Cave-In

[knux400]

"We probably just got eaten by a really big horror!"

Once you hear those words, several things happen within your mind- all in the span of a few seconds.

Your first reaction is panic. You already weren't optimistic about your chances of making it out of here- but knowing you're inside a HORROR makes matters much, much worse. You have no idea what's going to happen to you down here- or to Exclusit, or Matri, or anyone else, for that matter. You've only ever heard of horrors in stories- from what you understand, they're hideous pitch-black creatures that lurk underground and attack anyone who comes too close. If you don't die from being mauled, the radiation will mutate you into one of them instead. Depending on what species you are. You're a little vague on the details.

But... That's also a cool way to go, honestly. It's a bit morbid, but this certainly makes for a much more interesting experience than just running out of power in a random cave somewhere. Now you have the novelty of running out of power in the stomach of a giant horror! Exciting. Obviously you'd rather not die, but the extraordinary circumstances make you feel a little bit better.

On the subject of not dying... You know next to nothing about horror anatomy, which makes it difficult to think of a way out. If horrors are anything like most organics, then these tunnels should lead either back up to the mouth or out the other direction- but it may be more similar to TCP, which have no organs at all- just indistinct goop. Or it could be something else entirely. You just don't know. The only thing you're certain of is that the walls are moving, which is going to make mapping this place very difficult- perhaps even impossible. You could try and kill it from the inside... somehow? You don't have any idea what you could possibly do that would kill a horror this big.

Of course, you might not be in a horror at all. Not that you have any other explanation for the odd cracks, the intensely high levels of radiation, and the shifting tunnels. But until that theory is disproven, you may as well operate on the assumption that you've been swallowed by a horror. It's a good idea to be prepared for the worst, and you can't think of much worse of a situation than this one.

You need more information, and you need to calm Exclusit down as they seem to be very close to freaking the fuck out. You decide to try and do both with a bit of humor. Hopefully it's not inappropriate in such a tense situation.

"So. Does anyone know what gives a horror indigestion?"
"Well, um, that's the funny thing! Most horrors don't actually have stomachs, since their diet is mostly scraps and shreds. It's actually quite unusual to have a horror with a proper digestive system- most of them are just black slime the whole way through. Of course, with the chaotic nature of horrors and the way they mutate, anything is possible, I suppose."
"So..."
"Um, I don't really know what would cause a horror to, uh, expel us. I think if anything it had eaten would cause that, it would've happened already."

Exclusit has calmed down just enough to submit their own question.

"Can we just fucking... kill it? From the inside?"
"Uhhhh... Generally the way you kill horrors is to burn them, I think? Like, completely incinerate their whole body."
"ShiiiiiiiiiIIIT!"

Exclusit is drifting back into freaking-out territory again. Should you try to calm them down? Ask Matri another question? Or do you have another idea?