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The last thing I recalled was a comfortable room with soft music and a shiatsu massage. I had drifted off to sleep, comforted and happy--only to wake to the screech of atmosphere around rapidly decelerating ceramic. There is no other sound in the universe like it, that howl, that seared roar, that bone deep thrum; I was about to land. There were disjointed memories strewn through my consciousness, recollections of previous atmospheric entries. The results of those entries were confused, frequently fraught with terror or discomfort, but I always found my way home!

The heat shield broke apart into a sort of high speed chute. My weight increased by five or six fold which caused blood to pool in my head and shoulders. The scream became booms and the vibrations slowed into periodic jerks that jarred and bruised. The harness kept me safe, kept me from a muzzle crushed against the view port. That view though, it was of a lush greenery that spread across a vast continent--a continent that grew closer by the second. The fiery halo had faded to a dim cherry glow by now, and I could see clearly the veins of rivers and speckles of lakes that dotted the incredibly flat land below.

The last few seconds of my journey passed in a gut wrenching and skull splitting deceleration and final and brutal halt against the sloppy earth below. I'd landed in a bit of swamp it seemed, and though the retros blasted dirt and boiled water in a wide cavitation--the moment the engines shut down, the swamp reclaimed it's rightful place and consumed my capsule. This was by no means a surprising event, nor remotely a hindrance.

I checked the local air and water for contaminants, bacterial and parasitic micro-fauna; it registered clean of anything that could make an attempt on my person within the next decade. Not that the testing equipment could find all the local germs and spores, but enough to know that that biological contaminant was unlikely. The pressure and atmospheric content was within tolerance, slightly less oxygen and lower pressure than my preferred, but close enough for no discomfort.

With the atmosphere cleared for respiration, I checked the rest of my equipment the pod had been loaded with--and found nothing. There were no weapons, no encounter suits, not even a pocket knife or utility vest! I checked the manifest and glared at the readout, one Omo, fully naked for exposure testing; nothing more! I was still screaming at Ship over radio when the seals popped and the murky soup of a swamp poured in. It was feted and slippery, there was a higher ratio organics than water, which left it closer to the consistency of snot. I'd been through worse however... or so my memories reported, though exactly what seemed vague and confused. I didn't think on it long.

I squirmed free of the pod harness and swam quickly to the surface. The air was even worse, heavy with biological contaminants and byproducts. That was to say; it stank to an impossible degree. I shuddered in revulsion but breathed in anyway, it seemed cleaner than the water in any case! The lower oxygen would be annoying, deeper, longer held breaths to get the same effect, but I could cope.

The noise of the place was something else; burbles and sloshes, whines and sneezes, then the occasional deep throated rumble that spoke like an elephant's trumpet in volume. However, I could see no life moving other than the continuous sway of the tree like flora, more vine tangles of mangrove than anything else; but with droopy noodle like leaves that swayed with the wind. Nothing flew through the air, not even an insect equivalent. There was no land to speak of within visible range, and only those weird mounds of vines on which nothing scampered or sang.

All in all, it was a miserable place, but no worse than a thousand other worlds I'd seen--if only I could recall exactly what they had been like. I shook my head and began to swim my way away from the landing zone and into the open swamp. There was a current, but it was only a minor impediment. There seemed to be nothing of particular interest in the immediate area, so I struck out for the long distance. Breaks in the flora provided river like passages, they branched and wove together in odd patterns unlike familiar serpentine passages upon traditional land. These seemed entirely governed by the plant growth, and not gravity carved stream beds.

At last, I met one of those circular lakes, a strange and abrupt ending to the surface fauna, though subsurface life continued and even increased. It was at least something curious to investigate and record. I dove below and followed the slippery slimy muck tangled in the vine roots. It curved down and inward, like a great bowl, then vanished below the ooze sediment. Aside from that singular macro flora that seemed to have conquered most of the region, there were numerous aquatic species. Great fat eel like things with filter feeder mouths and five eyes to ring their beaks. Tiny dart like things that preyed upon larger breeds with needle like probosces and a pair of tendril limbs tipped in singular hooks. These gave me wide breadth for some unknown reason, perhaps the taste of me was too unfamiliar to suggest a good meal.

And then, at the very bottom center of the lake, I met the reason for it's existence. It was a great maw into which all the water flowed at a constant pace. The larger fish kept clear, and the smaller only strayed between the exposed vine like tendrils. It was directly a part of the macro-flora it seemed, those weird vine trees were just it's surface. I was fascinated to say the least, something grown so large that it could alter the entire ecosystem. It produced the rivers by draining the lake into it's gullet and ejecting the water elsewhere! It fed for certain on microscopic fauna and flora, but likely also the drifting corpses of larger creatures. At the center of the lake was a lazy whirlpool of flotsam, from which the occasional clump would fall free and enter the great maw.

What an incredible system!_I told Ship, _How much of the planet is covered by these macro-flora? Ship replied wordlessly, just a stream of still images and coordinates. There were only seven hundred and eighty two million of these lakes, but they spanned the globe. There were no mountains, no oceans, nothing between the twenty seven degrees north and south. Beyond that, toward the poles were ancient lakes frozen over, or possibly even fossilized, but the fauna changed drastically. The rest of the world was dominated by these things.

I was prepared to leave now, I felt, I had discovered enough from the lake. My m ind was changed though, quite abruptly. Ship's doing of course, damn it. Sudden curiosity piqued, as I stared down into the murky water. The sluggish fluid pulled at me, pulled toward that open maw, and... and I was incredibly curious of it's interior! What mechanism did it use to cleans the water of nutrients? How did it spread it's offspring? Whatever method it used, it was quite efficient!

I dove with the current, toward the vine limbed gap, a dark hole in the dim surface of the world. Fear should have clawed at my gut, I knew this, but not even a hint of excitement beyond the quest of the unknown rose within my blood. Head first I swam into it; a maw thirty some meters across and impossibly deep. Here, the current was incredibly fast, so fast in fact, that only once I'd passed beyond did I realize, I could not swim out. I attempted a grip on the vines, but they were so slippery, coated in such a thick and worrisome mucous. I should have panicked, but instead only the excitement of discovery tingled within my thoughts.

The mucous thickened, like plaque in an artery. I could see things caught in it, things tangled and struggling, things dead and half digested. I continued straight down as the throat closed from thirty to twenty meters, then twenty to ten. Larger things moved down here, things that seemed to live in the mucous, to thrive in it in fact. It was so dim that I could only see them as faint differences in the thermal gradient. I attempted to catch one, but it slithered out of reach, like a great worm the size of my arm.

Deeper, there were more, tangles and knots of these things, but all deep in the mucous wall, beyond easy reach. I however seemed too large to get caught in said wall, my grip only slipped away as I was sucked ever faster down. The rate of flow increased with the narrowing of the throat, until the walls passed with such speed that I could see only blurs.

Then, as sudden as lightning, the throat opened. The two gap but meters now, spat me into a chamber of mucous tendrils and root like vines farther across than my dim vision could reach. Things moved in that dimness, things large, things small. A larger form than I writhed not far from me, one of those great eel like things. I approached with interest and found it entangled in the roots, roots that sank through it's flesh and held it fast. I could make out little but the occasional shift of the heat within it's form as something moved inside. It was amazing!

I would have inspected further, but something grappled my ankle. It was just a brush of a branch it felt like, except that branch, woody and stiff as it was, closed about and somehow found grip. I bent double and reached toward it, to untangle it from my heel spurs and toes, but found that the finer tendrils had already sank into my flesh. I hadn't felt it, in fact, I hadn't felt anything of my foot from the moment of grip. A strange nothing had begun it's way up my tangled leg, and as I gripped and pulled, my hands as well. Needless to say, they two had been entangled and penetrated without sensation.

This continued for some time while I pulled and squirmed in the wooden grasp. I was paying so little attention to the surrounding environment, fearless, and of course far too curious. I was held, bend double as my limbs--all four--were enveloped and entwined. I could just barely see the roots under my skin, as cooler spots, like veins of ice water. This was a predicament, no doubt about it! How would I inspect the depths of the chamber if I couldn't move?

That was no problem it turned out, for my body was dragged down and toward said depths. At last as movement drew my interest, I looked beyond the length of my limbs to see--the whole floor of the chamber move. I thought at first perhaps they were vines, but no, they were worms, worms half the size of my leg and twice as long. My body had been hooked well by the roots and were dragged ever closer to that bottom, to what awaited in writhing anticipation. If you have ever seen a can of worms, you know what I witnessed; writ large.

I was drawn down until my hands and feet in their deep tangle were enveloped in the slimy mucous of the bottom and the worms found me. Each one was thicker than two fists when they bunched, and thinner than a wrist when they stretched. This I witnessed in great detail as an entire mass of them bunched and stretched straight toward me. The tips of their--lets call them--heads were narrow and mouth-less, but dotted with pores and from within those pores emerged fine tendrils that flickered like serpent tongues. I got to witness this up close, incredibly up close, as one decided that my mouth was the most interesting thing in the world!

I found this quite interesting as well, and didn't think to even close my lips or bite down as it wriggled it's way beyond. Cloying sickly sweet flavors bathed my senses, faint bitterness and incredible stickiness coated my tongue, teeth, and lips. The massive worm didn't stop as it reached my throat, and I found myself unable at this point, to close my mouth or move my tongue. Within a matter of seconds, the few attempted swallows I had involuntarily taken, failed with a twitched spasm. The worm continued on.

It was the most incredibly invasive sensation of my life as a meter of terribly thick flesh squirmed its way down my throat as I lay helpless. That was not the only one however, for between my thighs another squirmed, and worked its way through the incredibly powerful muscles of my cloaca. Those muscles ceased motion seconds after each caress, helpless and gaped open when instead they should have stood defense of my virtue! Pleasure, for sure did I feel as both ends were burrowed into. Discomfort in great amounts as well, for the numb and motionless ache of muscles and tendons strained beyond limit. My gut protruded grotesquely and squirmed with frantic activity, then doubled again as a second pair began to penetrate from both ends.

Vile mucous through the water from face and bowels as pressure built. It tasted incredibly sour and organic, it smelled of rot and musk. A third pair entered me, and half way in, I heard but did not feel something rupture. It was an audible pop, like that of a rubberband snapping under water. Cool wetness flooded through my body cavity intermixed with organic mucous and filth. No pain, no ache, but the sensation should have left me screaming. I however felt only incredible fascination as I watched my unevenly bulged gut dance and writhe. This is what I had witenessed within the eel creature, this dance of flesh induced by an incredible number of parasites under it's skin.

A fourth pair entered with the result of more internal destruction to make room. My cloaca bulged grotesquely, limp muscles gaped wide, a constant sputter of organics blasted free in a cloudy fountain. My throat was less inclined to such action, though occasionlly as something squirmed, a belch of cloudy mucous expelled itself from my limp and numb maw. The taste though, made me nauseous.

Only belatedly did I realize I had drifted away from the bottom upon the root tether. Filled with active life, I rose like a buoy and drifted upon the current. I struck the thick mucous lining of the roof, and dragged along through something of an inverted river bed of slime. Other forms were visible, full and bloated as I, though most appeared quite dead as they drifted along. Somewhere along the line, my thether broke, but the root bondage remained, like a cocoon built on and through my limbs. I was paralyzed at that point, not a one of my limbs could move, and even my breathing was so labored that I would have drowned if not for the respiration of my skin. My heart started and stopped every so often, though not entirely necessary as I wasn't particularly active.

The channel gave way to a cavern of mucous lined roots. The darkness was complete, and the cramped confines enough to make one claustrophobic. Thankfully I was just utterly fascinated with the sensation of the worms as they escaped me. The one that wriggled it's violent way up my throat managed to hook into the mucous of the wall. It used the tiny pores and their tentacles to grip, then swim free. Current and pull, squirm and grip, it yanked itself out of me at last, just as another burst through the side of my bloated gut, just below my ribs. Hot blood coated it, visibly, as it too anchored itself in the lining of the cavern and escaped my flesh, without pain. Another two, squirmed, tangled together, their tentacles interlocked, as they stretched my already gaped cloaca until it ripped, an audible and incredible experience to have without pain! They too escaped, followed by the rest through both rips in my flesh.

Yet, though they had escaped, my gut remained a gravid protrusion with lumpy distentions and cavities where once had been smooth strong muscle. Alone at last, I continued to drift as I naval gazed. Something remained behind, something of incredible volume. Simple mucous? No, that had been something of a mating frenzy I was sure, so perhaps eggs? Larva? I was excited to find out! I did find out however, rather soon after their evacuation--that my nerves were still in working order. I spent some hours screaming myself hoarse from the incredible, mind shatter of agony. Literally every inch of me burned with itches and stings, rips and strains, sprains and gouges. The roots, now dead yet strong for instance, I could feel every tendril that had interlocked with the meat of my limbs and pierced even the joints of my ankles and wrists, hands and feet, elbows and knees. Worse though was the internal damage, that hollow yet bloated feeling of things moved out of place or torn entirely.

Curious as I was, the sensations dominated my existence for the longest time. I didn't notice the passage through the monstrous circulatory system, nor the change in state within my body as the young began to mature. All I knew was suffering, all I thought of was escape from it, all I was given was more of the same. It was only some time after my fourth period of unconscious relief--likely two weeks if one was to guess--that I at last witnessed the light of day once again. It was a distant thing, a dim flicker ahead of me down stream. My body hurdled toward it, alive with life, writhing with the feeding frenzy of a million little mouths.

I burst free at last, out through a gap in the forest flora, and into the head of a stream. No sooner did I depart the dark confines, than the frenzy went mad and a thousand little mouths began to rip me apart. I screamed and sobbed, writhed and thrashed, but it did no good as they devoured my inner organs, my stomach muscle, my cloaca and thighs, even the base of my tail. I was devoured so quickly and so violently, that when I at last surfaced, pushed up by the gush of water, it was with a violent expulsion of flesh and invasive life.

I stared up at the alien sky and the strangely ruddy star as my entrails were cast for meters around, and the multitude of life leaped free into the open air. It was a violent birth in more ways than one, a birth of thousands, each no longer than a finger, but a writhing squid like form of vines, bladder, and sticky mucous. Only the most active escaped by such a method--the rest remained to feed upon my rapidly failing body. I died, helpless and weeping as a parasitic plant-squid-thing ate it's way up my throat and into my mouth.