The Genesis Game

"Did everyone make it?" Asked Jack breathlessly, his jumpsuit drenched with sweat.

"Yeah, I think so." Replied Seraph. "But where's Rosebud?"

A grinning white mask lifted up off the ground as Rosebud pulled itself up, out from the faint remnants of Jack's trailing shadow. "I'm here cousin."

Seraph quickly looked around trying to get some sense of his location relative to where they needed to go. If the only Designated Safe areas at night time in Hometown were owned buildings and the Inn, the choice was obvious, the would need to secure lodging for themselves for the night if they were to survive.

The city was completely deserted, devoid completely of signs of life. Everywhere that Seraph looked, he could not see a single person out roaming on the streets, nor could he hear the sounds of the night.

Nothing was as Seraph remembered. This was not the city he had once fought and killed for. He remembered the wide streets of polished cobblestone accented and edged by red brick to mark the walking areas. But it was not on cobblestone he walked. His steps feel on flat earth and broken tiles, the streets narrower then he remembered, and the homes and shops he could see all in various states of disrepair. What had been a city of envy had become a city of squalor.

Looking down the street he saw signs and advertising for shops, but the lamp posts outside of each remained low, barely giving off any illumination. Every storefront he saw, and every residence he looked at had the storm shutters pulled tight and locked. The dim light from the lamp posts cast long shadows, and Seraph was reminded of Sadie's warning of the monster's that plagued Hometown at night.

"We don't have time for this." Hissed Sadie as she grabbed Seraph's arm to get his attention. "I refuse to die for you. It's enough that I've brought you this far, he'll understand if I'm forced to abandon you if you can't keep up."

Seraph angrily tore his arm from her grasp. "It's fine. Let's get moving. Jack follow me."

"I'm right behind you man." Replied Jack. "Just a little out of breath, that run was a bit of a killer."

"Rosebud." Commanded Seraph, he had an idea, the Nether Creature was resilient and could offer Jack some protections he wouldn't have otherwise. "Watch out for Jack, occupy his shadow and make sure to stay on him at all times. If he dies, you lose your contact with this world and I will not summon you again."

"Yes cousin." Replied came the reply as Rosebud stepped on to Jack's shadow and descended into it.

"Alright you two." Said Seraph looking first at Jack then Sadie as he began to move down the road, even if things were different then he had remembered, the Inn would still be close to the business district, and they were in the business district, it should be nearby. "We need to get to the Inn, if what Sadie said is true, it's going to be the only place in this city safe for us currently."

"Alright, Seraph." Replied Jack. "I'll keep my eyes open. I'm ready to lay down and sleep this one off anyways, but don't take this the wrong way, but I'm following her."

Seraph turned around and saw that Sadie was taking a turn down a side road in almost the opposite direction he was going.

"Jack's right." Thought Seraph as he ran to catch up with the other two.

Sadie cast a glance behind her, the hint of a smirk on her face when she saw that Seraph had realized his mistake. "Nothing is going to be as you remember Seraph. The Inn used to be nearby, but it was decided that it needed to be moved closer to the entrances to the other dungeon floors in the center of the town."

"Oh my god." Complained Jack loudly, drawing a quick look of rebuke from both Sadie and Seraph. "That's going to take forever, and it's dark now if you guys had forgotten and I can't do another sprint like that, I will literally die if we do."

With how loud the man was being, Seraph briefly considered silencing him before dismissing the idea. Already Seraph's future plans were dependent on the man, and being loud would draw the attention to Jack that Seraph wished to avoid.

"It won't take long, and you will sprint if you need to, because you will die if you don't." Answered Sadie as she looked about in all directions, keeping her head on a swivel as they walked. "But please, hushed voices."

"Are you sure?" Challenged Seraph. Hometown was a massive city, to traverse it on foot was c.u.mbersome and time consuming. Time that Seraph reasoned was not on their side. "We might be better suited attempting to commander one of these shops or houses."

Sadie shook her head. "Those are all considered hard locations. You can't force your way into one. So long as they keep the locks active and the doors shut, the Dungeon honors the designation of Safe. But if they break that seal, the designation of safe ends until the door is shut and locked again. No one is willing to put themselves or their loved ones in danger just because they hear screaming and yelling from the other side of the door. No, it's not an option, we need to get to the Inn."

Seraph was irritated by the answer, but said nothing. He knew that her assessment was right but the distance was worrying.

"How are we going to get there safely?" Asked Seraph as they continued to move.

A sad frown appeared on Sadie's face. "It's not as far as you think." She replied. "This isn't the massive city that you remember. Things are different now, I keep trying to tell you. It's only a few blocks away. A quick five minutes if we stay out of danger and keep a low enough profile to not attract any attention."

With a quick assessment, Seraph realized a terrible thought. The city was much smaller than it had been in the past. Hometown may not have been able to house the entirety of the Human race, but it had accommodated plenty, with room for over a two-hundred thousand people and more once the Elves had been destroyed.

But based on the little they had traveled, and the short distance they still needed to travel to reach the center of Hometown, it seemed to be that the city was many times smaller than it had been.

"Sadie, just how far away is it?" Asked Seraph in hushed tones, nothing yet moving that they could see.

"Once we get to the end of this row of buildings, the street will open up and we will be in the central plaza, you'll be able to see the Inn then and we should be able to make a run for it."

"Close, so close." Thought Seraph as the problem weighed on his mind. "Notification Request: What population can the city of Hometown accommodate?"

Notification: The city of Hometown can house a total of 22,341 persons. Currently 21,543 persons reside in Hometown. Additional lodging can be procured by expanding the Hometown Inn.

The weight hit him, the dungeon was going live soon, and they were already almost at full capacity. A war had been fought over this in his past life, but they had not hit capacity till years into it, not days to weeks.

"Hey lady?" Seraph heard Jack say. "Are you ok?