The True Apex Predator

[DerArknight]

Another empty barrel was rolled across the ground, slamming against the next wall in its path.

((Arthur "Art" Miles continued from Träumerei))

Looking around the room, Art found him satisfied with the progress. He had spent the last two hours mapping out the whole place and shifting things around, only once interrupted by the announcement.

Outside the storm howled, but unlike others he wasn't hiding and waiting for it to pass.

Soon, the trap would be ready.

[almostinhuman]

((Rachana Kumar continued from the value of Life is negative))

A large factory door rattled and shook. Then it lifted upwards, revealing a silhouette carrying bulky equipment against the snowy backdrop of the outside.

"... Oh."

Rachana looked from the fuel barrels to the factory floor, then to the man she'd encountered.

"Suppose I wasn't the only one with that idea."

[DerArknight]

When the door rattled, Art's hand quickly rushed to the K-23 sticking out of his backpack. Seeing it was a fellow human made him hesitate pulling it out.

Right now, gunshots could create even more unwanted attention. Or wanted attention that would arrive too early.

Some random chick walked in. Not someone from Art's course, that much was clear. A little bit too old for his taste.

After a few moments of consideration, his hand left his weapon.

"Depends on what the idea is," he finally answered, speaking in a matter-of-factly tone. "I am here to hunt the Chimera. A good explosion should do the trick. And you?"

Art glanced over to the equipment the woman was bringing with her. In the dim light of the powerhouse, it was hard to discern what it was.

[almostinhuman]

"Functionally the same idea."

Rachana lifted the head of the sprayer, pressing the trigger gently to spray a slick ooze.

"Got some more flammable shit in this thing if you want the extra help. Some sort of mechanical grease, I believe."

Her hand shot into her pocket, retrieving the old, clunky gun she'd stolen from Harper, pointing it at the ceiling so as not to alarm him.

"Also got a gun, if the fire doesn't do it somehow. Plus some other chemicals I pilfered. Hard to say exactly what they are since the labels aren't in English, but they seem fairly corrosive."

Her eyes looked again at the fuel all over the floor, and the barrels rolled up in the corner.

"Maybe a bit superfluous given the kind of blast you're looking to set off, but hey. I like to have contingencies, and contingencies for my contingencies."

[Applesintime]

The more the merrier, Art decided. This wasn’t a deer or a fox or a lion that had been given enough drugs to basically kill it. This was something nobody on this Earth had ever seen, something that nobody on this Earth had ever shot or killed before. Explosions might be overkill, but Art wanted to look this thing in the eyes before he killed it without getting ripped in half. Her flammable spray may not be immediately deadly, but combine it with these explosives and it would enhance its effect.

Besides, if it all went wrong, this woman would serve as bait to allow him to escape. There was no harm in letting her stay and help him.

“Sure thing. Even if the explosion kills the Chimera outright, it won’t hurt to have a little extra weaponry on hand. Do you know what the gun is chambered in?” Art asked casually. If the bullet was too small, it might be difficult for it to punch through the hide of the Chimera. With his KS-23, he was certain he could put a hole in it if needed, but he had no idea of where the vital organs were. The explosion would do enough damage that a precise shot wouldn’t matter.

“I’m Art, by the way. Your name?” If he was going to kill the Chimera with this woman, it would be nice to have a name.

[almostinhuman]

Another alliance formed. That'd been easy enough. Given what she had planned - and how it must inevitably end - she hoped she'd be able to wave him off once the decisive moment finally arrived. He did not wanna be here for the grand finale, and she didn't want yet another needless death on her conscience.

"Rachana Kumar," she replied, giving the room another once-over and barely looking Art's way.

[Help_U]

((Chimera continued from End Transmission))

Frustration and anger quickly gave way to focus. Even in the blizzard, the scent of human was unmistakable.

Here, it was mixed in with something artificial, acrid. Volatile secretions, not unlike its own. It followed both scents through the snow, and traced the faded footprints to a large structure.

The entryway wasn't barred, but the door didn't give way easily. Rust and weathering caused it to stop partway. The Chimera gripped the edge of the door, and promptly tore it off of its hinges. It casually tossed the steel and particle board aside, as entering with the snow and wind at its back.

They could not survive out there, now. The Chimera would force a confrontation, and subdue them. Compel them to access the computers they carried.

It had to know more. They would tell it.

[Applesintime]

Rachana Kumar was his aide's name. Rachana seemed distracted, glancing around the room. Perhaps she was nervous about the prospect of hunting the Chimera. Not like he was. This was something stronger than a lion, a bear, a deer. Nobody had seen it before, and nobody had killed it before. He would be the first, and his name would go down in history.

Yes, he had explosives to help, but he had sedatives to help him kill that lion in Africa, what was the differen-

One of the doors that he hadn't been able to barricade exploded off of its hinges, letting the sound and sensation of gusting freezing air flood into the building.

Art knew what it was before his head whipped around with the shotgun in hands.

The Chimera.

What a brilliant coincidence.

The shotgun that the scientists had given Art was powerful. He'd seen what it had done to Thaddäus. The damage it had caused. If you shot a deer, a bear, a lion, any kind of animal, really, with that thing, they would be dead.

He squeezed the trigger. Would the Chimera be an exception to that, or would it fall like another animal would?

[Help_U]

Anything else would've fallen. The Chimera flinched at least, momentarily overwhelmed by the sound of the human's weapon.

It felt a sharp pain, and a tightness in its chest as the pellets impacted its chitinous scales, adapted to the type of injury it had experienced before. The teeth that dug into it now were soft - less precise than those which had nearly felled it before. A few of them embedded themselves into its scales, though most bounced off and tore into the brick and sheet metal of the Powerhouse. The sound of the ricochet was audible, though barely.

The Chimera made something of a sneer, and moved to respond before the human could fire again. A small metal box sat nearby on a set of wheels; the Chimera picked it off the ground, and threw it towards the human in an attempt to disarm him.

[almostinhuman]

The beast had entered. Before Rachana could even react, her ally had fired upon it - and gotten debris hurled at him in return. The hunt was on, whether she was ready for it or not.

Rachana bolted further into the building, into a room of generators. She knelt down and began pumping the sprayer, hoping Art could keep it busy just long enough for her to pressurize it properly. She also hoped it didn't utterly maul him in the meantime.

[Applesintime]

Art expected that the Chimera would at least take some kind of damage from the shotgun. Maybe it wouldn't die, it probably couldn't be that easy, but he expected to do something to it. Instead, the rounds just ricocheted off of its scales, pinging around the building. This would be tougher, now, but Art was still confident that the trap could kill it. If it didn't, well, he had Rachana to distract.

His train of thought was promptly derailed by a fire extinguisher hurling towards him and smacking him right in the face. Hissing and recoiling backwards, Art blinked tears back, feeling something hot starting to stream down his face. OK, he hadn't expected it to throw stuff at him, but, uh, dangerous game. "Fuck." He spat, beating a hasty retreat behind some crates. He just had to distract it long enough so Rachana could slather the grease on and fry the beast like bacon.

[Help_U]

The creatures scrambled away.

Frightened. It recognized the acrid scent of stress.

It knew it could not reason with them. Yet, in their terror, perhaps they would believe they could do the same. A feint, of sorts.

The devices all appeared to be the same. With any luck, it would only need one. They need not both survive.

"Do not resist. I must see the device on your limb. I do not need to harm you."

[almostinhuman]

Rachana struggled with the pump on the sprayer, bringing it down one more time. It was ready.

Many things ran through Rachana's head as she bolted out the door to rejoin the brawl. How there were stairs leading up to thin, rickety walkways that would be a perfect perch to spray the beast from. How she'd figure out how to get Art out of there before everything exploded. How taking care of this thing would finally be enough to make up for letting everyone else down.

What she wasn't expecting was for the creature to start talking.

She froze, already halfway up the steps to the paths above, staring at the Chimera like it'd suddenly sprouted five heads. Frankly, that'd seemed more likely of it than this. That it spoke, and had something actually coherent to say - not a mere mimicry or anything. It had a request, or perhaps more accurately, a demand.

Rachana lowered herself just a bit, arm displayed between metal posts on the thin staircase, PDA lit up on her wrist. Perhaps playing along was a sound strategy. If nothing else, it might get Art out alive.

"Like this, you mean?"

[Applesintime]

Now that the Chimera was distracted, Art got himself into position a good distance away from the barrels, waiting for Rachana to splash the beast with grease. The voice coming out of the Chimera was... disturbing, though. Only humans could speak, and parrots but that was more mimicking. This was real voice, a real conversation.

All the more reason to kill it.

[Help_U]

Chimera glared at the human, watching the other creature extend its forelimb.

Arm.

It remembered their fragility. It must not remove the limb.

Slowly, Chimera approached, staring intently at the device with its main pair of eyes. The smaller eyes, less acute than the main pair, watched the human still for any movement.

It extended a claw, and tapped the screen. The device lit up, and the image on the flat side changed.

The Chimera cocked its head, and squinted. It understood that the words had meaning - and even understood some of them - but this experience was new. It would take time to adjust.

"Be still."