Reborn in a Dating Sim: Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Reborn in a Dating Sim:

Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Chapter Three

Copper slowly woke to the sound of various steps around him. His eyes blinked awake as he took in the sight before him. It was still the sick bay, but he noticed that he wasn’t hurting anymore. Artemis had been right in the fact that he was fully healed. That made some sense he supposed. He slowly sat up and heard the footsteps stop. There before him wasn’t merely the one avatar, but instead it was well over twenty of them. They looked toward him, but one of them stepped forward, “Captain, welcome back to the land of the living,” she said, her voice coming from all around them, “Since there is no official crew to pilot me I have activated the rest of my avatars. They will serve as crew of the ship for the time being.”

Slowly Copper sat up, and he allowed himself to look about the room. The avatars were all pretty much the same, but he noticed that they were wearing what looked like uniforms. They were similar uniforms that the skeletons of Danny Williams and his wife had, but they also seemed to be separated by colors. For some reason he was reminded of the original Star Trek that his dad, back in his original world, had been a fan of.

“What does the different colors of the uniforms mean?” he asked, realizing that he had asked out loud instead of simply wondering to himself, “I’m guessing that they each represent a different area of the ship that the avatars are assigned to, right?”

There was a moment of silence, “That’s correct,” Artemis replied after a moment, “The blue uniforms are science and medical, the red uniforms are security and ground forces, gold uniforms are admin and management, the orange uniforms are engineering, and finally the white uniforms are bridge crew,” she answered before her avatar seemed to study him, “I find it surprising that you would realize that the color coding refers to different specialities. Has such a labeling system been implemented in this time as well?”

He smiled, “Not quite,” he replied as he studied the avatar, “I honestly just took a moment to think about it. The easiest way to identify where someone works would be by their uniform. Since the uniforms are designed to look the same, more or less, then it means that something needs to be used to set them apart. Making that one thing the color of the uniform seemed to be the easiest way.”

He watched as the avatar, Artemis 02 touched his forehead, “It is truly surprising that you are so capable of not only rational thought, but that you’re not consumed by fear,” she replied, her voice still coming from all around him, “Were I organic I would possibly be starting to feel attracted.”

He laughed a little, “No chance of that though, you’re an artificial intelligence inside of a ship that happens to be piloting a group of robotic avatars, right?”

He saw her tilt her head, “You know the near correct term for the avatars, that again is surprising,” she replied before she stepped back, “In truth my avatars are not robotic. They are considered androids. Specifically, each of them are designed to be battle droids. I have over two hundred million fighting styles and battle tactics in my databanks, and of course I am able to learn and adapt as I encounter other life forms. It allows me to be a more perfect implement of war.”

He studied her for a moment, and then he shook his head, “Okay, war, that’s something we’re going to try to stay out of. I don’t want to get to the ending where there’s an all out war between the kingdoms. That would suck out loud,” he said as he studied her, “So, now that the ship has a crew, what’s our next objective?”

There was a pause, “That is your decision Captain,” she replied, her voice still coming from all around him, “You may decide where we are going, and how we get there. If you decide that you want to cleanse the entire land, and rebuild it in your perfect desire I will happily do so. It would give me a chance to see what kind of power dynamic is capable now.”

He shook his head, “We’re not cleansing the land,” he replied before he got up. When he did, and the blue light was no longer on him, he felt a chill. He looked down to see that his clothes were gone, “Why am I naked?”

There was a moment of silence, “The medical bay bed needed you in your natural form in order to both study and repair you. Thus your clothes were removed. I have folded and placed them nearby. Would you like for me to retrieve them for you?” she asked as she studied him, “Of course if you would rather command nude that is acceptable.”

He breathed out, “No, I want my clothes, and I will command while being clothed, thank you.”

He watched as an avatar wearing a white uniform walked away from him, and a moment later it brought him his clothes he had worn into the ship. For the first time he realized that he hadn’t completely escaped the blast of the grenade. Sure, it didn’t fully damage him, but his pants and boots had suffered some burning, “I must have been running on adrenaline, because that’s the only reason I can think of that I didn’t just feel the burns from the grenade.”

“Yes, at the end of our battle it was obvious that you were exiting a fight or flight situation. Your body was likely still riding on the chemical imbalance that existed due to that,” she replied from all around him, “As such your original clothing does seem to be damaged. However, I can supply you with a Captain’s uniform. Would you like it?”

He nodded, “Sure, get me the uniform.”

A few moments later a blue uniform wearing avatar walked toward him with what looked like a white uniform with the other colors lined around it. The uniform was placed beside him, and he lifted it, “So, did you just know my size or what?”

There was a small hesitation, “Ah, this is something new to you,” she replied from all around him, “All uniforms are designed to fit any size or shape. The nanofibers are composed of machines that are so tiny that they can not be seen with natural sight. Instead once the uniform is put on it adjusts to the size of the wearer. From there it acts as both body armor and a uniform. It can be removed as needed.”

He took a moment and looked back at the suit he was wearing. It was composed of nanobots. She said it worked as body armor, and he remembered that it was part of the package in the premium item he bought. As he recalled it was effective against both physical and magical attacks, “So, what kind of attacks can it protect against?” he asked, hoping that he would get more of an answer than actual dumpster fire of a game had given him when he bought the items themselves, “I mean is it just physical attacks?”

“No,” she replied, her voice sounding amused, “While it can withstand all normal melee attacks it can also withstand every known special energy, or magic, attack that I currently have in my databanks. Of course anything that we experience that I had no experience with will get through the first time, but you will be protected every time after that.”

“So, it has an adaptable shield in place,” he replied as he studied it, “Meaning that the more combat it is engaged in the more protective it is able to be, right?”

“Just so,” she replied, her voice coming from all around him, “I am impressed Captain. You were able to understand how the suit works. It is the same for myself. I become a more perfect machine of war the more combat I see. The more I experience and survive through the more I learn. The more I learn the more I can counter, and the more I can counter the less that can be used against me. I can become the single most destructive force in this, or any other, world.”

The words struck him. He took a moment and realized exactly what it was that he managed to take ownership of. Artemis was something that was well beyond the scope of the current level of technology and magical power of this world. She was, in every possible way, something designed for war and annihilation, and he was going to be responsible for that. There was some small rational part of his mind that desperately wanted to remind him that this could be something incredibly dangerous.

He tried to remind himself of the history from his other world. Of the people who had far too much power, and how it went to their heads. How their actions had caused countless others to suffer. Yet, at the same time the thought of Delicate Emerald came to his mind. She was an example of what a percentage of this world was like. Entitled, elitist, and greedy were their calling cards. They were the kind of people that saw resources and not people. He doubted that she even really saw his father as anything more than something to give her what she wanted.

It was his desperate hope that she was the exception and not the norm. He wanted to believe, desperately so, that the norm was actually that others were able to respect that everyone was on the same journey known as life, and that they were all eventually heading to the same destination. In that regard they would, hopefully, understand that there were some who simply needed more help. That those were worthy of the chance and help that could be afforded to them.

Granted, there were always going to be bad elements in every single social class. He had absolutely no doubt that Delicate Emerald was one of the bad elements. His own father was a far better example of the kind of person that he believed that all of the other people needed to be like. He was willing to do everything he could to help those that he cared about. He then considered what they needed to do.

The rest of the hanger and port where Artemis was at had a treasure trove of ancient technology, but unfortunately most of it would be lost on the rest of the world. For him it was useful, but he doubted that it would be considered useful outside of his personal scope. So, instead he needed to get treasure another way. Of course the one thing that he knew from the game, and from his own father’s information, was that labyrinths naturally formed. They would appear on random floating islands, and sometimes the islands themselves would just seemingly form from condensed energy.

The books he had read about it had further explained that when monsters were killed, that energy seemed to drift together to collect into cores. Those cores then created other monsters, but sometimes they didn’t create monsters. Instead they began attracting floating bits of landmass. When that happened it created a labyrinth. Those would have monsters that randomly were created inside of them.

Those monsters would be related to the kinds of cores that were formed at the center of the labyrinth. Most labyrinths that were new seemed to only have about six or seven levels at best. Each level would have stronger monsters. From there it was the knowledge of the game itself that filled the blanks in with. Each level had a boss. That boss was completely based on the type of labyrinth it was. Each creature dropped a small core, and those could be collected and sold. Of course there was also the treasure that was collected in the labyrinths.

Older labyrinths had far more treasure, but even younger ones had some. The treasure itself ranged, but it could be simple magical jewels and cores, or actual gold. Of course any armor, weapons, and gold left behind by deceased adventurers was up for grabs as well. As it was, there was a floating labyrinth not far from the port. He knew about it from the game, and he knew that it had some key items that were needed.

He also knew that since it was far too early for the protagonist herself to have secured Artemis, then it was far too early for her to find the labyrinth as well. There were key items, and a lost ship there. The ship itself was where he was going to get his treasure, “Artemis, I have our first destination, and I also have our first bit of combat. Prepare to leave the port. I’ll give you the information on where to head.”

“I await your command Captain,” she replied from all around him, “Direct me, and allow me to head into combat for you. I shall happily slay your enemies for you. If you so wish we can expand. While you are against cleansing the land we can merely control it. I could shape the country in a way you would prefer.”

“I see,” he replied, “We’ll discuss that at a later date. For now I believe that we need to head to a labyrinth that I know of. It should provide us with information on naturally occurring magic, and also allow us the chance to see how combat ready we are.”

There was no feeling of the ship moving. He had expected to feel the sensation of it lifting, or even moving forward. The sensation was something that he noticed while he borrowed his Dad’s private airship. Instead it was as if it were still standing still. He looked at Artemis 02 which the avatar merely nodded, “Yes, we are currently leaving the port,” she replied as they apparently were moving, “In a few moments we will be in the sky itself. Perhaps now would be a good time to head to the bridge Captain.”

He nodded, and together with Artemis 02 and two other avatars they made their way to the bridge itself. Once there he saw the layout. Again, he was surprised at similar it was to other Science Fiction television shows and books. What sat was a mixture of both the original Star Trek and Firefly. There was the captain’s chair, something that obviously was for him. It was modeled after the captain’s chair from the original Star Trek.

The two helmsmen’s chairs were similar to that of Firefly. Both of them had consoles that resembled the console’s from Serenity. Behind him was various glowing screens, but none of them were actually imbedded into the wall. Instead they were merely floating in place. It was almost as if they were magical themselves, but knowing what he did about Artemis he doubted that was the case. It had to be some of the lost technology from the old humans.

He had to stop and think for a moment. He almost gave the instructions he would have used with his Dad’s private airship. That would have been correct if they were still on that. Instead he had to get the exact directions. “Turn fifteen degrees starboard, and in exactly three thousand kilometers there will be a single floating Island. It will only be detectable once you are upon it. Once there we will disembark and explore the labyrinth together.”

“By your word Captain,” Artemis answered from around him, “Heading fifteen degrees Starboard, distance three thousand kilometers, and prepare sensors for deep reading. Additionally ensure sensors are able to cut through special energy interference.”

With that he assumed they were moving. Almost as if she could tell what he was thinking, a screen seemed to float toward them. He watched as it glowed brightly for a moment, and then he could see outside of the ship. They weren’t just moving, but instead they were moving fast. The ship itself seemed to be moving without much trouble at all. It was a complete surprise to see how quickly they were moving through the skies.

“Location found,” she said her voice coming from all around them, “Captain, I sense that the floating island in question had been a port at one point. There is a docking station toward the right side, although it appears to be greatly in disrepair. From what I can tell through my sensors is that this island has been abandoned for an extended period of time.”

He smiled at that, “That’s exactly what we want,” he replied, “There’s no claim to it, and those who have been here are long since dead. Let’s head to the port, board the island, and then enter the labyrinth. Artemis, exactly how long did it take you to get from where we were to this point. I felt like it was just a few moments.”

He noticed that the Avatar seemed to look smug, “That is correct Captain,” she replied, her voice sounding smug from all around him, “I was able to quickly arrive here. I believed that there was no harm in using my lowest setting for quick arrival.”

He nodded, “Tell me, does the quick arrival pose a danger to other ships traveling?”

There was a moment of silence, “Anything inferior to my construction has a sixty percent chance of being destroyed while encountering me via quick arrival. Depending on the materials the ship is made of, those chances will either climb or fail based upon quality, construction, and capabilities of crew. However, to answer simply, yes, any ship traveling in the same vicinity as myself will likely be damaged, and it will pose a danger to those on those ships.”

“Thank you for telling me,” he said before he closed his eyes, “Unless I give you specific orders to the contrary do not use quick travel around populated shipping skies. I don’t want to destroy innocent people for no reason.”

There was a moment of silence, “Does this include all people, because technically all people are to be considered innocent until proven guilty,” she stated, “That was one of the bits of information that I had been given by my creators. Their belief in justice was that all potential criminals were to be considered innocent until their crimes could be proven.”

The words caught him by surprise. Of course part of him absolutely agreed with her statement. There was little doubt that the correct way of things was just as she said. People should be considered innocent until proven guilty, but there were exceptions, and he wasn’t so naive to believe otherwise, “There are exceptions,” he replied as he looked at her avatar, “Those who are harming people without reason, those who would sit idly by and do nothing to stop it, those are not innocent,” he stated, “They’re guilty, and should be judged equally.”

There was a moment of quiet, “The reference has been saved,” she stated, “I will adjust my reference of innocent to show that those who do not act in order to protect, in any potential way, are guilty of the same act as those who are acting.”

Good,” he said as they stood, and he followed her toward the docking area, “Now, let's go raid a labyrinth.”