Liliana opened her eyes and saw a man wearing a worn-out suit and long, disgusting hair he had probably never cut in over a decade. The blonde was humiliated upon seeing the man and immediately backed up against the pool wall, covering her tits and vagina with her arms. She looked at the man but could not bring herself to speak.

The man stared in shock at the beauty relaxing in the water and asked, "How did you get here?"

Liliana gulped and replied, "The Emperor sent me down here?"

The man gave a confused expression and asked, "The Emperor sent a naked girl down here? Were you some concubine who disrespected him?"

Liliana replied, "No, sir. I am an officer in the Core's military. He sent me here as punishment for refusing to sleep with him. They stripped me before I came here."

The man skeptically said, "Interesting, you are a stunning beauty. I guess that story could make sense." and continued in a reassuring voice, "Don't worry. I won't touch you; I know my boundaries. Now, stop covering yourself and get out of the water."

Liliana trusted the man's words and reluctantly removed her arms from her nipples and vagina. The man looked at the girl's body, astonished, but she could not see the man's reaction as she lifted herself out of the water. The blonde put her hands on the stone floor and pushed herself up until she could bring her knees to the surface. As Liliana was on her hands and legs, the torchlight shined off her bare back as water dripped down her hair. Droplets flowed down her voluptuous breasts until they culminated on her sharp nipples and dropped to the floor. The man stared at the girl's exposed and inviting behind until she stood up.

After Liliana turned around, she nervously asked, "What is your name, sir?"

The man smiled and replied, "My name is Simon. What is yours?"

Liliana replied, "Liliana."

Simon commented, "That is a pretty name.". Then, he looked at the dead snake, "Did you kill that thing?"

Liliana looked at the dead snaked and replied, "Yes, sir."

Simon continued to be astonished by the unknown woman and said, "I guess you weren't lying when you said you were an army officer."

Liliana shrugged and replied, "I'm just naturally resourceful."

The man excitingly said, "Yeah, you are. Let's eat."

Liliana was confused by the man's comment and replied, "What are we eating?"

Simon looked at the girl and said with hunger in his eye, "We are eating the dead snake. It makes no sense to let all that meat go to waste. I have a knife we can use to cut the beast,"

Liliana was disgusted by the idea but decided not to counter him because she knew Simon was right.

Simon walked to the giant tentacle snake and cut into the being's side. Then, he ripped out a mass of flesh and bit into it, making Liliana nauseous. The girl walked up to the dead snake and the hole Simon cut into it and grabbed some meat. She looked at the mass of snake flesh in her hands, and the sight repulsed her.

Simon saw that the girl was troubled and said, "If you want to survive down here, you must do some disgusting things. Down here, there is no such this as standards or taboos. There is just survival."

Liliana looked at the man and said, unsettled by her new reality, "Yes, sir.". She bit into the snake meat and swallowed what she could rip off with her teeth. The food was disgusting, but Liliana knew there wouldn't be many opportunities to eat underground and devoured the mass. Then, she ate more and more flesh as Simon cut into more parts of the tentacle snake to eat.

As the man tore the beast apart with his teeth, he asked, "What is your goal here? What do you plan on achieving?"

Liliana casually replied, "I want to explore further into the Core. I want to return to the surface with a groundbreaking discovery that will blow those on the surface away."

Simon laughed at the girl's comment and said, "You think you will survive down there? Everything below this level is dark. You will be walking around blind."

Liliana was frustrated by Simon and replied, "There were lights in this cave. There might be some light in lower levels."

Simon was confused by the girl's rebuttal and stated, "How do you think the torches got here? They aren't naturally occurring. Researchers used this cave as a base of operations to explore the underground but could not search the lower levels. Every researcher sent down there turned up missing. It is not safe down."

Liliana felt depressed by Simon's rejection of her idea and asked, "How do you know about this?"

Simon looked at the girl sorrowfully and replied, "I was one of those researchers; I am the only one left."

Liliana looked at the man with wide eyes and sympathetically said, "I'm sorry for your loses."

Simon looked away from the blonde, grabbed more meat from the snake, and replied, "It doesn't matter anymore. They have been dead for years. I've gotten over it." Liliana nodded and consumed more snake flesh.

While Liliana was staring further into the cave, she heard a scream and saw Simon in great pain. His veins were popping out of his skin, wanting to escape, as he sat on the stone floor.

Liliana rushed to the man and shook him as he was screaming, yelling, "Snap out of it! Snap out of it!"

Then, she saw a slug the size of the man's head pop out of his stomach. Blood covered the parasite as it consumed the man's flesh.

Liliana knew any action was useless and backed away from the tragedy. Simon screamed until he passed out from blood loss as a helpful host.

Liliana ran to the man to steal anything that was on him. She found a flashlight in his pocket and took it as her own as the parasite ate the man's flesh. The blonde quickly escaped the scene to avoid becoming the monster's second victim. She ran to the end of the row of torches and sat against the wall to cry.

As tears rolled down her face, she thought, "I am alone again in this hell. How can such a place like this exist? I thought Kynor was the worst the galaxy got. I must have made God angry with me. He must be trying to torture me. I wish I were back home. I miss living in a world where I could use my talents. If I survive this place, I'm killing that pervert this Empire calls an emperor. I would love to shoot that burden in the face. I want to erase that stain from history. He will pay for doing this to me."

Then, the blonde became more rational and thought, "What am I doing? If I don't move, I am guaranteeing my death. I can survive here. It will only be a few months. What did Simon even know about the lower levels? He was probably only paranoid. I will survive. I will survive." She stood back up and shined her light into the darkness before disappearing into it.