Woman must be studying the schematics on her computer.
“You’re almost to the main chamber where there’s a heavy concentration of that crystalline mixture. It’s to your left when you enter. Tell me if you see anything.”
“Yes, missy bossy ma’am,” he snarked. The daydream of her bossing him around in the bedroom came back. Whoa, slow down, boy. Pay attention to the purple menace first, bedroom Olympics later. Maybe. Hopefully.
When Ari reached the end of the narrow, grimy hallway, the space opened into a vast chamber, dimly lit by flickering orange lights. Mountains of garbage rose in chaotic heaps, filling the cavernous room. A wave of oppressive heat gave him the crazy idea that the chamber was alive and breathing.
On his right, a massive machine dominated the place. Its mechanical arms moved with relentless, rhythmic precision. The device grabbed piles of refuse, compressing them with a deafening crunch before depositing the compacted blocks into a gaping chute below. The machine’s gears groaned under the strain, sending vibrations through the floor.
Wow, good thing that hadn’t been on when he was there before. He might have gotten caught up in that mechanical monster’s deadly grasp. His to-do list didn’t include getting mushed into a cube.
A glowing purple light attracted his eye to a narrow path along the edge of the chamber. It was just wide enough for him to skirt around the machine’s reach. Going sideways, he squeezed away from the main chamber and found himself in a small room. His breath caught. There, in a crude, makeshift cage fashioned from bent metal bars, stood a figure unlike anything he’d ever seen before. The man, if he could be called a man, consisted entirely of crystalline purple. The guy’s body refracted the dim light into shards of amethyst hues that danced across the filthy walls. His faceted skin glimmered, and his eyes, deep and mysterious, met Ari’s with a mix of fear and desperation. The cage seemed almost too small for the being, confining him to a hunched position, yet the crystal man’s presence was undeniably powerful, radiating a strange, silent energy.
“Uh, Morgan?” he rasped.
“Yeah?”
“Good news! I think I know what is making that crystalline stuff.” Ari reported with a wry grin. “Bad news… it’s glaring at me like I owe it money.”
Ari didn’t wait for Morgan’s reply as he eyed the crystalline creature in the cage, fascinated by its faceted form glinting under the harsh overhead lights. The weight of its gaze—confused and utterly alien made Ari’s heart pound. He stood frozen, feet glued to the metallic floor. The confusing fight-or-flight instinct warred inside him.
“As’nisooohungry.“ The purple crystal’s voice was masculine, but soft and hesitant. “You bring As’ni food? As’ni hungry,” he whimpered. “Furry, furry won’t feed. Furry, furry won’t let me out!”
Ari relaxed at the childlike cry and cocked his head. “Morgan, did you hear that? Is this guy saying he’s hungry?” he asked. “How is it I understand him and not the Ozevroc?”
“You must have some kind of translator device implanted in you that could pick up his language,” she chuckled. “I think I’m glad it doesn’t work with the Ozevroc. No telling how they’d react to your less than funny humor.”
Not so. He was as funny as hell. Looks like a conversation he had to have with the obviously clueless woman later. Aiming the handheld to the humanoid creature, he ran the scanner over the purple crystals, mirrors, and glass.
“Morgan, are you getting this?” He kept his voice low.
“Oh, the poor thing,” Morgan crooned. “Look how sad he is.” She cleared her throat. “Get a little closer so I can scan him better.”
Oh, sure. Get closer to the behemoth stuffed in a cage. Exactly what he’d been dreaming about doing his whole life.
When Morgan gave an impatient hum in his ear, his shoulders slumped. Well, crud. No getting around it. He shuffled closer to the cage, but kept an eye on the large, ah, thing. “Hey, guy. How ya doing?” Ari winced. Wow, that was lame. He cleared his throat. “I’m Ari. You say you’re hungry, eh?”
The purple crystal man nodded, then tilted his head. He gripped the bars of the cage in one massive hand while holding out the other. “I know you?”
Now it was Ari’s turn to frown. This thing knew him? Impossible. “I don’t think so.”
The behemoth didn’t like that answer. The crystals around his wide mouth pursed. He shook the cage. “As’ni need food!”
If Ari wasn’t mistaken, the guy’s clear, purple eyes fixated on his handheld. When he raised it, the creature’s eyes followed as the prominent ridge above his eyes furrowed. “No, more. Not enough!” As’ni made a fist from his thick, three-fingered hand. With a sudden, deliberate motion, he lifted his massive arm, each crystalline joint shifting with a grating sound, like boulders scraping against one another.
His fist slammed down with brutal force, knocking Ari off balance.
The impact hit with a power Ari never imagined was possible as the metal floor buckled and rippled like lake water when a stone was thrown in. The resulting shockwave traveled outward, making him stumble again, his hands instinctively reaching for the wall as the ground shifted beneath him.
A deep, resonating hum filled the air, vibrating through Ari’s bones, as the ship groaned in protest. The walls shuddered, and overhead, the lights flickered. His pulse quickened, matching the erratic thrum of the lights as he fought to stay upright, his fingers digging into the cold metal for stability.
Then, as quickly as it began, the quake subsided. The ripples in the floor stilled, leaving the surface warped and uneven, a permanent scar from the creature’s wrath.
Ari’s chest heaved as he forced himself to breathe, adrenaline rushing. He glanced at the creature, its crystalline form unshaken but somehow diminished.
The temperature in the room dropped. Puffs of cold air came out of Ari with each exhalation.
The creature put his hands over the side of his head and moaned. “Hungry. So hungry.” He shook his head back-and-forth.
