Arcanids

"Arcanids are an arachnid family creature. They are rather large with bodies that grow up to approximately four feet or one and a half meters. They have eight limbs of various length and size, and are poisonous. It is said that any flesh creature caught in its mandibles will not die instantly, but suffer a tremendous ailment before finally succumbing to their injuries. Largely territorial, arcanids will attack any who come into the vicinity of their nests."

–Entomology of Helix-One

If there's one thing Sio knew Auburn hated, it was arcanids. Sio, by far, was not a fan herself. They were terrifying creatures, with mandibles the size of Sio's arm. They overran the research station a few years back, Auburn had stated. There wasn't much any person could do about arcanids taking over unless they were trained exterminators, but even then those creatures were formidable. Sio remembered her grandmother saying how she had nearly lost a good friend to an aracnids' venom. He had stumbled upon a nest while mining and got stung by a mother protecting its eggs. She said it was such a horrible thing to watch, but did not go into much detail. Sio supposed it was because it was too gruesome. 

Salt miners, in addition to being equipped with mining gear, also carried paralytic stunners just in case they were to ever encounter such a creature, as well as an emergency dose of anti-venom. Despite their danger, however, it was expected that these creatures remain protected. Sio had asked her grandmother why that was and she stated it was because their venom could be used to make medicines. 

"What do we do?" asked Sio. Auburn readied his exosuit to enter again. He opened his comms to Otheyo. 

*Auburn, what is it?*

"Survey data of the land is corrupted, I need to get to the research station."

*That means facing those things, Auburn. Exterminators can't do much about them without killing them.*

"I'm aware, Otheyo. But we're not finding anything scouting blind."

*I can't risk sending anyone, we've already suffered tremendous losses.* Otheyo sounded tired. 

"I have an idea to get around them, but I'll need those heat packs." Auburn waited for Otheyo to say something, but he was silent for some time. 

*I'll send a crate to the station via drone. Good luck.* His voice crackled and dissipated from the comm before coming back on again. *Don't take the girl.*

"Wasn't planning on it, sir." Then the comms flickered off. Sio was not pleased. She stood and faced Auburn who was already in his exosuit preparing a path to the station. 

"You're going to go alone?" She said, a testy tone to her voice. Auburn nodded. He pointed to the village with his chin. 

"Do not follow me. Head to the mines. If I'm not back in two hours, call Otheyo." His commands left no room to negotiate. Sio didn't like it. Auburn seemed to notice her chagrin. "I wouldn't do this if I wasn't confident I was coming back."

"That's what my grandmother said." Sio said with a bite. "Did she come back?" 

Auburn said nothing, but it was clear Sio had struck a chord. Auburn knelt and met Sio's eyes. His face was taut. Then barely above a whisper he spoke. 

"Going after me will only cause me more danger." At this Sio stilled. A cold feeling spread into her chest from her legs and her head felt like it was spinning. Stiffly, Sio went back to her exosuit and made for the mines. If this was what Auburn wanted, it would have to be. She was not going to be the reason he ended up dead. 

–

Algodon wanted nothing more than to be back on his ship's resonance chamber charging up. But here he was, tied up to the side of a wall or, more precisely, webbed up. Because his body was made of hard minerals, effectively making him immune to most poisons, the creatures' secondary defense was to keep spitting out webbing until he was immobile and thoroughly embarrassed. 

Of all the ways to die, he thought. He struggled once more to get free from the webbing to no avail, but he did manage to free some of his head where he could see the room more clearly. He had entered through the front door, naturally. There weren't any security turrets nor cameras that he could see. The door was a typical hand scanner that he easily bypassed using skills he thought wouldn't be needed in a backwater place such as this. But surprise, surprise. He was using everything in his arsenal to stay alive and get his mission complete. Currently he was trying to meditate on a way down from this infuriating position. 

Something moved in the corner of his eye and he braced for another creature to come out from nowhere and spray his face with more poison, but saw instead a warming pack thump on the ground next to the door. Spider-like creatures immediately came running in, mandibles clicking and taunting the pack on the floor. When the pack was fully surrounded Algodon heard something buzzing and saw two electrified nets encompassing all the creatures, stunning them as they crumpled to the floor. A few moments later a man walked in, clothed in mining gear and bearing a launcher already prepped with several more nets. The mask he was wearing covered his face, but Algodon could guess the surprise when he suddenly raised the launcher toward Algodon on the wall. 

Algodon wanted to scream, but unfortunately those creatures had webbed his mouth shut. He tried desperately to wave the man down in hopes to signal that he was friendly, but he was sure he looked more like a threat wiggling through the thick webs. In his distress he didn't notice that the man had stepped towards him with a knife and began to cut him down. Once free, Algodon went to remove the sealant from his mouth but the man stopped him and wordlessly pointed to a pack clipped on the side of his belt and then to the other room. Algodon understood. The creatures were heat and noise sensitive. Algodon saw the man take the pack from his side and move silently toward the room opposite of them, then in one fluid motion opened the door, threw the heat pack towards the creatures and threw something else in after them. Then closing the door, he motioned to Algodon to move toward the other room where he came from. The man closed the door behind them, then pressed a button that locked the other side from opening. 

The man stared at Algodon looking him up and down, then with a low voice said, "You're not supposed to be here."

Algodon took the webbing off of his face then replied in a similarly low voice, "But I'm so glad you are, dear man." 

"What are you doing here?" The masked man asked, not acknowledging Algodon's witty remark. 

"Research." Was his reply. It wasn't untrue, but clearly the man standing before him expected a more expressive answer. When he didn't say anything more, the man simply pointed to the other door. 

"Out." Was all the man said, but Algodon did not budge. 

"I cannot do that I'm afraid. I have some geological research to find." Algodon said. The other man pointed his launcher toward the door behind Algodon.

"Out or through there with the arcanids. Your choice." The masked man did have a point, but Algodon had something else to offer.

"You're a fleshy creature, are you not?" Algodon said. The other man was growing impatient. 

"What are you getting at?" he asked. 

"What I mean is– if these things, these arcanids, get their mandibles on you, you're in trouble right?"

"Go on." 

"I'm immune to whatever poison they throw at me, only their webs can stop me, but you–" Algodon pointed at his knife and tools, " –need to keep your distance." Algodon waited for his reasoning to sink in, before offering, "I can be your distraction while you get whatever you need, while you keep watch as I get whatever I need."

"Fine. But you only want geological data, what's so valuable here that we don't already report to the Unison?"

Algodon was unsure of what to say next. The Unison was the collective information of the Magisterium, Council of Judges, and Royal Lineage reported by all scientific outposts. It made sure all information was made public when it came to scientific discoveries as a mutual way to ensure global technological advances, but societies often kept their own tiers of accessibility. Algodon's own society was as such. But he didn't have time to explain the idiosyncrasies of his government with a stranger. He evidently was not part of the oligarchy in charge of the information managed by foreign societies, but he'd rather not imply that he was breaking the law to be here… that was breaking the galactic law. He's fairly certain that he had broken several local laws against trespassing just being where he was now. No, it was best for Algodon to keep his mission a secret. 

"Several articles of information were corrupted a while back, I was sent here to clarify the geological properties of Helix-One." Algodon said. It wasn't a complete lie in his book.

"Why not send an inquiry through the Unison interface? Surely that would have been more effective…and safer for you, at least."

"I needed the information rather quickly, you see. My outpost relies heavily on data streams to remain profitable, you surely know how that is. I figured coming myself would save time and resources." It was a stretch, Algodon was sure. But he didn't have any other excuse lined up. The stranger only hummed his agreement. Algodon let out his own hum. He was very lucky indeed.

"Alright, just keep close." Said the stranger as he prepared another heat pack and readied his launcher. Algodon inclined his head toward the door, urging the stranger to take the lead, then promptly followed after. The stranger repeated his method of throwing a heat pack into the empty space then targeting the arcanids who attacked it. It seemed these creatures were not the smartest of the Composer's creations, much to the relief of Algodon. The stranger pointed towards the next room and urged Algodon to go first this time. Algodon did not like that one bit, but he did make a deal to be this stranger's walking talking shield. He just wished it wasn't so soon. 

Algodon complied and walked into the next room carefully avoiding the stunning traps the stranger seemed to have set before their encounter. They continued onward like that for a while until coming upon a hallway. It was dimly lit by emergency lights and Algodon was sure he saw skittering near the end of it. He turned to the stranger and wordlessly asked which way. The stranger pointed with his launcher straight down the hall, much to the displeasure of Algodon. Of course it would be at the end of the hall. They continued. 

Algodon moved as silently as he could, but it took much effort. His companion on the other hand was quite adept at moving without a sound. It perplexed Algodon. He was carrying a great deal and surely couldn't see all that well with the mask he was wearing, but the stranger made sneaking about look easy. So far they made it to the end of the hall without incident. 

Algodon peeked into the windows lining the hallway into the rooms parallel to the hall and noted there were many mineral scanners about. Before the place was shut down, it was clearly equipped for more than standard surveying. These facilities housed just the information Algodon needed, he was sure of it.