped forward, repeating after Helen as she gave the oath a second time.

While Helen took care of that, Allistor opened his UI and took control of the Stronghold.  He saw that Rajesh had already added all the basic utilities, along with some luxury upgrades.  Allistor added in a defensive dome and weapons along the walls, as well as the sensor system.  He activated Nigel, giving him control of the facility. 

When that was all taken care of, he addressed all the people in the room.  “Those of you who have sworn, welcome to Invictus!  Your first job is to spread the word about what happened here, and the opportunity I’m offering.  Let everyone know to be… someplace big enough for everyone to gather, let’s say noon tomorrow.” He looked at the few remaining holdouts.  “The rest of you are free to tell your version of today’s events as well.  I’ve nothing to hide, and no interest in controlling you, your opinions, or your day to day lives.  Take the oath, do what you can to support each other, or choose not to join us, and leave in peace.”

Turning back to the group of trainers, all of whom were from other worlds, he asked, “Any of you have any experience with gelatinous beings?  We fought some slimes last year in a dungeon, but I don’t know if these are the same.”

Three of the trainers raised their hands and stepped forward.  Allistor didn’t know any of them, not having had time to socialize with the new trainers much in the short time since their arrival.  “I’m afraid I don’t know your names yet.”

The first one to step forward bowed his head.  He was a gnome, maybe three feet tall and wearing leather pants and shirt with a leather sash over one shoulder that held several small knives and tools.  “I am Ruddy, cousin to Selby.”

Allistor’s face lit up.  “The gnomebarian!  Survival trainer, right?  Welcome to Invictus!” He smiled down at the diminutive trainer.

“That’s me.  And I’ve had some dealings with the gelatins, as we call them.  They are semi-intelligent, and tend to gather in clusters.  Generally slow-moving, but hard to kill.  Fire, ice, and lightning work best against them.  Projectiles do little damage unless they are explosive.  Melee weapons are ineffective against them.”

“Pretty much as we expected.” McCoy said.  “Like the ones we fought in the Silo.”

Allistor focused on Ruddy’s first statement.  “What do you mean by semi-intelligent?  Can we communicate with them?”

Another trainer stepped forward, introducing herself as Ak’kash, a beastkin herbalist trainer that resembled a leopard.  “When they first spawn, they are dumb as rocks.  They act on pure instinct, moving about at random while seeking sustenance.  As they grow, they get smarter, responding to various stimuli, including external threats.  If they absorb a sentient creature, they also absorb a small measure of its intelligence.  If these here have taken several humans, they may indeed have reached a level of intelligence that would allow basic communication.”  Ruddy and the other trainer nodded their agreement.

“Alright, thank you.  I can work with that.” Allistor motioned for Fayed and Agni to join him, moving off to one side of the room and sitting at a bench there.  He indicated for both of them to sit as well.  “Tell me about your interactions with them so far.”

*****

 

Baldur stood outside of a small, nondescript room, watching through a transparent force field as Odin finished his work on Loki.  There had been no interrogation as humans would recognize it.  There was no verbal interaction.  No recording for court records, no polygraph machine to weed out truth from lies. 

No, they could not afford to allow any hint of what was in Loki’s mind to become known to the System.  At least, not yet. 

So Odin had bent his powerful mind toward breaking Loki’s mental barriers.  To scouring his mind for secrets and memories of misdeeds.  Loki fought, of course.  He fought with the tools he knew best, deception and misdirection.  But his tricks were no match for the sheer titanic power of Odin’s intellect and will.  The eldest and most powerful of their race, the Allfather as he was known in Earth’s legends, Odin pushed and pushed, giving Loki no rest, no chance to recover his dwindling strength.  He mercilessly pulled what he wanted directly from Loki’s consciousness.  Then he pulled more. 

There was no question as to Loki’s guilt, now.   Odin saw the memories of how Loki had conspired to trigger the early Induction of UCP382, and had purposely done so at a time in human development that would be sure to see them labeled as a contaminant.  And while that knowledge saddened Odin, much worse was the realization that he hadn’t done it for power, or wealth. 

He’d caused the deaths of billions of humans just to see if he could get away with it.

Odin revealed a nearly endless litany of crimes and immoral acts Loki committed himself, or conspired with others to carry out.  He’d clearly gone insane eons ago, a common enough ailment among those who lived nearly endless lifespans.  Few of his people, possibly not even Odin himself, faced the reality of such longevity and remained completely sane.  At some point one ran out of the new experiences that kept life interesting.  Routine became both nemesis and comforting friend, adventure a thing of the past.  Hope faded into acceptance, then ambiguity and apathy.

For four days neither of them had moved from that small room, and Baldur had waited impatiently outside.  His father was taking a significant risk in there.  He was striding a fine line, uncovering evidence of Loki’s misdeeds while simultaneously keeping that evidence hidden from the nearly all-seeing System. 

They had made a bargain, sealed by the System, to allow Allistor to end Loki’s life.  Should Odin’s control ebb for even a moment, allowing the System access to the information he was extracting, Loki would be punished on the spot.  Said punishment would result in Loki’s mortal death, and prevent Baldur and Odin from honoring their own agreement.  There were technicalities they could exploit to avoid punishment themselves, but neither being wanted to have to explore those.  Negotiating with the System was possible, but rarely beneficial in the end. 

Even worse, the information in Loki’s mind implicated others.  So many others.  Hel was not the only member of their race to have conspired with Loki.  His memories could take down whole factions, even empires.  The degree of chaos their exposure would seed throughout the Collective might cripple it for millennia.  And while those in power who had gotten there via unsavory means deserved their fate, their destruction would potentially impact trillions of more innocent lives. 

But this… this one crime, the sheer psychopathic indifference to the genocide, the deaths of billions of members of an entire race that Odin himself favored… the magnitude and senselessness combined to wound Odin’s soul. 

Loki still fought, grimly holding on to a meager few vestiges of the skeletons in his closet.  One in particular he buried deepest of all, resolved to perish before allowing it to be exposed.  Not out of fear, no.  He embraced the fact that this final secret would be exposed in the end.  But it would be revealed at a time of his own choosing.

He retreated into the deepest recesses of his own consciousness, exhausted from his seemingly endless losing battle with Odin.   He left most of his mind, his precious secrets, to be scoured and consumed by his foe.  While Odin was distracted, he prepared his final stand, building up the mightiest and most subtle barriers he could conjure. 

Odin, for his part, had lost heart.  His perusing of Loki’s misdeeds had become peremptory, mechanical, his mind automatically recording, sorting, and filing away the evidence as it came to him.  Loki had ceased to resist except in a token manner, and Odin just wanted to end this whole distasteful process. 

Finally, Odin’s tentacles fell away from where they’d burrowed directly into Loki’s brain.  A deep sigh sent the mists swirling about the room, the movement projecting dejection and sorrow. 

Loki slumped to the ground, unconscious as Odin stepped through the force field on his way out of the room.   Not even looking at his favored son, Odin walked slowly past him.

“Father?”  Baldur set a single tentacle on his father’s shoulder.

Odin paused, facing away from Baldur, eyes closed.  “I wish none of this had been necessary my son.  I truly do.  Had I the power to reverse time and correct the path… but no.  There is no value in contemplating the impossible.”   He turned to face Baldur.  “Do not ask me what I have learned, my son.  You would not thank me for sharing the knowledge.  You would instead curse me, and rightfully so.  Let us honor our agreement with the human boy, and await the fallout that follows.  I will… take certain steps in the time remaining to us to mitigate what I can.  In fact, come with me.  I shall require your assistance in preventing some of the more devastating consequences.”  Odin shuffled down the corridor without explaining further.

Baldur took another long look at Loki’s still form on the floor of the detention cell, then turned to follow his father.  Time was growing short, and it seemed they had much to do.

*****

 

Master Daigath tagged along with Allistor and his entourage as they approached the gelatinous settlement.  The elf hadn’t volunteered his knowledge of the creatures, leaving Allistor to discover what he could for himself.  He was not there to hold the boy’s hand through every small challenge, nor to answer every question.   Growth came from exploration and struggle, from overcoming adversity and learning from it.  Instead he sat back and watched, curious as to how Allistor would approach this particular problem.

“Alright, here we go.  I kind of like your feeding idea.  Bribing someone with food is hardly ever considered a hostile act, in my experience.  But let’s not just throw meat at them and hope for the best.”  Allistor spoke to the group as they stood about fifty yards from the opening to the gelatinous beings’ domain. 

“You want to send another peasant to deliver meat?”  Fayed asked.

Allistor took a deep breath, mentally counting to three before turning on the man.  “I’m only going to tell you this once.  There are no peasants here.  There is no more caste system.  No one is more or less entitled than any other person.  This is a community of equals, where one’s value is derived from one’s contribution to the community.  You earn rank, trust, and privileges based on your actions, not your family name, or bloodline.   Is that clear?”  He looked at each of the locals and waited for them to nod their understanding. 

“Good.  Now, to prove that point, I will be the one to deliver the tasty treats to the wobbly dudes in the caves.”  He motioned for the rest of them to hold their positions, gave Helen a quick wink, and strode forward.  

Behind him he heard Fayed mumble something, then Helen snort.  “He does stuff like this.  It’s annoying, but kind of endearing, too.  You get used to it.”

Smiling to himself, he continued forward.  He wasn’t truly concerned about this encounter.  The recently arrived creatures were probably too low level to kill him.  Though from the sounds of the acid attacks described by Agni, the pain he might be in for was going to suck.  His smile faded as he thought about how much Amanda would enjoy studying his burned flesh and how quickly it healed, or didn’t. 

He had no idea what he might accomplish here.  No clue as to whether these creatures could communicate.  He’d seen what he thought of as a slime creature in Harmon’s store once, so clearly it could interact in some functional way.  But Allistor had no idea if these ahead of him were even the same species as that one.  

As he drew closer to the opening, three of the… he was just going to go ahead and call them slimes in his head… approached and held position right at the edge.  Allistor quickly withdrew three large steaks and held them in his hands with his arms wide and slightly forward. 

“Uhm… hello there.  I am Allistor, newly appointed Emperor of Earth.  That’s this planet, by the way.  I’ve come to welcome you, and offer gifts of friendship.”  He waited several seconds for a response, but the three entities simply remained where they were, unmoving except for the occasional quiver of their bodies.   All three of them were in a roughly cubic form with soft and slightly rounded edges. 

Stepping forward, Allistor kept the steaks in front of him.  When he was within reach, he extended the hand holding a single steak slowly toward the slime on his left, speaking softly the entire time.  “Just going to reach out here, nice and easy.  This is not an attack, just me offering you a tasty gift.  I’ll just hold it right… here…” He stopped when the steak was just a couple inches from touching the slime’s nearest surface.  “Go ahead, this one’s for you.  I have one for each of your friends, as well.” He raised his other hand to show off the remaining two steaks.  “Plenty more where these came from.”

He might have peed himself a little when a sort of suction cup shape shot out from the surface of the slime and attached itself to the steak.  There was a gentle tug, and Allistor quickly let go.  “Ya scared me there, buddy.  That’s okay.  Enjoy the snack.  Here we go, other buddies.” He took a steak in each hand and slowly extended them toward the other two slimes.  Both accepted them, but Allistor was glad to see that the tiny suction cup appendages emerged more slowly.  As if they’d understood his surprise, or his comments.”

Allistor watched with interest as all three drew the meat into their bodies.  Almost immediately the protein began to discolor at the edges, being broken down by their digestive acid.  After a few moments, the first one he’d fed moved forward slightly, then stopped and quivered from side to side. 

“Is that… you want more?” Allistor asked, grabbing three more steaks.  He held one out to the slime he was designating as Alpha, and this time the suction thingy was extended slowly and carefully.  It gently accepted the offering, then moved its whole body back to its original position. 

“Awesome!” Allistor smiled at all three of them, quickly feeding the other two.  He turned back to his people while they ingested the steaks, giving a silent thumbs-up to let them know he was okay. 

When he turned around, Alpha began quivering again.  A moment later an appendage in the rough shape of an open hand extended out toward Allistor.   On it sat a surprisingly clean wristwatch.  It was just the watch itself, the leather band it had been attached to having been digested.  Allistor reached out tentatively, then halted with his hand a few inches from the watch.  “You… want to give this to me?  You want to trade?”

The hand extended further until Allistor’s fingers touched the watch.  He very carefully lifted it with two fingers, doing his best not to touch the slime’s flesh and get burned.  “Thank you.”  He smiled at Alpha. 

The other two, whom he was now calling Bravo and Charlie, each extended a hand as well, one holding a fancy looking fountain pen, the other a gold men’s wedding ring.  Allistor accepted them both with polite thanks and careful fingers.  As soon as he’d taken them, all three of the creatures flashed a shade of blue throughout their bodies and quivered in what Allistor took to be excitement.  A moment later they retreated into the darkness.

“Okay, I guess first contact protocols have come to an end for the day.” He grinned and waved at the retreating forms.  “I’ll come back tomorrow and we can chat again, fellas.”

Turning away from the entrance, he began to walk back toward his people.  He’d taken maybe five steps when Helen began waving and pointing behind him.  He glanced over his shoulder, half expecting to see a slime missile flying at his face.  Instead he found a stream of maybe a dozen smaller slimes, all glowing blue, following him in a loose cluster.   When he stopped moving, so did they.  A wave of blue flashes passed through them, and they quivered much like their larger predecessors had.

“Oh, ho.” Allistor grinned.  “So it’s feeding time?”   He began pulling meat from his ring, gently feeding each of the small slimes.  “Aren’t you just the cutest little fellas?” He had to stop himself from using baby talk.  “Or… maybe you’re females?  The big guys are males?” he continued to speculate out loud in a friendly tone as he passed out lunch.  If there were a lot more of them inside, he was going to need to go back to the Phoenix and resupply.

When he’d fed the last of them, he realized they’d shifted to form a circle around him.  As if on cue, each of them moved back about a foot, leaving some shiny offering on the ground in front of them.  “Ooh, loot!”  Allistor smiled as he carefully picked them up one at a time, making sure to make a big deal out of each of them.  There were a couple belt buckles, another ring, some brass boot grommets, a gold filling from a tooth, and what Allistor thought might be a stainless steel medical pin from an elbow or knee implant. 

“So, you little fellas, you ate the humans who got too close, and these are what’s left of them?” He paused to see if there would be a response.  The little ones still glowed blue, and seemed content to sit still in their circle and quiver happily.  “Alright, that’s fair enough.  I can’t blame you for eating.  And it was nice of you to return these.”

They seemed to understand, all of them moving in unison again as they flowed around him and back toward their home.  He waved goodbye, and was amused to see the rearmost of them raise a small hand-like appendage and wave back, if awkwardly.

Allistor strolled back toward his group, head high and quite proud of himself.  When he was within normal speaking distance, Helen gushed “Did one of those cute little blue ones wave at you?”

“Yeah, I think it did.” He looked over his shoulder, then changed the pitch of his voice.  “To seek out new life, new civilizations…” He imitated everyone’s favorite classic sci fi show. 

Helen rolled her eyes, and McCoy burst out laughing.  “Even after more than a century, still the best!” He held up a fist for Allistor to bump. 

Agni, who was now standing next to Daigath, looked thoughtful.  When Allistor raised an eyebrow, he spoke.  “I’m sorry, Allistor.  We never considered them to be anything but dumb monsters.  Our first encounter with them was when one of our gamers charged in there to ‘clear the dungeon’ and was promptly eaten.  We did make a similar attempt to bribe them, but as you heard, that didn’t go well.  They seem to be at least slightly intelligent…”

“They understand the concept of trade, at least.  Or maybe just give and take.  And the larger ones clearly protected the smaller until they’d determined I was friendly.  I sort of got a… feeling, I guess?  A feeling from the little ones that they were sorry about eating your people, and were returning what was left of them.”  He pulled the items from his ring and held them out for the group to inspect.  “Maybe they’re a little bit telepathic?  Like they could sense my intent, or my feelings, and sent some of their own back at me?”

“You just might be onto something there, Allistor.”  Ruddy agreed.  “We can try to find out more tomorrow.”  He motioned back toward the factory.  “In the meantime, should we see if the folks who’ve already sworn the oath could use some training?”

“Great idea!” Allistor was in a much better mood than he’d been in an hour ago.  He had eliminated an asshat, freed a whole group of people from a dictator who looked at them as peasants.  Added several dozen new citizens with the prospect of adding a few thousand more.  And possibly made a bunch of slime friends. He could already picture William and Chloe trying to find a way to make them into pets.

Not a bad day’s work.