What is a [Party]?

Her search using that keyword into the [Internet] had given her the answer that a party was…Main Core?

“[A party is a social gathering of people who come together to have fun, socialize, and celebrate. Parties can be held for various occasions, such as birthdays, holidays, graduations, or just for the sake of getting together. They can be large or small, formal or informal, and can take place in a variety of settings, such as homes, banquet halls, or even outdoors.]”

The search for those occasions got her more definitions. Among those occasions was the [Birthday] that they had asked her before, a celebration for [Humans] who managed to survive another [Year]. And honestly, of the possible occasions to celebrate, it was the only one that Alexa could understand.

Making a celebration for dates that held no meaning besides something that happened in the far past? It was weird. Why should she celebrate the fact that some guy managed to overturn their current rulers? It seemed that only the ones who ruled after him should celebrate.

Celebrating because someone managed to [Graduate]? The act of finishing a series of [Tests]? Really? Managing not to end up [Terminated] should be the reward in itself, but she couldn’t understand the logic behind wanting another way to celebrate finishing their set of tests besides what the [Test] itself gave them and the normal reward from finishing said [Tests].

Now, the definition of celebrating for the sake of celebrating? That seemed the real reason for those [Parties], and the others seemed to be excuses.

“So we celebrate the success of this [Test]?” Alexa asked as she turned to look to [Skye], who was pulling her into one of the [Elevators].

“Yes!” the girl answered, fiddling with her [Mask]. "Well, this isn’t common. Vulcanus seems to be cheap on the celebration front. But since you managed to salvage a failed mission and embarrass one of the sidekicks, we get a party!”

…So it was to celebrate a failed [Test] that managed to get salvaged? That…seemed weird. Shouldn’t they get admonished? They had almost failed and managed to salvage it because her skill set was the right one.

No wait.

“I embarrassed the [Hostile Minion]? How? She defeated me,” Alexa said, turning confused. She had barely escaped, which had cost her almost all her stockpile of biomass. She only managed to come even because the [Sewers] had been full of biomass, and even that…It had been a close call. If not for [Spider], she may have been in a deficit…again.

“Someone recorded it, it seems they heard you scream, and someone recorded it. They uploaded it into [Herofights.com].” [Skye] said as she brought her [Phone] and showed her the [Website] in question. There was a grainy video with terrible quality.

She wouldn’t have guessed that she was in the video if she hadn't known about it. The audio was muted, and the video seemed artificially stabilized. On it, she could see two women fighting on the floor.

Or well, more like one punching the other down, the video didn’t show how [Chrysalis] had crushed one of her boobs, and from the distance, one could barely see her trying to escape. Really, it looked more as if she had been trying to worm her way out.

It was…

“[Embarrassing].”

Yes, it was awful.

The video continued playing, and the one recording dropped the recorder to the floor at some point. When it grabbed it once more to point it, she could see one of the ones on the video crawling away. The woman on the video caught the metal door into the sewers and threw it away.

There, she saw how the metal disk flew straight into the other woman, who was busy trying to clean away the gore that had bathed her. [Chrysalis] didn’t notice the metal disk flying her way, not that it did anything to her. Her barrier protected her.

The other woman on the video took this chance and threw herself into the sewers. At this point, the video seemed to move faster.

“Oh, after this Chrysalis threw your lower half and closed the sewer. She waited there for around half an hour and then left.” [Skye] said as the video was stopped. “We couldn’t send someone to rescue you for that reason. We had thought you would die…some people were saying that since you are a shifter you could probably survive….”

….a [Human] could survive with the type of wounds she pretended to have? Such…dangerous creatures.

“I have some [Regeneration] thanks to my [Core Powers],” Alexa said as they arrived at the bottom floor.

“I knew it!” [Skye] reacted in a cheery tone, “They didn’t believe me since your Core Powers seem too practical, but most shifters have some degree of regeneration going. They said your powers were too big for regeneration to be a thing.”

“They are too big? How so? My [Core Powers] are at best on the miscellaneous type.” Alexa said, she couldn’t make things from nothing. She couldn’t send energy blasts nor create barriers from nothing. And sure enough, she couldn’t lift things heavier than her without making some muscle mass first.

“Well, you can change your body at a level that seems to stick unless something wrong happens to you. Also, you have that weird mechanical voice that seems to be able to use your Core Powers while you are asleep…” [Skye] answered, was she speaking about [Main Core]?

“Main Core only has some control over my body. It can’t use all my Core Powers. It works under some prerequisites that need to be fulfilled first.” Alexa said, what those requisites were? Well, she knew them…at some point. But they should be made with her best interest in mind!

“Well, that makes you more versatile than most. Like…I can make wind, and that’s about it! Golem can change the composition of his body, but that’s about it. You can change your body on a whim.” [Skye] said while pulling her in another direction. They had been walking towards the induction hall, but [Skye] had turned left at some point and pulled Alexa with her.

“I am sure you will find more uses for your [Core Power] later. I am just good at mine since I have been using some version of it for some time.” Alexa said back. She had…taken measures to not speak how long she had this [Core Power]. She was still unsure how much her nanites had affected it or if her [Core Power] had manifested like that because of her Nanites.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Perhaps she had the [Core Power] from the beginning, and the [Mana] only made it more prominent? She wasn’t sure.

“Thanks for the cheers, but that’s enough about me. We are here…” [Skye] said, stopping before a double door. Alexa could hear some voices behind the door, mostly hushed voices, and some laughs. “Go on, open the door.”

Alexa knew something was going on, but the face and tone of [Skye] seemed to imply that it wasn’t something terrible. And she couldn’t detect any hostile intent from those behind the door either.

“Main Core, prepare for anything.” So, sending that inwardly, Alexa braced herself and opened the door.

“WELCOME BACK FROM THE DEAD!” Was what those behind the door said as soon as she opened the door.

Most of the [Minions] that had gone into the mission with her had been in the [Hall] waving flags and throwing small pieces of multicolored paper fragments around. Alexa could see [Biomass]on the tables all around.

“We get one of these every time we find a Minion or Villain that was supposed to be dead after a fight. Granted, these are usually more often than not because some Villian or Minion tried to bite more than they could chew.” [Billy] said, walking towards them and offering a weird cone hat to [Skye] and Alexa. “But hosting one of these on a first day? And because someone managed to escape Chrysalis? You are quite a good fresh blood.”

….That she was, she had made sure that her [Blood] was of the best quality possible. But how had [Billy] noticed that? Did they take a sample of her [Blood]?

“Also, don’t tell Cerberus this, but I know she was the one that made it possible for us to have this one. She wants this to be your birthday party, too.” [Billy] whispered the last part for their ears only. “Anyway, go and mingle, Minions, and when you finish eating, prepare yourself. Vulcanus wants to congratulate you…And Cerberus wants to scold you.”

In that tone, [Billy] left them alone.

“Let’s get something to eat.” [Skye] said, hugging one of her arms and pulling her along. Really…she didn’t need to. Alexa would have gone to do that anyway.

“Okay.” But even so, she answered as such.

Their first stop had been to grab a [Plate] since they had told her that grabbing the whole [Tray] was wrong… Eating from them directly was also bad, but carrying the food with her hands (even if she made extra ones) was also incorrect.

Really, these [Humans] had way too many rules bout food!

One only needed to eat it. Why make it so complicated?!?!?

Either way, Alexa ended up grabbing a pair of [Plates]and stockpiling as much [Food] aka [Biomass] as she could, a couple of [Steaks], some [Salads], a few cups of [Salsa] (Why was that the only one that came with its own cup?), and some drinks.

[Skye] looked at her weirdly, but in the end, only said, “Don’t forget about dessert.” And then brought Alexa to another set of tables. These had food high in [Sugar], some [Cakes] and [Puddings], also [Ice Cream], and similar types of food high in [Sugar].

“I always have room for dessert,” Alexa said as she placed one of her plates atop her left hand. She increased the muscle mass and added some suction cups to her hand to ensure the plates wouldn’t fall. So, with a hand free, she started stockpiling on [Cake] and [Pudding].

Soon enough, she had a third plate full of these. Now, the next part…was more complicated. It seemed that they needed a place to sit, but most of the tables near the food had all the seats occupied, and a few had more than the recommended number.

“Oh look, there is [Mikey]!” Alexa said, pointing with the pudding arm towards a table at the far end. That one also had [Golem] nearby and some of the [Minions] that Alexa had been working with.

“...You don’t mind sitting with him? After…” [Skye] started saying, but Alexa was already moving in that direction. “...guess not.”

As soon as she got near the table, she carefully placed all her plates, making sure not to move her [Food] near anyone else. She didn’t want them to encroach on what was hers by right of picking.

“Hello [Mikey] and [Golem], “ Alexa said as soon as she sat down and started eating.

“...Rhapsody.” [Golem] answered, turning to look at [Mikey].

“...Rhapsody…sorry about the…Beer thing, didn’t know that you were….How old?” [Mikey] asked as she was too busy wolfing down the [Meat].

Because apparently [Steak] was a designation to [Meat], really. It was a wonder from [Humanity] the idea that searing [Meat] and adding some [Condiments] could change the taste so much?

It had changed from mere [Biomass] to an explosion of [Flavours]. It was almost [Heavenly]. Of course, it didn’t compare against [Mango]. But this was an excellent taste on its own. Also…why were people staring at her?

“*Mogu*” She was too busy eating! Did they want to eat her [Food]?

*Grr….*

A growl started forming in her mouth. She had noticed that most [Biological] subjects tended to use that as a warning, and since her mouth and hands were busy directing the [Food] into her [Stomach]...

“No one is going to steal your food, Rhapsody.” [Golem] said with a sad smile on his face,” But please answer Mikey’s question.”

Question? Oh, right, he had asked her [Age], right?

Alexa gulped down the [Food] that was in her [Mouth] and took the chance to drink some type of carbonated drink from her [Beverage]. It was bubbly and made her [Throat] feel funny. She was half sure that if she hadn’t been distracted by the symphony of tastes that had been the [Steak], she may have [Lost her mind], as the Main core would have categorized it.

“Currently, I’m 19 years old,” Alexa answered while taking another bite of her [Steak], only this time she had the presence of mind to dip it into one of the [Salsa] cups she had brought with her.

“...And when you changed into a little girl?” [Mikey] asked. Alexa was of a half mind to rip his [Head] from his neck. Couldn’t he see her trying to eat?

Rude!

“ Was…five….years…old…” Alexa said between bites, and since it seemed that she would be getting annoyed, she started shifting something within one of her shoulders. It was a design similar to the one [Main Core] liked to use to speak, but this one mimicked her voice and transmitted it from her shoulder instead of her neck.

Like this, she wouldn’t need to keep her mouth open!

“...So you are nineteen right now, but when you sleep, you are five? What is this a joke? What is your real age, girl? Golem wants to rip me a new one, and Cerberus only stares at me like I am a predator or something!” [Mikey]seemed to be having some problems with his [Emotions].

“[Mentally, I am the age of my body. If my body is 19 year-old my mind is that age. If my body is five years old, then my mind is that age. That is how my Core Power works],” Alexa transmitted to the [Speaker] within her shoulder.

That caught by surprise both [Mikey] and [Golem]. For some reason, [Skye] only shrugged and continued eating while looking at them as if she was enjoying it.

“....So what is your real age, then?” [Mikey] asked. She noticed that most of the tables surrounding them were turning extra quiet.

But Alexa didn’t mind that much. Instead, she focused on eating some of the green [Vegetables] she had grabbed. She wanted to see if they helped or changed the flavor.

“[I don’t know how to answer that. To me, age is merely a convenient number to categorize my current body.]” Well, that…wasn’t a complete lie; she knew how old her [Core] was and how old her [Main Core] had been before she deconstructed and made a new one.

The closest thing she had to an age was probably around two to three years old. They weren’t [Human] years, of course.

“....You don’t make it easy, do you?” [Mikey] sighed, “Fine, I am not going there. Just….start there next time, okay? If I’m drinking with someone and they pass out and turn into a little girl…Well, they will think I am a predator or something.”

Wasn’t he a [Predator]? He was a [Human], and they were a race of [Predators]after all, well he was working as a [Minion], so that, at the very least, put him in a [Fighter Caste].

“Rhapsody, as you are now, you are an adult. So I can’t admonish you for what you do, but if you change into a child or younger form, please stay away from Alcohol.” [Golem] said, turning to her as [Mikey] focused on his food.

A shame, really. Alexa had looked forward to eating those if he didn’t move.

“[Sure? I mean, my [Teenager Stage] and [Child Stage] seem more focused on [Candy]. Besides, [Beer]is quite bitter, so I don’t think they would like it.]” Alexa answered, really…why had she liked it?

She was enjoying this [Food], of course, but she wasn’t quite sure her other forms would want them. The [Cake] and [Pudding]? She was sure those two would love.

But the [Steak] and [Vegetables]? The [Sour Cream]? The [Burger] (Real ones, unlike the fake one she had in her stomach before)?

She wasn’t that sure. She was also half sure her [Child Stage] would not be able to eat as much without moving some to the [Banked Biomass] thing.

“So long as we have an understanding…Also, please stop doing that thing. I don’t know how you are doing it, but it's eerie. We hear you speak, but you aren’t moving your mouth, or it doesn’t come from your mouth. It’s ….unnerving.” [Golem] pleaded with her, even though it was convenient…

Really, these [Humans] were hard to please. Don’t speak with [Food] in your [Mouth], then [Don’t use your speakers to talk to us.]

“....Fine,” Alexa answered after gulping down the last remaining [Food] she had brought. Everything had been a treasure, and each of these plates was loaded with [Calories]. She was recovering quite well. The [Rat Meat] was rich in biomass on itself, but that was about it. It was poor in calories and similar contents, almost as if it was artificially made using [Mana] instead of natural evolution. It was also raw and didn’t have extra ingredients, unlike this [Food]. “Anything else before I turn towards my desserts?”

The [Minions] around her stared at her as she moved the empty (And clean) plates away and placed the [Dessert] in front of her.

She even heard someone drop their [Fork].

“....No, carry on.” [Golem] said silently as he looked at the pile of [Cake], [Pudding], and [Ice Cream] that Alexa had brought.

“Good,” Alexa said as she grabbed a new [Fork] and cut a piece of [Cake] from one of her plates. “Also, if someone bothers me while I eat dessert, I will rip his head off unless it’s important.”

Alexa had tolerated them bothering her while eating before, but this was [Dessert]. This was [Candy], this had [Sugar]!

She would not tolerate it if they bothered her. It was around time she found what the deal was with [Cake] and to see if they had [Mango] on it. She would not be stopped. She would [EAT].