Chapter 102: Libraries
Sassi stomped the head of the fungus mutant angrily, the fourth creature to have attacked after Astral had been snatched. She took a few deep breaths, watching the motion detection pop up in her HUD for any more attackers.
She was then off, trotting through the fleshy material as the mare followed the air duct system, or tried her best to. The delay had already cost her precious minutes.
The first two creatures had clearly been trying to stall her, opting to try and strike with non-lethal blows before getting serious. Their ceramic-like armor might have just made them cocky, however.
After that though, the two creatures that had torn down the hall towards Sassi had shown no such hesitation, trying to rip the mare apart before being met with a hail of gunfire.
Even so, it took hundreds of rounds just to kill four of them. They were remarkably resilient.
And I can’t make any more ammo without the reactor.
Astral was still alive; that much Sassi knew. She tried not to think past that. The idea that he could be ripped away so abruptly, that she’d never see-
She stopped, shaking her head and shoving the thoughts down.
We’ve gotten this far. I’m not losing him now!
It was so easy to take Astral for granted. Having the stallion at her side was grounding in a sense Sassi hadn’t realized until it was gone. Their mental link, while still an unknown oddity, had been comforting. The AI had immediately blared a warning that a suppression field had been activated. Previously confined to the blacked-out area of the map, it now encompassed beyond the hallway. If Sassi had to guess, some testing area had been activated and the equipment had gone into overdrive.
The motion tracker pulsed, and the mare suppressed a growl as another contact moved into range as she crept along the hallway. The guns were already spinning, ready to turn whatever this new creature was into a fine paste.
The dot stopped.
Huh.
Sassi carefully followed the wall, stopping at the corner which hid the new enemy. If it could leave on its own, that’d be ideal. Even though she had thousands of rounds left, that could get burned up fast in a fight.
The dot abruptly moved, and Sassi froze as two spider-like limbs popped around the corner. The appendages hefted a sizeable body, more like an inflated water balloon. The head was a mass of fungus, and the oval torso was oddly smooth. Two more spidery limbs propelled it along, the creature utterly oblivious to Sassi’s presence.
It stopped just behind her, lowering to the ground. Sassi’s stomach abruptly did a flip as she realized the back of the creature was squirming. Dozens of small protrusions abruptly grew in size.
Thin black tentacles erupted from underneath each of the fleshy bulbs, pushing a skull-like shape out from the back of the larger creature. The smaller, coconut-sized objects slithered off, a dozen of them fanning out to examine the hallway in front of their carrier creature.
The pulsating holes in the back of the larger creature made Sassi’s stomach clench. She could add another ‘nope’ to the ‘new nope’ list.
She carefully crept along, thankfully leaving the creature behind her.
Some kind of host that transports the smaller creatures? Uses them to scout for food perhaps?
Such questions were ones the mare would happily leave unanswered.
The previously-rectangular walls were now a circular tunnel, the squishy material carpeting every surface as she trudged onwards, trying to follow the air duct. It kept twisting and turning, eventually vanishing behind a sturdy wall. The RASP suit wasn’t able to scan beyond it. Apparently, it was a complete black hole of information beyond the leftmost wall of the tunnel. Something was blocking the scans, and that was in addition to the metal being far too thick to even consider blasting through.
That left following the tunnel to find an entrance. Sassi didn’t like that option, but there wasn’t anything else she could do. Retracing her steps to try and climb in the air vent was out of the question, especially with those things around.
So, the mare continued onwards. Aside from two more of the carrier creatures (dubbed ‘squirmies’), the area was disturbingly quiet.
She hated it.
The soft squishing of the fleshy mat underhoof was a constant reminder of how wrong this entire place was. Her training didn’t encompass this, and the usual mental zone she could go into during battle was only partially effective here. There was just…nothing. All she could do was listen for threats and move along. And try not to think about Astral. Even a brief thought about the stallion made her heart seize at the possibility that-
For once, Sassi was grateful for the motion detection to send out an alert. She moved to push herself against some rubble; the remnants of what appeared to be a kiosk.
Another dot appeared, and then another. They zeroed in on a room directly ahead of Sassi, the Chatters flooding into it. Two of the creatures appeared from behind the mare, utterly ignoring her as they ran into the room. A series of shrieks and cracks abruptly began to echo around the hall.
Sassi’s eyes widened as the shredded body of one of the Chatters was thrown out from the room, slamming into the tunnel wall and falling limp. Another body was thrown, and the remaining four Chatters abruptly fled further down the tunnel. A soft clicking reverberated out from the room, but it wasn’t echo-location. It was like bones bouncing off each other…
The shape that loomed out from the destroyed doorway made Sassi’s breath freeze in her lungs. Pulling the two bodies into the room, the unmistakable claws of Number Two retreated back into the blackness.
The mare waited until the motion tracker cleared, and she then pushed against the opposite wall and moved as fast as she could.
I have to find Astral. That thing already is here!
As if spurring her onwards, a soft hiss echoed through the tunnels. The fleshy floor abruptly began to wheeze, a greenish cloud filling the tunnel.
‘WARNING: Unknown airborne toxin detected. Filter effectiveness unknown.’
Astral stared at the warning in his helmet about the airborne toxic, barely daring to breathe.
The creature was still about. It had passed by him twice since Astral had hidden in one of the large lockers. Five minutes ago. He had also found out the source of the voices. The creature was able to mimic, at least partially, a normal voice.
Not a bad way to lure in prey.
The fact the motion detection didn’t work outside of the line of sight was maddening. Astral could hear the creature at times, but then silence would take over.
I have to move eventually. I need to get out of here!
Add in the unknown toxin, and this place was a death trap. He didn’t even know what this place was supposed to be testing for!
He waited another few minutes, finally creeping out of the hidey-hole. The AI had charted his previous path, and while it wasn’t terribly accurate (with walls changing at random now,) it at least gave him an idea of the overall outline of the room.
At this point, if he could find an air duct against the wall, he’d climb back in if he had to.
Astral continued to creep forwards, an odd fuzziness permeating his thoughts. It was like his brain was saturated in a fog. He had grown accustomed to the lightning-fast reflexes, both mental and physical due to the augmentation. Now it felt like he was saturated in jello. Every step felt delayed, and there was an odd fog in his mind as the Thestral struggled to think.
The toxin.
Despite the constant warning, the filters were working at full capacity, for whatever that was worth. Maybe this place was just getting to him? If-
A loud siren made the stallion freeze, his skin crawling. A cold sweat immediately broke out across the Thestral’s body as he darted over to a corner, hunkering down with his weapons aimed and ready.
I know that sound.
The text on Astral’s HUD faded away as he was sucked into a memory. It was like watching a movie, his body becoming sluggish as he at least managed to move and hide underneath a nearby table. Everything then faded, the stallion trying to not hyperventilate. The siren drew out the memories and fears without even a hint of resistance. Astral’s vision fuzzed over even further, memories being wallpapered over his current situation with odd ease.
He hadn’t told anyone about that day. A single hour that had stretched on for what felt like forever. His parents hadn’t bothered to care, and Gabbro…he loved the Hippogriff too much to scar him with the details. The Case had then occupied so much of Astral’s life, the Thestral had been almost able to forget.
The emergency siren continued to blare, a slow wind up to a piercing tone that repeated. Astral had heard it plenty of times for tests, but there had been one incident where it had been for real.
A chemical plant near one of the Guard training grounds had suffered an accident. A nasty fog that had melted organic matter in seconds. They had sheltered in place with their suits, masks, and emergency gear; waiting for it to pass.
The squad had been safe. But the gas had crept into the building despite their best efforts. The blue mist had pooled around their hooves; the only thing between them being a thick seal of treated rubber and absorbent material.
There had only been twenty deaths, incredibly. There had been a brisk wind and it had blown the cloud into an uninhabited area.
Four of those deaths had been just outside the building Astral had been sheltering in.
I can still see their faces.
The ponies were dead the minute the fog rolled in; there wasn’t anything anyone could have done. But the sight of barely-living creatures literally melting into a pile of gore outside the window, choked screams abruptly fading…
All while the siren screamed its warning.
Astral finally came to his senses, the vitals portion of the HUD flashing in warning as his heart rate skyrocketed.
Maybe Sassi would understand. She wouldn’t laugh or judge.
“Where did that siren come from?” he asked, the AI circle flashing.
‘No sounds detected outside of fluorescent lights operating.’
“Wait. Nothing? What about the past few minutes?”
‘Stand by.’
It only took a moment as the Stallion continued to move.
‘Analyzing complete. Detection of distant movement. Unknown enemy movement matches to 32.62% of distant sounds. Lighting operation accounts for 97.32% of audible sound in the immediate area. Unchanged for the past five minutes. No other sounds detected.’
That made Astral’s heart sink. Auditory hallucinations? That fast?
“Astral?”
He whirled, a sigh of relief leaving his mouth at the sound of Sassi’s voice.
“Sas? Are you-”
The words trailed off into a horrified choke as the mare looked at him. Her armor was missing, as was half of her face.
“Why did you leave me to die?” she asked, flesh beginning to drip off from her skeletal frame.
Astral tore his eyes away and ran. A distant, malicious laugh echoed off the faded walls as claws tore across the carpet behind him.
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I swear, if we get a Guilty Spark companion here...
11503718
Someone get us a Spartan Laser and some shields.
Oh, dear sweet *fuck* no! That's absolutely terrifying...
Been watching various videos on the new Dead Space game, are you sure there's not a Marker in this place somewhere?
11503852
I mean cdn-img.fimfiction.net/story/2fy4-1432524108-157388-full
11503735
Oh, very much so. That's the reaction I was going for! So...success?
11503718
I tried to shoot that obnoxious orb so many times...
....no. This is not what I think it is.....is this...
"Universe-crafting?"
So the sensorium part of the nervous system has been jacked. This is like Smile. Unfortunately there's no way to distinguish reality because all senses are being manipulated, meaning unless a bunch of antidepressants get sucked down or Astral's body gets flushed, he's fucked without a couple of luck die to save his ass.
But you're not going to fuck him up too bad, are you, DM?
11503974
Of course not!
media3.giphy.com/media/x7gjmBuaHrWak/giphy.gif
11503970
11503988
Welp. He's either going to overcome physical trauma but succumb to emotional damage, or overcome emotional trauma but succumb to physical damage. He's not avoiding both. I already have a dramatic irony DM whenever we speak too soon, I'd dread having you as the DM as you'd fuck with us on purpose even if we say nothing at all or do anything to directly warrant it.
I like world building. Tension. But would it be too much to ask that they see some wierd shit on the way to the surface without being in mortal danger unless they deliberately attracted it or had to out of necessity or consequence? Like certain triggers on L4D maps where even if you wipe out or avoid all the Zs, the only way forward is going to attract them all, or spawn more that come from further away. You could do everything right, and still need to fight something.
11503992
I'd be a nightmare as a DM.
"Did you check the door?" *Proceeds to always have a safe door, but then the carpet is actually a mimic.
...weird stuff that doesn't immediately attack on sight but still needs to be fought?
Aye. I can do that!
And you're correct. As it stands, both of our Thestrals are roughed up. Astral still is healing from the modifications as well. You don't make it out of the Silo unscathed.
11503992
Might as well make a tease dead-end where they get cornered, but by the miracle of an outside force (please be Arcane), the dead-end is actually the wall between them and the surface world, and it gets destroyed, and now the monsters die, and Astral and Sassi are saved, but the horrors live on as painful memories and nightmares, and I should probably stop this comment.
11503999
That'd be far too easy though! Dead end and then they're safe and sound?
11503992
in response to your request may I make the suggestion have some stuff like either cave Johnson's voice recordings or a video record of stuff that actually went into detail about the stuff that happened in silo 3 before it's nearly total sealing, something that they can come in contact with that shows some of the horrible stuff this silo had to go through but isn't a thing that causes them danger
11504215
That's a good idea too! I appreciate it!
11504221
Cave here! Now I know we're swimming in investor funding, and have no shortage of inspired staff, but our experiments in placing plans for new test chambers and stealing them from extradimensional versions of the Company have been... less than successful. Turns out our counterparts anticipated us being little goblins. So! We've been asked to design and build a new testing chamber for the experiments coming out of Silos 1 and 2, that can be used more than a couple of times. "But Cave," you ask, "how can we do that?"
Simple! Teleportation! Now I know what you're thinking, "we can't use teleportation to connect disconnected chambers to make one congruous chamber," but hah, I say! You're thinking too small. Instead, why teleport a test subject to a chamber, when the chamber can teleport to the test subject? Big facility room. Infinite chamber modules. Finely tuned, precision teleportation. Infinitely variable. Material science for resistant panelling. Blackout on maps! Hallucinogenic testing gas! And a never ending supply of "external variables" provided courtesy of the neighboring Silos!
Gentleponies! I introduce the "Aperture" initiative! Testing applications open soon!
11504360
11503885
Killing Guilty Spark at the end of 3 was satisfying and bittersweet considering the price we paid for it.
11504738
Indeed
11504221
i mentioned both options because they come from your declared inspirations