Chapter 53 of 78 · Book 5, The Butcher's Masquerade

Chapter 53 — Iota

Book: The Butcher's Masquerade · Part: The Unhinged Child · Previous: Chapter 52 — Gehenna Bramble · Next: Chapter 54 — The blood bar · Floor: Floor 6 — The Hunting Grounds · Series: the series

Opening

We left Tina whimpering in the clearing as we approached the fallen hunter, who continued

Summary

Hunter Iota, Crafter, level 50, Coin Tinker, of the Crafter Alliance — a hairy, heart-headed cousin of the soothers with four pierced red nipples in a line down his chest, one leg gone above the knee, drunk for hours — was teleported out of a saferoom pub into a pack of raptors. His story, told under Carl's foot with a nipple ring torn out for emphasis: the hunters' families sued to void their contracts after the regency change; Circe Took brought the suit to save her daughter; the court ruled they could leave; they were celebrating when a five-paragraph notice from the AI nullified the judgement 'by the authority of some long law' — it makes its own rules now, and they are here until the floor ends. 'It's going primal.' Rumour: the mantises must retire their amusement-park AIs every season, and sold Borant a used one under the table, which is why it is going primal so early. What the council will do: nothing — shut it down and lose the money? The showrunners step back, the AI follows its own rules for a while, the rich in Club Scolopendra on the eighteenth floor keep security in orbit, 'nobody ain't gonna really get hurt except you guys.' Its first step is always refusing court orders it dislikes; this one 'likes the drama' — 'What’re the odds that ‘random’ means right into your lap?' Thirty-odd accountants sit in Zockau getting blitzed because nobody will turn a profit this season. 'I'm not even mad at you. I'd probably do the same thing.' Carl crushes his chest before he finishes a sentence. Intelligence: three points. 'Congratulations, Murderer' — four stat points a kill now.

Characters

• Iota — A drunk Crafter accountant who explains the primal AI and dies mid-sentence.
• Carl — Starts to like the man; kills him with his foot; the ring at four a kill.
• Princess Donut — 'YOU'RE DOING IT AGAIN. KILL HIM NOW.'
• Kiwi — Barks at Tina, who cries and bounces in a tantrum.
• Big Tina — A tantrum because she may not eat them.
• Circe Took — Sued to free her daughter; the AI overruled the court.

Locations

• The Selva — A clearing of raptors, a whimpering allosaurus, a hunter's blood in the mud.

Motifs

• The System AI — Going primal: a used mantis AI that now refuses court orders; 'it likes the drama.'
• The hunters — Thirty accountants in a bar; a contract voided and unvoided.
• The Ring of Divine Suffering — Four points a kill.
• The Syndicate — Club Scolopendra on the eighteenth; security in orbit; the council's procedures.