Rose has spent a lot of time hunting down and destroying eldritch abominations, but she's never seen anything like this before.
It's not the massive tentacles that seem to fill the entire room, curling and twitching and clutching at the walls around them. It's not the crackle of unnatural energy that fills the air every few seconds. It's not even the horrible sound of its breathing, the way that it seems to rasp and pulse and moan in agony.
No. What really terrifies her, once she looks closely, is that there's a living creature at the center of it all, a young troll - barely older than she is, if she had to guess - curled up in a ball. You can see anguish on his face, and the shorter tentacles that extend from his body are clenched around him protectively. She can see where the alien interfacing has grown into his skin, a long, ropey cord of flesh.
The voice lets out a raspy laugh. "Thank goodness," it said, lisping slightly. "You finally found me."
"Yes," she says, staring up at his trembling form. "I finally did. So now what do we do?"
"Well, for starters, you could kill me." She can hear the self-loathing in his voice, and it's killing her. "That's what you do, right? You could kill me and end all of this."
Yes. She could end this. All she'd have to do is lift her dark-matter phaser and fire, strike the young troll in the center. He'd be dead, and the rest of this would just wither away. She lifts her weapon - and hesitates.
"What are you waiting for?" the troll says. "Kill me! Please!" The room around her starts to shake with his anger. "Just do it!"
She lifts her weapon and fires - and strikes the ropy cord dead-center. The alien intelligence, writhing in pain, retracts, and she can hear the troll scream as the connection breaks, his psionics going completely insane -
Rose holds her breath and darts in - it hurts like hell going into that field,and if it wasn't for her armor it would've thrown her across the room a dozen times over, but she grits her teeth and keeps running until she's reached the man. The alien tendrils realize what she's done and try to dig back in, but she hits them again, and they leave him alone - and dive for her.
For a moment they penetrate her defenses, and it's horrible - her entire nervous system is set on fire as unfamiliar impulses wash through her system. She can't take much more of this; she isn't psychic or an Augment, she can't handle this sort of thing. She's going to die, she realizes, and she can't even say she's surprised.
The troll curses in her arms - his voice much smaller and reedier now, and rusty with disuse - and then she feels the shock of disconnection, the sudden weightlessness that comes with being thrown across a room by a psychic blast. She braces for the impact - only to find that there isn't one, that they land as if cushioned and slowly settle on the floor as the alien writhes in pain.
"Fuck," the troll says, "why did you... why would you even..." Then he goes limp, unconscious, and Rose doesn't have time to do much more than hoist him on her shoulder and make a run for it.
It's not until later that he recovers, when they're on Rose's shuttle, and she's been trying to care for him for a while. His vitals are weird, though, almost as if he has redundant organs to go with his second set of horns - which makes no sense, even for a troll, but she has to call it like she reads it on the instruments. In particular his internal temperature is way hotter than what little information she has on trolls would indicate, even for his yellow blood, and she's starting to wonder if anything will keep it down, when his eyes roll open. "Hey," he says, as if he's not quite sure where he is... and frankly, he probably wouldn't believe it at first anyway.
"Hello," Rose answers. "How are you feeling?"
"Like death, slightly cooled off," he answers, still lisping. "Why did you do that? You should've killed me -"
Rose shook her head. "I've seen too many good people taken over by those abominations," she said, "and I thought I could still help you. That's enough reason, right?"
"Hmph," he answers eloquently, and struggles to sit up. His muscles are in an early stage of atrophy, and it doesn't go very well. Rose is going to have to get him some serious medical attention. "You're lucky I'm a master psychic. Thing almost got you."
"I realize this," she says. "And I appreciate your help."
He snorts. "Least I could do, right? You saved my life." He doesn't extend his hand, but Rose figures he can be forgive for that. "I'm Sollux, by the way. With an S at the beginning and an X at the end, since you probably can't tell, thanks to all of these fucking teeth."
"Sollux," she repeats, and he manages a slight nod, so she figures she got it right. "Call me Rose."
"Heh," he says. "Thanks again, Rose."
"Glad I could help," she says, with a small smile. She's killed a lot of abominations. It's not often she gets to save one of their victims.
FILL: TEAM ERIDAN<>ROSE
Rose has spent a lot of time hunting down and destroying eldritch abominations, but she's never seen anything like this before.
It's not the massive tentacles that seem to fill the entire room, curling and twitching and clutching at the walls around them. It's not the crackle of unnatural energy that fills the air every few seconds. It's not even the horrible sound of its breathing, the way that it seems to rasp and pulse and moan in agony.
No. What really terrifies her, once she looks closely, is that there's a living creature at the center of it all, a young troll - barely older than she is, if she had to guess - curled up in a ball. You can see anguish on his face, and the shorter tentacles that extend from his body are clenched around him protectively. She can see where the alien interfacing has grown into his skin, a long, ropey cord of flesh.
The voice lets out a raspy laugh. "Thank goodness," it said, lisping slightly. "You finally found me."
"Yes," she says, staring up at his trembling form. "I finally did. So now what do we do?"
"Well, for starters, you could kill me." She can hear the self-loathing in his voice, and it's killing her. "That's what you do, right? You could kill me and end all of this."
Yes. She could end this. All she'd have to do is lift her dark-matter phaser and fire, strike the young troll in the center. He'd be dead, and the rest of this would just wither away. She lifts her weapon - and hesitates.
"What are you waiting for?" the troll says. "Kill me! Please!" The room around her starts to shake with his anger. "Just do it!"
She lifts her weapon and fires - and strikes the ropy cord dead-center. The alien intelligence, writhing in pain, retracts, and she can hear the troll scream as the connection breaks, his psionics going completely insane -
Rose holds her breath and darts in - it hurts like hell going into that field,and if it wasn't for her armor it would've thrown her across the room a dozen times over, but she grits her teeth and keeps running until she's reached the man. The alien tendrils realize what she's done and try to dig back in, but she hits them again, and they leave him alone - and dive for her.
For a moment they penetrate her defenses, and it's horrible - her entire nervous system is set on fire as unfamiliar impulses wash through her system. She can't take much more of this; she isn't psychic or an Augment, she can't handle this sort of thing. She's going to die, she realizes, and she can't even say she's surprised.
The troll curses in her arms - his voice much smaller and reedier now, and rusty with disuse - and then she feels the shock of disconnection, the sudden weightlessness that comes with being thrown across a room by a psychic blast. She braces for the impact - only to find that there isn't one, that they land as if cushioned and slowly settle on the floor as the alien writhes in pain.
"Fuck," the troll says, "why did you... why would you even..." Then he goes limp, unconscious, and Rose doesn't have time to do much more than hoist him on her shoulder and make a run for it.
It's not until later that he recovers, when they're on Rose's shuttle, and she's been trying to care for him for a while. His vitals are weird, though, almost as if he has redundant organs to go with his second set of horns - which makes no sense, even for a troll, but she has to call it like she reads it on the instruments. In particular his internal temperature is way hotter than what little information she has on trolls would indicate, even for his yellow blood, and she's starting to wonder if anything will keep it down, when his eyes roll open. "Hey," he says, as if he's not quite sure where he is... and frankly, he probably wouldn't believe it at first anyway.
"Hello," Rose answers. "How are you feeling?"
"Like death, slightly cooled off," he answers, still lisping. "Why did you do that? You should've killed me -"
Rose shook her head. "I've seen too many good people taken over by those abominations," she said, "and I thought I could still help you. That's enough reason, right?"
"Hmph," he answers eloquently, and struggles to sit up. His muscles are in an early stage of atrophy, and it doesn't go very well. Rose is going to have to get him some serious medical attention. "You're lucky I'm a master psychic. Thing almost got you."
"I realize this," she says. "And I appreciate your help."
He snorts. "Least I could do, right? You saved my life." He doesn't extend his hand, but Rose figures he can be forgive for that. "I'm Sollux, by the way. With an S at the beginning and an X at the end, since you probably can't tell, thanks to all of these fucking teeth."
"Sollux," she repeats, and he manages a slight nod, so she figures she got it right. "Call me Rose."
"Heh," he says. "Thanks again, Rose."
"Glad I could help," she says, with a small smile. She's killed a lot of abominations. It's not often she gets to save one of their victims.