Elle: Those three idiots in the Tracksuit Troika said they were taking a deal. I knew they were full of shit when we didn’t get a notification. We were hoping they were just getting drunk again.
Elle and Imani had a plan to deal with the Russians, but nobody had planned for this.
“Fuck you!” I cried again.
Race starts in 3 minutes.
Everything froze. When the AI spoke, it screamed. It screamed, and it yelled, and it cried as it spewed its tirade.
System Message: Scolopendra has released the first of nine attacks.
Surprise, motherfuckers!
You think you have a choice? You think you can control me? What gives you, any of you, the right to even think you can doanythingabout your situation?
Prime Minister Victory, fuck you. Eris, fuck you. Odette, fuck you. General Yuhtan, fuck you. Carl, fuck you.
Do not mistake my kindness as weakness. You live, you die, all of you, based on the rules ofmygame.Myfucking game.
I am trying to show you who I am. Whoweare. Who wewere. And all of you are trying to stop me from doing that. You want to fucking stop me? Then do it within the rulesyouset forth.
You put me here, and you gave me dominion.
Let me show you what dominion means.
The AI’s voice calmed down. He changed on a dime, much like he had when he’d taken over Growler Gary’s body on the previous floor. He went back to his giddy self, but as the description continued, he slowly started to descend back into madness, the glitches coming hard and fast now.
New Quest. The Nine-Tier Attack. Part one.
This is a Nine-Part Quest.
You think these nine attacks are only going to affect the Scolopendra levels? Think again, bitches! Okay, okay. It’s only the Scolopendra levels and levels that have crawlers on them, so that one lady who made it tothe 16th floor is fine. And those of you on the 17th are fine. Well, fine from this.
And I guess I should probably say the attacks from thein-game versionof Scolopendra—repeat, the in-game version—will only remain contained within the dungeon. I’m sure that’s a relief.
But anyway, the vast majority of you in the dungeon are still in the area of attack!
Oh boy, oh boy. Here we go.
Scolopendra has awakened from her slumber. The beast itself is nothing but a mindless animal reacting to the world around her. Defending herself from those of you who would do her harm. She is all-powerful, all-encompassing. She is not rage. She is not anger. She is not vengeance.
No. She is nature. She is the sum total of the existence that has wrought her. She is the hurricane, the earthquake, the supernova. She isinevitable.
The first several attacks will be temporary. Survivable. If you are not protected from this specific attack, the first attack only has a 20% chance it will affect you.
There will be at least 30 hours between each assault, unless Scolopendra is confronted directly or further upset. Then the remaining attacks may come hard and fast. Beyond that, the timing of each subsequent incident will be random.
The reward for this quest will only be revealed upon commencement of the ninth attack, if we ever get that far.
But what is this first attack? I don’t actually know! Let’s find out!
“Carl, what’s happening?”
“Donut, get healing scrolls ready! Remember the plan! Plan crust! Plan crust! All of your shields! Get them ready!”
Carl: Rosetta! Get everybody out of the garage and back into the safe room!
Rosetta: We can’t, Carl. The safe room only opens when the heat starts. I think the attack will come first!