The ruined lab was filled with the corrosive aura emanating from the creature. With each pulse within its thick muscle fibers, an even thicker, asphyxiating smog was released. The surroundings became saturated in the dark ash smog, sparing only the sight of the red, pulsating lights emitted by the creature.
[Roar!!!!]
As the walls trembled to the imposing oscillations from the roar, the smog disseminated through the vast lab, occupying more space as it approached XN.
"Here we go!"
In this desperate encounter, XN ran brains and legs, skipping over broken digital bureaus and corpses; and squeeze-passing through broken walls; attempting to safeguard his fate against the gluttony of the smog. In controlled panic, he kept sight of his direction while measuring his distance from the approaching danger.
"Damn it, It's closing up!"
Walls shivering and the floor in quake. It became harder for XN to maintain stability in his sprint. Nonetheless, he had a mission— to survive. For this, he would have to study the environment to find a way to overcome the fearsome foe. In his mental processing, he began to realize the obvious hints from which the panic blindfolded him. Once more the voices in his head argued..
"Something's wrong.. these corpses seem dehydrated. So why the corrosion ?"
The scientists void of life in the lab were dehydrated, some became skeletons. However, the presence of the miasma generated by the current foe turned the bones to char. This could only mean two things—
"Could this creature be behind their death? If so, it may have uncovered abilities.. or.. "
As his thoughts processed, the tension in his mind began to manifest on his face. The weight of reality gradually intensified the sweats running down his face, and with a desperate grin, the soliloquy suddenly voiced out. His speech, increasing in amplitude with each word spoken..
".. it can't be.. it isn't the only creature in the ship!"
This wouldn't be surprising anyway. For a trasher with a state-of-the-art equipped lab, it would just be another drop in the ocean to understand the origin of these monsters. Once more, XN's foresight might've played in his favor.
"Incubation tubes large enough to contain titans; scientists; a lab in a trasher-like ship.. "
At last, the veil was up..
".. If this creature is a result of an experiment here, there must be other residents of its kind in this ship."
His steps shared the weight of each thought he made. The ship felt the hasty need for a solution through the echoes of his athletic breaths. He knew there was a possibility that he would encounter something or someone else. But could that be a way out?
"Damn it! I can't come up with an idea, with this dynamic.."
In his racing steps his left foot kicked into a luminous rod, projecting it to collide with the weathered silver wall leading to an archway; interrupting his lamentations and lifting a trace of light. The flickering red globes of the creature slowly moved in the direction of the light, with its spiracles moving towards the source of the thud— the collision between the rod and the wall, where XN was headed to. A detail XN didn't miss to pick.
".. wait. This could work."
XN continued his statement with a change of tone, reflecting a glimpse of hope
"If there are more of these creatures, I can probably get them all here!"
With the pieces of the puzzle falling in place, he broke his race abruptly with a squealing sound from the friction between the sliding heels of his shoes and the silver floor; crouching in the process. His right hand at proximity to the floor, for better control. His black hair almost bending to gravity and his ARC lifted by the momentum. A dark-blue light flickered in his left eye, and his face expressing a confident yet, calm demeanor.
With his fate facing the rising miasma and the fearsome creature, he gently breathed out deeply, then imposed his words in the doom…
"Alright. Let's do it!"
Determined to survive, XN bets his survival on this one strategy. He collected every piece of metal he could find, all that while avoiding the rising miasma. With a calculated trajectory, he aimed for the walls, incubators, broken bureaus.. everything that could make noise. Yet..
"This isn't enough. The miasma cloud suffocates every sound produced.."
With his nose hidden by the collar of his ARC, he coughed out.
The situation sounded desperate, but that's a routine in XN's life as a handicapped lambda. However he survived throughout the cruel conditions. This would just be another day in his diary, because his attempts weren't in vain—
".. at least I know it works. It seems to be reactive to the sounds.."
Lost in his thoughts, the shadows of his ARC reflected on his face. In the darkness of his hood his grin was obvious that it was scary at sight, with a flicker of red light on his left eye. A ray of hope, like an unforsaken victory awaited XN. His voice intonated from his lungs, tight in his throat, revealing his unfailing confidence..
".. that's good.. it'll gain me some time"
XN crouched as though he was preparing for a marathon. From his high tops, an almost transparent steam started developing before he burst out in speed through almost every direction. He bumped from wall to wall, bureaus and every approachable surface, with imperfect acrobatics. Rolling to quickly rise from falls. He picked up every metal he found alongside, and aimed for the most fragile pillars of the hall.
The creature, confused in the cacophony, spread the corrosive smog throughout the sound sources. Its head facing every direction for his spiracles to capture the origin of the sounds. Its red eyes moved rapidly in the dark hollow of its orbits at each impact made between the metals thrown by XN.
The walls began to succumb to the corrosive smog, and cracks began to develop on the silver walls. Large and small particles from the pillars naturally fell onto the weathered silver floor, and onto the apparatus below them, adding up to the cacophony and the confusion.
[Roarrrrrr!!]
In the increasing confusion, the creature only grew more annoyed. Fed by the rage, its muscle fibers began to detach open. Underneath the muscle fibers were mouths of glands, releasing the smog.
With an intense roar, the glands released a jasper of the corrosive smog. Its limbs were wide open to maximize the spread of the substance.
The walls were already fragile, and the pillars were falling apart. The floor, wearing out. This final burst was just the cherry to XN's strategy for it was loud enough to resonate through the corridors of the ship. If it wasn't enough to reach the other creatures, the sound caused by the fall of the lab would surely reach them.
A moment of silence was observed from both foes— XN and the creature. For a moment, only the thuds from the falling pillars and walls displayed. Then, from the shallows, XN's heavy breaths surfaced.
"..I overdid it.. I need to get out of here before the other creatures join the party."
Beat by the energy he expended in his burst, he leaned exhausted on a circular digital bureau. Traces of the corrosive smog remained on his ARC. His clothes were worn out from the battle, but that didn't affect his determination.
His sight was blurry from exhaustion and the images formed appeared as duplicates. He brushed against the walls of the circular bureau, steadying himself towards the aperture he observed south. Then..
[Thud!!]
A loud blunt sound temporarily deafened him. It was a principal pillar that collapsed behind the bureau. The loud sound from the topple redirected the miasma towards XN's planned exit.
[Cough]
"Things are getting better.. now what do I do? How do I get out of here?!"
Once again XN is nervous. His sarcastic tone couldn't overcome the panic. His breaths became more forced under the influence of the approaching miasma. Speaking became even harder..
"I need.. I have to.."
Incapable of completing a phrase, he focused on reaching the exit despite the turn of events. He dragged his body past the entrance of the circular bureau. A faint light seemed to escape from its center. Because of his impaired vision, he couldn't identify the colors with accuracy. It even came to his mind that he could be hallucinating.
"What's that? Could this be my last moment..?"
He approached the lights at the center of the bureau, trying to convince himself it could be a way out..
"I can't give up.. not yet.. damn it not after all my efforts!"
Thinking to himself, while closing up.
At last, his right arm and torso extended to the light, expecting to touch something. However, his hand reached for a space, leading to a chamber downwards— where the light rooted from. Under the influence of gravity, he plummeted down the stairway..
"Huh! What's thi.."
[Series of thuds]
Groaning in pain from the cascade, XN carefully holds his left shoulder with his right hand, as he leans on the dark grey adamantium walls, etched with purple runes. His face, twisted, he opens up his right eye. Gradually, the hurt was replaced with astonishment. The chamber was a large square with basic materials for its walls and floor— dark grey adamantium. Its dimensions staggered: 300 meters to a side, with ceilings lost in the gloaming 15 meters above. On the left, there were 3 incubators of adult human dimensions— two broken, and one filled with translucent fluid.
"Hmm.. it's quieter down here.. and what was this place for?"
Separated from the chaos above, XN could breathe in the filtered air of the highly ventilated environment. His vision became clearer as he carefully recovered from exhaustion. He then pressed his back against the wall, cautiously lifting himself up. He staggered from wall to wall across the defective airlock cabin, separating the stairway from the main chamber; wincing with each step.
On his right, a long white counter was stained with blood and purplish stains. He approached the scene with anxiety masked in curiosity, scoping the environment for any sign of danger.
"It's too easy to be it.. something's off here"
Caught between the dynamics of the floor above, the aftermath left XN's mind with an unsettling weariness. He hadn't experienced anything close to "simple" in the ship, not even for a lambda. The contrast of the chamber he found himself only made him even more alert.
But then, as a lambda, he's first a survivor, and secondly a scavenger. He wouldn't miss such an opportunity— to discover what lies behind the chamber. He reached at the edge of the counter and his eyes glanced inside to see a finger tip..
[Clumps and Rattles]
Caught by surprise, XN falls back, taking down a couple of devices and tools, as his butt collides with the floor and knocks his head against a vertical shelf.
"Hmm.. that hurts! "
Above him, there was a subtle sensation of touch, dangling over his hair. He tilted up his head to identify the stimulus..
"Where.. where am I? I can't seem to make sense out of this mess!"
Above him was an arm that popped out of the shelf from the impact. With his eyes wide open, XN was frozen under the shock. Maybe the arm provoked discomfort in memories pertaining to his handicap. Maybe he was just overwhelmed.
Northeast from where he was, a sliding door in titanium suppressed the sounds of steps approaching the chamber. XN, feeling it like a déjà-vu situation, his heart throbbed in synergy with his rising anxiety. XN's determination might be overtaken this time.
"I'm in bad shape.. that's it.. I'm roasted!"
Staring at the ceiling, he played his life in his mind, thinking to himself who he met..
"Funny.. in my short lonely life, my only friends have been that junk of a home, and problems. I can't even afford to be mourned.."
In his despair a forced smile drew on his face, his eyes closed and blunted cheeks bathed in a drop of tear falling from each eye. The last image that showed up in his mind was the plaque with a name on it— the one he read in the lab above, which he whispered with a defeated tone..
"Eres.. why am I even thinking about you right now?"
Just when despair had outgrown his determination, he felt waves escaping from the arm above him, almost as though it was emitting a signal.
"What's that now?"
As he moved his head to the arm, his hair brushed the left wall of the shelf. Stricken by concern, he decides to sluggishly extend his right arm to reach the arm pending above his head.
"Just.. a little more.."
With his remaining strength, the finger tip of his index finally touches that of the arm above him. As soon, XN falls into a blackout, and his conscience is transported into an inner space.
At first, the space was a flat surface, besieged by encroaching darkness approaching XN who stood under the only light source.
"Am I.. dead? Guess I didn't have to wait for those creatures after all.."
As his calm voice resonated with suppressed distress across the darkness, the world within incrementally built itself. A mighty gloomy throne room, built in a circular shape. The walls were black, made of obsidian like that of the times of lore. Etched with runes, with pulsated purple lights rallying from down, upwards. On the floor were numerous thick, straight lines of purple lights, connecting the runes from the wall to the center, veiled by darkness.
From the obscure center, a deep and dampened voice pierced through the echoes of XN's, causing every particle on the floor to clip-clop on the obsidian floor.
"Is that what you want?"
Composed, XN raises his eyes to the right, trying to figure out the locutor. He then attempts to provoke the locutor to speak again..
"Who's in here?"
It seemed to work, the voice from the center came out even stronger and bolder than the first time..
"Death.. is that what you want?"
The voice inspired fear like the roar of a lion to a deer. XN was the deer, and he understood it. Yet, he decided to gamble with luck, by betting once more on his intelligence..
"Even if I wasn't dead, sooner as I snapped out of this, some creatures would feast on me."
The voice laughed out while maintaining a king's charisma..
"Ha ha ha.. You wish to live, but your body is weak."
The locutor took a shallow breath, which was loud enough to resonate through the hall, and then pursued
"If there was a chance for the fate you foresee to be altered, what would you do?"
Shocked by the question, XN was confused about what to say at the moment. He had already given up on life and a fearsome voice suddenly raised a glimpse of hope.. again. The series of the previous events kept him skeptical about the outcome. So he hushed the doubts in his mind and gave it a shot. If there was a chance to survive, then perhaps, this would be the right one. With his head facing down and hair bending to gravity, casting their shadow on his face. He gathered his thoughts while taking a deep breath before speaking out with an eerie calmness.
"The chances are minute— probably 0.01 %. But that.. if just 0.01% of fate is in my favor.."
A faint red light flickered in his right eye, in the darkness cast by his falling hair as he pursued with an imposing and vindictive tone..
".. I will devour until the last of my enemies, if that's the price to survive."
Contended with XN's expression, the figure revealed, seated on the high throne, at the top of what seemed to be an endless climb of stairs. The stairs pulsated with purple lights, and the foundation on the throne was rock-like, thick with obsidian. The darkness cast on the throne left way for XN to see the purple glows in the eyes of the entity seated on the throne. A hint of satisfaction revealed on the face of the entity, by a mild smile.
A moment of silence was observed shortly after XN's conviction. The thick lights on the floor cast walls of purple light along their lining. The pulsating runes intensified. A dominating and fearsome aura escaped from the entity, seated on the throne. The hall was now enveloped with the dangerously suppressing aura, shaking XN to his knees. In this mascarade, the entity spoke out with a dominating, calm voice..
"I see..."
A second later, everything XN had seen about the throne room disappeared. Everywhere was quiet again. It was just him, the flat floor, the encroaching darkness approaching him, as he stood under the only source of light. Suddenly, that source flickered to purple and just in front of XN, was a hauntingly shadowy face, with a large purple globe, for a right eye. The left eye of the entity was closed. It stared at XN with a smile drawn until his ears. Only these details about the entity could XN have picked for the two seconds it appeared before him as it said in a mockingly hushed voice..
"0.01% huh?.. I'd like to see that"