Arachne

 

- Masiabi -

 

I'm so excited!
Talisa should be done by now.
Since I wanted to help I cleaned out one of my trophy rooms in the inner sanctuary.
Here it will happen.
Kyroki told us all to gather at this place to go over our different roles in this.

 

"I can still barely believe that you can make this happen just like this." (M)

"Not 'just like this'! Do you have any idea how complicated the creation is? How I had to ingrain the hereditary samples of each of us to map out a proper foundation construct that would be applicable?" (K)

"No!" (M)

"Sigh! What did I expect." (K)

 

Finally, Talisa arrives.
Though, I'm a tiny bit confused.

Where's the girl?

 

"Didn't you say you would bring her?" (M)

"What do you mean? She's right here." (T)

 

Huh?
I really can't see her.
She only has a small ball of spider silk that she fixed with a single string around her wrist.

 

"Where is she?" (M)

"Are you doing that on purpose? Right here." (T)

 

At this, she raises her arm and the tiny ball dangles down from it.
Is she serious?
This thing is barely a third of that girl in diameter.
How could she fit in there?

 

"This surpasses my expectations." (K)

"You wanted it tight enough that she won't move. I made sure of this. There's no space in there to do so." (T)

"Is she still alive in there?" (A)

 

Huh, Akasia sounded really worried just now.
She must be very into this project.

 

"Sure. I only bent her a little at the joints. Starting with a basic setup that would keep her in the center, I slowly applied more lines and each of them increased the tension to constrict her a bit further. This is truly the simplest basics of weaving." (T)

 

I worry deeply for the girl.

 

"Alright, then we just have to place her. Would you please do so, dear sister?" (K)

 

Kyroki uses this more than phony speech.
However, Talisa slips out of her clothes and grows to her full size.
It’s at these moments we are all reminded that there's a reason she's the boss.
Regarding pure size, she surpasses us all, though she's a bit more slender than I am.
With a few quick movements, she climbs up the walls and establishes herself in the upper part of the room.
There she prepares some more strings around the area that will allow for easier access and ultimately attaches the string she held the cocoon with to the center of the ceiling.

A moment later, she's back on the ground and shrinks back to her human form.
She grabs her dress and turns away from us.

 

"My part in this is over now. Don't expect any more help." (T)

 

And she leaves.

 

"I suppose the facilities should now be sufficiently prepared. I can only hope you all know what to do." (K)

"Uh, about that..." (M)

"Seriously?! Alright then I'll once again explain it to you. Once she's awake I first need you to do your part, Akasia." (K)

"You said something about needing a special acid? Uh, I'm not too sure about this. Using acid on a living being for anything but self-defense isn't a very nice thing to do." (A)

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're all out to sabotage me the moment it counts. Listen, as I told you, the acid isn't supposed to be strong enough to kill her. I need something that can seep inside her without completely destroying the structure. It shall just destabilize her integrity a bit. Or in other words, make her a bit more malleable. If you don't do this her body won't be able to adapt to the changes. You're saving this girl's life." (K)

 

Akasia doesn't look too convinced.
As long as she has no reason to do differently, she kills quickly or dissolves dead or stunned prey for our food storage.

 

"Now to you, Eritu. Do you know your part?" (K)

"About this... Do you really want me to give her my familiars? Can this even work?" (E)

"It has to be yours. Only your brood is small enough to squeeze from outside through the gaps, if Talisa didn't mess up her part, and it needs your diversity. If you assign them with a clear enough command they'll willingly join her in the cocoon. Akasia's acid shouldn't be strong enough to seriously harm them and once they avoid the brunt of it they'll be safe inside the body. The girl, on the other hand, won't have such luck. I need them as a stabilizing measure. Their silk should be able to keep her together and prevent complete disintegration. But even if it doesn't work, they'll be fine." (K)

"If you say so. I trust you here." (E)

 

Now it's my part.
Though, I'm not sure what I can even contribute.
I'm only our hunter.
I don't have any specialty like the others except for my strong body.

 

"What about me?" (M)

"Yes. There's something only you can do. Once I inject the serum inside her the girl will go through unbelievable agony. When this happens I need you to put her to sleep." (K)

"You want me to use my paralyzing venom?" (M)

"You're proficient at avoiding harm you don't intend to cause and applying the right dosage. This might actually be the most difficult part. You'll have to stay with her and numb her whenever she starts to react. Any form of excessive movement her condition might cause will be detrimental. However, you should only use it if you have to. I'd like to avoid adding too many different substances to the mix. Do you think you can do this?" (K)

"Sure." (M)

 

It sounds easy enough.

And so it begins.
The only indicator that the girl has regained her consciousness is the slight wriggling of the cocoon since not a single sound manages to escape from Talisa's prison.
Akasia doesn't waste any time and moves in her spider form into position.

 

"Clik, clik, clik, clik, clik"

 

Once she's directly above her she regurgitates the prepared acid on the cocoon, so it seeps inside.

 

"Good. We'll need some more applications later on. Please stay ready." (K)

 

It doesn't take long and the cocoon begins to shake stronger.

 

"Now?" (M)

"No. She can take a little more. But Eritu, you should get started." (K)

"I really hope they'll be fine." (E)

 

It's not like this girl is in any state to harm them.
At once, a small army of premature familiars emerges from all of Eritu's pores.
They move along the walls, to the ceiling, down the string, and ultimately vanish inside.

Kyroki observes this a little longer.
Then she as well transforms into her own, cute, tiny spider form.
I guess the girl barely notices her when she climbs onto the cocoon.
However, while she might be the smallest of us, her poison is unparalleled.
And without any mercy, she pierces her stinger into the web.

 

"Sstk"

 

A moment later she's again next to me.
With increasing worry I see how the cocoon swings stronger and stronger giving an indication of how much agony this girl is experiencing at the moment.

 

"Not yet... Not yet..." (K)

 

I can only continue watching, barely able to imagine how it must be in there for her.

 

"aaaaaahhhhhh..."

 

Then a muffled scream is heard.
If it's audible even through the silk it must've hurt.

 

"Okay, now." (K)

 

I don't waste any time, climb up there and give her a good sting to knock her out.

 

"Sstk"

 

This should at least help her to calm down.

 

"Good. Now we need to continue this for at least twelve more hours and after this, it's on Masiabi for two more days." (K)

 

Excuse me?
What!?!

.

.

.

This is really not a pleasant job.
Inflicting such pain goes against all principles of hunting.

I spent all the time beside her, trying to soothe her a bit with my presence, occasionally hugging the cocoon a bit.
But in the end, only applying my paralyzing venom into her helped.
However, at least her struggle seems to have eased by now.
It was about time.

The good thing is, according to Kyroki the mere fact that she's apparently still alive in there means that we can expect this to be a success.
This will be really great.
Only a little bit longer.

I guess I was really the best for this endurance job.
The others lack my stamina for such long periods.

Suddenly, I notice how Talisa enters.
She walks past me and cuts a single strand.

 

"What did you do there?" (M)

"I cut the holding string. The cocoon will open now. Kyroki told me that your endeavor was a success. So it's now on me to get her out of there. You can go now." (T)

 

What!?
But I was the one who cared for her the whole time!

 

"Masiabi, I can very well assume what you're thinking. We can't assault her all at once. I have no idea about her mental state, but it won't be pretty. Do you really believe that you have what it takes to guide her through this difficult phase?" (T)

 

Damn, she got me.
Talking is more her thing than mine.

 

"Grumble. Fine, but I get to meet her as soon as possible!" (M)

"If you say so. But now let's get out of here. I'm sure she'll appreciate some moments of respite." (T)

 

While we're moving out I turn one last time to the wriggling cocoon that I spent so much time with.
In there is my new younger sibling.
Welcome to the family, sister!