The faint, incessant rustling was like billions of tiny insects gnawing at the edges of sanity, omnipresent yet unlocatable. It didn't travel through eardrums but directly harassed auditory sensors and deeper neural interfaces, evoking a physiologically revolting sensation that made one's skin crawl.
The light became viscous and strange within the twisted, pulsating gray crystalline thickets. The empty eye sockets of the remains embedded in the crystals seemed to follow the movement of the three intruders, their frozen screams echoing silently in the dead air.
"What in the hell... *is* this stuff?" Rex's voice was a low growl over the comms, as if afraid to wake this grotesque "forest." His heavy blaster shifted uneasily, its muzzle sweeping the shadows of each crystalline cluster, searching for any potential moving threat, but all he saw was suffocating stillness.
"A... highly active assimilation medium," Lia replied, her scanner fixed on the nearest remains, data streaming wildly in her eyes. "It is continuously breaking down organic matter, using it as both template and nutrient for self-replication and structural reshaping. The energy signature fluctuations are perfectly synchronized with this growth activity. They... are far from 'dead.' They are in a highly active state of... 'construction.'"
"Construction?" Kael's voice was cold, forcing himself to recover from the initial shock, his analyst's instinct overriding biological discomfort. "Constructing what?"
"Unknown. The current form appears... lacking clear purpose, more akin to an instinctual, disordered expansion and transformation." Lia adjusted her scanning modes. "But it is extremely efficient. Based on the degradation level of residual tissues, this scale of transformation... was likely largely completed within 72 hours of the initial infection."
Seventy-two hours. An outpost transformed into *this* in three days.
Kael gave a hand signal to advance. They couldn't stay here. The corridor was the only way forward, leading deeper into the facility's core.
Rex spat—a meaningless habitual gesture—and took the lead with heavy steps. He tried to avoid the crystalline clusters on the floor and the horrific "exhibits," but space was limited. The edges of his armor occasionally scraped against the grayish-white material, producing a grating sound, like chalk on rough stone.
Each scrape seemed to make the surrounding rustling pitch rise slightly, as if the entire corridor was a living thing, murmuring in discontent at being touched.
Kael followed closely, his pulse rifle shouldered, his optical eyes cycling through spectral modes, trying to detect any hidden heat sources or energy flows. But he found nothing except the ubiquitous, chaotic background radiation of the energy signature. This unknown factor made him feel more challenged than ever before.
Lia covered the rear, her sensors scanning not only ahead and around but also continuously monitoring the corridor behind them, ensuring the retreat path was secure—though the closed emergency valve made the term "retreat path" feel somewhat ironic.
They moved slowly through the nightmarish corridor. It seemed endless, the scenes on either side repeating: pulsating crystals, fixed corpses, expressions of despair. The smell in the air also grew stronger, the bizarre mix of ozone, scorched metal, and cloying biological matter almost penetrating the suits' filtration systems.
"Energy readings continue to rise slowly," Lia warned again. "Activity is increasing. Our presence... might be a stimulus."
"Stimulus?" Rex grunted. "I'd like to give 'em a real good stimulus!" He gestured with his blaster towards a particularly dense cluster enveloping half a body.
"Rein it in, Rex," Kael commanded sharply. "No firing unless explicitly attacked. We don't understand their reaction patterns yet." Any unnecessary energy discharge could trigger unpredictable consequences.
They advanced another fifty meters or so, reaching a crossroads. The corridor ahead continued straight. The left passage was marked towards living quarters and the communications center, the right towards the laboratories and the main reactor.
"According to the schematics, the main control room and core laboratories are in the reactor direction," Lia called up the blueprint for comparison.
Kael looked towards the right passage. The crystalline growth there seemed even denser, almost blocking half the corridor, and the grayish-white glow appeared brighter. The faint rustling was also clearer there, occasionally punctuated by a very soft, glass-like *crack*.
"We go that way," Kael decided. The source of the problem was likely in the core areas.
Just as they prepared to turn into the right corridor, Lia suddenly stopped.
"Commander, wait." She called out to Kael and Rex.
"What is it?" Kael immediately raised his rifle, alert.
"Not a threat," Lia pointed down the left corridor. "The energy readings there... there's a faint pulse signal, different from this chaotic background. Very regular, very weak. Like... the backup power of some standard equipment is still operating."
"What is it?" Kael asked. Any sign deviating from this mad "norm" warranted attention.