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 Five

The ancient airship was something that Copper had to take a few moments to admire. It had been something of a warship to begin with. The deck itself showed old signs of battle, and he could see where cannon fire had marred part of it, and where it had been replaced. In truth, the ship was something to be admired, and there was no doubt of that. Still, what he was looking for wasn’t on the deck. He began to walk forward, and then he patted his sides. His eyes widened in realization.

“The Key!” he shouted, “I forgot the stupid key! And it fell down with the organ!”

He groaned as he stopped. Forgetting the key was a rookie mistake. It meant that he would have to attempt to pick the lock, and from what he remembered the lock on the door they needed was incredibly hard. Sure, there was a set of lockpicking tools aboard the ship, and they were on the other side of it. In a room full of skeletal bodies. He shook his head, “Oh, we’re just all kinds of screwed here.”

“Captain?” Artemis asked before she lifted her hand, “Are you looking for this?”

He looked to see the key from the skull in her hand, “Wait, how did you manage to get it?”

For the first time he saw her smile slightly, “You were distracted with removing both of us from that situation. I noticed the key, and I listened to you. I gathered that it was important. So, when you played the note correctly I saw the jaw loosen. I was able to remove the key without completely forcing the jaw open, and I did it in the fraction of time that a human could.”

Sure, she was tooting that she was superior, but at the moment he didn’t care. She’d saved both of them so much trouble. The lockpicking set might still be worth grabbing before they leave, and he could consider it. As he remembered there were a few locked doors at the academy that could only be accessed by the set. Some of which had rare items that were left behind from ages ago. They could be useful. One of which improved the charisma stats of the protagonist on a permanent basis.

Having higher charisma meant that he’d be able to possibly have an easier time of finding a wife at the academy. That was the main purpose of it for mobs like him. He really didn’t care what the protagonists did. He just wanted a nice simple life, and be able to do the things he wanted. With that in mind, yes, he’d go get the lockpicking set, but it would be after he got the door opened. The only reason that once he did the traps set throughout the ship, at least in the game, were all non-functional.

The only guess he had, when he played before, was that there was a main trigger that was shut off when the door he needed was unlocked. That made sense actually. The pirates that had this ship, that stole this treasure, had likely wanted to have access to the treasure, and the rest of the ship, and figured the best way was to have the key. A key that was placed somewhere exceptionally difficult to get through.

“I, Artemis, thank you,” he replied, “I mean it, thank you. You’ve saved us both so much trouble.”

Without thinking he hugged her. The action seemed to make her freeze for a moment, before he felt her arms around him. There was a gentle pressure, unlike when she tried to crush him together before, and she returned the hug, “You are welcome Captain,” she replied as she held him, “I must admit, I was not prepared to receive an embrace for my efforts.”

Her voice sounded softer, more delicate, almost as if she was somehow more feminine than before. The sound of the machine, that she still was, remained, but at the same time she almost sounded more human. The embrace lasted for a few more moments, and then they slowly let go of each other. He could see an expression on her face that looked right, and at the same time looked off for an android. He’d believed that her face was just molded. That it was merely a shell covering the mechanical parts under.

Instead when her face pressed against him he’d felt what almost felt like flesh there, “Let’s go unlock a treasure,” he said as he smiled, and the two of them began to move again, “It should be through the main doors, and starts in the captain’s cabin. From there I believe it goes further down into the hull. Which, can the ship get down here to this point?”

“Of course Captain,” she replied, “It will merely remove some of the labyrinth out of the way.”

Which meant that the ship was going to blast its way into the cavern. He took a moment to look around them, “Will the cavern survive if the ship does that? I mean, will it cause it to cave in and crush the ship?”

There was a moment of hesitation as she looked about the cavern, “There is a fifteen percent chance that blasting through to this cavern will result in a collapse. However, I can reduce it to a mere five percent by simply disintegrating the rock as I move forward. It should allow for a hole large enough to move into, and keep the cavern from behind unnecessarily shook by explosions. It will, however, not be near as much fun.”

He looked at her, “Use the disintegration first, and after we’ve collected everything that we need from the ship, if you want to blast the labyrinth to bits feel free to. I won’t shed a tear if it’s gone.”

He saw a smile again on her face, and he had to admit that it actually looked good on her. The fact that he was seeing her as a person and not a machine meant for war certainly spoke volumes. For all rights and purposes he shouldn’t see her as a person. He knew that. He knew that she was a machine. But she didn’t act like one, and that was exactly what was so off about it. Not that it mattered at this moment. All that mattered was how he was going to move forward.

Instead of merely standing around they stepped into the captain’s quarters, and much like the old 80’s kids’ action movie the labyrinth obviously pulled from so did the scene before him. There was a large table, covered in gold coins, precious jewels sat in goblets made of silver and gold. Around the table itself was a collection of skeletons. As he remembered there was a scale in the middle of the table. Nothing could be removed from it. Doing so would unleash the one final trap that had been set.

Instead he looked at the rest of it, “Okay, everything but what’s on the scale is ours,” he said as he looked at the eye patch wearing skeleton at the head of the table, “That’s his, and we’re going to leave it for him.”

If there was an argument to be had from Artemis it never came. So instead they began gathering the coins and jewels into the canvas bags that laid strewn around the room. The bags themselves seemed to be in decent condition. As he packed the gold and jewels into them, he felt the bags fill, and to his surprise they didn’t break. The reason was obvious. There was no doubt they had been enchanted. Maybe they were originally from the ships that they were stolen from, or maybe there was a pirate that had enchanted them, but it didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter because whoever had enchanted, whenever it was, they were long dead, and this treasure was his for the taking. Whoever the pirates had been didn’t matter a single bit. He filled his third bag, and he watched as Artemis filled her fourth. The action was fluid, and she moved with a kind of grace that was difficult to describe. She was graceful in a way that defied natural life. She was almost the same as a vision created by a mad god brought to life.

Each movement was purposeful, and each was quick. There was no hesitation. There was no indecision, and there was no mixture. He could see that she was separating the gold and jewels into their own bags. The goblets were going into another, and weapons, such as they were, was being put into a pile. She was doing exactly what he had asked. Everything that they could take, with the exception of the scales and gold on it, everything was being taken.

He almost felt bad for the dead pirates as she stripped their weapons from them. They were long since dead, and she was leaving them with nothing. Then again, he’d practically asked for it. The moments passed, and he heard the sound of something entering into the cavern. Artemis herself stopped, “Captain,” she said as she stood, “I’m sending the other avatars over to collect the treasure and return it. As for the weapons, they are in various states of disrepair, but I’ve noticed that there are a few of them similar to the Magi Gun you use. I am having them taken back to be repaired, or stripped for parts.”

He nodded, “Good idea,” he said as he looked about the cabin, “There’s more treasure below us, so we’re going to be busy. Artemis, tell me, what condition do you think this ship itself is in?”

She looked around, “It will not survive being moved,” she stated, “The ship itself suffered massive structural damage from attacks before coming here. When they landed the cavern itself took the weight of the ship from itself. From what I can tell, even if it were able to move under its own power it would collapse the moment it cleared the cavern.”

He looked around the ship for a moment, “Damn,” he said as he studied it, “I wanted to pay my dad back for trusting me with his private airship. This one is far nicer, and I know that it would have pissed Delicate Emerald off that he got a better ship than her.”

There was a moment of quiet, “Captain,” she replied as she studied him, “If you want a better ship for your father, then why not take one from where I was originally ported? Granted, most were in disrepair, but it would be a simple matter to repair one. It would not be in the same classification as myself, but it would be heads and shoulders better than the airships like this one.”

He nodded, “That’s not a bad plan,” he replied, “But at the same time I don’t want to bring a whole lot of extra trouble on him. Dad is a decent man, and he doesn’t need to constantly be watching his back around Delicate Emerald. If he had a better ship than her it would piss her off, but she would accept it after a while. Mostly because it would reflect on her own status.”

He sighed and looked up, “But if he has a ship made from ancient technology then that would be something else. It would be the kind of situation that would ensure that he would be forced to keep his guard up all of the time. Ancient technology isn’t a status builder. It’s power. Delicate wouldn't know how to handle that. It would mean that he was more powerful than her. For her, that would be enough to make her do something insane.”

He saw Artemis study him, “You speak reverently of your father. I take it that he is someone you truly look up to.”

He nodded, “He is,” he replied, “Dad stood up for me more times than I could count, and to be honest he never really got a thank you for it. There was so many times that he got into so much trouble with Delicate. I know that he suffered time and time again, and he did it because he believed in me. I want to pay him back, even if it is just a little.”

Artemis studied him, “I see,” she said as she looked around at the ship again, “I cannot repair this ship,” she stated, “I cannot because in order to do so we would need to completely demolish it and rebuild it. I can however take in its original structural design, and keep it in my databanks. By doing so I will be able to construct one similar to it. That is if we have the resources to do so.”

He nodded, “Thanks,” he replied as he looked at the other avatars moving around them, “I mean it.”

She nodded, “You are welcome, my Captain,” she said, the smile coming back to her face, “I will do all I can to help you in every way possible. That includes doing something nice for your father. I believe that your intentions are good, even if they are slightly skewed by petty revenge.”

Copper couldn’t help but laugh at being called out. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that she was right. Sure, he really did want to pay his Dad back for his kindness. Since his being here his Dad had his back. Delicate Emerald had more or less tried to either make his life a living hell, or to get rid of him. Which his going to the academy was going to fit in nice with getting rid of him. Although he knew that it wasn’t how she wanted to do it. She was fine with either selling him off to some older low ranking noble as a toy, or sending him to the front lines of whichever war the kingdom was engaged with.

That was just how she was. There wasn’t any real way that she was going to change, and he knew that. He couldn’t bring himself to call her his mom. She was Delicate Emerald, and that was all. He was certain that she was his biological mother in this dumpster fire of a game world, but she was an absolutely shit person. Every single time he looked at her he felt sorry for his Dad. He’d had to marry her, and of course he had to deal with her.

Maybe it was worth it in the fact that his brothers and younger sister had come from her, but he couldn’t be certain. He shook his head, “Yeah,” he said after a moment of composing himself, “Some of it is petty revenge. I’m fine with admitting that. But not all of it is. Delicate Emerald certainly deserves all of the hate she gets. If I can make my Dad’s life better, just a little bit, and of course stick it to her at the same time, then I’ll call that a win.”

He saw Artemis shake her head, “Then I will construct your ship for you. The rest of the avatars are taking down the structural designs of the ship as they’re gathering the treasure as well. What we will build will be similar, but far better in every regard,” she stated as she helped him move the load they’d already packed, “In truth, I believe that I can have a ship constructed like this in a mere seven days. I wouldn’t even need to use all of my avatars to do it.”

He blinked before following her, “Wait, seven days?” he asked as they moved forward, “What do you mean in just seven days? From what I understand it takes weeks, maybe months, to construct these things.”

Her smile only brightened, “That’s because they’re being constructed by humans that are working within the limitations of their biology. Effectively, they’re unable to work as fast as I can, nor are they able to perfectly measure and cut everything without tools. I am able to do so. It could be six days, but I will need to clear the lumber and create fasteners for it as well.”

Hearing this made him take a moment to really consider Artemis. From what she’d just said there was little doubt that she could do the work of an entire shipbuilding business, and she could do it with fewer than what Avatars he’d seen. If that was the case then if he really wanted to they could create a ship building business. Sure, he’d have to find a way of replenishing lumber and metals, but it would certainly be steady income.

Not to mention he had absolutely no doubt that she could do it effortlessly. Plus the overhead would be practically non-existent. He stopped himself right there. What he was thinking was despicable. He was considering using her for labor, for a business, and considering all of the profit without thinking about her. Sure, she might go along with it, but he didn’t want to do that to her. He didn’t want to turn into the kind of person that ran something like the call center he had worked at in a previous life.

That business was designed to practically work off of misery. It was meant to allow the people inside to feel like the damned of hell, and he didn’t want her to feel the same. No, he wanted her to feel wanted. Which, he could only guess that she could feel wanted. It was obvious that she was learning quite a bit from him, and he could see some emotion. He had absolutely no doubt that she was sapient.

“Artemis, what’s your thoughts about us, about me?” he asked, “I mean, I’d like to know where you feel that we stand.”

She seemed to freeze for a moment, “Captain, I feel that you are a capable and intelligent being. More to the point you seem to be someone that strives toward your goals, but is willing to help those who have helped you. Additionally I see that you are willing to treat me like an equal and not like a machine of war,” she replied, “Being around you, I’ve been learning, and I’ve been allowing myself to develop emotions. I’m still getting used to them. But, I’ve found that I feel lighter when speaking to you. I enjoy our conversations, and I’ve enjoyed the chance to help you clear this labyrinth. I am hopeful we will get to clear another one.”

He nodded, “I plan on it,” he said as he looked around at the other avatars moving, “So, we’re good, right?”

She moved toward him, sitting down the three heavy sacks of treasure she was carrying, “Yes, we are good,” she replied her voice sounding amused, “I’d say that we’re better than good. I am considering you not only my Captain, but my friend. For an artificial being like me that is a huge step. To know that my Captain, my owner, considers me an equal feels liberating.”

She then stepped closer to him, and he felt her put her arms around him, “I like this feeling, and I like you,” she said, her voice wistful, “May it last your entire lifetime.”

She stepped back, “I doubt that I whomever inherits me will be the same, and at that point I may go forward with the original mission of dealing with new humans.”

He smiled, “So, maybe we need to find a way of keeping me around forever, huh?”

There was a pause in her, “That could be possible,” she almost whispered, “Special energy holds a great deal of potential. It could, in theory, help keep one alive forever.”

Her words stood out to him, and he wondered what kind of research she was going to do now.