19 Chapter 18: Onwards to the Robot's Lair

Narrator's Pov

The group was standing in front of the Goethe Grand Hotel, Oleg rubbed his chin in thought for a few seconds before finally speaking to the others.

"Regarding this Stellaron and your situation in the Overworld...all I can say is that I can sympathize with your situation, Wildfire won't go behind your back on this."

"Well, good to know we won't be seen as criminals down here..." March smiled with a small sigh.

"I'd totally beat all of your asses." Seele smiled confidently.

"Nah, I'd win." Stelle grinned a bit towards Seele.

Oleg quickly cleared his throat. "Anyways...Svarog is the target of both our efforts, you want to know the whereabouts of the Stellaron, and wildfire wants to get rid of the restrictions of the Underworld...if we can't deal with the Boss, we can't deal with anything."

"We really need to take him down." Stelle crossed her arms over her chest.

"Diplomacy before violence, Ryan already persuaded him once, you think you can do it again?" Dan Heng asked towards the other boy.

"I'm not sure, if the situation really is as important as I think, then I don't think I'll be able to persuade him." He frowned a bit but then sighed. "But I can try"

"If persuading him won't work, we can always beat him up." Seele spoke while looking at the others.

"It won't be easy to talk to him, Wildfire has tried it many times without success...and using force won't be better, Svarog's robots don't fear sacrifice, and I won't risk Underworld lives." Oleg made a small pause before speaking again. "But perhaps you can help, your presence constitutes as an 'External Variable' for Svarog"

"You're saying that our presence here might make his calaculations change and therefore work with us?" Ryan asked rising and eyebrow.

"Calculations." March corrected.

"Yeah, that"

"That's right...what do you think, Miss Silvermane?" Oleg asked this time looking towards Bronya. "Will you stand with us?"

"...the Underworld is still part of Belobog, if Svarog is a threat to the people down here, I will stand alongside you to stop him." She replied and Oleg smiled lightly.

"Good good, a perfect response" he chuckled a bit. "Seeing that we're all in the same side, there's no reason to delay this anymore, let's go, I've already arranged for a guide to take you to Svarog."

"What will Wildfire be doing? From what I've heard, your relationship with Svarog is not the best." Stelle raised and eyebrow and Oleg nodded his head.

"Yes, our relationship is not the best, going with you might lead to misunderstandings... we'll be nearby, awaiting orders, if things go wrong, we'll aid all of you" he explained and then looked towards Seele. "Seele, would you be kind enough to take our outsiders friends to the guide? I have to prepare things here."

"On it, Boss" she nodded her head and looked at the others. "Let's go, follow me"

Seele quickly started to walk and the others started to follow her.

"I hope I can convince Svarog...last time I was very lucky that he didn't seem to be that interested in the situation...it looked like it was Clara's idea" he frowned a bit. "Clara...Svarog cares about her, maybe she could help us? She seems...logical, she acted very mature in the Great Mine, we'll probably have to convince her first, having her on our side might help us convince Svarog easier..."

"Ryan...will you tell her?" Dan Heng asked at his side in a low tone of voice. "About Cocolia, I mean..."

"I..." He looked towards Bronya and frowned a bit. "I'm...not sure, I want to tell her, but if she reacts recklessly then we'll have trouble, for now let's stick to the plan..."

"Okay"

They walked for a while before reaching the exit of Boulder City, where they saw a small blonde girl apparently waiting for someone, Seele looked at the child a bit confused and approached.

"Uh? Hook? You..."

Seele looked slightly down at the small blonde child who stammered a bit before quickly straightening herself and rising her chest with pride and confidence.

"Y-yes! It's me! Pitch-dark Hook the Great! What do you want?" Hook smiled confidently towards the group.

"So 'The Moles' are part of Wildfire?" March asked a bit nervous.

"The Moles?" Ryan raised and eyebrow.

"It's a group of children, don't overthink it." Stelle laughed a bit.

"G-group of children?! Let me tell you that I, Pitch-dark Hook the Great, have the power to destroy entire cities!" The little girl looked a bit annoyed to the Racoon girl.

"Wait...really?" Ryan looked down at Hook.

"No, she doesn't, don't let her confidence fool you" Seele quickly replied.

"I think there's been a misunderstanding..."

The group looked to the side, seeing a nervous Sampo approaching, the trailblazers collectively groaned lightly while the others simply deadpanned at Sampo.

"I will be your guide, my friends...order of Chief Oleg." Sampo spoke with a nervous smile. "I gotta admit I'm hurt you chose a toddler before your good friend Sampo"

"Hey, Pitch-dark Hook the Great" Ryan kneeled a bit down looking at Hook. "Would you like to be our guide instead of Sampo?"

"Really?!" The little girl looked excited.

"Ryan, no" Seele crossed her arms above her chest. "Hook, go back home."

"Owwww...fine" she kicked a small rock a bit sad but then walked away.

"Anyways, why do we need you as our guide? Everyone in Wildfire knows the location of Svarog's lair" Seele looked at Sampo with a small frown.

"For my field specialities of course! Wildfire might know where the lair is but have they ever been inside?"

"Have you ever been inside?" Dan Heng asked rising an eyebrow.

"...No"

"So you've never been inside of anything, not even a woman" Stelle spoke drily

Sanpo seemed to be struck by an arrow to the chest at her words. "T-that was uncalled for...but I've felt my way around the outside of the lair and picked up more than a few clues, I can help you, You have my word" he cleared his throat slightly.

"Better than nothing I suppose..." March let out a loud sigh.

"Better than nothing? Oh missy, I'll show you that I Sampo Koski-"

"Ugh! Please shut it and show us the way..." Seele rubbed her forehead.

"Okay~ please follow me and stay close" with a little grin he started to walk.

...

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Stelle's voice repeated those words again and again.

"OH MY GOD!!! can you shut up?!!" Sampo screamed at Stelle who silently recoiled behind Ryan.

"Brother! That mean man is being rude to your little sister~" she drove a hand to her forehead dramatically.

"I thought I was the younger sibling?" He looked slightly back to Stelle.

"Just follow the flow..."

"How dare you talk to my sister like that?!"

"Stelle is going to turn him into the worst Aeon possible..." March groaned a bit rubbing her forehead.

"I have to admit, seeing Sampo loosing his temper is very amusing." Seele smiled a bit.

"Gah! Anyways! We're here!"

Sampo tried to calm himself giving a few pats to his face while the others looked around the area.

There were many tents and houses made of scrap metal and others materials, a lot of people walked around, speaking, there was also...someone rapping?

"So many Vagrants... isn't it dangerous for them to be this close to Svarog's lair?" Bronya asked but Seele Shook her head.

"Svarog doesn't attack without reasons, those who don't have a home come here, I'd dare to say they are safer here...if I hadn't moved from where I was, I would've probably ended up here" Seele let out a short sigh before looking at the Sampo. "Anyways, lead the way, Sampo."

"Yes yes, as long as those two stay quiet" he looked towards Ryan and Stelle who simply smiled.

"We'll try" Stelle spoke and Sampo simply sighed calming himself a bit.

"Let's go" he said before slowly walking away.

Shortly they reached a bit metal gate, a small robot was standing in front of it, March approached examinating the gate before nodding with her head.

"Okay, look this..." She cleared her throat and then extended her arms upwards. "Open sesame~!"

...

"Nothing happened March..." Ryan looked at the girl with some pity.

"Was that a secret code?" Bronya asked looking towards Dan Heng who replied to her.

"It's an imaginary password used by children...it won't be of use right now"

"What about those clues of yours?" Stelle asked looking at Sampo who cleared his throat.

"Yeah yeah, I was about to speak about that before miss March's colorful attempt! in summary, in order to enter we need Certification"

"Certification?" Seele asked raising an eyebrow.

"Correct, only Svarog's Scavengers with the right certification can get in or out, they collect mechanical remnants from all over the underground, and then bring them to Svarog for him to repair" he explained and Seele quickly spoke.

"Where do we get this Certification?"

"Well, do you see the robots by the Vagrants? The ones who looks like stoplights? They can process those who want to become Svarog's Scavengers, they test them and then give them the certification" Sample explained and the others nodded.

"What's the test? Is it a spelling test, combat test or is it a gachapon?" Stelle asked a bit curiously but Sampo shrugged.

"I don't know, never really tried to go on a suicide mission against Svarog, why don't you ask the robots?"

"It looks like people here is under the robot's supervision... something like this in the Overworld would be unthinkable... robots are merely tools..." Bronya looked a bit confused but also amazed at the people and robots basically coexisting.

"Don't be fooled by robots, including Svarog...he's special." Seele crossed her arms above her chest.

"This robot is one of the ones we need right?" Stelle asked kneeling slightly down looking at one of the robots that looked like a stoplight.

"Is it...turned off?" March asked looking down at the robot apparently turned off.

"Protocol initiating." It spoke out of nowhere making the others jump slightly. "Scanning... Verifying... Certification failure, subject has to obtain verification... Launching processing."

"W-wait we'll start right now?!" March asked a bit nervously.

"Listen to this question." The robot did a small pause before speaking again. "Who's the reigning champion of the Infernal Combustion Engine Rap Tournament?"

"U-uh?! How are we supposed to know that?!" Seele asked with a frown. "We'll have to ask arou-"

"88 Degree Bedrock." Ryan replied quickly.

"R-Ryan! Don't answer that quic-" Seele grabbed Ryan's shoulder.

"Correct answer!"

"W-was that a lucky guess?" March looked at Ryan a bit weirded out. "Did you go to a concert without us?"

"Pocky told me a lot of stuff from the underground while he was taking me to see Svarog at the Great Mine, he said it was common knowledge" he explained with a little smile.

"I can assure you that it's not" Seele looked for some reason offended.

"Certification Result: Success" the robot made a small pause. "Requisite Certifications Remaining: Two...Please extend your right hand"

"The right hand?" March kneeled down and extended her hand. "Why is this part of the-" the robot did a quick movement slamming a seal on March's hand. "Ow ow!"

"Is that the certification mark?" Dan Heng asked looking at March's hand.

"Great! Only two more remaining, let's go~" Sampo smiled and started to walk away.

Rhe group walked a bit away from the gate, eventually getting to another robot similar to the other one, Stelle gave it a few pokes with her bat making the robot...sigh with annoyance.

"Ugh! I'm sick of repeating this" the robot spoke making the others look confused.

"This one...looks like it has a temper" March cringed a bit lookikg down at the robot.

"Let's get this over with, did you get your first certification? If not, you're an idiot for coming here"

"Yes, here" March approached her hand showing the certification.

"Yeah whatever, riddle me this..." The robot made a small pause before speaking again. "A microcrystalline unit should be connected to which component?"

"...Ryan?" Stelle looked at the mentioned.

"Hum..." He started to rub his chin. "A microcrystalline unit should be connected to a Logic Control Hub"

"Ugh! Lucky guess" the robot seemed even more irritated now. "I'm done! Put your hand out!" He basically ordered and Stelle extended her hand. "Not you stupid! The other girl."

"Ugh! Can't you be less rude?" March groaned and extended her hand letting the robot slam the seal on her hand. "Ow!"

"There, done, now scram!"

...

"...Stelle" Dan Heng deadpanned towards the girl.

"On it."

The racoon girl lifted up the robot with her hands with some effort, then quickly turned it around and then let it go, leaving the robot laying on the top of his head.

"Ah! Ah! Help! This is assault! Okay I'm sorry, please help me!" The robot basically begged but the group simply turned around.

"Let's leave" Seele spoke drily.

"Agree" Bronya backed up.

The group left, leaving the crying and pathetic robot squirming to get back on its feet.

They stopped when they got to another processing robot though this one seemed to be turned off.

"Is there something wrong with this one?" Seele asked looking down at the robot.

"Beep...Bo-Boop...Protocol inish...i-i-inishhh" the robot suddenly turned on, apparently malfunctioning.

"That's not encouraging..." Bronya tensed up.

"Initialization failure. Attempting system restorashhhh..." The lights on the robot turned off for a few seconds before turning on again. "System restoration failure, core module damaged, external threat detected, threat elimination activated, Initializing combat module."

"Nice! We won't have to fry our brains for this one." Seele smirked grabbing hold of her scythe.

The robot made a quick move, launching itself towards the group that quickly dodged it...the robot slammed against a wall, turning off immediately...

"...that's it?!" Seele looked to be feeling a mixture of anger and disappointment.

"I'll try to reset it." Dan Heng spoke and went to the turned off robot starting to check on it. "And...there."

The robot repositioned itself, looking again towards the group. "Certification system online, Please extend your right hand."

"Ugh, me again?" March approached her hand to the robot that quickly marked her yet again. "Ahhh! Wait! Why did this one hurt more than the others?!"

"No matter...let's go back to the gate, this should've been the last certificate." Ryan sighed lightly.

The other started to walk away, but March looked at the robot a bit angry before giving it a small kick and then proceeding with following her friends.

"Well~ it should be able to be open now." Sampo smiled a bit.

"Let's see..." March approached the gate and extended her hand towards a small panel by the gate. "Open sesame!"

The gates almost immediately opened, March smiled with pride puffing her chest and putting her hands on her waist.

"Uhum Uhum! I knew it would work!" She spoke with pride.

Sampo smiled and looked at the group. "It's open! See? It's good to have the good ol' Sampo on the tea-"

"Yeah yeah whatever, I'll speak good about you to the boss, we can't lose time, let's go." Seele quickly cutted Sampo off and started to walk.

"Seele is right, don't waste time Sampo" Stelle shook her head a bit and followed the girl.

"There's a time and place for everything Sampo, but not now" Ryan mimicked his Racoon sister.

"How come miss March can say something?" Sampo looked a bit irritated even if he tried to keep a straight face.

The group went across the gate, unknowingly to them, Sampo had already disappeared without a trace, they eventually reached....another gate.

"Why is there another gate? We just opened one" Stelle sighed deeply.

"This one seems...more complicated than the other" Bronya observed and March approached the gate.

"There's another robot here..." The girl slowly extended her hand towards it. "I have the certification! Can we go in and see Svarog?"

"Processing... Certification Failure, subject has yet to obtain access certification." The robot spoke.

"Another certification, Sampo, do you know somet-" Seele looked towards Sampo...but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Ugh! Where did he go?! He was here a second ago" March grunted a bit angry looking around.

"It's not the first time he runs off..." Dan Heng sighed lightly.

"Next time I see him, I'm stabbing him" Ryan promised and Stelle patted his shoulder.

"I'll help, Brother."

"Anyways...hey! How do we get the Certification missing?" Seele asked to the robot.

"Visitors must acquire access certification from Miss Clara" the robot replied

"Clara? That was the girl from the Great Mine, right?" Bronya asked towards the others.

"What does she have to do with this?" March asked a bit curious.

"Clara is Svarog's Family...she's important." Ryan crossed his arms over his chest.

Dan Heng looked slightly down towards the robot. "...do you know where Clara is?"

"Obtaining audio data...please wait" The robot seemed to lit up a bit brighter before replying...using Clara's voice. "The energy core's bearing component is broken...if we don't repair it soon, the settlement will be pitch-black, Timmy, I'm going back to Rivet Town, maybe I can recover some usable components, you need to guard the gate while I'm gone"

"Rivet town? We were there some time ago..." Seele let out a small sigh.

"Looks like we'll have to go back" Stelle spoke.

"Wait, you went sightseeing without us?" March asked a bit offended.

"It wasn't as fun as you think..." Seele talked back to the other girl.

"No matter, we have to find her, we should go." Dan Heng spoke and the other agreed.

"You're right...let's go to Rivet Town."

★ ★ ★

A/N: And that's today's chapter! I think I'm starting to write more often again, I'm still thinking about making the chapters a bit longer, so I don't end up unnecessarily making too many chapters.

But anyways! Hope you enjoyed.