Arty stooped and picked up the crystal, turning it over once before slipping it into his pocket. It felt no different from the first one, yet the cost of claiming it certainly had.
The dull ache behind his eyes lingered, reminding him that Shear Compression hadn't come without a price as his hand settled against the warped shelving, more from instinct than intent.
The connection answered immediately, and although it wasn't stronger, it felt smoother.
He applied the slightest pressure, watching the bent metal shift a fraction before settling exactly where he'd intended.
The response no longer fought him every step of the way, as though the warehouse recognised the movement instead of learning it from the beginning.
"So you really do remember."
The mesh responded the same way, tightening and relaxing with noticeably less effort than before.
Every successful manipulation seemed to leave behind something more than experience. It left behind familiarity.
"System... will successful manipulation patterns survive a Reset?"
There was a brief pause before the familiar blue text appeared.
[Partially]
[Structural familiarity retained only within the established boundary]
"So the warehouse learns with me… That changes everything."
If every successful manipulation made the next one easier, then every battle fought inside these walls became an investment instead of simply surviving another day.
Movement caught his attention, the remaining Deviant pulsed once beyond the boundary before committing without hesitation.
Accelerating toward the warehouse with far more confidence than the previous two.
Arty's hand remained against the metal frame as a faint smile crossed his face.
"Good... Now let's find out if that first kill was skill... or luck."
The distortion accelerated across the reinforced boundary with none of the hesitation the previous two had shown.
Its broken limbs carrying it through the narrowed approach before abruptly twisting sideways toward the damaged shelving.
"So you've already learned the center's dangerous."
The creature abandoned the prepared lane, cutting across broken concrete and scattered debris instead of committing to the corridor he had shaped only moments earlier.
Every adjustment carried it toward weaker ground, searching for an opening beyond the battlefield he'd prepared.
His awareness flowed outward through the Anchor, spreading beneath the concrete before climbing into the twisted shelving and torn mesh surrounding the warehouse entrance.
He didn't chase the Deviant, he moved the battlefield instead.
The reinforced ground shifted less than half a meter, quietly closing the gap the creature had targeted while widening another farther to its left.
The distortion reacted instantly, it abandoned the outer line and changed direction again.
Its movement becoming increasingly erratic as every path it selected slowly disappeared beneath Arty's control.
A faint smile crept across his face.
"That's it… Keep choosing."
The warehouse answered every command a little cleaner than before, each adjustment demanding slightly less concentration as the reinforced structures responded with growing familiarity.
The battlefield no longer felt like something he was forcing into shape, but something learning alongside him
The Deviant lunged again, twisting between two damaged pallet racks before springing toward the opening beside the entrance frame, but Arty had already closed it.
The creature planted its leading foot before immediately pushing away again, abandoning the line a fraction too late as the surrounding metal shifted almost imperceptibly beneath the Anchor's influence.
Every escape route it found vanished a heartbeat later, steadily herding it toward the only remaining path Arty had intentionally left open.
He exhaled slowly, never taking his eyes off the approaching distortion.
"You're not hunting me anymore… I'm deciding where this fight ends."
The Deviant committed to the final opening, accelerating hard enough to send loose concrete skittering across the warehouse floor as it crossed into the channel Arty had deliberately preserved.
He waited until it passed the first shelving support before tightening the reinforced line behind it, removing the only route it could have used to retreat.
The creature sensed the change almost immediately, twisting mid-stride and attempting to redirect toward the entrance, but the movement came too late as the surrounding metal answered Arty's control.
The damaged mesh snapped upward from the floor, not wrapping around the creature this time, but striking across its rear limbs and forcing its weight forward.
It stumbled without falling, and Arty felt the strain immediately as the Deviant fought to recover, its broken geometry changing faster than the first one had managed.
"So you did learn something."
The creature drove one limb against the shelving and used the resistance to launch itself sideways, narrowly escaping the pressure line Arty had started forming between the frame and the warped rack.
The unfinished Shear collapsed harmlessly behind it, pain sharpened behind his eyes.
"Damn… Too slow."
The Deviant surged toward him, using the failed compression to break into the open space between the entrance and the Ute.
Arty stepped back once, keeping his hand against the reinforced frame while his awareness raced through every connected piece of metal within the boundary.
He could feel too many options waiting for direction because he was surrounded by metal, but trying to command all of them would repeat the same mistake he had made during the previous fight.
He released everything except the damaged pallet rack beside the Deviant, pulling it towards himself as the creature lunged.
Not enough to strike the Deviant, but enough to change the gap between the steel uprights as it passed through them.
The creature twisted to compensate, planting one limb against the moving frame before pushing in the opposite direction.
That was what Arty had been waiting for, and he shifted the second upright instead of increasing pressure against the first, allowing the creature's own correction to carry it between the converging lines.
The metal closed around its upper body, the Deviant shrieked and drove against the narrowing space, but the more it fought to redirect itself, the deeper its structure settled into the compression point.
Arty tightened the final distance until metal groaned against metal and the creature's shriek collapsed into a wet crack as its structure folded between the converging uprights.
He could feel the resistance travelling through the pallet rack instead of through the creature, wasting strength and threatening to tear the shelving apart before the compression finished.
"Not force… Alignment."
He adjusted the line by less than a handspan, and the resistance changed immediately.
The rack stopped fighting his control as the two pressure points settled into the same path, trapping the Deviant exactly where its movement could no longer escape.
Arty tightened the final distance, metal groaned against metal, the creature's shriek collapsed into a wet crack as its structure folded between the converging uprights.
Its limbs struck the concrete once before falling still, allowing Arty to release the pallet rack and stagger half a step backward while the warehouse absorbed the last of the returning strain.
The crystal dropped from the ruined body and bounced twice across the floor.
Arty stared at the Deviant for only a moment before looking towards the remaining distortions beyond the boundary
"So it wasn't luck after all."
The second crystal had barely stopped rolling before another distortion broke from the perimeter, this one didn't follow the narrowed channel.
It cut hard toward the Ute, using the vehicle to block Arty's line of sight as it crossed the reinforced ground at an angle the previous Deviant had ignored.
Arty shifted with it, keeping one hand against the entrance frame while his awareness spread through the metal surrounding the vehicle.
The Ute answered immediately, every connected piece waited beneath the Anchor's influence, but moving the entire vehicle would demand more control than he could safely maintain.
The distortion vanished behind the tray, he heard claws scrape against concrete before the rear suspension dipped beneath a sudden impact.
The creature hauled itself onto the tray and launched from the side panel, using the elevated position to bypass the reinforced ground Arty had shaped around the entrance.
"Different angle."
He released his intent through the Ute, asking the tray to close over and clamp down around the Deviant as it prepared to jump, but the creature had already left its escape too late.
Another wet squelch silenced the creature, but Arty didn't have time to recover before movement erupted behind the Ute.
A third Deviant surged around the rear of the Ute before Arty could recover, but the tow bar twisted sideways beneath his control and swept across its rear limbs, dropping the creature low as one arm struck the floor.
He felt the metal strain as he forced the tow bar into a sharpened point and launched it towards the Deviant, catching the unprepared creature and drawing a shriek of pain and anger
The creature twisted around the steel and surged toward the open warehouse floor.
Arty released the tow bar, his attention snapped toward the loose loading ramp leaning against the wall beside the Ute, its steel edge already connected through the reinforced concrete beneath it.
The ramp fell across the creature's path with a deafening crash, forcing it to leap rather than slow down and creating exactly the opening Arty needed.
Arty shifted the Ute's front wheel inward as the distortion landed, moving it only a fraction before the creature's weight settled against the tyres.
Its leading limb struck the changed angle and collapsed beneath it.
Sending the Deviant rolling across the concrete and into the fallen loading ramp before it scrambled to recover.
Arty tightened his grip against the entrance frame as the next shape formed in his awareness, using the tyres and the ramp to converge two pressure points into one purpose.
The creature launched itself upward again, trying to escape before the surrounding metal could close, but Arty had already begun moving both lines together.
The tyre rolled inward as the loading ramp lifted from the concrete, their angles tightening around the Deviant before it could regain control of its movement.
The creature twisted violently, driving one limb against the ramp while trying to use the tyre as leverage, but every correction forced it deeper between the converging pressure points.
The connection strained beneath the sudden load, and his vision flickered as the ache behind his eyes sharpened while the warehouse followed two separate movements at once.
The first Shear had been cleaner, guided through reinforced shelving that already understood the pattern.
This attempt relied on separate structures, each responding at a different speed while the creature fought against both.
Arty gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to push harder because additional force would only tear the ramp from the floor or damage his Ute before the pressure settled where he needed it.
"Stay aligned."
He reduced the movement of the tyre, allowing the ramp to carry most of the adjustment until both lines began travelling through the same point.
The change took only a fraction of a second, but the resistance shifted immediately, travelling away from the metal and into the Deviant trapped between them.
The creature shrieked as its body compressed against the rising ramp, its limbs striking wildly against the Ute while the tyre continued closing the remaining space.
Arty felt the Shear forming and tightened the final angle until the ramp slammed against the tyre with a heavy metallic crack.
Arty felt the Shear forming and tightened the final angle until the ramp slammed against the tyre with a heavy metallic crack, crushing the Deviant between them as its broken structure collapsed under the concentrated pressure.
Its movement stopped instantly, leaving one twisted limb hanging over the edge before the body slumped onto the concrete.
Arty released both structures before the returning strain could overwhelm him, staggering sideways as his hand slipped from the entrance frame.
For several seconds, the warehouse connection felt distant, blurred beneath the pounding pressure behind his eyes.
He collected the final two crystals, one from the floor and the other from the tray of his Ute.
"Thank you, my friend."
The Ute's headlights flashed once as Arty stroked the rear tray, guiding each component back into place before asking the metal to repair the scratches left by the Deviant
Arty forced his breathing back under control before turning towards the remaining distortions beyond the boundary.
None of them moved.
They no longer pressed closer or tested the reinforced lines, their bodies holding perfectly still as though the entire cluster had reached the same conclusion at once.
Arty wiped the sweat from his brow and rested his hand against the frame again.
"That's three more down."