Macronomicon
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Chapter 142: Dorans Havok
🕑 Added 2020-04-08 21:36:23 +0000 UTCLearners notes: Day 15
On combat:
The most common way for hooter to permanently deactivate, or kill each other, it to damage the structural integrity of their physical forms beyond the individuals tolerance. The three most common ways of doing so include poking holes with sharp objects, cutting with bladed objects, or crushing with blunt objects.
All of these techniques seem to be aimed at relieving the hooters body of the red specialized units that transfer nutrients across its body, or damaging the strange specialized organs inside their bodies.
Why would someone ever willingly have specialized organs? It made no sense, creating a huge bundle of weaknesses. The only saving grace was the fact that they seemed to do their jobs more efficiently than unspecialized units.
Hooter fists fall into the blunt category, and are a poor example thereof. It is not only difficult to kill another hooter with fists, but also damaging to the hooters own fists in the process.
Highly inefficient. I will not be using them.
This odd hooter appears to have gone about things in a more pragmatic manner as well, forming blades about two hand spans long that jut out of its split open palm. The blades appear able to equally cut or poke.
Im not about to rule anything out, but there is a possibility that this saggy-stage lumpy hooter isnt actually a saggy-stage lumpy hooter.
Or perhaps this is the reason the other hooters seem to defer to the saggy lumpy ones.
Requires more itsattackingsigningoff!
***Learner***
The hooter asked if it missed anything, staring at Learner, along with the two remaining hooters, who held their weapons in front of them cautiously.
There was a silent moment for Learner to take a few notes, before it lunged toward Learner, swinging a blade toward Learners neck.
Oh, look, its got tiny serrations!
The carefully crafted ratcheting vice of bone and mucle in Learners chest tightened, forcing the two Unqua beads closer together.
Click, click, click click!
As the two beads stiffly resisted being pushed together, they gave off the unquas unique aura that made themselves small.
In an instant the saggy hooter in front of Learner became enormous, its blade passing far above without even threatening to touch the hairs on the top of Learners disguise.
Yes, Im definitely seeing the appeal of specialized units.
Learner opened the channels in its fingertips, releasing a carefully controlled stream of Crystal Lattice catalysts.
A spear of crystal shot out, growing massive in size as it detached from Learners body. The spear caught the saggy hooter in the center, or gut, and propelled it across the room, slamming it violently into the far was, causing the ceiling to rumble and shake, sending down little particles of dust.
I wonder about the structural integrity of this room, Learner thought as the vice unclicked.
Click, click, click, click.
The room shrank as Learner expanded.
It seems as though most creatures in this world take distance for granted.
***Kala***
Did you know about this? Grant whispered.
Kala shook her head. I knew Ryan was sick, but I never knew with what. And I didnt care about the bastard to pursue it any further. His stupid asshole aura hid that thing from my eyes.
Kala shook her head. That had been a stupid mistake. She had to keep track of even the unpleasant ones.
What should we do? Kill it? Grant asked, holding one of his emergency blades
No, its highly intelligent and forming its personality while it learns about the world. its trying to save us and make a good first impression. We have to act in good faith or it might turn out poorly.
So thats what that gibberish was. Grant said, relaxing. It called us bitches.
Its been riding around in Ryan.
And? Does the guy say bitches a lot? Grant asked.
Kala forgot Grant had been absent the last couple weeks. She rolled her eyes with a sigh.
All the time. He called everyone a bitch, I wouldnt be surprised if thats what she thinks the word for women is.
Grant started chuckling.
Thats not funny.
Its a little funn
The creature leapt forward, slashing down at the other creature.
The monster from the Filter vanished, blinking out of existence. A fraction of a second later a massive crystal caught their opponent in the gut and slammed it against the far wall, shaking the entire room.
Not vanished, Kala realized as she began to grow from the size of a mouse to a full human again. Shrunk, like an unqua, and using crystals, like a lattice.
Oh, crap it copies things, doesnt it.
The creatures butt jiggled just a little as it hopped to its feet, reminding Kala that its chosen form seemed to be an exact copy of her. And it was naked.
If Grant made that connection, he wisely chose not to say anything.
Very wisely.
***Learner***
Learner turned around and gave the other two hooters one of Ryans thumbs up, letting them know that they were on the same side.
Probably. The thumbs up seemed to be highly situational. Meaning agreement or acknowledgement, assent, or encouragement, depending on what was necessary. One thing Learner knew: it was always used in a positive interaction.
So while Learner wasnt exactly sure if they were using it in the right context, it could only mean good things. A positive thing in this situation would be I am helping you.
Language is hard.
Learners efforts to master hooter body language were rewarded when the tall flat hooter with the grey hair gave a thumbs up back. Copied behavior!
Yes! Communication has been established with these pathetic prey animals! The first step in infiltrating their strange hive society and getting closer to the Manifold Predator has been taken!
A massive weight slammed into Learners side, and they tumbled across the room as poke after poke landed in Learners neck and face.
Learner felt the sack that was hiding all her unspecialized units part like the Manifold Predators gelatin under a hot knife.
The creatures blades poked all the way through learners head and gouged into the stone floor beneath it.
No, bad! Hooters had a strong negative reaction when they spotted Learners units, which was why Learner had made just enough specialized units to contain them and complete the disguise.
Now they were going to spill out!
Learner turned its head to the side and shoved the annoying creature off, slamming it back against the wall again.
No look! Learner said, covering its head with its hands as its units drew the perforated face-sack back together.
I was so focused on making a good first impression that I failed to make a good first impression! As soon as I learn the word that represents that phenomenon, I am going to curse it!
***Kala***
Is it bleeding little yous? Grant asked as they watched the monster hide its face from them. Unfortunately the other creatures talons had gone all the way through its head, and bits of it were welling out the back as well.
The tiny little Kalas industriously held the tears in the creatures skull closed while others sealed it somehow. The gaping tear rapidly vanished under their care, and the last remaining one simply flattened itself over the part that was missing a bit of skin and melded into the skin, growing hair to match the rest of the scalp. In a matter of seconds, there was no sign of any damage whatsoever.
But they all knew what lay just under the skin, now.
Am I the only one thats a little weirded out, here? the monster disguised as an old woman asked, coming back to her feet as the wound in her stomach sealed itself closed.
Kala tapped Grant. They needed to get back into the action.
***Learner***
Learners notes: Day 15.
On anger:
Anger is a new sensation to me. It seems to come part and parcel with this form.
Anger is the natural result of frustration, which is the sensation when many solar rotations of careful planning are ruined by a stupid mutant creature.
Anger is AAAAGAGAAHHHHHAGHH!!!
Learner jumped off the ground and hit the mutant across the midsection, knocking it to the ground before beating on it with Learners inefficient human fists.
It was absolutely the wrong move to achieve maximum disruption to the creatures form, but it felt so right.
You stupid bitch make bad thinkings! Learner shouted as it landed blow after blow on the bitchs face.
Learner wasnt entirely unscathed, as poke after poke jammed its way through Learners disguise. The saggy bitch was ignoring the blows to the face and instead trying to eviscerate Learner with her blades.
There was some damage to the multitude of internal organs Learner had replicated from other creatures in the Filter, but nothing even remotely capable of threatening Learners life.
Honestly, it was about as ineffective as Learners punches.
The units in my hand are getting damaged beneath the skin, Learner thought after a good fifteen seconds beating on the saggy face, gradually coming back from the strange exultant detachment of anger.
Adjust strategy.
Learner clapped a hand over the creatures mouth and let the units split through the skin of its palm, flooding the enemys airway with units.
Consume.
The creatures eyes went wide, and it bucked violently, throwing Learner off and into the hole in the center of the room.
Learner wanted to explore this strange dimension more, and going back to the little prison underground was not conducive to that.
With a grunt, Learner tried to activate the internal spinner flying organs, and found that theyd been too damaged to work.
Stupid specialized organs.
Learner made a desperate stretch, elongating its arm by a good two extra arms, catching the edge of the hole and slamming into the stone shaft, damaging thousands of hapless units.
The specialized skin of its arm was stretched nearly to bursting, but it was the only thing that gave Learners units the tensile strength to resist detaching from the ledge and falling the rest of the way into the hole.
Thank you, specialized organs.
Learner pulled hard, flipping up and over, landing on the opposite side of the large hole in the floor while reeling in the over-stretched skin and the units contained within.
There was every possibility that the creature was going to make another attack, so Learner had to be extra cautious.
Except the creature seemed to be busy.
It bent over and convulsed, jettisoning something out of its body that looked very similar to an esophagus. The esophagus was broken down by Learners units in a matter of seconds, the tiny dark skinned hooters eating their way out of the package and marching back toward Learner.
As it vomited out a bit more goop, the creatures face split in two, revealing a much longer mouth filled with teeth, as though a saggy hooters face had been plastered on the nose of some great beast.
Well, now Im pretty sure that thats not actually a saggy-stage lumpy hooter. Theres nothing in their morphology that suggests they grow into flesh-eating monsters.
The creature unpacked, its arms and legs unfolding and lengthening, the massive hunch uncrooking to reveal a torso nearly as long as a mans entire body, topped with a strange, prehensile, jointed mouth that was able to simulate a neck.
Is that strange? Learner glanced over at the hooters. Their eyes were widened, skin pale, and were flinching backwards, good indicators of surprise and alarm.
Im really getting the hang of this body language thing.
Despite their apparent fear, the hooters capitalized on the moment the creature spent hurking up its own throat to make their move.
The prey who looks back also known as Kala made a flourish with her fingers, conjuring some strange purple crystal and jamming it into the far end of the glass tube, then a point of light dotted her finger before she inhaled deeply and the crystal somehow turned glowing red.
Most interesting.
Even more interesting was when the lumpy hooter exhaled the white air which shot through the air in a thin stream, straight into the creatures nostrils.
The creature recoiled, coughing violently.
What the hell was that? the flat hooter demanded.
Dorans Havok! Kala shouted.
You inhaled that!?
It should be fine, Kala shouted, flicking the sticky charred crystal out of her tube. Long as I take a sedative! she conjured a moss and inhaled its smoke.
Kill it while it cant think! She shouted at the flat hooter, then pointed at Learner and motioned to join them. You too!
You fucking idiot, youre gonna be speedballing like crazy!
I wonder what all this means.
Aaaaaiiiigggh! The creatures skin flexed and dozens of pointy spines rose out of its pale flesh, a bladed tail ripped through the tattered clothes, tearing the last of them away from the creatures form.
What the hell was that!? it demanded. I .fuck you! AAAGH!
The creatures words devolved into pure rage-driven guttural screaming as it lunged forward and tore the rapidly growing brain polyp to shreds, along with the corpse underneath it.
I did not expect that, Learner thought, continuing to retract the extended arm.
The motion seemed to attract the creatures attention, and it pounced across the pit in the floor, huge cutting claws extended.
Learner wasnt in terrible danger, but it didnt make sense to let the creature harm Learners borrowed organs any more than necessary.
Click, click, click, chunk!
Ow.
Learners rachetting stopped partway as the damaged bone slipped, only allowing partial shrinking. It was barely enough to avoid the wild swipes of the creature, nearly shearing off part of Learners disguise.
Whereas before they had been calculated to cause as much disruption to Learners organs as possible, now it seemed like the creature was just angry at everything.
Learner kicked off the creatures leg and slid out from under the monster. For a full three seconds, the monster continued to slash at the floor while Learner released the shrink and ran away at full speed.
Learner looked back and saw the creature biting off its own talon and slamming its head into the ground, as if it were trying to damage its own units.
How strange.
In that time, the flat hooter had reestablished control over two of his swords, the blades glittering beside his shoulders.
I like flat hooter shoulders.
Learner shook the thought off. Irrelevant to the situation.
The space-warping organs and the shrinking organs were damaged, but the ones buried in Learners fingers were working fine.
Learner buried a packet of catalyst in crystal and shot it at the far wall, just on the other side of the creature.
When it hit, the packet cracked and sent another blast of crystals spearing outward from the far wall, damaging the creature and sending it spinning through the air toward the flat hooter.
The flat hooter motioned with his hand, and the two swords flew out, catching the beast in midflight, and dragging it down into the pit.
Stone screamed as the claws tore rents through the shaft on the way down, until the sound suddenly vanished.
Whew. The flat hooter exhaled, looking down the pit. Thatll buy us some time, at the very least. Thanks for the help. He gave a thumbs up, and this time, Learner returned it.
You stupid bastards Kalas voice attracted learners attention to where the observant hooter was leaning against the wall, weakly sawing at her wrist with her shiny golden hair ornament.
You just sent it .Agh Into the fucking filter. Ill kill you after I kill myself, She said, a bit of spit hanging from her lips. Kalas head hung limp, but she stared at them with an expression that Learner interpreted as Extreme Rage.
Whats the filter? the flat hooter asked, leaning closer.
Come closer so I bite your throat out. Kala replied, drooling a bit.
Well, shes not going to be any good to anyone for a couple minutes, lets take her to Kurawe and debrief. The flat hooter looked down the hole. Cuz Im not stupid enough to go after that thing.
Whats wrong with this bitch? Learner asked.
This bitch is hopped up on Dorans Havok, which deadens pain, causes a psychotic break, extreme rage and a strong inclination to self-harm. Very messy way to kill someone.
Grab her other arm, he said, hoisting Kala to a standing postion. And watch her teeth.
***Magenta***
Magenta was weightless, but it didnt register so much as the need to kill anything and everything, excise everything that didnt belong. She was a single point in space, and all this meaty stuff attached to her didnt belong.
It was abhorrent.
Tear off the hand, tear off the arm, bite off the legs, work the teeth through the flesh.
Magentas own warm blood was filling her mouth when she realized that her mouth wasnt a part of her either.
It was part of this fleshy prison she was trapped inside of, and if she could just crack her skull open, shed be released from inside herself like a newly born chicken from an egg.
Yes, tear off the mouth, drag it against the stone, peel it away like so much The ground interrupted Magenta when she slammed into it at terminal velocity, causing a white burst of lights to cover her vision.
When she began to be able to have conscious thoughts again, she realized that the only thing she could move was her tongue. The rest of her damned prison was so badly broken she couldnt lift a single digit.
Magenta whined in distress as she realized she was going to continue to be trapped in her own body, unable to make things right because the damned thing couldnt even move.
This is the worst. At least I can get this horrible tongue off of me.
Magenta was delighted when she was able to saw through her tongue by running it across with her upper teeth, letting the disgusting, long red organ finally fall away from her. The experience was liberating, and she wept in relief.
Finally dizziness overtook Magenta, and she welcomed being freed from the constraints of her flesh.
***several hours later***
That was the most horrifying trip Ive ever been on. Magenta thought, wiggling her regrowing tongue and scanning the surrounding cavern with her eyes.
To be fair, its the only trip Ive ever been on. Magenta admitted internally. From what shed seen, shed avoid drugs if possible in the future.
Her lower jaw was over there, her left hand over there. Her right hand was missing some fingers, and she was pretty sure part of her skull was exposed.
But Im still alive. And I need food. She needed food, because she could feel the Warp inside her building toward another mutation.
Just as she had that thought, a massive form lumbered above her in the darkness, sniffing at the mass of rotten corpses she lay on top of.
Ah, just what I needed.
Comments
Deinos
Yeah but I'm talking about learner's POV :p
Macronomicon
I mentioned Ryan's stomach pains in nearly every POV I gave him.
Deinos
Feels like a cop out. On more than one occasion we were seeing the scene from Dara's perspective I think, and even if not it feels like a cop out because Science!
xdxx345
This story consistently makes me crack up in the most unexpected places. Learner leaking miniature Kalas caught me so off guard. Idk why it was so funny but I'm still giggling over it
Chris
That was good. Unless she has an ID she shouldn't be able to get out.
Kemizle
There is going to be a world of pain now that it’s in the filter
