Chapter 76: Praxcel The Pervert

When the door slid open, a man was on the other side of the door, but he was different from a normal person simply because half his body was made up of metallic moving parts. I think with a name like Metallurg, I assumed that they would be more bug-like.

"Why do you test my patience!"

Irellia kicked at the android, but it skipped back nimbly and avoided her kick while jetting out childish giggles. I saw Irellia's fist tighten, so I walked up to her and put my hand on her shoulder lightly. Irellia whipped around, and I gave her my winning smile but was rewarded with a punch in the solar plexus that I never saw coming. What is with these violent women?!

Mikota and Tama weighed with me as the Metallurgs led the rest of them down another shaft. I was able to catch my breath, and the three of us ran forward to catch up with them, but they were gone. We ran ahead, but we ended up in a circular room with tunnels leading in every direction. I tried to listen for them, but it was no use.

"Where did they go?" Tama asked while looking around.

"I'm not sure. I can't hear the girl or the Metallurg with that humming going on."

"What is that sound? It's coming from this way, follow me! Maybe they went this way!"

Mikota led us to the left, and as we walked, the humming got closer. Soon we reached a sealed door that wouldn't open. This was probably a good thing because I could see open space outside of it, but I could also see something else happening. Outside, the same tunnel was being extended by workers that used laser-like three-dimensional printers to develop the tunnel.

One of the workers noticed us, but it was hard to tell if that was a good thing or not. This worker was a massive tiger that was doing the "printing" with eye lasers! Holy cow, now that was cool, but the tiger thing was still staring at us, then it disappeared, leaving a gorilla and bear to finish the work.

There were no windows on the side of the tunnel, so I couldn't follow where the tiger had left to, but I motioned for the girls to turn back. We would have to try another path, but Irellia, Sasha, and Maxine were waiting with the man when we returned to the ring room.

"Where did you guys go?"

"We got lost and went to go check out the humming noise."

"Ah, that is the Bestarion's. They build the skeleton structure use their lasers to pour the alloy, so the Dynam in the walls will bind it into place. It is a great system that has work for one-hundred-thousand years now and will continue to serve."

"Do you know A tiger Bestarion? What is your name, by the way?"

"I'm Praxcel; I watch the top layer in this section. About the tiger... Oh! You must mean, Lady Kyrina! She is one of the best and brightest of the new generation! I should think that she will be coming to meet you all since she is part of the reason you were requested to stop here, besides the Dyman pick up."

"Oh? we get to take her with us?" I asked the question while turning to look at Sasha and Irellia, and they nodded.

"Yes, you do, Dave."

"But, your gonna have to take me too!"

Two familiar voices came from one of the tunnels beside where we had just come out. I turned to see a woman and a man walk out, and I ran up to give them both a hug. Now, this was something to get excited about! They were two different people now! Maybe still attached at the hip, but no longer stuck in the same body as before.

I let them go and then pulled Kyrina into me, by herself. Like Mikota, I had even less personal time to spend with Kyrina because of the precarious nature of her and her brother being in the same body. Now though, I held her in my arms and pressed my forehead into hers. I lightly rubbed my nose on hers, making her giggle and then relax the head down on my chest.

"I was worried about you guys."

"I glad you came for us, now we can get out of here! I was starting to get tired of building tunnels. For the other Bestarion's, it is probably easier to do because they have less personality than a human. Regardless, this is nice."

"Well, let's continue on and try not to get lost, or we will never deal with the problem at hand!" Praxcel stressed.

"Lead on before I kick you down the hallway!" Irellia snapped at the android, who was trying to keep a reasonable distance between the two of them.

I was inquisitive to know what the reason for her dislike of the thing or man. I turned to ask Kyrina about it, but Kyrin was the one that answered me with a snort.

"That insect as been caught crawling up Irellia's legs shyfted far too many times. If anything, she is overly nice to Praxcel."

"Wah? What do you mean crawled up her leg?"

"So you saw Kyrina in her tiger form? Well, they can get a lot smaller for these metalheads and shrink down to the size of a coin. Don't ask me how. Makes my head hurt when thinking about shrinking my body in such a tiny form, but that's not saying that is the only size that can be. their purpose is, most of the mining happens automatically, but things break down, and the Metallurgs fix it, no matter the size of the part."

"So Praxcel is just a pervert?"

"Yup, hehe," Kyrin chuckled.

It was great to have the old crew back; even though jill stayed on the ship, Tilly and Iona were here, and Serina and Vic were safe. Soon we reached a set of doors; Praxcel turned to us all. He looked a bit anxious and nervous like he didn't want to say what he was about to say.

"So, a Gibbler larva was caught in the Web Drag and was missed. Gibbler, are piles of flesh with many mouths and sharp teeth. Normally kill before they can grow, but this one got in and has been feeding on Dyman. Needless to say, but we have lost ten members already, so I think you had better prepare."

"Where is the closest airlock?" Sasha asked as Irellia was using an earpiece she had just pulled out to talk to Jill or Alta.

We were guided back to an intersection and took two more lefts and a right to reach the airlock. Outside, our MAS suits were waiting for us, and Praxcel manipulated the controls to open the first bay, and all the suits moved in slowly and silently. Once the suit ad all set down, the outside door closed, and the one in front of us opened with a hiss of hair filling the void spaces vacuum had left.

We each stepped up to our suits, and each placed a hand on their helmets. Each MAS opened to welcome its pilot. I turned and backed up, sliding inside my MAS unit, Diamonds Edge. The armor moved around to close the space I had just past, though, sealing tight around me like a second and better skin.

I looked over to see the finishings of the girl's units closing up and hugging each of their curvaceous bodies. The MAS units highlighted everyone one of the girl's right parts, and I could have stood there all day if Kyrina hadn't pulled on my arm. I turned to her and nodded, then we all headed back to the elevator.

At the last turn, Praxcel told us he would get us loaded up, so we wouldn't have to wait if we survived. His confidence in us was a bit said, but we didn't really know what we were going up against. I turned back to the girls, and everyone's masks opened, including my own.

"Well, are you guys ready for what every a Gibbler is?"

"Before we go, no one can cut this thing, understand. Every time you cut it, the Gibbler will grow another mouth, allowing it to consume more Dyman. Electricity is best here and fire, so we should be fine."

Little did we know, those could have been our famous last words.