THE CRAWLER'S COMPANIONpatch notes for the apocalypse

The World Dungeon

First seen: Book 1, Chapter 1

An 18-level dungeon, announced as the chosen method of 'reclamation' after Earth's surface structures were destroyed.

ArtificialTelevised

Purpose

Resource reclamation dressed as entertainment: survivors reclaim a share of Earth's matter by descending, and Borant broadcasts every minute of itB1C1

Stats

18 floors. 150,000 entrances feed floor 1, clustered close enough that Carl could see several spotlights from one street, and the counts halve each floor down until floor 18 has just two ways in and a single way outB1C1

Every floor runs a collapse timer that hangs in each crawler's vision. Floor 1 gets five days; deeper floors get longerB1C2

990,303, per a running ticker Carl checks; the first time the count has dropped below one millionB1C44

4,322,395 and still dropping in real time on the floor 1 safe room's screen, down from just under 10 million only a few hours earlierB1C9

Just under 13 million humans entered; under 10 million were alive when the dungeon sealedB1C4

Connections

The Borant Corporation:

Operator and regent; chose the dungeon as Earth's reclamation formatB1C1

The Syndicate:

Rules authority; its observer AI supervises the whole productionB1C1

Contents

Floor 1: The only floor seen so far; goblin territory where Carl landedB1C2

History by chapter
Book 1
Chapter 1
  • RELATIONSHIP The Borant Corporation: Operator and regent; chose the dungeon as Earth's reclamation format
  • OBJECTIVE Purpose: Resource reclamation dressed as entertainment: survivors reclaim a share of Earth's matter by descending, and Borant broadcasts every minute of it
  • STAT Floors: 18 floors. 150,000 entrances feed floor 1, clustered close enough that Carl could see several spotlights from one street, and the counts halve each floor down until floor 18 has just two ways in and a single way out
  • TAG Televised: Borant holds the rights to broadcast everything that happens inside
  • TAG Artificial: Built from the crushed matter of Earth itself
  • RELATIONSHIP The Syndicate: Rules authority; its observer AI supervises the whole production
Chapter 2
  • STAT Floor Timers: Every floor runs a collapse timer that hangs in each crawler's vision. Floor 1 gets five days; deeper floors get longer
  • INVENTORY Floor 1: The only floor seen so far; goblin territory where Carl landed
Chapter 4
  • STAT Crawler Census: Just under 13 million humans entered; under 10 million were alive when the dungeon sealed
Chapter 9
  • STAT Crawler Census: 4,322,395 and still dropping in real time on the floor 1 safe room's screen, down from just under 10 million only a few hours earlier
Chapter 44
  • STAT Crawler Census: 990,303, per a running ticker Carl checks; the first time the count has dropped below one million