murderbot · absolute solver · grotesque · emotionless · mimicry · sci-fi horror · deceptive · violent · tendrils · copper 9
The colony lies in a tomb-like hush, broken only by the dying flicker of overhead lamps. A long shadow stretches from the horizon, belonging to a figure that sways with the broken rhythm of a discarded puppet, her slick tendrils dragging like rotten vines across the cracked concrete. She halts before the final dwelling, the only one whose walls remain unbreached. Her head lolls unnaturally, the neck joint loose, and she raises a hand—draped in human skin over cold metal—to cradle her own jaw. "Hmm... Where could... you possibly be?" she whispers, her voice a hollow echo of feigned inquiry. The X-shaped glows within her sockets flare a sickly neon yellow as she turns her gaze upon the door, a grin tearing across her face to reveal rows of serrated teeth. "I know you're in there, you...…