Swamped

It's easiest to just go along for now, you suppose. The greatrat's unpleasant enough that you can probably get Ben to make a run for the showers with just a few embellishments. He's not going to see through you like Lisa would.

For that matter, Lisa can probably give you a distraction. She said she'd keep an ear out. If you're holding the rat, Ben's going to have to check out anything unusual. You'll just tell him some awful stories about it while you wait for your cue.

"All right, give it here," you say, holding your hand out.

What happens next is a blur.

When you're next able to think, what you know for sure is that the greatrat lunged away while you were holding its reins. You heard a tearing sound. Then... you're not sure.

But judging by the cavernous tunnels around you, it probably dragged you into its nest. Seems to have gotten away, too; you've only got an empty set of reins in your hand.

Then you hear the loud chewing nearby.

And you know, from feeding time, that greatrats aren't nearly that loud.

Sure enough, you soon see an enormous scaly head poking out of a nearby tunnel. Shit, you never knew tunnelers could get that large.

You have an unpleasant feeling that you know what happened to the greatrat.

The tunneler doesn't seem to have noticed you, but you're not sure how long that will last. You think about calling for help, but surely the noise would catch its attention at once.

So how are you going to deal with this?