Chapter 81 of 99 · Book 8, A Parade of Horribles

Chapter 81 — Scolopendra's first attack: the Beast of Burden Sin

Book: A Parade of Horribles · Part: Horrible One · Previous: Chapter 80 — The final heat: the lobby · Next: Chapter 82 — Karl the dachshund; Team Sparkles ends · Floor: Floor 10 — Don't Come in Last · Series: the series

Opening

“Fuck you!” I shouted at the ceiling, rage filling me.

Summary

Carl shouts at the ceiling that the AI did this on purpose. Louis asks what to do, and Jurgen tells him that if he is against Lucia he cannot let her die. Chris wishes he had taken a deal; Elle explains that the Tracksuit Troika said they were taking one and lied. Then the AI screams a System Message: Scolopendra has released the first of nine attacks. It curses Prime Minister Victory, Eris, Odette, General Yuhtan and Carl in turn — 'You put me here, and you gave me dominion. […] Let me show you what dominion means.'

Giddy and glitching again, it issues a New Quest, The Nine-Tier Attack. The attacks hit the Scolopendra levels and every level with crawlers (the woman on the sixteenth and those on the seventeenth spared), while the in-game Scolopendra's attacks stay inside the dungeon. The first several are temporary and survivable, and the first has only a 20% chance to hit anyone unprotected; at least thirty hours will pass between assaults unless she is confronted or further upset; the reward is revealed only at the ninth. Rosetta warns that the garage cannot reach the safe room until the heat starts.

A wheel of nine symbols in the lobby lands on the ox, and a second wheel, green with a red sliver, spins before each of them — Samantha, somehow in the truck, included. Donut, Jamal and Samantha get green; Carl gets red: the Beast of Burden Sin, Transformation, lasting until the next stairwell for crawlers and six hours for NPCs, a level 20 spell. Carl blacks out for five seconds and wakes shrunk and quadruped, his items unequipped, smelling everything, with a Quadruped Actions menu and his Slugpox still uncured. Donut, huge above him, hisses, ready to claw him; Samantha likes this even more than the kangaroo, and he barks at her.

Characters

• Carl — 'Fuck you! You did this on purpose!'; Plan Crust; red on the wheel; a dachshund.
• Princess Donut — 'You always think of something'; 'Carl, I’m scared'; green.
• Samantha — Somehow in the truck; green; 'Can I pet you?'
• Jamal — Green.
• Louis and Firas — 'Guys, what do we do?'
• Jurgen — 'If you are against Lucia, you can’t let her die.'
• Chris — 'I should have taken a deal.'
• Imani — 'You can just fuck off with that.'
• Elle McGibbons — The Troika lied about a deal.
• Rosetta Thagra — The safe room will not open in time.
• The System AI — Screams: 'You put me here, and you gave me dominion'; then giddy, glitching.
• Scolopendra — 'She is nature […] She is inevitable.'

Locations

• The L'Engle Building — A wheel of nine symbols in the lobby lands on the ox.

Motifs

• The nine-tier attack — Part one of nine; 20%; thirty hours between unless she is upset.
• The AI's confessions — 'I don’t actually know! Let’s find out!'
• The Sluggalos — 'You seriously haven’t cured yourself of Slugpox yet?'