At the sight of the monster stepping forward, Ppnlak felt fear run through his veins. His glow brightened to a pale magenta, bathing the thing in the light. The thing raised an arm to cover its face and stepped back. Eyuy let out a relieved breath beside him, and Ppnlak did the same. In the light, Ppnlak had a good view of what the thing looked like. It was unlike anything he had seen before, and he had lived on a pirate ship that housed different species from every corner of the known universe. What struck Ppnlak the most was how unnatural the thing was. Almost every centimeter of its skin was covered with a coppery metal that was connected with various tubes and wires. The inky black and purple skin that laid underneath the metal and wires was fluid, shifting between the colors in irregular intervals.

Ppnlak wondered how the thing came to be. The species had warned of it, so did it exist before them? Or, the more insidious thought, did the species create it? Considering that the ICC was involved, that possibility was more likely in Ppnlak's mind. All Ppnlak knew was that the thing, however it came to be, was after them now and showed no signs of stopping. Remembering what happened last time with Isiuta, Ppnlak lightened his glow until it was pure white. The thing let out the same terrible screech it did on the surface, backing down the hallway into the darkness. Ppnlak shot Eyuy a triumphant smile, which Eyuy returned with a shaky smile of his own.

However, Ppnlak's happiness was short-lived as the thing came creeping back towards them. This time, the thing carried a large, black object in its hands. Ppnlak thought it looked like a screen of some sort as he could see the thing through it. Confused, Ppnlak let glow increase once more, but the thing raised the screen in front of itself. Whatever it was blocked Ppnlak's light from reaching it. Hearing Eyuy's breath hitch, Ppnlak tried to intensify his glow. He was only able to increase the luminosity a little, and the thing was still unaffected due to the screen.

Ppnlak said, Explorer, it's not working.

"I can see that!" Eyuy snapped. The thing turned its head to Eyuy at the sound of his voice.

Don't speak out loud. It can hear you.

"How will I do that? Can it even understand?" Eyuy asked. In response, the thing let out a creaking groan. Eyuy jumped, letting out a squeak of fear.

I think we can take that as a yes. I know you can feel our link. Speak through it in your mind.

While Eyuy figured out how to speak, Ppnlak refocused his attention onto the thing. It had made no more moves toward them, which wasn’t like how it acted when he and Isiuta had faced it. Then, it had no hesitated to rush after them. The terrible sound of Isiuta's body crushing haunted Ppnlak's dreams, and he wondered if he would ever fully recover from it.

Suddenly, the thing lunged forward, swiping at Ppnlak and Eyuy. Ppnlak grabbed Eyuy and jumped out of the way. Ppnlak asked, Have you figured it out?

I think so, Eyuy replied.

Yes! You did it.

The thing walked in their direction with its arm primed for an attack. Eyuy said, What do we do?

Ppnlak sighed, I wish you had brought a weapon.

Eyuy's next thoughts were strained as they jumped back to avoid the thing again. The blocked door was getting closer and closer. Eyuy said as he pulled out a pistol, Will this work?

Have you had this the whole time! Ppnlak hit the side of Eyuy's helmet with a tentacle. Why didn't you say anything?

It's a flare gun. At first, I didn't think it would work, but seeing how it reacts to light has changed my mind.

Ppnlak looked between the flare gun and the screen the thing held, We have to get it to let go of the screen.

How will we do that?

We must distract it. Ppnlak and Eyuy jumped back once more. If they jumped one more time, their backs would be to the cave-in, and they would have nowhere to escape to. Ppnlak raked his brain, trying to think of a feasible way to disorient the thing. Ppnlak settled on, I could overwhelm its mind.

Eyuy glanced at Ppnlak, Overwhelm its mind?

Those not well-versed in mind speak often leave their channel open for manipulation. If I establish a link with the thing, I can flood its mind with my thoughts, causing pain.

Is it safe?

Ppnlak shrugged, It isn't not safe.

It's not like we have any other option. Eyuy grumbled, This alien wouldn't know safe if it smacked him in the face.

Ppnlak commented, Those not well-versed in mind speak also have a hard time separating their thoughts from speech.

Eyuy turned his head away from Ppnlak in embarrassment. Ppnlak chuckled, letting the sound echo into Eyuy's mind. He then turned toward the thing. It was approaching them once again. Ppnlak let a link stretch out to it. Establishing a link was second nature to Ppnlak, and he had no trouble forcing a connection with the thing. Immediately, thoughts from the thing flooded into Ppnlak's head.

'Why do they keep backing away?' the thing thought.

Ppnlak replied, It's because you want to kill us.

The thing stopped in its tracks at the sound of Ppnlak's voice. Its eyes zeroed in on the tenlaupian with the focus of a laser beam, not letting him leave its sight. The thing said, 'You can hear me.'

Yes, I can. In addition to its unnatural appearance, the thing's voice reminded him of LOIUY's, robotic and without feeling. While LOIUY still managed to be charming, the thing was melancholic.

The thing relaxed from its combative stance. 'You can really hear me.'

Yes, yes, I already said I could. I suppose this is a bit of a formality, but why are you trying to kill us?

'I am hungry.' Ppnlak's question seemed to confuse the thing like it had never considered the reason why it killed.

Couldn't you eat something else?

'But you smell like you would taste good.'

I'm sure we do, but we would rather not die.

The thing shook its head, 'You would taste really good.'

I can't convince you to let us go?

'I am hungry. I need food. You are food.' Ppnlak was amazed by the thing's simplistic thoughts. It was almost childlike in its singlemindedness. This cemented the idea that the species created the thing in Ppnlak's head.

I'm sorry, but we're not going to let ourselves become food.

Ppnlak's words saddened the thing. It wilted, lowering its massive height. 'Are you afraid too?'

Eyuy asked, "What's happening?" It occurred to Ppnlak that Eyuy couldn’t hear their conversation, and he was standing there in silence. It made him want to laugh, despite the tense atmosphere.

Ppnlak didn’t answer Eyuy. He instead said to the thing, This will hurt.

'What—' Ppnlak poured everything through their link. The thing staggered back, dropping its screen when it went to grab its head. Once it did that, Ppnlak slammed the link shut as Eyuy raised his flare gun and shot at the thing twice. The light from flares brightened the hallway to an almost painful point. The flares hit the thing with two metallic twangs.

Pained screeching filled the air, and the thing sputtered and creaked underneath the force of the screaming. Taking the opportunity to escape, Ppnlak and Eyuy ran around the incapacitated thing. They ran down the hallway and into the west block of the city, not stopping until they passed the point they had gotten to during their last trip. They were both panting by the time they stopped.

"How long do you think that'll last?" Eyuy asked. The city was darker than they were used to. The sunlight that powered the lights was running out, which meant that the ceiling would drop to let more in soon.

Not long enough.

"We need to find that exit as fast as possible."

They hurried down the hall, passing more dried blood and skeletons. Ppnlak was sure that the thing had eaten them. Ppnlak wasn’t a scientist, but he was positive that letting their creation eat them wasn’t good scientific practice. Ppnlak wondered how it had escaped, or if they had let it roam free. Ppnlak asked, Do you think they named it?

"The thing?"

What else would I be talking about?

"It is a very non-descriptive pronoun. It could mean anything. See, I just used an ambiguous it!"

Ppnlak rolled his eyes, fighting the urge to comment. Anyway, I think we should name it.

Eyuy turned to Ppnlak, "Why? It's trying to kill us."

Yeah, but I'm tired of thinking of it as the thing. Ppnlak wiggled his tentacles when a good name came to mind, How about Timo?

"I suppose that's fine."

Timo it is.

As they made their way down the hall, the doors became more and more scarce. Ppnlak assumed that meant they were getting closer to the exit. When they reached the end, Eyuy let out a despaired cry. The door, like many others, had an electric lock, so it was shut. And even if they could power it, the wires connected to the door were damaged.

Eyuy said, "It's always something. I don't have anything to fix this."

We'll have to find another way.

Eyuy checked the chamber of his flare gun. "I only have two flares left. Whatever we do next has to work."rk."