Hiss
The lights in Michael's apartment were on which meant someone, or something, was there. The room beyond appeared like it was swimming in water. He didn't move for several minutes out of fear.
It's in there, Michael thought. Something's in there.
The little girl's voice echoed back in confusion. It's standing right there.
He blinked and slowly, his gaze rose. Two shining, yellow rectangles flashed back at him as it tilted its head slightly.
"What the fuck...?"
A series of clicking and guttural sounds emerged from the invisible creature. A sound familiar but not belonging to this universe.
It was hunched over and its entire body occupied the doorway. He thought before that it was the stress, or perhaps the hallucinations, but no.
"AAAAH!"
ZZT
The plasma cutter lit up and an angry growl returned from the creature. It darted out of the doorway with insane speed as the plasma ripped past him and tore into his apartment.
Emboldened by the shot and seeing it flee, he kept shouting and shooting as he stepped off the bed and rounded the corner. Each shot left molten metal, smoldering ash, and deep gashes in the interior walls.
"AAAA!"
Its lumbering mass disappeared around the corner right as another plasma cut ripped into the door of the apartment beyond.
"AAA! What the fuck?! AMY!"
Michael didn't let up.
He ran out of his apartment and turned, shooting the last two shots down the hall before the capacitor ejected with an angry hiss. Unfortunately, with his adrenaline and shaking hands, both went wide and cut into the side of a nearby door and knocking out one of the light fixtures.
He panted. His head was pounding and someone was crying in despair. Immediately he loaded another capacitor into the cutter but he began getting angry too.
"Stop crying and screaming! You don't need to scream when..."
His gaze turned to the source and his eyes widened in horror.
The apartment door across from his was cut cleanly through and just beyond it on the ground, a man was crying and holding a limp corpse on the floor with blood pooling around them.
Realization finally dawned on him.
"No..." Michael breathed, taking a step back into his apartment. "No...! It was... This... This wasn't supposed to happen! I was trying so hard not to...!"
His breath hitched and he turned abruptly toward his apartment.
It was in complete ruins. His couch had two large lacerations with embers burning atop, his walls were deformed, and the wall connecting to his apartment door was melted along the side where part of the plasma struck.
Like a hot knife through butter.
Why? Why did you make me do this?! Michael asked angrily inside his mind.
Blinking into existence, the little girl silently pointed at the ground next to his feet. His eyes followed and on the ground several bright, neon-green droplets dotted the floor.
Wait...It was real?
Michael began to crouch down when an angry shout made him pivot in alarm.
"You bastard!"
Hiss
A young man, no older than his mid-twenties with only his shorts on, charged him with an iron pipe raised. His expression was contorted with rage and tears, his teeth gritted as he rushed at him.
"No," Michael pleaded, stepping back as the man swung.
It clanged angrily off the doorframe but the man didn't relent, continuing to charge him with bloodlust. His bare feet dug into metal sharps and molten metal but he didn't even blink.
"I'll kill you!"
"Stop! Please!"
He ducked and dived to the side between his couch and table as the rod passed overhead, slamming into the wall.
"You killed my wife you psychotic bastard! I'll fucking kill you!"
With nowhere else to go, and the man raising it above his head with a clear strike, Michael raised his gun.
ZZT
"AGH!"
A bright display of red and organs splattered the wall next to, and into, his bedroom. The smell of burnt flesh and smoking entrails poured out from his stomach followed by an angry splatter as the rest followed.
CLANG-clang...
The man's eyes rolled back, dropping the rod as he fell back into his smoldering pile of entrails.
Michael panted on the ground. Pale, trembling, and dripping with sweat. He breathed in through his nose trying to recover. A fatal mistake and he turned over to vomit.
Bile, blood, and smoldering metal. The three dominant sights and smells.
It took him a minute before he shakily rose to his feet, his eyes fixated on the lifeless eyes of the man he just killed.
It...It was self defense! Was it? I killed his wife! FUCK!
His hand ran through his hair as stress began to mount, his heart pounding against his chest.
What do I do? FUCK! I just killed someone! My life is over!
Spinning on the spot, he looked at all the damage again with a slow, panicking shriek rising with every breath that was turning into a deranged, helpless shout.
Look...
Her voice was sharp, cutting through the chaos in his mind. His panicked and horrified gaze returned to the door.
The neon-green droplets were still there.
Michael exhaled with some relief, clambering over his couch to get around the blood and ignoring the pain in his hand when it touched the hot surface. It was then he realized his feet hurt too.
He, too, had been running through the shrapnel and molten metal. He realized this as his eyes tracked multiple bloody footsteps before looking down at his bloody feet.
"Fuck..." he breathed before stumbling over to the blood droplets and crouching down, ignoring the pain.
He laughed deliriously while hunched over on all fours, his face less than a foot away from the substance.
"It's real. It's real! Hahaha..."
His laughter echoed, mixed with crying and relief until...
"P-SEC! GET ON THE GROUND!"
"Hahaha...huh?"
His head rose to look up only to see the shadow of a boot collide with his face.
"AGH! STOP! WAIT! I CAN EXPLAIN!"
He shouted maniacally but to the P-Sec officers who saw the damaged hallway, bloody footsteps and flickering lights, a man hunched over with a plasma cutter next to him and a smoldering corpse with its entrails spilled behind him, there was no stop and wait.
"Get off me!" Michael shouted through blood and coughing. "I was trying to defend myself! It snuck inside the colony! It's not normal! It wasn't human!"
"Hold him down!"
"Stop resisting! Calm down before we do something a lot fucking worse!"
"We have to burn it until nothing's left! Before the Marker gets it! Get off me!"
A syringe punctured Michael's neck.
"NO! NO! GET OFF MEee..."
Michael's vision faded fast. Their fast-acting drug was quick to work even on Class 3 psychotic patients who could still behave aggressively after receiving multiple gunshot wounds.
"Jesus," one of the four P-Sec officers breathed as they stepped into the room. One of them began heaving before throwing up between his arms onto the floor, keeping his gun raised.
"What the fuck happened here?"
"Isn't this the guy who lost his shit a few weeks back?"
"Yeah. This morning's disaster? This guy was suspected of tampering with the airlock controls too."
"Why wasn't he arrested this morning?"
"Command wanted him left alone. Don't ask me why."
"What the fuck man... What were they thinking? Look at what they've caused!"
Amidst their conversation, an electric hum grew louder. The P-Sec officers quieted down and raised their guns in alarm as a little girl's weeping echoed.
"There's a survivor!"
"Little lady? Come out! It's safe now!"
Two P-Sec officers pointed their guns at the bedroom door, still open, out of caution. Everything else was in open view and they'd done these apartment sweeps tons of times.
But none of them wanted to step further into this apartment.
Leave my baby alone...
"Hey! We're here to help!"
"If you touch the baby you're dead!"
While the two stayed near the entrance atop Michael, the other two shouted and rushed toward the bedroom door. Their boots splashed and kicked up blood, turning and aggressively pointing their weapons inside.
Their eyes darted around the room before lowering their guns slightly in confusion.
Her small figure was standing in the middle of the room. Her shoulder shaking as her whimpering, crying voice echoed again.
Don't hurt my baby...
"Your baby? What bab—"
Their words were cut off as both of them simultaneously combusted. Their organs, blood, and bone shrapnel coated the room like fresh paint and decorations.
The two other P-Sec officers fell back as shrapnel tore into their exposed faces. They shouted and cried out in pain.
"Fuck! Command! Two officers down! I repeat, two officers are dead!"
"What the fuck was that?"
"Shoot! Shoot her!"
Gunshots rang out briefly before struggling, gurgling cries took its place.
"A-AAAAGH!"
"UGH!"
Snap
Snap