The moment Leila's fingertips touched the cultivation pod, alarms shrieked through the darkness.
"Damn it!" She spun around, colliding into a solid chest, the familiar scent of mint mixed with machine oil filling her senses.
"Miss Carter," Jack's voice muffled behind his gas mask, "you're acting on your own again."
"It called to me first." She raised her right hand, revealing glowing biofilaments sticking to her palm.
Suddenly, the monstrous creature convulsed violently, causing the nutrient fluid to splash like rain. Jack wrapped an arm around her waist and leaped onto a steel frame, mechanical spider legs sparking against the wall.
"Hold on tight," his breath brushed past her earlobe, "and don't count heartbeats this time."
Leila felt the spider-shaped birthmark on her collarbone begin to heat up. "What if I say no?"
A low chuckle echoed in the darkness as the mechanical spider legs abruptly contracted, carrying them towards the boiling green abyss below.