"Harden? Do you copy? Harden?"
The Officer, Ross, shouted down the radio.
There was no response.
"Harden? Do... You... Hear... Me?"
Nothing.
He slammed his fist on the desk.
"Dammit."
His eyes were clenched shut, baring teeth, fist tightly clenched on the desk. Around him, the hiss of the radio filled the small room, dust motes shivering in the stale fluorescent light. The air hung thick with the scent of old coffee. Silent apart from the beat of Officer Ross' heart—subtle, but fast.
He suddenly opened them, eyes wide as he grabbed the radio.
"Fuck, ok."
He murmured, scrambling through a small sheet.
"Which one is it?"
The sheet listed frequencies, each with a corresponding name, such as Expedition Team C: Gina Schwartz, Expedition Team A: Declan Johnson, Expedition Team A: Himiko Suzuki, etc.
He swiped his finger down the list of names, stopping at one name in particular.
Head of Operation: Makoto Isamu — 97-99 FM
He placed his thumb and index finger around the small knob at the top and twisted. The radio crackled, periodically picking up voices. The small screen on the radio indicated 98 FM. The crackling stopped.
"Makoto Isamu, do you copy?"
There was silence for a second.
"Makoto Isa-"
"Speak, Ross, What's wrong?"
The voice crackled.
"I've lost contact with expedition team C, ma'am. "
Ross responded.
"Captain Harden... It started with reports of rustling in the woods and the creaking of branches that seemed to follow the group. He said it's like the woods were toying with them. Then out of nowhere, he started shouting frantically down the mic, saying his men were dying and something about a tree goat."
He swallowed the information, eyes squinting as he re-analysed what he said.
"What, like a mutant?"
Her voice was high and balanced.
"Y-yes..."
Makoto closed her eyes, observing the creature through the projection her mind placed on the inside of her eyelids.
"Ok,"
Makoto's thought became clear.
"Keep trying to contact them, update me if anything happens, Ross."
"Yes, ma'am. What will you do now?"
"I'll contact other teams—see if they've seen it as well. But for now, as I said, keep trying and let me know. I'll talk to you soon, Ross."
"Yes, ma'am."
Makoto turned to the radio contact sheet, searching for one name in particular—one of the few she trusted with her life. The procedure would normally be to contact the expedition squad's officer—they then pass the information down the chain of command—but Makoto wanted to skip the middleman, asking Himiko straight.
She turned the dial, crackling until she reached Himiko's frequency.
"Himiko, do you copy?"
"Mrs Isamu, is that you?"
Her voice crackled through the radio, soft and cheerful.
"Yes, Himiko."
"What's the situation?"
"I've received a report from the officer leading expedition group B over in the eastern quadrant. He said, they were attacked by a tree goat—ring a bell?"
"Oh my god."
The shakiness of Himiko's voice through the radio made Makoto's heart sink.
"H-Himiko, what's wrong?"
She quickly blurted out the question, holding the radio close to her ear.
Mrs Isamu's voice vibrated against my collarbone.
"We found a journal from a survivor-"
"Survivor?"
She asked, but I ignored it and continued.
"It said... The farmer was attacked."
My voice was low and firm.
"First, it stalked him, watching his home from afar. Then it attacked one day when he was in the woods. It's dangerous, Mrs Isamu, it says traps, kills for fun. It's intelligent. Let the other squads know."
There was a moment of silence, apart from Mrs Isamu's subtle breathing, crackling through the radio.
Then she eventually responded.
"Affirmative."
I dropped my arm from the radio down to my side. I clenched my fist and ground my molars together so hard they ached. We were still around the house, searching. After hearing what Mrs Isamu said, however, I knew we had to go.
"Kaoru, Connie, Miko."
I shouted.
"Grab the other two, and get the other squads over here. We need to go."
One eyebrow was raised on Kaoru's face. Connie and Miko looked at each other, then back at me.
"What's wrong?"
Connie asked.
"Nothing."
My voice was calm, but shallow. I panted as I said it. Their foreheads tensed, brows drawing inwards.
"Seriously, we need to get moving. We gathered as much info as we could here, now it's time to go."
Connie nodded and turned. Miko was slower in doing so; her eyes stayed on me a moment longer, brows still low. Eventually, she turned.
Kaoru stood firm. His arms were crossed. He met my gaze with half-closed eyes, brows relaxed.
"There's something you're not telling us."
I turned my head, eyes sealed. I shifted my feet, rotating my posture, my shoulder aimed at him. I crossed my arms.
If there was anyone I could trust, it was definitely Kaoru.
I held my hand out, palm down. I waved my fingers towards me.
His face relaxed, and he bumbled towards me.
"Don't tell the others."
I whispered to him.
"The creature from the journal—the goat one."
"Y-yeah... What?"
I swallowed, before biting my lip, taking a deep breath through my nose.
"Squad B... Might... It might have... Killed them."
"What?!"
His eyes widened, pupils constricted.
"The... The whole... Wha-how do you know?"
"Makoto said... Their officer said they disappeared after talking about how a goat-tree monster attacked them. Sound familiar?"
He turned his head, eyes down—darting left and right. He then looked back at me, eyes still wide, brows furrowed.
"And you think he could come back here?"
I nodded.
He exhaled—half a lung's worth—through pursed lips. His face relaxed.
"Ok, Blossom."
A few minutes later, we rendezvoused in front of the farmhouse, giving one last silent goodbye before heading deeper into the woods.
If we can get to the core, we can learn the secrets of the void.
But why?
Should we find out?
It didn't matter; we'd come too far. If squad B had truly been slaughtered, then it's too late to turn back.
Swallowed by the grey-white canopy, we continued. Light cut through the foliage in thin beams, painting freckles of light on the grey soil. Vines hung like curtains.
I'd noticed that my teeth wouldn't stop chattering, so I kept my mouth firmly sealed so the sound couldn't escape. My eyes scanned constantly; branches, bushes, vines, moss, all checked and cleared.
In the corner of my eyes, I saw them.
Glowing blue dots.
I darted my sight towards them, rifle following.
Nothing.
I felt a pat on my shoulder. Kaoru.
"I'll take point."
His offer was delivered in a soft voice—gentle, caring.
"Take a break in the van, I'll grab you if we find something."
"Thanks, Kaoru. I'm fine."
"Your call, captain."
I gripped my rifle tighter.
BB, who was floating above the van, still covered in the blood of the boar carcass—war paint—began to beep. I looked up at it, and both of its eyes were flickering a glowing red light.
Jk... jk... jk...
I nudged Kaoru.
"What's BB doing?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I updated him. He can now sense aethesium particles. I tuned it so he only beeps when he comes into contact with concentration units, like the crystal at the school."
He? I Thought.
"Like one big metal detector?"
Connie added.
Kaoru gently punched his arm.
"Exactly-"
"Wait."
I interrupted.
"So there's something ahead."
I signalled the whole group to stop.
"Kaoru, let's scout ahead, bring BB. Everyone else, stay on guard. Miko will take point."
I looked at Miko.
"Radio me if something comes up."
"Copy that, Blossom."
We kept low. Kaoru took charge, following the beeping that was now connecting to his earpiece. BB followed, camouflaged in the treelines.
Up ahead was the corpse of a stag on the ground, wrapped in roots.
Kaoru raised his hand.
I stopped.
The carcass had a hole in the side of it; something was buried inside. It glowed, a bright blue. It was crystal-like in nature, just like the one from the school.
There was buzzing as beings flew around it. You'd think it was just flies from the sound. But the source of the buzzing was far bigger and mechanical.
"Those ours?"
I whispered to Kaoru.
"No."
They were drones, hovering without rotors, without jets — just dead-still air around them.
Red lasers crawled over the stag's hide like fingers tracing a corpse, slow and deliberate. One beam thickened. It didn't burn. It didn't tear; it disassembled. Flesh parted in perfect, bloodless lines. Blue fluid welled like coolant from a machine.
"Is there another organisation that we don't know about, which also has an interest in aethesium?"
Kaoru asked.
"Not that I've heard. Although I imagine there's a lot of potential in it, so I wouldn't be surprised."
There was a jittering sound, coming from the trees.
"Do you hear that?"
I ask Kaoru.
He didn't answer.
"Kaoru?"
His face was ingrained in the tablet screen, tapping frantically.
"What's wrong?"
"It's BB, he's unresponsive."
BB was still in the tree line. But it was jittering, glitching. It turned to us, tail swinging erratically, eyes glowing bright blue.
Kaoru continued to tap the screen hopelessly.
"Dammit, what the hell is going on BB?"
It rotated its whole body, facing us directly. It rotated its head, analysing.
"Kaoru... I don't think that's BB anymore."
My suspicion was right.
It flew towards us
"Kaoru, we need to get up!"
Face-to-face with the screen, Kaoru didn't respond, reading endless warning messages that popped up everywhere.
It began closing in quickly.
I jumped up, grabbing Kaoru and leaped away.
Crash!
BB hit the floor, dragging a crater of soil, stopping once it hit the roots of a tree.
"BB!"
Kaoru got up from his knees, and ran to BB still body.
The drones heard us, pivoting silently—not wasting a single movement.
At first glance, they were a couple meters away, floating above the stag carcass.
Within the blink of an eye, they were in my face.
They orbited me, lasers harassed my every surface area. Small spots of light burnt my skin.
I reached down to grab my katana in one swift movement, rifle disregarded on the floor, when I dodged BB.
They flew straight back to the carcass. I ran to chase them, but they fled upward through the branches, along with the crystal, now floating beside them.
I exhaled slowly through my nose.
Creak.
I jumped; the sound came from my left. I darted my eyes to meet it—sharp.
Nothing.
I could've sworn I saw a shadowy figure leap away.
"Himiko, I think he's back."
My body turned, but my head was still tracking the spot I heard the creak from.
Eventually, I buckled and made my way back to Kaoru.
"Is he working again?"
"Yeah, I restarted him; he should be up and running in a sec."
Kaoru lifted his hand from BB and turned around, face once turned away—towards BB—now looking me in the eyes.
"What happened with the drones?"
"They got away."
I looked up at the gap in the canopy that they escaped through.
"They were so fast... who could've made those things?"
Once BB was up and running, we returned to the Gurkha.
"What was it?"
Miko asked as soon as we were in earshot.
"A crystal."
I responded.
"Made of Aethesium."
"Whoa, let me see."
Almost as fast as the drones, Connie flew into my face.
"There were drones—not like ours—they were fast. They were already analysing it, and took it away with them as they fled."
Connie's head drooped, I heard him mutter the word 'dammit', under his breath.
"Connie,"
I said, he looked back at me.
" We have one back in the research facility. Once the op's over, I'll show you."
"Ok... after a round of karaoke."
"Oh shut up."
They laughed, getting a moment of peaceful respite before we continued.
We finally reached the end of the forest. Stepping out from the treeline, I placed my hand above my eyes, but that wasn't enough; the light still pierced through the gaps between my fingers, rewiring my senses. Once I had re-adjusted to the light, I looked out at the view ahead of us.
A wide open field, grey, but unusually flat; every other field still had overgrown grass, vines and the occasional tree.
Kaoru stepped out, repeating the same re-adjustment ritrual I did.
"Look at the size of them."
He pointed. beyond the vast open field, to another forest. But it wasn't just another forest; it was different. The trunks reached into the sky like towers, the canopy just peeking out from the clouds. The trunks twisted and turned, branches twisting and curling, wrapping around other trees.
The trees were heavily distorted and mutated.
We must be getting closer to the heart of the void.