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[>>Now replaying: Log 3.16.1 - Bile.]

Date: Error

Location: The Bunker at Progress’ Head // Zephyro’s Domain

//The nerves sit ceremonious, like tombs—//

//From foul nests rise, a vermin tide//

[>>DATA CORRUPTED]

E2 %Chaos.%

As the attack spun me around, I brought up Pharus in a desperate attempt to mark my enemy, flicked the switch, saw the torch blaze, felt the weapon impact something soft and fleshy, heard a wet crunch, and then my back hit the stones hard enough to drive the air out of my lungs.

[>>PROCESSES BY USER CfMchn_14 are now highlighted]

I rolled and instinctively thrust the Torch in front of me. In the heat of the moment, it took me a second to realize the rat that had jumped over me now attempted a follow-through, proving my reflex right. Facing the teal flames, the beast hissed a discordant note of burning liquid and skittered back.

It bought me mere seconds to think. Behind the Feral who had wounded me, I found the first rat staring in Zephyro’s direction, already dry-heaving in preparation for its next acid attack.

A quick glance showed that the Vizier was struggling with a fourth rat that I hadn’t even seen before. His sword slashed through the air as he tried to score a hit on his invisible enemy. The rat had no issues avoiding his strikes, but couldn’t find an opportunity to attack due to Zephyro’s fervor. The vizier finished a series of particularly savage strikes, grunted, and took a step back, rapidly scanning the battlefield. It didn’t take long for his eyes to focus on the rat I had marked for him. At the same moment, the Feral that had soaked me in acid before retched once again.

I tried to warn him but before I could get a word out, the rat hurled its viscous green goo at him. It spattered against his form, covering his chest and face. At first, Zephyro didn’t even seem to notice, he just barreled forward with incredible speed and finally lunged toward the marked Feral. After pulling back his sword, he sunk it deep into the rodent’s side with a loud cry, letting his momentum carry him forward as he cleaved the beast in two. He traveled a few more steps until he came to a halt, cursing and wiping at his smoking armor. Behind him, the rat exploded into motes of Logic.

My own armor wasn’t crackling and smoking anymore, but the attack had left it scarred by severe acid burns, warping the fabric like molten plastic. Zephyro hadn’t fared much better.

{CPU Load: ▼ 86%}

{Core Temp: ▲ 78° C}

“What is this vile substance, Sultana?!” Zephyro yelled.

“Acid rat!” I yelled back because that was all I had time for.

That acid spitter had to go, and quickly. What did I have to work with, then? I was sure I’d hit the second rat—the one that had tripped me— pretty hard. But while it had pulled back behind its uninjured companions, it didn’t look nearly as hurt as I had believed. My brow creased in confusion until I caught it glancing at the cloud of cyan sparks erupting from its dead companion. Fuck, it’s healing itself with Logic!

Without explaining further, I gave in to my battle reflexes and dashed toward the blue sparks. The rats did not think highly of my plan, of course, but they loved that I’d given them a window of opportunity. I jumped over one of them that tried to trip me up, slid underneath another pounce, and reached the cloud just as the injured Feral started to pull it into itself. I put all my strength and momentum into an underhanded swing. The Torch’s head scraped loudly against the stones, leaving a scorched gash in its wake. My feet hit the floor in a staccato. Then, on the upswing, my weapon bit into flesh.

{CPU Load: ▲ 92%}

{Core Temp: ▲ 79° C}

I could have sworn that for a split second, the rat looked surprised, as if my weapon’s spiked cage digging into its stomach had interrupted it during a transcendental experience. But then something inside its belly cracked, bone or something worse relenting to my attack. Red life fled its beady little eyes, and in death, it no longer looked surprised. Just silently resentful. Cyan waves streamed from its mouth. I breathed in sharply, willing the Logic into me.

{INCOMING LOGIC - 50 LB}

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

{AVAILABLE LOGIC - 72 LB}

That couldn’t be right. Two enemies, and only 50 LB? That should have been way more, considering the size of that cloud. I spun, and instead of the Logic cloud the rat had been feeding on, I found the acid spitter absorbing the last dregs of cyan through its sickly muzzle.

Shit!

In the time it took me to think that word, the beast mutated in front of my eyes. Its fur turned a sickly black, with patches of bare skin glowing an even worse green. Within a second, the beast grew until its bulging form reached up to my waist. I took an involuntary step back.

“Get ready, Zeph—“ I didn’t finish the sentence.

Its eyes glowed. They darted around until they found me. Then the beast started heaving.

All my instincts screamed that I did not want to know what would happen if that thing finished whatever it was doing. With a scream of frustration and anger, I broke into a dash, grabbing the torch with both hands.

A shudder ran through the rat, back to front.

Once.

Twice.

The torch blazed as I willed it to mark on the next strike.

The rat opened its mouth and I sidestepped and saw its wicked little grin too late and couldn’t stop bringing the torch down on its flank and then it was too late.

[>>PROCESSES BY USER PrurCkr_33 are now highlighted]

Pharus’ head dug into the greasy skin and sent a wave rippling through the fat.

Several glowing pustules shook like bubbles on oily water, then ruptured. They spewed forth a sludgy, viscous liquid in a misshapen cone around the beast’s injured side, covering everything inside it with green ichor. It spattered against my armor, clung to it like fetid pus. Wherever the slime touched it, the cloth smoked like a burgeoning grease fire, and my CPU load skyrocketed.

{CPU Load: ▲ 100%}

{Core Temp: ▲ 80° C}

{[Arx, Saint’s Embrace] HAS BEEN DISABLED.}

I screamed as the acid burned through my clothes and bit into my skin.

[DPM integrity]

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱ 90% ▼▼

I barely managed to keep on my feet, stumbling steps bringing some distance between me and the rat. It squealed with anger and pain, then shuddered, preparing to regurgitate even more bile. My eyes flitted around the battlefield, trying to keep tabs on the remaining three monsters. Something in my peripheral vision flashed silver, and three became two. Zephyro moved so fast, my brain only caught on to what happened when he pulled his saber out of the twitching corpse of the acid rat.

He stood atop its fallen foe as it slumped to the ground, victorious smile playing on his face. “Give me more, Sultana!”

The rat hadn’t released any Logic yet.

The vizier glanced down as the Feral twitched again, and I yelled a warning the same second he jumped back and the corpse exploded. A giant pustule grew as if in slow motion, filled with green sludge. It bubbled like rancid milk, globules forming and rupturing on its surface with sickening laziness. I scrambled backward, trying to get away before—

The pustule burst apart, spewing its contents over the entire square. I managed to turn away but felt it spatter against my back where it ate straight through my armor.

{CPU Load: ▲ 100%}

{Core Temp: ▲ 82° C}

[DPM integrity]

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱▱ 81% ▼▼

I found a nearby wagon loaded with hay and—disabling Pharus—threw myself into it in an effort to wipe away the acid. For a moment I was worried that it wouldn’t work because everything was a metaphor and nothing worked as it should in here. In my mind, the acid burned through my skin and left my flesh exposed, eating all the way to the bone as I screamed.

But to my relief, the liquid clung to the straw, and some frantic rolling stopped my CPU from overloading further. I was panting hard, but a smile crept onto my face. It worked! My smile froze when I noticed the straw started to blacken and smoke in my hand. With a desperate grunt, I threw it as far away as I could.

I grabbed more bushels to soak up more acid, never letting the hay blacken too much before hurling it away. Was I distracting some microvirus by making it attach itself to blocks of useless data? I didn’t have nearly enough time to understand what just happened behind the scenes. All that mattered was that the acid was gone, even though it had certainly fucked up my armor and the skin underneath.

It hurt like a motherfucker, even though it wasn’t nearly as bad as what the spider had done to me when it stole my memories. Where the acid had gotten through my armor, my flesh had reddened and bubbled, like the worst kind of rash. I was also pretty certain that some of my skin had just… melted.

“Sultana!” Zephyro yelled. “We can’t be done yet! You have to get up!” He was tense, ready to explode into action. His armor was partially dissolved, too, but as I watched, it repaired itself as Zephyro funneled his Logic into it.

I wondered how much that must cost, and how deep his reserves were.

Panting, I ignited my Torch once more, gripping it tighter. It kept trying to slip through my fingers. My combat gloves had long since become tattered messes, and my sweaty palms made it harder to keep a grip on the weapon. I willed my body to move, but it refused.

{CPU Load: ▼ 61%}

{Core Temp: ▼ 86° C}

Instead of sprinting back into battle as I had intended, I rested my fists on my knees and combated my fatigue. The Ferals had noticed I was far easier prey than Zephyro, of course. I stared at the rats as they came closer, shooting Zephyro a helpless glance. I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t get enough air.

{CPU Load: ▼ 51%}

{Core Temp: ▼ 84° C}

Holy crap, how long did it take to vent some heat?

Luckily, the rat in the lead hadn’t escaped the acid blast unscathed either. Patches of its steel-wire fur were simply gone, revealing burned and blistered skin. I watched my Core Temp dip to 83° and finally managed to lift Pharus, flaring it just in time to weakly bat away a paw trailing acrid smoke.

[>>PROCESSES BY USER PrZnQUr_22 are now highlighted]

{CPU Load: ▲ 81%}

{Core Temp: ▲ 85° C}