I didn't know how to respond. Amelia hadn't come out and said that whoever stole the cybernetics was to blame for what happened to her, but a stab of guilt ran through me all the same.

Then again, there was every chance that her asshole of a father would have experimented on her eventually, regardless. Especially if the 'upgrade' could have helped her perform better as his assistant.

Still…

I hastily refocused on the files.

The next one I opened was for the Unseen Stalker. I blinked at the hand-drawn sketch I found there. The Shadow Runner file had frankly excessive photographic material to back up every claim it made. So, it was a bit odd to get only a couple drawings for the Stalker, even if highly detailed.

The creature they depicted stooped a little. It had a sinuous tail, digitigrade legs, and arms long enough to drag on the ground. It seemed able to stand upright or on all fours. Its body was fully covered in smooth, light grey scales. Overall, it resembled an odd mix between a cat and a lizard, leaning more towards the former than the latter.

The only exception was the creature's face. It had a large, toothy maw, and that was it.

No nose. No eyes. Not even ears.

Subject Name: Unseen Stalker

Classification: A class physical threat

Basic Subject Information:

For as long as the Rift has existed, the Unseen Stalkers have been a fixture among the extra-dimensional entities appearing from within it. Unlike the Behemoths or even the Slicers, the body of a Stalker is not particularly imposing. They are stronger than a peak condition human, of course, but their threat rating does not come from their physical might.

What earned them an A classification is their formidable stealth and their dogged pursuit of all non-eldritch life within their sensory field. This field, as far as we can tell, covers approximately 10,000 square meters in every direction, with the Stalker as the point of origin.

This makes it nearly impossible for anyone to conceal themselves from these apex predators. All operatives in the field expecting contact with extra-dimensional entities are recommended to include a specialized detection kit among their standard equipment, since typical sensors and eye cybernetics often fail to catch Stalkers in time for operatives to react.

The reason why Stalkers are not classified in the deadlier S category of extra-dimensional entities is their relative physical frailty. Prepared teams who do manage to detect a Stalker in time will find it moderately easy to dispatch the creature.

Additional Notes:

The name of the Unseen Stalkers is derived both from their physicality and their behavioral patterns.

The bodies of Stalkers resemble a mirage more than flesh. They blend flawlessly into any environment and cause headaches, nausea, and hallucinations when forcefully observed. The effect is entirely visual. We have confirmed they do in fact possess actual physical bodies, covered by whatever persistent effect they emit.

Regarding behavior, the Stalkers seem to loathe coming under direct observation. They will do everything in their power to eliminate anyone trying to subject them to it.

Some of our scientists even postulate that the Stalkers hunt all non-eldritch life forms precisely because they do not wish to be 'observed.' This argument, however, does not account for the fact that the Stalkers have not shown any particular hostility to other corporeal extra-dimensional entities.

It should also be noted that Stalkers are active predominantly at night. Darkness enhances their stealth even further. The creatures themselves also seem to be highly sensitive to light, to the point that extreme exposure to powerful light sources burns them.

I furrowed my brow at all the info. I wasn't exactly unhappy with all that the Unseen Stalker package offered me, but I was a little bummed out that I hadn't gotten any of the creatures' amazing sensory abilities.

Luckily, I also seemed not to have inherited the Stalkers' propensity for killing anyone who tried to look at me. Not immediately, anyway. Though… my newfound dislike of light was definitely a red flag in that direction. If I ever felt particularly murder-y for no reason, I'd know what to look out for.

With that, I opened the final file. The file belonging to the creature Amelia's arms were sourced from.

What popped up on my screen was the most humanoid creature of the lot so far. Its skin was greenish, sure. But it had eyes, a mouth with actual lips, and even a nose! Not even Shadow Buddy had a nose, poor thing.

The 'Demented Medic' also looked like something out of a horror movie, though.

It was uncomfortably gaunt, far more than shadows. Its 'hair' looked more like strips of dried, green skin, flayed right off its skull. It wore a long, loose-sleeved 'dress' that fully covered its legs from view and dragged on the ground.

Except the dress was crafted out of skin. By all appearances, the creature's own skin. The flowy 'sleeves' left behind exposed, dried muscles. The 'skirt' looked artfully stitched together, but it was still, undeniably, made from leathery skin.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

How the creature had enough skin on its legs to make an entire sweeping skirt, I didn't know. Nor did I care to find out.

Just as disturbing were the pictures and videos of the creatures' hands. They all showed off the process of fingers twisting and transforming into various surgical tools, some of which I couldn't even figure out the use of.

Subject name: Demented Medic

Classification: S class physical threat

Basic Subject Information:

Demented Medics are one of the rarest and most dangerous threats a field operative can come across on corrupted worlds. They are now part of the introductory briefings for all field operatives. No one is allowed to deploy until they can consistently recognize a Demented Medic and list all the known effective ways to neutralize it. Training initiatives are also in the works to solidify this knowledge.

The threat of these extra-dimensional entities is insidious because they seem instinctually drawn to the wounded. Whenever they do encounter a wounded operative, they appear eager to provide aid. They exhibit no aggression, and their work outclasses any ripper we have on staff. We have recordings of them bringing back to life, and full functionality, people who were considered dead.

But the Demented Medics never stop there. Their work quickly escalates from 'fixing' someone to altering them beyond all recognition. They can play with flesh like putty, and they are determined to make as many 'improvements' as their available material allows. This 'material' can be sourced from human remains, extra-dimensional entity remains, and — if nothing else is available — the living members belonging to either classification.

The creations of Medics are always deadly, difficult to put down, and can have any number of odd biological abilities. We have noted everything from near instantaneous regeneration at the cost of biomass, to poisons and viral attacks, to a wide variety of natural armor. No two creations of a Demented Medic are the same. All but the incomplete ones deserve an S class physical threat ranking in one way or another.

The Medics themselves are relatively easy to dispatch in comparison. They boast incredible levels of toughness and physical regeneration, but even when harmed, they will never personally retaliate. Their ability to project force relies entirely on their creations, which are always drawn to cluster around the Medic that made them.

The hostility of Demented Medic creations varies. Some share their creator's placidity, while others are eager to hunt down any living creature that dares come near their master, be they humans or extra-dimensional entities.

On the few rare occasions when a world has been invaded by a sizable population of Demented Medics, its end is invariable: the Medics will eventually transform all available life forms into a single organism of inter-connected flesh that covers the entire surface of the planet. No discernible function of the organism has been detected yet, though similarities between the worlds which have fallen in this manner have been noted.

Landing on these worlds is not recommended. The resulting superorganism has been noted to devour life forms and grow, even without further input from Medics.

The Demented Medics are the only life forms left wandering such worlds. Even if they are eliminated, the superorganism will persist. Planetary bombardment has proven incapable of destroying the superorganisms, due to their incredible regenerative abilities and resistance to all forms of damage.

Warning:

Human victims of Demented Medics are sometimes known to maintain part of their memories and even a sense of self. In spite of this, they are just as fully under the thrall of the Medic that altered them as any other Medic creation.

Hostility among these cases also varies. Some will beg for rescue, some will placidly allow their former comrades to leave, and some will attack with exaggerated bloodlust. So far, no correlation has been found between the personality profiles of the victims in our databases and the reactions of the resultant Medic creations.

I admit that, by this point, I was hooked.

It was like watching an accident go down in real time. I knew I should look away, but I couldn't force myself to, drawn in by a macabre sense of curiosity.

At least, that's my explanation for why I clicked on the file containing the records of various Medic-crafted creatures.

"I found it!" Amelia's excited cry almost made me lash out at her with my claws, considering I was knee-deep in disturbing images.

"You found what?"

"Information on Essence! You were right, my father does have a bunch of stuff on it. I had to really dig deep and then rifle through a bunch of nonsense, because he hid it in a file with tax information of all things, but that's how I knew something was fishy. He always made me do taxes. He didn't have a reason to keep those records among his private files."

For a moment, I felt an undeniable sense of comradeship with Amelia as my mind flashed back to Catill and his demands. Then excitement won over. I scooted closer to her so we could both look at her scroll.

I felt kind of tempted to download the info to my eyes again, but I didn't want to intrude on her scroll and privacy again so soon after my last misstep. Besides, she was soft and warm, and I liked that.

Sue me.

"See? There's a whole intro here and everything." She started scrolling slowly so I could read along.

Essence, alone, makes all our sins and mistakes nearly worth the price we paid for them. It is the next step of evolution. The force that will allow us to rebuild our civilization, stronger and better than before.

Some can now access this new form of energy instinctually, drawing on it with nearly no effort. However, I am here to tell you that you have no reason to despair. Whether you were blessed with natural talent or not, the Path of Essence is not barred to you. You will need to put in far more effort than those with natural talent, but if you do, the Essence will give its secrets up to you.

All you must do is commune with the world around you.

I'll be honest. For just a moment, it was hard to stop my eye from twitching and my lips from curling in distaste.

This did not sound like a precise, scientific treatise on the use of Essence. It felt more like something out of a Terran religious text.

"Please tell me there's something more useful on the subject hidden somewhere in the data?"

"Well…. yes and no? There's a ton of data to back everything up and prove it's not nonsense. We even have diagrams showing the effects of Essence on a body, for example. However…"

Amelia sheepishly scrolled through the text until she got to the 'initial exercise' recommendation.

Which, as it turned out, was meditation. Lots and lots of meditation while playing certain music and focusing on various images and concepts. Which was supposed to let you do… something, in order to become 'aware' of the 'Essence drifting through the world around you'.

I groaned and threw my head back on the couch. "That's it? No step-by-step guide for how to interface your cybernetics with Essence or something?"

"Sadly, no." And did she really have to sound so fucking amused? "I'm afraid we're going to be spending a lot of time together, thinking deep thoughts and humming."

I opened my eyes to glare into her dancing green orbs, then huffed.

Spending time with her didn't exactly sound like an imposition. The good doctor's daughter had been pleasant company so far, after all.

"Ughhh, fine. Let's try it out."

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