Morning of the 1st, 4 days before present.

Early morning in the outskirts of Zeinav: clothes of every colour are hung to dry between the tight-packed, geometric buildings. Far from the housing district, this place is home to dregs, storage houses and structures that should stand empty if not for the countless squatters.

The streets are empty. The wretched have yet to wake. Yet, not all is quiet; there's a constant bustle of clangs and voices, and it's all sourced from one single-storey house.

It's an unimpressive place, as with all structures here. Its walls are cracked and beige, and not a single decoration graces it. But someone who takes even a single step into the cloth-covered doorway would be greeted by a chaos of movement. Bizarre beings of metal march between rooms on taloned feet, carrying boxes and bags, seemingly in preparation for... something. Not all of them walk on two legs, either; something like a dog made of tin, with jaws of iron, stalks the hall while an eight-legged spider-golem skitters along the sandstone ceiling.

As the spider and the dog pass one-another, they stop and exchange words in a tongue of clicks, whirrs and harsh buzzes. Their communication is brief, curt to those who care about such things, which these entities clearly do not.

Through a door at the left side of the hall is a room, far less barren than the others. There are stone shelves, lining the walls; a tall window, welcoming the dull morning light; yet more constructs of numerous shapes; and a table, upon which stands a woman as offsetting as the is tiny. She barely stands taller than half a metre, yet she's adorned with dull regalia that demands the obedience of a soldier. Her voice, too, contributes to the paradox: mature and cold as she coordinates the filing bots.

Also on the table is a large map, at least three feet wide, depicting the White Sand Sea to the west of Zeinav. One seemingly innocuous point on the map is circled in red.

The tiny woman brushes a blonde lock aside and glares at a parchment document in her hand. It's another report - nothing major. In fact, its lack of prevalence, along with the time it's wasted as a result, is what vexes her.

The paper fwwips as she lowers it and looks to the window. Her tapping foot is a sure sign of impatience.

"What's taking her so long...?"

Blue Raspberry and Astrid walked through the maze of adobe houses. Astrid had received a message from someone named Veliky, asking her to come here and assist with some kind of project. They were apparently the one who had given Astrid her robot, Charles. Knowing that, Blue Raspberry was nervous to meet such a person. They didn't know what to expect. They hadn't asked Astrid for much detail on this Veliky person.

They imagined some huge, intimidating person with an army of robots with different weapons behind them, ready to attack the armored ooze on sight. They wondered why. She must be a terrifying person. Why is Astrid friends with her? How could she have met such a person? They needed to remember to ask more about that later.

Blue Raspberry placed a hand on Astrid's shoulder to stop her from walking. They crouched down in front of her, feeling a bit panicked.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe I should wait outside. Or maybe I should make myself look human! Does she like wolves? Should I be a wolf? Ah, I'm really nervous for some reason." they said, looking around as if the woman would pop up out of nowhere and attack.

"I just get this weird feeling that she'll hate me for some reason. Maybe I should introduce myself as something else. A lot of people think Blue Raspberry is a weird name when I say it, you know? Call me... uhhhh... Blue... Wolfy? No, just Wolfy! Call me Wolfy."

The desert is hot, uncomfortably so, and Astrid feels like she's a walking oven with the layers of armor she does have on. She has the hood of her cape pulled up to keep the rising sun off her head and ears (a new habit she's started after getting sunburned on day one). Behind her, Charles follows obediantly, and beside her, the hellhound Spicy Pawsage trots along, sniffing at the hot air and feeling completely comfortable. Along with Blue Raspberry, they sure are a bizarre group. Not that she minds at all. With such a group of weirdos there comes some sense of belonging that she enjoys. 

This is their first trip into the dessert as a group, or at least this is Astrid's first trip with the ooze knight. She's been to Zeinav twice before, and both times were trips to the necromancer Bellighul's mansion. The first was a not-so-accidental break in, and the second was an invitation from the Lord of Ghouls himself. Now she's been invited to Zeinav once again, however this time it's by Veliky. Apparently, the businesswoman has a job for her, and given that the last job involved her very own Blixtbot^TM companion, Astrid is more than happy to take up another job. 

When Blue Raspberry stops her and seems about as panicked as someone wearing a helmet to cover their formless ooze face could be, she tilts her head. "I dunno why yer so worried, Miss Veliky won't have a problem with ya at all," she says, however she's not one to downplay the worry. Miss Veliky is an extremely observant individual, so it's not a bad idea to don a disguise. "Yeah, maybe that's a good idea. And Wolfy?" She laughs. "Like when we first met! I like it! Wolfy it is!" Astrid pats Blue Raspberry on the shoulder and looks past them. "Ah, that's where we're meetin' her! Let's hurry!" 

With renewed vigor in her step, Astrid strolls into the meeting place with Veliky and spots her at a table with a huge unfurled map. "Mornin', Miss Veliky!"

Facing away from the entryway door, Veliky hears Astrid's voice before she sees her. She lifts her head from the document in her hand.

"Good, you're here. Sorry for being vague in my message; an info leak would be-" She turns around to see no less than twice the party size she'd expected. Accompanying Astrid are a hellhound, the sight of which recalls an uncomfortable burning on Veliky's lips; and a peculiar man she's assuredly never seen before. Her face betrays no pleasantness nor unpleasantness, only unexpectedness. "Who are these? A new pet and...?"

"Wolfe."

"...Wolfe," she repeats. Her eyes are skeptical, awaiting a more claritive answer.

"Yup, that's Wolfe!" Astrid says with a grin. "He and I have been on lots of adventures together. Got eaten by a sea monster and fought bandits and all kinds of stuff. And then ya know Charles. He's been super helpful, by the way. And last is me new pet, Spicy Pawsage. He was a gift from me new grandpa."

Grandpa...? But Cantio's parents are estranged. Did he reconnect with them? If Astrid's being manipulated by some creepy old man, Veliky's going to have to add a name or two to the KoS. And Spicy Pawsage? Isn't 'spicy' the Common word for 'epnec?' So his name is Pawsage and he's epnec? Is this some sort of pun?

Astrid does not elaborate on what she meant. The hellhound barks, embers spitting from its mouth, and it sits down while Astrid pets its hot head. "Hope ya don't mind that I brought 'em along. I figured the job ya had was gonna be a doozy like last time."

...

"Right. Well, you're correct. This assignment will be difficult." Her affirmation is an awkward attempt to realign to the main subject. She hesitantly beckons the group to look at the unfurled map. "Reports indicate that a recent earthquake opened a chasm in the White Sand Sea." She points to the red circle on the map. "It was too far out from Zeinav to cause any casualties or property damage, but it did reveal something interesting beneath the sands: ruins. If the rumour mill is to be believed, they're the bones of an ancient, forgotten city; true or false, we need those ruins surveyed, documented, secured and looted before the tomb raiders comb through it."

She paces away from the map, toward the edge of the table. A nearby bot presents her with a bottle of Blixt™, and she wordlessly accepts, taking a long sip before looking to Astrid.

"Here's why I contacted you, specifically: a scout reported an entrance to a large armoury, containing intact sets of armour and weapons. Seeing as you're something of an expert on metallurgy, I want you on-site to study them and record your findings; the equipment probably won't survive transportation." She looks around and raises a hand. "Alpha Squad, line up!"

At her command, a group of golems stands at attention in front of the table. Some are old, others are new; there's a mix of humanoid and bestial golems, from tiny bats to mastiff-sized hounds.

"This is your Blixtbot™ squad. They'll be under your command; they'll protect you with their proverbial lives, and they're decently self-sufficient, but they'll listen to your orders."

With hisses and clanks and grinding of joints, one of the canine-bots steps forward. It looks up to Astrid and Wolfe with a singular, horizontal video-sensor, reminiscent of a knight's visor... and it speaks. "Officress Astrid, Conscript Wolfe, introduction: I am BF-01. Report: we will keep you safe from harm." Its voice is a higher pitch than Charles' and the other bots', but lower than that of Stalker.

Veliky's eyes, fall on Wolfe, the dubious companion.

"And you... will also be there. Your mission is to keep Astrid safe, at any cost," she says with deathly seriousness. "...But yours won't be the only team. There'll also be-"

She's interrupted by the powerful shifting of pistons just outside the doorway. The bots remain stoic, but Veliky turns her head in anticipation.

Standing taller than the doorway itself, the newcoming bot must duck under the frame in order to lumber into the room. While most of Veliky's constructs stretch the definition of the word 'golem,' this one embodies it, hulking nearly seven feet tall. Its shoulders are like massive pauldrons and stretch as wide as a bookshelf. Its hull - made of steel, not tin - is painted off-white, like the sands of the White Sea. Finally, it carries a hammer whose head is the size of a child^[1], like Astrid. It speaks in a voice, monotonous as all bots', yet lower and reminiscent of a crocodile's bellow.

"Mistress Veliky, report: Beta Squad is prepared for departure." Despite its obeisance, its looming stature lends it an iron aura of authority.

Veliky gestures offhandedly at the behemoth.

"This is Buffalo. It'll be leading the other team. You shouldn't see much of one-another once you're inside the ruins, but you'll keep in communication to report threats, completed objectives and other significant discoveries using this."

She reaches into a pocket in her coat and produces a tiny device resembling the red-eyed head of a Blixtbot™^[2]. She hands it to Wolfe, as his height puts him more within Veliky's elevated reach.

"It's a simple machine; Buffalo has its twin. Speak into one, and the person holding the other will be able to hear you, even over long distances. *Do not lose it.*"

"Mistress Veliky, query," the behemoth-golem groans again. "are you certain this is optimal? Analysis: inclusion of organic conscripts will lower our odds of success by 8.66%. Recommendation: our operation would fare better without unnecessary..." It leers down at Astrid with its crimson lenses. "...liabilities."

Veliky rolls her eyes.

"The usual teams would have a greater chance of success, but a far lower return on investment. Yes, this is optimal."

There's a noted delay before the bot chirps its recognition. Veliky clasps her hands formally behind her back and addresses the whole unit.

"Now, we have no idea what sort of threats you'll find in those ruins. Just know that one of our scouts didn't return. Be prepared for anything. Any questions?"

---

1. Heavy [War Hammer] (Buffalo)
2. Talking Heads

With their mission being expained as keeping Astrid safe, they bent down and placed a hand on top of Astrid's head with a toothy grin. They would have done that anyways.

Blue Raspberry tried their best to keep the smile on their face, but they hated being in a room with so many of the robots that they couldn't quite explain their fear of. They were surprised how tiny Veliky was. They'd expected someone much larger and scarier, but she looked like an even younger girl than Astrid. Buffalo was more like what the ooze had expected Veliky to look like, and they really didn't like that robot. They tried to just ignore the robots around them.

They took the little communication device from Veliky and held it up in front of their face. They thought for a moment to eat it, placing it in the safest place they could think of, but they really shouldn't do that right in front of Veliky. They didn't think a normal human would go and swallow a tiny robot head. Instead, they just handed the device down to Astrid to keep on her. The ooze knight didn't have any pockets or pouches for stowing things on them, just relying on their ability to store things inside them.

With Veliky finishing her explanation of their objective and asking for any questions, Blue Raspberry raised a hand.

"Um, I have a question. How many of these robots are going to be coming with us?" they asked a bit nervously.

Difficult assignment? Right up her alley. And by her, she means Veliky's. Miss Veliky always seems willing to challenge folks, but the rewards are often worth it. Sometimes the reward is even just a bit more of Miss Veliky's respect, and that on its own is pretty good, at least for Astrid. One day she'll earn her place working for her company. She's not so sure about being an expert on metallurgy, definitely not yet, but she's working hard on it. The few books she's bought are about rare metals and how to use them. They're neatly packed up in Charles' backpack bin.

"Officress? Ooh, that's new..." Astrid muses quietly so not to interrupt. She has no idea what an officress is, but it sounds fancy. 

When the big bulky Blixtbot^TM comes in, Astrid immediately gets excited. She gets to work alongside that? That's awesome! Incredible! Amazing! She can't wait to see all the different bots she hasn't had a chance to see yet. She almost forgets that Blue Raspberry is a bit uncomfortable around the bots (for some reason that she's still not quite sure of) while she oogles at the mechanical wonders. She watches Veliky hand the tiny bot communicator to Blue Raspberry, and she expects Blue to just eat it to store it, but then remembers they're in the presence of others so she takes it and stores it away in a pouch when Blue hands it to her. "Right, we won't lose it!"

The croc-bot, Buffalo, groans that they're a liability, and Astrid cross her arms with a pouty expression. They're not a liability to the mission, they're gonna make this mission a success. She and Blue Raspberry have done plenty of quests together. They're a dream team! She's not sure Veliky's response really sells her on the half-halfing's confidence in them (she doesn't exactly refute the liabilities thing), but return on investment is important too, she supposes. 

Blue Raspberry makes a good point about how many bots are comin' with them. Knowing their allies is important. "Are we workin' in different teams? Tryna explore different parts of the city? Guess it's important ta know where we're goin' in and comin' out too."

Veliky eyes Astrid's strange companion with a sidelong stare. He's already nervous? She hopes that's her fault; if he's nervous about the mission now, that doesn't bode well for when he's on-site. Astrid's steadfastness, meanwhile, can easily be attributed to blissful innocence; hopefully, it'll hold.

"There are two teams: yours and Buffalo's." She turns and gestures to the line of eccentric, yet professional golems. "Your team consists of eleven bots, total: five combative infantry, one non-combative infantry, two canines, two special operatives and an auxiliary. The auxiliary's called Moonlight; I think I showed it to you back in Skypeak. It'll help when lighting becomes a problem. There's also a mount, stabled outside, called Nightmare. Do not touch it; the fire is real, regardless of evidence to the contrary. Buffalo's squad consists of six bots, plus itself."

The pseudo-general snaps her gloved fingers. An unarmed golem, one that apparently won't be participating in the mission, marches to the side of the table and begins furling the map. Its movements are precise and methodical, yet manage to seem clumsy with their mechanical sluggishness.

"The earthquake created a large crater in the desert. That'll be your entry point *and* your extraction point. So be careful; if there's a cave-in, you'll be sleeping with the skeletons until we can dig you out. Anything else?"

"What's an Oxy Larry?"

Buffalo's hydraulics shift in a manner that might be interpreted as impatient.

"...Don't worry about it."

Astrid scratches her head sheepishly. "I don't s'pose you've got some tools fer diggin' with all the bots?" It occurs to her that she didn't think to buy some digging tools after the first time she dealt with a cave in. That probably would have been smart.

'That's an excellent question,' Veliky thinks. She nods curtly, yet with a faint undertone of approval. "Yes, we do. Your team will be equipped with enough mining gear^[1] to burrow through any obstacles you might find. Still, cave-ins are inadvisable."

The bots are beginning to pack up, pulling papers from shelves and lifting boxes of supplies. Finally, Veliky hops down from her place on the table. Necks must be craned uncomfortably to make eye-contact with her.

"It's time. This will be a difficult mission. But, if you both keep a cool head, things will go just fine."

---

Afternoon of the 5th, present day.

The hot, desert wind blows jagged lines across the White Sand Sea. The dunes are barren under an oppressive sun.

The journey felt far longer than it was. As Zeinav City disappeared over the horizon, the company's environment became an unchanging ocean of white sand. And, needless to say, the bots are not good conversationalists, although their designs may be fascinating enough, to some. But this Buffalo manages to be especially unapproachable in a group of emotionless golems; while it never engages in unnecessary talks, neither does it hesitate to make its distaste for the "organic conscripts" known. For a bot, its antipathy is unprecedented.

The eventual arrival at the chasm is an event as laden with relief as it is dread. It is an end to the monotony, but a beginning to the true danger of their mission.

When they arrived, there was already a group of bots on-scene. They had cordoned off the area and, by their accounts, had chased away would-be tomb raiders on more than occasion. But the chasm itself is untouched. There appears no obvious means of safe descent, and the depths are pitch-black.

The area around the chasm is now abuzz with activity as over two-dozen bots have gathered. A Pawn unit jogs to the edge of the pit and holds aloft an iron hooded lantern that glows with a supernatural blue^[2]. With the press of a button, the blue flames creep out of the lantern, forming some entity of ghastly flame that floats into the pit, dragging the lantern with it and illuminating the crumbled base of an ancient tower beside the entrance to a cave.

One of the dog-bots, whose name Astrid and Blue Raspberry have learned to be BF-01, peers into the pit before turning to them.

"Officress Astrid, Conscript Wolfe, report: the tower, when discovered, was the first indication of ruins beneath the sands. Scouts' reports indicate that it now stands empty, having been looted by treasure hunters. The path to the armoury lies through the cave. Query: how do you recommend we proceed?"

---

1. Digging Kit
2. (Ghastly Lantern) Moonlight

Blue Raspberry tried their best to ignore the oppressive presence of all the robots with them as they travelled to the chasm, but they couldn't help being a bit less talkative than usual. They put their helmet back on, but maintained their humanoid form just in case. They didn't know what the bots would do if they discovered they were an ooze, but a feeling in the back of their mind said to try to avoid that.

"I'm betting Veliky would try to kill 'em." Brian voiced out to the other two Gnomes.

"I don't know, it's been a while. Maybe she forgot about the whole thing." Thomiel said.

"That would mean she also forgot about us, which honestly is probably true." Nathaniel mumbled.

"She probably did forget about us, but no way would she forget about an escaped product. These bots might even be programmed to attack blue oozes on sight. Wouldn't put it past her."

"Okay, then they just avoid being seen as an ooze. They can make themself look human now. Well, humanish. It's good enough. She's got a keen eye, but there's nothing to give away that they're an ooze yet, right?"

"Maybe the girl would vouch for them. Veliky must trust her a decent amount if she has the bots calling her Officress instead of conscript."

The Gnome researchers continued to argue in the back of the ooze's mind the entire trip. Blue Raspberry was glad the robots all spoke to Astrid instead of them. They also looked down at Astrid, waiting for her to tell them how to continue on into the chasm.

It makes no difference to her if the bots are talkative or not. Astrid will talk to them. She also spends a lot of time fawning over their make and design and nearly tripping over her own boots while watching how they move. They're just like big walking suits of armor but instead of a human (or an ooze) piloting them, they're bits and bobs and steam and some kind of intelligence. Buffalo even has his own personality! (She continues to refer to Buffalo as Croc-bot though because of the semblance its voice has to the aquatic reptiles.)

Finally, they reach the chasm, and she's barely even noticed the heat. She has noticed Blue Raspberry  The city revealed before them is vast and quite deep in the earth. That's about to be a lot of walking. Luckily, Astrid has a grappling rope after their excursion with the harpies. She starts to unpack it from Charles then pauses. Oh, right, she can fly sometimes. Either way, having the rope on her person isn't a bad idea, so she secures it to her belt and looks around at their surroundings. Everyone else is stopped taking things in, and it takes a long moment for her to realize that everyone is looking to her for direction. Her??? Why??? 

Then she realizes the dog-bot is looking at her. Oh no, the dog bot said something. Shoot, she was too enraptured by the whole group of bots and then the big city that she had no idea she was being spoken to. Great job, Astrid. Really making a great first impression. 

"Uhhh...." she draws out anxiously. Chasm. Tower. Cave. "I could fly into the chasm and see what there is down there," she offers up. "I can see in the dark, so I could probably get a good look at everything... Unless ya think that's too dangerous?" With the last bit, she looks at Blue Raspberry for a second opinion especially. 

The rhythmic, now-familiar noise of heavy metal warns of Buffalo's approach. Its presence doesn't just demand attention; it legislates it.

"All units, report: we are wasting time."

It holds its massive hammer in both hands. From each side of its face, a metal plate snaps into place in front of its eyes, creating a sort of mask. Then, from a lateral visor in the mask, a cone of red light bathes the sand in front of it^[1]. This crimson glow sweeps left and right, searching for something with indiscernible intent.

Suddenly, the mask snaps open and the golem raises its hammer.

"Command: stand clear."

The hammer comes down with the force of a falling sky. Even dampened by the sand, the strike shakes the earth^[2,3]! The nearest edge of the pit begins to crumble. Sand pours into the chasm, down a newly-formed slope. The golem's warning is only barely sufficient for the company to avoid a potentially lethal fall. When the tremors subside, the result is a tenuous, but viable path of shattered detritus and sand that leads directly into the crater.

Buffalo's arms screech loudly as it lifts the half-ton hammer back to its place at its side. "Local units, command: proceed with caution and with minimal additional delays." Without another token of acknowledgment, it is the first to take the sundered path into the depths. Its crew of six follows soon afterward. Together, they don't waste a beat on the tower before descending into the cave.

BF-01 prowls to the newly-created path and paws at the sand, testing its stability. "Local units, report: the path is sufficiently traversable." Its neck cranes to face Wolfe and Astrid. "We may proceed, though caution is advised."

---

1. X-ray Vision (Buffalo)
2. Heavy [War Hammer] (Buffalo)

Blue Raspberry already didn't like all the robots, but this one really seemed like a big jerk. They felt like that robot was looking down on them both literally and metaphorically. It made them want to beat it somehow and prove they were better. Actually fighting it would probably be a bad idea, not because they thought they couldn't beat it, but because it belonged to Astrid's friend and they didn't want to make Astrid mad. But, maybe they could beat it another way. The armored ooze just placed a hand on Astrid's shoulder, their other clenching into a fist.

"Let's go in together and beat that big jerk bot! We can discover stuff way faster and better and study all the metalogical things and prove we're not organic!" they declared confidently, raising their fist into the air.

With their decision made to race against the Buffalo bot, even though the bot didn't actually know they were, they ran down the slope toward the cave entrance with entirely no caution. Their run didn't last long on the very uneven and barely stable path. They almost immediately tripped and tumbled down the slope toward the cave entrance, but at least their pace was fast and they reached the entrance in no time.

If they'd had bones, they probably would have broken quite a few, but thankfully they were boneless. They just lied on the ground and offered a thumbs up to show they were fine. They lied there and waited for Astrid to make her way down, in a much more cautious way.

With Buffalo as large and impending as it is, suddenly smashing the ground to create a path into the chasm startles Astrid and he companions. She keeps her footing, stalwart as she's learned to be in her armor. Spicy Pawsage, on the other hand, yelps and scrambles back behind her then, once the ground stops shaking, the black fur on the back of his neck bristles and he barks aggressively at the bots descending the slope. Bits of fire escape his mouth and embers crackle, floating from the glowing red scars across the hellhound's pelt. Astrid quickly takes to petting the horned hound and shushes him. 

"It's alright, boy," she says. "It's fine, yer fine. Still..." The big bulky butt bot sure is impatient, isn't he? When Blue Raspberry puts their hand on her shoulder, she nearly startles, but she looks up at the ooze knight with a smile as they finish their speech. The words aren't quite right, but the intent is there, and that's all that matters. "Yer right! We'll kick Buffalo's big bot butt and prove we're way better and totally worth Miss Veliky's faith!" Before she's ready, the ooze rushes off towards the cave, trips, and tumbles down the path. She slaps her forehead. "Ah, Bl- Wolfe! Ya big dummy, I just buffed alla that armor fer ya!" Her insult is absolutely playful, and luckily she knows the ooze won't be hurt by the fall. This is a great start to the adventure. 

Charles, who took many steps back when Buffalo raised its hammer, approaches and speaks. "Mistress Astrid, report: If we are to "defeat" Mistress Veliky's Beta Squad in a search for artifacts and information, we should proceed with more caution than that exhibited by Conscript Blue R-"

"By Conscript Wolfe!" Astrid corrects quickly, "accidentally" banging her fit on Charles' front chest plate. The bot stumbles back slightly.

"Conscript Wolfe. Understood. Making alterations to salutation for the traveling knight." There is a whirring within Charles' head, and his red eyes flash. "Alterations complete. They shall henceforth be hailed as Conscript Wolfe."

"Fantastic, let's get after 'em before they make more of a mess of their armor," she says, patting Spicy Pawsage's side and carefully making her way to the entrance of the cave to help Wolfe up to their feet. "Wolfe, ya gotta be more careful. Stuff's probably gonna be fallin' apart all in this city. We've gotta step lightly and take it slow best we can. Don't wanna ding up yer armor too bad." She knocks on the knight's breastplate then adjusts their pauldrons before peering into the darkness. 

The Blixtbots™ of Alpha Team follow behind Astrid. There is a scare when the Pawn unit nearly meets Wolfe's fate, mostly due to its apparently indissuadable proclivity to jog, but they arrive at the bottom of the pit, unscathed.

A bot called Knight; carrying a kite shield and, oddly, a whip; approaches and stares at Charles. Its cyclopic eye sets it apart from most other bots and lends it additional menace. It's a Type-III Infantry ,odel, far more advanced than Type-I models like Charles.

"Officress Astrid, recommendation: the ability to distinguish between individuals is essential to a Blixtbot's™ processing. A malfunction in this perception could result in misdesignation, leading to insubordination or wrongful subordination. If Charles-01 is experiencing these malfunctions, it should be pinged for immediate repairs."

Were Knight an actual person, one might expect such a weighty statement to be followed with insistence or frustration. Instead, having finished its comment, the Knight just turns and walks to the mouth of the cave. The Moonlight lantern-entity, too, approaches the aperture, its blue glow pushing the darkness back.

The rest of the units follow suit in a sibilant march below the earth.

---

The tunnel leads far too long. The blue glow of the Moonlight lantern on the sandstone is painful to the eyes; combined with the unending chorus of the bots' hissing limbs and the smothering aridity, it becomes a three-front assault on the senses.

But none of that is so prevalent as the pressure. This is it: the dynamic duo has a whole squad of golems at their disposal and everything to prove. Not to mention that some here have more than disappointment to fear from Veliky are her autonomous horde.

But the crushing atmosphere opens with the cave as the tunnel leads onto a subterranean cliff, overlooking an incredible sight.

A city: an entire, ruined city hidden just below the surface. It expands for what must be a mile; tiny for a city, but ginormous for one contained entirely in a cave. The buildings and their strange geometry are constructed out of some tarnished, red-brown stone. The streets are narrow, but surprisingly well-lit by lanterns that must've been left by the scouting party that came before (one, just beside the party on the cliff, bears the same insignia that Veliky always has on her hat: a cog above a feather and sword). The cavern's ceiling is high and dotted with massive stalactites. From the cliff where the party now stands, a set of ancient switchback stairs leads down to the cavern floor.

Peering distantly, one can see Buffalo's team of seven, gathered at an intersection at the city's outskirts. The hulking golem doesn't see them on the cliff, but it holds something in front of its steel visage.

"Officress Astrid, report." Buffalo's distinctive groan emanates from the head-shaped device^[1] on Astrid's person. "We have arrived at the city. Query: what is your position? Over."

---

1. Talking Heads

Blue Raspberry picked themself up off the ground and bent their limbs back to facing the proper directions, a bit embarrassed by their tumble. It was probably not the best way to follow up their declaration of being better than that big robot.

"Sorry. I'll try not to trip and fall down any more slopes. I just wanted to get down here quickly." they said, turning their helmet back around to face the right direction with both hands.

They looked at all the damage to their armor that their fall had caused and felt bad. They'd probably need to repair it later. The ooze had had this armor for so long, ever since they'd found it on that dead body in the sewers in Sol City. They felt oddly attached to it, like a hermit crab in their shell. It was like home, even wanting to get out of it every now and then. They didn't want to damage it anymore.

"Give me a sec." they said to all the robots and went inside the tower just next to the cave entrance, out of view of the bots. After a moment, they returned without the armor on, their form fully disguised as a humanoid wearing a dark blue, fur-lined vest over a white, sleeveless shirt, black pants, and leather boots. They had a broad, muscular build that looked like it was suited to the armor they'd been wearing. Honestly, they just copied the build of the deceased man that had been wearing the armor when they found it, who they'd promptly devoured.

"I don't want to damage the armor anymore, so I'll just not wear it! Smart, right? Let's go." they announced, giving Astrid a thumbs up and a smile.

Inside the gigantic underground cavern, overlooking the ancient city, they looked down at Buffalo's group in the distance. When Astrid pulled out the communication device with Buffalo's voice coming from it, they were surprised. Veliky had explained how the device worked, but they'd kind of forgotten about it. They took the device from Astrid's hand and held it in front of their own face.

"Winning!" they declared into the device before shoving it into their mouth.

Shaking her head at Blue Raspberry's insistence on not wearing their armor if only to keep it from being damage, there's a smile on her face. They're being considerate in the best way they know how. It's endearing even if silly. They head into the dark cavern and walk. And walk, and walk, and walk until finally they reach the cliff and the expansive city glows below them. This is certainly going to be a massive undertaking to find something, anything, and prove themselves better than the bots. The main problem is Astrid and Blue Raspberry are both naive and their knowledge of the world and how things works is limited. 

When Buffalo's voice groans through the communication device, Astrid picks it up and starts to ponder into it. "Um... we're up on a cli-" Suddenly the device leaves her hand, Blue Raspberry shouts into it, and then without hesitation, they eat it. Astrid looks at them with wide eyes. Her face screams, "What are you doin'?!" There is so much distress. Blue isn't supposed to eat things like that in front of people. Or bots. Astrid's hands flail about wildly, motioning for Blue to give it back to her. Regardless of if they want to show up the other group, they still need to keep communication with them as long as possible.