Leave The Monster Alone

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Current status update: Bases found 2/2. Communication fixed - 1/2 (In progress)

Mission update: Restore the communication array and report back to the home base

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Mark had not thought he would see the end of this mission anytime soon. The bases were located fairly far and there was a lot of danger involved. When they had set off initially, the place had been to take it slow and figure everything out.

But once they had started, things had taken a completely different route and they somehow went right so far.

"Suzy will take you outside. Suzy wants to ask you if you would prefer to fight or should Suzy be careful in leading the group around. Suzy is afraid Suzy cannot keep monsters away in Suzy's current condition"  did she mean the aura that all divine beasts had?

Since Mark had realised what or who Suzy was, he had been carefully looking into her case. Her aura was as weak as Kuro's but she was likely far older than the feline.

It even seemed weaker than before which was saying something.

"You do not need to worry about us since we can handle ourselves. You do what you are needed to do and lead us around" Alan had noticed the weird notion in the female before and she made him uncomfortable.

Her looks were already not a big hit with him but her personality was what disturbed him. She spoke like she had no emotions and oftentimes even referred to herself in the third person. If that was not creepy, she spoke of sensitive thighs with a straight face.

And there were multiple of her. 

Alan could secretly see a few more of her clones? Personas? Sisters? Roaming around without many purposes. They seemed content to ignore him and everyone else around which was alright with Alan.

"Do you have a basic perimeter for checking? Any other clues we can follow?" Ideally, Mark would like a picture or a radar to help their search out but he could make do with what they had currently.

"Suzy can feel the general location but something is blocking Suzy from pinpointing it. Suzy is afraid Suzy cannot help much more than this" her flat voice did not make her seem like she regretted not being able to help but Mark got the feeling that she really was sad over the fact.

"Should we split up? We can cover more areas like this" Alan was right. They would generally cover more area like that but somehow it did not sit well with Mark. 

The area was not dangerous and there was really no risk in separating at all but Mark still hesitated to make that call. Kuro also growled, sharing her sentimental. She did not want to be separated currently as well.

"Suzy would not recommend separating. The area ahead is not dangerous but tricky. Leaving the original path can cause a lot of trouble" Mark did not like how she described ' dangerous' for the area.

He had a feeling it had something to do with Suzy's divine beast body having affected the area in some way. This was the only reason she would be so amended in having them follow her without questions asked.

"Fine, I won't run off on my own. Anything else you want to add?" Alan could not help but snap a little at the female. Her cold tone got really irritating after a while and it was her face really that bothered him.

It just brought back the feeling of danger and helplessness he had felt before and it irritated his senses a lot. Had it not been for that one reason, Alan was sure he would be much more welcoming than this.

"Alan, behave in front of others" Mark lightly smacked at the teen for his comments. Although Suzy had not taken any offence, that did not mean she was not registering it all inside her brain. 

Should she really get angry about it, Mark was not sure he would be able to take care of her before she does irreparable damage to everything.

"Suzy doesn't mind being spoken to like this. Suzy likes having talks with others but everyone just ignores Suzy when she tries. Commander is the only one willing to lean Suzy an ear and that's why Suzy likes commander" emotional manipulation?

Mark had to wonder if this was intentional on the commander's part or a gross oversight that turned into something useful.

"People are assholes anyway so don't pay attention to them. You can talk with us anytime" When Mark had heard Alan's offer, he had almost not believed it but he was happy nonetheless. The other was willing to try and that was more than enough.

Mark saw something in Suzy's eyes, a thread of emotion that was soon suppressed by the mask of indifference. But that look remained fixed behind his eyelids for a few minutes.

It had been almost 'pleading' for help.

"Suzy would remember your kindness but Suzy is afraid we need to start moving now" The female was right, they had wasted enough time.

The speed they set was nothing out of the ordinary but still faster than anything a common team could keep up with. They chose trees to travel, their branches close and thick enough to easily be able to support them.

Mark was sure Suzy had her reasons for leading them through the trees rather than the land. 

Sometime in between their fat travels and effort, the ground had changed from the normal rocky parts to an unknown golden colour wave. 

"Wow, a big animal really shed a lot here. I wonder how big it had been" Alan was the one who pointed out the oddity. Mark felt ashamed at how long it took for him to realise that the golden waves in front of him were hair and not any other materials.

His eyes tried to see as far as they could but there was not a lot of visibility. However, the hairs covered the ground as far as his eyes saw. The whole 30 m or so were filled with the golden wave.

"Should I go and check the situation?" Alan asked Mark who did not answer for a few minutes. He needed to think about all the angles here before they could put themselves in danger.

"Suzy would like to inform you that the hair is poisonous in its current state. Maintaining distance is a wise approach" Alan gulped at the news, his eyes once again darting to the bundle of hair down.

No wonder nothing had been done yet. No one could approach those hairs if they really were poisonous. 

"Is it safe to go forward? Would the air and trees not be affected?" Mark wanted to know how lethal the poison was. What kind of poison was it anyway? Neurotoxin? Venom? Did it have a cure yet?

"It's not present in the air and does not affect the rhytidome layer of these trees but it is extremely potent once it gets inside human blood" Alan tensed just a little more at the news.

The teen remembered getting stung by a scorpion before and it had gotten worse before he was treated. And that had been a mild shot of the insect poison. He did not even want to imagine what these hairs could do.

"Alan, if you want to turn back you can. Kuro and I can handle it from here" Mark looked at the tense teen in concern. 

Even when they had faced numerous monsters till now, it was the first time they were dealing with a potential biohazard. It was likely that the teen was having second thoughts about the whole thing and was not in the right mental state to handle it.

"No, let's continue forward. I need to get over it all anyway" For all Alan knew, this might not be the last of such a situation and next time he might not get a choice. 

"I'm good to go. Let's continue forward" Mark did not say anything to the other for a few seconds, his eyes just looking at the other curiously. Mark would not judge Alan for this fear because it was justified.

Even Mark had a lot of fears he was working hard to overcome and Alan was nothing but a kid stuck in this situation.

"Please step carefully from here and cover yourself fully if you can. Suzy would feel bad if something happened to you" the female was concerned but her flat tone came out as somewhat mocking.

Neither Mark nor Alan took any offence at her words or tone. They were aware of her good intentions and it was not such a big deal.

"We'll try and be careful. I think I do have a pair of leather gloves or two inside my storage we can use" Mark wished he had not discarded those bodysuits from the powerplant but thankfully his store had enough material to keep him going.