Mask of Humanity

Nicolai responded without thought as he was dragged through the canopy by the mysterious force, an overriding sense of danger whining through him and telling him where to look as he worked to orient his body, clinging tight around his shotgun.

He activated his Pegasi rings but they were all-but useless, lacking the power to resist the pull, so next he activated his Blue Hornet and electricity began to crawl over him. His Soul Sense was unable to help, broken as it was, but his eyes darted and through the smear his vision had become, Threat Analysis helped him identify what he was being dragged towards. A gigantic bug resembling a praying mantis, crouched on a branch above, two bugs just like it on branches neighbouring branches.

The mantis extended two arms with scissor-like blades that stretched out, ready to lunge and stab Nicolai when he was close.

Nicolai wrenched his body against the pull working on him, dragging his shotgun into position as he closed with it.

The sharp crack of a silenced shotgun burst through the canopy, buckshot smashing into the mantis, whose exoskeleton cratered, ichor flying. Nicolai squeezed the shotgun around the recoil, shoving it forward while dragging the pump back to reload faster. He managed two more shots which burst its exoskeleton in a spray of dark ichor. The mantis let out a piercing shriek, raising its arms as Nicolai entered its range.

He twisted and activated his fully-charged gloves shield in time to catch the blades that snapped down. Cracks spiralling through his shield as they slammed into it, but it held, and an instant later he slammed into the mantis’ torn chest, ichor spraying around him.

Nicolai activated his Pegasi rings in time to detach himself from it, his Soul Sense returning to him at that moment, rushing out to form the sphere around him.

He felt something approaching and snapped his shotgun up in time to fire, catching a different mantis—which had wings, it turned out—in the head as it flew at him, sending it spinning away. A third one was coming but he floated aside and caught a grasping chitin blade on his quickly repaired shield, instantly cancelling the shield after blocking the blow to answer with another shotgun blast, one handed.

The recoil knocked his arm out wide but it didn’t matter. The mantis was knocked away.

Now their ambush had failed Nicolai simply flew back and away from them, shooting the pair again and again as they came after him. His Soul Sense had recovered and he kept it firm knocking their spiritual attacks away. One dropped, spiralling away to crash into a heavy branch, and the next followed soon after.

‘We’re under attack!’ came John’s voice through the Link, and Nicolai heard the cracks of silenced shotguns from below, and yelling, and numerous high pitched squeals and crashes.

‘Retreat back toward the elevator,’ he told them. They would have to handle themselves, because Nicolai had seen two things and he wanted both of them. Hanging from a branch some distance above was what could only be a bee hive, surrounded by angry looking bees which had emerged following the disruption.

Then there was the corpse of the first mantis. Him smashing into its chest right after the three shots must have killed it; perhaps the shock had overwhelmed its nervous system. It was still attached to the same branch, its pincered feet having held tight even in death, though it had slipped around to hang suspended from the bottom of the branch. He’d not sensed any signs of Symbiotes from the other two, but from this one he did.

Nicolai floated over then sent his Soul Sense inside of the dead bug, and got to work. There was definitely a Symbiote in there, and after pulling at it with his Soul Sense it emerged. It was an odd looking thing, a kind of tiny disembodied hand that crawled around. Nicolai gently placed it into one of his sturdier pouches and zipped it up, using a little of his Soul Sense to pressure the Symbiote and keep it placid.

He headed towards the beehive. His Soul Sense told him these things weren’t too powerful. He had the impression they were much like normal bees, only with a boost similar as that he’d gained from becoming a Cultivator, due to being Infused with Oma. Being Infused in that way seemed to be very common for natural beings in this world.

By now he’d moved enough to fully activate his Blue Hornet’s lightning Art, the electricity thrumming and crackling over him. This, he hoped, would serve the purpose of a wide-area attack. His Soul Sense lanced out towards the hive and the bees, and he crashed through their weak defences. However, they quickly recovered, all their individual, tiny Soul Senses converging to form one that fought back. But Nicolai was getting good at this, and even together they weren’t quite on the level of his sparring partner, Beth.

His Soul Sense overwhelmed them and he activated his Blue Hornet’s Art, however this time he twisted it. He painted lines over the bees, and told the Art what to do, trying to impress his will upon it.

Nicolai extended his hand and activated his Charge Glove which let out a crackle of electricity, then the lightning from his Blue Hornet surged through his arm, through the glove, and formed a finger-thick bolt that lanced out with a crack.

It caught the first bee and split, and in an instant a dancing, humming network of lightning flickered between all of them, the image of a hornet briefly appearing, formed from lightning, falling upon the bees.

The bees fell in a smoking mass which Nicolai passed through, reaching out and grasping the hive as he continued forwards then downwards, towards the fight below.

He pulled a synthetic sack from a pocket and unfolded it, pulling the drawstring open and stuffing the hive in then dragging it closed and affixing it to the back of his belt.

As he worked he considered the power of the Blue Hornet’s Art. So far as he could tell it had been no stronger than usual. The Charge Glove was still humming, and he deactivated. No benefit had been gained from the combination. But, something had happened there. He’d seen a phantom hornet, and it had moved a little differently. As he used the attack he had felt a strange resonance from the Hornet itself, and he believed he knew the reason. He suspected it was because bees were a hornets natural prey.

Nicolai pulled some Oma crystals from a pouch and drew from them as he exited from the wrapping of the tree’s branches into open air. Looking around, his gaze was caught by something looming far above.

The castle, from this more distant and far lower visage, was breathtaking. A great ragged and scarred chunk of worked stone, peppered with towers and battlements, hundreds of metres tall. It loomed over them all, cold and dark and brooding, peering grimly down at the jungle. For some reason, Nicolai had a sense that it hated the jungle, and that the jungle hated it right back.

Nicolai pulled his gaze away, and looking down he found the others backing away while large boars threw themselves at them, falling one by one as shotgun blasts blew bloody holes through them. They were coming in an endless horde from one direction. Beth was floating above the others, doing a lot of the work as she was free to shoot without worry of being attacked, and Nicolai joined her, raining fire from above.

The boars fell in greater numbers, pushed back. But emerging from the trees at the back of them lumbered a much, much bigger version, and from it Nicolai felt a powerful Soul Sense roll out, crashing into his and Beth’s.

‘Run,’ he ordered the others, slotting fresh rounds into his shotgun.

He felt a ripple in the Aura and saw the larger boar pause, energy flickering around it then spreading out from it, into the ground, which turned dark and wet, muddy. That mud rose in strings and strands into the air and shot out towards him and Beth, wielded by the boars Soul Sense.

He and Beth worked to deflect it, the mud veering around them, but the boar quickly switched strategies. It stopped purely directing the mud with its Soul Sense and simply launches waves of it at them. With this there was no guiding Soul Sense for them to deflect and they had to simply do their best to dodge the masses of mud.

Nicolai slid aside from one, then another, but was too slow to avoid all of them and one clump of muck caught him in the chest and knocked him spinning.

‘Distract it,’ he told Beth as he re-orientated himself, and saw her shoot him an incredulous look in response. ‘So long as you don’t let it break your Soul Sense, I don’t think it can do more than throw mud at us,’ he added, wiping his chest and turning to the branches around him. The others were disappearing into the treeline so he started grasping at the thinner branches and ripping the leaves from them, stuffing them into a pouch.

Beth flew around, shooting at the boar but keeping a lot of distance, a wise strategy. The closer it was to them the more it would be able to leverage its Soul Sense. She was soon coated in mud and he sensed the boar’s Soul Sense pressing closer around her, attacking more fiercely, as it stood there peering up, surrounded by its squealing brethren. Nicolai had a strong feeling that if it broke her Soul Sense, that mud would stop being so harmless. Having taken plenty of leaves he floated towards her, seeing her Soul Sense struggling under the boars assault. With her Soul Sense so pressed she seemed to be unable to properly use her Pegasi ring, and her movement had slowed greatly. He got there just in time, sending his tendril out to block for her just before the boar could break her defence.

‘Let’s go,’ he said, floating upwards. Beth was quick to follow and they rose away from the boar which squealed angrily at them from below, flinging more mud, then it turned its head to look where the others had disappeared into the jungle. Another squeal and the boars which had remained around it resumed their charge, joining their brethren in chasing after the others, the larger one lumbering with them.

Nicolai holstered his shotgun and pulled his rifle, cranking the bolt and taking aim whiled Beth headed after the others.

He shot the boar in the head and it flinched, stumbling, blood flowing from the side of its skull. But it simply shook its head as though irritated and by the time he’d racked the bolt and slotted in a fresh round, a shell of mud was forming around it. He shot anyway but didn’t seem to accomplish anything more than a spray of mud, and the boar—along with its mud-umbrella—continued on.

Nicolai flew into the treeline and there he moved his rifle back onto his back then pulled his poncho out, his mind turning to the matter of Karl. Opportunity was knocking, and Nicolai wouldn’t be so impolite as to leave it at the door.

After putting his poncho on he seemed no more than a faint shimmer and twisting of the light. Cyberwarfare informed him no one was paying any attention to him—too busy fighting and running. Perfect. He shelled up his Soul and deactivated his broadcast state, allowing his connection to the others over Link to fade; as though he’d moved out of range.

The gunshots made it easy to find them. He circled wide, looking to come from behind, and now he moved with far more fluid skill and ease through the damp and pressing jungle than he’d shown earlier. Nicolai had fought in places like this enough times to know how to pick his way. Once he’d finished circling around, Nicolai slid toward the sound of gunfire, and the others came into view.

Beth had reached them and floated above, defending them from the boars coming after, and the group stopped at times when she warned them, turning and sending hails of fire back at the boars.

Karl was in the midst of them. The man was right now turning to shoot at the boars; turning away from where Nicolai lurked.

Nicolai swooped low, touching onto the ground near by, and deactivated his Pegasi rings to ensuring his Soul Shelling was complete. Beth wasn’t in a good position to notice, anyway, busy as she was with the boars, but there wasn’t much point in being stealthy if you didn’t go all the way.

It was easy to creep in toward Karl, surprisingly so. None of them were looking at him, all busy shooting. But that was the benefit of picking your moment just right, and this was as good as it got.

As Karl racked his shotgun Nicolai slipped up behind him, quicker than the wind and quiet as the depths of the ocean, hand-talon slithering free through the hole he’d made in his glove.

It was already pumping venom as Nicolai stabbed out, the blade emerging for an instant from beneath his poncho as he stabbed Karl in the back.

Karl let out a scream that was buried in the gunshots, flexing and spasming, clutching and ripping at his back where he doubtless imagined the thing that had bitten him was.

Nicolai slipped sideways, avoiding the man’s field of view as Karl twisted around, then he faded away into the underbrush, taking a path Threat Analysis had calculated would have the lowest odds of anyone’s eyes crossing over him. A moment later he was blocked from view by the brush, and the Module informed him he’d successfully avoided all eyes. Though he wore the poncho, Nicolai had worried over the possibility of people reviewing their recordings of this moment, and in time spotting the tell-tale shimmer of it. He’d gained some quick distance by the time he heard them notice Karl’s plight, calling out in panicked yelling.

Once far enough he removed his poncho, stuffed it back into its bag, then re-activated his Link and unshelled his Soul as he sprinted towards the others.

He heard their frantic communications over Link and knew things were bad.

Nicolai emerged from the brush to find them clustered around Karl, only Cait and Beth still shooting, while John and Elena struggled to pull the man. Karl was squirming and flexing and letting out an endless animal-like grunting, eyes bulging.

‘What’s going on?!’ Nicolai yelled, for once forgoing the Link as he felt that would match up with his confused-leader-returns-to-find-problems act, his shotgun joining the others as he fired at the pursuing boars.

‘Something got him, something got him!’ screamed Elena, struggling to drag the shaking man as he kicked his feet, flailed his arms, gnashed his teeth, frothed and frothed and frothed a horrible red drool. Nicolai had seen it all before. The poison was performing just as advertised.

He stowed his shotgun, and his teeth grit as he pressed Elena out the way—‘Move! I’ve got him!’—and grabbed at Karl in her place, getting one of his arms while John held tight to the other, and they both dragged the thrashing man over the ground. He knew Karl was going to die, because he certainly wasn’t going to inject him with the antivenom, but this was all a part of the necessary act.

‘Shoot them!’ he roared at Elena who was busy yelling and panicking.

A boar crashed through the undergrowth, huge and stinking, legs thrashing as it skidded to a stop, turned and stared with dumb animal eyes at them. Those eyes settled on Cait and now a dumb animal fury grew within them and it was launching itself at Cait. She let out a grunt as it slammed into her and bore her to the ground, her bionic arm grabbing at one of its tusks and managing to hold the savaging things away from her face. Nicolai dropped Karl and grasped his shotgun, dashing towards her.

He shot it in the head and blood and bone erupted but it didn’t appear to notice. He shot it again and it fell. He dragged it off her then turned his gun on their pursuers. Through the trees he could see the larger boar coming closer, and these smaller ones weren’t all that small, quick, too, and nasty enough up close. A lot of them.

He fired round after round, working the shotgun in his hands, stepping back at he went. Boars fell in one or two shots, depending on where he got them. If you hit them just right in the side of the neck, it only took one. The shotgun clicked empty but he and the others had cleared a little space.

As he reloaded—something that required no conscious thought, hands moving in a smooth, automatic blur that created a satisfying click, click, click, as fresh rounds slotted in one after the other—he glanced back to John who was still towing Karl, now clearly finding it significantly easier because Karl had stopped thrashing. He was still and slumped, mouth open, eyes bulging and red with broken veins. A trail of that bloody froth hung from his mouth.

‘He’s dead. Karl’s dead.’ Nicolai worked hard to hide the satisfaction he felt at those words, and was proud of himself for not breaking out into a huge, smug smile. Felt like a real weight off his mind, seeing the man sprawled out there, mouth lolling, eyes like pink glass.

Cait struggled towards John, and he saw her gaze fix on the the dead man as she realised the same.

‘Leave him,’ she said to John. Nicolai was pleased he didn’t have to say it himself.

‘No!’ screamed Elena, and her eyes were wide and horrified.

‘We have to!’ yelled Nicolai. ‘They’re coming, go, run!’ As though to prove his words, a furious-squealing boar through the midst of them only to fall in a heap as Beth’s shotgun rang out, rolling over and over to a halt just beside Elena.

And Elena ran, and they all ran. Nicolai and Beth held up the rear as he once more floated into the air, slotted fresh rounds into his shotgun and resumed shooting the pursuing boars, tracking and firing, tracking and firing. Easy targets, he felt only a minor pulse of satisfaction when they fell. The big one was slow enough—its bulk impeded by the dense trees—that they were managing to leave it behind.

Still the boars pursued, and seemed determined to keep coming regardless of how many died. That was until the sound came.

A screaming roar that tore the air and shivered the leaves on the trees. A roar that came from close by. The boars froze, and the big one let out a high squeal then they all turned away and in an astonishingly short amount of time had vanished.

Nicolai and the others had kept moving, all exceedingly wary, the drones fanning out. The roar had come from close by, and they could feel the ground shaking, shaking, with distance thudding footsteps of something very large and very heavy. But by now they were almost there, and the great rise of the castle was coming into view as they pelted from amongst the trees, the elevator waiting there where they had left it at the top of its overgrown area of gentle stone steps.

The previously organised, tidy group they’d began as was now a wretched, bloodied, muddied mass of panting, deliriously exhausted people who collapsed onto the elevator platform.

All except for Nicolai, who was fine, but he made a show of exhaustion just for camaraderie’s sake. He wrenched on the lever and peered into the jungle. The footsteps were getting louder and he saw trees thrashing, branches snapping, as something stepped toward them. He might’ve worried but the elevator chains were already clanking and the stone rising, speeding, and now they were metres off the ground and the gap was only growing.

The day had gone exceedingly well.