A/N: Guratthi prompt: Ratthi gets hurt by Hostile One (the big bitey worm in the pit) instead of Bharadwaj in ASR.

"This is a burrow. Or a nest. It has to be," I said, looking at the loose rock at the bottom of the pit. Most of the stones at the bottom were about fist-sized, fractured unevenly, but the consistency of sizing was odd. Near the top of the excavation, it was sand. It looked like the sort of thing an animal might do. Maybe if it had been dug out from the bottom and the lighter materials flipped upward while these bigger rocks rolled back to the bottom? Something about the configuration was familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

While it was tempting to think 'big pit = big animal', I knew that wasn't true and maybe it was the scale of the thing that was throwing me off. Some birds and even some fish put together extraordinary nests or nurseries for their young, sometimes much larger structures than you'd expect for their size. But I couldn't figure out what the point of such a large pit was. What purpose would it serve for an animal? There didn't seem to be an opening at the bottom, but the ground felt strange under my boots.

Volescu made a hmm sound and contributed, "These are different from the surface material, that's for sure. I'm not certain if-"

He might have said more. I didn't know, as my perception of Volescu's words was interrupted by the terrifying eruption of a creature from directly under my feet. The thing's mouth was a gaping maw of rows upon rows of scythe-like fins or spikes or needles, attached to something worm-like and segmented. I … didn't get that good a look. I was too busy being eaten alive.

I was also screaming. Those teeth slid against each other in an intersecting spiral or maybe like gears or the blades of a separator. It wasn't a hinged jaw, but something else circular and muscular, pulling me in. They sliced through the environmental suit that was supposed to stand up to pretty much anything and everything out here, and then past that directly into the flesh of my right side, under my ribs.

That's when my screaming changed pitch as the pain hit me along with the certainty I was going to die. My kicking feet weren't finding purchase on anything solid and the creature was shaking its head, knocking me around in the maw so it could get a better bite on me.

I was sure I had less than a second to live when someone grabbed the back of my suit and yanked me upward by it. Teeth rasped against my body one last time, lancing through my abdomen and casually, easily, cutting through organs I knew I needed and right through my hip and upper thigh as I was pulled free. But I was pulled free. I was thrown on the ground face-first, not nearly far enough away from that monster for my liking.

I tried desperately to crawl to safety but everywhere was upslope and the ground was churning under me. I'd stopped screaming. I didn't have breath for it. I couldn't get away fast enough. I couldn't seem to coordinate myself. There was a lot of noise behind me, the same sound of those horrible teeth grating against one another. Rocks pelted the back of my suit and shifted under me, threatening to swallow me again. Two rounds of weapon fire went off. Something hit one of my feet, hard, and my ankle decided this was a great time to send a spike of pain like I'd twisted it.

That was the least of my concerns. I scrabbled forward a half meter, the rocks and sand shifting and sliding under me the whole way. I couldn't seem to get anywhere, but at least I wasn't losing ground. Another hand grabbed me, rolled me over. The guard bot thing stood over me. Security bot. There was a longer name for it, but I couldn't remember it. It was hard to think. My blood pressure was crashing, so fast, too fast. Helpfully, I muttered, "I'm passing out."

The last thing I noticed was that the bot's entire left arm was flayed down to the inorganic structure – armor gone, clothes gone, flesh gone. Some of what was left was metal. The rest was colored like bone but it almost certainly wasn't. Not if the creature had chewed on the bot and failed to bite through the material, because my bones hadn't given it pause. The bot might have had other damage, but everything went dark for me then.

I had a few sensations. Being moved. Pain in my abdomen. A roar of engines. Vibration. Falling, which turned out to be a false impression as it was followed by a jolt of being placed on a medical bed. More vibration, along with disorientation. What was going on? I felt like they were on a rough atmospheric re-entry, except I was freezing suddenly. I'd been so warm before.

I woke to see the ceiling of the habitat passing over me, but I didn't recognize it at the time. It was still hard to think and I'd never seen it from this angle anyway. Everyone was talking in agitated tones. Familiar voices. Was I safe? I wanted to listen, but I was suddenly so tired. My eyes shut on their own.

When I woke again, it felt like no time at all had passed, but everything was wonderful now. I looked around the room. I was in the MedSystem. Gurathin was at my bedside. Overse was in the corner of the room looking my way. Volescu was behind her in the doorway. Actually, they were all looking at me. I felt loopy.

"Surprise!" I had intended to say it loudly and cheerfully, but it came out a little thin, like I couldn't get much of a breath. Also, my intention to raise both arms exuberantly failed, as both were laden with medical tubes I had not previously noticed.

The MedSystem made an objecting bleat at my motion. Overse's face scrunched like she was trying to wince and smile at the same time. Volescu looked relieved. Gurathin wore an unimpressed frown, but he always looked like that. It was his presence here by which you could judge his feelings.

"You made it," Overse said. There were tears in her eyes.

"You're sad? I can go away again if you want." My words were slurred. I was pretty sure I was joking.

"No!" Overse made a strangled sound and looked stricken. That was when it hit me that maybe I'd nearly died. Then I remembered how I'd ended up here. Oh yeah, I had nearly died.

"It's the painkillers," Gurathin said. "Don't pay attention to anything he says. The system … He's high."

"What do you mean, don't pay attention to me?" I said, trying to figure out why my mouth didn't want to cooperate with my brain. I couldn't breathe right, either. I felt numb all over. I looked at myself. The MedSystem wasn't really done with me. My entire right side was under reconstruction.

"I'll go tell the others," Overse said, walking out.

Volescu nodded, gave me a lingering look, said, "Glad you're back with us, Ratthi," and then slipped out.

With them gone and the realization of how close a call I'd had, I let myself deflate. I turned to Gurathin and said with intentional patheticness, "I like attention?"

"I know you do."

We stared at each other until I smiled and tried to laugh. The MedSystem bleated again. I was still numb, but that act had given me an uncomfortable throb in my side. I decided not to do it again. "Are you just going to stay here and give it to me?"

"If that's what you want." Gurathin sounded amused.

"Good. It is." I sighed, relaxing into the warm bed. At least I wasn't cold anymore. I felt like I was soaring. "I must really be loaded."

"You are," Gurathin said. "It's better than the alternative."

Which probably involved a lot more screaming. I stared up at the various covers and notches that housed the robotic arms of the MedSystem. "What happened to that … Human … Bot? Humanobot? What are they called?"

"It is called a SecUnit, according to the company branding," Gurathin said. "I've also heard them called security units, constructs, murderbots, other things. You're probably remembering the classification – Human Imitative Bot, but that covers so many things it's almost useless as a descriptor."

"Better than 'murderbot'," I said sleepily. The soaring was now more like a serene floating sensation. I wondered if the MedSystem had doped me again. The next moment, I was wondering nothing at all.

When I woke, I felt sore and heavy, nothing high-flying or pain-free for me this time around. Gurathin was still looking at me. Grumpily, I asked, "Did you just sit there staring at me the whole time? How did you know when I would wake?"

Gurathin tapped his temple next to the implant. "I set an alert with the MedSystem to warn me. I've been here most of the time. Just not staring."

"I would think not. I must look a fright."

"Less than you did before. You look a little healthier this time around."

"Oh, yes, I remember what I was going to ask before, but I think I fell asleep before I could. What happened to the bot? Did it survive?"

"Yes, it's fine."

"It saved my life."

"Yes, it did. It probably saved Bharadwaj's, too. She started to go back out and fetch the equipment, but it yelled at her not to and one of those worms almost ate the ramp she'd just been about to go down. I saw the whole thing. The SecUnit was transmitting its camera feed. It spent most of the flight back looking at you. It's quite good at first aid."

"Looking at me?"

Gurathin shrugged a shoulder. "I think it was concerned about you. It could have just been keeping its head down, but that still meant it was looking at you. It turned out to be quite the conversationalist as well. You should ask Volescu."

"What?"

Gurathin smiled thinly at that. Most of his smiles were thin. He wasn't the most expressive person and I liked that about him. His stoicism was soothing. He handed me my interface. "I'll send you the video. See for yourself."

I watched as the SecUnit pulled me out of the monster's jaws, shot it, then picked me up and carried me out of the pit while talking Volescu down from a very well-deserved state of panic. That was so much more than I'd thought it was capable of. "That's not a bot," I said in alarm. "That's a … that's a person." It was an action hero was what it was. If SecUnits did this sort of thing routinely, then I would have heard about it, wouldn't I? Then again, what else could it be? There wasn't a human inside that armor. "I mean, do you think it was programmed to do that?"

Gurathin shrugged a shoulder. "I've seen ComfortUnits do more persuasive acts." But he didn't look like he was disagreeing with me.

"Oh, come now, Gurathin. Don't tell me you've patronized those!" It was an uncomfortable thought. I knew my friend was introverted, but surely he could find partners if he wanted them. Human partners. Me, for example. Maybe I should say something to him sometime when I wasn't ready to audition for medical fetish play.

He shrugged again, unoffended. "It's a normal business." I grimaced, so he amended, "Also, they do entertainment acts – singing, dancing, comedy routines, that sort of thing. Well, they do entertainment acts of the sexual sort, too, but I've never attended one of those. But my point is it could be programmed to do all that."

"It could be. Why does it sound like you don't believe it?"

"Because there's no reason why it would be programed that way. Just like it didn't need to be looking at you the whole time you were flying back in the hopper. Even if it wasn't concerned about you, there was still no reason for it to be looking down." He tilted his head. "It's just interesting because I don't know why it did that. I don't think you need to worry about it. You're back safe and healing. That's what matters."

"The only reason I'm back is because of it, so I think it matters."

"I'll think about it for you, then," Gurathin promised and I believed him. "You need your rest. What would distract you? Work? Entertainment? Nature pictures?"

I sighed and tried to put my questions about the SecUnit out of my mind. It was likely off being repaired, just like I was. What would distract me? Hadn't I had a thought right before that creature had tried to swallow me? Oh yes, I remembered it! "There's a species I recall, or a type of species. It's an insect called an antlion. I want to take a look at that. I might be able to make some parallels to that worm that attacked me."

Gurathin navigated the system for me when I made no attempt to do so. I was still tired and my mind wasn't working right. Interfacing with systems wasn't built-in for me like it was for him, so what would have, for me, involved several tedious queries I wasn't able to tackle at the moment, was only a few seconds for him. He dropped the files into the local feed so I could pull them as needed.

"Thank you for being here for me, my friend. I appreciate it."

He smiled thinly again. "I had to fight off everyone else for the privilege."

I laughed (or started to – it hurt and I quit immediately). It was probably true. And it was sweet that he'd been stubborn enough to win that contest. I set to my research. I would have plenty of time to worry over the SecUnit later.