webnovel

Biology of Goblins

< Log - Year 90,510 - January 26th >

Progress has been made. The hole to the surface has been bore, now all I need to do... is to take the first step. I am nervous. Very nervous. But... Vulcan will be with me, he is my strongest drone and in any situation he should be able to protect me from most harm, but just to be prepared I will equip a bio-hazard suit reinforced with Grim Alloy.

According to reports, there seems to be some form of mammalian life 1-2 miles away from the entrance, if they are human or have developed any form of sentience then I will have a Drone reprogrammed to translate any language it might of developed. I will then politely ask for one or more to become a live sample for biological study... preferably one male and one female... if they are hostile, then I will have Vulcan capture them with non-lethal methods... they must live.

< End Log >

Lua began preparing. Earlier she had made a list of nearly everything... things that could go wrong, things that can go right, negative variables, positive variables... it was an endless laundry list of things to prepare for, but she loved it.

First was bio-chemical threats, spores and bacteria would be a game ender as her body has likely not adapted to the outside world's bacteria, so she prepared a suit to protect her against it and relocated a anti-bacterial chamber from deeper within her base to the forefront. She would cleanse herself everytime she would leave and enter the facility.

Second was hostile wildlife, for that... she enlisted the help of ' Vulcan '. The repurposed war drone that served as her security force within the facility, she would have to leave the base relatively un-guarded but frankly she was more important.

Vulcan was an black humanoid machine, it's color so deep and polished that it could only be described as ' Void Black '. This wasn't it's only color however, and that was quickly proven when Lua activated Vulcan's Combat form.

Between the black alloy that made up the 'muscle' of the machine, a violent blood red ominously shined slowly illuminating the containment chamber.

" Vulcan Online " sputtered the death machine, it's robotic voice reminded Lua that this machines did speak... it wasn't often they exchanged words, she usually commanded them remotely with her tablet... but it would probably be more effective to use her voice for this series of events.

Lua, in response, simply said " Good morning, Vulcan. Ready to begin investigation of the surface? "

Lua was already suited up for the journey ahead, she lead Vulcan towards the cleaning chamber that sealed off the bunker from the world. Vulcan hummed with energy, it wasn't intelligent but it wasn't dumb either. It begin testing each of it's mechanics and checking all of it's functions... when that was done, Vulcan responded.

" Confirmed. I will follow. "

Lua smiled, Vulcan was her favorite Drone... after all, she made Drones for war... that was her intention at least, but she eventually had to stop production of the war models, it was complicated laws she didn't understand at the time... but, the governments at least let her keep Vulcan.

So, fashioned and cleaned for the journey, Lua made haste along with her metal friend.

The surface was bright, it's light nearly making it's way straight to the bunker's slight slant towards the surface... or rather, it was likely just the position of the sun... brighter than Lua remembered though.

The loose and damp dirt built up on Lua's Grim Alloy boots, though it wasn't important enough to gain her attention. She had just made sight with a tree. As she peered out of the large hole that was bore from the earth, she saw a sight that reminded her of what life was.

The sunset warmed the Grim Alloy suit she wore just as Lua peered at trees rustling from a nearly constant light breeze, the shadows of the leaves leaving spots of light upon her suit... she noticed animals, small rodents and birds, she took a moment to appreciate that life has recovered.

Her prime directive was biological samples, but that could wait for now. While Vulcan was already surveying the surrounding forest for signs of human life, Lua was laying in the shade of a particularly large oak tree.

Eventually, that time came to an end. Vulcan approached Lua with a few simple words... " Humanoid life is nearby carrying rudimentary weapons. Shall we pursue for samples? "

Lua opened one eye at Vulcan, with a heavy sigh she leapt from the ground and simply replied " Yes... Let me approach first. " leading Vulcan to say " Confirmed. "

Vulcan lead her through the brush of the forest for about half a mile, it wasn't far from the hole either... these humanoids could of potentially been intrigued by the noise of the drilling, but either way Lua was excited to finally find some humanoid creatures.

With a tad bit of stealth, Lua and Vulcan concealed themselves behind trees and bushes as she looked upon the humanoids... she was horrified.

Green skin, ugly faces, sharp teeth, an outrageous gut with the boniest skin she could imagine, they were shorter than even children... Lua and Vulcan were just within earshot of this posse of monsters.

Vulcan spoke through an earpiece worn by Lua, " Their weapons are stained with blood of other humanoid subjects, their teeth suggest a completely carnivorous diet. Their body structure suggests incest within the species, though more importantly... they aren't the only humanoid there. Look towards the right most tree in the group. "

' A girl. ' Lua thought, her eyes were place directly on a thin human female... only difference was her ears and potentially body structure... she wore rudimentary wooden armor, but that seems to have been proven ineffective as the stone weapons of the green skinned humanoids have broken it.

" Name the subjects. " said Vulcan through the earpiece.

Lua thought about the fantasy book, and the characters inside... they were described similarly to these humanoids... and so she decided to take their names.

" Those with the green skin are to be refered to as ' Goblins ', while the female will be refered to as ' Elf. ' Capture one Goblin, eliminate the rest. Can you tell if the Elf is still breathing? "

Vulcan judged the specimen with his mechanical eyes, and simply nodded at Lua.

Lua nodded back.

" Begin. "

" Confirmed. "

What followed was quick and violent, Vulcan's feet propelled him towards the green skins with a jet like ferocity, his hands were kept close towards his head... and just as he made the distance, let loose a blow into the closest Goblin.

The Goblin was taken by surprise, it didn't have much time to think about it's situation before it lost that ability. The punch Vulcan made completely removed the head of the Goblin, exploding with thick and voracious blood and viscera now decorating the landscape after sliding off of Vulcan.

Then, another. Vulcan was swift and brutal, this time a swift kick to the stomach of another nearby specimen. This blow left the Goblin without a chest, it separated the top and lower half of the ugly creature leaving it's remains spilt over the Alloy foot.

5 were left, in horror they looked as their comrades were now beyond dead, their corrupt smiles now turned into a sour scowl. They didn't remain long, Vulcan never gave even a moment of time were he wasn't actively attacking.

With a boosted launch, he reached out and grabbed the head of another subject as he slowly made his way to the being that Lua labeled as ' Elf. ' it was conscious, and looking on in a mixture of desperate excitement disgusted horror while clutching a bloodied wound as Vulcan crushed the Goblin's head and using the corpse as a flail to slam another into the ground. A dent was made in the earth.

The three remaining attempted to flee, two were easily grabbed and disposed of before they could all make even the slightest of distance away. The last one was to be captured.

With a quick dash to catch up, Vulcan grabbed the Goblin by the shoulder preventing it from moving... it snarled and stabbed at the hand only to have the crude stone weapon break upon touching Vulcan's Alloy Body. Vulcan's other hand was placed upon the Goblin's throat, through a small pump within the palm Vulcan released a coma inducing chemical agent, it was similar in property to chloroform but significantly quicker in action.

The Goblin twitched and struggled, but after a minute... it fell helpless to the gas. Vulcan dragged the unconscious being towards Lua who now revealed herself to the ' Elf ' who was now in total disbelief, she desperately clung to the wound as Lua approached as she judged the Woman clad in an endlessly black metal.

Just as Lua made it towards the Elf and reach out towards her, she collapsed. She was still breathing and alive, but she may need some medical attention. Vulcan now was tasked with double duty, he now had to carry the ugliest thing he has ever seen and a female bleeding on him... despite being a relatively simple A.I., Vulcan sighed to himself... but, he had to listen to Lua... and so he carried the two new humanoids back towards

' What a wonderful first day on the surface '

< Log Data - Grim Alloy >

Grim Alloy is an impossibly black metal that actively resists force unlike other material that only does so passively.

It has a hardness scale of 9 when tested against other materials, it's biochemically cohesive towards other subjects of Grim Alloy, acting like glue, when two subjects of Grim Alloy are placed together with enough force and varying magnetic compulsion, the subjects become one.

It's uniqueness stems from it's origin, as opposed to traditional metals and alloys Grim Alloy is a biochemical output of ' Reaper ' micro-bacteria that was subjected to genetic modification in both active and passive forms.

A generation of ' Reaper ' bacteria will split twice in it's lifespan to a new generation, after which it is terminated by other subjects of ' Reaper ' bacteria. This process allows for quick evolution of genetically superior bacteria to form, therefore a superior product.

The creation of Grim Alloy is similar to a symbiotic relationship found in some species of animals, the micro-bacteria barely requires energy and nutrients due to a lack of nearly every form of energy use, it cannot move and cannot feed on smaller particles for energy... it relies on the naturally generated heat and particles that gather upon the Grim Alloy.

The ' Reaper ' micro-bacteria cannot survive without the alloy as a shelter and food source, it's natural heat fends off many predators of micro-bacteria such as normal bacteria as well as transfers stored energy and heat to feed the specimens located upon it.

The Micro-bacteria actively consume and adjust the metal to suit their needs, with each generation becoming slightly more advanced and efficient in this process called ' culling '.

While culling is underway, the metal stores the absorbed energy of the bacteria attempting to consume and adjust it, after time relating to the mass of the body of metal... the metal is adjusted to fit the next generation of bacteria while also becoming stronger and more adsorbent of energy.

The bacteria can consume any form of plastics, metals, and synthetic material and produce Grim Alloy, though it is rare for this to develop. It is natural that before a large enough body is transformed into Grim Alloy to provide enough heat and energy, the bacteria is either eaten or killed due to it's lack of energy.

< End Log >

Next chapter