The mask whispered to him, it always whispered to him. It whispered of death, of blood, of dreams. The Nightbeast blocked the noise out, the Nightbeast always blocked the noise out. He was hunting, he would fill the mask’s lust for blood and death soon enough, he always did. He gazed down at his prey, the moon’s light reflecting on its great mass. Such ugly, yet fascinating, and ultimately worthy, prey.
These suits can get so damned hot! The man thought. Sweat dripped down his brow, and into his eyes. He hated these night-watch gigs, so friggin’ boring. But at least it gave him a chance to get comfortable with the new parts he was constantly ‘acquiring,’ like the new shield compensator he’d won at the local table. But even still, so god damned boring! He manipulated the complex levers in front of him, and the great robotic machine, with him in its belly, moved for another sweep of the grounds.
The building was elaborately armed. Motion detectors, infra-red, infra-sonic, laser-sighted weaponry. Most importantly, the whole building was statically charged, meaning that any impression made on it sent a ripple through the charge that did not go unnoticed. The Nightbeast was unconcerned by this, there was not a device invented that he could not evade. He paced around the perimeter of the roof, not making a sound, nor touching a thing; the wind didn’t even feel his passing. The machine below him, on the other hand, was a symphony of elaborate mechanical sound. The Nightbeast looked down at the machine with something verging on amusement. These things were overtly lethal, but so comical in their movements at the same time.
The man thought he saw something on the roof through one of his visor screens. He pondered the possibility, but then disregarded it quickly. This place was a bloody fortress, as impenetrable as this armour. He didn’t even know why they needed him for security, nobody got in that wasn’t supposed to be in, and very few people even came out. He didn’t know what went on in the building, and though he couldn’t deny he was curious, it had been made abundantly clear that it was none of his business, and as long as the pay kept coming in, he was happy to keep his curiosity on a leash.
There it was again! Something, fast as lightning, was on that damn rooftop, but how? His sensors were all flat-lining, no heat emanations, no light refractions, zip! That wasn’t possible! Then his mind clicked. He’d heard of something, something that had been destroying other Armours with ridiculously ruthless efficiency. Campfire stories, to be sure, but there was always the possibilty…
The Nightbeast paused. This one was better than the previous ones. No matter. The end result would be the same. He backtracked along the rooftop, then leapt from the building, landing silently and alert, on the dusty ground below, not stirring even a puff of dirt. He circled the building, approaching the machine from the rear. It didn’t know, and wouldn’t know until it was far too late. The machine was within striking distance; he could smell the oil that always assailed his nostrils. But as he was about to pounce, something stayed his hand. He looked at the building, and It almost felt as though it looked back at him. The mask whispered its recognition; there was something in there that was calling to him, pleading to him, screaming for release. He turned back to the machine, only to be blasted away with a massive force.
What the hell was that thing? The man had felt that something was tracking him, though he had no earthly idea how. The monitors had still shown that all was quiet, but his own senses told him otherwise, a creepy feeling on the back of his neck. He’d whirled around as quickly as the machine could move, and laid eyes on the weirdest thing he’d ever seen, that was for sure. It was a person, though of that he was not so sure. It was smacked out in a body-hugging black costume with red stripes down the sides, and it wore a mask, a wacky mask at that. It was all red, with sharp tendon-like quills pointing out the back, weird stuff. He’d blasted whatever the hell it was at point blank range and now watched the thing fly way away. The man smiled, if that was the thing he’d been told of, he had just killed it with one shot, not so tough, whatever it was. Still, he had to thank it for one thing, working Armour numbers were becoming thin on the ground, aided by the recent disappearances of several suits, so demand was high, and he could charge clients more, win-win really.
The figure hit the ground in the distance, the impact registering on his sensors. He chuckled, that was cool. He returned to his sweep, but was almost struck dumb by a piercing wail that reverberated between his ears. He pivoted the Armour to face the building, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets with the pain in his head, he could feel blood trickling down his neck, and his ears were clogged with the warm feel of liquid. The building seemed to shudder, then cracks began to appear on its surface. The cracks widened, and there were several blasts as the defensive mechanisms exploded. A huge section of the building crumbled away, revealing a lamp-lit corridor within. The man knew he shouldn’t, but found himself walking to the hole in the building all the same. The Armour barely fit in the corridor, but it wasn’t long, and the door at the other end was unlocked and opened up to a more spacious room.
The man sucked in his breath through pursed lips. The room was full of scientific equipment, the likes of which he had never even thought possible. He cast his eyes around, remembering to click record on his sensory board. There were things he didn’t even know how to register in his mind, so left them as just random shapes. But one thing he did recognise. A massive tube with a dim green glow to it in a corner caught his full attention, and held it. Inside the tube, which went from the floor to the ceiling, something was moving. The man almost lost control of his bowels at that. He took a few steps backward, fearful of what it was. This was turning out to be the weirdest night of his life!
The Nightbeast was calm. It stood, waiting, ready, eager. The machine backed away from the room, obviously scared, if a machine could be scared. A green glow reflected in the Nightbeast’s eyes, and was growing stronger. The Nightbeast ignored it, for the moment.
The man felt something was wrong. The machine was making sounds, wrong sounds. He felt something at his back, then screamed as the upper limbs of the Armour were ripped asunder. The Armour fell to the ground in a heap, he looked up and saw black, and two red, penetrating eyes, with a green light reflected in them, there was movement in that green…then only the night he saw.
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