It was really just instinct that led Marianna to learn how to move her new crystal body. Her desire to live, and through it her desire to eat, drove her to concentrate every single atom of her brain into moving this giant blue hulk.

And it floated slowly, even slower than the Overseers, towards her target. Her body flickered, glowing a fainter blue than before, and Marianna struggled against the weight of the world as she willed herself on.

The Red Core did not seem to be having the same issue as her. It continued to float peacefully, with its steady pulsing. And Marianna slowly approached it.

She could feel her body shutting down, caving to the exponentially increasing pain. Was she to die suffering?

She gazed at the Red Core with starving eyes. The alert just said she needed to consume life, right? So the non-sentient crystal counts, right? Right!?!

It didn’t matter anymore. There was barely any time for Mari to get anywhere, and since she’d already committed to her decision, all that was left was to find out if it was the right one.

The cores were nearly touching now, and Marianna sent one last conscious command to her twin core.

Open!

The hatch on the side of the red hedron slid open, and Mari could see a large pulsing red orb. Though she wasn’t sure if she could eat it, she instinctively knew how to feed herself. She opened her hatch and, feeling like she was pushing a boulder up a hill, rolled her own core forward.

The cores touched, sparking ferociously. The Red Core seemed to understand what was happening now, and it tried to close its shell’s hatch. But Mari’s core was already inside, and attacking.

But it didn’t put up too much of a fight. As she forced herself harder into the hard orb, it began to disentegrate. And the dust left behind became absorbed by Marianna.

And it tasted good.

The starving pain that plagued her and consumed her thoughts lessened. And then it started to change into something else entirely. It became… pure bliss. Mari had never tasted anything so good! If there was anything holy in life, it was most certainly this taste.

Has food always been the meaning of life? Or is the meaning of food only seen when life is on the line? She wondered as her body slowly bit deeper into the Red Core’s. Its pulsing slowed to a crawl, and when Mari was halfway through, the pulse stopped entirely. The shell, with Mari in it, dropped to the floor, rolling her out of it. The destroyed half-orb came clunking out behind her, and then she realized.

I just… killed something. I just killed something… to eat it. Marianna wasn’t sure what emotion she was feeling anymore. Was it guilt? Or maybe grief? Could the heavy feeling in her metaphorical chest really just be satisfaction?

Core Marianna Alert

You are now full.

Core Marianna Alert

You have reached Dungeon Core Tier 2.

The heavy feeling sat with her, and she barely registered the new notifications. When she looked at the corpse of her twin core, and its empty shell, she felt a twinge she couldn’t place, and the feeling grew heavier.

Is there something I can do? Can I at least… cover it with a rug or something?

Alert

Creating rug...

Cost: 150 energy, travelers’ clothes.

The clothing which had been lying on the ground with the bones popped out of existence, and Marianna’s energy counter dropped to 850/1000. Wait, 850? Hadn’t she been at a maximum of 500 before? Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a fine silver-trimmed black rug. It floated down from the air before her, and landed on top of the Red Core’s remnants.

Well, that’s better, at least… Though I still feel really guilty.

But there wasn’t much she could do. The intense pain Mari had felt had consumed her mind, and she’d eaten her twin without remorse. Well, without remorse until now. But the rug helped. At least she didn’t have to see what she’d done. Yes, it was only a lumpy rug. No dead magic crystals underneath…

Marianna rolled her small round body back towards the still-floating dull blue shell, and somehow willed herself into the air. She floated up, and into the hatch inside her own shell, sealing it once more. Could anybody else open it besides her? Did she open the Red Core’s or did it simply respond to her command? She had to be sure.

Lock my shell’s hatch! She thought, not really expecting a result.

Core Marianna Alert

Confirmed. Locking…

Please choose a pass-key.

Pleasantly surprised, Marianna thought humorously, Well, there’s only one key I know of… and it’s confidence!

Core Marianna Alert

Confirmed.

‘Confidence’ is now key.

The hatch crack glowed, and white light emitted from it. When Mari’s Overseer was no longer blinded, she could see that the crystal had now become perfectly smooth, and there were no more imperfections upon its flat surface.

Well, I guess it’s time to figure out how I’m going to feed myself next time that happens… Oh yeah, and what’s this Tier 2 deal?

Having never swiped away the notifications, Mari suddenly rediscovered them underneath the recent ones.

Core Marianna Alert

As a Tier 2 Dungeon Core, you may now access new structures and creations. In addition, you’ve become stronger, gaining a larger energy cap, the capability for magic, and learning the ‘Possess’ skill. As long as one of your servants is within your domain, you may enter their body, controlling them without their knowledge.

Wow! I’m not sure I want to possess people, but the other perks seem cool! Mari was excited to see the new options. So how am I going to feed myself? She swiped away the alert, and another one became visible behind it.

Core Marianna Alert

You’ve consumed a dungeon core. Your lifeforce storage is currently full. You will be sated for thirty days of standard operation.

So she had a month to go before she needed to find more food… Well that was a pretty long time! Since the whole core-consumption thing worked out, she might as well keep trying for those. Then again… Mari had no idea how common dungeon cores actually were…

She had a sudden thought. I know! I’ll call Miradeen to help me answer some questions. She quickly maximized the viewport which displayed the Ratmen’s room, and she gasped. They’d already constructed a small dwelling, and it had only been a few hours!

Could it be that Rat people were super efficient? She looked around the room, but all the denizens were sleeping soundly. She guessed it wasn’t a good time to bother them, considering they must still only be recovering from their harsh journey.

And that reminded her of how mentally exhausted she was. Mari decided it was a good idea to get some rest herself, and decided to try to rest. She minimized the viewport, and closed her eyes.

To her surprise, sleep came easy.

And she dreamed.

Marianna was in her old body, sitting on her old bed, in her old apartment. She gazed around at the tattered wallpaper, breathing the familiar smells of spices drifting in from the apartment next door. She smiled. Little old Mrs. Minchetti really knew how to cook. Mari could tell from across the hall that whatever she was baking was going to be absolutely delicious. Her mouth watered at the thought.

But she was taken away from the scent when she heard the weeping. It was muffled by her bedroom door, but Mari could tell it was a woman. She crossed the room quickly. Who would be in her apartment without her knowledge? And why were they crying? She reached to open the door, but instead stumbled… straight through it.

In the living room, on a couch before a low wooden table, surrounded by people she knew, sat Marianna’s mother. She was holding a box of tissues in her left hand, and dabbing fiercely at her eyes with her right. She was gazing sadly at a picture of her daughter resting on the table before her. Next to it sat a picture of her dad. He’d been gone for years. Though Mari was upset at him for disappearing the way he did, her mother always said that he must have gotten lost and wouldn’t have left without letting them know why. But Mari was only eight at the time, and barely remembered her father. She remembered him being kind, but not much more. She also wasn’t sure if the memory she had of him showing her a globe and telling her “The world is always bigger than it seems” was real or not. But her mother still cherished his memory, assuming he’d been murdered and his body buried.

Mari tried to call out to her mother, but she couldn’t speak. She could only watch, as a tall man made his way through the crowd. His steely blue eyes seemed to pierce directly where Mari was standing as he excused himself from the groups of family friends that sat in sorrow.

And he was dressed in a pinstriped suit.

The man sat next to Mari’s mother, and rested a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sure she’s just off on an adventure, Mrs. Torez. It’s only been two days since she’s gone missing.” He ran a finger across her mother’s forehead, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, before taking the tissue away from her, and handing her another from the box in her hand.

Mari’s mother sniffled. “Thank you, Detective Delaney. But my daughter has never forgotten to close up the shop in the five months since she was made manager.” She took the proffered tissue, dabbing her eye again. “And she always calls me when she gets home from work… I just… can’t see her forgetting to call.”

Oops. Marianna thought, sadly watching her mother mourn her missing daughter. I’ve become my father…

She tried once more to call out, but Detective Delaney glanced up, and her voice caught in her throat.

He was definitely looking at her.

She awoke the next morning, breathing ragged, and mental hands trembling.