Recap: Floor 1

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**Floor 1 Recap (moonpunch101)** *Released on 25th Feb 2021*

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## Floor 1 Recap

A young college freshman by the name of Ashley Gray awakens in a strange, white tiled room with a splitting headache, missing her glasses. Dazed, confused and unsure of her own sanity, she thinks herself to be alone at first, there being minimal signs of any form of life.

Then Porter appears.

An incredibly powerful, bikini-clad individual, Porter catches Ashley completely off-guard. With excessive dramatics, she halfheartedly apologizes for the suddenness of Ashley’s arrival, albeit not for the arrival itself, barely caring enough to hand Ashley a paper bag when she starts to panic over the casual reveal that she’s been brought to another universe.

Porter welcomes Ashley to the Tower, the universe of ‘wonder’ and ‘adventure’ that Ashley now finds herself in, and of which Porter is gatekeeper and supposed head honcho, explaining that it has scooped Ashley up from her own reality, something Porter claims is mostly outside of her control. She just looks after the place, supposedly, though that’s stated to be a simplification.

She also seems to have a perverse curiosity about Ashley, having come to visit her specifically, though later warns the girl not to mistake this for care.

In an intrusive moment that proves she can read minds, Porter also supplies Ashley with a pair of yellow glasses to replace the pair lost in transit. To Ashley’s surprise, they fit perfect and are better suited to her eyesight than even her previous pair was. Porter claims they’re blessed – magic, in other words – but doesn’t elaborate on what the means, vanishing to check on “others” before Ashley can get a word in properly.

But not before making Ashley promise, with a handshake, not to discuss their meeting with anyone.

Ashley later discovers, to her horror, she is physically unable to do so.

Attempting to confront Porter about the matter proves fruitless.

More presently, however, after a short nervous breakdown and subsequent wait, passages open to allow Ashley access to another white room, this one containing a stage, where she encounters 19 others of various shape, size and race, all apparently there for the same mysterious reasons as she is. Among them are Oishī, an energetic yet sadistic cat girl, her less excitable but equally predatory lizard woman companion, Kunai, as well as Syl, an absent-minded and optimistic (1/16th drow) elf. Ashley’s terror at meeting the former two pushes her into meeting and befriending the latter.

Understandably, Syl has about as much idea about what’s going as Ashley does, beyond also having been torn from her home universe, as Ashley has been with hers.

Arriving again, this time before an audience, Porter is all too happy to give a half-assed explanation to the group of 20 mortals before her.

None of them have been brought to the bottom floor of the Tower by accident, regardless of whether they came from within or outside, or if they were aware of the structure beforehand. All have been selected because of certain attributes they might possess, and the right to a mysterious, unknown destiny that gives them should they wish to climb the Tower’s 1,000+ floors to the top.

A climb that, in over 50,000 years of facing each floor’s challenges, no-one has ever completed.

Porter proceeds to demonstrate the aforementioned ‘attributes’ by summoning Marie, a climber who failed a challenge on the 5th Floor, eating her whole in front of a shocked audience. Absorption soon follows, no trace of the unfortunate girl remaining.

It’s eat or be eaten in the most literal sense, as Porter makes clear, though she hints that most of it will be climbers going for other climbers.

Despite her disgust, Ashley finds herself oddly transfixed on what just transpired.

Porter, in her duty as the 1st Floor’s overseer, aside from her maintaining the place, forgoes any more technical explanations to be given by later overseers, and moves on to explaining the rules of the opening floor’s challenge, as set by her.

Per her rules, the group of 20 are to be spread throughout a vast maze via teleportation, to even the odds, and must make their way back to the stage in the center, evading or consuming all opponents along the way. Once only 2 remain, the giant doors blocking the way to the 2nd Floor will open.

With no further explanation than that, Porter splits the gathering up. Dazed, but having been teleported together, Ashley and Syl set out in the right direction after Syl manages to recognize the universal symbol for ‘banquet’ (or ‘gathering place’, in context) on a sign featuring High Fae, a language from her world, despite her not understanding most of that language.

Or anything, for that matter.

Following the magenta line leading from the sign, the pair travel deep into the labyrinth, evidence indicating they’re heading in the right direction.

Not far in, however, Syl’s strong elf ears draw the pair to witness some of the first casualties of the day. From a safe hiding spot, the two witness a mermaid, accompanied by a golem, swallow three humans whole, without any hint of remorse. First a noble woman in a red dress, then a man from a futuristic universe, then finally a heartbroken knight who had served as the noble’s protector, as well as her lover.

The mermaid departs, satisfied, not noticing the onlookers. Ashley and Syl are left shaken. Syl compares what they witnessed to stories of witches from her homeland, while Ashley mentally grapples with the idea that she was on some level attracted to what the mermaid was doing. Additionally, during this encounter, Ashley learns of Syl's wood elf ancestry derived ability to enter a strange form of stealth under certain conditions.

They do their best to push on, trying not to dwell too much on the evidence of others’ defeats encountered along the way.

As before, though, Syl’s hearing steers them off their route. Following the trail of subtle music, the two enter a side room full of cluttered belongings that someone is living in. Here, they meet a mysterious masked woman who calls herself Dawn, a serene individual with an utter disregard for Porter’s authority, who invites them in quickly as menacing voices begin to approach behind them. They don’t stay her abode long, as their host beckons them through a secret passage at the back to escape being caught, but in that short amount of time, her subtle playfulness strikes Ashley as familiar, though her mild interest in Syl goes largely unnoticed.

Before the escape route closes, Dawn also delivers a cryptic warning to Ashley: “When you get cat-called and don’t answer, be sure not to hesitate!”

Neither Ashley nor Syl are sure what to make of that, and instead choose to move on in fearful silence, in case the voices they heard manage to catch up.

Without any more distractions, their next stop is their last. Arriving at a deceptively non-grand entrance, the pair find themselves back at the stage, entering the chamber after a few moments of hesitation. The two are the first into the stage room, a chart in the chamber telling them they’re among only 7 remaining in the maze.

They don’t get more than a few moments to dwell on how they made it so far, though (Syl credits Ashley’s intelligence), as they’re quickly joined by unpleasant company.

Witnessing one of the last remaining participants, a giantess, be consumed right in front of them alongside the mermaid and her golem, Ashley and Syl are joined by Oishī and Kunai, who seem to have torn through every opponent in their path on their way to the end. Frozen in terror before the duo of seemingly insurmountable predators after an attempt to overpower them using Syl's stealth fails, Ashley and Syl are forced to listen to their gloating, before Oishī to use an as yet unseen power to hypnotize hers and Kunai's prey into an oddly lustful and drunken state, intending to completely incapacitate them ahead of their being eaten.

While Syl is completely taken in by the effect, Ashley snaps out of it almost immediately for unknown reasons, though this goes unnoticed by the two predators.

Heeding Dawn’s words – as much as it disgusts her – Ashley doesn’t hesitate to use this distraction.

By the time Oishī notices the gaping maw looming over her, its already too late.

With hungry determination, Ashley overpowers the cat girl, swallowing her whole while trying not to think about how nice she tastes.

Kunai, meanwhile, is jumped by Syl, now freed from Oishī’s influence, before she can save her ally, eventually meeting the same fate by the elf’s hands.

Lying on the ground with engorged bellies shrinking away to nothing, the remaining pair muse on various things. Ashley isn’t entirely convinced this isn’t all a dying dream within a cat girl’s belly, whilst a blushing Syl comments that she somewhat gets why the witches from her world eat people, given how good it feels, something that Ashley isn’t able to refute. Neither are too keen on the prospect of having similar dealings on every floor, though.

Most importantly, though, the two – quite the effective team – are grateful to the other for saving their butt.

A tiny amount of undesirable pudge the only evidence of their recent meal, the two resolve to be the first people to reach the top of the Tower, fix anything they mess up along the way, and escape, though Ashley is unsure at first and it takes some words of encouragement by Syl to convince her they can do it.

One of Ashley’s main concerns is how long the Tower’s gone without someone reaching the top, something Porter promptly answers as she arrives to congratulate the duo on their victory, with “over 55,000 years”, much to their shock.

Despite that reveal, however, Porter refuses to reveal much more about what Ashley and Syl will be walking into, that being the job of one of other early floors. What they do get out of her, however, consists of a confirmation that the Tower really is more than 1,000 variably sized floors tall, at minimum, the most successful climber having reached the 1,003rd Floor around 11,000 years earlier before settling down.

The impossibility of the Tower’s scale shatters Ashley’s optimism over her and Syl’s goal, but the elf is eventually able to reignite her determination, solidifying the two as friends, if they weren’t already.

In the meantime, though, while Porter pushes Syl on to the now open doors to the 2nd Floor – and fancy, almost medieval hallway of immense length lying beyond – the overseer holds Ashley back for a moment, wanting to know how the girl fared.

Not that she cares beyond a curiosity that she won’t explain the origins of, of course.

Ashley’s response, that it went about as well as could be expected given she ate someone and isn’t entirely sure she hated it, seems to satisfy Porter, but does little to improve Ashley’s low opinion of her.

After a cryptic warning about a “bitch in a suit”, Ashley gives Porter no more attention, taking Syl and heading on her way, a new lease of confidence in her heart from the elf’s encouraging words.

It does little to sate her overall confusion, however.

Following Ashley and Syl’s departure for the 2nd Floor, Porter is joined by Dawn, it becoming apparent that the pair are 60,000+ year old twin sisters and co-gatekeepers. Dawn has not been co-overseer of the 1st Floor for some time, though, instead managing the 48th after the previous overseer mysteriously disappeared, even if the eldest twin Porter was supposed to have found a more permanent replacement by now.

It also becomes clear that Dawn’s real name, when not ‘undercover’, is Verge, whilst Porter’s is… unmentioned. Whatever interest “Porter” has in Ashley (Verge spotted her wearing Porter’s glasses), Verge shares in the case of Syl, though the sisters don’t discuss that at length, instead moving on to other topics.

Though as with most sibling banter, there isn’t much of consequence to mention there, and is best left for another time.

Because this isn’t “Porter” or Verge’s story. This is Ashley Gray’s story, to be seen all the way to the end, for better or for worse.

Whether she wants to or not.