Chapter 83: Synergesitc Developments

Diana

I’d decided to distract myself by spending time with the children rather than most of the adult inmates here. Other than Aliya… most of them seemed off, like they were stuck in a permanently dream-induced state. They ignored me if I ignored them, I quickly realized.

When one of the kids had his eyes turned red, I felt my fear drill through me. A creepy smile grew, full of fangs on the child Aliya had named Eddy. “Your meal is ready, head upstairs, third door on the left.”

Keeping myself solid, I nodded. While every bit of me wanted to rebel right now, the fact was that I didn’t have access to my powers at all, I was weak. Somehow, I’d need to find a way to recover my abilities before I could think of breaking out of here.

Entering the door to the meal hall, it was more like one of those prison phone-call booths, neatly ordained stalls lined up against a wall with glass panels that seemed to allow communication with whoever was on the other side. I walked until I found Simon Jugosla on the other side of the panel.

”Am I talking to Simon, or Soul Killer?” I said as I took a seat, on the other side of the panel, Simon had a nice platter of steak with him.

”Simon.” The man responded with a mischievous smile. “Been a while Diana, since you and I talked, was really surprised when Brian Ulrich’s daughter was there in the table, how’d you figure out I work with… them?”

”Tonguelasher wanted to steal you away, for what — I don’t know… he’s dead.”

”Right, I believe your police pal Choirmen shot him.” The red flashed in his eyes, then disappeared.

”You just let… them do that to you?” I bit down on my teeth hard.

”Oh, that? I don’t even remember anything, besides, giving myself up to Soul Killer has only worked out in my favor… they let me really employ artistic talents in a way no one else allows. It’s protection, in a way.” He opened a trapdoor on his side, sliding the steak dish underneath so that it appeared in a hollow imprint on my side.

”Cannibalism?” I eyed the meat suspiciously.

”Well, only if they suit my taste.” He smiled. “It’s an acquired one, so relax, I’m not feeding you anyone’s mother, father, or child. Premium meat there, the best in the world. Dig in, we’ll talk over… I don’t even know what time this is, lunch, dinner?”

The meat had a distinctly barnyard smell to it, fresh and supple when I prodded it with my fork. A plastic fork… they were being careful.

”All meals are supervised. Don’t want you taking a weapon with you, even if it’s degrading plastic.” Simon smiled.

”So, I get that you work for Soul Killer. But you also… are Soul Killer.”

”When they want me to be.” He casually responded.

”You sold your body, for what?” I cut into the meat, the smell only intensifying my hunger.

”I was in deep shit.” He carelessly threw his arms back. “Got caught refining… less than legal meat. Soul Killer turned out to be controlling one of my clients, we made a deal, he liked my food and wanted me on his team to help circulate some Mutagen. I got to continue doing what I love and make a lot more money out of it while greeting clients from the top of the list, what’s more to say? It’s not like they’re in my head all the time.”

”I don’t get how that works, how’re you even connected to him?” I took the bite, as much as I wanted to resist it, the steak was delicious.

”I don’t know the specifics of a god-damn Titanium Mutagen.” He laughed. “All I know is that when you arrived at the restaurant that night, Anabelle’s little parasite contacted me to drag you to the auction. You were supposed to go to Ms. Himiko… then something you did changed things. You resisted it, Soul-Forfeit.”

”So Soul Killer bought me… from themselves?”

”Officially, I entered that auction independently, but let’s just say the money went around in a circle.” He leaned on the table.

”What is this place, Simon?”

”A farm.” He smiled sadistically through the panel, then his eyes sunk in — white amidst red. “I thought I told you.”

Soul Killer spoke with a chilling voice. “Do you know how many people in New California choose BUGs over SIMs…?”

”Why the fuck would I care about something like that?”

”The answer… is 64% BUG, and 36% SIM.” Soul Killer smiled. “Why? Because SIMs are more difficult to improve upon, unlike a BUG they are inebriated with what those less educated call ‘randomness’. BUGs get an assignment of 12 Features, which you can then improve upon with extra Shardyne. An Analyze BUG will always be an Analyze BUG… but a SIM that shines your hair could grow to make it metallic, or maybe allow you to produce high-quality oil through your pores, or maybe it will remain shiny hair. People think Mutations can’t be controlled, measured, manipulated. I’m different.”

I chewed the meat, not bothering to finish swallowing as I spoke. ”You’re trying to learn how to induce specific SIM development?”

”Not quite, Implants as a whole are a messy topic! I’m but an adventurer on the path to great treasure, it’s one thing to hold power over your own Implant, another thing to have power over another’s.”

”Yet, you managed to do it.” I stopped eating.

”Eat. Diana. You’ll need the energy.” He put both hands up to rest his chin. “As for your statement, astute, but incorrect. I simply provide myself a backdoor to people’s bodies, the exact methods of how I operate are hush-hush, but you’ll come to join it in time.”

My silver eyes met their soulless gaze. ”I won’t let you.”

”You don’t have that choice, Silvereye. Let’s see how long that name befits you.” He flicked a switch on his side of the table, a red mist sizzled from above and to the side of me. I dove backwards, but my eyes lit up as I’d already taken a breath of the stuff into me.

Hostile Mutagen identified: Soul-Forfeit… 1%

”It’s a quicker acting strain…” Soul Killer explained through Simon’s body. “Takes quite a bit to produce.”

18%…

35%…

49%…

My head throbbed, my body walked back where the mist was still dispersing in the air — taking a deep breath of it in.

78%…

89%…

95%…

99%…

98%…

I felt stolen, like my mind was fading away as seconds lost meaning. It was so easy to drift off and forget…

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”How does it feel?”

”It feels amazing.” My body said without me thinking it.

96%…

92%…

84%…

63%…

41%…

”You can’t do this.” I slipped control back into me.

”Huh?” Soul Killer leaned in, practically squishing Simon’s face into the glass.

14%…

1%…

Hostile Mutagen cleansed…

Mutational Synergy has reached 97% Development. Additional Meta-Mutations formed… The Adapter can better digest high Grade Mutagenic Material; Increased Absorption speed of Mutagenic Material; Warp Energy can be recovered by ingesting Mutagenic Material.

”How’d you do that… I feel nothing from you?” Soul Killer strained his voice as he pushed into the glass, like he was trying to break through it. “Fascinating… very, very fascinating…”

Whatever Mutational Synergy was doing to me, it was saving me from becoming their puppet. It also… built me up, tiny strands of violent black had entered my system — Titanium Warp Energy. Even in this miniscule amount, it throbbed through my body… leaving an imprint of itself over the golden power coursing within me.

Grade is now Gold II

It wasn’t a massive boost to me, but it was definitely there. Whereas before, manipulating my energy had felt like it was made of stone, now it had crumbled into sand. Sand that I could very lightly blow on to move, my heart beat as electricity flowed up my eyes in small trickles.

”Oh… oh? You look scary, now… I really want to figure you out!” Soul Killer laughed in Simon’s body, and then the doors opened up to have six people enter the room. All of them were inmates.

All of them had soulless eyes.

I could barely react before one of them shot their arm at me, the limb stretching like rubber to grow and pound me into a wall. Another three acted in unison, their bodies shifting as grotesque malformations of tendrils or bone-spears tried to pierce me.

I struck them, dispersing all of the strength I’d managed to recover. Their bodies bent and blew back, but that didn’t stop the mindless husks from continuing their assault. Aliya was the last person to attack, a fire burning up her arm which healed as fast it was being scorched.

A warm breath of flame erupted in my direction. It engulfed everything, and I could do nothing but take the brunk of its agonizing heat as there was nowhere to go. That steady flamethrower was only matched by my own regenerative abilities, but the little Energy I could manipulate wasn’t enough to give me the ease to walk through.

Blades pierced my legs, the other five inmates still attacking me even as their skin turned to ash. Those soulless eyes showed no pain.

I collapsed to the ground, the fire that had spread through the room quenched in an unnatural second by Aliya. Even my clothes had stopped burning, but they were tattered up and ruined… everything hurt.

One of the inmates spoke to me as they slapped up new cuffs on me, but I knew who was talking through them. “That should keep your Warp Energy busy… now, how about you finish up your meal?”

I watched as their bodies cleansed off the burns like they were simple stains, that speed of regeneration… even the toughness of their bodies was anything unlike an Irons or even a Bronze? These were like… Silver-Grade Mutations, at the very least. Especially that flame power of Aliya’s. Esper abilities got gradually more intense the higher the grade, and to summon and dismiss flames like that had to be… powerful.

The new cuffs stopped my Warp Energy in its tracks, squeezing it to a standstill. “You bastard!” I rose to my feet, but the scorched cloth had melted into my wounds to leave every movement painful. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

”Too much, Diana!” The inmates all laughed with their crimson eyes, even Aliya. “I’m just a curious soul! Don’t worry about your wounds… I have just the thing for it. You’re going to need it, I have a feeling you and I will get along… very well.”

I grit my teeth as they all left, but a seventh inmate dropped a red jumpsuit along a small vial. Mutagen.

”Take it, it’s a Silver-Grade Regeneration Mutagen, your current capabilities are already impressive, but you’re going to need more if you want to survive this place.” Simon Jugosla’s body said from beyond the glass wall.

“What if I don’t?!” I yelled back, agony pinching at my vocal chords from the heated air I’d breathed in.

”Then I do this.” He clicked a button, and the red mist peered from every corner of the room. “A slower… but stronger variant…”

2%…3%…5%…7%…

There was no place to go where I couldn’t breath it in, and my own body was too damaged to escape this.

18%…20%…

I grit my teeth as my arms began to move and crawl, dragging me towards the vial. No, fuck! I didn’t know what was in there! I didn’t even know what sort of Mutagen it really was!

Yet… it was now in my hands, I tore my gaze away, hoping that if Soul Killer could see through my body that they wouldn’t be able to tell where my arm was aiming the vial…

38%…40%…

I felt the cold needle stick into my leg, expertly aimed at the femoral artery… the cold liquid spiked into my body — sending a sharp shock up towards my heart.

Tier I Silver Mutagen detected:

Vampiristic Regeneration [6 Gene Capacity]: The Adapter’s body will always be regenerated to a state of perfect vitality. By absorbing the Warp Energy of another Adapter’s, the Adapter can improve their own regenerative capabilities; if the Adapter does not regularly absorb others’ Energy, then they begin to consume their own.

Hostile Mutagen detected…

62%…

Fuck! It was something that was boosting the Soul-Forfeit Mutagen’s strength.

Mutational Synergy has reached 100% Development…

[Gold] Mutational Synergy is reacting with Silver Mutation: Vampiristic Regeneration have converged into the Tier I [Gold] Mutation: Mutagenic Drain.

Mutagenic Drain [1 GC]: The Adapter’s body will always be regenerated to a state of perfect vitality using their own Warp Energy. They can forcefully absorb Mutagenic Material by draining another's' Warp Energy. This has the effect of significantly improving the Adapter’s strength and regeneration. This also naturally boosts the development of all other Mutations.

30%…

10%…

Hostile Mutagen has been drained.

Energy is now Bronze I

Iron-Grade Energy Boon: Warp Energy activity in producing Electrical output or control is more efficient.

Mutagenic Drain is now at 7% Development.

I stopped breathing as the world’s fist unclenched it’s grip on me. I’d… absorbed the Hostile Mutagen? Cleansed it by absorbing it? There was a lot that had to be unpacked right now, for one Mutational Synergy had just converged with the new Vampiristic Regeneration Mutation I’d been injected it… it forcefully regenerated them to perfect vitality by draining their Warp Energy constantly? That explained why they healed so quickly.

I’d also got an Iron-Grade Boon for my Energy… I’d heard of them from Dr. Faltest, but they were unique for each Adapter so it didn’t get talked about too much. It was just a fact of Development.

Not willing to test it while I was this weak, I recovered myself… my wounds were already beginning to heal. Though it made me queasy as my internal stores rippled down into a sinkhole to compensate — so this was what it meant to drain your own Warp Energy.

”Hmmm… strange.” Soul Killer in Simon’s body began rubbing their chin. “Tch, fine, I’ll ruin this game of mine. Normally I like trying to guess Mutations at a glance, but you have something I’m not… familiar with. A Deviant.”

Soul Killer chewed his own teeth as he said the last two words, but he brought in another two inmates, one of them strangely seemed to be BUG Adapter — a rarity here.

There was a dullness in their movements compared to the other, entirely organic person as they approached. Simon’s body spoke on behalf of them. “Your frame is concealed… tch, not to worry! I’ll just get Dogwhistler here.”

Dogwhistler?

Simon leaned back on his chair as his eyes flashed under a communications protocol.

Then something strange happened to the BUG Adapter, they flinched as though a needle had been stabbed into them. The redness in those eyes faded away but remained entirely white now — what in the name of the Founders?

”Diana.” The BUG adapter said with a smile. “Finally nice to meet you face to face…”

I caught my own breath, of course there were two mind-controlling nutjobs in The Uncaged. One for SIMs and the other for BUGs. Though this seemed closer to a Proxy protocol than whatever Soul Killer was managing.

”Dogwhistler.” I took a deep breath in, prepared to run. Then they waved her hand over me, black and white sparks burned out of it as wires spurned from the man’s arm with tiny hooks and claws.

I summoned what strength my organic body had, which was still plenty to punch the arm away — but the second inmate intervened with a slick stab into my arm with elongated nails. It froze up, paralyzed under a freezing pain.

Again, my Warp Energy began to burn itself to neutralize the venom, but it had seized my body enough to freeze me up. Those tiny hooks and claws slithered over to my eyeball — hesitantly slowing.

”You don’t have a visible frame, nor a lens…” Dogwhistler said with annoyance through the man. “But… you still have some way to remotely access your frame’s updates… ah, in your eyelids?”

I tried to scream, but the last thing I remembered before it was all too painful to handle was the needle growing larger as it speared into my eye.