Selene was bruised from her lessons with Luan and depressed from her 'lesson' with Riddick.
But she had one final thing on the docket for today. Meet her new boss in the containment team.
Her tablet had led her to a security door. Unlike everything else it was light grey color. With thick windows centered towards the top of two double doors.
The doors automatically opened as she approached. With the rumbling of thick gears.
She stepped inside and they closed behind her. She was now trapped in a short corridor with security doors on either end.
'PSHHHH'
The room filled with jets of steam that felt dry against her skin. It tossed up her hair that she'd tied up into a ponytail. She was dressed in her grey puck uniform again also.
After a few moments it stopped and the room cleared.
The second set of security doors opened revealing a lobby. There was a pool table, poker table, lounge chairs and a bar. Various social spaces.
This room stood out from the rest of the division. It was well lit and grey.
Still plain, no decorative elements like the area outside her apartment. But Selene liked it better.
There was a person in a lab coat writing on their tablet who sat at one of the lounge chairs. Someone else sat on the bar while a friend of theirs made them drinks.
And there was some lone woman playing what looked like solitaire at the poker table. But apart from that it was empty.
One of the many doors in the large room opened and a familiar man with greyed dreadlocks approached her.
"Dr Bryant...?" Selene said in disbelief.
"Surprised? We both work for the Protectorate now it seems. I was overjoyed to learn of your unique abilities! The potential is- well, I'm getting ahead of myself. I am the head of both the IBT research and containment teams. Perhaps with abilities like yours we can avoid a situation like the one that occurred on Endelon, Ms. Carrington."
He offered to shake her hand. Which she accepted.
"You left me to die in that hangar. Asshole."
He nodded. "Yes, and I sincerely apologize. Please understand that I am no soldier... I assure you the information I returned with was of critical importance. And besides, you seemed to of salvaged the situation. And quite remarkably so. As a first step of an apology—I'd like to help you learn more of the creatures you encountered that day. If you would follow me please?"
"..Fine. But you owe me."
Dr. Bryant nodded sheepishly before leading her from the lobby.
The halls they entered were easily five meters wide. With many more doors than normal. Guess they called it containment for a reason.
"Lot's of security." Selene said.
"We learn from our mistakes Ms. Carrington. These creatures are quite resilient and adaptive."
"What are they?"
"We've been calling them Zykra... Up until their discovery the only true threat humans have experienced exploring the cosmos have been other humans."
They turned at a intersections corner and entered a room full of containment cells. Rows and rows of large glass windows with scenes within that reminded her of the hangar on Endelon.
"God..."
They observed the aliens within.
The interiors of the 5x8 meter cells were caked in a brown flesh-like material. With hardening chitin in places. Those little grasshoppers from before were spitting up a brown slime all over the place. Which seemed to move on its' own. Creating the fleshy structure.
"What are they doing?" she asked.
Dr. Bryant produced the tablet he'd kept tucked beneath his armpit; it showed a wireframe outline of the grasshopper. He handed it to her and she read it.
[Specimen: Scantid]
[Details: Common hive drone. Consumes biological material, restructuring it into 'biomass' before using it to coat the hive interior. This behavior is similar to bee species, as the biomass hardens it forms a hexagonal structure. The tensile strength of which rivals the P.U.C.'s hardest metals. Not overly dangerous on their own, but are often produced in great numbers and capable of traveling at over 60 kilometers per hour.]
Safe from behind the glass Selene had a opportunity to take in the details.
It didn't seem to be able to see them as it was skittering around.
A wingless monstrosity.
It had two larger back legs that were segmented like a fleas. Barbs running down them like rose thorns. It had two forelimbs that were curled close towards the chest tipped in long knife-like talons. And the 'legs' that were in the midsection were a fusion of the two but smaller than either.
It had antenna that were the length of it's body, swept backwards towards the tail in a graceful curve. The tail itself was covered in bony spurs in spine-like segments. Tipped with a blade similar to those its' talons.
It had four ruby eyes and two massive mandibles the size of the rest of its' head. Which was like a crown, a purplish pearlescent sheen shone on the hardest parts of chitin. Just layers of intersecting armor plates down it's back and chest. The mandibles had curved teeth about as thick as Selenes fingers.
"These are the things I saw in the hangar." Selene said.
He nodded. "If you'd encountered more dangerous variants of Zykra you may of not of survived." he responded. "Observe."
He gestured for her to follow after taking the tablet.
She saw another monster in a different containment cell. One that was a bit more contained. The windows here were many slits that she had to peep through.
Again Dr. Bryant handed her a tablet with the wireframe outline of the creature within.
[Specimen - Munloc]
[Details: Warrior variant of Zyrak capable of organizing ambushes and pursuing prey. The Munloc uses it's formable scythe like claws to kill it's prey, but is capable of a long ranged attack as well. Launching bone-like spurs at prey. The speeds of which rival that of defense force gauss-class weaponry. Penetrating all but the most durable materials. They can launch another projectile at a much shorter range as well. An acidic bile that is meant to dissolve prey to be later consumed by Scantids. The Munloc can move up to thirty kilometers per hour using a combination of serpentine torso movements and bipedal limb movements but has difficulties compared to the Scantid in climbing steep inclines or obstacles.]
It was massive. Around eight feet tall and four feet wide at the shoulders. It's body gradually tapered off from there, transitioning to a barrel chest of pecs and what, a dozen-pack? To a serpentine tail over ten feet long. Lined with rows of tiny legs like a centipedes. It's flesh was leathery and wrinkled in most places. With a crown of chitin on it's head and plates of chitin running down the back. Like the Scantid, it had four eyes and large mandibles. But with a tubular maw contained between them. Seemingly able to extend itself like a probiscis to launch whatever projectile it chose.
It was just sitting there. Motionless. But clearly alive. As a mist of fog kept emitting in front of its' face.
"How many different kinds are there?" Selene asked.
"We only have three in containment so far. If you don't count the larvae. When we first discovered them they had already spread from over six planets in two different systems. Endelon was the most mild infestation of them all."
She shuddered at the idea. A planet of these things would be something else. The stuff of nightmares. From what the tablet said their weapons and armor were on a comparable level to theirs... Which was crazy to think about considering they did it all with their own biology. No science or tools.
"We're fucked." Selene said then.
Dr. Bryant nodded gravely.
"Now you see the purpose of our response on Endelon. But not all hope is lost. There is still one specimen to show you. It's in the highest level containment facility which only I have access to. And you'll see why shortly."
The door was like a vault.
There were pressure valves on it, cogs, intersecting locks. All of them were slowly undone one by one. And inside was a massive dark chamber. A window the size of a hangar door ahead of them.
"Why is it dark?" Selene asked.
"It's reaction to light is unpleasant." he said. "But it will show itself soon. It always does when there's new visitors."
They just stood in the large chamber for a moment then. Looking up at the black void behind the glass.
Before long there was a deep breathing sound came from the shadows. Like a wildebeests'. The massive window fogged up for a second.
The rhythmic sound of thundering footsteps came from within.
'Thud,thud,thud.'
'Thud,thud,thud.'
Three sets of legs as thick as tree trunks on either end of a building sized thorax pulled it along the ground. Two glowing violet orbs appeared high up into the air.
It had a breast of chitin plates, rigid and overlapped down the torso which stood upright in a posture not unlike a centaurs. If a centaur was a bug person instead. Shoulders, torso, head, it was all so eerily humanoid. The face was mouthless, but the space was there for one. Two arms with several fingers on each, almost like a persons. Elongated with bulbous knuckles. They were held together in a way that seemed official.
It gradually came into the dim light of the observation window. It's piercing gaze was centered on Selene. Like some eldritch version of a humanoid god looking down on a subject.
Selenes' legs shook and she found it difficult to stand. Just looking up at the behemoth was a challenge. She wanted to look away from it as if it were a natural disaster like a tornado or a tsunami about to crash down on her.
Then the vibes started. Unprompted like the time in the hangar.
Her brain felt like it was pulled from her body and dropped into an ocean of alien weirdness. She felt dark tendrils of influence creep across her probingly. The eyes of the creature narrowed.
A firm and commanding feminine voice ran through her mind.
Sufficient.
Selene fell down like a marionette who had its' strings cut and began to convulse on the ground. Blood began to stream down her face from her nose and eyes.
"Ms. Carrington!" he grabbed her shoulders in an attempt to stabilize her, gently turning her on her side. "Medical team, in here immediately!"
Meanwhile the behemoth sized bug-centaur receded back into the shadows of the containment cell.
Visions flashed through her mind.
Alien worlds with the strangest topography and hazy brown sky.
Pillars of chitin were piled high into the sky. Curving like many sets of ribs of some felled giant. Bulbs and flowers of flesh covered the landscape like buildings.
Shadows hovered over the sky like clouds.
Behemoth creatures floated effortlessly above the planet.
Crab shaped crustaceans.
Swarms of jet-sized things swirled around the sky like a flock of demonic birds. Tendrils flapped loosely behind them as their multiple sets of demon-like wings beat in a rhythmic pattern.
The planet started to come alive then. Things were flying into the sky. Out into space. The voice swept across the planet with singular commands.
Consume essence.
Evolve overcome.
Then everything went black.