Twenty-One

"I hate being right," Kon said drily as they stared at the monsters crawling along the edge of the facility. Oozing masses of gelatinous slime, everywhere they moved they left a trail of corrosive slime behind, slowly sizzling as it ate through the metal of the facility.

"You thought we'd be fighting oozes?" Diur asked.

"I mean…I knew they'd be corrosive," Kon said. He couldn't take his eyes off of the meandering mess of creatures. The majority of them were small, no larger than a breastplate, clear aside from what they'd absorbed into their bodies. Which was primarily bodies. Bits of bone, flesh, and cloth swirled inside of them, dissolving as the slimes ate away at them. At the center of the mass was a pulsing stone, clear as polished diamond.

"Oozes or slimes?" Kon asked conversationally as he tried to figure out how to kill them. He didn't want to resort to his laser rifle right away, something about evaporating a naturally corrosive creature in enclosed spaces didn't seem smart.

"Slime is a classic, but I think ooze has a peculiar dread to it," Diur said as she looked at her sword and shook her head, resheathing it.

"I don't want to punch these," Kon said as they both continued to stare as the creatures slowly turned and began to move toward them.

"If my reserves weren't so low I wouldn't mind killing them. I think my distance techniques would work well here," Diur said.

"I don't want to blow up acid bundles everywhere. Freeze 'em?" Kon proposed. They both turned to look at the melting bulwarks that kept the cold void of space from entering the facility. With every passing second those protections were slowly whittled away as slimes patrolled around the front of their rift.

"Controlled decompression?" Diur offered.

"Seal up the airlocks and then a charge on one of the outer walls? I'll let Benny know we're going to raid his explosives," Kon said, not able to hide the excitement in his voice as the two of them turned and left the E-Grade rift. He hadn't had a chance to use the explosives, but the satchel charges had been a quick and easy tutorial.

"Benny! We're going to blow up part of the facility," Kon said, keying his mic to the general frequency rather than the personal one he and Diur had been using.

"WHAT?" the old man's voice came back a second later.

"Bunch of acidic oozes at the top of the facility by the E-Grade rift. We're going to seal the area around here and blow one of the walls and suck all of them out into space," Kon said, confidence in his voice about their plan.

"Really?" Benny's voice came back, dripping with scorn. Kon's heart dropped a bit at the old man's evident disdain.

"They're acidic. Everywhere they go they're leaving a corrosive trail so I don't think shooting them is a good idea. Diur is almost out of aura to use her techniques. How would you do it?" Kon asked defensively.

"Hmmm? Oh the plan is fine if a bit rushed. But oozes? They're slimes. They've always been slimes," Benny groused. Kon didn't say anything as he continued to walk, just letting the old man complain about the changing times.

"Just wanted to let you know in case you weren't ready for an explosive decompression," Kon said after letting the old man vent.

"I'm on an abandoned space station that has been ravaged by monsters. Of course I'm ready for an unexpected decompression. I would upgrade your own gear though, especially if you're going to be fighting corrosive monsters," Benny said. Kon signed off with a sigh and changed the comm unit back to Diur's helmet.

"He's fine with it but suggested we upgrade our suits in case of corrosion. Also says we should call them slimes," Kon reported. Diur sighed and shook her head in dismay.

"He has eyes but can't see the obvious. They're oozes," Diur said with finality. Kon shrugged as they worked their way back to the Puca. They passed through the halls of massacred and harvested monsters, the two of them having worked their way through the remnants of the rift monsters over the last several hours. Several bloody bags of monster cores were waiting for them back on the Puca and Kon was letting his mind stray back to that broken down book waiting for him to peruse its pages.

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"Is it weird that I've been really enjoying that history lesson Jurgen gave me? Like a lot. The guy's voice is really boring, but it's relaxing to listen to," Kon asked as they kept walking, working their way through the freshly painted halls, gore still dripping down.

"I've noticed you have them often enough. There's nothing wrong with learning the history of one's people. Admirable in fact," Diur said. She stopped and turned to look at him, her face hidden behind her mask.

"It is another thing to forget you're wearing them when it's communal dinner time. That is rude," Diur said in her normal flat tone before turning and continuing their journey. Kon blushed a bit, glad his tinted helmet kept his face hidden.

"It was one time," he muttered as they made it back to the Puca. They'd already come back multiple times to replace their air canisters and grab fresh supplies. Kon sealed the ramp behind them and moved straight to the armory. He remembered where Benny had shown him where he stored the more durable undersuits. The only issue with them was that they were hot. The thick insulation and multiple micro layers were able to keep the frigid chill of space out, but it kept heat in. Not exactly suitable for heavy fighting.

They stripped, donning the thicker suits without a word. Diur helped Kon with the breastplate first before he reciprocated, both of them fully secured and already sweating.

"The only good thing about this is it comes with its own oxygen," Kon said as he snapped fresh air canisters into his helmet. The suit had its own small bladders that would nearly triple his time without needing to come back to the Puca. He took a few swallows of water, swishing it around his dry mouth before swallowing, putting the canteen back.

Kon grabbed the satchel charge, double checking to make sure it was properly stored with the activation key away from it. He'd asked Benny why it was a mechanical activation rather than an electrical one and the old man had launched into an hour long story about new fangled electronics and how they'd had a habit of accidentally arming when entering or exiting the lanes.

Now Kon was forced to carry around a literal key and a cloth square that had a powerful adhesive on the back that made it excellent for slapping against walls once the protective covering was pulled off. Kon had used them dozens of times in the simulations that Benny made them use to great effect.

"Ready?" Kon asked and Diur simply nodded. The two of them retraced their steps back to the E-Grade rift, neither of them speaking out loud how miserable they were in the heavy suits. Sweat was rolling down Kon like a bath, drenching him even as the layer pressed against his skin wicked away the sweat, storing it in a small bladder that was cleverly built into the small of his back. Worst case scenario he could always drink the filtered sweat.

As they got closer to the rift they started sealing doors, closing hatches, and in general trying to limit how much destruction they were about to do. All of the doors should have been airtight, but the damage the station had taken made Kon doubt that it was still true.

By the time they made it back to the rift, they were both tired of the squeaking, squealing, and sticky doors. Multiple times they'd had to manually drag the doors into place, working heavy locks into place as the electronics had failed. Now they were back to staring at the dozens of near-translucent oozes working their way back and forth.

"Where should I put this?" Kon asked as they looked over the wide hallway that the rift had opened in. It had been a central artery for the station, but now it was just a rusted, corroded, red of ruined metal.

"Far wall, away from us. We'll be able to duck here while it decompresses and then collect the frozen cores," Diur said, slapping her hand against a wall with a loud resounding clang. They both froze as they looked at the offending appendage and the unfamiliar suit that had caused the sound. Together the two of them looked over to the oozes which had stopped their random routes and had begun to turn toward them.

"At least they're slow," Kon said as he tucked the satchel under his arm and raced forward. Instantly the broken floor yielded under his weight, pitching him forward to slam heavily on his face. He kept his iron grip on the bomb, not letting the satchel fly away.

"Let me," Diur said as she danced, aura flickering around her as she leaned down and scooped the satchel out of one hand and the key out of the other. She ran light as a feather across the damaged flooring, weaving between the oozes as she neared the far wall, leaping easily over several slimes to land next to the far wall. Kon grunted in effort as he pulled his boot out of the broken flooring, turning to run back before the oozes reached him.

He risked a look over his shoulder to see Diur rip off the adhesive strip, slapping it on the far wall, inserting the key and turning it to arm the bomb all in one smooth motion. She grabbed the times and twisted it before plunging the timer into the explosive, a loud click echoed over the quiet area, then she was bounding away.

"Get behind cover," Diur chided him as she quickly caught up to him, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him behind the bulkhead before the bomb went off.

"I know, I know. I just wanted to see," Kon was cut off as the bomb detonated.

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