I walked with Shea to the Fiefdom of Urd, the nearby city responsible for spring-boarding Adventurers and hero wannabes into the forest in return for money and rank.  It wasn’t quite “Dungeon Diving,” but it had all the hallmarks of a Player’s “first town.”  The local feudal lord was a vassal of the King, but “everyone” said that he bought the position.  No one really knew how, though, and he was never seen in town.  The primary industry for the town was the Adventurer’s Guild, which handled most of the labor needs for the region, and the rest of the town supported the Adventurers.  People from all over came to Urd to either try their luck at being an Adventurer in hopes of a quick path to success and riches, or to sell things to people in hopes of a quick path to success and riches.

The forest I had woken up in was called the Fangwell Forest, and it covered the majority of the valley we were in with little pockets of town sprinkled through.  From the Thundermond mountains in the northwest, to Northfell ridge, actually located to the east.  The forest had different areas that were zoned based on how dangerous the local fauna was in that area.  Again, this felt like I was in a video game.  This zone of the forest was even called “Dawnheart’s Reach.”  A bit “on the nose,” I thought.

Shea was also a member of the Adventurer’s Guild by way of profession.  It seemed like really dangerous work to be sending kids out on, but Shea assured me that they were up to the task.  I was doubtful.  Walking through the gates and into the town didn’t present any problems; maybe people assumed I was with Shea.  When we got to the Guild, she marched up to the reception desk and put her Adventurer Tag and the Mana Stone onto the desk.  I watched the transaction, but it seemed pretty run-of-the-mill.  The receptionist found the related quest sheet and touched Shea’s tag to it.  Text on the page changed from In Progress to Quest Complete.  Then they took the mana crystal and gave Shea a stack of coins.

I stepped up to the counter, as Shea looked like she was done, and asked about registering as an Adventurer.  It seemed like it might be a quick way to make money in this world.  The receptionist looked confused then looked at Shea.

“Is this your Automata?” she asked Shea.

She didn’t even look back at me. I guess I am just an object in this society.  I leaned in over the counter and put my face right up to the receptionist.

“I’m. no. slave.”

The receptionist jerked her head back, looking back and forth between me and Shea.

“Ridiculous! The idea of Unclaimed Property talking like this, much less wanting to register!”

“Um, Prime... I think we should leave,” Shea said quietly.

A few Adventurers got up from their tables and started to move in.

“Unclaimed Property, eh? Doesn’t look like much but might be worth something for parts. If you don’t want to claim it, Shea, we will.  It’s fine, right? We’ll even give you a finder’s fee.”

“No, it’s just... ya see, he doesn’t--” Shea stammered, looking suddenly unsure.

“He?” the Adventurer cut her off, “It’s not a ‘he,’ it’s just a walking magic tool that can talk.”

“Well, is that really true?” Shea asked, looking over at me.  I could see she was wavering.

This wouldn’t go well for me if she caved in. I wasn’t going to take that risk, so I took off running, diving and rolling under one table and over another.  The Adventurers started crowding and scrambling to try to catch me, but I just made it out the doors.  Once out, I started running through the town.  More people started paying attention as the Adventurers pursued me.  I pushed past a stall and into a back alleyway but, unfortunately, it looked like a dead end.

“Careful, we don’t want to damage it too much. It won’t be worth as much,” I heard one say.

“It doesn’t look like it’s worth much to start with, haha,” I heard another laugh.

I didn’t want to do it, but I activated RockMortar.  The Adventurers neither hesitated nor recoiled.  This much must have been expected.  I only had a couple of rocks on me and fired one off at the closest target.  A magical shield appeared in front of them, blocking my rock.  Sparky jumped forward and ignited, but they laughed and swatted him away.  I saw him hit the wall and lie still.  I fired off my last couple rocks at the feet of two of the Adventurers, and their shields didn’t block them and they went down screaming and holding their feet, but the others were on top of me.  They clapped a shackle around my neck, and suddenly all my movement shut down.  I could see vague shadows and think, but I couldn’t move anything.  I hit the ground hard, but through the legs of the Adventurers, I was able to see Sparky slink away and felt a small relief. 

I was tossed around like a piece of luggage, and a couple of the Adventurers that I’d managed to hurt took shots at me.  The others reprimanded them, telling them that if I was damaged, they couldn’t get as good a price.  Small favors, I suppose.  Eventually, I was thrown into the back of a cart.  I could make out people talking, it was night, and I was getting sold to a Magic Tool Dealer.  All my senses were murky, and it was hard to tell what was going on.  I was curious to know what I was worth, but I couldn’t make it out.  Again I was picked up without much ceremony and held in front of a small man who looked me over a bit then gestured in some direction.

I found myself set onto a support rack to hold me up next to several other Automata.  Is this what my action figures felt like? Again, my apologies, Optimus.

People came by throughout the evening.  Some stopped and looked or asked questions, but I didn’t seem to catch much interest.  Some of the other Automata that I could make out looked like strong soldiers or fancy maids.  A couple of those types sold. While essentially waiting around, I decided to experiment.  I thought [Console] to myself but directed my thoughts at the shackle. I was pleased to see I could bring up the [Debug] screen for it.  I couldn’t poke the screen, but I was still able to interact with it.  It took more concentration though.

When the shop was done for the night, they turned out the lights and locked up.  I wasn’t really a prisoner, I was simply “retail goods.”  It was an odd experience. There were no guards of any kind, and I was left on display.  I guess the owner was much more concerned with thieves breaking in than Automata breaking out.  So with the [Debug] screen up for the shackle, I was able to find its ManaBlocker function and put a BreakPoint in it.  With that function paused, I regained my senses and the ability to move around.

I looked around the shop a bit and found an unassuming dagger.  With the craft skills that SysAdmin Beam gave me, I was able to inscribe it with mana modification magic and program it as a “key” to override the shackle.  I touched the dagger to the shackle around my neck and it instantly opened up.  Then it started smoking and caught on fire.  I was glad the order of things wasn’t reversed.  Well, that was that.

I walked back to the Automata display case and touched the dagger to the shackles on the other four hanging there.  The first two were too terrified to do anything and kept trying to put the crumbled shackle back on, saying they were going to get in trouble.  The third calmly sat in place, resigned to its fate as a slave.  

The fourth one looked like a warrior type with a female body shape.  Her armor was more ornate and stylized than mine, and she had a winged crest head design that reminded me of a valkyrie helmet, but her face only had eyes, and the rest was smooth and featureless. She was a lot bigger than me by at least two and a half feet,  I’d guess in the six and a half to seven foot range, and she decided to attack me the instant the shackle was loose.

“I’ll never be a slave again!” she cried as she took a swing at me.

I’d like to say that her attack caught me off guard, which it did, and that’s why I got hit, but that wouldn’t be true.  It was both efficient and beautiful and it connected with little to no opposition on my part.  Next thing I knew, I was sitting in a pile of toppled pole arms and spear shafts.  I’m not really even sure what part of her body struck me.  I put my hands up to show her that I was not an enemy, and I converted my arm to cannon mode and back to prove I was an Automata too.

“Same here, I’m breaking out and you can come with if you want.”

She calmed herself and looked down at me, then at the others too scared or broken to try to leave.

“I’m sorry for attacking you. I refuse to become like them. I was forged as a disposable soldier for a neighboring kingdom. Conscripted and enslaved the moment I had life... I do not wish to be under anyone’s control again.”

“And you never will be if I have anything to say about it.  I’m Prime.”

“Elita, designation one,” she said in a tone that betrayed military experience.

“Elita One, Huh. That’s a really funny coincidence...”

“What is, Prime?”

“Ah, nevermind. Not important.” I’m so sorry, Optimus.

“How did you break the Mana Shackles?”

“I made a key,” I said holding up the dagger. “If you want, I can inscribe the magic code into your plating to prevent these from working on you again.”

“Yes. Do it,” she said grimly.  There was a seething hatred behind her words; I could only imagine what horrors she’d seen or been subjected to.

By the time I finished inscribing her with the shackle override code, it was nearly morning.  I didn’t realize so much time had passed, but we needed to get out of there quickly before the owner returned.  I looked around the shop and put into my [Inventory] anything that I thought might be useful, along with some armor and cloaks that would fit our frames.  Getting out was going to be tricky.  We decided that it would be best to make it look like a robbery to buy us some time, but that meant things needed to be smashed inward and not outward.  Elita found a rogue’s saw and managed to cut away the lock and doorknob with it.  Pretty clever, I thought.  We put the cut out chunks inside the room and opened the doors to freedom.

I wasn’t sure what to do about the other Automata.  I’d freed them thinking they would want to come with us, but with them choosing not to, it made them a liability.  As soon as the owner arrived, they would tell them what had happened and people would be on the lookout for an Automata that could resist the Mana Shackle.  I told Elita about my concerns then started looking around for sets of Mana Shackles.  I didn’t like the idea of shackling them back up but couldn’t see a way around it.  It would at least buy us some time. 

“Elita, I could only find two more shackles,” I said, returning to the display room.

“We won’t need them,” she said coldly.

I looked to see that she had killed the other three Automata.  What the hell?? I let the shackles fall from my hands and sighed for the loss.  She was right, in a way. This was faster and more efficient, but it left a terrible taste in my mouth.  Were Automata really only high-end magic tools to be disposed of, and I, a unique existence thanks to Beam?  Elita seemed to consider breaking them as much as I might have considered breaking a toaster.  Hopefully, if those that were killed went on to another life, it would be a better one.  I would try to honor these other Automata, if I could, so I put their bodies into my [Inventory].  At the least, I would be able to study how they worked without having to dismantle myself.

The sun was already starting to come up, and I was sure that the owner would be there soon.  We donned our armor and cloaks and set out into the town square.  There was already the bustle of shop owners getting started or setting up their stalls.  It didn’t take long till we heard a shriek behind us and a man screaming that he’d been robbed in the night.  Town guards came running in our direction, but luckily they ran past us to check on the shop owner.

We were walking quickly away from the market, but I didn’t really know which way we should be going.  I had come here via the back of a cart and with my senses dulled.  Elita was no help here either, so our best course of action was to avoid the crowds and find somewhere we could lay low and hope to not get caught.  Just as we cut through the crowd, I felt something tug its way up my cloak and settle on my shoulder.  I looked to find Sparky rubbing his face against the cheek of the dwarven helmet I’d stolen.

“You’re going to blow my cover buddy, but I’m glad to see you’re alright.”

“Is that you, Prime?”

I turned around to find Shea standing there looking both confused and relieved.

Elita drew her sword, ready to attack Shea.

“Back off meat bag, if you don’t want to die.”

I rested my hand on Elita’s sword.

“It’s okay Elita, I believe Shea is a friend.”

“I am! I definitely am! Um, I don’t know what happened but we can go to my apartment till things blow over and we can figure out where to go from there.”

Elita lowered her sword.

“Fine. For now, but I’ll be watching you.”

Shea led us through the city, taking the long way around to avoid going near the Guildhall.  As we walked, she explained that after I had left, the receptionist started yelling at all the Adventurers for making a big mess and said the ones that tried to grab me would be put on low-rank punishment quests until she was in a better mood.  I told her how they had eventually caught up to me,  trapped me with the Mana Shackle, and then sold me to a shop.  At first, she was aghast, but then she looked more somber and admitted that before meeting me, she might have done the same.  Automata were worth a lot of money, and people only saw them as tools.  She’d even been in that shop before and had wished she could afford to purchase an Automata to help her on quests.

Shea explained that she was still pretty new to the area and had moved here from a small rural village in hopes of having a better life.  Adventurer work was hard and dangerous, but the pay usually made up for it.  So far she’d only taken low-risk collection quests for herbs or small game, but the rewards weren’t enough to live on; that’s why she had taken on the tougher quest to subjugate the Thunder Bear.

On the outer edge of the market district, we came to a rather shabby looking shop.  It was hard to tell what kind of shop it once was, but it was clearly no longer in use now.  The sign above the door read: “Jada’s Junk.”  Shea led us through the back of the shop and into a workshop area. It looked like this might have been a shop for magic tools and enchantments.  A lot of the tools were still in good condition, and there were still materials, they were just all covered in dust.

“My apartment is just up these stairs,” Shea said.

“Are you squatting here?” I asked, running a finger through the thick dust on the workbench.

“What? No, not at all. I pay rent and everything.  The owner used to be an Artificer but retired and let the shop just collect dust.  She rents the room above the shop to me.”

“Interesting. Do you mind if I?” I asked, gesturing at the tools.

“Um, no? I think it’d be okay. It’s not like anyone has thought of touching this stuff in years.”

Elita watched from the door, splitting her attention between what I was doing and what might be outside the door.  Shea was watching me carefully, trying to figure out what I was doing, full of curiosity.  Sparky sneezed a couple of times before jumping off of me to run and perch on top of Shea’s head.  There were really interesting materials, and again thanks to SysAdmin Beam, I had the base skills to work with them.  I started shaping the materials into parts and assembling them.  An idea popped into my head, and I had a compulsion to realize it.

I was about half-finished when a small, old woman appeared from a connected room and demanded: “what’s going on in here?”