Chapter 7 -- The Trojan Horse

62 A.E. April 2, Forest - Afternoon

Dirt road, giant trees, afternoon sun. The road felt bumpy as I traveled in the tracks of far heavier trucks that have been through the area. A glance at the reptine revealed that he was still deep asleep.

The thick forest evened out and the sky grew bright as I reached my next destination.

The itinerary simply referred to it as a processing plant for rare minerals, but that's not what it looked like. In the background, I could hear some kind of process--churning, like a steady steam engine. My nose told me there was something in the air--traces of metallic vapors.

'Athena?' I thought.

I slowed the buggy as I observed the leaning facility, and realized that while it had certainly been repurposed, this structure... most of it at least, did not originate on this planet.

Her presence descended, 'Your coordinates tell me that you have arrived at your next destination.'

Besides the large scrap heaps, there was a large bulkhead built into the center, more than big enough to fit a big truck. I slowed to a crawl, then stopped in front of it as I looked around. There were layers to the facility--a hardened hull, expansions of sheet metal--haphazardly-made adaptations for everything ranging from the bulkhead console, to the lights hanging by little more than wire.

'Tell me of this crumbling hulk of a facility?' I thought.

Rust was eating portions of it, and I could see a gaping hole along the side, near the bulkhead.

'According to the archives, it used to be an early prototype of what would eventually become the standardized evacuation ship. It was larger in scale and more capable, though... too expensive to manufacture and troublesome to launch into orbit. The registry indicates it was built 78 years ago at an unknown facility. About 60 years ago it was used to transport a group of settlers to this planet, then spent the next decade as a support ship in orbit. The settlers eventually decided that it would make a good base to support the Burrow's long term construction, thus they modified the ship with heavy thrusters, and made as soft a landing as they could,' Athena answered.

'I'm not seeing anyone else in the area... no sign of life at all,' I thought.

'That's because it has been largely abandoned for the past decade. Though, its automatic extraction facilities and reactor remains operational,' Athena added.

'Explain?' I thought.

'Every month, a truck is sent to the facility, and it retrieves a load of relatively high purity metals like gallium, indium, thallium, and a variety of valuable isotopes. While the amount has steadily decreased over the years, it's still worth sending a truck to pick it up.'

'Hmm... seems dangerous,' I pondered.

'I agree, but while the details are sparse, it was reasoned to be the best outcome at the time. It'd have taken considerable resources to dismantle the site, and shutting everything down could be even more dangerous than keeping the automated systems on, monitoring it as the years pass.'

'So, what's the problem?' I wondered and looked ahead.

'The facility's control system has not been cooperative. Other than basic reports, it has refused access to us. Installing a proper expert system will allow us to evaluate the facility,' Athena added.

'Any dangers?' I wondered.

'Reactor is stable, no radiation leaks, extraction facilities are operating, and what few cameras there are reveal nothing out of the ordinary,' Athena added.

'Right, so how do we get inside?' I wondered.

'One moment... I am transmitting a signal to indicate that you're a truck here to make a pickup.'

After a couple of seconds, I could hear and see the bulkhead move. It groaned heavily, stuttered as it fought against the rust, and slid to the sides as it opened up. Old lights came to life inside the facility, revealing what looked like a large but messy cargo bay.

I drove the buggy inside, feeling a subtle lurch as it passed the bulkhead. The doors began to shut moments later, causing me to glance back.

'Can you keep the doors open?' I wondered.

'I don't have any direct control, though I can send the signal once more to cycle it?' Athena added.

The massive bulkhead shut moments later, sealing tight as the sun's light disappeared. A smell began to seep into the buggy--rusty and wet, a horribly stale taste. I looked to Gray, still deep asleep, then let out a subtle sigh as I eased the door open.

Piles of junk littered the cargo bay's sides, but the central area was quite orderly, and appeared half full. There were stacks metal bars and packaged boxes labeled with their contents.

'Where are these materials extracted from exactly?' I wondered, stepped out, shut the door, and waited as I listened to the area.

'It was discovered that the ground water in this area had an unusual amount of valuable metals. Dig samples revealed that it was being leeched from a rich vein, perhaps what was once a large resource silo on the orbital ring a long time ago.'

The steady thump of machinery was louder in here, and there was a certain metallic groan in the background, as if the facility was uneasy.

'Let me guess, it's some kind of hydrofracking. Pump water and chemicals down one end, filter it on the other end,' I thought, and walked to the trailer's back

'The details are a mystery, but that's supposed to be the gist of it... well, after a fair amount of processing in the foundry,' Athena added.

'Do you have a map for the place?'

'Only from the original designs of the ship, but based on what I discussed with others, you're heading to the bridge on level 5, and you should have entered on level 3. The elevators to the bridge should be straight ahead from the entrance, ' Athena said.

I opened the trailer, looked through the stacked Expert Systems and grabbed the one for this site. A level four one, named Levy.

With the Expert System in hand, I looked to the far end of the cargo bay and could see what looked like a cargo elevator. I started walking, glancing to the my right as I did, and saw a long dark passage with rails running along the floor.

I sniffed the air as I walked, and while the scent was unpleasant, I couldn't say it smelled as if anything organic had passed through the area. Once by the elevator, I swiped my hand along the console, and the groaning apparatus made a distorted chime as the doors opened up.

'Any risk of the elevator dropping me into the depths?' I wondered as I stepped inside.

'Please... This facility might be old and worn, but elevators have strict safety measures.'

I smirked a little, looked to the elevator's panel, and saw a smudged screen indicating that the indicator could only access floors 3 and 5. With a tap on 5, the doors shut once more.

'Floor 4 is marked as unavailable,' I thought as the elevator started moving.

'Odd, though it wouldn't be surprised if they locked down as much of the facility as possible.'

It didn't take long for the elevator to stop and open once more. Bright light shone through, making me squint as I peered out at the ship's bridge. Surprisingly enough, this place had windows, big ones.

Piles of scrap littered the area, an interface chair sat in the center, and a single central console still glowed blue. I approached, peering at the windows, and while still bright, there was a lot of dead vegetation on the outside.

Where to get started...

I looked to my left, then to my right, and found what I was looking for. A large machine, seemingly untouched, with a large socket meant to accept an Expert System. By now it was almost instinctive as I stepped up to it, reached out with my tendrils, and connected with the machine.

It linked to me without hesitation, made its security handshake, and I started feeding it firmware updates. Moments later, it opened up, ready to accept the Expert System as I slotted it into place.

[Expert System - Class 4 Identified - Name: Levy (ES4-WW4851)]

[Wake-Up procedure initiated - Estimated Time: 10 minutes]

[Internal Network Access Denied - External Network N/A]

I stepped back as the tendrils withdrew, feeling as if minutes had passed without me noticing.

Let's see if we can do something about that network access...

I stepped up to the console, brushed off a layer of dust, and saw a simple message: System Locked.

As I tried to swipe the message out of the way, a password prompt appeared.

'Do we have a password?' I wondered.

'I'd suggest not bothering with their home cooked software. Connect to the main bus, perform the necessary handshakes, and we'll deal with subverting the rest of the software,' Athena whispered.

It felt strange as I willed my tendrils to work. Watching as they moved over the console, removing screws one by one, pulling the screen out, peering into the depths, and feeling as my understanding grew.

Long gone were days where I spent hours reading manuals, building my first computer, connecting one cable at a time. Now it was a flurry archive lookups, firmware downloaded on the fly, and raw data access I could only have dreamed of.

I reached into the guts of the bridge computer, let the smaller tendrils in my wrist reach out, connecting to the main bus and debugging ports. Low-level security handshakes took place, and then the security measures buckled.

The system gave way like a crumbling wall, and Athena peered over my shoulder, 'This facility is in worse shape than I had anticipated...'

I smirked a little, 'I could have told you that from the general look of the area.'

Athena continued, 'External comms are down, internal network is messy, most of the sensor grid is broken, and there's enough metal between you and the outside that even our link is slow. Hmm... get Levy operational, and consider your job done,' Athena added.

'As you wish,' I thought, as Athena withdrew once more.

I turned my focus to Levy's core, then started fiddling with the network settings. Once done, there was still... 9 minutes left for him to wake up. As I put everything back in place, the screen was blinking with an intrusion warning.

I brought it up, seeing as a recording from outside started playing. It showed most of the facility from a high angle, and as the video played at high speed, I could see the days passing. Every so often, small creatures seemed to discover the facility, then spent hours exploring, marching on top, scratching at ventilation grills, trying to find some nook or cranny to break inside.

They look like reptines...

The video slowed down, and shifted to a view outside the bulkhead. There was a group of reptines there, poking and scratching. Several of them were pulling on a particular sheet of metal, which then loosened... A frenzy followed as the others joined in, started tearing out insulation, before ripping a hole to get inside.

One by one, the large pack entered the facility, disappearing into its depths. I reached up to rub my temple, and looked at the timestamp of the video.

That's two months ago, and looked to be about 20 of them...

I dug through the system and managed to access some kind of primitive map.

Strange, I didn't smell any of them walking through here...

The map showed that the facility was divided into two parts. All the core facilities, cargo bay, reactor, foundry, hydraulics, and so on were built within the confines of the original ship. There were security bulkheads, sensor grids, and more... Then there was everything else connected to the facility: living quarters, mess hall, labs, engineering bays, supply depots. There was no surveillance to speak of, and even the map was mostly a big blank.

What it did show however, was that the reptines had broken into the less secure area of the facility, which had at some point registered the intrusion and triggered a lockdown. I sped ahead in the video, yet no reptines emerged from the hole they'd made, confirming they were still inside.

Could reptines survive for months? They're crafty, so if there was any food in the supply depot...

I switched back to the map, made a mental note of what I could, then traced a path to get into the rest of the facility.

Back down to floor three... Follow the rails, and take a left by the big bulkhead...

I turned, walked back to the elevator, and pondered as I pressed the switch.

If the reptines are still alive, then letting them into the secure area is... irresponsible...

The elevator dinged as it opened, letting me out onto the third floor.

But there are multiple bulkheads leading to the outside, that way they can at least leave...

I walked along the dark rail passage, clinging to the wall away from the tracks. As the light grew dimmer, I could hear and see something approaching. A rail car, slow and careful, moving along the tracks. I eyed it as it slowly passed me by, carrying a stack of what looked like aluminum bars and plastic crates.

Within a minute, I was standing by the split where one side led to the foundry, and the other was a big bulkhead that would let me access stairs to the lower floors. I searched the side of the door, found a console, and pressed my palm against it.

Nothing...

With the tendrils to assist, I removed the screws holding the console in place and pulled it out. It looked as if the console had simply been disconnected, and I wired it back in. The console lit up, and I gave it a tap while putting it back in place.

The hefty bulkhead began to churn, and split horizontally as it opened. As it was still opening, I stepped through, and found myself in a corridor that looked even rougher than the rest of the facility. Half-working lights lining one wall; mesh floor, heavy piping, a dark discoloration along the other as if smudged by decades of exhaust.

As the bulkhead reversed and started closing, a scent caught up to me. Earthy and oily, thick in a way the rest of the facility did not smell. There was something distinctly off about it, though wrapped so tightly wrapped in the cloying vapours that it was difficult to pick apart.

With a thump, the bulkhead shut behind me, and the churning noise of the facility got that much louder. Cycling and pumping, steam churning somewhere and reverberating through the walls.

Get a move on...

I walked slowly, ears shifting as I listened and looked about.

Lots of reptines, so where are they? No scents, no tracks, no...

I slowed down as my gaze caught something along a split in the corridor. Along the corner in the wall, wedged between a pair of metal plates, was a hint of something fuzzy, flickering in a subtle draft. Crouching a little, I plucked it loose, and brought it to my nose.

A tuft of reptine fur...

At least one of them had moved through the area, exploring in search of... food? A way out?

A low warble, like shifting metal, cut through the noise of the facility. It echoed from above and below, and for a moment, it felt as if the facility groaned in discomfort.

Within seconds, it passed, and I let the tuft drop as I stood up once more.

I resumed walking, and the warble returned within seconds, low and shifting as it echoed through the hallway. It made me slow once more, only to realize that the air felt warmer. I held my hand up, first lifting it to the ceiling and along the thick pipes, but felt nothing. Next, along the wall, I felt heat radiating off .

That's strange...

I touched the wall, scraping at the black surface, and noticed something very odd. The black coating crumbled, and the metal of the wall was cracking apart as if made of gypsum.

What the hell...

I rubbed my fingers together, feeling as the gritty material turned into dust. If it had been the work of nanites, then it would have felt different... my senses would be panicking, yet...

My nose caught the scent of something. That earthy scent from earlier, but more intense, brought by a moment's waft past my nose. I lifted my gaze to the corridor.

There was a reptine at the end of the corridor, with... glowing eyes?

It had stopped momentarily, then it picked up pace, and broke into a sudden sprint. My tendrils were emerging as I stepped back, baring my teeth.

"_ STOP! _" I yelled in sheer instinct as if trying to admonish a dog, but the beast showed little care.

I raised my arm, ready to slam it into submission, when-

Something gave way. It felt like gravity was shifting, and my leg melted through the floor. With a loud clang, the whole floor crumbled. I flailed in panic, grabbing the nearby pipes, only for them to tear away from the walls as if their bolts were made of paper.

As the entire compartment seemed to collapse into itself, the beast disappeared into the debris as well. Gases and water started spewing from the piping, and the falling sensation didn't abate as I dropped.

The air exploded with grit and steam as the noise grew deafening. My perception of time slowed, but it didn't seem to help much as the tendrils desperately reached out... only to find nothing solid to grip.

I could taste the dust on my tongue, feel as it invaded my throat, and could only watch as it felt like I was being compacted by the sheer amount of falling debris. Finally, one of my tendrils caught on something solid, perhaps a section of wall on the second floor.

It stopped me from falling, momentarily at least, but more and more falling debris slammed into me. With another crunch, whatever solid section the tendrils had found collapsed as well. I covered my head, surrounded by dust and destruction, then-

Solid floor met my body. Pain arched through me, and time suddenly snapped back to normal. There was pain in my arm, debris still slamming onto my back, and noise surrounding me as if caught in a tumbler. In the chaos raining down around me, I pushed to the side, trying to get away.

It worked. As the crumbling metal starting piling up, I crawled away. Breathing felt difficult, not because of pain, but the dust coating my throat. I rose, stifling a cough, as I looked side to side.

The hallway to the right was clear, which left the piled of collapsed debris to the left. I spat to clear my mouth, and could see something moving...

Something was skittering, like insects moving around. The pile groaned. The head of the reptine lifted, half its face missing, leaking something green. Its rear was stuck in the debris, and it stared at me with its remaining eye, gurgling with noise. It felt like a plea for help, yet I leaned back in disgust as its front legs dug in. As it pulled itself forward, it's middle was tearing apart.

Streams of water flowed from above, making the beasts blood spread along the floor like green ooze. A sudden siren sounded. Though muffled, I could hear that it was coming from above. The entire facility shook a moment later, as if something thunderous above us had collapsed. The siren grew louder, and I looked up.

The still crumbling walls on the floor above was quickly changing color from dull gray to a glowing red hue. A split second later, the already-weakened walls gave way. Molten metal spewed out, slamming into the opposite wall and spreading like hot magma.

I bolted to the side, boots digging into the wet floor as I launched myself down the corridor.

With a glimpse, I caught the moment that the metal hit the floor. The reptine had looked as if confused, and was then buried as the water turned to steam in something akin to an explosion.

I could feel the heat radiate against my tail. I near tumbled, slammed into a turn into the corridor, then kept marching.

Need to keep moving...

'Athena?' I thought, directing my thoughts upwards.

Low signal... Retrying...

I walked a few steps, then slowed as my body started telling me that the fall may have affected me more than I expected. There was pain in my arm, my nose felt smothered, and the steady noise deafened me.

Levy should be online soon...

As I lifted my left arm and angled it to look at the underside, I could see a shard sticking out. A piece of jagged aluminum that had struck me hard enough to pierce flesh. I reached out, grabbed the piece, then gritted my teeth as I looked away.

The taste in my mouth was that of metal, but as I focused on it, I could sense more... The same metals that Athena had spoken of--an astringent taste of gallium in particular.

With a hard yank and a flash of pain, the shard left my arm.

Gallium is poison for aluminium... If it leaked out, then over time it would eat away at everything...

As I looked up--shard still in my hand--I'd ended up at the entrance of what looked like an old workshop. Machinery lined the walls, and the room split in several directions. To my worry, I could hear something around the corner, right of the workshop.

As I drew a deep breath through my nose, I caught a pungent scent of something strange. It wafted over me, growing stronger, making me think of an organism gone haywire... chemistry all over the place. Disease, rot, and rampant growth combined into one. It made my throat tighten as I neared the corner, ready to peer into what awaited.

Whatever it was, it was shuffling about now. Big and heavy, groaning as it drew raspy breaths, accompanied not by a single skittering noise, but the murmur of a swarm.

I stepped forward to see...

It was big. A mutated and distorted perversion of life itself. Only reptines had entered the facility, which meant that this was one... or used to be. Now more of a behemoth, flesh like a leathery nest filled with undulating eggs.

Mouths twisted beyond all recognition, eyes where they shouldn't be. Was this more than one creature? An amalgamation of diseased reptines?

Green horrors...

There were insect-like creatures on the floor, close to the monster. They skittered about, staying close, as if guarding their mobile home. One of them saw me, and it reacted in an instant.

It rushed forward, and, in a surprising move, it launched itself toward me with some kind of mechanism that left a resounding clap against the floor.

As an impulse of fear rushed through me, one of the tendrils reacted per automatic. It moved through the air, flicked itself, and batted the flying insect with another clap. The insect turned into mush on impact, then splattered against the wall as its appendages went flying across the room.

The other insects chittered in aggression, and the beast turned its head, its distorted mouths dripping with mucus. It drew a raspy breath as its body undulated like a large maggot. As my worries grew, the tendrils extended to loom around me like a shield, ready to fight.

Maddox rushed to the surface of my mind, 'If you injure that creature, every egg sack in its body is going to hatch. You'll have hundreds, if not thousands of the creatures spilling out.'

Its dangling mouth-pieces flecked drool, and it let out something of a pleading gurgle as it started moving. The distorted legs twitched and clumsily stomped the ground as it rushed forward.

I pushed away from the wall, moving along the left side. A couple of the insects jumped, being swatted by the tendrils. Despite how twisted the creature appeared, it was surprisingly quick.

Less than a meter away, its smell becoming so strong I could almost taste it, I bolted forward.

'How do I fight this?' I thought.

The beast lumbered forward, promptly walking past where I'd been a moment ago. The insects were leaping at me as well, one to the right, another swatted in my periphery, one nipping at my tail but only catching some fur.

'A pathogen would take hours, so the only answer is: fire... lots of fire,' Maddox answered.

The clumsy monster had trouble stopping, hit the wall with a pained grunt, and stumbled as its entire body wobbled. It glared in my direction, making a distorted wail as it started walking once more. I kept marching, small army of insects following, new ones seeming to appear from the creature in a steady flow.

Maddox kept talking, 'The infection takes many forms... What you saw earlier was a runner, this is what they refer to as a blob, a reanimated carcass filled with offspring.'

'The colonists released a plague to deal with them, and then there's the planetary immune system. Why are these creatures thriving in this place?' I wondered.

'While the planetary immune system is effective, it has obviously not reached these depths yet. As for the plague, it lacked the sophistication to counteract some of their survival mechanisms.'

'Such as?'

'Green horrors have several means of spreading. Direct infestation by one of the small insects, or microscopic eggs either dropped in the environment, or spread by bites. In most cases the symptoms are quick, but sometimes... especially when the nascent infestation detects a hostile environment, it'll go into hiding as a cyst, to shield itself from the body's immune system. Then, when the conditions are just right, like down here--underground in a humid environment--it'll emerge once more...'

'And from there, it spread... The reptines were all locked in here and fell prey to said infestation.'

'Yes...' Maddox whispered.

The hallway came to an end and opened up into what used to be a large cargo bay. The roof had collapsed revealing the upper floor, and it had brought down most of the lifting cranes as well.

While a giant mess, what had infested it appeared much worse. The entire room was bathed in an eerie green glow. An organic infestation had spread all over, turning into a massive, throbbing nest of maturing eggs, nurtured by a small army of insects crawling all over.

Jutting out of the massive nest were traces of several reptines. A head jutting out at one spot, twisted into something more akin to a sensory organ meant to keep an eye on everything. Its throat undulated, gulping as if still alive, and as the seconds ticked by, it turned to stare at me.

Makes me wish I had a giant flamethrower right about now...

I clung to the cargo bay's left wall as I moved, glanced back, and saw the lumbering beast in my wake. As I looked, I felt something on my wrist. As much as the tendrils did their magic, one of the insects had made their way through, and was now dangling from my wrist. Its legs were trying to dig through my fur, while a pair of mouthpieces at the front were biting down. I grabbed the insect and hurled it at the nearby wall.

Going back is a dead end, so...

As I moved into view of the next corridor and looked down its path. My gut tensed up as I could see steam in the distance--and a lot of activity. There were runners pacing around, a couple of mobile nests wobbling about, and enough insects that the ground appeared to wriggle.

One of the runners had already noticed me, its head twisted at an odd angle while its green eyes focused on me. It started moving, when-

I stepped one of them, an insect crunching under my boot. At the same time, I felt another latch onto my wrist with a sharp sting. I grabbed it, crushing it in my grip, and felt panic bubble in the back of my mind.

The remaining corridors were buried in rubble from the look of it, and the hive was getting agitated.

The clumsy monster from earlier stepped into view once more, emerging from the corridor I'd arrived in. It marched forward, glaring at me as its body wobbled with each step, but it didn't seem to see either the railing or the cargo bay's pit.

My gut tightened as the clumsy creature walked into the rusty railing, and promptly leaned all its weight on it. The railing bent, then gave way with a loud crack. Another bellow escaped the creature as it dropped. Like a water filled balloon, it stretched and warped for a brief moment, then ripped as it exploded into a sea of green.

Eggs bounced off each other, the floor, and more as guts and larvae spread. The nearby insects shrieked in high pitched tones, and the entire hive writhed as if angered.

To my side, I could hear the runners breaking into a sprint, and from the hive there were hundreds... thousands, spilling out like ants. They were starting to climb the walls, all seemingly focused on me.

Higher ground...

I looked up to the collapsed roof. In particular, the crane assemblies and its many gantries. While many of them were in shambles, some of the gantries seemed untouched.

'Ah...' Maddox whispered, as if approving.

I took a few steps back into the corridor, glanced back, and saw that time wasn't on my side. The closest runner was in full sprint, crazed as its head continued to bob at an odd angle. I ignored the insects on the ground as best I could, letting the tendrils do their best, then made a feinting move to the left.

The runner shifted direction subtly, zooming forward like a projectile. At the last second, I slowed down my perception of time, darted to the right, letting it miss by but an inch.

I took after it in an instant, breaking into a sprint as the runner slammed through the railing, causing a cascade of chaos as it crashed into the giant nest.

The ground was crunching with each step, I could feel them trying to bite through my uniform, and gritted my teeth. I ran to the very edge where the railing had been, let loose a grunt of aggression, and jumped as high as I possibly could.

Even halfway in the air, glow of the nest underneath me, it was clear that the girders were too high for my arms. But the tendrils on the other hand...

They reached as far as possible, and by the moment I started dropping once more, they latched onto the girder, sparks flying as they bit in. I dangled in the air swaying back and forth, hands swatting at my uniform as the annoying insects still swarmed me.

I didn't want to open my mouth, but my breath shuddered and my heart pounded.

There was a tremble in my legs as I looked down, seeing a swarm of angry insects as they fruitlessly leaped into the air, trying to reach my boots.

Up...

I looked up, willing the tendrils to pull me, and grabbed the girder as I pulled myself up.

'Well done,' Maddox whispered.

'Thank y-' Middle of the thought, a sudden pinch bit into my tail. Like fangs sinking deep, forcing pure pain into it. It made me shudder as my tail trashed like mad. Teeth clenching with a spark of anger, I willed my tail to move up front, and reached down as I crushed the gnat.

'You're lucky the eggs have no effect on you,' Maddox mused in the back of my head.

'I get why they didn't hesitate releasing a plague to kill these things...' I thought, and rose up.

The hive was already adapting as I started walking. As new runners took off into the corridors, the insects were increasingly focused on the walls. Climbing on top of each other to create ladders as they reached for higher ground. I looked up into the grand hole which was the second floor, and saw a corridor not far from the end of the gantry.

That's within jumping distance...

As the insects started leaping for me, I sped up, leaned to the side, and made another solid jump. I hit the ground running, and was relieved to find solid ground.

Another presence grew in my mind, and it felt as if something awoke within the facility.

'Hello?' a gentle male voice whispered in my mind.

'Levy, I assume?' I thought, as I kept walking.

'Correct. External comms are down, and this facility is in disarray, explain?' Levy asked.

I thought of the events so far, packaged them, and sent them his way, 'Take it and process it.'

As I rounded the next corner, I could see a large black bulkhead to the right, similar to the end that I'd entered into for this part of the facility. Further ahead in the darkness, another runner, followed by the distinct but messy cacophany of insects. The runner's gaze wandered, then snapped to attention as it locked onto me.

I rushed to the console next to the bulkhead, tendrils extending to work their magic, and-

'I have reviewed the situation, and I've located your position. Want me to open the bulkhead?'

'_ YES! _' I thought, mind screaming to a point where even Levy felt jolted.

'Opening!' Levy snapped back.

The bulkhead groaned, cracked a decade of rust, and churned as it began to split. I stepped closer, waiting for every inch, saw as something red was flashing from inside, then looked to the hallway as the runner was almost upon me.

Fuck this...

It was like instinct, stepping back, hackles rising. I gritted my teeth in a growl, adrenaline flashing in my blood, and aimed my boot as I swung hard. For the briefest moment, the beast looked surprised. Maw open, aiming for my leg, only to find said leg heading toward it like a sledgehammer.

Pain racked my paw as it connected, but I could also hear the wet crunch... feel it. Its neck couldn't take it, head splitting off as it hit the wall bouncing, while the rest of its body went tumbling into the background behind me.

For a moment I remained there, as if stunned. As the momentary shock left me, I dove into the bulkhead beside me.

'Shut it!' I snapped.

'As ordered!' Levy answered.

I backed away from the bulkhead, air feeling warm, and watched as another set of runners and insects came scrambling down the hallway. They lunged at the bulkhead, mere inches left, and a soft crunch was heard as a few insects turned to goo.

Breath shuddering, I turned around to look where I'd ended up.

It was the foundry. Lots of tracks, heavy lifting equipment, a pair of melting furnaces... one of them having collapsed majestically. Massive amounts of still half-molten aluminum glowed in a pit of collapsed walls.

Keep moving...

I marched, following the rails, 'Status?'

'Athena has been informed, and an extermination team has been called. They'll be landing by shuttle within minutes,' Levy answered.

'The rover?' I asked, picked up pace as I headed up a slope.

'Untouched. There's no sign of green horrors within the secured area of the facility,' Levy answered.

It didn't take long before I could see the elevators and open area where the buggy was still parked.

Panting, I let my arms drop, 'Maddox, am I infectious to Gray?'

'His enhanced immune system should be able to deal with it, that said... complications should be avoided if possible,' Maddox answered.

I looked to the elevators, and reached out with my mind to Levy, 'Please tell me there's a decontamination shower around here?'

'There is... though it's less water and more chemical based...' Levy said.

It made me grimace as I started walking, 'Better than nothing...'