UGH! WHAT NOW?! he could barely stomach it.

  "Fae Construct Detected: the 'Space-Filler' the Void fae-construct. It latches onto dislodged surfaces and uses them as its body. It enjoys slamming into its victim to unsteady them and make them to become easy prey for other fae-constructs in its party. By themselves, they are easily overcome. It is when they coalesce into groups, and take on a specific role, when Space-Fillers become dangerous," the headset intoned.

  He found where the fae resided. Near the very back, in a corner. It was a large, unappealing lump of misshapen objects. A glimmering goo which looked like it kept the objects bound despite gravity's insistence coated the amalgamation. "This must be it," he said.

  "Looks like it," Jie said. "MAC. This thing looks pretty pathetic... what can we do to end it?"

  "Space-Filler fae-constructs are weak to earth-oriented magic. Powerful physical feats with blunt and spiked weaponry also will quickly break down Space-Filler fae-constructs," MAC said, informationally, but boringly.

  "Cool. Sounds like you're up, Jie," he said to his brother.

  "Oh, you mean me and my big axe or my giant arms?" Jie asked back.

  "Either-or, really... though maybe don't use your mechanical arms? I remember all the chaos back during that airship battle, Jie, so I distinct impressions of how much damage those arms caused. We were freaking tearing through those automotrons. Frick, man, remember when you flung us down the hallway and through a fecking wall! Nuts! Let's not destroy our bunker. We do own it, after all," he argued.

  "You make a sage point, brother," Jie said, distractedly. "So... axe? No, I will use my battle hammer."

  "When did you even get those," he asked, but to no avail. Jiehong already had unsheathed his hammer and rushed toward the fae. He reared back and then, with a mighty swing, slammed his hammer into the bulky, slowly moving fae-construct.

  A breaking sound echoed throughout the vast chamber as the chairs, bedsheets, and assorted bits of metal and stone which formed the fae's body shattered. Pieces flew out from the impact site and coated the wall behind the fae. Nothing like pain came from the fae, which surprised him. Then again, why he expected an inanimate creature to feel pain he did not know. It was not alive; therefore, it could not feel pain. Simple processes, really.

  With another smash and a final third, Jiehong brought his hammer down once more and finished the creature off. Before them and spread out over the floor was its shattered body, broken down into infinitesimal pieces. "Hard to believe this was once walking around," he told Jie, observing the fae's many pieces.

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  "That it? Really?" Jie asked. To MAC, he asked, "Does it not have any other defenses we should know about? This Space-Filler?"

  "No. The entity you saw before you were it in its entirety. I must caution you again: be careful when engaging Space-Fillers in the future. Although they are easily destroyed, they are also tough to break down for all except the most physically formidable persons," MAC replied.

  Looking at he, Jie shrugged. "The fae's destroyed. Shall we move on?"

  They left the second barracks room and backtracked to room twenty.

  "'Give me your hand and trust I will make it all better!'" he musically said, letting whimsy flow through him.

  Jiehong laughed. "What was that?" he burst.

  "That song that merchant sang for the village kids. Way back when..." he said, unsure of the specifics of when he heard the song.

  "Zan, that song -- okay, first of all, those aren't the lyrics. 'Give me your glands and I will mend it all in my hands,' is how the actual lyrics went. Secondly, that merchant came to town, like, six years ago! You crazy nut. I can't believe you remember that" Jie said, nevertheless getting his point and placing his hand to the other locked door.

  Joining his brother's hand, he replied, "I remember these things. Music makes it easy... though I guess some of the minor details I didn't fully treat with the respect they deserved," as he channeled magic into the door.

  "Well, who can? After so many years, even my own parents' faces would fade. Not after six years. Just after so-and-so long. It is in our nature to forget."

  There wasn't anything he could say to that. They finished channeling and the door pulsed green and unlocked.

  "Onto room twenty-two... yay. I know MAC said he didn't know how many rooms were in this bunker, but how many do you think there is?" he asked his brother.

  "At least a hundred, is my guess," Jie replied.

  "A hundred? Really?! I think fifty," he said, checking the door for Poison Needle fae and entering.

  The next room they entered looked like a modest sized dining space. Tables adorned the whole space while at the far end was clearly oven-looking devices. "MAC? Is this the kitchen?" Zan asked.

  "Correct. According to my core data, this space is one of several dining spaces throughout this part of the bunker complex," MAC replied.

  "Good to know. I am starting to see the arrangement of this space as a bunker. Rooms for the soldiers, weapon racks, chow halls. And the machinery to sustain it all. A lot more lifestyle stuff here than I would expect. Meal halls are something I figured would have been deeper inside the complex? Maybe on the third or fourth floor?" he said, thinking out loud.

  "You think there are multiple floors?" Jie asked.

  "Of course. Don't you? You said you thought there was a hundred rooms, here."

  "I do think that, give or take. I don't think it extends deep underground, though. I think this one floor has the hundred-rooms," Jie said, clarifying.

  "Bold claim. That would make this one floor huge... I guess we won't know until we finish digging the place out," Zan said, letting his attention turn toward the next doorway and into whatever lay in room twenty-three.

  They walked through to find out. Which turned out to be nothing more than an empty, empty room of absolutely no point or value.

  Room twenty-four was a large space already way more interesting than room twenty-three because it came with a fae alert.