#(mi011)

[shale-underworks]

"That's it. I'm taking a fucking break."

Shale plops herself down on a relatively dry rock with a huff. She and the robots have been travelling through Bilewater for a handful of hours, and she can already firmly say she hates it here. She's covered with bites from the tiny flies buzzing about, blistering bile from the awful exploding green sacs that seem to be everywhere (including as part of bugs' bodies), cuts and scrapes from thorns and missed jumps and squits, and, of course, muckmaggot water. Ugh.

She takes her magnetite dice out of her pocket. "Some help you are."

Rain and Mio settle down next to her. They've only suffered a few scratches and dents, which she's a bit jealous of, but also, they don't heal like organic bugs do. She hopes they continue not getting hurt too badly.

She's almost ready to get going again when something whizzes past her head and thuds into the ground next to her. She and the robots jump up, and Rain hovers in front of her and makes a mechanical hissing sound at the figure diving into a nearby pool of muckmaggots.

"What was that for?!" Shale yells after them. Then Mio grabs her and pulls her out of the way as whatever the bug threw at her explodes in a shower of bile (damn, she really needs to pay more attention).

She uneasily looks around, but all she can see is swamp. "Break time over, guys. Let's keep moving."

[shale-underworks]

Shale has been asleep for 3.42 hours when Rain takes itself out of sleep mode and exits the room.

Mio flies after Rain and queries it in the binary code used by Citadel automatons. Rain sends back its own series of clicks, too rapid for a living bug to process.

Rain explores the tall room next to the bellway station with Mio in tow. There's something hanging from the ceiling that seems to be a lift, but it's not functional anymore (Rain lands on it to make sure).

Mio notes that some sections of wall have been replaced by spiky green plants that could pose a safety hazard to Shale (slightly less to the automatons). It also notices some bulbous green fauna that may or may not be hostile. It approaches a few of them to check. The ones climbing on the walls ignore it, but when it draws near a round bug with wings, it darts at Mio proboscis first.

Mio narrowly dodges the attack. It slashes at the pest's poppable-looking belly. The bug wriggles as its body bulges and glows, giving Mio just enough warning to get out of the way before it bursts into a spray of corrosive bile.

Rain gives Mio an amused chirp. Mio gives it an unamused chirp and flies back down to the bellway.

Rain messes with the lift for a few minutes, but in the end, it returns to wait for Shale to wake up before exploring further.

[shale-underworks]

Shale stares out the Exhaust Organ's front entrance. Whatever's ahead is completely obscured by smog. "I know my vision sucks without my glasses, but this is... hm."

Mio lightly bumps her shoulder. "Thanks, Mio. ...Stick close to me, okay, you two?"

Shale steps forwards. After a second, the smog disappears, leaving her... somewhere. The air is oppressively thick and humid, and the swampy smell is deeply unpleasant even with her antennae covered by her hat. She looks over her shoulder to make sure Rain and Mio are still here; they are.

Rain flies forward, hovering over a gap in the stone bridge ahead. The bridge spans a length of murky water crowded with... are those muckmaggots? Silk damn it. She didn't think too hard about where she'd end up after getting out of the Underworks, but this place does not look ideal.

Shale sighs. "Any idea where we are?"

Rain and Mio both bob from side to side; they don't know. She didn't expect them to. "I would say Sinner's Road from the muckmaggots, but this doesn't look like Sinner's Road. Not that I've ever been, but, I don't know. The vibes aren't right?"

She walks along the bridge, carefully hopping over missing sections. Back home, when she was running her last campaign, she bought a big map of Pharloom to consult. She tries to bring it to mind now. "We've still got to be close to the Underworks. And not Sinner's Road, but probably somewhere nearby. What's to the east of the Citadel again...?"

A place comes to mind: Bilewater. Back home, in the last campaign she GMd, she briefly considered setting an adventure there. But she couldn't find much information on the swamp, and she didn't want Marin and Perrie complaining about inaccuracy again, so she decided against it.

Swatting away a cloud of buzzing flies, she informs the robots of the group's location. "I have no idea where to go. I guess we'll just have to figure it out? ...Ugh."

There's a room ahead with a couple of toll machines that presumably give access to a bench and the closed bellway next to it. Things would be so much easier if she could just take the bellway home, but she doesn't have anywhere near enough rosaries for even just the bench.

She sits on the ground. After a moment, she lies on her side, using her backpack as a pillow. "I haven't slept in a while, and there's no one to tell me not to anymore, so I'm gonna take a nap. We can explore this place later. You two don't need to sleep, do you? Will you get bored?"

Rain and Mio bob from side to side.

"Then goodnight," Shale says. She closes her eyes and rests.

[shale-underworks]

"According to the map, we have to go this way... Past all these spike pits... Okay. I have an idea. Would you guys mind carrying me?"

Slowly, Rain and Mio transport Shale and the silk spools through the room. It's a bit nerve-wracking, hanging over a bunch of sharp spikes that will kill her if she falls into them, but the flying part is kind of fun.

As Mio lowers Shale gently onto a rocky platform, she hears the sound of claws scraping above her. Mio yoinks her out of the way just as a diving pharlid pounces on the space where she just was.

"Gah!" From what Shale knows, pharlids don't go out of their way to attack people, but they're not opposed to it if they get the opportunity. Especially if they're haunted.

Mio drops her off at the next bit of floor instead. From then on, it carefully checks each platform for pharlids, and if it finds any, Rain scares them off by threateningly slashing its claws around.

"...Alright, let's take a break," Shale says halfway through. Rain and Mio settle down next to her on a platform. "You've been really helpful, by the way, thank you."

She... needs to talk to them before they get to the Exhaust Organ. She's not entirely sure they'll understand—no, she's pretty sure they will. She's just never asked them something like this before.

"As you might have guessed, I'm... not going back to the Underworks after this." She's vented to the cogwork underflies plenty about how this place sucks, and a bit about how she's wanted to leave since she got here, so it's probably not too much of a surprise. "I'm going home. I don't know how to get back, exactly, but I'll figure it out."

Rain and Mio lean closer.

"Do you two... want to come with me?" It's not really fair to the other underflies in the Cauldron—she likes all of them, but she didn't really think about this until now, and Rain and Mio just are the ones who ended up coming with her—but it's better to help two of them than none. "It'll probably be dangerous, and I won't be able to fix you if you get damaged, at least not until we get to Bellhart. But it'll be better than the Underworks..."

Rain and Mio don't move for several minutes. Shale waits patiently. Then Rain bobs decisively up and down. After a few seconds, Mio slowly does too.

"...Thank you." She hugs them both; Rain purrs and Mio chirps happily. Then she stands up. "Now, let's get going."

[shale-underworks]

Being unable to transport the entire delivery by herself, Shale has enlisted Rain and Mio to help. They each carry a large silk spool, just heavy enough that they have to beat their wings a bit quicker to stay afloat.

"Are you sure you guys don't need help with that?" Shale asks. Rain bobs up and down, which means yes, it's sure. To prove the point, it zips across the room; Mio hesitates, then chases after it.

Shale snorts and turns her attention to the bug that management has decided to send with her; for better or worse, it's Harmony. Kind and helpful, but also very loyal to the idea of the Citadel.

"Hey, Harmony. Could you do me a favor?" she asks as they navigate the spool they're carrying together around a spike pit.

"Of course! What is it?"

"I know it's protocol for you to come with me, but... I'd really rather be alone right now. Can you let me do this by myself?" Hopefully they don't question the backpack Shale has brought with her.

"...Oh! I can, but... are you sure that's a good idea? I heard the area you have to go through is pretty dangerous... Lots of spike pits and stuff!"

She gestures at Rain and Mio with one hand. "I've got those two, I'll be fine. Having another bug along might just make things harder. I can... probably carry this spool by myself."

"Alright, then." Harmony lowers their end of the silk spool to the ground. "I'll leave you be. But don't forget, if you need someone to talk to, you can always come to me!"

"...Okay." Shale considers telling them she's enjoyed working with them, but that would be suspicious. She settles for "Thank you, Harmony."

With the robots flying next to her, she drags her spool to the entrance to the next room. The bug keeping watch checks her pass with unfocused eyes and doesn't point out that she shouldn't be running a delivery by herself. They probably haven't slept in a long time.

Shale takes a deep breath. Still more to go...