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  Cherry and I left the printing room, ducking through the low doorway that led back into the main sewer tunnels. The temperature dropped immediately, and the sound of rushing water grew louder. Emergency lighting strung along the ceiling provided just enough illumination to navigate.

  As we walked through the winding passages, our footsteps echoing off the curved walls, Cherry finally broke the silence. "Is it weird for you, having another 'Liz' around?"

  "Not really. I mean, I don't call you 'Liz' here."

  "Yeah, what's up with that? Even when we're alone, you call me 'Cherry'!"

  "You only call me 'Jack', like, half the time!" I pointed out. "It's just... the spirit of the situation! We're in a game, so using our character names feels right! Why, do you feel threatened? Is Liz gonna steal your rizz?"

  Cherry scoffed. "Please! She couldn't if she tried!"

  "I'll be sure to tell her that."

  The Sewer People had claimed more than just the printing room for their operations. The walls of the tunnels were marked with chalk symbols to guide the knowers around, and we made our way deep into the deserted northwestern corner of the place.

  As we walked, a muffled boom shook the tunnel, sending ripples across the sewage channel. We glanced at each other, then turned into a chalk-marked side tunnel. Another explosion followed, this one accompanied by a distant whoop of triumph.

  The tunnel opened into a long chamber that must have been some kind of maintenance storage area originally. The Sewer People - or more specifically, the FUN Rangers - had transformed it into a workshop and testing facility. Tables cluttered the corners, covered in half-assembled contraptions, tools, and components I couldn't begin to identify. Storage chests were tucked underneath, padlocked and labeled.

  But the real spectacle was the obstacle course stretching down the length of the chamber. Someone had built a miniature urban environment out of scrap wood and salvaged materials - walls to take cover behind, windows to shoot through, elevated platforms, even a mock storefront. Scorch marks decorated most surfaces, and several sections showed recent repair work.

  At the near end of the course, a woman crouched on one knee with a rifle aimed down range. She wore goggles over roughly-cut, partially singed hair, bulky leather work clothes, and a vest covered in pouches. Her finger wasn't on the trigger - instead, she was making adjustments to the zoom of her scope, tongue poking out in concentration. When she was satisfied, she held perfectly still as she reached into one of her belt pouches and pulled out what looked like a pen, then clicked the button on top.

  The far end of the obstacle course disappeared in a ball of fire. Debris flew in all directions. The shockwave hit us a moment later, hot air ruffling our clothes and carrying the smell of burnt wood and chemicals.

  "Yeah!" Liz jumped to her feet, pumping her fist in the air. "That's what I love to see! Beautiful!"

  Cherry and I clapped.

  Liz spun around at the sound, her face lighting up with a grin that showed too many teeth. "Oh hey guys!" She quickly despawned her rifle and pulled her goggles up to her forehead. Come to think of it, in addition to the 'Liz' thing, she looked a lot like Cherry - same short, brown, bob-like hairstyle, same rabid energy, and same toothy, slanted grin. But where Cherry directed her intensity outward, focusing on people and their stories, Liz channeled hers into creation and destruction. Cherry dissected social structures; Liz dissected machines and then rebuilt them as bombs.

  She bounded over to us. "Come on, come look at what I've been working on!" She grabbed us each by an arm and dragged us toward the workbenches.

  "What was that?" I asked, gesturing toward the still-smoking crater at the far end of the range.

  "New ordnance we just unlocked! We're hoping it'll be useable in the Citadel. Just imagine throwing that at one of those bosses!"

  She mimed an overhand throw, complete with explosion sound effects.

  "I can see it now: we're up against a... giant crocodile. It's chomping down on people, we throw one of those in and blow its whole head off! They want us to exploit mechanics? Pshhh, I'll make my own mechanics!"

  "What else have you been working on down here?" I asked.

  "Oh, this and that. I've got a new rifle scope with holographic trajectory projections. See, it calculates wind speed, distance, even spell interference, and shows you exactly where your shot will land. Then these-" she picked up some brightly-colored, bulky water-pistol-looking toy guns. "-are cartridge-based element pistols. The fire one has fire shots, Ice ice. Way more efficient than learning 27 different spell classes!"

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  She continued down the table like a proud parent showing off her children. "Proximity mines - still need a way to tell them to differentiate between friend and foe before they'll let me use them in the Citadel. Oh, and my next project is dispensable auto-turrets! But those things are suuuper expensive. We're trying to get the Trade Union to help us make one for testing, but if you're not one of the big guilds, trying to get government resources is..." She threw her hands up in frustration.

  Cherry had wandered over to a corner of the workbench where a pot sat on what looked like a hot plate. "What is this thing?"

  "Oh, that's an auto-cooker!" Liz brightened back up. "Perfectly crafted meals without the cooking level or effort! Check it out!"

  She rushed over and pulled the lid off. Steam billowed out, carrying with it the most incredible smell. Inside, a rich broth bubbled gently, filled with vegetables, meat, and noodles. The aroma was so intense, so perfectly balanced, that for a moment I forgot we were in a sewer. My mouth watered involuntarily.

  "Hot pot, anyone?" Liz asked, already pulling bowls from a chest.

  "I won't say no!" Cherry practically dove for the bowls.

  Liz ladled generous portions into three bowls, making sure each got a good mix of broth and gubbins. Cherry and I immediately started slurping it down. Flavors exploded across my tongue - savory broth, tender meat, perfectly cooked vegetables, spices I couldn't identify but definitely wanted more of. The world faded away. I was no longer in a damp sewer workshop that smelled of explosives and waste. I was in a cozy kitchen, warm and safe, surrounded by friends and good food.

  When I opened my eyes, the bowl was empty. I stared at it in confusion, not remembering finishing it. The harsh reality of the sewer tunnel crashed back - the damp walls, the questionable puddles, the distant sound of rushing waste water. I was hit by the revelation - was it truly better to have loved and lost, or was I better off before I knew there was more beyond the pale walls of this sewer? But my stomach was warm and full, and that counted for something.

  I set the bowl down and cleared my throat, trying to regain some professionalism. "So, we were told you were looking for us?"

  "Yeah!" Liz bounced on her heels. "A few weeks ago I unlocked a crafting recipe, but it was so expensive that I kept putting off making it. But now we've got you two on board, I thought you would be the perfect people to test it out - see if it's worth the investment."

  She walked over to a chest tucked under one of the workbenches. Unlike the others, this one had multiple locks, each requiring a different key. She opened them in sequence, then rummaged through the inventory interface for a moment.

  When she turned back to us, she was holding something I didn't expect to see in a fantasy game - a modern quadcopter drone, complete with camera gimbal. It was matte black, about the size of a dinner plate, and had an aggressive angular design that screamed 'professional equipment'.

  "This is a camera drone." Liz announced, setting it reverently on the table. "All it can do is take pictures, so we weren't sure if it would be worth it in the Citadel. Can't exactly stop a dragon by taking its photo, you know? But you two are reporters, so I was thinking it'd suit you." She handed the controller tablet to me. "I don't know if we can afford to fix her if she gets damaged, so take care of her. Try getting some pictures of the blast zone in the testing range."

  I powered on the controller, and the drone responded immediately. Its rotors spun up with a high-pitched whine, and it lifted smoothly off the table. For a moment, I just let it hover there, getting a feel for the controls. The response was good. I nudged the control stick forward, and the drone drifted away from the wall, maintaining its altitude perfectly. Soon, I had it hovering in the middle of the walkway, in an open enough space I could really test the motion.

  "This might help." Liz reached over and pressed a button on the controller. The screen flickered to life, showing a live feed from the drone's camera.

  I piloted the drone down the length of the obstacle course, weaving between the stray planks that were still standing. When we reached the blast zone, the destruction was even more impressive from the drone's perspective. The explosion had carved a perfect hemisphere out of the mock buildings, edges still glowing faintly with dissipating blue particles.

  "What did you blow up, exactly?" I asked, panning the camera around to capture the full scope of the damage.

  "We're keeping that on a strictly need-to-know basis for the time being." Liz said with a wink. "We don't want all of our tricks known yet. But if you hit that button there-" she pointed to a capture icon, "-it will send a picture directly to your photo album. Just like the UI camera, but you can be somewhere else entirely!"

  I snapped several shots of the destruction from different angles. "Are you afraid someone's going to hear what you're doing down here?" I asked.

  Liz laughed. "Afraid of what? I'm just a Vanguard engineer doing my part helping our people clear out the Citadel! Completely above board!"

  I turned the camera toward us and maxed out the zoom. Through the screen, I could see ourselves in surprising detail - Liz's soot-stained apron, Cherry's eager expression, my own concentrated frown as I worked the controls.

  "Say 'cheese'!" I called out.

  Cherry and Liz both smiled and waved at the camera. I snapped the photo, then started bringing the drone back toward us.

  "So what kind of tests do you want us to do with it?" I asked.

  "It?" Liz reached out and caught it, cradling it like a baby bird. "Her! Look at how beautiful this baby is - like a ship, a work of art! You don't call the Moonlight Requiem 'it', do you?"

  "The what now?" Cherry asked.

  "Did you never do the King's Woods storyline? You help build an experimental airship in that factory in Townsville?"

  I shook my head. "We started in Faustenburg, sorry."

  "Whatever. Just go about your business and see how useful she is. Take her on your investigations, see what kind of shots you can get. There are some other models we can unlock at higher levels if we need them - ones with longer range, night vision, maybe even some defensive capabilities." She handed the drone to me.

  I took it - I mean her - gingerly. "We'll keep her safe."

  "You better!" Liz wagged a finger at us. "That thing cost the guild three weeks of material grinding!"