Jared ripped off his shirt, "Oh yea!" The nanites altered his body significantly. Where before he stood just over six feet tall, he now stood at six and a half feet. His arms and legs rippled with muscle and... I have a six-pack...

Jared whipped his head around as he heard a huffing noise from Scarlet. She stared right at him as he admired his body. His face burned with embarrassment and he put his shirt back on.

His body inspected, he quickly realized new clothes were in order. The current ones were much too small and tight now and he wouldn't get very far hiking in them. He had a couple extra shirts and a pair of light wind pants, but they didn't have much protection from the environment. The chances of finding new clothes were rare. After two years exploring, he'd only come across a few items that even resembled clothes. Time, environment, and other explorers stripped anything of value.

"Scarlet, we have got to do that again! It's amazing!" Jared continued to marvel at the physical changes wrought on his body. "This seems like a radical enhancement. How did the changes impact me so much?"

You had a lot of dormant nanites. Since you could not control them before our bonding they only enhanced your body when needed.

"My ability to see in the dark?"

Yes, the nanites enhanced your vision because your survival depended on it.

"The nanites mutated and help humans survive the environment so I suppose it makes sense they would also adapt to increase survival in other areas. Is there a physical limit to the nanites? I don't particularly want to be ten feet tall and I don't want so much muscle it hinders my movement."

There are no limits, but if you gain too much muscle, your movement, dexterity, and speed decrease; you could then increase your height to even it out.

"Wow, okay... I will need to be careful about my selections. I don't want to be a giant, indestructible mutation. Is there a way for me to specify how tall or how much muscle I want? The percentage thing makes it hard to see how much I will gain."

Hm... I think I can do something like that, but it will take me some time to work on the problem. I will see if I can add functionality to the status screen so you can manipulate the image of your body for adjustments to physical augments.

"That would be great, thanks Scarlet. In the meantime, we need to get moving and find a safer place to camp. We can worry about assigning the rest of the nanites later. I bet it will knock me out for several days again based on the amount of nanites to assign."

Jared looked around him for anything of value to stuff into his pack when he remembered the explorer who died here. There may be an extra phase pistol in the rubble and bones. He searched the area where he found the pack, but didn't see the pistol. He searched the other bone piles; the delay was worth it if he could find another one. He kicked over the last pile of bones, "aha!"

He'd found it, but it looked in bad condition and he was unsure if it would fire anymore. The charges were too valuable to waste so he would need to test using live fire at an enemy. The other pistol looked new, and he had no doubts about it working. Two was overkill, but he like the additional firepower and it significantly increased his chances of survival.

"All right, let's go Scarlet. I think we should start by thoroughly exploring these tunnel systems. We can both see in the dark and I know for certain there are creatures we can take out in here. Maybe we can find a place to barricade ourselves in and assign the nanites while we hunt."

"Normally, I would run from any creatures, but since we will fight them, I want to assign the nanites as soon as possible. I have seen many terrifying creatures in the last two years. While they wouldn't pose much of a problem for your mother, they would make short work of us. We will need any advantage we can get."

Jared climbed to the top of the crater and looked down the tunnel. It was the same path he'd taken when first entering the sub-level and he recalled that lizard creature he killed. "Keep an eye on the ceiling, Scarlet. Last time I came through this area I killed a lizard that clung to the roof and dropped on top of me."

They walked nearly a mile when the scene of his last battle revealed only the skeleton of the creature he killed. Picked clean in just a few days didn't bode well for them and he increased his vigilance. Before reaching the stairs he'd used to descend, he noted a half-buried door on the right. The faded sign was ineligible, but he wanted to inspect it. Based on the rubble strewn about, it's possible this room was intact.

Holstering the pistols he'd been carrying, Jared bent down, bracing his feet, and shoved. He expected it would take a significant effort to move the slab of concrete, but instead the slab shifted out of the way and he launched headfirst into the wall. "Son of a....," Jared groaned and grabbed his head. There was that huffing noise again from Scarlet, he whipped his around to glare at her-

"Ugh...," that was a mistake. The movement sent a spike of pain lancing through his head.

"Apparently, it will take time for me to get used to this new strength. Give me a minute to clear my head. Just... keep an eye out for those lizard things. That was a lot of noise and might attract something to us."

Head cleared, Jared resumed excavating the buried door. Reaching up, he grabbed the edge of the door and pulled. As he pulled the door, a screeching noise emanated from the hinges and echoed down the tunnel.

"Dangit...," hissed Jared.

Jared paused and listened for any noises and just as he thought they were in the clear, he heard skittering and shrieks. The sounds emanated from two directions at once. He slammed the door shut and put his back to it as a thumb reverberated through the door.

"RAAAWWWWWRR!" Jared whipped his head around to see Scarlet face off against three of the lizard creatures.

SCARLET, WATCH OUT! He yelled telepathically.

A fourth creature clung to the ceiling and prepared to leap onto her back. Scarlet lunged at the nearest lizard and clamped her jaws on its throat. At the same time Jared drew his phase pistol and fired at the creature dropping from the ceiling. He scored a glancing hit, and it attracted the rest of the creatures to him.

"Thump, Thump...," whatever existed beyond the door Jared just opened continued to strive for escape. From the noise, it seemed several creatures wanted to escape. Bracing his feet against the slab of concrete that used to rest against the door, he dared not move otherwise the creatures could escape. Instead, he kept his back to the door and pulled out his second phase pistol to face off against the lizards headed in his direction.

Scarlet killed the first creature and pounced on the injured one he shot. At the same time Jared lined up a shot on another lizard and pulled the trigger. At the last second, it dodged out of the way and leapt at him. His arm pulled back, and he rocketed a jab into the creatures face as it descended toward him. Its head snapped back with a sickening crunch and teeth sprayed outward.

Jared had no time to assess the damage or if he killed the creature as the remaining lizard clamped its jaws around his extended forearm.

"AAAHHH!" Its teeth sank into his arm. On instinct he quickly extracted his arm, which caused a new round of pain to ignite as the teeth violently ripped from his arm.

Brining his pistol to bare, he unloaded three rounds point-blank into the lizards head. It exploded in a gout of blood and brains. It wasn't as spectacular as the first lizard creature he killed in these tunnels. He'd used his Colt then and the ballistic round made the head pop like a ripe melon. In contrast, the phase round cauterized the wounds. Still, enough blood and gore shot outward to raise bile in the back of his throat.

The lizard died instantly. He looked around to see if the one he punched was still down and noted it stumbling just a few paces. It crashed into a column after he punched it and it appeared dazed. Before he could shoot the creature again, Scarlet's tail pierced the creature through the neck spraying blood against the wall and ending its life.

"Thump, Thump... THUMP!" That last attempt made him scoot several inches around the floor. When the door opened a crack, he heard chittering and squeaking noises, which told him these differed from the lizards they killed.

"Scarlet, help me hold this door closed so we can get into a better position to take these things out."

Scarlet bounded over, stood up on her hind legs and braced the top of the door with her arms. Some pressure relieved, Jared maneuvered the slab of concrete in front of the door. He positioned it so he could fire through a crack in the door.

As soon as he finished setting the concrete, he asked Scarlet to step back. No sooner did she step back, when the door smashed into the concrete, moving it an inch. "This will not last long," he told Scarlet. "Can you breathe fire into the room? It might be more effective than unleashing a bunch of phase rounds through it."

I can try... Scarlet hesitated. This was the first time she attempted to breathe fire and Jared understood the hesitation. Standing a few paces away from the crack in the door, they observed grotesque muzzles peeking through the door as they tried to get to them.

Scarlet took a deep breath that sounded similar to the engines from a jump ship. It was more than just an inhalation of breath. It sounded like a weapon or vehicle being charged and infused with power. The sound cut off and-

"RAAAAWWWWRRR..." The roar echoed down the tunnel accompanied by a whoosh of orange flame that entered the enclosed space beyond the door. Even more terrible was the sound that followed. The creatures in the tunnel raised their voice in a cacophony of cries and wailing. Jared heard claws scraping and bodies thumping throughout the room. Moans and wails sounded through the crack in the door as several of the creatures succumbed to the dragons fire.

Jared looked at Scarlet in awe and noted steam and smoke roiling around her head. She stepped back, winded from the endeavor and sat on her haunches. "Good job Scarlet, that was amazing!"

I need to rest... That hurt... a lot. I've never felt flame like that roiling through my body. I can always feel a tiny flame in my chest, but nothing like that...

"Take all the time you need. I will remove the concrete and finish any of the creatures left."

Jared walked over the concrete and with one arm, shoved the huge slab away and once again marveled at his new strength. The possibilities before him were limitless and he couldn't wait to see what happened after assigning the nanites he received from Scarlet's mother.

The debris cleared, he walked into the door and took in the carnage everywhere. "Whoa...," Jared took a step back, doubling over as nausea overcame him. The creatures here looked like rats the size of a dog. Half a dozen of the creatures lay in smoldering pools of liquified fat, all hair singed from their bodies. What remained of their maws showed a row of serrated yellow teeth that secreted viscous fluid.

Their feet ended in claws several inches long and the entire corridor showed evidence of their passage. Everywhere he looked, claw marks decorated the area. Besides the creatures they killed, piles of bones littered the corridor. These bone piles all looked like rat bones, which meant these things were probably cannibals.

Looking further down the corridor, he noted a pair of beady eyes looking at him; a lone rat untouched by the fire. He saw several lacerations across the creatures back and suspected it fought the other rats after Scarlet set them on fire.

"Scarlet, we may have more company soon, how are you feeling?"

I still feel twinges of pain and I don't know if I can breathe fire again so soon, but I will fight.

"All right, I will go in first and clear out any of the creatures I see. Before we go, we should figure out how to absorb the nanites from these things. Should we even bother? I don't particularly want to gain an ability from either of these creatures..."

You only need to touch them to absorb the nanites. Unfortunately, I have already absorbed some from the lizards since I killed them with my mouth. I won't know if I've gained an ability until I have time to analyze their nanites.

"Ok, I'll absorb these other two lizards before we go. If we gain an ability, we can go through it together." Jared walked over to the lizards he killed and reached his hand out to touch them. A soft glow swirled out of the bodies and into his hand similar to the experience when Alexstrasza transferred her essence. The volume of nanites from these lizards was negligible compared to the dragon queen.

After he finished absorbing the nanites, he walked back to the corridor and steeled himself for what came next. Stepping into the tunnel, he held his breath, pulled his pistol, and discharged a round into the heads of all the downed rats. He wanted to make sure nothing attacked them from behind. Who knows what kind of regeneration these things have...

The lone rat at the end of the tunnel continued to glare at him as he approached. It did not run as Jared brought his phase pistol up. Before he squeezed the trigger, the rat let out a shrill cry. Although the phase pistol ended its existence, the rats warning cry sounded down the tunnel.

A low buzzing noise started down the corridor, followed by more skittering and scraping of claws on concrete. The noise grew louder and louder. Dozens of rats rounded the corner at a full gallop.

Oh no...

"Scarlet, RUN!" Jared pulled his second phase pistol and unloaded rounds into the mass of rats. The initial volley caused them to slow their rampage down the corridor, but he knew it wouldn't last for long.

Yelling at Scarlet mentally, Jared shouted, "GET READY TO SLAM THE DOOR SHUT! WAIT UNTIL I SAY NOW!"

He backpedaled toward the door while discharging round after round into the oncoming rush of mutated rodents. Exiting the room, he paused just far enough away for Scarlet to shut the door. He continued peppering the mob until he ran out of phase rounds.

"NOW!"

Scarlet slammed the door just as half a dozen of the creatures jumped at the opening. The impact shook the door and knocked loose one hinge.

"Crap... We have to move. This door will not hold them back."

Jared moved the slab of concrete in front of the door once more and sprinted down the tunnel. His target was the stairs he used to first enter this sub-level. He knew the top of them collapsed from Alexstrasza's rampage, but the stairs were five stories long and should serve as a good position to stand their ground.

Before they rounded the corner, the door flew off its hinges and the horde of rats surged forth. "Hurry!" Jared ran with everything he had.

Spotting the stairs, he took them four at a time with Scarlet close on his heals. "When we get to the top, get behind me. I need to reload my phase pistols. If any of them get close try to hit them with your tail."

As he ran up the stairs, he pulled his pack from his back and fished for the black case that held the phase pistol power packs. He thanked the dead explorer for the pistols. Without them, he would be dead already. Pulling the two spare power packs out, he jammed them into the weapons.

It looked like the rats slowed as they attempted to scramble up the stairs for their next meal. "Target practice!" whooped Jared as he set to picking them off one at a time. As he killed the creatures, several of them pounced on their now dead allies and ripped into them with abandon. The scene disgusted him, but at least provided a distraction and gave him more time to kill them.

He continued a steady stream of fire and noted that the rats kept coming, there must be over one hundred of these things...

Finally the stream of rats ceased. Jared adjusted his fire to target rats further down the stairs. He wanted to create as much mayhem as possible. Since the rodents ate their dead, it served as a great diversionary tactic.

"Scarlet, is there anything you can grab and throw at them?"

Instead of answering, a human sized chunk of concrete spiraled into the midst of the feral rats. "YES! Keep going!"

In answer to Jared's exclamation, he felt a trickle of rocks pelt him in the head and glanced up. "Whoa, wait! Scarlet... um, maybe hold off on throwing stuff... This area looks unstable and it might collapse if you pull out any more concrete."

He glanced above the rats and thought about trying to collapse the ceiling, but the way the stairs sloped at a decline the entire length would collapse and they would end up buried too.

"Get ready, I can only hold them off a little longer, but my phase pistols are about to run out of charge and I only have six shots with my Colt."

When you run out of ammo jump to the side and let me take the front. It will be harder for them to bite through my scales.

"I don't if that's a good idea. We are at the top of the stairs and it gives them a clear path to your unprotected chest. I will stay in front, just try to take care of any creatures that get around me or try to jump on my back."

Like her mother, Scarlet's underbelly appeared less armored than the rest of her body and until they increased her physical protection, Jared didn't want to risk irreparable injury to her.

Scarlet submitted to Jared's request as his phase pistol's ran out of juice. Quickly pulling his Colt, he fired the six shots in rapid section tearing holes through the creatures and making them pause in their ascent.

Jared holstered his weapons and set himself to defend with his body. Please let my increased strength be sufficient...

With just a few seconds to catch his breath before the critters reached him, he prepared for a life and death battle. Seconds later, he booted the first and second rats into the ceiling where they dropped into the crowd below where their previous allies ripped them apart.

Jared continued kicking as fast as he could, but there were so many. When he thought they would reach him, Scarlet's tail flashed by repeatedly, punching holes through the creatures. The bodies dropped in pace, creating a barrier in front of him. The rats scurried over their fallen brethren and Jared could no longer use his feet so he punched them as fast as possible.

Unfortunately he didn't have the leverage to kill the rats with the punches and instead just knocked them back. "Scarlet, I'm out of options here."

Switch places with me. The pile of bodies will protect me from below.

Launching a couple more punches to give him space, he jumped back and Scarlet took his place. She was a whirlwind of death as her jaws and tail darted back and forth wrecking havoc on the rats.

While he had a moment of reprieve, he reloaded his Colt and leaned around Scarlet to fire. "We are almost there Scarlet! There's only a dozen remaining." He aimed carefully, making sure he didn't hit Scarlet and squeezed the trigger. Again, he reloaded and fired into the last few rats.