Chapter 5: The first dot

A steampunk carriage rumbled down the cobblestone streets of Olstrum, its copper plated wheels clattering against uneven stones. Powered by a compact steam engine at its rear, the vehicle emitted soft puffs of white vapour that curled into the cool evening air. Behind it was a second non-powered trailer being towed by it.

It's wide, open sides were covered with retractable canvas awnings now rolled up to reveal rows of benches filled with the street children and homeless individuals Charlotte had traumatised days prior. Their faces were a mix of exhaustion and cautious hope, their tattered clothes a stark contrast to the gleaming machinery surrounding them.

Ayaan hurried down the same streets, her boots clicking against the stones as she balanced a large wicker basket on her hip. The basket was piled high with loaves of freshly baked bread, their golden crusts still warm and giving off a comforting aroma that mingled with the metallic tang of steam in the air. The carriage was a mere five metres from her as she strolled along.

For a moment everything was alright, calm, living streets with the hum of steampunk innovation. Within spur of a moment, a subtle tremor hit the area. It shook everything around Ayaan and she felt it clear as day. Something underneath them had caused it, attentively she stared at the ground while everyone else went on by their business like it was nothing.

The calm was shattered in an instant.

As the carriage rolled over a manhole cover, the iron lid suddenly burst upwards propelled by an unearthly force. A monstrous hiss echoed through the streets, and a massive, insect-like limb shot out from below, digging into the the edge of the manhole.

The surrounding surface of the manhole cover shattered and sunk under like a coldron was under formation, and out emerged a drider. A creature that stood at an imposing five meters tall, a grotesque yet fascinating fusion of human and funnel-web spider. Its torso was vaguely humanoid, with feminine, narrow shoulders leading to broad hips that descended down to a giant abdomen, but its skin was covered in a hard, chitinous exoskeleton that gleamed a deep, glossy black, broken only by faint red markings that resembled veins. The exoskeleton segmented at the joints of its eight limbs, allowing for fluid movement despite its monstrous size. It's giant abdomen almost throbbing with three minions it had lurching onto it.

The other three were somehow more grotesque as the only human bit about them were their legs, otherwise everything else resembled a funnel-web spider, but they were much smaller, no taller than six feet.

Quickly, the larger one ripped open the two carriages and the four began devouring everyone inside. The scene was chaos, a cacophony of screams, hissing steam and the clutter of fleeting foot steps. The incident had happened in an instant, the force of it all sending debris flying shattering windows, and scattering gears, pipes and chunks of metal across the streets. A thick cloud of steam billowed outward, engulfing the area in a hot, suffocating fog.

The shrieks of the creatures were otherworldly, guttural, gurgling sounds mixed with sharp, clicking noises as if their vocal cords were grinding gears and snapping bones. The wet, visceral sounds of feeding added to the nightmare, flesh tore with a sickening rip, like fabric being shredded but heavier, more organic. The creatures' chelicerae snapped and crunched, their teeth meeting bone with a series of sharp, splintering cracks.

From the fog, a small figure emerged, crawling slowly and painfully on the cobblestones. It was a young girl, no older than ten, her face streaked with soot and tears, he clothes tattered and dump from the moisture in the air. Her skin was a patchwork of angry red burns, some of them blistering and raw, particularly on her arm and the sides of her head. She was crying, hroaning in pain rather. Her hands, scraped and bleeding from crawling, trembled as she dragged herself foward, each movement clearly agonising.

Suddenly, one of the smaller driders jumped out of the steam and pounced on her. It wasted no time and sank it's venom dripping fangs into the sides of her neck. All she could do is look up and foward in terror, as people ran further and further away from her and scene altogether. Her body quickly began to shrivel, she deflated fast like a balloon and soon she was no more, than skin and bones.

As soon as all the passengers of the carriage were no more, two residents appear on the edge of a building facing the death scene. The fog was slowly clearing up, the driders sucking out the last bits of life left from their victims. One of the two, a farmiliar character wielded two reverse curved daggers by her hips while other, a gent, had dual axes on his back.

The two jumped off the building simultaneously, the axe wielder flipping once before using the momentum of the motion to forcefully throw his axes at two of the smaller driders. On pierced through one of their heads splitting it in half and pinning it onto the cobblestone. The second dissected the arm of his other target, it was about to shriek in pain when he landed directly on its cephalothorax, forcing it to the ground with a thud. He then casually picked his axe off the ground next to to him and hacked its head, ending it right there.

Meanwhile, the second resident was free falling towards the giant's mouth. About six feet to its chelicerae, she released green glowing grenades into its mouth. She then quickly used her hands to flip over its fangs and fall adjacent to its cephalothorax, upon reaching its abdomen, she unsheathed her daggers and dug them into it. The blades, so sharp that she cut through its flesh, sliding down like organic paper, ripping holes through it. The creature shrieked as green hemolymph oozed out of it. Upon reaching the ground she dove back as she threw two more grenades into the wounds she had created, leaving her falling back with the safety pins.

The creature turned to her aggressively angered by her actions clearly with murderous intent but, boom! The grenades in its abdomen exploded and reached the ones she'd ealier dropped into its mouth, further increasing the size of the explosion. Its cephalothorax was flung about five feet into the air while it's abdomen was reduced to almost nothing. The remains fell back onto the ground, half charred, half still wet and bleeding.

The last one, the child killer had finished its prey, the little girl was at that point a frame of her former self. It then turned towards a woman about four meters to Ayaan's right. Ayaan saw it all, she saw the little girl, her mummified body? "Quite familiar to..."She thought before the creature interrupted her monologue as it hissed at the lady," Shit!" She looked around and spotted two knives inside a fruit vendor's store, quickly, she armed herself.

Her agile nature allowed her to work fast, she threw one of the knives at the creature hitting it mid air and forcing it aside, down to the ground and toppling over. She ran to the woman and stood in front of her before yelling, "Run!"

This action snapped her out of her fear induced trance and she did as told. The creature got up on its feet, the blade having pinned it's right arm to its face. It slowly slid it out of its face but the knives still poked through it's arm, that mattered not as it's next cause of action was to pounce at Ayaan. She however was vigilant, she saw it coming and dashed by its right swinging the second blade at its bleeding arm, chopping it off and flinging it into the air. Before the limb fell back down, she had pulled out the knife. The green hemolymph dripping from the tip of the blade. The two turned back at each other and she immediately leaped towards it as she span like a buzz saw slicing through it.

Upon landing on the ground, half its cephalothorax slid off its body and got pasted onto the ground by gravity, painting it in green. It's remains then followed suit, falling lifelessly. She looked at her arms, covered in the green ooze, squinted her eyes and crumpled her face in disgust. Waving them trying to get the slime off of her.

"Hey!" Called the axe wielder. She turned to him as he went on to say, "You're pretty good."

Before she could say anything, the second one walked up to them and said, "I've seen you before, aren't you from school? What're you doing here, unsuited?"

It was too soon for her to go over what had transpired in school, the folk there weren't always the nicest. There was a high chance she'd get severely mocked if she informed them that she'd been discontinued, so, she began conjuring up a lie.

Just before she spewed it, a scream came from just beyond a corner those streets, it seemed someone else was in danger.

"We have no time for this, come on!" Called the dagger wielder, the two dashed off leaving her there smiling. Much as their questions were harsh reminders, she was glad she was able to save a life, she was able to fulfil her duty as...a plague doctor? Maybe she wasn't a failure, maybe she had actual talent, maybe she should have sent an appeal to the Chief Surgeon, and that she did.

Back at the Plague Medical School, Charlotte flung Dr Willem's office door open and strode in breathing fumes of hot air. The door's momentum was enough to shut itself.

"You let the orcs and elves go?!" She asked, her voice sharp and biting. She took a step foward reaching his desk, placing her hands on it, boots clicking against the floor.

Dr Willem leaned back in his chair, his arms resting lightly on the armrest. His expression was calm, almost infuriatingly so, as he met her gaze without flinching, "Yes, yes I did. What's it to you?"

"They were fugitives of war!" Her voice rose, her claws digging into the ironwood desk.

"They were harmless trespassers that were caught within our borders, rotting away in our containment cells. It was both a waste of resources and unnecessary torture." His voice was firm, each syllable measured and deliberate.

"So you let them go like you did those peasants," she said, the quiet intensity of her tone would have been unsettling for most, yet Willem stared back, unshaken.

"I gave them their freedom Charlotte, they're people just like us. Who deserve rights and freedoms, just like we do," he said leaning foward, his armed still rested gently on the chair.

She scuffled sarcastically then said in condescension, "You...you actually think they're human."

"I think they're PEOPLE, sentient and with just as much significance upon this earth as you and I. Also, let's not pretend like being human ever stopped you from inflicting harm or conducting vile experiments. I can imagine what you had in store for them who weren't,"

"Again, there was no rule against it until YOU prohibited us from doing so without the boards permission!" She she exhaled sharply.

"Permision? I am Chief Surgeon, I do not NEED anyone's permission. You are my subordinate, you will do what I want when I want it, no questions asked, am I clear?" He asked, his voice like a growl rising in volume. His eyes glaring at hers.

"Crystal...Chief Surgeon," she said in a blank stare. She had a face that lingered in your memory long after she wad gone, not because she was conventionally attractive but rather because of its striking uniqueness. Her features were elongated giving her an almost otherworldly look: a long slender nose that tapered at the tip, high cheeks bones that seemed to stretch the skin taut and a sharp yet elegant jawline. Her face was a sculpture chiseled by an artist for the unconventional.

"Good, now leave my office," he commanded her as he looked away at his files and paperwork.

She turned and began striding away, upon reaching the door however, he added, "And Charlotte?"

She stopped, didn't say a word but waited for his next utterance.

"If you burst into my office again like this, you will be dismissed from duty. Permanently," he said to her unclipping some papers and perusing throught them. After he was done, she opened the door and left.