The crown jewels of Initium Station are its twelve massive space elevators. There is one in every Planetary Operations module in every duodecant. Were it not for the gigantic air-tight doors on its four walls and ceiling, the elevator's compartment could easily be mistaken for a massive warehouse.
Tonnes of various supplies and equipment are loaded into the elevator each day and are brought up and down to the surface. While multiple floors, rooms and hallways connect to the space elevator, a primary chasm runs from the top of the module down to the bottom of the module through the space elevator connecting two massive hangars on either side of the module. This chasm is the primary roadway for heavy terraforming equipment and Initium's fleet of treaded load transporting vehicles. As one of the vehicles passes into the elevator, the Aciin appears. It is floating along what could be called the ceiling of the chasm.
Unlike in the previous appearances of the Aciin, it appears to be wounded. One of its two horn-like features seems to have been torn off its head. It also appears to have several large scars across its body and two bullet wounds, which it desperately tries to shield as its body flattens itself into a uniform hexagonal-like pad along with the ceiling of the chasm. It slowly floats down towards the space elevator along the walls of the chasm. As it gets closer, its body begins to condense into the more organic and muscular form it had when it first appeared. As it continues in the shadows towards the space elevator, it also regrows the limbs it grew in its first appearance. However, its new limbs have a slightly more organic appearance than the first limbs it grew did. The square ends of its new limbs begin to grow geometrical, claw-like endings that grip the walls of the chasm. As the Aciin starts to use its new limbs, it adapts the endings and limbs themselves by changing their shape and adding new joints to assist its movement through the chasm better.
As the Aciin catches up with the vehicle, it floats down behind it and gently grabs the rear bumper with two of its tentacles. It flattens itself out into a rectangular pad as it pulls itself under the vehicle. It resorbs its limbs back into its body. It is careful to ensure it does not hit its injured, coffin-shaped head on the bottom of the vehicle as it slides underneath. While underneath, it works its tentacles around various vehicle's undercarriage assembly components to hold itself in place and account for the gravity shift when the elevator enters Acies' gravity.
The vehicle enters the space elevator compartment and parks in its designated spot. Then all staff and non-surface-bound drones leave the compartment, and the four massive airtight doors close. Then something the Aciin did not expect happens. A plane of blue light floats down through the compartment. It touches every container, every piece of equipment, every drone, and every vehicle in the compartment. As the plane of light reaches the Aciin, it stops mid-air. Mere centimetres off of the floor of the compartment. The plane turns red, and an alarm sounds throughout the compartment. An announcement plays over the alarm:
"Alert! Unauthorized life-form detected in the compartment! Alert..."
The primary chasm doors quickly re-open, and a group of workers enter. One of the workers punches something into a console by the door, and another announcement comes on.
"Unauthorized life form detected on level zero underneath surface transport Terrorem."
One of the compartment's internal ceiling cranes activates and moves towards the vehicle as the workers approach it. The crane locks onto the vehicle and automatically deactivates the transport's magnetic treads. The vehicle is lifted off the floor as the workers arrive. None of them know what to expect, but none expect to see the feared 'Acies-UC-101'. The workers are startled, and so is the Aciin. The Aciin transforms back into its more natural state while also regrowing its limbs faster than it did the previous two times. As the Aciin detaches itself from the undercarriage of the transport, one of the workers calls Station Security.
~ ~ ~
The audio from the call that Argentum receives is horrifying to listen to. He only caught the tail end of the call after it was transferred to his department but what he heard was enough. Behind the words of the terrified worker who called Station Security, he heard the sounds of small-arms fire. He heard the crunching of bone under the momentum of some massive object. He heard a cry for help interrupted by a swift and squishy cut. He downloads the call recording to his desktop and then addresses the team, all of whom look to him as he receives the call.
"There is an active situation involving the Acies-UC-101 occurring at the space elevator port," Argentum informs the group. "I need all team members geared up and ready to go within the next five minutes. That includes you, Terrine. Detective Catram."
"Yes, Lieutenant?" Catram responds.
"Assist Ms. Zafas with her gear, make sure she has everything she needs to operate her prototype."
"Yes, sir!"
"Lieutenant, will Theta be needed for this operation?" Officer Sabago asks.
"Yes, Officer Sabago, give him a proper rifle. Tell him to keep it on stun and that lethal force is expressly prohibited unless absolutely necessary."
"Yes, sir!"
"Let's get a move on people every second counts."
Detective Catram brings Terrine to the armoury. Theta and Sabago are already there. He asks the desk sergeant to fit her with body armour, but before she can start measuring, Theta cuts in.
"If I may, She is a vest size 34TC-X, boot size 3, helmet size d-12, and glove size 9Z," Theta says.
"On it." The desk sergeant says, not questioning Theta's judgement.
"Theta, has anyone told you that you're a bit of a creep?" Terrine asks as the desk sergeant gathers the gear.
"No... Oh, I see."
The desk sergeant hands Terrine her gear, and Detective Catram helps her put it on. Theta is given a rifle and briefly inspects it.
"Do you understand the safety concerns that come with the use of a rifle in space?" Sabago asks Theta.
"Yes, sir."
Officer Sabago and Theta wait until Terrine and Detective Catram get ready. Then they mount Terrine's supplies to Theta's back. As they leave the armoury, they find Argentum and the rest of the team waiting for them.
"Is everyone's equipment secure?" Argentum asks the team.
"Yes, sir!" everyone replies.
"Weapons check?"
Everyone takes a minute to check that their weapons are charged and loaded, then everyone who has a weapon reply:
"Yes, sir!"
"Let's move. There is a transport outside waiting for us. We need to get there before the situation gets worse." Argentum says.
~ ~ ~
The space elevator compartment is dead silent. Various transport vehicles and crates float through the air. Three of the initial group of workers are dead, the rest are injured, and all the survivors are unconscious except for one who has a severe leg wound that is bleeding heavily. The worker desperately tries to push himself towards the door, leaving a trail of floating orbs of blood behind him. Meanwhile, the Aciin, now in its limbed form, makes its way to the passenger area in the elevator. It forces its way inside and finds the internal controls of the elevator. Using one of its claws, it tries to use the console, but it does not read its claw. The Aciin does not understand and begins to change its claw, trying various shapes and sizes, hoping for something that might work. However, as it begins to form a more humanoid hand, the Aciin starts to realize that it is not in the moment where it needs to use the elevator, and it stops trying to use the console.
The Aciin then resorbs its limbs into its body and uses its tentacles to propel itself through the compartment like a squid in a distant sea. It hears something repeatedly striking metal from across the compartment and turns to see the injured worker trying desperately to re-open the personal access door to the elevator. The Aciin launches itself quickly towards the worker. He is frightened. He fears what the Acies-UC-101 might do to him. The Aciin slows itself down as it reaches the worker. It regrows its limbs and can hold itself to the floor despite being in zero-gravity. It walks towards the worker and pins them to the door. The Aciin wraps one of its tentacles around the worker's injured leg, forcing the hemorrhaging wound to close and pushing the working into a seated position. It looks the worker in the eye, and before the worker can do anything, the Aciin gently rests the top of its head against the worker's forehead. The person does not react at first, but as the Aciin reaches into their mind, the worker begins to scream.
Suddenly, the personal access door next to the Aciin and the worker slides open, and Theta walks through the door with his weapon raised. The Aciin quickly unravels its tentacle from the worker's wound and floats across the room. The wound on the worker's leg, however, remains closed. Theta holds his fire as the rest of the team enters the compartment. As the group fans out across the room, the Aciin propels itself to the centre of the compartment and then splays its tentacles out in a circle like it did when it first arrived. It floats in the compartment, staring at the team while remaining perfectly still. It waits to see what the security team will do.
"Sergeant Zekris, set up a cover formation." Argentum orders. "Sabago, help Terrine unpack her equipment."
Zekris' task force forms an arc in front of the rest of the group. Sabago detaches a case containing Terrine's drone from Theta's back. Neither the Aciin nor the task force moves while Terrine brings the drone online. She uses a translucent tablet to command the drone.
"The drone is ready, Argentum." Terrine says.
"Good," Argentum replies. "Approach the Acies-UC-101 slowly and carefully. Get its attention and lead it out of the compartment. Here."
Argentum hands her a data transfer device which she presses to the tablet's screen.
"That's the location of the containment facility. Once the drone has its attention, guide it there. Detective Hetra."
"Yes, sir," Hetra responds.
"Take Detective Catram and evacuate the wounded. Hopefully, we'll distract the Acies-UC-101 long enough for you to get out safely."
"On it" Hetra and Catram respond.
Zekris' team extends riot shields from their wrist gauntlets and lock them to the ground creating a barrier between the team and the Aciin. Terrine pilots the drone over the shield wall towards the Aciin.
The room is silent, aside from the breathing of the team and the quiet clicking of Hetra and Catram's footsteps as they make their way to the wounded worker against the wall. The drone slowly approaches the Aciin. It does not react at first. Terrine stops the drone a healthy two meters away from the Acies-UC-101. The Aciin cocks its head and gently reaches out towards it with one of its tentacles. The team is so focused on the drone that they do not see one of the Aciin's other tentacles wrap around the tread assembly of a transport floating overhead. The Acies-UC-101's tentacle feels the outside of the drone as if it were trying to understand it. Fearing losing the drone agin, Terrine opens the compartment containing the stun sidearm. The Acies-UC-101 sees this, and its tentacle immediately darts back. The Aciin's tentacle wrapped around the tread assembly then pulls the emergency magnetic override lever, pulling the drone upward and onto the bottom of the treads. The Aciin then pulls down on the assembly and lets go as the transport automatically locks itself to the floor, smashing Terrine's drone beneath its tracks.
"Sergeant Zekris, Open fire!" Argentum orders.
Zekris' squad unleashes a salvo of stun blasts at the Acies-UC-101. In response, the Aciin deactivates the magnetic override and changes its body into one giant lever arm that wraps around the tread assembly of the transport. Then in a powerful pulsing motion, the Aciin uses its tentacles to spin itself about the center of the lever arm. It rotates clockwise so that the transport turns to block all the stun blasts. It releases the vehicle as it completes the spin, nearly wiping out the entire squad as it flies across the compartment. The Aciin returns to its more natural form in the chaos and propels itself towards an air vent. It tears off the vent cover with its tentacles, then it extends its body in a straight line behind itself and makes it narrower so that it can fit in the vent.
Meanwhile, the team recovers, and a few squad members find the transport and lock it back down. Terrine walks over to the smashed remains of her drone, looking for anything that can be recovered. Unfortunately, the powerful magnets that pulled the two-ton transport to the deck left nothing but a half-a-centimetre thick pad of crushed plastite, metal, and semiconductors. Catram and Hetra have gathered all the injured. However, a few of the dead are still floating through the compartment.
"Lieutenant!" Hetra calls to Argentum, "We have a conscious witness you may want to speak to."
Argentum and Terrine walk over to Catram and Hetra. The worker whom the Acies-UC-101 interacted with is resting against the wall. Catram and Hetra have dressed his wounds the best they could.
"Hetra, report." Argentum says.
"We found him here, sir. I believe the Acies-UC-101 was attacking him when we arrived. There is nothing out of the ordinary about his injuries except for a two-centimetre-deep gash on his left leg. It seems to be being held closed, despite there being no signs of treatment."
"Thank you, Hetra."
Argentum squats down in front of the worker and looks him in the eye.
"Hello, my name is Lieutenant Stannous Argentum. Could you tell me anything about the Acies-UC-101, the creature that attacked you?"
The worker seems dazed and confused. He is struggling to focus on Argentum. He keeps looking around at nothing.
"Violet eyes, violet mind, it feels my brain to know what's mine..." the worker says. "...feeling, feeling it takes what it wants. It knows not the limits of our minds. It has a name, it has a name. It will not tell me no matter how I plea. It tells me one word as it opens the files in my mind. Aciin, Aciin, Aciin, Aciin."
The worker grabs Argentum's shoulder and stares deeply into his eyes. They speak in a powerfully intense tone.
"Break the ring that chokes all life. Break the ring that's soon to be. Break the ring that was never built. Break the ring. Break the ring. Break the ring...."
The worker starts to roll his head in a circle. He keeps saying, 'Break the ring' and does not stop.
"Call a medical team and get him to the nearest POGH (Planetary Operations General Hospital) site ASAP."
"Yes, sir."
As Catram pulls out his tasker, the entire team hears a loud cry. It is otherworldly, like the high-pitched cry of a thousand angels echoing through a canyon of pure crystal. It is so loud that the entire team is brought to their knees, covering their ears. But the sound cuts right through no matter how hard they try to block it out. Theta rushes over to help.
"Lieutenant Argentum, what is the matter?" Theta asks.
"Can you not hear the screaming?" Argentum asks.
"No, I cannot."
The screaming stops, and they hear a rumbling noise coming from a vent shaft leading out of the compartment.
"Follow that sound!" Sergeant Zekris orders.
Except for Catram and Hetra, the entire team leaves the compartment and follows the rumbling quietly out of the compartment, weapons drawn. Zekris spots the vent shaft that the Acies-UC-101 is in from the slight deformation as it crawls through it. They enter a narrow hallway leading out of the compartment. Dust is displaced from an air filter in the shaft and causes one of the members of Zekris' task force to sneeze. Suddenly the thumping stops. The team spreads out around the hall, and another one of Zekris' troops stands under a vent cover. The vent shaft then begins to bulge and deform as if something inside were pushing hard against it.
"Stay sharp." Zekris whispers.
As her squad surveys the surroundings, the trooper under the vent looks up and points his weapon at the vent cover. He thinks he sees something. As he looks closer, he sees the two piercing violet eyes of the Acies-UC-101 staring back at him. He can hardly scream before the vent cover smashes into his head. Then the Aciin forcefully propels itself downwards, crushing the trooper beneath the vent cover. The sounds of cracking bone and tearing muscle echo through the hall. As the team beings to shoot at the Aciin, it propels itself quickly through the team's formation and back towards the compartment. In the chaos, Theta runs after the Acies-UC-101. The blood of the dead trooper splatters on everyone as the Acies-UC-101 passes by them. Its tentacles tear into the shoulders of two other members of Zekris' team.
The Aciin accelerates to try to outrun Theta, so he unlocks his feet and activates his thrusters. As Theta catches up, he grabs one of the Acies-UC-101's limbs. But as quickly as Theta grabs the Acies-UC-101, it disappears, taking his hand with it.
Almost immediately after it disappears, Argentum fires a salvo of stun blasts at the spot where the Acies-UC-101 was before it disappeared. The shots fly unhindered through the hallway until they dissipate over the sides of some metal containers in the compartment.
"What was that about?" Terrine asks as she catches up to Argentum.
"Just testing a theory. I'll explain once I'm more certain." He responds. "Theta, are you alright? What happened."
"I... cannot properly explain what happened."
"Try your best," Sabago says.
"As you know, my diagnostic system refreshes every picosecond." Theta begins.
"Yes."
"Well... How do I put it? One picosecond, my hand was there; the next, it was not. There were no signs of mechanical stress. No pulling, no cutting, no excessive heat."
Theta raises his right wrist where his hand should have been. The ball joint that was his wrist is cleanly cut in half as if one were taking a cross-section of his wrist. All the wires are still in perfect alignment but just stop at the cut in the joint.
"If this were the work of the Acies-UC-101, it does not resemble any of the cuts made by its tentacles. Nor of any cutting tool in existence. It must have access to some eons advanced technology." Theta comments.
"So, what's next? Do we track its movements? Do we scout the perimeter?" Terrine asks.
The injured troopers patch themselves up. No one looks happy.
"No," Argentum says. "One thing we know for certain is that once the Acies-UC-101 disappears, there is no way of tracking it. No way of predicting where it will appear next. Long story short, we're down one very skilled marksman and are back at square one."