Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!
The gunshots and screams continue on the other side of the smoke screen. Although I can't see them, I know the men and the cat are about to collide.
["What do we do?"]
["Are you dumb? Of course we're going that wayyy..."]
"CRAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!"
"SPLASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
[[KYAAAAAA!]]
["WHAT THE FUCK?"]
Just as I was pointing to the narrow path, a black, flexible column fell from the sky and shattered the road. It seemed to jut out from the pillar of light, in free fall, until it crashed into the lake.
The entire bridge shook with a violence that threw us to the ground. Even the gunshots ceased for an instant.
["Aaaaaah, there. That way."]
The rat kid points to the side he came from. All according to plan.
["DON'T TELL SUCH OBVIOUS LIES AT A TIME LIKE THIS!"]
["The rat kid is leaving."]
["ARE YOU IGNORING ME?"]
["Run first, ask questions later, the rat kid concludes."]
As I argue with the Police Girl, I approach one of the sides of the bridge.
["Are you coming?"]
["…I understand…"]
Perhaps noticing I have no intention of worrying about them, the rest of the girls followed behind the police girl without a sound. The boys followed their lead as well. What's with this uncomfortable atmosphere? Can I enjoy it a little longer?
"SPLASHHHH! SPLASHHHHHHHHH!"
As I was thinking about how to prolong the bliss, several black tubes emerge from the lake and stretch high into the air, like black, oily snakes. Looking closer, they're not black tubes, they're…
["T-tentacles?"]
["So it's the perverted octopus event. Aren't we missing the swimsuits?"]
["DOES THIS LOOK LIKE THE TIME FOR THAT?"]
["BUT THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THE RAT KID IS COMPLAINING ABOUT. Whatever, I'm leaving."]
["Wait for me!"]
"GRAAAAA!"
["Wh-what the hell are you doing?! Keep shooting that thing!"]
["AAAAAAA!"]
["Run, run!"]
Bang-bang-pan-pan-pan!
It seems to be pandemonium over there.
["Shoot it in the ass. I have it on good authority that it works."]
["Y-yes."]
"Bang-bang!"
"Grrrrrr."
["Wai— Nooo!"]
GRAAAAAAAAAA!
["You morons! Don't listen to anything that brat says!"]
Kekekeke.
["You're horrible…"]
["So, you'd rather it be your ass they 'shoot' at?"]
["Keep trying. The ass is the weak point of every living being. I'm not saying it, science is."]
[[Yeah, yeah!]]
[[I'm sure it'll work soon!]]
The girls in my group start cheering on the armed men to shoot the cat's rear guard.
["Shut the hell up!"] —the gang leader shouts, irritated.
Today was a great day, the rat kid concludes.
......…..
It was all pandemonium. The air was already flooded with the smell of gunpowder, blood, and fear. The armed men were still shooting at the tentacles that arrived at the wrong time and at the super-developed cat that attacked suddenly.
["Where is it?"]
["I don't see it."]
["Did it leave?"]
It was when I was finally emerging from the smoke screen. I had a bad feeling from the complaints that could be heard.
"CRAKKKKKKKKKK!"
[[KYAAAAAAAAAAA!]]
The vehicle next to us suddenly explodes and the girls behind me scream.
"GRRRRRRRRR."
I heard a growl right in my right ear. The hot breath, smelling of raw meat, hit the back of my neck.
["If I can't see it, it doesn't exist. If I can't see it, it doesn't exist."]
Come on, self-suggestion. It works for the rat kid.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA."
Stupid self-suggestion.
["You son of a bitch, kug…"]
The super-developed cat leaps from the vehicle and pounces on me. Luckily, I was able to grab a loose bumper from the ground and put it between its mouth and my… Gulp… face.
I thought I'd crack my head open hitting the asphalt, but the minivan cushioned the fall. Bless these modern paper cars.
["At least buy me a coffee first…"]
"Grrrr."
Dead. The rat kid is dead, the rat kid concludes.
As I was wondering where I got the ridiculous strength to resist the advance of this super-developed cat, I realize its back leg seems to be stuck in the car it fell on. And its front paw is embedded in the vehicle behind me.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr."
"Greegreegiriririr."
The rebar groans under the cat's bite.
"Nyaw~~."
In the midst of my confrontation with this filthy, annoying animal, the playboy cat meows provocatively from the police girl's arms.
["Hey, control your girlfriend."]
"NYA."
["What did you say, you moron?"]
"GRRRRR."
["Astrad, calm down, I..."]
["What? You want an autograph? Get lost."]
I stop the police girl who looks like she's about to do something stupid. What are you going to do against a cat bigger than a car?
["What? no…"]
Tsk, this is the problem with reliable allies: they don't know when it's a good time to abandon you.
But the rat kid has no time to argue.
The cat and I are at a stalemate. If it lets up, I escape. If I let up, it eats me.
Is this damn animal too smart?
["You know you can't do anything,"] – I say to the stupid police girl so she'll leave.
But instead of that, she lets the playboy cat jump onto her shoulder while she herself picks up a nearby piece of rebar from the ground.
["Oh yeah? I don't give a shit."]
["DON'T IMITATE THE RAT KID."]
I complain, but now three other girls, the police girl's companions on the disciplinary committee, begin to pick up improvised weapons and rocks.
Can you not break out of your roles as extras? Run away with the rest of the grovelers, damn it.
"Grrr."
["You know? Your breath stinks,"] – I complain to the stupid cat, which started to press with more force.
While the girls who refuse to be background extras begin to surround us, following Carla's instructions.
"GRRIIII"
The rat kid starts to worry as the sound of crunching metal is heard from the cat's trapped limbs.
It sounds surprisingly clear amidst the gunshots and cries of anguish. Could this be the end of the rat kid?
["Well, well, what do we have here?"]
As I was thinking about how to get out of this shit, the annoying man who seemed to be the leader of the government squad approaches from the side with a smug smile.
Ahhh, all this shit because I wanted to indulge myself a little with the despair of these idiot teenagers… Louise can definitely never find out about this.
.........…..
JOURNAL ENTRY NO: 6668
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Reliquia vorax
REGIONAL ALIASES:
Latin America: Los Sobreros / Hienas de Cal (The Leftover-Eaters / Lime Hyenas)
The Network's Term (Technical): The Symbiotic Scavenger
Urban Folklore (Anglo): The Sludge-Lickers
NICKNAME (ASTRAD): The Puddle-Suckers
📊 THREAT ASSESSMENT
CLASSIFICATION: VENATOR
We classify it as Venator, but don't let the term fool you. They are not hunters. They are the definition of a scavenger, the last stop on the food chain. Their existence is a footnote in the battle between the Corpus Fusile and the Limax mundator. They don't fight; they just wait for the janitor to finish cleaning up to lick the leftovers from the plate.
DANGER LEVEL: GREEN (3 stars)
3 Green stars. Individually, they are pathetic and cowardly, but a hungry swarm can be a problem if you are injured or immobilized. They won't hunt you, but if you trip and fall in their "soup," they won't hesitate to add you to the menu. Their danger is that of a pack of piranhas in a puddle of acid.
AGGRESSIVENESS LEVEL: OPPORTUNISTIC
Opportunism made flesh. Their aggressiveness is directly proportional to your level of defenselessness. They will ignore a healthy survivor but will pounce on anything that smells of blood, weakness, or death. Their courage is born exclusively from the certainty that you cannot fight back.
🧬 COMBAT FILE (TL;DR)
TYPE: Beast
AFFINITY: Earth / Toxic
🎯 PRIMARY WEAKNESSES:
Fire (they are flammable from the chemicals they consume), Loud and sudden noises (scares them), Absence of their food source.
📌 KEY STRENGTHS:
Almost total immunity to corrosive and toxic agents, Swarm attacks, Jaws with sandpaper-like teeth for scraping surfaces.
📚 ORIGINS AND COMPARATIVE MYYTHOLOGY
Medieval Folklore: They are the post-apocalyptic equivalent of Ghouls, creatures that desecrated graves to feed on the dead. These, however, have outsourced the work of desecration to a giant slug.
Evolutionary Biology: An extreme case of specialization. Probably a species of rodent or mustelid that developed an incredible resistance to chemicals to exploit an ecological niche that would kill anything else.
Gamer Culture: They are the low-level mobs that appear after the area boss has been defeated. They are not a threat; they are the clean-up crew that comes to farm the remains.
Astrad's Analysis: There's no mystery here. They are proof of a universal principle: no matter how fucked up and toxic the environment is, there will always be some bastard willing to adapt to eat the leftovers.
📝 DETAILED ANALYSIS
PHYSICAL AND SENSORY DESCRIPTION:
A mammalian creature the size of a badger, with a low, elongated body. Its skin is leathery, almost hairless, and of a pale gray color stained by the chemicals it consumes. Its legs are short and end in sturdy claws, designed to cling to slippery surfaces. Its most notable feature is its head, disproportionately large, with a wide jaw that opens to reveal rows of small, serrated teeth, like a metal file. They move in noisy, chaotic groups, emitting high-pitched squeals and clicks as they fight among themselves for food.
BEHAVIOR AND ECOLOGY:
Their existence is intrinsically linked to the life cycle of the Corpus Fusile and its predator, the Limax mundator. They are nomads who follow the slow movements of the Limax from a distance. Once the slug has sterilized an area, the swarm of Reliquia vorax descends upon the still-wet slime trail and feeds frantically on the semi-dissolved pulp of fungi and corpses, scraping the ground with their teeth. They are extremely competitive, and fights within the swarm are constant and brutal.
☣️ PROTOCOLS
RECOMMENDED ENCOUNTER PROTOCOL:
DO:
Ignore them. Their presence indicates that the area has been cleaned by a Limax mundator and is safe from fungal infection.
Disperse them with a shot in the air or a loud noise if they get too close.
DON'T:
Attack a swarm if it's not necessary.
Show signs of injury or weakness near them.
Try to walk through a swarm while it is feeding.
FIELD REPORT (Video provided by RatKid4):
"We saw the slug finish its work in the square. Slow, disgusting, but effective. It had barely moved a few meters away when they came out of the sewers. Dozens of them. They threw themselves on the smoldering trail like piranhas. The sound... it was like a hundred people sanding the concrete at once. Two of them fought over a piece that looked like a bone, and one bit the other's head off. They paid us no attention at all. They were too busy with their feast."
🎤 ASTRAD'S NOTES (THE ONLY SHIT THAT MATTERS):
"Reliquia vorax"… Sounds like the name of a high school gothic metal band that didn't make it past their first rehearsal. But the reality is much more pathetic. They're the fucking ass-lickers of the apocalypse. The Puddle-Suckers. The animal version of that buddy who never pays for a round but is always there to finish your fries.
Their survival strategy? Follow a giant slug and eat its chemical vomit. It's brilliant in its simplicity and its filthiness. They're not predators; they're the clean-up crew that arrives after the real party. They're the minions that show up to collect the trash loot that the mini-boss dropped.
And their appearance? Imagine a hyena with mange that fucked a mole-rat and their child was born addicted to bleach. They have no dignity. Their only function in this shitty world is to remind you that, no matter how low you think you've fallen, there's always someone willing to go lower for a free meal.
They're not a threat. They're a lesson in economics. In every ecosystem, no matter how fucked up, there's always someone at the bottom, licking the plate. And if you're not careful, that could be you.
......….
< Chat Channel: #Rat_Kid_Network >
RatKid4: Guys, it seems the red broccoli is a trilogy.
RatKid4: [VIDEO attached: plaza_post-cleanup.mp4]
RatKid4: Good news and bad news. The good news, I can get the slime that 15 wanted so badly. The toxic janitor (Limax mundator) just passed through the square. The place smells like a swimming pool and victory. But now we have… this.
RatKid8: LOLOLOL, what the fuck are those things? Hyenas with mange? They look like mole-rats having an existential crisis.
RatKid7: The sound… it's like someone is sanding the concrete with their teeth. It's making my eye twitch.
RatKid1: Another new monster? 4, throw something at them, see what they do.
RatKid4: What if they attack me?
RatKid1: Then you run.
RatKid4: And if they're faster?
RatKid1: … It's a sacrifice I'm willing to accept.
RatKid4: I'll pass.
RatKid3: How do you know it's not a monster you already have?
RatKid1: I didn't know the slug, obviously I don't know these mutant dogs that look like they eat their own shit.
RatKid10: Wait, so they eat the corrosive slime of the giant slug? And the remains of the melted corpses?
RatKid2: They must have a digestive system that's the envy of any waste treatment plant. It's biologically fascinating and makes me want to vomit.
RatKid3: Shit, someone get 12 once and for all, things are starting to get complicated.
RatKid7: Did you see how they fight among themselves? One ripped the other's head off for a piece of what looked like a half-dissolved femur. They don't even have camaraderie.
RatKid4: Something new, look.
RatKid4: [VIDEO attached: plaza_no attack.mp4]
RatKid4: they completely ignored those people who accidentally crossed the corner. in fact, they seemed… scared?
RatKid1-Astrad: They ignored them?
RatKid4: I think they're purely scavengers. initiating controlled pursuit.
RatKid2: Don't rush it.
RatKid5: Be careful.
RatKid3: Maximum possible distance.
RatKid8: Don't get eaten.
RatKid1: The world will never forget your courage and sacrifice.
RatKid4: Fuck you.