Chapter 32: Decoy
Gray pressed himself deeper into the hollow beneath the overhanging rock, his bell flattened against the cold stone. The Mawback Hunter’s vibrations still rumbled through the water outside the boulder field.
’It’s waiting for me.’
He extended his senses, reading the creature’s position. It had settled near the largest gap in the boulder field, the same one Gray had used to escape. Its massive body was coiled slightly, four fins folded against its flanks, pale eyes fixed on the crevice.
’Okay. Think. EMP Shroud didn’t work. It sees through stealth. But the system said something else. It said "utilize sensory overload."’
He pulled up the analysis again, reading the words he’d skimmed in his panic.
RECOMMENDATION: Do not engage. Seek immediate cover. If cover is unavailable, utilize sensory overload to create a window for escape.
’Sensory overload. Overcharge is sensory overload. But Overcharge only works at close range. If I get close enough to use it, I’m already dead.’
He thought about the creature’s senses. Vibration detection, electroreception, and that pressure-sensing organ along its flank. Three separate channels of information, all feeding into one brain. His stealth skills worked by suppressing those channels — making him invisible to each sense individually. But the Mawback Hunter’s pressure sensing was something new. Something his skills couldn’t suppress.
’Maybe I need to overwhelm it.’
His tentacles twitched as the idea took shape.
’If I can’t make myself invisible... maybe I can make everything else so loud it can’t find me.’
He scanned the hollow around him. Loose volcanic rocks littered the sandy floor, ranging from pebbles to chunks the size of his bell. He wrapped a tentacle around a fist-sized stone and lifted it experimentally.
’First test. A decoy.’
He drifted toward the edge of the hollow, peering through a narrow gap toward the Mawback Hunter’s position. The creature hadn’t moved. Its pale eyes still stared at the main crevice, waiting. Gray positioned himself carefully, aimed for a spot several meters to the left of the creature, and flung the stone with the strongest pulse he could muster.
The rock shot through the water and clattered against a distant boulder. The sound rippled outward, vibrations spreading in concentric waves.
The Mawback Hunter’s head snapped toward the noise. Its four fins flared, body tensing, pale eyes scanning the darkness where the stone had landed. For three full seconds, its attention was completely diverted from Gray’s position.
’So pressure sensing CAN be fooled by another pressure source. But this is only a momentary distraction. Not enough to escape.’
He retreated into the hollow and thought harder.
He needed something bigger. Something that would make the Mawback Hunter think there was another creature in the water.
’If I pulse hard, then stop completely... the signal will look like a large creature that suddenly appeared and vanished.’
He positioned himself at the edge of the boulder field, where the rocks gave way to a narrow channel of open water. The Mawback Hunter was still focused on the spot where the stone had landed, its attention slowly returning to the main crevice.
Two hard, deliberate contractions of his bell. Each one sent a powerful pressure wave rippling through the water, the kind of signal that would register as something large and alive. Then he stopped.
The Mawback Hunter turned toward the source of the pulses. Its pale eyes narrowed, and its four fins spread wide in a threat display. For a moment, it looked uncertain — its massive head swiveling between the crevice where Gray had vanished and the open water where something large had just announced its presence.
But it didn’t retreat. It held its ground, watching.
Gray’s tentacles curled with frustration.
’This only made it more alert. It thinks there’s another predator, but it’s not scared enough to leave. It’s just more curious now.’
He needed something else. Something that would confuse its senses, not just distract them.
’Neurotoxic Drift. The venom particles have mass. If I deploy it at high concentration, the particles will scatter pressure signals. Like fog scattering light.’
He drifted to the edge of the boulder field and deployed Neurotoxic Drift at maximum concentration. The invisible cloud of venom particles spread through the water, a dense haze of microscopic toxins that hung suspended between him and the Mawback Hunter. He watched the creature’s reaction carefully.
The Mawback Hunter’s pressure-sensing organ twitched. Its head tilted slightly, pale eyes narrowing further. It could still sense him but the signal was distorted now. The creature’s certainty had been replaced by confusion. It knew something was there, but it couldn’t pinpoint exactly where.
’This helps. But it’s still not enough.’
He thought about everything he’d learned. The stone had diverted its attention. The pulse had made it wary. The venom cloud had blurred its senses. Each piece worked individually, but none of them was enough on its own.
’Combine them. In the right order...’
The plan assembled itself in his mind like puzzle pieces clicking into place.
’Stone first. Divert its attention. Then Neurotoxic Drift. Blur its signal. Then hard pulses AWAY from my position. Create the illusion of a large creature moving in the opposite direction. It will look there, the signal will be blurred, and it will assume the large creature is moving away. It will hesitate. And in that hesitation... I run.’
He gathered three fist-sized stones from the hollow floor, wrapping them in separate tentacles. Then he drifted to the edge of the boulder field one more time. The Mawback Hunter was still there, its pale eyes fixed on the gap where Gray had vanished.
’Alright. Now.’
He threw the first stone. It clattered against a boulder far to the left. The Mawback Hunter’s head snapped toward the sound, its pressure-sensing organ flaring.
He deployed Neurotoxic Drift. Maximum concentration. The dense cloud of venom particles spread between them, and he felt the creature’s perception of him flicker and distort.
He threw the second stone. Farther left this time, leading the creature’s attention away from his position.
Then he pulsed. Two hard, powerful contractions, aimed toward the right — away from his own position. The pressure waves rippled outward, the signature of something large moving through the water.
The Mawback Hunter’s head swiveled. Stones to the left. Something large to the right. The venom cloud blurred everything in between. For a long, agonizing moment, the creature didn’t move. Its pale eyes darted between the two conflicting signals, its pressure-sensing organ twitching rapidly. Gray could almost see the calculations happening behind those milky-white eyes.
Then it turned toward the right. Toward the phantom pulses.
Gray launched himself in the opposite direction, thirty-nine SPD carrying him through the water in a silent, desperate sprint. He threaded through the narrow gaps in the boulder field, keeping the stone between himself and the creature, putting as much distance as possible between them with every pulse. The kelp forest loomed ahead, dense and dark and full of hiding places.
Behind him, the Mawback Hunter’s vibrations faded into the distance. Then they stopped. Completely. The creature had ceased moving, and Gray felt its attention shift toward the spot where the phantom pulses had originated.
He didn’t stop pulsing until the boulder field was far behind him. Only when the kelp fronds closed around him like a protective curtain did he allow himself to slow. He found a thick cluster of stalks and pressed himself into it, his translucent body nearly invisible among the swaying fronds.
’It worked... It actually worked.’
His tentacles trembled with residual adrenaline. The Mawback Hunter hadn’t followed. It had been fooled — or at least confused enough to let him escape.
He was alive and he had learned something crucial.
’Pressure sensing can be fooled by creating something more interesting to look at.’
He pulled up his mental notes, filing the information away for future use.
’Next time we meet... you will be dead.’