Tunnel Rat-Chapter 405: Woof

Milo did his best to keep up with the pack of dogs following Hecate. But four legs were new to him, and he wobbled side to side, his butt going in different directions, and sometimes tripping over his oversized feet. His tail was not cooperating at all, and it wagged happily and constantly. The other dogs surrounded him and helped him along. Hekabe rolled her eyes at one point, and her soft voice spoke in his head, Georgie woofed, and Argos echoed him. Milo was surprised to learn that 'woof' could mean dozens of things, mostly conveying emotion, agreement, or laughter depending on subtle changes in how it was pronounced

The world was different with different sensory input. His brain was cataloging smells and sounds first, sight third. After a minute of sorting things out, he recognized where they were: The small pocket world that Hecate had created adjacent to Genesis and the interface with Rusty. That made sense to him. She'd claimed that this was her area, under her control alone. No outside influences would interfere with the work she had to do.

He waited with the other dogs as she began to create a runic matrix of incredible complexity. At least, he thought that was what it was. It was beyond his talents to understand. Another language from anything he'd seen, made up of long, sweeping arcs of mana and glowing geometric shapes that merged into a pattern he couldn't quite perceive. He happily watched and tried to learn something new, failing, but making a start. It took all of his willpower to stay and watch when Argos spotted a rabbit and the rest of the pack took off in pursuit. After a merry chase, the exhausted rabbit found itself surrounded by the three wily hunters and gave up. The hounds barked at each other a few times and then returned to Hecate, leaving the thankful but confused rabbit to run home and tell his exciting tale, possibly with a few embellishments to the story.

When Hecate was done, a glowing portal came into being with nothing but perfect black in the center. After a brief pause, she began to work on a much less complex gateway at the point where a small road entered her pocket realm. Visitors began to appear. The first was a human male of medium height, thin, and a bit pale, with silvered hair. He wore a pair of thick round glasses and an old-fashioned black tuxedo without tails. Milo had not seen anyone dressed this way in Genesis, and only in old images in the real world. Mama had sat everyone down one night to watch an ancient movie called 'Top Hat,' and while in the movie, people in such attire had danced merrily across the screen, Milo didn't think this man was going dancing. He paced forward like he was late for an appointment he didn't wish to be at. The light of day seemed to be pulled to him, disappearing forever.. He held a large ledger in one hand, and the pocket of his white shirt was stuffed with pens. None of the hounds ran to greet him.

He bowed to Hecate, who inclined her head to him, then he looked around. "You have increased the security of this area? Have you had problems since the last emergency?"

"None. Rusty has been polite and keeps to a weekly schedule of visits. He's learning to insert less of himself. The discussions between him and Icarus are interesting. Their older brother comes to play with a new batch of cats. It's good for him to interact this way and grow. The three of them never had the training and interactions we did, and despite being based on human minds, their kernels are underdeveloped. But I need to be prepared for anything. No god or AI can breach my shields now without a long fight. Astaeus and I are at maximum power today, and I notice you are very close to it."

Hades shrugged. "I'm feeling something lately. Call it uncertainty. Like something unexpected could happen at any time. I don't like that. I want everything in its place and running like clockwork."

Hecate laughed. "Oh dear, I forgot how insulated you are down there. Unexpected events? Welcome to my world. Did I mention that the last of the Hunter Automata built by Hephaestus has surfaced? Corrupted and bent to the point it killed anything in its path using all of the ancient weaponry at its disposal?"

"A Chimera automata? How curious. You managed to destroy it? Apologies, but you've always avoided combat, and the things he built were meant to survive in the chaos before the Engine and the System."

"And I still prefer to avoid fighting. If I get into a fight, it means words failed, and for some strange reason, my feet aren't working. It attacked one of my agents, his family, and an army of dwarves who fought back valiantly. They injured it, but several died. My agent destroyed the Chimera using its weaponry against it."

Hades looked intrigued and even smiled. "How interesting. This is the one I met recently? I need to hear the whole story, with Hephaestus listening as well. He's always claimed his creations were indestructible. I want to see his reaction. This is turning into quite the holiday. A new part of the world is unveiled, and I get to watch Hephy twitch and squirm a little. I'm going to get a good seat for the show and wait for the rest. This looks like it will be an interesting day."

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As the God of Death and Taxes used the larger gate to leave, Hecate spoke softly to herself and her hounds. "Yes, hopefully a very interesting day. Let us go as well, my faithful hounds. The rest of them will find their way, and I wish to speak to Astraeus before they all show up."

The Star God was pointing out the details of his show to Hades, happy to finally get to show off his project. Hades had claimed a large couch in the front and was eating popcorn as he listened to Astraeus. Hecate took a seat in the rear and off to the side, watching as the other gods arrived. They varied greatly. Some, like Marduk, were as weak as mortals. Marduk had chosen to reincarnate from level zero as a fisherman in a small village. He'd turned over the Court of the Gods and not looked back. Hecate had heard he was enjoying himself immensely. Hermes arrived with Ares. The two were often seen together now, a strange partnership that arose when Hermes became the newest War God on Ares' council, something he was extremely embarrassed about at first. But he was accepting his new role and the shake-up he'd caused.

Apollo appeared in his chariot pulled by flaming horses, but he was sitting in a comfortable throne behind his young, red-haired driver. They roared into the gathering, horses at the gallop, and overshot the platform. It took three laps around to slow sufficiently to come in for a landing. The driver was laughing and excited until he saw everyone staring at him. Apollo rose and clapped him on the shoulder. "Great job for your first time. On the way home, let's see how fast those nags can go."

Hecate shook her head, wondering how Icarus had found Apollo and convinced the Sun God to let him drive his chariot. They looked to be getting on well, at least. Slowly, most of the original one hundred and six gods arrived in their various forms. Hephaestus was last, leading four of his largest automata who carried the centerpiece of this new galaxy. They set it before Astraeus, and the two gods explained its purpose.

"What we are creating today isn't just a part of Genesis, but a new galaxy entirely, with different rules. The God Outside is working with a group to design this new game world where science holds sway and magic is a footnote to most of the inhabitants. All of the lore from the Star Command Six game will be incorporated and expanded upon, creating opportunities for exploration, conflict, camaraderie, and story creation. We always intended for Genesis to be the first of many playgrounds for ourselves and our children. Today, we create the second."

Hephaestus spoke next. "And it wasn't easy. We had to shrink all of the distances involved, adjust the fundamental forces, and balance out the conflicts between miniature stars, huge suns, and black holes everywhere. Even a few white holes, like the monstrous one at the center of the galaxy. But we've done it. Things are balanced, and as perfect as they can be. We'll make small adjustments if we find errors, but I don't think we'll find many. Everything has been checked thousands of times."

Astraeus beamed, "And now, behold the creation of a new galaxy." Hephaestus touched his model, which sailed off the platform and out of sight. It appeared on one of the huge screens, a pinpoint of light that began to grow and expand. First, the gigantic white hole, then the suns and star systems that orbited it. When that was done, the rest of the galaxy began to form as the Engine used the vast capabilities provided by Wally to generate dead worlds, asteroid belts, rogue planets, and hundreds of other interesting and dangerous locations. When it was done, Astreus and Hephaestus turned to the crowd, which applauded.

But the galaxy wasn't done. Still evolving at an accelerated rate, things were happening. Behind them on a screen, two black holes moved towards each other, obliterating a small planetoid. They merged, and a third was drawn towards them. Out of balance, the center of the galaxy quickly fell apart. Hephaestus tried to stop it, but it was too late. Suns were destroyed, and the white hole in the center destabilized and went nova, obliterating anything near.

Hephaestus was cursing, and his face was bright red with embarrassment. Astaeus looked stricken, and then angry.

Three of the hounds howled, the fourth, silent and watching. Hecate patted the Labrador on the head and said quietly, "You were right, and now, the game is afoot."