Metagross Presses Down, Pancham Lays Out Cushions

The ground sank only half a foot before stopping.

Xia Che stood on a circular metal platform, evenly spaced cracks opening around it. It looked less like a collapse and more like a scale hidden beneath the floor.

"Reading the shop manager's weight, Rotom."

"Don't read it out loud at a time like this."

"Those aren't this unit's words. They're written on the wall."

Rotom turned its screen around.

A line of data had just appeared on the control panel when it was immediately covered by larger red text.

[Weight normal. Standing too steadily. Increase weight.]

A muffled thud came from beneath Xia Che's feet again.

Indeedee moved first. A pale purple glow lit in her eyes, winding around Xia Che's shoulders and back to steadily support his body.

"Indeedee."

Her other hand still shielded Zorua, but her psychic barrier extended several meters toward the center of the hall. Supporting both sides at once, a thin sheen of sweat soon appeared on her forehead.

Metagross raised one forearm.

The gravity continued increasing.

Ripples spread across the surface of the barrier, and Indeedee slid back half a step. Her shoes scraped across the floor, leaving two shallow marks.

Xia Che frowned. "Let go of me first."

Indeedee shook her head.

"It's testing me. If you carry the burden for me, none of us will get out tonight."

She still did not withdraw her psychic power.

Xia Che looked at her for a moment, then changed his approach. "Zorua is scared, and Rotom can barely stay airborne. Taking care of them is your job. Don't let this side throw you off."

Indeedee lowered her head to look.

Zorua did not cry out, but its claws were tightly hooked into her apron. Rotom's electric wings had also pressed against both sides of its screen, on the verge of being forced to the ground.

"Indeedee."

At last, she withdrew the force around Xia Che and pulled the barrier in, protecting only the two little ones.

The instant the purple light left him, the metal platform sank again.

Xia Che remained standing as steadily as ever.

A rapid pounding sounded on the door upstairs.

"Pancham! Pancham!"

After the underground level shook, Pancham, who had remained in the front hall, clearly could no longer sit still. It slapped the sealed hatch a few times, then started dragging at the red rope blocking the way.

Rotom hurriedly connected to the wall intercom. "It's temporarily safe. Please continue guarding the entrance, Rotom!"

Silence fell upstairs for a breath.

"Pancham?"

"The shop manager hasn't been hit yet."

Xia Che looked up. "You could phrase that better."

"The shop manager is undergoing a friendly inspection."

Metagross happened to raise the gravity another level.

The sound of the red rope abruptly stretching taut came from overhead.

"Don't let it ram the door," Xia Che said.

Rotom hurriedly coaxed it for a while, promising to report that everyone was safe every ten breaths. Only then did Pancham stop pounding on the door, pressing its ears against the entrance instead to listen.

Ten breaths later, Rotom reported in on time.

There was no reply overhead, only the sound of tables and chairs being moved.

Twenty breaths later, the noise grew louder. First, a chair scraped across the floor. Then a soft cushion dropped down. Finally, even the old training mat from the backyard was dragged over.

Rotom linked the footage to the control screen.

In the front hall, Pancham had already piled a thick layer of padding around the underground entrance. Seat cushions, throw pillows, two folded blankets, and even the thin quilt Xia Che normally used for naps had all been stacked in front of the hatch.

It stood in the middle of the cushions, an ice pack still tied to its left hand, while its right paw gripped the red rope tightly.

"What is it doing?" Xia Che asked.

"If the basement collapses, it'll catch you, Rotom."

Xia Che glanced at the two floors' worth of metal above him. "Thank it for me."

After Rotom relayed the message, Pancham picked up the last cushion, hesitated for a moment, then placed it back on the chair by the window.

That was the only seat it had not requisitioned for the shop manager.

Xia Che was deeply gratified. "At least it knows to leave me somewhere to nap."

Indeedee raised her eyes at him.

"That's assuming we get out first."

Another ten breaths passed, and crisp knocking sounded upstairs.

Pancham had found a rice spoon and was tapping it against an empty bowl, once after another. It wanted to urge them upstairs for dinner, and its rhythm was remarkably steady.

The moment Zorua heard the food bowl, its ears perked up.

"Tell it to save the soup," Xia Che said.

"And the berry pastries," Zorua hurriedly added.

Rotom translated the little fox's cry as well.

A "Pancham!" indicating that it understood soon came from upstairs. This time, Zorua finally relaxed and curled back into Indeedee's arms.

At the center of the hall, Xia Che lifted his foot off the metal platform.

His first step was slow.

Gravity squeezed in from every direction, and every inch of floor beneath his feet seemed to pull him back. An ordinary person standing here probably would not even be able to lift a finger.

Xia Che still had the leisure to smooth out his wrinkled sleeve.

His second step landed.

The anchor point behind Metagross suddenly flickered.

That blue light was dimmer than before, and a faint cracking sound came from within the black cylinder.

Metagross's eyes turned toward its back at the same time. It looked for only an instant before its rear left arm braced against the ground, golden cross-shaped lines lighting up at once. The silver lines around the hall stabilized again, and the anchor point returned to its original breathing rhythm.

Xia Che stopped walking.

"Rotom, pull up its energy supply records."

"Already pulled up."

"Include that flicker just now."

The control screen scrolled rapidly. Rotom watched for several breaths, and a surprised round face appeared on its screen.

"Metagross has been continuously supplying magnetic force to the anchor point. Since the inspection began, it has to maintain gravity and seal the exit. Its energy consumption has already reached forty-seven times its sleeping level."

"How long can it hold out?"

"At this rate, one shichen. Enough time for that bowl of soup to go cold three times, Rotom."

"What happens after one shichen?"

"It'll first reduce its own activity, then enter forced sleep. The anchor point won't have a problem for a short time, but the underground level will lose all power."

Zorua looked at the tightly shut hatch.

"Yes, the door will lose power too," Rotom said.

The little fox immediately buried its face back in Indeedee's arms.

Xia Che looked at Metagross again.

"You know that if this continues, the power will run out."

"Meta."

A deep voice came from the center of the hall, like two pieces of metal slowly grinding together.

Of course Metagross knew.

It had four brains and could complete complex calculations in an instant. Even the discrepancies in Zorua's fabricated footsteps could not fool it, so it was impossible for it to overlook this amount of consumption.

"You know, and you're still increasing it?"

Metagross did not look away.

Xia Che more or less understood.

For five years, every time it woke up, it had seen only the same cylinder. Now, a new shop manager, new companions, and a little fox that could hide shadows had suddenly appeared upstairs. Naturally, it had to see for itself whether this overly lively bunch was reliable.

"What a hassle." Xia Che sighed.

The system's voice rang in his mind.

[You may forcibly terminate this.]

"And after termination?"

[Metagross will obey.]

"That isn't agreement."

[It will not affect work.]

"It just woke up and would immediately be forced to work with its head pressed down. And it has four heads. Forget it."

Xia Che cut off the conversation.

He wanted a companion willing to guard the shop. Metagross had guarded this place for five years, and forcing it to work the moment they met looked, no matter how he saw it, like bullying an honest employee.

Seeing that he still had not continued forward, red light flickered in Metagross's eyes.

The gravity field began converging around Xia Che.

This time, even the air beside his ears let out a low hum. The metal platform beneath his feet completely sank into the floor, and a distinct ring-shaped indentation was pressed around its edge.

Indeedee took a step forward.

Xia Che raised a hand, signaling for her to stay where she was.

"You want to see how far I can walk?" he asked.

Metagross did not call out, but its eyes remained fixed firmly on him.

"Then let's keep it simple."

Xia Che pointed to the distance between himself and the anchor point.

"Ten steps."

Rotom measured it seriously. "Based on your usual stride, there are only nine and a half steps to Metagross, Rotom."

"Then I'll walk slower."

The red light in Metagross's eyes flashed rapidly.

It had clearly calculated the same result. Its massive body hovering in the air shifted back half a foot, perfectly making up the distance.

Xia Che looked at it. "You're quite reasonable when it comes to things like this."

"Meta."

"It says the rules must be precise," Rotom translated.

Zorua stretched a paw out from Indeedee's arms and counted along the floor. By the seventh claw tip, it ran out of claws and had to borrow Indeedee's hand to continue. Indeedee let it finish counting and even nodded lightly on the tenth count.

Xia Che suddenly felt that if he failed to make it across, he would be laughed at for a long time.

"If you can stop me halfway, I won't touch that pillar. We'll talk again when you wake up next time."

He pointed at Metagross again.

"If I reach you, you withdraw the gravity and listen while I finish explaining the shop rules."

Rotom reminded him softly, "It hasn't agreed, Rotom."

The moment its words fell, Metagross's four thick metal arms all left the ground.

It slowly rose, blocking all the blue light from the anchor point. Above the hall, layer after layer of circular metal rings began turning, their deep roar spreading through the underground level.

The values on the wall jumped past their original limit and became a field of glaring red.

"Now it has agreed," Xia Che said.

Metagross looked down at him.

Ten steps. He would treat it as a little exercise before dinner.