Dave's psychic scream – a crude cocktail of the Gargantuan's own terror and Sovereign Toxin amplification – hit the simple symbiont like a mental cattle prod. The reaction was instantaneous and spectacular. The Mucus Gargantuan didn't just secrete slime; it *detonated*.
A geyser of thick, pearlescent mucus erupted from its dorsal surface, aimed with shocking accuracy at the descending Scale Ripper. The corrosive bio-gel slammed into the metallic parasite mid-lunge, enveloping its chainsaw maw and baleful red eye in a gooey, sizzling embrace.
**> IMPACT!**
`> SCALE RIPPER STATUS: BLINDED, MANDIBLES FUSED, CORROSIVE DAMAGE SUSTAINED.`
`> AGGRESSION LEVEL: SHIFTED FROM PREDATORY TO PANICKED RAGE.`
The Ripper shrieked – a sound like grinding gears amplified through a broken amplifier – thrashing violently in the duct. Its metallic scales scraped against the walls, throwing off sparks that fizzled in the mucus-coated environment. It flailed backwards, blinded and muzzled, trailing streamers of corrosive snot. Dave ducked behind the Gargantuan's bulk as a stray, mucus-coated fin clipped the space where he'd just been.
**"Whoa! Easy there, Sparky!"** Dave pulsed, absorbing a stray globule of the Gargantuan's panic-slime. It tasted like ozone and regretful life choices, but it was pure, potent biomass (+2%). **"Looks like someone skipped armor polish day!"**
The Gargantuan, sensing the Ripper's retreat and the cessation of immediate violation, emitted a profound psychic sigh of relief that resonated through Dave's neural leeches. It felt like warm bathwater mixed with elevator music. *Safe. Good Scrape-Blob. Friend?*
**> SYMBIONT BOND STRENGTHENED.**
**> MUCUS GARGANTUAN STATUS: GRATEFUL (AND SLIGHTLY DEFLATED).**
**> ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: 'SNOT KNIGHT OF THE GELATINOUS REALM'.**
`> REWARD: TEMPORARY IMMUNITY TO GARGANTUAN CORROSIVE SECRETIONS (24H).`
**"Temporary snot-proofing?"** Dave grumbled, watching the Scale Ripper disappear into the gloom of the duct, trailing corrosive slime and metallic whimpers. **"Great. Just what my resume needed. 'Expert in divine nasal discharge mitigation.'"**
`> PRIMARY THREAT NEUTRALIZED (TEMPORARILY).`
`> SECONDARY ISSUE: PRIMARY EGRESS SEALED BY HARDENED PANIC-MUCUS.`
`> SCANNING ALTERNATIVE ROUTES...`
`> OPTION 1: LYMPH LAKE (LEFT DUCT). HIGH BIOMASS POTENTIAL, HIGHER UNKNOWN LETHAL FACTOR.`
`> OPTION 2: PROBABLE SPLEEN ANALOG (RIGHT DUCT). LIKELY FILTRATION/STORAGE. POTENTIAL IMMUNE CELL CONCENTRATION.`
`> USER SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: EQUALLY ABYSMAL FOR BOTH. PICK YOUR POISON.`
Before Dave could consult his internal sarcasm generator for a decision, a faint but distinct tremor vibrated through the duct walls, transmitted up his neural leech tendrils. It wasn't the Whisper's usual *thoom... thoom...*. This was sharper, frantic, and utterly *human* in its fury.
*"...USELESS LIMPETS! GHOST AMOEBA? PREPOSTEROUS! FIND IT! SCRUB SECTOR GAMMA-7 TO THE SUBSTRATUM IF YOU MUST, KAEL! THAT SIGNATURE RESEMBLED THE PEBBLE!"*
**> EXTERNAL PSYCHIC FEEDBACK DETECTED: SOURCE - ALCHEMIST VORLAG.**
**> EMOTIONAL STATE: APOPLECTIC RAGE MIXED WITH PROFESSIONAL HUMILIATION.**
**> TRANSLATION: HE'S STILL MAD ABOUT THE LIMPETS AND SUSPECTS YOU'RE ALIVE. KAEL'S PROBABLY GETTING THE HIGH-PRESSURE HOSE READY.**
Dave pulsed a sour note through his tendrils. **"Oh, relax, Moldy Robes. I'm just vacationing inside a god. Very restful. Highly recommended. Five stars, would get digested again."** The idea of Vorlag fuming impotently outside while he navigated the Whisper's innards was darkly satisfying. The Kin Eater hadn't felt this… *smug* since eating his cousins.
He turned his attention back to the ducts. The Lymph Lake sounded suspiciously like a place where things went to dissolve slowly. The "Spleen" sounded like a place where things went to dissolve *quickly*. Neither appealed. His neural leeches, however, twitched insistently towards the right duct, picking up faint, rhythmic pulses beneath Vorlag's distant tantrum. Pulses he hadn't noticed before. Not two. *Three*.
*Thump-tha-thump… Thump-tha-thump… Thump-tha-thump…*
The rhythm was faster than the Whisper's ponderous heartbeat, more complex. Alien, yet intimately connected. It emanated from deep within the "Spleen" duct.
`> WARNING: TRIPLE CARDIAC SIGNATURE CONFIRMED.`
`> LOCATION: TERMINAL CHAMBER, RIGHT DUCT (SPLEEN ANALOG).`
`> ANALYSIS: NON-HOST BIOLOGICAL ENTITY. SIZE ESTIMATE: 15X USER MASS.`
`> DESIGNATION: 'VOID WHISPER EMBRYO - GESTATION STAGE: TERMINAL'.`
`> HOST PSYCHIC FEEDBACK: AMBIVALENT. PRIMARY DRIVE: PRESERVATION/SUSTENANCE.`
**"An embryo?"** Dave pulsed, a cold sensation unrelated to the ambient chill spreading through his protoplasm. **"This walking mountain is… pregnant? And we're headed for its spleen-nursery?"**
`> CORRECTION: THE 'SPLEEN' ANALOG IS MORE ACCURATELY DESIGNATED A 'GESTATION SAC'.`
`> EMBRYO VIABILITY SCAN: FLUCTUATING. PSYCHIC EMANATIONS INDICATE… DISTRESS?`
`> ADDENDUM: HOST MATERNAL INSTINCTS ARE PRESENT BUT SUPPRESSED BY USER'S PARASITIC BURDEN AND THE EMBRYO'S ATYPICAL ENERGY SIGNATURE.`
The Gargantuan nudged Dave psychically, a gentle push towards the right duct. Its simple mind radiated concern, not for the embryo, but for the disruption the distressed pulse caused to the Whisper's calm. *Fix? Scrape-Blob fix?*
**"Fix?"** Dave echoed, incredulous. **"I'm a glorified snot-scraper with anger issues and a taste for my own kind, not a cosmic obstetrician!"** He peered down the right duct. The triple heartbeat pulsed faster, sharper. A faint, high-pitched psychic whine, like the feedback from a dying microphone, scratched at the edges of his perception. It felt… wrong. Desperate.
`> RANDOM CHALLENGE UPDATED: 'WHISPER'S LULLABY (OR REQUIEM?)'`
`> REQUIREMENT: INVESTIGATE EMBRYONIC DISTRESS.`
`> SUCCESS REWARD: UNKNOWN (HIGH POTENTIAL BIOMASS/UPGRADE).`
`> FAILURE RISK: ENRAGED GOD-MOM (PROBABILITY: 85% IF EMBRYO PERISHES).`
`> AURA'S TAUNT: CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'VE GRADUATED FROM COSMIC DANDRUFF TO DEITY MIDWIFERY. SUGGESTION: BRING A TOXIN-SOAKED SWADDLE.`
Dave stared down the pulsating duct. The Scale Ripper was licking its wounds. Vorlag was ranting impotently. The Gargantuan looked at him with simple, mucus-based expectation. And a god's unborn offspring was screaming silently into the abyss.
He flexed his neural leech tendrils, the Sovereign Toxin within him humming with predatory interest. A dying god-embryo? That wasn't just biomass. That was a *legendary_ loot drop waiting to happen. The Kin Eater felt no pity, only opportunity. The hollow ache from the grotto was a distant memory, replaced by the cold thrill of the hunt.
**"Fine,"** Dave pulsed, his silica armor scraping against the duct wall as he turned. **"But if I end up having to change a divine diaper, I'm billing the Whisper for hazardous waste disposal."** He propelled himself down the right duct, towards the frantic triple heartbeat and the promise of power, leaving a faint trail of purple-stained, Sovereign Toxin-laced protoplasm in his wake. The silent scream of the Void Whisper's heir grew louder with every lurch of his glorified snail foot.