System Overclocked 2 -ch 25- (Patreon)

“What’re you doing? What’s… what… xxhht!?” asked the Tongsta as they rushed into the room. “What’s going on? Oh my xxhht!”

Wrench let the access point tumble away and open. Holding tight to the tunneler he shot forward as if he were an arrow from a bow. Blasting forward out of his hiding space.

“Xxhht?! What— aaggh!” screamed the Tongsta as the tunneler fired off and began doing it’s job. A heavy stream of Tongsta blood shooting out of it.

No sooner than the tunneler was stuck firm than Wrench left. There was no reason to linger now that he’d completed his attack.

As he crossed back into the duct he pulled the grate back into place and latched it shut. All the while the Tongsta he had just struck with the tunneler was digging at it. Trying to put it out of it’s body.

Screaming and shouting almost incomprehensibly.

“Two down,” Wrench remarked, watching dispassionately as the Tongsta died. Going through nearly all the same motions the previous Tongsta had. “Whatever many Tongsta to go.

“I should go to the bridge and see if they’re saying anything interesting. It’ll be a few minutes before they try to contact this Tongsta here. Maybe I can get there in time to hear what they say.”

Leaving quickly before the Tongsta had even expired, Wrench shot down the pipe. He stopped in the armory to grab another tunneler, then continued on. Heading for the bridge.

“— to me. Why? I don’t understand at all!” shouted a Tongsta.

Even before he’d reached his destination, he knew that they were having quite a time with the problems he had caused.

When he finally reached the bridge he saw that a Tongsta was floating at the front of the area. They had several tentacles out and were waving them about in a truly wild fashion.

Especially for a Tongsta.

They didn’t tend to bring out the tentacles except for needing to do something at a physical level. Them using tentacles for no reason other than a physical display made Wrench feel like this Tongsta was particularly unhinged.

Unhinged or distraught.

“I don’t care!” the Tongsta shouted as soon as someone tried to say something. “Go-fix-it. I don’t want to fucking be here any longer than we have to! Now! Go!”

“But—”

“GO FIX IT!” shrieked the Tongsta.

A number of Tongsta left the room, rushing off and out of the room.

Suddenly, the Tongsta that had been shouting was now alone. Standing near the front.

Oh?

Oh.

This seems like a perfect time to attack.

If we kill the leader… then… maybe everything goes wrong?

What if we kill them. Will that send everyone into an absolute panic after finding the other dead Tongsta?

Wrench realized that it didn’t matter. The longer he sat here debating it, the faster his chance would slip away.

Once more he reached up, slipped the catch on the grate, and dove toward the lone Tongsta. The tunneler he’d taken with him was held close and snug to his chest.

“What? A Hume?” asked the Tongsta.

Their tentacles snapped forward toward him and were ready to catch him.

As quick as he could, he dialed up his Systems. Bringing them up to a point that he was ready for combat.

With as many tentacles as the Tongsta had out, without his System, there was no way he’d be able to get in close. Tongsta were incredibly fast when they wanted to be.

Two tentacles lashed out at him to grab him and Wrench slipped under them. Ducking his shoulder under it and keeping out of reach.

A third shot forward as if to spear him and all Wrench could do was tuck himself inward and pitch himself upward.

Rolling around the tentacle Wrench came onward. Nearly sliding along it as he went.

Slamming the tunneler home into the Tongsta Wrench flew down along it’s body. Skirting just an inch or two above the surface of it’s flesh he tried to keep weaving around.

“What the hell!? A tunneler?!” screamed what Wrench assumed was the captain.

“Yeah, and you’re fucking dead buddy,” growled Wrench, speeding around the top of the Tongsta. The moment he came over the top of it Wrench shot toward the duct

“Bastard!” screamed the Tongsta, a tentacle slashing through the air at Wrench.

He could see it coming toward him out of the corner of his eye. Just enough to warn him to get out of the way.

Rolling, Wrench tucked into himself, and tried to dodge low.

It put him closer to the Tongsta but away from the tentacle. The Tongsta couldn’t kill him with it’s body, but the Tentacle would easily break his back and slap him to the ground.

Almost like one might with a bug.

Gritting his teeth, Wrench went to move forward again.

A new tentacle came lashing out at him. The original was now moving back toward him as the same time.

There was no valid exit for him at the moment.

Turning around, Wrench gave up on getting away. This Tongsta was going to do all it could to keep him close or kill him.

Wrench looked to the tunneler and then had a weird thought.

The interior was hollow on this model.

He didn’t know how, or why, it spewed out Tongsta goop, but it did.

Deciding a strange course of action, Wrench flew toward the tunneler.

It was a risk, but he didn’t think he could escape the Tongsta’s range as long as it was trying to tentacle him to death.

Curling on himself Wrench shot toward the tunneler.

Pushing at full speed he did his best to put himself into a small package. A ball that’d be able to fit into the tunneler and take him into the Tongsta.

Trying to get into a line with the entrance Wrench rushed at full speed and then some. Wanting to go fast enough to pass right through the stream, through the tube, and into the Tongsta itself.

There was strange wet sound and then Wrench was inside of the Tongsta.

Floating about in it’s insides even as there was a great pull against him from the tunneler. A strange sensation to be sure, but it was easier to deal with than dodging tentacles.

Wrench watched the Tongsta as it realized it couldn’t reach him. Then it began to fumble at the tunneler that was ever still emptying it.

I mean… this works.

It’s actually rather safe, too.

Maybe I can ask captain boyfriend to make Hume sized and Hume portable tunnelers. We could end up being freakishly destructive with a zero suit and a Hume tunneller.

Maybe even take those hardening pellets with us.

Become the projectile, I guess.

Another thing to consider.

The Tongsta Wrench was floating inside of had stumbled to some type of display or console. It stuffed part of itself into the device, which was partially Tongsta-like.

“I need help! I’ve been-I’ve been tunneled!” screamed the Tongsta.

Eh? Is it a communication device? Is that what this is?

Maybe it’s time to go while they’re distracted.

“I can’t… it’s… I’m going to die,” the Tongsta finished in a flat tone. “I have to make sure this isn’t discovered. I have to—”

That sounds really bad.

Putting on a sudden burst of speed, kicking his legs with maximum effort and pulling with his arms, Wrench shot toward the tunneler.

With a shloop noise he popped out of it along with a jet of Tongsta goop following behind him.

“Arhhh!” screamed the Tongsta. “You!”

Tentacles that’d been hanging limply now shot out toward Wrench. The Tongsta moved it’s body away from the console and went toward Wrench.

It was much slower now, though. It only made it twelve feet before it slowed down by half. Then another five before it came to a full stop.

“Ahhh-ah-ahhhnnngh,” groaned the Tongsta, coming to a stop. It was mostly stationary now. The tentacles it’d spawned were shriveled and slowly going back to its main body. “Bas-bastard. Xxhht!”

“Yeah, yeah. Hurry up and die already. Sooner that happens I can get back to other things,” muttered Wrench. He’d stayed just ahead of the Tongsta though now he was floating in place.

Retreating back into the access point and hiding away sounded like a good idea.

Yet right now the bridge was open for him to tear it apart. It likely wouldn’t be so open again in the future.

This might be his only chance to truly run amok here.

Springing into action Wrench flew toward a wall that looked heavy. Heavy and solid. It’d be a great tool to cause destruction, he figured.

Snatching it up he spun around brought it down with a bang on top of a console that was mostly mechanical. Moving past it he brought the heavy object around and down into a display.

Shattering it.

The crackling noise as it crumpled inwards was satisfying.

As it broke apart, Wrench saw something he hadn’t expected.

A type of circuit board just beneath.

Grabbing hold of the display he wrenched it out of position and threw it to the side.

No sooner than he got eyes on the board below, then he realized he could cause lots of problems. Lots and lots of problems.

In seconds he tore out multiple items that Tongsta liked to put into these things to lower the amount of power going into the board. He had seen similar things in Hume tech but also not.

Tongsta machines tended to be a lot more powerful and also more dangerous at the same time.

With a small clear space Wrench could practically hear the hum of an electrical current in the board. It was attempting to bridge the gap that he’d torn out to resume it’s job.

I mean… to them an electrical current is annoying. To me its lethal.

Tongsta are so weird.

Jerking out the Tongsta version of a wire, which was an odd semi-gel like thing, he jammed it into the active circuits. He felt a tingling against the palm of his glove.

With the other end he began randomly tapping it all over the board. Sending massive power loads and signals randomly to other systems.

There was a pop and a boom somewhere on the other side of the bridge. He wasn’t sure, but it sounded like something blew up.

“Nice,” Wrench muttered enthusiastically and kept stabbing around. Trying to see if he could short anything else out from here.

Since nothing happened at all, he figured his previous success had burnt something out badly. Tossing the live wire onto the board he watched as it crackled and hissed, then shrugged and turned away.

Not far off the dying Tongsta was trying to interact with the Tongsta-like control panel. They were just barely out of reach.

At this point they were most certainly on their last drop of Tongsta goo, so to speak. They weren’t far from simply passing into whatever unconsciousness a blob monster could go into.

“Ah, ah. No touchie,” Wrench exclaimed and came over to the Tongsta. It was much smaller now. Only two times larger than Wrench was, in fact.

Slamming it with the tool he had picked up he got a nice thump out of it and only knocked it back a few inches. Though a new jet of goop was ejected from the force of the impact.

Sharp objects didn’t work well on Tongsta.

Blunt objects, things that could knock their gel-like insides around, were great. They could cause rips, tears, gashes, and generally ruin a Tongsta’s day.

Then again, I’d never heard of Hardening whatever before either.

So… still learning.

Wrench lifted up his tool and smacked the Tongsta twice more.

The last time he did it though, it weakly defended itself, causing Wrench to be bumped backward.

Right into the Tongsta-goop-like console.

And into it.

The exterior of it had been soft to the point of being more akin to jello.

Ah fuck.

Grunting, Wrench tried to free himself from the internals as quickly as he could. He had no idea what a Hume in a zero suit would do to such a thing, but it probably wasn’t good.

“Welcome back, xxhht xxhht xxhht,” said a voice inside of his head. It felt like it was coming from his implant but it didn’t at the same time.

It left him feeling as if someone had been hammering away next to his head with a mallet on a flexible piece of metal. Banging and clanging away and getting nothing done at all.

“Ugh,” groaned Wrench, struggling to get out of the device. It felt really sticky to the point that he wasn’t able to actually move very well.

“New messages received, xxhht. Would you like to read them?” asked the voice in his head.

“No,” whimpered Wrench. “No thank you.”

Wrench managed to to pull himself to the edge of the device somehow. Then with another sweep of his arms and kicking wildly he came free of it.

Panting, groaning, he looked back at what he’d been pushed into.

It was quite literally the console the Tongsta he’d just killed had been at. It seemed perfectly normal from the outside.

Looking at it now, Wrench noticed that there was a strange Hume shaped off-colored shape inside of it. Right at the edge in fact that he had just come out of.

Looking down at his torso and arms, he saw that the goop from the Tongsta that’d been attached to him, was gone. All of it had been stripped off him outright.

What?

Scooting closer to the device Wrench hesitantly reached out with one hand.

His hand met the exterior and went no further. It was firm to the point of feeling a lot like a solid glass wall.

Frowning, Wrench pushed hard. Putting his body into the effort this time.

All he did was manage to indent the substance but that was it.

Errr… okay.

So because I was pretending to be a tiny Tongsta covered in goo, it thought I was them. Now that I’m not covered, I can’t get back in?

Tongsta are just so weird.

Flying down to the puddle that was beneath the very dead Tongsta, Wrench rubbed his hand into it.

Then he flew up to the gooey machine and put his hand to it.

“Welcome back, xxhht xxhht xxhht,” once again said the voice from his implant. Though it didn’t make him want to punch his own brain out just to end it this time.

It sounded quite similar to a Tongsta talking nearby rather than a voice inside of his skull.

“Thanks,” Wrench murmured. Then shrugged his shoulders. “Access messages? System display? HUD?”

There was no response from the machine to any of his commands. In fact, it acted as if he didn’t do or say anything at all.

Grunting, Wrench pulled his hand back.

Again, the thing kept the goo that’d been the Tongsta there.

Alright.

In other words… the skin of a Tongsta keeps them from losing their goop to the machine. But I can get into a machine if I cover myself in goop.

That seems important to know.

Maybe even… maybe even a way to eventually get Tongsta to notice Hume.

If they can create a layer to a machine that interface between Hume and the machine itself, it might change things. It seemed like an automated computer like thing after all.

Anyways… where was I?

Wrench looked around at the bridge.

There was a lot of things that looked like they’d be great to smash and break. Delicate things that needed to be intact so that they could get the ship out of here.

Smiling, Wrench went and picked up something that must’ve been some type of Tongsta tool. It was big and once again looked sturdy.

“Time to Wrench shit up,” muttered Wrench, then darted off to a nearby console.

And stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of someone coming.

He was pretty far from the access point and he only had a few seconds. If they came in as he was flying toward it, they’d see him and that’d be the end of him being allowed a free reign over everything.

Hiding behind something wouldn’t do him any good. If he made any noise at all, they’d find him instantly. Or if they were in direct line of sight between him and any part of them, they’d find him.

Tongsta didn’t have eyes and didn’t see the world the way Hume did. In fact, he was fairly certain that they had a harder time differentiating things inside of things.

Like the Hardening pellet or when he was inside of the Tongsta. It was as if they couldn’t see where it was.

It was more akin to some type of sound location than visual, it just was always on.

Deciding on a strange course of action, but one that suddenly seemed like a good idea, Wrench shot toward the dead Tongsta. He wriggled himself quickly into the tunneler and then into the Tongsta.

It’d been rather easy this time considering that the tunneler wasn’t actually propelling much of the Tongsta out anymore. It was a gentle trickle now.

Floating inside of the dead Tongsta, Wrench could marginally see outside of it. As if he was holding a water bottle filled with jello in it and trying to peer out.

A second passed before a Tongsta wandered into view from the hall.

“Oh my xxhht! The xxhht is dead!” screamed a Tongsta.

Then nine or ten Tongsta scurried into the bridge. They spread out around the corpse and the bridge and began to look around.

“Everything is fried!” shouted a Tongsta.

“My entire panel is smashed,” a second reported.

“The xxhht was killed with a tunneler. We’ve got a loyalist on board,” a third said.

Wrench wasn’t able to really see what was going on. He figured they were trying to check everything they could and figure out what’d happened.

“Okay… ah… I guess I’m the xxhht. Are coms up?” asked a Tongsta.

“No. Absolutely fried somehow. I have… I have no idea how. Or why. I’ll have to replace a great deal of it to get it up. That’s several xxhht at least,” answered a Tongsta. “Add the engines in and we’re a damn xxhht out from getting anything done at all. We can’t even communicate with the port.”

“Xxhht! Xxhht. Okay… uh… fine. Turn everyone into repair teams. Get everything going. All of it,” growled the Tongsta who had apparently taken over. “Let’s get someone over to report to the port that we had an explosion on board and lost some systems. We need to get the engines fixed first and foremost.

“If we’re stuck here and a Grand Clan pops up on the xxhht we’re absolutely going to get made into a husk.”

“Yes xxhht!” shouted a few voices.

Then Tongsta began to rush off in every direction.

“Do it in teams! In teams. Of at least three. Clearly we have a rogue element on board and no one can be trusted. Not even me,” muttered the Tongsta.

Ha… alright.

So if the Gremlins can stay out of sight, we can even impact their morale. Let’s just… wait here for a minute. No sense in spoiling anything.

Its such a wonderful surprise.

They’ll probably move the corpse at some point.