Chapter 15: Best Friends Forever.

Luigi was laughing. A loud, raucous sound that threatened to bring down the bowling alley. Henry and Vince were laughing too, though they at least had the decency to stifle their giggles.

“Yeah. Yeah. Chuck it up you guys. I’m sure you can do so much better.” I spat back with faux outrage.

As it turned out, I was right on the money. They could do much better. Vince was knocking at least six pins with every attempt. Henry was getting upwards of eight. Luigi, the fat oaf, was getting perfect strikes. Every time.

I, of course, accused him of being a dirty cheater and using loaded balls or something.

Luigi had laughed harder. He laughed so hard his lungs couldn’t keep up with the weight of his frame, causing his face to change colour.

“I’m not cheating, stupid. You’re just that bad. Clumsy as drunk cow driving a bumper car and almost as blind. I bet you could replace your fingers with carrots and somehow improve your score.”

“Mooooo goes the loser.” Henry added, to the delight of a few passing youths.

“Mooooo.” Vince agreed. “Stop hitting the sauce before coming to play if you want to hit something!”

“Other than his own foot you mean!”

They’d all laugh themselves breathless. So much so, that I was laughing alongside them before I knew it.

That night, we’d been daft enough to eat the burgers sold at the bowling alley. Partaking in meat so dodgy, Vince swore up and down it had come from a viper-bear’s backside. In retrospect, he might’ve been completely right. That patty felt like lava going in and burned like a collapsing star going out.

Luigi had declared an eternal blood feud against the establishment and for the next few years, told anyone who’d listen that he’d survived an assassination attempt.

The memories blurred more and more with time. Fogging over until I could no longer recognize the lad’s faces.

That first breath I took upon waking might have been the sweetest of my entire life thus far. The air tasted of miracles and survival. Of freedom.

Each subsequent intake felt even better in my lungs. They allowed me to begin processing the day’s events. To know what had gone wrong.

“I’m still alive. I’m still alive. How? What happened?”

I realized, with a start, that I couldn’t feel my broken leg. Immediately, I looked down and found my body covered by a thick layer of….

Something.

Whatever it was, it was skin tight, but not constricting in any way. It had just the right amount of flexibility to feel liberating while still giving off an aura of toughness.

Moreover, it was warm and nice. All of me felt good, like I was receiving one big hug from my parents.

‘Good morning, friend!’

Said my new suit.

‘I see you’re up and ready! That’s great! I wasn’t able to fix your leg, but I’m stopping the pain and keeping it in a leg-shaped cast. You’ll be walking with the best of them! Even with all your bones there being broken! Let’s go out there and become the strongest, nicest Esper we can be!’

System Notice:

Student has successfully bonded with a protective Symbiote.

Student’s Psy will be routinely drained

Equipment:

Inferior Symbiote (Psy: 100 / 100)

No Store Tokens available.

No special Tokens Available.

Inferior Symbiote

(Symbiote) (Common)

(Psy:100 / 100)

An artificial lifeform found in all sections of the labyrinth, as well as all system stores.

This specimen is part of the lowest Tier of symbiotes.

This specimen does not grant significant bonuses to ability usage.

Can replicate the shape and properties of most non-imbued equipment.

Can absorb minute amounts of damage as long as Psy is provided.

Can regulate temperature and air supply as long as Psy is provided.

Can administer basic wound care as long as Psy is provided.

Can administer nutrients from its own meals directly to host as long as Psy is provided.

Can be upgraded by Student using specialized materials.

Survivor Count: 658/1000

Swearing felt natural. Felt good.

I’d been trying to cut back on the habit in anticipation of my upcoming employment, but there were some situations where it couldn’t be helped.

‘Wow friend! You have a lot of funny words! I think they mean…mammalian reproduction?’

The stream of curses continued.

‘Wow friend. You really are fixated on reproduction! I guess that’s normal with primates, but its still surprising.’

This lovely back and forth kept going for roughly 10 minutes. At that point, all the bottled-up emotions popped like a balloon. It was a weird state of mind, where the strangeness took a back seat to the fact that I was still alive and seemingly whole.

I read the messages over once, before combing through all of them again to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.

Then I started a round of introductions with my new, uh, suit. Sadly, it ended prematurely when one of my feet touched a desiccated corpse on the ground. Around it were the other discarded leavings of the sludge.

Somewhere, in the back of my skull, a memory of Vince resurfaced. He was saying something about movie plot holes and how seeing one makes him have an hour’s worth of musings in the span of two seconds.

I was pretty sure that was happening to me now.

‘Can administer nutrients from its own meals directly to host as long as Psy is provided.’

Another twitch made my boot-covered toes scrape against the shell.

‘Can administer nutrients from its own meals directly to host as long as Psy is provided.’

The sludge had been carrying a pile of monsters. All dead for who knows how long.

‘Can administer nutrients from its own meals directly to host as long as Psy is provided.’

Thankfully, whatever link had formed between me and the parasite was very good at transmitting information. The face covering opened right as I started to heave. Very little came out.

‘Are you okay friend? Are you sick? You need to take care of yourself if you’re sick!’

I ignored the advice. I was too disgusted to process it.

And I continued to be disgusted for some time after that.

“Where, where did their insides go?” I managed.

‘Into each and every one of my cells! I can form multiple stomachs anywhere on my body! From there, 10% of my stored calories, proteins and vitamins went directly into your bloodstream! You are as well-fed as I could manage. Aren’t I great?’

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

My Psy roiled in response, ready to strike like a threatened viper.

It didn’t take. It didn’t flow. Not against the suit. My power recognized it as, part of me.

“Remember your mantra. Happy thoughts. Positive thoughts. You’ll make it through this. You always do.”

One little breakdown later, I was finally ready to move forward.

I mean, sure, this was a complete violation of my boundaries and sense of self and sure, I’d been injected with monster juices, but there were upsides.

For one, I was alive.

Also, I was now fully clothed. In a sense. No pebbles though, so good overall result.

Yes. Yes indeed.

Positive thoughts all around. No negative Nancy’s here. No sir.

I got up, feeling rested and full. I stretched, making sure nothing was out of the ordinary.

Then I threw myself on the ground and tried rolling from side to side. I went all over the place, jostling the tattered scraps that used to be my pajamas as well as the bodies. The suit remained in place.

Worse, it started talking to me again.

‘Are you under attack friend!? Is someone taking control of you!? Fight it! I believe in you! We can overcome anything together! Believe in the power of friendship! Believe in the bond we share!’

“The bond we share is what I’m trying to break!” I shouted without thinking.

It was at that moment that I remembered this thing had access to my bloodstream and a cold chill crept up my spine.

‘Why would you say that friend? That’s not nice. I helped you get to safety and I put your bones back together. All I want is for you to be happy.’

Another chill. Another tremor.

I needed to get free. I needed it to get off. But I couldn’t target it. Desperation clouded my thinking, urging me to find some way, any way, out of this situation.

Immediately, I recalled that [Fear] didn’t require a target. It hit anything within the radius. Just like [Fever].

Thusly, in a move that some might have considered imbecilic, I charged up a cocktail of the two abilities. By some miracle, the strings did not reject each other as my earlier experiments with the bolts had. Instead, the intertwined and mixed their colouring.

Fueled by adrenaline, more Psy was shoved in. I kept it up until the payload was slipping through my proverbial fingers and actively shaking off my grip. It was a bomb of raw psionic might, unstable in the extreme.

I set it free all around me and for the first time since the visions, felt the weight of my own skill.

While nowhere near as bad as that time, it was still horrible. Every nightmare I ever had came back to me at once, followed by a crippling heat in my brain. I was overheating, sweating like never before. There were more chills now, all along my back and limbs. Terrible fits of shuddering that made me vibrate with the effort of staying alive.

It only got worse.

Thinking back, the signals that came from monsters afflicted by just one of these abilities were dreadful. I’d never considered that it could happen to me. Never imagined that pain inside me.

It brought a morbid understanding as it washed over me. I wasn’t throwing viruses whenever I attacked a mass of centipedes. I was sending a flower of Psy, arranged in a different way than the bolts.

I commanded the neurons to simulate a fever and so they did.

I commanded that the symptoms be more severe, and so they were.

From my perspective, I was merely thinning the herd and setting up or finalizing an ambush.

I couldn’t have known what it was like, how terrifying the experience could be when coupled with my aura of torment. There was no logic behind it. There didn’t need to be. I was putting out orders for monsters to fear me.

And so, they did.

It was all energy taking different flavours. Kind of like forcing an ice cream swirl down someone’s throat.

Or brain, I guess.

“I’m going to die.” I said bluntly. “After all that struggle, my own power will have killed me.”

‘Serves me right. For being so stupid.’

The heatstroke was too much all at once. Worse, this was only the beginning. The ability was stuck to me like flies on dung. Orbiting nearby, befouling me further.

Pulses of Psy emanated from the bomb every fraction of a second, beating me down as it had so many monsters.

“I don’t want to die.”

“I don’t want to die here.”

“Not like this. There’s got to be something… Something I could so. I don’t want to die.”

The waves washed over me in solemn silence. They rose like the tide, drowning me.

Enlightenment blossomed as I felt myself be submerged. I had made the construct and I should be able to unmake it. Yes, it was clearer now. How much of me was inside the ocean. All the waters were of my making, woven of differently coloured strings that led inside me. I had imagined that any connections were severed after I threw an attack, but some lingering mark remained.

All those hours upon hours of practicing helped me put the pieces into place. Those strings were more alike than I realized and they could all fit together in some kind of way. Right now, I was too blind to see it, but the way did exist. It had to.

The suit had gone completely silent, shifting its mass in such a way as to provide as much cool air as possible to my head. The bits that were still connected began to reduce their own body temperature as well.

“You’re trying to keep me alive.” I said, all reason being washed away by the depth of my stupor.

‘Of course! You’re my friend now! The only one for me! I swear I’ll never let you down! I’ll never betray you! I’ll be there for you no matter what! Because you bonded with me and became my best friend forever!’

I tried to grasp that mind, that inner voice. The link between us was solid, immovable. I couldn’t tell where I ended and it began.

Befuddled as I was, I expressed myself in a different manner. Using emotions instead of words. Images and smells instead of proper language.

I felt it. What it wanted. What it feared. Its unwavering sincerity in wanting to help me. The torrent flowed into me and after all the rejection and the abuse, I couldn’t help but reciprocate it.

Instead, I began to shift my Psy inside my body, uplifting the shell I was trapped in so that it rose above the murk. One by one, all my current abilities came to life, draining a little bit of my remaining influence from the attack and thereby unraveling the edges. Shaken, the candle of [Fever] and [Fear] melted faster and faster and faster.

“So strange.”

‘What is it friend?’

“I’ve been doing this less than a week, but it all feels so familiar.”

‘Of course, it does! You’re you!’

I sent more messages back and forth, carrying the insecurities I felt. Delirium had fully set in by this point, crushing all filters I might have had.

“I don’t understand. This whole place. This whole system. The levels, they change me. Make me into more of a Telepath. I don’t want to be a Telepath. I want to be a hero. I want to help people.”

‘Why don’t you want to be a Telepath?’ It asked innocently.

“Because they’re bad people. They hurt others, control them. Make them think things they don’t want to think. Do things they don’t want to do. I don’t want to be like that. I don’t want the levels to make me like that. I need the strength to keep me alive, but I hate what it does to me. I hate being this good at controlling the power.”

Vexation was transmitted to me.

‘There might be similarities between Students, but all of them fuel themselves with Psy. That source comes from you and you alone. You are the beginning and the end. It is born from your concept and limited by your experience or lack thereof. Gaining levels isn’t changing who you are, it is becoming more of your true self. This you, right now, is more real than the old you ever was. I think you know that, friend. Even without me having to tell you.’

It paused for a moment, unsure if It should continue.

‘For what it worth. I think you’re the best Student in this whole labyrinth. You don’t need to help anyone. Others might need the support of a team, but getting this good this fast means most others will slow you down, even in this tutorial reserved for the elite. But you still went out and helped. That means you’re a very prosocial friend. Besides that, you’re my friend and you’re great. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.’

Alien as the creature was, those reassurance brought me comfort. They steadied me as I used everything left inside to erode the Psy assailing me.

When that wasn’t enough, I also activated [Precognition]. I refused to die. Not after finally getting a grip. If I had to suffer more visions to live, then so be it.

As expected, the golden threads expedited the process by a thousandfold. I was shown the perfect way to move every single iota of my reserves, as well as how to degrade the instrument of my downfall.

Once more, I felt confidence unlike anything I’d felt before. That jubilation was transmitted to my friend and he giggled in response.

The two of us talked like that for hours, laying on the floor of the sealed chamber, not caring for what was happening outside.

When the effects of my attack lifted, I had new notifications in front of me.

System Notice:

Student has made a breakthrough with an ability.

Level Gained: +5 Maximum Psy. +3 Ability Points.

Ability Evolving: [Fever] 3 has grown to [Fever] 4

System Notice:

Student has made a breakthrough with an ability.

Level Gained: +5 Maximum Psy. +3 Ability Points.

Level Gained: +5 Maximum Psy. +3 Ability Points.

Ability Evolving: [Fear] 1 has grown to [Fear] 3

System Notice:

Student has made a breakthrough with an ability.

Level Gained: +5 Maximum Psy. +3 Ability Points.

Level Gained: +5 Maximum Psy. +3 Ability Points.

Ability Evolving: [Message] 2 has grown to [Message] 4

System Notice:

Student has made a breakthrough with an ability.

Level Gained: +5 Maximum Psy. +3 Ability Points.

Ability Gained: [Friendship] 1 has been added to the Status.

Ability Gained: [Meditation] 1 has been added to the Status.

Ability Evolving: [Meditation] 1 has grown to [Meditation] 2

Name:

Solomon Carter

Psy:

2/180

Type:

Telepath Level 26

Abilities:

[Sense Thoughts] 3 / [Message] 4 / [Mental Bolt] 4 / [Fever] 4 / [Fear] 3 / [Static Illusion] 4 / [Hide] 3 / [Faint Presence] 2 / [Mental Map] 2 / [Precognition] 4 / [Friendship] 1 / [Meditation] 2

Ability Points:

0

Standing up was, different.

I felt so much, tranquility.

Ideas weren’t popping in from stress. I wasn’t being reminded of all my failures and shortcomings. Intrusive insults weren’t stabbing into me.

Instead, I was fully aware of what had happened, how I had survived and what my options were.

All without my subconscious undermining me. Without the reminders of what my powers could do.

I looked at my screen, towards the newest ability in my repertoire.

‘Is everything all right friend?’

“Yes. I’m good. Better than I’ve been in days. I… realized some things towards the end. You were right. You helped me see when I was blind. My actions are my own. There is no future, other than the one I make for myself.”

‘Ha ha! You’re funny friend! That was obvious from the beginning!’

I smiled wryly.

“Not to me.”