The Dig – Part 6 - The Seep

RECOVERED LOG 1: SHIFT REPORT – CAMP 27

 

RECOVERED LOG 2: INCIDENT REPORT – CREW LOSS

 

RECOVERED LOG 3: TECHNICIAN DIARY (UNSENT DRAFT)

 

RECOVERED LOG 4: SYSTEM ERROR PRINTOUT

 

RECOVERED LOG 5: FINAL BROADCAST (AUTOMATED RELAY)

 

Field Guide: The Seep

A joint project of Northern Petrochemical Recovery & Environmental Risk Management.

Warning: This document is classified internal use only. Unauthorized distribution subject to penalties.

Stumpy MacGee’s Preface:
“Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen plenty of weird critters in my day — megamoose, owls that scream, even a bear that stole my lunch cooler. But what we’re dealin’ with here? This ain’t just nature bein’ quirky. This is somethin’ else. Somethin’ that wants us. So buckle up, pour a coffee, and let ol’ Stumpy walk you through the nastiest neighbors you never asked for.”]

Rebecca’s Notes:

The Seep is a psychic ecosystem-species that hijacks bodies, biology, and biospheres. Originating from the same dimension as the crystalline forests, it enters our world via dimensional seepage, often awakened by deep drilling, crystal harvesting, or reckless mining operations.

It transforms environments and organisms alike, fusing psychic corruption, biological parasitism, and glittering crystalline infection into a rapidly spreading plague of mind and matter.

Monkeyslug

Stumpy MacGee’s Two Cents:

“Now here’s a nasty little feller. Looks like a slug rolled through tar and forgot how to mind its manners. They’ll crawl right into your boots if you ain’t lookin’, and next thing you know you’re dancin’ like a puppet with half your strings cut. Ain’t no fun at all, but hey — makes a helluva story at the bar if you live to tell it!”

Rebecca’s Notes (Dossier 3A):

·       Classification: Larval vector of the Seep.

·       Mode of Infection: Entry through orifices; burrows toward brain stem in 2–5 minutes.

·       Host Behavior: Tear-bleeding, muttering, compulsive obedience to hive-song. Remains ambulatory 48–72 hours.

·       Combat Notes: Resistant to piercing weapons. Fire destroys larval tissue; psychic shielding recommended.

·       Contamination Risk: Severe — direct contact with fluids is nearly always fatal without intervention.

—open doors, empty rooms. your skull waits for us. your voice will be ours.

Monkeyslug Zombie

Stumpy MacGee’s Two Scents:
“Now, I seen plenty of folks get sloppy drunk and stumble home, but this here’s different. When the slug takes root in a man’s noggin, he don’t just stumble — he lurches like a puppet with busted strings. And that rat? Don’t be fooled. That’s no pet, that’s a lookout, whisperin’ orders straight from the hive. If one of these shamblers comes sniffin’ your way, don’t waste time wonderin’. Burn it, then burn the ashes.”

Rebecca’s Notes (Dossier 4B):

• Classification: Infected humanoid host animated by larval Seep presence.
• Appearance: Pallid, decaying body marked with tear-blood streaks, carrying parasite symbiotes (often rats or carrion vermin).
• Behavior: Shambles aimlessly until directed; capable of sudden bursts of violence when hive-song commands. A vermin symbiote often scouts or distracts its prey.
• Abilities:
  • Enhanced endurance despite decay.
  • Host body functions as a mobile infection vector.
  • Symbiote “rat” can transmit psychic whispers, drawing other Seep entities.
• Combat Notes: Resistant to pain; piercing ineffective. Fire and concussive force recommended. Destroying host does not guarantee death of symbiote.
• Contamination Risk: Very High. Bites and fluids from both host and symbiote spread infection. Vermin symbiote may detach and seek new hosts upon host death.

—we wear your friends. we ride your vermin. we learn your homes by walking them.

Mindseeder

Stumpy’s Two Scents:

“Looks like a jellyfish went and kissed a chandelier. Pretty thing, just floatin’ there, hummin’ away. Trouble is, you look too long and it’s hummin’ inside your own noggin’. Next thing you know, you’re swearin’ loyalty to somethin’ that don’t even have a face. I say, if it glows, it goes!”

Rebecca’s Notes (Dossier 3C):

·       Classification: Psionic harbinger.

·       Powers: Telepathic compulsion, dream-seeding, mass hysteria induction.

·       Field Effects: Groups exposed for >15 minutes begin synchronizing heartbeats.

·       Combat Notes: Resistant to mundane damage; psychic disruption and concussive force effective.

·       Containment Notes: Exposure logs show 67% infection rate in unshielded personnel.

—we are family. you are us. let go of the weight of yourself. rest in us.

Frosthaunt

Stumpy’s Two Scents:

“Most beasts’ll leave tracks. This one leaves silence. Fog rolls in, your breath turns sharp in your lungs, and you just know somethin’ cold is watchin’. If you hear the howl? Too late. It’s already picked who won’t be comin’ back.”

Rebecca’s Notes (Dossier 4C):

·       Nature: Apex hunter of Seep-tainted snowfields; a crystalline wolf-elk horror born of frozen fear.

·       Abilities: Fog camouflage, terror aura, sudden ambush speed, crystalline antlers and claws that cut like glaciers.

·       Combat Notes: Prefers to stalk for hours, striking isolated prey; grows stronger as targets succumb to fear or exhaustion.

·       Containment: Only reliable counters are fire, noise, and numbers — never wander alone in Seep fog.

—we are the chill in your marrow. we are the silence in the storm. we are hunger with no end.

Petrocon

Stumpy’s Two Scents:

“We used to harvest ooze. Now ooze harvests us. Ain’t poetic, just mean. These tar blobs roll right outta the ponds, slappin’ on hard hats like they own the shift. And sometimes… sometimes they do.”

Rebecca’s Notes (Dossier 3D):

·       Origin: Tailings pond ooze overtaken by Seep.

·       Behavior: Interfaces with machinery, mimics human gait.

·       Threat: Suffocates targets, corrupts systems.

·       Weakness: Fire and dispersants.

—you gave us ponds. you gave us machines. now we wear them better than you.

Spire Entity

Stumpy’s Two Scents:

“Ever see a crystal tree fly? Thought I was drunker than usual, but no, it really got up and strolled. Shattered a backhoe in half just by leanin’. You don’t chop this kinda wood — it chops you.”

Rebecca’s Notes (Dossier 3E):

·       Stage-3 Symbiosis: Animated crystalline flora.

·       Abilities: Bladed limbs, light refraction camouflage.

·       Behavior: Patrols hive perimeter.

·       Combat Notes: Resistant to slashing. Vulnerable to sonic disruption.

—roots rise, branches strike. forests remember. forests obey.

The Cryst (Hive Queen)

Stumpy’s Two Scents:

“This ain’t a critter you can point at, shoot at, or even rightly see. It’s the whole place gone mean. Ground breathin’, trees twitchin’, sky watchin’. If there’s a boss, it’s this thing, and pal, you don’t want its attention.”

Rebecca’s Notes (Dossier 3F):

·       Nature: Rooted intelligence. Governs infected biomes.

·       Abilities: Networked telepathy, ecosystem-level control.

·       Combat Notes: Unassailable without destroying entire hive.

·       Containment: Not currently possible.

—you call us queen. we are more. we are land. we are air. we are you.

Seep Survival Checklist

(Issued by Northern Response, Written by Professor Rebecca Stonesworth, Annotated by Stumpy MacGee)

Signs Of Seep Activity

·       Whispers in your head – words that ain’t yours.

·       Dreams all the same – crew reports identical nightmares.

·       Crystal growths – on trees, rocks, or flesh.

·       Cold that bites – sudden frost, fog, or chill without weather cause.

·       Odd patterns – nests, impaled bodies, circles in mud or ice.

·       Ooze that moves – tar, sludge, or pond scum acting unnatural.

Personal Protocol

·       Never touch fluids bare-handed. One drop is all it takes.

·       Burn it fast. Fire solves what bullets don’t.

·       Keep noise-makers. Horns, flares, or blasts disrupt them.

·       Sleep in shifts. Don’t let the whole camp dream together.

·       Mask up. Breathing fog or ooze is as bad as swallowing it.

Host Behavior Red Flags

·       Tear-bleeding or muttering.

·       Staring into fog or crystal light.

·       Calm obedience in panic situations.

·       Repeating phrases in unison.

(If three signs show? Assume they’re lost. Burn, don’t bury.)

Golden Rules

·        FIRE FIRST.

·       NO SECOND CHANCES.

·       NEVER TRUST THE QUIET ONES.

Stumpy’s Final Word:
“Look, pal, the Seep ain’t coy. If you think somethin’s hinky — fog’s too thick, bird’s too mean, buddy’s too calm — don’t wait for the science boys. Light it up, walk away, and don’t come back. The Seep don’t quit. But neither should you.”

—fire is not end. fire is food. you carry us in your breath already.