Chapter 9 - Inspecting the Premises

The party ended up being pretty low intensity, a few drinks and finger foods, and light discussion in one of the lounges. Everyone I knew stopped by, Kassandra, Bella, Bea, Sullivan and even Chelsea. I felt a little bad about what I said at breakfast, but considering what happened last time I decided not to mention it, and just stick to small talk. It seemed to be the right decision, as everyone was in a good mood. The evening flew by, as we got to know each other a little better over drinks and finger food.

I may have over-indulged a little, because I woke up the next day with a fuzzy memory and a wicked headache. I couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. I managed to drag myself down to the cafeteria for a little breakfast, and that’s where Bella found me. Poking my hashbrowns with a fork.

“Good morning Talia,” Bella practically sang when she saw me. Her voice, normally pleasant, was like a hammer to my skull.

“Morning…” I mumbled back. “Are you ready to walk me through the ballroom already?”

“I can wait until you’re done,” she replied as she sat across from me. “Did you enjoy the party last night?”

“It was fun," I half mumbled, through a mouthful of egg. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been around so many people though.”

Bella smiled. “Well, everyone likes you, so expect to be invited out more.”

“I look forward to it,” I replied as I finished up my breakfast, “Next time I’ll avoid drinking so much.” I dropped both my, and George’s plates off at the counter, before meeting Bella at the exit. The two of us walked across the Atrium, to my new workplace. “We share this area with Luther, and the parlor floor. Luther’s a decent person, and I’d like to introduce you, but he’s away right now.” Bella pulled open the door, heading into the short hallway beyond. “The ballroom has three different types of followers on the payroll. Spectres, which dance around the area in pairs, Abyss stalkers, which you should already be familiar with,” she said, glancing at George, “which ‘decorate’ the area, and the vampires which play the noble visitors. I’ll act as your midboss.”

I glanced at the Banshee, as she casually floated down the hallway. “Sooo… who was the previous floor boss, you?”

“No no no,” the woman replied. “The previous floor boss was a vampire named Gustave. He was a greedy fuck who thought he was better than the rest of us.” The vitriol in her voice surprised me. “He went to a new dungeon a couple months ago, and I’ve been filling in ever since. We’re better off without him.”

I didn’t want to argue, I hadn’t known Bella for very long, but it was the first time I’d seen her upset. Whatever Gustave did, really pissed her off.

The woman floated to the end of the hall then stopped at a closed door. “This will be our projection room and office going forward.” She gripped the door handle and pulled it open, revealing a tidy little space. The entire area was tastefully decorated with grey slate tiles and stone brick. To one side of the room there were two projection beds, one booth, and in the other was a couple desks with crystalline screens.

Bella gestured at the desks, “That’s where you’ll do administration tasks, reviews and request structural changes to the ballroom.” She smiled, “That’s something we can worry about later. How about I give you a tour of the floor first.” She floated over to one of the projection beds and patted the mattress.

“Sounds like a plan…” I said, “but George first. He’ll rip apart the decorations in here if I leave him alone.” The Abyss Crusher growled at my back as I headed over to the projection booth, almost like he was complaining, but he followed me nonetheless. As soon as he stepped into the booth, and I closed the door, his entire body relaxed. I’d see him inside soon. Once George was set up I took a few steps across to one of the available projection beds and laid down. A few button presses later the crystalline canopy came down, and I was transported to the ballroom.

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Unlike most floors, which consisted of several conjoined rooms, the ballroom was a single long, cavernous room. It was decorated like something you’d see in a high noble’s manor, if that room had been abandoned for years and draped in gloom. Massive, intricate, spiderwebs separated the different sections of the room, like ornate drapes. Bella and I had materialized right at the end of the floor, where a massive orchestra stage dominated the area.

“Wonderful, isn’t it.” Bella giggled, “When a raid is underway the spectres will dance to the music. There are five groups, and each one will dance a slightly different pattern to the same music. Since even the slightest touch of a spectral person will drain the vitality out of someone, and most professional teams don’t have a way to deal with that many spectres, the team needs to try and figure out the timing to get through. Kind of like a puzzle. The spiders,“ she said, gesturing to the webs, “complicate things further by placing web traps to trip people up. The vampires engage the party between each dancing group, and I’ll be half way, singing along with the music.” She smiled, swaying back and forth like she was dancing to some invisible music. “It’s quite the spectacle when the music is going, and everyone is in sync.”

“Sounds wonderful,” I replied. “What did Gustave use to do at the end?”

Bella’s smile fell, just a little. “He used to conduct the orchestra. Once the party got close enough he left the stage and engaged then with a rapier. It wasn’t very artistic, but it was effective. I’m guessing you don’t plan on doing the same thing.”

I nodded, “I may be somewhat proficient in blades, but without any magic or skills I wouldn’t last long against an entire team, even with George’s help.” My spider growled, obviously disagreeing with my assessment, but I ignored him. Instead I started inspecting the area, looking for some way to take advantage of the terrain. Fight smarter, not harder.

That’s when my eyes landed upon the highly ornate, checkerboard flooring. I kneeled down and prodded one of the two foot-wide tiles experimentally. “Is there something wrong with the floor?” Bella asked, concerned.

“No… I was just thinking, can we replace all the tiles in the boss area with trapdoors?” I asked from my position on the floor.

Bella frowned, “It’s possible, but I doubt many people would find that many traps in the boss area sporting,” she replied.

“It wouldn’t be if they were all weight-triggered, but that’s not what I’m thinking of,” I said with a slight grin as I pushed myself to my feet. “I was thinking about having them linked to the music like the dancers.”

“That… could work, what are you thinking?” The slightly confused banshee asked.

“I’m not an amazing dancer, but my pattern recognition and planning skills are second to none. If I could lure the adventuring group into shifting terrain, it would be much more difficult for the team to press me confidently. I’m sure I could outmaneuver a lot of them, and trick or force them into open pits.”

“I’m sure they’ll still think it’s unfair if there’s no warning on which tiles are going to fall.”

I shrugged, “Then we’ll kill the lights, and put spotlights on the stable tiles. We can even have the remaining spectres come up behind the team and watch, which’ll prevent them from trying to escape to stable terrain.”

Bella thought for a long moment, before breaking into a smile. “I like it, but it’s going to need some testing, and tweaking, before it’s ready for an actual adventuring team.” She started floating back and forth, like she was pacing, “We still need to introduce you to the rest of the troops, and design your costume and weapons. There’s a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it!”

I flinched, “Is that really necessary?”

“Of course. You need to look like you’re hosting the party, but still need to move around freely.” She paused, “Do you want to fight in your humanoid, or full Arachne form? It’s up to you.”

“Humanoid,” I replied almost immediately, “I have no doubt people would complain if I could cheat and just step over the gaps.” Bella nodded, then turned away to inspect a floor tile. It wasn’t the only reason I wanted to stay humanoid, but it was a good enough excuse.

“Right, we have a plan, so now we need to act upon it. Let's get moving.” Bella nodded in my direction, then her form started to dissolve. I stared at her for just a moment, before I realized she disconnected, so I triggered my own system, heading back to the projection room. By the time I came to my senses Bella was already up, tablet in hand, making a list. “Come on! We need to hit the design department to get your clothes started, then the prop department, and finally we have to schedule some enchanting time so everything is ready to go.”

As I watched the woman write frantically on the tablet, I had a feeling that the day was going to be a lot busier than I originally expected.