“So Juli’s gone?" Jennifer asked while putting on a pair of Cindy’s old shoes I brought for her in my gym bag.

They were slightly too small for her but it would do until we found something more appropriate. The neighbor here had nothing available for women and we were getting ready to head out.

“In a way. It’s more of a mind meld of consciousness. They’re all me properly now,” I replied.

Cindybot and Kendall were bursting at the seams with anticipation.

“Cindybot assign Kendall as the first lieutenant with the Tripotent Command. And now tell me what you figured out. Ugh Kevin hated the menus and it’s leaking,” I said while I sat down.

“Speaking of, Lonnie and George get him out of here. He’s stinking up the place there’s already a weird fly buzzing around.” I continued.

Cindybot glowed green and Kendall was almost jumping up and down in anticipation as Lonnie and George dragged Kevin’s body out of the disheveled apartment.

Something within me shifted as Cindybot finished. It felt like a part of me went into Kendall and suddenly she was processing menus next to me.

“We figured out a bunch of shit but let’s just show you the result. Ok CB let’s do what we talked about and combine all the lesser Hivemind skills here, here, and here,” she started as I turned back to Jennifer.

“Michelle is at the grocery store and it seems the people she was watching left. I guess they got tired of waiting for us. Take the moped, meet up with her, and see what you can find. I’ll be there really soon,” I told her as she was gingerly walking on her healed foot.

“You’re about to start getting some upgrades and skill combinations just go with it,” Cindybot said while pulsing green.

My system interface was flashing so much it was giving me a headache so I finally opened my own menus.

“Wait why does everything look different,” I said looking at the expansive options before me.

The ship menus now had options for [Legion] [Skills] [Commands] [Cooldowns] and even [Training] in additional menus on top of the map and notifications interface.

“We’re both getting stronger so we’re getting more access to the ships abilities,” Cindybot said while still glowing green. A notification popped up in my interface.

New upgrade available:

Install Shock Command upgrade? Yes/No/Help

Help: Shock is a combination of the Paralyze command and the Reflect command. It stuns your opponent in place as you gain their innermost secrets and abilities. No additional trigger word is needed with upgrade. Time shocked grows with command.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

New evolution available:

Install Multi-Control Command evolution? Yes/No/Help

Help: Control now has the ability to affect everyone around the Challenger within 10 yards. New trigger word needed.

Skill upgrades:

[Light Ropeplay Beginner] has become [Grey Tiemaster]- You are the master of ropes. From Bowline Knots to Sheet Bends you haven’t met two pieces of rope you haven’t been able to marry. Skill’s knowledge affects those around you.

[Weekday Mom Jogger] has become [Gump’s Apprentices]- You have all mastered the medium paced jog and won’t tire after dozens of miles.

Skill affects legion.

[Angry Highway Shooter] has become [Weekend Gun Enthusiast]- You know the ins and outs of dozens of weapons. Accuracy has increased. Your American forefathers would be proud! Skill’s knowledge affects those around you.

“Wait why the ropes? And am I still an alcoholic? This is why I don’t do the system stuff much it’s so weird,” I said as I accepted the upgrade and evolution. I secretly admitted to myself that the running one was very useful.

“You never know how many trapped people we’ll find. The aliens sort of tell them to go to the factories and don’t understand when they can’t. Remember that Mai was bumping into the wall of the hidden room at creepy Hisui’s house for days,” Kendall explained as she kept looking through the menus.

Cindybot was glowing green as the upgrades processed. I felt Moto shift with what I could only ascertain as “pure glee”. The symbiote was hungry to try out his new power.

“It just seems useless toward our real goal,” I muttered.

“That’s the Dennis in you then,” Kendall replied and gave me a side eye. Ouch.

“Cindybot set the trigger word for the multi-control command to ‘Free’. Oh and what’s the training option?” I asked the AI.

“You now have access to the white room time dilation for yourself and Tripotent Command lieutenants. Cooldown of 24 hours, like with minion travel, as it takes more of the ships’ processing than normal.” Cindybot replied.

That was going to be very handy one day. For now I really needed to see if we could still track the grocery store people somehow.

“Ok I’m going to run to the grocery store. Julio go with George and Lonnie and head to the place you think your new girlfriend is. And please stop sexually harassing that woman before I have to command it Jesus man,” I said while shaking my head.

“Kendall go back to the shelter area and keep getting the houses near it ready with your group. We’ll keep talking through our MindChat thingy. Let’s call it that. Thoughts and prayers. Warp,” I commanded as I thought of Michelle. Everyone was yelling complaints as I left. Perfection.

The ecstasy of teleportation hit me hard. It now felt like I was flying through the air as my cells reformed at a molecular level in front of Michelle.

The feeling soon faded but a happiness lingered. Everyone back at the apartment was yelling at me in Mindchat but I ignored them.

“Wait Sally what the hell why are you here?” I said hugging the dog and rubbing her curly ears as she nuzzled my cheek.

We were outside the grocery store and Michelle was eating a bag of Funyuns. Sally had some peanut butter on a plastic spoon next to her. The grocery store itself seemed to be running on a generator since it still had power. Why would they leave this place? I thought.

“She insisted on it after you left. She just ran and caught up to me within a few hours. I know you were busy and couldn't check but she now swears she can track them by scent,” Michelle said between bites. I needed to get some food in me soon as well.

Master we can totally track her. The scent is so strong still. She thinks it’s your mate. The sad one that you used to bring to the house all the time, Sally’s Symbiote thought to me.

“Wait what you mean CINDY?” I said in panic.

Sure master her. She left with some other humans traveling north, the symbiote thought.

Cindybot finally appeared next to me and was as pale as ever. The thought of meeting who she was modeled after was probably jarring.

"I need a new name Jon. I mean really I'm not even like her anymore," the AI complained after awhile.

"The letter said family reunion, Cindy is just my ex...I mean yeah we were together a long time but. This doesn't make sense," I said mostly to myself.

"I miss when things did make sense to be honest," Michelle said while handing me a funyun.

"Lets go through what you first saw together if that's ok?" I asked while grabbing it.

"Yeah sure. Like my memory shows it was just a big bike gang that was already heading out. Maybe twenty of them? I was too far out to hear them say anything...I didn't want to get too close again," Michelle said.

"I get it. Lets look through the store one last time and make sure they didn't leave anything then. If not then I guess were actually going to scooby doo this shit," I said in desperation.

Kendall get a food distribution system going between the grocery store and the rest of our bases. They have power for now but I bet it wont last much longer so hurry I thought to her.

"I don't think scooby tracked anyone Jon," Michelle reminded me as we heard Jennifer pull up on the moped.