Harry
Something was wrong. First there was Quentin falling madly in love with some random woman and hating his best friend. Then there was Scarlett being filled with rage. Now the two of them have seemed to regress to an animalistic state as both screamed incomprehensibly and attacked the doors. I didn’t want to do it to them, but they gave me no choice. I had my suspicions, and they centered around the new girl.
I walked to the kitchen and found her there. She slashed open a package of raw meat and squished it. She tilted the package upwards, allowing blood to pool at the bottom. She drank the blood, wiping her lips when she was done. I think that confirms she isn’t a normal human.
She turned to look at me. “Something the matter?” she asked in an innocent voice. I, however, had seen enough. I changed my left hand into a gatling gun and pointed it right at her.
“I can see what you did, Seraphina. I had my suspicions about you, but you confirmed it with what you did. You aren’t human!” I shouted as I readied my gatling gun. She laughed heartily at my threat.
“My, my, I think I found the smart one on the ship. Of everyone here, you were the only one immune to my abilities. I must commend you for that. However, I’m afraid you are outnumbered,” she replied before snapping her fingers. In an instant, Gruma and Malgorth tackled me to the ground, pinning me. She looked at the two aliens and said, “Slaves, I believe it’s time we show this tin can what happens to defective models.”
Gruma and Malgorth picked me up and dragged me into the living room. I mentally prepared myself to be thrown out of the airlock. It’s just like the Mutiny of ’17. My two former allies tossed me into space because our enemy offered more money than our employer. I survived then and I will survive again. In a twist of fate, they turned to the left and started heading for the medical bay.
As they dragged me in the room, Seraphina explained, “I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’m not actually a human woman. In fact, I don’t even look humanoid at all in my default state. I took this shape when I probed your captain’s mind. A disgusting and feeble form, but a usable one. I may not have hit the jackpot, but I have four prepackaged meals here. You, on the other hand, don’t serve a purpose to me.”
“I get it,” I said as all the clues came together. “You’re a psionic shapeshifting parasite! You disguise yourself as another species, control their minds, and then drain them dry before leaving for the next host. The only questions I have are how you survived in an airless environment and survived so long without food.”
“Elementary, you defective machine,” she replied as I was held against an operating table. “My species is born with the ability to survive in space without oxygen. We also have the ability to go into stasis mode for centuries should no food show up. I have…” She started rambling on and on, but I already started thinking of a plan. It wasn’t as bright as Quentin’s, but it would do.
“Gruma, do you hear me?” I asked quietly enough so Seraphina wouldn’t hear me.
“Sorry Harry, but I must follow Seraphina’s orders,” she whispered back as she looked sad. The inclusion of sorry means she still has some affection towards me. Unlike Quentin and Scarlett, who are probably her main targets, Gruma was given a weaker version of mind-control. All I have to do is break it.
“My love, I wish it didn’t have to end like this. If only there was another way,” I said with a dejected look.
“I know. I’m sure Master will make it quick and painless. I love the Master, and she loves me,” she said with a sad smile. I got it! I remember Quentin talking about her uncontrollable anger. With her loving the ‘Master,’ I can use that to infuriate her.
“Well the Master is a piece of s***! Tell her she can ****************! ********** her! If I could, I’ll ******************************!” I cursed loudly before continuing with an even worse string of curses. Thank growing up on the streets.
Gruma screamed in anger as she heard me insult her master. I added in a few insults towards her, but she seemed immune to personal attacks. It was attacks against the parasite that made her angrier. After a few more, I ended with, “I wish she was dead! Tossed into a star so nothing will remain of her!” That was apparently the last straw as Gruma grabbed one of my arms and started to pull. My brain started rapid firing as it seemed my plan failed.
Except it didn’t. She dropped my arm and looked at Seraphina. She roared loudly, enough to make Malgorth flinch. I took advantage of the distraction to punch him in the face. He tumbled back a few meters before slamming into a wall. I heard a snap, informing me that I had broken one of his bones.
Meanwhile, Gruma attempted to tackle the shapeshifter, but the latter simply distorted her body to avoid getting hit. The Taraxian slammed into the wall, shaking the room.
“I see that you broke my connection with her. What did you do?” the shapeshifter asked as she reformed on the other side of the room. I ignored her and instead smacked Malgorth’s head. He fell unconscious. It was probably going to leave a concussion, but I needed to switch focus to the shapeshifter.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“It’s something Quentin told me,” I replied as I readied my gatling gun arm. I pointed it at her center of mass. Due to her being a shapeshifter, I doubted the head was actually her head. “Taraxians have unstoppable rage. It’s an instinctual trait. And instinct is more powerful than conscious thought.” I unloaded a round on her, but it had no effect.
“Fascinating,” the shapeshifter said as several small holes dotted her body. There was no blood leaking from them, confirming her inhumanity. Gruma turned around to see her and growled. But before she could charge, Seraphina dissolved into a puddle of black fluid. I wasn’t hallucinating. She morphed out of a humanoid form and into an amorphous one. We watched as the puddle slid across the room before reforming.
Her new form was chilling. While generally humanoid, the figure looked like it was collapsing upon itself. It was like a mockery of the human form. It stood at ten feet tall with spindly limbs. Instead of fingers, it had claws. It had four arms, all with those sharp claws. There was no eyes, nose, or hair, only sharp fangs on its face. As it spoke in an indescribable voice, I felt unnerved to no end. “But pathetic. The limitations of the human form are many. No natural weapons. The Taraxian form is little better. The vulpine has some natural advantages, but it’s held back by her human strength levels. That’s why I took the best of all of you.” The shapeshifter then lunged at us.
Gruma attempted to dodge, but the shapeshifter swiped her. The latter’s arm stretched out to cut a gash through the Taraxian’s chest. The cuts ran down, making Gruma struggle to calm the bleeding. I tried to help my girlfriend, but the monster slid in front of me and slashed my legs. Unlike its attack on Gruma, the claws bounced off. The monster looked confused at the display.
“Harry… listen closely,” I heard Quentin’s voice say from the communicator. “In my brief moment of clarity, I realized its weakness. Remember the Law of Conservation of Mass. Even though it’s a shapeshifter, it’s ma… she’s gorgeous! Get away from my love, tin can!” I turned off the communicator with some solace.
“I thought I had him firmly under my control. No matter. The human and vulpine have psionic powers, making them more susceptible to manipulation. Now with that out of the way, let’s say we—”
I interrupted the shapeshifter’s speech by charging straight into it. If my knowledge served me well, Quentin was trying to tell me that her mass never changed. Despite turning into a horrifying monster, she was still the same mass as before. In fact, she seemed to be lighter than a human. And with such a mass spread across a large frame, it ran thin. The monster collapsed in on itself from the force, becoming a puddle of black liquid again.
It tried to reform several times, but I squashed it every time it tried. Once I was certain it was reeling from the attacks, I grabbed a spare capsule we had on a shelf. I ran back and shoved as much of the shapeshifter fluid as I could into it. I sealed the lid tightly. It tried to break free, but the structural integrity of it was enough to contain it.
I quickly placed it on the ground as I ran to my girlfriend. She was barely holding onto consciousness, having clearly lost a lot of blood. The wall and floor were stained red, filling me with worry. I knelt down next to her and said, “Don’t worry. We’ll save you.”
“I fear it’s all over for me. But there’s no shame in dying a warrior’s death,” Gruma said with a smile.
“RNU, come here and save Gruma!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.
“Yes, master,” the RNU replied as it rolled out of the closet and tended to my girlfriend. While it rescued her, I walked over to Malgorth and laid him down on one of the hospital beds, reserving one for Gruma. His wings were an issue, but that was the least of my concerns. I walked out of the medical bay and resolved to let the RNU deal with him.
I grabbed the monster in the capsule on my way out. I was considering throwing it into the vacuum of space, but then I realized how much damage the monster could cause if it survived. I would need to execute it in order to save everyone in the future. Ironic how even though there’s two Americans on this ship, I’m the one suggesting the death penalty for this creature.
I walked into the cockpit and asked, “Can we make a detour near a star? I need to dispose of a certain monster.”
“I’ll reorient ourselves to allow a direct shot into the nearest star. We can’t get as close as you’ll like since it’ll damage our sensors and integrity,” the ship replied. I would concede that it was the most intelligent move. “Put the capsule here so I can shoot it out,” the ship continued as a pneumatic tube popped out of the capsule. I placed the capsule into the tube, making it retract back into the console. I watched as the capsule was shot out into the darkness of space.
“Is it gone?”
“Affirmative. I’d check on the last two crew members. They still need to be accounted for,” the ship said before continuing our scheduled path. I nodded and entered into the hallway. I unbarricaded the bedrooms.
After a few seconds of not hearing any sounds, I opened the doors. They opened to reveal Quentin and Scarlett sleeping on the floor. Unlike Gruma and Malgorth, they weren’t truly injured, just exhausted. I decided to be a kind person and picked both of them up at the same time, with one over each shoulder.
I walked over to Quentin’s bed and laid him down. I did the same with Scarlett. Once I was sure they were comfortable, I walked back to the medical bay.
As I entered the door, I noticed the surgical machinery hard at work on Gruma. The RNU rolled up to me and announced, “Gruma will survive. We’re just stitching up the wounds now. They may scar, but I’ll say that all of you got lucky. That species is particularly known for causing extinction-level events on those unprepared. Fortunately, your cybernetic brain is immune to psionics.”
“I suppose that’s a positive. Especially considering how lost Quentin and Scarlett were. I was lucky that Quentin’s moment of clarity gave me the knowledge I needed to defeat the monster,” I replied as I sat down next to my girlfriend. I’m just glad that it’s over. We can’t afford to lose Gruma. She’s our physical attack specialist. I’m the tank and suppressive fire specialist. I can do her tasks, but it’ll be much more useful if I stick to those fields. Quentin is our tactician and leader while Scarlett is our sharpshooter and gunslinger. Malgorth is a temporary money-maker who should avoid combat.
All of this has me thinking of how our team needs everyone we can get. Quentin may want to keep us small, but we’ve just seen how that’s an issue. With him out of the fight, it was harder to formulate a strategy. With Scarlett out of it, there were no precise shots to hit weak points or distract. With Gruma out, holding the monster at bay was difficult. We need everyone. And we need more people to supplement us. There’ll be Daraxes situations where we’ll need to split up. But I need to talk to Quentin about this. Ultimately, he’s the one in charge.