YM778.TV Chapter 1583 Raiden
Hunter was currently working her way around the left edge, as she was still expecting the hatch to be somewhere nearby though it was looking like the designers didn\'t agree with her.
A full hour later and Hunter was now getting concerned. She\'d cleared a massive amount of debris away between the wall and her current position. She was mostly just checking an area and then using that as a new spot for the piles but she was careful to check the floor around the pile thoroughly before moving on and there was nothing.
Hunter had now cleared everything on the left wall, and the back wall near the main elevator and still nothing. There was plenty of ground to cover but her progress was glacial.
Hunter was taking a break to have a drink and a snack as she contemplated her next move. *So I\'ve got a few choices. First, break through the elevator door. Second, break down from the ceiling. I still remember where the hatch should\'ve been and while I\'ll need to shift the debris I put over top of the area I can move that quickly.
Alternatively I could go back upstairs and get the others, force them to help me while explaining the reason I gave up was not being able to find a covert way in.
It… might not be too bad? I can probably sneak everyone in. Well everyone except Bower. If they jumped from above the hatch straight down things would be fine I\'m just not sure if Bower would be robust enough for it.
I suppose I could make an excuse like needing someone to watch the outside, which is somewhat true… but we really need him INSIDE as a representative of the people who actually still live here. Doubt he\'d want the job but he\'s probably going to be forced into it.
At the same time… I really want to at least lay eyes on the group before I let the rest come in and bungle things. Though I suppose I could just ask? Get them down here to help me out with the search and then ask them to wait for me to check things out with the people. Kamiko will agree because she\'s nice, Bower will agree because he doesn\'t care, and Meg will force me to do something annoying.*
Hunter glanced at all the rubble she still needed to search through… and that there might not be a maintenance hatch here at all. Perhaps it was covered up by accident or forgotten in the plans. *Is it REALLY more annoying to give Meg a few head pats or something? But if I start making those sorts of deals Meg will keep pushing.
Every single one will be more expensive then the last and I don\'t want to encourage her.*
Hunter looked at the trash once again. *But… right now it doesn\'t cost much and I can always take to avoiding her properly. Request back to back request and remain on the contract world when I need to rest so that if I get called up for taking endless requests I have an excuse ready to explain why my mental health is fine… though I think the clan has rules against it. Hmm… I\'ll figure something out.
Right now I do not want to spend another hour looking for something that might not be there. Stuff like this is why I normally do contracts in the wilderness. With a good sense of smell and the right type of hearing you can find anything.
But instead, I just have to hope there\'s something here. The hatch is likely airtight, or close enough to it to prevent searching for the air-flow… but because people are idiots I can\'t even be certain it exists at all.
If I wasn\'t concerned about potentially needing to negotiate for the release of the drake part I might be more willing to bust my way down there but even I know that\'s going to make them less likely to help us out.
If I just knew for a fact that there was something I could find here it wouldn\'t be bothering me. It\'s also partly that I know I have other options. I could call in my teammates and every moment I do not I feel as though I am introducing major inefficiencies into the group.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
There\'s also the fact that Kat and Lily will eventually start to get worried if we take too long and I could see them doing something stupid. Hmmm…
Yes I guess that settles it. I\'ll bring the other three up to speed and then we can decide how to move ahead as a group. This is getting too complicated and eating up too much time. We don\'t know if this is even the last bit of the drake that we need to target!
While the pieces are likely all within the immediate area for now, if we take too long the chance that some monster runs away with it or some shmuck picks a piece up thinking it could be worth good money. So the right call for the mission is go back upstairs.*
Hunter sighed and gathered herself before slithering over to the elevator and shooting upwards. When she got to the top Hunter pushed her stealth ability into full effect and dashed upwards. Looking around, she was surprised to see the treants had moved on at some point. They were off in the corner again.
Hunter didn\'t know if there was something there they were protecting and was holding their attention or if Meg had done something to make it easier for her to leave. Hunter knew enough about treants… and Meg to say it could be either.
Hunter kept her ability up as she made her way over to the hole nearest to where the group should be and climbed her way up through the nearby tree before jumping out and landing on the edge… only to see nobody. A quick taste of the air with her tongue revealed they hadn\'t gone far at all. They\'d just moved to the ground below.
Hunter glanced down and saw that Kamiko and Meg were napping while Bower whittled away at some wood. Based on the pile of arrows lacking heads off to his side she assumed he was replenishing is stock.
Hunter made her way down and released her stealth waiting for Bower to notice… and he did but it was only a slightly tilt of his head in her direction nothing more. Hunter wasn\'t sure what that meant in regards to the old man so she simply curled herself up and waited for him to finish the arrow.
Once Bower finished he asked, "So how did it go lass?"
"There are… complications. Two ones of note but one is significantly less of an issue then the other. I am unsure if I should share with you now, as your input may be more relevant, or to wait for the other two to wake up and have this discussion as a group," stated Hunter.
"Well… gimme the short version of the one you think I need to know," offered Bower.
"There\'s people still alive down there," answered Hunter with no tact.
Bower snapped the arrow he was working on and cursed under his breath as he brushed off the pieces. This had the side effect of waking up Meg who shot to her feat and pulled out some knitting needles from inside her clothes. Hunter noted that they weren\'t part of her demonic attire, or at least weren\'t being kept hidden that way. They were actually hidden in her clothes.
Kamiko remained asleep as Meg glanced around in annoyance until she spotted Hunter and her eyes lit up with a smile. "Hunter! You\'re back! I guess you got the drop on Bower huh?" said Meg.
Hunter glanced over at Bower who shook his head and said, "Fraid not. Well, she did get me a bit. Suddenly noticed her just sitting beside me somehow but that\'s not what had me cursing. Hunter mentioned one of the main complications she found in the base. People."
Meg shrugged, "Eh just kill them if they\'re guarding the drake piece. This is a lot bigger then just one group of strays. Even if they\'ve got old knowledge or whatever the world\'s probably better off not knowing that sort of stuff just yet. Causes all sorts of problems when civilisations don\'t develop slowly and shoot right up the tech tree,"
"I do not know if they\'re guarding the drake part I am afraid. There are a few places it could possibly be and one of them is in the hidden basement where the survivors are currently living. I was not able to sneak down there because I failed to find the maintenance hatch required to avoid the elevator,"
"Hmmm… I still think you might be overcomplicating things but tell me more," requested Meg.