Once Bery finished eating, she'd been left alone in the room once more. Valerie is a strange person.
The cat girl was certain in her mind that she'd never met someone like her. There was also the fact that Bery had dreamed about her previously. She wondered if it was possible that she met her elsewhere.
Another sigh left her throat, and she decided to stand. She walked hesitantly over to the silver metal door, and she pulled down on the handle. To her surprise it opened up for her, but the mechanism was strange. Metal bars pushed the door outward, and it made a creak she was certain she'd never heard before.
What greeted her was not the sight she expected. Maybe she thought that there would be a hallway and adjoining rooms. There was a sort of hallway, but it was the brown rock face of a cave.
She narrowed her eyes at the room she came out of. The door was affixed to a large piece of rounded metal, jutting out of the rock. It made the hallway odd in makeup. Some was metal, but most was rock. Bery's mind reeled, and her bare feet stepped onto the cold dirt of the cave.
A cool draft of air came from somewhere deep inside on the right, and on the left, the cave curved upwards. She could see some steps just before it rounded away from her.
Bery's heart throbbed. She looked back towards the room she left, but ultimately, she decided to turn towards the right. Towards the uncertain air. Valerie had told her not to leave that room, but it couldn't hurt to look around, right?
With that as her guiding grace, she continued onward, keeping her hand affixed to the wall. The cold stone made her realize that she must be somewhere deep inside of the mountain, yet there was so much stuff here. Torches hung on the walls at odd intervals. Strange types of rock glittered in the wall, and eventually, there were steps leading further down.
The draft hit the cat girl once more, and there was a small dark opening down below. Fear tugged at her, but she was determined. She wanted to see what kind of person Valerie was. Why would she hide up in the mountains, and most importantly...What is her relationship with the dragon?
Bery took a deep breath before stumbling down the dark steps. Her small feet pattered on the way down. There was a small echo from each movement. The walls got thinner, nearly boxing her in, until they opened up to a larger chamber.
Brightness assailed Bery's eyes from every direction. Her ears twitched, yet she couldn't believe it. She had entered a gigantic cavern, and in all directions there were mountains of gold. Jewels glimmered, and things she'd never seen before abounded.
"Wow…"
A gasp left her throat as she continued forward hesitantly. There was enough gold here to feed an entire city for centuries, Bery imagined. This would be enough to fund her painting endeavors for many lifetimes over. A sudden thought struck the cat.
Why does Valerie need so much gold, and why does she leave it all in the open?
Yet, the answer was so obvious. Bery had just been fooling herself. There was the dream of bright fire, and in the center of it all, a single being stood. A shiver ran down Bery's spine as she remembered the woman's smile.
She stumbled forward, slipping on a piece of gold. Before she could try and catch herself, her arm scraped against a sharp jewel like a shard of glass. It cut deep into her skin, reopening a wound from before, and the cat girl cried out with a harsh whimper.
Bery looked up towards the purple jewel with anger. "You fucking…"
She clenched her teeth as the blood dripped down her pure white robes—a gift from Valerie. A gift...from a dragon.
Pain assailed her, and her blood continued dripping. It dropped onto the floor and the gold pieces around her. It dripped onto a piece of metal below her.
Bery looked down towards the small metal triangle covered with her fresh blood. She jumped when she realized that the thing started whizzing to life.
The triangular piece flew into the air, glimmering with vivid blue light.
Bery hissed as the strange thing started scanning the surroundings. The blue rays centered on the cat girl, but before she could slap it out of the air, it spoke.
"Analyzing," it said in a cold but female voice. "Blood start up complete. Attempting to locate memory drive...Failed. Attempting to locate administrator...Failed. Unknown life form detected. A cat humanoid…"
Bery pointed at herself in disbelief. "Me? What are you…"
The thing purred, mimicking the sound of a domestic cat before floating in front of Bery eagerly. "Hello, my name is Y.U.R.I. Your Artificial Reasoning Intelligence. What is your name?"
"Me...I'm Bery."
"Bery. Acknowledged...The blood of Bery has been attained. Booting up in Bery mode."
"Bery mode?"
"Yes, acknowledging Bery as the administrator. You have the full support of Y.U.R.I.
"Yuri? I don't even know what you are. What does all of that mean? You will support me? Can you help me get out of this mountain?"
"Confirmed. Administrator Bery would like to leave the mountain."
"Yes! But we have to hurry. I don't know what that woman...dragon will do if she finds out I'm not in that room."
"Suggestion. Go back to that room, immediately."
Confusion filled Bery's face, and her nose twitched in agitation. "What? Do you know what a dragon is?"
"Y.U.R.I understands the problem, but we don't have enough data. Suggestion to wait and see if the administrator can find a better opening."
Bery sighed, but somehow she found herself understanding the small metal thing. "I get it...But what about you?"
The triangle didn't respond. Instead, it flew into Bery's arm right into the open cut.
Bery keeled over in pain, falling to her knees, but the skin on her arm slowly started melding itself and stitching together. It didn't take long for the thing to disappear almost completely.
Though, the small light inside signaled that it was still there. It didn't remain dormant either. The fibers of Bery's muscles started changing and stitching to the metal object. The nerves and blood vessels in her arm were ripped, causing so much pain that Bery nearly passed out.
She spasmed on the floor as the thing continued to do strange things to her arm, but eventually all of those rough sensations subsided. The pain faded away just as quickly as it started, and a voice spoke into the cat's head.
"Integration complete. Y.U.R.I is now merged with the host administrator. Odds of Y.U.R.I's discovery by dragon is estimated at 5%."
Bery clenched her teeth. Though, all of the pain inside of her was gone. Even the old bruises covering her arms had faded with the integration of this strange creature, but she had the urge to claw it out of her.
"It is not wise for the administrator to attempt removal. Estimated odds of death...95%. Suggestion. Go back to the room and wait for the arrival of the dragon."
Bery couldn't believe that the thing was now speaking into her head, but she knew that she couldn't be found in this room. That would be the worst possible scenario. She breathed a deep sigh before turning away from the treasure and running up the pitch black steps.
Once again, she entered a well-lit hallway with torches along the wall, and it didn't take her long to reach the strange rounded room. Only this time, she was given some information by the creature in her arm the moment she crossed the lattice.
"Notice. The administrator's room is from the mother ship. Welcome aboard, Commander."
"Commander?"
No response came from Yuri in her arm. The moment they entered the large silver room, the strange lights ahead spun for a moment, and a sound was carried through the walls. The moment the noise connected with the door, it shut on its own.
Bery whipped around. "Did you close the door? Is that magic?"
"Magic. No. This is a property of energy. It was merely a command issued from me to the ship for the door to close. The hull of the ship was badly damaged, and most of it remains in disrepair. Most of the electrical circuits are cut off. Y.U.R.I can only close the door or turn off the lights in here."
Bery frowned as she hobbled towards her bed. "I don't really get it, but you can turn off the lights or shut the door with a form of magic?"
"Analyzing appropriate response...Notice...Administrator is more or less correct. Only the lights or the door controls are accessible."
"Why do you talk like that? Do you have to say those things like 'notice' or 'administrator'?"
"Acknowledged. Y.U.R.I is analyzing the most appropriate speech patterns that would be suitable...Acceptable driver found. Booting…"