This is stupid. This is monumentally stupid, Kai’s inner monologue screamed, even as he forced a shaky, utterly unconvincing grin onto his face. Throwing a bent piece of metal tied to a rope that looks like it predates the System Integration, while suffering from shock, burns, and quite possibly terminal stupidity. Genius pn, Kai. Top tier.
He hefted the makeshift grappling hook – the pathetic length of rebar felt heavier than it should, thanks to the [Symbiotic Shock] debuff clinging to him like cheap Undercity perfume. His arms trembled slightly. The flickering blue-white light from the blown junction box cast dancing, unreliable shadows, making the target bracket overhead seem to shiver and warp. Ten meters away felt like a kilometer.
HP: 11 / 40 [SHARED POOL]. The relentless tick-down was a frantic drumbeat beneath the sparking crackle of the hazard ahead. Every second wasted arguing with himself, hesitating, failing… was another step closer to becoming a permanent resident of this forgotten service duct. Probably as a pair of fused, slightly charred skeletons. Cozy.
He gnced back towards the impenetrable darkness where Squeaks huddled. He couldn't see the rat, but he could feel its presence – a tight knot of wary attention, ced with the pervasive scent of dust and ozone from the sensory link. There was a definite vibe of ‘are you absolutely sure about this, loud-scary-thing?’ emanating from his unwanted partner.
Yeah, well, it's either this or we become Grok’s new favorite chew toy, Sniffles— I mean, Squeaks, Kai projected back, trying for a confidence he didn't feel. Just… stay back. Don't get any bright ideas about ‘helping’. I got this. Probably. Maybe. 5% chance?
He took another breath, trying to steady his nerves and his trembling arms. He focused on the bracket, ignoring the dancing sparks below it, ignoring the impatient throb of his headache, ignoring the phantom itch of Squeaks’s whiskers twitching nervously. Swing back… and… THROW!
He put his shoulder into it, grunting with the effort. The rebar sailed upwards… wobbling badly. It flew less like a targeted projectile and more like a drunken ptera-bat. It spun end over end, the frayed synth-rope trailing behind it like a sad party streamer.
And missed. By a lot.
It didn't even come close to the bracket, instead cnging uselessly off the conduit wall several feet to the left before plummeting back down. Kai yelped and jumped back instinctively as it crashed onto the retively safe section of floor near his feet with a resounding THUD.
"Scrap!" Kai swore, kicking the innocent rebar frustration. "Fragging piece of junk! Stupid rope! Stupid lighting! Stupid… arm!" He gred at his own limb as if it had personally betrayed him.
HP: 10 / 40.
Panic fred, cold and sharp. They were losing time. Fast. He could feel Squeaks’s anxiety spike in response to his outburst and failure, a fresh wave of fear-scent washing over the link.
Okay, okay, don't panic, Kai told himself, taking another shaky breath. Panicking uses valuable oxygen and probably annoys the rat, which gives me a headache. Functional approach required. He bent down and retrieved the rebar, checking the knot. Still holding. Miraculously.
He coiled the rope again, trying to ignore the tremor in his hands. Think. What went wrong? Too much spin? Not enough arc? Maybe the [Symbiotic Shock] debuff was worse than he thought, messing with his coordination. (-20% All Actions… yeah, that probably included ‘throwing junk hopefully’).
He gnced at the status overy again. [Symbiotic Shock: -20% All Actions, Sensory Overload (Duration: 48 mins remaining)]. Forty-eight minutes?! He’d be dead from the burns long before that wore off!
Unless… A thought struck him. The Css description mentioned progression depending on strengthening the link and overcoming challenges together. Was this… a challenge? Could succeeding actually help? Maybe grant enough EXP for a level-up? Leveling always came with a full heal and status cure in the stories…
Hope, that persistent Undercity weed, sprouted anew. Okay. New motivation. Not just survival, but the possibility of a magical System 'ding!' fixing everything. It was a long shot, maybe delusional, but it was better than giving up.
Alright, Squeaks, Kai projected, trying to inject genuine focus this time. Watch closely. Need some… uh… moral support? Positive rat-vibes? Whatever you do. Second time’s the charm.
He felt a flicker of… something from Squeaks. Not confidence, exactly. More like intense, focused observation. Like it was really watching, trying to understand. The wary fear was still there, but overid with a strange curiosity.
Kai took his stance again. He ignored the flickering light this time, focusing solely on the memory of the bracket's location. He pictured the arc, the smooth release. He channeled every bit of his meager Strength (3, sigh) and Dexterity (5, slightly less pathetic thanks to Squeaks) into the throw. He focused his intent. Hit the target. Hook on. DON’T fall.
He threw.
The rebar flew straighter this time, a dark streak against the pulsing blue light. It sailed towards the target…
Cng!
It struck the bracket! Not a solid hook, but it hit. For a heart-stopping moment, it teetered there, banced precariously. Then, with agonizing slowness, it tipped… and slotted into pce! The bent end hooked securely over the thick metal support holding the cables.
"YES!" Kai yelled, punching the air. "HA! SEE?! Pure skill! Calcuted trajectory! Who's the Scavenger King? THIS GUY!"
He felt a wave of something akin to surprised relief wash over the link from Squeaks, quickly followed by the familiar scent of caution. Okay, okay, it hooked. Now what, loud-scary-thing?
HP: 9 / 40. Right. Celebrating ter. Escaping now.
Kai cautiously tugged on the synth-rope. It held. He pulled harder, putting more of his weight onto it. The rope stretched taut, groaning faintly. Dust rained down from where the rebar hooked the bracket. It seemed… reasonably secure? As secure as anything salvaged from Undercity refuse could be, anyway.
He looked down at the sparking, warped floor between him and the retive safety of the conduit beyond. It looked wider now. The sparks seemed more frequent.
Deep breaths, Kai, he told himself. You hooked the thing. Now you just have to… swing across ten feet of insta-death floor using a rope that looks like it might snap if a stiff breeze hits it. Easy.
He backed up a step or two, getting a slight running start. He gripped the rope tightly, his knuckles white. "Alright, Sniffles— SQUEAKS!" he corrected himself hastily, gncing mentally at the penalty system. "Wish me luck!"
He took a running leap, unching himself out over the hazardous floor.
For a terrifying second, he was airborne. Then gravity asserted itself, and he swung downwards in a wide arc. The rope creaked ominously above him. Below, the floor crackled, blue sparks licking upwards like hungry tongues, close enough to make the hair on his arms stand on end. He squeezed his eyes shut instinctively.
Nononono don't snap don't snap don't snap—
He felt a sudden, sharp jolt through the rope, accompanied by a horrible ripping sound from above. His stomach plummeted. This was it. He was going to—
His boots smmed into the metal floor on the other side of the hazard zone. He stumbled, losing his grip on the rope, and crashed down hard onto his hands and knees, skidding a few inches on the grimy surface.
He stayed there for a moment, panting, heart hammering against his ribs like it wanted out. Alive. He was alive. He hadn't become a crispy critter.
He pushed himself up, wincing. His palms stung, scraped raw from the nding. He looked back. The rope hung limply, the end frayed and spitting fibers. It hadn't snapped completely, but it looked like it had torn significantly during his swing. It probably wouldn't hold his weight again. Definitely wouldn't hold someone heavier, like Grok (small mercies).
HP: 8 / 40. Burns still ticking. Scraped palms probably didn't help.
He looked across the sparking gap. Squeaks was still there, a small, tense silhouette against the faint light, staring at him. Okay. Step one (Kai survives) complete. Step two: Get the rat across.
"Alright, Squeaks!" Kai called out, his voice still a bit shaky. "Your turn! See? Perfectly safe! Mostly!"
He held up the frayed end of the rope. "Catch!" He tossed it across the gap. It nded near Squeaks with a pathetic little sp.
He felt profound skepticism emanate from the rat. That… thing? That almost broke with YOU on it? No thank you, loud-scary-thing.
"Come on!" Kai urged, trying to sound encouraging. "It'll hold! Probably! Just be quick!"
Squeaks didn't move towards the rope. Instead, its silhouette shifted. It turned towards the conduit wall. Kai felt a surge of focused determination from the link, the scent of dust and concentration.
Then, Squeaks just… started climbing.
Not scrambling awkwardly, but flowing up the smooth, vertical metal wall like magnetized fur. Its cws found purchase on microscopic irregurities, its body pressed ft, moving with an eerie, silent grace that defied gravity. It climbed up, over the level of the sparking junction box, scuttled horizontally across the wall above the hazardous floor section, and then flowed back down to the floor on Kai's side, nding with barely a whisper of sound. It shook itself once, whiskers twitching, and looked up at Kai with what felt distinctly like smug superiority.
Kai stared, mouth agape. The frayed rope y forgotten between them.
"...Show off," he muttered, unable to keep the grudging admiration (and annoyance) out of his voice. "Could have done that the FIRST time, you know! Saved me the near-death experience and the rope!"
He received a mental shrug from Squeaks, accompanied by the faint scent of something metallic and dusty that the rat was now sniffing intently near the base of the wall on their side. You didn't ask.
Kai sighed, rubbing his stinging palms on his trousers. Okay. So the rat had wall-climbing superpowers. Good to know. And slightly terrifying. What else could it do? Shoot sers from its eyes? (He mentally checked the skill list again. Nope. Still locked or passive. Shame.)
HP: 7 / 40.
Right. Burns. Need to deal with the burns. He looked around their current location. They were past the sparking junction box, thankfully. The conduit continued ahead, bending slightly to the left after about twenty meters. The air still smelled faintly of ozone, but less intensely than before. The flickering light from the damaged box behind them provided minimal illumination.
He checked his status screen again. [Minor Energy Burns: -2 HP/min (8 mins remaining)]. Eight more minutes of losing 2 HP per minute… that was 16 HP total. Given they only had 7 HP left… yeah, they weren't going to make it unless they found healing or the burns expired faster.
"Scrap!" Kai hissed, running a hand through his hair. Think, Kai, think! Med-school dropout brain, activate! Burns… what do you do for burns? Clean water, cooling, sterile dressings… all things they emphatically did not have down here.
He rummaged in his sack again. Maybe there was something? Cloth scraps? He pulled out a grimy piece of what might have once been a shirt. It was stiff with filth. Using that would probably just introduce seventeen kinds of Undercity infections. Useless.
Wait. What about his own jacket? He looked down at the threadbare composite material. It wasn't clean, not by a long shot, but the inside lining, where he'd stitched that pocket… maybe it was marginally less disgusting?
He shrugged off the jacket. Carefully, he tore a strip from the inner lining. It wasn't much, but it was cleaner than the outside. Now what? Water? He didn't have any clean water. Spitting on it would be counterproductive.
He felt Squeaks nudge his ankle. He looked down. The rat was looking up at him, then pointedly sniffing at a patch of dampness oozing from a seam near the floor. It wasn't the chemical slime from earlier; this looked… clearer? Still probably teeming with microbes, but maybe less actively toxic?
Kai received a fsh of sensory input: The smell of damp earth and minerals, retively neutral compared to the surrounding chemical stench. TASTE-FEEL: Cool. Not burning. Not poison-sharp. Just… wet.
"You think… that's clean enough?" Kai asked skeptically, looking from the damp patch to the rat.
Squeaks nudged his ankle again, more insistently. Cooling. Wet. Better than HOT-BURN.
Kai hesitated. Wiping unknown sewer moisture onto energy burns felt like a viotion of everything he'd ever learned (and promptly forgotten) about basic hygiene. But they were literally dying by degrees. And the rat seemed… sure? Its Wisdom stat was higher than his, for whatever that was worth.
"Fine," he sighed. "Don't bme me if my arm falls off from Sewage Rot."
He knelt down, dipped the cleanest part of the torn fabric into the damp patch, wringing out the excess moisture. It came away cool and wet, smelling faintly earthy. He cautiously dabbed it onto the worst of the reddened skin on his arm where he felt the burns most keenly – a residual effect from the energy surge, even if it wasn't a direct contact burn.
It was surprisingly soothing. The coolness leeched away some of the stinging heat. He wrapped the damp strip around his forearm, not tight, just enough to keep it in pce.
He checked the status screen again. HP: 6 / 40. Still dropping. The [Minor Energy Burns] effect was still listed, duration ticking down. So, the makeshift compress hadn't cured it. Damn.
But… wait. Below the Burns effect, a new line had appeared, faint green text: [Soothed Burns: Pain reduced. HP loss from Burns reduced to -1 HP/min (7 mins remaining)].
Kai blinked. It worked? Sort of? It hadn't stopped the damage, but it had halved it! They'd lose another 7 HP instead of 14. That still put them at -1 HP, which wasn't ideal, but it bought them precious time.
"Huh," Kai said aloud, genuinely surprised. He looked down at Squeaks, who was now meticulously grooming its whiskers, looking entirely nonchant. "Okay… okay, nice one, Squeaks. Didn't think sewer water would do anything but give me extra appendages."
He felt a flicker of satisfaction from the rat, brief and understated. Told you. Listen more.
And then, something else happened. A chime, soft but clear, echoed not in the conduit, but directly inside Kai’s head. A new notification overid his vision, brighter than the status screen:
[COOPERATIVE ACTION DETECTED: Basic Field Dressing Applied Using Shared Knowledge/Instinct]
[Symbiotic Link Strengthened: +5 Synergy Points]
[Skill Unlocked: Symbiotic Scavenger - LV 1 Skill Slot 1 Filled!]
> [Minor First Aid (Symbiotic)] - LV 1
Kai stared at the notification, dumbfounded. Cooperative action? Skill unlocked? Just from putting damp cloth on a burn with the rat's questionable guidance?
He mentally focused on the new skill name.
-----------------------------
SKILL: Minor First Aid (Symbiotic) - LV 1
TYPE: Active (Shared)
COST: 5 MP/STM
CAST TIME: 3 Seconds
COOLDOWN: 1 Minute
DESCRIPTION: Channels trace symbiotic energy and shared biological knowledge to stabilize minor wounds or alleviate simple status effects. Requires physical contact with target and basic medical supplies (can be improvised). Effectiveness increases with Skill Level and INT/WIS scores.
EFFECT: Heals 5 HP OR removes/reduces severity of one Tier 1 Negative Status Effect (e.g., Minor Bleeding, Minor Poison, Mild Confusion). Cannot cure magical curses or severe trauma. Requires focus from both partners.
-----------------------------
Hope surged through Kai, fierce and bright. A healing skill! They had a way to recover HP! It wasn't much – 5 HP for 5 MP/STM – but it was infinitely better than zero!
"Yes!" he cheered, startling Squeaks again. "YES! We got a skill! A healing skill! We might actually not die!"
He immediately focused on the skill, projecting the intent: USE IT! Heal! NOW! He instinctively reached down to touch Squeaks, channeling the activation.
He felt a faint warmth gather in his palm, drawing on the shared energy pool (MP/STM: 20 / 25). He felt Squeaks flinch slightly at the unexpected energy flow, but then a corresponding flicker of understanding and cooperation flowed back through the link. Greenish light swirled faintly around Kai’s hand and Squeaks’s fur where they touched.
[-5 MP/STM] fshed on the interface.
The warmth flowed into both of them through the link. It wasn't a huge surge, just a gentle, soothing wave.
HP: 11 / 40.
It worked! It instantly healed 5 HP!
"Ha!" Kai ughed, giddy with relief. "Look at us! We're practically medics! Undercity Trauma Team reporting for duty!"
Squeaks pulled away slightly, shaking its paw as if dispelling static electricity, and gave Kai a look that clearly said, ‘Warn me next time, you energy-sucking parasite’.
Right, right, boundaries, Kai thought, still buzzing. But hey, we have healing! And only 6 more minutes of burns left at -1 HP/min! We can totally out-heal that! They could use the skill again in a minute, spending another 5 MP/STM to gain 5 HP, effectively negating the burn damage and maybe even slowly climbing back up.
HP: 10 / 40 (-1 from burn tick).
Okay, maybe not climbing fast, but surviving. Surviving was good.
He felt… lighter. The combination of narrowly cheating death, gaining a useful skill, and actually succeeding at something through cooperation (even forced cooperation) had significantly improved his mood. Maybe this whole Symbiosis thing wasn't entirely terrible. Just, like, 98% terrible?
He looked down the conduit again. The bend was about fifteen meters away now. Time to move.
"Alright, partner," Kai said, actually meaning it for perhaps the first time. He even reached down and gave Squeaks a tentative, awkward scratch behind the ears. The rat tolerated it for about half a second before dodging away, but Kai felt less hostility this time, more wary acceptance. Progress! "Let's see what other horrors this rusty tube has in store for us, huh? Operation: Find An Exit That Isn't Guarded By Homicidal Scrap Mongers is back on!"
He started walking, feeling marginally less doomed than before. He kept one eye on the HP (still ticking down slowly, but manageable now with the heal) and the other scanning the path ahead. Squeaks trotted alongside him, its keen senses presumably scanning the darkness for threats Kai couldn't see.
They reached the bend in the conduit. Kai peered around it cautiously. The duct continued, straight now, stretching into darkness beyond the range of the flickering light behind them. It seemed clear for the moment. No obvious traps, no sparking wires, no visible slime monsters.
But there was a sound. Faint, but definitely there, echoing from further down the conduit. Not dripping water or electrical crackling. It sounded like… scraping? Like metal on metal, rhythmic and slow.
Kai froze, straining his ears. He felt Squeaks tense beside him, fur prickling slightly along its spine. The rat’s [Danger Sense] wasn't screaming, but it was definitely pinging softly, a low hum of caution-unknown-ahead.
"Okay," Kai whispered, keeping his voice low. "New pn. Operation: Investigate Scary Noises Without Getting Eaten. You lead the way, oh Wise and Whiskerful one. Quietly this time?"
Squeaks gave a nearly imperceptible nod – or maybe just twitched its nose – and melted into the shadows ahead, moving with that unnerving silent speed. Kai followed, trying his best to emute the rat’s stealth, which mostly meant trying not to trip over his own feet or breathe too loudly.
The scraping sound grew slightly louder as they advanced into the deeper darkness. Tick… scrape… tick… scrape… It was methodical, rhythmic. Unsettling. What kind of creature made a sound like that?
The End.
(A/N: They survived the floor! They got a skill! They even cooperated! GO TEAM SYMBIOTE! But what's making that creepy scraping sound? Tune in next time for more Undercity adventures! Thanks for reading, please FFF if you enjoyed! Your support keeps Kai compining! (′?? ? ??`) ? )
AnnouncementHi everyone, the release schedule and rate will be updated going forward now that we have the first five chapters out >.<
It is now 5 chapters a week, and chapters will be released Monday to Friday at exactly 12:00 PM UTC time.
Let me know if you have any questions. (′?? ? ??`) ?
