T + 0:18 mission time

  This reeks of a trap. This building is made from concrete. And consequently intact. Dalek #2 is floating around in it. I need to find a way to transmit images back without spending a lot of quintessence. Should I just install a video camera and WiFi?

  It reemerges.

  L: Did something just ignore your toy or is this hut empty?

  P: Then where the thing that entered go?

  L: You are a teleporter, aren’t you?

  P: But I do not enter a house to teleport.

  L: Could there be a teleportation device in it?

  P: Sure. But by that logic we would need to question whether the shed is real or an illusion device. Or, more mundane, there’s an armored wall inside the thing.

  I get Dalek #2 to take cover behind an almost totally collapsed house.

  L: You checked behind the shed?

  P: Yes

  L: Could somebody trick you into seeing a track of the wrong direction?

  P: Why? This is the best way to cause suspicion. If I saw just an outward track, I’d just assume that the older inbound track has faded. This tells me that this is a trap.

  L: You really have no drop of curiosity in your body?

  P: Curiosity killed the cat.

  L: You want to just move on.

  P: I want to. But I sense a mutiny coming.

  L: Mutiny? Who made you commander?

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  P: You agreed to avoid unnecessary risks. But anyway, I have another idea.

  L: We’ll need to talk about this.

  I use [Hyperkinetic Cannon]. The result makes me look like a man wearing half a tank on one shoulder.

  P: Be ready to attack without delay. If we are doing this, we will do it right.

  She hits the deck. I use [Cornucopia]. I store Dalek #2. Simply blowing away a building is nice, even if it is just a little shed.

  T+ 0:22 mission time

  We are running towards a smouldering ruin at a sprint.

  L: A ladder. A freaking ladder.

  P: Very well, let’s go dungeon delving.

  L: You want to?

  P: Whoever is down there is at least ratttled.

  T + 0:24 mission time

  We are about seven meters under ground in a straight corridor very dimly lit by little drops shimmering blue, oozing out of the walls. The boosts will soon run out. I go to hulk mode and conjure a long roll of tape, which I tie to the ladder.

  P: We’ll mark our path at regular intervals and at each branching nevertheless.

  L: They’ll soon put up a statue of the Greek God of Caution modelled after you, wearing belts, suspenders and a magical antigravity device for holding up pants.

  P: As the theme calls for a heavily armoured cod piece, I am all right with that.

  She laughs at that. Though now that I’ve mentioned it, I have used up my most potent healing potion. Maybe I do need to upgrade in that department. There are injuries you wouldn’t tell your kids about for lack of kids.

  There is a rustling sound. While I stare ahead, behind my back a growling howling thunder erases all possibilty of verbal communication. As the growling part of the sound stops, I turn around.

  Lisa is wearing a Terminator style gun on a sling. The barrels are still rotating. This is hot in a way not conducive to the orderly conduct of combat operations.

  L: Go and store it. We do not want rainbow smoke with this level of ventilation.

  I absolutely agree. She has the curtesy to dismiss her weapon as I walk past her. From close up the monster can still be vaguely identifiable.

  P: I think that was a giant scorpion.

  L: It just looked disgusting and threatening. Your boost allowed me to give it the big gun.

  It tucks on my mind. A scorpion in an underground tunnel reachable by a ladder …

  P: Pitfall! We have fallen into an intrusion shaped after an old video game.