D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Hunter ---

Hunter left the room behind. It had a bunch of information but very little of it useful. Hunter did check the compass for guidance but it wasn't all the useful. It simply spun in place. Sure that would normally mean the drake part was nearby, but a quick test involving running the length of the floor meant Hunter knew it was an issue with the expanded space instead.

If she knew how to work the device Hunter could likely fix that issue, alas she lacked the training for it.

Hunter almost headed out through the elevator because of her tests, but the conveyor belt was interesting enough and Hunter was betting there would be either a service elevator or a large dumbwaiter that delivered the food to some sort of storage area. The people would be nearby, if they were here at all.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

*Sadly that isn't the endorsement I want it to be. I'm still not sure if it's worth heading down there and trying to meet with them. It might be better to keep my presence a secret until the others get here… but I really want to confirm it, as it would change my approach to this quite significantly.*

Eventually, despite her internal debates Hunter did make it back to the conveyor belts and as expected following it led her to a large hole. Hunter could see the mechanism for its operation. There was a large system of chains and gears to allow for the extremely large basin here to collect the fruit and go down.

A quick glance over the side and Hunter could see the expected counterweight at the bottom.

It was quite a way down, at least three floors possible even more… which meant it would take her deeper then the elevator would in all likelihood. It confirmed her idea that the facility was bigger then it seemed. Perhaps there was some explanation as to why there were generators outside. The problem was getting down.

The sides of the walls had been oiled somewhat recently and simply jumping down was likely to crater the floor. Hunter glanced at the empty food cart.

*Do I want to use that? It's the easy answer but I'm not sure how sanitary it is for me to be sitting in it. Not for me, but the people who come after me. I doubt they'd be happy about it… but they probably wash the food anyway if they have any sense and I'm… actually not that clean now because I've been running through all that dirt. Hmm… wait.*

Hunter looked at the cart again and saw the bottom was covered in a layer of dirt and grime that certainly hadn't been cleaned recently. A quick poke revealed that it was quite thick. Hunter would estimate about a century of use as a super rough guess. So with that settled she jumped onto the bin and started taking other objects from her storage ring out to weight the contraption down.

Now, Hunter didn't just throw everything heavy out at once. She didn't want to shoot downwards after all. This was simple and had managed to operate for a long time by doing the same thing every time. Adding a bunch of weight all at once might even cause the chain to snap. Of course, Hunter wasn't overly careful, the fruit wouldn't always be the same weight after all.

So Hunter kept piling stuff up until eventually she started moving down. It was a bit slow, but that was fine.

Sadly there wasn't anything to see on the trip. The 'elevator' was completely closed in with the only exit at the bottom and the room down there was completely dark. Good for the food situation but not the best for Hunter's vision. She could still make things out but colour was essentially non-existent… but that didn't really matter because there wasn't much to see.

The landing area for the food was free of debris and other obstructions. She'd need to go lower to see more.

When eventually, after a few minutes of slow descent, Hunter finally entered the room she could see piles and piles of produce stacked up on shelves around the edges in rather neat sections. The issue? Some robots were coming over to sort Hunter and the stuff she'd put on the device to get it to lower. So Hunter quickly took everything she could off the platform and jumped down.

She realised her mistake as soon as she leapt off, with no weight it would go shooting up… only a glance back showed that wasn't the case. It was simply rising slowly back up into the ceiling. With that done Hunter vanished as the robots approached the place the pallet would go only to shudder for a second before heading back to their old posts. They seemed to rest on charging stations.

Hunter glanced around as best she could before deciding it was safe enough and releasing her ability and bringing out a light. There was stacks and stacks of food as well as a hole in the wall labelled 'compost'. It probably saw a good amount of used if what she was seeing was any indication. Every shelf here was well stocked and the oldest fruits were starting to go off by the looks of things.

Which was interesting because the chill here should keep them a while.

There were a few exceptions, those shelves were still packed but slightly less so with nothing rotting so they were probably somebody's favourites. Glancing around some more Hunter found the door. It was thick, reminiscent of a vault door and likely to help keep the room cool. A bit of an… interesting choice when they just had the food drop down through an open pit.

Perhaps there was some enchanting work on it to stop it being a problem. Hunter couldn't see anything but then again, it was all covered in oil so even if she knew what to look for it was probably a lost cause.

Now the only issue? As Hunter approached the door it became clear that it did not naturally open from this side. Or perhaps there was some override somewhere else, but the door itself had no handle or lock she could see on this side of it. *Inconvenient. Does that mean I have to go back up and head for the other elevator?

I'd probably break the floor jumping up, if I can even make the jump… and the chain is all oily. I am not looking forward to that. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so quick to jump off. I was already regretting that hasty decision before. Now I have an even better reason.*

Hunter considered checking the elevator for the platform she rolled down in. It was only going up slowly after all. She debated back and forth for a few moments, even burning some demonic energy to speed up her thought process and letting her really think it through. In the end, the decision was made to at least check which quickly revealed the cart was still quite low.

Hunter launched herself upwards, avoiding breaking anything on the way and was ready to latch onto the edge, only to sail up and past the cart by a good amount. Hunter still landed it, but she frowned at the poor control of her jump.

*Really need to get in some time to practice. That was horribly sloppy. Still… now that I'm heading back up I need to decide what the new plan is. Do I want to try and go all the way to the bottom? I'm pretty sure anyone who lives here will live down there, but that would mean skipping the floors I haven't visited yet. I'm not in a rush but I do want to be efficient with my time.

Hmm… what are the chances the inhabitants found the drake part? If it just showed up it may have been in a fancy manner, attracting attention from the inhabitants and drawing them to it. If they left it where it was, they can still tell me where it is… and if they took it back with them to study then it will be even easier to find. Which I guess means I've talked myself into it.

Once I get off this thing I'll head down as far as I can, perhaps checking the elevator hatch to see if there's another exit there, or if I'll need to find the stairs or something.

80Hmm… what am I going to say if I meet someone? No best to just stay hidden until I figure out how many people are here and spot the leader if I can. Perhaps I can find some notebooks telling me a bit about their plans for the future if I'm not sold on them. Though I do need to work out what to do about the cryo pods. Stay updated through empire

Apparently, there's only one that works… but what if they've repaired a few more and have younger people inside them? All waiting for a chance to get out? I don't know how likely that is… but it's something to worry about I suppose.*