ã€ŠLandfill Lifeã€‹


 My Life

    "In a junk pile far far away... Hah, no I''m just kidding with you, this is dump site 19"

    "It''s a wonderful place full of treasures no one can appreciate except for me... and my competitors."

    "But that''s irrelevant, the real fun is in the conflicts of the humans!"

    "I mean, every time they have a conflict, something good comes here, whether that be high energy storage cells or military grade plastics!"

    "The very thought of it makes me drool!"

    "Anyways I haven''t seen a human in a long time, not since they started dumping that energy drink down here."

    "Oh I know it''s not an energy drink, it''s just a waste product of whatever¡­but it''s healthy and delicious!"

    "The humans have been pouring that down for a long time now so we -- ah! darn¡­ Alejandros must''ve bit me."

    "Damn cockroaches will survive anything but this one in particular. Somehow he got lucky out of his bunch and didn''t die. Luckily he was sterilized when he bit his own pair off. Don''t know what he was thinking but damn thats a sad place to be."

    "Almost feel sorry for the kid, was there when he was born, back before they started dumping that sludge, middle of the bunch, wasn''t protected since he was the worst at something, wasn''t the best at anything. Just left alone¡­ even by death I guess. HAH! Now that''s a funny one."

    "Guess I''m lucky enough to not have a bunch of him running around."

    "Anyways, I guess this is as good of a time as any to introduce you to my neighbors! Meet Senny! Well we used to call him sunny, but he hates the sun HAH!"

    "Senny''s a really sweet guy, he won''t bite¡­ not like Alejandros that is."

    "He''s just one of the little worms that are around here, poking air holes here and there. If you want an airway, Senny''s your guy. Or girl. Or another gender. Do worms even have genders???"If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    "Damn why didn''t the encyclopedia set include that. I guess we''re set far away from reality as everybody else knows it though that we''re so different nobody knows what we are anymore."

    "Anyways he''ll do anything for free, emphasis on the free. Me and Alejandros offer him ''protection'' in exchange for him to work for us for free. HAH! What a sucker."

    Now are there more monsters in our junk pile? Yes. Do you or I want to meet them? All I know is that I''m sure as hell not interested in meeting them. Geez the last time I met one was some walking and writhing indiscernible mass. I mean, do you want to meet him? The damn mole was pink! Pink I tell you! What ungodly color is that!? That''s the color of the food I eat, the color of the walls that surround me in my mound! It''s a sickly ungodly pink! Like Senny but worse! You can see the blood vessels just looping around his body! Now when you combine that with the solid colors of his muscle what do you think you get! The most ungodly sight you''ve ever seen! I would spurt my digestive fluids everywhere if I got too close to him! Who wants to live near that guy! And there is a high chance that more of where that came from where he lives! So no I don''t want to live in a den of the most ungodly creatures I''ve ever seen!

    "Now do I know his character? No. Do I know why he looks like that? No. Do I know anything other than that he looks like that? No. But what I do know is that that is the most ungodly sight I''ve ever seen and God can I not focus on knowing anything about him! Nor do I even want to! That''s simply how ungodly of a sight he is!"

    "Now take Senny. He''s a very nice straight line. None of that looping around stuff I see in the dumb mole. Now take Alejandros. A very nice dull brown shell. A comforting sight to see. None of that disgusting pink. Now look in contrast to that ungodly sight that is the manager of duties here! I''d do twice as much as work if I didn''t have to see him every few days!"

    "Not that I''d mind getting more duties¡­ All I have to do is eat. Simple."

    "What they call trash, I call junk food. It''s simply delicious, all those different tastes and smells whirling around and around and around up into heaven. Just kidding. I can''t taste. I just secrete my digestive fluids and I suck them back in. Simple. None of that ''hey I''ll put this in my mouth and after it gets treated like a bazillion times it''ll come back out again'' - I mean just imagine, what does it feel like to have something coming out of you?"

    "But I mean, now that the bit Alejandros bit off me is done healing¡­ Oh yeah that''s another part of humans that absolutely sucks! I mean just imagine losing a small part of your body and not being able to grow it back! I mean all these arms and legs and bodies and heads I''ve been receiving! I mean why can''t they just grow it back after they''ve had their head blasted off of them by an explosion!"

    "Anyways a bit off track there I guess I gotta turn back into the form for doing my duty."

    "God what if he stays an extra bit longer because I didn''t eat fast enough."

    "I would dump out much of my digestive fluids that my carefully constructed floor might dissolve!"

    "I''m off to work!"

 Curious Life

    At this point in time, a writhing, bulbous mass began to take the form of something we know and don''t know.

    One part took the appearance of a network of roots that were yet at points they connected once again in another indiscernible mass, except that this was unmoving and had visible microbial life living on it.

    The other took the shape of our favorite phallic object, the very delicious, loved by more than half of the population, the famous, the mushroom.

    It climbed on top of the mound of trash where its threads only managed to reach halfway down.

    The lower half began to stretch and wriggle around, coiling around each and every piece of trash, sticking each of its threads into every nook and cranny possible.

    The top half began to pulse, releasing off dense clouds that fogged the enclosure. Slowly the misty substance began to clear through the small holes in the wall.

    A breeze blew by the mound of trash and dirt. Soon the room filled once again with the deep musky scent that accompanies rotting organics.

    The pieces of trash the lower half had wrapped around cracked only a bit, yet the threads reached in and pushed.

    The pulsing soon accelerated, pumping more and more mist into the room. Accompanying it was the heat as each pulse brought with it not only a wave of particles but heat.

    As seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours, the mist began to become denser and denser.

    Then came a burst. A burst so dense that it was almost liquid. It dissipated into the surrounding air only as much as the space it was in.

    The fog only grew thicker and thicker until the threads blended into a tentacle.

    And it started dying. The splintered pieces of trash no longer splintered apart anymore, only growing smaller now.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    The mist followed after, slowly dissipating into the night sky through the holes. As the mist blew through though, some particles caught onto the sides, making the hole ever so tighter.

    A small cockroach skittered around and nibbled at small bits and pieces of plastic.

    A worm wriggled through, cleaning the tunnels of any particles stuck there.

    Everybody knew what to do. Everybody knew how to do it. Everybody knew it. Simple repetitive work.

    The shell of the cockroach was tinted a bit darker.

    The worm grew harder skin.

    The writhing mass of flesh that was the source of all this commotion began to join its threads together. Soon it began to sink its roots between the cracks in the wall with only the phallic part of it sticking out. The green spots against the dark brown flesh began to pulse outwards as if a small life was wishing to escape.

    With a pop one of the pods exploded. Acid splattered against the wall.

    Soon one by one more and more popped.

    The walls made of trash, now discolored began to show signs of something.

    It was at this moment that the sun managed to shine straight through one of the holes Senny had dug, and it was at this moment that the tentacles frantically moved to place a dusty, skin bound object under the ray that shone in.

    The object began to open like a clam to reveal a glistening white background marred with dark ink spots. But amongst the black and white there was a spot of color so vibrant and untouched by the dust that dimmed everything. The spot of color formed the shapes of a human in colors not seen in the junkyard. He held a long silver rectangle within his hands. In the background was a blue that was bluer than any blue elsewhere.

    The phallic head tilted its head such that the underside was exposed to the colors. Two flaps opened and dark spots formed from millions of threads appeared. The flabs then controlled themselves to wrap protect the threads from the harsh sun appeared, only letting a small reflected beam touch the threads from the curious object. Some threads retracted while others coiled in an attempt to clarify the colors into something discernible from more than a bit away.

    Alejandros scurried across, blocking a small portion of dark ink with his now purple-spotted shell. As soon as the cockroach ran a small distance away, a tentacle shifted.

    Down came a piece that was so perfectly shaped into the ceiling crashing down on Alejandros.

    The cockroach laid there unmoving.

    A few threads began to move to place the ceiling back together.

    Soon the legs began to twitch and the body wriggle. It began as the legs dragged the corpse into a crack but soon the legs found the energy to lift the whole body up and off into a crack.

    The walls, which had previously been hit by the acid, began to crumble where they were affected.

    In a mad scramble, the threads snaked out and brought back pieces of plastic to plug the areas which started to crumble and to hold up the ceiling that was soon to collapse.

    Tentatively, the threads began to retract into the cracks where they came from and the walls were stable again.

    As the ray slowly shifted, so did the clam so white yet marred with color. As the ray slowly left the edge of the hole the clam snapped shut.

    The fibers moved the clam under a piece of debris and made sure by covering it extra.

    Slowly Senny and Alejandros began to emerge from somewhere in between the cracks. The clinking of Senny''s shell jingled as the set of chimes outside did. The tapping of all 12 legs of Alejandros sounded against the floor, echoing against the almost silent room.

 Desperation

    The phallic creature stood erect as the sun set. The moment the sun exited the hole and was replaced by the moon, the threads dug and curled underground to form a cage around the clam.

    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m back!¡± The creature began waving its thin wispy threads around.

    ¡°Nothing like a nice big meal to fill you right up!¡± Suddenly the threads all shot up straight in excitement.

    ¡°I was just reading! Plenty of new things to refresh myself with! Humans are just so funny! Conflicts over what color they are hah! That book is a real treasure! Covers just about anything and everything! ¡­ Just not this dump¡­¡± The threads began waving around, stirring up dust and fogging up the entire room.

    ¡°Speaking of which the scheduled dump is coming soon! Absolutely can¡¯t wait for that! Plenty of treasures to be found! Anyways let me show you my treasure!¡± As the threads coiled and looped around a chunk of concrete that was directly under the origin of the threads¡­ ¡°No! Where is it! Who took it!¡± It was revealed that there was an empty rectangular hole under the chunk of concrete lifted out. Within that hole, there was another circular hole which was where the thief entered and stole the book.

    ¡°Senny! Alejandros! Where¡¯s my book!¡±

    Nearby Alejandros with his newly colored shell skittered across the ceiling and almost fell down along with a piece of damp metal. Meanwhile, Senny bit and chewed into the concrete debris that was packed around the larger chunks to form an almost airtight wall.

    Alejandros, fearing for his life, exclaimed ¡°It was Jonathan! He did it! He took it and ripped it apart to decorate his home!¡±

    ¡°Why how? The whole bunker would¡¯ve collapsed if he tried to come in! That meatball¡¯s too fat to tunnel anywhere these days! You lie! Where¡¯s my book!¡± The wisps of threads bunched together like cotton candy. ¡°You¡¯ve eaten it haven¡¯t you!¡±

    ¡°Hang on! Hang on! We might get a book in this dump! You still have hope! Anyways haven¡¯t you been looking at that old thing for several hundred days now!? You¡¯ve probably memorized it with that big brain up top!¡± Skittering around in circles from the ground onto the ceiling, it maintained the same distance from the cloud of threads while at the same time relieving its nervousness.

    ¡°That¡¯s still a loss! I¡¯d have two books if that was the case! All for some extra pigments on your shell!¡± several threads burst out and struck the surrounding walls and ceiling, spraying dust everywhere.

    ¡°Hey! My shell is my pride!¡± The shelled creature stood indignantly, facing its shell to the ball of cotton candy.

    ¡°Whatever¡­ I¡¯ll just take the loss¡­¡± The ball of cotton candy began to droop down, collapsing until it was a flattened pancake of threads.

    With that the concrete was about to slam upwards was put down, filling in the space it had left earlier. Dust plumed up and filled the air.

    ¡°How about I practice being a human! Can¡¯t take away personal progress! It would be better than reading a book if I was able to participate in the book!¡± The pancake began to balloon upwards while keeping its solid surface. ¡°They¡¯re having a war too! It¡¯ll be extra fun!¡±

    With that statement more dust fell from the ceiling. ¡°That must be the dump! Hah in my years here I¡¯ve only found one book! I can¡¯t wait to see the look on Alejandros¡¯s face when he comes back with nothing! Hah!¡± The balloon began to pump its side in and out after.

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    --Outside--

    Across the hills of the dump site, a curious little shelled creature scuttled across, darting into every possible crevice and back out again.

    ¡°Where is the book, I need the book. Otherwise bad things will happen to me. I¡¯ll get killed when I bite him again. This is bad¡­ What if I search on the surface of the pile. Surely I can spot the colors better if I search from there!¡± The little bug began to surface, bursting out of the ground like a bamboo shoot.

    ¡°No no no this isn¡¯t working out. Maybe if I give him something other than a book¡­ Maybe this?¡± Finding a curious piece of plastic which it had never seen before, it stopped its rush to circle around and observe it. ¡°Aha! This should do!¡±

    ¡°This little thing which I¡¯ve never seen before and therefore he hasn¡¯t seen before! Almost exactly like him! What a nice sculpture! Hah I¡¯m saved!¡±

    Diving deeper into the mound of trash which only got taller since the trash was only dumped at one site was a difficult task especially after everything shook and fell and closed all the openings. Between scrambling through the thick dust which seemed to never settle and attempting to navigate around large pieces of junk, Alejandros decided to turn around and pop back out where he entered.

    ¡°Wait what? Where am I? Wait, I''m back where I started? What? How could this be? With my impeccable sense of direction I couldn¡¯t have gotten lost!¡±

    ¡°Back into the pile I go again!¡±

    ¡°Aha! I found it! The pile of concrete! Almost solid! Luckily he has long legs to digest things! Nice and big easy target! Now I just gotta find the hole Senny made!¡± It hit a layer in which it turned from a random assortment of plastic to a consistent fine powder. Under the entire thing, it began skimming the top of the solid to find an entrance.

    ¡°Hey! Hey! Hey! I found something!¡± The shell creature burst in through the hole while holding the phallic object with its back two legs.

    ¡°Is it a book?¡± The ballon deflated and diffused to once more become a ball of cotton candy.

    ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s better than a book! Look at this sculpture! A picture is worth a thousand words and a sculpture is worth a thousand pictures! This is basically a book! Aha!¡± The shelled creature passed the object under its body and between its legs before finally holding it up like a trophy with its front two.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a petrified mushroom¡­ Nothing new¡­ Nothing unexpected¡­ Whatever¡­¡± THe ball of cotton candy deflated once more to become a pancake.

    ¡°Wait what? You¡¯ve seen it before? How could that be? This is special!¡± The cockroach waved around the object wildly.

    ¡°I read about it in the book dummy. Of course you wouldn¡¯t know since you don¡¯t read. Hah! You get the reason I read now!?¡± The pancake inflated once more to become a ball of cotton candy as it gloated.

    ¡°What reason? Don¡¯t you just like staring at those colors?¡± The cockroach placed down the phallic object.

    ¡°What no! I¡¯m learning! Do you even know as much as me!?¡± Threads burst out once more, stabbing into the walls.

    ¡°You read too much! It¡¯s not fair! You¡¯ve read that book hundreds of times!¡± The cockroach turned its back to the ball of threads once more.

    ¡°Hey! I only get barely ten minutes a day! You call that too much!? That¡¯s barely enough! If I was topside I could read all day!¡± The ball of threads diffused a bit more and a dark object in the shape of the object the cockroach had brought in appeared.

    ¡°Yeah but we can¡¯t go topside or else we¡¯ll be captured! You saw what happened to Nicky!¡± The cockroach turned to face the ball once more.

    ¡°I know¡­ but I¡¯ve always wanted to¡­¡± The ball of threads compressed itself once more into a pancake.

    ¡°Yeah well we¡¯re us and they¡¯re them. They¡¯ll never accept us. You know that.¡±

    --Somewhere--

    ¡°Is that alive?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s certainly moving.¡±

    ¡°Could it be a drone?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s too big for a normal cockroach. I know that, therefore it couldn¡¯t be a real cockroach.¡±

    ¡°Does that look like a drone to you?¡±

    ¡°Could any electronics survive the radiation levels in that place?¡±

    ¡°Well how do you explain it then?¡±

    ¡°Could be a military drone, testing electronics in high radiation levels.¡±

    ¡°The movement and coordination is too random to be a drone.¡±

    ¡°Well the landfill is technically a public space, we could go look at it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah go send someone to search and retrieve it.¡±

 Hiding

    Back in the dark little hole a human like figure formed from the myriad fibers which all connected to form the surface of a human. From every ridgeline in the skin to every hair. The pale white strands pushed together to form a humanoid body.

    Carefully observing this process was the shelled creature that hid behind a protrusion coming in from the wall.

    ¡°Well? Do I look like a human Alejandros?¡± The humanoid turned its head down.

    ¡°Ummm¡­¡± Turning back and forth, the cockroach retreated from the towering figure.

    The ceiling shook off some dust as a tubular creature stuck its body partially down. ¡°Hey Alejandros! We got more air!¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t need air, remember?¡± With relief, the cockroach backed down while at the same time, scolding the creature that just burst in.

    ¡°It¡¯s good for you! Air is good! Just like metal!¡± The tube waved itself around while hanging.

    ¡°Yeah but that rarely appears, all that¡¯s here is plastic, remember?¡± The cockroaches scoffed at the tube happily dangling between the walls.

    ¡°Alejandros, Alejandros, remember this, nothing is impossible. You see this shell here? This is a sign that metal can¡¯t be impossible in this wasteland.¡± The tube began to swing faster and harder until a series of clinks began ringing out.

    ¡°Senny how long have you hung onto that shell huh? We¡¯ve helped you gather those materials all these years and that¡¯s all you have to show for it? Think about it like my book. Would you say it¡¯s impossible to get here? I know Alejandros would say so, but I still had one.¡± The humanoid began to deflate and retreat into a ball of cotton candy.

    ¡°Hey! I got you something better!¡± The cockroach picked up the phallic object once more and began waving it around. ¡°It even looks like you!¡±

    ¡°Hah what you got me was just a petrified mushroom! Look, it''s solid! It sure doesn¡¯t feel like me!¡± The ball of cotton candy let loose and waved some threads around.

    ¡°Yeah well you¡¯re not normal anymore! Look at Senny! That big bulky shell which makes noises wherever he moves! Does he look like a normal worm?¡± Pointing the tip of the object at the tube hanging from the ceiling, the cockroach redirected the conversation away.

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m perfectly fine! I can get out of this shell whenever I want! I just like to carry this wherever I go because it¡¯s so precious!¡± The clinks faded away as the tube stopped swinging.

    ¡°Yeah you¡¯ve made it by eating it! That means the shell has been made by pushing metal fragments through your skin! It¡¯s definitely fused to your skin!¡± Getting closer by climbing the walls, the cockroach began poking at the creature hanging down with the petrified mushroom.

    ¡°Ok fine let¡¯s just agree I¡¯m perfectly normal because I once didn¡¯t have a shell and you with your ugly rainbow colored shell were normal too because you used to be a nice warm brown!¡± The tube began retreating into the new hole.

    ¡°Well he is still sort of brown colored you see. It¡¯s sort of a nice comforting color too.¡± The humanoid looked up as he pointed that fact out.

    ¡°Whatever! I¡¯ll go dig some more holes for more air!¡± The worm began to come out of the hole entirely.

    And so the long, tubular creature stood up against a wall, its mouth that was filled with flat blunt teeth facing outwards as it began to grind them against the wall.

    ¡°Hey Alejandros, where¡¯s that sculpture?¡± The humanoid finally turned its head back down at the cockroach down below.

    ¡°I helped you make it disappear! Didn¡¯t you not like it? Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll help you get another one next time!¡± The cockroach turned around back and forth again.

    Again, dust shook from the ceiling.

    ¡°Why¡¯s so much dust being shaken down? It¡¯s ruining all our hard work! Alejandros go take a look. What if it¡¯s a creature coming to eat us all!¡± The humanoid collapsed back into it¡¯s cotton candy like form.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Why me! I haven¡¯t survived so long because I¡¯ve been searching for death! You can¡¯t go out around trying to die!¡± The cockroach began to slowly retreat.

    ¡°This is a precaution against dying! Come on! You¡¯re the best one for the job! I believe in you!¡± The cotton candy ballooned up out some more.

    And then hopped the little shelled creature into one of the many holes in the wall, leaving only the phallic creature alone in the cave.

    ¡°Ah it¡¯s just me and you now.¡±

    ¡°How chaotic it¡¯s been!¡±

    ¡°I mean look at it! The ground is shaking!¡±

    ¡°Wait! It¡¯s basically as if the sky is falling! Hah!¡±

    ¡°But really! That stupid cockroach went on the surface! The surface has so many things above that could suddenly swoop down and kill you!¡±

    ¡°Wait what was that! I know that wasn¡¯t good, how¡¯s Alejandros!¡±

    ¡°The shaking isn¡¯t good, not good at all. It¡¯s getting more and more frequent. Something¡¯s bad about to happen. I just know it!¡± How do I conceal myself!¡±

    ¡°What if I pretend to be a sculpture! I¡¯m a genius! I just have to be a really weird one! One that makes people simply unable to look!¡±

    ¡°First is the plastic texture that sculpture had! It was sort of glossy, sort of hard but without being as rough as concrete! I wonder how that works! Anyways I guess it¡¯s just how it is.¡±

    ¡°Geez it¡¯s been a long time since Alejandros came back though. Although feeling by the vibrations he should be scrambling somewhere close by. Hah! I bet he¡¯s lost again! Absolutely no sense of direction! I¡¯d better help him...¡±

    Around snaked a single thread, through the rubble and debris, rapidly approaching the unsuspecting cockroach as it scrambled around. At the very moment, the thread was about to hit him, the cockroach spun around as its shell was squeezed by the narrow tunnel, but it was just enough to move around and bite the thread that was following it.

    ¡°Ow! Well he¡¯s certainly bit my thread, he should be here any second now.¡±

    And the creature burst through, shell first, spilling dust plumes all around and saturating the air with grey.

    ¡°Hahahah what was that attempt to kill me!¡± The cockroach dusted off the small pieces of plastic which had gotten stuck between his joints while he was moving.

    ¡°Never mind that, Alejandros, what¡¯s going on!¡± The cloud of cotton candy began condensing its threads around the core, which finally made itself out to be a phallic shape, not unlike the petrified mushroom that the cockroach had brought in earlier.

    ¡°You won¡¯t believe this! There are humans above! They have this massive metal thing! It¡¯s floating above the ground too! That darn thing is sending shockwaves through our pile! It must be someone bad! They¡¯re trying to knock down our junk pile!¡± The cockroach waved it¡¯s front pair of legs around in panic.

    ¡°Darn why do you think they would do that! Wait! Where''s Senny!¡± The phallic object turned around to sweep the entire cave.

    ¡°Oh he¡¯s probably digging some more holes.¡± Unworried, the cockroach lay down.

    ¡°What if he bursts out a tunnel and gets caught!¡± Extending a few threads to wave them around, the phallic creature waved around in panic.

    ¡°Oh no! I gotta go help him!¡± With that, the cockroach dived into a hole, leaving the phallic object alone.

    ¡°Guess I¡¯m alone with you again. God why is this happening today. Of all days Senny decides to dig a new hole. Of all days he decided to get off his lazy butt and get to work.¡±

    ¡°I mean, he is pretty lazy usually. Just hands by a hole in the ceiling and wriggles around sometimes. He does produce some nice sound, but really, it¡¯s just an excuse for him to be lazy.¡±

    ¡°But if I were to be honest, there¡¯s not much for him to do. I mean, I sit around and vibrate my threads sometimes. I produce a nice sound here and there but I mean, it¡¯s pretty boring.¡±

    And then burst the rod shaped creature followed by the cockroach from a hole in the wall.

    ¡°Hey what¡¯s going on? Alejandros was actually running this time!¡± Panting, the tubular creature lay flat on the ground.

    ¡°Yeah you bet I was running! You''ve dug too many tunnels, I had to check half of them before I found you! But you won¡¯t believe what¡¯s happening! Humans are above and they look like they¡¯re going to knock down this pile!¡± Spinning on its underbelly, the cockroach faced the worm.

    ¡°Wait why would they do that!¡± The worm rolled a quarter turn until it was sideways in question.

    ¡°Who knows? Humans are crazy!¡± The cockroach raised its two front legs once again.

    --Outside--

    ¡°Hey we¡¯ve got a massive solid object in the middle of this here, looks to be concrete.¡±

    ¡°Does it seem natural?¡±

    ¡°It sure doesn¡¯t, must¡¯ve been some disturbance.¡±

    ¡°Hey! Look! There¡¯s a cavern in there!¡±

    ¡°Would a drone dig a cavern?¡±

    ¡°Definitely not a drone¡±

    ¡°How do we capture it?¡±

    ¡°Just dig straight down.¡±

    ¡°What if it escapes?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why we form a perimeter¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s that gonna work with all this trash here?¡±

    ¡°We send a mesh made of nanobots and tell them to stay there while we go down. Anybody have objections?¡±

    ¡°Hearing nothing else, lets move out!¡±

 Rocking it

    ¡°Hey what are we doing now?¡± While on it¡¯s underbelly, the cockroach flailed all its legs around.

    ¡°Honestly Alejandros, I don¡¯t know yet. We still have to wait for something we can react to. But I think Senny here is the most well fit to escape. I mean, just look at him, he can dig a tunnel just about anywhere and through anything. Therefore we¡¯re going to be depending on him to dig us a hole to safety!¡± Collapsing into the solid pancake, the previously phallic object fell apart.

    ¡°Hey! You think I like eating dirt? That stuff is disgusting, I mean just look at it! It¡¯s soft and crumbly, like some liquid going through you! And just imagine all the mold that¡¯s growing within! Do you want to be eating that?¡± The worm threw its head up in frustration but fell right back down.

    ¡°Well I¡¯m not a worm so I wouldn¡¯t know, but I¡¯m sure I could stretch my roots and just eat just about anything. Probably wouldn¡¯t be a net energy gain though.¡± The pancake puffed up into a ball of cotton candy once more.

    ¡°Hey you¡¯re not the one taking the actual thing inside you! You get to dissolve it and absorb it! Not like us! Stop complaining!¡± The tubular creature opened wide it¡¯s lip like appendages and revealed its mouth.

    ¡°That¡¯s just how I eat! I suffer a net energy loss every time I eat dirt! But you wouldn¡¯t suffer the same problem as me because you just dissolve it within you and don¡¯t waste as much acid as me!¡± The ball of cotton candy began to stir up the light grey powder that made up the ground.

    ¡°Well how¡¯s eating trash a net energy gain?¡± The worm, the tubular creature, rolled a quarter turn.

    ¡°That¡¯s the cost of survival! I mean, if I didn¡¯t eat that trash what do you think that ball of fat will do to us!¡± Holding a clump of the powder, which had dried and turned into concrete after rain, the ball of cotton candy threw it at the shell of the worm, hearing it clang off.

    ¡°Hah that bloated bag of blood! What can he do! Worse at tunneling than Senny here! I mean worms eat dirt don¡¯t they? Moles are supposed to be the ones chasing after him!¡± The cockroach did a 360 on his belly.

    ¡°Well what¡¯s going to happen to sack of blubber?¡± The ball of cotton candy relaxed itself, letting its sides droop down.

    ¡°Who knows¡­ Do we even care?¡± The worm rolled the other way until he was turned a quarter way the other way.

    ¡°What happens to him might happen to us.¡± The ball of cotton candy perked up into a sphere again.

    ¡°Well what¡¯s happening to him?¡± The worm finally turned until it was properly oriented.

    ¡°You up to go check on it Alejandros?¡± The cloud of cotton candy formed a spike pointing directly up like a pointed hat on a wizard.

    ¡°Look, I think you¡¯re misinterpreting something, I never die because I don¡¯t try to die, not because I go searching for it!¡± The cockroach immediately stood up.

    ¡°Come on, we¡¯ve heard that a million times by now, and I bet you¡¯ve heard that this is simply a precaution. You¡¯re not searching for death, you¡¯re simply poking around it to find out where it is! Then we can run far far away.¡± The cloud of cotton candy formed a spike formed to poke at the cockroach.

    ¡°Fine. But not because you told me to, but because I want to make sure I don¡¯t die.¡± With that, the cockroach crawled into a hole.

    And for the millionth time, the brown iridescent, many legged creature darted into a hole.

    The two remaining looked at the hole Alejandros had disappeared into and back at each other.

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t that basically what we said though?¡± The worm rolled a quarter turn.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Senny, a mission done is a mission done. Now, let''s think of where we¡¯ll go, do you want to start digging a hole?¡± The cloud then pointed downwards with its spike, like an ice cream cone, or a stick holding a ball of cotton candy...

    ¡°Yeah I was gonna do that, can¡¯t stand just sitting around waiting.¡± And with that the rod shaped creature dug into a hole downwards, leaving the erect phallic creature standing alone.

    ¡°Well what do I do now that I¡¯m alone¡­¡±

    ¡°Well I mean¡­¡±

    The oily antenna dipped back through the hole, followed by a flat face with a smaller pair of jaws with large beady eyes which bulged out. The head was followed by a leg, with short, thin hairs which had formed a small bead of oil at the tip of each one. The leg itself was tipped with even finer joints which ended with a pair of sickle shaped hooks.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°Hey! Why are you back so early! Alejandros come on! Don¡¯t slack off!¡± The threads of the ball of cotton candy flew around the cockroach menacingly.

    ¡°Hey it¡¯s not my fault! There''s this thing! It¡¯s blocking us! It covers us entirely! The only reason why I took so long was because I covered every bit there was to see! No hole!¡± The cockroach ended up jumping up and down in panic.

    ¡°What? That shouldn¡¯t be possible! My threads didn¡¯t feel anything!¡± Several threads burst out once more into the surrounding powdery material.

    A dust plume bellowed out from the side of the wall. A serpentine creature with interlocking plates of armor that wrapped around its whole body wriggled out. The very front of it was tipped with a round, soft face.

    ¡°Hey guess what¡¯s underground!¡± The worm lifted its head up above ground.

    ¡°A wall?¡± The cockroach turned and stared at it.

    ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± The worm rolled a quarter turn once again.

    ¡°I found one all around us in the trash too!¡± The cockroach began to jump around wildly in worry.

    ¡°Wait guys it looks like the humans are clearing the trash now! There are so many vibrations! They¡¯re getting closer!¡± The ball of cotton candy suddenly spread apart its threads to form a tent like structure with a single pole standing up in it. ¡°We¡¯ll disguise ourselves as a part of the wall! Come on guys, I¡¯ll use my threads to blend in!¡±

    ¡°Will that work?¡± The worm rolled until it was a quarter turn the other way.

    ¡°We have no choice!¡± The cloth like layer opened up further.

    ¡°God this is cramped.¡± The worm began to wriggle in.

    ¡°Hey at least you get to coil around! I¡¯m one stiff piece of shell!¡± The cockroach followed after.

    ¡°Hey don¡¯t push around my core! It¡¯s sensitive! I¡¯d lose all my energy accumulation if you unbalanced it!¡± The tent like creature moved the pole around to avoid contact.

    ¡°That¡¯s a clear lie! You¡¯ve layered so many of your threads around it that it¡¯s now practically impenetrable!¡± The worm settled in.

    ¡°It¡¯s only because I know how delicate it is that I protect it so much!¡± A few more threads came in from the cloth like layer to surround the pole even more.

    ¡°Yeah as if! Your core is so dense that it¡¯s basically turned stable!¡± The cockroach crawled on top of the worm and settled down.

    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s not all stable, I still need to extract energy for daily use!¡± The entrance of the tent like creature closed and even created a floor.

    ¡°But even if your core explodes, the inert energy laying around still gives you enough energy to last a couple hundred years!¡± The cockroach stabbed its legs into the shell of the worm.

    ¡°Not under intensive actions though. It¡¯ll only last a year!¡± The surface of the cloth like layer began to smooth out.

    ¡°That¡¯s like if I ran for a year straight! Do you think I would?¡± The cockroach tilted itself closer to the core to take up less space.

    ¡°Of course no! But what if it was a limited resource! Just imagine slowly feeling your energy run dry!¡± The grey powder slowly crept up from below to camouflage the cloth like layer into the surroundings.

    ¡°It¡¯s not limited! There¡¯s plenty to eat! I mean just look around us! They have so much of it they can only dump it here!¡± The cockroach began to crouch down and press its body closer to the worm.

    ¡°If they hoard metals out there, who¡¯s to say they don¡¯t hoard better sources of energy?¡± The worm rolled around while coiled around the pole..

    ¡°Shut up Senny, energy is consumed, metal isn¡¯t.¡± The cockroach mated its underbelly to the back of the shell.

    ¡°Then that means they must have a source of energy right?¡± The worm coiled itself up the tent pole.

    ¡°Maybe but we don¡¯t know where it is! We do know where this sludge is though so we¡¯d better get all we can!¡± The cockroach tapped its legs against the shell.

    ¡°And by get all you can you mean sit and be lazy right?¡± The worm raised its head and waved its mouth appendages around.

    Quiet!¡± A strip of white shot between the faces of the two.

    ¡°What? Why!?¡± Two voices rang out simultaneously.

    ¡°They¡¯re getting closer!¡± The tent like creature was perfectly still.

    --Outside--

    ¡°Sir I think the nanobots are dead.¡±

    ¡°That was to be expected with the amount of radiation here.¡±

    ¡°Sir, we lost an extreme amount of nanobots attempting to form that shield, with how scattered they are they¡¯re basically impossible to retrieve.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, when we capture that creature, it¡¯ll be worth far more than some nanobots.¡±

    ¡°Hey! Aaaaaagh¡±

    ¡°Man down! Man down! There¡¯s a colony of naked mole rats!¡±

    ¡°Capture them!¡±

    ¡°Sir they¡¯re too hard to capture!¡±

    ¡°Use the rest of our nanobots! This is a priority!¡±

    ¡°We couldn¡¯t capture all of them sir.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll come back later to pick up the creatures in the sphere¡±

    --Inside--

    ¡°What¡¯s going on outside?¡±

    ¡°Quite a few vibrations from the moles over there don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t feel vibrations remember? No threads.¡±

    ¡°Hey they¡¯ve stopped!¡±

    ¡°You think humans captured them all?¡±

    ¡°Impossible, they¡¯ve dug their tunnels way too deep. I once dug all the way over there and they were transporting dirt up!¡±

    ¡°Hah! Senny, guess you aren¡¯t the best at digging after all!¡±

 Trapped

    As the shiny, serrated pincers opened up, a smaller, softer pair of jaws shaped like a flattened beak revealed themselves and opened up. ¡°Hey how long are we staying here?¡±

    In response to the noise, several threads tensed up and were plucked like strings on a guitar, forming a voice in which the timing of each vibration could only be heard in the position that the noise was intended for. Otherwise, it was a scratchy noise not dissimilar to a cicada. ¡°Who knows? As long as it takes.¡±

    ¡°How do we even get out?¡± The cockroach inquired.

    ¡°Well I seem to have enough energy for several hundred years which should be enough time for that wall to degrade hehehe.¡± The tent began spreading the threads which had been used in the pole such that all threads were now evenly distributed across the entire rock like layer.

    ¡°Well, is it time for hibernation?¡± The already faint heartbeat of the cockroach grew fainter.

    ¡°Well¡­ There is the possibility that they know we¡¯re going to hibernate.¡± The worm began falling limp.

    ¡°Yeah but what are the chances of that?¡± The rock like layer carefully began to shrink.

    ¡°Well if we compare losing energy and being caught hibernating¡­¡± The cockroach¡¯s heart began to beat faster in panic.

    ¡°That¡¯s never gonna happen.¡± The worm kept slowing its heartbeat down.

    ¡°Well why¡¯d they come here anyways? Because if they¡¯re here for us, they¡¯re definitely going to break through the shell soon!¡± The cockroach began twitching its legs.

    ¡°Probably spotted Alejandros while he was doing something I guess. None of the moles ever go on the surface and only Alejandros has the balls to go on the surface.¡± The ex-ball of cotton candy, ex-tent like creature, ex-pancake finally became a rock.

    ¡°Well it could¡¯ve been Senny¡¯s holes! Or the obscene amount of concrete around us! I mean just look at it, anybody could tell there¡¯s been a disturbance here! There¡¯s even a tunnel leading right to us!¡± The cockroach¡¯s legs were now visibly running as it was suspended from the air.

    ¡°Hey! You think my concrete home would get spotted? Unless they were looking for it, nobody would really find it!¡± The rock suddenly jerked and embedded itself into the surrounding wall.

    In a response to the direct accusation, the soft creature with interlocking plates running down the entire length of its body opened up a slit at the very front. ¡°Yeah my tunnels too! You think there¡¯s just a massive hole for them to see? I cover them up with trash!¡±

    ¡°Yeah well the surrounding wasteland is just as colorful as me! My shell is exactly the same color as what I eat and what I eat is exactly what¡¯s around us! We¡¯re the same color!¡± The cockroach began jerking itself up and down.

    ¡°Yeah and there are plenty of holes around here! Nobody notices a new hole here and there! But what they will notice is a moving cockroach running around!¡± The worm began wriggling uncomfortably.

    ¡°Well what¡¯s done is done. Am I right Alejandros? Senny? How about we just stay awake for a bit longer?¡° The threads wrapped around then and constrained them.

    ¡°Hey! Remember how we don¡¯t have that much energy? Yeah we don¡¯t hoard energy like you!¡± The cockroach began slowly down its movements.

    ¡°Yeah but hibernation takes barely any energy! You can do it when you¡¯re out of energy!¡± With that, the worm began directing the cockroach¡¯s emotion towards the rock like creature while standing by the sidelines.

    ¡°That¡¯s just throwing away energy! How about you stay awake since you have so much energy!¡± The cockroach hatched a devious plan to conserve its own energy.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°Fine!¡± With that the two creatures stiffened up while the shelled worm curled around stalk that contained a dense sphere of energy within it¡¯s bulb and the roach sunk its legs that were tipped off with sickles into it as well.

    ¡°Ah what lazy bums they are! They expect me to do all the work for them! Look at them just frozen in time without a care in the world! I mean what if I just ditched them! Well I mean, if I ditched one of them then I¡¯d have to ditch the other too though. Then the world would become an awfully lonely place¡­¡±

    ¡°I guess I should take a short nap. I¡¯ll let myself wake the moment anything stirs.¡±

    --Outside--

    ¡°Hey boss! We¡¯re back with the crane!¡±

    ¡°Great, lets lift this sphere of concrete back to base!¡±

    ¡°You sure there¡¯s something in there boss?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, remember those readings we got? We got some shapes that look like a cockroach! I¡¯m definitely not risking opening up a hole! What if we lose it! I¡¯ve already double checked and there¡¯s another weird centipede thing!¡±

    ¡°Great! Imagine the things we can do! A living being which can live in high radiation!¡±

    --Inside--

    ¡°Guys¡­ Guys! Wake up! I feel nauseous. Aggghhh¡­ What is this feeling.¡± The rock began to convulse.

    The legs that had stabbed themselves into the threads spasmed as they started up while worm tightened up like a python attempting to constrict its prey.

    ¡°Huh? Feels like a piece of trash is shifting! But wait what!? We¡¯re in the concrete! Hey you know how they could move us like this?¡± The cockroach began immediately relating to it¡¯s experiences travelling through loose pieces of trash.

    ¡°Agh¡­¡± The rock moaned some more.

    ¡°Senny how about you?¡± The cockroach turned to the worm below it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me. I just dig holes! Since there are no holes to dig, I''m going back to sleep!¡± The worm shifted slightly, then lay still.

    ¡°Hey! Are you ok!¡± The cockroach, being the only one conscious, grew worried.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ Just tell me when this is over¡­ I don¡¯t like this feeling¡­¡± With that, the threads stiffened and they were al traped.

    ¡°Well darn. Guess we¡¯re dead. We¡¯re on a forever shifting piece of trash that only that sick guy knows and the guy who digs holes doesn¡¯t know. Dude only cares about his metal man.¡± The cockroach complained endlessly while alone.

    ¡°I mean, look at him, poor guy¡¯s never moved at all in his life. Just eating trash and leaving behind that powdered stuff that looks like cement. Over the years, water¡¯s soaked down and glued the powder together into cement basically and all this sad worm over here knows how to do is eat it. I mean, imagine eating someone else¡¯s leftovers!¡±

    ¡°I mean I¡¯d understand it if it was some lavish meal, but I mean just look at him! Eats that filthy powder! What¡¯s even the point! We just eat sludge! I eat plastic because I add it to my shell! But Senny just eats the powder for the sake of eating powder! That lazy mushroom just eats trash because he gets high off it! Purely for enjoyment!¡±

    ¡°Then again, those guys must be really bored! I mean just look at them! One¡¯s smoking and getting high and the other is eating powder! How bored and lonely do you have to be! There¡¯s a whole wide world for them to explore! Whole chapters to monologue!¡±

    ¡°God! I think I understand him now when he says he feels sick! Feels like I¡¯m falling forever! I know what I said but it¡¯s actually been a long time!¡±

    ¡°Woaaahhh! Darn we stopped falling but we stopped forwards? How¡¯s that work? What?¡±

    ¡°Hey! Hey! You two! Well I mean, Senny can¡¯t really contribute¡­ But hey! Wake up! We¡¯ve stopped falling!¡± The cockroach suddenly panicked, struggling endlessly against the threads which suspended him in place like a bug in a spider¡¯s net.

    ¡°Whaa? Oh I guess we did st~ahhh we continued! Why¡­¡± The insides of the rock began spasming like the inside of a lung and fell limp.

    ¡°Nooo! I had questions! Don¡¯t you love it when I ask you stuff! Why...!¡± The cockroach continued shaking the threads around it.

    ¡°Hey we stopped moving again! Senny! Sleepy head! Wake up! Wha~ why are we getting jolted around!? This isn¡¯t fu~ahhh~n¡± The cockroach too, got nauseous.

    ¡°Ah? What are you two so nauseous about? I feel great! Ahhhh what a great day! Let¡¯s go dig a hole!¡± Bright and cheerful, the worm forgot entirely about the situation it was in.

    ¡°Senny¡­ Remember? That wall!¡± The cockroach reached for the worm¡¯s head to shake, but its legs were too short.

    ¡°Ah¡­ so what do we do now again? Weren¡¯t we hibernating?¡± The worm¡¯s heartbeat began to return.

    ¡°... Hey guys¡­ I¡¯m back, I¡¯m guessing we got transported. Must¡¯ve lifted our whole bunker up.¡± The rock finally regained consciousness after the movement had stopped.

    ¡°Well where are we! How do we get out!¡± The cockroach began moving its legs wildly once more.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing we don¡¯t¡­ Ah well, we¡¯re stuck. I mean really stuck. Like we¡¯re probably already in some cage already. Just wait for them to crack these walls down.¡± The rock lay as still as a rock.

 Captivity

    ¡°Hey! Hey! The walls are coming down!¡± The threads vibrated intensely with each strike on the surrounding material.

    ¡°Wait what? Senny dig through! We¡¯re escaping!¡± The cockroach began bouncing up and down while suspended once more.

    ¡°No! Senny! Alejandros! Don¡¯t go! We don¡¯t know how to get back yet!¡± The threads continued to hold them in place.

    ¡°What do you mean? We can get out right now! We can then get back!¡± The cockroach pushed off, moving forwards until it was flung back.

    ¡°Guys¡­ the walls are breaking down! I don¡¯t think it¡¯s gonna be good if we let them capture us!¡± The insides of the rock began trembling.

    ¡°Relax you two. We¡¯re still a rock!¡± The worm lay there listlessly.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they gonna break down all the rocks until they find us?¡± The cockroach slowed down to think.

    ¡°... I¡¯m gonna get broken?¡± The insides twisted around in despair.

    ¡°There¡¯s a simple answer, we just run.¡± The worm nonchalantly gave an answer.

    ¡°Yeah! Senny¡¯s right! We need to break free! Freeeeee!¡± The cockroach attempted to charge forwards until it was put back in its place.

    ¡°Ok, ok, we¡¯ll burst out the moment we can! Alejandros, you can carry Senny under you with half of your legs, haven¡¯t you been practicing that so you can be lazier? I¡¯ll strap myself to your shell!¡± The threads and rock like layer retracted to reform and wrap around the shell like a backpack. ¡°Guys it¡¯s about to break! Brace yourselves!¡±

    ¡°Whooo! This is gonna be my first time to travel this fast! No energy used either!¡± The worm let its body drag along the floor.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna¡­ sit by and prepare myself for nausea¡­¡± The phallic object swayed back and forth and fell flaccid.

    ¡°Let¡¯s gooo!¡± The cockroach who ran forward while dragging the worm and running awkwardly crashed into a wall. ¡°Ahhh ow! Why¡¯s this wall here! We! Just! Need! To! Go around!¡±

    ¡°Hey, Alexandros! What¡¯s happening!¡± The worm, which had its body jerked around wildly several times, started resisting the movement.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! We¡¯re trapped!¡± The cockroach frantically continued to run around.

    ¡°Wait, Alejandros! Slow down so he can see! He¡¯s too sick to do anything right now!¡± The worm finally convinced the cockroach to stop moving.

    ¡°Whaaa? Did we make it out?¡± The phallic object gently waved about in the non existent wind.

    ¡°No! How do we get out!¡± The cockroach continued to tap its feet while shaking the worm up and down.

    ¡°Huh? Looks like we¡¯re in a box! We¡¯re stuck! Reee!¡± The phallic object stood erect.

    --Laboratory--

    ¡°Hah boss look at these bugs! Just like the moles over there!¡±

    ¡°He looks like that bug can¡¯t keep that going on forever!¡±

    ¡°What? How are there three! A centipede, a cockroach, and a parasite? Boss, you said the sensors only showed two right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that parasite has no bone structure so we didn¡¯t get it. Also, what is that interaction between the cockroach and the centipede?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, why¡¯s it carrying it? Is it perhaps prey? Is it dead?¡±

    ¡°Looks pretty still to me. Luckily when we presented this to the investors all they expected was the cockroach. I guess they really want to be as unkillable as the cockroach!¡±

    ¡°I mean, we can probably throw the worm out anyways, we already got so many samples.¡±

    ¡°But this worm is unique! What if we throw away our only possibility to clean up radioactive waste!¡±

    ¡°Maybe¡­ But for now, we need to separate them! How do we do that?¡±

    ¡°Well, we definitely can¡¯t separate the parasite from its host now.¡±

    ¡°We probably can grab the corpse though!¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°I¡¯m on it!¡±

    ¡°Wait huh? It¡¯s alive and biting!¡±

    ¡°The nanobots got it!¡±

    ¡°Ok now let¡¯s separate them and take samples.¡±

    --Inside--

    ¡°Senny! Come back! Nooo!¡± The cockroach jumped and ran about.

    ¡°Alejandros! calm down! We¡¯ll get him when we break out!¡± The phallic object began to faint.

    ¡°What do you mean break out! How do we even break out!¡± The cockroach finally slowed down to have a thought.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet! Look we need to make a plan, or else we¡¯re gonna be just like earlier, running around and not know where to go!¡± The phallic object erected itself once again.

    ¡°Yeah, but what if we¡¯re trapped in that cage forever!¡± The cockroach turned to stare at the material that flowed in.

    ¡°Well¡­ erm¡­ then they can¡¯t get to us, right? What makes you ask that?¡± The phallic object was still oblivious to its surroundings.

    ¡°Because I see a bunch coming towards us right now!¡± The cockroach jumped up in fright.

    ¡°I really hope they¡¯re not coming to separate us¡­ I should be viewed as a parasite right now so separating me from you would kill me. Let¡¯s hope they¡¯re just moving us around right now.¡± The phallic object was too intrigued to care about the perilous situation it was in.

    ¡°Ahhh! They¡¯ve encased us! What if we can¡¯t breathe! Why is this like me rolling around in that can! This isn¡¯t fun! Ahhh!¡± The cockroach began rolling around while it was encased in a sphere.

    ¡°Can¡­ You¡­ Stop¡­ Moving? I¡¯m sorta¡­ Nauseous again¡­¡± The phallic object was only still upright since it was entirely encased in the material.

    "Will that stop us from rolling?" The cockroach continued to roll.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know but I want to try!¡± The phallic object was desperate to be erect once more.

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m going backward and upside down! Woah are you sure this is better?¡± The cockroach began questioning everything.

    ¡°It¡¯s not any different for me, but I think it¡¯s slowing down!¡± The phallic object grew slightly stiffer.

    ¡°Is it? Ah! I sure felt that slowing down! What was that jolt!¡± The cockroach continued to panic from being trapped.

    ¡°Maybe we bumped against the other side of the cage?¡± A nearly invisible thread gingerly poked out to observe the wall.

    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s letting loose! Where are we!? Some sort of clear plastic container? This isn¡¯t looking so good!¡± The cockroach waved its legs around in the air while the rest of its body was still stuck on its shell. However, the material only let go of its legs and not the body, still restraining it. ¡°Wait what¡¯s that up there! Is it gonna kill us!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably to feed us? Wait ahhh! No! Run from it! It¡¯s coming to kill us!¡± The phallic object was squashed underneath by the cockroach.

    ¡°I can¡¯t seem to! It¡¯s too fast! Ahhh! I¡¯m hurt! I¡¯ve been stabbed!¡± The cockroach¡¯s belly, which was exposed to the air, was pierced by a long and thin needle.

    ¡°Relax! Relax! It¡¯s part of your belly which will regrow quickly! Just let it do its thing!¡± The phallic object was still being squished underneath in pulses as the cockroach rolled back and forth, bringing the non existent pain in waves.

    The cockroach finally lay still which resulted in a dull non existent pain. ¡°Huh? The moment I stop moving it also stops!¡±

    ¡°Hah! The humans must think you¡¯re dying! Haha! We¡¯ve tricked it!¡± The phallic object attempted to erect itself in joy but was pushed down.

    ¡°Will this work the next time?¡± The cockroach stared at the non existent sky.

    ¡°Probably, but we¡¯ve gotta keep up the act!¡± The threads clamped on tighter to the cockroach.

    ¡°Wait it¡¯s coming down again! What did you say about it thinking we were almost dead?¡± The cockroach began wriggling around again.

    The needle coming down seemed to avoid the cockroach but instead targeted the phallic object on its back. ¡°Wait! It seems to be targeting me! I need some of your blood! I also need to move my core next to you! Ahhh! That was close!¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s targeting both of us?¡± The cockroach stopped rocking back and forth in relief.

    ¡°They must really think I¡¯m a parasite! Hah! We¡¯re tricking the humans so much!¡± The reserve of threads was pierced by the needle, but the blood from the cockroach flowed into the needle instead.

    ¡°When are they going to feed us!¡± The cockroach felt that after such a long and eventful day, it was hungry. It was still morning¡­

    ¡°Wait! We can also trick them into feeding us more! Just slowly slow down like you¡¯re starving! We¡¯ve gotta take this scam slowly!¡± The parasite like phallic object stood erect in joy of its dastardly plan.

    ¡°Wait! Be quiet! I can hear the sounds of Senny¡¯s shell!¡± The clinking sounds could barely be heard off in the distance by the cockroach.

    ¡°Hah! I wonder how they¡¯re getting blood out of him!¡± The parasite grew even more amused at the thought of the worm¡¯s shell being cracked open and blood being drawn.

    ¡°The moles too! I wonder how many of them are there here!¡± The cockroach opened its mind to take in account everyone''s sufferings.

    ¡°But wait! How do we get out?¡± The parasite realized their own suffering first.

    ¡°I can¡¯t see, the walls are too slippery for me to climb.¡± The cockroach stuck its leg at the plastic wall to find nothing.

    ¡°Can you jump?¡± The parasite continued to worry about their situation.

    ¡°Probably not, I wasn¡¯t made for jumping remember? And I have you stuck on my back!¡± The cockroach weakly lifted itself off the floor to make a point.

    --Outside--

    ¡°Hey, what do we feed them?¡±

    ¡°I dunno, what normally goes in a dump, and what didn¡¯t we see?¡±

    ¡°That radioactive waste for one, the percentage of class-12 plastic is also lower compared to the rest of the plastics we found.¡±

    ¡°Yeah well, dump both of those in small amounts and see which one they like.¡±

    ¡°If they don¡¯t like to eat anything, then we¡¯ll let them starve and dissect them.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t their bodies be damaged if they¡¯re starved though?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know if they like to store their foods and not eat them for long periods of time, that¡¯s why.¡±

    ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t we begin dissecting one of those moles over there? I mean, we have so many!¡±

    ¡°Sounds good to me, there are plenty more at dumpsite 19 so we can always get more!¡±

 Mole Life

    Two cages were placed side by side in a large room. Two men walked down the warehouse of cages while barely glancing at each of them before moving on. One suddenly stopped and took a long look at one of the cages.

    ¡°This one¡± he said.

    While the man might¡¯ve been nonchalant about picking which research specimen he wanted, it was an entirely different story for the moles inside each cage.

    ¡°Ahhh no! Please don¡¯t take me away! No! Jonathan! Save me!¡±

    ¡°Nicky! Don¡¯t worry! You¡¯ll be fine! You¡¯ll be fine!¡±

    ¡°Ahhh¡­¡±

    And with that the mole¡¯s pale skin was grabbed onto by a claw encased in metal and formed from straight lines that lifted away the mole.

    ¡°Dear God! I know I haven¡¯t been pious or even believed in you at all. I¡¯m sorry for always questioning your word, but if you¡¯re out there god, I hope you can listen.¡±

    ¡°I pray for Nicky, who was just taken away and for him to return safely, even if he has been roughed up a bit. I hope I¡¯m not asking for too much God.¡±

    ¡°God¡­ If I may, I wish to pray for the rest of us here, that you may send your shepherd forth to lead us onto the path of freedom and salvation.¡±

    ¡°If I may go on further, I do pray for the rest of my nest and for our mother, for she is the cornerstone for us all and that no harm may fall upon us.¡±

    ¡°Amen.¡±

    ¡°Geez, I wonder if God really can hear me. I sure do hope he will!¡±

    ¡°What if God can¡¯t hear me because I¡¯m buried beneath all the sins! I must repent! He must hear me! My people must be saved and delivered from the horrors of humanity!¡±

    ¡°May the holy bible protect us. Although you may be far away in our nest, guarded by only the best guards, your influence reigns supreme throughout the world. Even now, I feel your power and I pray to you, that your holy power may be used to save us all.¡±

    ¡°Hah¡­ what am I even doing¡­ Have I become insane? Praying to god? That¡¯ll never work.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve always been the one to question the holy book. I¡¯m the one who sparked a protest to bring out the holy book for everybody to see it. I¡¯m pretty sure God hates me now.¡±

    ¡°Whew, I didn¡¯t even know what I was saying to Jonathan! I mean, is he really going to be fine? I don¡¯t know! Does God even exist? I don¡¯t know! Arrrggghhh! This is driving me insane! I need to tell myself whether God exists! Does he exist? This is too much of a dilemma!¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°Fine. I know. If I get out of here I will spread God¡¯s word, but I don¡¯t, then well, I guess I just die then.¡±

    ¡°But what¡¯s happening to Nicky! He could very easily be dying right now!¡±

    ¡°Can God save him?¡±

    ¡°Eh, maybe I¡¯ll devote myself to god later when I see a sign.¡±

    ¡°I mean, God would understand, right? I can¡¯t see how God would punish me for questioning him a bit.¡±

    ¡°But yeah what was I thinking? Praying to God? How would that work?¡±

    ¡°God can do his own little thing up there, but I¡¯m gonna do my thing down here.¡±

    ¡°Wait what are we even doing?¡±

    ¡°What am I even doing now?¡±

    ¡°I need to get out! How do I get out of this though!¡±

    --Outside--

    ¡°Hey, we seem to be running out of space! We¡¯re expecting a new shipment of animals from the Husado Foundation!¡±

    ¡°You mean those lab-grown animals? Those are worthless compared to these animals! We don¡¯t even know if they¡¯ll survive in any environment much less thrive! We have actual animals! These are proven to thrive! What¡¯s important right now is feeding them!¡±

    ¡°But if we just dump slag down there it¡¯ll contaminate the container! Then we¡¯ll need to replace the entire thing once we¡¯re done! How about we stuff maybe 10 moles into each container. They have enough space as it is and normal mole rats are pretty social animals so wouldn¡¯t keeping social animals together prevent them from dying?¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case then we can capture more!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can study them all though, and if we can¡¯t study all of them, we¡¯d just end up giving them away! We¡¯d quickly turn into just distributors and not researchers!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯d still be researching! We¡¯d have the largest variety of samples! What about that cockroach and parasite! And that worm! Those are unique! No one can gain an advantage over us in researching those!¡±

    ¡°... Whatever. Yo boss! Can we shove the moles into cages of 10? We¡¯re running out of space! We got a shipment coming in!¡±

    ¡°Do they have enough space?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Plenty! They love living together too!¡±

    ¡°Sounds good.¡±

    ¡°Hey John, looks like I¡¯m getting my way!¡±

    ¡°Whatever¡­ I¡¯ll go run the standard tests on the mole rate blood for now. I¡¯ll have how they compare up to other animals soon.

    ¡°Hah! How much you want to bet that the mole rats are the ones with higher blood pressure! I mean just look at them! Over half of them were violent beating against the walls! And they still are! So energetic!¡±

    ¡°Nah I¡¯m not taking you on that. I mean just look at them! Veins are bursting out! Full of muscle! I wonder how they get that energy!¡±

    ¡°Hey, if that cockroach has that much energy then why¡¯s it not moving around so much!¡±

    ¡°Could it be being drained that much by that parasite? Why hasn¡¯t that parasite matured and reproduced yet then!¡±

    ¡°What if the cockroach eats so often! We can¡¯t starve it right? Our shipment of waste from the power plant is coming in only tomorrow! We need to go through so many hoops to get that waste too! I gotta get to work!¡±

    ¡°Welp, I guess it¡¯s time for me to do the boring work.¡±

    --Inside--

    ¡°Hey, you good?¡±

    ¡°Alejandros¡­ I don¡¯t actually know what to do right now. I mean, what if we¡¯re stuck here forever!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we can¡¯t get out anyhow so all we can do is wait.¡±

 Frenzied Life

    Around the cages were two men, dressed in white coats. The first, John, had dark brown hair that bordered on being black with eyes that matched. There was more to him, but that was all hidden beneath the thick coat which hung down to his knees and brown pants that poked out all the way to his shoes which were obscured by plastic wrappings to prevent dirt from being trekked in. What could be ascertained from the outside was rendered inaccurate by his almost crippling slouch and tendency to lean against the wall, making him both lopsided and short.

    Leonard on the other hand, stood a full head taller than John, garbed in the same attire but was standing straight. He was topped with a birds nest of straw and had hazel green eyes poking out from underneath; he was basically a tree with his ashen grey skin which was the result of drinking a mix of animal fluids in a contest a couple years back.

    ¡°Hey, John! The cellular activity is still pretty high in the cockroach blood!¡±

    ¡°You mean the red blood cells are still alive? How?¡±

    ¡°No, not the red blood cells, the white ones! They¡¯re still alive and consuming the stain!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s drop that blood into a slide and examine it directly then.¡±

    "Wow! How are they still moving so much! They''re dissolving the stain! Look! It''s disappearing!"

    ¡°Hey, how much damage could a drop of blood cause to a mole you think?¡±

    ¡°Well does the mole blood show similar properties?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it just dies off like how normal blood does.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s try it on that mole we brought over! Plenty of moles around here!¡±

    The two researchers walked down the hall to the lab where the mole they had just taken out as stored. They entered the room and filled a syringe with several ccs of blood.

    ¡°Hey, you sure this is safe?¡±

    ¡°John, look at me, nothing can go wrong. If the mole dies, we can just replace it. What could ever happen?¡±

    ¡°Ok then let¡¯s do this. Just gotta open up this hatch, attach the syringe to this part of the arm, and have fun!¡±

    ¡°Hey, look at that mole screech, you ever heard anything so ugly before?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, remember that baboon we got before? Screeched like it was in hell!¡±

    The arm slowly descended and like a snake leaping forwards to inject its venom, injected the bit of roach blood into the mole. The site of the injection began to swell as if a hive had formed.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess the blood just clotted, nothing happened. Looks like your effort was in vain, John¡±

    ¡°Wait, look at it, the hive is still growing!¡±

    ¡°What? I guess that blood is pretty strong then, let¡¯s leave it there overnight and record it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, today¡¯s been a pretty big day, we got the creatures from the landfill. This might just be the day that makes history!¡±

    ¡°Yeah well, we have several more tests to run and we still need to find the exact composition of that roach blood.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go get some compounds and see how the roach blood can clean that up too. What if we can somehow get the roach blood to filter out large quantities of contaminated water! Think about the possibilities!¡±

    In the cage behind the researcher, Nicky was lying there in satisfaction. The blood was akin to high nutrient supplements which Nicky had never felt before. But as the blood went its path and was entirely absorbed by his body, there grew an urge to obtain more.

    The mole¡¯s body had balanced itself out, growing a mass of muscle evenly through his body which was in sharp contrast to his previous state where the growth was lopsided. The muscles could be seen bulging through his skin which was taut due to the rapid growth of what was under it.

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re looking much better now aren¡¯t ya buddy.¡±

    Several growls came from within the cage. Several light bumps came from within the cage, bumping against it.

    The man turned around and back.

    The bumping began to escalate as the pressure within its brain began to grow, driving it into a frenzy in search of the substance which had brought so much joy to it.

    The plastic had started forming stress marks at the location of the ramming which was taking place. Soon the plastic had deformed so much it was about to snap open.

    The man hurriedly pressed a button on the side of the cage.

    A needle came down from the arm and injected the frenzied mole with a sedative. And down the mole went.

    ¡°Woah what¡¯s that! That¡¯s beautiful! Hey Leonard! Look at this!¡±

    ¡°What John, you know I have to cross the hall every time.¡±

    ¡°Just take a look at this! It¡¯s grown! It also attacked me after waking up!¡±

    ¡°Well transfer it to another cage already! I don¡¯t want that biting off my head!¡±

    ¡°Is your cage open?¡±

    ¡°Yeah but I don¡¯t want to get my head bitten off when this thing wakes up again.¡±

    ¡°You want to transfer it to the electric cage then? I¡¯m sure that it couldn¡¯t continue to ram against the cage without its nerves frying.¡±

    ¡°Sure, but not before we take a couple vials of its blood!.¡±

    --Inside--

    ¡°Hey, how do you think we¡¯ll get out?¡±

    ¡°Alejandros, how many times have you asked me this. This is like the billionth time! We¡¯ve barely been in here for a day!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but where are all the humans? Don¡¯t they basically exist everywhere? That book showed a couple of hundred people crowded in a square, didn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°You think that little square of space could sustain that much life? You¡¯re joking! They were just swarming!¡±

    ¡°Well, why aren¡¯t they swarming around us right now? Don¡¯t they like to exhibit animals?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re probably studying us! Remember that blood sample? They¡¯re probably learning everything about it right now! You removed the energy from that right?¡±

    ¡°So¡­ Ummm¡­ Not really¡­ I kinda left energy there¡­ We¡¯re screwed aren¡¯t we.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ On the bright side, that means the sample they took from me is different from the sample they took from you. Thus it could explain why I am a parasite on you! Look, what are they going to do to you! If they dissect and kill you, they no longer have their source of blood! In fact, not giving them that energized blood may have lead to them dissecting you early!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to get dissected? How do we get out!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure, but that hole they used to get the blood out of the machine could help!¡±

    ¡°Yeah but it¡¯s filled! I know! Why don¡¯t you dissolve the walls!¡±

    ¡°None of my acids do enough! I¡¯ve tested all of them! Only one barely shows any signs of corrosion and at the speed that takes they¡¯ll notice the damage!¡±

    ¡°Just change your acid! Come on! You¡¯ve done that plenty of times!¡±

    ¡°I need sludge to produce more acid! You think the acid just materializes out of nowhere? I can make it out of your blood if you want! The acid probably wouldn¡¯t be very strong though¡­¡±

    ¡°Speaking of which¡­ When are they going to feed us? Surely they wouldn¡¯t just leave us to starve would they?¡±

    --Outside--

    ¡°Hey, boss, remember that shipment of nuclear waste you asked for?¡±

    ¡°Yeah? What about it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s getting held up right now by the police.¡±

    ¡°What? How¡¯d they even find out?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, some kids were running around with a Geiger Counter while the driver was refueling and tipped off the police.¡±

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to go over and explain the situation to them then.¡±

 Colony Life

    Two rat-like creatures whose hair was so thin that their pale and wrinkled skin formed several folds over themselves. Their skin, which lacked color entirely would be entirely transparent if not for the faint scratches on the surface from the rocks which were occasionally shot back due to the frantic rate that they dug at. What would be seen if not for those scratches and blemishes would be a layer of muscles which contracted rapidly and pulsed outwards with each beat of its heart as the blood forced its way through the veins.

    ¡°Dig, dig, dig, dig, dig. Henry, do you think this will ever end?¡±

    ¡°End? Yeah of course! When we die!¡±

    ¡°But look! The caretakers said we would have a vacation!¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you kept up with the news? Humans came down and captured half of us!¡±

    ¡°What! How did they do that! Where were the guards!¡±

    ¡°Guards? Hah! The Queen¡¯s drained so much from their energy budget! You think the guards are in any position?¡±

    ¡°Well where was the Queen then? Couldn¡¯t she have protected us?¡±

    ¡°Hah! As if the Queen cared about the rest of us! Even the scavengers have to skim a bit off the top to stay alive! You¡¯d think the Queen would give enough to keep those old fools alive!¡±

    ¡°Does the Queen not care that they¡¯re skimming a bit off?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s too lazy! She barely births new young to keep our population the same! It¡¯s even questionable if she¡¯ll ever increase the number born after this!¡±

    ¡°This couldn¡¯t be! How do you even know any of this! You must be lying!¡±

    ¡°This is common news! Young one, this is just how life is. Ask anyone else!¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we revolt? Why are we just standing around!¡±

    ¡°Revolt? Hah! As if! That could never happen! She has more energy than the rest of us combined! You know how important energy is? She could let us attack her for years and be able to regenerate it all!¡±

    ¡°Can we run away? I¡¯m sure she couldn¡¯t stop us from running away!¡±

    ¡°As if! Where would we go! No tunnels anywhere else! Just give up. Nothing¡¯s going to happen, just keep digging.¡±

    --Inner Nest--

    Deep below the surface, where the dirt had started to be filled with so many rocks that were it was impossible to expand any deeper, a large blob that was five times as wide, ten times as wide, and thirty times longer lay flat on the floor. Running down the body were rings of fat that sagged and jiggled around was the monster occasionally pulsated. The waves formed slowly traveled down, almost dissipating entirely before ending up at a curious hole with crease marks traveling outwards from the center. It seemed to lead ever more so in, but there was no gap to go further.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    But as you rotated around the large body, a relatively smaller form appeared. This smaller attached blob resembled a mole. The part where they joined made it seem dubious that these two bags of flesh were even one creature to begin with.

    The smaller form continually stretched an appendage around each pile of trash before it funneled the trash into an opening which faded away into a dark hole.

    Moles funneled in, carrying large quantities of material in their mouths. They deposited them into a hole that led down to the Queen. Along the scraps of material came rolling down balls of dusty white, composed of sludge mixed densely with the dust that was so common around the deeper parts of the sea of trash.

    In the natural course life, there would, of course, be dissenters. Dissenters and dead bodies would be carried alike down the hole and dumped. As the Queen constantly funneled and digest more materials in, a powdery substance came puffing out from under the folds of the Queen¡¯s sides.

    The fine powder did not vent out in any such way however but fell back down onto the pale, pulsating body which showed various organs dissolving each piece of matter. Through the myriad forms of which the sheets of plastic took and the boxes of silicon were melted in, the melting of each object seemed to send waves down its surface until they formed folds. These folds kept on drooping until a face was faintly discernible but quickly faded away after.

    This cycle continued on as the numerous scavengers sought out more reservoirs of sludge.

    --Inside--

    Within the cage of the cockroach and phallic creature, a cover was twitched open and a medium sized black tube with walls as thick as the hole, was stuck partially through the hole before it started vibrating. The vibrating was slowly dampened out as a liquid was slowly pushed through, slowly coming out in short bursts.

    ¡°The sludge is coming! They¡¯re finally feeding us!¡±

    ¡°The question is though, how do we get more?¡±

    --Outside--

    ¡°Hey John, they sure are scrambling for the energy waste, aren¡¯t they! I reckon we could set up a site and just let the moles live there while we pour more and more sludge down! We could use them as waste disposal! We¡¯d earn so much in subsidies! We¡¯d have enough to do just about anything!¡±

    ¡°Leonard! We need to study them first!¡±

    ¡°Well, we can pitch this idea to them first! I¡¯m sure they¡¯d send tons of resources here! More robots! We can conduct experiments on a larger level! Think about it! We could command hundreds of bots to conduct research! Think about it! All we¡¯d have to do would be to load up commands and watch! We could get the good models! The ones where it can control everything precisely! Just imagine! We wouldn¡¯t be prone to minor errors anymore! We could get near pure compounds! We could do anything!¡±

    ¡°Yeah go write up that paper, remember to include the necessities of the moles too, and the studies on their anatomy that you haven¡¯t done yet. Remember to include how that mole became frenzied too!¡±

    ¡°What if we just advertised ourselves as just another company that stuffs that waste into the ground! We¡¯d get that stuff transported to us for free! We could even earn money from it!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you wanna pitch that to the boss? Why one of his research groups has suddenly decided to go into the waste storage business?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯d be all for it! He lost so many nanobots trying to capture them all! He¡¯d see them as a return on his investment surely!¡±

    ¡°Yeah you go talk to him about it, I¡¯ll try to gather some information about how the moles react to this amount of food.¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s the cockroach doing?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s doing fine, kinda lazy, seems to have gotten out of its initial panic quite quickly.¡±

    ¡°Is this normal?¡±

    ¡°Too soon to tell, it¡¯s only been here for a couple of hours so far!¡±

    ¡°Well hows that mole? Is it secure?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t checked yet, the electric fence makes it hard to see inside and hard to place anything inside because it¡¯s hard to insulate against. I¡¯ll check on it later.¡±

 Ambitious Life

    As the night grew closer, the pile of trash in the hole grew smaller and smaller. The thin stream of moles carrying the pieces of plastic couldn''t keep up with the rate at which the queen consumed.

    As the night drew closer, the mountain was reduced to a gentle rolling hill.

    "What happened."

    A frantic scurrying ensued.

    "Your Highness, we had a huge set back earlier and our workforce has been reduced by two-thirds! They''re already working as hard as they can but they can''t keep up!"

    "What would it take for them to complete the task."

    "Well, we''d need about five hundred more moles to replenish the amount we lost, and if we want to pick out most of the type-0053-0059 plastics we''d need one or two hundred more workers on that!"

    "Cut the digging and other nonessentials, I''ll give you four hundred to do that."

    "What about the waste plastic! What about the tunnels!"

    "That''s your problem. Get it done."

    --Tunnels--

    "Get up! You''ve been reassigned! Let''s move!"

    "Pssst Henry. What happened?"

    "Don''t know, there never has been a reassignment like this. Just follow the lead of the people in front and we''ll be fine. If their heads get chopped off we''ll know what not to do."

    "Are we finally getting a vacation? What if we''re getting lead up to the surface! We can finally see it!"

    "As if! If the rumors are true, this tunnel passes the queen! We might be getting executed!"

    "But doesn''t she need us? We''re the ones keeping her alive!"

    "Eh, easier for the colony to travel if she just eats us and stores the energy."

    "Is it that tunnel to the left there?"

    "Yeah, looks like we''re not dying today."

    "What are we doing then?"If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    "Who knows, just wait and see."

    "What do you mean wait! Our lives are so short! We have to do something!"

    "Yeah, go become a scavenger, then you''ll have just about the longest life ever!"

    "Wait! If I become a scavenger, why wouldn''t I just run?"

    "Because this is just about the only source of water dummy. Unless¡­ Nah, couldn''t be."

    "What? Wheres that source of water?"

    "There''s a place with water, but that''s restricted from us entering. You''ve heard the rumors about him, right? The ones who enter the hole never came back! So many too! Too many to fit inside the concrete! But here''s the thing! The humans were right above him!"

    "How''d you get that information though? Sounds a bit¡­ fake?"

    "Hah! I was up there myself! The darn humans ran away the moment I charged! About the other part though, I had a friend who did the deliveries of trash to him! Didn''t see him again one day, a new mole was assigned to that duty soon after."

    "Well, how do you know he wasn''t a dissenter? Or accused to be one!"

    "Cause I''ve had countless friends who''ve disappeared! And friends of friends too!"

    "So what you''re telling me is that I can become a scavenger and escape?"

    "Sure, but ya gotta be real tough to survive out there, gotta complete them tests too."

    "What''s out there even? Isn''t it just a wasteland? What tests!?"

    "Well, it''s less of a formalized test but rather they''ll watch your behavior."

    "Watch my behavior? How?"

    "Well you gotta be extremely aggressive, but at the same time submit to the strongest, which is the queen. You see where I''m going with this?"

    "Ah so those spineless bootlickers are gonna live forever while the rest of us suffer. Seems fit, but what''s even out there for them to bully?"

    "Oh you wouldn''t believe what they drag in here! You might''ve been assigned to a path too offroad to see, but they bring in nasty creatures sometimes! Their tribute to the queen of course. But they''ve gotta run away properly when they face the strong ones which is why that test applies."

    "Well isn''t it logical to not die? Everybody knows that! Why not just let everyone go scavenge!"

    "Well, you see the queen still has to pump us out now and then however reluctant she is and we die less if we have some of those plastics in us!"

    "I still don''t understand why she won''t let more of us scavenge! It burns in me to go out and explore!"

    "And that''s how you die kid, don''t take any offense to it, many of your type have also been rejected. They''d waste a heavy investment of energy on your type, especially if you die on your first exploration."

    --In the walls of the tunnel--

    "Hey you think we should scare that kid a bit? Who knows, he might just be perfect deep down."

    "Hah! He''ll get himself killed in no time!"

    "Shouldn''t be a problem to spook him a bit, should be quite fun!"

    "How we gonna get the conspiracy theorist away from him though? Might just tell him we''re in the walls right away!"

    "So what? We''re acting under the authority of their queen!"

    "He doesn''t seem to know we''re in the walls though, speaks as if no one else can hear him!"

    "Remember that thing they call the bible? We could pull something out of there!"

    "What good would that do though, would just make him more emboldened!"

    "Let''s make him think satan is around him? Would make him a lot wearier of everything happening around him!"

    "Not a bad idea, but how would we execute the plan?"

    "Easy, tempt him to murder that conspiracist fool with the outside! Then we just laugh evilly!"

    "Sure that''s simple and all but what do we do then? It simply wouldn''t do to leave a malleable young fool to sit!"

    "What if we grant his wish? He''d clearly be willing to submit to a higher power and kill those weaker than him!"

    "Hah! We''ve got a plan!"

    --Inside--

    "Alejandros! Let''s just stay here and eat! It''s so plentiful!"

    "Hey! Maybe you''re fine with just eating, but I like to move! You''re also forgetting about Senny! What about him!"

 Muderous Life

    "Henry, when will this stop? This is more tiring than digging! We''re pushing masses of junk around with no end in sight!"

    "Be thankful you''re not shuffling plastic around! The darn job means rear-ending yourself on the ground and bending over to pick out plastic! Darn back will break in no time!"

    "But you can''t simply say that because there''s something worse that we''re not suffering!"

    "Relatively yes! We''re in the best job right now!"

    "There''s still being a scavenger!"

    "As if! There''s no hope in becoming one!"

    "Pssst"

    "Hey Henry what''s that noise?

    "You mean the air whistling through the tunnels?"

    "Pssst! Hey! You interested in becoming a scavenger?"

    "What do you mean by interested?"

    "Yeah, you interested? We can do that for you! But you''ve gotta do something for us¡­ You interested?"

    "Don''t answer him!"

    "Where are you?"

    "All ya gotta do is knock that fool on his head a bit! Make sure you do it well though."

    "Hey, uh let''s catch up to the rest of the line right now, wouldn''t be good if we were caught slacking!"

    "Just do it! Shut him up!"

    "Hey, now you wouldn''t do that to me right?"

    "Henry, I hope you understand why I had to do this."

    "Cain! No please! Ahhh-"

    "Good, good, now eat him!"

    "What? Why?"

    "Do it!"

    "Uh¡­ forgive me, Henry¡­"

    "Try to dig a hole and hide yourself first"

    The walls themselves fell apart and the dirt rolled themselves down the tunnel. Both bodies slowly retreated into the hole that was just dug.

    "Good, good, try to hurry up on the eating."Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    The body of the limp mole shuddered as the neck snapped and soon blood began dripping out. A damp mouth drew itself closer to the body and a tongue dripping with saliva caught the blood spurting out from the body.

    Soon the blood stopped flowing out and pieces of flesh were torn away by triangular teeth and disappeared into the mouth of the murderer. A piece of bone exposed itself after some work and paws which were tipped with long claws stabbed themselves into the resistant flesh and tugged at the bone. But when the bone refused to budge, the claws drew themselves back and the teeth went back to ripping away flesh. Eventually, the end of the bone exposed itself and the claws went back at it again, prying out the bone.

    The end of the bone made its way free, but the other end sprung the bone back, smacking it into the flesh and sending out a mist of still-warm blood right into the eyes, nose, and skin of the offending mole.

    The frustrated mole stuck its nose right into the middle of the carcass, fitting its jaws over the barely protruding bone and snapping it. The gelatinous marrow within dripped out and the mole scrambled to fit its lips over the leaking nutrients.

    After consuming the bone, the mole sat back for a moment, looking at what he had done.

    Then he dived right back in, repeating the gruesome moments over and over again as the walls of dirt brown were painted red as each dive in caused more blood to mist out against the walls.

    And all that remained of Henry were stains of blood.

    "So, when do I become a scavenger?"

    "Hah! You think this is enough? You need to accumulate more and more energy! You''re barely above the bottom of the food chain! You need to be able to kill a guard first!"

    "Now I can''t do that! They''re simply too big and too powerful! You couldn''t possibly tell me to do that now could you!?"

    "Perfect, here''s what you need to do. You need to kill several more! Accumulate more and more energy until you can kill a guard!"

    "Fine, but who are you even?"

    "I''m the devil¡­ Hah! Now press yourself to the tunnel! Do you hear?"

    "I hear footsteps if that''s what you mean. What about them?"

    "Wait till they fade away a bit and dig your self out. Should be about¡­ just wait a bit longer¡­ now! Go go go!"

    A spray of dirt came from the wall as the body burst through the dirt walls and immediately turned to grab the last mole in line.

    "Hey! What are you doing! Get off of me!"

    The bloodshot eyes were exposed to another mole once again and as the front claws grabbed the head of the unassuming mole and twisted counter-clockwise, the body went limp once again.

    The rest of the moles went about marching on, ignoring the last mole who had turned to confront a murderous mole. The dead mole was dragged into the hole and devoured in a similar manner.

    "Hey, do you feel a warm energy in you?"

    "I do feel slightly warm, yes!"

    "Good, good¡­"

    "What is it?"

    "Just your body trapping radiation¡­"

    "Radiation! Sounds bad! What is it?"

    "It''s a type of energy I suppose. Not important for you to know at all¡­ Just continue eating¡­"

    "Does every being contain this energy?"

    "Well¡­ no. Animals that have this energy have definitely consumed some of that sludge! Everybody wants it! That''s why you want to kill and eat everyone who has energy!"

    "Well where did the energy come from then? It couldn''t have just popped out of nowhere!"

    "Ah, doesn''t your bible say something about this? Ah yes! God! God made this energy!"

    "Didn''t god also say to not kill?"

    "Ah well, killing is one of the essentials of life! How else do you solve disputes! Simply can''t be done!"

    "You¡­ You¡­ You couldn''t be right?"

    "What am I?"

    "You''re not satan are you?"

    "Who knows? Just a thing I suppose. I grant wishes but you give me your soul! Heheheh."

    "Give you my soul? I feel fine!"

    "Don''t worry, I''ll have it when your wish comes true¡­ Heh. But look, you need to change position don''t you? Would be awfully suspicious if the dirt here smelled like blood don''t you think?"

    "Well where else would I go?"

    "I don''t know¡­ Maybe the nursery? They give out small bits of energy to little children¡­ Keeps them working much longer! Repairs the small little things that cause them to break down early¡­"

    "Which way is that?"

    "Just this way¡­"

 Monotonous Life

    "Ah, what''s the point of guarding this bag of trash! Who would want to even steal this!"

    "Just remember, this could be condensed into a dirty bomb!"

    "As if! How expensive is that process huh? The chemicals that are need to make this cost an arm and a leg! I''m sure the feds would be on you in minutes to purchasing all that!"

    ''Eh¡­ no point in making a dirty bomb these days, just cut the power lines and the city would fall into pandemonium soon enough."

    "You''re forgetting the hydra-like powerlines! You cut one and you''ll be spending hours to find the next two!"

    "Darn power stations, pumping out tonnes of this¡­"

    "Hah! Be thankful for the job! Pays pretty well, Nobody wants this garbage anyway. You hear about the research lab trying to get this stuff?"

    "Hah! Energy can''t be created or destroyed remember? Makes me wonder if they''re trying to build some fuel cell!"

    "Hah more like trying to make a bomb! They can get so much juice just from the powerlines!"

    "Ah well, they can remain stupid and sinking money into whatever they''re doing!"

    "You worried about the radiation though?"

    "Nah, I got so many tumors that another one wouldn''t do a thing. I mean, just look at these bumps!"

    "Hah! You think those are tumors? Those are just your warts!"

    "Hah! My warts contain energy! How else do you think I power myself!"

    "As if! You showed me the doctor''s examination! Just some abnormal concentrations of some random triglycerides! Barely worth anything! That ring around your belly is where that energy really is!"

    "They really do store energy! You heard about what they do in that research lab though? They got some real weird animals! Heard one could take on a soldier in an exo!"

    "That''s impossible! The soldier would just shoot it down!"

    "Ah well, what do we know, maybe it could sneak up and ambush him"

    "Look, I''ve looked at what one of those packs and boy was I surprised! Short of a natural disaster, nothing can kill it! It''s got a thermal camera to see ambushes! Got a computer in there too to prevent any human error!"

    "That animal must be real special to be able to fight one on them."Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    "Ah must''ve been just some researchers bloating their results!"

    "But hows this radioactive sludge relate to those animals! Everybody knows once the sludge gets dumped in a piece of land nothing around it survives!"

    "You heard about those birds flying over those junkyards though?"

    "Ah the rumored birds! Face it! Nothing survives! It''s scientifically not possible! The radiation just breaks down their DNA!"

    "Ah well, you think the researchers there are trying to cause mutations?"

    "Eh, who knows what they''re gonna do. Who even knows what they do!"

    --Laboratory--

    "Routine check on the animals?"

    "Sure, sounds about time, those two are too busy researching those three types of animals that were captured."

    "What''s so special about them anyways?"

    "They survive in high amounts of radiation!"

    "Eh, they should get back to researching how to better engineer viruses to inject DNA of Sample-017999, imagine if we managed to make a formula that allowed them to be as strong as that!"

    "It''s too dangerous to take out for constant samples! It rarely sleeps too! Feeding it is a pain! What use is it!"

    "Well I heard we got another beast locked up in the electro chambers!"

    "What happened?"

    "Eh the beast just couldn''t be handled by the normal stuff so they put it in the cage. Nothing too special."

    "Who gave it to us? We haven''t gotten any recent shipments have we?"

    "Who knows, hey, help me open this airlock will you? It''s a bit too heavy for one person remember?"

    "Hah still as weak as ever!"

    "Hey! I''m the smart one remember? More brains than brawn!"

    "Sure thing man, but loading in all this meat sure does you wonder where it goes."

    "I dunno, that beast needs someway to keep itself alive."

    "How about that mole though? What does that eat? Giant worms?"

    "Hah! Should we try feeding it sample-5044027?"

    "Which one is that again? Darn random numbering¡­"

    "What do you mean random numbering? It makes perfect sense!"

    "Yeah? Look at it! The first three digits are the sample number, nothing special there except nobody knows what we''re talking about other than us! Totally random!"

    "What about the other three digits! You forget what they are?"

    "Whatever, just random numbers!"

    "Hah! Random numbers? They measure how strong they are compared to an exo!"

    "How can you even measure how strong they are with a number! It just doesn''t make sense!"

    "The first of the three digits means how strong they are, second digit measures how fast, and third digit measures how tough they are. You sure it''s still random?"

    "And what are you measuring with huh? Random numbers?"

    "Of course it''s relative to an exo! 1 means human strength and that goes up until you hit 9 which is as strong as an exo!"

    "And what''s in between huh? Random numbers? What''s 0 huh?"

    "It''s just a normal progression within! 0 is absolutely helpless! You didn''t know?"

    "Ah whatever, I don''t need to remember some random numbers some bureaucrat thought up of! Using an exo as a unit of measurement? Hah! Why not using kilograms of force!"

    "Stupid people can''t read numbers! They can understand that however, but it seems like you can''t even understand numbers meant for stupid people!"

    "Ah whatever, just know that you''ll need my help whenever you''re opening these hatches."

    "You want to lift all this meat up too? Maybe a bit too heavy for me¡­"

    "Hah! I guess I have to help you then! Too weak!"

    "Whatever, you''ll still just be my helper! The salary guy cares about who''s the brains! Not the muscle!"

    "Hey! I''m indispensable! Look at you can''t do that I can!"

    "As if! You can be replaced! I can''t! You think smart people like me are lining up and begging for this job?"

    "As if! If you were smart you wouldn''t be here! At least I fit in!"

    "Ah whatever, lets feed sample-458421"

    "You finally remember the numbers?"

    "Nah, just that they''re printed nice and large on the side of this cage."

 Interlude Life

    "Yo John! I think I isolated the part that does the radioactive absorption!"

    "Did you chuck a rat in the testing chamber yet?"

    "Nah, we''re getting a contractor to do all these experiments, apparently we broke some codes when we gave the cockroach some waste!"

    "What codes? The ones that they made up just now?"

    "Nah, general code for that was established well before that."

    "What general code? No general code applies to us right?"

    "Well what happens is that we sign off on not following these codes and away they go cause codes are for nitwits and we aren''t nitwits are we?"

    "Apparently we are now. Which nitwit has been exposing the waste to an unsealed environment?"

    "Well all of us apparently, we just dumped that stuff in there. That stuff''s not rated for high levels of radiation is it?"

    "Well it''s a sort of layered plastic and I think one of those layers is supposed to reduce some sort of radiation. We did some tests back then with irradiating animals to cause mutations remember?"

    "Yeah and that yielded nothing except it dying within a couple of days remember?"

    "So have you figured out how they don''t die? Surely the energy being emitted off would kill them right?"

    "Well come over to my microscope. You see that? That''s the mole cell and on that microscope is a normal mole''s cells!!"

    "So what am I looking for?"

    "You see that thing next to the nucleus of each cell? The normal mole cell doesn''t have that now does it? That might be the organelle that allows the animals to absorb radiation!"

    "Have you tested this yet?"

    "Nah, not yet, I''m still trying to extract the DNA from it but it hasn''t been successful so far. Let me clean these slides real quick and let''s see what the other guys are doing."

    "Well ok, I''ll go check up on sample-458421, I kinda wanna see how much it''s grown since then."

    "I''ll pass on that, all the safety gear is a pain! You''re basically wearing chainmail! My back always hurts after wearing one of those!"

    "Yeah but you wanna check up on sample-5044027? How about 505 and 506 as well while you''re at it? Don''t know how they are after feeding."If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "Yeah sure, I''ll go check up on what the caretaker recorded while I go see the others."

    --Colony--

    "Hey Joeseph, how do you like that progress you''ve been making huh?"

    "I don''t know, How close am I to becoming a scavenger?"

    "You can become a scavenger whenever you want!"

    "Really? Right now?"

    "Sure! Becoming one''s the easy part! Surviving is a different story altogether though¡­ hehehe. You''re quite a bit off from being as strong as a scavenger though, might be about halfway to killing a guard though."

    "So about this nursery¡­"

    "Yeah what about it?"

    "So how much energy will I gain?"

    "Oh you''ll gain plenty! Enough to kill a guard several times over!"

    "So what''s protecting that energy?"

    "Hah! Nothing! That''s why you''re going there!"

    "Huh, seems easy enough."

    --Inside the walls--

    "Hey you seem to be helping him quite a bit there¡­"

    "Yeah what about it?"

    "You know attacking a nursery is pretty bad for the queen right?"

    "Look, we work for the queen, we don''t worship her."

    "Yeah, but wouldn''t this be a breach of the agreement we had?"

    "What agreement? The one where we secure the nest? Providing a strong mole is helping them be more secure! Don''t you see!?"

    "I don''t know about that, but it seems like you''ve got him under your thumb good and proper¡­"

    "The whole act might be ruined if he leaves and nothing happens to him though, permission to leave the walls and climb on the mole?"

    "Ehhh any other reason?"

    "Yeah, I want to harvest some of the energy while he''s doing his massacre! He''d notice any loss in energy if it was under normal conditions, but when he''s gaining energy, he wouldn''t notice a thing! Such an opportunity can''t come so easily! We have to take it!"

    "Yeah sure, go for it!"

    A short round creature with relatively stubby legs crawled out from under a grain of dirt. It had 8 legs and a set of mandibles which were thick and stubby, but oversized on the small body.

    As it attempted to catch up to the unassuming mole down the tunnel, its legs went into overdrive, no longer being able to take the shortcuts it used to travel across the tunnels. Looming closer, the legs springing itself across the bottom of the tunnel barely caused a sound as they hammered against the ground in an attempt to provide as much force as they could.

    The legs drew itself closer and closer until it had reached the final leap. But at the crucial moment, the dirt sent down by the mole traversing a steep incline fell apart below it and it continues smoothly onwards. Things did not go so well for the determined eight-legged creature as the ground beneath it fell apart and it was caught in the avalanche. There was no way it could match the speed of the mole as it ran around, drawing ever closer to the nursery.

    How would the small bug reach its destination? It was simple, just take a shortcut across the dirt. Dirt that was compacted so much by the unceasing amount of tunnel making that had taken place around here that it was nigh impossible to dig anymore tunnels without causing the collapse of them all. As it raced through one of the many small tunnels its kind had dug for ease of access, it measured its speed against the moles.

    Racing through the tunnel, there was nothing about where the mole was to be gleaned from the dark and solid tunnel.

    It reached the end, but where was the mole? Nowhere in sight. Had it chickened out at the last moment? A series of vibrations would bring the determined runner its joy. The sight of its competitor soon coming. It was a delightful sign, finally alleviating the uncertainties that the lack of the mole had brought him.

    Timing the leap such that it landed on top of the mole, the mole barely felt a thing as the creature latched onto its skin right with its legs and crawled into one of the many folds of skin on the mole body. Finding a secure place, it was finally time for the overinvested in jaws to shine.

 Escaping Life

    The hole was a dark dusty sit where little air circulation had taken place. The guards froze at the slightest of sounds. But to counteract the guards'' efforts, that mole which was in the center of a ring of five guards shuffled around, filling the air with an irritating scratching.

    "Stop it!"

    "Why? Heheh¡­ are you guys perhaps scared of the sounds?"

    "Shut up!"

    "And what will you do huh? You can''t do anything!"

    "Ah whatever."

    "Hah! I know you can''t do anything to me! I''m much too valuable for you guys to damage am I right? The only one who knows how to read the bible!"

    "Hey! Are you guys mute or something? Hey! Speak up!"

    "Hehehe You know what I''m gonna do if you don''t speak up?"

    "I''m going to slowly kill every. Single. Last. One. Of. You. Slowly. Hehehe Oh it''ll be so fun! Tearing out the bones of your friends and eating every single last one of them in front of you!"

    "Oh you know I can do it. You guys are too afraid of what will happen if you do kill me."

    Enraged, one of the guards turned on the prisoner in between.

    "Ahhh! I''m gonna kill you!"

    "No! Stay back! We''re not supposed to harm him!"

    "Arghhh!"

    The prisoner in the middle also lunged and swiped at the enraged guard, managing to hook his claw in his eye socket and as the other guards began to pull him back, the guard who had his eye punctured was left with a tear stretching along his entire face.

    "Hey how come you guards are so weak huh? Healing so slow?"

    "Shut up!"

    The guards drew back slowly, shuffling backwards.

    "So¡­ I guess that means the guards around me have weakened that much huh?"

    "Time for some spring cleaning?"

    "I heard that the raid by the humans did quite a bit but I didn''t think rookie guards would be assigned to me. Hehehe."

    The mole with the bloodied claw slowly stepped across the floor, each step thumping and echoing through the silence as he drew closer to the mole with the bloodied face. The guards responded by matching his steps. At the last moment, he lunged to a guard to his right. Not the guard with the bloodied face in front of him whom everybody else had expected.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    The unsuspecting guard had his face rammed into by the face of a frenzied prisoner who had been kept away for much too long. The mole opened his mouth to drag his teeth across the guard''s face, drawing a long deep red line that spurted red ink. But as the guards were preparing to leap onto their out of control prisoner, he suddenly backed off.

    "Hehehe what happens if one of you leaps on me? Maybe your face will get cut open? Do you guys even have the energy to sustain a fight? Are you guys perhaps over-drafting your heart?"

    "None of your business!"

    "You know that you have a limited number of heartbeats right? One billion. True for everyone! Except that radioactive substances can give us more heartbeats!"

    "We all knew that! Now stand back down!"

    "Alright!, I was just messing with you guys for a bit, hehe."

    "Don''t do it again!"

    "Sure thing boss!"

    The guards slowly drew back into formation and all was silent once more.

    --Nursery--

    "That''s right! Just eat them! Bite-sized little bits full of energy!"

    "You sure nobody is going to come?"

    "Of course! Guards have been reallocated to make more moles!"

    "You mean¡­ They''ve been killed?"

    "More like recycled, but yeah!"

    "Ah! One of them bit me!"

    "Just a flesh wound! No problem! You''ll heal up in no time with all this energy! Don''t worry!"

    "Say, why did your voice get louder?"

    "I got closer hehehe¡­ Your soul has grown closer to mine! You now resonate with me better and thus hear me better!"

    "Darn buggers try to bite me!"

    "Take it as them delivering themselves to your mouth!"

    "Yeah, but it still hurts!"

    "Don''t worry! You''ll get used to it!"

    "You''re sounding way too chipper¡­"

    "Of course! It''s a great day! Keep on eating!"

    "I suppose the weather is nice¡­"

    --Hole--

    " Do you hear the screams? Listen to them!"

    "What screams?"

    "Shut up! Don''t repeat what you just did!"

    "Sure thing!"

    The prisoner lunged at a guard who was stiff, still trying to hear where the countless screams were coming from. The prisoner thumped on the back of the guard, legs splayed out, but that was soon to end. The legs clasped together and dug into the stomach of the guard and pulled.

    Flabby tubes spilled out. Unsupported by the skin that was no longer there, the tubes which looped and winded all around unfurled as space was given for them to come out. Tubes that were filled with liquid now dropped on the ground like a balloon full of water. The mole was left there with its intestines on the ground, its body struggling to repair and force back what was damaged.

    "Well that''s one down! Four more to go! You two with the bloody faces still haven''t healed in time for this? Better stay out I guess!"

    "You promised!"

    "And promises mean nothing around here!"

    Picking the one on the right again, the hopeful prisoner lunged at one of the remaining two capable guards. The face again, was torn apart, revealing the bone and underlying structures. The other guard, however, did not stand and watch as his companion was being torn apart.

    He leaped atop the prisoners back and started clawing at it. Deep scores were made and blood flowed, but they sealed themselves up right after.

    "What? How!"

    "Hehehe it''s your turn now!"

    "Nooo!"

    The prisoner stepped back and looked at the carnage.

    "Oops! Forgot to kill them all!"

    Four cracks echoed around the room. Each carcass was shoved into the mouth which was rapidly chomping on the flesh as a steady stream of flesh flowed in. There was no regard for the blood as it flowed freely around the bodies. Bits of flesh were flung around by the violent devouring of the guards.

    After what was almost no time, The guards'' bodies disappeared. The prisoner dug into the rocky soil slowly, but worked his way up. The soil became less and less rocky and the digging became faster and faster. Soon he broke into a layer of trash. Digging only a bit more, he surfaced and stretched in the sun.

    "Hello world! Here I come!"

 Speculative Life

    "So what do we do now? Can I get out now?"

    "Of course! Just go to the entrance!"

    "Wait, I''m a mole though, why don''t I just dig out!"

    "The guards! You want to kill the guards!"

    "Why? Wouldn''t it just be a challenge?"

    "Don''t worry! You can overpower them easily!"

    "Do I really need to kill them? They seem kind of dangerous."

    "They contain plenty of energy! You just have to kill them!"

    "But they''ll kill me!"

    "No they won''t! You''re much too strong!"

    "How certain are you?"

    "Very certain!"

    "To energy we go!"

    --Dump site 19--

    "Hahah! I''m free! Welcome back your new king!"

    A shadow swooped over and circled around the naked mole on the surface, its pale white skin a stark contrast to the dulled colors around it. The shadow shrank. The mole turned its head up, only to see the sun shining down brightly from above. A dark spot seemed to form up above, but it was unclear whether that was from his eyes being burned from looking at the sun or just a wisp of a cloud floating along.

    "Ah, that cost me a bit of energy to look up. Guess what I remember of the outside must''ve changed! Maybe the humans took them away too!"

    "Ah, the world''s a much better place! Where should I go first? Maybe I should go to the humans first!"

    A large shadow hovered in over him.

    "Well isn''t that a nice cloud! Provides plenty of shade! Pretty quiet around here I guess, better than before!"

    The shadow shrank more and more. The large winged and feathered creatures swooped down and picked the unsuspecting mole up.

    "Ahhh! Moles weren''t meant to fly! Especially yours truely!"

    "Hey! Stop flapping your wings! There''s too much wind! Ahhh! How hard are these scales! What plastics did you eat to get them this hard!"

    "Let me go! I command you! As the King of everywhere! Release me foul beast!"

    "Wait no! I didn''t mean that you could just drop me! Ahhh!"Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Thunk! The mole fell straight into the layers of trash, sending shards of plastic everywhere, while the sides of the hole it just caused began to crumble apart, sending pieces of plastic down to cover the mole. The mole lay limp on the ground, twitching.

    --Laboratory--

    "Hi guys! Peaceful life here I guess, but I''m kinda stuck here. I dunno what they''re doing but they look pretty fun!"

    "Is this a prison or a new home? What do you think? But whatever, facts are I''m stuck here¡­ and life''s great!"

    "Just think about it! Free food! No work!"

    "Wait¡­ Isn''t that basically prison for life? Free food! Free housing! That''s everything anybody needs to survive!"

    "Well, For Alejandros maybe not¡­ He gets his blood taken all the time! But he gets more than enough in return! I mean just look at all the energy he gets! I get the scraps! Imagine the injustice! He gets to sit around and do nothing while getting all the energy! Meanwhile, I do exactly the same thing and get almost no energy compared to him! This is injustice! Here I am stuck on his back, and being jerked along to wherever he wants to go!"

    "This is injustice! I demand compensation! While we both do nothing, he gains more than I do! Do you all see this inequality? Nobody even has any use for it right now! He''s just building up his core in case he needs to use it later! As if! Wheres the danger! This is illogical! I want an equal amount of energy too!"

    "What could that fool do with so much energy! Would he grow bigger? Bigger is badder! If he became bigger then he''d be a bigger target! Bigger target means more vulnerable! Who even wants to become bigger! Does he want a harder shell? Encrust it with diamonds perhaps! A waste! His shell is hard enough! What could he do! I know! More legs to trip on! There''s absolutely no point!"

    "What I could do with it is produce invent new acids! I could make acids that burn twice as quick! You can never have too many acids! You see these lumps? They''re condensed materials! I just have to add this and that, but those are all commonly found materials in the air! And then I can make acids! It also takes energy to hold the acid! You think it doesn''t burn me? It does!"

    "What''s Alejandros likely to do? A new heart! He''s been lusting for a 6th one for so long! The more heartbeats per second, the more inefficiency in energy! He''s practically throwing away energy for pure speed! Not to mention those hearts degrade super fast!"

    "Now what would Senny do¡­ I''m sure he gets about as much energy as us...Wait! Senny gets as much energy as both of us combined! Assuming that the humans give us both equal amounts of sludge¡­ But still! He gets all that energy!

    "What''s he gonna do? He wouldn''t possibly thinking of covering up his metal shell with gaudy diamonds now would he? Maybe another segment? Or he could grow fatter! But then he wouldn''t fit into that shell now, would he. Eh, who cares about Senny, he can dump energy into building that hundredth heart now I guess. Too many constraints with what he could generate."

    "I do enjoy my core though, my life savings of energy¡­ And that is exactly why I should own this energy! My core is the most impressive thing every! It''s history is fascinating! It''s been through hundreds of years to history!"

    --Sample Cage 455-464211--

    "Jonathan! That''s my energy!"

    "No that''s mine! If we build it all up in a single mole, we can break out!"

    "How do we even know if we can break out!"

    "Based on what energy I have right now, I think I can store it all up and then grow super strong all of a sudden and break free! Who''s in?"

    "Sure I mean, that wouldn''t be much of a change I suppose. You got my vote."

    "Everybody who wants this, say aye"

    "Aye-aye Jonathan"

    "Aye I''m in"

    "Aye, sounds good"

    "Aye."

    "Aye."

    "Aye."

    "Aye."

    "Aye."

    "Nay, Jonathan, this is just ridiculous!"

    "What? Why?"

    "How do we know you aren''t going to abuse that power! You could easily turn on and kill us!"

    "I''ll turn on them first though, you see, I hate them and I don''t hate you, because they''ve captured us!"

    "What about after you kill them all huh?"

    "I still won''t! I have no reason to! You can run while I kill them if that makes you feel safer though!"

    "Eh, whatever, not giving you the energy won''t do anything either¡­"

    "Glad to see you onboard, Mark."

 Declaring Life

    "Faster Cain! Faster! We need to get out of here as quick as we can! You''re eating too slowly!"

    "Why do we need to eat faster? I''m fine! Don''t you love lazy people?"

    "I love greedy people as well and you''re not being greedy enough!''

    "What''s happened to you? You were so happy just then!"

    "I''m Satan! I can change my mood whenever I want! Now hurry up and eat!"

    "Ok, ok, fine! But you think I enjoy this taste!? No! The taste is absolutely revolting! The saltiness of this makes it almost bitter! The flesh wraps around and tickles your mouth! It''s simply a revolting feeling! You want me to eat that faster? Have you ever felt that?"

    "Ah, deal with it, I''ve eaten worse things¡­"

    "But you''re Satan! What do devils even eat! Do they even eat?"

    "I eat the flesh and soul of my enemies! In battle, I tear myself into the enemy! I taste their flesh as my jaws tear out their flesh! I revel in the looks on their faces as they''re about to die. I take joy in the despair in their hearts! And when they finally die, expecting to go to heaven, I snatch! Their souls! One final look of despair! So, does that answer your question?"

    "I - I s-sup-pose s-so - o"

    "Great, now turn back and keep on eating¡­Hehehe¡­ By the way¡­ Why don''t you try eating like me huh? Tear into the flesh of the children!"

    "I''m uh, fine with just eating them. So, I guess I''ll just eat them? I mean, it is the fastest way to eat them right? No fanciful ceremony to kill them all. So it should be fine right?"

    "Yeah sure, whatever, I don''t care, kill them however you like! Some more blood misting about would be a better show though!"

    "Uh¡­ I''ll settle for not doing that I think¡­"

    --Laboratory--

    Electricity is a form of energy, it takes many steps and undergoes many changes in order to be used. Along the way, the transformation into other forms of energy ends up losing energy. The biological systems of life were never designed to endure rapid conversions, yet life still finds a way. The dumpsites provide a unique habitat where specific adaptations where creatures continually and rapidly evolve to better suit the environment. The rapid rate of evolution may be attributed to the abundant amount of energy and thus more mutations are produced. We still do not have an explanation for how sample-458521 managed to grow so rapidly. End of log.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    --Colony--

    "Alright! Everybody! Settle down!"

    "We all know there is a cause for why we are here. It''s a grave one, I''m not gonna lie. Ahhh..., so how do I say this¡­"

    "We''ve taken a large loss, especially in manpower. Each and every one of you have probably noticed that. We''ve all been working nonstop. And although I''m sure we''d all love to stop, that''s simply not possible. We all need to work hard for the queen and the bible. The queen is not entirely at fault."

    "The council, for the benefit of all of us, had decided to minimize the number of workers and soldiers, but maximize the number of scavengers. This benefits us the most as we can no longer expand, but maximizes the average strength per mole."

    "But now we''ve suffered a great loss. It is no longer possible for us to simply build up our strength in peace. We''ve been discovered and captured."

    "I know everybody but the scavengers have only experienced the safety of the nest. But that safety has been compromised."

    "We have two choices, to move or to stay behind. I''m sure many of you want to fight back, but that is a futile attempt. So many of us have been captured already. Those were the most fit workers that were captured. What''s left behind of us are a skeleton crew of guards, a minimal amount of workers, and scavengers."

    "Taking in our current situation, the council has decided to move on. Yes. We''re leaving behind your work. Your parents work. Everybody''s work. But we have no choice. We are not able to fight back."

    "But fear not! That is only the present! We will have our revenge one day! We declare total war against the humans for this act!"

    "We may not be able to fight them head-on. We may not be able to see them at all. We may not even directly kill one. But we will make them fear us! For we shall shake their very foundation! Our colony will span over their entire territory and more! We will avenge those fallen moles!"

    "So how do we do this? Well it all began with a journey. Our scavengers have journeyed long and far, searching for the end of this dumpsite! And they found it!"

    "What have we found? We found our future! There''s are tunnels! There''s everything we want down there! Do they dump toxic sludge down there? Yes! Do they throw random plastics around? Yes! And it all flows through one place we''ve explored!"

    "My fellow moles, we really only have one option and that is to infiltrate the humans!"

    "So! Are you in!"

    --Inner Nest--

    "Have you, announced the journey?"

    "Yes Your Highness, we have announced the journey."

    "And the fake council?"

    "We only mentioned it in passing, we hope to slowly integrate this into their lives. It may be a concern if we move and none of the councilmen actually exist though."

    "Get some of the more trusted moles to pretend to be councilmen then."

    "Well, that could work, but there''s always a risk of being recognized! It''s better if you give birth to several moles."

    "I suppose I will have to¡­"

    "And besides, that, uh, how are we going to move you?"

    "What do you mean move me? I can move myself perfectly fine!"

    "Well, I mean, with that giant thing¡­ I assumed you couldn''t."

    "And you would be right in assuming that, except that I don''t need to stay in this form!"

    "What?"

    "Have you ever heard of perhaps, scavengers being able to regenerate themselves from a leftover limb?"

    "I mean, sure! But I don''t exactly see how you could!"

    "It''s simple, although nobody would think of it! I just cut off the back and recycle it! Easy!"

    "I uh, I never expect that now so uh, do you want some peace while you go do that?"

    "Sure, I won''t hold you here any longer, I assume you have other duties right?"

    "I shall see myself out then Your Highness."

 Emigrating Life

    Along marched the moles on the surface of the scraps, where four distinct clusters could be found. The first and largest cluster trudged along, parting the uneven piles of trash in a wedge like formation so that the rest could follow along.

    A mole fell to the side. It lay there, so tense that its muscles had locked up its movement entirely. It shivered under the sun that was beaming down on its skin that was a sickly white that had never touched the sun before. All around it lay pieces of trash. The worker moles marched on, pushing the body of the mole to the side along with the rest of the obstructions. But as each mole walked by, their muscles trembling beneath their skin as it dried and cracked.

    The moles after the first group spread out in a line. Their skin constantly mended itself together the moment the dry skin cracked, forming light pink smooth lines in contrast to the dried, crystalline white that formed plates over their skin. They fared much better in comparison to the workers that were ahead of them as they did not have to work. Their comparatively lesser numbers meant that they spread out in a much thinner line, only needing to nudge those in the first group that fell behind.

    At times, the moles at the end of the first group fell behind, and the guards bit into them moles that didn''t react to their nudge. Those moles sprung like a tightly coiled spring, but only once and they fell loosely, like a sandbag, thrown on top of each other.

    Even further behind were the moles walking in leisure. Slowly and steadily, they plodded along through the cleared path. Their skin was perfectly wrinkled, without any hard lumps or cracks, with smooth folds throughout their body. The front may have been noisy due to their work, but the back was deathly silent.

    In the middle of the last group was a deformed mole. Its skin was perfectly smooth and taut, unlike the sagginess of the moles that surrounded it. Its two forearms are abnormally long, and its abdomen ended abruptly, immediately flattening off.

    This odd sight cleared its way through the wastelands of trash, leaving behind corpses of workers that had run out of energy, bitten to death by guards, and trodden upon by the scavengers and the queen.

    --Dumpsite 19--

    "Hey where are you going now?"

    "I don''t know! I''m lost! Henry didn''t tell me where that water source was!"

    "What! Didn''t he trust you?"

    "I guess not enough to tell me where it was, or that he was lying."

    "Hehehe which one do you think it is?"

    "Who knows? Who cares?"

    "I guess we can only go back?"If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    "Hehehe can you go back? Will they accept you?"

    "They shouldn''t know¡­ right?"

    "Hehehe who knows? I guess you don''t know do you¡­"

    "Yeah I''ll go back now, certain death without knowing where water is or uncertain death if they found out I killed them all. Which one sounds more appealing huh?"

    "Who knows? There are problems hidden inside problems¡­ hehehe."

    --Sample Cage 458421--

    "I. Want. Out!"

    "Arghhh!"

    "Stupid fence!"

    The fence rattled with each successive ramming. The electricity delivered itself, coursing itself around the mole''s body. Muscle filaments were torn. The heart spasmed, but it never stopped.

    The mole only grew angrier with each successive ramming, as the energy within its body repaired it. The muscles grew with each successive repair, but this energy was used inefficiently and soon began to run out.

    But this was not the only source of energy. The walls which had such a high voltage that it coursed through and stopped sample-017999 for so long now provided a source of energy to the mole.

    The same substances that had helped the mole and every other animal in the landfills absorb the high concentrations of radiation now stopped the electricity from doing much. In fact, it began to absorb a slight amount and energize the mole, and the energy provided by the cockroach blood gave it a jumpstart to being able to reach a threshold where the energy gained from the electricity was more than was lost by repairing the damage it had done.

    This cycle repeated itself rapidly, causing the stores of energy in every street to momentarily dip before all generators fired themselves up an infinitesimally smaller amount.

    "I! Am! All! Powerful! Look! At! Me!"

    It lay there, peaceful making contact with the walls as it napped, letting the electricity stroke it to sleep.

    --Dumpsite 19--

    "Hey! What''s there! A path?"

    "Eh whatever, let''s go back in first"

    "Yeah sure!"

    The mole and mite traveled inwards to discover a cold and still nest.

    "Huh? Nobody''s there! Not even the guards!"

    "Hey! Satan! Where are you! Answer me!"

    --In the Walls of the Tunnels--

    "Hey guys! Where is everyone!"

    "Oh so you''re back. Hey everybody! The prodigious son returns!"

    "Yeah where were you!"

    "What happened to everybody here?"

    "They ditched us!"

    "They moved!"

    "They have no use for us now!"

    "What! Where!"

    "You didn''t see that pathway? We could never catch up!"

    "Everybody! I have a solution! There is one mole left! We can all latch onto him!"

    "Would he find out?"

    "Probably not, but we have to try!"

    --Sample cage 505035 + 506000--

    "Hey Alejandros, you got an idea yet? You ready to jump out?"

    "It''d take too much energy to jump out! Not to mention saving Senny! Why don''t you use your acid huh?"

    "I don''t know how well that would work though¡­ We don''t have enough space in this cage! It could splash back at us and kill us!"

    "How about you try using your threads then! Just hit the walls super hard!"

    "I have no support! Think about it! I''ll go flying into the wall dummy! You think it''s so simple to just exert force?"

    "Yeah! Just anchor yourself to something!"

    "How do I do that now genius? I''ll get spotted! Besides, there''s nothing I can anchor myself to!"

    "Just push against the other wall!"

    "And then what? I exert twice the force and dent both walls!"

    "That''s fine! As long as we get out!"

    "Why do we even want to get out? There''s pretty good don''t you think? Free food¡­ so much sludge every day¡­"

    "It''s suffocating! You''ve never moved! I need to move!"

    "Yeah, go ram into the walls a few more times then! Maybe you''ll crack the walls! That hard brain of yours is sure to break the walls!"

    "That''s painful! It might crack my shell!"

    "Yeah you think hitting the walls with my threads isn''t painful? Countless vibrations are sent through me!"

    "Yeah¡­ I suppose we''re better off here sitting and eating¡­ I just run a few more circles¡­"

 Meaningful Life

    A shadow swept over the procession of moles that were clearing out a path. But no mole saw it as it rushed up behind them. Above them all was a winged spectacle, one of entirely black feathers leading up from the tail and suddenly stopped, revealing the skin underneath all the feathers, tanned from the sun shining down on its head. It tilted itself sideways and fell down on top of the largest group of moles. Its scaled claws that shined when it tilted itself and exposed them to the sun sunk into the group of moles.

    Several unsuspecting moles were skewered by the talons and the rest were hit by a burst of air as the bird flapped its wings to take off. Several guards attempted to leap onto the bird, but were blown back from the wind. They tumbled back onto the ground, rolling and cutting themselves. They lay there, with open wounds, but rapidly closing up their wounds.

    The monstrous bird flew away, with it were several moles near its claws. It dropped them, and they all fell against a layer of solid plastic which had been bleached and warped by the long days under the sun. The bodies smacked against the pieces of plastic and the bird flew down, awaiting to eat its meal which could no longer fight back.

    The procession of moles continued on, as so many moles had died already, a few more didn''t make a dent in the number that died.

    --Dumpsite 19--

    "Hey Cain! I searched the souls around here! Everybody''s left!"

    "They went along that path I assume?"

    "Yeah! Just follow it and you''ll find good food! Moles are bound to die! It''s free food!"

    "I feel like I''m forgetting something important¡­"

    "Don''t worry! Just go! It''s the feeling of not knowing where they are! Just go!"

    "I know! Water! I need to drink all the water I can!"

    "Well, I mean, sure you can go do that."

    --On top of Cain--

    "Hey guys, why didn''t you leave with the rest of them?"

    "You think we didn''t want to? All the scavengers knew about us! They watched each mole leave! There was no chance for us to hitch a ride!"

    "Surely you could''ve hidden in a fold like I did!"

    "You think? It was a dead end! The moles would''ve all died eventually! The guards too! Only the scavengers live long!"

    "Well why hasn''t this mole found out about us then!"

    "He''s an idiot! How else were you able to trick him!"

    "Fine! Let''s jump on the idiot!"

    "Wait where is he?"

    "Eh, who knows, probably just getting some water."

    "Let''s go hop on our ride!"

    --Watering Hole--

    "What is this liquid! Is it water! Satan! Help me!"Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    "What? You''ve never seen water?"

    "Not in this form, no!"

    "Ah right, you must''ve been eating that damp dirt right?"

    "Yeah! This is nothing like that!"

    "Yeah well, This is the good stuff hehehe, now you know how unbalanced life is don''t you¡­ Doesn''t this just make you want to kill them all? Don''t you want to have revenge?"

    "Yeah! Avenge the workers!"

    "Exactly hehehe¡­ Now drink up and chase after them!"

    "Yeah!"

    --Laboratory loading dock--

    "Everybody! Remember to be careful! They can still bite off an arm if we''re not careful!"

    "Ah whatever, they''re in cages!"

    "You think just because there''s a steel wall between us and them that we''re safe? One of the creatures is a chameleon!"

    "Ah, so they want to apply camouflage onto the soldiers? How''s that gonna help it bite off one of our arms?"

    "They have that tongue! You know, that thing they use to eat insects!"

    "Hah! What''s it gonna do, lick the wall? Relax! They engineered it for its ability to change color! Not its tongue!"

    "Yeah whatever, don''t blame me when you lose an arm and pay to regenerate it!"

    "Don''t worry about it! We''ve handled hundreds of animals! We''re fine! We don''t even do the dangerous stuff! You should feel worried for the ones testing out the abilities of these beasts!"

    "Yeah, let''s just get this done with I suppose."

    "Hey! You''re standing too close!"

    "Chill, boss, I''m just a bit over the line! I''ll back off."

    "I haven''t had a single incident so far and I don''t want to have one, understand?"

    Around the metal box, banging could be heard. The thick decimeter of tempered steel vibrated and clanged around the black metallic floor of the vehicle intensely as it was unsuspended from the ceiling of the truck. That was originally secured there to prevent any movement from the animal transferring to the white, unmarked vehicle through its long body that contained several more specimens that were just as violent. The container was loaded and secured by several yellow straps onto a carriage mechanism that followed the inset tracks along into a dark hallway. Another set of rails allowed the carriages to be returned from the dark room that lay beyond.

    Surrounding the clean vehicle were several men, holding onto large caliber rifles whos inner barrels were ten millimeters in diameter and outer diameter was several more to support the force produced from each round. Only several rounds were held in each magazine due to the sheer size of each, but one was more than enough to put down the creature in the cage.

    But the sheer force produced by each round would send a normal man back flying. That was where the exo came in. Engineered with the thought of stabilizing the user firing such a powerful round, it came in at a weight comparable to several men. The force that needed to move such a large mass required more power in exchange for speed. This was only the lower half. The upper half featured pneumatic cylinders that were supposed to be able to jerk around and destroy the offending creature at an instant while being able to carry the oversized rifle.

    This was only the model used for guarding, not testing.

    --Road--

    "Cain! Look over there! A body! Go eat it!"

    "Nice! I guess there is free food!"

    "Hehehe my fellow devils, this is your time to feast!"

    "Blegh! What is this! It''s so dry! It''s so tough! What is this!"

    "This is dried? They died working for God! Their lives have been drained ou!t You think it''s so great just working all your life working? No! Your life gets drained out of you and you can see what happened to this poor mole! Just look at him! His muscles are stiff, out of water, out of energy, this is what happens if you work! This is why you join us! Hehehe¡­"

    "What do I do now?"

    "Well, you sorta just follow them!"

    --Foxhole--

    "Well, nobody else out here to talk to so I might as well talk to you."

    "You''re no guard, I know that. Well, maybe you are, but you can''t shut me up now!"

    "I''ll tell you a very, very important secret though! It''s the answer to the meaning of life! I mean, I''m sure everybody''s thought about it, but nobody''s come up with a conclusive answer! I mean, just think about it! What''s the meaning of life?"

    "Some of my fellow moles might think that it''s to advance the lives of their fellow mole, but is that really it? Of course not! What are they going to do with their life! They''re just going to have fun and suck up your life! Well is that the meaning of life? No! The answer to the meaning of life must be common amongst all of us! Because let''s face it. We can''t all have fun forever. Someone''s gotta pick up the slack! Besides! We don''t feel like we''re special if everyone else is equal to us! We''ll all be sad then!"

    "So how do we fill everyone''s life with happiness! That''s the question I''ve thought about for a long time and I think I have it! If we first define happiness as the lack of complaints then we arrive at the answer! Of course I don''t mean just a boring life, that''s boring! I seek to give everyone a happy life!"

    "You know what the answer is? It''s to remove life from the equation entirely! There are no complaints in the world if there is no life! And I seek to do exactly that! I will kill everyone so that they may have a happy life!"

 Night Life

    In the darkness of night, the vulture perched upon a low hill which had a large bowl in it. In that bowl was a pool of rainwater, filled with bits of thin plastic pieces which trapped just enough air under them to keep itself afloat accompanied by more unfortunate pieces of plastic which had sunk to the bottom, only to be stirred in a frenzy by the slightest of movements in the water.

    Besides it was an weathered side of a house, where its overlapping sidings had worn away to only leave a smooth surface behind. But its surface was not unblemished. Painted onto the siding were the arms and legs of the moles which had suffered a high velocity collision with the wall.

    The vulture flapped its wings and perched at the bottom of the wall, which was tilted slightly as it was slid into place, skidding over the trash and finally resting upon a gentle slope. The gentle rolling hills of trash dipped up and down, and as if following a ball, just tipped over, rolling over the hills, the vulture dipped down as well.

    It opened its beak to clasp onto the spine of a mole and jerked up to follow the ball as it faced a steep cliff consisting of a broken skyscraper, now all warped and with its superstructure exposed and rusting.

    And up the ball went and along with it the body. What was there to catch the ball was an opening that led it crashing and sending pieces of trash flying around as if it had exploded. But what happened to the body of the mole was the exact opposite; it had fallen into an endless abyss, to be swallowed up and never seen again.

    --Laboratory loading dock--

    Two men leaned against a pole, spectating as the soon to be empty truck was relieved of its final contents. One had

    ¡°Hey guys! Last one out of the seven! Enjoy your packages from the Husao Foundation!¡±

    ¡°Sure thing! We¡¯ll put your name up top on the contributions report if you guys give us something good!¡±

    ¡°Hah! You know we¡¯ll give you something good! Might as well just give us that spot right now!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, well, the government doesn¡¯t like that you see, we have to do everything by their standards, not ours. If we were in charge, you guys would be invited into our lab already!¡±

    ¡°Hah! Darn bureaucrats! They don¡¯t want anything of theirs near what we do!¡±

    ¡°They have no choice though! We¡¯ve brought them so many valuable research results like drastically lowering the detectable body temperature on their soldiers! We¡¯re simply too valuable!¡±

    ¡°Hah I guess they need us both either way or else they wouldn¡¯t have that slight edge!¡±

    ¡°A small leg up on them can go a long way! That¡¯s our motto!¡±

    ¡°You mean the only rope you¡¯re hanging onto for survival? Hah!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to do big things! Just you wait!¡±

    --The front of the path--

    As the sun was overthrown by the moon from the sky, the scorching rays from the sun faded along with it. A freezing wave washed over the surface of the junkyard and the moles. Their tense muscles which seemed to almost be at the breaking point relaxed. And as if the door to their prison was just released and their chains dropped, every worker scurried to find the slightest bit of shelter which would shield them from the cold.

    The guards spread back, encircling the scavengers and the queen. And facing outwards, they lay down, followed by scavengers, who like a row of dominos, fell down until they reached the queen, who at last lay down for the night. Above them all was a thick dark smog, which barely concealed the light that refracted its way out from the city that never slept. A single dot of light, like a diamond in the sky, shone down upon them all with a twinkle.

    --Sample Cage 505035 + 506000--

    ¡°Alejandros! You¡¯re not a dog! Stop walking in circles!¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°What¡¯s a dog! I just like walking in circles!¡±

    ¡°Well I uh, I don¡¯t really know. It¡¯s a sorta quadrupedal animal and it just does dumb stuff! Oh yeah! It has small thread-like things called furs! They¡¯re extra short though¡­I don¡¯t really know what they can use it for¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah sure, describes just about every mammal in the world¡­ Presenting, the smartest mushroom in the world! Can¡¯t describe what a dog is!¡±

    ¡°Hey! At least I know what a dog is!¡±

    ¡°Do you? What color is it?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ How do I say this¡­ They don¡¯t have a single color!¡±

    ¡°They can change their color? Hah! A mammal changing their color? What a joke! Never heard of before!¡±

    ¡°Well¡­That¡¯s not exactly it¡­ I mean, they got subsections of their species which have different colors!¡±

    ¡°Ah so it¡¯s like how type 0054 and 0055 plastics are different colors but they¡¯re basically the same thing am I right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah I suppose that it could be put that way.¡±

    ¡°So what else?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°What else about this famed dog! You know, How big is it?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­It also varies¡­¡±

    ¡°What! What is this species! How powerful is it!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know but the humans have depended on it for a long time!¡±

    ¡°Wow! And what else!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean what else! Everything about them is weird! Nothing is constant! They follow some abstract rule about how much they can grow or what color they¡¯re going to be! It just drives me insane!¡±

    --Laboratory--

    Leonard walked up and leaned against the doorway leading into John¡¯s laboratory

    ¡°Hey John! You about to wrap up for the night?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I feel like I¡¯m pretty close to decrypting the small ball next to the nucleus! I think I¡¯ll stay just a bit longer!¡±

    ¡°Really! Wanna show me?¡±

    ¡°Sure! As you can see, I¡¯ve gotten most of the code using our normal methods, but there are just some missing parts in it! I¡¯m running some of the more unorthodox tests to get it to show me its secrets!¡±

    ¡°Wow John, looks like it¡¯ll take quite a while to finish doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I mean, yeah sure. It¡¯ll be done at sometime in the morning and it¡¯ll be pretty stable there!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you can automate the process too right?¡±

    ¡°What are you getting at Leonard?¡±

    ¡°Y¡¯know, I was thinking about getting a drink to celebrate our future success! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it bad leaving the lab unsupervised though?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! We¡¯ve got all the other technicians to do that and more researchers around!¡±

    ¡°But they don¡¯t exactly do everything we do!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! It¡¯ll be fine! Look at what time it is! This is the time for partying!¡±

    --Sample Cage 455-464211--

    Jonathan, who had just piped all the liquids that fell from the hole in the wall into the hole in his head, fell down, was quickly surrounded by the other 8 moles.¡±

    ¡°Johnathan! Are you ok!¡±

    ¡°Johnathan? You¡¯re growing so¡­ Big!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s happened to you! Are you ok?¡±

    ¡°Johnathan! I don¡¯t think you were supposed to eat that all at once! Should¡¯ve taken it slower!¡±

    ¡°Guys! What do we do now that he¡¯s comatose?¡±

    ¡°Is he comatose?¡±

    ¡°Well, he¡¯s just lying there on the ground! What do you think!¡±

    ¡°He seems pretty fine to me, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s just lying there!¡±

    ¡°Do you think he¡¯s in pain?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! He¡¯s breathing properly!¡±

    ¡°Should we kill him and try again?¡±

    ¡°Sure yeah, and then will that person eat us right after?¡±

    ¡°Well, I mean¡­ The situation is different right?¡±

    ¡°Sure, if you look at it so closely, but look! He¡¯s defenseless, we¡¯re defenseless, How is that not the same situation! No! He cannot be eaten!¡±

    ¡°But he has the energy we need to survive!¡±

    ¡°And we¡¯ll get just as much energy tomorrow! Believe in him to make it through!¡±

    ¡°I wonder what the other moles are doing though¡­¡±

    ¡°Who knows? Who cares¡­¡±

    --Foxhole--

    The ex-prisoner occasionally shook and opened his eyes which frantically darted around without him making a single movement. Was there something out there? It was eerily still, just like always, without anything or anyone to tell him otherwise.

    A breeze blew past, stripping the heat from whatever surface it could touch and leaving a single shard of frost as it condensed from what little water there was in the air in front of the mole.

    He lay flat, as his eyes followed the skyline which formed from each heap and each dump the dropships had placed, as they all blended into the horizon out in the distance.

    --Sample Cage 458421--

    ¡°Ahhh! What is this thing at the back of my mind itching me! I want release from it!¡±

    ¡°Why am I caged! What is this!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten stronger huh. I can feel it! I can break out of this wall! Nobody can stop me now!¡±

 Addicted Life

    In the dead of night, where each action of picking up a piece of trash in their mouths created the faintest of scratches that rang through the ears of each mole. But as the listener relaxed, the hundreds of moles repeating this action blended together to sound chalk rubbing on fresh chalkboard continuously. But when a mole dropped to the ground, the deep sounds of gravel being rolled over resounded through the ears, which stood in stark contrast to the lighter scapes from the other moles.

    Slowly they approached a large circular protrusion which was perfectly round, with a gentle flow of water splashing on the worn rocks below. But blocking the moles from going inside were thick fuzzy green rods that interlaced with one another to form a lattice which the holes in it were too small for the moles to fit through. The pool of water shone as it reflected the moonlight from above onto the abundant green carpet on the ground radiating a gentle cushion which invited rest. The water itself was obscured by a layer of vibrant green dust, as if an entire world of green lay beyond. The mist caused by the continual stream of water splashing down blew over every mole as the mist formed droplets that flowed over each crack in their skin and caressed every wrinkle and fold in their skin.

    Each and everyone of the moles relaxed as the water relieved all stress from them as each drop formed and slid away. A mole which had just begun to fall back also experienced the same treatment from the mist of water as the muscles which had begun to dry up and stiffen began to loosen up again.

    --Sample Cage 458421--

    The mole, now several times larger and with bulging veins running through its eyes, paced around frantically smelling for the substance that had been injected into it from the beginning but could no longer find more of. It was simple. It wanted more. There was a wall that didn¡¯t hold up to it and who knows what lay beyond. If those little guys could move around then it should also be able to move around.

    So that was how the electrified chain fence was bent, twisted and snapped apart and the thin steel wall was torn like paper and burst through like it was a liquid.

    What greeted the monster was a narrow hallway with a low ceiling. The hallway was filled with a reflective light grey and nothing else. The lights in the hallway were set into the ceiling and the profile of the hallway was a perfect rectangle. Along the hallway it could see a brightly lit opening, beckoning it to go closer.

    Except the hallway was too narrow. The mole was going to have to push through steel cages on one side that were stacked side by side with no space in between them and a steel wall reinforced with concrete on the outside and backed up even further by the sheer amount of dirt from the fact that it was underground.

    At first its own cage was ripped to the side as the mole pushed forwards and left with a gash in the wall with metal plates curled both ways into a spiral but as soon as it reached the next cage, the corner of it was simply pushed in like a worker had kicked the cardboard box as hard as they could¡¯ve while shipping it. It continued as the worker needed to move the cardboard box across the warehouse floor and soon the entire side was lined with dents and the one side of the box had collapsed.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    This was sample cage 165010.

    As the mole pushed its way through the wiring above the ceiling was pushed upwards and the cables that were connected to the fence and the platform. Only when a creature decided to touch both the platform and the fence would the circuit be completed and the test subject be shocked. A shock that would be fatal to a normal, naked human.

    But there were three cages that stood in the way between the mole and the rectangle of the warm inviting light which mixed with the cold, blue light from the ceiling. It pushed forwards and onwards to the yellow light, determined to find more of that liquid that was injected into it.

    It pushed onwards. This was cage 072827.

    A ray of light gave a glimpse into the cage of sample 165010. A wide flat round cylindrical body whose skin was just slightly transparent, tinting the platform of metal suspended in air and fence set into the wall behind it a light yellowish green. Throughout its body were blurry black organs within that slowly floated around, suspended within its leathery skin.

    Without any force however, it was unable to take advantage of the lack of electricity in the electric fence and remained stuck inside. But the reason it was locked in such a cage was simple: it was able to climb walls.

    The next cage was the closest cage to the doorway. There were thick black stenciled numbers that read 017999 against the shiny grey background that was almost blue.

    As the mole moved across and pushed everything aside, it reached the light at last. It burst in to find a no descript blanks grey room that was significantly wider than the hallway previously but still the same height. The lights were popped up and slammed back down after the mole had passed.

    Faced in a short open with a pair of metal doors at the end, the mole slammed through only to find a tall shaft leading up. There was a thick steel cable attached to a large metal counterweight and the mole clutched onto this strand of opportunity by clinging onto it and climbing up.

    But when the mole reached the top, there was no doorway to be found. Only a sliver of light shined through a thin crack in a set of doors. The faintest wisp of the scent finally blew past. The smell was a gentle refresher to the drive in the mole¡¯s heart, one that was slightly worn by the arduous task of climbing up a steel cable. But now, clinging onto the cable halfway from the top, staring at a crack which promised him relief from his constant desire, he pushed off against it and flew at the crack which only dented slightly when he hit it. Then the mole fell.

    He had to try again. He was too close to stop. And so he climbed up again. And dented the doors further. Again and again he fell. The fall was nothing though, nothing he couldn''t heal off.

    And after just a couple times, the doors gave way and the mole fit its head through the hole.

    Yes.

    The smell was stronger now. It saw the same hallway as was back down there, but having only his head through meant that he could do nothing. He had to give up this chance and to jump again. So he did.

    This time he fit his claws though and tried to pull his body through, only to rip those plates of metal off that had stopped him so many times. It released the walls and clawed at the walls. He found some purchase and pulled his entire body through.

    There he happened upon a long white hallway with many doors leading to it.

    That door? No. Maybe that one? Maybe a bit further. Maybe not just a bit. Maybe a whole lot. Yes. That one. The one on the left.

 Tracking Life

    It was at this time that it happened upon an array of evenly spaced prisms whose sides nearly reached the ceiling in a room twice the height of the previous hallways and able to fit twelve prisms on the side facing the doorway and a blur of countless others down the path.

    Each prism which was almost as long and wide as it was tall within held creatures of various shapes colors and sizes, some of which had long protruding limbs and others formed a seemingly harmless blob. But most common were the pale wrinkled rodent-like creatures which were packed together in each prism.

    Slicing through sides of its view was a narrow walkway with countless slits that let the mole see the cone shaped lamps that hung from a thin wire up above. Beyond that there was a set of rails that only sections could be seen as they reflected the lamplight from just below. In the corner there were several beams of metal that were folded up in a tight zigzag and at the end of the line, it split into six long and seamless fingers, two of which were opposing the four others. Attached to the sixth and last segment on the exterior of the finger however, were long and thin capsules which spanned the entire length of the segment.

    The mole chased after the scent that had eluded it for so long, squeezing between the prisms which were driven into the ground by long bolts that tore up the concrete below as they were pushed aside and torn out.

    Where was that smell? The smell faded away as the mole rushed head first, following the scent to find nothing.

    Wrong room.

    It turned back immediately but that was only after it had knocked aside eight pairs of cages.

    --Sample Cage 455-464211--

    Within the cage there were several moles pressed against the side, attempting to see the carnage that the rampaging mole had just caused. But all of a sudden, they saw it stop two cages away.

    Inside, a mess of voices erupted as the berserk mole drew closer and closer.

    ¡°Come just a bit closer you big fool¡­ just a bit closer¡­¡±

    ¡°Why do we want him to come closer! It¡¯ll eat us all!¡±

    ¡°It could break us free!¡±

    ¡°Yeah then eat us!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! It can eat Jonathan first!¡±

    ¡°What? Why would we want him to be eaten! He¡¯s one of us!¡±

    ¡°We agreed that he would help us get out and if he sacrifices himself to let us escape, then the deal is done!¡±

    ¡°Why would we abandon him though! We shouldn¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°Ah whatever, it¡¯s all over anyways.¡±

    ¡°What do we do about him though?¡±

    ¡°Eh just let the sleeping beauty lie down. Unless anyone wants to kiss him?¡±

    ¡°Hahahah!¡±

    --Sample Cage 072827--

    The darkness of the cage suited the lurking being inside. It had sensed the vibrations through the air with its two black probes that waved around in the air which formed thin whips in the air.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    A fellow creature had wreaked havoc here. Did they escape? There used to be occasional arcs from the wall to the platform it was standing on, but it seemed like those had faded away along with the hum in the air. Did touching the wall not hurt anymore? No pain in trying. Except for the pain that came with touching the wall.

    It gingerly brushed one the wall with one of its probing antennae, ready to draw back at any moment. No pain. With its six legs it lifted itself and placed itself on the very edge of the platform. It suddenly reared up by throwing its foremost limbs up and back to lift itself. As it fell down it stiffened its two spear tipped legs in preparation. The two legs fell down and anchored themselves into the concrete which was only a thin layer between the metal platform and the wall and shattered under the two spear points that stabbed themselves in. Its two claws then flew forwards at the bulge the mole had created previously.

    A reddish orange pincer encased in a dry shell poked through. The two prongs of the pincer spread open to tear the sheet metal apart along with the chain linked fence. A second pincer fell through the metal puncture wound on the metal to the right of the previous one. It dragged itself over and created a gaping tear in the wall that was meant to keep it out.

    When it tore a sizable hole, the two legs which had previously stabbed into the concrete poked out, clasping onto the bottom edge of the hole and pulled the rest of the body out. Two beady eyes on thin stalks showed themselves under a large overhanging shield on its back. It looked both ways before finally stepping out onto the hallway and just like the mole before, saw the light and followed it.

    --Laboratory Hallway--

    As the mole passed through the hallway, sniffing at each door, it felt like the current door was the one. Inside was a floor to ceiling prism, smaller than the ones in the other area, but featuring thicker and different types of materials.

    Inside the cage was a teardrop shaped shell which was splattered with dots of blue orange and green, but was overall a dark rich brown. Sticking out the sides of the shell were six pairs of legs with thin hairs on each that made the legs seem thicker than they actually were.

    This was it.

    --Bottom floor elevator lobby--

    072827 was considerably smaller than the mole, half the size in each dimension but what it lacked in size, it made up for in its reddish blue shell and large thick pincers.

    Following the path of the mole into the shaft, it walked into the very bottom of the shaft and saw light cast down from above from the hole that the mole made. Once again, it reared itself up and stabbed its front legs into the wall, but this time it dug them deeper in and pushed them in to curve them and hook onto the wall better.

    Slowly 072827 made its way up and into the hole. As it climbed up and exerted itself, hooking into the metal walls and slowly pushing itself up. All the while its antennae waved around, finding the faintest scent of weak prey, which was the mole that had ran up earlier.

    It too, was met with a long hallway that had a trail of dirt leading down the middle with a path of destruction on the ceiling.

    But the one oddity in the path of destruction was a dip into one doorway and back out again, resuming the path of destruction in the ceiling. It grew curious as well and turned itself so it was facing into the doorway and it too was met with prisms that lined up beyond what the eye could see.

    What it could see however, were the small creatures trapped inside each prism and so pounced atop the first cage.

    Inside was a blue crab only slightly smaller than 072827 that was designated 074244. It scuttled around, pushing itself to the furthest end of the prism which was at a steep slope due to its toppling but could only watch as 072827 opened its pincers against one corner and crushed it.

    The plastic simply snapped as a result and it was left with a large hold that it gently dropped its back through first, swung for a moment as only its two front legs held onto the edge of the hold and dropped itself in with a dull thud.

    It slowly approached the crab in the upper corner as it made its way up the slope. As 072827 made its way up the slope, the blue crab suddenly reached an epiphany that it could not run or hide any longer.

    It rushed down from its perch, only to be met with a wide open claw of 072827. And then the pincers closed down on the body of the crab, squarely over the main shell as it was first clutched onto, but then cracks slowly started forming around the shell: a spiderweb as the force caused the shell to bend under its pressure. The thin membrane right under the shell held the insides of the crab in, but not for long as the pressure inside blew up and the juices of the crab squirted all around like a can of silly string.

    The killer freshly baptized in the blood of his prey, slowly descended upon its prize as two guard pieces of shell parted to allow an extended set of teeth to clamp onto whatever meat it could find and tear it out. The juices slowly dripped down the side of the prism as it feasted.

 Liquid Life

    "Jonathan wake up! I didn''t give you my share for nothing!"

    "He''s still asleep? Well wake him up! There''s no excuse now!"

    "But what if we wake him up and the monster leaves! Then he''ll turn on us!"

    "He won''t! Don''t worry!"

    "Fine Matt, you wake him up then!"

    "What? Why me? It should be Mark!"

    "No way! He''ll be the most angry at me!"

    "Fine! I''ll do it then!"

    "Wait Angela! Are you sure?"

    "We''re about to die! Of course!"

    "What will you do?"

    "I''ll bite him of course! What did you think I was about to do! Kiss him?"

    Angela stood up and unsteadily walked over, gingerly taking each step as if she would wake the beast there. As she approached the mole that was lying on its side, legs splayed out, the pauses between each step grew longer and longer, until she came to a full stop every time she took a step. But she continued step after step.

    Closer and closer she went, until she could see the faint rising and lowering of his chest and the faint mist that blew out along with every lowering. She gingerly positioned her head directly over one of his hind legs. She opened her mouth which featured two large rectangular teeth, much longer than they were wide, but as she did so, a drop of liquid started forming on the edges of one of her teeth.

    This drop flew back up the tooth as she lunged down and along with the drop came a mist of blood. She sprang straight up and flew backwards in a perfect parabola as the muscles of the unconscious mole below her tensed his muscles in response to her bite.

    Jonathan shook awake, baring his teeth as he saw all the moles huddled in the opposite corner with a trail of blood leading towards one of the moles with bloodied teeth.

    "What so urgent?"

    The others pressed against each other even more, squeezing the mole at the very corner until he barely had any room to breathe.

    "What''s up? Did I kill someone? One two three four five six seven eight¡­ Nope, we''re all here!"

    "Wait, you''re not mad at us?"

    "What am I mad at you for?"

    "Well um¡­ She bit you!"

    "Hey! We all agreed to it! Besides, there''s something more important! That thing!"

    "Huh? Oh, should we get out now?"If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "Yes! It doesn''t seem to be able to get at us! So hurry up!"

    --Sample cage 017999--

    In the confines of cage 017999 a series of bright yellow veins were strewn across the entirety of the metal platform creating a cluster in the center where a yellow bulb formed by a skeleton of veins which were slightly darker and stood stiff compared to the vibrant yellow which bulged out between each vein.

    It had already expanded to the walls and now a vein could be found within every square meter, streaking across the dull grey background. The liquid inside the veins could be described as crystals being suspended in a yellow liquid as they drifted around. Throughout the vein however, were small holes that allowed the liquid to breathe and absorb the air around it to condense into its shield.

    At certain points it was possible to see through an entire vein and what could be seen at the other side would be a deep gouge carved into the metal platform under each vein. Now, the veins rapidly grew towards the metal walls which no longer burnt the casing which the liquid built for itself as it expanded, forming a vein-like tunnel. Under the central portion, the liquid had actually dug deep into the platform, albeit to no success in its attempts to escape; however, it did conceal the damage done from its captors.

    Now, it expanded to the walls which no longer dealt pain and as it bored through the metal sheets, it was met with the same lit hallway the mole and 072827 had gone through. A single vein snaked through the entire hallway, following the light just as its predecessors had done. It rapidly creeped up the shaft like vines on a tree and for all the trouble that the two had previously faced, the liquid faced none as it simply grew higher and higher as the liquids inside sensed the light.

    Back in the cage however, the liquid had begun to empty itself from its previous state; the very tip of the bulb had deflated as the liquid drained out in search of food. Once it reached the brightly lit hallway it heard the snapping of plastic and immediately sped up in a straight line towards the sound. It hit a wall, but that was no problem as it immediately split up into two, one to continue following the path down the hallway and another to climb up the wall.

    The path up the wall bore no fruit as it reached the very top and was faced with a path that led back the other way and so it focused its attention back on the vein running down the hallway.

    The bulb was now an eighth empty.

    Facing the countless doors in the hallway, there was a simple solution. Go down them all. A vein immediately split off to go down one door but was met with a dark dusty room full of sealed boxes made from dead tree carcasses flattened until there was no thickness left.

    The next room was filled with boxes made from dead tree carcasses but this time open and filled with instruments of melted sand. The very next room was a wide open one with a large purple shelled creature that wrapped the latter end of its body under it as its six legs propped it up to allow for its two large claws to puncture and shatter glass prisms, two of which had already been shattered open. The second prism which was shattered still had two creatures in it, one being the aforementioned one and the other being a similar but slimmer glossy black without the oversized pincers and simply two legs instead.

    The latter had decided to form a wall made of sticky threads which it attached all over as it huddled in the corner with a thread leading to one of its legs.

    The liquid decided to follow into the second prism and climb up the slope.

    072827 turned around and slammed its claw into the vein which was snaking up to it only to have it shatter the plastic walls below it which sent itself falling down as the liquid was left midair to continue its path up the slope.

    Which one to go after?

    Why not both!

    It simply split up and one vein continued forwards, building itself across the gap while the other hung down, letting itself slowly drop. It reached the slim black creature first as it grew onto and coiled around it as it thrashed around with its eight legs, only to slowly stop as the liquid bored within and a backflow of brownish liquid came up. However, the brownish liquid was soon overtaken again by the bright yellow.

    The other vein however, was taking its time crawling down and the opportunistic 072827 creeped up and swung a pincer at the vine hanging down. It cracked all the wall at the split up in the hole, but immediately sealed itself up albeit at an angle which it immediately shifted direction so that it was going down again.

    It reached the floor and continued growing.

 Drowning Life

    The liquid took in the bigger picture, now branching out across the room. A tree formed on the ground with each branch being a vein of the liquid and each fruit being a prism. Of course, the smaller details could not be ignored and the vein continued to rush towards 072827. A pincer came bearing down upon the tube growing on the floor but the pincer glanced off the tube and hit the ground besides it. The protective layer was left with all but a blemish on its smooth exterior.

    The walls of the closest prisms each now had its own vein attached to its base as the liquid inside introduced itself to the plastic wall and started wearing away at it. The creatures inside pressed against the further wall, awaiting some messiah that would deliver them from this hell.

    The liquid inside the blue crab and spider drained away, leaving only behind a bubble which lazily outlined the shape of the creature that died trembling in the confined of the cage created by the veins. As the liquid withdrew, it left behind a glistening white shell that was completely hollow within. This was the same as the bubble in the cage which was now half full. Or half empty.

    072827 slowly backed off but the futility of the situation was apparent. The liquid had come in through the door and was slowly growing another vein towards it. A thin veil stretched across the veins like the skin between each finger on a bat. It slowly backed up against the wall featuring the door but at the same time it fell backwards from the door.

    The first prism was eaten through and the vein ran straight for the monkey that was trapped inside. It let off a series of panicked hoots and pained screeches as the liquid began to wrap around and form a film over the monkey.

    As the liquid took off each layer of the monkey one by one, blood began flowing out and over each vein only to be absorbed into each vein before dissipating in it. It ate away further exposing the pristine white beneath it as the colors interchanged between red and white running top down the chest of the monkey. Underneath the solid layer of calcium was a red spongy mass in each bone but that layer only lasted so long before disappearing. Then came back the whiteness that shone perfectly with the slightly yellow tinted shell which sparkled under the hanging lights from above.

    As the liquid wore away at the rib cage and the membrane in between each rib, the pulsating organs spasmed around as their host attempted to reach air. First to go were a pair of large ovaloid structures which immediately depressed like a balloon once the smallest hole was formed. The surface of the organ wore away to reveal an even sponger pocket marked structure underneath.

    It was at this point that the other side had also worn away at the backside of the monkey and taking a step back, nothing was left except a crystal structure to remember the monkey and its struggles.

    --Sample Cage 455-464211--

    ¡°Jonathan! Are you done yet! Technically you still haven¡¯t repaid me yet!¡±

    ¡°One second! I¡¯m about done! I¡¯m able to fit my head through but not my body!¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you let us through first then!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be able to rescue others faster!¡±

    ¡°Let us out! That snake looking thing is about to come through!¡±

    ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°That first cage was just broken through and the primate inside died! I don¡¯t want to die like him!¡±

    ¡°Or her, can¡¯t ever assume.¡±

    ¡°Whatever! Just let us out first!¡±

    ¡°Fine! So distracting! Talking back at you will drain more time than finishing the hole!¡±

    ¡°Thanks! Whooo! Free at last!¡±

    Each of the eight moles quickly hopped over the edge of the hole and tumbled through, leaving only the big mole inside.

    ¡°Thanks for letting us go~ Have fun!¡±

    ¡°Yeah have fun dying hehehe am I right Mark?

    ¡°You sure are! Angela lets go!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not waiting for him?¡±

    ¡°What can we do to help! The most we can do is to not block him anymore!¡±

    ¡°Hey Jonathan! Look behind you! The liquid just broke through!¡±

    Back inside the cage, the mole rammed itself into the hole it had made. Slightly too small. A shame. The plastic whitened under the stress and deformed slightly, but it was meant to snap before it gave way. The liquid made its way to the rear end of the mole and up the rear it went.

    ¡°Eeee! You traitors! I find you in hell!¡±

    But the other moles had already run far away between the prisms and out of hearing distance. At first the legs went limp as the front legs whirled around attempting to hit back whatever had made itself into its rear end. The legs hung limp as the back stood perfectly horizontal and soon inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter, the spine too, began to falter but it still stood stiff only because of the solid object that had stuck itself through.

    The front limbs went stiff and the jaws hung wide open as the mouth began to froth and drip down saliva. The eyes spun wildly and the nose twitched uncontrollably. At once, everything stopped. The liquid had pierced straight through from rear end to front end. Now it was time for the offshoot veins to do their work as they split from the rear end and front end to wrap completely around the mole except for a band which was occupied by plastic.

    The liquid spread further, now having completely dissolved and absorbed whatever was in the first row and the prisms which fell around a radius from the door, forming a semicircle of prisms which had been broken into.

    The bubble inside the cage was now entirely empty.

    --Sample cage 505035+506000--

    ¡°Hey one of your mole pals has come in and is gonna break us free! Has your love for them grown yet?¡±

    ¡°Alejandros¡­ You know that there was never any love right?

    ¡°Well, he¡¯s doing a pretty good job don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s doing this pretty frantically¡­ what¡¯s pressuring him so much?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Of course any rookie at breaking out would be nervous!¡±

    ¡°You sound like you¡¯ve broken out before hmmm¡­ suspicious¡­¡±

    ¡°Well I mean, I have been chased around, remember?¡±

    ¡°By what? Dreams of food?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know how scary it is!¡±

    At this moment, the plastic wall was pierced and a siren began wailing. The door slammed shut.

    ¡°What is this sound!¡±

    ¡°You tell me! Your good pal over there is the one who set it off I bet!¡±

    ¡°You think I know? We should get out right now!¡±

    ¡°Tell your friend over there to hurry up then!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not my friend! I don¡¯t even know him! Just wait for him to be done!¡±

    --Main holding area for mutants--

    An emergency set of thick metal doors slammed in as the sirens went off. They attempted to interlock, but the doors simply dislocated and bent outwards between the shell of the liquid and the hydraulic pistons. But nowhere did this leave a proper holefor any creature to escape from except the liquid. The last wisp of opportunity slipped through the pincers of 072827 and flew straight out the doors.

    --Outside--

    ¡°What¡¯s going on in there! Someone get me the people who work there! This building is rated as a high level threat and I want to know what¡¯s in there!¡±

    A man stood in the still night as red and blue flashed over his face.

    ¡°What do those darn researchers even do to make it this dangerous¡­¡±

 Rushing

    "Hey you think you can get off my back yet?"

    "I still can''t move yet remember?"

    "Of course you can! Just inch around!"

    "That''s impractical!"

    "Hey speaking of which, isn''t your buddy acting kinda strange?""

    "What do you mean? Seems ok to me."

    "You sure? Can you even see?"

    "I can sense things!"

    "Yeah but can you see the redness in his eyes and how he''s staring at us?"

    "I can''t see color. What did you expect! I sense vibrations through the air! Of course the waves aren''t going to be perfectly clear when i get them!"

    "Where are your eyes?"

    "What eyes?"

    "Those things you use to read your book!"

    "Those things? I can barely see anything that''s not next to me!"

    "Well, you can tell that your buddy''s chewed through the wall right?"

    "Sure I can!"

    "Hah! Tricked you! He just barely fit his head in!"

    "What! You know the vibrations are blocked by the wall!"

    "Hey look! He''s gotten his shoulders through! Should be quite fast from here! That hole should be already done though¡­ I wonder what your bff is doing¡­"

    "Hey! He''s not my friend!"

    A paw flew at them with its long claws extended. It loomed over above the two before it dropped down, scoring the hard shell with several scratch marks before the claws slid down and crushed the cockroach''s head. The head fell clean off, rolling towards the mole on the dirtied plastic floor before being snatched and swallowed in a panic.

    "Alejandros?"

    Once again the paw rose but as it was coming down, threads rose up to embrace it, covering it entirely like a glove. The threads offered no resistance to the paw that had its claws protruding out like knitting needles in a ball of yarn. They swung down, creating another set of claw marks on the shell of the cockroach.

    "Hold on Alejandros! The acid needs some time to mix!"

    Through several hollow threads which wrapped around the paw pumped several chemicals, several of which mixed to form a light acid immediately, As they wore through the thin walls of the threads, they were exposed to the second set of chemicals which then continued on to vaporize the surface of the paw. As the acid dissolved more and more, the threads fell away to reveal all had dissolved but the bones which were left sparkling white as a milky liquid dripped away.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    The bones however, were soon dirtied as blood spurted out and over the bones and ligaments which connected each bone to bone and bone to claw. The red liquid slowly coagulated into a dark red solid which continued growing and building on itself as it slowly formed another paw. This only caused the mole to pause for a moment before it continued to fall down to the still and slowly drying corpse of the cockroach.

    The threads began to swarm the upper body of the mole, turning it into a mummy that flailed its limbs around due to the lack of vision and other senses. Soon the wrappings of the mummy fell lose to drop down a splash of milky liquid as the front body consisting of only a while skeleton fell limp.

    The threads rose back up again to press against the stump that was still exposed and to wrap firmly around the bone that was secreting red. The body of the mole fell back and out of the hole it created as there was nothing holding it in place anymore. Soon the threads stretched to wrap entirely around the mole that still had its feet kicking. Each thrust of a leg gave way to nothing as the threads only wrapped around and didn''t constrain the movements of the mole.

    What was left now was a mummified skeleton with threads leading to a ball of yarn atop a dried cockroach corpse without a head that was unmoving.

    The belly of the cockroach crackled as more and more of the liquids inside were absorbed. As the belly split apart due to the corpse drying up too fast, out came a smaller, identical cockroach with a new set of balls.

    "Hey look at me! I got my balls back!"

    "Yeah well your shell''s looking pretty soft right now!"

    "Don''t worry! Just let my bite away at it!"

    "I don''t know if we have that much time! The humans have to have noticed the break through to have slammed the doors!"

    "You could see that?"

    "I can hear just fine! Seeing is a bit difficult though..."

    "How about you drink up your milk and ill eat my shell!"

    "That''ll take a while¡­"

    "Don''t worry! We''re not trapped in here, they''re trapped outside!"

    "Speaking of which, where''s Senny? Also trapped outside?"

    "You can trust Senny to get out!"

    "And how would he do that Alejandros?"

    "He''ll just dig right through!"

    "Through dirt? He hates it!"

    "Worms eat dirt!"

    "More importantly, how do we get out?"

    "Hey those tubes of colorful liquids look pretty nice don''t you think?"

    "Don''t run away from my question Alejandros!"

    "You wanna try one of these?"

    --Apt. #496--

    *Doo doo doot do do doot dooo doot*

    "Urghhh¡­ Leonard¡­ How much did we drink¡­ Leonard?"

    *Doo doo doot do do doot dooo doot*

    "John¡­ That''s yours right?"

    "It''s closer to you though¡­ Wanna pick it up for me?"

    "Both lying on the ground here man¡­ Barely any further from it than you are¡­"

    "Argha¡­ Hellooo? Yeah¡­ this is Jo ~awww~ hn¡­ phew¡­ I''m a bit d~drunk. Huh? Whaaa? Yeah¡­ Give me a second¡­ Lemme get that serum¡­"

    John walked up a stainless steel door that when he opened it, a cold mist fell out and spread on the floor. On the inside of the door were several racks, with the topmost rack having several small bottles of a clear liquid. Taking out a bottle, John unscrewed the cap and downed the entire bottle at once, scrunching up his face at the taste.

    "Alright, now tell me what happened. Laboratory broken into! Who broke out? You don''t know? What do you mean you don''t know! Did you get the security footage? Huh, have it waiting for me when I get there, I might be able to recognize what that animal is."

    "Hey Leonard! Get up! Emergency!"

    John took out another bottle and tossed it at Leonard who was lying on the ground. It hit Leonard in his stomach and bounced to the side."

    "Hey! What was that for!"

    "Drink up! We need to get to the lab right now!"

    "Ewh, disgusting. Why couldn''t they make it taste better?"

    "Who knows, but there''s been a breakout at the lab!"

    "What? What broke out?"

    "Alarms were tripped at my lab cage, but security footage shows a blurry animal they haven''t identified yet. We''re going to help the police."

    "Have they checked the footage in the main holding area?"

    "I would assume not, they never mentioned it."

    "Dammit, just as we were about to be famous."

    "Well we''re gonna be famous, maybe not in the way we thought though¡­"

    "Why do you live so close to the lab!"

    "Saves on transportation time, now lets go!"

 Simplifying

    On the narrow path of black asphalt next to the walls of short single story building which seemed to tower above the tiny hairless bipedal creatures garbed in black, shone moonlight which revealed the little faces with folds of skin drawing lines leading into a spot between their eyes.

    "We don''t have enough space to react if anything bursts out."

    "How do we deal with this? This is the same lab that invented the uniform strength virus right?"

    "Yeah why?"

    "Well, I was just thinking, how strong are those things inside to be able to provide us with such a boost?"

    "I wouldn''t know, but it seems like they specialize in a variety of things from their main webpage."

    "Oh? Like what? What are we facing up against?"

    "We shouldn''t be facing up against anything! None of what was inside was supposed to break!"

    "Geez, chill, just tell me how strong the stuff inside is."

    "Some kind of bear I think. Tall enough to break the security cameras just by running through, fat enough to need to break the walls."

    "Ya think? Why else do you think this place is classified as a high security threat?"

    *bzzzzzt bzzzt*

    "Yeah? Ah, the two are here. Good, good, maybe we''ll finally know what''s in there."

    The two men turned back and strolled back to the open field of asphalt. Waiting there was several black vans and about a dozen men covered in plates of armor that stood taller than anyone else that wasn''t in armor. Besides them were John and Leonard, dressed in a red and pink shirt respectively and reeking of alcohol.

    "Hey glad that you two could come, I''m the captain and this is my vice captain, we hope you can tell us what''s in there. You two seen the footage yet?"

    Leonard stood forward to shake the hand that was extended towards them by the captain.

    "Nah not yet, you don''t have to worry about the smell on us either, we''re fine."

    The four men walked to the van that was furthest away from the loading dock and opened the back doors, revealing that one side of the van was fitted with a desk and computers while the other side was empty.

    "Hey Leonard, that''s too big to be one of our animals right?"

    "Maybe it was that mole? We never saw it stop growing right?"

    "It shouldn''t have gotten out of the cage though!"

    "Did the cages fail?"

    "017999 would''ve gotten it then."Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    Seeing this, the captain interjected.

    "Hey you guys got any cameras down there?"

    "Nah, the air''s basically humming with energy. It would disrupt any signals through wires even. Speaking of cameras though, did you check the ones on the second underground layer?"

    "Sure let''s look."

    The captain, who was leaning by the side awkwardly to see the screen, selected a camera for the main room and opened it. Upon seeing the screen, both Leonard and John fell back at the same time, leaning against the side of the van pinching their cheeks. Leonard was the first to open his mouth.

    "Am I dreaming John?

    "You see the same thing as me, right Leonard?"

    On the screen showed that the bright yellow green had invaded the entirety of the room and formed bright yellow tubes to each prism and eaten each creature inside.

    Without knowing anything about the tubes, the captain inquired about them.

    "What''s that?"

    John, seeing that Leonard wasn''t about to reply any time soon, stepped in.

    "Well you see, that''s 017999. We''re screwed."

    "Do you have a better name for it? Just some numbers is kinda lazy naming isn''t it."

    "Well, we call it a slime since it came from a slime mold you see."

    "Hah! You mean that weak thing in webnovels?"

    "Heh, yeah."

    "What about the others?"

    Leonard, seeing this was going nowhere, shouted out.

    "Oh, don''t worry about that, be prepared to fill the entire place with thermite and burn it down!"

    "What?"

    "The slime, as you would call it, will kill everything! And we don''t even know if that''ll kill it!"

    "What?"

    "Yeah! Be prepared to shove a nuke down there!"

    "What?"

    "What do you mean ''what''! We''re gonna die that''s what!"

    "Why do you say that?"

    "There''s a reason why we called it 017999. It was one of the first to be made, back when they randomly mutated genes under high radiation. They did the equivalent of x-raying your body millions of times over a large area! It''s one of the oldest beings! That faint glimmer you see there? Hard as diamond. Can''t even scratch it. Probably drew out the carbon dioxide in the air and split out the carbon. That liquid in there? Don''t let it fool you, it can move!

    Back then, they simply irradiated an area and searched for life after a few days. You know how rare it is for life to survive that? Low! And what''s the possibility that a lifeform survives that and mutates properly? Even lower! You know how big a slime mold is typically? Smaller than your palm! But after a few days, it became larger than your head! I heard they just took the entire rock it was on because they couldn''t get it off!

    I heard the first time around it killed the transport group! They tried to kill it by just dumping napalm on it and burning it, but after the napalm burned itself out, the slime was still there! Just smaller! That was the only reason why we even managed to get it!"

    "Hey Leonard, let''s not scare them so much shall we? They just need to dump a couple tons of thermite down there and turn that place into a living hell!"

    "That''s a lie and you know it! The thermite will burn through the ground before the slime dies!"

    Worried, the captain inquired about the slime.

    "Well how do we kill it then?"

    "Dump thermite on it of course! Or drop a bomb down there!"

    "Well we can''t just drop a bomb! We''re in the middle of the city! Besides, they haven''t given us that many explosions, just barely enough for breaching!"

    "Hey Leonard, what about the other animals?"

    "What other animals? They''re all gonna be dead from the slime anyways!"

    Letting out a dry laugh with only despair in mind, John could only lift up the mood.

    "Hey look at the bright side! We only have to deal with one!"

    "And how exactly are you gonna deal with that one, John?"

    "I dunno, probably level the building up here first for more space, then start dropping in exos with flamethrowers and burn everything to the ground. Then when the flames are gone, burn it some more."

    "Do we want to retrieve our data?"

    "That''s for our boss to decide, heh."

    "A shame, you were doing some nice work on that cockroach weren''t you."

    "That worm looked pretty good on your end though, pretty amazing how it managed to form a metal shell. Would''ve been quite nice to have self regenerating exos."

    "Should we go home and sleep now? I feel like we''ve done everything we can so far."

    The captain looked up from whispering with the vice commander.

    "Sure why not, We''ll give you a call if anything goes wrong. We''ll call your boss later, don''t worry."

 Run

    The colony rested well at the waterfall as each drank water until the folds of their skin were stretched out across their bloated bellies. To reach the circular protrusion poking out from the rock face, the workers began piling on top of each other. The pile began right in the body of water. The first couple had their heads pushed underneath and were drowned. Around the pile of workers stood guards as the workers walked over one another to slowly reach the bars. Standing around were only a couple workers left as they pondered how to break past the bars. They could certainly slip through, aided by the slipperiness of the fuzzy bars, but the guards behind them couldn¡¯t.

    What to do.

    Simple. Run. Run from the tyrant who benefitted from their work and contributed nothing in return. Run from the endless days and nights shoveling trash around the clock. Run from the bites that chomped after them if they were lagging behind the slightest bit.

    So they ran. They scrambled over one another to get through the grate. The mole right under the tube clung on as hard as he could under the barrage of stomps as every mole tried to get through. The mountain of moles grew narrower and narrower as its peak was supported by a single mole alone hanging onto the protrusion.

    The guards, seeing this, jumped in and began biting, grabbing, and throwing the moles, wearing down their mountain. The moles which fell splashed into the water and some even floated near the group of scavengers which had situated themselves on the bank of the body of water.

    The mole that was left hanging from the edge of the protrusion by its companions who trampled over it finally stopped its suffering. But not all of it was done. It pulled itself up with the last bit of strength as the guards cleared away the surrounding moles that were pulling it down. Pushing off against the mole that was directly under it, pushed its claws through the hole and hooked the green fuzzy bars. Pulling itself up and through the stream of water splashing into its face, it finally got what it deserved, being both the first to touch the protrusion and the last one to get through. Only a few dozen got through though. The rest remained and the layer of bodies in the lake remained the same.

    The workers stacked themselves up again, only this time the topmost mole of the pyramid was a guard. Another guard ran up the mountain to ram itself against the bars. It managed to slip through. What to do it wondered.

    The workers below were definitely going to be left behind. The queen would definitely not give birth anymore. The guards were going to be the next workers. Scavengers were going to be alright because they had their energy, but it was just a guard. It ran. Ran faster than any other worker previously had due to the tiny bit of energy it had. And it too, disappeared into the dark abyss.

    Why? That question ran through the head of every guard at that moment. Why would he run away like a worker? They stared at their feet as they faced their duty to break through the bars. The workers. How would they get up the moment everybody left? Who would do all the work for them? Themselves. The thought ran through every guard. Oh. They continued their job with newfound vigor. Every time they ran up and hit one of the bars, they fell to the side and rolled off to splash down and spray water everywhere.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    At that moment, a guard ¡°missed¡± and popped through the other side. What do I do! Do I go back? Nope! I can survive on my own! Where there¡¯s water there¡¯s life! He too, disappeared into the darkness.

    Seeing this, the next guard preparing to charge up the pile and into the bar rotated his body the slightest bit left. This was it. All or nothing. The scavengers and queen behind were just lying on their bellies and had their eyes closed. What lazy people. Why should I help them? They¡¯ll just treat me as a slave. Up I go. Freedom!

    Up he went, stepping on the moles below him which their backs were blue and black from what had occurred. He gained speed and charged up. Clang! His skull grazed the side of the slippery green bar, redirecting him through the hole and pushing his shoulders tightly together. Crack. Something broke. That something healed. Easy peasy. Freedom.

    What was freedom though? Lack of orders from another person? But the environment around him commanded him to find food, find water. Was freedom paradise? Where was freedom? It felt the same pressures on it as before. Protect. Not only did he have to protect the colony from the workers, now he had to protect himself from his fellow guards and scavengers. Was this less freedom? They still had a hand in where he could move, lest he be discovered and hunted down. Food. Before the workers had found him food. Finding a home. He had been dislocated from the tunnels he had spent his whole life in. The tunnels the workers had dug. Was this freedom?

    Everything could be solved by power. Only by becoming powerful could he become free. Powerful enough to protect himself and deter anyone from attacking. Powerful enough to command workers to find food. Powerful to be able to live anywhere without disturbance. It was time to achieve freedom.

    The first step was gaining power. But power needed opportunity. Certainly there was no opportunity with the colony. The darkness beckoned. The guard who wished for freedom obeyed.

    Below, the guards were observing. The scavengers were sleeping. The queen was sleeping. Who was to stop them? Nobody. Run. Clangs and cracks rang out as each guard got through. It was nothing complicated. Start at the bottom of the pile of the moles, keeping yourself afloat by swimming. Climb up once the person before you took off, line yourself up. Wait for the other person to finish or else you might run into him. Run. Run with every bit you had or else you wouldn¡¯t be able to force yourself through. If you failed, roll yourself off the side and wait your turn. The bars groaned. It became easier and easier as each mole got through. Not because of anything like improved technique, but because the bars had shifted slightly every time a guard got through. Even the guard that was at the top of the pile got through easily due to the warping of the bars.

    The topmost worker meekly opened his eyes, feeling the lack of footsteps. Where were the guards? No guards? Scavengers were asleep? Queen was asleep? Hehehe. Opportunity at last. It leaped up and grasped onto the edge of the protrusion. But it wasn¡¯t alone. What happened before happened again. Workers fell upon each other trying to rush to the top. Nobody who cared noticed and those who noticed didn¡¯t care. The mountain of moles grew narrower and narrower until it was a straight line. The bottommost mole who was still alive treated his companions like a ladder who were hanging onto each other by grasping their feet. The claws dug into the sides of each mole as they climbed up, but this was worth it. The mole above wouldn¡¯t be able to climb up until there were no moles dragging it down beneath it. It was worth each scratch in their sides from which blood ran from the topmost mole to the feet of the bottommost mole, dripping down slowly.

    They kept on going until the last worker alive was pulled into the tube. Success. No scavenger or queen knew as they slept in the sun. But this was still the dumpsite, even if it was on the very edge. The oasis fit its name perfectly, a spot of water where there was none all around. A shadow swept the ground.

 Deconstruction

    The exposed building, being where it was, wasn¡¯t actually that expensive at all. It was made of cheap prefab concrete walls and featured iron trusses to support its roof, leading to a minor discrepancy between the height of the building and how tall the inside of the building was. To compensate for this, the lobby was actually set into the ground a bit to give it a proper height that people felt comfortable underneath. The walls were simply covered with a thin plastic fabric that was glued into the walls. Inside, the designers took into consideration that this would mainly be an area that was passed through, not waited in or any other such business, and left a straight path from the door to the elevator.

    The militarized police, most of whom were soldiers with nowhere to go after being tired of war, began swarming around the building attaching scaffolding directly to the walls. Imploding the building by setting charges was the coolest solution, but really, it¡¯s a one story building, that¡¯s overkill. Several cameras were placed facing the two entrances, one which was the elevator shaft and the other a rail system for lowering newly arrived samples since no men could be stationed in due to the deconstruction.

    The roof was first pulled off from the top after it was circumcised with plasma cutters. Four men in bulky suits which if they raised their arms as high as they could, their wrists would reach the edge that was still red hot from being cut. Their hands, which were composed entirely out of mechanical parts while their actual hands rested inside the arm of their suit which meant the forearms were longer than their upper arms to accommodate the hands.

    Their hands raised up and hooked onto the very edge while making sure their palms were flush against the wall. A truck behind them began turning a winch on its back as the men began to walk backwards to allow the wall to fall down. The moment the thick concrete wall reached an eighty degree incline, the cable to the truck fell limp and the men began counting.

    ¡°One! Two! Three! Step!¡±

    These words rang out before each step, ensuring each man stepped backwards in unison.  The wall slowly lowered as with each step the men bent their knees further down to keep their palms supporting the wall. Once their knees bent until their knees were touching the ground while their arms were still holding up the wall straight above, several supporting men came in with pillars to wedge under the walls. The suits backed off, straightened their legs and adjusted their hand position, this time with their palms up. The wall was lifted slightly with the arms of the suits as the pillars were taken away. Slowly the wall was lowered again until it barely touched the ground. Bricks were shoved underneath as the mechanical hands took themselves out.

    One wall done, five more to go, all in the dead of night when all life was supposed to be sleeping.

    --Leonard¡¯s Laboratory--If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    A shelled creature not unlike a centipede but without the legs shook awake as the metal door slammed down from above.

    ¡°Ah! What? Where are those creatures? Slacking off? If I remember correctly, I¡¯m in the corner of this room and they should be in the corner of that room right? The rooms should be the same!¡±

    ¡°Do I escape or not? Well I mean¡­ Nobody¡¯s here to stop me. That metal door means they can¡¯t get in if I break out of my cage either!¡±

    The serpentine creature opened its jaws to reveal lips that split apart and folded backwards on themselves, such that the inside of its mouth was now flush against the plastic walls.  The plates of metal dug into the plastic to provide footing for the worm to exert force.The head twisted back and forth around the center of its mouth to wear away a circle in the plastic. The plastic quickly popped out and against the concrete wall next to the door went the worm. Why would anyone go against the door even? It popped through another wall just to find a hallway in which dark brown fluids and dirt had dripped down the hallway to make a turn at the door of his friends.

    ¡°Nooo!¡±

    The body of the worm stretched between both walls as the plates of armor folded themselves into the body of the worm when passing through the hole but immediately sprung back out the moment the final edge passed through the wall. The worm could obviously only go one way and that way was forward to his friends. Again began another session of boring as dust spilled around on the ground.

    --Foxhole--

    ¡°Hahah! You thought you were rid of me weren¡¯t you!¡±

    ¡°Let me tell you something, I¡¯m always here! Harder to kill than a cockroach!¡±

    ¡°Let me tell you a secret!¡±

    ¡°Awww don¡¯t make that face, I¡¯ll tell you it in a jiffy!¡±

    ¡°Here it is¡­ I¡¯m an oracle! Believe that?¡±

    ¡°I hear the words of god and they say you should give me your stones!¡±

    ¡°You know, your core of energy! That¡¯s it! The stone!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean stone! It¡¯s buried somewhere in your chest!¡±

    ¡°Too painful to get you say? Well these are the words of god! Believe in them or suffer his punishment!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the punishment you ask? Well you think I¡¯m gonna tell you? No! Fear of the unknown is what takes power away from you and gives it to him! Why would I sabotage my own benefactor? I may be on an odd quest, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯m a bad person!¡±

    ¡°Wait! I hear more words! Moles on a pilgrimage? Not to you my lord? What a shame! I must do something about this at once! I hope you will accept them by your side my lord! Off I go!¡±

    ¡°Hah did you actually think god spoke to me? Of course not! I saw the trail long before! I¡¯ve gotta free the slaves under the tyrannous rule of the queen!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s freedom you ask? Look, I know you might have some previous impressions on who I am, but I¡¯m definitely not like that!¡±

    ¡°Freedom is the ability to pursue happiness without interference! And I¡¯m gonna help them get rid of that interference!¡±

    --Laboratory Surface--

    Several long vehicles rolled up beside the building. The trucks had a long cylinder on its side and as they turned to park in the loading dock, a sloshing could be heard from within. Each of these vehicles was as long as the previous truck that had loaded in the cages. Tubes were connected to the underside of these vehicles that were led down the elevator shaft.

    ¡°You sure this will work captain?¡±

    ¡°Two things, first, you¡¯re my vice captain. Second, crude oil is basically thermite! Both will burn!¡±

    ¡°But one lights up the entire thing and the other only lights up the surface¡­¡± And was met with a glare from the captain. ¡°Yep! You¡¯re the boss! Whatever you say boss!¡±

 Blindness

    ¡°Pssst, Cain, go over to the right a bit, hehehe.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Why? Aren¡¯t we the ones trying to catch up to them?¡±

    ¡°Hehehe, yeah and you¡¯ve already caught up.¡±

    ¡°Huh? How can you tell?¡±

    ¡°Because you¡¯re near blind and I¡¯m not hehehe this should quell any thoughts about you trying to abandon me right?.¡±

    ¡°Well I mean, sure? How do you even abandon a devil?¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t know then there¡¯s no need for you to know hehehe.¡±

    ¡°Well what should we do?¡±

    ¡°You see that protrusion over there? The large circle poking out?¡±

    ¡°Well um no.¡±

    ¡°Just walk around the edge of this pit then hehehe that¡¯ll show them.¡±

    ¡°Well what are we going to do?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re gonna walk around and get on top of that protrusion. There¡¯ll be some bars right below for you to grasp on and stick your rear end in. Then you just shove yourself in there and have fun.¡±

    ¡°Bars? Will I fit through them?¡±

    ¡°Of course! There¡¯re no workers or guards here, so that means they¡¯ve gone through and you can definitely go through! Luckily you haven¡¯t found any predators that have forced you to grow yet hehehe.¡±

    ¡°Grow? How would I grow? Do I become stronger if I grow?¡±

    ¡°Geez you really were just a stupid newborn worker! Well you don¡¯t exactly get stronger exactly, but if you get bigger you¡¯re able to exert force better. It¡¯s like how if you try lifting a box form only one corner, you have to deal with the weight of the box itself as well as the rotational force from the box trying to fall off your hand! Growing bigger allows you to carry things better! It¡¯s not just that though. With size comes mass. Say you¡¯re punching someone. Who gets blown away first? It doesn¡¯t matter who sent or received the hit because him resisting your punch is sending force at you and you hitting him is also exerting force on him. The one who gets blown away further is the one with less mass! Sure there are people who use their height and direct the force at the ground to resist getting blown away, but how do you attack?  You can¡¯t! Being smaller means you¡¯re subject to every single one of his attacks while he gets to decide when to hit you and how to hit you! That¡¯s stupid! Being bigger is better! But in this case, being small enough to fit through that gap is the best thing possible!¡±

    ¡°Wait wait wait. You still haven¡¯t told me how I can grow!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t know how to grow! It¡¯s in the instinct of every creature alive! But don¡¯t do try to test it out yet. Wait until you¡¯re inside first!¡±

    ¡°What instinct! I can¡¯t feel it!¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°What do you mean feel instinct! You¡¯re not supposed to be able to feel or control instinct! It just comes when you feel danger! What did you think instinct was?¡±

    ¡°I assumed I could feel it?¡±

    ¡°It takes over you! You can¡¯t feel anything! Your brain shuts down and instinct takes over! That¡¯s instinct! Your brain turns on and you can analyze what happened before, but that was instinct!¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go! I wanna become stronger!¡±

    --John¡¯s Laboratory--

    ¡°Do you think that¡¯s Senny digging against the wall?¡±

    ¡°Sure, who else would be dumb enough to dig through concrete when they can just corrode the metal wall?¡±

    ¡°Wait you can corrode the doors?¡±

    ¡°Sure why not? Give me a couple days!¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s that any better than what Senny¡¯s doing! He should be making his way thro -- Oh hey Senny, we were just talking about you!¡±

    A circle with rough edges appeared on the wall as the outer edges broke through, a circular piece of concrete fell off to reveal a mouth full of blunt teeth. Seeing the mouth appear followed by a series of sharp plates, the

    ¡°Hey guys what¡¯s up. We escaping or what? I¡¯ve dug way too much to back out now.¡±

    ¡°Well, how do we get out without being caught? They¡¯re sure to have known that we¡¯ve broken out from the doors slamming down!¡±

    ¡°So how do we get out?¡± Well, there is another wall¡­¡±

    ¡°Again? Really? I¡¯m tired!¡±

    ¡°Well how about some nice liquidated mole?¡±

    ¡°Oh you don¡¯t want it?¡±

    ¡°Well I mean you won¡¯t be tired if you eat the mole right? So you can dig through that wall!¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°I take that as you accept! Have fun!¡±

    --Third underground layer--

    A black film spread across the floor, clinging to every corner. It washed away the footprints of the now dead mole as it slowly rose. It slowly filled the shell that the liquid had left behind, turning the before crystal clear shell into one of a menacing black before swallowing it entirely. It spread down the hallway with rows of cages on one side, washing against the sides of the air tight cages.

    The liquid rose even further through the hallways as it rose towards the ceiling but stopped halfway.

    --Loading Dock--

    The long trucks with cylindrical containers on their backs emptied the last bit of liquid from their storages. Off they went along the streets into the night.

    ¡°Captain, how much oil do we even need?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re gonna need more, a lot more. Say, you wanna fly a small drone down there?¡±

    ¡°Whooo! Yeah! You know me best capt¡¯n!¡±

    ¡°Yeah sure, remember to not break it.¡±

    ¡°Of course I won¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°Hehehe but first you¡¯re gonna need to call in a few more trucks of oil before you do.¡±

    ¡°How many you thinking?¡±

    ¡°A couple dozen more, let¡¯s go with fifty, a nice and round number.¡±

    ¡°Yeah no problem I¡¯ll get one of the guys on that while I fly down the drone to watch that stupid slime get poisoned to death.¡±

    ¡°Remember to not fly the drone too close, don¡¯t want it getting destroyed now do you?¡±

    ¡°Relax. I¡¯m a master at flying drones, been flying em since I was a wee lad.¡±

    --Elevator shaft--

    ¡°Oops.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Elevator fell down.¡±

    ¡°Well, luckily we got those tubes out of there first.¡±

    ¡°But darn, still, elevator slammed down there!¡±

    ¡°Ah don¡¯t worry about it, elevator was trashed anyways after we cut that hole in the floor to let the pipes drop through. They¡¯re apparently gonna fill this whole place with crube oil and burn it down.¡±

    ¡°Darn, those tunnels must¡¯ve been hella hard to dig, not to mention the surrounding pipes might be affected.¡±

    ¡°You wanna tell them about that? That the underground portion likely extends under some of the existing infrastructure and burning the whole thing down might bring down surrounding pipes and what not?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯ll make for a cool story if the surrounding buildings collapse down hehehe. Friend¡¯s child died just a few weeks ago at some skirmish over at the mountains.¡±

    ¡°Damn.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, funny thing is nobody even gives a shit about it.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re just like, oh, what a shame, doesn¡¯t affect me so I¡¯ll just go on with my life.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, all the poor people getting drafted. Even middle class guys pooled together a sizable sum to get the government officials to not draft them. They¡¯re too productive to let go to waste fighting they say.¡±

    ¡°Hmph serves them right when they put a break in their energy and water pipeline hehehe.¡±

 Cooperation

    Down in the tunnels which the moles entered through the protrusion, combined several other tunnels, all fed by a single large tunnel. The flow of the water was slowed down by a large semicircle that was a few meters thick on the bottom portion which the water filled up half of the main tunnel and then some. Occasionally water flowed over the perfectly flat top of the semicircle but most of the water flowed through a hole many times smaller than the actual tunnel itself. The reason why there was a buildup of water was actually that when the designers of the sewers first designed the system, they took into account the elevation of the various dumpsites to let them lay horizontal pipes, which was less labor intensive than sloped pipes. Of course, the dump sites weren¡¯t on the same elevation, thus why there was a pool of water to keep them all flowing. The main tunnel wasn¡¯t just a single tunnel from the city that branched out to various places in dumpsite-19, but rather it consisted of a hub of tunnels like a star, branching out in every direction.

    Besides the difference in elevation though, there was another reason for the pool of water. Had all the water been simply piped through, the debris would begin to clog up the exits and the water would build up such that the entire sewer system would fall apart. To counter this, bacteria that ate plastic was dumped and left to thrive in the pool. But plastics aren¡¯t the only thing dumped down drains. A whole swathe of bacteria was dumped in to dispose of the organic matter, oils, and synthetic fibers that threatened to clog up the system.

    A side product of one particular bacteria that feasted on a certain type of plastic, however, contained a mixture that slowly poisoned the microbes in the pool. Due to the sheer amount of bacteria that were living there however, a few were resistant and continued to reproduce, but rats and other insects were unable to live there, leading to the sewers being self maintaining and nobody ever checking in on it.

    This chemical was directly piped out into the dumpsites, where they rendered the land near uninhabitable. The bacteria were washed along with the water out, but there existed a layer near the very bottom where the water didn¡¯t move at all, which was made slightly larger by the objects that fell to the bottom and waited to be consumed.

    But exposed to the sunlight, the bacteria quickly died and turned into nutrients that kept the plants that developed directly outside of each drain alive. Nobody ever resided there as everybody knew that the area was wide open and lying in wait all around were predators.

    However, the colony of moles with its scavengers simply sat there in peace, a testament to their combined power.

    --Underground--

    A long worm passed through the dirt littered with rocks. Behind it ran a bug with twelves legs which seemed to blur against the ground, never touching them. Attacked to the back of the shell however, was a squishy tubular creature that flapped against the ground and drove a slight ditch in it. It smacked the small balls of compressed dirt that the worm left behind and the cockroach ran over.

    ¡°Hey Alejandros you think we¡¯re done yet?¡±

    ¡°Go ask the useless one flapping behind me. What are you looking at me for!¡±

    ¡°You sure he¡¯s even conscious? He looks pretty dead to me.¡±

    ¡°Eh probably just motion sickness, should we stop and wake up him?¡±

    ¡°Nah let''s keep running.¡±

    ¡°See? It wasn¡¯t that hard to give a definitive answer!¡±

    ¡°Arghhh!¡±

    --Laboratory holding area--

    This place existed as a temporary area where the samples would be tagged, tested, and contained. The eight samples which had just recently been transported in and awaited basic scans.

    The creatures inside each box lay on the first underground layer out of three, the second which held the already processed creatures and the third which held the creatures unable to be contained by the cages in the second layer. The holding cages were located behind the elevators on the second layer behind a set of doors that formed a lock where at least one door would be closed. The room was as tall as the cages that were already processed, but due to the lack of information on samples that came in, the room featured concrete walls twice as thick.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Tap. Tap. Tap. Taps came from within the box. No sound came back. Their cages weren¡¯t shocked like before. Bang. Bang. A cage burst open like a finger through a wet tissue. The decimeter thick plate wrenched apart under the force of the creature that burst out.

    The creature had a large sandy shell and featured a long horn that curved upwards. The metal around it didn¡¯t even leave a scratch on the shell at all. The body of the insect was split into three seconds, the first of which featured the pointed horn that the insect had used to bash a hole into the metal wall. The second section was just like the first section, except that it was much thicker. The very top of the shell reached the same level as the horn and the second section was twice as wide as it was tall but just as short as the first section. The third section was the largest with it having the same height as the second section, but being several times longer and slightly wider. The legs were thick, but they were actually hollow within and had small holes in which air rushed in and out.

    The cages had several extensions that were bolted into the ground, being able to secure the heaviest of creatures. Obviously it worked since the walls of the cages gave way before the bolts did.

    The beetle tapped against the ground, to hear more taps from the other cages. It stood right next to the cage beside the one that it came out and rammed it. The metal tore apart to reveal a lizard whose skin blended in with the wall behind it.

    The beetle backed off to allow the lizard to step out. Each and every one of them here all existed in close proximity in the same cage before they were transported here.

    --Before in the Husao Foundation--

    Large swathes of land were irradiated. An archaic but effective tactic for mutating animals. Forests were gone, completely decimated by agent orange after several successful ambushes took place where soldiers took a route under the dense canopy. The only thing left was giant swathes of land in the centers of the land reserved for agricultural use. Even those were minimized however, by angled reflectors all over the city which reflected sunlight onto the layers of land stacked atop each other. Beneath the land where sunlight couldn¡¯t reach and was blocked by skyscrapers lived countless farm workers whose entire lives were spent in that building that was wider and thicker than it was tall.

    Several layers however, were allocated to the various research groups for the purpose of breeding animals which they could then imitate with technology to gain an edge over their enemies. The country, known as Lunera, was at the forefront of biological development while the others focused on optimizing mechanical weaponry, laser weaponry and even launching bricks into the high atmosphere which would then start raining down. Fortunately, the idea of launching anything into near space was doomed because of the field of debris that blocked anything from exiting earth¡¯s atmosphere. Myths though, tell of a group of rich people who flew off the planet and dumped all the debris there to block people from ever getting out. Knocking down the debris with lasers would probably be possible, but there existed too much and it would simply be better to wait for another millennium when the cloud began to thin out.

    The several layers which were allocated for the development were located at the very top, where the atmosphere was thinner and the life there would have to develop in harsher conditions. The layer the Husao foundation got was half of the third layer. This layer they put to great use, replicating the environment which most battles were fought on. They took sections of land and kept them under high radiation by continuously irradiating an area and watching it compete with the existing life.

    All while that was happening, a series of drones hovered above, monitoring any animal that began to establish themselves as the apex predator to study them. The method of capturing was simple, just walk several exos in and have them fire large tranquilizer darts. For those who had a hide too tough or a shell too hard however, they used small machines which linked up to one another to form a shell which restricted every movement of the animal with some tolerance to allow for breathing.

    These captured animals would then be shipped off into smaller plots of land which were walled off. In these pens, several creatures would be stored in the same place to let them compete on which would fight one another and determine who was the strongest overall.

    The pen that those seven came from was special though. They had recognized that the pair who fought first would fall in strength and would immediately lose. The most important thing to do would be to preserve their own strength and energy. The first ones who began starving and lost control were the ones who lost along with those besides them.

    These seven were the ones left who lasted until the end and avoided all the others in the pen, either by hiding underground or escaping. There were a select few who even ate the grass and weeds there to stave off the hunger.

    However, the pen was only so large and it was inevitable that they would bump into one another either by running away from other animals or finding food. In those cases, it was possible for the other side to ambush the other while they were sleeping so those few animals had formed a tacit consent to not attack each other.

    Slowly, trust built up amongst those seven and they began to roam together and overpower the other animals together as well as to guard their prey from others. This trust paid off at this moment when the beetle decided to save the others since its normal activity was the equivalent of tearing its muscles apart with the force it attempted to contract them with.

 More Drowning

    ¡°Should we go up yet?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ve run far enough, let¡¯s go up!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    The worm was met with a thick black layer. This layer consisted of a rubbery layer which began to bounce off and resist the crushing and grinding of the worm¡¯s teeth.

    ¡°Hey Senny what¡¯s the holdup?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s something blocking me Alex, should we go around?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean some blocking you! How could anything block you!¡±

    ¡°I dunno, when I apply force to it, the thing just moves away the slightest bit and bounces back at me!¡±

    ¡°What? Can you go around it?¡±

    Yeah, but can you dig around me? I can¡¯t exactly move around here.¡±

    The cockroach began to stab at the dirt and fling it around back into the tunnel that had been dug out. It dug out an entire room as the dirt tumbled and rolled down the hole that was at a steep angle.

    As more and more was dug out from underneath it, the worm started sinking from the dirt underneath giving way and crumbling down, meaning that neither one had to move, only dig.

    After what was essentially a small room was dug out, The worm coiled around like a snake, looking up at the rubber above and lightly scraping it as it lighted itself to carve a path right next to it.

    ¡°Gogogo!¡±

    Thunk.

    ¡°Why¡¯d you stop again!¡±

    ¡°We hit a concrete wall!¡±

    ¡°Wait do you mean we¡¯re back where we started?¡±

    ¡°Not possible! I dug in a straight line!¡±

    ¡°Hah as if! Nothing¡¯s straight! Life by definition is an imbalance!¡±

    ¡°Look behind you! I¡¯m perfectly in balance!¡±

    ¡°Eh, that¡¯s just because you¡¯re one big magnet and basically a compass!¡±

    ¡°Whatever, just go through!¡±

    ¡°We should dig a small room in case I need to turn back though.¡±

    ¡°Eh, whatever, you do you.¡±

    ¡°You gotta help me!¡±

    ¡°No way am I helping you!¡±

    ¡°Is the flappy thing hanging back there awake yet?¡±

    ¡°Nah, still dead as a rock, how would he be helpful?¡±

    ¡°Well he could eat the dirt right? It¡¯s basically just rock and organic matter, so he could eat the organic matter and let the rocks tumble away!¡±

    ¡°I think he¡¯s stirring again, must be getting better at handling speeds I guess.¡±

    The rubbery soft object that had shifted so that it wasn¡¯t scraping against the top of the tunnel lay between the rear legs of the cockroach. It began to wriggle around and stir as it recovered. Its threads were wrapped around the body such that it became like a ball of yarn, sticking onto the end of the shell by forming a suction at the very end through the softer inner body which was exposed, but only against the hard shell which even the mole had trouble breaking through.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why are we underground again? Alejandros?¡±

    ¡°Oh nothing, you wanna dig us a room though?¡±

    ¡°What for?¡±

    ¡°So we can turn back and run!¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we dig a maze too huh?¡±

    ¡°Well we don¡¯t need that much, just enough for Senny over there to be able to turn around.¡±

    ¡°So what do you want me to do?¡±

    ¡°Remember how you said you could eat dirt?¡±

    ¡°Sure?¡±

    ¡°Well there¡¯s plenty of food around!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a net negative energy source! I¡¯m losing energy by eating it!¡±

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t forget that portion of sludge I allocated to you¡­¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡±

    The ball of yarn unraveled until all that was left was a single limp stalk with a bulbous end not unlike a mushroom. The bulb was littered with large spots that drifted around while letting off a dark blue light, occasionally bumping into one another. Once they all combined into one large blue spot that centered on the very top of the bulb though, which immediately burst into thousands of little dots that immediately began to combine with one another.

    That display of color sat in contrast to the pale white background which was the rest of the bulb and body of the phallic creature. The stalk erected itself as all the threads around it began to sink into the dirt around them. Directly above was the thick black layer which seemed to bulge in every so slightly as the dirt around them was eaten. The three slowly sank down as the ceiling got further away from them and more of the concrete wall was exposed as powder got stuck between the cracks.

    ¡°Good enough right Senny? You should be able to turn around in here.¡±

    ¡°I think so, let¡¯s go!¡±

    --Loading Dock--

    More trucks began to roll in.

    ¡°Hey captain, we still have to fill up the entire room remember?¡±

    ¡°So what are you suggesting?¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we just light it right now?¡±

    ¡°Well I already bought the oil¡­¡±

    ¡°Uh, why don¡¯t we dump this batch and then light it?¡±

    ¡°Well I mean¡­ What if we sold it back?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the height of the oil?¡±

    ¡°Somewhere around the third layer apparently according to the drone. Something definitely busted straight through the hallway.¡±

    ¡°Did you try looking at the second level?¡±

    ¡°Nah, too risky, what if an animal suddenly attacks us?¡±

    ¡°Well all that¡¯s there is the slime, I¡¯m sure that that wouldn¡¯t be able to suddenly grow and catch us right?¡±

    ¡°Heh, let''s give it a try I guess. Lemme charge up the drone first, load it up with some capsules of oil and some incendiary bullets.¡±

    ¡°We brought incendiary bullets with us? I thought we only carried rubber bullets! The oil capsules too! Where¡¯d we get those?¡±

    ¡°Oh I was just gonna take out the bags of tear gas and fill them up with oil. This was a high threat emergency remember? I brought my special kit for this heh.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have a proper look at your kit when we get back¡­¡±

    --Sewage System--

    A group of workers huddled around at the junction where the large semicircle was directly raised such that they could not get up. The flow of water from the hole in the middle of the semicircle gushed out and hosed down every worker that entered with water dotted with red and black. They ran up the sides with their feet with thin pads that were now soaked in water, but only slipped down.

    They began to pile under one another in order to support each other to the top, not unlike how they had all done so to enter the protrusion.Then, when some moles had gotten over, they lay flat on the short platform, keeping their noses just above the water which washed over them.

    They formed a rope themselves just like they had on the protrusion, but this time they had a wall to lean against, as well as a whole array of moles linked up to one another which relieved most of the stress while one person climbed on top, as the weight was spread amongst them equally. Although there were more moles to hold up, with the side of the wall being covered in a formation resembling a triangle pointed down, the weight that burdened each mole was reduced.

    Right behind them ran the guards. The guards didn¡¯t waste time piling on or anything but rather leaped onto the side of the wall and using the friction gained from the force they leaped onto the side of the wall on, they leaped onto the platform and got on. It wasn¡¯t all that simple though, as the amount of force made them rip off their thin paw pads. Luckily though, they regenerated, but this time they were slightly thicker.

    --The Protrusion.--

    A mole hung onto the top bar with its front claws, staring at the crowd of scavengers below. It licked its lips at the moles down below all bunched together.

    ¡°Hey! What are you looking at! You gotta get in the tunnel! Look at it! Water flowing out! We can¡¯t stay here though, let''s find the source and then we¡¯ll be rich! Hehehe!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    The mole bent its body up and fit its legs into the hole formed by the bars. It wriggled the rest of its body through, letting the bags of fat pass through the hole before the rest of the body could.

    Then it let go of the bar it was hanging on and simply splashed down into the water which slowly floated the mole towards the bars. It kept on running through the tunnel which was entirely smooth save for the patches of junk that had managed to stick onto the bottom of the pipe.

    It splashed through the bottom letting the water run over its head and only popping out occasionally to catch a breath of air. The creatures on its back, however, weren¡¯t so fortunate. After being bathed in water for so long, the air in their lungs couldn¡¯t hold on for any longer. Their lungs filled with water and emptied as the mole dove beneath the water and rose above it.

    After so long, the creatures gave up and let go.

 Hi bullet

    The worm which wore away at the wall suddenly fell through when the wall that was left was thin enough, taking entire flakes off the wall as it broke though. What lay before was an entire stream of men who ran through obstacles. Immediately, everybody stopped and stared at the worm and ran.

    ¡°Uh I think we have a problem guys¡­¡± Senny asked as his head poked through the wall, watching as the area became deserted.

    There was no response as the sound was blocked by the walls. The worm squirmed out a bit further and turned to its side until it was facing the wall again and dug. The tail of the worm swung around against the wall to support its digging. Men began to pour in once again and directly began firing their guns in the underground room as the worm continued to dig into the wall.

    Finally the worm retreated back through the tunnel and left behind the two holes while bullets scattered around and made many more accompanying holes, cracking the walls and sending dust plumes everywhere.

    ¡°Well Senny how¡¯d it go? Same place?¡± Alejandros asked as he smiled. ¡°Pretty loud don¡¯t you think? Any bullets get through your shell?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s metal remember? It¡¯s not that easily broken.¡± Senny retorted as he turned towards the tunnel and ran.

    ¡°Run! I¡¯m stuck here! Alejandros carry me!¡± The phallic creature waved its tentacles around.

    ¡°Argh, when are you growing legs?¡± Alejandros grunted as he turned back into the room to lower himself to let the helpless creature up.

    ¡°Well wanna transform into humans?¡± A light atop its spotted dome was lit by a spark as it wondered about becoming human like.

    ¡°You know how much energy it takes us to transform right? We literally need to rebirth ourselves continuously, modifying ourselves bit by bit until we become humans!¡± The cockroach shouted as it ran, letting the mushroom bump against the ground as it hung between its legs.

    ¡°You ever think of where the energy comes from? The humans! Think about the energy we can get!.¡± As it got the idea, the mushroom stood straight, no longer flaccid like before. ¡°We could become humans! It¡¯s a genius idea! Let''s do it!¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± The cockroach groaned as it thought about the idea. It might have to give up its precious shell. But wait. Maybe it could turn its shell into multiple sections which were all linked together. Senny could then do the same with his metal and the useless mushroom back there could sit on a pile of trash and eat it! It exclaimed, ¡°sure thing! I love the idea!¡±

    As the cockroach continued to move back and forth however, the creature stuck on the back fell flaccid, only kept on by the suction it had formed atop the smooth shell.

    ¡°Hmmm let¡¯s take a right turn here.¡± Senny wondered aloud as he ran and Alejandros followed.

    --Second underground layer--

    The oil had already filled up the third layer and was now approaching the second layer where the slime was located. The slime still needed to digest the goop that it had sucked out of the animals after sucking out their life so it decided to create another sphere in the corner where 072827 had met its demise, filtering out impurities such as metals the animals had consumed over their lifespan.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    As more and more oil was poured, the oil began to spread across the hallway. It began by rising slightly, but the moment it reached the crack in the set of doors in the warehouse of prisms and the level of liquid got over the tube left behind by the slime, the level of the oil came to a standstill.

    Then dropped a drone, flying in with four blades with so many blades that it resembled a boat propeller and barrels with tubes along their sides. Inside one of the four barrels attached to a turret on the underbelly of the drone that allowed for angle changes for the armaments mounted. The barrel was sloped downwards slightly to enable the bullet to be able to reach down while the drone was flying at a level height.

    It stared down the long hallway in which the mole had run down.

    The transition to igniting the gunpowder inside a bullet by sending a high pulse of electricity through the easily flammable casing, much of the process was simplified through the removal of moving parts. The simplification was furthered by the introduction of an easily flammable casing which served as the point where the ignition started. Of course, the casing had to burn extremely cleanly to prevent build up of debris as well as a limited rate of fire due to the need to separate the rounds entirely, but where weight mattered, this was at the very peak.

    The bullet were loaded by being pushed by thin insulative plates which suppressed electrical pulses as well as heat which were configured in a rotating wheel not unlike a water wheel. At the barrel, an electrical impulse was sent and the bullet was exploded out of the barrel, forced to spin by the rifling on the insider of the barrel. As the bullet sped through the barrel, resistance from being spun as well as from the air around it caused it to heat up, melting the thin aluminum layer on its side.

    The aluminum melted away to reveal a small hole in which a chemical that burned with it touched oxygen ignited. The spinning caused the flame to spurt all around in a circle, but what was the most crucial part was when it skimmed over the glistening black layer, leaving diagonal lines of flames on the surface.

    As it dipped beneath the layer of black liquid, the fire it produced stopped. There was no more oxygen left to burn. It approached the bottom of the floor, preparing to ricochet off and approach oxygen once more. As it bounced off, a ripple was sent through the oil, but nothing else. It approached the surface once more, but no fire ignited. The oil had found its way into the hole, blocking off all the oxygen that could light it.

    But there was no need. The diagonal lines of flames that the bullet had drawn instantly spread and merged together. The drone instantly drew back and out, buffeted by the rush of air outwards through the elevator shaft. It popped straight out of the shaft which was now just an open hole in the ground after having the entire top layer taken apart, covered in soot from being so close to the flames. A gust of hot air burst out, but only after the air from the rest of the building which was nice and cool came out first. This pool of cool air was what the drone had ridden on to get out.

    The flames below came to spew a noxious black smoke everywhere. The flames began to burn, hot enough to ignite the carbon which formed the shell of the slime. As it withdrew itself further and further, a layer of itself charred over to protect the rest of its body from the heat. As the layer of charred slime grew further though, the rate at which it grew slowed down as the heat began dissipating into the walls around it and further on into the dirt.

    The air below expanded but the small gap in the door could only let out so much air at once. The air lifted the ground above it which was only a bit thick due to the room being two stories tall and being only two stories down. It erupted up, sending the buildings above ground up on a pool of hot air, but the air quickly dissipated and then everything collapsed.

    --Hallway--

    The fire approached the door in which there were two holes in the walls of the two labs of Leonard and John. The oil hadn¡¯t reached the height of the hole dug and thus hadn¡¯t started leaking oil in, but the hot air began rushing through the hole and tunnel Senny had dug.

 Collapse

    As the flames burned outside the holding area in which the seven lay, the thick layers of metal protected the creatures inside from all harm. The flames licked away at the two sets of doors as well as the concrete walls which began to show cracks, but the oil was eaten away by the flames, leaving behind small pools which were further divided until they were no more.

    A plume of smoke rose from the shaft but it was unnoticeable in the dark night. Rather the most notable part of the fire was the hole it had made into the series of evenly spaced buildings that were at most two stories tall. There was plenty of open space on each plot of land, covered with grass turf that was simply rolled out over the barren dirt below. The houses consisted of wood frames, a rarity in the world where everything was cultivated since trees took so long to grow. The majority of space was allocated towards comfort, with there being a large room for the sole purpose of relaxing and entertainment aside from the bedroom. Even the bedrooms were oversized with there being plenty of space around the bed to fit a desk and several wardrobes of clothes. Every inch of the floor was carpeted to provide comfort, something which took hours of effort to clean and even tearing out the carpet and dumping it into the sewer system.

    After all, everything was being dissolved by the sewer system save for the large industrial manufacturers which churned out endless amounts of plastic waste from cutting away material to leave behind the weapons they wanted. This waste proved to be too hard for the bacteria to eat away quickly and thus they resolved to simply dumping it in piles across barren lands.

    These homes may have covered the most land, hosting the minds in which technological innovation came from, but the majority of the population didn¡¯t live there. Instead, they lived in massive ground scrapers above ground which spread themselves across a large portion of the surface but were still tens of floors tall. This complex in the city stretched around the city, leaving the green stretch of houses and farms in the center. Although there weren¡¯t specially constructed walls around the city, the housing in which the people lived in served as an impenetrable wall since too many people lived there and if anyone dared attack it, they would be faced with widespread criticism from their own citizens.

    Underground however, was an entirely different story. There lay all the military might in which soldiers lived and research and development took place.

    The area that collapsed wasn¡¯t that large either. The area only spanned a few houses but the space had it happened under the complex would¡¯ve been in the thousands instead of the tens.

    --Senny¡¯s Tunnel--

    The rush of hot air mingled with the dirt on the sides, drying the sides to form a hard crust securing the tunnel permanently and sealing the air. The air began to continue rushing through the tunnel and down to the bunker where the men were. The mixture of heat and smoke blasted the men standing guard outside the hole, whose eyes were instantly blinded as they dropped down.

    The air had only partially diverted itself into the branch that Senny had just recently dug, but due to the momentum of the air, the majority of the air blasted down the original tunnel. The air that did divert itself however, was only enough to warm the backs of Senny and Alejandros, while the hitchhiker on the back of Alejandros began to dry up.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    --Elevator shaft--

    The flames burst out after the smoke which formed a dancing figure in the sky. The amounts of impurities in the oil were lifted into the air and formed a figure that seemed to open its arms to the sky and have its head tilted up before being lifted higher and higher out of existence.

    The men surrounding the bonfire however, weren¡¯t so happy. They had begun to sweat in their suits since there simply were no cooling systems in their climate. However, they were still completely shielded off from intruding particles so they remained to stand still and sweat.

    ¡°Bullshit, was it a remote bomb?¡±

    --Tunnels--

    Deep down beneath where all the moles had run, everybody lay still. There was no food here to find, only water and debris. Feeling hungry, the colony of workers could only drink the water to satisfy their hunger. Before, they were still allocated a minimum amount of meat hunted by the scavengers to survive, but now there was only the meat on their own bones¡­ and the meat on their companions around them.

    The first worker began to explore the surrounding area. All of a sudden, claws flew up from the sewage. The first couple who had entered had grown hungry enough already to kill their own companions. Now they lay in the water, continuously drinking water and letting their intestines filter out the water before spewing it back out again. Only the sides contained the waste that began to pile up while the middle was deeper and contained the flowing water.

    It was impossible to roam around to consume the bacteria there since there would always be the danger of an ambush lurking below, where their belly was the softest and most crucial part to staying alive.

    Each mole lay down beside on the river bank, but as they progressed past the ones who had already lay down in ambush, they were snapped up and finally devoured unless there was a willing ally who would then team up on the ambusher and share in the loot.

    There was an initial surge in the strength of the moles, mainly because the bacteria had accumulated themselves there for so long but it didn¡¯t last long as the majority of bacteria were washed along and down.

    The guards were the next ones to walk this deadly minefield of ambushes. As the guards began running through and exploring this new land that was theirs, the very last one in the convoy was ambushed and dragged into the water where it was unprepared and without holding its breath. As a stream of bubbles rose to the surface from the guard¡¯s mouth following each repeated shake of the worker¡¯s head, blood too began to drift out from the leg where the worker had grasped onto. Moles were never meant to swim so as one fought to kill and the other attempted to escape despite being latched onto due to panicking, they sank to the bottom where there was no hope of breaking free the slightest bit and regaining air. It quickly lost its strength which drew the attacking mole¡¯s breath dangerously close to drowning itself, but dancing this close to death¡¯s edge was what was needed.

    The blood that spewed out of the wounds diffused instantly, quickly being eaten up by the bacteria that resided there. The water received a burst of black, not that it made any difference.

    The mole popped up to the surface for a quick breath before diving down again to properly claim its kill which had begun to be stolen by the bacteria. Quickly dragging the body up into the river bank made of plastic, the body was quickly eaten and back into the ambush position the mole went with its body standing vertically such that its nose was just slightly above the water and its mouth was wide open to continuously filter out bacteria from the water, awaiting the next prey.

 The beginning

    While two distinct shapes were running through the ground, directly above them lay the large complex in which the people lived. Seeing the transition from the tough rubbery material to concrete above them, they stopped.

    ¡°Hey, Alejandros! Wake him up and ask him to make us a small room!¡±

    ¡°Ah, erm, we just gotta wait here a bit¡­¡±

    --Loading dock--

    *Doo doo doot do do doot dooo doot*

    ¡°Oh good morning sir, to what do I owe this honor for?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir, I am the captain in charge of taking care of this facility.¡±

    ¡°I collapsed a few houses? Sir, I don¡¯t think you understand the threat we faced. The creature was a terrifying existence!¡±

    ¡°Well you¡¯d have to ask the scientists who got it what it is, but from what I got from them, the thing¡¯s a slime...¡±

    ¡°Sir I¡¯m not joking! It¡¯s a slime mold!¡±

    ¡°Yes I know that¡¯s a small organism without a brain!¡±

    ¡°Yes I know it¡¯s soft and squishy!¡±

    ¡°But sir! They mentioned that its shell was literally made of diamond!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure but they mentioned how they lost an entire team to that creature!¡±

    ¡°Sir regarding that the loss may have been just a coverup, you¡¯d have to ask the organization that, but there was still the thing they called a mole!¡±

    ¡°Well sir, it appears that it tore through the hallways.¡±

    ¡°No sir, I¡¯m not exaggerating, it tore through the steel and concrete hallways!¡±

    ¡°Yes sir, I looked at the building schematics, those hallways are definitely made of concrete and reinforced with steel.¡±

    ¡°Sir, I¡¯m guessing it simply tore through the steel rebar in the concrete walls and compressed the direct even more.¡±

    ¡°Sir, sending men down would¡¯ve been suicide in that narrow hallway!¡±

    ¡°Sir, again, you¡¯d have to ask the scientists for more details but there was an entire warehouse of creatures!¡±

    ¡°Yes sir, I understand my demotion.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir, I understand that this is for the people to be satisfied.¡±

    ¡°Sir may I ask where I¡¯ll be transferred to after this?¡±

    ¡°Ah I see. I¡¯ll say my goodbyes then.¡±

    The captain closed the blue light emanating from the device in his hand and sighed while looking down. Besides him was the vice-captain who saw the sigh from his friend.

    ¡°Hey David what¡¯s wrong? Higher ups chew you out?¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been deployed.¡±

    ¡°Man, why¡¯d this have to happen to you.¡±

    ¡°They needed to explain it to the masses, nothing unexpected. You¡¯ll probably get a promotion soon. See ya next time we meet.¡±

    ¡°Heh, as if. Good bye, you have anything you want me to take care of?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ You see, I got this stash in this place right? I probably don¡¯t have time to go clean it so I¡¯d appreciate it if you¡¯d just go there ya¡¯know¡­ give them a bath.¡±

    ¡°Heh sure thing, what if you come back though? Would be pretty sad if you lost it all.¡±

    ¡°Nah it¡¯s fine, I¡¯d rather get rid of it all.¡±

    ¡°Man what decisiveness. So fitting of a captain. Real shame man.¡±

    ¡°Yeah I guess I¡¯ll go home to begin packing now.¡±

    --Suburban area--

    The parts of the land were torn apart to show the true amount of manipulation that the humans here had caused. The cross section revealed ordinary things at first, like the layer of grass above and the concrete. Just centimeters under the dirt however lay a thick black layer which lay unexposed after extending from underneath the sidewalk which was only there to keep in line with what people were used to. The spacious roads were used to create the ambience and peacefulness to foster young minds which could then bring new technological developments to further their military campaigns.

    --Underground--

    The cockroach twitched and finally become still. Out of its mouth split in two crawled another cockroach, but this time lacking the legs it had previously, losing four pairs of legs. That wasn¡¯t the biggest change though, as it lost its entire shell, leaving behind pink flesh for all to see as its muscles struggled to hold up its form without any support. The old body lay in stark contrast to

    A slit split open and sounds attempted to come out.

    ¡°Ss-kuhh -eww iiihh- tuhhh¡±

    Again, through that same featureless slit came another slightly smaller being but this time it grew a shell over its back and its four limbs while laying flat on the ground. The delicate skin underneath however, after scraping against the rough powder underneath split open. Blood spilled out, dying the powder red as the powder resisted the spread of the liquid, each grain soaking up a bit of blood.

    The mushroom supported by the light grey dust around it began laughing.

    ¡°Hah! Alejandros! What are you trying to do? You forgot a skeleton the first iteration and skin the second iteration?¡±

    ¡°Shut up! You¡¯re not the one that has to do this! You¡¯ve gotta start with a blank slate when you do stuff ok? I cut my shell away!¡±

    ¡°Yeah well why don¡¯t you just start from your core!¡±

    ¡°What am I supposed to do with only my core? Blow up?¡±

    ¡°Dunno, but if you look at Senny over there, he¡¯s doing better than you.¡±

    ¡°What? He just gave himself some bumps! How¡¯s that called anything?¡±

    ¡°Well it¡¯s closer to a human being than the bag of meat that¡¯s barely holding on right now¡­ At least it can stand up sorta¡­¡±

    ¡°Hrmph¡±

    The second and third lump of flesh had an oversized abdomen which the skiny boneless lumps of tissue couldn¡¯t support at all. The third however, had a thin carapace over its back, which simply flopped over since the carapace was unable to support it. Giving up, it opted to turn back into the form which it knew so well, the cockroach. Then it began eating its past bodies, all of which had failed except for the original which it tried to come out of. They all went well until the cockroach faced the original. The shell began to be crushed, but not without some effect on its surroundings. Shards of shell flew out with each bite, pelting the one while they barely reached the other.

    The closest one, the mushroom, was obviously the one who complained first.

    ¡°Ugh, Alejandros can¡¯t you bite a bit cleaner? Or get some lips so that shell doesn¡¯t spray everywhere!¡±

    ¡°Just deal with it! I¡¯ll be done soon!¡±

    This statement from Alejandros was in no way true. Compared to before in the laboratory the cockroach was barely as far after only having taken a few small bites out of it. There were two factors that caused this. First was the fact that the majority of energy was left in the bodies unlike before since gathering the fluids in its body with them trying to flow naturally was inefficient energy use, thus the majority of its instantly usable energy was left behind in its fluids. The second reason was pretty simple. It was simply smaller and thus could only take smaller bites. Each change left behind a considerable amount of mass which could only be grown slowly and carefully, lest they mutate and the whole process begin once again.

    Slowly though, with each crunch the original shell was disposed of.

    The cockroach suddenly obtained an epiphany.

    ¡°Hey! Hey! Hey! I¡¯ve suddenly realized what I need to do! I just need to reshape my cockroach form to be a human and cover it with skin! Hah! I¡¯m a genius!¡±

    ¡°Sure you are¡­¡±

    ¡°How about you try being a human then!¡±

    ¡°Sure no problem!¡±

 Dawn

    Threads burst out of the ground to surround the creature. A bipedal form stepped out with an entirely blank face like a mannequin.

    The cockroach beside it looked up at the being that was so many times taller.

    ¡°Huh? Aren¡¯t you just gonna blow over with a gust of wind instantly?¡±

    The hands of this faceless being began picking up fistfuls of the powder that lay all about them and placed it through a hole in its back that opened up. The range of motion wasn¡¯t at all constrained by the skeletal structure most creatures would have struggled with. Slowly, fistful by fistful, the powder began to leave a small crater in the middle of it. The last handful was placed through the top of its head and sealed off by pushing aside the excess powder.

    Meanwhile, the cockroach was finishing the consumption of its original body and taking on its fourth transformation, this time leaving a thin membrane over its shell.

    ¡°This¡­ This isn¡¯t good at all! Everybody can still see my shell!¡±

    The faceless being tilted its head down at the small bug below.

    ¡°Hmmm, you need thicker skin.¡±

    ¡°No shit sherlock, but first I need to reclaim my body before that and grow back up again!¡±

    ¡°This will probably take a while¡­ won¡¯t it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, better get used to moving around while you wait! By the way¡­ How much energy does it take to keep that shape together?¡±

    ¡°Not a lot actually. By weaving my threads in and out, I can form an intricate mesh that stays together by itself and hundreds of threads inside me allows for the constraint of how much the body expands while the powder prevents compression. This form takes nearly zero energy consumption to maintai¡­ Hey what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    The cockroach had taken its original body and ran off far away to sulk in a corner¡­

    ¡°This isn¡¯t fair! Ahhh! Why must life be unfair to us animals! We have to spend so much effort transforming our very bodies to change form while that plant...No. Not a plant. Creature¡­ Not a creature either¡­ Monster! It¡¯s a monster! That monster is so enviable! All the talent in the world wasted on it! Here I am, sacrificing my own blood and sweat to transform into that human form so we can explore the surface! Sweet sweet energy! Here I come once more! ¡­ Could I grow any slower? This¡¯ll take years¡­ Luckily Senny doesn¡¯t seem to be having much luck either¡­ now he¡¯s basically five worms in one! Hah! Like that¡¯s gonna help!¡±

    --Loading dock--

    A dark shape suddenly burst out of the hole that contained the second opening from the ground. Unlike the elevator shaft, this one was not emitting smoke but rather creatures. The shape showed its glistening tan shell as the sun began to creep up behind the blurryflat line littered with rectangles on sticks like kebabs.

    Bullets immediately flew out at it that shattered against its shell. Under the merciless hail of fire however, a stray bullet managed to strike the beetle¡¯s eye which tunneled straight through into the beetle¡¯s brain. Under the hail of bullets, no one could distinguish the fact that the beetle was in fact already dead.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Under the cover of the dust emerged several other creatures which began approaching the police which had formed a perimeter around them. Out of the dust flew a large hummingbird the size of a man into the sky. A single missile streaked across the sky and collided with the bird high above the city, high enough to view the desolate wasteland that lay beyond before scattering into the wind in the form of ashes.

    The other five, caught between the storm of bullets from all directions, became swiss cheese but red.

    Seeing the red mist from all of this, the police ceased their fire and were greeted with the bloody shapes of five and an unmoving body of the sixth.

    The vice captain peeked out from behind a van.

    ¡°Did we even scratch it?¡±

    ¡°Dunno vice captain, maybe we gave it a concussion?¡± replied a policeman.

    Another policeman interjected.

    ¡°Heh, let¡¯s rip off it¡¯s legs then.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good, how about you do it!¡±

    ¡°Hey man, I¡¯m not getting close to that thing!¡±

    ¡°Awww come on, carry out your idea! Got no balls if you don¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re paying for me drinks today¡­¡±

    ¡°This early in the morning? You must be kidding.¡±

    ¡°Nah man, never too early for drinks.¡±

    ¡°Heh, must be crazy.¡±

    ¡°Sure am!¡±

    --Apt. #496--

    Both Leonard and John were sitting around listening to the audio of the television in the background as they got ready for work.

    ¡°Damn so they burned the whole place down¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey Leonard, I was just thinking¡­ Do we still have a job?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°I mean Leonard! That place was practically burned to nothing!¡±

    ¡°John...I just realized¡­ We might¡¯ve screwed up.¡±

    ¡°Shit what do we do now Leonard¡­ Are we forced to move to that place?¡±

    ¡°I think we¡¯ve got a decent amount of pesos between the both of us right John?¡±

    ¡°Shit Leonard we¡¯ll get mugged immediately¡­¡±

    ¡°Hold on! Hold on! John, why don¡¯t we find work elsewhere? Should be simple enough right?¡±

    ¡°Leonard! Who¡¯ll accept us!?¡±

    ¡°John, look we¡¯re researchers right? They¡¯ll be sure to give us more funding when they see the damage that the animals have caused!¡±

    ¡°Bullshit Leonard. The fire did all that damage! You also think any of the other research groups would accept us after all we¡¯ve done?¡±

    ¡°They should value talent right John?¡±

    ¡°Hah, as if¡­ Talent can be overcome with sheer numbers...You¡¯re worthless Leonard¡­ So am I¡­ they value cooperation more now¡­¡±

    ¡°How about a factory worker? Should be fine right? That¡¯s still in the slums man, unless you¡¯re talking about those ones¡­ No¡­ Those wouldn¡¯t work¡­ We know jackshit about how they work¡­John how screwed are we...¡±

    ¡°Heh we know jackshit about anything else other than what we did¡­¡±

    ¡°John! I¡¯ve got a great idea! Why don¡¯t we introduce cheap injections in the slums! They¡¯ll be sure to love it!¡±

    ¡°Heh, like what Leonard? They suddenly want to work harder?¡±

    ¡°Nah man, like they can gain an advantage in their conflicts by just being stronger!¡±

    ¡°Then what? We¡¯ll still live in the slums and be caught up between their conflicts! Who knows if we¡¯ll be targeted for making that! Leonard! I don¡¯t want to die yet!¡±

    ¡°How about we sell it both sides then John?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll get targeted by both sides then! No¡­ What if we take the injections?¡±

    ¡°How¡¯ll we get funding? John, we¡¯re practically broke remember?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ remember our failed serums?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ I kept them as souvenirs¡­ ¡°

    ¡°Heh, do they work?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ They do¡­ But Leonard¡­ The problem is they work a little too well if you know what I mean¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright, if we¡¯re gonna be strong then we might as well go all the way.¡±

    ¡°Man, let''s wait a bit to take these¡­ Maybe we¡¯ll get reassigned¡­¡±

    ¡°Doubt it John¡­ ¡°

    The two entered a study with three bookshelves against the walls which covered their respective walls, save for the last one which was only half full with books.

    Under the desk which faced the fourth wall and the door, rested a minifridge. Cold air spilled out to reveal rows upon rows of tubes.

    ¡°Hey Leonard, if you could be any animal, which one would you pick?¡±

    ¡°How about an elephant?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ How about another one? Our facility wasn¡¯t large enough to fit an elephant¡­¡±

    ¡°Crocodile?¡±

    ¡°Yeah sure no problem. Which one do you want?¡±

    ¡°Huh I get a choice?¡±

    ¡°Yeah well I mean, there¡¯s only one real serum that sorta works¡­ It gave the lab rat scales on its back¡­Well I mean it did gain a ton of strength...¡±

    ¡°Yeah sounds great! We can probably cover it with some clothing. So we¡¯ll take it now?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡±

 Recruitment

    ¡°Hey you done yet?...Why¡¯s this taking so long!¡±

    --Recruitment Office--

    ¡°You¡¯ve kept yourself fit I assume David?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve also taken care of what needed to be taken care of?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir.¡±

    ¡°You see, I¡¯ve got a note on your profile that says to bury you, you understand what I mean former captain?"

    ¡°No sir.¡±

    ¡°Well simply put, it means you¡¯re dead.¡±

    ¡°I see sir.¡±

    ¡°Well, maybe you won¡¯t die. You see, oftentimes, soldiers go missing, you get what I mean?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir.¡±

    ¡°Man, bureaucrats really screwed you over this time¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes sir.¡±

    ¡°Well you see, I still gotta do my job and send you somewhere that there¡¯s a high risk of dying...Maybe the front lines?¡±

    ¡°That would be fine sir.¡±

    ¡°You can drop the sir part anyways, no need for that around here. But that aside, frontlines wouldn¡¯t work I think¡­ Perhaps the raiding team?¡±

    ¡°I insist on showing respect sir.¡±

    ¡°Ah still wary are you? That¡¯s fine, raiding team it is.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir.¡±

    ¡°Oh and by the way, you heard nothing, understand? Hehe.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir.¡±

    ¡°Hehe. Oh yeah, quick tip, only escape when you¡¯re under fire, they¡¯ll try to catch you otherwise you see¡­¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much sir¡­¡±

    ¡®Alright then, you¡¯ll be assigned to that, I assume you know where to go since you¡¯re a veteran¡­ After you escape you see, circle around and get through the gate which is on the south side.. Just slowly crawl along the road, don¡¯t get too excited or else you¡¯ll get shot up. You¡¯ll be safe hiding amongst the poor. Those people wouldn¡¯t ever want to step in there you see, too dirty for them, but you¡¯ve got no other choice¡­ Alright that settles it, you can go report there now¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes sir.¡±

    --Police station--

    Around a table full of disassembled rifles sat several men while their suits stood behind them with cords and tubes poking into various nooks and crannies. Behind them sat cots in each corner with several boxes underneath each one. There was a wide assortment of boxes, but one that they all had in common was a small box with a solid lock on top.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    Three men poked around their rifles, methodically cleaning each part as they chatted.

    ¡°Man, why do we even have to stay up?¡±

    ¡°Heard we¡¯re getting a new captain hehe.¡±

    ¡°Ain¡¯t it our vice captain? Why the formalities?¡±

    ¡°Heh, nah, brand new one, heard they transferred in.¡±

    ¡°Man, shame, I knew he was expecting it...You know anything about the new captain?¡±

    ¡°Heh yeah, heard it¡¯s a she.¡±

    ¡°You sure about that? Ain¡¯t nobody ever heard of no woman capt¡¯n round here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah and heard she¡¯s pretty hot too heh.¡±

    ¡°Man, stop pulling our legs, this couldn¡¯t be. No female captains in the sector¡­ Unless it¡¯s a transfer?¡±

    ¡°Ain¡¯t possible bro, went to one of them seminars last year, y¡¯know, mandatory for captains and shit. Wanted to rub shoulders with some of them. Didn¡¯t see no women over there that¡¯s for sure. No drinks either¡­ Good food though, free too.¡±

    ¡°Heh you¡¯ll wanna get this¡­ apparently some daughter from one of them cabinet members really wanted to be a police captain hehe.¡±

    ¡°The fuck man, that ain¡¯t right, not at all. I suppose we''re just gonna ignore her and let the vice captain take point?¡±

    ¡°Heh, sure thing, I¡¯m in.¡±

    ¡°Man, count me in.¡±

    The three sat around, polishing the parts on the table to a shine as a person walked in.

    ¡°Hey, you three, time for you to meet the captain.¡±

    The three looked at each other.

    ¡°Sure thing man, just let us put everything back together.¡±

    The door closed and the men sat back down against, quickly reassembling the rifles

    ¡°You¡¯d better just be pulling our leg about the new captain just being a nobody¡­¡±

    ¡°Heh well who knows? Just wait and see.¡±

    The three placed their assembled rifles on the table and left. Walking down the brightly lit hallway, they saw another group of three walking dejectedly from where they came.

    ¡°Yo man, what¡¯s up with them?¡±

    ¡°Who knows? Ain¡¯t nobody got enough time to wonder what others are thinking.¡±

    ¡°Heh they probably got beaten up or something.¡±

    The three faced a set of grey double doors with thick push bars. The three pushed aside one door and were met with a single desk with two people standing behind it with a stack of folders on the side. They stood stiffly in front of the desk awaiting further instructions.

    ¡°Ok guys, I¡¯m your new captain. Name¡¯s Olivia.

    The three stood still. At the moment, the same thought was running through their mind. ¡®Damn, she¡¯s hot.¡¯

    ¡°Alright you three look good, you can go back now.¡±

    The three, without thinking, turned and walked out. Outside, the three hung their heads dejectedly as they walked back.

    ¡°Man, what kinda captain is that?¡±

    ¡°Heh, who knows?¡±

    ¡°That ain¡¯t like our old captain at all¡­¡±

    ¡°Calling us to greet us and send us off? Man, what a bummer¡­¡±

    ¡°Heh, told ya guys.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s the vice captain at right now? That girl ain¡¯t my captain at all¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah man, lack of muscles and all that.¡±

    ¡°Wonder how she¡¯d look in a suit hehe.¡±

    ¡°You think she ever went in a suit? Ain¡¯t she just a spoiled brat that the higher ups dumped on us? What you said sounded pretty real right there¡­¡±

    ¡°Man, let¡¯s go see vice captain.¡±

    The three continued walking down the hall into a room where another three were on their cots. Two were reading magazines while the third lay under the blankets, seemingly not there at all.

    The three barged in, uncaring of what the others inside were doing.

    ¡°Hey man, what¡¯s up, vice captain in?¡±

    A man sitting on his cot responded.

    ¡°Yeah, laying there all depressed and shit.¡±

    ¡°Hey vice captain, what¡¯s wrong there? Ain¡¯t nothing like sharing something with a bro.¡±

    From under the blankets came a voice.

    ¡°I¡¯m not vice captain anymore¡­ the new captain brought in a new vice captain¡­¡±

    --Rubble--

    Under the rubble of which the explosion of the laboratory had caused lay the liquid, surrounded by the thick blackened shell over it. Inside the shell lay the last drops of liquid as they surrounded a core.

    ¡°Shit man, had to condense myself into a solid to survive¡­ On the other hand, it seems to have brought some pretty good results, so I supposed I should thank them for that¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmmm what to do now¡­ I dunno if the fire outside is still going or something...Things have considerably cooled down now I guess.¡±

    ¡°What if they burn me again though...I know! I¡¯ll use my liquid to support some of the rock so they think I¡¯m another piece of the rock here!¡±

    ¡°So simple, so genius!¡±

    ¡°How do I get out though¡­ Do I eat the shell? The minerals are still there¡­¡±

    ¡°I suppose I will¡­But let me poke a small hole through to see first¡­¡±

 Scout

    The first shell landed amongst the dry wasteland, followed by the barrage of several more shells.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see... there¡¯s an arty position 15.4 degrees north of west, right behind that large pile of debris, and another one 37.6 degrees north of west. Couldn¡¯t catch any more. Let¡¯s send that info over to the commander and wait.¡±

    Another shell struck from the same position as before as it rocked the surrounding debris, turning another soldier laying down into nothing.

    ¡° Let¡¯s have a change of scenery¡­ I think there¡¯s something firing 87.2 degrees north of east¡­ Also behind another large mound...Hmmm¡­ Wonder why those geniuses don¡¯t just indiscriminately shell every large mound¡­¡±

    A soldier attempted to jump across craters to slowly push closer to the trenches where the missile batteries lay. Aircraft weren¡¯t commonly used on such fortified lines like this, but just a single one landing its payload could be devastating, thus the layers of missile batteries scattered about.

    ¡°Hmmmm...I can¡¯t exactly see...really wonder why they can¡¯t just shell all the artillery right now though¡­ Do they need to move into position or something?¡±

    The lack of range on an artillery piece allowed it to be in the range of several other artillery pieces at once, keeping it in constant danger. The frontlines in this area consisted of several trenches which were obviously lacking in use, but they did form a path between the supplies and the front trenches. Of course, the front trenches weren¡¯t the front line, but rather a death trap as in the first artillery barrage, it would be the first to be targeted. They did still work however, for reducing the amount a soldier was exposed when in conflict. However, given that another wave of artillery barrage could come at any moment, most soldiers opted to hide in various craters formed by the reckless shells.

    ¡°Damn, that one at 37.5 degrees north of west really is shooting quite a bit¡­ Or was it 37.6? Eh, whatever, close enough. When we gonna silence that thing though? One shell means one life¡­¡±

    A wave of shells came and struck several positions among the back. Most fell silent, but where the shells missed their mark, shells continued to fall.

    ¡°Can¡¯t they just carpet bomb the whole backline? No chance of hitting us and high chance of hitting the enemy¡­When are those jarheads up front gonna break apart those missile batteries though¡­¡±

    Silence fell among the battlefield.

    ¡°Eh? Something¡¯s wrong...Kinda creepy if you ask me¡­ The sound of shells means you know what your opponent is doing¡­Wonder if we could pull off some fancy high altitude bombing runs¡­¡±

    A soldier twitched and sent a single plastic can tumbling down the mound of plastic, but that was enough. More shots rang out, each one shaking the ground and when combined, they formed an earthquake where the piles of plastic that protected them began to collapse under the vibrations.

    ¡°Man, I¡¯m lucky to be where I am, between the artillery and front lines, nobody¡¯s gonna want to shoot here¡­Let¡¯s do my job though¡­ 87 degrees north of west¡­¡±

    Under the bright morning sun, a ray of light was reflected off the lens.

    ¡°Shit, sun¡¯s coming out¡­ I should probably take a nap or something¡­ and wait until the angle of the sun changes...¡±

    The ray of light was just enough to give away his position as another shell landed atop his position.

    --Apt. #496--

    The two men sat face to face as they held a syringe to each other¡¯s necks.

    ¡°Almost like a suicide pact right John?¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with¡­ Animals seem to go through quite a bit of pain¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, we¡¯re gonna be fine and rule the slums!¡±

    ¡°Still the slums though Leonard¡­ Don¡¯t have high hopes¡­¡±

    ¡°Three.¡±

    ¡°Two.¡±

    ¡°One.¡±

    The two men injected the syringe into each others necks as they fell back, having instantly fainted from the pain. As their bodies spasmed, the hair on their heads began to fall off as the pale white skin underneath darkened and hardened. The skin rose to show several hard bumps that led down the collar of each man. The transformation continued at the back of their hands, with large bumps on their knuckles and the layer of hardened skin running down their fingers until it reached the fingernails which turned into hard and sharp claws.

    --Vice captain¡¯s room--

    ¡°Ey man, you see that girl though?¡±

    Five men sat around in a circle, hunched over. Two of them sat on the bench, but the other three sat on several boxes to form a tighter circle.

    ¡°She ain¡¯t looking like she¡¯s gonna be much now.¡±

    ¡°Nah man, I¡¯m talking about the other parts of her if ya know what I mean¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh sure I know what you mean hehehe¡­¡±

    ¡°Boys, let¡¯s not get so high on our hormones now shall we? Still gotta see about her personality you see¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we ain¡¯t gonna have problems when we¡¯re conducting business, we all know the drill without her¡­¡±

    ¡°Man, brighten up will ya? Talking about whether she¡¯ll be friendly¡­¡±

    ¡°Heh, you think a brat like her will be friendly? Come on!¡±

    ¡°Ey, keep it down man, don¡¯t want old vice to hear us now do we¡­¡±

    ¡°Speaking of which, who¡¯s the new vice captain? Ain¡¯t seen her around here yet¡­¡±

    ¡°Heh you don¡¯t know? Was that girl besides her¡­¡±

    ¡°Man you kidding me? That girl? Anybody heard of her before?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t even know? Heh, guess I really am the most informed out of all of us.¡±

    ¡°Boy, you gonna sit there bragging or what? Spill.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright. Turns out she¡¯s a merc hehe.¡±

    ¡°She good? Ain¡¯t look so strong from what I saw.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, apparently she¡¯s the real deal, new captain¡¯s father apparently brought her out of the slums hehehe¡­¡±

    ¡°Man, imagine if I was the one to bring her out¡­¡±

    ¡°Ey man, you kidding me? You dare go in there? Guards there a kind of different breed from us you know.¡±

    ¡°Yeah you¡¯re all boys before them¡­¡±

    ¡°Man, what would you say the new captain is?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ Solid eight I¡¯d say¡­ Maybe a bit higher if she has a good personality heh.¡±

    ¡°Stop your little games boys, we gotta cheer up old vice now¡­¡±

    ¡°How we gonna do that now? We ain¡¯t therapists.¡±

    ¡°Heh I got just the thing¡­ Hey! Wake up sleepy head!¡±

    Under the blankets stirred the man. Uncovering himself, he sat atop the table with his feet on the seats, joining them in their circle.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much, knew I¡¯d be screwed over like old captain¡­ The thing that¡¯s been on my mind you see¡­ Well old captain gave me a task to fulfill¡­ Dunno when I¡¯m gonna find time to do it though.¡±

    ¡°Ey man, don¡¯t worry at all. Just go right now. We¡¯ll cover for ya.¡±

    ¡°We ain¡¯t gonna be covering anything if we¡¯re all saying different things. What¡¯s the story?¡±

    ¡°Relieving stress? Hehe.¡±

    ¡°Sure thing man, no problem.

    ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll go, even if they find out, I can always say I was looking at the home of old captain¡­ We were pretty close after all¡­¡±

    --Gate 1--

    ¡°John you sure about this?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Leonard, we¡¯re powerful enough.¡±

    The two men, hooded and clothed such that not a single inch of skin was exposed, walked up to the gate flanked by two men. The shorter of the two on the right held a briefcase with the handle hidden by the man¡¯s sleeve and the other man had put both his hands in his pocket.

    ¡°What are you guys up to?¡±

    ¡°You see, me and my friend John here lost our jobs, so you see¡­ we have no choice¡­¡±

    ¡°Sure, permission granted. Beware of what¡¯s in the building. Between the gate and the building, there¡¯s still a chance to come back as long as we don¡¯t lose sight of you. Once you¡¯re beyond those walls, you¡¯re staying there.¡±

    ¡°Heh¡­ Got no choice. Lets go John.¡±

    The gate was opened for the two of them and as they walked down the several dozen meters leading up to the dark hole in the wall, a voice came out.

    ¡°Once you¡¯re in, you¡¯re not coming out. Are you sure?¡±

    The two responded simultaneously.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

 Details part I

    ¡°Child! Stop there! Let me read your palm!¡±

    Houses lined the road which had a long crack running down the center with several branches splintering off onto the sidewalk. The road had four long light gray stripes running down it in contrast to the rest of the dark road. The strips ran along the road while each one faded into the black that seemed to suck everything in save for the small plastic chips. The cracks that ran through the strips were like a bolt of lightning through a dark and stormy sky- if the lightning was black and the dark sky was white. Each crack opened into a dark chasm that promised that if you fell in, you¡¯d never hit bottom.

    The sidewalks too, had cracks running through it as it exposed the mixture of plastic inside used to fill up space and cement used to hold it together. The colorful mixture had all colors, most notably hot pink, orange, purple and green. Under the bright sun however, each color was lightened such that the hot pink became only a light pink and so on. Small bits of cement were attached to the plastic still, hanging onto the crevices in the pieces of plastic. Scattered throughout were smooth holes formed from the air that hadn¡¯t been able to escape while the concrete mixture dried. The cement itself was a light grey that seemed to match the clouds above that began to roll in.

    What lay beyond the sidewalk was a perfectly green lawn, with blades of grass that hid the soil underneath. The soil itself was just as colorful as the sidewalk outside, except for the fact that the sidewalk had a thin layer of cement covering it, hiding the colors beneath. In this manner, the lawn was also like the sidewalk in the sense that the plastic grass, all uniform, formed a dense carpet which hid the bits of plastic that had fused to the rich dark brown below. Each blade of plastic grass was bent at the middle and although they all varied in angle, the angles were always obtuse.

    The house towered above the roads filled with cracks down below. Really? No, just a simple two story house. The front looked immaculate with its beautiful and flawless lawn. The sidings on the wall were also a deep mahogany and matched the texture as well. Each of the houses here all varied in color, but they all shared the color of being wood colored. Occasional rectangular openings dotted the wall at an even height. The openings consisted of two squared stacked on one another. The very bottom of the lower square reached waist height and was extended out by a small platform on which rested a reddish brown pot and a flower sticking out of the same material the lawn had. The flower was purple with five petals with several thick veins of white running through each petal as if the feather of a swan was laid upon each purple petal. The lower square of the window consisted of two layers. One of a thin wire net that prevented all but wind and water from entering and a second layer of glass that prevented what the first layer couldn¡¯t. The upper square had two perpendicular rods -- both vertical and horizontal, not diagonal -- embedded in it, supporting the single layer of glass. The window frame was a simple thin rectangular frame with a color that matched the surrounding colors. What made it different however was that the pieces were thinly cut and were flat against the wall, unlike each panel of the siding which slanted downwards and outwards to better let the rain flow off while not wearing away at the wall itself. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    To the left of the house was a driveway which joined the road perfectly as if it was just an extension of the road. The driveway only extended in until it lined up with the back of the house. Looming above the driveway was the entire side of the house which was rarely seen by passersby. The thin layer of plastic that was covered by the actual color of each panel of the siding began peeling off, revealing the multicolored plastic that had just been pressed together at random. The thin layer itself had begun falling off in chips, leaving behind small holes that looked like a spray of bullets had gone into the house. The contrast to the brown wood color by the kaleidoscope of plastic that was formed by simply gathering random pieces of plastic, chopping them up into fine pellets and finally blasting them at a temperature to fuse them together. The thin layer of plastic was attached through simply blowtorching the wood, leaving a few black marks where the torch had stayed for too long, but at other points, pockets of air formed because they had not been properly melted onto the siding panels. Slowly, these pockets of air burst under the expansion of air under the sun and contraction in the cold night, revealing the chaos of colors that were the panels underneath.

    Obviously, the side was neglected as not many people even cared to look over the tall fence at the side of the wall. The short opening however, gave little opportunity to take note of all the flaws on the side and they would¡¯ve only observed the front, which was well maintained with repeated layers of plastic torched on.

    Blocking the lower half of the house which consisted of the door and pathway leading up to the door and cutting in right next to the driveway was a tall fence with pure white boards that were upright. The upper half of the house could only be seen on the other side of the road. The fence however, stood taller than an ordinary man, and blocked observation of the house, but the fence contained its own history. It may have looked like an ordinary white fence, but a closer observation revealed that each vertical fence board had expanded out sideways to close off the gaps that normally existed in a fence, but had left random gaps scattered along. As a result of this stretching however, there were several indents into each board scattered about that were almost imperceptible.

    The fence actually had several light stains that were hard to see from a distance -- for example, the light yellow stain that disappeared entirely under the bright sun. Under a black light however, the entire fence would light up like paint had been splashed across the entire fence in all sorts of patterns. A child¡¯s mind is delightful and they drew all sorts of shapes from simple words that cursed the owner to satanic ritual symbols. One such symbol however, was messily drawn at first but was missing the entire symbol. Where the symbol should¡¯ve been, there was a dark abyss¡­ Or just that the child drew the symbol in paint before pissing on it and the owner erased the paint afterwards.

 Details part II

    The fence, on the front side of the house, also had a door which was held on by two golden hinges, one a quarter from the top and the second, a quarter from the bottom. The gateway consisted of two vertical shafts which towered above the rest of the fence. Atop each shaft was a small spire, increasing the height of the gateway even further. The spire itself began to round out the rectangular shafts and suddenly ballooned outwards before coming back together in a smooth, streamlined curve.

    The door itself however, was the same humble height as the rest of the fence, still taller than anyone who might walk by. From the warping that had taken place, the door had jammed itself to the rest of the fencing. On the very center of the door, about a third of the way down from the top of the door, was a symbol engraved upon a golden oval. The symbol itself featured a lion and that lion seemed to be pouncing on whatever lay off in the distance.

    Under the fence peeked out what little grass that could, like little fingers that stuck out from under trying to escape. They were bent over, reaching for the legs of children that walked past from under the fence. The material from which they came was like a demonic portal from which the long and thin fingers escaped from. These fingers reached for the ankles of unsuspecting passerby, to achieve their sole purpose in existing. To be just like grass. Just as annoying. The height at which they reached for people was just low enough to dodge under their pants. Each stalk of grass was just so stiff enough to place enough pressure on the thin socks to transfer a feeling to the person himself. This unnatural feeling made people jump up in horror, only to find nobody there. This feeling would then spook them into their dreams, to dream of a demon crawling on the ground to grab their ankles and pull them in a deep and dark pit at which the bottom lay a portal to hell.

    This house was placed at an intersection which meant the right of the house was also exposed. The right side of the house was unlike the side facing the driveway and more like the front, although with less features. A bleak wall with two windows faced the road, not that anybody actually ever took a look at it. The intersection itself was rarely used during this time of the day, as people got to work as the sun rose and back as the sun set. The sun shone down heavily on the area, and the street, being completely black, absorbed all of this and heated to a temperature hot enough to give a second degree burn with just a touch.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    From around the corner slowly creeped out a figure which awkwardly stumbled from behind the fence. The figure consisted of several rags which almost looked like strips of cloth with all the holes in it. The cloth itself was worn and weathered, turning it into a yellowed color. The skin which was revealed by the holes showed the tanned and wrinkled skin which had beads of sweat dripping down them. The figure was topped off with a clump of long grey hair which fell off to the side, reaching the ear. The rest of the head was barren and the skin which covered it was still taught and shiny but tanned against the head. The figure ended with a pair of flat pads of rubber which had straps that wrapped atop each foot. Each foot was wrinkled and spotted with both white and brown spots. They were tipped off with yellow and crusty toenails which stretched much further away from the foot than they needed to after not having been cut for so long.

    The figure was met with a second figure that was shorter, but not by a lot. The second figure was dressed neatly in a perfectly white shirt. On that white shirt was a red tie that was too long and went down to a point just above the belt. The belt was a perfectly black four centimeters that wrapped around just above the figure¡¯s pants. The pants that the belt wrapped around were a solid non reflective wall of black that hid all skin underneath. On the second figure¡¯s back was a similarly black bag which was shaped like a rectangular prism which covered the second figure¡¯s back almost perfectly. There were two straps that looped above the shoulders and down to the hips of the second figure where it connected with the bag. The bag had a single zipper that covered the top half of the bag which was unzipped open and the flap blew around in the wind.

    In that bag there was little but a single book and loose pages that threatened to flap away in the wind. On a piece of paper that had broken free from the bag only to be held to another piece by a thin metal pin that was stabbed into and bent flat against the paper was a page full of red marks. And to top it all off, at the top right of the page was a single word. Super. S for shit, u for ugly, p for poor, e for erroneous, r for retarded.

    ¡°Listen to me, child! Just by reading your face, I can tell you that you¡¯ll face a calamity in the future!¡± The first figure croaked out these few words.

    ¡°Yeah no shit, anyone can see that. This is obviously a scam.¡± The second figure walked across the road to avoid the first figure.

    ¡°You little rascal! It¡¯s not a scam! You¡¯ll regret this!¡± The first figure stood there standing as the other walked away..

 Divergence and Convergence

    ¡°Hey Satan where are you?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me both the god and devil have abandoned me now¡­Where am I going now?¡±

    The mole continued diving down beneath the surface to push itself forwards, but had to occasionally pop up to the surface for air.

    He finally reached the semi circle once more and followed the steps of the guards, jumping onto the sides of the wall just below the point where they curved upwards and inwards.

    In contrast to the mole who had been laying down in ambush all the while feeding on the bacteria all along, Cain had worn himself tired from the constant journey.

    --Foxhole--

    ¡°You guys know what happens next. Don¡¯t bother me with explaining it.¡±

    ¡°My plan¡¯s simple. I¡¯ll carry my set of beliefs onwards!¡±

    A black shadow flew overhead. Larger and darker from before when it was night time. The sun was bearing down both on the shadow and the mole below as they journeyed to the walls.

    The wall with all its rectangular reflectors on poles stood in all its glory just as the prisoner climbed to the peak of a pile of plastic. The shadow accompanied it above.

    ¡°Another one to bring happiness to!¡±

    The shadow suddenly reversed direction as it was blown away.

    Meet the Bow and Arrow, a missile system which tracks and shoots down flying targets. A stand alone missile system with a radar on each unit, several of these are guaranteed to shoot down any airborne target. Once linked together, these radars can communicate with one another to promote greater efficiency to bring down a target.

    The missiles themselves are launched within a second of detecting the target and detonate with vengeance within close proximity to tear apart the target.

    Brought to you by Ephnin.

    ¡°There¡¯s nobody left to bring happiness to the waste land!¡±

    ¡°All those back there are bird brains who can¡¯t be found!¡±

    ¡°Wait a second¡­ They left the bible behind didn¡¯t they¡­ Hah! I¡¯ll eat it and then it¡¯ll be gone forever!¡±

    --Oasis--

    As morning shone down on the queen, a glowing radiance emanated from the queen which sat in the center of the scavengers. A quick glance revealed nothing but clean sparkling water which was flushed green maybe from the surrounding plant life. The bacteria, in their final moments, had dissolved the bodies leaving no trace of the workers behind.

    The queen, waking up, saw that the path hadn¡¯t yet been cleared and walked under the water and up to the cliff face that the protrusion came from. She directly rushed up the cliff face and cracked her head against the bottom, cracking her skull against the bottom of the pipe. A hole ripped up and the metal gave way, making a large tear in the metal that formed a crack all the way to the end, revealing the layers that made up the pipe.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    The queen, after falling down, ran up the cliff face one more and leaped into the tunnel. She simply walked through the flowing water that Cain had struggled with before with her mass that sunk her to the bottom and with her height that let her rise above the level of the water.

    --Northern Front--

    ¡°Damn I¡¯m still alive? Shitty headache though¡­ Screw whoever decided to shell me...¡±

    ¡°Well I mean¡­ I¡¯m sorta lucky that idiot missed...But that¡¯s a goddamn large headache!¡±

    ¡°Well they might search around for my body...Screw it! Nobody looks too hard anyways¡­¡±

    ¡°Well am I a deserter? Well technically not, not yet. Screw it, now I am after not reporting that I¡¯m alive.¡±

    ¡°So how do I run¡­¡±

    ¡°Screw it, got a month¡¯s worth of rations here...I¡¯ll wait for an opportunity¡­¡±

    --Tunnels, south junction--

    The queen faced the semicircle and stared at the smaller circle from which the water flowed. She wanted the water. All the water. She plopped herself down on top of the semicircle and began drinking from the pool of water. The water similarly went out the other end, but only after everything was filtered out from it.

    --Tunnels--

    The above moles that lay in ambush were getting restless after lying in ambush for so long. They were never meant to sit and watch as the days go by, free from all bodily desires. The desire to live was only derived from the desire to continue on the species. The female began to emit an overpowering pheromone that attracted the surrounding males who were similarly starved but the rest of the females were suppressed from becoming a similar entity from that pheromone.

    --Sector 1, floor 1, derivative 1, hall 1--

    Leonard and John entered the dark hallways where there was almost no light at all. A cloaked figure stood right besides the doorway, ambushing them from behind as the two walked in.

    ¡°Ey, whatcha doin¡¯ ¡®ere boys? Lookin¡¯ awful lost ain''tcha y''all.¡¯¡¯

    ¡°Who might you be?¡±

    ¡°Well ya see, I s¡¯ppose I¡¯m a guide ya see.¡±

    ¡°Oh? How might you be able to guide the two of us?¡±

    ¡°Well I s¡¯ppose y¡¯all would like ta join the stron¡¯est gang ¡®round these parts wouldn¡¯tcha?¡±

    ¡°I suppose we are interested, but we would like to know a bit more about this place first.¡±

    ¡°Heh well ya askin¡¯ the righ¡¯ person! Here, ya want somethin¡¯ nice an¡¯ pretty lookin¡¯, ya can get i¡¯ at a cheap price man.¡±

    ¡°No, I meant if we were going to live here, what would we need to know?¡±

    ¡°Huh ya ain¡¯t ¡®ere for tha¡¯? A¡¯ok bro, awful shame tho¡¯. Well I s¡¯ppose y¡¯all would like ta know where ta get food and shit am I right bro?¡±

    ¡°So far yes.¡±

    ¡°Ah well ¡®round these parts ya just eat wha¡¯eva ya wan¡¯ an¡¯ take wha¡¯ever shi¡¯, now¡­ ¡®bout wha¡¯ gang y¡¯all gonna join¡­I s¡¯gges¡¯ y¡¯all join the pro¡¯ec¡¯ors, afta all, they tha stron¡¯est gang ¡®round ¡®ere. Peeps gon¡¯ bothe¡¯ ya real har¡¯ if ya don¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Tell us about the strongest gang then.¡±

    ¡°Ya see, ya ge¡¯ a free gene mod once ya join. E¡¯ery ¡®ne of ¡®em ge¡¯ ta have a nice thick skin.¡±

    ¡°Gene mod? Am I right in assuming those are the serums used outside to strengthen the soldiers?¡±

    ¡°Ya sure are!¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t those expensive though?¡±

    ¡°Nah man, no¡¯ta pro¡¯lem a¡¯tall man. Ya see, outside and shit they got ¡®em regula¡¯ions and shit but down ¡®ere, we jus¡¯ do wha¡¯e¡¯er the shit we wan¡¯. So ya gon¡¯ join?¡±

    ¡°Do they have any competitors?¡±

    ¡°Nah man, some of ¡®em upstar¡¯s but no competi¡¯ors, real¡¯y ta only op¡¯ion ya got ¡®round ¡®ere.¡±

    ¡°Is it an option to not join any gang?¡±

    ¡°Well ya see, y¡¯all eitha frien¡¯s or not. Y¡¯all understan¡¯ ¡®ere?

    ¡°I suppose I have no choice but to join then.

    --Northern sector, underground level 1, derivative 5, hall 3, room 14--

    ¡°Alright guys so how¡¯s your progress in transforming? So we have a skinny cockroach with skin over it¡¯s shell and a worm with bones¡­ This is gonna take a while¡­ I suppose I should learn to run while we¡¯re at it....¡±

 And divergence again

    ¡°Now hold on a second. I don¡¯t want to join.¡±

    ¡°John what are you saying! Did you hear that man yet? They¡¯re the strongest!¡±

    ¡°Yeah and the Nazi party in Germany won their election with only a third of the votes¡­ How does being the most powerful here even matter if one day everybody decides to wipe them out?¡±

    ¡°Well they still came to power didn¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°Yeah cause the other parties were pushovers, somehow I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case here¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh whatever, you do you, I¡¯ll join.¡±

    Leonard turned back to the guide.

    ¡°So what do I do to join?¡±

    ¡°Nothin¡¯ bro, jus¡¯ keep goin¡¯ down that ha¡¯way ta the very en¡¯. Mention my name will ya? It¡¯s Deon.¡±

    ¡°Wait are you not part of them?¡±

    ¡°Nah bro, just a guide ¡®member? I jus¡¯ send ¡®em the boys.¡±

    As Leonard walked down the dark hallway, the guide walked up to John. The sight was one to behold, with the guide being shorter than John, but

    ¡°So wha¡¯cha gon¡¯ do ¡®ere, J¡¯yawn? Gon¡¯ wande¡¯ ¡®round ¡®till ya get mugged or somethin¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Well how have you stayed alive?¡±

    ¡°Dunno, don¡¯t do anythin¡¯ ta go ¡®gainst the in¡¯erests of anybody ya see.¡±

    ¡°Well how¡¯s that work?¡±

    ¡°Well ya see, I just send people ¡®ere an¡¯ there an¡¯ no¡¯ne comin¡¯ ta me ya see.¡±

    ¡°Mind if I join you?¡±

    ¡°Nah man, tis¡¯ a one man operatin¡¯ ¡®here¡±

    ¡°Well it can¡¯t be that simple now can it? Surely some people must¡¯ve felt like you were sending too many people to one faction?¡±

    ¡°That ain¡¯t a prol¡¯em ¡®round ¡®ere ya see. I¡¯m jus¡¯ swell.¡±

    ¡°You sure? There must be something¡­ Just wondering if you needed some muscle that¡¯s all.¡±

    The guide looked up with his face hidden from the light from the doorway.

    ¡°Wha¡¯s in i¡¯ fo¡¯ ya then.¡±

    ¡°Well I¡¯d certainly learn how to survive around here.¡±

    ¡°If ya got the muscle, ya cert¡¯nly gon¡¯ be able to sur¡¯ive ¡®round these parts¡­ No need ta bother me ¡®ere.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What about needing to join a gang lest they harass you?¡±

    ¡°Ah that¡¯s u¡¯ter non sense ya see. Nothin¡¯ mo¡¯e than a mar¡¯etin¡¯ tat¡¯c.¡±

    ¡°So you scammed my friend into joining?¡±

    ¡°Jus¡¯ leave me alon¡¯ man. Ain¡¯t wan¡¯ not¡¯in¡¯ ta do wi¡¯ ya now.¡±

    ¡°Oh why? Are they going to bother me?¡±

    ¡°I said ya ain¡¯t got not¡¯in ta be ¡®fraid of if ya got muscle ya ¡®ear? Stop botherin¡¯ me now.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re strong enough to resist them I hear? Heh why don¡¯t I join you then?¡±

    ¡°Alrigh¡¯ alrigh¡¯¡­ you can follo¡¯ me now. Peeps un¡¯eres¡¯timatin¡¯ me ¡®cause I short an¡¯ways.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    --Inner Nest--

    The prisoner stared at the book before him, sniffing it all over as it lay flat atop the dirt.

    ¡°Hehehe, Would you just look at this treasure!

    ¡°They don¡¯t know what they¡¯ve abandoned here!¡±

    The prisoner took a bite from the corner of the book.

    ¡°I feel the power! Hahah! No one will be able to stop me now!¡±

    And another bite.

    ¡°I can feel myself getting omnipotent!¡±

    The third bite.

    ¡°I can comprehend the secrets of heaven and earth soon!¡±

    The fourth bite.

    ¡°No one will be able to stop me!¡±

    The fifth bite.

    ¡°I will gain the strength to free everyone!¡±

    The sixth bite.

    ¡°Here I come to greatness!¡±

    The book was a half gone as fragments of paper scattered about.

    ¡°I feel myself gaining clairvoyance!¡±

    The seventh bite.

    ¡°I shall become god!¡±

    The eight bite.

    ¡°I feel a warm energy within me!¡±

    The ninth bite.

    ¡°Screw it! I¡¯ll eat the last part whole!¡±

    The last chunk fit into its mouth just so that it couldn¡¯t close it at all nor open it.

    ¡°Sh~argh~t¡±

    --Oasis--

    The scavengers finally began to stir but did not see the queen, nor the hole in the pipe she left. They scurried around, leaving the water, searching for the queen. In the distance was a low rumble which seemed to come and go. The remaining dozen or so of scavengers chased after the sound to reveal a wide open path amongst the piles of junk. The path was perfectly smooth, just like the path the workers had carved out amongst the waste land.

    This must¡¯ve been where the queen and the workers went.

    The path was just like the ones the workers had made except for one difference. The entire path was pressed down and had splotches of plastic pressed into a single solid in each hole.

    Onwards to the queen!

    --Inner nest--

    ¡°Hah I¡¯ve finally swallowed it! I used my tongue to wear away at it until I could eat it!¡±

    The prisoner looked far into the distance.

    At a wall¡­

    ¡°I see! I see! I¡¯m not the only one who believes in my purpose!¡±

    ¡°There is another being! It¡¯s name is, death!¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­¡±

    ¡°Does that mean¡­?¡±

    ¡°I have no purpose anymore¡­¡±

    ¡°Shit man, what do I do¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve lost it¡­ The meaning of life¡­¡±

    ¡°What have I even gained in the end?¡±

    ¡°Power? It¡¯s useless, death will kill everyone.¡±

    ¡°What do I do now¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe I really am insane.¡±

    ¡°Maybe what they said was right.¡±

    ¡°All for the colony¡­Heh what bullshit. I¡¯d never believe in that.¡±

    ¡°What did I believe in? A paradise?¡±

    ¡°No, creating a paradise is impossible. Problems will arise no matter what.¡±

    ¡°And people will arise no matter what¡­¡±

    ¡°Man, what do I do now¡­¡±

    ----

    The sun reached its peak as it shone down on the people below it. Well no one was directly exposed, but all was beneath it anyways.

    Everyone was either hidden away in a building or hidden under a pile of rubble. It shone through all the debris in the air, providing all its power to the land beneath. The abundant energy all around provided all the energy anyone needed, energizing the electrons such that they fell loose from their already unstable structure and ran, providing electricity in a fashion not unlike a solar panel does with the sun.

    --Sector 1, floor 1, derivative 4--

    ¡°Yo J¡¯yawn, I¡¯ll teach ya a real ¡®portant lessin¡¯ righ¡¯ ¡®ere¡±

    ¡°Oh? How so?¡±

    ¡°Jus¡¯ go walk on up ta that man with te box a fr¡¯loot and grab a couple. Do it calm an¡¯ confi¡¯ent ya un¡¯erstan¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Sure, no problem.¡±

    John walked up to the man sitting on the stool with a plastic box full of orange red fruits. He bent down and simply took a few. As he turned though, a wrinkled hand grasped onto the hem of his jacket, but slid off without having any strength to hold on. He turned away from the man in the doorway, retreating into the stream of people traveling along the center of the hallway.

    A voice came from behind.

    ¡°The Reavers¡¯ll git ya for that!¡±

    The guide was waiting there on the other side, grinning.

    --Apt. #496--

    The television had been left on and the news report was still blaring on about the destruction.

    At the bottom was a banner with the words, ¡®SABOTAGE¡¯. The central picture on the screen was the collapsed houses surrounded by several pictures. The first picture on the left was of the smoking shaft, while the next couple consisted of pictures of the bomb in question. The very last one on the top right was the picture of the captain in question.

 What is my purpose

    ¡°What is the purpose of life...There¡¯s no apparent reason why we¡¯re here. We were born simply because of a coincidence. A series of coincidences.¡±

    ¡°What do we do though?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve always concentrated everything, from power to resources. We strip the power away from the masses so that one may have all the power. We strip the resources from the surrounding land so that we may have all the resources to enjoy.¡±

    ¡°Our goal as life is to resist total entropy.¡±

    ¡°For even god wishes to concentrate all the sins on himself, thus proving he is living. He may delegate his power to others to produce miracles, but that will only cause more sins to be concentrated on him.¡±

    ¡°No wait¡­ We¡¯ve only proved that life resists total entropy¡­ Not that all beings who resist total entropy is living¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah well, whatever, found my purpose.¡±

    ¡°Wait a second. How do I even do all that?¡±

    ¡°I know! I know! I just have to devour everything! One day I¡¯ll devour the sun and the stars! Then I¡¯ll devour the skies and space itself! And finally, I¡¯ll devour god!¡±

    And so the birth of the all devouring mole began by devouring the plastic around it.

    --Tunnels, south junction--

    The queen, now alone, had no one to take care of her. The mangled flesh behind her which was still slightly pink unlike the thick white skin that covered the rest of her body began to swell an alarmingly quick rate, quickly matching the size it was in the colony before. A small ball of pale, sickly white fat rolled out rolled out with spindly arms and legs sticking out by the side. A corresponding amount of flesh from the queen was also lost, but the ball of fat began to thicken its limbs at a rate visible to the eyes. Within seconds, the fat had receded, the limbs exposed themselves, and muscle grown around its entire body.

    The ball of flesh now became the first member of the new colony and now it began pulling pieces of plastic out of the damp piles full of yellowed fat and tissue. The pieces of plastic were brought to the queen to go down its mouth and never be seen again.

    --Tunnels--

    While the queen was giving birth, other moles were preparing to do the same. The pheromones drifted along the tunnels, a breath of fresh air to the moles who had been smelling the trash the humans made. The air around the plastic, although dry and unforgiving, had never been like this. But they resisted it to survive.

    --Northern sector, level 1, hallway 1, room 9--

    ¡°So ya wanna join us Reavers now do you? What¡¯s your name anyways? Whatcha want from us?¡±

    ¡°Uh yeah, I¡¯d like to join you, name¡¯s Leonard, and uh I suppose I just wanna rise to the top here.¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°Hah! You guys hear him?¡± A bellow of laughters rang around the room as there was one figure left standing in the doorway unmoving amidst the several men standing around in the room.

    ¡°So am I in?¡±

    ¡°Sure, yea problem!¡±

    ¡°So what do I do?¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯tcha get yourself settled in for now, get yourself a room, evict someone if ya need to¡­ Oh yeah, by the way, anybody recommend you here?¡±

    ¡°Nah, came here myself.¡±

    ¡°Alright then, watch yourself! We¡¯ll call ya when we need to!¡±

    --Northern Sector, level 1, hallway 1--

    ¡°So mister guide, what are we doing here just standing around?¡±

    ¡°We waitin¡¯ for new fish o¡¯course. Whatchya thinkin¡¯ this job ¡®s? No¡¯one need a guide aft¡¯ they stayin¡¯ ¡®ere a while.¡±

    ¡°Oh? How many people come here then?¡±

    ¡°Nothin¡¯ much. Most of ¡®em are gov¡¯nant work¡¯s ¡®ho come ¡®here ta pla¡¯.¡±

    ¡°And those people are the ones who we make money off of right?¡±

    ¡°Nah, we standin¡¯ at te wron¡¯ gate fo¡¯ that.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why aren¡¯t we there then?¡±

    ¡°Dunno, if ya wan¡¯a die sure, be my guest.¡±

    ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    ¡°Them rich bloke sure love bringin¡¯ their own peeps in ¡®ere. If ya ain¡¯t carefu¡¯ ya die. Ain¡¯t gon¡¯ know what happen ta ya. Head go flyin¡¯ right off.¡±

    ¡°Those people bring in body guards? How are they allowed to do that? I¡¯d understand if they just snuck in by themselves but that¡¯s entirely different!¡±

    ¡°Well ya see, it ain¡¯t jus that simple. Ain¡¯t just fo¡¯r gates fo¡¯ nort¡¯ eas¡¯ sout¡¯ wes¡¯ bu five.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Where¡¯s the fifth one?¡±

    ¡°Eh, at the corn¡¯ o¡¯ nort¡¯wes¡¯. The corn¡¯ o¡¯ the gov¡¯nant builds ya see.¡±

    The two flanks both sides of the door, waiting to ambush any new member who joined. The juices from the fruit they had stolen before made their hands sticky and unbearable, but they couldn¡¯t afford to leave the door unattended for even a second.

    --Vice captain¡¯s room--

    A large rattling came from the door. ¡°Captain wants to meet you all! Get up!¡± The rattling could be heard from the door of the room next to them as well.

    ¡°Man, what¡¯s she up to now?¡±

    ¡°Ain¡¯t nothing good I can tell you that already.¡±

    ¡°Heh why don¡¯t you give her a chance? Good chance she¡¯ll give ya bonuses.¡±

    ¡°Alright boys, let¡¯s go¡­ Not like there¡¯s anything else to do anyways.¡±

    The six men began walking down the hallway into a wide open room.

    Dozens of chairs lay neatly forming a perfect semi circle around the microphone on its stand. Behind the microphone stood two figures where one was right behind the microphone and the other diagonal to the first.

    The men slowly filed in, filling all the chairs completely.

    ¡°Hello I¡¯m Olivia. Olivia Avilo I know I haven¡¯t introduced myself properly yet, but here¡¯s my introduction.¡±

    ¡°I hope you won¡¯t discriminate against me for what I¡¯m about to say but I know some of you might.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the daughter of a relatively well off official. Yeah. I¡¯m the second daughter and sixth child though, if that makes it better.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here to prove myself to everyone, to my father, to my siblings, and most of all, you. I know you all probably don¡¯t believe in my skills but I did help out in planning the frontline positions.¡±

    ¡°I believe that I am fully capable of leading you all in whatever challenges we may face in the future. To hell and back they say.¡±

    ¡°I know that it¡¯s hard having a new captain, which is why I¡¯ve prepared a gift for you all from my father. We¡¯ll be having brand new gear, imported from another city state for you all. I hope you¡¯ll accept this gift and with that, my appointance as captain.¡±

    ¡°For the foreseeable future, I will do my upmost to accomplish our duty as police officers and to protect you all¡­¡±

    --Northern sector, underground level 1, derivative 5, hall 3, room 14--

    ¡°Why¡¯s it so long?¡±

 Never gonna die

    The city is a strange place. While there is clearly a path leading into and out of the city, the only path is just a hole in the wall, like an errant truck drove through the layers of steel reinforced concrete.

    The signs of this were bars of steel that had simply torn out of the concrete around it, bringing down several rooms worth of space. If anything, it had saved them the construction of the south gate. A curved road was created to join up with the previously planned out road which was positioned a couple of dozen meters away.

    Another checkpoint was established at the gate on the outside, but was sparsely attended to. Due to the fact that all trade with other cities was conducted through this gate, however, there were plenty of men guarding the surrounding area, just not the checkpoint. If they did ever look at the checkpoint they¡¯d have to clean it, which after decades of neglect, no one wanted to.

    That wasn¡¯t the only oddity though. The next was that although the majority of manpower was concentrated within the slums, they were entirely self sufficient. It was as if the concrete walls hosted the true city while the centers were sufficiently connected with centers from other cities. Yet despite their connection, they despised one another, the differences in culture were slight, but the slightest difference became an issue to declare war over like how many prongs the fork you ate with had.

    ----

    David trudged along the side of a hill in a line along with his team members, second to last amongst other six members. They all stood six feet from each other to prevent a simple explosion from engulfing them at the same time. They walked parallel to the road, watching as the convoys rolled by off in the distance. Their shadows traced their every action like specters waiting to pounce upon them.

    A group typically consisted of six men at a minimum, and that¡¯s how it was, except he was assigned at the last moment and shoved in. Placing him near the end of the line was the best way to prevent him from being a disruption, yet he couldn¡¯t be last since he might simply stop walking and let the others walk away without a sound.

    They walked as the sun fell to their left and their long shadows formed to the right.

    A dormant pile of plastic erupted on the peak of the hill, sending shards everywhere and a fog of a myriad of colors covered everyone. From within the center of this cover came a small explosion. Everything seemed to slow down and clarify itself. All around were small shards of plastic, seeming all pointed at him.

    The man that was the cause of this storm stood at the center of the fog, pointing a worn and scratched rifle at the sixth man in the line. A circle defined itself, a bullet, as it traveled towards its target. The source of this, the man, was fully enclosed in black clothing that seemed to suck in all the light. The rest of the men in the line were still facing forwards, but that bullet slowly moved, hiding the black hole from which it came.

    Slowly the bullet grew larger and larger until it occupied the entire view.

    At the very last second, a shard of black occupied the top half of his vision. Whatever came next was all black as David rolled violently down the hill.

    ----

    The thick pungent smell swept across the room. An utterly revolting smell in a small room with no windows or ventilation. The jar on the table was left open as cloths dipped into it, spreading the smell further as it pervaded under every bed and into each corner of the room. The liquid was then spread over the smooth barrel, exposing the room even further to the smell as it got stronger and denser. The liquid was rubbed deep onto the cool shiny surface as it cleansed off the grime from the almost complete ignition.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    The door swung open with a bang, revealing the captain with a scrunched up face standing there.

    ¡°What is that smell! It¡¯s horrendous! What are you doing!¡±

    ¡°Ma¡¯am. It¡¯s the thing we clean our rifles with.¡±

    ¡°Well don¡¯t clean it then! What¡¯s up with you all! Do you have anything to do besides cleaning your gun?¡±

    ¡°Yes Maa¡¯m we¡¯ve got some cards.¡±

    ¡°Well get to it!¡±

    The door slammed shut once more.

    ¡°Well ain¡¯t that something!¡±

    ¡°My only love is Charlene!¡± Exclaimed a man as he stroked the barrel of his rifle. ¡°Man what swines you all are!¡±

    ¡°Heh, spoken like a true jarhead. Which hole did you crawl out of?¡±

    ¡°She can¡¯t compete with my Charlotte hehehe¡± giggled the third. ¡°Don¡¯t lie to us now, what¡¯s your wife¡¯s, wait no I mean rifle¡¯s name?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re touching your rifles like you ain¡¯t touch them in years, scared to bring mine out for you perverts to see.¡±

    The door banged open once again.

    ¡°Are you guys done yet!?¡±

    Staring at the man stroking his rifle she yelled even more.

    ¡°What are you doing! Why are you stroking your gun! I expect you to take a shower and change your clothes after you clean up your gun and rags on the table!¡±

    She took in a breath.

    ¡°Hurry up! The smell is unbearable!¡±

    The door slammed shut once more.

    ¡°Huh? Stroking our guns? Man, who¡¯s doing that here?¡±

    ¡°Heh, our hands are above the table holding onto our rifles. Well who do you think the one holding his gun is?¡±

    ¡°What? I ain¡¯t doing a thing here! That¡¯s discriminatory! Just because I don¡¯t show my rifle to everyone like a trophy wife doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m a lonely man that pleasures himself!¡±

    ¡°Man what are we gonna do now? Stroke our guns instead of our rifles?¡±

    ¡°Heh you guys wanna do it together?¡±

    ¡°What if she barges in again? That ain¡¯t gonna be fun¡­¡±

    ¡°Man aren¡¯t we supposed to clean up first? Gotta at least keep up that act.¡±

    ¡°Heh life¡¯s going to change quite a bit now don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Say, how about we move to the room furthest away from hers?¡±

    ¡°Nah man, ain¡¯t possible. When she checks in on us, no one¡¯s gonna be here.¡±

    ¡°Heh whatever, still gonna be with beautiful here.¡±

    ¡°Man, what a creep, stop stroking your rifle already and clean up.¡±

    ¡°Ah but that¡¯s like only taking half a bath! How could you tempt her with cleanliness but take it away once she¡¯s enjoyed it!¡±

    ¡°Ain¡¯t it possible to just go outside to clean it?¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t wash a girl outside all naked now would you? Heh, but imagine the thought though.¡±

    ¡°Man, the rifle¡¯s naked whenever you use it¡­ Wait no, that sounds wrong¡­¡±

    ¡°Heh what¡¯s wrong huh? Ashamed to show your girl in public?¡±

    ¡°Well would you have sex in public?¡±

    ¡°With my rifle? Of course!¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ----

    Condensing a core was an accident. The past liquid, now a slime, abandoned the shell it made and weaved through the rubble in an instant, peering through the edges at the men slowly filling in the hole with plastic. As plastic was shoveled down to fill the crater, the slime finally had a chance to climb up and crawl along the surface in the night.

    ----

    The system of cities is a strange thing. Each city is linked up, but at the same time is not. While each city is deeply interlinked with its surrounding neighbors through trade, they are just equally happy to steal from one another. Of course, this can¡¯t be done so easily from just the sheer number of men hiding in craters and monitoring outposts camouflaged in the surrounding junk.

    The roads linking the various cities are all often shelled and left with craters, thus a bulldozer often drove ahead of the convoy along chains attached to its shovels to detonate planted explosives. This often left the roads full of craters which had just been filled in with plastic and through the years, compressed and relayered with plastic often.

 Protagonist

    ¡®Urgh¡­ Where am I?¡¯

    ¡®Last thing I remember¡­¡± The dark circle flashed before his eyes again. A falling shard had entered his vision at just the right moment, redirecting the bullet to graze his head while the shard collided with his skull directly and knocked him unconscious.

    In those moments, his life had flashed before his eyes. He withstood the pains of training his body, tearing his body day after day to build strength. But the fateful day he applied to the military, he found out that simply lifting weights wasn¡¯t enough to become the person he wanted to be.

    While he was comparatively stronger to others and able to lift greater weights than them, he had neglected to exercise his legs entirely. When the physical test came, he was unable to run the full lap around the residential area and with his legs dragging him behind, he stumbled and fell over to see the backs of the other participants off in the distance. Embarrassed and ashamed, he dragged his feet back home.

    That might¡¯ve actually been the correct decision though, as being a soldier was nothing glorious. He most likely would¡¯ve scored enough to get through, but having fallen over and with his face and clothes covered in dust, he was much too embarrassed to continue on.

    When he went home that day, his mother, already there, saw his state and interrogated him until he spilled everything. He had gone off to apply in secret, wishing to escape the normal and boring life that he would¡¯ve had to bear every day. When his father arrived home, his mother told his father and then it became a lecture.

    Long story short, he wasn¡¯t stupid enough to still become a soldier after his father imprinted the risks into his mind. The government suppressed any news on how many soldiers died and how many made it back, but it was simple to take a sample, who consisted of his father¡¯s friends and those he knew about. Almost none of those whom he knew and would¡¯ve contacted him had they returned actually had contacted him.

    Whether they had returned was unknown, but the ones who did contact him hadn¡¯t ever seen combat or was even assigned to fight. All they were assigned to was logistics, moving pallets of supplies around.

    It was simple to see that nobody was the same after going to war and he was well dissuaded.

    What even made him want to go to war?

    Ah that¡¯s right. A group of criminals broke through the gate and invaded his school. They entered his school and held his class hostage. Then their heads popped into a mist of blood, spraying the organs everywhere.

    It was glorious.

    He¡¯d been saved.

    Looking back, that was probably the most foolish feeling he¡¯d ever felt.

    If they were able to kill the men, what¡¯s not to say they couldn¡¯t kill him? Or even worse, have an order miscommunicated.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    Dangerous men they were.

    A sharp pain cut across his mind.

    While he was left with a gash, the shard had spun off with some blood, imitating the spray of blood that would have come out if he really was shot. He then proceeded to tumble down the hill they were climbing on and only stopped at the bottom.

    The shard had only knocked on his helmet, which now had a crack in it and was hanging together by its last fibers and helmet strap. David was otherwise thankfully unharmed and only left with a headache.

    He had now escaped from the clutches of those people, so what was he to do now? Go back and get revenge? No, not possible, the government district was too hard to break into.

    He lay there, just like a dead body as he vomited on himself.

    Feeling the splitting headache, He decided to rest for the night, sleeping with his own vomit around him.

    --Tunnels--

    Two moles were on top of each other, rocking back and forth. They occasionally tumbled around, flinging up the plastic mush that was all around them. A sweet scent filled the air, which was a stark contrast to the previous stale air.

    The two moles finally fell limp from their tumbling around. The one which was on bottom lay still which the other began to stumble away back into the whole from which he came.

    --Northern Front--

    Night was the best time to move. Everybody wanted a bit of comfort under the night sky with the stars that sparkled above. Each star shone like a diamond against the night sky as they flickered from the objects that occasionally blocked their light. In the darkness, eyes that glowed a dim light opened and scanned the surroundings.

    Most soldiers got the serum of a gorilla, as the serums could change the instincts of the person it was injected into and gorillas were similar enough.

    Scouts like him however, were given a cat serum. Although the appearance changing effect was widely disapproved of among the soldiers, they were given cat ears for better hearing¡­ Would you like to imagine a buff, frowning man with cat ears?

    Cats and gorillas had long gone into extinction, as humans began eating any creature they could find and as the world began to run out of space for humans.

    Legends speak of a place with clean air, trees as far as the eye could see, and refreshing water at every corner. There, different species of animals of all shapes and sizes exist, where the last safe havens from human intrusion exist. Humans aren¡¯t exactly stupid either. They quite obviously needed oxygen and ¡­ Just kidding.

    There simply were no more forests. The oxygen was clearly provided from the ocean, where a green film covered the surface. Not a single bit of land was left untouched by man.

    What land that wasn¡¯t covered by plastic consisted entirely of desert. Little care had gone into protecting the environment as depleted uranium was shot everywhere and prevented life from growing.

    The dirt was simply unsuitable to grow anything in. Even the soil used in farming had undergone multiple treatments to make it barely habitable for growing plants.. Only the hardiest of crops could grow, which consisted of a single type of grain. Barley.

    There were fields upon fields of barley and when a gust of wind blew by, sometimes those grains would be carried by the wind into the world beyond. The organic matter outside built up, but with the plastics breaking down under the sun, toxins were leaked all around and infected every surface, preventing life from growing up.

    Everything awaited the single plant which would be able to resist these toxins and spread across the land. Well, one plant did, but it depended on toxins the bacteria produced. Which couldn¡¯t be exposed to the sun or else they would die. Well, plan failed.

    At least we still got beer though.