Your comnts, reviews, and votes really help out so much and they make super motivated to keep working on this story!
Pat*eon : Belamy20
Naruto : Chira Ninja!
Lionel closed his eyes and focused completely on the massive lump of flesh and tal.
"This is insane… it feels like I grew an extra arm. No—another whole body."
A look of wonder and fascination spread across his face. At his ntal command, several remaining tal pipes and fleshy tendrils on the core began to twitch and move.
"This is amazing!"
Lionel's curiosity took over. He started experinting, making the tendrils perform more complex motions.
Brando watched with glowing eyes, muttering nonstop.
"This thing actually has neural interface tech. The level of control is insane. This is way beyond anything we have today."
Only Luke stayed focused. His eyes never left Lionel.
"Lionel!"
The sharp shout snapped like a whip.
Lionel jerked out of the strange shared sensation. He looked at Luke in confusion, then followed his gaze down to his own arm.
The arm connected to the suction tube had shriveled into a withered, gray stick. Skin clung tight to bone, dark veins standing out in stark relief. It looked horrifying.
Before Lionel could react, Luke stepped forward and swung the chainsaw in one clean motion. The blessed blade sliced straight through the tube.
"Zzzzt!"
Thick liquid sprayed from the severed end as the tube whipped back into the core, writhing like a wounded snake.
Lionel stumbled backward, clutching his ruined arm. All color drained from his face. In those few seconds, the core had sucked out almost every drop of his psychic energy—and a dangerous amount of his life force with it.
"You okay?" Carrie's voice trembled. She stared at his shriveled arm in horror.
Lionel forced a weak smile that looked more like a grimace. He waved his good hand.
"Minor setback. Don't worry."
Then, to everyone's shock, he walked straight over to the hooded man's corpse, picked up its arm, and pressed it against his own withered one.
He closed his eyes and began chanting under his breath.
A grotesque scene unfolded.
The dead man's arm rapidly deflated, flesh withering and drying out. At the sa ti, Lionel's shriveled arm inflated like a balloon. Color returned. Skin regained elasticity. Within seconds it looked completely normal again.
He flexed his fingers. Besides being pale, the arm was fine.
Brando let out a long breath, then imdiately stepped forward and clapped Lionel on the shoulder.
"How does it feel? What's the principle behind that thing?"
Lionel shook out his restored arm and glanced nervously at the core.
"It's a bottomless pit. It drains psychic energy and life force and converts it into power for itself. The cost is insane. That's definitely not how it's supposed to be used."
He now understood why the hooded man had fused himself directly into the core. Only that kind of connection could handle the energy flow without getting instantly drained dry.
Brando rubbed his chin, already thinking ahead.
"If we took this thing back and studied it, we might crack a whole new energy source."
He started toward the two-ter-tall mass, clearly planning how to load it onto their battered van.
"Wait," Luke said.
Brando turned, confused. "Why? This thing is incredible."
Luke kept his eyes on the core, expression serious.
"When Lionel activated it earlier, I felt a faint signal go out. Very weak, but real. Like a beacon."
Brando's excitent died instantly. Lionel's face went pale.
"You're saying it called for backup?"
Luke shook his head.
"I don't know for sure. But we can't take that risk. This thing is trouble. It's bait. We need to deal with it right now."
Brando pointed at the core with genuine pain on his face.
"Just destroy it? That's such a waste. The scientific value alone is—"
"Its only real value right now is as a tracking beacon," Luke cut in coldly. He walked around the mass, already planning. "We're not taking it with us."
Lionel stepped up beside Luke without hesitation, still rubbing his arm.
"Brando, drop it. This thing feels wrong. Like we already took the bait."
Brando looked torn between curiosity and survival instinct. Finally he slumped down on the ground like a deflated balloon and waved a hand.
"Fine, fine. You two are the experts. Your gut feelings are probably right. So how do we get rid of it? Bury it?"
Luke didn't answer. He walked back to the van and pulled out several bottles of holy water.
Brando followed, curious. "Holy water? You think that'll work?"
"Worth a shot. Can't hurt."
Luke poured the clear liquid over the massive core, washing away blood and gri. Nothing happened. The core kept its faint pulsing rhythm.
Luke's frown deepened. He pulled out his Bible, flipped to a page, and began reciting the judgnt verses in a clear, strong voice.
The sacred words echoed across the empty highway. Even Carrie felt the nausea ease a little. Lionel stood straighter.
The core remained completely unaffected.
Luke closed the Bible and stared at the monstrous mass in silence. After a long mont he scratched his head and let out a tired laugh.
"Alright. I give up."
He turned to Brando.
"Looks like there's no ghost or demon involved here. This isn't my departnt."
He glanced around at the battlefield—the hooded corpse, the twisted wreckage of the living truck—and shook his head.
"So people in this world are worse than any monster."
Then he looked at Lionel.
"Your turn."
Lionel's eyes lit up.
"Oh? What do you want to do?"
Luke rubbed the back of his neck.
"This thing runs on psychic energy, so it counts as a spiritual material. You and I are going to turn it into a voodoo artifact. No point wasting it."
User Comments
0 comments from readers