Author's Preface
We have to face one fact with open eyes: in the fight against the Batract sympathizers and oligarchy remnants, Drake and his operatives made one simple but devastating error.
Right before they caught on to the highest echelons of the insurgents, Drake recalled all his operatives and inner circle.
The fact that AIN wasn't able to follow up on the leads should have been a clear sign of how deeply AIN, and even the provisional government, had been infiltrated.
When Drake's companies, like Drake Interstellar and Drake International, were rolled up under different governmental bodies, AIN continued the hunt.
The outcome is well known, but before we dive deeper into the various findings and events following the hunt, we have to discuss the role of Venatores first.
— Excerpt from Near Fatal Intelligence Failures , a mandatory training guide for AIN recruits, 470 P.I.
Fuckit sat shaking in a dark corner of the cave. The large guard's body lay a few meters away in a pool of blood.
The last hour had passed like a dream. He had managed to stay focused long enough to cut the medical injector band out of Eleri's ruined suit and put it on her arm.
Thankfully, Humans had the tendency to overengineer everything. So even ripped out of the suit, the medical injector band worked and began to coordinate the xenobots in their attempt to heal Eleri.
Then Fuckit crashed. Hard.
He had killed someone.
Taken a life.
Even without searching the collective, he knew he was the first in living memory to do so.
Sure, Gliders had assisted in killing spawn, but never Humans, and never had one taken a life himself.
Gliders were vegetarians. They didn't even kill for food. Well… except tasty bugs and insects, but they were just sky raisins and crunchy berries, basically fruits…
Dammit, get a grip of yourself. Eleri and Gerber are counting on you. What would Buffy do? Grab her knife and fight on, that's what she would do.
Much to his surprise, no one checked on the large guard. Not that Fuckit had any idea what to do if someone did.
He decided to first check on Eleri, and then try to contact the mysterious person. In his mind, he had given it the name Slimy.
Jumping out of his cover, he managed to hop on the still hovering barge with ease. Eleri's readings were good. Surprisingly good, in fact.
Actually, too good for the damage she had taken.
According to the readouts, she recovered with five times the calculated speed.
Fuckit was no medic, so he filed her recovery under lucky break.
Maybe I can wait here until she's fit to go?
'Are you still at the reclamation baths?'
Slimy was back. Just in time to make Fuckit's mood worse.
He didn't know why. Slimy was helpful, but for some reason Fuckit disliked him on a deeper level.
"Yes, I'm staying with Eleri, until she's back on her feet, then I'll rescue Gerber."
Slimy was silent for a few seconds. In fact, he transmitted silence.
'No, you can't. Gerber is about to get interrogated, and I know from experience, it won't be pleasant for him. And when they are finished with him, both our ongoing existence will be severely threatened.'
Fuckit had lost all interest in arguing.
"So, what are you recommending? I can't leave Eleri here without protection. What if someone comes by?"
'I'll send... help. Don't be alarmed.'
Fuckit didn't know what Slimy was talking about, but as a general life rule, he followed the principle to become alarmed if someone said, "Don't be alarmed."
Very uneasy, Fuckit waited for Slimy's help. After a few minutes, he saw movement, at a place he had hoped to never see movement.
The pile of biological waste with one of the dead guards on top was surrounded by a liquid Fuckit had not dared to inspect closer.
The black liquid began to move slightly.
Fuckit almost screamed with his outside voice.
Five yellow, dog-sized Hyphae spawn spiders crawled out and stopped at the rim. Their front legs held up high.
'They are under my control and no danger to you. They will carry Lieutenant Davies to safety.'
A small, rational, or sarcastic part of Fuckit was amazed that he was able to feel more frightened than after the firefight. His pulse was at a never-before-seen rate, and he was almost incapable of focusing.
The First Generation, as the survivors of the labs were called, had tried their best to hide their memories of their time in captivity.
But the images of spawn ripping Gliders apart or cutting them open was ingrained at the core of the collective.
Surprised by himself, Fuckit managed to answer Slimy.
"The fuck you are. I won't let them touch Eleri. All they do is kill."
'No, all they do is follow their master's orders blindly. I am their master. They won't harm you or Lieutenant Davies.'
Helpless and almost out of his mind with fear, Fuckit looked around. Then he saw the large guard had a pair of HE grenades on his belt.
He jumped down to the dead body and ripped one off, pulling the safety pin as he screamed in his mind.
"Get away from me or I'll blow us all to bits. I'm not joking, you freaks."
'This reaction is as heroic as it is unnecessary, and in the long term, futile. You will end your own existence and probably harm Lieutenant Davies, while the loss of five spiders is only a temporary setback for me. Please, I guarantee they won't harm you or your Lieutenant.'
"How can I trust you, how can I trust those… those abominations? They are Hyphae spawn."
Slimy took a second before he answered.
'They are one of the weapons researched here. I managed to bind them to me. I mean you no harm. If I wanted to harm you, I would have simply watched the mercenaries end your ongoing existence.'
Fuckit swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth. All the stress of the last hours was too much. He wanted to believe Slimy.
"I'll go with them. The grenade stays with me. And if I even smell the slightest hint of betrayal…"
'You'll end your ongoing existence and the spiders', understood.'
One of the spiders rested its body flat on the floor.
'Hop on it. It will carry you. You must be tired.'
Fuckit didn't want to confess how tired he really was. Hidden from view, he put the safety pin back in the grenade. He didn't trust himself to hold the lever firm for much longer.
He fully expected the spider's armor to feel slimy and warm. That wasn't the case. It was dry and cold. No living thing should feel that cold.
Fuckit had to remind himself that the spider was no actual arachnid, but specialized fungus cells. Not a plant, but also not an animal.
A perversion of nature.
The other four grabbed Eleri. Fuckit watched them closely, relieved and surprised to see they handled her with care.
The spiders hurried deeper into the dark cave. Fuckit had assumed it was a cauldron, but the spiders obviously knew the area well and didn't even pause to orient themselves. After a short while, Fuckit couldn't see a thing, even after he activated his night vision contact lenses.
"Where are we going?"
'They will bring you two to an undiscovered cave, where Lieutenant Davies can continue regeneration, and you can rest. Your body needs sleep.'
"I thought Gerber is about to be interrogated. I don't have time to rest."
Slimy paused again.
'He is, but the current interrogator came too close to the Major and paid for it with a broken nose.'
"How do you know all this?"
'I have… observers feeding me information.'
In the distance, Fuckit could see a faint glimmer growing stronger.
"So, when will I meet you?"
'Rest. The spiders will go back and procure more biomatter for the Lieutenant's xenobots to repair her body.'
They had reached a larger room in the cave. A blue bioluminescent light emitted from the walls.
For a moment, Fuckit was hypnotized.
"What is that? Fungi?"
'No, it's a kind of worm, feeding on tiny water droplets and minerals. The last surviving examples of this species on the planet. The last witness of… well, that doesn't matter. Rest now. I'll wake you when we need to act.'
Rest was the last thing on Fuckit's mind. Not least because he still wasn't in a trusting mood. But the spiders didn't act aggressively, and after the initial shock, Fuckit remembered that Hyphae could be reprogrammed. Maybe someone was conducting such experiments here.
And maybe someone had captured another Glider with IronBallz's famous capabilities. This could explain Slimy being able to speak to him.
There were massive genetic drifts in the Gliders rescued from different laboratory stations. Maybe Slimy was one of the more exotic ones.
The slowly moving light on the cave's walls had a hypnotic effect, and after a short while, Fuckit drifted away into a deep sleep.
————
Fuckit woke up getting shaken. He had dreamed he had been riding on a large Hyphae spawn spider, hunting human mercenaries with an army of naked Eleris on spiders riding behind him.
As he opened his eyes, he stared into the face of one of the spawn spiders, which shook him gently with one of its front legs.
Instinctively jumping back, he landed on Eleri, who let out a gurgling sound.
"Fucking hell!"
Then his memories came back.
"Fucking fuck hell, never scare me again that way."
'I regret waking you, but your assistance is needed. Twice.'
Slimy sounded as remote as always.
Fuckit was hungry, and his head hurt. He wondered how he could have a hangover without drinking.
"How long have I been out?"
'Two hours, forty-two minutes, and twenty-four seconds.'
Fuckit instantly felt more tired than before.
Getting the last dried fruit out of his utility belt, he noticed he had lost his water canteen somewhere. Eating a dried grape without water was worse than staying hungry. So he packed up the fruit again.
"What do you need me for?"
'First, Lieutenant Davies is waking up. We calculate it will only take a few moments. You need to explain the situation to her and calm her down. I… assume she will have questions about the spiders.'
Eleri was waking up?
She wouldn't stay here. Never. And resting while Fuckit rescued Gerber was out of the question for her, too.
After thinking about it for a second, he made his decision. Eleri had to stay here and sleep.
He connected again to the medical band and entered the override code, forcing a sleep cycle on her.
Usually, combat versions of the medical band prioritize waking the patient and fixing the most life-threatening injuries. Getting a soldier mobile again was the highest priority. But Eleri was as safe as possible, so moving was the bigger threat right now.
"Done. She's out for another three hours at least."
'Good. And now, we need to rescue Gerber. They are preparing neural mental mapping surgery. His resistance has convinced them cutting his brain open is the fastest way.'