Chapter 105: Breaking Past The Foundations [Part Two]
Diana
My body was melting under the cocktail of Mutagen I’d just absorbed, not only did I intake Aliya’s SIM… but I also digested the Mutations that had grown in her body. From Tier 0 to II, I stole it all…
Then I digested this second Kaisel’s Mutations as well, finding the same odd existence of only Tier III Genes of the Gold grade dwelling inside of her. Finally, I grasped the vial of Mutagen that Dryder had given me, I wasn’t sure if it was trustworthy or not, but the vague strength seeping of it was similar in strength to most Tier II Mutations and only Bronze in grade. I could handle it even if it was bad.
Tier II Mutagen Absorbed… [Bronze] Minor Shapeshift.
Hair Serum my ass! Everything hurt so bad, it was like my blood had been replaced by hellfire. The last time I felt this sick was when I’d absorbed Yvette’s Silver…
When I’d absorbed her SIM.
Hah, I remember how we tested out and compared my Tier I Mutations together when I’d gifted it to her. Now here I was reaching Tier II by taking both her strength, and Anthony’s.
And I didn’t even know if he would be there for me to gossip and discuss this next step in my evolution.
[Gold] Mutation: Electromagnetic Telekinesis has reached 100% Development. Additional Meta-Mutations acquired. Minor ability to expand range of telekineses by using charged metal as a conduit.
[Gold] Mutation: Electrical Freeze-Flash has reached 100% Development. Additional Meta-Mutations acquired. Significant resistance to thermal fluctuation; thermal energy conversion is much more effective on all matter.
Foundation has reached 100% Development… Recalibrating…
Integrity is now Bronze IV
Energy is now Bronze VI
Capacity is now Bronze III
Grade is Bronze IV
Tendency (Fire) is now Bronze III
Calibrating Compatibility… 99.99%
Adapter is now in Tier II: Mutagenesis; forming a stable foundation of your preliminary Mutations, the Adapter is now set on the path of Mutagenesis to push their body beyond the limits of humanity.
Tier I Mutations have been fully integrated into your genetics.
Total Tier I Gene Capacity = 50
Current Mutational Capacitance = 50+36 = 86
Calculating SIM Stability…
SIM is currently reorganizing Mutational Development based on parameters, estimated time is… six hour-
Error: Detecting significant activity from Mutation: Mutagenic Drain.
Estimated time: two minutes.
Two minutes was a hell of a lot quicker than last time.
The painful feeling of my body quite literally breaking apart and forming new connections in itself tore me to the ground, and I knew I was vulnerable here but…
Dryder… despite his words, he stayed on guard with a flask in hand that he drank from. “Want a sip?”
“Yeah.” I admitted, but my hand slipped as he tried to pass it over to me.
I heard him click his tongue. “Tch. Your loss.”
Then my body succumbed to the raging flame of my Energy, allowing itself to be remolded under my fading consciousness. It was like rotting away and being rebuilt at the same time.
Parameter testing complete…
Lacking… Energy Accuracy; Thermal Conversion; Range; Mutational Specificity; External Electrical Manipulation
Moderate… Kinetic Conversion; Telekinetic Capability; Bodily Durability; Tissue Compaction; Energy Recovery
Exceeding… Electrical Storage; Electrical Output; Regeneration; Speed; Strength
SIM is adjusting Mutations…
Error: Additional Mutagenic Material has remained unused…
Tier 0:
* [I] Muscular Endurance [Integrity]
* [B] Eye-Color Shift [Alteration]
* [I] Blood Compatibility [Alteration]
* [B] Body Heat Manipulation [Metabolism]
Tier I:
* [I] Bodily Endurance [Integrity]
* [I] Skin Cleanser [Alteration]
* [B] Flammable Blood [Alteration]
* [B] Fragrant Sweat [Alteration]
* [B] Toxin Absorption [Metabolism]
Partial Tier II:
* [S] Soul Whisper [Error] [4%]
* [I] Strengthened Body [Integrity/Metabolism] [44%]
* [I] Flawless Skin [Alteration] [43%]
* [B] Vocal Alteration [Alteration] [16%]
* [B] Flammable Sweat [Alteration] [13%]
* [B] Thermoresistive Tissues [Integrity] [45%]
Tier II Mutagen:
* [B] Minor Shapeshift [Alteration]
Partial Tier III:
* [G] Telekinetic Force Manipulation [Energy] [1%]
* [G] Soul Seer [Error] [1%]
Error: Mutation: Mutagenic Drain is affecting Mutation Development… forcing excess Mutagen into developing alongside current Mutations…
Tier II Mutations are developing…
[G] Mutagenic Drain + [Additional Mutagenic Material] = [G] Soul Resonance [Energy/Alteration]. This Mutation allows you to sense the Warp Energy within other Adapters, and use your own Energy to manipulate it. Absorbing the Energy of those you have resonated with allows you to better enhance your own recovery and absorption of Mutagenic Material. [1 GC]
[G] Electrical Neurogenesis + [G] Bioelectrogenesis = [G] Electrosomatic Organism [Metabolism/Cognition]. Every cell in your body now has minor electroconductive and electrogenic properties that allow them to functionally act as neurons and sources of electricity. [16(15) GC]
[G] Compact Tissues + [Additional Mutagenic Material] = [G] Limited Morphology Manipulation [Alteration]. The Adapter can alter their physical appearance as well alter properties of their body to a limited degree. [18 GC]
[G] Electromagnetic Vision + [G] Electromagnetic Telekinesis = [G] Electromagnetic Domain [Energy/Cognition]. The Adapter can manipulate an electromagnetic field around their body, improving their telekinetic and sensory capabilities within it. [15(14) GC]
[G] Kinetic Catalyst + [G] Electrical Flash-Freeze = Thermokinetic Catalyst [Energy/Metabolism]. The Adapter’s cells are modified so they can use their Warp Energy to convert stored kinetic and thermal energy into electrical output and vice-versa. [14(13) GC]
[G] Mineral Assimilation + [Additional Mutagenic Material] = [G] Inorganic Metabolism [Alteration/Integrity]. The Adapter can naturally digest inorganic materials within their body, altering the composition of various tissues in their usage. [16 GC]
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Gene Capacitance = 81/86
Awakening, everything felt putrid and wrong here, the air acrid and sharp and the clothes I was wearing were stiff with blood. It was that immediate sensory information that registered to me first, as though my brain had suddenly picked up on information it couldn’t before.
Where the outside air was a bitter cold, my inner soul felt warm and aflame.
“That was quick… I thought mutations were supposed to take longer.” Dryder picked himself up wobbling around till he found the door. “You ready to go kill some soulless pricks?”
“Not kill…” I gnashed my teeth, feeling my limbs stretch as though they’d just been drained of all the stress I’d built up here. “I can cure them.”
“Bullshit, you can.” Dryder scratched his beard, opening the door and stepping out. I tore my gaze between him and Anthony, who wasn’t bleeding anymore but still in critical condition.
“We can’t just leave him like that? What if Soul Killer-“
“Don’t you worry your head about it. I’ve set this room to not open without me, now get your ass out before you’re locked in forever!” Dryder kept the door open with his hand, and regretfully, I stepped out.
Immediately, I felt the deep thrum of the MAL from the storage room next door, their bitter malice permeated the air like a humidity that clung to my very soul. Soul. I’d never really believed in them, but now… one of my Mutations was named Soul Resonance.
And it came from Mutagenic Drain, the exact Mutation that I’d used so heavily to remove Soul Killer’s influence with his Soul-Forfeit and Soul-Death Mutations. I’d taken from them as well, something in this power had to be able to reach into those who were lost.
And looking through the rest, none of these new Mutations were too foreign to me. Apparently now the rest of my body could act as neurons in some capacity, however that worked, which was probably why everything felt so much crisper and even slower to me right now.
A sort of field manipulation skill, which I guess improved my control over telekinesis on charged objects as long as they were within the radius of my… domain? And the various cosmetic Mutations in both Anthony and Aliya combined with Dryder’s Shapeshift Mutagen had given me the ability to alter my appearance? Or make it stronger?
Then there was also the fact that apparently I had gone from simply digesting minerals to somehow producing them, through some complex Warp fuckery. Still, I couldn’t say I was disappointed with how these Mutations had come along, they’d served me well, and these stronger variants were sure to improve my already above-average potency.
Still, in the end, they were just tools. Tools to be used in burning this place to the ground. The real issue was that I still didn’t know how Soul Killer exactly controlled all these people, but from the looks of it, I was in the company of someone with as much hate for the bastard as I did.
“So how do we stop Soul Killer? For good?” I eyed Dryder from the back, the man still looking a bit inebriated from his drinking during the… few minutes I was growing.
“I dunno.” He slurred, deigning out his explanation in hand gestures that made no sense. “Well… not yet! They could be a hivemind, or maybe have some master body hidden in one corner of the city or across the world, but as long as evem one Soulless is alive then they’re never really dead!”
“So then… what are you trying to do doing here?”
“Well, the bastard kind of kidnapped my godson… that’s Anthony by the way. Oh, and they did also like kill a whole bunch of people close to me and-“
“We’ll get to that later.” I didn’t have the patience for this. “How do we stop whatever it is that Soul Killer is doing here.”
“Ohhh, simple. We chop off the Nexus.”
“Nexus?”
“Yup, the body that here that… coordinates all the other Soul Killer minds together. Otherwise they end up being a bunch of disconnected fools. Each Nexus works their own lab sorta, but they meet every now and then to like organize shit and become whole I guess. Don’t really know when or how, though.” Dryder gripped the rail tight as we began descending down the staircase.
“Why are you drunk?”
“SK doesn’t like the smell of alcohol.” He wobbled down each step, and I was half considering just leaving him… except Anthony was dependant on him in some way.
But Soul Killer couldn’t stand alcohol? “Really?”
“Nah. I just have a drinking issue.” He took another swig of the flask, and I was very tempted to exercise my new telekinetic capabilities on the metal.
Thankfully, that moment would be soon, as waiting down the staircase were around six of my fellow inmates with soulless eyes. “You kept me waiting for a while, I thought the two of you scurried off… how have you been, Derrick?”
“It’s Dryder… and honestly, been better. But I’m about to feel a whole lot happier taking your cunt-ass down!” Dryder raised his shotgun, or was it a rifle, I couldn’t exactly tell…
What I could tell was that he was absolutely insane once I saw what shot out of the weapon. It was a grenade launcher. Soul Killer’s bodies smirked, grotesque mutations in the forms of horns or Espers who bent the elements all charged through the explosion, the ravenous horde, bloody and wounded, like a pack of rabid wolves in mania.
My new Mutations surfaced easily, my whole body covered in a curtain of sparks that propelled me into the horde, thunder blossoming as I leveraged the new strength of this body. It was remarkable, light as a feather but the deceptive weight in my punch broke through layers of hardened keratin and bones like sandstone.
But this fight was far from easy, under the singular hivemind of Soul Killer, they were coordinated and daunting as an overwhelming barrage of bodies and force all bore down on me. So I reached into the mutation calling within me, Electromagnetic Domain.
All at once, an explosion of information flooded through me, the air charged under a dense orb that made my hair float up. Like liquid mercury, I was able to flow between strikes as the orb of perception flooded information into me, and I sensed I could do more than just sense through this field.
Crudely, I contracted it, tightening the charge until the air was humming and the smell of ozone permeated my nostrils. Then I discharged my internal store of electricity, a wave of blue and white expanding around me as a crackling blast that collapsed five of the bodies to the ground. But they weren’t down for the count, their Energies were feeding into their wounds, regenerating their fried neurons.
I didn’t want to kill them, it was possible to remove Soul Killer’s influence, at least that’s what I’d believed I’d done with Anthony. But in a time like this, where I was surrounded by the maddening cheers of the entity who’d torn me apart, I wouldn’t be able to save everyone.
Maybe it was cruel to decide who lives and dies up to fate, but the dice had been rolled the second I ignited my hands under my Warp Energy, their morphology manipulated so that my nails sharpened and my skin became dense like stone.
I drove my claws into the chest of one woman whose fangs bared at me like the Fangtooth’s I’d faced down, sending a fatal shock down to her heart before gripping into that Warp Energy of hers. Soul Resonance was simultaneously terrifying and underwhelming as the Mutation glowed to life.
The internal flow of her body’s lifestream appeared in my mind’s eye, the Bronze Warp Energy suffusing and drenching her body thick and heavy at the second Tier. The one discrepancy there, however, drew my eyre.
A knot of black was wound throughout her head, Titanium Energy that was barely visible if not for the fact that I was so familiar with it. Imagining the knot to burn apart, I fastened my will over the Energy, but it was entirely nonreactive.
A club formed the steel arms of one Mutant whacked me in the head, my eyesight blurry from the throbbing in my skull. My body though, continued to conduct my thoughts. No, not just conduct. It formed them too, the most baseless rush of action possible without the former modulation of my currently impaired nervous system.
Pure, burning, instinct.
My hands ascended up as a blue blur, my flaming energy devastated my bones as they twisted out of shape to make my fingers longer, sturdier and deadlier. Until I speared right through his entire skull.
It was strange, I should have felt guilty or even sad for repeating the same mistake of killing on instinct again and again. Instead, all I could feel were the black threads of Warp Energy dying out as I drained his strength away.
Hostile Mutagen absorbed…
Ah, I figured it out. How to reliably reach for Soul Killer’s Mutation. They corrupted your mind, tearing away what it means to be yourself by hiding away in the most vital corner of anatomy.
I needed to attack their brains. I felt almost stupid coming to that realization, Soul Killer wasn’t really killing their souls. They were having their minds edited, manipulated and even forcing them to drop in compatibility to their Implants… the brain manipulated Warp Energy, it was the very essence of your existence.
And then it hit me, I’d absorbed Anthony’s Warp Energy through his cheeks. It was just good fortune that saved him, a chance that I’d chosen a proximal point of entry.
My hands slick with blood and viscera, all that consumed me was the now blaring radiation in their twisted skulls. I could feel their loss of selves.
And I would burn it away. My entire soul ignited once more as I condensed the domain even tighter, wrapping it around me until my body was a mass of electricity overlain atop a human. Then I pushed it out into an even more destructive explosion of electric discharge, burning through clothes and penetrating their bodies to arc at other unfortunate Soulless hosts.
Their bodies effectively halted by a stalled heartbeat, I knew their Warp Energy was flowing to heal them in moments. Away from their heads, and so I gripped the skull of one poor test subject, digging my claws into the sides of their temples much like how Inquisitor Tusk had once held me.
Then I commanded my gold to burn. Burn away that which had tormented me and so many others. I felt the resistance of those black worms, how they writhed at my presence. Then strangely, for once, they resisted my pull.
“Oh… you’ve taken this a step too far, Ulrich.” Those soulless mouths moved against their will, bronze, and red veins blossoming over their bodies, altering them.
Killing their souls.
Still connected to the human being twisted, the arcs and chords of their Energy curved into grotesque and snapping serpents, reaching forcefully into their flesh as a bead of concentration began to glow under their clavicle.
Before I could blink, I was thrown across bodies and into a wall, dust falling to my feet. Yet, despite the dust, I could still peer into the fallen human’s inner soul, that bleak despair as they truly lost themselves to their Implant.
Amidst the horde of mindless puppets, one being stood hunched as his muscle enhancing Mutations grew at an incredible pace, his body bulging as bones were twisted against their natural form. Slumped, eyes entirely red, a MALformed hurdled themselves at me.
A Bronze Tier II MALformed… one with all of the Mutations of their human host. A Parasyte.
I held myself still, commanding the various metal scraps and rubble charged by my crash to ignite into life. Arcing them straight up into the MALformed skull, drilling through their eye-sockets and deeper still.
They attacked like nothing had happened, a hammering force swinging right above where my head had been, denting through the alloy walls built to defend against their very assault. I struck a jab of electricity into them, even transferring my stored kinetic force back into them, but they only skidded back slightly.
This was no ordinary MALformed… this was one augmented by a Titanium Mutation. One that ignored all the other humans facing off Dryder, one with a purpose. One with eyes that were still red.
A MALformed under the control of Soul Killer. Birthed in their name.