Still no monster around as Skye hopped down the staircase leading to the underground ultraloop station. His footsteps echoed off the metal steps louder and louder as he descended.

He snapped to attention. Just as he set foot in the station, the hum of a decelerating ultraloop shuttle reverberated through the spacious room. A glance to the left side of the station told him that was his ride home.

Only one person exited the shuttle as it stopped and opened its doors. Skye sprinted over to it before the doors closed, just barely slipping inside before it was too late. He caught onto a pole inside the shuttle to slow himself down before flopping down on a pair of empty seats.

Skye took a deep breath. He was safe for the moment, and having Wrench around would only add an extra level of security. Watching the shuttle depart from the station calmed his nerves even further.

He survived.

~~~

Skye walked off the ultraloop, now standing in the station nearest his home. Wrench wasn't at the station; no problem, he told himself, still quite rattled from his encounter. They're probably on their way.

Skye's love-hate relationship with public crowds was rearing its head once again. As he sat down on one of the cold station benches, he couldn't tell if he was happy or concerned about the lack of people. On one hand, there was nobody around to bother him, but on the other hand... the utter lack of people in a shuttle station was unnerving. The incident outside Velvet Crumble wasn't doing his paranoia any favours either, prompting him to check both of the station's stairwells whenever he heard - or thought he heard - some distant noise.

The next 10 minutes of his life weren't particularly comfortable. Skye had to repeatedly remind himself to calm down now that he was kilometres away from the monster.

It wasn't out for me. It was out for food.

He pulled out a lighter from his coat pocket and flicked it on and off. It was one he'd modified to have an extra tall flame - almost half a foot high - and it was a convenient tool to help keep him grounded in reality.

Just focus, he reminded himself as he watched the narrow flame flicker to and from existence. You're fine.

Only a couple more minutes passed before quick footsteps approached from the leftmost stairwell. Skye eagerly looked over to see Wrench hopping down steps two at a time.

"Ey!" Skye called out.

"You rang?" Wrench answered with their hands out to their sides.

Skye hopped out of his seat and walked over towards Wrench, his friend's arrival instantly putting his heart at ease. "Damn I'm glad you're here."

The two hi-fived and fist-bumped each other.

"No problem. You know I got your back. So, like... what the hell happened? Did you really see a monster?"

"Yeah. I'll show you. Lemme get my phone." Skye sat back down on one of the metal benches, prompting Wrench to do the same, sitting down beside him. He pulled out his phone.

"Okay, let's see this." Wrench leaned closer to Skye, trying to get a better view of his phone.

"And... here," Skye muttered as he navigated through his gallery, found the video, and pressed play.

"Hey, it's Skye," his video introduction began. After his recording rattled off details of what was happening, the strange creature from earlier craned down and showed its face to the camera, just as eerie as he remembered it.

"Yo," Wrench exclaimed. "Real shit?" They leaned in even closer.

The monster's hand crept towards the door after it stepped into view, and the video went black when past-Skye dropped the phone and tried to remotely lock the bakery's door.

"Dude. Every paranormal investigator in the world would suck your dick for this footage," Wrench joked.

"Except that's not a ghost. It's very fucking real."

"Can you rewind and pause it? I want to see its face again."

Skye did just that, rewinding back to the point when its head first came into view outside the bakery's glass doors.

"What a hottie. Do you think that's a volon?" Wrench asked.

"I bet you any money it is. I mean, what else could it be? It sure as hell doesn't look like a robot."

Wrench stared closely at it for a few long seconds. "Humour me on this," they began, "did it seem to transform or shapeshift in any way?"

"Not that I can think of...?" Skye scratched his chin. "The way it looked down into the bakery from so high up didn't exactly seem natural, but it is really tall... I don't know. Why?"

Wrench smiled. "When I was hanging out with Ray yesterday, I got to meet his new boyfriend, named Gyroloop."

"Mhmm?" Skye listened with keen interest.

"Gyro works at Maroon."

"Oh, shit."

"Not in a bad way or anything, though. He just takes care of employee resources. But that's beside the point - apparently he's overheard some higher ups talking about some secret project with shapeshifting capabilities."

"And you think volons might be that very project?"

"That's what Gyro thinks. It's an interesting theory."

Skye hummed in thought. No, he really hadn't noticed anything shapeshifty with that monster, although he could easily attribute that to his intense fear and panic at the time.

"Did Gyro mention anything about them being hungry?" he asked. "It kept saying it was hungry... so I gave it my take-home food 'cause I was freaking out. That distracted it enough for me to get away."

"Nah, I didn't hear anything like that." Wrench shrugged. "Damn. Wanna go back there?"

"Back... where?"

"Velvet Crumble."

"And get killed by a giant monster? Yeah, I'm down," Skye dryly answered. "Are you serious?"

"Totally serious."

"Oh my god. You've been hanging out with Ray too much."

Wrench laughed. "No, man, listen. That thing might look scary, but it didn't attack you. It wasn't violent, right?"

"Not really, aside from snatching my food rather aggressively..."

Wrench held their hands out. "The dude's just hungry! Besides, how do we really know that it's one of those volon things. It could easily be a super tall robot that likes eating food, right? Just like Ray."

Skye wanted to argue - that creature was far too organic in its appearance and mannerisms for him to believe it was a robot. But there was always the chance that Wrench was right, with how advanced robotic technology had come in the past few years. There were androids out and about that could eat food, or pass as a human, even in a place as neglected as Lower Miyatama.

Whatever the case, Skye still wasn't particularly fond of the idea of going back.

"Look." Wrench pulled back the side of their coat just enough to reveal a handgun discreetly holstered on their waist.

"Shit, dude," Skye quietly remarked, almost a bit startled.

Wrench covered it up again. "It's a taser. You know - the ones that shoot out the prongs attached to the gun?"

"Where did you even get that?" Skye asked.

"Take a guess."

"Ray," Skye declared without a second thought.

"Yeah."

"Figured as much. Just don't get caught with that..."

"Ain't nobody gonna find it. That is, unless I have to use it. So... feeling a bit safer yet?"

Skye sighed and leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling. "It's... it's still a no. It's been a long day and I'm still just a little bit fucking freaked out about that thing."

"All right, I get you. I'm probably still going to take a look around, see if I can spot anything spooky over there."

"Dude..." Skye paused, knowing full well he didn't have the energy to try to convince his friend not to go. "Please be careful. For real, okay? Please. I don't want to lose a friend."

"Come on, as if. This is hardly the most dangerous thing I've done. Ray and I almost got caught by threshers at the club yesterday. This is peanuts." Wrench's words radiated confidence.

"Yeah, famous last words."

"Think of it like this. I'm going out there to secure the perimeter so we know your work is safe."

"Well... yeah, I guess." Skye knew in his heart that Wrench wouldn't blindly throw caution to the wind, despite their outward bravado. They were armed, and he didn't doubt that Wrench would be capable of using that stun gun in a pinch. "Just don't get hurt. If you die, I'm gonna kill you."

Wrench nodded. "Yeah, that's about what I'd expect."

~~~

Riding alone on the ultraloop, Wrench tapped their foot on the ground to pass the time. They didn't want to admit it, but not having Skye with them did put a slight damper on their confidence. Nevertheless, they were determined to see this through. Skye would surely ask how it went, and telling him "I chickened out" wouldn't be a good look.

The shuttle eventually came to a stop at the station nearest the bakery. There was nary a person in sight, even when Wrench reached the streets, and eventually passed by the iconic 67-40.

Even if they were armed, Wrench kept their wits about them, traveling through open, well-lit areas as much as possible. The street lamps lining the larger roads were a godsend, but one out of every ten had succumbed to poor maintenance and general wear.

Their heart started beating faster as Velvet Crumble came into view, perhaps only 100 feet away. Was it apprehension, or excitement? Or some combination of the two...?

Wrench was on the opposite side of the street, as there were no nearby alleyways for someone to ambush them from. They put a hand on their stun gun just for a moment to give themself a quick burst of confidence.

Slowing their pace, they kept a vigilant eye out for any movement or strange sounds, focusing mainly on the opposite sidewalk. While their claims of "the tall creature didn't seem violent" rang true, there really was no telling what exactly would happen should they encounter someone as peculiar as that.

Is that thing really a volon? They didn't know for sure, but the idea of encountering another new alien species was thrilling, thus, they were absolutely willing to believe it. How they got to Hallow without an enormous fanfare as with the genofexians was a question for another time.

The alleyway closest to the bakery came into view. Wrench walked slowly as they gradually got a better look into it, mentally preparing themself for an encounter with the tall man.

…At least, they tried to prepare themself. When Wrench actually saw the same creature from the video in the alley, they froze in place and let out a tiny gasp.

They couldn't make out many details (aside from the fact that it hadn't noticed Wrench yet), but the silhouette was unmistakable. No ordinary civilian was that huge.

Ho-ly shit. It's real.

...I should get its number.

Despite their curious attraction to the creature, the undeniable possibility of danger prevented them from approaching any closer.

To the contrary, Wrench walked back to way they came as casually as possible, only stopping once they were sure they were out of the tall man's line of sight.

I better tell Skye to be careful at work tomorrow. They considered calling the police for their friend's sake, but what was there to report? An abnormally large person? No, that'd be ridiculous. Plus, it hadn't even stolen Skye's food - he was the one who willingly offered it.

Wrench pulled out their phone and got the camera ready. They crept forward again just enough to see the figure, and silently snapped several photos before cautiously returning from where they came once again.

The monster still hadn't noticed them. At least, it hadn't acknowledged them.

Wrench kept their phone handy as they walked away, occasionally checking to see if they had been noticed, until they were at least a block away. Nobody was in pursuit - mission success.

They dialed Skye's number and waited for two long rings before their friend picked up.

"Hey," Skye greeted them.

"Hey," Wrench replied. "So, it's still there."

"The monster? Shit, are you okay?"

"Yep, I'm fine. I'm a street away and I don't think it noticed me. But it's still very there, like, one building away from the bakery. It was just chilling in the alley."

"I encountered it in an alley when I left. It's probably the same spot."

"Maybe. Either way, do you have work tomorrow? If so, you should probably be careful."

"Yeah... I work tomorrow night." Skye audibly sighed over the phone "I'll call my boss tomorrow and tell her there's a suspicious person loitering around the bakery... see if she can do anything about it, and play it by ear afterwards."

"Good plan. Are you still at the station?"

"Hell no. I'm two steps from home."

"Ah, yeah, that's fair. I'll just head home too then."

"See you online when you get home?"

"Yeah, I'll be around." Skye paused for a quick second. "Thanks for coming out there on such short notice. For real."

"Nah, no problem. I'm always down for an adventure."

"Well, if you can call that an adventure. Anyways, catch you later."

"Right, talk to you soon."

"See ya."

Wrench ended the call.