Dig stared blankly straight ahead.
"Strip."
"..."
"Young man?" Jameson asked upon seeing the dazed look in Dig's eyes.
"Huh?" Dig slowly turned to look at Jameson with eyes like he had just woken up from a dream.
"Are you all right?" Jameson asked.
Dig didn't answer. He looked at his chest and put his hand where the beast had struck him. He remembered the pain. It was odd.
It didn't hurt like burning his finger on a candle or getting stung by a wasp did. It didn't even hurt like the time he broke his wrist. There was simply so much weight behind the blow that it felt like he was shoved.
If anything, it was similar to when the Shuttle slowed down, just a lot worse.
After that, though, he remembered feeling brief burning pain as the shards of his broken ribs tore his lung and heart to shreds. Then, he blacked out with bliss.
His brain accepted death and flooded his system with endorphins. However, that did not explain why he was back in front of the Vault. Nothing did.
"What just happened?" He asked, hoping Jameson would have the answer but knowing better.
"What do you mean?" As expected, Jameson tilted his head in confusion.
Dig blinked.
'Am I ill?' He asked himself. For a second, he actually thought he had seen the future or something.
Most likely, he had just been consumed by anxiety.
"Nothing. Does my father want to see me after this?"
Jameson stiffened.
"I guess that's a yes."
Jameson hung his head slightly in resignation. He admitted it with his silence.
"If you want to run, Arker hasn't shown up yet. But you won't be getting a Boon without your father wanting to meet you afterward," Jameson said, looking like he was caught between a rock and a hard place under Dig's intense stare.
Dig wasn't staring at him because he blamed him, though. He was just thinking about the deeper meaning of his dream.
When he showed up at the Vault today, since it was his fifteenth birthday, he had indeed hoped he would be able to claim a Boon before his dad got wind of it.
But it didn't take a genius to figure out that it would be close to impossible. If he had thought a little more, he could have figured out that Arker would be waiting to pick him up after he was done.
His anxiety-induced nightmare of a daydream could simply have been his subconscious telling him as much. But what about the rest? What about the elevator, the Shuttle, the Underbelly, Beardie, and that beast?
Were they metaphors for something else, and in that case, what?
"Why is it protocol to strip anyway?" Dig asked while dressing down to his undies.
"As you know, there's a rest period between claiming Boons, so after the first, you can't claim another for a little while, meaning, if you try to steal one, you have to hide it. But if you're almost naked, that's very difficult," Jameson helpfully explained while starting to open the Vault.
"Not to be vulgar or anything, but can't I stuff it in my underwear or into my body somehow?"
"You could try, but what if it's a Curse?"
"Ah."
Only a fool would try something like that, and a fool would get caught anyway.
Without saying anything else, Dig entered the vault and walked straight over to the same shelf as before. He looked at the shiny black rock and the sheath hiding behind it.
The dagger had been sharp, so it wasn't a bad weapon. It had been useful against the beast. Maybe that meant something.
Dig also felt like he had only scratched the surface of what the Artifact could do.
'No pain this time.' However, the thought of the sheath made him remember how he had claimed it last time.
He looked around on the floor. He wasn't sure if he had managed to avoid it or what, but he hadn't stepped on whatever made his toe sting last time.
Dig's eyes narrowed as he tried to find the meaning behind everything he had dreamed. He overanalyzed too much and didn't really understand anything.
In the end, he simply grabbed the smooth black rock he had wanted to take last time.
Like the sheath had done in his dream, the black rock disappeared as soon as his fingers wrapped around it. But unlike the sheath, which had settled at his hip, the warmth from the stone settled at his heart.
Dig was going to give it some to settle before trying it out. But since it had landed inside his body, it was likely to be a Skill or a Powerup. He was curious about which it was. While thinking about his Boon and the dream he had before entering the Vault, Dig left, got dressed, and followed Arker to his dad's office.
He stood in front of the elevator door without moving, even after Arker stepped inside. He couldn't stop thinking about his dream.
"Are you trying to flee, Sir?" Arker asked.
"No. But can we take the stairs instead?"
Arker's brow rose slightly.
"I am fine with that, but that's fifty floors, Sir."
"Are you in a rush, Arker?"
"Not at all, but your Father—"
"He can wait as long as it takes."
"...Understood."
Fifty floors was a lot. Now, Dig wasn't necessarily in bad shape, but he wasn't a professional athlete. He also wasn't in a rush. So, he rested when he felt like resting, which was every six floors. He also wasn't looking forward to seeing his father, so Dig made sure to take his sweet time.
Finally, an hour later, he opened the door to his father's office.
Winter Russel was already staring at the two with his fingers laced under his chin.
"Son," he said in greeting.
"Sperm donor," Dig answered, just barely looking in Winter's direction.
Arker cleared his throat and excused himself. It was best to flee before he got caught up in the crossfire.
Winter's eyes narrowed as he looked at Arker's retreating figure, but he didn't say anything, instead continuing to look at his stubborn son.
"I can tell that you don't quite want to be here, so I'll cut straight to the chase. Now that you've claimed your first Boon, I was thinking of having you take proper business lessons. I want you to inherit me, Summer."
"I'll think about it when the Sun explodes or something."
"Damn it, Summer! This is what your mother would have wanted had she still been with us!" Winter said while smacking his fist against his desk.
Dig stared at his father with an emotionless expression for a second.
"Goodbye," He said simply, turning on his heel and leaving the office.
"Summer!" Winter shouted after him, but Dig didn't stop to listen.
He scurried down the stairs before taking the bus back to the apartment his mother had left him.