The sight of Wire's globe-head pressed against the microscope's eyepieces was amusing, but the feeling was short-lived. Maxie knew she wasn't going to like what the remite was about to reveal.

“Take a peek,” Wire instructed, stepping to the side.

Max took his place and lowered her face against the microscope's lenses. She wasn't sure what she was seeing at first, but when her vision adjusted, her stomach churned.

The white goop covering part of the dismembered finger was an expanse of living, microscopic blobs, endlessly wriggling and crawling over each other. Sharp protrusions jutted out from the amorphous entities upon encountering one another, piercing and absorbing mass from neighbouring globules, only to suffer the same fate moments later. They had no rhyme or reason; they just squirmed in every direction in an eternal cycle of sentient static.

Yet Maxie couldn't look away. The grotesque, alien display mesmerized her. It was horrible and all too captivating.

“I don't know much about biology and such,” Wire said, interrupting her trance. “But that doesn't look normal to me. What's more – look at the part where the white stuff connects to the finger.”

Max moved her face away from the eyepieces and watched Wire nudge the tray the finger was resting on. With the transition between “human” flesh and volon blood now under the scope, he double-checked the microscope before letting Max take over again.

The undulating blobs shot out even more spikes as they jolted across the surface of the finger, gradually enveloping more and more of the human skin until pure, squirming whiteness was all that remained under the scope. Whether the detached limb was really human flesh or just shapeshifted volon blood was a question Max couldn't answer, but she couldn't help but fear the worst.

Looking away from the microscope, she turned to Wire. “Do you think it's really a human finger? Like... it couldn't have possibly been a human that we saw, right?” she pleaded.

“I don't know, mate.” Wire crossed his arms. “I've looked at pictures of what you guys look like under the lens, but I've never seen human skin super close in person before.”

“Does it look like... that?” Max asked, pointing to the finger.

“...Yeah, kinda, I guess...”

Those four words strengthened Maxie's tunnel vision on a terrible hypothesis, sending a shiver through her body. She sat down on a nearby mini sofa with a hand on her forehead, drawing a deep breath.

“It was a human, wasn't it?” she mumbled. “It was a human covered in... volon. And it controlled them and forced them into the lake.” Her lips began quivering as the theory turned into reality in her mind.

Wire's usual bombastic attitude was nowhere to be found. He remained uncharacteristically quiet and reserved.

“How could they have lost a finger just by swinging around? Either... it was just a crazy volon... or it really was a human in the middle of being taken over by a volon. A-and if that's the case... it must have been breaking down that person's body somehow, some way, for them to straight up lose a limb, even if it was just a finger...!”

“Hey, snap out of it, mate,” Wire interrupted, crouching down beside Max. “We have no idea what these things really are, but we do know they shapeshift and mimic people, right? That's an easy explanation for what's going on here. I totally know you're the analytical type, but try not to think too much about the weird aliens while we're here.” He put a hand on her knee.

“Easier said than done...” Max took another deep breath. “But... yeah, I'll try. In case it wasn't obvious, I'm getting a little freaked out by this place.” She forced a smile, putting on the strongest face she could for her friend.

“I don't blame you. It's creepy as hell out here. Why don't we chill in here for a while? Take the edge off.”

“Yeah... actually, that sounds pretty nice.”

“You have any snacks in your van? I could bring you some,” Wire offered.

“Ah, you're a real one, dude. I have some stuff in the trunk if you're willing. Thanks a ton.”

“No worries. That's what friends are for!” Wire promptly left the RV.

Max felt a pang of guilt from relying on Wire so much. With his reassurances, protection, and simple kindness, she began questioning if she'd be sane and unharmed if he hadn't joined her on the lake trip. Even he could tell she was beginning to obsess over the terrible possibilities of these strange volon revelations; if Wire wasn't there to snap her out of it, no doubt she'd be curled up in a ball out of fear.

But some more long, deep breaths brought her further mental clarity, and she remembered this nightmare trip wasn't her fault at all. Her company and boss were the ones to blame for sending an ordinary human to alien hell, knowingly or not. When she got back to the office, she'd be demanding some extra compensation for the dangers she faced.

Wire returned to the RV shortly after Maxie finished tidying up her thoughts.

“Bacon crunchies and iced white tea?” He held the refreshments in the air for her to see. “Sounds like you've got good taste.”

Max cracked a smile. “The crunchies were just some random snack I picked up. I've never actually tried them before.” She paused as her friend handed her the goodies. “White tea, though – that's my favourite.”

“Well, I wouldn't know,” Wire chuckled, tapping his head. “But it sounds delicious. I'll let my imagination fill in the blanks.”

The two relaxed with each other while Maxie enjoyed her snacks. The moment of respite was well needed after wrapping her head around way too many strange occurrences at once.

“So, what's next on your list? Just waiting for your stuff to collect data?” Wire asked.

“Well, as I said earlier,” Max began, finishing a mouthful of bacon crunchies. “unless you want to roam around the lake to look for clues about its weirdness with me, pretty much.”

“Yeeeaaah, I'm cool with protecting you and all, but that doesn't sound like a good call right now.”

“Fine by me – I don't particularly feel like doing it either. I'm not getting paid nearly enough to risk my life more than I already am for this crap. I'd rather not do it and say I did.” Max took a sip of her iced tea.

“Does this mean we just get to vibe out here for a while?”

“Kinda. I wouldn't mind finding another place to rest for the night, but Ystets is even worse than this place, and commuting to and fro Miyatama multiple times for one job would really hurt my bank account.”

Wire hummed in acknowledgment.

The two made small talk while Max finished the rest of her snacks, discussing how they'd been doing before the lake trip, what they'd be doing afterwards, and frequent checkups on Max's mood. She felt a fair bit better after their chats, and food always helped soothe her anxious thoughts. She took a moment to look around the RV's interior, admiring how sterile the place was – aside from the big stacks of various hardware in the back corner.

Hold on a sec. Max squinted at the microscope. “Did you toss out that finger?”

“No? Why do you– oh.”

The dismembered limb wasn't there. Max scanned the counter, only to see a few tiny drops of white goop leading to the edge of its surface. She looked down to see the small glob of volon mass writhing across the floor towards them – no finger in sight.

“Oh god!” Max cried out, standing up from her seat to get away from the glob. She pointed down at it, dropping her empty food containers on the sofa. “Dude, that fucking thing is alive!”

“Shit!” Wire stood up too, looking around for something to use against the crawling mass.

“Sh-shoot it?!” Max suggested.

“In here? No way! Fuck, uh, help me find a container or something!” Wire shouted, hopping over the blob. He began rummaging through a cupboard beneath the lab equipment, rattling various objects around.

Max jumped over the glob and crouched down with the remite, looking in the adjacent cupboard. Vial racks, unfamiliar lab supplies, a nearly empty box of glassware–

That's it! She moved the remaining glassware from the box and pulled it out of the cupboard. She looked back towards the blob – it was still inching towards them both.

“Wire, got a box!” Max said, handing it to him.

He grabbed it and slammed it over the squirming mass, trapping it in the box. “Okay, uh, so,” he faltered, standing up. “Now what?”

“Maybe get a surface to scoop under the box? Like when you're putting a bug outside.” Max described the actions with her hands as she spoke.

“Sure, okay, but what do we use for that?”

Max looked around and saw very little they could use to slip under the box. Thin glass panels were available in the cupboard, but they were far too small. However, mounted on the wall was a broom and dustpan; Max rushed over and grabbed the dustpan off the wall.

She bent down and repeatedly steeled herself to scoop up the box in the dustpan, but couldn't muster the courage to do it.

“Here, let me–” Wire spoke up, taking the dustpan from her. He swiftly scooped up the box and its contents.

Max ran over to the door, opening it for Wire. As he power-walked past her, she could see the volon glob breaking down the side of the cardboard container, trying to escape.

“Wire, it's eating the box!” she cried.

He held up the pan and box at a better angle to see it. “Ah, fuck!” He started running to the lake until he reached the shoreline, at which point he hurled the box, dustpan, and volon blob into the lake. Sploosh.

Max walked towards Wire at the lake's edge, keeping her eyes peeled for any other threats. After confirming they were volon-free, she approached Wire and looked out at the ripples in the lake with her friend.

“...I figured it was worth saving a bullet over,” Wire muttered.

“No more fucking around with the alien monsters anymore,” Maxie declared.

“Okay, yeah. Fair, that's... yeah. Sorry.”

“I swear to god,” she whimpered, “if one more fucked up thing happens out here, I'm gone. This isn't worth it. I'll take the bank hit.”