Jim stood over the balcony to survey the city below. A hot wind blew through his hair. Beyond the boundary of the rising bowl, asphalt terrain stretched endlessly with outcroppings of exposed rock. The black pill burned in his gut. An old record sat ready on a player in his officer. He set the music to broadcast over the announcement system.
Skin bubbled. It boiled away. Burning tar leaked from every pore as Delant climbed the balcony rails. He stood on the rounded rails and looked at the steep drop below. His eyes stretched and then burst like inky boils. Shoes slipped on the smooth metal. He fell backwards onto the balcony. Skull cracked against the floor. Mouth opened with a hiss and gush of liquid tar. Fingers melted, followed by arms. Steam pushed upwards from under the clothes. Then the liquification ceased and the form solidified.
Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
Strands of thin inky black grew upwards. They waved like the growth of a fungus accelerated. More slender fingers took form from the dirty sleeves of a stained collared shirt. The pile of wet aggregate shifted while leaving a viscous stain. More thin strands grew upwards before falling onto the balcony with a splat akin to clumps of wet hair.
All around the dry lake bed seating the bowl of Mandaree base, similar strands rose from the harshly flattened terrain. The pipes were calling. The silhouette strands rose from conical bases like dark hair growing from the earth itself. Thick gluey coils formed opening at their ends. One at the south side of the base grew so tall that it peered over the rim of the bowl.
A few onlookers from the settlements gawked. If they went to the edge and looked down, they would see many smaller creatures surrounding their fortress. The largest continued to grow. As it moved like a giant slug and tore the earth beneath it, it began to cast a shadow upon the outer edge of the bowl.
It stopped, curled downward to face the central tower of the base as a gaping sluglike mouth formed.
The low note of a bellowing horn blasted through the atmosphere. Notes followed from below to form a bellowing chorus. The greater silhouette stretched high to become a greater mountain, closed its maw, and slammed down upon the edge of the fortress like a giant whip. Tar, pebbles, and rocks splattered against the greenhouses as glass shattered.
Defenses activated. Electricity flowed into the monster, which rose in protest as it backed away. Blue sparks and pops executed anyone daring enough to stand outside. A chorus of low howls rose from the terrain as the beasts swirled in imitation of the windmills peppering the base.
Ropes of tar released to pelt themselves at the exposed lower wall of the bowl. Balls of burning inky mush smacked into the thin plates that covered the pipes. The plating broke with a snap of thin metal. Monsters squirmed inside the pipes. The earth continued to catapult itself at the base.
The greater silhouette stretched, arched backwards, then slung the top portion of itself as projectile. A blob of hot rocks bound together by tar flew for the central spire. It smashed through the wall of the structure just below the balcony where Delant’s body melted, simmered, reformed. Strands of tar rose from the congealing rock as the old song played from the tower. They slithered over the jagged metal and torn carpet before reaching the writhing mass that was once Delant.
One after the other, thins strands of tar injected themselves into the mass. The inky lifeform began to squirm. It moved viscerally, sometimes it formed human parts that quickly melted back into the visceral blob.
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A slender hand pushed forth from the blob as the tar dripped down a slender arm. It gripped the smooth rail of the balcony as shimmer black hairs rose upwards. The blob compressed itself. A red eye pushed up from the top as it darted about. A maw formed; this one had small teeth slowly growing out of tar gums.
The sound of a woman’s laugh issued from the maw as the blasts of crashing projectiles echoed throughout the base. Dull baritone groans issued from the pipes.
They called.
-----
Announcement speakers crackled:
Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling,
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side...
As Lauren breathed heavily under the pipes, she could hear the warm flowing coolant bubbling inside. The woman from the north entrance had the quiet and servile walk of a housemaid while the brown-haired woman with the fang and freckles had a proud and determined step.
It's you, it’s you must go an I abide
They stopped stiffly face-to-face. Their eyes glowed as a current passed between them. The brown-haired girl made an unnatural beeping sound without opening her mouth. A flash followed as melted flesh hissed and popped behind them. Lauren tensed under the pipes. She shoved her back against the wall as she tried to get a better look. Then suddenly both women turned towards her.
It’s I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow
“Why don’t you introduce yourself human,” they both said in unison.
As the song continued crackling over the loud speakers. Lauren pulled herself out from under the hot pipes and slowly stood. A dirty rag swiped across her forehead to gather sweat as she looked at the disabled turret gun. Gunk dripped from the mechanism in long slobbery strands.
“I’m Lauren, you can call me Lauren.”
Lauren decided to appeal to the dark skinned woman with the softer demeanor and kinder eyes as she raised her hands submissively, “I was repairing the pipes when the turrets activated. I wasn’t being sneaky. I was just scared.”
“You witnessed a conversion,” Helen said.
“A what? What are you people?”
Helen smirked ever so slightly, “She still calls us people.”
“It doesn’t matter now. Lavinia has already given the secret away and our time is short. I won’t condone killing them for any reason. Father would have never approved.”
“I haven’t killed anyone, yet. But none of that will matter if the eldest is summoned.”
“The eldest?” Lauren asked while keeping her hands in the air.
“Nyx,” they said in unison as melting tar bubbled and hissed with a dull pop.
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me!
-----
The mute man in the muscle shirt stood guard at the door with a thick pipe ready. Music began to play in the medical room. They could hear the speakers bellowing Danny Boy from the halls as well. The song came through scratchy and disconcerting. Something moved through the pipes, hot, loud, and forcefully. Knocking, banging, and prolonged groaning accompanied the song.
Larox walked over to Lavinia as she leaned against the bed and put a hand on her slender shoulder. It felt so petite yet not at all frail. It looked frail, yet felt strong.
“Why would any of us hate you?”
“Because I’m a monster.”
Larox tilted his head, “You don’t look like a monster to me. Is this about what happened with the captain? Being MER infused doesn’t make you a monster. It makes you dangerous, but it doesn’t mean you aren’t a monster.”
Lavinia pulled away from his touch and twirled around to punch the steel wall, a slight dent crunched inward where her fist made contact.
“You don’t understand. I’m not MER infused! I’m MER constructed. Every cell of my body is a fabrication, a lie. I don’t have a mother. I don’t have a father. My intelligence is artificial. I’m an alchemical creation without a soul. I’m not human!”
Larox took hold of her shoulders again, this time from behind, he could feel her quiver even in her strength as she tensed reactively, “As far as I’m concerned, you’re more of a person than most of the ‘people’ I’ve met here.”
Lavinia put her hands to her face, then she turned around to accept his embrace. Arms went around her shoulders and over her back. He could feel the power, a buzz of static electricity emanating from her body and the raw power of a refined body structure. Her knuckles bled.
“I don’t want to die!” she cried.
He continued to hug her, “I won’t let that happen. Let’s get back to the hanger. We can talk this out once we get the blimp back in operation. I think it’s time we got out of this tub.”