Hydra Strand

Biotechnologica
Entry I-56-a, The Hydra Strand
Remus Nix, High-bred Exo-biologist

"Testing… testing."

"Thank goodness — seems to be working. This is Lt. Col. Remus Nix and I'm preserving this autopsy for NAU Command. 'Pretty sure it'll be important. Thankfully, I found some old celluloid cylinders in these ruins; looks like the place could'a been some sorta data center before the Event… Or maybe post-Event. I ain't sure. There are some odd… indications… that the NAU were here before — some strange recordings of the Rules & Regs on some of these cylinders, but honestly — seems a bit off to me."

"Makes the hairs on the back'a'my head stand up."

"Anyways, I rigged up a recorder and got some of the cylinders to work. Hooked it up to one o' them Klik "micro-assemblers". Heh… heh… I knew that sorry walkin' trash heap I slagged would come in good fer somethin'. Anyways, this'll likely be important for the NAU high-ups. If any NAU'ers find it, please do an ol' dog a favor and pass it up to th' Brass."

"Heh heh; if nothing else, it should be interestin' for me. I ain't even sure this thing's dead…"

(indeterminate clanking, shuffling, and scratching sounds)

"OK. Subject is approximately forty-five feet in length. It could'a been longer before I blasted the tip of its tail off, but I ain't sure. The bloody stump's about as thick as my thigh and the whole of the thing's body looks to be made of several strands of strong, corded muscle. But it ain't like any muscle I've ever seen. It's shot through with all sorts of strong, fibrous strands — like cables, but composed of a material that can only be described as cartilaginous. The bulk of the body — easily thirty or more feet — is a gradual, tapering increase of this coiled-muscle-structure. The thing's girth increases to the point of…"

(more indeterminate scuffling sounds, accompanied by slightly labored breathing)

"…Eh …pshew, this thing's big! Its girth increases to what I would estimate to be thirty feet in diameter. There's no way I can move it — way too big and heavy. I had to climb up on the thing just to get a good look at the other side, if that tells you anything. Speaking of weight, if I had to guess, this thing probably weighs in easily at a hundred and twenty tons, give or take an elephant."

(sounds of laughing, interspersed with muffled wincing sounds)

"Whew. Shouldn't be laughin', pretty sure I'm toting a couple of cracked ribs here. This critter packs a wallop, to which I can attest. Write that one down in your little books o' facts and figures, boys."

(spitting)

"Yup. Blood — nice and red. Means there's lots of oxygen in it; and that ain't good. Better make this fast… The head of this creature is like something from those old monster movies back when there were movies, crossed with my ex-wife-"

(more pain-laced laughing)

"-no need to make monster movies anymore, not when there are real monsters like this thing roaming around. Anyways, the head has four long tentacles and don't be fooled by their relatively short length… which is… about ten-to-twelve feet, I'd say. It's hard to tell now — they're all coiled up like flower petals at night. The tentacles can stretch with an amazing elasticity; I'd reckon that in the heat of things, those blasted things were popping out at least twenty feet… yea, twenty feet, easy."

(sounds of sliding and a sudden surprised cry, followed by a meaty crash and expelled breath)

"Well, that wasn't… smart. Fell off the damned thing…"

(pain-laced laughs)

"Must be getting light headed from the blood loss. Focus, Nix!"

(a few seconds of silence)

"In the center of those four flailing tentacles is a lamprey-like maw filled with razor-sharp, shredding teeth. They're pretty each to knock out, but it doesn't matter — new ones grow back almost immediately. Like a shark on steroids. Four grasping, hook-like claws surround the mouth, interspersed between the tentacles. These are used for both attacking and for stuffin' prey down the blasted thing's gullet…"

(sounds of labored breathing and what sounds like cursing)

"Dammit, Cap. Whd'ya have to charge the thing! I told ya not to!"

(long silence)

"These things have powers, too. Weird things. They've got… bulbs… on the end of their tentacles. They can shoot stuff out of them. Weird stuff — rays and light — like those blasted L'na. These Hydras like zappin' folks, too, apparently. Sometimes folks vanish when they get zapped, like poor Private Ellsworth. He was a good kid — deserved better than bein' zapped."

(pain-laced coughing)

"Damn. That's a lot of blood. Sure am tired. Need to say that these things heal quickly too — damned fast. We almost were not able to take it down. And they have a thing for hissing too… this blasted thing hissed at us like a wet cat in a washin' machine. All th' time hissin'…"

(another, longer silence)

"Oh yea… things gettin' dark here now. Cold too. But I remembered somefin… Need to say it 'fore I take a nap… So… tired. Sure is warm here."

(silence)

"'S important…"

(painfully long silence… followed by hissing…)