Synopsis :
A malfunction in the oxygen tanks of the interstellar vessel The Sélénéon wipes out half of the ship's reserves. Faced with this critical situation, the captain makes a rather questionable decision: to eject the most useless and unbearable crew members in order to reduce oxygen consumption.
Under the guise of a reconnaissance mission on the planet KX33, several escape pods are launched into space.
Aboard one of them are the two protagonists of our story: Sergeant Murdock, a traumatized soldier, and Dr. Frunckel, a brilliant yet completely senile scientist. Stranded on an unexplored planet, they must survive with only a basic survival kit while waiting for the highly unlikely return of The Sélénéon.
After their ship crashes spectacularly into a tree, Dr. Frunckel and Sergeant Murdock find themselves stranded and left to fend for themselves. While conducting a strategic reconnaissance mission (running around in circles while laughing), Dr. Frunckel catches the scent of something unusual.
He stops. Hidden among the bushes stands a glowing flower. It shines, it looks beautiful, and it smells wonderful. Which, of course, makes it highly suspicious. As a model of caution and self-restraint, Dr. Frunckel immediately rushes toward the plant to poke it. Murdock tries to stop him, but it is already too late.
The flower rises into the air, revealing a massive, jagged body crowned with gigantic tentacles. For a brief moment, everyone stares at each other in an awkward silence. The two protagonists then summon all their courage, turn around… very slowly… and run off in the opposite direction.
After running about a meter, Murdock trips over his own foot and gets caught by the sole of his shoe.
Dr. Frunckel, a witness to the scene, after a far too brief moment’s hesitation, rushed to save Murdock. With a swift movement, he grabbed the most formidable weapon he could find (a stick clearly abandoned by its owner) and charged at the creature. In a final burst of energy, he leaped into the air, ready to bring his weapon down on the beast.
After reaching stress levels completely unmatched in the entire history of stressology, Murdock lost his mind.
His body switched into survival mode, awakening the reflexes of a highly trained soldier. He began climbing his way back up through the creature’s gullet using nothing but the strength of his arms, eventually reaching the surface.
Consumed by an animalistic rage, he started tearing off the plant’s tentacles one by one.
The creature, suddenly overcome with remorse, was quickly reduced to nothing more than a simple stalk, and Murdock, victorious, promptly passed out.
The next day, he comes face to face with a gigantic giant sloth, which seems rather peaceful.Still having learned from his mistakes, Dr. Frunckel drags Murdock along and jumps onto the creature.To Murdock's astonishment, it doesn't react and simply continues on its way. Crossing the forest on their makeshift bus, the two companions reach the edge of the woods and spot suspicious smoke. Perhaps the trail of other survivors…
