He stepped into the water, feeling more than one set of eyes watching his every move.
Moss flexed his muscles and cracked his neck for show. His choice of weapon was his body and the single twelve-inch blade strapped to his thigh. It was more than he’d need in this fight but he couldn’t face off with the beast without a weapon.
Not when his employer cared so much for his well-being.
Lucy cared too much for someone like him.
He disregarded the thought. He wasn’t staying here longer than necessary. And he wasn’t one for keeping secrets just to get what he wanted.
Moss followed the edge of the pool until the water deepened to his waist. Beyond, barely a yard away was the beginning of the monster’s nest, where the repulsive green and brown vines slowly expanded outward from their place of origin somewhere deep within the middle. Where the body of the beast lurked in wait.
Already, its tentacles slithered through the water toward him.
He looked back to find Lucy’s gaze far back behind the shielding of her house. He flashed her a reassuring smile. She stamped her foot in obvious frustration and Moss restrained his laughter. Everything about her made him want to incite even more reaction, to see how far he could push her, to see that spark of fire in her blaze in her eyes.
Something brushed up against his leg and he turned back to the task at hand.
It’s tasting me.The viney thing was camouflaged against human eyes, but its heat signature was not. In his peripheral vision, he counted a dozen more feelers heading his way.
Moss unsheathed his knife and stabbed straight through the one feeling up his leg.
It jerked away, vanishing in the murkier deep, and leaving a green mess of fluids behind. He flicked his blade and waited.
The other tentacles stilled, poised to strike, blending further within the cloudy waters. They waited for him as much as he waited for them. A standoff.
Moss sighed, knowing he’d have to do more to draw out the central mass.
He placed his blade on the edge of the pool and moved away, heading for the center of the pool where the last android had been ripped to pieces.
Each of the feelers’ tips turned to follow his direction.Creepy fucking thing.
An evening of watching his prey had garnered him two key pieces of information: one being that it was highly territorial, and second, its intelligence only went so far as protecting its space. He’d gone up against creatures that understood the concept of time, of memory, creatures that could evenplan, but this thing wasn’t evolved enough for any of that.
That meant the only trap he was walking into was the one he knew about—big monster, small hole.
I’m a creepy fucking thing too.But only one of them could be considered cute.
He stopped right before where the android had vanished below, the footage—downloaded by the house’s feeds—replayed over once more in his head. His foot hit a cluster of broken metal parts.
The feelers sloshed quietly toward him, making a half-moon arch around his frame. Moss inhaled and stepped into the monster’s territory.
And was immediately dragged beneath the water. His body pulled taut and tight from head to toe as the creature tried with all its might to tear him from limb from limb. His nanosuit shifted, expanding to zap and fight it off.
Distantly, distorted by the water, he heard Lucy scream bloody murder. As his suit fought off the increasingly thick stranglehold, he seeded into the house’s intercom systems.
“Lucy, I swear to your endless amount of wealth, get your fine ass back inside!” Lucky for him, it stopped her from trying to help him. She’d be pulverized faster than he could save her if she got close enough. The horror of that thought flooded his byways.
He felt the crushing force of his enemy, sensed its predatory urge to destroy every single thing about him for trespassing on its space. A mother’s anger. Moss gritted his teeth as his nanosuit became trapped within the hold.
One more second.
Just one more.
There was no more light. The monster’s tentacles wrapped completely around his head, obscuring his vision.
Now!
Moss turned into the creature he truly was. The grade A awesome bastard that was built to withstandeverything.
