After having spent several months on the development of Project XVI-DC, Neriph’eto had come to a stumbling block upon which he was found short of the essential materials required for the project. Among these necessities included raw extracted Holmium, an REE which could only be obtained from an established mining deposit.
Being conveniently posted none too far from such a mining deposit, Neriph’eto faced no difficulty in making his way to the establishment. With the easy part out of the way, the challenge now lay in convincing the managers operating the deposit to grant him access to the site. Given his nature, Neriph’eto’s first response to this was to offer a business proposition; one that would be of direct benefit to himself and by extension to the mining company on the grounds that in exchange for providing the necessary materials, Neriph’eto would be able to offer his services to any new technologies or equipment required for ambitious mining operations.
Eventually, his offer was considered pending further conference on the business terms. Following four hours of conference and discussion - maybe more - on the terms of agreement with the company’s management board, Neriph’eto was finally granted permission to supervised access of the mining system, on the terms that he was to spend no longer than 24 hours extracting the materials he needed for his proposed project. Further discussion was to take place following this operation to clarify on the projections for investment, risk, and returns upon successful completion of Project XVI-DC.
Initially, Neriph’eto endured close observation as he was escorted into the preliminary sectors of the mining deposit, not permitted to act without authorisation until arrival at the destination wherein lay the rare metal he sought. Upon passage through one of the lower levels of the mining system, the scrutiny he was under seemed to drop off considerably, as he was guided to the anticipated Holmium deposit by none more than two staff, following the initial eight with which he had initially entered the mine. The two accompanying miners wasted little time in directing Neriph’eto through the bleak mineshafts to a recently excavated deposit, and shortly after doing so, returned themselves to a marked common room from where they would be able to provide assistance to Neriph’eto at short notice if required. Other than this, Neriph’eto was largely left alone – equipped only with a torch, pickaxe and a handful of glow sticks - to go about carrying out the extraction of the much-desired Holmium REE.
Being armed with the ability to generate an electromagnetic field, Neriph’eto faced little hindrance in isolating the presence of Holmium deposits inside the surrounding rocks. Rather than being brash however, he took care to identify the deposits through his use of electromagnetic pull, focusing specifically on them when extracting the rock bodies with his pickaxe to ensure minimal structural change as otherwise a collapse of the area could very well occur. As he laboured away, hacking at the various located materials with relative ease, rogue waves of his electromagnetic field were attracting the unwanted attention of something nearby, down under the rocks below and beyond.
At first, Neriph’eto didn't take much notice or care so for the soft vibrations of the earth that he soon felt under his feet, dismissing it as a quirk of the environment. Only after the sound of rocks grinding and splitting from below reached his receptive ears did he grow somewhat suspicious, as this whole time he had been extracting materials from the walls of this deposit...then from out of nowhere came the rapid displacement of the rock immediately below him, startling Neriph’eto as he stumbled and fell onto his back while beside him, the rocky protrusions from below almost appeared to be moving, growing, forming a path directly to the doorway leading in and out of this place. Shocked and unable to comprise a rational explanation, Neriph’eto hastily recovered to his feet as the disturbance - to his bemusement – had very promptly receded and disappeared, leaving behind a rocky trail in its wake leading to nowhere… Only for Neriph’eto to then be graced to the sound of an alarm siren as just beyond, he would witness the doorway to the mineshaft become illuminated with orange hazard lights through the hazy air. Following this, an automated voice would be heard through an intercom system, warning of an impending disaster quarantine.
Neriph’eto was stunned, heart racing and hands shaking as he considered aborting this operation and getting the hell out while he could to find another safer deposit. No sooner he considered this however than did the metal doorway beyond slam shut, completely sealing off his only way out! The orange lights above the door continued to flash, leaving Neriph’eto swamped in a miserable gloom of rock and dust where all remained quiet and still for several minutes following, enough time for his mind to compose itself enough to try and figure a way out. The best he could hope for now was for the door to be of poor build quality, otherwise he would surely remain trapped. Approaching the door and narrowing his eyes, he began once again to project an electromagnetic field onto the metal frame, his ears being graced shortly afterwards by the sounds of groaning steel from the heavy blast doors. At this rate, he could be free from this confinement within minutes, all going well.
Few minutes had passed and eventually Neriph’eto could begin to see light splitting through from the other side of the doorway...then, once again provoked at a most unfortunate time, the earth dwelling disturbance returned even more aggressively than before, this time bulldozing into the archway before Neriph’eto, throwing him backwards again as he struggled to maintain his footing. While Neriph’eto was distracted, shaken and thrown away by the charging mass on the other side and attempting to regain his bearings, the thing that had been inexorably harassing him finally decided to show itself, powering through the blast doors as they crumpled and gave way with an ear-piercing shriek.
From what Neriph’eto could barely make out through the shadows and the dust, it was a long, dark, and extremely large worm like creature which had since come to occupy this space with him, and now it was coming straight towards him! Neriph’eto didn't know whether to remain still and silent, or to attempt evading the creature and run like hell, hoping there would be a place to take refuge in his path. His mind was blank, never had he encountered something quite like this before and in paralysed terror, constantly bounced between thoughts on what move to make...not that it mattered anyway, because by now the beast was very aware of his presence and approaching with conviction. As Neriph’eto dropped his equipment and turned his back to run, in a move of speed infeasible for something this size, the creature had suddenly encircled the blue alien, cutting off his route of escape with its enormous body. With nowhere to run, the monstrous worm took the opportunity to grasp its giant tail around Neriph’eto’s quivering body, swiftly coiling and securing itself around him, far too tightly for Neriph’eto to have even had a hope of reacting in time.
Held thoroughly in place, all Neriph’eto could think to do was yell as loud as his voice would allow for immediate help while trying hard to struggle himself free of the worm’s grip, however this only ensued the onset of the inevitable; the sudden tightening of the coils that wrapped him firmly. If only his arms were free, he could try to lift himself out or use his electromagnetism to launch and collapse some of the nearby rocks to distract and damage the worm. But now, they were restricted by his sides, held soundly under the cold, slimy but rock like body of the enormous mutant annelid.
Neriph’eto began to feel himself slowing down, his yells were rapidly subsiding as the worm’s crushing grasp starting to induce a shortness of breath in him. The world gradually started to feel distant as his endurance was being rapidly sapped away, as though being squashed under the pressure of a hundred mountain boulders. He was suffocating, his breaths becoming ever more brief and sparse as the sounds of the environment were fading, slowly but surely Neriph’eto was subdued as he couldn't do much more to fight against the fearsome strength of this monster...and then he looked up, where his barely coherent vision was filled with the image of the worm’s snapping jaw, permeated with an immeasurable number of serrated teeth. Another jolt of tightness from the creature’s coils – as heavy and unforgiving as rocks themselves – and Neriph’eto could swear he heard something crack. Perhaps a bone or two inside him finally gave way; perhaps it was but his mind toying with the sound of the worm’s huge maw. What it was, he knew not, but now his senses were being disrupted by a viscous and foul smelling fluid pouring down from the lips of the beast, spilling onto Neriph’eto’s head and causing him to shudder greatly.
That couldn't be right... earthworms feed upon soil and rock; surely it couldn't be attempting to make a meal out of the blue alien himself could it? Neriph’eto knew through his heightening mental haze that the vile thing’s jaw was closing in on him, imposing as the rotten stench of its guts burned his nose. By now, Neriph’eto could only hope that eventually it would come to an end, whether that be by way of the miners getting through to rescue him in time, or if he’s left here in the darkness for the grey rock worm to have its way with him. Neriph’eto couldn't help but feel overcome with a sense of remorse for the choice to venture down here on a purpose as imprudent as economic gain. Now, none of it mattered anymore. Now, all he wanted was out, one way, or another...

Commissioned by  kayimilotic
Story by  kayimilotic