Even days after the revelation that Headquarters and Sandra knew more than I did, I was still pissed. I couldn’t believe they’d known something was going to happen and barely did anything. Because of this, we were all fucked. We could do nothing but sit here and wait for this thing to emerge again. This time, however, it would be prepared. Hell, it didn’t need to be prepared, considering our last encounter. Let me just say it again: we’re fucked!

Throughout the last days, there were no new incidents. No signatures, no alerts, no puppets, nothing at all. I’d be happy about it if I didn’t know what it meant. That thing was out there, and it was not only biding its time, it was preparing itself.

“Fucking shit,” I cursed while I sat in front of the computer.

The only good thing about it was that it gave us time to nurse our wounds. Theodor was already well again with that freakish body of his. Most of my wounds were already healed as well. The bones that were broken still hurt, but I was mostly okay. Sandra, though, is a different story. She’s still recouping and only slowly getting back on track. It’s not so much her body that’s damaged, but her mind.

For the past few days, though, she wasn’t able to rest. That damn thing’s probing and sending out its feelers all over the city. Sandra describes it as a rough, almost uncontrolled effort, but at the same time delicate. The thing knows what it’s doing and Sandra knows it’s searching for her, for us. Thankfully, it hadn’t found our location yet and most likely wouldn’t. The moment Sandra noticed its probing, she set up several distortion devices. Those handy little tools would keep our brainwaves and Sandra’s mental capacities hidden.

Two days after our little talk, Sandra downed another memory contraption. To say I wasn’t happy about it would be an understatement. No, I was freaking pissed and more so, worried about her. Instead of listening, she cut me off and stated what was coming was far worse than our last clash. She needed her powers back, and she needed to be ready. I gave her a weak nod, but I could see the toll it was taking on her.

What I was most surprised about was Theodor. Until that day, he hadn’t given a shit about, well, anything that was going on here. He was only here because of Sandra’s threats, but ever since he was back on track, he’d gone through Headquarters compendium. Seeing him learn about the various creatures out there was something I’d never thought I’d see.

While Theodor was studying the compendium and Sandra was healing, I kept myself busy as well. I scanned streets, looked for signatures, sorted through our equipment and even ordered a few additional supplies. Headquarters wasn’t too forthcoming when I asked them to send me some of their experimental explosive ammunition. Given our current situation, however, they eventually relented. I even tried to come up with a strategy on how to take the creature down, or at least give us any semblance of a chance.

Sandra also contacted Headquarters again, making inquiries about what they were going to do. I watched her as she listened before she screamed into the phone.

“No! Not her! I’m using my authority as head of this operation to oppose-“

Her voice trailed off and I could see anger distorting her face.

“What? No, that’s,” she started, but was quiet once more.

She listened again for a few more moments. Then the call ended, and she threw her phone down in frustration.

“What was that all about?” I asked, turning to her.

“Nothing. It’s all nonsense. Headquarters might send someone over, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

And so the days passed with nothing happening. To be honest, I was pins and needles the entire fucking time. I knew something was going to happen, something bad, and then it finally did.

It came out of nowhere. The computer alarms going haywire woke me up. For a moment, I stared at the blinking ringing mess in the center of our living room without the slightest clue of what was going on. I tried to make sense of it, clicked through the software and its various tabs, but all I could tell was that we’d gotten a hit, a big one. Before I could even curse, Sandra stormed into the room.

“Move!” she yelled at me and pushed me aside.

As she scanned the screen and the data on it, I could see her face growing dark.

“This is their fault! Dammit! We called for support, we called multiple times, and now... dammit!”

“Sandra, what’s going on? Is it-?”

“What do you think it is!? Look at the signature!”

With that, she turned one monitor in my direction and I could see a giant signature stretching out over vast parts of the city.

“Shit, so it’s back?”

“Not only that,” she said. “You see where the signature’s originating?”

I leaned forward to get a closer look. I saw that this time it wasn’t originating in some empty, run-down area. No, this time it had appeared right in the center of a giant apartment complex.

“Jesus Christ,” was all I could bring out.

“What’s going on?” Theodor called out, still holding the compendium in his hands.

“We’ve got confirmation. It’s back,” Sandra said.

Then a frown appeared on her face.

“Wait, there’s more than one signature. See this?”

Sandra pointed at a variety of smaller signatures in the area. Then she was back at the keyboard and rerouted a drone that was nearby. The drone scurried through the air. For a second, a building complex came into view before the drone’s signal vanished.

“Not letting us see a damn thing,” Theodor mumbled from behind.

“Shut up! Look!”

With that, Sandra opened the data the drone had transferred and clicked through it. Just before it was destroyed, it had recorded the area. The apartment complex was a mess. Buildings were damaged, walls were torn down, and debris lined the streets that led through the complex.

Sandra hit up Headquarters right away. She didn’t hold back and screamed into the phone that they’d fucked up.

“This is exactly what I’d been worried about! This is exactly what should’ve been prevented!”

“Exterminator 4B98344,” I heard the computerized voice over the speaker. “We are already aware of the situation. We are taking measures as we speak. The entire area is being locked down by our civilian personnel, as well as the local police force. We have already gotten in contact with the media, and all material regarding the incident will be confiscated or denied. However, immediate action is required. We need you, Exterminator 7D11087, and your other asset to set out and do what you can. Reinforcements are on their way, but we can’t tell you when they’d make it to your location.”

“You’ve sent her after all, didn’t you?” Sandra asked in a strained voice.

“Exterminator 4B98344, we like to remind you that executive decisions are to be made by Headquarters exclusively. Focus on the task at hand.”

With that, the call was cut.

While Sandra had been talking, I’d taken a more detailed look at the signature data in the area. Apart from the gigantic A-class signature, at least two dozen other smaller ones had appeared. I knew why. That thing must’ve somehow routed them there, and every one of them had been hidden from us. It had been gathering forces. Shit, this was getting worse and worse.

“I guess we’re on our own again?”

Neither I nor Sandra answered Theodor’s question. There was no need to. A few moments later, I made my way into the storage room.

“All right, for the past few days, I thought hard about what we could do if shit hit the fan again. I know it won’t do a lot, but we’re going all in. New, state-of-the-art protective armor, weapons, grenades, as well as additional equipment that might come in handy. Couple of beacons, distortion devices and some sentry drones. Stock up.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Sandra was about to walk over to her diminishing shelf of memory contraptions, mind blockers, and mind enhancers, but I blocked her way. She gave me a hard, angry look and was about to push me aside.

“Only if necessary, okay?”

I knew what that shit did to her, and she knew it as well. She gave me a sarcastic grin, but nodded before she filled her pockets.

I got my hands on some mind blockers as well and handed a few of them to Theodor before I stocked up on any first aid and healing contraptions I could find. After Theodor had put on his protective armor, he also got a hold of a handful of grenades. I couldn’t help but frown when I looked at the almost depleted stash of my favorite little friends.

We set out and about a quarter of an hour later, we arrived in the area. It was crowded with police and rescue personnel, but from what I saw, the entire area looked... normal. I saw no sign of destruction.

“Wait, what’s going on here? This entire place was destroyed, so how...?”

Sandra pointed at a few inconspicuous metal boxes that had been placed around the area. I stared at them, but had no clue what they were.

“Reality distortion devices. Well, that’s taking it too far. You could say it’s an advanced piece of augmented reality. It’s creating a visual representation of what the area looked like before it was destroyed. Nothing but a giant, sophisticated hologram.”

I stared back at what she’d called a hologram, open-mouthed. It looked entirely real. Shit, man, how the hell were they able to do something like that?

Sandra had already turned away, gotten out her phone and pressed a few buttons. Within mere moments, a man dressed in a plain dark suit hurried over to her.

“What’s the situation?” Sandra snapped at him before he could so much as say a word.

“The entire complex has been devastated. There are multiple signatures inside, but we can’t give you any clear data. There’s too much interference and we can’t get a clear reading. All we’ve been able to do was to put the area under lockdown and handle the eyewitnesses. With an incident such as-“

“Any attacks?” Sandra cut the man off again.

He shook his head.

“Negative, no attacks. None of the creatures inside the perimeter have shown themselves to us. We presume they are waiting for us to enter.

Well, isn’t that great?

“What about the people?” Theodor spoke up.

The man’s face turned bleak in an instant.

“We have a list of 722 people living in the affected area. So far we’ve only got confirmation that about 300 of them have been evacuated. The rest is still missing.”

“Then what the fuck are you guys doing!?” Theodor screamed at the man. “You’re just going to let them die in there?”

The man took a step back.

“There’s nothing we can do,” he started. “None of our personnel is equipped or trained to handle situations such as-“

“You know what? Go fuck yourself and your excuses, you piece of shit!”

Theodor took another step toward the man, but I was quick to put my hand on his shoulder before the situation could escalate further.

“Calm down. I know how you feel, but the guy’s right. There’s no way he or any of his men could do anything.”

“Yeah? So where’s the fucking support your Headquarters was going to send!?”

“Like I said,” Sandra started in a low voice. “Headquarters is hard pressed. They are understaffed and an incident such as this wasn’t-“

“Fuck, I get it!”

“All right, here you go,” I said as I handed each one of them a distortion device.

“We don’t know what we’re up against, and I’ve got no clue if it works or not, but it might help us hide our presence. At least for a time.”

“Guess you’re finally showing some foresight, Dylan,” Sandra said, giving me a brief smile.

“Let’s fucking go already,” Theodor cut in and pushed past us.

Some sort of scaffold had been erected between the police barricades, most likely to hide us from vanishing when we stepped past the holographic fake. I felt nothing when we passed it. No plop or anything. What my eyes saw simply changed. A display of sheer and utter destruction replaced a normal-looking apartment complex.

It looked like the entire area had been subjected to a bombing raid. Some buildings were almost intact, while others were crumbled ruins, missing entire walls. The street had upheaved, cars were turned upside down or destroyed. It felt like we were entering a war zone. Well, almost. I saw no hint of any creatures or people.

“How the hell did all of this happen so fast?” Theodor asked in a whisper.

“That’s an A-class organism for you,” Sandra explained. “As I said, this creature could level entire parts of this city in an instant. That’s what it must’ve done here.”

We’d barely taken a few steps when I noticed the smallest of movements from a ruined building to my left. The moment the puppet noticed me staring at it, it hurried away.

“Shit, that’s one of those puppets,” I cursed and set out after it.

“Dylan, what are you-?”

“If this thing makes it back, god knows what will come after us!”

I sprinted past debris and followed the thing, ignoring Sandra who was cursing after me. An entire wall of the building was gone, and only parts of the upper floors remained. In an instant, the gun was in my hand and I took the puppet down in a single shot. Well, what can I say? My intentions were good, but as so often, I hadn’t thought ahead. It had been a trap and because of me, we’d fallen right into it.

The debris to my right exploded and two humanoid types threw themselves at me. Without Sandra warding them off, things might have ended badly for me right there. A third creature revealed itself nearby, but Theodor rushed right for it. While Sandra pushed my two attackers back, I loaded some of the explosive rounds and unloaded on them. I’d expected the stuff to be powerful, but was still surprised when it tore them apart in mere seconds. I was about to help Theodor, who was struggling against his enemy, but Sandra, next to me, cringed. A pained, concentrated expression distorted her face before she screamed up and sent out a shock wave. Her eyes darted around, and soon we could make out a creature on the floor above us. Sandra raised her hands, but in an instant she was clutching onto her head again, cursing in pain. The grenade flew in a high arc and crashed right into the creature. The resulting explosion took it out, but also part of the crumbling floor. I could tell the remains of the building were about to crash down on us any moment now.

“Out! We’ve got to get out! Theodor, are you-“ I started, turning to him.

There was no need to continue. He’d taken care of the enemy all by himself. As I saw him there, covered in blood and the slightest hint of a satisfied grin on his face, I couldn’t help but shiver.

The moment we’d made it outside, Sandra cursed.

“That thing was another proxy organism, an extension. It didn’t even try to fight or hurt me, it tried to pry open my mind. That’s what it wants,” she spat in anger, “to analyze my mind, dissect it and take it apart.”

Her face showed no fear or worry. It showed only anger.

“You guys remember what that fucker outside said?” Theodor asked.

I turned to him.

“What do you mean?”

“The people. Over four hundred of them are still missing. Where the fuck are they? Do you see any blood or remains?”

Shit, he was right.

We’d made it past the first couple of buildings when we noticed something in the complex’s center. What might have once been a playground had been turned into a twisted construction. Creatures and puppets gathered around it, adding debris to the structure. As I focused my eyes on it, I saw stones flying in the air, moving on their own and being incorporated.

“A ziggurat,” Sandra pointed out. “An ancient temple construction. That’s where the thing must be hiding.”

We set out, trying to hide our presence as best as we could, but the creatures in front of us had already noticed our presence. Right at that moment, I felt a surge of mental pressure assaulting my mind. It was the feeling of something pushing into my brain and probing it. Once again, visions appeared in my mind, and I struggled to push them aside. In an instant, I downed a mind blocker. My mind cleared up and the thing’s strange probing feelers were pushed aside.

We weren’t out of harm’s way, yet, though. A multitude of creatures came rushing towards us. Within moments, however, I noticed that most of them couldn’t be above D-class. With the new ammunition and Theodor at the top of his game, we made quick work of them. At one point, Sandra struggled again, but she instantly found the proxy organism assaulting her. She screamed up, and with a wave of her hand, the disgusting lump of flesh exploded into blood and gore.

As I took down creature after creature, giving out grenades like candy on Halloween, I saw new trouble brewing. In front of what Sandra had called a ziggurat, the puppets were gathering. No, not just gathering. They were clumping together and forming into... something.

“We’ve got trouble!” I called out and pointed ahead.

I saw Sandra’s eyes turn wide.

“They are fusing together! We’ve got to stop them, Dylan!”

“On it,” I called out, ripped out a flamer and threw it against the amalgamation of writhing, teeming bodies.

The flamer exploded, drenching the puppets in hungry flames, but it did little. One after another, they sacrificed themselves to drench them before the rest fused back together. A moment later, the resulting giant monstrosity pushed itself upward. Puppets crawled out from the center, formed into limbs, and the lumbering puppet-giant came crashing towards us.

“You’ve got to be,” Theodor cursed up and was about to rush forward to attack, but I stopped him right away.

“Don’t, there’s nothing you can do,” I started, but was cut off by another mental assault.

Visions and emotions were pushed into my mind. The thing was teasing us, telling us to go all out, to fight, to struggle and…to die. And it called out to Sandra to unleash her powers. Sandra grimaced. I saw sweat gathering on her forehead. I heard her whisper something that might very well have been a ‘fuck you.’ Then she threw her powers at the puppet-giant. It was stopped, then pushed back.

“Do something!” she screamed.

In an instant, I threw a pair of grenades. No flamers this time, but good old explosives. They crashed against the body, tore it apart, yet the puppets were already repairing the damage. Sandra was shivering and shaking. She was concentrating hard, pushed her hands forward before she jerked them upward and sent out a wave of energy. The monstrosity in front of us began crumbling. Some puppets were still moving, but they seemed unable to fuse again.

“What did you-?”

“Another proxy organism,” Sandra said, panting. “Too big to be destroyed by conventional means, but I cut its connection. It was forming all those puppets into this... thing.”

I stared ahead. Some puppets skittered away, but most of them lay discarded and unmoving on the ground. Sandra’s breath came in short, hard bursts. For a second she staggered, and her eyes rolled back. In an instant, she ripped out a memory contraption and swallowed it. Then, with a somber look on her face, she downed two more.

“Sandra, what are you-?” I started and reached out for her, but she batted my hand aside.

“Don’t touch me! Let’s go!”

I almost inched back. I’d never seen her this angry.

“That thing’s done enough. It’s done enough to my mind and I won’t let it violate me any further!”

And right at this moment, as we set foot into the ziggurat’s interior, I heard laughter in my mind, a giggle. Come and enter, I’m waiting for you, the thing seemed to say. Great, I thought, things were about to get ugly, damn ugly.

Fuck monsters and fuck all of this.