Faster, more of the gray substance surged from the ceiling and floor, wrapping around his body like a living thing. He fired his weapon, energy bolts sparking uselessly against the crystals. The crystals swiftly covered his arms, chest, head... His struggles weakened, until he was completely encased in a gray, human-shaped cocoon. Seconds later, the cocoon's surface began to harden, showing the same crystalline veins as its surroundings, Dax's outline fixed within it, becoming one of the "exhibits."
The recording cut off abruptly, the final frame frozen on Dax's face, visible through the semi-translucent crystalline layer, filled with ultimate terror and despair, forever凝固.
Kael watched the recording in silence. The text logs and the video painted a clear, spine-chilling progression: discovery, curiosity, fascination, warning, and then an irresistible, swift, horrific consumption.
"The container... the crystal..." Kael murmured to himself. The parallels to the 'Pandora' mission were undeniable.
Just then, Lia issued a sharp warning: "Commander! Energy signature spiking dramatically! They're becoming active!"
Almost simultaneously with her words—
*Crick-crack-CRUNCH!*
A distinct sound, like rock grinding and fracturing, echoed from the depths of the right-hand corridor—the direction they had originally intended to go!
It was no longer the faint rustling, but an unmistakable sound of something large, moving!
Rex instantly swung the barrel of his blaster towards the source, his emitter letting out a low, threatening hum.
Kael's head snapped up, his optical eyes catching the shifting shadows and the suddenly brightening gray-white glow deep within the right corridor!
"Contact imminent!" he barked, his pulse rifle snapping into firing position. "Lia, abort connection! Rex, establish a defensive line! We've disturbed them!"
The silent outpost was finally revealing its true,狰狞 visage to its visitors.
The fracturing sounds weren't isolated. More similar noises erupted from the darkness of the right corridor, like ice shattering under immense pressure, dense and rapid, closing in on their position fast. The gray-white light at the corridor's end pulsed violently, casting the shadows of the twisted crystalline thickets onto the walls in a frantic dance.
"Lia!" Kael snapped, his pulse rifle held steady on the source of the sound and light.
"Data extraction complete! Disconnecting now!" Lia's response was lightning-fast, the data interface snapping back from the server rack with an audible click. Almost instantly, the flickering emergency barrier sputtered and died completely. The external gray crystalline material, seeming to sense the last obstacle gone, immediately writhed like a living thing, beginning to engulf the server that had just provided vital information, a faint hissing sound emanating from the rack's metal shell as it was eroded.
"Rex! Block that corridor entrance!" Kael ordered.
"Been waitin' for this!" Rex roared, his massive frame slamming into position on the side of the crossroads facing the right corridor. The barrels of his multi-barrel rotary blaster glowed with a menacing blue charge, covering the entire approach with lethal potential. "C'mon, you rock-brained freaks!"
Kael quickly moved to the other side, covering Lia. "Lia, attempt to access the outpost's internal network! Not for data extraction, look for any possible defensive systems! Fire control, blast doors, anything!"
"Understood! Searching for network access points!" Lia responded immediately, her optical eyes rapidly scanning the ruined consoles within the comms center.
The cracking, grinding sounds grew louder, closer. They could now clearly see the crystalline thickets deep in the corridor churning and restructuring violently—no longer slow growth, but an astonishingly rapid aggregation and shaping!
Several large, amorphous masses of sharp crystals, moving like clumsy yet swift spiders, scuttled around the corner! They had no distinct sensory organs, but their entire twisted forms oriented towards the three intruders at the crossroads, radiating palpable hostility and that chaotic energy fluctuation.
"Open fire!" Kael didn't hesitate, squeezing the trigger.
*Zhiu! Zhiu! Zhiu!*
High-energy pulse bolts streaked through the air, striking the lead crystalline mass with precision. Blue energy impacted the gray-white crystalline surface, erupting in bursts of brilliant sparks and fragments. The mass shuddered, its surface pitted with craters, but more crystals immediately writhed from its surroundings, attempting to fill the damage. Its speed barely slowed!