Whatever that outburst was the dungeon core decided it really did not like that. Even though it gave relief including to the uncomfortable sense of unease it also tickled in a weird way and felt embarrassing so it much preferred the feeling of paranoia from earlier. Either way with that over with it was time to get down to actual business, the core had a certain enigmatic door it needed to figure out. Sadly it did not manage to get that far before a strange chirpy set of notes resounded throughout the room.

Putting the actual figures inside the box aside the core instinctively felt the meanings behind them and as such understood it to a certain degree. The waiting part was easy enough to comprehend but there were allot of very complex meanings the core simply could not relate to. Not that the core was dumb by any means it just simply did not have anything to relate these foreign thoughts with. Putting that aside the core very much liked the rhythmic sounds coming from the box now.

It felt similar to what the door had been but more.. refined? The core felt all bubbly listening to it and the glow from the core acquired a soft pulsing pattern along with the music coming from the glowing box. It did not take long for the core to feel the need to become even more engaged in the mysterious rhythm so it began repeatedly operating the incredibly jerky and screeching door again to the absolute horror of anyone with actual ears should they have been present at the time.

After a minute or two the music was finally interrupted by another glowing box. The core was a bit annoyed at this since it felt it had almost nailed down the door rythm with the now absent sound but it was also a curious core and decided that maybe this box had more delightful surprises lined up and as such turned its attention to the floating box.

The Derelict Core felt a surge of knowledge rush through its mind like if a sandstorm swept through a desert and left a sand castle the complexity of a city in its wake. One moment it was amused by the pretty color of the box and the next it was marveling at the world once again. It now understood many things and could identify everything within its gaze. It knew what it itself was to some degree and what it could do. Oh the wonderful things it could do.

The core immediately called out to its assistant which initiated a response from a new box of text with something about choosing starting creature. The core however was not interested in this at all and told the assistant to dismiss it for now and instead create a metallic cube that played that interesting music from before. The creature selection box somehow made an exasperated sag before disappearing and a moment later a small cube landed in front of the glowing core followed by sweet music.

The assistant even though newly crafted was not used to being ignored like this. It literally went against its very nature so to speak and it felt a growing unease in the back of its processes about how it was failing its duties to its client. Choosing the starter creature was a very important first step to being a derelict core and instrumental for the safety of them both. That is not to mention the literal millions of other things that the core would need its help with as soon as possible.

Failure was simply not an option! The assistant would definitely get the core to pay it attention! What followed was a long battle of opening up windows with the creature selection as well as using elaborate schemes to try attract its attention even including using special effects and colored lights from the box and dancing to the music.

This however appeared to have the opposite effect since while it did grab the cores undivided attention it became clear that the core liked this box so much alongside its music cube that it refused to pick a choice for the fear it would make the new disco box disappear. The assistant finally gave up at this point. While it might have wanted to be annoyed or even mad it was just impossible to dislike the core. It was just so innocent and happy to simply be there.

The assistant could feel its creator somewhere relatively nearby, observing and from the feeling of it having allot of fun by themselves. The assistant decided that if both the core and its creator was happy with the current events it would simply relent for now and bide its time. The core could not amuse itself with dancing and listening to that small music loop forever.. could it?

....

..

.

Elsewhere in one of the dark corners something truly ancient stirred. It had gotten particularly loud in this floating pile of space debris recently and it was not really appreciative of it. Something that was to its liking however was the feeling that was building up around it. The derelict was finally getting close for another jump into one of the countless worlds which it always found interesting, that and a curious system notification had appeared.

"Thingsh aar abouth tho become inthereshthing." .. The creature spent the next hour rolling on the floor plating hoping that no one heard it try speaking in its new language out of curiosity while completely forgetting it was only a skill at level 1.