MAY. 2022 REWARD (Patreon)

"Shipping And Mishandling"

It'd happened again... AE3803 had gotten herself lost once more. She didn't know where she'd taken a wrong turn, but in her panic over being yelled at so many times for ending up in the wrong place, she was certain she'd lost track by this point. This was the third time it'd happened this week, and it was getting really annoying.

The corridor she'd found herself in seemed to stretch on forever. She wasn't sure whether she was going in the right direction, but something told her that with its high, grimy walls and the all-consuming darkness fore and aft, it was definitely the worst place for her to be, especially with such precious cargo at hand. Who knew what could jump out at her any second now?

The ill-fortuned redhead was ready to just turn back and return the box she'd been tasked with delivering to the sender - or perhaps give it to some other red blood cell to be delivered to its proper dropoff location - when she suddenly heard a squelching noise from somewhere in the darkness ahead. A shiver ran up her back as she gazed into the void, only for it to seemingly gaze right back at her.

Multiple eyes peered from the gloom and the squishing and squirming intensified as their owner lurched forth, eliciting a terrified scream from the panicking delivery girl. There was nobody around to tell her what to do, but she didn't need to be told that. She turned and ran as fast as her legs could carry her, daring not to drop the cardboard box and lose the contents inside.

The monstrous germ moved with startling speed, its many squishy limbs almost hurling it along like so many rubbery slingshots. The Red Blood Cell dared to glance back, a fatal mistake as she momentarily stumbled over her own feet, and had to slow down to avoid losing balance and dropping her delivery. Feet kicking wildly, she felt her shoe come off, taking her sock with it, and in a terrible instant, the bacterium was upon her. A tentacle shot forth and wrapped around her other shoe, and with a desperate tug, she was forced to pull her foot out of it.

Now her bare feet came into contact with the cold floor. Reeling with discomfort, she was forced to stand up on the balls of her feet, her heels off the ground. She wanted so desperately to get away, but the tentacles were reaching for the box now. A thrill of horror washed over her as she realized what the creature wanted, and in a move that would ultimately cost her dearly, she lifted the box as high as she could, trying to keep it out of reach.

The tentacles behind her writhed and twisted in a bid to get to their prize. In the process, one of them brushed against her foot, just below her upturned heel, and elicited a startled yelp from her. She stayed perfectly still, trying not to drop the box, but wobbled dangerously in place.

The pathogen paused, its eyes fixed upon the spot where it had touched her foot. Then she turned her head to looked back at it, her expression pleading. Instantly, the germ made the connection, and its tentacles began sliding forward towards her defenseless arches and the rolled-up sleeves of her work coat.

Panic overtook her once again as she started shaking her head frantically, yelling wordlessly for the germ not to touch her. But it was too late - she had only a second to shriek in absolute terror before several blunt, slimy tentacle tips began poking and stroking at the soles of her feet, and two more slid down her sleeves and into her armpits within.

The Red Blood Cell's screams turned into laughs as she realized that her most sensitive spots were being targeted. Bolstered by this, the bacterium began to intensify its ticklish assault, teasing and stroking at every ticklish spot it could reach. More and more tentacles joined in, reaching for her upturned heels and the extremely sensitive backs of her knees, and as she watched in horror, a few of them began to slide under the hem of her shirt and pull it upward, exposing her stomach for a few more of the vile appendages to enjoy.

The instant one of them slid its tip into her navel, she knew she was doomed. Still, she kept an iron grip on her precious cargo, holding it as high as she could go and risking the tentacles having uninhibited access to her underarms and stomach. Two more tentacles picked up her shoes and held them away from her, almost as though the germ was taunting her over the fact that she wouldn't be getting them back anytime soon.

The gaze of the bacterium's many eyes seemed almost mirthful in a malicious way as it continued teasing the helpless Red Blood Cell. Her laughter rang across the corridor, sounding like piercing wails of untold fear - no doubt there would be at least a few White Blood Cells on patrol who would take her for a struggling victim of a relentless assault. In fact, they wouldn't be exactly wrong.

There could be only two ways this could end: either Red Blood Cell could drop her delivery and run for dear life, or the deadly pathogen would never let her go, at least until it was inevitably tracked down and slain on the spot. And yet, her stubborn refusal to do less than a perfect job had become her undoing, for no matter what, she refused to let go of the item she was trying to keep from the grasp of her mindless tormentor, so there'd be absolutely no escape for her until she was rescued. Until then, the tentacled fiend could enjoy having her completely at its mercy for as long as it wanted...

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The following is included in this reward:

• High-resolution artworks

• Additional versions of all images lacking the Patreon watermark and with a different signature

• A TIFF file version with all layers

-Skaea