title: Introducing Enyo aliases: [] tags: [FA] author: [RetroInferno] id: [47178226] date: 星期六, 十一月 12日 2022, 12:33:22 下午 modified: 星期六, 十一月 12日 2022, 4:18:31 下午

[TOC]

Introducing Enyo

Author: RetroInferno Source: Introducing Enyo

A tech startup messing with kaiju DNA creates their own artificial organisms, posing the idea of using kaiju as weapons before giving a demonstration to a potential investor. It ends up being more lively than anyone anticipated once safety protocols are breached.

Name: Enyo

Height: Roughly 150 meters

Gender: Kaiju

Hits: Trains & Treats!

Misses: Electric collars, punting tanks, and hostile humans.

Abilities: Temporary transparency/invisibility to avoid detection. Potent venom that can paralyze prey and other kaiju.

Biography: Enyo is a product of Megafauna Solutions. They're one of a kind due to experiments splicing feral kaiju DNA to create artificial organisms. Unlike feral kaiju, Enyo is more "domesticated" for lack of a proper term, typically understanding and following human commands. Their intelligence is similar to if not greater than a human. Although they're physically an adult, they lack any male or female sexual characteristics, and they display immature behavior at times.

Despite being created to act as a living weapon of mass destruction, Enyo tends to be hesitant about attacking humans. They usually need to be offered rewards in order to follow instructions, albeit they have something of a temper and will attack hostile humans on their own if they try to attack them first. Curiosity about exploring a targeted city and subsequent yet unintentional destruction typically results in local forces engaging and enraging Enyo, provoking an extreme response that can lead to Enyo demolishing the entire settlement. Enyo rarely displays such hostile behavior otherwise besides odd mannerisms such as attempting to "play" with human vehicles or even consuming them in some cases. Their digestive system can process almost anything, for better or worse, with uranium regularly being added to their food just to meet their extremely high caloric intake. In emergencies, Enyo's collar can be remotely activated to electrocute them to either knock them unconscious or to enrage them in the middle of combat, but this might prevent the collar from effectively acting as a tracking device providing various information about their current location and their vitals.

Unless the intent is to cover up an operation as a feral kaiju attack, auxiliary mercenary forces typically accompany Enyo to mop up any stragglers and to provide general support. Enyo has also proven most effective against human targets. They're mostly inept at engaging other kaiju, so using them to fend off feral kaiju attacks is ill-advised since they'll either be easily beaten or they'll attempt to befriend other kaiju.

“How exactly is a kaiju supposed to be preferable to a nuclear bomb?”

Upon hearing this question, Miranda adjusted her glasses. “Good question, Mr. Lawrence. Whereas a nuclear detonation might indiscriminately annihilate an area with fallout and radiation plaguing it afterward, an intelligent kaiju can be more… precise.”

He crossed his arms. “So it’s like using a scalpel compared to a sledgehammer?”

“Precisely!” she said, smiling. “A kaiju on your side is literally a living weapon of mass destruction, albeit it can be controlled. Whether it completely or partially annihilates an urban settlement would be up to your personal discretion, and the end result would be far more environmentally friendly than atomic hellfire!”

“Because saving the planet is the real goal…” he replied, rolling his eyes. “Right?”

Miranda partially covered her mouth with one hand. “Ironically enough, feral kaiju wouldn’t have awoken from their hibernation if it wasn’t for the ice caps melting.”

Lawrence sneered. “Yet you can’t exactly close Pandora's box once you open it. I doubt even a nuclear winter would help at this point, but now we’re getting off-topic.” He glanced at the other members of his entourage. “If anything else, we're wondering how Megafauna Solutions acquired the resources to create and contain their own kaiju, much less why you need my financial assistance if everything is going swell."

Miranda's high heels clicked and clacked against the ground as she led the group throughout the research facility. "We've admittedly been on something of a shoe-string budget from an initial pool of interested investors. So we need more support. Besides the potential applications for human-controlled kaiju, there's much that can be learned from their unique biology that can have profitable uses in other various industries!"

"Such as…?" asked Lawrence, raising an eyebrow.

“For starters, there’s unique materials that can be derived from their bodies.” she answered, adjusting her glasses once more. “One species of feral kaiju actually secretes a paralyzing venom that can be used as a painkiller. Experiments revealed it even has… recreational purposes. Other kaiju with hide and fur that can resist incendiary bullets or high explosive tank shells could theoretically be researched to create new synthetic materials. There are some ethical concerns, however.”

He scoffed. “Ethical concerns? Darling, I doubt ethics plays much of a role if you’re pitching the premise of using kaijus as weapons of all things!”

“We’re an ethical company.” replied Miranda, putting her hands on our hips. “We donate a fraction of our excess profits to charity organizations devoted to helping survivors of kaiju attacks. As one of the founders and the current CEO, we also make sure women and members from other diverse minority groups are fairly represented within our leadership structure.”

“It sounds like you have your priorities in order then.” said Lawrence, narrowing his eyes. “What better way to improve society than making a woman a CEO of another megacorporation destroying the middle class rather than a man?”

She laughed at his words. “Very funny, Mr. Lawrence, but you and I both know the middle class doesn’t really exist anymore. There’s no need for jokes like that.”

“You’re also not a megacorporation.” he replied, sighing. “Not yet, at least. I’m really surprised that you’ve gotten this far considering the unfortunate fates befalling any of Titan Industry’s competitors since they practically have a monopoly on man-made kaiju at this point…”

Miranda entered an expansive room shrouded in darkness. “We’ve taken precautions. This jurisdiction won’t tolerate their Nir model destroying our infrastructure without serious legal consequences.”

A sudden flash of light brought everything to life. The vast room they entered contained an assortment of chairs, windows, and computer terminals. Several researchers manned devices within the observation deck, recording everything occurring within a massive enclosure surrounding them from nearly every angle. Miranda herself resumed strolling to a central monitor displaying a diagram of a menacing kaiju, catching the entire group’s attention.

A smug smile spread across Miranda’s face. “I’d like to introduce our first kaiju model… Enyo!”

Each image showcased Enyo’s physical features, unique biology, or other physical features.

The kaiju walked upright on two feet. They resembled a bizarre hybrid between a canine and a serpent with tan or blonde fur and scales. Their tail retained a black rattler similar to a snake, but its sharp end rendered it more of a dexterous spike, making the creature more deadly combined with their clawed hands and feet. A size comparison highlighted Enyo’s height of over one hundred and fifty meters, towering over most buildings. Humans were like ants compared to their caramel brown paws. Meanwhile, an image focusing on their mouth showcased a more reptilian maw with a forked tongue and two large fangs joining a few rows of outright canine teeth.

“We named Enyo after the Greek goddess of war.” continued Miranda, extending her arms toward the diagram. “Much like the actual goddess herself, Enyo is responsible for conducting war and can accompany auxiliary soldiers in the conquest or destruction of entire cities!”

The monitor transitioned to an image of Enyo placing one foot on a desecrated two-story house. Their neon-green eyes stared directly at the viewer as fire and flames rose behind them within a decimated neighborhood. Despite this imagery, the picture was an illustration rather than the real deal, resembling more of an advertisement or an artist’s interpretation.

Lawrence grunted. “Oh, so it’s a girl kaiju too?”

Miranda looked at Lawrence with daggers in her eyes. “Not necessarily. We decided that giving artificial organisms sexual characteristics would be counterproductive to our goals, especially if it had unintended consequences. So unlike most feral kaiju, Enyo is more androgynous and technically isn’t either male or female.”

“Not even on a biological level?” he asked, bringing a hand to his chin. “Surely they must have some sort of sex or gender…?”

“Their gender is big, Mr. Lawrence.” replied Miranda with an unamused look. “Very big.”

He shook his head. “Right. But where is this Enyo, exactly? I can’t see them anywhere in this huge habitat of theirs!”

“Why don’t you take a closer look?” she asked, facing toward one of the windows. The enclosure contained some targets on one side, such as human test dummies joining real military hardware. This included jet planes and tanks. Although many were outdated by modern standards, the assortment of weaponry and vehicles created a mockup of a military base thanks to sandbags scattered around a central structure similar to a barracks.

Miranda herself activated a microphone by pressing a button on a podium. “Arise, Enyo!”

Her words blared through several speakers, echoing throughout the enclosure’s confinements. Images of Enyo disappeared from the computer screens in favor of livestreams as cameras captured the kaiju resting within a secluded corner. Enyo themselves looked overall less than impressive. They were sprawled out on their back, tongue lolling from their mouth as they slept on absurd amounts of hay, and six comparatively small nostrils on their serpentine snout made borderline hissing sounds similar to snoring during their slumber.

Lawrence and his entourage glared at one another.

Meanwhile, one of Miranda’s eyes twitched. “ENYO!”

The aforementioned kaiju continued sleeping, despite their name being called.

“Very impressive!” said Lawrence, chuckling. “Can this kaiju even communicate with humans?”

Miranda’s face contorted. “First of all, they are not an it!” She paused and held two fingers in the air. “Secondly, Enyo is intelligent enough to understand most verbal commands. They can only communicate with us through nonverbal means at the moment, but our researchers are working on a way to remedy that issue…”

“How so?” asked a member of the entourage taking notes on an electronic tablet.

“Ideally, Enyo receives further education and training.” she answered, slightly raising her hands in the air. “We might alternatively develop a communication device of some variety, but the exact details are still up in the air since it’s a work in progress.”

With his foot tapping on the ground, Lawrence simultaneously crossed his arms and placed a hand beneath his chin. “I’m actually somewhat impressed by this kaiju of yours if you’re successfully keeping them in captivity, but they’re a far cry from someone like Nir.” He closed his eyes. “But how smart are they, really? Is their intelligence comparable to a human or an animal? I’m assuming you also planned on doing a demonstration of some sort, but if Enyo is unable or unwilling to follow simple instructions…”

Miranda retrieved a device resembling a detonator with a small switch attached as she frowned. “Usually I reserve this for emergencies, but I suppose a test might be necessary.”

A researcher in the room recoiled. “I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

Ignoring this, Miranda twisted the switch. A metal collar on Enyo’s neck activated. Electricity surged through the plentiful fur on their neck, causing them to hiss and yip from the subsequent electrocution. Enyo’s emerald green eyes went wide open, then they gradually rose from their position, becoming visible through the windows before they towered over almost everyone and everything surrounding them. Only the absurdly tall walls kept them contained in the enclosure with a partial glass ceiling and artificial lights illuminating the shadowy areas.

A few footsteps from Enyo alone shook the entire environment. Although their movements were slow and the enclosure’s design mitigated the impacts, the kaiju caused tremors and borderline earthquakes merely by walking. As members of Lawrence’s entourage looked on in awe with some jaws going agape, Enyo let out a yawn, sticking out their absurdly long tongue during the process.

Miranda held down a button on the podium again. “Ah! Good morning at long last, Enyo. Did you receive plenty of rest for your special day?”

Enyo made a grunting sound and scratched the back of their head.

“Your orders are to annihilate the hostile military forces in front of you.” said Miranda, all while the various screens focused on the mockup targets.

In response, Enyo rubbed their eyes while making a whining sound. They looked left to right, occasionally flicking their tongue from their snout to concurrently taste and smell the air.

“Come on, Enyo!” said Miranda, balling her hands into fists. “This is important! I don’t have time for your games today, so simply engage the targets, or you’ll be in serious trouble!”

Enyo rolled their eyes before taking a single step forward, causing another tremor. They lifted a foot in the air. Its digitigrade form had an abnormal resemblance to a canine paw but at a far larger scale. Spreading out their toes for a moment, they lowered a foot toward a stray test dummy on the outskirts of the mockup base, eventually squishing the dummy beneath a toe bean. After doing this, Enyo stared directly at the central observation station in silent defiance.

Miranda’s body tensed up. “Really, Enyo? You know what I mean! Make full use of all your abilities and show us what you’re really capable of!”

For a brief moment, Enyo’s entire physical form turned borderline transparent. Even their collar. Although the lighting still made their outline visible, they almost turned practically invisible in another act of passive protest.

“I do apologize for this.” said Miranda, releasing the button. “As you can see… or well… not see… Enyo has the ability to turn their scales and fur transparent to avoid detection. They’re still very young, however, so there’s currently some… discipline issues. I’m confident they’ll be quite capable once they stop acting like a rebellious teenager!”

“Once again…” said Lawrence, sighing. “This is all very impressive work, but I can see why you’re having issues if you’re still in the development stage with your first kaiju being a liability.”

Miranda reeled and placed a hand on her chest. “Liability? Enyo is safe and secure in our facility! If they’re ever a danger or continue to disobey orders, that’s why they’re wearing a collar, and our security forces protecting the perimeter are always on standby!”

All eyes focused on the metallic contraption in question. The extensive collar heavily constrained Enyo’s otherwise abundant neck fur, and it remained only partially visible as a result.

“And that’s not even including tertiary staff members keeping Enyo in line…” resumed Miranda, dismissively waving Lawrence away. “They keep track of their location at all times and have equipment to attend to Enyo’s needs in case an unexpected situation occurs.”

A large door opened in the distance to allow two vehicles inside. One resembled a radar array while the other looked like a modified bus acting as a mobile base of operations. Armed soldiers with lethal and non-lethal weapons also accompanied researchers into the enclosure. Enyo didn’t pay them much mind, glancing at them at most before becoming fully visible once more.

“So let’s try this again…” said Miranda, twitching a little. She held down the podium button once more. “ENYO!”

With some hesitation, Enyo perked their head up.

Miranda twisted the switch again.

Enyo immediately received another shock at a high voltage. They nearly roared in return. Other overpowering and deafening sounds accompanied this as they experienced a torrent of electricity that would be lethal to most other living creatures.

Content with this, Miranda flicked the switch off. “I’m only going to say this one more time…” she resumed in an ominous tone. “Destroy. The. Targets. Failure to comply in the next few seconds will only result in further punishments.”

Enyo bared their fangs. They took several steps back, shaking their head while all the fur on their body stood straight up. Everything about their body language and demeanor was like a cornered animal with fight or flight instincts kicking in. Instead of attacking the targets, they looked between the staff members, two odd vehicles approaching from the side, and the observation deck nestled in the center of the enclosure.

“Have it your way.” said Miranda, grabbing hold of the switch. “Believe it or not, this hurts me more than it hurts you, Enyo.”

As she spoke, a researcher watching a computer kept track of Enyo’s vitals. “Um… Enyo’s hearts are beating much faster than usual with adrenaline pumping into their bloodstream…”

Miranda responded with a shrug, twisting the switch for a third and final time. Although the electricity surged for several seconds, it soon flickered and sputtered out with the collar becoming inert. Rather than releasing another cry of pain, Enyo extended the claws on their hands and let out another deafening roar, sprinting straight toward the central observation station.

Nearly everyone in the room reacted with shock.

Researchers jumped from their seats. Miranda dropped the switch and covered her mouth with both hands. Others backed away from the screens and windows.

Lawrence himself smiled.

Mere moments later, Enyo lunged at their location. Abnormally large and sharp claws raked against a few supporting structures, shredding one of the hallways leading to the station and shattering several windows. The entire room itself shifted at an angle. Lights flickered until emergency alarms replaced them, blaring and turning the interior of the large room red.

Without even trying to maintain professionalism, Miranda slipped off her high heels and ran for the nearest exit. A researcher almost tripped over themselves following her. Lawrence's entourage followed suit with some shouting or screaming, but bodyguards protecting Lawrence nearly dragged him away as he watched on and laughed like a mad man.

Only gunfire gave the kaiju pause as they swiped at the station and ruptured the roof. Glancing over their shoulder, Enyo spotted several tiny soldiers firing at their backside with some rockets striking their ankles. Bullets harmlessly bounced off Enyo’s scales otherwise, distracting the kaiju at most as they focused all attention on the ones responsible. It only took a few thundering footsteps to bring Enyo within range of the vehicles being escorted by the hostile soldiers, who stopped firing their weapons or retreated accordingly.

Some stumbled from the resulting tremors.

Returning the favor, Enyo slammed another foot against the ground. A short-lived crunching sound arose from beneath the base of their paw, crushing the two vehicles like insects. Once they lifted their foot afterward, the flattened remains of the radar array became visible, while the rest of the human presence vanished. This prompted Enyo to use a clawed finger to flick away a large chunk of crushed metal stuck to their paw, allowing whatever was left of the mobile base of operations to join its other scattered remnants.

At the same time, reinforcements entered the enclosure en masse through several entrances. This included whole platoons of mercenary forces, privately owned emergency response personnel, and additional Megafauna Solutions employees wielding more abnormal equipment and vehicles.

"We are experiencing a kaiju protocol breach." announced a robotic voice from a surviving loudspeaker. "Please calmy follow the evacuation procedures. Lethal force has also been authorized for the resident security forces, so please follow any and all of their orders.”

Enyo reacted to these sounds and sights by scrunching up their toes and turning transparent. Despite this, subsequent tanks and even attack helicopters responded to their unprecedented aggression by unloading on their previous position. Some projectiles managed to strike Enyo's shimmering outline, arousing a venomous hiss, but others did nothing but damage the perimeter of the enclosure with a flurry of explosions. Only Enyo's movements revealed their location from there. Each step they took shook the Earth itself, leaving behind either paw imprints or outright footprints, which erupted from seemingly nowhere due to their nearly invisible body.

Some bewildered mercenaries watched on as gigantic footprints formed in front of them. A subsequent stomp created a crater, eradicating a substantial number of people and vehicles. Any survivors blindly fired their weapons. Enyo revealed themselves afterward with a shimmer, looming over an entire tank column, which rapidly shifted in place or immediately fired high explosive shells at their legs. Enyo reacted in turn by raising another foot in the air and spreading out their toes, stomping once more to annihilate anyone and anything resisting them like they were nothing more than bugs beneath their feet. A following flick of Enyo's sizable tail did a combination of cleaving and swatting aside any forces flanking them from behind, taking out several of many attack helicopters like houseflies.

As this occurred, Lawrence and his entourage left the observation station behind. Every last monitor they came across amid the plethora of rooms and hallways provided a live broadcast of Enyo rather than the typical programming.

Random scenes flashed in front of Lawrence's eyes. As the entourage entered another room along the emergency evacuation route, one screen showed Enyo kicking aside several more tanks. Another monitor had Enyo swatting at attack helicopters with their clawed hands. Each one appeared and vanished as quickly as the last with Lawrence's bodyguards partially obscuring his vision, up until a thundering boom culminated in the hallway in front of them turning into rubble.

Outside, Enyo charged into several structures. Their fists slammed against a large building while their claws eradicated smaller support beams. Snapping, cracking, and popping filled the air like an orchestra as they conducted a combination of destroying the central observation station and its surrounding facilities between engaging scattered security forces. Ironically enough, some soldiers hid amid the test target dummies with their supporting infantry transport vehicles and main battle tanks taking advantage of the cover provided by sandbags next to the mockup military base.

Rather than participating in the fighting, some researchers and other Megafauna Solutions employees established additional radar arrays and recorded everything occurring as if they were observing another active experiment.

Venom started dripping from Enyo’s fangs. They indiscriminately stomped across the mockup military base, pulverizing real and fake targets alike. Resistance gradually died down. With absurd numbers of casualties taken, most remaining human forces initiated a disorganized retreat, exiting the spacious enclosure. Only the sight of another radar array and an accompanying mobile base of operations tucked away in a corner stopped Enyo in their tracks. Eventually, they moved toward it. The unarmed researchers remained paralyzed, powerless in the face of the kaiju staring down at them with their head cocked to the side like a curious cat. Tension filled the air once Enyo was only a single step away from the second series of research vehicles, but they refrained from completely crushing them like the first duo.

Instead, Enyo kneeled to the ground. Watching. They merely observed the researchers in an odd role reversal of sorts as an eerie silence replaced the sounds of the previous chaos and carnage.

Within a partially destroyed structure, Lawrence spent some time dusting debris from his expensive business suit. His entourage was nowhere in sight. Casually walking away from the rubble now blocking off the previous path of escape, he soon found himself inside a small section similar to the waiting room at a doctor’s office. Only a single crooked screen resuming a live broadcast of Enyo provided any lighting for his surroundings, such as a row of chairs. Miranda sat on one such chair with her face in her hands, prompting Lawrence to casually join her.

“Quite the show Enyo put on for us today, huh?” he asked, pulling out a chair before sitting on it. “I can see why you called them a living weapon of mass destruction!”

Miranda looked up with tears still streaming down her face. “Are… are you serious?”

He chuckled. “Of course! However, this is no laughing matter. Your kaiju has proven to be quite deadly, and I can see a trained one being especially effective with some private military contractors accompanying them.”

“Have you absolutely lost your mind?!” she shrieked like a harpy. “We just nearly died! Enyo is currently destroying their habitat and might escape from the facility! It’s all over now!”

“It wouldn’t be the first time I nearly died.” said Lawrence, shrugging. “Comes with the territory if you make your millions by clawing your way up and through the war industry.” He pointed at the ajar monitor. “It’s also not over yet. Looks like your kaiju is calming down or something.”

True to his word, Enyo preoccupied themselves by picking up the backup mobile base. They pinched it between padded fingertips. Peering through the side, frightened researchers came into direct eye contact with Enyo whenever they looked out the windows, assuming they weren’t being tossed around the interior. Enyo then spent several seconds sniffing the vehicle. Following this, they slightly opened their mouth, placing it on their tongue with a lack of central teeth facilitating the whole process. The vehicle vanished from there as they shifted it around on their tongue, which happened to be the perfect size to accommodate something the size of a bus, up until a soft swallow resulted in the mobile base of operations disappearing altogether.

Enyo let out a happy hiss afterward, closing their eyes and slightly sticking out their forked tongue. They completely ignored the radar array and the remaining researchers still next to it before traversing back to the other end of the enclosure.

"It looks like they only attack people when provoked." said Lawrence, scratching his chin. His chair shook in place a little each time the kaiju took a single step. "Enyo also appeared pretty passive until you pissed them off with that electric collar, and they must be pretty damn smart too if they figured out you were in the observation room."

Miranda let out a deep and resigned sigh. "I'm not so certain myself. In hindsight, we shouldn’t have mounted any speakers on the observation building if that’s how they figured out that I was in there, but zapping Enyo definitely enrages them either way."

As they spoke, Enyo returned to the absurdly large pile of hay acting as their bed. They walked around in a circle for several seconds. Following a large yawn, they collapsed onto it, shaking the ground for a final time before they swiftly drifted back to sleep. Despite the damage done to the enclosure, the many facilities, and even the walls keeping them in captivity, Enyo made absolutely no effort to escape their home from there.

Lawrence clasped his hands together. "This has all been quite the colorful display if they're done now, ignoring the whole containment breach."

In mild disbelief, Miranda fetched a smartphone from her pocket. "It might take hours for anyone to reach us, but I'm assuming that concludes our business for today before we file for bankruptcy."

"Not quite." said Lawrence, wagging a finger.

"You're… still considering investing in our company?" she asked, blinking a few times.

He shook his head. "Nope."

Miranda immediately frowned. "Ah. I see… are we going to be facing each other in court?"

"I want to acquire your entire company, actually." said Lawrence, leaning forward. "How much would it take to buy you out? I'm assuming it might be difficult if it's privately owned by an assortment of people, but everyone has a price. Even shareholders."

"Pardon me?" she asked, not bothering to adjust the glasses nearly falling from her face.

"Did I stutter?" he asked, laughing a little. "This demonstration might be a disaster by most standards, but do I see a ton of potential! You're just going to need far more resources to realize it. My terms will be generous since your company will join my conglomerate with your current leadership structures intact, but it'll be under my guidance since I'll be reaping both the profits and the expenses if it comes down to it.”

The blood drained from Miranda's face as she remained silent.

Lawrence raised an eyebrow. "Uh… Miranda? Darling, are you okay?"

Miranda unintentionally answered his question by finally fainting.