The sound hit them before the smell did.
It was a low, thunderous roar, a constant vibration that shook the rusted grating beneath Varian's boots. It wasn't the clean crash of water against rock. It was a wet, heavy churning sound—like a landslide of mud and metal grinding through a meat grinder.
"Big noise," Rix clicked, his ears twitching nervously. He scurried low to the ground, sniffing the air. "Means big falling. Watch head."
Varian adjusted the strap of the makeshift sling he had fashioned from old seatbelts to carry Elian. The boy was awake but silent, his hands gripping Varian's shoulders with white-knuckled intensity. The darkened aviator goggles Rix had given him covered his eyes, reflecting the dim, green light of the tunnel.
"I'm okay, Varian," Elian whispered, though his voice trembled. "I can hear it. It sounds... angry."
"It's just gravity, El," Varian said, keeping his voice steady. "Just trash falling down."
They rounded the final bend of the service tunnel, and the world opened up.
Varian stopped. Even with his cynicism, the scale of the Sludge-Falls was breathtakingly horrific.
They stood on a rusted observation platform jutting out over a massive cylindrical chasm. The shaft was easily a kilometer wide, stretching up into the darkness of the Upper Sectors and down into the abyss of the Earth's core.
In the center of this shaft, a torrent of refuse cascaded down.
It was a waterfall of civilization's waste. Chemical runoff, broken machinery, crushed cars, medical waste, and millions of tons of gray sewage plummeted past them. It fell from the Noble Shell, passed through the Industrial Belt, and crashed into the Great Basin far below.
Here, in the "catchment zone," giant rusted claws—automated cranes from a bygone era—swung blindly through the mist, snatching massive piles of debris to be sorted or incinerated.
"The Gold River," Rix said reverently, pointing to the falling trash. "Rich people throw away good things. We catch."
Varian walked to the edge of the railing. The mist rising from the falls wasn't water vapor; it was a cocktail of acids and coolant.
[Environmental Hazard Warning.][Air Quality: Toxic (Particulate Matter High).][Symbiote Filter: Active.]
Varian felt a tickle in his throat as the Symbiote extended microscopic filaments into his windpipe, filtering the air before it reached his lungs.
"Where do we scavenge?" Varian asked. "We can't just jump in."
"No jump. Edges," Rix pointed.
Along the rim of the chasm, the falling debris often snagged on jutting rock shelves and old maintenance scaffolding. These shelves formed little islands of trash, precarious and slippery, suspended over the drop.
"We go there," Rix pointed to a large shelf about fifty meters down. "See? Blue box. Cargo container. Falling broke it open."
Varian squinted. His "Genetic Archivist" vision sharpened.
[Target: Shipping Container (Standard Class).][Contents Detected: Electronic Waste, Copper Wiring, Processed Alloys.][Estimated Value: High.]
"Copper," Varian whispered. His Symbiote stirred on his arm. It didn't crave food; it craved mass. To evolve from a simple coating into a true weapon, it needed metal.
"Let's move," Varian said. "Rix, you scout. I'll cover."
The descent was treacherous. They climbed down a rusted service ladder that groaned with every step. Varian moved deliberately, conscious of the extra weight on his back.
"El, if I slip, don't let go," Varian commanded.
"I'm a limpet," Elian said, forcing a brave tone. "Limpets don't let go."
They reached the rock shelf. It was slick with oily slime. The shipping container Rix had spotted was wedged against a rusted I-beam, half-hanging over the abyss. Its doors had burst open, spilling coils of wire and circuit boards onto the rock.
"Jackpot," Rix hissed. He scrambled forward, his claws clicking on the stone. "Mine! I saw first!"
"We split it 50/50, Rix," Varian warned, stepping onto the shelf.
He knelt by a pile of copper cabling. It was thick, industrial-grade stuff.
"X, it's buffet time," Varian murmured.
He placed his metallic left hand onto the copper. The black sludge rippled, pores opening like hungry mouths.
[Consuming Material: Copper.][Conductivity Rising...][Symbiote Mass +0.05kg.]
It was a slow process. The Symbiote dissolved the metal, incorporating the atoms into its own structure. Varian felt his left arm getting heavier, denser.
"Varian," Elian whispered. "I hear... clicking."
Varian froze. "Clicking?"
"Like... fingernails on glass. Lots of them."
Rix stopped looting. He stood up, sniffing the air. His fur bristled.
"Rust-Stalkers," Rix whined, his voice dropping an octave. "Pack. Hunting."
Varian stood up, turning his back to the shipping container to protect Elian. "Where?"
From the shadows of the rusted scaffolding above them, eyes appeared. Glowing red eyes.
They descended like spiders.
[Analysis: Rust-Stalker (Canine Variant).][Rank: Servant (Mid-Tier).][Description: Mutated scavengers. Their skin has calcified with iron deposits from eating scrap. High defense against physical trauma.]
There were six of them. They looked like hyenas stripped of fur, their skin gray and cracked like dry mud. Jagged shards of metal protruded from their shoulders and spines—natural armor formed from their diet.
The leader, a beast the size of a Great Dane with a rusted license plate embedded in its flank, growled. It sounded like grinding gears.
"They want the copper?" Varian asked.
"They want the meat," Rix hissed, pulling out his glass knife. "We are soft inside."
Varian's heart hammered. He was outnumbered. He had a blind boy on his back. And his only weapon was a heat-arm that hurt him to use.
"Rix, get behind me," Varian ordered. "Protect Elian."
"But—"
"DO IT!"
Rix scrambled behind Varian.
The Alpha Stalker lunged.
It didn't run; it leaped, its claws sparking against the rock.
Varian raised his left arm. Don't burn yet. Save the energy.
[Form Shift: Shield.]
The black sludge on his forearm expanded instantly, flattening out into a round buckler about the size of a dinner plate.
CLANG.
The Stalker's jaws clamped onto the shield. Metal met metal. The beast's teeth were reinforced with iron, but Varian's Symbiote was denser.
The impact jarred Varian's shoulder, sliding him back a foot toward the edge of the cliff.
"Get off!" Varian roared.
He punched forward with the shield, smashing the beast in the nose. It yelped and scrambled back.
Two more Stalkers flanked him.
"Left!" Elian screamed.
Varian didn't question the blind boy's hearing. He swung his arm blindly to the left.
WHIP-CRACK.
He instinctively tried to extend his reach. The Symbiote responded to his will. The shield dissolved, shooting out a three-meter tendril of liquid metal. The tip was heavy, formed into a dense flail.
It struck the flanking Stalker in the ribs.
CRUNCH.
The beast was thrown sideways, tumbling off the rock shelf. It fell silently into the mist of the Sludge-Falls.
[Combat Insight: Fluidity is key. Don't just block. Flow.]
"One down," Varian panted.
But the Alpha was back, and it was angry. It opened its mouth, and Varian saw a green glow in its throat.
Acid?
No. It was bile mixed with corroded battery fluid.
The Alpha retched, spraying a stream of caustic sludge at Varian.
Varian couldn't dodge—Elian was on his back. If he moved, Elian would get hit.
"Burn it!" Varian commanded.
[Thermal Discharge: Flash-Fry.]
The gold veins in his arm flared white-hot. Varian waved his hand in front of him, creating a wall of heat.
The liquid bile hit the superheated air and vaporized instantly. A cloud of acrid steam exploded outward.
HISSSSSS.
The steam blinded the Stalkers. They yelped, backing away from the sudden temperature spike.
Varian winced. The heat had singed the hair off his forearm. His skin was red and raw.
I can't keep doing that. I'll cook myself before I kill them.
"Rix! Now!" Varian yelled.
The Rat-Boy seized the opportunity. He leaped from behind Varian, diving through the steam. He was small, fast, and vicious. He landed on the back of a confused Stalker and drove his glass shiv into the soft spot behind its ear.
The Stalker collapsed. Rix scrambled away before the others could grab him.
Four left.
The Alpha growled, shaking its head to clear the steam. It looked at Varian with renewed caution. It realized the prey was dangerous.
It let out a low, chittering bark.
The other three Stalkers began to circle. They were coordinating.
"They're smart," Varian realized. "They're going to rush me all at once."
He looked around. He needed an advantage. He looked at the shipping container. Inside, coils of copper wire hung loose.
Copper. Conductor.
"Rix! Grab the wire!" Varian shouted.
"Wire?"
"Throw it at them! Connect them!"
Rix didn't ask questions. He grabbed a spool of thick industrial cable and hurled the heavy coil at the Alpha. The beast didn't dodge; it bit the wire, snarling.
"Perfect," Varian grinned.
He grabbed the other end of the wire.
"X. Interface."
The Symbiote swallowed the end of the copper cable.
"I don't have electricity," Varian whispered to the beasts. "But I have heat. Lots of it."
[Thermal Injection.][Direct Transfer.]
Varian grabbed the Solar Core energy in his gut and shoved it into his arm. The black metal didn't glow this time. Instead, the heat traveled through the copper wire.
Copper is an incredible conductor of heat.
In a split second, the wire in the Alpha's mouth turned red hot.
SQUEEEAL!
The Alpha screamed as its mouth was cauterized. It thrashed, flinging the hot wire, which wrapped around the legs of the Stalker next to it. The heat melted through their scavenged armor, searing flesh.
The smell of burning meat filled the air.
The Alpha panicked. Blind with pain, it ran... straight off the ledge.
The remaining two Stalkers looked at their leader falling into the abyss. They looked at Varian, who was holding a glowing, smoking wire like a demon tamer.
They turned and ran, scrambling back up the rusted scaffolding.
Varian dropped the wire. He fell to his knees, gasping. His left hand was trembling uncontrollably.
[Caloric Debt: 5,200.][Warning: Host reaching exhaustion limit.]
"We... we did it," Varian wheezed.
Elian hugged him tight from behind. "You were amazing, Varian. You were like a dragon."
"A dragon with a sunburn," Varian muttered, looking at his blistered wrist.
Rix crept out from the container. He poked the dead Stalker Rix had stabbed.
"Meat," Rix said happily. "Good meat. Tough, but chewy."
"We're not eating that," Varian said, standing up on shaky legs. "We check the container for anything small and valuable, then we leave. The noise of that fight will bring—"
BOOOOOM.
The entire rock shelf shook.
It wasn't a Stalker.
From the Sludge-Falls, a massive shape erupted. It had been clinging to the underside of the cliff, feeding on the Stalker that Varian had knocked off earlier.
It pulled itself onto the ledge.
Varian looked up. And up.
It was a blob of translucent, green slime the size of a bus. Floating inside its gelatinous body were half-digested skeletons, car tires, and a street sign.
[Boss Encounter.][Subject: The Rot-Sludge (Juvenile King).][Rank: Warrior (High Tier).][Type: Acidic Amorphous.]
The slime didn't have eyes, but it sensed the vibration. It surged forward, flowing over the rock like a tidal wave of jelly.
"Run," Varian whispered.
"RUN!"
He grabbed Rix by the scruff of his neck and sprinted for the ladder.
The Slime lunged. A tentacle of green goo slapped the spot where they had been standing. The rock sizzled and dissolved, turning into gray slush.
"Don't let it touch you!" Varian screamed. "It melts metal!"
They scrambled up the rusted ladder. Varian could hear the wet slap-slap-slap of the slime climbing the wall behind them. It defied gravity, sticking to the rust.
"Faster!" Elian cried.
Varian didn't look back. He pumped his legs, his lungs burning. He reached the catwalk and hauled himself over the railing.
He turned around.
The Slime was right below them. It reared up, forming a pseudopod to strike.
Varian looked at the ladder. It was old. Rusted.
"X! Cut it!"
Varian slashed his claw at the bolts holding the ladder to the catwalk.
CLANG. SNAP.
The bolts sheared. The ladder groaned and detached from the wall.
The Slime, attached to the ladder, let out a gurgling sound as gravity took over. It fell backward, tumbling down into the mist of the Sludge-Falls, taking the ladder with it.
Varian watched it fall until it disappeared into the gloom.
He collapsed on the catwalk, staring at the ceiling.
"That," Rix panted, lying on his back, "was King of Rot's baby."
"That was a baby?" Varian asked, horrified.
"Yes. Mama is bigger."
Varian closed his eyes. He laughed. It was a hysterical, breathless laugh.
"We need to get stronger," Varian said. "Much stronger."
He sat up. In his hand, he was clutching something he had instinctively grabbed from the shipping container before they ran.
It wasn't copper. It was a small, silver drive, pristine amidst the filth.
[Item Detected: Memory Cylinder (Encrypted).][Origin: Bio-Alchemy Union.][Label: Project Chimera - Phase 1.]
Varian's smile faded.
"Project Chimera," he whispered. "That's the lab that made me."
He shoved the cylinder into his pocket.
"Let's go home, Rix. We have loot."