Tentacles?
The next morning.
When I opened my eyes, a spill of golden hair filled my vision below my chin. Lee Sirin was asleep with my chest for a pillow.
Ugh. That hurt.
Did she seriously think my chest was a cushion?
Every breath I took, the full weight of her head pressed down. For someone using another person's breasts as a mattress, her expression looked absurdly peaceful.
"Get up."
"Mmh… five more minutes…"
"Hey."
"So soft…"
I grabbed her cheek and shoved her sideways. Her face buried itself in the sofa, then rolled right back onto my chest.
I gave up and stared at the ceiling.
…Why did this girl sleep at my place?
By the time morning light slanted through the window, I managed to push the fatigue off my shoulders and haul myself upright on the sofa.
Sirin, who'd been using my chest as a cushion, flopped around with a look of pure betrayal.
"Ugh… why'd you push me? Aren't you being a little mean first thing in the morning?"
"Shut up. Get up and put some clothes on."
I scraped my tangled hair into a rubber band, then fished my coat out from under the sofa.
"Team Leader! The weather's so nice today—let's hold hands on the way to work!"
"…Why would I hold hands with you?"
"Huh? Oh. Right."
Sirin stood up looking briefly flustered.
…She must've drunk a lot last night. Why is she this out of it?
We threw on clothes and headed in to the facility.
Whee-ing, whee-ing—.
The moment we stepped into the facility, red emergency lights and a blaring alarm greeted us.
WARNING. Research Building 3 Basement Containment Cell — containment breach by unidentified new entity. All nearby researchers, evacuate immediately.
Across the lobby, armed security personnel staggered past in full retreat.
Their protective suits were smeared with thick purple fluid, and a few of them couldn't use their lower bodies at all—colleagues were dragging them along.
"…What the hell happened? I thought the entity survey was finished."
"Th-that is… the entity that came in yesterday absorbed a female researcher's bodily fluids and suddenly grew…!"
"What kind of—"
My head throbbed. I turned to Sirin.
"Lee Sirin. Gear up and follow me."
"Yes!"
I pulled goggles and a mask from my jeans pocket, put them on, and ran for Research Building 3.
Sirin trailed behind me like she was out for a leisurely stroll. I wanted to yell at her to get properly equipped, but there wasn't time.
The moment we reached the observation room door, a rotten-sweet stench stabbed into my nose hard enough to choke. The thick reinforced glass was shattered from some massive impact on the inside…
What is this smell?
The headache got worse. Something that hit the mind or the brain, most likely.
I pressed the mask tight against my face and cut off the scent.
I hit the emergency release and forced the observation room's steel door open. The interior came into view—and I stopped dead.
"Ah… no… let go, please…! Ah, aah…!"
Hideous tentacles were breeding everywhere.
Hundreds of branching purple tentacles filled the entire room… and at the center of that mass, a junior researcher hung pinned against the glass wall.
What was her name again? Not my charge, so I don't know.
Her white lab coat and top had already been shredded to nothing by sharp spines, leaving bare white skin exposed. Tentacles ranging from finger-thick to forearm-thick writhed like snakes across her body, violating every inch of her.
One thick tentacle forced her legs wide and locked them against the wall while others began kneading her breasts with a nauseating wet sound, squeezing and mauling them.
Squish. Squish. Squelch…
"Aah…! Stop… please…! Ah, nngh…!"
The researcher was crying in terror, but the sounds leaving her mouth weren't screams—they were moans. The tears lost a lot of their persuasive power.
Every time the pink fluid seeping from the tentacles' surfaces soaked into her skin, her back arched like a drawn bow and the focus in her eyes went soft and hazy.
A thick, clinging tentacle rubbed and stroked relentlessly between her spread legs, working the most sensitive place with obsessive care.
Every twitch of the tentacle dragged wet flesh against wet flesh, filling the observation room with obscene sounds.
Slick transparent fluid mixed with the tentacles' secretions and ran down her thighs to pool on the floor.
"Aaaah… it's hot… don't put it in there…! Ah—!"
One tentacle began prying its way into her narrow entrance, and the researcher threw her head back with a moan.
Clear saliva stretched in a long string from her open mouth. Her breasts, crushed under the pressure of the coils, shook without mercy, nipples swollen bright red.
…It's melting her mind. Using the body as a seedbed. Standard tentacle type.
Click. Click.
I pressed the two buttons hidden in my gloves and goggles.
Combat ready.
Slip. Slip.
Dozens of tentacles swung around and stretched toward me.
The main body had registered the person standing in the doorway. Judging by the recognition speed, intelligence and reaction time were both low.
The way they crawled through the air trailing fluid was deeply repulsive.
There was a strong will in that movement—the intent to turn me into the same vulgar spectacle as the woman hanging on the wall…
"Team Lea…der… run… ah, uuhk…!"
The researcher bound to the wall squeezed out the last of her sanity to shout, but the tentacles were already right in front of me.
The tip of a thick tentacle split open and began spraying a nauseating pink powder.
Annoying.
With the mask, goggles, and gloves on, I was immune to this kind of attack.
Hup.
I put a little force into it and casually struck the tentacle.
One of them sheared clean off in the shape of a fist.
"…Weaker than I expected. You lost to something like this?"
Maybe security needed a personnel overhaul. I'd put in a recommendation later.
All right. Time to move in…
That was when a cold voice came from directly behind me.
"…Filthy. How dare you. How dare you even think of—"
The air went rigid and cold.
Slip.
Lee Sirin stepped out past my shoulder.
There was no trace of her usual vacant act. Her face was pure rage.
Her pupils had contracted to pinpoints, and her golden hair trembled faintly. So she really was a Variant like me.
In raw presence alone, she was nearly on par with a high-grade entity.
…She only received her Object a few months ago and she's already this adapted. Impressive.
Object.
Obviously not ordinary objects. Things like my goggles, mask, and gloves—gear with special effects that either defend against attacks or amplify the body—we call those Objects.
Team Leaders can each request one custom Object of their choice. Regular researchers carry basic protective Objects to keep themselves alive.
Basic Objects means coat, goggles, gloves, mask, and gas mask.
For the record, the Object I requested has one rather special function… but I don't have it on me right now.
"How dare you…! Hrk!"
Sirin slammed her black heel into the floor.
Boom!
The tentacles reaching for me froze midair.
Click.
Sirin pressed the button inside her glove and swung her fist in the same motion.
…Oh.
That was serious power. Already that level of adaptation—Team Leader material.
If she just picked up some common sense, she'd promote in no time.
BAANG!
The tentacles burst in an instant.
They didn't even get a chance to spray fluid—they turned to powder midair and vanished with a soft pop.
The entity must have felt fear; the artificial vocal organ it had grown started shrieking—
"Kiiieeek! Kyaaaah!"
"Disappear!"
Sirin threw another punch straight at the monster's core.
KRAAANG!
The observation room shattered.
Special walls and reinforced glass built to withstand even underground bedrock… that was going to wreck the budget.
The tentacles restraining the researcher lost their shape, crumbled to ash, and collapsed to the floor.
The monster was gone.
…Annihilation verdict, though. Capture is the preferred protocol whenever possible.
Haa.
I let out a long sigh.
I'd become Team Leader to take responsibility for the screw-ups of juniors and subordinates. Not much choice, was there?
Slip.
Once the chaos settled, Sirin turned her head and looked at me.
"Team Leader! Are you hurt? You must've been so scared!"
"…No. Not really."
Sirin bounced right up to me and threw her arms around my waist.
Clean golden hair tickled my chin, and her full chest pressed soft and heavy against mine.
"That filthy thing almost touched you!"
"By the way, Lee Sirin… when did you get that good with your Object?"
"Huh? My Object?"
"Your glove's destructive power was suspiciously high."
"Ah! I've been practicing a lot! I can get serious when I want to, you know!"
Sirin buried her face in my chest and grinned.
Those star-patterned pupils sparkled up at me.
I tried to push her face away with my hand, but she nuzzled her cheek into my palm like it felt good and burrowed even deeper into my arms.
"Team Leader, do you wear perfume? You smell amazing."
"…I don't. Anyway, we should check on the researcher who collapsed first."
"Hmm? Security will clean that woman up. Look at me right now!"
Sirin brushed her lips lightly against the side of my neck and whispered.
Haa.
I sighed again.
When was I ever going to get this mess sorted out?