It was hard to keep her eyes off the latest news with Ystets. However, reports from earlier that day finally had something positive to say. Veirr Heavy Industries, the planet's leading metal and robot manufacturing giant, was authorizing the deployment of several VESKY robots to help combat Ystets' volon infestation. Maxie was familiar with them; VESKYs were agile humanoid machines equipped with discreet laser weaponry. They also had a pleasant social side when they weren't involved in combat, often meandering around urban areas to help keep the peace.

Guess the lake isn't as important as the city. Wonder how much it'd cost to have a VESKY join us out here for protection. Billions, maybe?

After putting her phone back in her pocket, Max ambled to the van's trunk. Searching through the equipment tote by touch, she quickly found a familiar boat-shaped object. She pulled it and its remote control out of the tote, checking to ensure the miniature boat's sonar was properly attached.

"You have any VESKY friends?" Max asked Wire, who was reclining on one of the camp chairs next to his vehicle.

"They'd be out here with us if I did. Why?"

"Veirr is sending them to Ystets to clean up. Wishful thinking, I guess."

"Fair, fair." Wire nodded. "Whatcha got there?"

"Figured we could race RC boats around the lake for some fun. You mean to say you forgot yours?"

Wire simply remained quiet. His spheroid head lacked any sort of expression for Maxie to pick up on.

"It's a little sonar boat," Max continued with a smile and a shrug, walking past her friend. "It's going to show me what the lake looks like down at the bottom."

"Oh! Cute." Wire stood up and joined her.

Max waded into the calm lake water, her tall rubber boots keeping her feet and shins dry. Once the water was deep enough for the boat to float, she lowered it into the lake, pressed a button on top, and gave it a push. She returned to the shoreline and stood next to Wire, turning to face the boat.

"I got it from work," she began, squinting at the remote in her hand. "Its sonar is super fancy. I'll be able to see a semi-live feed of the lakebed on my laptop once the little boaty is farther out." With the press of a few buttons, the boat slowly whirred away, closer to the middle of the lake. "Maybe our answers are down there."

"Cool. Need any help?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. This won't take long."

"I'll go gear up, then. Left my gun in the RV."

Seconds later, Max heard the nearby clunk of Wire closing the door to his vehicle.

Nearby leaves rustled and distant birds sang as a soft breeze swept through the area. A minute or so of quiet RC boating passed as Max drove the sonar forward, positioning it reasonably far into the lake, but not so far that she wouldn't be able to drive it back later. By the time she expected to finish her initial setup, she figured her laptop would be ready with a fairly clear image of the lakebed. In the meantime, she ferried some more trinkets from the van to the shore - namely, a thin electronic stake and an equally narrow test tube.

Max held up the stake and plunged it into the soil where the water met the land. She shimmied it deeper into the ground and packed the dirt against it with her boots, checking from a couple angles to ensure the pole stood straight enough. She crouched down and looked at the point where the water touched the pole - 26cm. The electronics mounted near the top of the stake would automatically transmit the water level to her computer, but having a manual reference was never a bad idea.

Between the natural sounds of the forest, Maxie thought she heard something to her left, almost like gentle steps.

...Isn't Wire inside his RV?

She peered over to the side and gasped, barely suppressing a scream.

A ghostly white, many-limbed creature met her eyes, with a head of deformed teeth, dripping with saliva. Hunkered down on all fours roughly two metres away, it began taking another step towards Maxie.

Heart pounding, she instinctively reached for her pistol and pointed it down at the beast's face, switching the safety off. As the creature's foot hit the ground and it prepared to pounce, Max pulled the trigger twice. A sharp pair of clacks echoed out from the gun, firing straight through the beast's mouth.

The volon staggered forward with a shriek, forcing Maxie to step back. An orange glow seared through its body, and its yowl quickly died down into a short-lived gargle as the beast flailed and squirmed, succumbing to its sudden ignition.

Wire ran out of his RV with a pistol of his own, pointing it at the burning fiend.

The monster rapidly decomposed into a fluid form as the flames rampaged through its body. The fire died down within seconds, burning the rest of the creature's blood until a thin black scab was all that remained across the surface of the dirt.

"Fuck," Maxie panted, "holy fuck. Holy fuck."

"So... about that campfire," Wire remarked.

Max ignored him and inhaled sharply, gagging at the sudden smell of burnt plastic. She stepped away with a cough, eyes still firmly trained on the scorch mark.

"You good?" the remite asked.

"Yeah, I... yeah. I just can't believe it got that close." Realizing she was still pointing her gun forward, Max lowered her weapon and took a quick look at her surroundings. Seeing no other volons nearby, she turned the safety back on and slowly holstered the pistol.

"Shit, well, nice work," Wire commented. "But they're calling these things the new apex predator for a reason. You gotta keep your wits about you at all times, Max."

"Yeah... yeah," she panted. "Fuck. I was hoping this was going to be an easy job."

Wire gave her a sideways peace sign. "I'll cover you while you deal with that stuff. That's what I'm here for, anyway."

"Thanks."

"I'd still be on guard if I were you, though. If there are any more volons around, I wouldn't be surprised if that inferno got their attention."

"Very reassuring!" Max wiped the sweat from her brow. "You'd think they'd stay away from fires, not come towards it..."

"I got your back. Take a breather if you need."

She did that, returning to one of the camp chairs with her back to the van, taking some long, deep breaths. As she waited for her heart to slow down, her thoughts bounced between, how the hell are we supposed to stay overnight if volons are already finding us?! and, it's going to be all right. Wire is here, and that volon was probably just some wandering stray. It was just a small one, too. After some more breathing exercises, she calmed down enough for her to stand back up, ready to continue her work.

Taking a water sample was the last of the prep work that needed doing. Only then did Max realize she'd dropped the test tube when the volon showed up, but she easily found it after a quick survey of the shoreline. It was undamaged, so she scooped up some lake water and twisted the lid shut.

She looked from side to side every few seconds to keep her fears at bay, confirming for herself that nothing else was approaching. Wire was also keeping diligent watch of the area, slowly pacing around the camp area, reducing Maxie's paranoia every time she caught a glance of him.

"I don't see anything yet. You're good," he assured her. "You'll know if I see anything."

"Good, thank you." Max returned to the trunk of her van and pulled out a fluid analysis device. The security of being inside a vehicle was too appealing for her to pass up, so she let her friend know she'd be doing some "sciencey stuff" before sitting back in the driver's seat of her vehicle.

Wire saluted her before continuing his patrol.

Max turned on the fluid analyzer, and it replied with a short beep. She adjusted the settings on the device and then inserted the test tube with the lake water sample. The display lit up with another beep after a few seconds of analysis, showing a detailed list of the elements comprising the water sample.

Most of it was standard fare for natural water: hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other trace elements. But as she read the final element on the list and saw the water's pH level, her expression furrowed into a perplexed glare.