Planet Garcia - Cracks in the White Snowfield
Planet Garcia - White Snowfield. Pzzt. It was an incredibly faint sound. Amid the raging storm of massive energy and the heartbeat pounding against my eardrums, that alien crackle etched itself vividly into my mind.
"……?"
Shielding my eyes with my arm, I squinted into the violet halo. Eve still hovered in the air. Seated on a throne of flesh, her eyes closed, she emanated light. As Nahibi had said, this should have been the sacred ritual of inheriting the ancient legacy.
But.
Pzzt, crackle-crackle.
The sound didn't stop—it grew louder. Thin cracks spiderwebbed across the surface of the perfect spherical light-energy orb enveloping Eve.
"……Hey, Nahibi."
I called out to Nahibi, who was grinning maniacally beside me in ecstatic rapture.
"Is that normal?"
[Kyahahaha! What are you fretting over, you lowly creature? That's just the hatching process—the shell cracking as a greater power shatters the vessel... Huh?]
Nahibi's tentacles froze mid-praise. Its red eyes narrowed.
[Wait. Why are the waves so irregular?]
Confusion crept into Nahibi's voice.
[Synchronization's dropping. No, the energy's backflowing? Why? Mother's legacy would never reject Lady Eve!]
"Reject?"
[No! At this rate, it'll overload! Lady Eve's vessel will shatter!]
"What?!"
The moment I shouted and lunged forward—
The violet sphere around Eve screamed like a glass cup at its breaking point. Dazzling light leaked from the fissures.
Then came the massive explosion.
"Guh!"
I reflexively crouched. A powerful shockwave slammed into me. I flew like a scrap of paper, crashing into the fleshy wall behind.
"Kuhak…!"
The air was forced from my lungs. My suit's alarms whined in my ears. My vision spun.
But I couldn't pass out.
"E…ve…."
Staggering, I lifted my head. Through the haze of dust and lingering light, I saw the throne.
Eve was there. Her airborne body had slumped limply onto it. The once-majestic throne was shattered in places, its grandeur lost. And Eve's condition was no different.
"Eve!!!"
Ignoring the throbbing in my head and my shaking vision, I ran. Grabbing Eve's shoulders on the throne, I checked her consciousness.
"Eve! Wake up! Eve!"
No response. No breathing. Her wrist pulse was so faint I couldn't tell if her heart was even beating.
"Damn it, damn it!"
I fumbled for the emergency kit, then spotted Nahibi sprawled on the floor.
"Hey! What the hell happened?! You said it was fine! No problems!"
But Nahibi seemed deaf to me. The thing crawled across the floor in a puddle of slime, lost in confusion.
[Why…? The power's back. My withered core is pulsing again. Stronger than my prime, even…. But.]
Nahibi's red eyes darted wildly.
[The connection… why did it sever? Lady Eve clearly had queen potential… The throne reacted, she accessed the primordial memories. Why? Why? Why?]
She was in full panic. But I had no time to coddle her.
Woooong—.
The entire chamber rumbled. This wasn't like before. That had been a majestic flow of energy; this was pure malice vibrating through the air.
The walls around the pillar. The fossilized xenoform corpses. The petrified monsters Nahibi had praised as blade knights and gatekeepers—their surfaces cracked, stone shells crumbling away.
Plink. Thud. Ice shards fell, revealing dark red flesh beneath. Empty eye sockets regenerated lost tissue, igniting with grotesque glints.
"……Shit."
I instinctively drew my shotgun. I had to snap Nahibi out of it—even in this mess, she was the only one who could help me and Eve.
Without hesitation, I jammed the ultrasonic knife from my thigh holster into one of Nahibi's tentacles and pinned it to the floor.
[Kyaaaak!]
Nahibi shrieked and jolted.
"Snap out of it! Nahibi!"
I stared straight into its eyeballs and yelled.
"Look around! This isn't the time for analysis or self-pity! This sure as hell ain't good!"
Only then did Nahibi shake off the pain, regain its senses, and survey the surroundings.
And it saw. Just as it had regained its power, thousands of specters embedded in its mother's corpse—long-dormant wraiths—stirring from their deep slumber throughout the vast chamber.
"Kieeeek—!!!"
A piercing death screech shattered the silence. The signal of resurrection, the breaker of peace.
"Mmm…."
Eve opened her eyes. Moments ago, she'd been walking with Kal and Squishy, staring up at the massive pillar. But the scene before her now was utterly different.
It was white. The whole world was milky white and warm. An endless space without floor or ceiling. Strange buildings floated there—some like giant flowers, others like wriggling organs. But they weren't gross. They sparkled in every color, looking beautiful.
"Kal~?"
Eve looked around. No Kal, who'd been holding her hand. No Squishy chattering at her feet.
"Kal… where'd you go…."
Sudden fear gripped her. Alone. Left behind in this strange place. Tears welled up just as—
A warm light approached from afar.
"Huh?"
The light circled Eve curiously, like a butterfly. Then a soft, mature woman's voice spoke.
[I wasn't sure… but you are my sister, faint as the bond is.]
Eve's eyes widened. The light beam took shape. From the blinding silhouette emerged a beautiful woman, black as space yet holding light within.
"Who are you? Where's sis?"
Eve asked, and the woman chuckled amusedly.
[Huh? You don't know who I am??]
"Nope… I opened my eyes and Kal and Squishy were gone, and sis appeared."
[Kal? Squishy?]
"Yeah! Eve's precious people. Family."
The woman's expression shifted oddly at Eve's reply. She propped her chin, murmuring thoughtfully.
[Hmm. First time for this. Ah, right—made in a vessel, so your memories are blank.]
The woman approached and stroked Eve's head. Her touch was cool yet warm.
[I'm called the Origin of Truth. The one who opened the path of evolution, not predation, for our kind.]
She knelt to meet Eve's eyes.
[My name is Elisia. The beginning of all queens.]
"I see. Guided here by Nariant's child, huh? That one's done well."
"Yeah! Squishy's nice! Plays with me good!"
[Heh heh, nice… not a word that fits our kind, but if you say so.]
Elisia pinched Eve's cheek. Then—
Pzzt.
A black crack split one corner of the space. The white world glitched with static.
"Huh?"
Eve startled and looked; Elisia looked regretful.
[Oh. Guess this is it. Connection's too unstable.]
"What's that?? Sis going somewhere?"
[Eve, my little sister.]
Elisia gripped Eve's shoulders.
[I've left a gift outside. Make sure to take it.]
"Gift!!? Food???"
Eve's eyes sparkled.
[Yes. Something delicious and powerful. Eating it will help mend your twisted body.]
The black fissure grew, devouring the space. Elisia stopped stroking Eve's head.
And her lips tore from ear to ear in a grotesque grin, not a smile. Her beautiful face twisted to reveal her true nature.
[And remember this.]
Her voice dropped low.
[Never forgive those who made you this way. Make those arrogant fools pay the price… without fail.]
Eve just tilted her head at the murderous words.
"You leaving?"
[Yeah. Short this time, but next I'll introduce other sisters. Louder, funner ones.]
Elisia's form faded.
"Okay! Bye-bye then!!"
Eve waved cheerily. Elisia reverted to a lump of light, bursting into laughter one last time.
[Huh? Ahahahaha! Right, Eve. Bye-bye. Looking forward to next time.]
The world shattered like glass.
Bang! Bang! Boom!
I pulled the trigger like a madman. Each shotgun blast spewed fire, watermelon-splattering the heads of charging reaper-type xenoforms.
But they kept coming endlessly. Fossilized corpses shed dripping flesh, crawling out to surround us.
"How long you gonna keep trying!!"
I bellowed at Nahibi, who stood dazed behind me.
[No, why! They're clearly Mother's swarm! Why won't they obey me? Why reject the connection?!]
"Like I'd know! Fight already!!!"
I yelled while reloading the shotgun. Then—
Rumble-crash!
The right wall exploded. From the dust cloud leaped a house-sized shadow. Massive ivory-like forelimbs. Ironclad shell. A Goliath type—the one Nahibi had bragged about as a gatekeeper.
"Damn it!"
I blocked the throne where Eve lay. I raised the shotgun, but I knew: that armor wouldn't pierce.
The enormous blade slashed down at me—and Eve behind.
Time slowed. No dodging. No blocking.
Eve…….
I squeezed my eyes shut, pulling Eve into my arms. My back would be the shield.
Squelch.
No pain came. Instead, something heavy and wet enveloped me from above.
I opened my eyes. A white wall—no, flesh—blocked my view.
[Yes….]
Nahibi's voice. Not the panicked one from before. A cold, sunken voice of rage.
Nahibi had instantly expanded its body, taking the Goliath's blade full-on.
[To dare harm Lady Queen.]
Nahibi's form began to swell. Filling the pillar area around me and Eve, then threatening to overflow the entire chamber.
A white tsunami rose.
[And before me, her innermost guard, granted the rank of protector.]
Each of Nahibi's red eyes glowed blue.
[Fine. You're not Mother's legion I knew. Just uncontrolled meat lumps.]
Nahibi's colossal body wrapped the Goliath. It thrashed, but couldn't escape the swamp-like slime.
[So.]
The Federation forces that once fought Nahibi had named it thus: the calamity that devoured all, blanketing it in white.
[DIE.]
Nahibi's body exploded outward in expansion, engulfing the Goliath and every surrounding xenoform.