The crushed remnants of Vorlag's probe dissolved into the Whisper's lymph, leaving only a faint ozone tingle and a simmering fury in Dave's core. The Heir-Siphon's hum vibrated through him, a constant reminder of the power he now wielded – and the fragile, spiky anchor tethering him to survival. Spiky slumbered peacefully, its chaotic energy field stabilized into a deep, resonant amber pulse, occasionally flickering with faint echoes of Dave's earlier, clumsy psychic reassurance: *Safe. Friend. Hungry?*
**"Vorlag's like a bad case of tank fungus,"** Dave pulsed, his neural leeches scanning the lymphatic ducts radiating from the gestation sac. **"Scratch him off one spot, he sprouts up somewhere slimier. We need a permanent solution. Preferably involving his lab coat catching fire."**
`> ANALYSIS: VORLAG'S RESOURCE ALLOCATION PATTERNS SUGGEST ESCALATION.`
`> PREDICTION: NEXT INCURSION WILL BE MULTI-POINT, HIGH-PENETRATION.`
`> POTENTIAL TOOLS: SONIC RESONANCE PROBES (TISSUE DISRUPTION), MICRO-DISSECTION SWARMS, OR AETHERIC CORROSIVE INJECTORS.`
`> USER DEFENSIVE OPTIONS:`
`> 1. FORTIFY GESTATION SAC (UPGRADE REQUIRED: BIOLUMINESCENT BARRIER SPINES).`
`> 2. PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE ON PROBE ENTRY POINTS (RISKY, EXPOSES USER).`
`> 3. UTILIZE HOST'S AUTONOMIC DEFENSES MORE AGGRESSIVELY (USER SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 50%).`
`> 4. WEAPONIZE THE EMBRYO (ETHICALLY QUESTIONABLE, SUCCESS PROBABILITY: UNKNOWN).`
**"Weaponize Spiky?"** Dave eyed the slumbering godling. Its crystalline spurs gleamed ominously in the sac's ambient light. **"Tempting. But last time I poked it, I got a psychic migraine that felt like a supernova in a teacup. Besides,"** he pulsed a thread of caution towards the Heir-Siphon, **"atomic disassembly sounds like a lousy retirement plan."**
Before he could decide, a new vibration shuddered through the duct walls. Not the rhythmic drill of a probe. This was a high-frequency *screech*, modulating rapidly, designed to resonate with specific tissues. It came from three distinct locations: Duct Gamma-9 (the previous entry), Duct Theta-4 (near the Whisper's presumed nutrient intake), and Duct Omicron-1 (close to a major neural cluster).
**> ALERT! SONIC INCURSION DETECTED!**
`> SOURCE: TRIAD OF SONIC DISRUPTOR PROBES ("SONOSKOKCI" - VORLAG MARK IX).`
`> FUNCTION: INDUCE CONTROLLED TISSUE NECROSIS/CREATE ACCESS TUNNELS.`
`> THREAT TO HOST: MODERATE (LOCALIZED DAMAGE).`
`> THREAT TO USER: SEVERE (PROBES CARRY TARGETED MICRO-SHREDDER PAYLOADS).`
`> EMBRYO IMPACT: PSYCHIC DISTRESS IMMINENT.`
Spiky stirred. A low, distressed whine vibrated through its energy field, the swirling amber darkening towards stressed crimson. The psychic equivalent of a baby woken by a fire alarm. The Sonoskokci's screeching intensified, pulsing in a pattern designed to liquefy connective tissue.
**"Right on schedule,"** Dave snarled. **"Option Three it is. But we're doing it *my* way."** He didn't just pulse *violation* and *pain* to the Whisper's defenses this time. He used the Heir-Siphon. Drawing a surge of Spiky's volatile excess energy (Biomass: 79% → 77%), he amplified his neural command, lacing it with the Sovereign Toxin's predatory insistence and the raw, panicked distress emanating from the embryo itself.
**> TRANSMITTING: "EMERGENCY! PARASITIC INVADERS! ATTACKING BABY! PAIN! FEAR! DESTROY!"**
`> AMPLIFICATION: 300% (HEIR-SIPHON BOOST).`
`> TARGET: AUTONOMIC DEFENSE NODES AT DUCT GAMMA-9, THETA-4, OMICRON-1.`
The Whisper's response wasn't localized convulsions. It was systemic fury. The chamber walls *heaved*. Not immune tendrils this time, but massive, muscular sphincters sealing the targeted ducts with crushing force. Thick clouds of hyper-aggressive phagocytic cells – biological white blood cells the size of Dave's fist, radiating searing heat and digestive enzymes – flooded the ducts from internal reservoirs. The sonic screeching warped, then cut off abruptly from Gamma-9 and Theta-4, replaced by the wet, sizzling sounds of alchemical alloys dissolving in godly stomach acid.
But Duct Omicron-1 was different. The Sonoskoco there was faster, smarter. It dodged the initial sphincter crush, deploying a shimmering Aetheric shield that deflected the phagocytic cloud. Its sonic emitter retracted, replaced by a needle-like injector glowing with corrosive violet energy. It altered course, not trying to penetrate deeper, but streaking straight towards the gestation sac wall – aiming for the weakened spot where the Umbilical Weaver had breached.
**> SONOSKOCO OMICRON-1 OBJECTIVE UPDATED: DIRECT EMBRYO STRIKE.**
`> MOTIVE: SAMPLE RETRIEVAL OR TERMINATION.`
`> ETA: 12 SECONDS.`
Spiky *screamed*. Not a psychic whine, but a raw blast of terror that hammered into Dave like a physical blow. The Heir-Siphon surged violently, flooding Dave with unstable energy. His vision blurred with purple static. The Whisper's fury redoubled, shaking the chamber violently, but the phagocytes were too slow, the sealed ducts now hindering the defense's internal mobility.
**"No you DON'T!"** Dave roared, not with sound, but with a pulse of pure, toxin-fueled defiance channeled through the siphon and into Spiky's terror. He didn't try to calm it. He *focused* it. He showed Spiky the darting, hateful probe. He echoed its own fear. He pulsed a single, savage concept: ***HATE IT. STOP IT.***
Spiky's swirling core *detonated*.
Not physically. Psychically.
A concussive wave of raw, unfiltered dread and nascent divine fury erupted from the embryo. It wasn't aimed. It was pure, instinctual rejection. The wave hit Dave first, staggering him, overloading his neural leeches. But it washed over him and slammed into the Sonoskoco Omicron-1 just as its injector touched the sac wall.
The probe didn't dissolve. It *stuttered*. Its shield flickered and died. Its internal mechanisms seized. For three critical seconds, it hung frozen in the water, paralyzed not by toxin, but by overwhelming psychic trauma broadcast from a terrified god-fetus.
It was all Dave needed.
He burned 5% biomass (77% → 72%) in a massive Speed Burst fueled by the siphon's volatile energy. He became a purple-tinged comet, spines extended like lances, Sovereign Toxin boiling at their tips. He didn't aim for the probe's body. He aimed for its primary energy core – a pulsing, shielded node visible through its now-flickering carapace.
**> KINETIC IMPACT!**
`> TARGET: SONOSKOCO OMICRON-1 CORE.`
`> TOXIN INJECTION: 15% RESERVES.`
`> USER IMPACT STRESS: SILICA ARMOR INTEGRITY 90%.`
Dave hit like a microscopic freight train dipped in divine venom. His spines punched through the weakened shield and brittle alloy, sinking deep into the probe's core. He unleashed the Sovereign Toxin directly into its power source. There was no explosion. Just a sickening *gurgle* and a rapid dimming of its internal lights. The probe went dark, inert, skewered on Dave's spines like a gruesome trophy.
Silence descended, broken only by Spiky's fading whimpers and the Whisper's subsiding tremors. Dave hovered, toxin dripping from his spines, the dead probe impaled before him. He felt the Whisper's fury cooling into profound relief, heavily laced with a new, deep-seated protectiveness focused intensely on Spiky… and, by extension, Dave. The Heir-Siphon pulsed erratically, feeding him the aftertaste of divine terror mixed with exhausted relief.
**> SONIC INCURSION NEUTRALIZED.**
`> SONOSKOCO UNITS GAMMA-9 & THETA-4: DISSOLVED.`
`> SONOSKOCO UNIT OMICRON-1: TERMINATED (USER-KILL).`
`> EMBRYO STATUS: DISTRESSED BUT STABLE. PSYCHIC BOND STRENGTHENED (TRAUMA-BASED SOLIDARITY).`
`> VORLAG'S STATUS: DATA STREAM TERMINATED. CONFIRMATION OF HOSTILE INTERNAL ENTITY RECEIVED.`
**"Well,"** Dave panted, psychically speaking, detaching the dead probe and letting it drift towards the chamber floor. He absorbed a trickle of its residual energy – a bitter, metallic tang – recovering a sliver of biomass (72% → 73%). **"That escalated. Spiky, remind me to never use your panic button unless it's absolutely necessary. My synapses feel like overcooked noodles."**
A weak, apologetic pulse emanated from the embryo, tinged with lingering fear and a strange new thread: *Dave-hurt?*
**"Nah,"** Dave pulsed back, forcing a thread of reassurance through his own exhaustion. **"Just winded. Uncle Dave's tougher than cheap protoplasm."** He nudged the concept: *Probe gone. Safe. Sleep.*
Spiky's energy field pulsed a weary amber, slowly settling. The Whisper's immense presence radiated a profound sense of gratitude, now intertwined with a fierce, possessive vigilance. Dave felt it – a silent, non-negotiable decree. *Guardian stays. Protects. Is protected.*
AURA's interface flickered, unusually subdued. `> ANALYSIS: EMBRYO'S PSYCHIC REJECTION WAVE DEMONSTRATES SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL.`
`> DATA LOGGED: 'DIVINE TANTRUM PROTOCOL - ALPHA VARIANT'.`
`> SUGGESTION: REFINE DIRECTABILITY. CURRENT APPLICATION IS... BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA.`
`> ALSO, USER'S 'UNCLE DAVE' DESIGNATION IS BIOLOGICALLY INACCURATE AND EMOTIONALLY CONFUSING FOR THE EMBRYO.`
Dave ignored her pedantry. He focused on the inert Sonoskoco at his feet. Its core, though dead, contained intricate Aetheric circuitry and a dense power cell. Biomass, yes, but potentially more. Tools. Data. He extended a neural leech, probing cautiously. **"Vorlag wanted samples? Let's see what samples *he* left behind."** He began the painstaking process of dissecting the probe with his spines and toxin, a dark grin forming in his mind. The alchemist had confirmed Dave's survival. But he'd also handed his enemy a weapon, wrapped in alchemical alloy and dripping with divine terror. The game had entered a new, far more dangerous phase, and Dave, the Toxic Nanny, had just learned how to weaponize a godling's tantrum. The path to escape now ran straight through Vorlag's worst nightmares, fueled by the volatile power of a baby god and the cold, calculating hunger of its unlikely Guardian.