37 Adrift 2
Sia's backpack is torn open. All the contents are splayed across the ground.
Sia looks up in the air before pressing her back to the shipping container and sliding closer to the torn backpack. She scans over the mess to locate her crowbar. It is missing.
"Did you hear anything, Puter? Puter?!"
NEGATIVE
NO ORGANISMS WERE DETECTED
THERE IS EVIDENCE OF THE PRESENCE OF ONE OR MORE ORGANISMS
ENHANCING OLFACTORY SENSORS
Sia takes deep breathes as she looks around the area.
'Dammit, did I leave my crowbar in the van? Why would I leave my only weapon in the van? What kind of fool…,' Sia bangs her head on the metal wall as she berates herself.
SEVERAL SULPHURIC COMPOUNDS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED
IT HEAVILY SATURATES THIS AREA
SUBJECT 001 IS ADVISED TO LEAVE THE AREA
PROMPTLY
"Okay, then," Sia mutters, giving the area one last glimpse before jogging to a different shipping container.
She keeps her back to the storage containers while her eyes scan high and low. Whatever tore up her backpack may have been following her since she first arrived. The frosted grass and snow crunch beneath her boots as she shuffles from one container to the next.
'Why didn't I ever notice it?'
Sia gets to the edge of the shipping containers and gulps as she sees the large empty space she needs to travel before she can make it to the entrance gate.
'Anything suspicious?' She directs her thoughts to the device.
NEGATIVE
OLFACTORY SENSORS PICK UP SIMILAR SULPHURIC COMPOUNDS
FOR SEVERAL METERS IN ALL DIRECTIONS
'We're surrounded…or its been here regularly?'
AFFIRMATIVE
'You don't know how many of them there is?'
SECRETION OF SUCH LEVELS LEADS TO SEVERAL INFERENCES
MULTIPLE ORGANISMS FREQUENT THIS LOCATION
FEW ORGANISMS OF A LARGE SIZE FREQUENT THIS LOCATION
A MAMMAL OF UNUSUAL SIZE FREQUENTS THIS LOCATION
INSUFFICIENT DATA
'None of those are helpful,' Sia thinks as she braces herself to run.
The area is silent as it was before. The only footprints in the snow are her own.
'What the hell is it?'
The sky is clear, and no large birds are circling in the distance.
SLAM!
ENHANCING LOWER EXTREMITIES BY 50%
The door of an abandoned car slams shut and Sia scrambles away from the container. She spins to look around and sprints over to the rusty stairs of the guard tower. When she gets to the stairs, she crouches beside them and looks around once again.
Beside an abandoned car, Sia can see a blotch of white. A mound of snow?
'I can't tell what that is…'
ENHANCING OCULUS UTERQUE
Sia's eyes zoom into the side of the vehicle and freezes as she sees dark beady eyes look back at her.
MUSTELA ERMINEA DETECTED
MOST COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ERMINE
IT IS COMMON FOR ERMINE TO KILL EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF PREY
TO ADD TO ITS WINTER STORES
Sia gulps as it slowly approaches her position. It moves similar to a panther for a moment. Sia is on high alert as she braces herself to run. Suddenly, the ermine stops progressing towards her and kicks out its back legs.
Sia jerks and grips the railing of the stairs. The ermine erratically shakes and twists its body around. It runs in a circle like a crazed dog chasing its tail, then hops several times in the air. Its unpigmented form loops through the air like a rabid animal. Its white tail has a black tip, and Sia's eyes focus on the frizzy appendage as it swishes through the air from side to side.
Sia slides along the rail until she can climb the stairs backward with her gaze fixed on the anomaly.
'What the hell is this? Is it rabid?'
CAUTION!
THE MUSTELA ERMINEA IS EXHIBITING BEHAVIOR
SIMILAR TO DOCUMENTED WEASEL WAR DANCES
'Weasel?! That is not a weasel! That is faaaar from a tiny weasel. That's the size of a van. Weasels are not---'
THE MUTATION AFFECTING ITS SIZE
SEEMS TO PRODUCE A LARGE SIZE
ALIKE THE SCIURIDAE
'Sciuridae?'
MOST COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE SQUIRREL
"Oh…OH!"
The ermine sped up in its movements and Sia didn't notice until the last moment when it vanishes to crash into the metal stairs.
The stairs ring and shudder under Sia's feet. She rushes back, further up the stairs, as the ermine crashes once more into the stairs, and then vanishes again.
"What is it—," Sia almost screams as she searches for the giant weasel, "Where is it going?"
ENHANCING SUBJECT 001'S EXTREMITIES BY 60%
BACKUP SERVICES HALTED
Her enhanced eyes can't track down the creature. Even with a bird's eye view. Sia's ears pick up nails tapping against steel and she swiftly turns toward the sound.
The ermine is up on a shipping containing charging straight for her. Just as Sia spots it, it is pushing off the edge of the container and leaping at the stairs.
WARNING!
Sia blinks and misses it.
The next moment she is flipping through the air kicking and screaming before colliding face first with the ground. Her enhanced limbs allow her to roll away from the landing spot in record time right before the ermine pounds into the earth. It trills and vanishes once more. Sia sputters and scrambles to her feet. She quivers as she twists and turns. The fast pitter pat of its paws running along the ground is the only signal that the thing is still around.
"What the hell?!"
WARNING!
The ermine's white tail flicks back into Sia's face. The shot impacts with the right side of Sia's face. Her head cocks back and she stumbles a few steps. She reaches for her face to assess the damage. Pain shoots up along her cheek as the floor of Sia's eye socket ruptures. The eyeball dislodges from the socket and sinks.
AN ORBITAL BLOWOUT FRACTURE HAS OCCURRED
WARNING! WARNING!
INSUFFICIENT DATA
MUSTELA ERMINEA'S SPEED EXCEEDS SUBJECT 001'S CAPABILITIES
WARNING!
"Aaagh!"
Sia grips her face and shuffles in place as the ermine advances once again to swipe past her. It nudges her shoulder and spins her off balance.
"Ufff!"
She spins in a circle and collapses to her knees. Her hands drop from her face to grip the ground and stabilize her balance. The synthetic intelligence developer shifts her body to the side and dodges another hit.
The ermine aggressively trills as its hit is smoothly dodged.
Several lacerations bleed on her face as she tries to listen for the next attack. Sia presses a dirty hand to her sunken eyelid before turning her head to search for the ermine's figure. Her left eye searches frantically for the blurb of white. The excited musk of the creature fills her lungs as she tries not to hyperventilate.
One moment nothing is there.
The next moment it appears.
Sia turns on her knees to keep it in her sight, but it is too fast. She loses sight of it as she scrambles on her knees to keep her back safe. Sia gasps as her balance is lost and she keels to the side.
The ermine stops circling her and pounces at her form. It puts its lean arms around her and holds her still as it lines its jaws up. Its teeth are sheathed into the back of her neck and the base of her head. Each tooth cuts through the muscles and makes direct contact with her bones, the pain she feels consumes her.
Uuuuurggg
Her windpipe floods with fluid. Crimson seeps out of her gaping mouth as she tries to claw at the animal's jaws. The ermines' arms continue to restrain her. Her eyes are blood red as the pressure increases. She loses all sense of time and belonging while hanging from the bloody maw.
Her consciousness is forced into the immersive mode.
The Synthetic Intelligence Developer deliberates against S.I.D.
Blood drips off the muzzle of the lean predator. The drop ripples as it spirals down toward the earth.
W.E.SCU PROGRAM INITIATED
The drop stilled.
The moment stopped.
'I need….'
Time retreated into itself.
Sia looks up in the air before pressing her back to the shipping container and sliding closer to the torn backpack. She scans over the mess to locate her crowbar. It is missing.
"Did you hear anything, Puter? Puter?!"
NEGATIVE
NO ORGANISMS WERE DETECTED
THERE IS EVIDENCE OF THE PRESENCE OF ONE OR MORE ORGANISMS
ENHANCING OLFACTORY SENSORS
Sia takes deep breathes as she looks around the area.
'Dammit, did I leave my crowbar in the van? Why would I leave my only weapon in the van? What kind of fool…,' Sia bangs her head on the metal wall as she berates herself.
SEVERAL SULPHURIC COMPOUNDS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED
IT HEAVILY SATURATES THIS AREA
SUBJECT 001 IS ADVISED TO LEAVE THE AREA
PROMPTLY
"Okay, then," Sia mutters, giving the area one last glimpse before jogging to a different shipping container.
She keeps her back to the storage containers while her eyes scan high and low. Whatever tore up her backpack may have been following her since she first arrived. The frosted grass and snow crunch beneath her boots as she shuffles from one container to the next.
'Why didn't I ever notice it?'
Sia gets to the edge of the shipping containers and gulps as she sees the large empty space she needs to travel before she can make it to the entrance gate.
'Anything suspicious?' She directs her thoughts to the device.
NEGATIVE
OLFACTORY SENSORS PICK UP SIMILAR SULPHURIC COMPOUNDS
FOR SEVERAL METERS IN ALL DIRECTIONS
'We're surrounded…or its been here regularly?'
AFFIRMATIVE
'You don't know how many of them there is?'
SECRETION OF SUCH LEVELS LEADS TO SEVERAL INFERENCES
MULTIPLE ORGANISMS FREQUENT THIS LOCATION
FEW ORGANISMS OF A LARGE SIZE FREQUENT THIS LOCATION
A MAMMAL OF UNUSUAL SIZE FREQUENTS THIS LOCATION
INSUFFICIENT DATA
'None of those are helpful,' Sia thinks as she braces herself to run.
The area is silent as it was before. The only footprints in the snow are her own.
'What the hell is it?'
The sky is clear, and no large birds are circling in the distance.
SLAM!
ENHANCING LOWER EXTREMITIES BY 50%
The door of an abandoned car slams shut and Sia scrambles away from the container. She spins to look around and sprints over to the rusty stairs of the guard tower. When she gets to the stairs, she crouches beside them and looks around once again.
Beside an abandoned car, Sia can see a blotch of white. A mound of snow?
'I can't tell what that is…'
ENHANCING OCULUS UTERQUE
Sia's eyes zoom into the side of the vehicle and freezes as she sees dark beady eyes look back at her.
MUSTELA ERMINEA DETECTED
MOST COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ERMINE
IT IS COMMON FOR ERMINE TO KILL EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF PREY
TO ADD TO ITS WINTER STORES
Sia gulps as it slowly approaches her position. It moves similar to a panther for a moment. Sia is on high alert as she braces herself to run. Suddenly, the ermine stops progressing towards her and kicks out its back legs.
Sia jerks and grips the railing of the stairs. The ermine erratically shakes and twists its body around. It runs in a circle like a crazed dog chasing its tail, then hops several times in the air. Its unpigmented form loops through the air like a rabid animal. Its white tail has a black tip, and Sia's eyes focus on the frizzy appendage as it swishes through the air from side to side.
Sia slides along the rail until she can climb the stairs backward with her gaze fixed on the anomaly.
'What the hell is this? Is it rabid?'
CAUTION!
THE MUSTELA ERMINEA IS EXHIBITING BEHAVIOR
SIMILAR TO DOCUMENTED WEASEL WAR DANCES
'Weasel?! That is not a weasel! That is faaaar from a tiny weasel. That's the size of a van. Weasels are not---'
THE MUTATION AFFECTING ITS SIZE
SEEMS TO PRODUCE A LARGE SIZE
ALIKE THE SCIURIDAE
'Sciuridae?'
MOST COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE SQUIRREL
"Oh…OH!"
The ermine sped up in its movements and Sia didn't notice until the last moment when it vanishes to crash into the metal stairs.
The stairs ring and shudder under Sia's feet. She rushes back, further up the stairs, as the ermine crashes once more into the stairs, and then vanishes again.
"What is it—," Sia almost screams as she searches for the giant weasel, "Where is it going?"
ENHANCING SUBJECT 001'S EXTREMITIES BY 60%
BACKUP SERVICES HALTED
Her enhanced eyes can't track down the creature. Even with a bird's eye view. Sia's ears pick up nails tapping against steel and she swiftly turns toward the sound.
The ermine is up on a shipping containing charging straight for her. Just as Sia spots it, it is pushing off the edge of the container and leaping at the stairs.
WARNING!
Sia blinks and misses it.
The next moment she is flipping through the air kicking and screaming before colliding face first with the ground. Her enhanced limbs allow her to roll away from the landing spot in record time right before the ermine pounds into the earth. It trills and vanishes once more. Sia sputters and scrambles to her feet. She quivers as she twists and turns. The fast pitter pat of its paws running along the ground is the only signal that the thing is still around.
"What the hell?!"
WARNING!
The ermine's white tail flicks back into Sia's face. The shot impacts with the right side of Sia's face. Her head cocks back and she stumbles a few steps. She reaches for her face to assess the damage. Pain shoots up along her cheek as the floor of Sia's eye socket ruptures. The eyeball dislodges from the socket and sinks.
AN ORBITAL BLOWOUT FRACTURE HAS OCCURRED
WARNING! WARNING!
INSUFFICIENT DATA
MUSTELA ERMINEA'S SPEED EXCEEDS SUBJECT 001'S CAPABILITIES
WARNING!
"Aaagh!"
Sia grips her face and shuffles in place as the ermine advances once again to swipe past her. It nudges her shoulder and spins her off balance.
"Ufff!"
She spins in a circle and collapses to her knees. Her hands drop from her face to grip the ground and stabilize her balance. The synthetic intelligence developer shifts her body to the side and dodges another hit.
The ermine aggressively trills as its hit is smoothly dodged.
Several lacerations bleed on her face as she tries to listen for the next attack. Sia presses a dirty hand to her sunken eyelid before turning her head to search for the ermine's figure. Her left eye searches frantically for the blurb of white. The excited musk of the creature fills her lungs as she tries not to hyperventilate.
One moment nothing is there.
The next moment it appears.
Sia turns on her knees to keep it in her sight, but it is too fast. She loses sight of it as she scrambles on her knees to keep her back safe. Sia gasps as her balance is lost and she keels to the side.
The ermine stops circling her and pounces at her form. It puts its lean arms around her and holds her still as it lines its jaws up. Its teeth are sheathed into the back of her neck and the base of her head. Each tooth cuts through the muscles and makes direct contact with her bones, the pain she feels consumes her.
Uuuuurggg
Her windpipe floods with fluid. Crimson seeps out of her gaping mouth as she tries to claw at the animal's jaws. The ermines' arms continue to restrain her. Her eyes are blood red as the pressure increases. She loses all sense of time and belonging while hanging from the bloody maw.
Her consciousness is forced into the immersive mode.
The Synthetic Intelligence Developer deliberates against S.I.D.
Blood drips off the muzzle of the lean predator. The drop ripples as it spirals down toward the earth.
W.E.SCU PROGRAM INITIATED
The drop stilled.
The moment stopped.
'I need….'
Time retreated into itself.
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