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[_DivideByZero_]

"Step on the gas," so to speak. "Assistance, please!"

[4] The tug of war commences! Murky Depths vs paramedics and fishtank. Akatin joins in after a few seconds, but the rope starts pulling out before he can contribute.

The result... isn't pretty. The two humans appear to have been trapped by the legs inside a pile of dead, decaying fish and plant matter. Neither say a word when they are finally lifted from the water, although the mass of fish starts to ooze out over the turf.
The paramedics can't hold their reactions.
"That's disgusting!"
"We need a hazard control team, on the double," whispers the other into his phone.

The two humans are in terrible condition, to say the least, having a darker skin complexion due to the murky water over their faces. Furthermore, they appear to be conjoined at the base of their legs, but that's probably because of the fish pile. They seem to be free of cuts and bruises, though, which is unexpected. One of them starts crawling toward Akatin, steadily pulling the pile along with him. Akatin speeds away.

"Are they even sane anymore? What could have possibly happened to them in such a short timeframe?"

"Why were the guards dealing with infected only armed with ballistics?"

"We... umm..."
"We did not expect it to propagate this fast. Our lab studies showed a slow, controlled rate of growth. This is... orders of magnitude above anything we've seen it do.
The others must have assumed that the victims were newly infected and couldn't get to this... state... this fast. That, and plasma weapons tend to cause collateral damage in confined spaces."
Dr. Bradley seems very nervous about the whole ordeal.
"Yeah... we put the guns in there to subdue the people, not the goo. My God... that thing is monstrous. I feel like we should eradicate every trace of it on the station."
Dr. Chance appears to disagree with the sentiment at first, judging from her facial expression, but then changes her mind.
"I'm inclined to agree with that, actually. For now though.. we need a plan."

Some random staff, not a doctor but mroe dignified than an assistant, chimes in.

"We could flood it with acid. It won't harm the suits. Should turn the goo into a corrosive slurry. Gross, but dead."
"How do we get it in there though? Our containers are too huge and we can't fit enough of it inside the airlock. We'd have to drill a hole in the plastic or something..."
"Are there any holes that currently exist?"

[~Neri]

"Purgecore Antibiomatrix Codex. Rules of Engagement. Four and Fourteen. 'Always expect the worst. If it's slow to assimilate, it's tricking you.' 'Always prepare for the worst.'
 The KX9 have occasionally created and encountered biomatrixes. We have enough experience with them that any assumptions on limitations are ill advised. They mutate and change. Don't assume it won't figure out how to eat through steel. It will. Given enough time. Anything above a class one should be treated as a maliciously evolving biohazard. Even the ones that seem stable and civilized. The only reason KX9 22's are allowed to exist are their genetically enforced size limit. They'd be Class Six if they didn't have that. You really should erradicate all trace onstation. It nearly got out of hand."

[WillowLuman]

Atlos calls over the comms. "The poison seems to be causing some... odd behavior in the human victims, though it outright killed the fish. They seem to have lost the ability to stand, too."

Out loud, he says "We should most likely maintain distance." He calls to the one not crawling. "You there! Can you hear me?"

[HighEndNoob]

While assisting the man would make the mission easier, the larger threat of the bio-hazard requires this man's capture.

Quickly run to the tram the insurgent is boarding while trying to not draw attention. Stop the man from boarding. Failing that, board the tram while staying out of his vision.

[_DivideByZero_]

"Purgecore Antibiomatrix Codex. Rules of Engagement. Four and Fourteen. 'Always expect the worst. If it's slow to assimilate, it's tricking you.' 'Always prepare for the worst.'
 The KX9 have occasionally created and encountered biomatrixes. We have enough experience with them that any assumptions on limitations are ill advised. They mutate and change. Don't assume it won't figure out how to eat through steel. It will. Given enough time. Anything above a class one should be treated as a maliciously evolving biohazard. Even the ones that seem stable and civilized. The only reason KX9 22's are allowed to exist are their genetically enforced size limit. They'd be Class Six if they didn't have that. You really should erradicate all trace onstation. It nearly got out of hand."

"What if they ever lost that genetic size limit?"
"Focus, please."
"Alright, hm. Acid seems like the best bet, it won't hurt the guards and it'll destroy the biomass. But we can't get it in through the airlock."

Atlos calls over the comms. "The poison seems to be causing some... odd behavior in the human victims, though it outright killed the fish. They seem to have lost the ability to stand, too."

Out loud, he says "We should most likely maintain distance." He calls to the one not crawling. "You there! Can you hear me?"

[2] Unable to speak, the human begins croaking and making incoherent noise.

"Might I suggest we let the medical persons do their thing? I kind of... don't like where this is going. It's not like we are expected to help."

While assisting the man would make the mission easier, the larger threat of the bio-hazard requires this man's capture.

Quickly run to the tram the insurgent is boarding while trying to not draw attention. Stop the man from boarding. Failing that, board the tram while staying out of his vision.

You pursue the man through the maintenance shafts, emerging just behind the tram as the target approaches.

[5] Jets at full throttle, you lunge at the man, pulling him down to the ground and pinning his arms at his sides. You spot the outline of a gun beneath his shirt, and use one of your legs to retrieve it. It turns out to be a sophisticated-looking laser weapon that attaches to the wrist and unfolds its cooling fins when active.

Gained Emcor Wristlaser

[~Neri]

"It did happen. We tried seeing if one would behave with the size limit removed. The 22b experiments." "Planet was nuked from orbit. 22's are no longer allowed on populated worlds outside of infiltration or eradication missions."

"As for the room. Wouldn't it be better to drop acid in from above it? Ceiling drill, pump acid in, have multiple guards on standby to burn any that gets out through the hole?"

[_DivideByZero_]

"Let's try drilling and see what happens."

...

A team of workers approaches with a large electric drill, similar to the kind mounted by spacecraft used to drill holes in asteroids and rocky planetoids. They fix he drill to the upper surface of the chamber, taking care not to disturb any of the pipes used for atmosphere control and pressurization.
As the drill starts spinning, it showers its surroundings with polymer flakes. Progress is slow, a testament to the durability of the material.

[3] Then, the polymer sheet cracks under pressure. It's still holding together, but continued drilling might be enough to shatter it.

"Crap."

[~Neri]

"Is it plausible to drill from above?"

[_DivideByZero_]

"Is it plausible to drill from above?"

((This is what they were doing.))

[~Neri]

((Oh. Derp.))

"Shoooould we use a different tile?"

[_DivideByZero_]

"We shouldn't use the drill, too dangerous. The vibrations might make the crack worse."

The guards are currently being launched into the air by the blob, smacking into the top tile. They are still noticeably resisting, so they are still alive.

The crack fortunately does not get any larger.

[~Neri]

"Would it be plausible to drip acid through the crack?"

[_DivideByZero_]

"Veeeery slowly."

[~Neri]

"Better then none at all. Think the guards can hold out for the amount of time it would take to flood the room? Or would shattering the tile be better and just dumping acid in?"

[_DivideByZero_]

"Better then none at all. Think the guards can hold out for the amount of time it would take to flood the room? Or would shattering the tile be better and just dumping acid in?"

"We would have to attach a high-pressure pump to the seam, and try to push the acid through. It might worsen the crack, it might not. I'm not a materials scientist. If that's our only option, we'll have to do it."