by Greg Ramsay
Inside the room, Lia was faced with more whitewashed brick and hulking machinery. The room itself was warmer than the room beyond, but only by a slight margin, similar to how one might feel in a room where the sun fell on one side more than the other. The tubes that had led her there were once again visible, poking out of the floor between separate black cube-shaped machines situated alongside each other against the wall nearest the door. Each of the machines was connected to its own tube so they could handle separate materials as needed; their exteriors were simple with thick glass viewing windows and access hatches. Looking inside each, Lia could make out what looked like moulds that must’ve been used to form something out of whatever the tubes delivered. The left side wall was bare; the right held racks with strange shiny silver suits hanging off them; the back wall was empty save for a tall rectangular machine in the centre. Lia walked over to the suits out of curiosity. They were seamless when put together with a helmet, almost like a hazmat suit. Although they only had small air tanks thus not making them useful for long. Turning away from the suits, Lia headed towards the machine at the back of the room.
At a glance it was relatively plain, looking to be made of similar tough metal as the door, with cables emerging from its centre, and a thick hinged access hatch locked down by multiple metal latches. A ventilation fan in the roof above the machine silently hummed as it attempted to suck up any heat emitted from the machine. Gingerly she reached for one of the latches, apprehensive of the potential heat it may contain. The top latch was cold to the touch so she quickly touched the rest to find they were all fine. The latches themselves were similar in function to the kind on fireplace doors. The effort required to disengage the mechanisms surprised her considering that once they had been dealt with, her fingers were enough to easily open the machine’s access hatch.
Eyes widening, she stood shocked at what she saw: a vibrant contrast of polished golden and silver metals against charred black steel. It was a beautiful device the likes of which she’d never seen before, with a brilliant golden handle straight knurled for grip and decoration on either end of its polished smooth, shining centre. On either end of the handle were symmetrical tips of equally brilliant silver metal shaped into cones that meshed perfectly at their base with the golden handle as though they had been cast in one mould. Blackened metal cable was twined around the handle, holding it suspended in the centre of the machine. Compelled to inspect the device closer, despite a nervous feeling inside, Lia approached it. Slowly she untwined the device from its holder then hefted it in her hand; it felt warm, heavy, but strangely comforting. The body of the device was just the right size to fit in her grip; quick arm movements proved its maneuverability was quite manageable. The tips didn’t look like much, just a few centimetres, each spread between a body section roughly a centimetre in length; the rest was milled down to a razor-sharp point. Holding the device vertically, Lia allowed one of the tips to bite into the thick metal platform below. The tip cut deep and easily carved precise lines in the metal as though it was a pen put to paper.
“Impressive,” Lia said, easily lifting it up, then she turned her wrist flat so the device rested horizontally inside her closed fist, both tips and exposed body glinting in the light. Gently she ran her finger over the tip she had just used and it came back bloody. “Very impressive,” she said smiling confidently. This has to be able to cut that monster! At very least it’s worth a try, she thought to herself. She closed the door to the machine that had held her new weapon and took another look around the room. As she turned to leave she noticed a piece of paper had fallen on the floor beside the machine. Upon inspection, there was only one word. “Kynari,” she whispered to herself. She looked down at the device in her hand; it seemed like a fitting name. Quietly she back-tracked through the barren halls hoping the monster was gone, but she doubted it. Her hand tightened on the kynari, seeking comfort in its strange warmth. Strides lengthening, she found herself already back in the large main hall facing the door to the Science wing. She paused, listening... Silence. Gripping the corner of the wall she turned into the main hall then froze.
The alpha was standing right in front of her just steps away. She knew she couldn’t run this time. There was nowhere else to go, so she turned to face the creature. A macabre smile etched across its face when it saw her. It splayed itself to block her only route of escape. She drew her new weapon in her right hand and ran at the monster. It kicked out at her before she could dive through its legs. Instead, she used the knife she’d found to slice the tendon at the back of its outstretched leg to no effect. She followed her slicing manoeuvre by ramming the kynari’s first tip into its windpipe. Her new weapon exhibited no effort in piercing the alpha’s armour; it buckled to the ground in surprise. Before it could react, Lia withdrew the kynari. She slammed it into the beast’s neck over and over trying to create serrations she could exploit. The alpha recovered quickly and slapped her away.
As she slid down the hall Lia braced herself. Predictably, it was above her in an instant, arm raised to pound her into the floor, but all it pounded was a cold silver spike. When it recoiled in pain, Lia ripped the kynari from its fist then started rapidly carving into its neck starting from her stab points. The alpha grabbed her arm and bent it back violently. Lia screamed, letting go of the kynari unintentionally, leaving herself unarmed and helpless. The alpha bared its fangs in that damned smile as it rammed its clawed hand into her chest, cutting her deeply before throwing her hard into the wall. Once more she was its ragdoll, just a weak toy. Painfully she turned her head; her kynari was rolling towards her somehow, but her knife was just out of reach down the hall. She sat there for a moment feeling the warm blood dribble from the gashes in her chest; her body felt numb again.
The alpha stood there and watched, seemingly entertained, as she struggled to her feet, retrieved her kynari, and ran at it. With a deft backhand swing, she was on the ground again, still gripping her kynari in her hand, but this time the alpha didn’t wait. It grabbed her off the ground like she was nothing and slammed her into the wall repeatedly, the surface of the wall cracking under the force. Her vision failing, Lia’s body was so beat she couldn’t tell what wasn’t damaged, yet it kept striking. Defiantly she stared it in the eyes.
“I.... Won’t .... Die!” she growled out, her bruised hand tightening on the kynari in rage.
Suddenly all she could feel was heat, some sort of energy was raging through her from her hand. On its next swing, she looked down. She couldn’t believe her eyes; the kynari’s tips had turned bright red. She focused all her remaining energy and swung it deep into the alpha’s neck, ripping through it like butter. The alpha roared, spun, and threw her to the ground. Landing hard on her back, Lia rolled quickly as its arm came down to hit her. Thankfully her attack caught it off guard so it was too slow. With her free arm, she reached out for her knife. The alpha backed off momentarily; the area she had cut was singed red, but black tendrils were emerging like thread, mending it from the inside out. Getting up quickly, Lia ran at it, hoping to finish it off. She just barely ducked under its first swing, but was caught by the claws of its right arm. Screaming she reeled back slightly as deep gashes were ripped from her torso but all that gave her was more rage; her adrenaline made her numb to the pain. She focused all her anger into her kynari as she rammed it into the other side of the alpha’s neck, its tip cutting right through. She drew it around its neck cutting all the way to the other side. The alpha buckled slightly, small tendrils whipped out to meet her hand, cutting into it like living razors.
She pulled it out and switched hands quickly, pushing on until she’d cut straight through to the back of its neck. The alpha rammed its clawed hand into her back. Even in its weakened state it cut deep, but not deep enough to break her spine. She rammed her knife deep into the gash to leverage its head free from the thick mass she assumed to be its spine, before forcing the kynari right through it. With cold precision, Lia used the combat knife to cut its head off with
two deep gashes. The alpha’s arm extended outward, pulling her away. Putting her leg against its chest, Lia kicked herself free from its arm violently, disregarding the pain of its claws ripping free of her. Breathing heavily, she could feel the sudden heat from before fading. The force from her kick dislodged its head as it snapped free of the few tendrils that had managed to reach it, to roll away uselessly. Angrily she walked over and kicked its head down the hall as hard as she could.
Lia screamed in rage, backing away exhausted. The battle finally caught up to her so she collapsed to the ground bleeding. She laughed. I guess this is it... What a joke, she thought as she closed her eyes, her arms gripping her wounds. Everything went black briefly, then there was a faint gurgling sound amidst that of rustling. Lia opened her eyes slowly to see the alpha’s body had risen somehow and thousands of tendrils were wildly shooting out of its neck, searching to re-attach its head. She laid there fearfully as the tendrils suddenly arced towards her.
Before she could even think to react, four large tendrils wrapped around each of her appendages, completely restraining and lifting her up with her limbs spread apart, as more tendrils shot from the alpha’s body. Countless more tendrils pierced Lia’s body. The pain was unbearable. She wanted to scream, to just painlessly die. All she could do was watch helplessly as the tendrils dragged her toward the alpha’s carcass while an impossible guttural cry blasted out from its severed head. The tendrils dismantled the carcass before fusing it to her, tearing her apart to fill her body with its blackness. She screamed as the tendrils tore through her, eventually covering every inch of her in a black ooze which slowly formed sleek black armour around her. When the tendrils finally finished the transformation, they receded inside her. Lia froze, too scared to move. She looked down at her hands; they were now covered by horrifying black armour. She screamed before abruptly blacking out.
Hours later, Lia awoke lying in the hall. The alpha was completely gone somehow. She couldn’t decide if she had dreamt of the horrid merging with the alpha. She looked down at herself; the armour was gone, and so were all her injuries. If it wasn’t for her surroundings, she would’ve thought it was just a nightmare. She got to her feet then picked up her weapons from where they laid on the floor before calmly continuing down the hall.
As she walked she tried to sheathe her knife, but the sheath fell off. Her clothes were in tatters that fell apart as she pulled. Slightly shocked, she covered herself as best she could. However, now she had no way to hold the knife, so she sheathed it and left it on the floor. Soon she was back in the main room, once a modern greeting space, now a scarred battle zone. Lia strolled over to the main desk to see if it had anything helpful since she hadn’t had time to go through it before, but all it had was writing utensils and sheets of paper with the letterhead at the top of each. She withdrew one of the sheets; it had a slogan written in calligraphic writing on it that said: MiraiCorp: Building the future of evolution.
“Maybe this MiraiCorp had something to do with this since the creatures seem to know their way around...” Lia said to herself. She read that its main office was located in the centre of Utah. She ripped the letterhead off a sheet of paper, keeping it for reference as she turned to leave, passing calmly through the shattered entranceway. She began the short walk to a dark and apparently abandoned corner store.
When she made it safely inside she went to sleep. In the murky darkness, she could see a dark smiling face that was somewhat familiar. It goaded her; it taunted her. She screamed GO AWAY! but the disjointed face, which increasingly looked like a mask, just laughed. You need me, it said. SHUT UP! she yelled at the dark mask. It just gave her a cold menacing smile. You should wake up now, it said.
Chapter 4 – The Leader Within
Suddenly Lia shot awake, sitting up to look around her. She could somehow sense the creatures’ presence nearby. Though she didn’t understand it, she heeded this new sensory ability within her, retrieving her kynari quickly. She took no more than ten paces away from her store when she could feel them surrounding her. Many creatures ran toward her roaring, roughly twenty of them she guessed based on a strange intuition. She didn’t know how so many managed to find her, but it didn’t matter; once more it was time to fight.
Lia ran at the nearest creature raising her kynari like a spear. In one smooth motion she buried it deep in its skull then adjusted her grip so she could withdraw it using the falling creature’s weight rather than wasting her own strength. She quickly sidestepped to dodge a frontal swing while ramming the rear tip into the eye of one behind her. Its dead arm still possessed the momentum to strike her in the back, but all that did was help her pull the kynari free in time to stab the one in front of her. They were at both her sides before she realized; she managed to stab the left one in the face before the other ripped into her exposed side. Grunting, Lia ripped her kynari free, using the momentum from its release to spin and slam its tip into the side of her attacker’s head. Thankfully the lesser creatures didn’t seem to get up once they were put down, but Lia was starting to tire. She fought on regardless, making quick work of two in front of her by holding the kynari horizontally in her fist as she swung her arm back and forth, using both tips to full effect on their skulls.
With the second tip still lodged deep in the left one’s head she turned her body as she pulled it free, leveraging her arm to strike another beside it. A creature swung at her from behind managing to hit her in the back, its claws ripping a large gash in the left side of her back. She staggered but recovered enough to kick it in the jaw. She stepped forward, deftly stabbing it in the forehead. Lia’s adrenaline rush kept her from noticing the pain, but she was losing blood from the gashes she kept sustaining. She could feel herself starting to weaken. Somehow, Lia managed to continue this hopeless effort for a time, weaving, slicing, and stabbing her way through the seemingly endless numbers of them. To her dismay the roars of the fallen served to call more to the fray.
Two more fell to her onslaught, but she could barely raise her arms. Her kynari felt like a boulder in her hand. The creatures could sense her weakness; it excited them so they began attacking more ferociously. They evaded her feeble strikes. They ripped more deep gashes in her body with each swing of their deadly claws. Her vision started to blur. Blood ran from her back, forehead, arms, and legs. She could feel herself blacking out. A creature struck her hard and she collapsed, her body splayed on the ground. All she could manage to say was a weak “No...” Then she lost all consciousness.
Lia abruptly found herself in the strange dark world she had seen in her previous dream. A dark void - no floors or walls - just a dense expanse of space she somehow hung suspended in. The void started drawing small particles together, forming that same disjointed mask-like face before her eyes. Its ominously pretentious fanged smile came first, a fitting prelude to its black eyes. Then the body of the mask formed around the two eyes, the mask’s rough scaled surface forming an angry cavern for the eyes like a frozen glare. To finish its formation, thousands of thin needles shot from the top of the mask like long deadly raven hair. It turned its frightening form towards her, looking into her as though her brown eyes would speak, wordlessly giving it what it sought. A menacing deep voice began to laugh before speaking to her. Look at yourself, you’re pathetic; you’ve allowed yourself to be shredded!
Lia did as he bid, curious to see what he meant, and was appalled by what she saw. Her clothes were sliced through like paper. Her tall, slender, toned legs were ripped by claw marks; they were scraped and covered in dirty blood. Her arms were equally damaged; her hands were numb, and almost wouldn’t unclench as though frozen. Her back was sliced to the point it felt unbearable to bend at all. Her long red hair was matted almost black by the dirt-filled blood she must’ve inadvertently rubbed in it. Her slender pretty face was cut up and coated by her blood. Her soft brown eyes were strained from trying to follow all that occurred during the battle. Lia just looked up at the mask with a defiant scowl.
; He looked down at her pretentiously before continuing, I am the Leader; I own your body now. We will kill them all!
Lia replied, I will not let you take over my body!
The mask laughed, It’s my turn now, girl!
The last thing the mask did was smile his dark smile at her. Then she was left watching her body in some strange third person state, seeing herself slowly rise while millions of small serrated black tendrils exploded from her body rapidly. They whipped out surrounding her like an impenetrable slicing shield that violently repelled any nearby creatures. The tendrils spun and weaved so fast they formed a cloud of dust around her. When the tendrils’ acceleration peaked, a wave of sudden power exploded like a deafening shockwave. The dust was blown away as the now detached tendrils flew in all directions like razor shrapnel. With that, the armour had returned. Her face was covered in a modified version of the mask in her mind, which she now recognized as similar to the face of the alpha she’d defeated, now calling itself the Leader. The mask’s dark spiked hair had joined with hers, making it a combination of black and red. Her eyes had become an ominous black void. She watched amazed as a deep laughing growl emitted from her mouth.
