Chapter 4 of 35 · Book 4, The Gate of the Feral Gods

Chapter 4 — The Royal Chariot; Ifechi

Book: The Gate of the Feral Gods · Previous: Chapter 3 — A goose from the sky · Next: Chapter 5 — Rapid Detox · Floor: Floor 5 — The Bubbles · Series: the series

Opening

It didn’t take long to build the rickety, compartmental vehicle.

Summary

Two hours at the engineering and metalworking tables with Katia's downloaded engine knowledge — 'Like I'm tapped directly into Wikipedia' — produce a snowmobile-tracked ATV with two rubber front wheels and a silent train-cart engine, which Donut names before it is built: the Royal Chariot, a Tracked All-Terrain Suicide Machine ('this thing will do an impressive impersonation of a catapult the moment it hits a rock'). It comes apart into two halves for inventory; Katia gets an achievement for inventing it and does not want to be called Katia Prime. Katia wonders what it means for a society that anyone can drink expertise. Donut's Earth Hobby, scutelliphily, is still a mystery. On the test run the Wasteland is off its schedule and over the Bactrian town, flares go up, Hump Town's four-barrelled anti-aircraft gun uncovers, and the bombs fall on the distant town. Mordecai and Donut have bought two dromedarian bazookas and ten unguided rockets; a chemical drive Mordecai can reverse-engineer, and Surefires to guide them.

Saferooms, per Mordecai: not every bar is one (about half, unless the proprietor is a Bopca); the Toe is not; and a saferoom protects Borant's NPCs only while a crawler is inside it, which is why Growler Gary died in his own bar. There is something about 'primary and secondary zones' he will not discuss. The recap: Miriam Dom knocking out a province boss and Prepotente stacking debuffs until Quan Ch wakes it and flees; Carl's fight with Grull, with the Maestro mentioned once and Brandy and Tizquick cut; and a tribute to Ifechi — a woman, Katia says at once, an African medic with a Red Cross bag who entered with a party of soldiers, joined Florin, an Australian-accented 'private security' man with a modified automatic shotgun, and killed with a staff that flings leeches, which Florin, a crocodilian, ate for tripled buffs. They were lovers. At an empty stairwell station Lucia Mar — her beautiful form, a limp, her dogs Cici (twice the size now) and Gustavo 3 — throws a boy at Florin, hears an insult to her father that nobody spoke, and talks to someone who is not there. Ifechi casts a protection spell on Florin and the boy, not herself. Florin shoots Lucia and both dogs, unhurt, and Ifechi's head is gone: Lucia's Rubber spell, cast on Ifechi's head, reflected every shot. Florin's last shot into Lucia's temple is reflected into his own; the boy ices the floor and flees; Lucia and the dogs slide down the stairwell laughing. A golden skull forms over Florin's head for the kill. Mordecai: the show had been editing her spell out until now, and it has a vulnerability — 'They might want her killed.' 'You will not break me. Fuck you all. I will break you.'

The leaderboard: Lucia Mar 1 (1,000,000 x2), Carl 2 (500,000 x2), Prepotente 3, Donut 4, Quan Ch 5 at level 43, the Popov brothers 6, Miriam Dom 7, Elle 8, Bogdon Ro 9, Florin 10; Katia is off it and relieved. Lucia rolled a frozen land quadrant with a stepped pyramid; Prepotente and Miriam a shelf of rock under a spider nest; Florin sat down in the wheel room with Ifechi's staff across his lap and did not spin. 'We need to put her down.' 'I call dibs on the dogs.'

Characters

• Carl — Builds the Chariot; the mantra with its new last line; 'part of me was happy that there was nothing I could do.'
• Katia Grim — Designs the tracks; 'I know it, but I don't know, know it'; sees that Ifechi is a woman; off the list and glad.
• Princess Donut — Names the Chariot; Fancy Feast from a cabinet; 'I call dibs on the dogs.'
• Mordecai — Saferoom rules; reads Lucia's spell as Rubber, at least level ten.
• Mongo — A pet biscuit.
• Ifechi — A medic, a woman, a leech staff; killed by her partner's reflected shots.
• Florin — A mercenary with a shotgun; shoots Ifechi in the head through Lucia's spell; a golden skull; does not spin the wheel.
• Lucia Mar — Rubber on Ifechi's head; talks to someone who is not there; 'I told you I'd do it.'
• Prepotente — Stacking debuffs; third on the board; a cave shelf under spiders.
• Miriam Dom — Knocks a province boss out; seventh.
• Quan Ch — Wakes the boss and runs; level 43, the highest.
• Elle McGibbons — Back at eighth; bounty not doubled.
• Prince Maestro — Named once by the recap as Grull's driver.
• The Popov brothers — Sixth: Nodling Illusionist and Bogatyr.
• Bogdon Ro — Ninth: a human Legatus.

Locations

• The Royal Palace of Princess Donut — The engineering and metalworking tables at level two.
• The bowl — The Bactrian town bombed; the AA gun on Hump Town's wall.
• Safe rooms — Half the bars; NPCs protected only with a crawler present.

Motifs

• The Royal Chariot — Built, named, tested.
• The Dirigible Gnomes — The Wasteland over the wrong town; a bombing.
• The leaderboard — Lucia 1, Carl 2 at 500,000 (x2); Katia off.
• The show — Brandy and Tizquick cut from the recap; Lucia's spell edited out until now.
• 'You're not going to break me' — 'I will break you.'
• Race and class — Crocodilians triple buffs from eating; Lajabless halves the day.
• Staying human — Ifechi's protection spell cannot be cast on herself; Donut: nobody stayed for the thrown boy.