Luca DR
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The infinity dungeon 108
🕑 Added 2024-10-24 20:52:02 +0000 UTCChapter 108
The drive on the winding roads took Michael and Stephan through patches of woods, lone fields, and houses with thick green lawns, while everything else around them was a shade of yellow that looked utterly out of place. Here and there, a cloud of dust was being kicked up by some agricultural machine operating on too-dry fields.
“How long has it been since the last rain?” Michael asked, as a way to make conversation.
“A while, now that I think about it,” Stephan replied. He was much less intimidated by Michael now, especially with the young man restraining his aura and making sure his inner turmoil didn’t slip through. That it was greatly diminished now that Stephan had agreed to at least come visit helped tremendously.
“I haven’t been around here too long but,” said Michael. He had moved here after he was kicked out and had failed university, barely a couple years living alone in a shithole of a city barely getting by. “I’ve never seen a summer this dry.”
Indeed, ever since he’d found the dungeon, it must have rained only once. There were talks among meteorologists on social media, speculating why this was the case and what it would mean for the region. Michael only knew because Johanne had mentioned it to him while laughing cruelly at the other scientists’ lack of knowledge. She seemed to take great pride in her otherworldly knowledge, and she seemed to know more about the local climate thanks to it than most.
“Me neither,” Stephan agreed. “Do you think it will rain soon?”
Michael was the one driving, yet he pulled out his phone all the same. His enhanced stats allowed him to pay attention to the road and the phone simultaneously without problems. A screen not too dissimilar to his weather app was already waiting for him as he unlocked the phone, courtesy of the resident AI.
“Nope. Sun, sun, sun, and more sun,” Michael reported. The model was based off of Johanne’s data and enhanced by Icarus’ immense computational capabilities.
They chatted idly as they got close to the compound. Stephan didn’t ask many questions about what he was going to see once they arrived, not wanting to spoil the surprise. It was clear that they were getting close when they slid off the main road and onto a private property, on a newly paved road that cut through fields that were lusher and greener than normal. Then they were in the woods.
“This is all new growth,” Michael commented. “Can you believe that most of these trees aren’t even two weeks old?”
“Really?” Stephan inquired. “They look old.”
“The power of magic, man.”
“We decided to make the trees grow around Site 00 to have more privacy and protection,” Michael explained as they effortlessly passed through a manned checkpoint.
“Just how big is the property, man?” Stephan wondered.
“Very big. We started off small, but kept purchasing all the land around us that we could. See all those hills, woods, and valleys? Most of them are ours; the others will soon follow.”
“It’s not really prime real estate, though,” Stephan observed. “It must cost a fortune to build anything there.”
“It does, but money is not a concern, and magic helps mitigate some of the costs. It’s not like we could relocate the dungeon.”
“I get it, I think. I was just struggling to visualize the amount of money you’re sinking into this.”
A while later, they were at the parking area, surrounded by other cars and trucks. People milled about, walking with purpose, unloading trucks and hauling supplies. Some equipment was being transported to a newly constructed structure underground while technicians could be seen installing electrical components.
“I don’t get it,” Stephan admitted. “This is… huge. Titanic. How much money are you wasting on this?”
“Billions,” Michael said nonchalantly. “Billions that we have, now.”
“How?”
“Come with me.”
They walked, and as they did, Michael showed Stephan the points of interest all around them. More than two-thirds of all the structures were still in various stages of being built. Some were still holes in the ground, the foundations still being dug for a later build. It was mostly the future skyscrapers that were like this, as their foundations required more work than the other buildings. The notable exception was the underground bunkers and labs which, even though they wouldn’t be visible from the surface once completed, right now were immense holes in the land. Then there were little entrances to the side of many hills, here and there, hinting at structures hidden by the rocks. Other structures were much further ahead, close to done: barracks, living areas, bars, and restaurants. The temporary mess hall that would soon be torn down, replaced by a permanent structure.
Roads of gravel and new asphalt crisscrossed the land. Walkways of ornate stones were even more frequent, full of people of all kinds: Operators, scientists, cooks, and even a couple children. All the roads were in the shade of mighty trees grown by magic, surrounded by flowers and wild plants that seemed to swallow the place, but never dared ruin the man-made structures.
“All this…” Stephan was at a loss for words. “It’s like you took a fantasy world and mixed and matched it with modern-day commodities. Look at those stones, and fountains! That’s lord of the rings kind of stuff. Then you turn your head around and there’s a huge eco-monster of steel rebar and concrete. This place looks like if elves they had an industrial revolution.”
Michael smiled at the praise. “And this is just the beginning. Want to know how we make money? Well, it all started with a hospital, and me healing patients there.”
“I remember,” Stephan acknowledged.
“Now it’s much more than that. See that field? We’re using magic to grow crops so quickly we can basically harvest them every other day. And that’s just a proof of concept. We’re scaling it up soon. Underground, beneath it there will ten more layers of fields. Inside that hill, we are doing hydro and aeroponics. Once again, enhanced by magic. This whole place is self sufficient already, at least calories-wise. We import spices and meats, but even for them we have plans. The Fae feasts, for instance. We are harvesting some of their food, but not much until we know whether the dungeon will stop us or demand equal compensation.”
Then he pointed at a faraway hill, a bit sharper than most others, overlooking the entire Site. Two dark holes could be seen—windows or entrances. A single metal pole at the top was the only other sign of man-made structures. Inside, however, the hill was being dug out.
“That’s where we are currently developing what we call the ‘vitality tonic.’ If it all goes well, a version of it could hit the markets very soon. We also developed a proof of concept that magic can heal genetic disorders: we have a pill that cures lactose intolerance.”
“What?” Stephan sputtered, caught unaware by the lactose.
“Oh yeah. We’re diluting it so that it doesn’t act as quickly.”
“To make more money?” Stephan asked disapprovingly.
“To make more money,” Michael echoed him. “I have to please my underlings somehow, and making the company earn a lot of money is a good way to do it. We compromised. The effect is permanent, but it takes thirty pills to achieve it. Ten dollars a pill, three hundred in total. Not much, but take into account the fact that two thirds of the world’s adults are intolerant, and you see how much money we can make. And you know the amazing thing about it? We only have to worry about manufacturing it; magic will take care of the distribution.”
“This is insane, Michael. I can’t even formulate proper questions. And you built all of this from nothing? By yourself?”
“Not by myself. I had help.”
“I don’t know if I want to meet your ‘help’,” Stephan stated.
“It would defeat the purpose of you being here, wouldn’t it? Don’t worry, they know.”
“Right,” Stephan sighed. “Your AI informed them, didn’t it?”
“Yep,” Michael confirmed. “I just need to tell it what to do, and it does it. The AI will be hitting the market soon enough, but not before we’ve milked a few startups for all they’re worth.”
“So, if I wanted to have it…”
“You can have it. Other people will have to make do with subpar products from a myriad of companies who all think they’re the ones who have AI figured out. Guess what? It will all be Icarus, just reskinned and shipped through different companies, with them none the wiser. It was Travis’ idea, not mine.”
Stephan sighed again. “I’m beginning to understand your struggles. This is all… cool and all, but it’s not normal, if you’ll pardon the term. I can’t help but be excited, though.”
“Oh,” Michael said smugly, “you haven’t seen half of it. Want to drive a quad bike?”
Stephan didn’t hesitate. Michael took him to a secluded valley that looked like a quarry, mounds of dirt and dust blown by the wind. There was an empty hole in the middle, flat ground with not even a speck of dust.
“This is where we do good for the planet,” Michael declared. “One of my people has a magic that literally vanishes things into dust. No, actually, not even dust is left after she’s done. Works perfectly on any mundane material, no matter what it is. What we do is we have another operative go around the world, doing deals with whoever has toxic, radioactive, and dangerous waste, right? Then Travis flies over there and uses a magic skill to make the materials vanish—the same skill we want to use to distribute our products.”
“How does it work?”
“It makes them vanish, only for them to reappear for sale everywhere around the world: online stores, physical shops, wherever it might be relevant. Then, if someone buys it, somehow the skill gets it shipped to them. In this case, we use Icarus to immediately buy the stuff back and have it delivered here.”
“And it just appears?”
“Nope. The skill conjures up a full-fledged delivery man with a truck. See that road over there? It gets all the way to the back entrance of the property. Somewhere along the road, a truck appears out of thin air, delivers the stuff, and then vanishes. Then Jennifer comes in. Her ability works in a 25-meter radius, ever since she managed to evolve the Tome she uses it from. So she stands on this platform here”— Michael pointed at a dark circle on the ground— “surrounded by material our men will have prepared for her all around. She uses the magic, the stuff vanishes, and she leaves until our men have made more mounds of trash for her to make disappear.”
“Twenty-five… so this whole flat space…”
“All trash that is gone from the world. You know how much stuff you can fit in a cube 25x25x25? A lot. And this is just the beginning.”
Stephan took a deep breath. “There’s one thing you haven’t shown me yet.”
“The dungeon.”
“So far, let’s say I’m convinced. I’m in. But I can’t help you if there’s so much power difference between us, can I?”
“Are you sure you aren’t saying it just because you want free magic?” Michael joked.
For a moment, he thought that he had forgotten about his aura. Stephan had a blank look on his face, but then his façade crumbled and he started laughing.
“Sorry about that,” said Stephan between laughs.
“This is no laughing matter.”
Stephan shrugged. “Jokes aside, I can’t deny that seeing all this magic has been… enticing.”
“Yeah, and it’s totally fair. You wouldn’t be here otherwise. Now we just have to see if you’re still so eager after you get a taste of the dungeon itself.”
“Then let’s go.”
After a short quad bike trip, they were at the entrance. Like everywhere else, lots of people were present. Some worked on the road, others on the buildings around the cave, others yet were Operators being organized in shifts to delve into the dungeon itself. All of them parted around Michael as he approached.
“I understand more and more,” Stephan murmured. “It’s uncomfortable for me, and I’m just standing here. I can’t imagine how it must be for you.”
Michael nodded. “The others don’t see an issue with this. And I admit it’s useful, but… yeah, it can go to your head. By the way.”
He stopped himself for a moment. Looking around, he frowned. The little things he always saw moving about in the mana, they were strange today. “How curious,” he said, “they are not just tiny fellas made of mana after all.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Stephan.
“Just some little critters. You should see for yourself—”
No sooner than he had uttered the word see, Stephan began to scream.
