The blast door was sealed tight. Behind it, the muffled sounds of Vex shouting and banging on the metal faded into silence.
Thalos was alone in the red emergency light.
Whirrrr.
The hovering Security Drone (Model: Sentry-V) swiveled its single blue eye toward him.
[Threat Detected: Intruder.]
[Engagement Protocol: Lethal.]
Thalos did not wait. He dashed to the side just as a beam of concentrated heat scorched the metal walkway where he had been standing.
"Fast," Thalos gritted his teeth.
He was not fighting a beast with instincts anymore. He was fighting a machine with perfect aim.
He sprinted along the catwalk, his boots ringing against the grate. Another laser shot hissed past his ear, singing the tips of his hair. The heat blistered his skin.
He dove behind a stack of rusted crates.
Think.
His Bone Blade could cut flesh, but could it cut plasteel armor? Unlikely. If he tried to trade blows with that drone, he would lose.
CRASH.
The decision was taken out of his hands.
Below the catwalk, one of the glass stasis tanks shattered.
The creature inside—the Bio-Modified Stalker—had woken up. It was a nightmare of flesh and metal. Its lower jaw had been replaced with a hydraulic clamp. Its front claws were grafted with rusted saw blades.
It roared, a sound of pure agony and rage, and scrambled up the support pillars toward the catwalk.
Thalos watched the creature climb. It was not natural. Its muscles were tearing under the weight of its own cybernetics. It was a failed experiment.
Two enemies, Thalos realized, his heart hammering against his ribs. One shoots. One shreds.
He looked at the drone hovering above the gap in the walkway. Then he looked at the climbing monster.
"Let's see who hates who more," Thalos whispered.
He broke cover.
He did not run away. He ran toward the climbing monster.
The Drone tracked him. Target Lock.
The Drone fired a volley of laser bolts.
Thalos slid on his knees, activating [Gecko Grip] to friction-brake against the floor. He stopped inches from the edge.
The laser bolts missed him and slammed directly into the face of the climbing Bio-Stalker just as it crested the railing.
SCREEE!
The monster shrieked as the lasers burned its eyes. Blinded and enraged, it lashed out with its saw-blade claws. It did not care about Thalos anymore. It attacked the source of the pain.
The Stalker leaped into the air, latching onto the hovering Drone.
Metal screeched against metal. The Drone struggled to stay airborne, its engines whining, while the beast tore at its casing. They spun in the air, a chaotic ball of claws and sparks, before crashing down onto the lab floor below.
BOOM.
Thalos panted, wiping sweat and dust from his eyes. His hands were shaking. That was not skill. That was luck.
He looked down.
The Drone was crushed, sparking weakly. The Bio-Stalker was dead, impaled on the Drone's chassis, but its cybernetic arm was still twitching.
Thalos climbed down the ladder. His stomach twisted with hunger. Using [Adrenaline Surge] had burned through his energy reserves. He felt lightheaded.
He approached the corpse of the Bio-Stalker.
[Target: Failed Bio-Weapon (Mark I)]
[Status: Deceased.]
[Consumable Parts Detected: Bio-Metallic Gland.]
Thalos hesitated. This meat looked wrong. The blood was black and oily. It smelled like battery acid.
But he had no choice. He needed the strength to get out of this sealed room.
He used his knife to carve out the gland located in the creature's neck. It was hard, metallic, and pulsed with a faint electrical current.
"Bottoms up," he gagged.
He bit into it.
It tasted like licking a 9-volt battery wrapped in rotten meat.
[Devour Successful.]
[Analyzing Genetic Material...]
[Warning: Compatibility Low. Rejection Rate: 40%.]
"Argh!"
Thalos dropped to his knees. This was not the warm rush of power he was used to.
Pain exploded in his skin. It felt like his blood was turning into molten lead. He curled into a ball, screaming silently as his veins turned black. His skin rippled, hardening, cracking, and reforming.
[Struggle Check: Willpower 9 required... Passed.]
He lay on the cold floor for ten minutes, gasping for air, unable to move. A thin line of blood trickled from his nose.
That was too close, he thought. If I eat too much of this junk, it will kill me.
Finally, the pain receded, leaving a dull ache in his bones.
[Evolution Complete.]
[New Trait Acquired: Dermal Plating (Tier 1)]
Description: Patches of your skin have hardened into organic metal. +3 Defense against slashing attacks. Decreases Agility slightly due to weight.
Thalos stood up shakily. He caught his reflection in the shattered glass of a stasis tank.
He looked like a monster. His mining suit was torn, stained with oil. His eyes glowed with a predatory hunger. And on his neck and arms, grey scales of organic metal had broken through the skin.
He tapped one of the scales with his knife. Clink.
He was stronger. But he felt heavier. Stiffer.
He looked at the sealed blast door.
"System," he rasped. "Where is the Pure Ichor?"
[Navigation: Level B2. Access via Ventilation Shaft.]
Thalos looked up at the dark vents high on the wall. He was not a superhero. He was a scavenger who had just eaten poison to survive.
He sheathed his knife and began the long climb.