What metal he could sense—wires and hidden structural elements threading through the walls—pulsed with aetheric energy that made them feel slippery to his perception. Like trying to grip ice with oil-slicked hands. The sensation reminded him uncomfortably of being inside Delta's command garden. The ancient probe's construction used similarly exotic materials, and the metal Delta carried an aetheric current that resisted all influence except Delta's own.
This is alien tech. Real alien tech. Not just monsters and magic—actual extraterrestrial engineering.
A diagram on the corridor wall caught his attention. Pablo moved closer, studying the schematic etched into the smooth surface. His Intellect parsed the design with growing certainty: they were inside what looked like a ship of some kind. A small craft, maybe—the diagram showed multiple decks, but not on a massive scale. More on the scale of a yacht than an aircraft carrier.
Fresh agonized screams echoed down the branching corridors, and all curiosity for their new surroundings flew out of Pablo's head.
"This way!" Zoe was rushing ahead, following the sound.
They ran through the corridors, the screaming growing louder with each turn. They rounded a final corner and found it: a large laboratory that could double as a surgical theater. The entrance was blocked by a shimmering curtain of energy—transparent enough to see through, but clearly present. Pablo's Inspect power activated automatically as he stared at it.
Alarm Field - Technological
Passing through this field will trigger an alert to all hostile entities within the structure.
Beyond the alarm field, Pablo could see the laboratory in awful detail. Vats lined one wall, each filled with swirling algae in shades of green and purple that cast sickly light across the room. Bodies floated within the vats—Raptor-Hounds, Boar-Men, Goat-Shamans—all seemingly lifeless, preserved specimens or growing clones. Robotic tentacles extended from the ceiling at multiple points throughout the room, their construction again registering as barely-metal to Pablo's senses. Some kind of polymer-ceramic composite, he guessed, though the specifics were beyond him.
A large worktable dominated the center of the space, covered with beakers and tubes of bubbling chemical concoctions. The air shimmered with heat and noxious fumes. The astringent smell burned Pablo's nose even through the energy curtain.
At the very center of it all, Sam was strapped to a metal operating table. Blood spattered the Vivisectionist's lab coat as the gray alien loomed over Sam, performing what could only be described as exploratory surgery. Worst of all, Sam was somehow conscious for the procedure—fully, horrifyingly conscious—his screams filling the laboratory as the dungeon boss methodically worked.
Iron Mind kept Pablo's revulsion at bay, wrapped him in a cool steel detachment. Without that emotional buffer, he might have charged through the energy field, consequences be damned. Instead, he watched with clinical focus as The Vivisectionist removed an organ from Sam's abdomen—a kidney, Pablo's mind noted distantly—and examined it in one upraised cybernetic hand.
"Fascinating," The Vivisectionist spoke in that same Oxford English, dictating observations in a detached tone as Sam continued to scream. "The organ shows early-stage aetheric adaptation. Cellular structures are already beginning to reorganize. Remarkable metamorphosis potential in this specimen. The saturation occurred far more rapidly than earlier models suggested."
Rowan shifted forward beside Pablo, his whole body tensing to rush in. Pablo shot out a hand, gripping Rowan's shoulder hard enough to make the point.
"Hold up," Pablo said quietly.
"That thing is torturing Sam!" Rowan protested in an urgent hiss, his voice cracking with emotion Pablo couldn't currently feel.
"I can see that." Pablo's voice was flat and emotionless. "But we won't do him any good if we rush in there half-cocked and get ourselves killed. None of us are at one hundred percent combat effectiveness. We need to do this right, for Sam's sake as much as our own."
"You got a plan, Pabs?" Zoe asked. Her hand gripped Gale so tightly her knuckles were white beneath the blood and grime.
"I looted the Menagerie before we moved out," Pablo said. "Everyone, give me whatever else you've picked up."
"Seriously?" Rowan stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "You want to look at the treasure we've gathered? Now?"
"Eden wouldn't have tracked you down as quickly as she did without using a looted dungeon item," Pablo explained, keeping his voice level and reasonable. He needed Rowan to trust him, needed everyone focused. "There might be other items we’ve picked up that'll give us the edge we need."
Trusting him on reflex to be thinking clearly, Eden, Sasha, and Zoe were already pulling items from their Inventories as he spoke to Rowan. Tonic vials in various colors, power tablets, and crude accessories began materializing in their hands. Grumbling, Rowan began emptying his pockets and passing items to Pablo. Which left Pablo to wonder whether Rowan had an Inventory yet or if he just hadn’t discovered it. There’d hopefully be plenty of time later for them to properly orient him to the Nexus.
"Fine. But Sam doesn't have much time."
"I know." As they passed items to him, Pablo sent everything to his own Inventory, then immediately opened his Status Screen.
The world around him slowed as he entered that accelerated time perception—not frozen, but moving at perhaps one-tenth normal speed. Sam's screams became a drawn-out wail. The Vivisectionist's movements in the corner of his vision turned glacial. Pablo had several minutes of subjective time to work with. He started examining items through his Inventory interface, activating Inspect on each one in rapid succession.
First, there were the potion-like vials of tonic, of which he had the most.
3x Vial of Beast-Blood Tonic - +20% melee damage for 60 seconds. Backlash: 5% recoil damage after effect ends.
7x Vial of Regeneration Tonic (Healing) - Restores 40% HP over 30 seconds. Backlash: User's powers become "noisy" (visually and audibly obvious) for the next 10 minutes, making stealth impossible.
5x Vial of Aetheric Renewal Tonic - Restores 50% Aetheric Energy over 60 seconds. Backlash: User experiences intense hunger and must consume food within 1 hour or suffer -10% to all stats.
3x Vial of Feral Clarity Tonic - Grants +4 to Awareness and enhances all senses for 60 seconds. Backlash: Overwhelming sensory input causes splitting headache, -2 to Intellect-based checks for 15 minutes.
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Vial of Predator's Vigor Tonic - +30% movement speed and +15% attack speed for 90 seconds. Backlash: User's vision narrows (tunnel vision effect) and Awareness checks suffer -3 penalty for 5 minutes after effect ends.
Vial of Apex Healing Tonic - Immediately restore 60% HP and gain Regeneration 2 for 60 seconds (2 HP every 10 seconds). Backlash: User's body temperature spikes dangerously. After the effect ends, user is Dazed for one round and suffers -2 Stamina for 15 minutes.
Vial of Berserker's Might Tonic - +3 to Strength, +2 to Stamina, ignore pain penalties, and gain resistance to stagger/knockback effects for 120 seconds. Backlash: After the effect ends, the user's muscles cramp painfully. -3 to Strength and Agility for 20 minutes.
Sorted through the tonic vials, Pablo moved on to the power tablets.
Adaptive Digestion Tablet - Permanently grants Adaptive Digestion: user can safely consume and gain nutrition from organic matter that would normally be inedible or mildly toxic. Grants +10 ranks on Fortitude saves against ingested poisons.
Night Hunter's Eyes Tablet - Permanently grants Night Hunter's Eyes. User gains low-light vision (can see in dim light as if it were bright light) and gains +2 to Perception checks in darkness or shadows.
Titanic Endurance Tablet - Grants Titanic Endurance: user's Stamina increases by +1. Once per day, when reduced below 25% HP, the user's body hardens like living stone—automatically gaining +5 ranks to Protection and the Immovable status for 60 seconds.
Abyssal Adaptation Tablet - Grants Abyssal Adaptation: user permanently gains aquatic traits: can breathe underwater indefinitely, swimming speed equal to normal movement, cold resistance, and pressure immunity. Hands and feet develop subtle webbing when submerged.
Finally, the enhanced items.
Stitcher's Scalpel (Curio/Weapon) — A thin, wicked blade left behind by the Vivisectionist. Weak as a weapon, but well suited for dissecting corpses to extract high-grade crafting components.
Bestial Mask (Accessory) — While worn, once per hour, auto-negates fear or confusion effects.
Fang Necklace (Accessory) - Grants +1 rank to Intimidation. Once per day, unleash a Bestial Roar that imposes Frightened condition (resisted by Will) on hostile creatures within 30 feet for 18 seconds.
Chitin Bracer (Accessory) - Armored bracer made from hardened monster shell. Grants +1 rank to Parry defense.
Primordial Totem (Curio) - Carved wooden fetish pulsing with green energy. During rest, user recovers Aetheric Energy 25% faster. Can be crushed as standard action to immediately restore 30% Aetheric Energy (destroyed after use).
Pablo's mind worked through the tactical calculus at speeds his Intellect and combat training made possible. The analytical process came naturally now—hours of late-night planning sessions with Delta paying dividends.
Since the camping trip, Pablo had struggled with sleep. Most nights, he managed maybe three or four hours before the nightmares woke him. Before he'd learned to explain the concept of privacy to Delta, the AI had informed him that the rest of the team was similarly afflicted.
Post-traumatic stress, Delta had called it clinically. A predictable psychological response to sustained life-threatening situations.
For all the comic books, movies, novels, and shows Pablo had consumed about superheroes, the apocalypse, and ordinary people granted tremendous power, very few of them dwelt on the aftermath of such events. Nobody wanted to read too much about the nightmares Peter Parker struggled with after a lifetime as Spider-Man. Pablo was living it now. They all were.
Fortunately, his increased Stamina and Accelerated Healing meant he didn't require as much sleep as a typical human. He'd tried to spend those quiet, sleepless hours productively by having long conversations with Delta. He’d filled several spiral-bound notebooks with notes, tactics, and ideas about situations they might encounter as Paladins. While he hadn't prepared for this specific set of circumstances, he'd calibrated his mind for the generalities. Pattern recognition, resource allocation, team composition, and tactical flexibility were all concepts Delta had drilled into him during their nocturnal planning sessions.
As a result, Pablo assimilated the details of their loot drops and began making decisions with rapid efficiency. Everyone was getting at least one Regeneration Tonic and Aetheric Renewal Tonic. Exclusive to himself, he’d keep the Beast-Blood Tonic, the Apex Healing Tonic, the Berserker's Might Tonic, and the Chitin Bracer. He'd be front line with Sasha. They'd need the offensive and defensive buffs most.
Sasha would also be getting a Beast-Blood Tonic, plus the Titanic Endurance Tablet and the Fang Necklace. The Intimidation bonus likely wouldn't matter against the dungeon boss, but that once-per-day Bestial Roar ability could give them a critical opening. Given her existing build, Titanic Endurance might save Sasha’s life if things went sideways.
Zoe was getting almost nothing, just the general healing and aetheric regen tonics. She'd be making hit-and-run attacks. Keep her simple, keep her mobile. For Eden, two Regeneration Tonics and the Primordial Totem. Eden would be on rescue and support duty. The totem would help her recover energy faster if this turned into a prolonged engagement. Last of them, he gave Rowan two Regeneration Tonics and the Predator's Vigor Tonic. If he was going to do anything, Rowan's job would be pure extraction—get Sam, get out. The speed boost might save both their lives.
Without much debate, Pablo decided he wouldn't distribute the Feral Clarity Tonics, the Adaptive Digestion Tablet, or the Abyssal Adaptation Tablet. None of the items were immediately useful for this fight, or the side effects of their use could be actively harmful. He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake, but also didn’t have time to debate, even with the time dilation effect of being in menu-time.
Resolved, Pablo closed his Status Screen. The world snapped back to normal speed. The subjective minutes he'd spent had been perhaps five seconds of real time.
"Don't take the tonics unless you need them," Pablo said, already pulling items back from his Inventory and distributing them to the team. "They've each got some nasty side effects. Most of the power tablets aren't immediately useful right now—we should hold off on using them. But Sasha, you should use this Titanic Endurance tablet immediately and equip that necklace."
Sasha caught the crude fang necklace and examined it with a raised eyebrow. "Not exactly the first piece of jewelry I pictured you giving me."
"Consider it an IOU for something prettier," Pablo said without missing a beat as he strapped the Chitin Bracer to his left forearm. The monster shell was surprisingly light, almost organic in how it molded to his arm.
"Sasha and I will go in fast and loud," Pablo continued, his voice falling into the rhythm of tactical briefing. "Draw the boss’s attention, keep him occupied. Zoe, armor up and cloak before we move. Get Sam free and to the corridor if you can. Otherwise, look for a chance to hit the boss as hard as you can. Don't blow your cover unless it looks like you can devastate him. Understood?"
"Five-by-five, Pabs," Zoe said and gave Gale a spin that served to accentuate her cocky—almost eager—grin.
"Eden, do you still have the portable bath in your Inventory?"
"Of course."
Since the lake trip, they'd all pitched in on a lightweight canvas camping bathtub for Eden. Given the 100-pound weight restriction on their Inventory capacity, it was a significant upgrade from the metal horse trough they'd initially scavenged from the trail's parking lot.
"Get it out and get it filled," Pablo said. "Sam's going to need your Aqua-Healing immediately. It's the only way he survives this."
"What about me?" Rowan asked, his voice tight.
"No offense, but you're the least prepared of any of us for a direct confrontation with this dungeon boss."
"Absolutely no offense taken," Rowan said immediately.
"You hang back by the entrance. Your one and only job is to make sure Sam gets to Eden so she can stabilize him. If you have to go into the room, you take that Vial of Predator's Vigor right before you do. Once he’s out of immediate jeopardy, you and Sam get the hell out of here while we finish off tall-gray-and-ugly over there. Once that’s done, the dungeon’s exit will open, and we all go home. Clear?"
Rowan nodded, gripping his looted spear tighter. Pablo shifted his focus back to his teammates.
"Once Sam and Rowan are clear, or if I shout Code Red, the five of us go all out," Pablo said, meeting each of their eyes in turn. Sasha. Eden. Zoe's armor-obscured face. Rowan's frightened but determined expression. "Armor up, and we hit that bastard with everything we've got. No holding back, no mercy. We end this. Comprende?"
"Clear," they said, almost in unison.
Pablo had tried to be quick, but Sam's desperate screams had been the background to the entire hurried conversation. Each wail felt like a countdown timer ticking away. Every second they delayed was another second of agony for him. Pablo turned back to the energy curtain blocking their path. His hand tightened on Razor's grip, feeling the familiar pulse of the blade's power flowing through him. Iron Mind wrapped his thoughts in steel clarity.
"Alright," Pablo said quietly. "Let’s make it happen."