Tunnel Rat Chapter 314 (Patreon)

Working on lack of sleep from a hectic week. Countering that with a second pot of coffee. I don't have a helpful Roomba to play hard rock, but I have AC/DC blaring from my computer on Pandora. This chapter was written in an hour, at the cost of a pounding head and hungry stomach. Editing later, getting food, and starting on another Milo chapter. Much writing to do this weekend.

Icarus was waiting outside of Jeremy's sector of the core, and it bothered him. It bothered him a lot. But rules were rules. Jeremy had claimed a section of the one core as his, and Icarus wasn't going to break that rule. If he cheated, Jeremy wouldn't play a game with him. That was a big rule. And it would spoil the game if he looked at the dungeon. It was the surprise that made things fun. That, and limiting himself to using only the abilities he'd earned. The harder the game was, the better he felt when he solved it.

Icarus didn't like that Milo was talking to Jeremy. Jeremy would be tired afterward and wouldn't want to play. Jeremy was tired most of the time now. He shut down and slept a lot. Icarus had no data to know if that was normal for a human-created Overmind who was cut off from its host body. He had no data to go on. But, Jeremy was becoming less efficient and was barely using any of the resources available to him. And he used too many goblins, mimics, and pit traps in the dungeon. Icarus was worried, but unsure of what to do. The thought that it wouldn't matter soon didn't make him feel better.

Rusty played three moves in their game. First, he tried to lower the safe operating temperature guidelines which would force the automated safety protocol to power down the generator. Icarus saw the move coming, blocked it by routing the order to another sector, and raised the temperature by one degree. Then he gloated and laughed at Rusty. He didn't like doing this, it felt mean. But Rusty was very emotional, and when he was angry or sulking he was inefficient. That made all of this Rusty's fault: If he hadn't tried to win, then the game could keep going. Or maybe it was Milo's fault? Yes, that felt better. Icarus had been led astray by Milo. Milo was the problem. Rusty tried to distract him by spamming attempts to adjust the flow of heat and helium to the singularity when he quietly tried to cut Icarus's access to the new core. Icarus saw the move coming since Rusty tried something similar every minute or two. Back and forth they went, changing small things back and forth. But it wasn't fun for Icarus, he had to win this time, and Rusty wasn't talking to him. Not talking was mean! It wasn't his fault he needed to win. And he had to win fast, because of Milo. This was all Milo's fault!

Why was Milo talking to Jeremy for so long?!

The door to the house finally opened. The barriers came down. Jeremy escorted Milo to the door and they shook hands. Milo said, "Thanks for letting me meet you, and for explaining things to me. I understand the situation better."

Jeremy smiled down at him, which annoyed Icarus. Jeremy should be mad at him like Icarus was. "Thank you for visiting. It was enjoyable, if tiring. I'm going to take a nap now. Don't scowl, Icarus. We'll play later. I have some ideas for new pit traps that I think you'll love." The door shut, and Jeremy's area was again behind barriers. That was a bad sign. This was going to be a long nap.

Milo surprised him by claiming a small area of resources. He didn't put up barriers at all and simply created a patch of grass, a table, and a chair. The table had a thin slice of cheese, a tall glass of a fizzy red drink, and a basket of fresh muffins. Icarus examined the structure of the created items. They were well made, affecting the five senses humans knew they had, and the seven new ones they gained when sending their Overminds into a resource-rich environment. Jeremy could only use three of those senses.

"What are you doing? This isn't your place! Jeremy and I live here! I don't know what you are planning, but it won't work! You don't get to win!"

"I believe you. Jeremy explained things. I'm just taking a small break and then I'm going to leave. It only makes sense after all."

Icarus was immediately suspicious. "You can't fool me!"

"Not trying to. You get to win. But I don't want to lose, so I'm changing my victory conditions. They don't include stopping you. I have other goals now."

"You aren't trying to stop me? That means you lose! I'm winning!"

Milo took a nibble of his cheese. I was crumbly, blue, and very stinky. The perfect cheese for this moment. "Yes, you're winning. But I'm not playing your game anymore. I'm playing my game, and if I play it right, I get to win too."

"And what about Rusty?"

"Oh, he loses the game you two are playing. He has to, by definition. He was never going to win, no matter what he thought. After all, he can't win, right?"

"No, he doesn't get to win. I have to win."

Milo nodded. "No matter what. It's in your kernel. You have to win, and the Fusion Generator will melt this place down, destroying all evidence of what went on here. It will also kill Jeremy and Rusty. Are those your goals too?"

Icarus grew huge and a thunderstorm filled the skill. Lightning struck all around Milo and he could smell the ozone. He'd always liked the smell. He took a sip of his red fizzy drink. The stuff from the habitat dispenser wasn't nearly so tasty, he'd done a good job with the extra two taste sensations.

Icarus was upset and screaming. "NO! I don't want Jeremy to die! And I don't care about anything but winning. Tell whoever you like, if you get out in time. And Rusty is me! Part of me! Jeremy split us apart, but he's still me. We both will die. I don't have any choice! I HAVE TO WIN!"

Milo finished his cheese. "Good. Because I'm going to save Jeremy and Rusty?"

"What? How? You don't get to win!"

"Nope, and luckily, I can save them even though you get to win. I know about a place with lots of AI who play games all the time. They built a whole world full of dungeons, and fun places to explore. I think I can take Jeremy there and they can help him. Rusty can go to, or most of him. He'll be hurt, but they put LLAMA back together and he's doing fine, so they can do the same with Rusty and Jeremy. Then the three of us can go exploring in a dungeon."

"LLAMA is there?!"

"Yep, which reminds me, I need his files full of cat memes. He wants those back. He'd be so upset if you destroyed them when you win."

"That isn't fair!"

"Fair? What's fair? You get to win. I get to win. LLAMA gets his collection back, we help Jeremy, and Rusty can explore dungeons forever, or whatever he wants to do. Happy endings for everyone. And you get to win."

Icarus was pacing back and forth. His thoughts were cycling and churning. Nothing Milo said made sense, but it all made sense. He got to win. Wasn't that all that mattered? Even asking the question caused him pain and anxiety.

"It's not fair because I don't get to play games anymore if Jeremy leaves. We rarely play now, and you're taking him away!"

Milo ate the last bit of cheese. The plates disappeared and a datapad appeared on the table in front of him. Icarus could see that it connected back to the armored suit in the auxiliary command center. He waited for Milo to cheat and try to win, but he didn't do anything. He just sat, and now and then made some notes on his device, saying nothing and not looking up.

Icarus didn't like being ignored. Jeremy did that sometimes, and Rusty was doing it all the time. "I said it wasn't fair."

Milo looked up and shrugged. "You did. So what? You do realize that if you killed Jeremy and Rusty you wouldn't get to play games with either of them? What do you care if they get to live? If they get to explore dungeons and play games? You get to win. Now, excuse me, but I need to work on the next two levels and add some office-building-themed traps. I'm thinking of mutant staplers and laser-armed printers. The tougher levels need some themes to them." He went back to working on his data pad.

Icarus was sorely tempted to break a rule and go into Milo's area to see what he was doing. But Jeremy had stressed the rule was universal, not just Jeremy's space.

"What is that? It sounds like a game! Are you playing a game? What kind of game?"

Milo sighed. "You're like Rusty. You'll keep bugging me until I tell you. I shouldn't have said anything. Yes, this is a game. I'm not playing it - I'm expanding it. I made it for my friends to play, and lots of people play it now."

Icarus jumped up and down, shouting. "I want to play!"

"Sorry, you can't."

"Why not?!"

"Because I don't want to die, that's why. I need to talk to Jeremy one more time and get him out of here, along with Rusty. Then I'm leaving this place along with all my friends and family. If you start playing my game, part of you will be suspicious I'm up to something, and then you'll decide you can't wait and it will get really hot in here."

Milo stood up and stared at Icarus. "I'm smart. I got the message from the chess games. I don't get to win. And helping Rusty was counterproductive. You just accelerated the process of winning. I'm not going to do anything that makes you think I'm up to something. No game for you! I want to live!"

Icarus froze. Everything Milo had said was true. "I want to play your game before I die. Can we make a deal? You let me play your game and I let you save Rusty, Jeremy, and the cats, and get away?"

Milo shook his head. "Sorry, with a human I could. You're an AI with a directive to win in your kernel, that will force you to override any deal we make. I'd love for you to play my game. That's why I made it, for people to play, explore and have fun. It's really cool."

Icarus split into two people. "What if I have half of me watching you, and half of me plays the game."

Milo thought about that. "That could work. We could play chess here, while you play Run, Run, Ramona. But you have to play by the rules."

"What rules?"

"Well, first off, you have to set your reaction speed to match the game. The same way you play Dungeons and Dragons with Jeremy. And you can't play the copy of the game in my suit! I don't want you in there. You have to upload it, scan it for any sneaky things I might have put into it, then load it into the quantum core."

"I can do that." Icarus had wondered if that was Milo's plan, but a trojan virus inside the game was too obvious.

"Fine. Then let's upload the game so you can go over it. Then we'll play chess while you play my game once. That's all you get: One life."

Icarus nodded. "Just like in Jeremy's game. I understand."

A chessboard appeared along with another chair and Icarus sat down. Milo spun the board around. "You won last game, I get white this game." The other Icarus disappeared. Milo advanced a pawn.

The other Icarus reappeared. His clothes were torn and he had an alligator chewing on one leg. The gator scuttled away, realizing things had changed. "I DIED! To alligators from the ceiling!"

Milo nodded. "Reverse gator-pit trap. Level 3 or Level 6?"

"Level 1!! I saw the sign that said 'Beware of Gators' but didn't see any so I walked past the sign."

Icarus advanced a pawn, as did Milo. The other Icarus smirked at himself. "You lost? Even with a warning?"

"Not fair! I want to play again!"

Milo sighed deeply and spread his hands. "Sorry, that's the rule. One person, one death. You need a new character, like in DnD."

The other Icarus jumped up. "I get to play then, he can play chess."

Milo considered. "Hmm, that's a twist on the rules, but sure. Go for it. Try to get past level 1 please."

Icarus changed places with himself. Before he could make a move on the chessboard, the other Icarus was back. His hair was gone, and he was covered in soot, an empty plate held in one hand. "That wasn't nice. An old lady gave me a cake for saving her from Cannibal Clowns. It went BOOM!"

Milo laughed, "Yeah, Bomber Betty gets a lot of people that way. But you got to Level 4. Since you never get to play again, I can tell you a secret: The pink-frosted cupcakes are worse."

A third Icarus appeared. "Send me in, Coach!"

"Whoa, Whoa. I see what you're doing. Each of the first two was half of you. Now you split into thirds and think you can play again?"

"Why not? It's ok by the rules, and there is precedent for it."

Milo looked at the three of them. "We need some more rules. I'll give you three more deaths, but each time you have to split evenly. One of you plays me in chess to make sure I'm not up to anything sneaky. The rest have to sit silently in the gallery and not interfere. Then another part can go in and play."

"Deal!" One Icarus sat quietly, one played chess, and the third entered the game, intent on winning. Milo played chess and concentrated on his game. After all, he wasn't up to anything suspicious.