As she approached the man, Carissa had been expecting Matthias to keep a close eye on the man as he watched her perform but his actions surprised her.
First, he stopped his movement and put his hands on his face as his grey suit material began to flow over his entire body covering him from head to toe. Even his mouth, nose and eyes were covered by the material.
Despite the fact that he had put his own sword back into his spatial bag attached to his belt Matthias calmly approached the man with hands by his sides before grabbing onto the lapels of the white coat with both hands and with a rough effort pulled the man onto the balls of his feet.
‘Don’t try my patience monster. Turn, transform, activate. She needs her first kill to survive in this place and you’re going to give it to her. Stop crying and show us. I promise this trickery isn’t going to work on anyone. Carissa, don’t stand there. Prepare yourself. I’m not going to be helping you on your first death. Be thankful I’m giving you more preparation than my own mentor gave me. She was a hard woman. Kill him.’ said Matthias.
The scientist remained a blubbering mess as he barely lifted his arms to fight off the strong grey suit covered hands holding him up. Tears streamed down the fast of the man as his words were barely audible.
The white corridor remained strangely completely silent, the loudest sound being the sound coming from the scientist and the increased heavy breathing which emanated from his throat.
‘…. Stop…. let me see my family…. stop it...I…. I don’t…. I…. can’t…. no... don’t. Not...not…,’ said the scientist.
Carissa took several steps towards both the young man holding the scientist up in the air so his shoes barely touched the ground and readied her group in what she supposed was a fighting position, her bone tooth club raised in front of her.
Then a rumbling echo came along the empty white corridor, the vibrations strong enough to unsteady her off of her feet. A presence fell upon her, this one was familiar yet not.
A sensation of sharp teeth and a deep never-ending hunger reached deep into her mind and took hold of her senses, filling them with the smell of fresh blood flowing from the hand of the scientist.
Her senses became further aware as there was a scent which was acrid to her senses. A small but growing scent. Her grip tightened on his bone sword as an ache that wasn’t her own began to fill her stomach. The leftover mixture of blood and water which had begun to settle from her earlier meal reached back into her throat and into her mouth.
Fighting back the stomach acid and bile, Carissa bit inside her own cheek, letting the salty taste of her own blood mix as she forced herself to swallow back down.
Not mine.
Get out of my soul.
The unknown acrid scent grew in her nose as another vibration ran through the corridor, this time strong enough to unsteady her footing on the smooth floor. As she resisted the urge to steady her arm against the wall, she her gaze upon the scientist by the sight and sound of Matthias raising a hand and the sound of a sharp slap to the face of the scientist.
‘Stop pretending. I know what you are. Monster of flesh and skin and bone, not this time. You’re not going to trick us this time. You hear me?’ said Matthias as he raised his hand again before continuing to slap the crying scientist in the face.
Carissa had followed his instructions and considered how she was going to kill the scientist with a single strike before a hand from the scientist reached up and grabbed hold of the hand which was going to slap him once more in the face.
The head of the scientist had dropped completely forward and the rest of his body had become limp before his hand had reached and with a twist and an audible sound cracked the wrist of Matthias.
Despite the sudden pain and the loss of ability in his hand Matthias held on a firm grip with his other hand on the lapel of the scientist’s white coat. Carissa recognised the pain on the face of the young man before trickles of sweat began to run down his forehead.
‘You…show…. your...true….’ started Matthias before the other free hand of the scientist which had been covered in blood pulled back suddenly and clenched into a fist before striking into the lower chest of Matthias with enough force to send him flying back down the corridor.
Given that she had been given a pre-warning from him, it didn’t come as a complete shock. The transformation to her eyes was a fascinating progression of how the human form could be altered rapidly into another form. A direct threat to her certainly but the scientist in her wanted to observe the process.
The speed of the process surprised her as a grey liquid spilled out of his hand and rapidly across his body, the colour of the material was similar to her own suit. Not quite the same colour but distinctly close.
The white clothing of the scientist began to rip and extend as he tore it from his changing form. A guttural sound echoed from his throat as his body bent down forwards and he let out a cry.
‘They...Code Zeta. NO...NO!’ cried out the scientist.
A message from the Ocean Gateway System came into Carissa’s vision at the worst possible time as she focused and made it appear into her mind’s eye.
[Hua Pengfei – Research Scientist of the Deep-Water Purification Facility
He is presently infected by an unknown virus.
Quest: Kill or incapacitate him.
Rewards:
-Vital clue for the true research purposes of facility.
-Unknown Virus Sample (Benign Form)
Win Player-Candidate. Win and show the Drowned Gods your true potential! Or die.]
Holding her bone club ready, Carissa took several steps back into the middle of the corridor to give herself a little space and prepare for the mutating form of the human in case he leaped at her.
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Tears streamed down the face of the scientist as he raised his clenched hand again and slammed it hard into the side of the corridor wall. This time Carissa heard he a visible cracking noise as his fist left an impact mark in the smooth white material.
‘They….my family. I need to find my Family. MY...GIVE ME YOUR KEY. GIVE ME YOUR EXIT KEY!’ echoed the voice of the rapidly transforming scientist.
The arm with the bloodied fist had elongated and stretched out and Carissa could visibly see it had grown in mass and length. Tipped claws had replaced his fingers nails and the shoes on his feet burst apart as clawed feet replaced the bare skin with greyish thickened flesh.
To her surprise the scientist didn’t leap towards her but the clawed hand lowered to the ground with a gentle motion and scooped up the abandoned photos and wedding ring before wrapping it in the remains of the ripped white scientific coat and gingerly placing it on the side.
Readying her own bone club Carissa realised that Matthias had been right. Mike had beaten her and she hadn’t been to respond, this time it was her own life on the edge and she needed to kill to survive. Even of the Ocean Gateway System was forcing the encounter on purpose.
‘Not again. I’m not being beaten and thrown around by a powerful man again. You. Time to test my teeth.’ said Carissa as she steadied her feet before planting them on the ground and taking in a deep breath began to run directly towards the transforming scientist.
A part of her rational mind which had been a scientist told her that this was an opportunity to test a hypothesis. The altered parts of her brain which had thankfully remained unaltered by the Drowned Gods and had been regressed to enable her own survival told her that she needed to get close, to rip and tear to live.
The transformed clenched fist of the scientist smashed hard into the corridor wall once more as a human hand covered his face which had begun to turn grey. The creature which had been a man remained hunched over but Carissa could hear a raspy deep breathing which vibrated in the air.
The smell of his blood came into her nose but this time having prepared for outside influence Carissa focused her energies into her arms and legs, her hand clutching hard onto the bone club as she raised it and in fast run pushed off her feet and into the air as she lunged towards the transforming scientist.
The sharpened edge of the bone club hit the scientist in his upper shoulder as his body mass continued to grow and extend outwards. Bones cracked and reformed within his body and muscles stretched outward. On the impact of the bone club the scientist grunted but lashed out his remained human arm on which the flesh was steadily turning grey.
The power behind his arm lashing out hit Carissa in her stomach as she let go of the bone club and grabbed onto the neck of the scientist as she wrapped her arms around in a tight grip and brought down her sharpened teeth and bit deeply into the bare flesh.
A chemical scent came into her mouth as she held on tighter and bit even harder, all thoughts of fighting him using the bone club released as she let her emotion and frustrations pour out into her teeth as she bit harder into the flesh.
‘Tha-tha-than’. Came the voice of the transformed scientist.
An acrid taste filled her mouth and Carissa swallowed down the semi-liquid grey blood which began to stream from the neck wound of the scientist. Twisting her head and releasing her teeth, Carissa chose another spot and bit down again hard, moving along the thickened neck, more grey blood pooled into her mouth and her skin.
A message from the Ocean Gateway System flashed into her mind’s eye but Carissa barely paid attention to it.
[Player-Candidate Designate: Carissa.
An identified Ocean God known as Chuneus sends you a message.
I like this one. She has a good appetite. If she survives the change. Little O, you have competition for your chosen candidate.]
As Carissa continued to bite down on the mixture of altered flesh and grey blood as it splashed onto her face and mouth it flowed across her grey suit but failed to come into direct contact with her suit covered skin.
The transformed grey hand of the scientist rose again and smashed the wall in the same position for the third time as tears continued to stream down his face.
Despite the bone club embedded into his flesh, the transformation continued as the previous human’s body structure altered into a larger form of himself. Thickened skin, larger arms and legs and central body mass and larger head. The hair on his head itself fell down onto the ground as his ripped and torn clothing covered part of his body.
Carissa ignored the movements of the scientist as she carried on biting into the neck, letting the greyish blood pool into her mouth and down her throat, as it mingled with the contents of her previous meal and drink a dull ache spread across her own body.
The scientist hit the wall of the corridor one last time with his now fully transformed arm and clawed hand before a crash resounded throughout the length of the corridor revealing an empty room filled with scientific equipment but no visible doorway or windows.
As blood began to run faster down his neck and onto his body the transformed scientist took the bundled-up clothing containing the photos, wedding ring and items which had previously been strewn onto the sterile floor and grabbed them tightly pushed them through the hole in the wall into the room before letting his arm drop.
Carissa only noticed through her own rage and burst of emotion as the mutated enlarged figure underneath her began to slowly collapse down onto the floor before all sense of movement began to stop.
The greyish blood which had pooled into her mouth and torn pieces of flesh around her face and neck fell onto the ground as her conscious mind caught up with her own actions and releasing her grip with her teeth reached out an arm for the embedded bone club, remembering only that it belonged to her before she forced her own will the object before she fell let herself collapse onto the blood-soaked floor onto her back.
Her eyes closed tightly Carissa took in a breath as she struggled to breathe through the amount of blood and ripped flesh in her mouth. Bubbles of air pushed through her lips.
The enlarged grey figures neck was entirely torn open but the flow of greyish blood had stopped, rapidly cooling down as it pooled onto the floor. Her own grey suit protecting her and the blood and flesh simply slid off her body and onto the floor.
A message from the Ocean Gateway System filled her mind’s eye as a strong, familiar will pushed onto hers keeping Carissa awake and alert despite the sensation of her own body losing energy and consciousness.
[Player-Designate: Carissa.
Several Ocean Gods have paid attention to your actions. Well done for surviving initial combat.
Quest: Complete. The transformed research scientist formerly as Hua Pengfei – Research Scientist of the Deep-Water Purification Facility – has been killed by your hand.
Rewards:
-Vital clue for the true research purposes of facility.
-Unknown Virus Sample (Benign Form)]
An enclosed sphere of sealed water enclosing a small black binder and a sealed syringe with a small amount of liquid inside appeared in the air above her head as the bubble floated down towards her suit covered chest and popped releasing a stream of pour clear liquid.
As the waters flowed over her all traces of blood and flesh on her and on the immediate floor turned transparent and washed away before quickly evaporating into the air.
Without conscious action Carissa’s hand snatched both objects out of the air and her spatial backpack opened as a hand thrust both objects inside the bag sealed itself according to her own will. The message from the system was stored away for future observation.
Lying on her back Carissa rolled onto her side, her breathing deepened as her body began to violently shake on the floor. One hand shot out and she pushed herself up, the sight of the mutated corpse in front of her eyes failed to register as in fractured mind as a living being.
As she focused her will on her bone club it shifted on the floor and clattered towards her waiting hand, the sharpened bone points on the edge cutting into the surface of her palm as Carissa’s own blood spilled out.
Her cut hand soon found the handle of the blade and unsteadily she rose to her feet once more and approached the dead form of the mutated scientist.