CHAPTER 44: WORM ERADICATION

Parting his feet into a readied stance, he kept his blade drawn, standing amidst the labyrinth of cubicles in the quiet of the office before–CRASH. The walls in front and around him were blasted through by the colossal bodies of the brightly-colored worms.

It was as if trying to fight fleshy tornados, ducking down as the chaotic bodies twirled and thrashed through the office. The fabric-framed walls of the cubicles were flung by the movements of the tunnels of otherworldly meat, spiraling around him.

He looked around hurriedly, spinning himself as he found himself staring right down the maw of one worm as it slithered right towards him. Its mouth was large enough to swallow a car whole, more than enough to consume him if caught.

"Incoming—!" Izo desperately warned with a voice heightened by panic.

Seven threw himself to the right, sliding across the gray carpeting as the tube of muscle burrowed through the cubicles like a bull seeing red.

"They’re just thrashing through the building—are they blind?" He questioned in a huff, watching the elongated, tubular creature burrow through another wall.

"I believe that may be an accurate assumption...I’m recording all of this so that it can be studied later–!" Izo announced.

"Thanks, but I’m more focused on the here and now!" Seven quickly responded, feeling the ground as his feet rumbled.

The head of one of the bright worms erupted from the floor, causing the stability of the entire upper floor to be shattered. He flipped back, catching his feet on the wall behind him before using it as a launchpad, sending himself straight towards the emerging alien.

[Strengthening necessary muscle groups to amplify retaliatory strike.]

As he pulled the sword back, his arms enlarged to twice their muscle mass, empowering his movements as he swung the blade right for the midsection of the tubular entity. He let the sharp edge glide through its body, feeling it separate each layer of the grotesque flesh.

A clean cut, at least–that’s what he thought.

Almost immediately, a sense of regret came from his action as he stepped back out of pure instinct just as the slimy, green blood splashed from the bisected worm. The foreign substance landed on the carpet with a quick sizzle, melting right through the material.

[EXP: +1,000] [3000/10500]

The robot on his shoulder spoke up, "Analyzing substances from the foreign entity...Extremely acidic–I’d recommend avoiding direct contact!"

"I’ve got eyes and ears too, y’know," Seven responded, flipping his attention to the other source of rumbling.

There was no wall on the right side of the working floor; only the massive frame of the worm as it curled around him like a serpent securing a meal. From its blocky body, needle-like appendages pulsated, spewing out a pink, sticky substance that began coating the floor.

It completely puddled around the lonesome soldier, taking away much of the space he had to move as he neglected to trust the unknown substance.

"Got any ideas on this stuff?!" He quickly asked.

"It seems to be an adhesive–not sure if it’s lethal to the touch!" Izo replied.

An answer was quickly found as he stepped forward, intending to cut his way through the blockade of alien flesh, finding one of the appendages firing off a blast of slime right for him.

"--!"

He raised his arms as the pink substance splashed against his limbs. It instantly solidified, binding his forearms together. Though he tried parting them, it felt like a steel encasing had completely sealed his movements.

"Shit...Izo, got anything for this?!" He quickly asked the assistant perched on his body.

"Adminsterating chemical agent to dissolve adhesive–it may work!" Izo responded, opening a small compartment at the front of his small frame.

It had to come a moment later though as Seven looked forward, finding the worm’s maw pointed towards him as it came to claim its meal. He quickly jumped up with his forearms glued together, using his feet to intercept the feast, flicking his boot against the underside of its mouth.

The beast was repelled, though it thrashed and hissed, emitting vibrations that made the entire building shudder.

"Woah–try to hold still a bit, please!" Izo pleaded, clinging to the man’s shoulder.

"Not really my choice!--"

A pungent mist released from the robot’s cylinder, coating the substance around his arms. It met the foreign matter, dousing it, though it hardly seemed to do more than make it sweat.

"If you’ve got a stronger chemical, I’d give that a go–!" Seven hurried the robot.

The worm was burrowing through the ceiling, rumbling above, bringing his gaze upward as he attempted to track it through sound alone, unknowing of where it may dive. Frantically, the small bot upped the output of the mist, though the effect wasn’t any more potent.

"It’s the only dissolvent I have access to–it’s the strongest we know of! Whatever this substance is, it’s more durable!--" Izo responded.

Seven withheld his response, instead jumping into the room adjacent to the office space, entering another room just like it while the rumbling followed behind. With a clean sprint, he leapt over a toppled water cooler, practically drifting around the corner into a beige hallway.

Glancing behind him, he watched as the edges of the walls were clipped by the massive frame of the worm as it parted its massive maw towards him.

Without wasting a moment, he slammed his bound arms down while raising his knee, striking the solidified substance–crack. It didn’t break, though the encapsulating block was chipped.

"Izo, get that piece and analyze it!" He quickly commanded.

The bot followed the order, leaving his shoulder to recover the small piece left of the worm’s secretion on the floor. Barely enough time was left for Izo to return to his shoulder as Seven turned around the next corner just as the worm bulldozed past.

In his ear, the communicator buzzed, "//Seven, it’s Shin–checking up on you. Haoyu buzzed me in, says you’re working your way back to base."

Across the cityscape, the young soldier with dark bags under his eyes stalked the alleyways, slipping unseen past lifeforms that crept the forgotten streets. Blood dripped from Shin’s right arm, leaking onto the trashbags left in the quiet corridors of the city.

Seven listened in, leaning against the wall within the office building’s break room, watching the worm pass by, "Yeah, I’m a bit held up right now, though."

"//Same here. Listen, there’s some strange readings near twenty-third street. Seems the General is interested in it. I’m heading there to check it out. Not saying you have to, but–y’know.//"

Seven could only sigh, leaning his head against the wall while already dealing with the situation at hand before responding, "I’ll make my way there, then."

"I’m guessing I should be re-routing?" Izo asked.

"Yeah, pinpoint where Shin is heading–we’re changing course," Seven said with a tired huff.

The moment he felt any semblance of fatigue, it was like a trickle of electricity shot through his nervous system.

[Administering energy source to muscle groups – instilling caffeine, accelerating efficiency of function.]

"This day just doesn’t get any shorter, does it?" He mumbled. "Got anything on this stuff yet?"

The solidified block around his forearms weighed on him, though he was more worried about the restriction to his swordplay.

"I’m concocting a new chemical concoction that should dissolve the material—should! Capital S!" Izo answered.

"Sooner rather than later, thank you!—" Seven hurriedly said.

His location was finally discovered as the ground of the break room vibrated. A screech echoed through the halls of the building before the furthest wall was breached. The berserk worm moved like a slinky, slamming its head into the ground and rising like a wave, all the while quickly slithering towards him.

With no dexterity in his wrists, he spun around, leading into a spinning kick he delivered to the side of its body just as it passed by. Every muscle group in his leg was activated, expelling the stored kinetic energy, leaving the impact firing off like a cannon.

Enough force led the colossal extraterrestrial to collide with the vending machines propped against the wall, shattering the glass and the bricks laid behind. It was thousands of pounds of flesh, no doubt, crashing through the building as the worm screeched and contorted itself to actively seek the human out immediately.

"If nothing else, these things are damn persistent," Seven exhaled, staying on the move.

He gave himself some space in the middle of the disheveled break room, standing amongst the wrappers of scattered candy bars and chip bags.

The little bot perked up, "I’ve developed a dissolving substance for this material–I’m dubbing it Anti-Wormgoo!"

"Just hurry up and spray it!" Seven rushed.

His eyes were locked on the ravenous maw that scooped towards him, bringing his feet sliding to the right as the worm passed. The stench that expelled from its slobbering mouth was like that of a trash compactor meeting the depths of a sewer.

As he came to a brief stop, causing the meat-train to crash into another surface, the robot quickly applied the newly-made substance onto his bindings. This time, it met the material like acid to paper, melting it away.

"That’s more like it!" Seven said, watching the worm’s secretion dissolve.

With it weakened to a point, he forcefully parted his bound forearms, shattering the remnants of the now fragile material. Just as his arms were freed, he found the maw of the worm approaching from above.

He gripped the handle of his weapon with his returned mobility, bending his knees and swinging the blade over his head as the creature descended. The sharp edge cleaved through the worm, slicing through each segment as it came down, bringing its colorful blood raining over the floorboards.

[EXP: +1,000] [4000/10500]

"Phew," Seven breathed out, standing up amidst the mess of vibrant flesh and blood left of the bisected worm.