Day 14: The Crack in the World
Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2026 — 03:47 Hours Location: Sublevel 4, Xenobiology Containment By: Captain Hedges
The psychic humming stopped at exactly 03:00. For about ten seconds, we thought it was a good thing.
Then the klaxons started screaming.
I sprinted down the corridor to Sublevel 4, the smell of ozone and burning circuitry thick in the air. When the blast doors slid open, chaos had already arrived.
The containment unit holding the "World Egg" wasn't just humming anymore; it was shaking violently. The thick, reinforced transparisteel was spider-webbed with glowing red fractures. Steam hissed from ruptured coolant lines.
And inside? She was awake.
The Naga Queen wasn't coiled in sleep anymore. She was pressed against the glass, all six arms pushing, her eyes glowing with malevolent, yellow energy. She was testing the cage, and the cage was failing.
Dr. Thorne (my lead scientist) was frantic, staring at a datapad that was flashing nothing but red warnings. "Structural integrity is at 12%! The terraforming catalyst is priming! If that glass breaks, the seed detonates!"
The on-duty security officer had his rifle raised, but he was frozen. Shoot it, and we all die. Don't shoot it, and she gets out.
The only person holding the line was Bayou Earl. The Hedge Wizard stood directly in front of the cracking tank, his cypress staff glowing with raw, swampy green magic. He was chanting something low and guttural, pouring arcane energy into the fissures, trying to mystic-weld the glass back together faster than the Naga could break it.
"I can't hold her forever, Cap!" Earl grunted, sweat dripping into his fur. "She’s stronger than she looks, and she is very cranky about being woken up!"
We survived an orbital bombardment and a ground war. Now, it looks like the end of the world is going to happen in a twenty-by-twenty lab room at 4 AM.
Product Identity & Legal The following items are designated Product Identity of Arthur Earl C. Hedges Jr. / The Adventures of Captain Hedges: The Tygerian Isles setting, The Naga Queen, The "World Egg Seed" artifact, and the "Hedge Wizard of the Shreveport Cabin" persona / Bayou Earl. Monsters! Monsters! is a trademark of Ken St. Andre. © 2026 Arthur Earl C. Hedges Jr.
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