The Predecessor turned to face Alan.
“What is the delay? Come in.” It spoke in a gravelly tone, as if it hadn’t used its voice in years.
“And, uh, what if I don’t want to?” Alan nervously said, backing away from the door way a bit.
In a single step, before Alan could react, the Predecessor was at the doorway. It looked down at Alan.
“Then I will end you. Even if you are a figment of my imagination.” It widened its teeth in a vicious smile.
“Um, I’m real, please don’t hurt me.” Alan swallowed nervously, stepping into the room, deactivating his armor’s so-called advanced stealth mode.
“Good.” The Predecessor attempted what it thought was a calming smile, though to Alan it looked more like a grimace. “Why are you here? Another search of Aleph, perhaps?”
Hands trembling slightly, Alan brought out the small violet crystal. The Predecessor narrowed its eyes.
“Um, I'm here to recharge the power or something like that.”
“Why don’t you leave here and never return?” The Predecessor rested its massive hand on Alan’s shoulder.
“And, um, why would I do that?”
“Do what? That was simply an errant… suggestion.” The Predecessor punctuated the last word by gripping Alan hard enough that his shields quickly drained, halved by the simple squeeze. Alan winced as there was a crushing sound, and a message popped up notifying Alan his armor was damaged.
“Sorry, that was an accident. I hope nothing worse happens if you stay here longer,” the Predecessor said, staring at Alan menacingly.
Alan looked up blankly at the Predecessor, not taking the hint. “Um, okay? Here’s the crystal, to help with the, um, quest?”
Alan, I believe the Predecessor was threatening you, trying to get you to leave.
Oh, he was? Why would he do that?
Unclear.
Um, right.
The Predecessor stared down at the miniscule human holding out the little crystal, then let out a throaty chuckle. It took the crystal out of Alan’s hand in a blur of movement.
“Ha! That’s good, quite good. The stones on you, eh? Very well, I suppose I’ll deposit this bit of energy. What are a couple more centuries of imprisonment, anyway?”
Trying to hide from the Predecessor that he had been obtuse, rather than brave, Alan hurriedly said, “What do you mean, a couple more centuries of imprisonment?”
“Don’t you know?” The Predecessor stopped, staring at Alan.
“Know what?”
“Energy Saving Order 5329. To save the dwindling power it was decided that biological prisoners would serve as wardens. Their sentences would be shortened in return… though, considering my sentence, a few centuries off of it makes little difference.”
“Um, no, sorry, that’s the first I’m hearing of this…” Alan nervously said.
“Why did you bring me this then?”
“Um, cause I got a quest to? So I can get a sort of reward or something and get stronger.”
Although, the reward was simply a series of question marks… Alan silently thought.
“That’s it? A procedurally generated task is given to you and you set on a quest to complete it? ”
“There was also, uh, something about a gamma threat level and the Authorities.”
“Which you know nothing about I assume?”
Alan nodded.
“How strong are you?” The Predecessor questioned. Alan opened his mouth, then paused.
“Tell me. No matter your strength, it should be clear I could easily kill you.”
“I have a combat rank of B, and am level 118.”
The Predecessor stared at Alan. He shifted around nervously.
“How did you get here?”
“Um, I asked nicely?
The Predecessor opened its mouth, then shut it. It muttered under its breath, “They must be getting desperate.” Alan shifted his feet about. Abruptly, the Predecessor turned to stare at Alan.
“Did you hear that?”
Alan nodded.
I used a combination of noise made and mouth movements to infer what you “heard", Eve let Alan know.
“It was sort of a combination of hearing and reading your lips.”
The Predecessor glanced around the room, then took a step forwards right next to Alan. It crouched down so that its lips were directly in Alan’s line of sight, but angled downwards so they wouldn’t be able to be seen from above. The Predecessor put its arms around Alan, like a hug, blocking out all other angles of vision. Alan struggled to move away from the Predecessor, but he was easily held in place.
“Stop. Can you understand me?” The Predecessor mouthed.
“Yes,” Alan said uncomfortably.
“Stop. No more talking. Watch.”
Alan remained silent.
“So, you were willing to help them out, just because they gave you a so-called quest? Well, hear me out, and I can guarantee you come out of this with much, much more than you ever imagined.
“This entire facility is underpowered, abandoned by the so-called Authorities in their search for Aleph. The warden program is unable to devote processing power to understand strange situations. Like this one. It orders with broad commands, no finesse or subtlety. For example, it simply told me to aid you. Say something like thank you, that greatly helps, please continue. It shouldn’t notice anything too odd.”
“Um, thank you very much, this is of great help, I mean you are of great help, please continue,” Alan said aloud. The Predecessor grimaced, but continued his silent communication.
“Good enough. That should placate the damn shitware for a while yet. Now, did you see the black crystal behind me, within the large machine, next to the brightly glowing circle? Not the dull, colorless crystals, but the black one.”
Alan nodded, rolling his eyes at the Predecessor’s language. It must think he was an imbecile.
“Okay, here is what’s going to happen. Once I am dead, you are going to remove that crystal from the machine as quickly as possible.”
“Uh, once what?” Alan asked aloud.
The Predecessor jerked its head threateningly. Alan quickly shut his mouth.
“Once I am dead. I do have orders to protect the energy source and kill intruders, you know? Trust me, the warden program has methods to compel even ones such as I.” It shuddered. “Though, it using those methods should also help to drain the facilities reserves further…”
“Wait, if you die, will you even come back to life?” Alan asked.
The Predecessor shrugged. “Death is life. I cannot discuss matters with you… if you think yourself worthy, challenge another Predecessor to a duel. Simply repeat the phrase: Death is life. Demand answers. Moving on. I will give you a piece of precious soulsteel, which will be your reward, along with the black crystal.
“I will bind this soulsteel to you in the form of twin knives, so that you and only you may wield them. Given soulsteel’s nature the items will drop should you ever die, but only a Predecessor will be able to unbind it for their own use. I suggest you never let a Predecessor know you have soulsteel, and keep it in a safe location once you leave here. You are nowhere near strong enough to have passed through a warrior trial or to wield such a metal. Still, circumstances beget the necessary…" The Predecessor's eyes glazed over, reveling in some distant memory.
“Anyway, as I was saying, once I am dead, remove the black crystal, then escape this facility. I suggest you slit my throat, then run; I may be compelled to resist you once you attack me. I will try to resist it, but I guarantee nothing.
“You may need to deal with those golems outside, but they shouldn’t be able to detect you in that stealth mode you were in earlier, and the soulsteel blade should cut through them easily. Their brains are at the center of their bodies.
“Also, you should really learn to hide your presence, as you are only undetectable by machines. Perhaps untrained fools would ignore you as well, but few beings of power would fail to notice you. Anyways, after you have removed this crystal and grow stronger, return here. Remove or destroy the rest of the power sources in this prison. Trust me, you will be well rewarded.”