The Gobzkin were always a curious bunch, drawn to shiny objects and gleaming materials, and their daily experiences in this new world greatly enlightened them by every passing day. Yet, their short lifespans, chaotic societies, low survival rate, and the constant struggle between different castes were what made their rise to the apex of technological advancement quite a fun challenge to watch from the side.
Gobs were numerous, small, and always on the lookout for something to scrap. They would strip cars and machines clean and try to put them back together in all sorts of weird ways. Once something worked, it would become a trend and circulate among them all, but it would usually take so many Gobs exploding all over the place before an idea had any chance of success.
In this particular world, Gobzkin encountered cars, engines, firearms, and all manner of explody technology. Everything in this world was shiny, like the towers of glass downtown, the metals and stones the natives carried around their bodies, the coins, the screens, and the phones. They were all nice scraps that would keep a good Gob busy for a lifetime.
But what was hardwired in the psyche of every Gob was their unrequited love for anything that moves on four legs. Cars became objects they found curious to explore, and they also tried to tame all sorts of monsters and beasts.
So when a quadrupedal creature appeared among an unsuspecting group of Gobs, the only thing that could suppress their excitement was the fact that a greater Hobgob was in the vicinity. Hobgobs were selfish, cruel, and demanding, always pushing the little Gobs around, stealing all the scrap and the females for themselves.
The Gobs gathered around the four-legged creature moving gracefully among them, and then made way for the Hobgob who emerged from the deepest part of their newly secured fortress, carrying a human head, still attached to a bloodied, naked body that bore a terrifying number of scars.
The human was dropped the moment the Hobgob laid eyes on the four-legged creature, and made an inaudible groan as he hit the floor. As for the Hobgob, who stood at the height of 6 feet, wearing a bloodied apron and holding a short, wide blade, he took two steps towards the creature, still wary of its strange movements. With a mean smile, he regarded the creature as docile, but he was still amused by its structure, as it was not made of hide or flesh, as most creatures typically were, but rather of a combination of unusual materials.
The Hobgob admired the creation of this four-legged creature and decided to touch it where he thought a face would be. There was a small round hole at the front of the creature's head, so it seemed like the creature was opening its mouth. But what the Hobgob never expected when he got closer to the creature's face with his own was…
BANG!
… that his ugly mug would be left with a similar hole to the one on the creature.
He later collapsed lifelessly due to such a lethal gunshot wound.
HRIIIIIK!
SKREEE!
Shocked out of their senses, the Gobs scurried all around. Leaderless, these little manifestations of cowardice would never organize without a stronger leader to hold their reins, and with the successful assassination of that bigger dog, the humans poured in, guns blazing.
Loud bangs and terrifying flashes invaded the garage, targeting every little Gobzkin with extreme prejudice. Every little creature was hit by a bullet or a heated beam, found their bodies exploded or flew apart. The panic of the raid was one thing, but no matter where the Gobs tried to hide, they were always found and shot dead.
The humans closed all escape points for the hundred-something Gobs despite their limited numbers. This prevented the Gobs from running to their weapons, taking proper cover, or mounting a counterattack with the crude ranged weapons they possessed. On top of that, the four-legged creature was actively crawling under cars and through tight spaces, finding Gobs, and shooting them without mercy.
Finally, it all quieted down, and the four-legged creature gracefully walked to its master, who put his hand on its head and extracted the Glock pistol, which had been installed on its top with tight parts and a moving trigger-pulling mechanism.
"That was so damn useful, man!" Ivan commented, seeing Adam manipulate his puppet and even use it as a shooting drone.
"I never really realized how Gobzkin loved quadrupedal creatures. Thanks for the tip." Adam replied, exchanging a fist-bump with Ivan.
"Hey, look. That guy is alive."
One of Ivan's teammates called as they were double-checking on the dead Gobs, to avoid getting ambushed by those who play dead. What they found was the survivor who was being tortured by the Hobgob right before the attack.
As the group converged, the scene they lay eyes on made their skin crawl. Not only was the survivor tortured—his eyes gouged, his ears ruptured, and his nails pulled—but what truly sealed his fate was the fact that his head had been scalped.
Adam has seen things like this before, and no death at the hands of the Gobzkin was ever peaceful. The small Gobs were crude, tearing their victims apart with their grubby hands and teeth, but the Hobgobs would commit all manner of torture as if it were some sort of sick form of art, disemboweling their victims and hanging them for the world to see.
Every time he sees something like this, he holds back an anger that could swallow the entire earth, but what would the anger of one powerless man ever do?
"Poor man!" Biscuits stood over him and turned to Adam, who simply shook his head.
There was no need to waste the medications she carried on someone who was likely a raider who may have captured Megan and was now both deaf and blind.
"Make it painless." Adam simply said, handing over his knife to Biscuits.
She took the knife and gently touched the man's head, who had no power left to squirm or struggle. With the knife, she opened a diagonal cut on the side of his neck, causing the raider to shiver for a second before his blood gushed out on the floor, mixing with the green blood of his torturer into brownish patterns.
"Spread around, look for more survivors, and kill any Gob you see." Sergeant Elena gave the command and exchanged a nod with Adam.
He reloaded the Glock and put it back on his four-legged puppet, sending it ahead of the team as he was manually controlling it from a distance, practicing both control and sensory input over his puppets.
But as they reached further inside the garage, they found nothing. Adam looked through the kitchen area and found many dead raiders who had been shot down during an invasion by other raiders. And in the corner, he found the medical boxes the raiders of this hideout had looted. On the floor beside the pile of trash, Adam spotted a pamphlet in blue and pink colors, which stirred strange emotions within him.
He knelt down and held it up, focusing his flashlight on it, and remembering where that pamphlet belonged.
"What's that?" Behind him, Kave approached, looking at the pamphlet with a raised brow.
"Just some stupid memory." Adam replied.
"A birth center?" Kave asked as he childishly snatched the pamphlet, "Why? Your mom abandoned you there?"
"Heh! Fuck you." Adam shook his head, smiling wryly as he walked away.
Kave nodded in understanding.
"Megan is nowhere around here, but we found a place that seems whacked as shit. One of Ivan's crew started spilling his guts the moment he walked in. The Sergeant is calling everyone."
"Alright."
Adam folded the pamphlet and stuffed it in the pocket of his Justiciar Coat. He then followed Kave to the place where everyone was converging and frowned the moment he saw the state one of the students was in.
"What's wrong?" He asked, looking between Ivan and Elena.
"I didn't see inside, but Nate says it's a slaughterhouse." Ivan replied.
"It's a fucking… they are… fuck!" The student called Nate seemed to have had his sanity collapse from what he saw, as he kept mumbling to himself.
Adam turned to Elena, who simply shrugged before looking at the door of the chamber, and spoke:
"Honestly, if she were in there, someone who knows her must walk inside and check."
Since it was natural that the Men-at-Arms didn't know Megan, someone other than them would need to go in. With how fragile the mentality of the earthlings was, the choice had to be made.
"Alright. I'll go."
Adam took in a deep breath and stepped inside, but he was suddenly stopped as Hammerhead blocked his way.
"What?" Adam asked with a frown, since he didn't like his summons acting rebelliously.
"With all due respect, we can't risk you." Hammerhead replied.
Adam looked at the Wartopians, and they seemed in agreement. His psyche was connected to theirs, and since it was hardened by a hundred days' worth of grim survival, he would naturally withstand anything, but since the incident with Megan, they started to become protective of him.
If she were in there, dead or slaughtered, the impact on them would be unimaginable.
Adam understood that from the motion of their bodies, seeing as they were already blocking the stairway to that office room at the back of the building. This was where their egos wouldn't comply with him, and he wouldn't be able to influence them.
"Fine."
He stood aside, leaning on the nearby pillar and crossing his arms. Elena watched him lazily and moved among the survivors like a lioness choosing which lamb was to be slaughtered. She then looked at one of them and uttered a name:
"Kave!"
"Absolutely not!"
Adam immediately protested, seeing how Elena was simply sending Kave into such a traumatizing situation. He somewhat regretted sending him down to face his fears in the shelter where he was trapped, especially with how Elena did things.
"I don't interfere with how you do things. I would appreciate it if you did the same with me." Elena turned to Adam as she said so with obvious criticism.
"You can't be serious. This isn't his trauma to deal with. It is…" Adam didn't step back, but she cut him off.
"Part of his training." She said while turning away, "He is still my trainee."
Kave watched the two go back and forth about him, but deep down, he understood what was happening to him. He was so distracted by negative thoughts to the point where he was relieved to be out on a mission, despite all the death and fighting going on.
But with what Elena wanted him to do, it would be no less traumatic than the time he returned to the shelter.
Elena's twisted way of hardening her soldiers made her a sort of tyrant, so to speak, but a tyrant who could create hardy soldiers with tried and tested methods was a tyrant to follow, and so he decided:
"I'll go."
Adam and Elena stopped bickering the moment he spoke, with Elena's grin widening and Adam looking away and cursing.
Without standing on ceremony, Kave stepped inside the room and stayed for what seemed to be less than a minute. He then walked out with a jacket covered in shiny spikes and heavy metal patterns.
There was no need to think; Megan was the kind of girl to wear these kinds of things, a fact reinforced by Ivan's immediate recognition of the jacket.
Kave's expression was solid, his eyes staring without blinking. He then simply walked towards Adam, before shoving the jacket at him.
"She's not there."
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