A Robotic Overmind for a Dungeon

I slowly push the double doors open which reveals the small corridor of the subway station. The corridor is rusted and ruined similarly to the stairs, the notable exception being the walls are much more intact compared to the crumbling walls of the stairways. In the far end of the corridor where the train rails should be sits a dormant train that seems to have shut down mid-docking and is thus only being half way in the station.

Stepping fully into the station along with my drones, I hear growls coming from both on my left and right sides of me. Then four feral hounds pounce out and onto my forearms which causes me to stumble back into the stairs. My own hound quickly jumps in and starts to tear off the feral hounds and manage to pry off one feral on my left and both on my right. Taking advantage of my right arm's newfound freedom, I curl up my hand into a fist and slam it into the final feral hounds snout knocking it back and making it easy prey for my own.

I have the rest of my hounds rush forward into the corridor and they quickly do so, forming a perimeter in the process. Then my scorpions and I follow them in while checking around for more feral hounds waiting to ambush me. Finding none to the left side of the corridor I turn over to my right and see another group of about seven feral hounds who are grouping up near the train where I can see more hounds exiting from. I quickly set up my scorpions to have clear firing angles right before the, now twelve, hounds began running towards my drones and I.

My five scorpions having just set up were not completely prepared for the incoming charge but fired anyway, three of which managed to hit their targets. This did not deter the nine remaining feral hounds as they charged forward into my line of hounds. Though being outnumbered, the feral hounds put up quite a fight taking down four of my own hounds before finally succumbing from the onslaught of claws and bites. With that batch of hounds dealt with I call over a half dozen of my hornets to come down here and drag the stunned hounds over to the other one.

Turning my focus back to the corridor I spot a door labeled "Employees Only". Walking over to the door I see a door lock on the left side of the handle. Grabbing onto the handle anyway I attempt to pull it back to which the door responds by stubbornly staying closed. Turning around I call over one of the hornets that have just arrived and they dutifully break off from the rest of their compatriots. "Hey, do you mind firing at that lock?" I ask the hornet who responds by cocking its abdomen and with a "thunk," the hornet flies back over to its friends.

Spinning back around to the now lockless door I actually find that it was a push door and it might have not been locked in the first place. Chuckling to myself I peer into the room and spot two machines that look like they are barely holding it together and are nearing their breaking point. In Fact the left machine is sputtering and as it does the lights flicker accordingly.

The machine on the left has many pipes going in and out of the top and right sides of its body. The pipes at the top go straight up and into the ceiling, presumably to go to the surface since I did not see any other buildings connected to the entrance of the subway. The pipe on the right side of the machine connects straight to the machine on the right. Inspecting the left machine further, it refers to itself as A "Moisture Extractor."

The machine on the right is quite plain in comparison but seems slightly more intact and functioning than its counterpart. The only external features of the mechanical box were the many cables streaming out from its various ports which then connected to the walls. Inspecting the machine like the last one, I see that it is a "Hydrogen Generator" which explains why they are connected to the moisture extractor.

I called over my spider repair team to start patching up these two machines with whatever we brought with us. Walking out of the room and to the subway train, my hounds and I cautiously peek our heads through the doors. Spotting nothing out of the ordinary in the first cart, I fully step into the train and begin making my way to the next cart. This continued for another three carts before I came upon a door with strange markings dotting all across it.

Opening the doors slowly as to not create much sound, the door reveals three hounds. One of the hounds is strangely enough colored purple and is flanked by the two other hounds who are considerably larger than a normal one. The three hounds notice me and my entourage and the two larger hounds begin to growl at us, to which my own hounds reply in kind. But before the two hound bodyguards could start a fight, the purple hound speaks up.

"You've cut quite a swath through my underlings, I'm impressed." The purple hound says in a distinctly feminine voice while looking at my lead hound strangely enough. Also, since when could drones speak normally?

Putting those questions aside I look over to my veteran hound who looks back to me as if questioning me if they should reply. Giving my hound the go-ahead, they bark out a few times which seems to bewilder the purple hound. Then one of her bodyguard hounds seems to translate for her which causes them to start an internal discussion. "What do you mean he's not in charge? He says the big man's the boss? Who in their right mind would let the stupid bots be in charge?"

I clear my throat with a "ehem," which seems to have jostled the purple hound out of their thoughts. "Anyways forgetting what you just said, I am here to ask a few questions and more importantly demands. Would you be so kind as to listen up?" The purple hound, realizing her situation, decides to do as I say.

"Now right up to business, why have you been attacking the Tower Tribe's citizens?"

The purple hound hesitates for a second before answering with a mutter, "Because they were annoying me."

Frowning to myself I ask my follow up question, "And what were they doing to annoy you?"

"They were entering my territory and stealing my stuff. I couldn't let that slide." The purple hound says to try and defend herself.

"Alright, how about this. I will go over to the tower tribe to stop doing this but then you and your buddies will become vassals of mine. You can still live here but no attacking me or the tribesmen, agreed? If not, there's the slightly less peaceful option if you would like." I say with a smile.

"O-okay, I will agree to your terms." The purple hound says with poorly hidden sadness in her voice.

"Alright then, pleasure doing business." I say with a chiper tone while walking out of the train. I also leave five of my own hounds with the purple hound, one of which is my veteran hound. Before walking up the stairs to the surface I send my scout rats to begin mapping out the subway tunnels.