The plan had been simple. Slip inside through an overlooked maintenance entrance, scout the interior, eliminate any isolated Worker Drones, then open the main doors for a full assault later. Simple. Instead, she was crawling through a ventilation shaft. "This is ridiculous," J muttered. The vent was far smaller than she preferred. Her wings were folded tightly against her back while her tail dragged behind her with an irritating metallic scrape. The shaft groaned. J stopped. A moment later she rolled her eyes. "Cheap Worker Drone construction." She continued forward. The groaning became louder. Metal bent beneath her weight. A crack echoed through the vent system. J froze. "...What?" The floor vanished. The vent collapsed beneath her. J dropped with a startled yelp as twisted metal tore apart around her. For a brief second she was airborne. Then she hit something thick. WHUMP. The impact sent black tar splashing outward. J sank instantly. "What?!" Her legs plunged deep into the sticky substance. The heavy tail attached to her lower back disappeared beneath the surface moments later. She tried to spread her wings. Too late. The tar tightened around her lower body like cement. J thrust her left arm down to brace herself. A mistake. The arm buried itself elbow-deep before she could pull it free. Her right hand shot outward and managed to remain above the surface. The struggling only made things worse. "No. No. No!" The tar slurped around her legs. J finally forced herself to stop moving. Her torso and upper thighs remained above the surface. Her right arm was still free. But both legs, her tail, and her left arm were firmly trapped. The pit sat in the center of a large maintenance chamber. No walls nearby. No ledges. Nothing within reach. J stared around in disbelief. Worker Drones. They had actually built traps inside their colony. And somehow she had fallen directly into one. Her visor flashed fresh warnings about power consumption. That only made her angrier. "I am NOT getting captured by Worker Drones." Yet despite her determination, every movement cost energy. And every wasted burst of strength made the tar pull harder. For the first time in a long while, J began to realize something she hated admitting. She might actually need help.