"Is this the place, Brother Nur?"
Charlie stood in the doorway of the heavy gate that had been forced open, his gaze sweeping over the scene before him, his voice carrying a gravity he could scarcely conceal.
His eyes settled on the enormous control console occupying more than half the compartment. It looked less like a machine than a living creature sprawled there.
Metal conduits crisscrossed like blood vessels, countless strips of flesh wrapped tightly around the wiring like a layer of fresh muscle that still pulsed faintly.
Some translucent slime seeped from the console's seams and trickled along the grooves in its metal casing, pooling on the floor in a small puddle that gave off an acrid stench.
Sensor nodes of varying sizes studded the console's surface. They flickered faintly in the dim light, like eyes opening to watch the intruders entering this space.
"Yes, this is it," Nur's voice came from behind him.
He strode past Charlie toward the mass of flesh-covered machinery.
His steps were steady, only his eyes moving rapidly over every socket and port as he searched for the one he needed.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
Just as Nur approached the first console, the previously silent machine suddenly began to rumble and shudder.
The metal plates on its surface opened like a living creature's throat, rings of serrated mouthparts curling outward along their edges. Uneven metal teeth meshed together with an ear-piercing scrape.
Slime gushed from the open fissure like saliva, dripping beside Nur.
The entire console resembled a beast startled awake, warning anyone who approached in its grotesque, savage way.
Nur did not retreat.
He looked down at the serrated maw opening before him, its mouthparts still writhing as though trying to devour something.
His gaze was as calm as if he were examining an