Impia

Surprise, I'm not dead! Short chapter with no smut though, sorry.

Content notes, uh, blatant disregard for Robert's rules of order maybe?

Lyn

“... so please, anyone who has skills that can either help build shelters, or rebuild along Old Mill Creek, stay after to check in with the Administrators and we’ll assign crews.”

Lyn mopped her brow. The town hall was packed to the gills, and with no AC or fans, the heat was punishing. At least the meeting was going mercifully quick; she would bet money the Facilitator already had several levels under their belt.

"And we've already got people working on dealing with the brownouts, but anyone else who can contribute is invited to meet at the engineering hall on campus at 10 tomorrow. For the time being, let's all try to keep power usage to a minimum; the hospital needs it. Lastly, does anyone have announcements that the whole town still needs to know? I'm sure we all want to get going, so Let's Keep It Brief."

She could almost hear the added emphasis, and several people who were halfway to standing seemed to reconsider and sit back down. Some kind of social skill? The idea that people might already be throwing around mind-affecting powers was a whole can of worms she was not at all prepared to deal with. She stood, but Bert from Facilities had somehow already been ushered up to address the crowd. The man was a wreck, absolutely coated in oil stains, his uniform tattered with claw marks.

"Okay. If you've tried to start a car you already know this. If you haven't, don't. Gas is haunted. Don't burn it, ghosts will come out and attack you. Gas stoves too. Cafeteria had an eight foot scorpion ghost attack halfway through breakfast. Coal? Tree ghosts. Took out the power plant." He pauses for a moment. "Charcoal's fine to burn. Wood too. We don't know why."

A harpy was ushered up as Bert left, and launched into her announcement with great enthusiasm.

"Hi! Avery Ellis. The flock and I have been scouting nearby and have NOT been able to confirm any monster sightings like people were worried about. Lots of transformed people - like yours truly! - but we have not yet seen any wild monsters, other than those fuel ghosts. Someone at the ranch a couple miles out east did take a potshot at us though, that was scary. If you see someone you think is a monster, please try talking first!"

And Lynn was up next. Showtime.

"Uh, hi, Lynn Delgado. On that same note, my girlfriend got turned into a dungeon, right out of a fantasy game. Like, she IS the dungeon and all the monsters in it, it's complicated. If you find her, or any other dungeons that might be out there, please know they might be people - scared people who don't have a good way to communicate. And if there are any that weren't people, they might be smarter or more dangerous than you think. Uh, that's all."

She was ushered away, and before long the meeting was wrapped up, people streaming out of the room with relief. And one was beelining right for her, eyes sparkling with mischief.

"So, Lily's a dungeon now?" asked Ruth. "Tell me all about it!"

Impia

Shout out to Eurypterids, my wonderful gf and beta's least favorite extinct animal!

If
you're wondering, from my scant research oil is largely made up of
algae and plankton and stuff, so the gasoline ghosts are probably just
weird indistinct blobs.