X-Men Mission: Skull Island 12
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xp_logsThe X-Men discover the truth behind Skull Island before escaping.
It didn't take long to finish off the massive mosquitoes that fought to get deeper into the cave, held at bay only from the flares and small arms that Kane's small recovery team carried with them. As the last fell, one of the team members came forward and gestured at them.
"The cave goes much deeper and there's something... wrong with the walls. Christian doesn't think it is natural."
"Natural is a somewhat subjective term," Hank said, peering at the walls of the cave owlishly. "Especially on an island like this one. Predictable topography goes out the window as soon as the giant insects and sentient flora show up."
Reed nodded in agreement as he swatted away unnamed bugs from his face. This was starting to get annoying. If there was anything he loved, it was when things made rational, clear sense. All of this? Fascinating in a scientific sense, horrible in a realistic one. "Has anyone stopped and thought that perhaps this is bigger than we are? Both literally and figuratively? This type of discovery requires scientists of every type. We could be here for an eternity, trying to decipher this information and still make minimal headway."
"If it comes to it we can deal with that later. I can talk to the British, or to SHIELD and we can arrange to get a scientific expedition out here," Sue allowed. Even she wasn't immune to the lure of the scientific discovery here. The idea of an island where supergrowth had created brand new species of flora and fauna. "I just...the island isn't big enough to support even two of the fauna we've seen. This can't be an entirely natural creation."
"You think?" Nica's words were muttered under her breath but the walls of the cave picked them up and echoed them louder. "Since last time I lit up we wound up dealing with a giant carnivorous plant, would it be a bad idea if I gave us more light so we can see what we're dealing with?"
"At least we'd see it coming then." Sooraya commented. "Got for it, Nica, but just keep it as low as possible. Besides... except for the bugs it feels quiet here. Like things are waiting, but not malevolent..." As the light brightened around her, she scanned the cave to figure out where the feeling was coming from.
The sudden light left Sue squinting, one hand coming up to shield her eyes as she peered between her fingers at the wall, "Those looks like markings of some kind, leading further into the caves."
"Has anyone here actually watched a horror movie? That's totally a 'come down here so you can be eaten' sign." If Nica sounded petulant, it was the strain of maintaining a moderate glow without actual visible light to absorb. "But we're still going down there, aren't we?"
"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time," Hank quoted, leading the way as their small group continued further down the tunnel. "It may be that what we find here could shed light on everything we have encountered that has thus far denied all rational explanation."
Sue sighed, glancing down the tunnel that stretched ahead of them, a sigh falling from her lips, this was going to add badly she just knew it. In her heart she agreed with Nica, that there was no doubt that it was dangerous but intellectually she agreed with Hank. "I think you're both right, but we need to go ahead," the blonde held up a finger, "so...let's do it very slowly and carefully. At the first sign of trouble I'll cover us and we back right out. I don't really wanna try tangling with something in an enclosed space."
Reed ignored everyone else and trudged forward with his own light. His curiousity was growing as he realized that the markings continued on, and the damp seemed to get warmer, not colder. Truthfully, he knew very little about geology and caves, but he knew that the further from the sun, the colder things were, and yet he felt a stickiness spread around his body that bothered him. The path continued for a while before suddenly opening up into a room. If Reed was a cursing type of person, a stream of expletives would have left his mouth -- instead, he simply went "Oh. Is it just me, or is that an embryo in the wall?"
"Fascinating," Hank breathed, stepping forward to examine the figure that Reed was indicating. It was indeed organic-looking, a complex bulge in the wall covered by what looked to be a thin membrane. As he looked he could just make out the faint flicker of movement - a pulse, perhaps? "If this is an embryo, then that would imply that this island is some sort of biological entity."
"Biological entity?" asked Nica. "As in, it's alive?"
Biology had never been Sue's strong point, she'd always been more her father's daughter than her mother's but still she knew enough of the science to understand the implications of this. "Yeah, it's alive. You remember those old movies where it turned out the island was actually a giant turtle. I'd always thought that was just someone with a wild imagination...apparently not." Gently the woman pressed a finger against the wall, if the Island's alive then that's the next question, do we think it's sentient?"
"Wait, first you're saying that the island might me alive... and now you are saying that it's alive and able to think for itself?" Sooraya stared incredulously at the three scientists. "Alright... that means we are getting out of here now. You can speculate all you want on the way back, but we're not staying here any longer."
Sue shook her head, raising one hand to stop Sooraya, "No, I'm not saying that at all, I'm asking if we think it's sentient," the blonde clarified as she waved a hand towards the entrance to the cave, "It looks like everything out there is alive in some way or the other even the island but," she offered the older woman a small smile, "We can't just leave now, we still don't know what's going on here. This is perhaps the greatest scientific discovery of recent times...but more than that, if the island is sentient, then it might react badly to us trying to leave. We need to figure this out before we go anywhere."
"There are a great many criteria for sentience," Hank said, with a look that Sue at least recognised as a signal that he was getting ready for an enthusiastic lecture. "Certainly from a physiological point of view the presence of a centralised nervous system would tell us a great deal - not to mention other aspects such as nociceptors and the presence of analgesic chemicals. I haven't tested for those but I suppose I could..." He trailed off thoughtfully for a moment before rousing back to his soapbox. "Lacking the essential equipment, however, we must answer the question in another way, namely: is it aware - of us, of its surroundings, of its state of being, and is it responding to stimuli?"
"I don't know about stimuli, but there's definitely something hinky going on here," offered Nica, interrupting the incoming lecture. "I mean, here on this side, you've got baby lizard-monsters..." she gestured at the wall of the tunnel, which was opening into a large cavern ahead of them. "But on the other side, there's giant animals and plants. Plus the walls are different textures, almost like they're two separate things twisted around each other."
Slightly reassured by Sue's words, Sooraya's eyes narrowed and reached out to touch the spongy material of the walls. "I don't know about sentient or not, but with this being a cave and all the creatures gestating here, this reminds me of some kind of womb."
The blonde span around, pointing her finger at Sooraya, "Exactly, it's a womb, it's the perfect set up for it, and we've seen there is a level of protection too...but I just have one question. If the island's pregnant, then who's the dad?" She hoped this was asexual, she really really did. If there were two of these creatures around, well that might cause problems.
“It could be a matter of parthenogenesis,” Hank posited. “Which is easily believable for a planet-based life form, as this tissue supports.” He gestured to one of the embryonic plants, looking for all the world like an oversized lima bean sprouting from the wall of the cave. “And it’s not unheard of in vertebrates, either, especially those that are cold-blooded nature. Did the other teams say something about reptilian monsters attacking them?”
Nica nodded. "They did. But there were mammals too - megafauna, I think they're called? Giant critters, any way." Then a thought occurred to her. "Hey, what about if I do my x-ray projection thing? That would let us see the rest of whatever this thing is, wouldn't it? From the inside out?"
"It might," Sue allowed, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as her eyes flicked back and forth around the cave. "But it might also cause a reaction if it feels like it's being attacked so..." the turned around slowly and made a shooing motion. "Everyone back to the entrance but for Spectrum and me. Reed, if something goes wrong, hook us out, I'll bubble us. Till then, it's your show."
"Sounds good... I need to radio the other teams with what we have found so far. Hank, I might need a hand with explaining all the science." Sooraya followed Hank and Reed back to the entrance, thumbing her radio as soon as she was outside.
Nica nodded at Sue and dropped to her knees, grimacing at the slimy surface as she planted her hands and began to focus. The light she'd been generating to see by flickered out as she switched wavelengths, but Nica could see beyond visible light now. Slowly the floor beneath them was turning transparent, revealing layers of what would be organs, muscles, bones in an ordinary creature but here... Nica sucked in her breath. "There's two of them. All tangled up around each other, like conjoined twins. Can you see it?"
The blonde's teeth worked at her lower lip as she gazed around in wonder, one hand resting on Nica's shoulder as the other hand reached out to trail along the side of the wall, following the path of a pulsing artery. "Yeah...the island's not one creature, it's two of them, see there. There are two of them, seperate but wrapped up in one another...I don't think I've ever seen anything like it."
At the mouth of the cave, Sue and Nica's words were carried to the others by their radios.
"Perhaps... perhaps what we're seeing is some sort of unconscious interspecific competition," Hank posited, his eyes growing wide. "The organisms themselves are unaware of their surroundings, but at a base level are still competing for the resources available to them."
"That would explain the creatures," Reed said slowly, trying to build a hypothesis while he was speaking. "We've seen the very earth itself attack us, and now I can only surmise that it was looking for nutrients and considered us food... something to nourish it as it is no doubt having to compete. There's an ecological war occurring here, and it would be in our best interests to leave and let this place be."
Sooraya quickly relayed some of the information to the others teams, then ventured forward with a question of her own. "What about the state of their awareness? Any idea if they can detect us and respond to us?"
"It doesn't look like it," came Nica's reply. "I mean, these things are so big, we're just like fleas on an elephant to them. I don't think they even know we're here."
"All the same, we shouldn't tarry," Hank said gravely. "These creatures may not be aware of us, but the smaller offspring certainly are. And our presence is most certainly upsetting the natural balance of the island. We should evacuate as soon as we're able - we have more than enough data gathered to analyse the situation when we're safely away."
"They might not be aware of us," Sue agreed, "at least not on a conscious level but our bodies are designed to deal with intruders without us needing to be cognizant of that fact. If this is all subconscious, same as you slapping at a mosquito, I really don't think we should be here when their 'white blood cells' arrive'" The blonde took a forlorn look around the cave, the island represented a scientific find the like the world hadn't seen in forever but..."I think I'd be much happier if we all got out of here now."
***
Christian's people collected Wu and her surviving team not far outside of the cave, making their way back to their boat and the British vessel that was waiting for them off the coast. The X-Men regrouped at the Blackbird, racing aboard the jet as quickly as possible. The sounds of battle between two giant creatures was close and as the Blackbird's VTOL capability brought them above the canopy, they could clearly see the massive ape and the fiery kaiju locked in battle. That was all the motivation they needed to climb rapidly above the clouds and leave Skull Island and its monsters to its own devices forever.
It didn't take long to finish off the massive mosquitoes that fought to get deeper into the cave, held at bay only from the flares and small arms that Kane's small recovery team carried with them. As the last fell, one of the team members came forward and gestured at them.
"The cave goes much deeper and there's something... wrong with the walls. Christian doesn't think it is natural."
"Natural is a somewhat subjective term," Hank said, peering at the walls of the cave owlishly. "Especially on an island like this one. Predictable topography goes out the window as soon as the giant insects and sentient flora show up."
Reed nodded in agreement as he swatted away unnamed bugs from his face. This was starting to get annoying. If there was anything he loved, it was when things made rational, clear sense. All of this? Fascinating in a scientific sense, horrible in a realistic one. "Has anyone stopped and thought that perhaps this is bigger than we are? Both literally and figuratively? This type of discovery requires scientists of every type. We could be here for an eternity, trying to decipher this information and still make minimal headway."
"If it comes to it we can deal with that later. I can talk to the British, or to SHIELD and we can arrange to get a scientific expedition out here," Sue allowed. Even she wasn't immune to the lure of the scientific discovery here. The idea of an island where supergrowth had created brand new species of flora and fauna. "I just...the island isn't big enough to support even two of the fauna we've seen. This can't be an entirely natural creation."
"You think?" Nica's words were muttered under her breath but the walls of the cave picked them up and echoed them louder. "Since last time I lit up we wound up dealing with a giant carnivorous plant, would it be a bad idea if I gave us more light so we can see what we're dealing with?"
"At least we'd see it coming then." Sooraya commented. "Got for it, Nica, but just keep it as low as possible. Besides... except for the bugs it feels quiet here. Like things are waiting, but not malevolent..." As the light brightened around her, she scanned the cave to figure out where the feeling was coming from.
The sudden light left Sue squinting, one hand coming up to shield her eyes as she peered between her fingers at the wall, "Those looks like markings of some kind, leading further into the caves."
"Has anyone here actually watched a horror movie? That's totally a 'come down here so you can be eaten' sign." If Nica sounded petulant, it was the strain of maintaining a moderate glow without actual visible light to absorb. "But we're still going down there, aren't we?"
"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time," Hank quoted, leading the way as their small group continued further down the tunnel. "It may be that what we find here could shed light on everything we have encountered that has thus far denied all rational explanation."
Sue sighed, glancing down the tunnel that stretched ahead of them, a sigh falling from her lips, this was going to add badly she just knew it. In her heart she agreed with Nica, that there was no doubt that it was dangerous but intellectually she agreed with Hank. "I think you're both right, but we need to go ahead," the blonde held up a finger, "so...let's do it very slowly and carefully. At the first sign of trouble I'll cover us and we back right out. I don't really wanna try tangling with something in an enclosed space."
Reed ignored everyone else and trudged forward with his own light. His curiousity was growing as he realized that the markings continued on, and the damp seemed to get warmer, not colder. Truthfully, he knew very little about geology and caves, but he knew that the further from the sun, the colder things were, and yet he felt a stickiness spread around his body that bothered him. The path continued for a while before suddenly opening up into a room. If Reed was a cursing type of person, a stream of expletives would have left his mouth -- instead, he simply went "Oh. Is it just me, or is that an embryo in the wall?"
"Fascinating," Hank breathed, stepping forward to examine the figure that Reed was indicating. It was indeed organic-looking, a complex bulge in the wall covered by what looked to be a thin membrane. As he looked he could just make out the faint flicker of movement - a pulse, perhaps? "If this is an embryo, then that would imply that this island is some sort of biological entity."
"Biological entity?" asked Nica. "As in, it's alive?"
Biology had never been Sue's strong point, she'd always been more her father's daughter than her mother's but still she knew enough of the science to understand the implications of this. "Yeah, it's alive. You remember those old movies where it turned out the island was actually a giant turtle. I'd always thought that was just someone with a wild imagination...apparently not." Gently the woman pressed a finger against the wall, if the Island's alive then that's the next question, do we think it's sentient?"
"Wait, first you're saying that the island might me alive... and now you are saying that it's alive and able to think for itself?" Sooraya stared incredulously at the three scientists. "Alright... that means we are getting out of here now. You can speculate all you want on the way back, but we're not staying here any longer."
Sue shook her head, raising one hand to stop Sooraya, "No, I'm not saying that at all, I'm asking if we think it's sentient," the blonde clarified as she waved a hand towards the entrance to the cave, "It looks like everything out there is alive in some way or the other even the island but," she offered the older woman a small smile, "We can't just leave now, we still don't know what's going on here. This is perhaps the greatest scientific discovery of recent times...but more than that, if the island is sentient, then it might react badly to us trying to leave. We need to figure this out before we go anywhere."
"There are a great many criteria for sentience," Hank said, with a look that Sue at least recognised as a signal that he was getting ready for an enthusiastic lecture. "Certainly from a physiological point of view the presence of a centralised nervous system would tell us a great deal - not to mention other aspects such as nociceptors and the presence of analgesic chemicals. I haven't tested for those but I suppose I could..." He trailed off thoughtfully for a moment before rousing back to his soapbox. "Lacking the essential equipment, however, we must answer the question in another way, namely: is it aware - of us, of its surroundings, of its state of being, and is it responding to stimuli?"
"I don't know about stimuli, but there's definitely something hinky going on here," offered Nica, interrupting the incoming lecture. "I mean, here on this side, you've got baby lizard-monsters..." she gestured at the wall of the tunnel, which was opening into a large cavern ahead of them. "But on the other side, there's giant animals and plants. Plus the walls are different textures, almost like they're two separate things twisted around each other."
Slightly reassured by Sue's words, Sooraya's eyes narrowed and reached out to touch the spongy material of the walls. "I don't know about sentient or not, but with this being a cave and all the creatures gestating here, this reminds me of some kind of womb."
The blonde span around, pointing her finger at Sooraya, "Exactly, it's a womb, it's the perfect set up for it, and we've seen there is a level of protection too...but I just have one question. If the island's pregnant, then who's the dad?" She hoped this was asexual, she really really did. If there were two of these creatures around, well that might cause problems.
“It could be a matter of parthenogenesis,” Hank posited. “Which is easily believable for a planet-based life form, as this tissue supports.” He gestured to one of the embryonic plants, looking for all the world like an oversized lima bean sprouting from the wall of the cave. “And it’s not unheard of in vertebrates, either, especially those that are cold-blooded nature. Did the other teams say something about reptilian monsters attacking them?”
Nica nodded. "They did. But there were mammals too - megafauna, I think they're called? Giant critters, any way." Then a thought occurred to her. "Hey, what about if I do my x-ray projection thing? That would let us see the rest of whatever this thing is, wouldn't it? From the inside out?"
"It might," Sue allowed, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as her eyes flicked back and forth around the cave. "But it might also cause a reaction if it feels like it's being attacked so..." the turned around slowly and made a shooing motion. "Everyone back to the entrance but for Spectrum and me. Reed, if something goes wrong, hook us out, I'll bubble us. Till then, it's your show."
"Sounds good... I need to radio the other teams with what we have found so far. Hank, I might need a hand with explaining all the science." Sooraya followed Hank and Reed back to the entrance, thumbing her radio as soon as she was outside.
Nica nodded at Sue and dropped to her knees, grimacing at the slimy surface as she planted her hands and began to focus. The light she'd been generating to see by flickered out as she switched wavelengths, but Nica could see beyond visible light now. Slowly the floor beneath them was turning transparent, revealing layers of what would be organs, muscles, bones in an ordinary creature but here... Nica sucked in her breath. "There's two of them. All tangled up around each other, like conjoined twins. Can you see it?"
The blonde's teeth worked at her lower lip as she gazed around in wonder, one hand resting on Nica's shoulder as the other hand reached out to trail along the side of the wall, following the path of a pulsing artery. "Yeah...the island's not one creature, it's two of them, see there. There are two of them, seperate but wrapped up in one another...I don't think I've ever seen anything like it."
At the mouth of the cave, Sue and Nica's words were carried to the others by their radios.
"Perhaps... perhaps what we're seeing is some sort of unconscious interspecific competition," Hank posited, his eyes growing wide. "The organisms themselves are unaware of their surroundings, but at a base level are still competing for the resources available to them."
"That would explain the creatures," Reed said slowly, trying to build a hypothesis while he was speaking. "We've seen the very earth itself attack us, and now I can only surmise that it was looking for nutrients and considered us food... something to nourish it as it is no doubt having to compete. There's an ecological war occurring here, and it would be in our best interests to leave and let this place be."
Sooraya quickly relayed some of the information to the others teams, then ventured forward with a question of her own. "What about the state of their awareness? Any idea if they can detect us and respond to us?"
"It doesn't look like it," came Nica's reply. "I mean, these things are so big, we're just like fleas on an elephant to them. I don't think they even know we're here."
"All the same, we shouldn't tarry," Hank said gravely. "These creatures may not be aware of us, but the smaller offspring certainly are. And our presence is most certainly upsetting the natural balance of the island. We should evacuate as soon as we're able - we have more than enough data gathered to analyse the situation when we're safely away."
"They might not be aware of us," Sue agreed, "at least not on a conscious level but our bodies are designed to deal with intruders without us needing to be cognizant of that fact. If this is all subconscious, same as you slapping at a mosquito, I really don't think we should be here when their 'white blood cells' arrive'" The blonde took a forlorn look around the cave, the island represented a scientific find the like the world hadn't seen in forever but..."I think I'd be much happier if we all got out of here now."
***
Christian's people collected Wu and her surviving team not far outside of the cave, making their way back to their boat and the British vessel that was waiting for them off the coast. The X-Men regrouped at the Blackbird, racing aboard the jet as quickly as possible. The sounds of battle between two giant creatures was close and as the Blackbird's VTOL capability brought them above the canopy, they could clearly see the massive ape and the fiery kaiju locked in battle. That was all the motivation they needed to climb rapidly above the clouds and leave Skull Island and its monsters to its own devices forever.
