Alpha Centauri

///Cleve’s disappointment in his makeshift desk barrier knows no bounds. The briar beast inside the office is currently squeezing out through the gap at the top of the door frame. Those critters sure can constrict themselves, he reflects. He shouldn’t be so surprised, though, not with the way the other one is oozing out of … Read more

Summoning the xenodragon is just the start of a series of questionable actions I take. Marina cautioned me on how much I should reach out to the planet, but… this is important. Motes of indigo lights are glowing in my eyes and twinkling in my torn up arm. I pull more of them from the … Read more

Given that briar beasts are themselves tangles of brambles, I don’t think that coaxing xenofungus into rough terrain will slow them down very much. Not out in the park, where they’d probably roll right over it. If we have to fall back inside the building, though, it could block up the entrance way. “I’ll see … Read more

///Cleve jogs down the stairs and into the ruins of Dr. Gupta’s main workspace, all the while seriously reconsidering Data Haven’s current security posture. Sure, while Marina is away her two assistants are in charge of keeping the guard briar beast maintained, but what if something were to happen to them? Then Data Haven would … Read more

Marina tries to convince me not to do anything else chironic, but I don’t think she’s in a position to judge the risk levels. She has no personal experience of any of this, she’s just extrapolating from things I’ve described to her. Now, I may not be able to handle half a dozen briar beasts, … Read more

///The only signs of briar beasts that Cleve sees in the research building are the singed fragments from the one he knows is already dead downstairs. The building is clear for now, meaning all active threats remain outside. Barricading the door might be an option, but he’s certainly not going to trap Xiao outside with … Read more

While Cleve clatters around, checking the other few rooms on this floor for briar beasts, I close my eyes and center myself with slow breaths in and out. I sense into the environment, feeling where there are nodes of energy that match my previous experience of briar beast life. It’s easier up here, open to … Read more

I’m in the middle of telling Deirdre about the craw market at Wolf Beetle Hollow when a loud report sounds from the floor below. There’s shooting down where I left Dr. Gupta. And here I am, trapped in this room—I’ve trapped myself here. What was I thinking? Sure, there’s a window, but I can’t even … Read more

///Marina enters the front foyer of her old workplace, gun in hand. This is not how she ever anticipated returning. In truth, she would have been happy to never come back here at all. “Mariah!” she calls out. When there is no immediate response, she tells Cleve that they need to check the downstairs lab. … Read more

///Once there no longer seem to be any briar beasts around, Marina plucks a nearby mintshroom and crushes it under Cleve’s nose, jolting him to full alertness. “Thanks, doc,” he says, as she helps him sit up. She does a quick inspection to confirm that he didn’t suffer a concussion. “What about you?” he asks. … Read more

There is an uncomfortable number of rings before I hear a very tired voice answer the phone. “Uh, this is Deirdre Skye. What’s the emergency waking me up at night?” “Deirdre, it’s Mariah. You remember I’m here, right?” I reply, voice laced with desperation. If this turns into another round of hallucination negotiation, I might … Read more

My first priority once the briar beast has gotten me up the stairs to the ground floor is to locate whatever passes for a phone around here. The front doors of the building are open, but I have no idea where I am, and I’m in no condition to wander around the Garden of Chiron … Read more