Among the group, Kozlov appeared to be the most composed and in control of the situation, even his body language seemed to ooze confidence and stability. While the others seemed frazzled, he maintained a calm demeanor, and when Gideon gave a subtle nod, affirming Kozlov's question, the man sprang into action without skipping a beat. Despite the moment's urgency, his commands rang out clearly and precisely, and each word was articulated flawlessly despite the rapid-fire delivery. Kozlov's ability to maintain clarity and issue intelligible orders in a suddenly stressful situation spoke volumes about his experience and leadership capabilities. The others immediately fell in line, their bodies instinctively responding to the authority in his tone, casting furtive glances awaiting further instructions. It was evident that Kozlov was the one they all looked to for guidance, his decisiveness an anchor in the shadowy machinery and increasingly wailing alarms surrounding them.
"Gideon, reroute the power wherever you can, just get it out of the core system. Ground it if needed, I don't care how you do it," Kozlov barked out in rapid succession. He whirled towards the stairwell, "Adam, get your ass topside and wedge open every damn door. If a power surge hits, I want a clear emergency exit, no risks of getting trapped."
Without pausing for a response, Kozlov turned his intense gaze towards Wally. "You're assisting Gideon. Do whatever he needs - move cables, equipment, whatever. He may be small but he's our only chance of avoiding a total meltdown. We have no idea how catastrophic a containment breach could get."
Wally straightened under Kozlov's stern glare. "Understood, sir. I'll make sure Gideon has everything he needs." There was a grim determination in his tone, undercut by an audible tremor at the implied stakes.
Kozlov's expression softened slightly as he added, "At ease, Wally. I need you both at your best. Gideon knows what he's doing, just back him up. We're relying on that little fuzzball more than you know."
Damn, this guy might be the first person I’ve met so far that has his head on completely straight. Maybe I should try and make contact with him…later. Right now is not a good time to just suddenly appear and scare the shit out of everyone. Spooky still wants me to steal whatever that is, so I doubt it’s going to implode the entire mountain or something. It’s doing something not-so-good, though. It seemed to respond to me hitting it with Echolocation, maybe I can try something else? That Gideon guy also seems pretty professional, maybe I can…
David remained motionless in his concealed position as the sounds of Adam's thundering hooves faded into the distance, punctuated by intermittent bangs of heavy doors being violently thrown open in the large creature's wake. Kozlov wasn't far behind, dropping effortlessly onto all fours and bounding out of the room with remarkable agility for his massive size. He vanished effortlessly up the stairs behind Adam with a quick assurance he’d return as soon as he could. Meanwhile, Gideon had already set to work, his diminutive body seeming to almost glide between the tangle of cables and pipes surrounding the pulsing crystal shard at the center of the room. Despite being 90% fluff, his lightweight frame scarcely caused the wires and conduits to sway or jiggle as he scampered through the contraption with the dexterity of a squirrel in a tree. He closed valves, reconnected hoses, and ripped coils of copper wire that circled some sections of pipe free, tossing them away to ring prettily against the concrete floor as he muttered to himself with borderline psychotic focus the entire time.
Wally simply sat there awkwardly, ears folded out to the sides and his tail tucked firmly under his body as he hunched into himself. The lupine man had asked a few times if there was anything he could do to help, but David wasn’t sure Gideon even registered that he was in the room anymore. An entire section of piping crashed to the ground and a heartbeat later the lights surged in power before half the consoles on the far side of the room blew in a huge shower of sparks, and Gideon let out a tiny snarl of victory as the alarm suddenly quieted. Wally had nearly fallen over at the massive pop when the equipment overloaded, claws scrabbling for traction on the concrete as he whirled to face the smoking terminals.
“Don’t know why I didn’t think about that before, fucking Kozlov.” Gideon squeaked as he hurled himself off of the armature holding the Crystal itself and rubbed his eyes furiously. “Think I blinded myself, everything’s all purpley-green. Don’t touch anything on that side of the room, I have no idea how much juice is actually going through it, we’re lucky all the flooring is concrete.”
“Copy that,” Wally whined as he stood and shot a nervous glance at everything to the left of the stairs behind them.
“I need you to run up and grab me the multimeter from –” Gideon paused as he squinted mightily before locating his target, “Actually, just grab the whole toolbox. Should be next to the laptop upstairs, I’m not sure what I’m going to need for this yet.”
Well, I guess I’m lucky he didn’t ground it out over here or I’d have been barbequed. I think it’s time to move, I’m not gonna get a better chance than this. This guy or Kozlov is probably my best bet, and Gideon is the less dangerous of the two. Shut up Spooky, I’ll go take a look at the damn thing in just a second, I’m trying not to fuck this up. Okay, okay. Maybe I can, just slowly...
David tentatively began to emerge from behind the snarl of equipment as Wally dashed out of the room and left Gideon to clamber back up onto the console he’d been perched on before Kozlov had given his orders. He couldn't help but feel a predatory thrill courtesy of Spooky as he lurked up behind the small unaware creature in total silence, his wings pooling around him like oil as he crept through the dark, eyes glinting red in the dim lighting. Gideon remained oblivious, continuing to mutter to himself as he clambered back onto the console, his focus laser-locked on readout monitoring the pulsing crystal shard. The shard itself still continued to throb with colorful energy, droplets of rainbow light dripping audibly from its jagged edges in an unsettling counterpoint to the intermittent showers of sparks still spraying across the room every so often.
As David was wracking his brain for how to safely call attention to himself, Gideon leaned over the console's edge reaching for a bundle of exposed wiring that had been spliced into the side of the machine, his elbow clipped a screwdriver lying precariously on the edge. Time seemed to slow as the screwdriver teetered, beginning its inevitable plummet toward the unforgiving concrete floor below. Faster than the eye could track, David's sinuous form lashed out, his wing blurring as he instinctively snatched at the movement in an attempt to prevent the noise it would make as it hit the floor.
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“Oops, shit.” Gideon froze in confusion as the ringing clatter never came, peering curiously over the edge after a few heartbeats to see what had happened. David slowly raised the tool in his talons and carefully placed it behind the man on the console's surface with a decisive click.
The furry rodent froze with the type of stillness you usually only see in predatory reptiles, prey animals that had been spotted, and small children caught doing something they shouldn’t. The man might as well have been carved from marble, even his blinking ceased, and neither hair nor whisker moved even a minute amount. David could visibly see the man put 2 and 2 together in real-time and decided to break the ice before the screaming started.
"Figured you might need this," David said, the friendly tone he'd intended coming out as more of a sinister purr.
Gideon turned rapidly, his eyes wide, chest heaving as his blurred gaze finally landed on David's form. The tiny creature's breath came in panicked gasps as he blearily took in David's presence, an amorphous tangle of pitch-black fur, wicked fangs, and talons glinting dully in the low emergency lighting. Two pinpricks of crimson eyeshine bored into him from the center of his inky silhouette, now only a few feet away.
Gideon let out a strange, choked sound, suddenly finding himself toppled backward onto his rump. He scooted away frantically, holding his minuscule arms outstretched as if to ward off the terrifying intruder. Sensing the growing panic, David attempted what he hoped was a reassuring smile, his jaws parting to reveal a maw lined with wicked fangs.
"Chill, it's all good. I'm not gonna eat you or anything." David attempted placatingly in what he hoped was a comforting tone of voice.
The words had the opposite effect, and Gideon's eyes blew wide, his entire tiny form quivering. He opened his mouth but no sound emerged, just rapid, shuddering gasps. At that moment, the clatter of claws rushing back over the grating above them before rattling down the metal steps announced Wally's return, the toolbox gripped precariously in his jaws blocking his vision. He made his way to the console with careful unbalanced steps, tail wagging obliviously.
"Foun' it, Gidedlrrrmmph!" Wally's muffled words cut off abruptly as he rounded the console, finally catching sight of David looming over his diminutive colleague. The toolbox slipped from his slackened jaws, clattering to the floor as he froze, eyes bugging as his hackles shot up and his tail vanished between his legs. The man seemed to sink into himself as his body locked up in shock, cringing down as much as possible without actually laying down to show his belly.
–Wallace Tullinton has been afflicted with |Blood Memory|–
–Ancestral Terror Mutagen has leveled up!–
–Gained 9xp–
"C-C-Conta..." The word died in Wally's throat, his voice strangled by sheer, mind-numbing terror. He could only gape, mouth working soundlessly as every muscle locked rigid.
"Contaaa...contaaa..." he finally managed, the feeble noise more akin to a pained wheezing than any actual vocalization.
David raised his taloned wings slowly in a peaceful gesture, making a conscious effort not to bare his fangs as he smiled again in what he hoped was a friendly manner. "Easy, easy. I'm not here to cause any trouble."
The soothing tones seemed to break the spell over Wally. He sucked in a desperate gasp of air, his lupine hindbrain taking over.
"CONTACT! INTRU-" His bark of warning finally broke free, deep and booming, before David lashed out again with blinding speed.
Dark wings shot out across the distance without a single sound as they speared through the air, and sharp talons from both of David’s ‘hands’ wrapped around Wally's jaws, silencing him in an instant. David tsked softly, shaking his head in a paternal manner. Spooky had immediately registered the man as 'baby and/or food', and David didn't feel threatened in the slightest now that the man was actually in front of him, rapidly realizing the sheer discrepancy in power between them.
"No need for that. Can we all just stay calm, please?" His tone remained level, but the feral growl in his tone was unmistakable. "I just wanna talk, that’s it. I’m a person too. I’m just snarly lookin’. Sorry I snuck in, I wasn’t expecting to find anyone here when I first decided to check this place out, I’m from Riverport. You familiar with it, big city by the river like a hundred miles from here?"
Wally's eyes bulged in their sockets, the woefully under-leveled monster rolling frantically as he struggled against the implacable grip. The only sound that escaped his trapped muzzle was thick, terrified gurgles as his claws clattered against the concrete below him before he eventually sagged in defeat, ears pinned back and tail tucked firmly out of sight when he finally nodded slightly as David gave him an expectant look.
Well, that could have gone a little better. I didn’t expect him to be so weak, definitely still a hatchling. Why wouldn’t you evolve when the Quest finished? That’s just stupid, it’s like they’re trying to just ignore the System. That’s just…I mean come on, there were like 4 of them, a few Quests wouldn’t even be that hard. Okay, let's see if I can salvage this a little bit.
Gideon, for his part, could only watch the exchange mutely. His own harsh, stuttering breaths echoed loudly in the sudden stillness of the room, punctuated only by the crystal's low, ominous thrum and steady dripping. David slowly released the man’s muzzle and he slumped to the floor, rolling onto his back with a dazed look in his eyes, his legs tucked up firmly as he could no longer contain the urge to show his belly. Spooky seemed quite satisfied with the outcome, and waves of smug superiority washed through the back of David’s consciousness. He fought the urge to roll his eyes, mentally shoving his subconscious into the background as Spooky immediately began to illogically demand that he steal the volatile shard of whatever-it-was for himself.
–Your |Blood Memory| has faded on Wallace Tullinton–
"See? I’m a friendly bat. Friendly." David chittered happily, "No need for hysterics. We can be civilized about this even if we don’t look like it, right? So what’s the deal with the thingy over there? I’ve seen that rainbow stuff before, maybe I can help."
“W-who the fuck are you?” Gideon finally mumbled from David’s left as he slowly sat up.
"My name’s David. Look, I get that I'm not exactly...normal looking," David said, shrugging slightly as he turned to face the small mammal. "But I promise you, I'm not here to cause any trouble. I'm just trying to understand what's going on here."
Gideon's eyes flicked nervously between David and the still-dazed Wally. The lupine man was slowly coming back to his senses, blinking owlishly as he pushed himself up on trembling limbs.
“...You said you’ve seen the energetic liquid before?” Gideon’s tone was still fearful, but a small spark of professional interest shined through.
David couldn’t suppress his grin this time, “Yeah, I puke it up sometimes.”
“Beg pardon?”