Part 1: Blind Ramen Contest.

Blinding sheen overloaded my sight upon entering the nucleus. I couldn't see how we entered, nor how we were captured by the claw construct.

However, after the lights diminished and the surroundings went darker for a brief lapse, I got a chance too see the place we have entered.

What is that?

The image was blurry, dizziness taking over and causing the uncofortable sensation that prevented my acclimation towards the unfamiliar expanse.

I was hovering above a sea. Clutched in between the appendages of an odd shaped claw-like construct. One that resembled some sort of flower with three tendril rhyzomes that restricted me.

The thing that grabbed my focus while having my gaze forced towards the bottom was: a weird ocean. A sea that moved slowly like the calmest of waters, yet the water it was made of had a discernible shape.

It was... full of noodles...

A noodle ocean?

A18, you brought me all the way here just to eat ramen? Is this what you wanted? Tentacles?

My puddle, tentacles aren’t the required—

As expected of a succubus, you just want that kind of stuff…

#”%&92u4dsf ERROR

Init... ianting... repairshs…

Regaining my composure and overlooking my AI-joke moment, I peeked around. Areas of light and darkness were crossed while the claw constructs advanced.

What this meant was that the whole place would light up at varying brightness, alternating between phases of white and black during the monotonous trip. Sometimes it was a blinding flash that made my entire vision go white, while during others, just a moderately discernible glow. One of these flashes was so bright, that it almost left irreversible damage in my eye. But thankfully, the AI repaired the damages without the need for my input, automatically of course.

This wasn't enough though. I couldn't lose my vision, it was extremely important to see what was happening. I had to do something...

A18, we need to do something!

What do you need me to do, my puddle?

Make a quick analysis of the damage to the sensor... We need to make something to prevent it from receiving irreversible damage. We can't go blind after I spent so much making that. I'll keep trying to come up with ways to prevent it.

Yes!

If things were dire for the sensor, giving our backs to the central area where the majority of the light came from solved the issue. Despite that, the accumulative damage became a vital impediment that caused us to come up with a reactive solution: A way to decrease the amount of exposure that the sensor received... because it would be impossible to 'see' if this continued.

Since I didn't have an eyelid or some way to reduce the amount of light it endured, my only option transpired to distribute damage in an even pattern. Basically, reducing individual pixel strain with a reactive turn-off measure. The downside it had though, was a limitation of my field of vision. I became a short-sighted puddle. Better than going blind, unmistakably.

The sensor's configuration has been completed. Additional changes in the environment had been perceived and show an average increase in temperature since entering the area.

Temperature?

Well, it should be normal for the nucleus of a creature to be hotter, right? Maybe having some resemblance to the nuclei inside planets?

Anyway, good work A18! Now we have-

My puddle! Turn your head around!

Again?!

Whitening glares assaulted my sensor before I could react. This was really jarring. They appeared when less expected. The timing was apparently irregular, my AI was still trying to catch on the way it occurred. But this time, things had an additional change. The intensity of these particular light phase was too high, flashing with the strongest light beams I had experienced.

They were so intense, that an itching sensation emerged all over my surface. It was even affecting what I would call my skin, a place way more resistant than the fragile sensor that made me able to see.

Afraid that the sensor would suffer damage even when turned off, I rotated what I could of my restrained body towards the opposite direction of the light source. Nonetheless, the scorching sun ray blazed all over my body, making the itching sensation transform into stinging pain.

Ouch, it hurts!

Damage to the external surface received, exposure to excess radiation is affecting the external MMs on the external layer. Reversible damage confirmed... Repairing.

A18! Are we inside a microwave? Where have you taken me?

The poke-poke nucleus.

I know that! No wait, that's just... what I called it! We are being cooked and this is a noodle soup, you ramen fiend! Do something!

I'm n0t aAI ram3n f|en5... Error...

Wait, don't start being laggy now! I need your help to reduce the pain and create a defensive measure before I become a crispy puddle!

Repairshs...

Damn! Don't leave me now A18, not when I need you! Come on!

My situation was critical in all seriousness. The unknown object playing with a laser gun was concentrating that light over my exposed surface. It was scorching. I was squirming like a worm! Yet that claw didn't move, and my AI closed the door to her room for a 'repair session'.

Fuck this claw! I mind-shouted while using my flagellum as a pendulum, trying to gain as much momentum as I could to tumble it. Yet nothing happened. The willingness I had at this moment was like a person exercising on an extremely hot day, like a kid trying to brawl with an adult. The odd feeling was enough for my tumbling to lose strength quickly.

...

Time passed, and the heat that burned me increased becoming intolerable. Even if it was varying in intensity, my sensitive exterior was becoming crunchy. I could feel it! But if I moved it would hurt more! I knew that I had to get out of this place as fast as I could. I might become puddle powder before I could even-

Eh?

Next to my tired struggle, the vibration in the chamber stopped. The light rays directed at my area diminished and everything became absolute darkness. Before I could finish my thought process a cold sensation invaded me, I knew we have entered the dark phase once again.

It isn't hot anymore?

The change in 'temperature' was abrupt. I felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice over my hot body without second thoughts. It felt good, then... just intense cold.

Apparently, the gap in temperature became bigger when the beams went towards the extreme.

Hot and cold... That's what I wanted to describe it, yet it didn't feel like that in reality. It felt as if the sensor was oversensitive, an abnormal sensation that was accompanied by itchiness all over. Perhaps the heat sensor reacted indirectly to radiation? Unknown, yet it itched, and then, it became painful.

My puddle, repairs are almost done. The compacted form's external surface was damaged by 30% - reversible...

Finishing repairs...

Hmph, you appeared too late A18! I solved the situation alone.

Repairs completed...

Okay, now hear me out. This place feels wrong, should we leave?

The possibility of survival without the required elements is low. The current place has a more concentrated amount of resources than any other area visited by my puddle.

Hm, you are right. So your vote is for staying?

My puddle makes the decision, analysis suggests that an object in here should be the source for the increase of available elements needed by the project.

Hm, that's what I also supposed. But without visuals, it's impossible to check that out. It seems both of us are shortsighted in this environment. Nevertheless, my priority is to find a way to adapt to this place and get the time needed to search for it...

So, can you check for a way to evade damage to the structures?

Checking...

With the damage being reversible, repairs are 100% guaranteed.

Okay, that's great. But why did I feel pain?

No 'pain' found in the senses' feedback.

Then... why do I feel ants crawling all over my surface? Please tell me what the hell is happening when the surface is exposed to those rays!

Checking for surface abnormalities...

A forceful disconnect has been occurring as part of the gross sensors being overwhelmed. The current mechanisms for temperature and touch are connected directly to the 'user'. The forceful disruption after the damage is generating the sensation that the user calls Itchiness, and possibly pain.

This...

Is she referring to my 'soul'?

So, since my soul is connected directly to the interface, I have to suffer if anything is damaged? Wait! I remember feeling the scratches of those spikes before, but that pain was almost non-existent.

A18, why are the touch sensors so sensible and easy to overwhelm?

The current shape reduces the distance from the sensors to the surface, making it easier to become disrupted and damaged.

So that's why! Dang!

...

The circumstances were beseeching me to get out. Especially when the beams of light caused this itching sensation that evolved to pain. On the other end of the equation, the AI's response was urging me to think that we should risk it. We already entered, we have gambled, should we really leave this place without collecting the grand prize?

The answer was... that I didn't want to leave like this, we could at a minimum, take some noodles outside. The con was that I'd have to tolerate a bit of pain... which could be avoided if I did some tweaking.

I checked my options.

Knowing that the amount of light released inside the inner nucleus was harmful, changed the original plan I had when entering.

First, the claw carrier machine... If I could somehow get out of its grip, I could seek cover when the beams arrived. Wait, I could use it as a shield too!

Why didn't I just liberate myself from it?

Well, my initial reason for not doing so included laziness, but also energy saving. Primarily, because this shape required more expenditure to move the tiny flagellum that remained. Not quite in terms of energy, as it was available all over the place. It needed me to be extremely concentrated because it felt as if I changed a boat paddle for a spoon. In summary, it spent my mind.

Certainly, the claw trapped me before I could react, but I was the one letting it carry this puddle. It was all because I wanted it to!

My puddle is joking, right?

Okay, I am bluffing. The claw captured me and I can't get out.

But A18, how can we overcome the next light period if it's intensity is probably increasing? I think we should prepare ourselves to escape from this claw's clutches.

Does my puddle want to release the digestive NMs? In the current form, they may damage the project.

Great idea, I can use them!

Although, as she says, the side effects of releasing them while the project was in its compressed form could be dreadful. The system would have to make some sort of protection while separating from it.

Okay, don't use them for now. But keep them as an alternative for when we need it. Remind me if I forget.

Yes!

Anyway A18, can you please do me a favor?

What does my puddle need?

Can you please scratch my back?

Sc#%RTc&bS?

...

With the ending of the discussion, I checked again the advantages of being transported by the claw. The real reason why I didn't do much about it, was the sea of noodles below. It was creepy, and this transportation device had prevented me from falling into this sea.

I still had my doubts, but the more time I spent I found more things adding to this place's oddity. The liquid the claw floated on, appeared to be different from the liquid outside, almost intangible. Since I wasn't sure that I would be able to swim in it, I decided not to risk it, at least not with my current shape. If the liquid's density was higher I could very well walk over it, yet this water felt impossible to grip. Perhaps its composition resembled those odd magnetic waters that people believed in?

In the end, the claw became a necessity. If I liberated myself, I could try and use it to take me out or serve as a shield. That implied damaging its legs with the digestive NM's since I needed to get free. If the body was what made it float, then the legs didn't matter, and I could use its body like a hat to get some shadow-protection. Surely, something that worked here should have some resistance towards radiation.

The big dilemma, however, was how to keep inside this place while being restricted by the claw. Did I have to tolerate those itchy itchy pain periods until it carried me to whatever place it planned to deliver me?

My puddle, the next light phase is about to arrive!

Wait, I haven't had enough time to think!

My puddle just needs to have a bit more perseverance.

This is not about being perseverant... This thing is hell, like having to work while wanting to scratch all your body, but being limited by pain!

But we need the elements in this place, or my puddle will probably die... the time of decay is unavoidable without getting them.

O-Okay A18... I don't want to die, and although I don't want to become a dehydrated puddle inside this place, we'll give it a go and try to find those things we need. But after finding them, we're getting the hell out of here! Understood?

As you wish, my crispy puddle.

Not crispy! Don't throw me the salt! Search with all you've got A18.

Yes!

...

The claw continued to move, but I was getting impatient. The advancement although constant appeared to be slow... too slow. My shortsightedness didn't help, my sanity was being driven away by the repetitive process... and the itchy sensation. I was almost at the point of thinking that this claw wasn't moving!

The light would reignite and burn me. Next, during the dark phases, I would try to bypass the pain bug. The AI kept cheering me to keep trying. I felt something was wrong, and maybe I programmed her to be weirdly cheery.

This was already the third try to solve the bug, yet even with all I tried, the painful burns knocked on my surface. It was persistent, with the bell sound being the only savior to the one-sided fight. I couldn't solve the issue, the AI couldn't give trustable advice for it, my mind was full of... scratch it, I need to do something!

My puddle the more we move, the more the project can collect resources.~

I know, you greedy girl, but I'm losing it! It hurts! A-And it fucking itches!

My puddle should never say so many bad words.

I don't care about that right now! Give me a solution!

To rise higher you need to transform your obstacles into power.~

Again with that? Stop using phrases from my memories you demon!

My puddle, you can imagine that pain is a pleasure.~

Is that your solution. No way I'm doing that!

Then itchiness is pleasure?~

What the hell A18! I'm not into any of those! More like who the hell taught you that?

Your memories.~

I-I hate my memories!

...

Yeah, this was... the worst. The AI was mocking me with something I might have learned from an idiot in my past-life. But the circumstances were just like that, the worst. For me to gather resources, I had to suffer! I could turn off my senses, but if I did, the rays that arrived at my surface would scorch it unevenly and generate irreversible damage.

This was insane! I had to make sure that my body was tanned in various spots without allowing the rays to concentrate on the same area. I never cared about suntanning as girls do, and my mind was literally comparing this experience to a chicken inside a Rotisserie batch oven. Additionally, with the blinding light that accompanied the unavoidable radiation, my only way to notice the intensity of the rays was... b-by using my body to feel them.

A18, I can't take it any longer, we should get out, yes?

My puddle commands. But, I know that my puddle wants to collect more elements. It's just a bit of pain, my puddle. The more you can tolerate, the more we can build and grow in the future.

Yes, but not because... You know what, forget it. Cheer me up and I'm in for the next round!

I love crispy puddles~

That doesn't make sense!

I love succulent and tanned puddles... hm~

You...

Quest objective updated:

-Staying or leaving?

(The reward may vary depending on the option chosen).

You have come all the way inside the blob's inner nucleus. The treasure can be at a hair's distance. Perhaps you just need to wait until the claw-carrier takes you to the place where it delivers its cargo. Even if you choose to leave, the more you stay here, the more resources you may acquire.

Continue?

YES/NO (10... 9... 8... 7)

Risk: Damage to the project (Mostly reversible), Painful experience?

Rewards: More resources, getting a treasure. All of this for a better future?

I don't think of myself as greedy, but right now I'm poor and everything I can muster will become less suffering in the future. Understanding my AI was also something I wanted to do. Her cheering although weird, helped me calm down and probably tolerate more this weird setting. There was no one else to ask, no one else to lean on, only me and her.

Hence, I compelled. I decided to stay in the inner nucleus while letting the claw carry me towards the unknown. Maybe we won't arrive anywhere, but during this trip, I will get as many resources as I can. At least even though the whole ordeal was painful, the damage was 100% reversible, it just needed me to feel like the hot potato in the game.

When I really can't tolerate it, I'd just get out.

I still tried to conceive a reduction in overall pain or some indirect interface to prevent my soul from sensing the disruption. I even designed something like a reflex to cut the connection when it suffers damage. Despite my try, I found myself losing precious time due to the conclusive analysis telling me: It won't work, nothing to do but to bear with it.

Bear with the pain because this amazing puddle needed to make MMs for that to be possible, and right now, no MM could be made.

In summary, no pain, no gain.

Part 2: A very painful way to earn experience.

What was my limit?

Everyone has one. I suppose this is the time when the game's difficulty forces you to, yes that.

My next solution was trying to cheat...

As expected of my puddle!

You are in the same boat, A18!

Cheats won't work and my puddle needs to keep trying, the next phase is incoming, keep up the crunchiness!

Crap!

...

My AI was stating that tweaking the pain levels or using painkillers wouldn't work. But, I won't surrender. I still had an extra solution: I could detach myself, what I called my soul, from the interface... Yes, I'm a genius! This cheat might work!

That won't work, my puddle. You need to sense the radiation.

Then what about helping me while I direct you?

Only the user can use the sensor interface in such ways. The system may help in the automatic movement for the project, but it won't be able to adjust based on 'pain' since there is no real 'pain' sensor in the project. There's also no auto-roasting protocols installed.

Why didn't someone preinstall that? It'd be so useful right now!

Look, here I'm trying to think of a way to evade responsibilities, yet evidently, there is no way to prevent the food from being overcooked. The only way when no employees were available, was for the chef to check the orders and cook everything by himself.

I couldn't let the project burn, although the AI could move the project, the restrains by the claw wasn't part of the programmed situation. The current shape was also new, and only the user was able to move it. There was no one else for the job, but me. Ironically, the job that needs you tends to become the one you never want to do.

No other option, I had to feel the roasting of my body while inside the oven, all to check that the heat was adequately distributed.

But, what will you do if there was no solution? What will you do if your job forces you to do insane things that go beyond your limits or values?

Simple, you run.

There is no way I can keep up with this!

A18 we are-

My puddle the next light phase is about to arrive.

I'm not ready!

Please keep it crispy! We need more resources.

...

And the white hell reignited, but this time it wasn't scorching, not even itchy. It made me rethink my previous cowardly behavior and feel I did something stupid. Maybe it wasn't that difficult, and all it needed was a bit of willpower and time to overcome.

Next, the dark and safe hours returned. Something inside the chamber appeared to change as the darkness and the light phases stopped its extreme differences. The place was turning more neutral, but my shortsightedness wasn't allowing me to see too far. It remained, but even with it, I could see a lot of stars during the dark phases. It was similar to Christmas lights, just blurry, in black and white, and everywhere.

I hesitated for a moment. It seemed that whatever made the inner nucleus shine so strongly, had momentarily stopped. Should I really leave?

A lot of glowy particles were swirling in the liquid. Their faint luminescence permitted my visuals to capture part of the surroundings. There was a change, we had advanced to an area where the beams seemed to concentrate less. It could be described as a desert, a zone that received less of the radioactive photon rain.

Why did this happen? No idea. But, it was the perfect opportunity.

With my eye, I was searching for that which my AI wanted so much... that which I needed to find for this project to be able to grow, and also, to finally understand what this puddle body was. But more importantly to be able to end this tragic experience.

A18 also searched with everything she had. A lot of unknown elements were registered and organized hierarchically. The nucleus environment had a lot of resources we could have never gotten outside. It made me wonder if at some point I could get away by eating blob flesh even if it sounded disgusting.

With time in our favor and perfect climate in the surroundings, we finally had a lot of what we needed. The project had enough resources to make MMs, the numbers needed to be calculated in the decompressed form though. Still, A18 insisted that a very specific element, molecule, or maybe something to do with this 'core' inside of me was needed... something 'fundamental'.

Thanks to the reduced interference in the dark periods, A18 could increase her search efficiency. It was just that the inner nucleus limited her sensing too much. There was an invisible magnetism in this area, and the domain where she effectively sensed signals was reduced to a little bit of distance outside my body's surface. It wasn't enough, and although she could calculate the timing of some light phases, she couldn't detect them or the object which produced them. The thing that she used this time was something that I could only comprehend as 'resonance'. And whatever it made it was at the highest part of the room.

Far as it may be, the discovery made my blood boil. I felt I could do it, especially if the radiation remained around these levels. I still knew though, that the only way to get close to that unknown thing she was resonating with, was completely dependant on me. Only I could see and move. I was the variable that made hijacking this blob possible, and she was my cheerful guide.

You can do it, my puddle!

I'm trying!

...

The inside of the nucleus had the shape of a sphere with a huge biconical shadow in the middle. I just couldn't see all of it with my blurry vision. Everything resembled dusty particles that floated around and although the visual sensor was the only advantage that I could muster, the visuals were limited. The darkness being friendly, helped me through. It increased the contrast between the whites and blacks, delimiting the things that glowed as stars, and allowing me to recognize shapes based on the amount of luminescence.

Yeah, throughout the new and weaker dark phase, I could finally see how the claws organized in a coiling line towards the sky.

This line of claws went far to the front, but it then became like shiny spheres that coiled around the big biconical shadow at the center. The ones reappearing again at its other side had a proportional increase in altitude.

This gleaming curve that went towards the nucleus' roof was bizarrely familiar. It was very reminiscent of a spiral staircase. Each claw's radiance adding to the visuals you'd get from a helical formation of flying candle lights. It was beautiful, and to add to its allure, each of these claws attached themselves like salps in the ocean.

I found that my claw was probably going to end up there like those in the far distance. It would probably enter the long queue, a pattern where the claws attached to each other. Perhaps they were already entangled in a way I couldn't see and that made up for the moment were physical consolidation would happen. Yes, It was a matter of time, and it was presumably taking me to the place I needed.

Nonetheless, seeing the long queue of claws looping around the almost invisible black column at the center, and being under painful exposure for a prolonged time, stumped me. If these claws moved this slow, with that many patiently waiting in line... Then, with my current place at the apparent start of the whole loop, I would have a long way to...

Wait! Didn't this mean that staying here was awaiting my doom?

How many times would I have to be burned before we reached the highest place that I could currently see in the vault?

This was bad!

A18, we are getting out of this place! The pace at which this thing advances will kill us before we can even get the things you want!

My puddle I know you can-

No, we have to get out. We are not safe from the beams, we are like experiencing seasons and orbiting a sun while awaiting sniping distance.

We have gathered enough elements and we can't risk it longer.

Use the digestive NMs and activate the plan, now!

The activation will take 5:00:00 zeconds... Double confirmation is required.

Do it.

Starting to unwrap the compressed state...

Part 3: A solution to get out?

Extracting the digestive NMs would be a very hard process. It required unimaginable exactness to take out the ball inside the compressed system and throwing that poison precisely towards the claw. Like some sort of bariatric surgery that took out a piece of my stomach. It will damage a lot of structures on its way out if not careful when extracting it. But it was that, or be fried while in line.

Dying in a queue wasn't a cool way to die. This place was presumably designed to cook anything that entered it. I didn't believe anything alive could keep this up for as long as I had.

It was time to get out, and for that, we needed to take advantage of the dark phase.

Nevertheless, the current 'seasonal phase' was reaching its end...

Time was advancing and producing a lot of tension; there was real urgency because I saw what I feared: the calm before the storm. The lights were turning on softly. The cold was reaching extremes, to then start receding. It wasn't what I had in mind. However, and during that lapse, a huge plasma flux radiated through the whole room.

This was the charging phase, or what I called the period in which the structure at the center recharged. A term that probably preceded the release of the blinding hell.

This amount of charging wasn't a good omen. I could more or less know how much it charged during the weak phases. And I never saw anything like that. The charging taking place as of this moment was massive, more like the released beams after it completed the phase would probably cook me to perfection. Anxiousness crept its way over my mind.

A18, how are things going?

25% of the unwrapping has been completed...

This wasn't good.

I knew what was going to happen, that thing will fry me for sure if we don't get out.

But, could we escape before it happened?

Supposing we did, would we be able to resist its effects and find the exit?

Wait, how do you exit this place?

Answering my own questions, I felt like an idiot. I didn't plan for an exit, just a way to liberate myself. We needed to detach from the claw now or we won't even have an opportunity to escape! But then, what would we do? Damn, no time to think!

A18, quickly!

My puddle the process can't be accelerated anymore.

I don't care! Do it!

The project still needs to take the digestive sphere out of the system. While the sphere is inside of it, the process can't be accelerated.

I knew we were done for. There was no chance to get out without having a direction of where the exit was. I knew that even A18 had a blank upon crossing the doors to our current room. Her signal sensing was limited and neither of us knew what vehicle to use, nor where we could find one to get out.

A sense of hopelessness invaded my mind. It was followed by a gripping sensation coming from the claw and It was all that was needed for me to crumble.

Fuck we are going to die A18!

My puddle, please keep still, the procedure might be longer if you move.

Feeling imprisoned made me react against it. I needed to do something, I needed to get free even without the digestive NMs. I needed to try anything I could.

Anger and deep regret were clouding my mind. It was all because I felt like I was playing some game. I knew that I should've gone out, but I didn't! A18 it's your fault too! Why were you wanting me to continue and persevere so much? Why did I program you like that? I should've left long ago this damn place!

Emotions welled up, but even in my disgusting moment, and with all that anger that I withheld erupting, another desire surfaced. It gave me an instinctive desire for destruction, or more like to hit everything while making a scene. There wasn't a way to express what I was thinking at such moments. All of my ideas were disorderly, suicidal planning for the most.

I was planning to take down the damn claw. Illogical ways and stupid ideas flooding my thoughts. Then, a blinding flash entered my vision as another flux of glow passed through the center column. It made me pause but didn't take me out of the current state. It just made a bigger instinct prevail. Like a cornered rat, it made me yearn for survival at whatever cost that was necessary.

My puddle stop moving, the process can't continue if you move like that!

There was no other option, there was no time. Instincts were playing a major role, my thoughts like random tides of shouts wanting me to live. Consciousness reverting my calm nature to that of a primitive animal that didn't care about anything, but one thing. Even with blurriness assaulting my mind, I knew that every diverse and disordered instinct worked towards one goal, survival.

Contradicting as it might appear, my mind analyzed things faster. I was thinking of many solutions at the same time instinctively. Yes, no, no, no, Yes, no, no... I felt that I was processing stuff at A18's levels.

My little flagellum made a weird contortion, something I wouldn't have ever thought possible when sane. Its movement tried to damage the claw. It tried to work as a hook and knot the dangling rhizomes that composed its tripod between each other.

A simple idea, and it worked. I felt that something from the claw broke, yet I couldn't realize what it was. Alas, the same lucky thing didn't occur a second time. I couldn't repeat the movement and a weighing sensation appeared on the place I contorted.

With every additional movement I did, nothing changed. The claw remained sturdy, showing me that my actions weren't successful. That all I did was simply think without reason, with solutions being ordered in swift calculations, yet lacking substance and problem resolution. A crude analysis, one that ended with despair invading me.

Yeah, I wasn't prepared. I never experienced such stressful situations before... The strange shadow in the center started to get surrounded by glowing dust, its real appearance impossible to discern.

My mind process was stuck, it was a failure. I was entering an infinite loop: I was too young to die here - I don't want to die here!

Images with bits of my past, and the almost twenty years I had experienced before becoming a puddle, were being replayed. A lot of stuff to do, too many things to try; why did I have to die here? Why after having a second-

My puddle please calm yourself down!

T-That's... Freezing!

Wait, W-what was I...?

The light in the place was flaring in slow motion. As if everything moved slower. A moment where the coldness triggered by the AI made my mind to delve in retrospection to find a solution.

Yes, the AI had used the chill pill, and incredibly, it worked.

However, the digestive NMs plan was impossible now. I realized it quickly, the AI stopped me because it couldn't continue the process for releasing the digestive NMs. But, there was no point in employing the digestive NMs if the AI took so much time to release them. I knew it wouldn't be a swift solution, I just used it with wrong timing. It was all this shape's fault, a flaw I didn't take into account based on my previous experience.

I felt dejected. There was nothing else to do but awaiting my doom.

The berserk movements from before made my position uncomfortable, with my only eye pointing towards the sea below. It had caused my body to twist and shift downwards.

The reflection of the ocean below assaulting the protective crystal that made up for the majority of my head. It showed me something... a possible way out.

What would happen if I fell to the ocean? Could I somehow slip and fall there?

Yes, it might be a working solution -- no, it was the only option.

I just had to slip from the claw's grasp.

...

With a sober mind, I remembered to have pulled something from this claw during the frenzy. If I could do this again with better calculations, I might repeat the previous event that triggered that. There was a possibility.

My mind was in between trying and dying. Moving normally didn't work, and the NMs won't be able to be released before the burning rays arrived. Time was almost non-existent. Whatever it was that I broke didn't release me from its clutches, but I should give it another go.

A18, did you sense something falling when I moved?

No answer came. Probably the forced NM interruption caused her to direct her processing on repairs. I knew this would have been better if I had her. But I was alone, and I had to do something before the whole place purified me and my little demon -- but, what?

Suddenly, a repetitive feeling appeared. I felt something at my back as if a part of the claw became loose. I didn't move but something fell and touched my body. Did the squirming work? Was the claw somehow struggling to maintain its grip?

I couldn't see all of the claw's appendages. The only time I actually did, was when it rolled me over until it restrained me in my current position. Still, I felt it, something touched my left side. It felt like a membrane or a cloth. There were a lot of membrane things in this space, but they were mostly at the higher areas near the vault.

If moving did something, continuing to try it was my only option. So I wiggled my body as much as I could, and as if something answered my pleas, I felt a soft structure loosening again.

This? What is it?

I insisted on moving. Something was loosening and imploring for me to take this as my new plan: Jumping towards the noodle sea without a second thought.

Surviving came first, trauma came later. At least those things gave me leeway.

W-what are you thinking, me?

Below... Noodles... Ugh...

N-No! This is the only option...

The whole scene was a race against time. I moved like the happiest snake being summoned to Slithering. It was working, I felt how the contact with the claw was changing the more I struggled. I watched the column while doing all. It was like the fish and the fisher, a battle of timing.

Whenever the column lighted, I would twist faster. Whenever it darkened, I would think of my approach. Time wasn't on my side, and although my struggles were working, they were limited in speed.

The moment was almost here, I saw how the central pillar began to pulse with higher levels of glow. It was likely to turn on at any moment. Hence, now that it was almost ready to burst, I felt miserable. There was no time, there was no...

A part of the claw fell over one of my sides when my dejection interrupted my motions. I felt that my body was... sliding?

Feeling stumped after the weird structure came down made my unique eye spark. I tried to get free, and was actually released!

I could finally... ugh, fall to the ocean and... w-with trauma... still survive, right?

I didn't hesitate, quickly shifted my body, and stared below, I wasn't ready. Preparation was like forgetting it was going to happen to you. Alas, staring at the thing below made my optimism plummet, not because of the ocean, but because the thing that dropped from the claw was an additional deterrent: a translucid membrane that further confined me.

Like the cage of a bird, a piece of transparent clothing enveloped me and created a closing bubble that wouldn't let me fall to the noodle soup even if released. With this, the idea of leaving by jumping towards the sea after destroying the claw, further plunged. The second plan of wiggling my ass off the claw's grip like an oily sausage, also... limpened.

My plans won't work if it further jailed me. I was fucked... I was completely fucked... shit!

A18, help me!

The process for NMs was forcefully stopped. Priority is being given to repairs and their confinement.

Maybe I should have used the NMs... Why did I have to throw everything upon a fit of nonsense?

I could feel grief delving upon my mind. It was to the point of wanting to mind-cry all the goo out of myself. But I was too late! I saw how the whole room increased in whitening intensity, my dose of non-liquid Clorox arriving with blinding foreshadowing.

A18, I'm sorry... I couldn't...

My head turned to look away from the whitening sight. A warm sensation could be felt on my exposed surface. It was increasing, and it was scorchingly painful. I didn't think this longer and disconnected with my user authority from the sensor interface. My conscience, or whatever it is supposed to be, crouching in the lonely corners of darkness in expectance of its vanishment.

I will die, probably disappear.

It was just a moment for it to happen.

Yes, just a moment.

Just a moment.

Only a tiny bit...

Nothing to do...

Hm? A bit more then?

I waited here, but there was no change.

Is this how things go? Ending everything means being jailed for an eternity?

This...

But nothing happened, and while waiting... an unforeseen situation befell.

I heard the voice of my favorite demon follower.

My puddle~

Part 4: Do you need someone to drive you?

A18?

D-Did you follow me to hell?

My puddle, the strange membrane from the claw is reducing the amount of radiation that the project is being exposed to. The filtered energy that reaches us reduces the strain of the project's current shape.

A18?

What are you blabbering about? Aren't we...

Wait, what?!

Doesn't that mean that I... that we are still alive?

...

Upon realizing that, I re-established the link to the interface. It didn't take much, and all I got to see was a shiny crystal elevator.

The transparent veil that caged me before was converted to a holy-structure through my mind-eye. It might appear dark to anyone else, but to me, it had transformed from a prison to the most valued diamond incrusted protection.

Is this guarding us?!

Yes, the membranous structure enveloping us reduces radiation and increases the purity of the resources needed by the project.

Amazing...

The crystal wall reflected part of my figure. It allowed me to look differently at the compacted shape I had. Not that it matters, it just made me think of my previous decisions and the weak appearance behind the puddle-body.

I hated it. I wanted to be able to live happily as any other. To have time, to have friends, to live... But I, I was just a little puddle inside a bigger ocean of nothing. Was there a reason to continue? Is this stupid appearance, a peanut with a sorry face, still valuable to the world?

My puddle?

Hm, yes! I'm not alone.... at least I'll do it for her, right?

Do it for her... hm, that sounds really stupid. Yet for a weird reason, I feel I should. If I can't be happy... then, how about making someone else happier? Will an AI be happy? More like, how do you make an AI happy?

While I was regaining goals and a purpose to live, the transparent membrane on the other claws wrapped around its cargo. I could see that this happened after they passed through a certain point, so including those at the far front whose membranes were released before mine, I saw that the ones behind me were completing the process of envelopment.

Did I do all that show for nothing?

My puddle is amazing! You can do it!

I shouted... Like a lot... I finally knew why the things spiraling above the shadow column looked like that.

The appearance of candle lights of those on the rising spirals was something programmed inside the nucleus. I did something unnecessary... Nothing worked how I envisioned. How was this possible? Wasn't logic the best weapon? Wasn't knowing more... dang... I didn't know anything about this place nor lifeforms... I was an idiot in a new world... like a newborn, these were the first steps towards learning.

...

Inside the claw's protection, I felt like a kid that hid below a bedcover or a lady's skirt. The membrane allowed me to see outside, like a glass window that shielded me from the drops of photon rain. I felt secure for the first time, and also, amazed by what entered my visuals.

My gaze drifted towards the front. The queue of claws intertwined at the depths of my vision like a spiral of radiating salps in the sea, one after another. It made me think that If hotels in my past life had such transport mechanisms, it would've been astounding. Like various observer bubbles that moved as if tangled spheres pulled through the ocean.

I was now sure that some engine structure might be reeling them, making them advance slowly but at steadfast speed towards an unknown direction.

What's at the roof? Why do they move towards the roof? Why is the AI sensing something from there?

Curiosity took over. Gazing out of the invisible membrane was enough to get a whole picture. With the decrease in radiation, the current turn off measure was disabled. My field of vision increasing and showing me that the pillar at the center was an inverted tree with a lot of film-like veils appended.

Although they may appear like leaves from where I was, I didn't believe they were. So I left the inspection of them for when we arrived near. The change in shape we had was too drastic, a reduction in size made me feel incomparably smaller to the size of the room. What sort of humongous blob was the one that caught me?

More like, how much time remained for this shape to remain stable?

A18, can you maintain our small-size shape until we arrive up there?

The current shape is still readjusting. The unwrapping changed my puddle's size, but once it returns to the stable compressed version, it can be maintained indefinitely. This is only possible while inside this device. If my puddle gets out of it, the time that it can be maintained will be limited.

That's great! We can do it!

Yes, my puddle, you can do it!

...

With the claws joining each other like a family of elephants, and my vision being better while inside this vehicle. I had only one thing to do. Wait and see.

It was just that the number of claws in the spiral was above the hundreds. It was an extremely long queue. And it moved slower than the queue in a bank. But this was the perfect place for someone like me. It was like having a VIP room reservation, I felt safe and at the same time happy.

Finally, a place where I could relax for a while and feel some sort of insurance.

Or that's what I thought. After a while, it became boring. There was no Internet here and the interesting stuff outside the membrane quickly turned repetitive. The real interesting stuff wasn't in such areas, and I would have to wait until the thing advanced to watch something interesting.

I mean, the exciting stuff outside the membrane was probably near the central part of the nucleus. It's better if I wait until we get near the column, I just needed something to do, so I decided to ask my AI for something to chill out and relax.

A18, show me some cat videos, pretty please...

No, you need to complete a quest for those.

But, A18, you know that there is no way I can complete a quest right now. Isn't it better if I can remain calm?

Rules are rules.

But I made them right? Wouldn't I be able to change them?

The cat rule is set to 'unmodifiable' until all of the 'energy quests' are completed.

Ugh, you! I hate myself!

...

And just like that, my boring moments inside turtle-ship 01 continued.