savetheearth | [Computer, Audio Only]

[Computer, Audio Only]

For anyone in Vegas, if you find an opening into that mountain, don't go in it.

[There's a clink of ice against glass, a muttered curse in a language that's not English, liquid pouring.]

There could be a dragon inside.

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By that same token, we really don't need a Surprise Dragon popping out of a mountain in the middle of a populated city.

There should be a way to confirm it somehow, right?

Probably, but things are still too patchy even with all of us being from the same group to know how to "really" test it. We've been getting a lot of crap like weapons and fighting skills and memories of battles, not... dragon-baiting tips.

[Which is seeming kind of important right now.]

But even in this time there's that whole idea about what happens if you wake a sleeping dragon, and there's a goddamn city that never sleeps on the mountain now...

So this... this mountain. You're sure its tied to your group?

[ This is certainly a wholly new phenomenon. First Anthony, now this... There's a beat before she continues. ] At the very least, some of us have gotten things about and for fighting giant monsters, so... that's something to consider.

[ Even giant robots! Which even the stuffy Lily has to admit is a pretty awesome mental image. ] ...that's a good point, though. Sometimes, metaphors exist for a reason - just never thought it'd be so literal in this case.

At the same time, it can't just be ignored, right?

Positive. [There's a very heavy sigh.] I got a pulse off it, walking up to it on a really important day. Same ruined city, same gates, same giant statues... everything. We had to find a secret entrance so we didn't piss him off and get eaten or roasted alive.

[Fucking dragons, man.]

Right. But aside from deliberately trying to wake him up and make him bust out, I don't know what else to do about it.

You had a secret entrance? [ A beat. ] Probably a dangerous question, but do you know just where that entrance is? Even if you don't plan on doing anything with it right now, it's... probably a good thing to keep in mind, at least.

[ She's stating the obvious, of course, but the rolling confirmation of someone knowing something about this weirdness is at least remotely comforting, somehow. ]

...you're right, though. And even if the dragon isn't there, just what do we all do with a mountain?

No, I don't. [That is a complete lie; he's the only one with any pulses about the door at all, although until less than a day ago he didn't know where it was. But he's not about to go telling anyone he doesn't know well about it - it was secret for a reason, after all - and he's not changing tone as he says it, still fairly neutral verging on oh god not again.] And even if I did, I know we needed some special stuff to find it and open it - some kind of map, I think, and something... something else...

[So, even if he was willing to tell where it was, they still couldn't get in because they don't have the equipment.]

If we need to, there's always dynamite.

...Live in it, probably. That's what we did - there's a whole city in there.

Well, worse thing, I guess the possibility of a stronghold when the rest of the world wants us dead is... a potential good thing.

[ She's only half joking. ]

Besides the dragon, anyway.

Do you know anything else about it besides, well. Dragon basics?

That's honestly the best idea I've got about it. The place is huge, so even all of us on the Network probably wouldn't fit in more than a corner of it. Though some of the rooms'd probably be pretty small for a lot of people.

[Because you know. Dwarves.]

Nothing specific, but I can take some guesses. It's a dwarven kingdom, and all of us have gotten stuff like weapons and crafting pulses out the ass, so there's probably forges and barracks and stuff in there. In that last life, I know my brother was the king of that place, and getting it back was more or less his driving compulsion in life.

Beggars can't be choosers, you know. I think all things considered, there are worse options out there if everything goes to hell.

[ Or, you know. When. ]

...all of that would certainly be worth investigating, if not for the. You know. Dragon. It--

[ There's a pause and it sounds like her words are being choked off for a second. Don't be too alarmed, it's just an echo! ] ...oh. Well.

Okay. I guess I can relate on the who... "fighting a dragon" thing, now. Pulses have the worst timing, I swear to god...

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