I1: This Job Sucks More

[Nick Varkan]

Nick, big rubber boots accompanying his X-Uni, shone his flashlight down a manhole.

"The things I let people talk me into," he grumbled.

[Narrator]

The sewer system for London is old, especially around Westminster. It's a long climb down the ladder, past multiple layers of streets paved on top of one another, down into the sewer passages. Thames Water has done the best it can to keep it well repaired, but all the same the corridors themselves are more stone than concrete at spots, the ceilings arched.

[Nick Varkan]

Nick coughed as he looked around, "Man... shoulda brought a fuckin' gas mask or something."

[Will Stanton]

"All part of a day's work," Will's voice came over the speaker.

[Nick Varkan]

"Says the guy not here," he responded.

[Narrator]

Some of the pipes nearer to the flat look to be new, likely replaced during the day's work. There's also blaze orange markings on the walls to denote the extent of the work.

[Nick Varkan]

Nick followed the direction of the repaired damage, sweeping the area for abnormalities with both his flashlight and the invisible fingers of his telekinetic field.

[Narrator]

As Nick reaches his powers further down the tunnel, he can sense two things.

First, there are narrow grooves worn into the stones just outside of where his flashlight currently reaches, and they seem to form shapes.

Second, something seems to be moving in the storm drain runoff that's in the center channel of the tunnel.

[Nick Varkan]

He crept forward slowly, shining his light at where he senses the movement.

[Narrator]

As he moves deeper into the tunnel, the grooves come into view. They look similar to what he saw on the inside of the drain pipe earlier in the day, but in a much larger scale. They form whorls, occasionally veer at angles, and form a design in the stone that's frankly a bit dizzying.

Meanwhile, the storm drain water seems to be churning in a way that honest London rainwater probably doesn't.

[Eric Osgood]

"Bloody hell, the smell is gettin' in!"

There was churning coming from the direction Nick had been traveling in, as a red and white blur appeared and slowed down, showing Eric Osgood trying desperately to seal his oxygen facemask.

"Nick! You around here, lad?"

[Nick Varkan]

"Ya think you could be any louder?" he asked sarcastically.

[Eric Osgood]

"of course, boyo. Dumb question."

Sloshing around, he finally joined his partner.

[Narrator]

It's probably fortunate that Eric is in waders, as while he approaches Nick it's increasingly obvious that there's... something swimming in the drainage water.

Possibly several dozen somethings.

[Nick Varkan]

"I should've worn taller boots..." Nick sighed before trying to grab one of the somethings with his powers and fish it out.

[Narrator]

At first glance it looks rather like a leech one might find in a creek. Granted, it looks rather large and prosperous for a leech, and its teeth are unusually well-developed.

[Eric Osgood]

"Foun' a friend?" Eric asked, glancing here and there in the filthy water.

[Narrator]

In the water, Eric can see they seem focused on crawling along the stones, carving grooves into them in what seems like an almost purposeful manner.

[Eric Osgood]

"Oo, they're tiny buggers."

Eric also reached for one, trying to interrupt whatever they were carving.

[Nick Varkan]

Nick grabbed Eric's arm. "I wouldn't touch that if I were you."

[Narrator]

The creature rears up as Eric reaches for it, crumbled stone falling from its many teeth. It lunges for Eric's hand, but thankfully Nick manages to act in time.

[Eric Osgood]

"Dat's right, lil freaky! I'm so fast, it rubs off on me lads!"

Eric did seem slightly more careful, however.

[Nick Varkan]

Nick let go.

"What we need here is a pyro..." he said as he brought out a metal container he hoped could contain one and floated his catch into it.

[Narrator]

Nick is able to get the leech into the container. It resumes doing what it was doing, though it doesn't seem in any danger of breeching the container as it chews a similar pattern into it.

[Eric Osgood]

"What tha hell is it skritching! Mate?"

Eric looked around warily, keeping an eye out for others.

[Nick Varkan]

"Language of the Great Old Ones I'd guess. Watch out for fish-men," Nick said as he closed the container.

[Will Stanton]

"Whatever it is, make sure you bring it in alive so we can study it!"

[Nick Varkan]

"Already bagged one Chief. What about the rest?"

[Will Stanton]

"We're going to need to exterminate them, but I'm not sure how yet--can you wall them off, in some fashion? Contain them for now?"

[Nick Varkan]

"All me and McSpeedy can do is squish as many as we can. Mind you that's alot, but no way we find them all."

[Will Stanton]

"Alright, that's not going to help. Bring it in; maybe we can develop a spray or something."

[Nick Varkan]

"On our way."