The Mad Rat's Lab

"Mad Rat, run!"

"...?" What's going on? Why is Laura shouting my name? And more importantly, what is this large shadow approaching from above?

Well, whatever happens, happens. I'm too dizzy to move right now…

The surroundings spin around me – at least, I believe it's the ground that's moving and not me – when I see a familiar silhouette approaching at a fast speed. The revolving starts to slow down, a clear sign that I'm recovering, when the silhouette suddenly appears right next to me. The sudden movement surprises me, slowing down my recovery.

"Lily…?" I somehow manage to say.

"Yes." She says, picking me up. "Quick, grab hold of me!"

Following her orders, I weakly put my hand around her shoulder. At the same time, Laura dashes away, prompting me to grab hold of whatever I can. I close my hand around something large and squishy…

"Hyaah…!" Laura makes a happy moan. "Now isn't the time for this, Mad Rat. If you want, maybe later… Fufufu!"

"…"

What the hell did I just grab? You know what? Ignorance is best; ignorance is bliss. I should stop thinking right now.

I allow Laura to drag me wherever she pleases, and the shadow above us grows even larger. Right when I can hear the sound of the wind being displaced by a large object, Laura throws us to the ground, rolling away. We tumble on the ground, sliding away.

*Clank, Clonk…!* *...Crash!*

Right then, we hear a loud metallic impact sound made by a large and heavy object hitting the ground. The sound repeats a few times, losing volume, until a final loud impact, when it comes to a complete stop.

When I fully recover from the sudden movement and the dizziness caused by overusing the RATT protocol, I look around to understand what happened. The first thing I see is Laura's Champion, straddling my waist, distracted by something. When I follow her gaze, I see deep dents in the ground and a three-meter-tall gear embedded in the wall.

Wow. That thing almost flattened me. If Laura didn't save me… I shiver.

I try to stand up, but Laura's body weight blocks my movement. I could try to push her away, using the game's stats to overpower her, but there's no need for that.

Ignoring the dangerous glint in her eyes, I wave my hand in front of her face. "Hey, Lily? Thank you for saving me, but it's time to go. Move away so I can stand up."

"...fine." She nods, slowly standing up and sending me a disappointed glance. "You're right, now isn't the right time for this… not yet."

"...sorry, what did you say?"

"Say what?" She tilts her head, grinning. "I didn't say anything? Fufufu!"

…Whatever. When she's like that, it's impossible to get her to spill the truth. It's best to pretend nothing happened and move on.

Right then, I notice another shadow approaching from above. We quickly move away from the falling gear, using the shadow produced by it to predict its trajectory.

When I'm sure the falling gear won't hit me, I trace its trajectory back to the origin. But what I see… What I see certainly isn't what I expected. Instead of the gear-throwing machine I imagined, one similar in fashion and design to those that throw baseball balls for batting training, what I see is a huge gorilla golem.

"What, The, Fuck…?"

The gorilla golem is holding one of those gears; he's the one who threw them at us. But that's not all. Despite the gear's three-meter size, it doesn't look out of place in the gorilla's hand. Although it doesn't fit his hand, if we compare it to a weapon, the gear in the gorilla's hand would be akin to a longsword in a human's hands.

Right beside the gorilla golem, there's a large tube that disappears into the ceiling, holding countless stacked gears. When it throws the gear at us, I can see the gorilla take a new one from the 'dispenser'.

"Wait a moment…"

Watching the incoming shadow created by the gear, I come to a sudden realization. If the gear is this big… then how big is that stupid gorilla!? No wonder I can see it so well, despite being so far away!

Between the shots, I can finally have enough time to observe our surroundings. We're in a wide and tall dome, surrounded by normal walls instead of gears. Right in the center, there's a tower, composed of an uncountable number of gears that continuously spin, like a clock. And on top of it, on a flat platform, stands the gorilla golem and his 'dispenser', right next to something emitting purple light.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

So, we have to climb that tower while avoiding the gorilla's projectiles, and then defeat it? Isn't this kind of familiar? I'm sure I've seen something like this in another game…

"Aha, so that's the guardian." Says Laura from beside me.

I have no idea when she got this close to me. Didn't we split up to avoid the gears…? Whatever.

"It must be. I just didn't expect it to be… well, a gear-throwing gorilla."

"You're right. Knowing the stats and skills doesn't help when it comes to the looks."

I lock eyes with Laura and ask the question we're both thinking. "Should we wait for the others, or go in right now?"

Before she can give me an answer, we hear another voice. "Psst! Hey, Mad Rat. Over here!"

From behind one of the gears embedded in the wall, a pale hand waves at us to come closer. We approach, and as expected, find Ricard hiding behind the gear.

"Come, hide with me. The gorilla won't shoot if he can't see you."

The gear is so large that it can safely hide the three of us. A good idea indeed. Talking while avoiding the thrown gears is… well, uncomfortable. Uncomfortable and dangerous.

To no one's surprise, the first one to talk is Ricard. "We can't use tricks here," he says, pointing at the flat tower top, "can you see the protective film? It's to prevent flyers skipping the climb."

Now that he has mentioned it, it's true that when the gorilla threw the gears, there was a slight distortion. I thought it was an effect caused by the sudden speed burst… It turns out I was wrong.

"There must be a way to disable it while climbing, though." Ricard continues, "When we start, I'd suggest we split up and search for clues, then decide what to do after finding the first one."

"Makes sense…" Laura agrees. "But do we go now or wait? Did you find Lemon, Baldy?"

"No, I didn't–"

*Clank, Clank, Clonk…!*

We all turn our heads at the same time towards the direction of the sound. If the gorilla threw another gear, it means he saw one of us. Since the three of us are hidden, there's just one person who could have caused it.

At the base of the clock tower, we see a dark shadow moving. She's using her tentacles to climb the gears, while avoiding those thrown by the gorilla.

"Hehe! I will, clear this, for my brother! And, he'll, pat my head!"

Yes, yes, Clara. I nod. If you clear this and save me the trouble of having to work, I'll pat your head as much as you want. …Outside the game, of course.

I catch Ricard and Laura sending me awkward looks. Hey, don't look at me like that! It's she who isn't right in her head, not me! I swear! There's absolutely nothing wrong with my head, I'm perfectly fine!

Following our plan, Ricard, Laura, and I split up. I approach my little sister to inform her.

She waves at me when I get close, but instead of letting her go wild as usual, I stop her and explain the plan to her. Then, I let her keep climbing and choose another spot for me.

"Hmm… this spot looks doable."

Taking into account the direction of the gears flying and clashing, the distance between each of us is approximately the same. This means there are exactly four paths, and they're situated in a cross shape.

Is it just me, or is this tower designed for exactly four players? What would have happened if we were missing one member? Hmm… Well, it doesn't matter.

I put my feet on one of the gears and slowly start crawling up, paying careful attention to the gear's movements. I can't teleport or use my tentacles to avoid falling off, after all.

"Ugh! This is hard!"

With so many parts moving, it's easy to slip and fall. Furthermore, every time I hear the clashing of metal from the falling gears, I have to stop and look up. If the next gear thrown by that gorilla is aimed my way, I must know it before it's too late and find a safe spot to hide. The gears forming the tower, like those blocking the passage, seem to be indestructible, providing safe cover… assuming I can find it first.

It's thanks to this that I find a clue.

"Why is this crevice so deep…? Ah!" I gasp, "It's a secret button!"

Resist the temptation, Andreu. You mustn't press it without consulting with your teammates…

"Hey, guys! Can you hear me?" I shout. "I've found a hidden button! Do you think it's a key to– W-wha…!?"

Without warning, the gear below my feet suddenly twists in the opposite direction it had been moving in until now. Luckily, I have my whole arm inside the crevice containing the hidden button, and I can stabilize thanks to it.

"Botheeer!" Clara's voice reaches me. "I found a button with a number 1, so I pressed iiiiiit!"

What the fuck are you doing, Clara!? Why did you press it before asking? …Well, at least nothing bad happened, and now I know exactly what this button is for. After all, mine has the number 2 on it.

"I've found one with the number two!" I shout. "When Lemon pressed hers, I almost fell off because the gears changed directions. Be careful, I'm going to press it now!"

I push the button, and it makes the classical *Beep* sound. It lights up, and shortly after, I can feel a shift in the clockwork tower.

An angry voice comes from somewhere far away. "Mad Rat! If you're going to warn us, give us enough time to react to it, don't press it immediately! Are you going to take responsibility if I fall off and…"

Bah, it's Ricard. I was worried for a moment there. He'll be fine even if he falls and dies... After all, he's an undead, hahaha!