The ship door opened with a hiss, revealing a landscape cast in dull crimson shadows. The eclipsed moon stretched before them like a graveyard—barren rock, cracked terrain, and a sky drowned in red-black haze. No sun. No stars. Only the strange ambient glow from their ship and the outline of a looming facility far in the distance.
"Yup," Brogan muttered. "This place screams friendly."
They all stepped out—Zane, Luna, Vexxie, and Brogan—boots crunching against dry stone. The facility entrance looked at least half a mile away. No cover. Just scattered rocks, dried-out metal poles stuck in the ground, and twisted, leafless things that might've once been trees.
[TwitchChat]"The dev really said 'eclipsed' and meant it."
"This is the creepiest environment yet."
"Why is it SO quiet?"
The silence was unnatural. No wind. No ambient sound. Just the subtle hum of their own gear. They had walked maybe two minutes toward the facility when it happened.
A deep, guttural roar shook the ground beneath their feet.
Everyone froze.
"Did that—" Vexxie started, but stopped. Something was moving.
From over a hill to the right, it came into view. A massive, muscular creature, dog-shaped but horribly wrong. Its skin was stretched tight and slick like exposed muscle. It had no eyes, only a wide mouth filled with jagged, shark-like teeth.
"Zane, don't move," Luna whispered sharply.
Zane turned to look at it. "What is th—"
He took a step back.
And the beast charged.
"ZANE, RUN!" Vexxie screamed.
But it was already too late. The thing moved like a blur, galloping forward and leaping onto Zane. The impact threw him to the ground, and the team could only watch in stunned silence as the creature tore him apart, limbs flailing, blood hitting the dirt in thick splashes.
[TwitchChat]"HOLY—"
"WHAT IS THAT THING???"
"ZANE NOOOOOO"
"IT'S SO FAST!"
"WHAT KIND OF ENEMY IS THIS???"
"That was brutal."
When the attack stopped, the dog-monster stood completely still.
Its mouth twitched. It sniffed the air.
It didn't move toward the rest of the group. It didn't growl or roam. It just… stood there, head swiveling slowly, waiting.
Brogan didn't breathe.
Vexxie whispered, "It's not… moving?"
The thing took a few blind steps to the side, nose twitching.
And then it turned and began wandering away.
"Wait," Luna whispered. "It's not… it didn't see us."
"It doesn't have eyes," Brogan said slowly.
"It's blind," Vexxie realized.
They didn't dare use voice chat. Instead, Luna opened the in-game text chat, her fingers trembling as she typed:
[LUNA]: it's blind. it hunts by sound. don't talk. don't move.
One by one, the responses came.
[VEXXIE]: understood.[BROGAN]: yeah. i saw. zane made a sound. that's why.
[TwitchChat]"It's blind? Omg…""So that's why it stopped??""This game is ACTUALLY deep.""Dev really made a sound-based AI monster wtf.""This is giving alien isolation meets outlast but multiplayer.""I'm buying this game rn."
The team crouch-walked in perfect silence.
Step by careful step, they crossed the open land, hearts pounding. The monster had wandered off into a dip in the landscape, growling softly to itself. It hadn't heard them. Not yet.
No one dared speak.
They moved around scattered metal junk, hopping down small drops in the ground as silently as possible. Occasionally, they stopped, frozen in place when a stray pebble shifted or a rusted panel creaked.
The thing never returned.
Eventually, the facility grew near. They were only a few hundred feet from the entrance when Luna finally took a breath and whispered, "Are we… are we alright now?"
They all stopped.
The creature hadn't followed. No sign of it anywhere.
Zane, now spectating silently, let out a breath. "Guys. That was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen and I didn't even survive it."
[TwitchChat]"I'm sweating and I'm not even playing.""The AI… the design… the pacing… genius.""Who made this game?!?""This is easily better than anything in AAA horror.""Downloading RIGHT NOW.""WE NEED A NAME FOR THAT THING."
Luna looked back one last time.
Nothing but dust and red shadows.
She typed again:
[LUNA]: stay crouched till we're inside.
The team pushed forward—now quieter, slower, and more terrified than ever.
They hadn't even stepped foot in the facility yet.
And already the eclipsed moon had claimed a life.