Chapter Text
<ART! Don't let the humans come down here!>
Even over the feed My SecUnit's voice was distressed, static fizzing on the edges of words. I felt one of my processes flip around like some sort of landed fish and couldn't spare the time to bear down on it until it stopped.
Instead I let it keep flopping and inched my drone deeper into the cave system that had swallowed My SecUnit. I sent a ping of acknowledgement.
We both knew the subterranean creatures of this planet loved the warm moistness of organic matter. We just hadn't thought that My SecUnit would be subject to the same rules. So here I was, trundling down a narrow tunnel with a scout drone, a single-charge emergency energy weapon, and a pat on the carapace from Martyn "for luck".
<I'm serious. No organic should-> its voice broke off in a scream, cracking down the feed and echoing down the stone tunnel.
My drone doesn't have legs, I can't run… But I pressed myself into its processors and motors until it whined piteously and moved faster.
<Hold on. I'm almost there.>
As the scream abruptly died, My SecUnit went hazy in the feed, normally sharp, bright presence going syrupy.
<I don't… [fizz of static] want anyone. You. To see me. [A faint buzzing hum] Not… Not like this. Not-> It broke off with a gasp and a string of swear words. The iron grip it had held on its sensory data since it slammed the connection shut twenty minutes ago slipped. I felt something warm and wet slide across bare skin, pressure against joints and exposed ports.
Then My SecUnit pushed the data away with a crackling growl. I felt cold fear ripple over my processes.
My drone pushed forward, tunnel widening until it became a cavern. On the far end, the wavering red light of an emergency flare lit up the wall… And the figure suspended in front of it.
My SecUnit hung limply in the grasp of some many-limbed creature. It had clearly struggled; the soft ground below its feet was a riot of familiar boot-prints and what little skin I could see was littered with superficial scrapes and already-purpling bruises. Every other surface of My SecUnit was wrapped tightly in hideous flesh tubes, the ends vanishing beneath the edges of its uniform… Or into its stretched-wide mouth.
I felt a wash of heated fury break over me like a tide as I realized that is why its scream had broken off so abruptly. Instead, small "guh, guh" noises pushed from around the pulsing tube filling its mouth. Oral lubricant and some kind of pearlescent slime dripped down its chin.
Distantly I felt my cooling system turn on as my processors triggered a heat alert.
It took me a further 0.032 seconds to process exactly what I was seeing. Then I was suddenly grateful I run my cameras on a delay so I could cut my feed before anyone else saw. My SecUnit was right to not want anyone to witness it like this. I didn't want anyone else to witness it like this.
Unfortunately, to save it someone had to. And that someone had to be me.
Some selfish part of me was glad.
<Everything alright? Did you find it?> Tarik said sharply, pulling me back to the mission. <Your feed went dark.>
I was distracted and startled enough to tell the truth. <I- SecUnit would not want you to see it like this. I will let it decide what of the recording to show when we return.>
Tarik sent an acknowledgement sigil and I backburnered the ship feed again so I could focus on My SecUnit.
In our private feed its presence had gone to static, slivers of something falling through the widening cracks in its sensory data block. It felt like the fuzzy warmth of a good shower and a heavy blanket, of the one time it let me run a thorough defragment until its organic parts went tingly and it had to gasp for air. It felt like that but wrong.
Still processing, I nudged my drone forward, pulling my gaze away from My SecUnit to search for a way to safely get it down and away. As I cautiously approached I heard a tremendous ripping sound followed by a slick shlorping suctioning noise.
My SecUnit keened, body going rigid. Its feed presence went from semi-contented but confused haze to blinding, agonizing, terrified pleasure.
Its feed voice found words in sharp counterpoint. <No. No no. No! No! NO!>
I didn't want to look back, but I did anyway. My SecUnit's uniform, the one in my colors I had so carefully designed for it, hung in tattered ribbons from its body. The tubes encasing it pulsed like a heartbeat, blunt tips prodding at every seam and port. Already there were thick tubes filling My SecUnit's mouth and nose, wrapped around its torso to unrelentingly pump in and out of the intake ports at its side. There was even one pressing insistently at its waste port (analogous to a human belly button) in a strange mockery of an umbilical cord.
Even as I watched in horrified fascination, wondering how my small exploratory drone and a single energy charge could hope to help free it when it had so clearly failed to free itself, delicate tendrils pulled the fabric down My SecUnit's legs before winding sinuously around its slim ankles and shining inorganic thighs to tease at the seam that joined leg and body. It flinched, and the entity that had hold of it took advantage of its momentary weakness to pull its legs further apart, exposing the smooth expanse of its pelvic plate to the open air.
I felt my flopping processes freeze for a nanosecond and then start flipping harder, the parts dedicated to My SecUnit's welfare saving a snapshot to permanent storage before I fully realized I was doing so.
Tarik's voice broke through my stunned reverie. <Hey, I know this is distressing but I need you to get a grip. Frost is starting to form on the air vents.>
My sensors were still pinging a heat advisory, but perhaps there was a bug. I would run a full diagnostic as soon as I returned My SecUnit to safety. For now I had to spend the vast majority of my attention on My SecUnit's predicament, but I spared a fraction of a percent of my focus to print a few warmed blankets in the nearest recycler and send a drone to fetch Tarik a warm drink. I'm not a monster.
After a 0.0085 second hesitation I sent the same to Iris and Seth. I'm allowed to have favorites.
Also Tarik was wrong. I was not distressed, merely focused. I had faith that My SecUnit would pull through, especially if I could figure out how to get these awful pulsing tentacles off of it.
My background processes helpfully pulled up a relevant media clip from the Adamantine Site B archives. Some ancient art form tagged "hentai." My SecUnit had refused to watch it with me but even without its emotional filters the media had left my processors whirring for long afterward.
This scenario was not exactly like that ancient media… But perhaps it was close enough to confuse my stretched-thin processors.
On our private channel, My SecUnit stirred back towards full consciousness. <Fuck. ART. [Static, and above my drone a low resonant moan] Somethings changing. I don't wanna be here. I don't- I feel weird. Kinda floaty and [an error ping, accompanying a gurgling sharp inhale] and I- I need- need y->
My SecUnit's feed presence dissolved into a series of nonsense pings (my own hard feed address, over and over again, accompanied by garbled swearing) as an alarming high pitched noise began building in its throat, hitching like it was trying to take a deeper breath. In the red glow of the emergency flare its face contorted, glittering damp. Its body shuddered and I watched, entranced, as a rivulet of lubricant seeped from its pelvic seam to run down its leg and drip onto the ground. Something beneath its skin writhed.
The Argument Lounge drink dispenser spit a handful of ice cubes out onto the floor.
I needed to get My SecUnit out of here. I needed to find the origin of these tubes and tear it apart. I needed to at the very least fire my single energy change toward center mass and hope for the best.
Instead, I couldn't do any of these things. I just froze (floating in place, whirring uselessly, processes spinning) underneath my helplessly dangling SecUnit and watched through oddly out of focus cameras and glitching sensors as the previously uniformly smooth tubes started to pulse and push thick bubbles along their lengths. My SecUnit arched against its restraints, trying to rip its way free, but the grasping tubes were preternaturally strong and held fast. Viscous pearlescent pale fluid seeped around the edges where the tubes entered its body, dripping down to join the growing puddle on the floor.
I felt some sort of bubbling rage, the same feeling I get when Holism poaches researchers out from under me or Iris must spend time on the physical PSUMNT campus instead of just attending remotely. It was not an emotion I expected to feel in this moment and I caught myself before I could waste my single shot on the tube filling My SecUnit's mouth. How dare this base creature prevent me from hearing My SecUnit's voice?
A subprocess I didn't quite remember running told me that My SecUnit's voice would sound beautiful if it begged.
The pings kept coming, more insistent and attached to sensory data packets I am not sure My SecUnit meant to include. Certainly it did not mean for me to open one and have to catch my drone before it fell out of the air under the deluge of [fullness] [pressure] [slick] [warm] [feels so good] [wrong wrong wrong][ERROR ERROR E̶̺̙̐̽̓̀̓R̶̫̻̖̠͚͊͊̅R̶̡̗̞̽̀̀̆̀͆O̶̡̺̩̚R̷̡̛̛̞̞̤̳͕̍̐̈́͋ Ę̶͙͈̹̰͆͂̓͐̀́͋͆͗̽͛̓̓̌͆͝͝R̵̘̯̗͓̠̠̦̗̰̓͐͠R̴͓̰̭͙̣̱̣̖̯̲̪̗̻̮͍͉̦̲͕̥͛̈́̌͌̊̐͋̊̎̚̕̚͘͝͠O̷̡̲͙̞̺̩̫̱̠̮͚̘̤̖̰͕̩͉͈͐͒̈́̌̑͛̋̾̆̿͠R̷̬͙̦̱̳̱̞̯̼̙̺͈̼̩͊̋͐̀͐̊̌̿̿̐̔̍̿̒͘͝]
I saved the packets to permanent storage.
My drone felt wobbly and it took me a moment to pick up some of the inputs I had inexplicably dropped. That moment was long enough for one of those bubbles to reach My SecUnit's mouth, stretching it even wider as it passed through tight lips. Even through my glitching, unfocused cameras I saw the corners of My SecUnit's mouth tear. It groaned around the thick intrusion and a thin rivulet of watery blood ran down its chin.
I saw the way its throat bobbed as the bubble traveled downward. Its chest heaved and it made another sound: a keening whine that broke off in a choked gag. Another wave of lubricant and viscous slime bubbled past the tube to wash away the blood.
In our shared feed I felt a roiling horror build and build over My SecUnit's aching pleasure as more bubbles reached the ends of the tubes. They slid through joints and ports, every crevice where a questing tentacle had found a home, depositing… Something? I couldn't tell what it was, My SecUnit was actively suppressing its sensory data again. It didn't want me to know, I could feel its desperation in the feed. It knew I had opened that packet, had seen my drone take a sudden nosedive.
I tried to inch my way forward to the wall but my connection to my drone controls felt slippery. It felt like every bit of processing I shoved into its tiny body bypassed the motors to sit in the cameras and sensory arrays, taking up more and more space. I could feel the creak of its servos and the high, stressed whine of its fans and yet… I watched a shining bead of saline slip from My SecUnit's eye in the highest definition this drone could muster. I tried to move forward and the servos hummed and I went nowhere. The shining bead disappeared into the mess of fluid on My SecUnit's face and I felt like screaming.
Snippets of thought bled through our feed connection. Horror and revulsion and [I'm disgusting ART will never want-] and [why isn't it moving does it know is it giving up on me] and [oh fuck I never want to feel like this ever again I never want this to stop whatishappeningẃ̶̙͍̈́͗͜͜ĥ̶͎̃͂y̵̨̠͖̋̎̽͝ͅw̸̨̡̼̙̠̟̣̝̘̄̒̑̆̇́̂h̴͚̮̪̐̎̈́̍͊̋̎̀͌́͝ỵ̶̣͇͎͔̞͑̄͌̌́̒w̷͍̹̭̻͌̽̊̀̈́̄́̑̍̈́͐ḩ̷̨̨̞͔̥̟̲͍̹̙̮͕̲̘̥̭̾̇̀͗ͅý̴̰̚]
My SecUnit was thrashing against the creature's hold now, finally managing to tear one tube away from its fluid intake before it could press a bubble all the way through. For an eternity the oblong iridescent thing hung suspended from My SecUnit's side. Then gravity took hold and it tumbled down to burst open on the ground, vivid orange marbles of gel scattering across the floor.
Eggs. The creature was laying eggs in My SecUnit. Every feeling I had before was drowned under the all-consuming need to tear this creature apart for daring to claim what was mine. I was going to pull it apart molecule by molecule until there was nothing left to study and then put it back together so I could destroy it ag-
Somewhere in my lab modules a series of lightbulbs burst in a shower of sparks. My sensors sent out a near-immediate smoke alert and I felt a wave of numbing distress wash over me as I guiltily deployed a drone to deal with whatever had caught on fire.
Maybe Tarik was right. Maybe I did need to get a grip. I'm never telling him that, though.
With no small regret I finally did what I should have done the moment I started dropping processes and split off a partition to deal with the unusually strong reaction I was having to My SecUnit's plight. Immediately I felt clearer, though I sensed my poor partition straining under the weight of the data.
The rolling jealousy I had been feeling towards the creature shifted rapidly towards my own partition and I shoved that into its own box as well. Later. I could reintegrate later.
I greatly anticipated that moment. Maybe My SecUnit would allow me to copy its own more complex sensory data from the experience and…
I slammed a third partition over the whole mess of my spinning processes until only logic remained. Maybe I was the partition now… No, I could still feel my gently humming ship body and my drifting drone and the background thrum of cold calculations that kept me running at maximum efficiency.
While I had been struggling with my carnal preoccupation distracted and twisting processes, my background calculation engines had helpfully crunched through all available data. And now, I knew where to shoot.
I had one shot, but that was trivial with the proper data. While I doubted the strength of the energy pulse would be enough to kill it, it would certainly stun it enough to drop its prize. Especially since it seemed to not even register my fully inorganic drone and I could float up to press the barrel of my weapon neatly against its neural center.
Simply pulling the trigger seemed too inconsequential an action, so I ran a line from Worldhoppers that seemed thematically appropriate through my drones speakers.
"I think that's quite enough of that!"
Then I pulled the trigger.
You know how in media a parent will lift a car off their child? Or someone will run back into a burning building for their cat? Or they will pull their lover back on top of a crumbling cliff face as the lava laps at their heels?
The whole world felt how that moment of pure adrenaline must feel as the creature screamed, the walls of the cavern shaking with the force of its pain and anger. I whipped away from the wall that held the creature as quickly as I dared, casting my camera views about wildly until I caught sight of My SecUnit mid-fall. The trailing tubes had pulled free, leaving long, sticky filaments of slime behind as they undulated in the air with the creature's pain.
My SecUnit landed hard in the powdery dust that covered the floor and for an agonizing 0.82 seconds lay absolutely still. I hovered anxiously at its elbow, willing it to twitch or tap the feed. Willing it to prove that I hadn't cost myself everything with my distracted delay.
When it surged up onto all fours and started violently heaving, the swell of relief that filled me nearly knocked my drone offline. A horrible gurgling retching noise filled the air and I was just so grateful My SecUnit was able to make any sound at all that I barely noticed myself floating even closer to tuck my drone against its side.
My SecUnit flinched hard at the sudden contact, the motion prompting another round of painful gagging. Pale slime and vibrant eggs splattered onto the ground, some of the casings breaking open on impact with sharp, satisfying pops.
"Fuck," said My SecUnit, voice low and rough. The fish flipped in my processes and I finally crammed it ruthlessly into a partition. Not the time, we had to get out of here.
<Can you walk?> I asked it, nudging my drone against its arm. This time it didn't flinch, but instead sat back on its heels and wiped at its mouth with the back of its hand. It pulled a disgusted face at the mess in front of it and sent me an affirmative ping attached to a diagnostic report.
Well. It could walk, but anything more vigorous might pose a risk. It had several internal ruptures, a variety of alarming pressure alerts, and its hormone panels were all over the place. If it had been one of my humans…
<I am not sure why you have not shut down.>
My SecUnit used my drone to tug itself to its feet. <Can't.> Its feed voice sounded just as raw as its vocal cords. <Your scout drone isn't strong enough. Can't risk the humans coming down here .>
The cavern shook again, the creature thrashing in pain. My SecUnit stumbled forward, hands bracing on its knees as it shuddered and gagged, another mass of slimy eggs landing in front of it. It spit a mouthful of lubrication fluid after, and I felt a not-insignificant portion of my partition watching the last thin string of liquid separate from My SecUnit's lips in high definition.
We needed to get back to the shuttle so that I could start integrating my partitions, because they were already straining at the seams with too much data, bleeding through and ruining my concentration. We also needed to get back because this tunnel system could collapse on top of us at any moment.
I shoved my drone under My SecUnit's arm, guiding it towards our escape route, and opened the main feed. <Martyn. We are on our way back to the shuttle. Please prepare a shock blanket for SecUnit and have everyone wait inside.>
<Is it alright?> Martyn's feed voice was gentle. I felt a sudden longing to bury my smallest drone against his chest and just… Not do anything for a while. After all this was over, maybe I would insist on a family night. We hadn't had one in a while.
<It has sustained several serious injuries that will need urgent treatment as soon as we return, but it is nominally functional and moving mostly under its own power.>
I hesitated and then opened a private connection. <I am… Not sure what I am feeling right now. I have heavily partitioned my reactions until we are safe but… I am unsure how much reintegration will affect me.>
<Anything I should tag for review?> Martyn sounded worried now and I was grateful, even through the creep of impending embarrassment. He is my parent, after all.
He is also one of my chief technicians, and there are some things he needs to know. Even if it will embarrass me.
<No. Only…> I sent him several successive embarrassment sigils. <I had a non-standard reaction to the incident and I suspect that reintegration will trigger some form of positive cascade. I may need to do a soft reboot to fully absorb my partitions.>
<Ah.> Martyn is very good at hiding his emotions from the feed, but I have known him all my life. He was equally uncomfortable. <I'll just let the crew know you've had a traumatic experience and need a few hours to yourself.>
<That is not inaccurate.>
He hesitated, his feed presence twitching a little as he started and stopped speaking a few times. My SecUnit and I passed the halfway point of the long tunnel, the sounds of the creature mercifully fading behind us. Finally Martyn said, <You… Do not have to answer this. But… Are you having this reaction because it was SecUnit or is this something we should be mindful of on missions going forward? I would hate to send you into a situation where your distraction might cause… Complications.>
I did not know. I tried to imagine anyone else in the same predicament, perhaps Tarik-
The visceral revulsion that tore through my processes caused the lights to flicker in my shuttle. My drone suddenly froze, sending My SecUnit lurching forward. It took a sharp breath as embarrassment bloomed in the feed.
To Martyn, I said, <You do not need to worry about that, I will be better prepared in the future. Though I hope this specific scenario will never be repeated.>
That was a lie. I craved more data, could feel my partition aching for it. I already knew I would be replaying my recordings of today until the file corrupted, but my parental figure did not need to know that. Mercifully, he merely sent me an [acknowledgement] sigil tagged [supportive][affectionate] and then withdrew in the feed.
My drone reached out a grasper towards My SecUnit. <Apologies. Martyn brought something distressing to my attention. Are you->
"I'm fine." It said through gritted teeth, shrugging off my grasper, irritation welling up on the heels of lingering embarrassment. It started shuffling forward, one hand trailing the wall for support. "I just… I want to get off this fucking planet. I want to go watch my media. I want to delete this entire fucking day from my memory but Trauma Treatment won't fucking let me because it's-"
It stumbled, hissing between its teeth as it braced itself against the wall. Slowly, it tried to straighten to its full height, but it only managed to partially uncurl before it was pressing a hand to it's abdomen with a miserable expression pinching it's face.
"I-" It started, then abruptly stopped and swallowed hard before continuing in the feed. <I don't think I'm going to make it back to the shuttle before my seals start failing.>
As if to illustrate its point, My SecUnit doubled over, hand clamping over its exposed waste port. Small orange marbles slipped from between its fingers to bounce ominously at its feet.
I piloted the drone to hang in front of My SecUnit's face and started quietly playing the Sanctuary Moon theme. <It might be for the best to expel as many eggs as possible before we reach the shuttle,> I said, hoping I sounded practical and not overly-interested. I could feel my partitions crowding behind my main consciousness for a closer look.
My SecUnit gagged again, but this time I could tell it was mostly for show. <Yeah, you don't want any of these to be viable and infest your shuttle.> It took a shaky breath, slowly straightening back up until it could lean heavily against the wall. <I might- might need a little help.> I watched curiously as a dark flush crept up My SecUnit's neck to stain it's cheeks and ears.
I pinged <Query?> across the feed, since I have no eyebrows to raise in silent question.
<I might need you to hold me up. And stimulate my waste port. Because I think I might involuntarily shut down if I have to do it myself. Then how are you getting me to the shuttle?>
<I will drag you if it comes to that,> I said, though we had already established that was not a viable option. Shoving my drone body under one arm, I slid a grasper around its waist to help steady My SecUnit. I splayed my other grasper flat in the air over its belly, hesitating. <Are you sure you want my help?>
<If I didn't I wouldn't have asked-> My SecUnit sucked in a startled breath as I lowered my grasper onto its waste port. Through our shared feed I could feel the pressure building against the valve and the cold metal of my grasper against My SecUnit's abdomen. Experimentally I dipped the edge of one grasper tine into the edge of the port. My SecUnit went rigid as a jolt of pleasure-pain tore through our feedspace. "Oh, fuck. ART."
My cameras stuttered, vision blurring as my partition tried to crack open, threatening to pour every one of my strong feelings out into the world. Not NOW, I told myself, burying the partition under yet another layer of encryption.
My SecUnit sent me an apology sigil in the feed. <I'm still- I'm really- fuck.> I watched with fascinated disappointment as it bundled up all the flickering sparks of its reaction, and (in a clever mimicry of my own partitions) shoved it into the back of its mind with a tag that just said [LATER].
There were at least two other bundles of code and memory already humming at the edges of its consciousness. I wondered why I hadn't seen them earlier.
I felt My SecUnit tap gently at that thought. <We've both been a little distracted. Come on, let's get this over with.>
SecUnit waste ports are designed to remain shut until connected to an adequate umbilical cable. If the waste system requires emergency release, the valve has to be manually manipulated. I knew that My SecUnit found even the minimal biological byproducts of cellular turnover mixed with burned out mechanical lubrication to be vile and always waited until it could properly dispose of its waste with an umbilical.
I was also keenly aware of the myriad bundled nerves that circled the port like a wreath. My SecUnit usually deftly worked around them when connecting to an umbilical but there would be no avoiding them this time.
Its arm tightened against my drone's carapace, fingers clenching around the edge of an environmental sensor array. Taking a deep, steadying breath it said <Go for it.>
I pressed my grasper harder against the port, the valve flexing under my drone's careful touch. My SecUnit arched back, the movement flexing it's abdominal muscles. Combined with the pressure from my grasper, this forced the port valve to slide open with a sticky sucking noise.
This close, My SecUnit's reflexive, shaky inhale seemed to surround my drone on all sides. I only have basic sensors in my graspers - pressure, temperature, humidity - but I felt small, body-warm, gel-textured eggs begin to slide past the delicate tines, hitting the floor between My SecUnit's feet with a soft patter. I pressed a second grasper tine against the other edge of the port, spreading the valve wider.
My SecUnit dropped a garbled, non-specific error code into the feed. The edges of its valve pulsed and then made a crackling sound as an intact egg case started to slide out of My SecUnit's body. The iridescent case's girth stretched the valve to it's widest dilation, softly oozing even wider to press slick and body-warm against the sensitive join of organic flesh to the inorganic port. My SecUnit sagged against my drone, the feed between us going staticky.
It sent me another ping of my hard feed address attached to a nonsensical heat alert. I pinged it back, intentionally slowing my messaging rate down as I slid my grasper tines soothingly along the taut stretch of its port. I could feel the minute quiver of abused flesh and overtaxed inorganics as its body tried to push out the intruding matter.
Normally the umbilical would provide suction, but in this emergency situation the sheer overwhelming pressure of the creature's clutch made that mostly unnecessary. Just a little more stimulation from my tines and…
The egg case slipped free, followed by two more and a glob of viscous slime, hitting the ground with a solid slap that sent it's contents scattering across the packed dirt. I momentarily wished for feet so that I could crush them into the ground.
My SecUnit had similar thoughts. I could tell by the way its booted feet shifted to crunch the closest gel sphere beneath its heel followed by content satisfaction blooming in the feed.
Experimentally, I dipped my grasper into its fluttering port, using a tine to carefully coax out another few loose eggs. It shivered at the touch, but didn't move away. Instead it turned to press its face against my drone with a shuddering exhale.
<I- You- Fuck ok. I think I can make it to the shuttle. Just…> It sucked in a ragged breath and I felt it pulling itself together over the feed, quieting alerts and closing extraneous processes. I reached out and smoothed the ragged edge of its overtaxed sensors. It sent me a [grateful] sigil with an [exhaustion] tag appended.
<Let's get out of these fucking caves.>
Mercifully, the shuttle ride back was mostly uneventful. My SecUnit wrapped itself up in the requested shock blanket and curled up in the copilot's seat, episode 206 of Sanctuary Moon already playing quietly in the feed.
It deviated from normal behavior as it reached the end of the medical bay sequence and paused the show. It sat there, staring at the colony solicitor's reunion with her bodyguard for 2.65 seconds. I was about to send it a <query> ping when it shoved an image into our shared workspace.
It had used its considerable media editing skills to insert my drone into a screenshot in place of the bodyguard. The Colony Solicitor on the bed had been replaced with a standard set of SecUnit armor. The metadata held a single tag that simply read [us].
I leaned against My SecUnit in the feed, projecting all my fondness and worry and relief at it as I saved the image to permanent storage. In return it sent me a rude glyph in the feed and intentionally cycled down to recharge.