"Why am I being summoned by a tech?"

  Kua-Tin Nez looked only as high as Netta's party-badge. "The lawyers said this wasn't something they wanted to petition the AI for, Administrator, but I lack permissions to fix it myself."

  "How can it be something you can't fix, but also something the lawyers can't petition?"

  "Ah, it's definitely our error, so they don't want to admit it." Nez tried to smile.

  "Alright, give me the damn explanation." Netta was

  "So, a crawler on the first floor managed to just keep running away until she found a stairwell, then she went down. On that level, she again managed to find a stairwell down. I've reviewed the footage and it's weird, but—"

  Netta waved a hand dismissively. "We've had first-level crawlers on the third floor before. We have a whole crowd of demented grandmas trying to pick races at this very moment."

  "There are two conflicting issues. Firstly, in part because Crawler Madison Pomegranate never went to a tutorial guild, when she arrived in the selection room there was an, ah, issue with the guildmaster."

  "Why isn't this going to personnel, then?" Netta asked.

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  "All of Guildmaster Bizzeki's crawlers had died, so she went to the desperado club and hit a blitz stick. I suspect the AI picked her in part because she wasn't already busy."

  Netta's rebreather sprayed sharply, sending a ring of mist out. "These fucking guildmasters."

  "Indeed," Nez agreed, "So, she was blissed out when the AI snatched her up for the unassigned crawler. She landed awkwardly from the teleport and ended up choking on her own vomit."

  "She's dead?"

  "She wasn't actually dead just unconscious and choking in a safe zone. The important part was that nobody came out to greet this Pomegranate. Instead, she wandered in and that triggered the selection screens. The selection screens lock other options, but her lack of a tutorial means she's also locked from displaying those options. Basically, her whole system is locked up and the AI is insisting we give her a proper intro and let her proceed."

  "So fix it."

  "Then there's the second issue. She didn't enter the dungeon alone, so she was in a party by default. They got separated and the original party ended up in an abnormal state, with Madison the only member of an active party despite not having a tutorial."

  "And I suppose you can't fix that either?"

  Nez took a shuddering breath of mist. "Fortunately, because Crawler Madison never had the tutorial, they also have nothing in their inventory, and it's possible to do a full interface reset. After that, this should all sort itself out, but I don't have the authority for that sort of interference with crawler-state-variables."

  "That's all you need?"

  "Well there may be another issue. This abnormal state also kept her off the viewing-list, despite an event that should have triggered it, so nobody—"

  "I do not fucking care."

  Nez gestured at the panel. "Push that button and the crawler's interface will reset and the now-revived Bizzeki will appear to lead them through their tutorial."

  Netta pushed the button.