Snippet #2538644

Fredrick rolled the unfamiliar ring around in his palms, pondering his current situation. The B-ranked ring wouldn't be enough to bring Serlina back, so why did he even need it? He considered handing it back to Shaji, but that was before she said something that caught his attention.

"I am a bio-mechanically engineered probe of extra-terrestrial designed to interact with humans in order to complete specific tasks as ordered by my superiors."

Fredrick narrowed his eyes. Was this a joke? Extraterrestrial? Aliens? Really? Fredrick sighed, leaning the side of his face against his fist, his elbow on his chair's armrest, retreating back into himself as Shaji continued her fanciful explanation. What was the point of this alien-themed story? Was this part of Joel's training?

And then the tentacles appeared, materializing into existence as if they'd always been there. Pink cords, bobbing and weaving in the air, coming together to form intricate shapes and patterns before dispersing again. Shaji was virtually surrounded by these... these lace things. Fredrick straightened in his chair, a look of alarm on his face. They looked like they were crushing her!

"... it is both part of my mission and my duty as a guardian to make sure the rings don't end up in the Rizzo's possession, and I shall use this body to the best of my ability to do so."

"Shaji?! Are you okay?!" Fredrick asked, voice almost panicked as he prepared to stand, the ring in his hand all but forgotten, nearly tumbling to the floor. He looked to Joel, Cain, and the others. "What's happening?"