Delilah's Reasons, Part 2

“That was too easy,” Gee said. He sounded genuinely disappointed. Ace was just glad she'd been able to give her carpal tunnel a break.

“As best I can tell,” Dee said. “We have infiltrated the remainder of the server's defenses. Well done.” She hesitated. “I admit that I am unsure of the strategy in allowing us to do so easily.”

“I would feel better about it if there was some victory screen or something,” Zee said. “At least the fanfare you get when you beat a tier on the normal sim.”

“Is it possible there was some sort of design flaw or bug?” Ace asked. “It's not like you were able to give this server a real shakedown against experienced Raiders. It might have just glitched out. Given up.”

“It is possible,” Dee said. She threw a 'perplexed' emote. “It is impossible for me to tell its current functionality from here, of course. All that can be done is to move forward.” She pointed down a hallway.

It was boring compared to the earlier transcendent geometry. A single, stonework corridor with no branches or doors. No sounds or music came from the speakers, save for the occasional cough, sneeze, or obnoxious comment from Gee.

“So what are we expecting here?” Ace asked. “A treasure trove? A giant cage with your inner beast locked up?”

“A moment,” Dee said. “We have new company. I will bring him here.”

A familiar avatar flashed into existence in the hallway up ahead. That looked like... Jet?

“J-33 signing in,” Jet said cheerfully. “It's been a while.”

“Um,” Zee said. “Good to see you man. But why are you here?”

“Dee asked for help,” Jet said. “So I came running. Though... I fail to see why you need it. It looks dead in here.”

“I did not ask for you,” Dee said.

A deep rumble echoed through the hall, followed by an ethereal voice. Female. Almost like Dee's, but not.

“I did,” it said.