Lin left the cabin and started her morning run through the forest. She liked to begin the day with rigorous physical activity to compensate for the hours she would later spend glued to her desk, studying for her exams.
Her running shoes beat a steady rhythm on the dry forest floor and for a moment she wondered about this observation, given that last night lightning and thunder had briefly disturbed her sleep, but apparently the storm had passed without bringing any rain. While her body automatically followed the familiar trail she let her mind dwell on the lessons she planned to cover today. Neurobiology was not her strong suit, hence she had to apply herself especially hard on the subject, but if she made good progress during the day, in the evening she would treat herself to some self-bondage play with her handcuffs. Although her parent's cabin lacked internet access, its remote location did not leave it entirely without interesting possibilities to entertain herself.
Lost in pleasurable thoughts she only noticed the strange puddle at the last moment and was barely able to stop before stepping into it. In front of her, filling a shallow depression in the track, a strange metallic liquid gleamed in the early morning's light. It looked a lot like a pool of quicksilver, except its silvery bright surface glittered with an otherworldly, iridescent sheen.
"Beautiful," Lin thought to herself and crouched down, moving to touch it, but at the last moment snatched her hand back. What was she thinking? Whatever the substance was, it certainly did not belong on the forest floor in front of her. She wondered if it was indeed quicksilver or some other toxic waste that somebody had dumped here instead of paying for its professional disposal. Alternatively, considering last night's flashes and booming sounds, maybe it was a spill left behind by a crashed plane or satellite? Yet, a quick look around confirmed that no smoldering wreckage was in evidence anywhere nearby. The mighty trees around her appeared as serene and undisturbed as ever.
Picking up a fallen twig, she gingerly probed the puddle's shiny surface. To her surprise, the liquid turned out to be rather viscous, offering stiff resistance to the stick's prodding and indeed, when she pulled her hand back, a layer of the stuff clung to the stick, stretching back to the pool's surface as if unwilling to release its quarry. Lin watched dumbstruck when more of the substance seemed to gather around the twig, strengthening the pull that tried to suck it back.
With a startled cry she let go of her probe and fell backwards onto her bottom. The strange substance had moved of its own volition, like a living being! Instantly, she was reminded of an old action flick featuring a shapeshifting, liquid metal killer robot sent into the past to dispatch some annoying youth who happened to be mankind's future savior. Lin considered it highly unlikely for this role to be her own destiny, yet caution suggested she should better quit playing researcher and and get into reverse gear posthaste.
In panic she scrambled back on her butt, but when her desperately kicking legs grazed the pool's edge, a thick tendril shot from the liquid and wrapped itself around her ankle. Immediately, her other foot was grabbed as well, rooting her in place. She violently attempted to pull up her legs, hoping to break the metal's hold, but only succeeded in sliding her torso closer to the pool. An irresistible force drew her legs together while more and more of the strange material flowed towards her and joined the strands already encircling her legs.
The fact that she had been endowed with a long-legged model's physique that many of her fellow students lusted after granted her only a few milliseconds reprieve while yet more tendrils spiraled around her legs, rapidly approaching her hips. Lin reared up and screamed at the top of her lungs, thrashing wildly to escape the cool metallic strands that had mated her legs into a single column of tightly compressed flesh. She had to break free! Instead, the inexorably advancing appendages reached her belly and quickly thickened into a broad cinch around her waist.
"Ahrg!" Her screams were cut off when the belt abruptly constricted around her middle and took away her breath. Lin felt as if she had been cut in half! Thankfully, the murderous compression relented momentarily, but not before her weakly flailing arms had been captured as well, then became welded to her sides. Immediately, at the front, the liquid metal slithered under her top and up between her breasts as well as in the back along her spine to form a wide collar around her neck. Lin ceased her futile struggles and became perfectly still. If the collar contracted like the belt had, it would surely crush her windpipe and strangle her. To her immense relief, the collar tightened only a little until it exerted a noticeable, but tolerable pressure. Nevertheless, she did not fail to miss the implied threat.
More and more of the metal encircled her body, wrapping her into an inescapable mesh of interlocking strands so that within seconds, the web extended from the soles of her shoes to the crown of her head. At first, its strands had been quite flexible, but as soon as they had ensured her captivity, they hardened and turned the web into a rigid shell: Her arms were pressed to her sides, her legs formed a single column and her skull was ensnared by a framework of metallic straps that left only her face free and kept her head totally immobilized. Although Lin strained against its tight embrace with all her strength, she failed to move her limbs even a single millimeter. The metal was far from done with her, however.