After the man had tossed me in the dark room, I got up as fast as I could to chase him, but before I could, the door slammed shut. The room was pitch-black, and the only source of light was the tiny amount coming in from the closed door. I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, and staying alert for anything. I had thought about using the flashlight on my pistol, but thought against it since whatever was in here may be sensitive to light. As my eyes started to make out details in the darkness, I could see that the walls were mostly flat, and the room was fairly large. When I was looking up at the ceiling, I spotted a square opening, and I could barely make out the slots covering the opening. Looking at the wall nearby, there was nothing to climb on, so I knew that I would have to try and jump again, hoping that the sword's power would help me. I kneeled slightly, feeling power building up in my legs, and I pushed with all my might. I ascended sharply, but before I even got halfway to the opening, something wrapped itself around my leg and yanked me down, dragged me across the room and slamming me against the wall. The hit disoriented me, and as I fumbled for the pistol in its holster, I managed to pull it out and flip on the flashlight. The light revealed shiny black skin, and its head was elongated, stretching over its back. Its menacing teeth reflected some of the light, and I could see its saliva constantly dripping from its mouth. Its arms were located a few inches below the base of the "neck," and the rest of its body resembled a snake. I pulled the trigger, firing three shots at it, but the creature dodged every one except the last one as it dodged lightning fast. The one that hit ricocheted and hit the wall a few inches away from my head. My disorientation from the creature slamming me was nearly gone, and not a moment too soon. The creature lunged at me, but I rolled to the side, hearing it slam against the metallic wall with a thundering impact. I decided to try my watch's flashbang, so I pushed the side and aimed it straight at the creature's direction. I closed my eyes and waited for the flash and any pain from whatever it was going to do if the flash did not work. The flash came, but nothing happened after a few seconds. I opened my eyes and shined the flashlight on the creature. It seemed to be frozen in midair, with most of its body coiled up near the ground. I heard movement coming from the creature, and suddenly one of its arms cracked open, revealing the same arm but somehow appearing to have a much darker tint of black. I took my chance and jumped up to the opening, which turned out to be a vent, and as I lifted myself up inside, I heard pieces of the creature's shell hitting the floor. I quickly crawled through the vent, not caring where I went as long as I was going away from the creature. Only a few seconds later, and something grabbed my foot, dragging me backwards. I frantically tried to grab something, and I felt my left hand grab onto a handle, stopping me and letting me roll onto my back. I aimed the light at the creature, and although it was a few feet away from me, it had a tongue coming out of its mouth that was currently grabbing onto my foot. I could see that the tongue wasn't wrapped around, but rather had teeth of its own and was biting into my foot. I fired another shot at its tongue, which also bounced off into the vent, and the slide locked back, signaling the lack of ammunition in the magazine. I holstered the pistol before trying to kick the tongue off, but when I tried that, the tongue gripped harder. As I continued to kick at the tongue, it suddenly started to swing my leg side to side, which eventually caused my knee and foot to hit the side of the vent and shoot pain through my body. This was enough to make me inadvertently let go of whatever handle I was hanging onto and get dragged to the creature. As my foot neared its mouth, its tongue let go as the creature lunged forward and grabbed onto my ankle. It dragged me through the vent opening, and I managed to grab onto the edge of the vent and stop myself. I felt the creature's weight almost tear my arm out of its socket, but the pain was dulled by the adrenaline rush I was having. The creature was still grabbing onto my ankle, but I saw one of its hands grip my other leg as it started to climb me. It continued past the flashlight, and I couldn't do much since the creature's weight made any attempt of movement impossible. I felt it wrap itself around my legs, waist, and up to my ribs as its hands gripped my shoulders. I felt the creature's breath on my face, and I only had one thing left to fight it with, and I'm not sure if it would even work. I reared my head back, and as I thrust it forward, I felt the same power course through my body, and when I connected, I only saw white.

---

The mercenary and the creature had been fighting for a few minutes, but it seemed like the creature had won after the mercenary tried to escape via the vent. They both fell to the floor, and when they landed, the creature was completely covering the mercenary from view.

"All right. In a few minutes, he should be ready for transportation. Be ready, and have your flashbangs primed," I addressed the two soldiers that had arrived.

"Yes, sir," they both said. I turned to the scientists.

"Turn on the lights in there, I'd at least like to see what I'm doing in there when we have to go in."

---

For a short while, I had the sensation of falling before I hit something in the featureless white world. I stood up carefully, making sure to not put too much strength on my left arm since it was nearly dislocated. I saw the creature had also gotten in the world, since it was rising up from the position it had landed in. I could see it fully now, and it was very alien looking especially with its upper body. I tried to grab for my pistol, but I felt nothing, and when I looked down, the holster was not even there. The only thing I had was the sword on my back, but I wasn't going to use that. The head turned towards me, and it charged me at full speed, head down. I sidestepped, and the creature rushed by before stopping and turning around to face me. It closed the distance between us and attempted to claw me across the face. Instinctively, I blocked its hand, and gave it a kick below the arms. For some reason, instead of my foot stopping at the creature's body, it continued into the midsection and flung the creature to the side. Even my left arm had not felt any pain from the sudden movements. I took this sudden ability to fight the creature and jumped on it, giving it a few punches on its dome before grabbing one of its arms and flinging it off to the side. It recovered quickly and attempted to circle me with its body, almost like it was going to constrict me. I waited for the right moment before tackling the creature's upper portion, and realized it was a bad idea as I was still wrapped up in its body with only my arms free. It grabbed my shoulders and reared back slightly. I grabbed onto its mouth, keeping it shut while trying to undo the constriction. Eventually, its body relaxed and I could move my legs, which I used to my advantage, jumping while holding onto its neck, which upon impacting the ground thrust my elbow into the center of its chest. I got up and stood over the creature, which was using its hands to support itself.

"Just kill me already and be done with it...” I jumped back at the sound of its voice. It sounded like a whisper, but also had a snake's tongue.

"I'm not here to kill you." The creature's head angled up towards me, almost in surprise.

"You can hear me?"

"Yes. I'd rather not kill something as deadly as you, especially since we can help each other." It rose back up to its height, seemingly recovered from the fight.

"Why? All the other humans have wanted to experiment on me, and take my children's carriers so they can do experiments on them."

"Because I was hired to take down this base. Although the person who hired me may have been compromised or the contract may have been a trick, I am still going to see the contract through to the end. Besides, I'm pretty sure that you'd want freedom, right?" It didn't speak for a minute, seeming to think on the question.

"Then I will help you. On one condition."

"And what would that be?"

"That you will let me go after we're out."

"I'll agree to that."

"Good." Suddenly, the white world disappeared and I only saw black, and I was aware of a weight that was all over the top of my body.

---

I didn't know what had happened, but I remained still while waiting for something to happen. I heard a door slide open, and footsteps approached me along with the soft clinking of equipment. I heard voices, but they were muffled.

"All right, he should be unconscious, but stay alert and keep those flashbangs ready." I recognized the voice as the guy who had been my "partner" while I was disguised. Suddenly, the weight on top of me was shifting and I felt a smooth surface slide across my face. Suddenly, the thing on top of me moved quickly, and while I was blinded by light, I heard exclamations by about three people.

"I can't reach my flashbangs!"

"He's still conscious!" I got up after my eyes quickly adjusted to the light, and saw that it had constricted 3 people, two of which looked very different as they had noticeable body armor and forest camouflage. I saw that the creature was still wrapping itself around the guards higher and higher, before I could barely see them or hear them. It suddenly started to compact, and I heard muffled screams that were followed by the cracking of bone. Looking away, I spotted an open door that had many panicked sounds coming from within. Someone stepped inside, which looked to be a soldier, who aimed his rifle at me.

"Freeze!" He was pretty serious, but he didn't know what I could do. As I ran towards him, I saw him squeeze the trigger, and I sidestepped very quickly when he fired. The bullet hit a wall, and as the soldier tried to follow me with the sights, I dodged fast while closing the distance. When I got close enough, he tried to use the rifle to knock me down, but I caught it and kneed him in the stomach. As he doubled over and let go of the rifle, I used the butt to hit him right at the base of the neck. He dropped like a rock, and I tossed the rifle down at the body. Going through the door, it was utter chaos as the scientists were panicked and were trying to open the door to escape. One of the more brave ones charged at me with his fist behind his back in a very poor display of fighting ability. As he swung his arm, I caught it and wrapped my arm around it before kneeing it, breaking his arm and causing him to scream in intense pain. I kept my left side back as a few more scientists grabbed random objects to hit me with, which all failed as I countered their attempts at fighting. Only a few scientists remained, and they were backed against a wall with terrified looks on their faces. One of them suddenly got a little bit of courage as he grabbed a flask of a chemical and attempted to throw it at me. I caught it, and saw the yellowish fluid inside was roiling as it moved.

"Really? You would even try to hit me with this?" I set it down on a nearby counter and uncorked it, before splashing it on the one who had thrown it. He raised his arm in defense, and steam erupted from his skin as it started to melt away, screaming as whatever acid was inside ate away at his arm. The acid that didn't hit him at all started to eat away at the surface it was attached to. I heard something by the door, and when I turned, the creature was slithering through and looking at the nearby scientist, who was clutching his broken arm. He looked up and got a very terrified look on his face as the creature lowered itself to him. It grabbed the one arm that wasn't broken, making sure it couldn't move before holding his mouth open with its hand. It then thrust its tongue down his throat for a few seconds before pulling it back as the scientist fainted. It approached the scientists who were breathing fast, and as it constricted them to ensure they couldn't escape, I started looking around the lab. Although most of the papers were strewn all over the floor, there were a few pinned onto a dry board with diagrams of its anatomy. I scanned over them, and the one word that seemed to be commonly used was "queen." One of the papers was titled "Reproduction Report," and although I didn't want to read it, I was curious either way, so I tore it down to get a better look.

---

Report on "The Queen" and its ability to reproduce by Bruce Ohlenky.

This "Queen" is unusual in that it needs a host to let it produce more offspring. When a suitable host is nearby, it will either constrict them if they are unharmed, or hold them down if, for instance, it has a broken limb. Then it will thrust its tongue down the victim's throat, and the gender of the victim also determines where it lays its eggs. If the victim is male, the process is relatively quick as it will lay the embryo inside the chest cavity, and will begin absorbing nutrients from the victim's bloodstream to grow. If the victim is female, it will lay its eggs in the womb instead, and the woman's body will be fooled into thinking it's pregnant. This is quite a miracle, as the woman's body will not reject the Queen's embryo. Also, the Queen seems to prefer female hosts, as they can house more of its embryos inside of the womb. When the offspring has reached a sufficient size, it will then attempt to leave the body, and the victim's gender will also be a deciding factor in this. If male, it will burst out of the chest, killing the victim instantaneously as it ruptures multiple vital organs while trying to escape. If female, it will either try to eat its way out of the womb, or will travel down the vaginal passage as if they were giving childbirth. As such, the female hosts have a guaranteed chance of living through a birth, as immediate medical attention is only needed if the offspring decides to eat its way out.

-Addendum

It also seems to be far more aggressive towards male hosts, as more than 60% of all male subjects have been terminated within a minute of entering the room. The creature will either crush them with its snake-like body, or it will thrust its tongue through the victim's head and brain, guaranteeing instant death. Because of this, I am suggesting we stop using male subjects so we can get as much offspring to conduct experiments on.

---

It was an interesting read, but I threw it away before I had gotten all the way through. The paper fluttered down, and as I watched it, it landed on the rifle that the guard had given me at the armory, along with the three magazines that had flown out while I had been fighting the man. I picked up the rifle, grabbing the charging handle and pulling back a little to check the chamber. There was a bullet in the chamber, so I let it slide forward again before slinging it over my shoulder. I also picked up the magazines and put them in the right portion of my coat, for easy reloading. I unholstered my pistol and took out the magazine, grabbing a full one and inserting it before letting the slide snap forward. Holstering my pistol again, I went to the closed door and pressed the button nearby, causing the door to slide open to a relatively empty hallway. I could barely see movement at the end, but it was only for a second, and it was otherwise still in the hallway. I looked behind me and saw the Queen was right behind me. I remembered the door I had passed by on the way here, and as I walked to where it was, I looked around and kept a watchful eye for anything suspicious. As I found the door, I saw that a keycard scanner as well as a keypad locked it with numbers. I was about to open the cover for the keypad, but the Queen pushed me aside, hissing a little at me as she pressed a 12-digit number into the keypad. It beeped with confirmation, and although I had no idea how it knew the password, I just took out a blank keycard. I inserted it into the scanner, waited a few seconds, and pulled it back out. It also beeped a confirmation, and the door slid open to reveal a rather odd room. Where the base was mostly sterile white metal, this room looked a bit more like a living room that you would find within a house. It had a red carpet, a few pieces of furniture around including a bed, a few paintings on the walls, and a desk with a computer resting upon it. I scanned the room, looking for any indication of a trap, and although I didn't see any, I was careful as I walked to the computer. I sat on the chair and booted up the computer. I was expecting username and password verification, but got none as it opened to a desktop with a myriad of folders all filled with documents. I opened up some of them, and saw various reports of the experiments that they had housed in the base, as well as some encrypted files with mysterious names, like "Operation Umbrella" and "Phoenix." Decrypting them would take time that I didn't have, so I instead hooked the computer up to my watch, which included a memory cache of 500 gigabytes, and started the transfer of files. As I saw there, I saw that the 30-gigabyte transfer was going to take a few minutes, so I leaned back in the chair and looked over the monitor at the Queen. It was mostly in the room, but was also looking down the hallway just in case if more guards came. Although there were no visible eyes, one of the reports had said something about the smooth dome functioning almost like our eyes, being able to discern light, dark, and colors. I reached into my coat and pulled out a cigarette and my lighter, lighting the cigarette and taking a few puffs of it to calm my nerves. Being in this base had put my nerves on the edge, as even though I was smoking to calm myself, I heard something fall and I jumped about half a foot. Looking around, I saw that the Queen had accidentally hit one of the paintings on the wall, which had hit the desk underneath. After taking another puff, I just watched as the smoke rose to the ceiling. The transfer was pretty slow, but it was still a quarter done after a minute.

---

I stood behind the head scientist of the experiment I had been eagerly waiting for the results on, and as I watched the test, I was pleased to see it was working perfectly as the subject obeyed the scientist with no questions asked. Then the next subject was introduced, this one a dog for the "animal obedience test." As the scientist started up the experiment again, it was exactly like the human, obeying every command he told it to do.

"Good job. We will find good applications for this, but that can wait. You and your team deserve a break for working on this tirelessly. Tell them they're going to have a 2-month vacation. Paid." He was surprised, but the scientist shook my hand.

"Yes sir! Thank you, sir!" As he rounded up his team, I went over to the gun that had been developed and marveled at its design. Right as I had put it back down, a soldier ran in, breathing fast.

"S-sir, the ex-experiment down o-on Level 10 is-is loose! Along wi-th that merc...” I was slightly shocked at the news, but I knew that mercenary was much different than any other one, so I took the gun.

"All right, get soldiers to slow their ascent. Make sure they don't make it past level 5!"

"Y-yes sir!" He walked out of the room slowly, still bending over slightly from lack of air. I looked down at the gun as I thought for a moment.

"Well, time to put this in its first actual use."