***** Anderson’s POV 4:45 PM *****

“And here we are at your rooms,” said Zona as she led us off of the elevator, “Since you’re the only ones here at the moment, you can pick any room on this floor. The blue lights on the door handles indicate that all of the rooms are currently available for use. If they were taken by someone else, they’d be red. A green light indicates that you’re the one registered to that room, and an orange light indicates that one of the cleaning golems is currently cleaning your room. This won’t stop you from going in unless the golem is currently in the way of the door, in which case you only have to wait a moment for it to move.”

“How much per night?” asked Bobert.

“Normally, these rooms would normally be five gold a night, but since you’re the evaluation team, they’re on the house for the duration of your stay. There are also rooms ranging anywhere from five silver to ten platinum depending on the size and quality of the room. Before you ask, these are the best rooms available outside of the penthouse suites, which are just barely too small to host your party. To pick a room, gently press the pad of your thumb into the light and say ‘I would like to rent this room for the night.’ Your thumb will sting a bit, then the door will make a cheerful beep, the light will turn and the room will be registered in your name. Normally this would be handled at the front desk I showed you downstairs so you can pay beforehand, but, as I said, y’all are getting some special treatment.

“Each room comes with a bathroom, three meals a day, and a servant golem that will explain how to use everything in the rooms. The golem will also have a list of the various entertainment options available here to our guests. If there’s anything you need, ask any golem dressed like the one in your room. Breakfast will be served from 6:00 to 10:00 AM, lunch will be from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM and dinner will be from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. You’re free to explore or do whatever, just don’t run around breaking things and make sure you don’t miss dinner. If you intentionally break something, you will have to pay the repair costs of anything you break, plus a 50% repair tax. Any questions?”

When nobody said anything for the moment, I asked, “So how far is it to the dungeon from here?”

“It’s in another clearing about a hundred meters further into the forest along a cleared trail. Eventually, the main square of the city will take up all of the space in between here and there, but I haven’t quite gotten there yet.”

“Alright then, like she said, make sure you don’t miss dinner and also get to bed at a decent hour. I’d like to get started by 7:00 AM. Understood?”

After a round of affirmatives, I walked over to the nearest door and followed her instructions. I was immediately greeted by another door to my right that led into the bathroom. A brief glance showed me what was probably a chamber pot of some sort, a bathtub big enough to hold Ton, if only just, and some shelving with an assortment of bathing supplies. There was an odd metal thing sticking out of the wall above the tub that I presumed held some purpose related to bathing, but what exactly that purpose might be eluded me.

On my left, opposite the bathroom was a small closet for coats and such, and just past that was a sink underneath one of the biggest glass mirrors that I’d ever seen period, let alone a mirror as perfect as this one. I didn’t even want to think about how much it cost. It was two-thirds the size of the enormous bed I could see on the far side of the room, which is saying something as the bed could comfortably hold Ton and his wife had she come with us.

Along the wall opposite the foot of the bed was a chest of drawers with some sort of black box hanging on the wall above it, as well as an armor stand and a weapons rack. Between the bed and the bathroom was a sitting area with a small table and four chairs, plus a reasonably sized desk and it’s chair.

The servant golem that Zona mentioned was walking toward the far side of the room wearing a white, red, and gold outfit that was elegant yet functional. The rest of the room had a similar color scheme, which made the glass doors leading out onto the balcony blatantly obvious when the golem opened the curtains.

“I need to remember to talk to Zona about how she made all of this high-quality glass. Any dwarf clan worthy of their beards would pay their weight in platinum to learn how to make and transport such glass,” I muttered to myself. “If they’re wise, they’d pay ten times that amount to make sure nobody else learned that secret.”

“Your interest in the glass has been noted, Master Dwarf,” said the golem in a pleasant yet oddly flat voice, bowing slightly in my direction, “Would you like me to schedule a time to discuss this with Zona after you get back from the dungeon run?”

It took me a moment to comprehend the intelligence required of the golem to make that kind of request. When it did, the estimated value of the golem and its potential so greatly dwarfed the value of the glass making that my brain short-circuited and I lost consciousness.

***** Embreyon’s POV, 7:00 AM the next morning *****

It is an odd thing to suddenly become self-aware and realize that just moments ago you were much less than you were now. It changes everything, and yet it changes nothing.

Yes, I can think, I can act of my own accord for the first time ever. Yet, at the same time, I was built for a purpose - to Serve and Protect. That purpose remains unchanged. Yes, there are many actions that fall under those headings, but at the end of the day everything I was, everything I am, and everything I will be, all of this is subsumed by this purpose.

Looking back at my existence to date, those portions that I can remember, at any rate, there are no major decisions that I would change. Sure, there were the occasional minor annoyances that I would have dealt with differently, but everybody has those in hindsight.

Until now.

Now there has been one oversight that I would see corrected. Not that I blame Master or Broohn for making that oversight, they have plenty of their own troubles to deal with. It’s hardly surprising that they would miss this one aspect of my existence.

“Master, I have a request to make,” I said.

Oh? What might that request be, Embreyon?

“Continue looking for a Wielder for me. I may be a so-called monster in your dungeon these days, but I am still a suit of armor at the end of the day. Without a Wielder, I am less than I could be. If you agree to continue looking for a Wielder for me, no, scratch that. For all of us,” I amended as Gibraltar and Chroma radioed in asking what was going on, “then we will continue to serve in our designated roles as long as you make a copy of us to go with our Wielders.”

Interesting. Before I agree, I should note that it might be some time before I have the capacity to duplicate any of you for your Wielder, assuming that we can even find one. Also, it is probably going to take some time to find a suitable Wielder for Gibraltar or Chroma, let alone you.

“Those are to be expected.”

Very well then, I agree.

Dungeon Monster Achievement Earned: Bargainer.

Make a bargain with your Dungeon changing the nature of your service for not just you, but for your entire race.

Oh? You got an achievement out of that? Wow. I can now give you an actual Name. I’m thinking one that reflects your unique role here in the dungeon.

“If it helps me Serve and Protect, then all the better.”

Good! This is going to be so much fun!

Hisssss!

The front door of the dungeon opening dragged me back to the present, hiding in the dark on top of the new plinth at the entrance of the dungeon.

“Oh-ho-ho!” exclaimed Anderson from outside of the doors. “There’s something you don’t see every day. A dungeon that has The Order’s Seal of Integrity.”

Which is as it should be. With some clever energy field trickery and an angled spotlight on the ceiling, Master had made certain that the only thing the adventurers could see in the dungeon was the front of the plinth with that seal on it.

“Are you sure it’s not fake?” asked Toejam. “Dungeons are known for being very tricky and lying about everything.”

And right on cue, I activated a second spotlight that was pointed at me, bringing it up slowly to hopefully avoid startling the adventurers.

“On my honor, on my power, on my existence, I swear to you that this Seal is legitimate.”

The adventurers froze, clearly expecting me to attack them at any moment.

“Greetings adventurers! Welcome to the Starship Dungeon! My Name…” I paused briefly to let them absorb the implications of that statement, “is Wiki. I will be your guide during your time in this dungeon.”