#MrMalice

[themrmalice]

Monstrous Annihilation

By Malice

Narrated on YouTube by The Disciple: https://youtu.be/AdOfj8w99Bs

    A new development in foreign signals allowed Prometheus to triangulate a specified region in space, from which the signals could be emanating from. Though the region is distant from our position, investigation is required. The emanation is from a desolate and dead planet. One which died long ago. It has been given a new name since its destruction, Mortuus Est. The signals all seem to have been routed back to this planet. Forgotten. It's an estimated 40 minutes of hyperflight to get to the solar system alone, extra 5 to make it to the planet.

    The yaw of my pod and the invisible, intangible tug of the air around me shattered perception, only to awaken my senses in a system alien to me.When my vision corrected, I could see the system in its entirety, with my target being a colourful dot slowly rotating as it grew in size. A blue planet, presumably an ocean. Normally these expeditions are carried out by singular Derelicts, but this one had 4 others alongside me. My name is Daniel, the 4 others are Tristan, Alex, Aimee, and Asia. They insisted on going along with me, refusing all my pleas to go alone. I mentioned to them the Moloch incident, where a full crew of Derelicts had perished from unknown causes. The only salvage that remained were a few metal scraps and a coat presumably belonging to the captain, the coat was fully intact when it was found. An odd patch was seen on the right shoulder. Despite these tales, they again insisted on joining me.

    Descent began, the marble grew bigger as we darted with incredible speed none of us could feel. The atmosphere was in view now, decimated, slowly rotating as a thick sluggish cloud over the entirety of the sphere. It was also in this moment that I realized this was no Ocean Planet. Rather, it had a singular continent. I joined the comms channel to find 2 of my fellows conversing, and interjected “Hey, I thought we were going to an Ocean Planet. Anyone else see the continental mass?” Tristan, one of the people conversing previously, chimed in, “Yeah I thought so too. It's clear that it’s our landing spot, my navigation terminal has projected our pattern. We will be landing on the southernmost….half-peninsula? Whatever that means.” Alex, another convsering party, also joined in, “Half-Peninsula? You’re making this shit up now.” Immediately Tristan began barking back, and their previous banter was resumed. I turned off my comms and began reviewing the briefing. A simple directive was stamped on the cover, Investigate the Lamia Signals’ Source, Of course, an assumption was made for this planet. We believe the source is on this planet, I was sent in more or less to check. Our impact time was approximately 12:00, and sundown was at 22:00, leaving a good 10 hours until sundown. Along with this, a warning, reading:

Do not under any circumstances: 

Interact with any passive lifeforms if any are present

Engage with hostile lifeforms unless you are at risk

Remain/Return outside after sundown. Shelter until sunrise.

“Fun.” 

As we approached and broke the Atmospheric Boundaries, more of the planet was seen. We could make out details now, seeing a vast ocean with limitless wreckage underneath the wake, some of which piled high enough to poke out as towers. None too high of course. We were now circling the planet so we could slow down to an adequate speed before hitting the ground. My pod was getting warmer, to the point where I could hear the hiss of the ventilation struggle to spew out the now scorching air. As we hurled ourselves towards the other end of the planet, the sun grew dim, and the vast stretch of ocean was now obfuscated by a choking darkness. We would land on the continent, something I was unaware of, and we would have a few hours before sundown. The light now skewered through the skies, illuminating the silhouette of the planet, a half circle gleam, and the black canvas was now being painted with dots of blue, dark green, and grey. I received a warning from the computer, notifying me of the impact. I braced, holding onto handlebars conveniently placed by my sides. 

    Soon, the continent was in sight, and before I could make out details the canvas was no longer below me, and was now in front of me. I slammed into the ground, such force was not enough to halt my movement, as my pod was made to sustain such an impact. A circular cabin, with a detached rotary sphere encapsulating it. I began to roll along the ground at rapid pace. Hitting a number of rocks and flattening numerous scraps of metal. Eventually I pulled on the handlebars, which jutted up quickly, the “brakes” you could call them. Flat pillars shot out of the rotary sphere, and began impaling the ground until eventually I slowed to a halt. My cabin had remained upright according to gravity so only flashes of my surroundings could be seen inside. Before me was a massive stretch of ocean tinted greenish blue. Opaque and Pearlescent hues were dotted throughout its form, and below me was green grass that had seemingly regrown. 10 hours until sundown. The door had released, but not opened, only a puff of pressurized air began filling my cabin. I took this as a sign that my door either dented or was being held shut, so I used the emergency evac procedure. Pulling a lever that was to my upper left, it clanged down, and the hatch above me shot upwards, blasting through the rotary section of my pod. I climbed out and watched as the hatch sailed through the air, eventually plummeting into the ground with an audible slam. I looked up and joined the Comms. “I have landed, anyone else?” I only got a response from Tristan, Alex, and Aimee. Not Asia. I used the Emergency channel to attempt contact, “Asia do you read me?” no words came from my headset. Tristan had apparently landed nearby, Alex was closer to the water, and Aimee unfortunately had a miscalculation and landed in the water. Not too far, but pressurized release was proving difficult for her. “My cabin is filling with water, I need help!” she yelled, Alex was the first to respond, “Im on my way, I saw where you landed.” Tristan spoke too “I see you Daniel, to your right!” I looked and saw him standing there, a portly figure who wore his weight well. Also easily recognized by his modified helmet, which had welded parts sticking out from most ends. I ran to him, “Lets go, we gotta get Aimee out of there!” He nodded and we were off. 

    Just down the peninsula that I had landed on was the beach, and i could see Alex running along it to a small alcove with bubbles spewing in vast amounts from beneath the surface. Me and Tristan started down a hill, moving in a stilted run that ensured balance. When I again saw Alex, she was already diving into the water, eager to rescue Aimee. I hopped in as well. The pod was still there, stamped to the ground she would have rolled on. Half of her pod was shredded, likely from atmospheric interference. I swam up to Alex, with Tristan in tow. Tristan grabbed his Plasma cutter and began to saw away the upper section of the Rotary, which eventually blasted out, allowing a clean escape. Aimee was ready as soon as we got her out, she swam faster than I’ve ever seen her swim to the beach. We all followed. 

    On the beach, Aimee began to express her gratitude, Alex checked her for any wounds, and Tristan was running over a scan of her pod to see what would have happened. “Nothings out of the ordinary, maybe it was just-” Immediately Aimee shot back “I know what it was! A fucking meteorite slashed through the rotary, it disabled half of it and made the other half immediately spike!” I tuned in “Calm down Aimee, nothing we can do now.” With an angry look she remained quiet. The other two looked at me too, “Look, Asia isnt responding to Comms, we need to find her, right now.” Alex asked, “How long till sundown?” “10 hours, we have time.” I responded. Tristan jutted in, “Hey, I have an idea. Daniel, you and Alex look for Asia, me and Aimee will stay here to find a place we can shelter in. Remember what the debrief said?” Though I knew the warning, I was also aware of the dangers of splitting up. Alex and I are derelict combat personnel, trained to handle ourselves in the event of hostile alien encounters. Tristan is a technician, trained to understand the past 100 years of technology. Aimee is an informational observant, trained to have a keen eye on the slightest of details. Unfortunately, Asia is our data tracker, she’s the one who would know where the signals are coming from exactly, and how to decrypt them. If Alex and I leave, we would be perfectly safe, but Tristan and Aimee would not be. 

         I emphasized this, and stated to them that we should remain in a group, “We would be much safer if all of us tried to find her.” Alex nodded in agreement, the other two followed suit. I pulled out a scanner and began searching for the frequency that S.O.S. Signals are commonly sent on. Very quickly it latched onto the signal, pinning her location as North by NorthEast from our location, round 40 miles from here. We gazed towards a vast mountain landscape, swimming valleys and massive geometric pillars skewered through the ground. A chunk of the tectonic plates stuck upwards out of the ocean, the maw of which hung all the way down to the tormented landscape. We would have to hike through 40 miles of crackled canyons, shifted plates that slashed through the landscape like paper, and gouged out mountains that look as if a creature of incredible size had rampaged through them. Not to mention indigenes, which we have been both relieved and warned of. We quickly set off, anxious to arrive at Asia’s coordinates. 

    The initial few miles were rather tame, the most difficult objects being a slight rise or hill. We discussed plans as we trekked through here, eventually concluding that when we are approximately 2 hours from nightfall, we should hunt for a cave or alcove. We have been warned to avoid cave systems, valley trenches, and most importantly any and all possible buildings that could be radiating the Lamia Signals. Yes, we were told that this planet has the possibility of previous if not current sentient presence, though the way we were told struck me as odd. There was not a single mention in our briefs and the only time we heard was the night before we jumped, our commander approached us in our living quarters and individually told us, dodging most of our questions and remaining vague. Clearly he could not confirm nor deny the current or previous presence of alien sentience, something that still remains enigmatic and terrifying to think about.  We have still never encountered alien sentience! I believe thats what is fueling the councils interest in the Lamia Signals. 

    We, of course, were cautious with every step. Again, the Daytime indigenes arent anything frightening or even hostile from what we’ve observed. Nothing of great size either, the largest we saw was merely a spider, though its pigment was a little too familiar. No, its the Nighttime Indigenes we were heavily warned about. To the point where we were equipped with Military Class weaponry. Normally, Derelicts will carry a Plasma Pistol, sometimes a Rifle, and even rarer a High Energy Point Sniper. But we were sent in with a Pistol, a Super Heated Knife to act as a secondary sidearm, a Rifle and a Flak Shotgun. We are armed to fight pirates at this point, so why did they give us all this to defend ourselves against Indigenes? These questions constantly streamed through my mind, as this artillery is meant more for usage against Humanoid Threats, not alien creatures.

         At least we can take comfort that it would take a plated quadruped the size of a small building to take us down, but even then, the hefty warning alongside this weaponry, what could we encounter that couldnt be stopped in its tracks by this loadout? We received very minimal detail about the planet, the most detail we received is that ancient structures are beneath the ocean, visible even outside the atmosphere! But, along with that, came the order to never go beneath the waves. They stated there was only one continent, and that we need to investigate the signal. The signal was positioned somewhere in labyrinthian ruins of similar ancient origin. And that we should never remain in the ruins for longer than 4 hours! It's ridiculous, why is this the most hostile yet harmless planet we have been sent to? You cant be too careful, I guess, look at the incident at Station Lamia Prime for example. Whatever Anomaly was there it was able to survive a kinetic railgun blast, something we use to wipe planets out of existence! Some say it remains standing, acting as a relay of sorts for the Lamia Signals. But this planet is where they found the most odd form of encryption, direction, and most importantly, the way it sends the messages. Normally, with each anomalous point we find in the Lamia Line, we also find a pathway leading all the way back to a separate place. Each point acts as a relay, with the most signals sent to Station Lamia Prime. This place is the only one without a line leading away from it, but numerous leading out. We received a signal that would haunt a cryptologists nightmares, walls and walls of text all of it without any start or end. We didnt receive it from a relay, we received it from here. This planet. Dubbed PAL - 05.

         Alex’s voice rang in my ears, tearing me back to reality. She warned me of an upcoming obstruction, I only now realized she had run ahead of everyone. “There’s something you’ll want to see! Trust me, I have no idea how to cross it!” I looked at her and shouted “What exactly is it?” She was silent initially, then spoke again, saying “It’s hard to describe, but somebody really wanted to move a mountain!” My heart stopped, “You’re joking, right Alex?” No response. I jogged ahead alongside the others, and before my very eyes I saw a most peculiar sight. Enormous chains were hooked into the side of the mountain we have been climbing on, and it seemingly shifted! Causing a massive chasm to form between us and it. There was no bottom I could see. None of us breathed a word for a good while, horrified, as this couldn’t be natural phenomena! No anomalous reports came back that informed us of this! Luckily, one of us was able to break the silence, Aimee. “Perhaps we should follow the chasm, towards the chains.” The chains were off to our left, and the chasm stretched quite far, but had a clear point where we could hop across. I nodded, and so did they. We began our expedition swiftly, each step we took more was revealed. The chains themselves were absolutely massive, dwarfing vehicles with one link, and on the edge of the horizon, just below the chains, we saw large rectangular structures. The metal of the chains was rusted, brown and black chips were tearing up and down the links and appears to have frozen them in place. No end to them was found for a few minutes, until we eventually saw that they were attached to numerous circles, each decreasing in size and, in turn, decreasing the chains in size. The ends were barely visible through a scarlet veil that decorated the entirety of the ground below. Before long we were able to hop across. 

    Initially, we viewed it as a minor set back, nothing terrible of course. We walked in absolute silence, glaring at the chains’ ends. I heard Tristan whisper to himself, “Pinpricks.” I did not think anything of it at the time until moments later, Alex whispered to herself “Pins and Needles.” I spoke “Hold up everyone, lets check up, how is everyone feeling?” In an almost desperate tone Aimee said, “Right now?!” I retaliated, “Yes, I heard you two whisper something, what was it?” I said pointing at Alex and Tristan. Tristan went first, “The entirety of my calves are tingly, like when your circulation is cut off or restricted. You know, pinpricks.” Alex went next, “Same here, but its my shoulders.” I looked at Aimee, who, evidently, was uncomfortable. Eventually, we all grew silent, and began glaring at the chains once more. “Do you want to investigate?” Aimee immediately shot back “I’m not going anywhere near that!” Tristan was willing, and Alex was with Aimee. Me and Tristan decided to look deeper. 

    The first step forward sent chills down my spine and the second repeated that. I hesitated, and so did Tristan. As we continued walking, the sounds beneath our feet changed with the hue of the foliage. Going from a light crumble of dead grass to an almost juicy tinge of mud, this only exacerbated as we stepped further into the scarlet, which only intensified the closer we got to the chains. When we were close enough to point out details, I saw Tristan stop for a moment. I asked him, “You alright?” He nodded and said “Swear to god I heard something.” as he said this his vision slowly turned towards me. I felt his fear. A few more steps, and we were ankle deep in an unrecognizable filth. Lifting our feet was difficult, so we basically had to waddle towards the ends. I looked behind at my trail, and shivered when I noticed that my trails had fine lines running through them. Not simple lines that appear on the surface, but indentations. The sounds of our steps became increasingly disgusting, becoming more guttural the further we went. The chain was in arms reach, and we lowered ourselves as far as we were willing to go. Without thinking, and seemingly without volition, my arm began to extend towards the chains. Before I could notice, I held one of the two chains. I looked over and saw Tristan, in the exact same pose, looking at me the exact same way, and holding the chain. We both blinked took our turns readjusting ourselves before we asked the question we both have been wondering, “Do we pull?”. Tristan nodded. We stood with both hands on each chain turned around, and in what felt so natural to do, pulled the chains out from the mess. That guttural sound blared from behind us as a gust of trapped air gulped to the surface, my stomach turned, but I kept pulling. The sounds grew louder as we pulled and quickly snapped into silence when we reached the grass. I dropped the chain beside me, I watched the ground and heard Tristan whinge and recoil. I looked behind me to see two arms connected to a headless torso, patches of skin remained with the edges flayed, and around the wrists was a layer of skin, sewn to the arms and the chains. No legs, no lower half, just the torso and no head. Organs were strewn in a line towards a gaping hole that closed. Once again, I saw those lined indentations, this time following the circumference of the hole. We all hacked and heaved, horrified and on the verge of vomit. Me and Tristan ran up to join the other two.

    “What the fuck is that!?” Wheezed Alex, Aimee was further ahead, curled and holding her stomach. I stifled my breath to hesitate vomiting and eventually I was able to gasp out “I have no … idea. Lets move, lets get out of here.” We each gathered ourselves long enough to walk out of the valley the body was in. I never considered this, but the ground around the chains, it was levelled. Flat. The region ahead of the mountain, was torn and cataclysmic, as if the mountain ran into it, against the chains’ pull. We stopped just a few miles away from it, and we were halfway to Asia. We rested, 5 hours till sundown. Gasping for air we found a small plateau and sat upon it, sitting opposite each other. We all took time to adjust and calm down. Aimee said “I can’t believe what we just saw, who would do something like that? Attempt to actually pull an entire mountain? That ridiculous!” I did not mention the fact that the valley was levelled and flat. Haven’t the faintest Idea why. “I made a log already about it, lets just get to Asia. The sooner we find her, the sooner we find the transmitter, and the sooner we can get off this place.” I said. Alex looked at me with a dead serious expression, “I am more scared to go further into this place. I saw a large assortment of ruined geometric shapes in the distance, towards Asia, and its very clear now what it is. Take a look if you have to.” I stood up and looked towards her location, and sure enough, I saw cracked and torn pavement in lines, and large ruins in sorted fashion alongside the pavement. “Yeah, i dont know about you Daniel but that is not something I want to walk into now. I’ve seen a lot, alright, I saw Lamia Prime get blown to shreds and reassemble behind my back, I’ve been on the Lamia case since I started being a Derelict with 4 completed missions under my belt. This is too much even for me.” she said. I knew her history, all of us have 4 missions and 4 years of the Lamia case under our belts. We’ve all seen what she has seen. But she’s right, this is more than we are ready to deal with. “I’m not leaving without Asia, we get her, and we call for Evac. Sound good?” I asked. Alex nodded, visibly tired. Tristan nodded, but Aimee was contemplating. “Do you guys think you can carry on without me? I’m not able to deal with this stuff, I’m meant to take notes on what we see, and I have seen more than enough. Think I can wait for Evac?” I looked at her, then at Alex. Tristan interjected, “You’re going to leave Asia? What if we dont succeed? You’re just going to go back to Prometheus with that weight on your shoulders?” Aimee exhaled sharply, and fell silent, hanging her head. “If you want to stay then stay, we wasted enough time. We need to book it to Asia before Nightfall.” I began walking, Alex followed behind me, and behind her Tristan followed. Aimee stayed.

    The first 5 miles were easy, but we were already approaching the outskirts of the ruins. Each of us were tense, we pulled out our weapons and held them, safety off. Another hour passed, we’re down to 3 and a half hours to find Asia and call for Evac. We saw large posts of metal impaling the ground with a hunk of broken metal and electronics dangling from the top. Ancient pavement that crunched and crackled beneath our feet lead all the way into the ruins. 3 hours left, and we were just under 10 miles from Asia’s position. It was clear where she was just by the path of recent destruction her pod made. Smoke billowed from a building further down the paved road from us. We could have ran, but our caution was far too crippling. Anticipating an event that won't come to pass. 

    It took us 2 hours to walk through the ruins. Something eerily familiar about them, and all of us reporting hearing voices over comms that did not belong to any of us. The only person who did not report was Aimee, presumably off comms and trying to contact Evac. Asia landed in a building that was now around the corner from us. Quite a large building, in the back were exploded canisters of extreme proportions, we only saw them because the right side of the building was completely decimated. As we rounded the corner, we heard a chilling sound over comms that made us stop in our tracks. An eerie moan was heard, one which crackled over a broken frequency. With eyes widened we each looked at one another, brought our weapons closer to our chests, and proceeded even slower than before. Alex peeked around the broken wall, saying she sees the pod. As we approached she held up her hand and said, “I wouldn’t go near it though.” I asked why just as I joined her side. The pod was absolutely shredded, with a viscous red liquid seeping from its cracks. Beneath it a membranous mass congealed and held it in place. The mass was pinkish, with pustules the size of a human skull filled with a mysterious yellow-green substance. From the side of the Pod we saw a lanky, feminine arm sticking out, holding on by the strands of tendon to the, now very clear, pilot of said pod. Asia was dead, and in her outstretched arm was the Data Tracker. 

    We approached slowly, and as we did I heard Tristan begin to whimper, choking back tears. I wanted to tell him to let it out, but that would make more noise than we are willing to allow. I saw the pod up close, and through the pod I saw Asia’s face. A horrific sight, truly. The membrane beneath her had crawled up to her body, encompassing it. Her face had a solid substance, with many holes drilling into her skull. None were bleeding. I could see tendrils of this wood-like material under the skin on the side of the infected area. One of the only untouched places being her right eye which gazed a million miles ahead of her without life. Tristan began to break when he saw it, I heard it convulsing and heaving. With one foot almost on the membrane, I stretched forward to grab the Data Tracker. It was no ordinary Data Tracker, it was the “Asia Special”, she modified it heavily, jerry-rigging range extenders and tons of buttons to the sides and the front. She even gave it a Touch Screen and an Analog Panel. A gifted Technician, absolutely. I handed it to Tristan, the only other one of us who knew how it functions. He pressed a few buttons to turn it on, and clasped it in both hands as he gazed at Asia. I asked him, “Is it working?” no response. Alex grabbed it from him slowly and calmly, she didn’t want to disturb him. I looked at it and immediately recognized Asia’s special symbol for Lamia Signals. It was in a peculiar place, just down the road. I told Tristan to take as long as he needs, only for him to speak immediately, “She was really the best.” I hung my head and said, “Yeah. We need to finish this, the Transmitter is right down the-” Tristan cut me off, “Do you think we will get out of this, man?” I looked at him, his face had tears streaming down and his face was red. “Yeah, why wouldn’t we?” Tristan solemnly looked up, a look of fear and desperation as he reached for his Communication Relay and handed it to me. As he did, he said “We havent had a single contact since we landed. Nobody can hear us.” My heart sunk. “Well when they notice this signal is off the map im sure they’ll send someone-” He cut me off again, “You know what happened to the others right? I didn’t think it was my time yet. Not yet.” I was confused, and before I could ask he said, “Go on without me, I’m going to need a bit. I’ll catch up.” I nodded, and just as I turned around I heard him whispering to himself “Flos Vale.” A dead tongue, I doubt he could translate it for me. Alex and I started for the Signal Transmitter, she was still silent. I could tell she was disturbed.

    We pressed forward until we got to the ruins, rubble piled onto the base floor of what used to be a building. The back corner was cleared of the rubble and had a hole leading down. We were on top of the signal, so all we had to do was jump. I turned on my flashlight and started forward, only to realize Alex wasnt with me. I looked behind me, nobody, so I went back onto the streets to see her standing. Arms lowered with her gun at her side. She looked, defeated almost. I walked to her and asked her what was wrong. Without a word, she pointed up to the top of a large building, once called a Skyscraper. When I looked, I felt exactly what she did. The same membranous mass from Asia’s pod, growing in a huge spread on the side of a building. Pustules the size of a person, and within was something swimming. Only when my eyes followed it did I understand her despair. The spread was ongoing, hostile, and above all else, powerful. We walked forward to find a huge trench, stretching past the plateaus we came from and reaching to a sea of complete red. Underneath, a spongy substance was poking through the waves, and what we saw only deepened our fear. Arms, human arms! Legs, Torsos, faceless heads, all detached and all dysmorphic. I pointed directly across the trench. Frozen people posed in terror, covered in the wood-like substance. One humanoids head was blown out, with shards of that substance peeled apart, revealing a hollow center. Made my skin crawl, as the holes themselves were patternized. Seeing them peeled like that only twisted my stomach. 

    I put my hand on Alex’s shoulder, I said “It will be alright. We’ll get out of here. C’mon, lets destroy that Transmitter.” I turned and began walking, but she did not move. She didnt make a sound, and just stood there, plasterfaced. Her eyes were further up, gazing into the sky. I asked her, “Hey, you coming? C’mon, snap out of it.” She finally spoke, “I can’t do this Daniel,” She said in an exasperated and dead tone, “I just can’t. This used to be a human settlement, but i fear it was more than that. So many lives, so many people. This is one, imagine what’s under the water elsewhere.” I tried to reason with her, “Its bad, yes, absolutely, but the end of our mission is right here! We can go for it! We can do it! When Prometheus sees the Transmission has ended-” she interrupted me, “They didn’t notice the end of the Transmission for the others, Daniel. Did they save the Moloch?” She looked at me this time, and I could see utter defeat behind her eyes. I couldn’t speak, no matter how hard I tried, “Did they?” she asked again. I tried to formulate an answer “W-well no but-” she started again, “They didn’t save the Moloch, they have tried again and again to destroy Lamia Prime despite the accounts of living personnel aboard, they arent trying Daniel. They aren’t.” I looked at her, and in the most inspiring tone I could muster, I said “ That’s true, but we have 4 years, 4 fucking years of experience in dealing with Lamia Anomalies, they can’t afford to get rid of us!” Her gaze turned outwards again. I continued, “We have seen more than most Derelicts can say! We have survived through so damn much! What makes you think we can’t get out of this!” She remained silent this time. A moment passed and she spoke once more, “Continue the mission. If completing it means you can get out of here.” I snapped back, “You’ve seen everything Alex!” She quickly responded with “I’ve seen enough.” She quickly pulled the tip of her rifle to her mouth and said “Flos Vale”. Before I could react, she fired. Splatters of red cascaded my helmet as shock filled my lungs. I fell to my knees and began heaving, choking down vomit as my mind whirled in terror. Alex, I’ve known her for years, her and I have gone through so much as a Team and she just, she just gives up! Gives in to the temptation! 

    My heart pounded, and my mind raced. I had 30 minutes until sundown, and my mind fixated immediately on that. I pulled myself up, stammering, I was disoriented and nauseous but I needed to finish this! I clicked my comms and spoke, my voice was tearing and cracking, high pitched whines streamed through my throat, “Guys? Tristan? Aimee? Alex just, she just killed herself! We need to regroup, where is everyone!” A few seconds pass. Sounding like a scared child I clicked again, “Guys?” Emergency Channel, nothing, All Frequencies, nothing, I even used a dead format of radio waves to attempt to reach anyone! Nothing! Nobody was there! I still had Tristan’s comm relay, I turned it on, no contacts. I pulled out Asia’s Data Tracker and fiddled with it for a while trying to find the signals of Tristan and Aimee. Nothing. Just the damned Lamia Signal. I heaved once more, utter terror and fear filled me. I used the last of my strength to walk towards the building housing the Transmitter, I reached the hole. 20 minutes left till Sundown. Looks like I’m staying with the Transmitter tonight. 

    I hopped down, my whole body lethargic and my mind barely functioning. I looked forward and saw an empty room. “The Tracker said it was right here! It fucking said it was right here! Where is it!? Where is the Transmitter!?” I began to panic, my anger rose, thinking this was all for nothing! “No! It was all for nothing! First Asia, then Tristan, Alex, Aimee, I lost everyone for nothing!” I began to break down, moving in sporadic ways, screaming at the top of my lungs in distress. I threw the Data Tracker forward, only for it to bounce off something and slam back into me. I pointed my flashlight forward, and there was nothing, but I heard a disgusting oozing sound with an odd, wet, undulating noise. I moved forward and looked down. What I saw churned my stomach and tormented my mind. A giant egg-like membrane that wrapped around something, the same pustules as before but this time, I could nearly make out what was swimming within. Against all impulses, I lept down, my feet landing in the sticky membrane that coated the ground and walls of another floor. This one had a hole leading into what seemed to be an aqueduct. My gaze quickly fell on the egg, which stood at my height and looked to have something inside the whole thing, not just its pustules. Within the yellow-green slime of the pustules was something far beyond disgusting, it looked to be chunks of someones brain! Brain matter continually moving around, tethered to something in the center. I grabbed my Flak Shotgun, and aimed it at the center of the mass. My whole body hesitated at first, but all inhibitions were gone in a single moment. I fired, shouting angrily as I did so. It burst open as the pressurized contents spewed out. The pustules, god knows what the fluid inside is, but what came from the egg, slipping between the torn membrane was a headless body without a lower half, no hands, and where the head would be, a mass of tangled strings leading into the spinal column was there instead. I couldn’t hold back anymore, I took a deep breath, lifted my visor hoping this stuff did not secrete a gaseous toxin, and hurled. Instinctively, my body breathed in, and I noticed that there was breathable oxygen on this planet. But, how!? Hardly the first thought I had, as many more immediately shot through me, what was this thing!? How is it transmitting a signal?!

As the body flopped to the ground with a loud splat and along with it a previous snack from my stomach, a rumbling from beneath the ground began. I turned around to see the sky was black, with only a bit of light shining through. The quaking became harsher and harsher, building voracity, I knew the nighttime indigenes were going to be coming out soon, so I readied my gun and prepared myself. As I backed myself into the corner next to the opening into the aqueduct, I noticed the membrane on the ground was undulating and gurgling, spewing up tissue from what i can only assume the dead human on the ground. And as it undulated, tiny tendrils of incredible length shot out from its edges and began enveloping my feet and weaving into the walls! I darted for the aqueduct, which was musty and smelled of rusted copper. I began sprinting with my flashlight aimed with my rifle down the corridor. From behind the quaking started to cause me to stumble, and when I looked behind the membrane was growing rapidly, enveloping the walls and the ceiling! I ran, bolting down the corridor as fast as possible, until I saw a hole leading upwards! I swiftly climbed the rubble to find myself in the building we found Asia in! Tristan’s body was already consumed entirely by the mass, with pustules already forming on his person!

I sprinted for the outside to see exactly why they told us to not be outside at night! This membrane grows rapidly at night! To the extent that the entire block was already half taken over, with the way we entered being ripped by unknown forces. When i saw the tendrils coming for me again, I ran deeper into this section of the city, I saw no hills or mountains, only ruins! My chest began to burn as I gasped for air. I fell on my hands and knees trying to get a full lung. In this moment almost perfect clarity was in my grasp, i looked back to see the overgrowth slowing to a halt. Gasping, I lay down in momentary relief and gather myself. Before I could recoordinate, though, I heard someone. It was Aimee, over comms! “Daniel?” she said, “Aimee! Oh my god where have you been!?” I shouted back in joy. She spoke again, “Daniel?” I clicked again, “Yes, Aimee, Yes! I’m here, where are you!?” Again, “Daniel?” was all I heard. Same tone, same pitch, same everything. Like it was on repeat. Down the street I heard Alex’s voice shout out “Daniel!”, I didn’t shout back, I was dumbstruck! From behind me I heard Tristan repeat what the others said, and quickly Aimee spoke again, immediately followed by Alex, then again by Tristan, this repeated over and over in my head, soon, more voices joined in the choir! Hundreds, all intelligible, talking, whispering, yelling, I couldn’t understand any of it! I panicked and ran forward, trying to escape these sounds but my running only increased their volume! I was pleading, “Make it stop!” I shouted to nobody, “Please stop!” Desperate and tired I pounded forward begging for it all to go away! 

I saw the edge of the street, my reflexes failed me so I essentially tripped myself, slamming the front of my skull into the pavement and skidding slightly forward to see the water before me. My ears rang, and finally, I got the silence i begged for. I looked at the crashing crimson waves, and in this moment, I felt at peace. This moment was shattered, swiftly, as I heard the sound of crackling pavement and tearing rocks behind me. I turned around, the voices slowly came back to me increasing in volume with each second! The Tendrils became a wave, sticking into and slicing through buildings as it pursued me. I stood still. Watching as it moved. Everything was in slow motion for a while and, fully conscious, I grabbed my pistol, and aimed it at the side of my head. Above me was the moon, a glaring ball of ashes and dust, with a small red spot specked on its face. I felt the resistance of the trigger, and fired, just as dozens of tiny tendrils impaled my body.

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