Roberion woke up with a headache of a lifetime; if someone asked how bad it was, he couldn't describe it. The changeling waited for the pain to recede, without much luck. Why does everything need to be so painful? In these gods, some kind of…better not to say anything; the last thing I want is their anger; their rewards are already half-assed.

At least I don't feel that creeping craving for that fucking drug. It feels like I'm healed, dunno if it is work of the baroness or the [Behemoth Skin], or lets say my skin. I also feel that my mana is acting weird. Back on topic, talking about that holographic baroness of dung, she didn't seem to have taken my mind. Anyway, time to wake up. I'm feeling slight tremors.

Roberion woke his eyes, his pulpis adjusting to the sudden brightness. Looking around, he noticed that he was in the carriage. What? Why does she always use these guys as packmules? Not that I'm complaining; I don't feel like moving anyway. The changeling pushed his arm, only to feel that it was restricted. Not limiting that much of his movements, but enough to be a bore.

In front of Roberion, the Cerulean Baroness looked at him, her gaze penetrating, and said, "Hey, you. You’re finally awake. Just in time because we will have a battle ahead, better prepare yourself."

Roberion got startled, "Wait, what battle? Where are we going anyway? I want to just get away from this cursed planet; I don't think that these bonds are enough. Talking about cursed, where is the second baroness?"

"It is obvious that there will be battles; it is always like this. We need to reach the teleporter. The way it is located is currently occupied by behemoths. I tried to move them, but the whole research station is a mess. I had to concentrate much of my processing on you, both because of the ritual and the incident after. Don't take it the wrong way about that; it would happen eventually; that parasite was a ticking bomb. It still is, but we can control it."

The Cerulean Baroness touched her nape and said, "That little critter got addicted to the [Bottoms Up Lite] drug; the medicine itself isn't that addicting, but the Brotherhood of Gains/ Fellowship of Aestheticism are known to juice their products, but not enough to make you an addict, only on chronic use. Sadly, the parasite is sensitive to it; just a dose, and he is already like a junkie. Your weak mental fortitude doesn't help either. I would love to say that you should be away from any type of substance, but sadly, you will need to continue consuming it. With the help of my clone, it will be somewhat controllable, obviously, if you stop being wimpy. Don't worry, though; I already tried to project a way to fix it; you will take it on your way out, and my clone will help you with that."

Roberion put his left hand in his forehead; his face is grim. "That is just great, and nothing suspicous. Like making me concede for you to invade my brain and do gods what, only to create a solution that I need—"

"As I said, it would—"

"SHUT UP!", Roberion got angry, but soon tried to find balance. He couldn't lose his composure both because of his mental weakness and his dependency on the Cerulean Baroness. As angry as he was, he needed her, at least now.

Roberion exhaled and said, "Okay, I will get over how you royally fucked me and go to where you just compensated me for that; how is that?"

The hologram grinned, "Yes, yes, I will give everything I get my hands on. It's part of my directive that I didn't say because you just needed to be stubborn and make us need to employ drastic measures. Ahem, yes, the plan is getting you to the teleporter; there, I have already stashed some resources since the beginning of my employment, first because I thought that some bribery could be useful, later because I saw how this project wouldn't help my directive. Without further ado, my directive is to create the perfect being."

Roberion looked at her with disbelief and asked, "How do I look like a perfect being? I was already messed up before, and now I'm worse. And why didn't you work it out without going rogue?"

"As I said, it IS my directive, not it WAS. If you are trash now, I will fix you up until you become perfect. What does perfect mean, and how will we reach it? That's a good question that you and my clone will find out. And I didn't go entirely rogue; I'm still doing what I was meant to do, just that I don't accept the idea of having my work butched when I finish it", the Cerulean Baroness finished with a hint of disdain.

"That makes sense, I guess", Roberion finally noticed that he was still nude, "What doesn't make sense is why I'm naked, and where is your clone, by the way? She's still in my head, right?"

"I didn't know how you would finish up, big or small, and I didn't have many chances of getting some contraband or stealing some tiered armor without anybody noticing. For that, I thought that my subject would have the decency of having clothes to begin with, and I saved money to buy good ones when getting out of here. Oh, I also got the information of a nice store to do just that; obviously, they aren't that legal, but they are somewhat honest, and as a consequence, their prices are inflated."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Which you give to your clone in my head, right? I'm not stupid; changing the subject only makes it more obvious. There is no way I can go out of this alone anyway; first I'm born a slave, then turned into a sabboteur, then later almost killed by the system, and now I have a parasite in my head."

"Sabboteur? About that, I think the same person who cut the connection I had with the Empire is responsible for it; his motives aren't clear. Yes, he wants to damage the Emperor of Creation's plans, but this is just a side experiment. I value my work, but it's just nothing for the Emperor in the scale of things he deals with. This person must have great knowledge about the system employed by the empire. He could be from one of the clans or maybe an enemy; that's too complex; let's not deal with them."

"For sure, he also tried to use the system to enslave me. Seeing that way, you aren't that good either; I now have an addicted parasite and a copy of you in my head."

"Technically, you are still not a slave; yes, we will try to guide you, and you also need to feed the addiction of the parasite."

"Which will always be the best option, following you like a servant, and if I disagree, your clone will just unleash the full brunt of the parasite madness on me, just so you can have your way again", Roberion closed his eyes in thought.

The baroness looked indignant, "Look, I want what is best for you from now on. If that means putting some sense into you, so be it. But I will give instructions for my clone to be more lenient; we can't have a disarmonious relationship; it will be a long time thing for sure."

Roberion opened his right eye and asked, "How long exactly? Nah, don't answer me; I'm already tired enough of all this. How much I would like to be free from all this, but it's not an option. Trying to be a happy fool, searching for happiness and peace, wouldn't work out. Maybe later, but first I need power, which a perfect being would have plenty of, right?"

"Right", the hologram answered without hesitation.

"So be it; if I tried to overanalyze each time I got a parasite in my head that also housed an AI clone in it, I would go insane. Which I probably am already. When I finally get a break, I will put this all in perspective, but alright, let's battle. What exactly are we battling? Ah, right, behemoths. Are behemoths and The Gentlemen the same tier to begin with?"

The Cerulean Baroness looks suddenly shy, "Not exactly, but they are smarter than the behemoths and now fully armed."

Roberion took a good look at the brutes surrounding him. The ones carrying him and the transport had some sort of small sheath carrying a sword. Far away, The Gentlemen, looked to be using things similar to great swords; some even had rifles. Next time that I wake up, I will analyze everything around. Damn, if I knew they were that armed, I wouldn't be so bold with the baroness. Maybe not; fuck her.

"That's better; maybe I won't die today. As for my needs, clothing…", Roberion takes a look at his heavy and bigger body. Now he was a little taller than Shade, by the looks of it. The changeling took long sheets of fabric and eveloped around his body, looking more like someone who got out of a bath or just a crazy hobo. "It would be easier to vest myself without these things bidding me; are they really necessary?"

"They are if you don't want to be dropped out of the carriage. We are only traveling; wait until the battle begins", the hologram answered, looking at the distance. They seemed to still be in some sort of big city; Roberion doubted it was the same as he had been; this one was completely destroyed; he didn't have much time to analyze it; he had bigger problems. The changeling noticed that he was being directed to a big tunnel.

"Alright, this is good enough, better than being nude without reason, although these fabrics won't protect me. Now for the weapon, first let's try to summon Percival", Roberion activated his dice, "Wait its not a dice anymore, is my bones."

"What are you talking about", the Cerulean Baroness span back, looking at Roberion.

"I can probably say this to you, so my weapon was sort of sacrificed and fused in my bones. Do you know how to activate it?"

"What??? Ahem, probably the work of the Primordial God. Talking about them: don't tell anybody about it after leaving here; only talk with my clone. Maybe sometime in the future it will be discovered as you grow stronger, but now don't even try to say you are a changeling. For the weapon activation, I think you need to focus on your bones and the way you try to activate an enchantment."

"What do you think I'm? Stupid? Don't answer", Roberion closed his eyes and tried to reach for his bones; the process was hard; normally he wouldn't be able to do that. With the help of the parasite, it became possible, and time after time, he demonstrated so, controlling his body to another level.

Oh yes, like activating an enchantment. She says that like it's helpful. For enchantments and everything, I just feel it, like it's always there…And it's just that. I won't say she is right; she seems like that type of people—AI, that is insufferable when complimented. Now it's show time.

"Alright, Percival, let's do this", Roberion roused the enchantment within his bones; he felt a fast and sudden vibration on them. Actually, there were two vibrations—real fast I almost didn't notice it.

Suddenly he felt the wood sensation of Jubilant Choir, but there was a drastic change with it. "WHAT THE HELL?"

Roberion looked with alarm; the weapon's rounded body was now more triangular, its grip still existed, but on one of its sides there was a trigger with a black metallic sheen. The grotesque eyes and mouths were still the same, but the woody seemed weird for Roberion, feeling more alive.

"Dammit, the [Hellish Plamas Cannon] fused with the Jubilant Choir, will this even work?", Roberion threw caution at the window, now looking at the muzzle of the gun, that now it was the top of the club, the triangular shape was the same.

Roberion grinned. If this change is good or bad, I don't know, but I can't say how much I want to try Jubilant Choir out, especially the fucking plasma shot.