Cat Core 3, Chapter 32.

Chapter 32

“Oh dear, do you want to take this, Florence?” Doug asked.

“Sure. Move out so that goopy thing can see you,” Florence said, projecting her voice through Doug. “Hey, can you hear me, core?”

“Yes, I can hear you, but the question is, who are you and how did you end up right on my doorstep?” the other core asked. Her voice sounded like that of a polite and rational young teenage girl, not a screeching monster.

“Sorry to barge in on you uninvited. I wasn’t expecting you to be hospitable. None of the others would do anything but attack as soon as they sensed me. Well, as for who I am, I’m Florence Valentine. Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Florence said. This was weird. The other core hadn’t lashed out or attacked yet. Maybe it was working some kind of angle or was trying to buy time to respawn its defenders.

“Whether it’s good to meet you is still up for debate, but since you were nice enough to give me your name, I’ll tell you mine. I’m Sabrina. Now, back to my question: what are you doing in my dungeon, and as far as that goes, what exactly are you?”

“I used to be a core like you, but then I got destroyed and now I’m a hybrid entity called a core shard.” Florence repeated her story, something she was having to do a lot of lately. To her credit, Sabrina seemed to be listening without interrupting, though she did distract Florence a bit by shifting the slime’s form into a roughly humanoid shape and tilting her head like she was starting to get bored with Florence’s rather thorough explanation. At least she waited for Florence to finish before asking a question.

“This lich, Berikoz, you said he infected your core and that removing his influence was possible, but you died in the attempt. Why would I want the same fate?” Sabrina asked.

“That’s why I’m here, to free your core from the lich. As he draws more power from you, you’ll start to go bonkers, and anytime he wants, he can zap himself into your core and take over,” Florence explained.

“So you say my choices are to let you destroy my core or wait for the lich to do it? Hard pass,” Sabrina said.

“You won’t be destroyed. You’ll be a core fragment that can join up with our team to take out Berikoz,” Florence said.

“So I guess you’re going to be in command. A different master, but the same end result of me being under the control of someone else,” Sabrina said.

Florence, allow me to speak with her, if you don’t mind, George said.

Sure, it can’t hurt. I don’t seem to be getting too far with her as it stands. Let me try to connect you to Doug so you can talk, Florence replied.

“Hello, Sabrina, my name is George, and I’m the other core that Florence rescued,” George said.

“Sure you are. How do I know you’re not some voice she’s making up?” Sabrina said with distrust.

“You don’t, though I may be able to prove it,” George said. Florence, I’m going to try something risky, but I get the feeling that this one can be reasoned with.

Define risky, Florence said.

I say we invite her to our core room to see your home and what we’ve become.

That’s insane. That slime champion she’s riding around in could destroy us in one swipe if it got within reach, Doug said.

Florence was about to have Doug leave and go with the whole attack the other dungeon plan, but something in George’s words resonated with her. She wanted to be something more than a deadly core that resorted to violence as the answer to all her problems. If there was a chance to save Sabrina before she slipped into madness, the risk just might be worth it.

Go for it, Florence said to Doug’s dismay.

“Sabrina, Florence and I would like to invite you into our home. Come and visit our core and see we’re not trying to trick you,” George offered.

“You’ll allow my champion inside your dungeon? I agree, as long as you keep all your minions out of my home while I’m in there,” Sabrina said.

See? She must not be able to respawn her defenders since I’m inside. Come on, we strike now, overwhelm the champion with our defenders and her core is undefended, Doug argued.

That might be the smart move, the safe move, but it would stick in my craw if I did something underhanded like that when I just told her we were the good guys, Florence said.

Fine, it’s your funeral, again, Doug said. Just remember, you’re gambling with a lot of lives here. The gnome home, all its inhabitants, and Patricio will likely not survive if the other champion attacks us inside the core room. Sure, you and I might return, but the others don’t have that luxury.

“No response?” Sabrina said. Her patience was obviously at an end. Florence would love to spend hours hashing out all the pros and cons, but there wasn’t time, and she needed to make a decision right now.

“Sabrina, this is Florence again, and we agree to your terms. I know this will give you a chance to respawn your defenders, and I could flood your home right now with my defenders and likely force you to do what I want, but that’s not the person I am. That’s not the people we are, me and my team. Come on over and meet with us.”

“Very well. Let’s see your core room and this magical world of broken cores you’ve created,” Sabrina said sarcastically. At least her slime champion moved fast enough, and it didn’t take long for her to reach the front lawn.

“My defenders will recognize you as neutral, as long as you don’t do anything to harm them,” Florence advised as Sabrina got her first look at her home.

“This is your dungeon?” Sabrina asked, all signs of snark gone from her tone.

“This is not a dungeon. This is a home, and we’re glad to have you visit. Come on in and look around,” Florence said.

Sabrina was silent as she piloted her slime champion toward the front door. It took the slime a moment to form an appendage that could open doors, and seeing her struggling with it, Fizz ran to the rescue.

“Heya, I’m Fizz,” he said as he opened the door and welcomed Sabrina inside.

“You’re not a defender. What are you?” Sabrina asked.

“I’m a gnome, duh. You never seen a gnome before?”

“Of course I’ve seen a gnome, but what are you doing inside a dungeon?” Sabrina asked.

“Florence rescued my clan and gave us a home here. You can come peek inside our place if you want. It’s a home within a home. Oh, and before Florence gives you grief about it, don’t call this place a dungeon. Refer to it as a home or she’ll get all bent out of shape. Now that I think about it, calling it a home does kind of seem right.”

“Interesting. And this place, its…” Sabrina said, unable to finish her sentence.

“Not like anything you’ve seen before?” Florence asked, finishing the sentence for the young lady, who seemed a bit more taken aback than most at how lovely her home was.

“No, not that. I feel like I’ve seen something like this before, but I can’t remember where.” Sabrina followed Fizz as he gave her the two-cent tour, dutifully introducing the visiting core to each kitty they passed. The gnomes gave her a cheerful reception as well, offering to let her try out their tinkering table if she wanted to work on any inventions.

“So, Florence, your entire dungeon is mostly defended by cats? That doesn’t seem like a viable option,” Sabrina said as they moved through the second floor toward the core room.

“It works out much better than you’d suspect. My babies are happy enough, but they all know how to fight when they need to. George contributed the wolves, boars, and that yeti thing,” Florence said.

“I see. This one looks rather formidable.” Sabrina got a look at the smelly Spud with Surly sitting atop him, weapons ready in case there was trouble.

“Don’t mind them. Spud’s my little plague mount champion, and Surly there, well, he’s an angry gnome, but the two seem to get along like a house on fire,” Florence tried to explain. Fizz reluctantly opened the door to the core room, and Florence invited in the deadly creature the other core was piloting.

“There you are. Good to meet you in person, Florence. Is that George, the fragment orbiting your core?” Sabrina asked.

“It’s me,” George replied.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Patricio, thespian, songwriter, and performer extraordinaire, at your service.” Patricio gave his signature bow and hat doffing routine.

“Is that guy for real?” Sabrina asked.

“Yeah, we kind of took him in, like a stray, but he’s more useful and less smelly than most strays,” Florence said.

“Your slings and arrows shall neither pierce my heart nor dampen my affections, Florence. I know that deep down in that beautiful core of yours, a romantic heart beats,” Patricio said.

“Give it a rest, Patricio. So, Sabrina, what do you think?” Florence asked.

The slime champion was silent, and as the seconds ticked by, Florence became more nervous. If things went south, she was counting on the protective shield over her core to deflect the first blow and give her defenders time to respond. Spud could be there almost instantly with his speed, but even then, Florence wasn’t sure she would survive more than a few seconds.

“I can feel him, you know,” Sabrina said. “The lich. He gave me a good bargain, lots of magical knowledge, and some rare slimes and other creatures my dungeon could absorb and re-create. There was a promise of help if my core was in danger, but lately, the link between us has become more substantial, and while I’m not ‘going bonkers,’ like you claim the other cores did, I can feel something isn’t right.”

“Yeah, like the best of flim-flam artists, the lich makes you think you’re getting one over on him, but the whole time, he’s plotting to use you to his own ends. When he’s done with you, there won’t be nothing left,” Florence said, almost calling for her kitties to attack when the slime extended a tendril to examine her and George.

“You, Doug, I think you were called. You’re not a normal core defender, are you?” Sabrina asked.

“No, my story is almost as strange as Florence’s, but I won’t bore you with it now. Suffice to say, Florence and I are in this together. While she can be abrasive and more stubborn than anyone I’ve ever met, she’s a good person at heart, and I’m proud to be her companion and friend,” Doug said. If Florence had eyes, they’d be watering up a bit right now. Her kitty companion could be a sweetheart when he wasn’t being all annoying and bossy.

“Thank you, Doug. That was nice. Now, Sabrina, you’ve seen my home. I’ve even let your most dangerous creature into my core room. What else can we do to convince you that we’re not going to do anything wrong to you?” Florence asked.

The slime stood still, the tendril slowly waving in front of Florence’s core. If she weren’t so anxious to see how Sabrina would react, she’d tell her to quit that nonsense. Tension filled the home. The next words or actions from the slime would determine if a core could be reasoned with or if Florence would need to resort to violence each time. Nobody dared to move, all except Fizz, who walked right between the two.

“Hey, Florence, can we get some ham sandwiches and those chocolate chip cookies? I get hungry just waiting around like this,” he said, deflating some of the tension out of the core room.

“I could go for that as well, along with that libation from your world. Sweet tea, I believe it was called?” Patricio asked. The bard was tuned into the feel of a crowd, and with Fizz lightening the mood even a little bit, he was making his shot at helping out.

“Wait, did you say sweet tea. I remember that… from my prior life. A hot summer day and a glass of sweet tea, full of ice and with a slice of lemon on the glass. I can picture it for a moment. Then the image fades,” Sabrina said, the deadly tendril drooping to the floor as she tried to hold on to the memory.

“Like this, Sabrina? Help yourself.” Florence burned a bit of mana to create a tray with a pitcher of sweet tea and a glass full of ice, complete with a lemon wedge. The refreshments appeared on the small table next to her core. You know, the place where she liked to keep her favorite knickknacks and her magazines.

The slime dipped its tentacle into the pitcher, the creature tasting the beverage for its master. Florence wasn’t sure how that worked. She briefly thought about doing it with one of her cats once all this was over, but she didn’t think kitties had the same taste buds as a human, and she didn’t want to ruin the memory of anything she liked to eat.

“This is close. The slime doesn’t have the best sense of taste, but I think that’s similar to my forgotten memory,” Sabrina said, her voice confused and uncertain.

“That settles it. I believe you were a human before you became a core, Sabrina. Only a good Southern woman would know the wonders of sweet tea and hold on to that memory through death, so you’re probably from Earth like I am,” Florence said with confidence.

“How do you remember so much, Florence? My memories are vague and incomplete, though another just appeared: my granny handing me the glass of tea. I can’t see her face or hear her voice, but you remind me of her somehow.”

“I’m not the kind of woman to let something like death push me around, and I caused a stink before I was made into a core. Somehow, that let me keep more of who I am. Maybe, when we deal with that lich and his influence is gone, you might remember more of your past. We need to hold on to that, not turn into some mindless thing that only cares about fighting and killing adventurers,” Florence told the confused core. There was another pause, but this time, she didn’t think she was in any danger. This was just Sabrina trying to come to terms with what she’d lost and what might be possible in the future.

“I shouldn’t trust you, Florence. Everything in my being, everything in my core, is telling me to shatter you and absorb your power. What you said is right, though. There should be more to our existence than that. I’ll join you on your quest, Florence. We’ll defeat this lich and see what we can make of ourselves,” Sabrina said, her confidence growing as she spoke.

“Welcome to the team!” Florence exclaimed. “Show Doug your core and he can link us all together. I think I’ll enjoy your company, Sabrina. It’ll be nice to have another lady in the house.” The relief flowing from her core seemed to relax the entire home. It had worked: she’d proven that George wasn’t just a fluke and that a core could be reasoned with, at least as long as it wasn’t too far gone.