You know, being held like a sack of potatoes with one hand feels weird—until you *realize what's holding you*. Unfortunately for me, I realized that far too late.
"Uh… hi?"
Smooth. Real smooth.
"Hyyyyyyyy?"
Yep. Definitely a female voice. I'm assuming that, anyway. If I'm wrong and this is actually a dude… God, if you're out there, *please* don't let this be gay. I'm not ready to add "alien romance with a giant invisible catboy" to my trauma list.
"Uhh, look, I know you probably can't understand me, so… how about you leave my shrimp alone and maybe, uh, *become friends*?"
I can't see her due to the cloaking, but it's not like that's helping her blend in. She's wearing a full black futuristic hazmat suit. Imagine a latex plague doctor meets sci-fi cosplay—only 8 feet tall and able to deadlift your spine.
"…se naru?"
Yeah, she didn't understand a damn word. Great.
> *\[Author's Note: That's actual Ariral language. There's a Google Doc out there with community-translated terms. Apparently, she said "The fuck?" And honestly, fair.]*
Think, think, *think*—oh! I remember one word. Just one. Thank you, obsessive lore readers.
"**Sirimo.**"
> *\[Author's Note: That means "shrimp." I might integrate the lore doc into the story more. Let me know if that's cool with you guys.]*
She pauses. A surprised noise escapes her. I'll take that as a "yes, human, I acknowledge your offering of sea bugs."
I repeat, "Sirimo," and point to the cabinet she's still trying to pry open. She's been multitasking this whole time—holding me up *and* looting like a greedy Skyrim NPC. I gesture at myself, then mime eating.
She goes silent.
"He—"
Suddenly, she starts laughing.
"Ack ack ack ack ack… **du.**"
That last word came out real smug-like.
> *\[Author's Note: "Ack" is how they laugh. "Du" means "no."]*
Before I can process that sass, she just *body slams* me. One moment I'm midair, the next I'm crashing into the floor like a ragdoll with commitment issues. I don't even have time to curse. And weirdly… I'm not dead.
She must've held back, because Arirals can *fold a gorilla in half like a lawn chair.* But I still got knocked the hell out.
How do I know all this? Because I'm telling you *after* I woke up with a head-pounding migraine and found my metal shrimp cabinet absolutely destroyed.
**RIP Shrimp Cabinet.**
Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.
"Welp, there goes everything I FUCKING WORKED HARD FOR!"
*sigh*
"Deep breaths. In… out… okay. Let's go assess the rest of the damage."
I leave the room, ready to scream again—but instead, I find… a clean hallway? What the hell?
Except, of course, for the giant graffiti doodle of a smiling Ariral face on the wall.
"That bitch graffitied my base like it's a power move."
And honestly? It *was.*"
I sulk. I mop and sponge away the alien Banksy. Then I collapse into my chair and groan.
"Okay… so, water buckets over every door is still a backup plan. Not plan A—yet. She didn't kill me. She didn't even *really* hurt me. Just embarrassed me. A lot."
I sigh again.
"I knew I was gonna get my ass kicked by these things. They're prank-loving, shrimp-obsessed cryptid aliens. I was a damn vending machine full of temptation."
My inner monologue has graduated to full-on TED Talk levels.
"Okay. New plan: I stop buying shrimp. Start grinding for points. Gotta earn enough to buy a Kerfur unit. Then upgrade it to Omega-tier. Because those things? Absolute chadbots. In-game, they could kick you into orbit. If that works in real life? Jackpot. I'll even suffer through those drywall-flavored MREs the company sends. I haven't even tasted drywall before, and I *know* that's what it tastes like."
---
**\[ Several Days of Grinding and Existential Despair Later]**
I'm currently scaling down into the roof of an abandoned cabin using a rope. Why? To get a shovel. Why not just buy one? Because I'm a *cheap bastard.*
Also… there's a deer skull in here. Not just any skull—a *Wendigo* skull. And if you microwave that thing, guess what happens?
You get *haunted.*
Am I stupid enough to try that?
…maybe. But not right now.
I lower myself onto the creaky floor, spotting rotting wood, some bones (human? deer? who knows!), and a red fern growing around a half-buried shovel.
"Bingo."
I carefully extract the shovel from the floor, keeping it well away from the skull.
"Easy does it… aaaaand gotcha."
Old but sturdy. Good enough to dig out all the secrets this cursed patch of land is hiding. Maybe even find that one Kerfur unit the last guy left behind… y'know, the one that bled for no reason.
I try not to think about that and start climbing back up the rope.
As I reach the top and exit, the sun is setting—*of course* it is. I hop on the ATV and ride back.
But as I near the garage, I feel… watched.
I glance behind me.
And there it is.
Tall, antlered, red-eyed, covered in black fur. Standing between trees, hunched like it's too used to crawling.
**The Wendigo.**
We lock eyes.
I freeze. My blood runs cold. Every hair on my body stands up like they're staging a mutiny.
Then, just as quickly, it vanishes into the trees.
I exhale like I've been holding my breath for an hour.
"If I hadn't looked back…"
I could've died. For real. No respawns. No sarcastic commentary.
Arirals I can handle. Even when they're stealing my shrimp and powerbombing me like WWE champions. But the Wendigo?
*It wants to eat me.*
And not in the fun, weird-furry-forum way. In the *literal, chew-your-spine-for-breakfast* way.
I speed back to the base, park, lock every single door, and make a beeline for the coffee machine.
"Screw the caffeine rules. I'm drinking this or I'm having a full-on breakdown."
*sip*
"…Haaaaah. That hits the spot."
I sit back, warm mug in hand, and go over my plans.
"Okay. Almost enough points for a Kerfur. I'll upgrade it as soon as I figure out *how* to do that without a UI or tooltips or any of the game's quality-of-life features. I swear, if I need duct tape and alien zip ties, I'm gonna scream."
*siiip*
"I wonder who that Ariral girl was… Esraniki, maybe? She *is* confirmed to be one of the 'talls' here. The others are less clear. There's that note you can get from her later in the game, so she's definitely present."
"Three talls. Three shorts. Esraniki's one of them. Ruzbich? Maybe. No confirmation. The rest? Just floating names and theories."
*siiip*
"Whatever. I'll figure it out. For now, I survived a Wendigo sighting, got a shovel, and made first contact with a shrimp bandit who spared my life. That's what I call progress."
I lean back, staring at the ceiling.
"Y'know, maybe being alive in this place is better than being dead."
---
**\[LORE DUMP: Feel free to skip if you're just here for the jokes]**
Alright, let's talk Arirals.
Arirals are humanoid, catlike aliens. Think "space Neko" but horrifyingly jacked. They walk on hind legs, have long tails tipped with hair, and are covered in smooth skin except for their face, hair, and tail tips.
They're divided into two subspecies:
* **Talls**: 8 to 9 feet tall, 8–10x stronger than humans, usually well-fed and healthy.
* **Shorts**: 5'9" to 6'3", 2x human strength, often undernourished depending on their home region.
Talls and shorts develop based on nutrition and environment, not genetics.
There are 1 billion Talls and about 8 billion Shorts back on their homeworld. They also have:
* No noticeable lips
* Females possess 6 breasts with each one being the size of a human head (confirmed..kinda)
* Prank-loving, shrimp-obsessed behavior patterns
That's all for now. Thanks for reading this far. You're either a real fan or clinically unhinged.
See you in the next chapter, folks.
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Let me know if you want me to revise the next chapter the same way—or want more (or less) lore integration.
And hey, if you made it this far—thanks. Seriously. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you've got any feedback, roasting, or soul-shattering critiques, drop 'em in the comments. I deserve it. Also, sorry for the delay—had to yeet some sleep hours into the void 'cause of my night shift that drags on till 12AM (corporate grindset, baby). But seeing that some of you are actually *into* this mess means a hell of a lot. I didn't expect much when I started dumping my brain juice into this, but here we are. I'll try to take it somewhere weird and maybe even cool. Lemme know if you want more lore dumps like the one in this chapter too—I got plenty of alien catgirl facts locked and loaded. Aaaaand that's all for now. Peace out, space nerds. See ya next time.
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