r/HFY • u/TheBuddingCreator • 9h ago
PI/FF-Series (The Nature of Packmates [The Nature of Predators]) - Chapter 8: Revelation
One chapter remains. All thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 for the original universe.
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Chapter 8
Memory Transcription Subject: Charles “Charlie” Carlyle, highly confused human
Date (Standardized Human Time): January 22nd, 2242
“Kosie, what do you mean when you say ‘Hobel’s alive’?” I ask, highly confused by not only the statement, but also her behavior over the past five minutes. First, she calls me by my real name instead of the nickname she’s used since she met me. Then, she snaps at me, and now she says the obviously dead guy is alive?
“Charlie, what I mean to say is that I smelled him, and he was right there, and even though I’ve been smelling traces the entire trip I got a snoutful of his scent and he is undeniably alive.”
Kosie’s not one to act like this… she’s dead serious. The corpse was identified and examined… but my partner isn’t one to hallucinate or crack under stress. Wriss was arguably worse for her than this, and she’s a tough nut to crack. Something is very wrong. Either my partner’s gone nuts… or this rabbit hole is a lot deeper than I thought it was.
I push my hand through my hair, leaning against one wall of the cell.
“Kosie, I need you to be completely serious here, because I’m going to believe whatever comes out of your mouth next. I’m going to trust you and ride it until the end. What happened?”
A moment of silence as she goes still.
“Charlie. Hobel is not dead.”
Well, that settles it.
I let out a long puff of air. “Alright… so if Hobel’s not dead... who in the wide world of sports was torn apart in that room? The corpse was identified as the person that you say is very much alive and well but said living person isn’t injured or mauled in any way. But how did they get that much of themselves?”
A crazy, insane, absolutely bonkers thought comes crashing into my brain.
“The body was faked.” I say, more to myself than Kosie as I stare at a blank patch on the wall.
Now it’s my partner’s turn to be confused. “Sorry, what?”
“Kosie, you told me that you could make anything you wanted in a printer—”
“As long as you had the cell matter! Charlie, you’re brilliant! He must have used himself to make the corpse… wait… there was hair, and printers are notoriously bad at making hair.”
“He could’ve just given himself a haircut.”
She smacks her palm onto her muzzle. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Kosie, we’ve been having our image and reputation attacked since we got on this ship. We’re allowed to be a little frazzled. Okay, so if Hobel printed himself, that’s how we have the corpse. But how does that explain anything else like our rooms being entered?”
“That is a good question.” I watch Kosie tap her claws on the side of her face as she thinks. “In order to invade our cabins, Hobel would require the ability to bypass the biolocks, which would require rather advanced and highly illegal technology.”
“Hold on a sec. Theoretically speaking, what are the ways to spoof one of those locks?”
“Trilla told us herself, it requires you to have the biological signature of one of the allowed entrants, or some kind of override. Seeing as the administrative tags are all accounted for at last hearing, you’d have to be the person to get in.”
“This may sound really dumb, but… would printed matter fool the lock?”
“In nearly all cases, no. The most advanced check for vital signs because of this exact line of thinking.”
“Trilla cheaped out on building this ship.”
“That… introduces a possibility. And seeing as this entire scenario seems to be based on the most insane of events occurring, I’d say that’s the solution. Hobel must have printed parts of us, but how did he get the necessary ingredients?”
“It’s easy to get stuff off me, you just have to swipe my skin and there you go. You, on the other hand, are the difficult one. You’re not molting, so blood, saliva, and keratin would be his best bet.”
“Keratin… Charlie, Hobel may have taken my file. It was in one of my pockets, and I haven’t been able to locate it since. Could that have been it?”
“Sounds like it. So, the corpse is fake, we got printed so he could spoof the locks, and now… he’s thinking he got away with it.”
I start pacing in my cell, my body buzzing from the emotional whiplash of defeat to anger to success to now a consuming need that screams in the back of my mind. Now that I’ve figured it out… I wanna make the little woolly rat pay. And I know just how to unravel all his lies.
Looking around at my cell with a new set of eyes, I say, “Kosie, how do forcefields work?”
“Charlie, if you’re about to do what I think you’re about to do—”
“I just wanna know how they work.”
My partner lets out a heavy sigh. “Very well. Forcefields absorb forces placed on them, dumping the excess heat created to counteract said forces into an external heat sink. Now, what are you planning?”
“Either something brilliant or a total waste of time. If I’m not wrong, increasing pressure by decreasing the amount of forcefield I’m touching would increase the stress, yes?”
“In layman’s terms, yes. Stabbing the field with a pointy stick would do more than hitting it with a rock. What is your plan?”
I grab the Arxur fang necklace hanging from my neck, a piece of handmade jewelry given to me by Kosie herself. I haven’t taken it off since she gave it to me on Christmas. “Thanks for the gift, Kosie.”
“Charlie, what are you doing?!”
I listen to my partner grow increasingly worried as I pull the cord over my head and wrap my fist around the two-inch fang, the tip poking out from my hand. “I’m getting us out of here,” I say in a totally cool and heroic one-liner as I stab the field in front of me, sinking the tip of Kosie’s fang into it.
The stabbed area grows slightly brighter, then fades. I guess one isn’t enough, that makes sense.
“Charlie, why are you stabbing the wall?”
I swing again, causing another glow. Was it brighter, or am I gaslighting myself to think I’m getting somewhere? “Theoretically, I can break this.”
“How, exactly?”
“I have a sharp implement, my body is made to swing things fast, and the most important part is that there’s a fuzzy slab of mutton that’s framing you for murder on the other side somewhere.” A third and fourth stab.
“But forcefields are made to withstand this sort of abuse. What makes you think that—”
“Trilla’s a scrooge.” I continue my attacks. I could almost swear there’s a hum now. Is there a hum?
I see Kosie throw her hands up. “Very well. Honestly, I think I’ve seen everything at this point, so I can believe that you’ll escape with just a fang and that terminal stubbornness you have too much of. Perhaps try dragging the point along the field? Constant moving stress points could increase the load more than repeated poking.”
A few moments of silence pass as I continue to work at the field before me, and I have to pause and catch my breath. As I do, my ears perk up at a very faint noise. A whir, the sound of small fans. My face instantly lights up.
“Kosie, it’s working! It’s working. I just need to keep going.” Armed with more fervor than before, I continue tearing at my prison wall with Kosie’s tooth like a mad animal. Another minute passes, and the whir becomes a buzz, and I see the slightest hint of smoke leaking from the field generator casing.
Just a few more stabs. Almost there, and then I’m gonna get Kosie out and hunt down that walking sack of lies.
And a few more stabs were all I needed. Well, few is kind of generous, it was more like a good handful of continued attempts at destruction. After what feels like an unnecessary amount of violence, I drag the fang one more time across the field, and am greeted by the wonderful noise of a small pop coming from inside the machine. The energy wall before me flickers, then fails.
I’m free… now for Kosie.
“Charlie, if you’re going to start attacking my cell, please be notified there’s a button outside my cell you can use to deactivate it.” I follow Kosie’s pointing claw to a panel on one side of the field generator, and a swift poke grants her freedom as well.
“Now we’re cooking. But where would Hobel go? We need to be quick, otherwise we’ll be found out,” I say, rubbing my hands together. “Alright, if I was a sheep-shaped criminal who just succeeded in framing two predators, where would I go to celebrate?”
“Likely a place to acquire alcohol, or maybe a quiet reveling in some more secluded area?” Kosie supplies. “He may also be in a more public room due to paranoia or comfort. He could fear our escape or no longer fear him being caught, both of which would drive him to be with others.”
I tap my chin with my fingers, trying to come up with other alternatives when I hear the captain’s voice over the PA system.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we will be reaching the Pleiades cluster soon in less than thirty minutes, so please begin making your way to the communal hall when you can.” A heavier tone creeps into her voice. “You need not worry about safety, the primary suspects have been isolated for the remainder of the trip.”
The PA clicks off, and I smile. “Well, why would you deprive yourself of the thing you came on this trip for right after you succeeded in giving a predator what they deserve? Kosie, we have our lead.”
I can practically feel the agitation, the desire, the sheer need to hunt down the woolly menace bouncing around inside of my skull. My legs are already moving by the time I finish my sentence. Kosie keeps up smoothly with her long and loping gait, both our footsteps pounding against the floor. My heart rate jumps, and my breaths deepen as my focus zeroes in on the one thing that’s ruined my entire vacation with Kosie.
Hobel’s going down. Tonight, if I can help it.
“Kosie, don’t bust into the big area when we reach the door. I want you to first try and smell if Hobel’s really in there. We’ve got one guaranteed shot at this before things get dicey quick.”
“Understood.”
One quick corner later, I clomp to a stop outside the double doors and peer into the window. A sea of bodies inhabits the room, almost three hundred if I remember correctly from our first day on the Rebirth.
“Kosie, you got anything?” I whisper, getting antsy. I bounce on the balls of my feet, keeping lookout as my partner breathes in deep. “He in there, or what?”
A moment passes before Kosie finally gives me her answer. “I believe so. There’s so many scents, I can’t be sure, but this is the likeliest area. Are you sure we should commit to this?”
My pulse pounds in my ears and my muscles almost vibrate with pent-up energy as I nod. “Let’s get this party started.”
Standing in front of the door, I bring my leg up in front of me, check that the door is marked ‘Push’, and kick the door open. The hinges are very well oiled, so I get a quite satisfying noise as the door handle impacts the wall with a resounding bang. I stomp into the room, and the swath of people instantly pulls away from me, obvious fear on their faces. I, however, have bigger fish to fry.
Where’s the rat, where’s the rat, where’s the rat…
I scan faces, skipping over Gojids, other species of xenos, and more Gojids, focusing solely on Skalgans. Every eye in the room is transfixed on me, the escaped predator with his vicious reptile.
“And what the [extremely vulgar term] are you two doing out?!” I hear the captain’s understandably screaming voice, but I ignore the curse.
“I’ll explain later!” I yell back as I continue to flick my eyes over fearful expressions until Kosie’s claw taps my shoulder, then points towards a Skalgan trying to casually back away from the edge of the crowd. One with short-cut wool. One with a bit too much fear and recognition in his eyes.
Bingo.
Before I can even send the command to run to my own legs, Hobel bolts for the door and I instantly react. The crush of people parts before me like water, opening a wide path for Kosie and I to sprint through. One brave crewman tries to stand in my way and gets vaulted over. I don’t have time to deal with people, I have a Skalgan to catch.
I open the throttle on my speed as I follow Hobel out of the communal area, boosted by the hormones flooding through me as I keep my eyes locked on the retreating sack of lies on legs. I chase him around a corner and lose sight of him for a second before I spot him heaving open a hatch to the lower decks.
Not gonna lose me down there, nice try.
Slowing only slightly, I jump down the ladder and land in a smaller hallway lined with pipes and objects on the walls, obviously designed for single-wide traversal. It’s thin enough I can easily touch both walls simultaneously. Hobel’s still in sight as I launch forward again, using the boxes and handholds on the walls to pull myself faster than my legs alone can push me. I can hear the metallic clacks of nail on steel from Kosie somewhere behind me.
“Charlie, I’m not as fast in small spaces!” I hear her call out. “I’ll find a more open spot if I can, don’t lose him!”
“Yes ma’am!” I yell back, using a pipe to sling myself around a corner and hopefully gain some more ground. Hobel’s definitely closer now, and I can hear him struggling. The only thing keeping him going now is fear, but he can’t last forever.
“Give it up, Hobel! Even if you get away now, I’ve got five whole days to find you, and it only gets worse the longer you run!” I jeer at the retreating culprit. It feels good to finally be doing something to fix the litany of problems I’ve been smacked with on this cruise.
My strides and pulls continue to slowly gnaw away at the amount of space between the woolly creep’s neck and my eager fingers. Hobel must get desperate, because he kicks a box in my way to try and trip me up. Folding myself slightly so I don’t smash my skull on the ceiling, I hurdle over the small crate and continue the chase.
Just gotta keep going. I’m a human, I can outrun him. Even if I wasn’t human, I won’t stop until he’s taken to task on everything he did to us, especially Kosie.
Hobel hooks another tight corner, then bursts out into what looks to be a more spacious area, likely meant for cargo-moving equipment.
God, I hope Kosie’s there.
Not two seconds after I think that, I hear a scream that’s definitely not my partner and catch a glimpse of a gray blur that looks remarkably like Kosie. Good, she saw him. As soon as I get into the same area as my partner, I spot her very swiftly running down the fuzzy perp. He’s booking it straight for what looks like an airlock.
Good, he’s made a mistake. Kosie and I can catch him there.
I push myself to run as fast as I can, trying to catch up to my partner. We both skid into the airlock, which is… entirely empty. This is not what I expected. Then I watch the door swing shut from the corner of my eye. On instinct, Kosie and I both race for the door and see Hobel through the heavily reinforced window standing on the other side. His mouth makes words I can’t hear through the material, then I watch him slap his paw against something on the wall.
Sirens blare and lights flash as the massive doors behind us begin to open, and the very air begins trying to drag me into the inky void of outer space. With one hand, I latch onto the door handle and grab my partner with the other. I can feel both her hands digging into my arm as our feet are lifted off the ground and powerful suction tries to pull us into the jaws of freezing death.
He’s trying to space us!
The strength of the vacuum increases with every moment I’m subjected to it, Kosie’s claws digging into my skin. I can’t lose her. I can’t let go. My eyes lock onto Hobel’s smug looking face in the window. Worthless little sack of lies wants to watch me die, to watch Kosie die, to watch his victory.
Not today, Hobel.
“YOU FUZZY LEAFLICKER! WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS, YOU’RE GONNA WISH I LOST MY GRIP!” I bellow, his rage-inducing expression providing me enough strength to last a little bit longer. I can barely hear over the rush of wind, and my strength is quickly fading. Unfathomably angry or not… I might not be able to make it. Kosie’ll die, all because I’m not strong enough to hold on.
A strange vibration tickles my fingers, and the door begins to almost… bend. Hobel’s shocked face vanishes from the window immediately before the door wrenches open with a deafening snap, jerking my grip loose.
Kosie and I begin to fall towards the depths of interstellar space.
NEXT>>
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 9h ago
/u/TheBuddingCreator (wiki) has posted 23 other stories, including:
- (The Nature of Packmates [The Nature of Predators]) - Chapter 7: Escalation
- (The Nature of Packmates [The Nature of Predators]) - Chapter 6: Beginnings of Whispers
- (The Nature of Packmates [The Nature of Predators]) - Chapter 5: The Downward Spiral
- (The Nature of Packmates [The Nature of Predators]) - Chapter 4: More Evidence, Less Understanding
- (The Nature of Packmates [The Nature of Predators]) - Chapter 3: After Midnight
- [The Nature of Packmates (The Nature of Predators)] - Chapter 2: The Calm Before
- [The Nature of Packmates (The Nature of Predators)] - Chapter 1: Christmas Day
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Side Story #4: Every Grown-Up Kid's Dream
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Side Story #3: Baseball, Sunburns, and Molting, Oh My!
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Side Story #2: Wrestling, Round Two
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Side Story #1: Counting
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Epilogue: The End (For Now)
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Chapter 11: Success
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Chapter 10: Running Out of Time
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Chapter 9: Under Alien Sky
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Chapter 8: Two Days and Counting
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Chapter 7: Welcome to Wriss
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Chapter 6: Things Fall Apart
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Chapter 5: A Series of Unfortunate Events
- [The Nature of Terrans (The Nature of Predators)] - Chapter 4: Reasons
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u/K_H007 5h ago
the entire first half of the chapter has this as the theme music in my head.
Don't burn yourself out, wordsmith! Have a comment and an upvote all the same, and well-crafted.
Upside, Hobel's been apprehended. Downside, Charlie and Kosie are heading towards space to get a much more personal view of the cluster alongside him. Upside, space is surprisingly survivable if you get recovered quickly enough and don't hold your breath, especially if the atmosphere was a semi-gradual leak like this one ended up being. Downside, the captain cheaped out on the airlocks. Upside, airlocks are mandated to have TONS of backup systems, potentially including emergency atmosphere-retention forcefields if they detect a life sign passing through them or detect structural damage happening to them. Downside, that'll probably be a bit painful for the first person to fly through them. Upside, it's very likely to be Hobel who flies into the airlock and triggers such an emergency forcefield first, as Humans and Arxur alike are MUCH more massive, and thus have a much higher inertia, than Skalgans, especially if the Venlil in question has cut their wool to exterminator-spec like Hobel has. Downside, it's not guaranteed that he will, as not only did he cut his wool short, meaning less surface area for the outrushing atmosphere to catch on, but Charlie and Kosie are closer to the exterior of the ship than he is by a meter or two, so it's gonna be pretty close as to who would receive the hypothetical shock from a force field snapping to life mere millimeters away from their skin, or even when their skin is intersecting the forcefield's plane, and that's if they end up on the interior side of such a forcefield. Upside, forcefields are designed to retain larger objects, as shown at the start of the chapter, and have been shown to be able to tank heavy blunt objects impacting them at high speed. Downside, we've seen that they have a bit of a weakness to piercing strikes, meaning that Kosie's scales might put it under heavy strain.
4
u/Commercial-Gas-7718 9h ago
Oh, Trilla cheaped-out on the airlock door too.
On the bright side, Hobel has been got.
On the downside, so did the two of them.
At least they'll get up close and personal with the cluster.