Another Bug Hunt: Between a Carc and a Soft Place¶

The crew review the Org Chart and recall how many were killed by the Carcs. They attempt to repair the reactor and rescue marines inside, but are interrupted by a Carc. Zeke, Carnoc, and Dex escort Dr. Edem to the lab to recover their research. Dr. Edem describes their research on the Carcs. Carnoc and Valdez have a heated argument over how to evacuate. Ink and Murderbot investigate a horrifying organic tunnel, finding some acidic gas and the body of another marine.

Episodes in module: Another Bug Hunt

Episode 1 - 2025-07-16 - Holy Moly!
Episode 2 - 2025-07-28 - Fire in the Hole
Episode 3 - 2025-07-30 - Between a Carc and a Soft Place
Episode 4 - 2025-08-10 - A Tangled Web He Weaves

Reactor¶

Rappelling Down¶

we need to rappel down
everyone puts on hazard suits
Valdez offers us pulse rifles
- Dex says he hasn't used one before
- Novikov gives him a quick crash course
there are 2 ropes down the elevator shaft
- each rope can support up to 4 people
- it's pretty dark
Yang grabs a rope and rappels down
- we follow
we descend with lights, looking around
halfway down, we pass a hatch
- Ink: "Where does that go?"
- Yang: "Dam spillway"
we continue to the bottom
radiation level has increased

Crew rappels down, accompanied by Yang and Novikov — Crew rappels down, accompanied byYang and Novikov

Entering¶

we see an industrial airlock
- Novikov is excited but can't figure out how to enter
- Murderbot opens a panel and finds a manual wheel, which he uses to open it
inside we see a cylindrical room with water at the bottom
- bridge to a center area
- giant turbine is partially submerged

2 marines already in the center
- one of them has a GPMG
- they shout "We gotta get out of here! There are Carcs everywhere!"

A Carc climbs out of the water onto the bridge

Reactor Confrontation¶

the Carc dodges and the bullets strike the controls
Novikov starts shooting at the Carc
- the Carc crouches down and bullets ricochet off its carapace
- several hit and kill Weaver
- Yang: "What the fuck, Novikov?"
Franco fires back
- GPMG rounds hit the Carc's carapace but don't seem to do anything

Zeke fires at the Carc, but his gun jams

the Carc runs towards us at the door
Carnoc takes another shot at the Carc
- bullets ricochet and hits Franco in the neck
- Franco falls to the ground
Yang: "Bullets don't do shit!"
- Yang tosses a grenade at the Carc
- Novikov throws one too
- Yang: "Close the door!"
Murderbot closes the door
we hear two thumps from the grenade explosions

Yang: "Get that door open so we can try to save Weaver and Franco!"
- Novikov shoves Murderbot out of the way
- Novikov opens the door
the Carc is in multiple pieces on the bridge
- there's minor damage to the bridge nearby, but it's sturdy enough to cross

Reactor Aftermath¶

Yang is able to speak to Franco before he dies
- Hinton started all of this
- He damaged the reactor controls (before Carnoc)
- took Jenson and escaped through a tunnel in the water
- killed Glockner in the spillway
Franco is dead by the time the crew approaches

Bodies of Franco and Weaver in the reactor room

Yang and Novikov talk near the bodies
- Novikov feels guilty about killing Weaver
- Yang: "Don't worry about it, kid. It happens, friendly fire happens."
Yang and Novikov are leaving
- their mission was to rescue Franco and Weaver, and that's FUBAR
Murderbot inspects the controls
- determines the reactor can't be fixed from here
Zeke checks the Carc's remains
- carapace is thick and woven like kevlar
- stops most bullets, but explosions can penetrate it
Ink doesn't think there is any pathology risk from the dead Carc

Ink Finds a Sphincter¶

Ink jumps into the water
- there's a gash which has been filled with organic material
- looks like a sphincter

Ink pokes it with his pulse rifle
water pressure pushes Ink through
- seems like an organic tunnel
Murderbot follows
- touches sphincter with a pen knife and it opens immediately
Carnoc checks the door underwater and it's open
- doesn't seem like anyone went up the stairs
Carnoc, Zeke, and Dex wait for Ink and Murderbot
- they lose contact on comms after a few minutes
- after 20 minutes, the reactor room lights turn off
- red emergency lights turn on

Return to Base¶

Carnoc inspects the stairwell leading to the spillway
- it doesn't look like anyone went this way
- Carnoc and Dex decide not to go through the spillway
Zeke, Carnoc, and Dex go back up the rope
Valdez is upset about the marines dying
Brookman is irritated and says he's going to the communications tower
Valdez can't spare any marines to help
Dr. Edem pressures us to recover their research
- we agree

Lab¶

Entryway¶

elevator down to the lab is broken
- 20m down the ladder there's a door
on the way down, Carnoc asks Dr. Edem about the sphincter
- Carnoc: "Now that we're out of earshot of the rest of the marines, do you know about these sphincters?"
- Dr. Edem: "I imagine it's Alien in nature."
- Carnoc: "Why was Valdez freaking out?"
- Dr. Edem: "I imagine tactically having another access point to defend would probably make her anxious."
- Dr. Edem: "Already enough to worry about with carcs trying to break in through the front door."
- Dr. Edem: "Then you have to watch your… heh! Your ass."
- Dr. Edem giggles
Carnoc opens the door
- hallway is lit only by emergency lighting
- it's very quiet since all systems are offline

Carnoc steps into the hallway
- they hear something scratching and tapping on the first door on the right
Carnoc asks if anyone down here might be infected
- Dr. Edem: "Dr. Ziegler might still be down here in the lab."
- Dr. Edem: "Dr. Ziegler already made an attempt to retrieve the data."
- Dr. Edem: "I haven't seen him for a few hours."
Dr. Edem keeps talking as we walk down the hallway
- Dr. Edem: "We were trying to analyze the Carcs' DNA sequence, with assistance from Hinton."
- Carnoc: "Were they analyzing any live specimens?"
- Dr. Edem: "We actually had some larvae at the other base, at Greta Base."
- Dr. Edem: "We didn't have any full-sized specimens, at least not ones that were fully intact."
Dr. Edem tries to open the door with her keycard
- doesn't work since the power is off
Dex finds an access panel by the door
- there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it, it's just not powered
Dex pries the door open with the spanner
- it opens but makes a screeching noise

Dex pries the door open with his spanner

tapping on the door by the hallway entrance intensifies to pounding
- the door starts denting outward

Office¶

Dex and Carnoc try to close the door
- door closes but does not make a good seal

room has equipment and paperwork everywhere
- Dr. Edem: "Pay no mind to the mess... just a genius at work, you know."
Carnoc pries open the the door and we go through
we hear a wrenching noise like metal is being torn apart
- Dr. Edem: "Oh my, what do you think that was?"
- Carnoc: "It's a Carc, we gotta hurry."

Buffer Room¶

on the opposite side of the next room, there is a glass wall

a bald man with glasses and a goatee is on the other side
- he's got little paper cuts all over him
- he puts his hand on the glass and wheezes: "Leave me here!"
Dr. Edem: "Oh my, Ziegler! Did you... did you get my research?"
Dr. Edem points at the door on the far side of the Clean Room
- Dr. Edem: "My research is through that door. We only need to get through here."
- Carnoc: "Can infected humans infect other humans, or can only carcs infect, humans?"
- Dr. Edem: "That hasn't been known to happen."
- Carnoc: "Do you think we can safely get past him? Will he, uh, try to stop us?"
- Dr. Edem: "Ziegler, will you try to stop us if we try to bypass you?"
- Dr. Edem: "Oh my, he sounds terrible."
Carnoc opens the airlock to the Clean Room
- this takes less effort than the previous doors
- Dr. Edem seems uncomfortable with not following the typical procedures of entering the Clean Room
- Carnoc: "The power's off, there's nothing to decontaminate us anyway, right?"

Clean Room¶

Carnoc pries open the door to the last room
a large dent forms in the door to the Office

Cryo Vault¶

there are 6 large glass cylinders
- each holds a developing Carc larva.
- one of the cylinders is broken
- a trail of fluid leads to the vent, which has been forced open

Dr. Edem grabs a data stick and pockets it
- Dr. Edem: "Alright, I have my research"
- Zeke: "What is your research about?"
Carnoc: "What was in the broken cylinder?"
- Dr. Edem: "Carc larva."
- Carnoc: "How long do Kirk larva take to develop into a fully grown carcass?"
- Dr. Edem: "Oh, they're quite fast. I believe Ziegler's going through the transition as we speak."
- Dex: "Wow, that's cold."
- Dr. Edem: "Ziegler, I'm sorry it had to be this way."
Dr. Ziegler is on the ground and convulsing
- Carnoc takes aim with his SMG to end his misery
- Carnoc empties the magazine

Lab Confrontation¶

the Carc busts into the Buffer Room
Carnoc tosses a grenade
- Zeke closes the door
- Carnoc: "Frag out!"

Carnoc throws a grenade, with Zeke ready to close the door

they hear the explosion
the Carc pounds on the door
meanwhile, Dex pushes a table under the vent and tries to climb in

Carnoc lifts Zeke up to the vent
- Carnoc pushes Zeke upwards
- Zeke wasn't ready for it and falls
- Zeke lands on top of Dex
- Dr. Edem giggles

the Carc bursts through the door into the Cryo Vault

The wounded Carc enters the Cryo Vault — The wounded Carc enters the **Cryo Vault**

Zeke looks around for chemicals
- finds some hydrofluoric acid
- starts filling up a glove with acid
- Dex grabs 2 vials from the same tray

Zeke fills a glove with acid, Dex grabs a couple vials

Dr. Edem objects to how they are handling the chemicals
- Dr. Edem: "You should be wearing PPE!"
- Dr. Edem: "That's unsafe, what you're doing, handling it that way!"
- Dr. Edem: "That's not proper lab procedure!"
Dex flings 2 vials of acid at the Carc
- acid seeps into the grenade wounds and the Carc shrivels up
Carnoc: "Well that was effective"
- Dr. Edem: "Indeed"

Carc, killed by grenades and acid in the Cryo Vault — Carc, killed by grenades and acid in the **Cryo Vault**

Lab Aftermath¶

Zeke makes 3 acid glove balloons
we inspect Dr. Ziegler's body
- killing him stopped the Carc from fully developing
we climb back up the ladder

Dr. Edem Describes Research¶

Zeke asks Dr. Edem about their research
Dr. Edem: "The company wanted the Carcs' DNA."
Dr. Edem: "We were doing some gene sequencing and splicing, figuring out how much it would align with human DNA."
Zeke: "Hmm. And what did you learn?"
Dr. Edem: "That they're effectively a sentient cancer."
Dr. Edem: "We call them Carcs because of this concept. Carcinization. The idea that everything is slowly evolving into crab-like forms."
Dr. Edem: "We see it everywhere. Nature never stops trying. Even here, millions of light years from home, nature is still trying."
Dr. Edem: "The Carcs are what we would have been. The inheritors of the universe."
Zeke: "Interesting"

A Tough Choice¶

Brookman tried to drive to the tower on an ATV
- Brookman and Ivanovic were attacked by 2 Carcs and killed
- there's one ATV left
Sobol finished fixing APC
- water rose high enough that we can't drive the APC out of the garage anymore
Carnoc talks to Valdez
- Carnoc: "I want to go down and evacuate out through the sphincter."
- Valdez: "Are you kidding me? There could be a suicide mission."
- Carnoc: "Do you have a better idea?"
- Valdez: "We stay here, we fight, we see if we live."
- Carnoc: "How's that going for the rest of your team?"
- Valdez: "Listen here corporal, if you weren't helping us out I would kick your ass right now!"
- Valdez: "We don't have time to be fighting amongst ourselves, let alone, dying up here."
Valdez lists their supplies:
- 7 pulse rifles with 43 mags
- 30 frag grenades
- 1 flamethrower with two tanks of fuel
- 4 GPMGs with 30 mags
Carnoc tries to Valdez to evacuate through the sphincter tunnel
- Carnoc: "I don't think we can hold of all the Carcs with that amount of weaponry"
- Valdez: "I think you're probably right."
- Valdez: "Do you think it's really gonna be that much safer going through that tunnel?"
- Carnoc: "We can sit around here and wait for the Carcs to break in, or we could go."
Valdez asks remaining marines to vote
- everyone but Novikov votes to try escaping through the sphincter tunnel

The Tunnel¶

the tunnel gets wider and looks more like a throat
200m later it ends in a T with a new tunnel
- new tunnel is bisected by a river of black liquid
Ink and Murderbot go left
- walls are pockmarked with small chambers
- chambers are filled with human body parts grafted to the walls
- hands move
- faces without eyes or mouths contract and make pained expressions
after 100m, the tunnel ends with a grate in the ceiling
- grate wraps around to go slightly down the wall
- a cloud of gas sits above the grate
  - it's thick and doesn't seem to move
Murderbot lifts Ink up
- Ink starts to push the grate aside
- Ink's fingers touch the gas cloud
- as he pushes the grate, a humanoid corpse falls down
- body says Qadir
- it has paper cuts from the infection and looks partially dissolved in acid

Corporal Qadir's body falls out of the grate onto Ink and Murderbot — Corporal Qadir's body falls out of the grate onto Murderbot and Ink

where Ink's glove touched the gas, it begins to dissolve
- Ink removes his glove and tries to tie off the sleeve