Quoted By:
You, however, go for it. You press your hand down on the webbing. It sinks in like it's made out of putty and it takes Ashley pulling on your arm for you to get unstuck.
>33!
That's when you notice something. The mass of webbing you pushed down on is now warped and twisted out of shape, opening a gap in the web.
Looking back at the ETFs, they seem to be making slow progress since every time they make any damage to the webbing, it heals back up...but the webbing they manage to warp and twist doesn't heal up.
Blunt force seems to be the way to go.
"We'll circle around to keep an eye out for any other anomalies who might think we're too distracted to notice them. Mind if I take over your squad?" Phi turns her attention to you. You give her the thumbs up, gesturing at everyone but Quentin to follow her.
"...MMH. IF I MAY SPIT OUT MY OWN OPINION, I THINK THERE'S A LOGIC TO PRESSURE BEING THE ANSWER."
You try to think on what it could possibly be. The anomaly clearly seems lonely, that much is certain- Wait. Lonely, pressure...a hug?
Quentin nods, seemingly already having picked up on that. "WEBBING IS MEANT TO CAPTURE FOOD FOR A SPIDER, AFTER ALL."
Hm. You feel an uncomfortable half-remembered memory wiggling in the back of your mind. Taut skin, sunken cheeks, liver spots on her hands. A barely living husk of a woman laying in a hospital bed right in front of you.
Your mother, not that young herself, brought you in to check up on her.
That scent radiating from her, like musty old beer. Disgusting. She forced you to hug her and-
"NICOLE?" Quentin is gently shaking your shoulder. You snap out of the weird haze you were putting yourself in.
"I'm fine. Let's hurry up before it loses interest in 'playing' with them. Both of you have to take turns pressing down on the webbing with whatever you two have on hand: An old baseball bat for Quentin, your own booted foot for yours truly.
>39! (6 over third threshold)!
You two make quick work of the webbing in your way. Due to you not wasting time trying to feebly cut through it, unlike the ETFs (and you can't blame them, they're in the belly of the beast and it's really counter intuitive), you make rapid progress to the sentence.
In fact, by the time you arrive, you think it's only been three or four minutes. In the center, you notice how the various tables scattered around now have oddly detailed lamps, knickknacks, and trinkets made out of webbing resting on them. Almost like someone was trying to make a home here.
The ETF agents (you do note their outfits look a bit cobbled together on closer examination) quickly take the opportunity to rush down the now opened pathway out of the center. The nesting doll spider immediately notices this and tries to skitter after them...but her attention is now focused on you and Quentin now.
"YOUNGINS ALWAYS LEAVE SO SOON WHEN THEY COME TO VISIT GRANDMA. IT'S QUITE SAD: I EVEN DECORATED MY HOUSE JUST FOR THEM. THEY DIDN'T SEEN LIKE THEY LIKED MY DECORATIONS."
