[Unknown Mana Signature Detected – Biological Fusion. Vital signs: Weak.]
He took a step back.
Fusion? Was the monster… absorbing this woman?
Or was it preserving her?
"This... is way above my pay grade."
He glanced over his shoulder, back toward the cavity entrance — but he already knew what Wang would say.
"Tag it, bag it, and don't ask questions."
But this wasn't a corpse.
Riven hesitated, visor flickering slightly as the dim glow of the cocoon pulsed again — slower this time. Like it was breathing.
"Okay... okay," he muttered, glancing between the cocoon and the exit behind him. "I should… probably tell Wang. Let him figure out if this thing's a payday or a biohazard."
He reached toward the comm link clipped to his collar, thumb hovering just above the call button.
And then he heard it.
A wet, snapping twitch — sharp and sudden, like bone bending the wrong way under tension.
Then another.
And another.
His head snapped back to the cocoon.
It was convulsing.
Not gently.
Violently.
The translucent film stretched outward in sudden, jerking bursts as the thing inside thrashed. Limbs — or tendrils? — flailed against the inner walls, pushing hard enough to bulge the membrane. The pulsing glow intensified, casting eerie shadows that danced across the throat walls.
A muffled, choking gurgle came from inside.
"FUCK—!"
Riven scrambled backward.
The scanner in his hand beeped wildly — warning flashes blooming red across the interface.
[WARNING: Unknown Mana Surge Detected. Cavity Instability Increasing.]
Riven turned to run. Fast.
But in his panic, his boot slid across a slick patch of fluid — a smear of thick mucus or melted insulation — and he slipped.
Hard.
"Shit!"
He crashed sideways into the jagged throat wall. His shoulder slammed against one of the inward-facing spikes — and as he fell, the edge of another tore a shallow gash into the side of his suit.
The protective fabric hissed.
A rip.
Then the sting.
"Ah—dammit!"
Warm blood welled up from the cut beneath his ribs. Not deep, but enough to trigger every mental warning siren he had. He scrambled to his feet, already breathing harder — and not just from pain.
Because now his skin was exposed.
And that meant the monster's mana — thick, invasive, corruptive — could seep in.
Riven's mind raced.
He had to get out.
Before the cocoon burst.
Before whatever was in it saw him.
Before the mana started messing with his own circuits.
His foot slipped again, but he managed to steady himself and pushed forward, limping toward the cavity mouth with the scanner still screaming in one hand and blood trickling down his side.
Behind him, the cocoon twitched again.
Harder this time.
Louder.
Something inside it pushed, and a faint tearing sound echoed through the cavity, like flesh straining to give way.
"Shit, shit, shit—!"
Riven fumbled with his comm.
His fingers, slippery with his own blood, barely found the button.
A soft beep. Static crackled.
Then, with every last shred of air he could force through his lungs, he yelled:
"CODE RED! CODE RED! THERE'S ANOTHER MONSTER INSIDE THIS THING!"
Silence followed for a second — just long enough to feel like the world was holding its breath.
Then the channel burst alive with scrambled voices.
"—Repeat? Code red from Cael?—"
"Another what? Inside what—?"
"Get Wang on—"
But Riven wasn't listening anymore.
He risked a glance over his shoulder.
If something was going to end him today — tear him apart, infect him with some incurable virus — he at least wanted to know what.
He turned.
And froze.
What stood where the cocoon had been… wasn't a beast.
It was a woman.
Or something close to one.
She stood amidst the ruptured remnants of the cocoon, steam curling around her. Her skin was pale — not sickly, but almost luminescent in the flickering light, smooth and flawless like porcelain left too long in the dark.
Long silver hair clung damply to her shoulders and back, trailing behind her like fine silk. She wasn't clothed. Not in the traditional sense. Jagged traces of dried membrane and biotic slime still clung to her curvaceous frame, but modesty was quickly overshadowed by something far stranger.
She had four arms — hanging loosely at her sides. Her legs… weren't quite human. They were covered in segmented, insect-like exoskeleton, chitinous and gray with a dull green sheen, ending in toes that looked more like clawed talons than feet.
A soft hum filled the air behind her — and that's when Riven saw the wings.
Delicate, shimmering, slightly torn in places but still impossibly alien — like a dragonfly crossed with something from a horror file. Insect wings, twitching with minute vibrations, enough to send light refracting off the throat walls.
Then she looked up.
Black sclera. Deep yellow irises. No pupils.
Eyes that weren't made for day or night — just for hunting.
A small pair of white antennae twitched from her temples, responding to some silent signal in the air.
And yet… despite all that, her face still looked human.
Beautiful, even.
But that only made it worse.
Riven's thoughts staggered to a halt, blushing at the sight of her chest and thighs, his breath catching in his throat as she blinked once — slow, disoriented — then tilted her head slightly in his direction.
Not like a monster sizing up prey.
More like something trying to recognize him.
He staggered for a moment, then shook his head. He had no time for such scandalous thoughts.
His fingers trembled around the scanner. His comm crackled faintly at his side. His blood still trickled down his ribs. But for that one moment, the entire world narrowed to the thing in front of him.
She then suddenly spoke.
"So hungry... must eat."
The words were low, breathy — barely a whisper — but they echoed through the cavernous throat like a predator's growl.
Riven's blood ran cold.
His heart lurched. The scanner slipped from his hand and clattered to the slime-slick ground.
And then—
She leaped toward him.
His eyes widened in shock as he saw her open her mouth wide.