“Now, these two diagrams aren’t as important to the guild, but I can say that I am personally interested them. As you have probably guessed, I may be able to use this eye diagram to weaponize our bionic-eyes, while the other could prove useful in other areas of research. Normally, I would say each would only go for about a few million credits, or 200-500k guild points, and only if you found the correct buyer.” Phantom looked up from the diagrams to study Alan, looking at him closely.

“Tell me, Alan, how did you manage to find this loot, and get past that impasse in the Abyss Labyrinth?”

“Well, um, I connected to the AI that was present within the impasse, which was actually a hub of sorts for the Abyss Labyrinth. The AI was one of many located throughout the facility, I believe. It was one of them that gave me that quest to restore power to the facility,” Alan explained. He and Eve had worked out a version of story that Alan could tell without mentioning the Predecessor, or the items he received from it.

As they were working out the details, Eve reminded Alan that the Black Rose guild knew his character information and quests when he first arrived, thus he should appear to not leave anything out.

“I then, um, found and battled the boss," Alain said. "Or, well, bosses as there were two golems. They dropped this loot. I then made my way back to the lift, and, well, here I am.” Alan smiled halfheartedly.

“Yes. And here you are. You know, that quest has actually stirred up quite a bit of controversy within the upper echelons of the guild lately. Quite a few are interested in pursuing it, as it seems to be a gamma rated quest, right beneath our feet. Did your exploration perhaps reveal further details about the quest?” Phantom asked.

“Um, sure, yeah,” Alan said, thinking fast. “Actually that’s part of what this other crystal is for. I found a number of them in the boss room, but only grabbed this one as I didn’t have space for any more. I’m supposed to figure out a way to recharge it and bring it back to the room, to help restore the systems. I also came across a map of sorts of the Abyss Labyrinth, or at least a large section of it.”

Phantom picked up the empty energy crystal, carefully placing it in a small containing device that zapped the crystal with small bolts of lightning.

“Interesting… This crystal seems to be capable of holding about as much energy as a modern starship, thus it will likely require millions of credits to fully recharge it. The AI that gave you this task didn’t happen to mention what, exactly, the reward would be, did they? Otherwise I’m not sure whether the guild will help you in this task. Before we proceed further, let me tell you why I’m bringing all this up.” Phantom pulled out a chair for Alan, sitting down on a table across from it. Alan carefully sat down, trying to avoid stepping on any of the metal pieces scattered on the floor.