Just breathe Ryker… Just breathe. Ryker thought to himself again as he crouched amid the remains of the hatchlings he’d slaughtered. Only there was barely anything left now that Ryker had had his fill. He’d eaten everything. The meat on all the hatchlings, the bones attached to that meat and even forced himself to crack open their skulls and eat their brain tissues. It was gruesome work, especially since the Kaiju he had feasted on were technically his brothers but that meant little to Ryker. He’d waste nothing if it meant granting himself an advantage.

Now if only he could figure out how to get that advantage.

Unlike his beloved Archangel and the various systems and interfaces implanting himself with a H.A.L.O. jack granted him there was no system or interface for him to work with here. Being a Kaiju was an experience Ryker was woefully unprepared for. Namely, that he was currently operating on a one hundred percent biological operating system. It was maddening. He could feel his body breaking down his meal in real time and if he couldn’t focus right his own body might grow some stupid adaptation that he couldn’t use.

With a grunt of frustration Ryker forced himself to calm down and focus again. He didn’t do feeling things out. He wanted a screen, a menu, a window. Jesus he’d kill just to have a big red button to push with “EVOLVE” on the front in big bold text. He was crouching down uncomfortably, not sitting like he wanted to since he couldn’t figure out how to fold his digitigrade legs underneath him. Crouching and waiting… waiting…

Urg! Damnit! Ryker snarled at nothing as he rose and paced around the room. Hind claws tearing into the egg shells littering the room in agitation as he moved and brought a claw to his face, tapping at his snout furiously. As if he could force himself to concentrate harder if he could just work out what code to tap into.

How the hell did Riley ever do this? He thought with exasperation, thinking back on his former squad mate in the Archangels and the years they’d spent together before then. Deployed out into the field together after the red headed girl left Beck’s conference on Kaiju. She was almost exactly what Ryker was not. Cool and collected in situations where Ryker’s blood ran hot and drove him into the action.

“Just an observation Ryker.” Riley had told him coolly after returning to base from a fight. “That thing inside your skull is good for more than just taking up space.” She’d said almost casually. As if she were offering actual advice. “If you’d actually use it you might not have to get towed back to base by half the squad.”

“What are you on about?” Ryker had answered back with heat. “This about kill counts? Because I got more than you and the entire rest of the squad combined!”

“I know. That’s the problem.” She’d said pointedly. Sipping on a tiny carton of juice through a bendy straw of all things. “Didn’t you grow up watching any cartoons about the power of friendship? Or working together with other human beings? You aren’t alone on that battlefield Ryker, we’re supposed to be a team.”

Ryker wanted to lash out at the woman but she wasn’t rising to challenge him at all. She didn’t even sound annoyed. Like she was talking to someone about a group project instead of life or death combat. Before Ryker could answer back she continued.

“I get it. I really do.” She began a bit more softly. “You aren’t the first person piloting Armor to have a vendetta against the monsters out there. But you are someone with the skills to back that up. I mean, seriously Ryker. Do you see that?” She said pointing a finger towards the Mechanics bay. Ryker turned and actually winced at the sight of his Mech in its cradle. Whereas the others surrounding it were damaged to some degree and needing resupplies Ryker’s Mech looked like it had been thrown into a building sized wood chipper. A wood chipper with a score to settle. There were massive furrows and gouges in the thickened Carbonite of the Mech than ran across its entire mid section. The arms looked like they were on the verge of falling off.

“By all accounts you should be dead. Any other pilot going into that situation very well would be. But not you. You’re a damn fine pilot Ryker but as long as you ignore the rest of the squad to go off on your own, you’re gonna bite it somewhere we won’t be able to help you.”

“I…” Ryker began. Feeling flustered for the first time in a long while. “I guess that’s my bad. I just can’t help it. Once I see those Kaiju out there- Ow!”

The woman had actually karate chopped his head. Considering she was wearing the wrist mounted uplink computers issued to pilots before Beck invented the H.A.L.O. system it actually hurt a bit.

“Geez lady! What’s your deal?”

“Don’t act like you can’t change Ryker.” She said offhandedly. “The monsters out there are the ones that are slaves to their nature. Not you. So what are you going to do to change that?”

Feeling equal parts chastened and peeved Ryker tried to answer honestly despite the threat of imminent bonking. “I don’t know actually. I’ve never really tried doing anything else before.”

For the first time Riley sported a small smile as she held out a hand to Ryker. “If you’re willing to learn. I’ll do what I can to help. I know some guided meditations and mental tricks to keep you on your game without losing it again. What do you say?”

Ryker remembered thinking very clearly back then that he had thought Riley was just straight up weird. He’d told her as much. But she had done wonders to curb his bad habits during combat after that. Guiding him on how to breathe properly before a battle to center yourself and focus clearly. When had he forgotten that? It had been…

With a grimace Ryker stopped pacing and held still as he remembered. It had been in Mongolia. After the Russo-Asian Coalition fell apart trying to kill the endlessly regenerating Kaiju, Spore Tyrant as it choked the air and proliferated across central China with its fungal growths. They’d been trying to plant a hydrogen bomb in one of the Kaiju’s main stalks to keep it from regenerating but the bomb failed to detonate once the surrounding spores began growing into it’s circuitry. Riley had carried the bomb herself into the beast’s body and overloaded her Heavy Armor’s reactor to detonate the bomb.

After he’d lost Riley all of Ryker’s old habits returned with a vengeance as he fought more recklessly than ever before. The old lessons Riley had taught him almost forgotten until now.

Sorry Riley. Ryker apologized to the air. My bad. I didn’t mean to forget I just… got a lot going on. Just let me think back again.

Taking a deep breath Ryker relaxed his tense muscles and just let his mind drift like Riley had taught him. Slowly drawing his focus tighter and tighter as he focused inwards. He felt the alien strength in the beat of his heart and the unnatural heightened nature of some of his senses as he let those distractions drift away as he fell deeper into himself.

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Pick something to focus on inside yourself. She’d told him all those years ago. Imagine yourself taking control of it.

She’d meant his anger back then of course. But now he was thinking of something else entirely. His Kaiju DNA. He wanted to control that. Needed to if he was going to be of any use to the world.

He could picture it clearly. A double helix spiraling up from below. Something that was apart of every cell in his body and his very core. He could almost picture the power there. The abilities hidden behind genetic locks waiting to be opened. Ryker could picture his DNA in his mind but he needed a clearer picture of what he had access to. What colors were Beck’s diagram again? Red for… Musculoskeletal? Blue for Neurosensory. And Yellow for everything in between including the breath weapons.

In his mind’s eye he could almost feel the different segments of his DNA separated by their functions. Just like in Beck’s lecture he separated the long spiraling double helix into three colored sections. He could almost imagine each rung of the different DNA trees offering a unique ability or evolution. The upper rungs were almost impossible to sense what their capabilities were. Intuiting that the higher rungs of the tree would only be available once he reached a higher Stage as a Kaiju he limited his focus to the bottom five rungs of each DNA segment. What he’d be able to access as a Stage One Kaiju.

In the red corner its strength, its power, its… Ryker thought to himself with a bit of humor in what might have passed for a ring announcer at a WWE tournament. With a small smile at his dumb joke as he focused on the first rung of the musculoskeletal segment. It felt like… All the muscles in his body tightening and strengthening, condensing even… It it were to have a name, it would be…

Increased Muscle Fiber Density? Nice. Ryker thought with a nod of approval. Feeling out his internal reserves of energy he’d gained from eating he felt he had enough to pick up the upgrade with plenty to spare. He focused on grasping it. Selecting it even. Firmly telling his body that this was a process he wanted complete control over and would be something he wouldn’t give up. And somehow, despite whatever strange system made up Kaiju biology, it worked.

He could almost feel the lowest rung of the DNA segment get highlighted as the gene lock on it released and the energy he’d accumulated went out of him in a rush. Ryker was almost rocked out of his meditative state as he felt his entire body writhe as the muscles inside his body were pushed to increase in number and density. It was like getting a cramp over your whole body instead of just a small cluster of muscles. Ryker wanted to say that it hurt but, it didn’t? Not exactly. It was painful in a way but similar to the burn of a long and extended work out. Pain that promised of future strength.

As his body’s muscular system remade itself Ryker refocused on the remaining energy he had left to spend. It would be good for another two abilities he guessed.

And behind door number blue we have… Ryker began again as he felt out the Neurosensory segment of his DNA’s first ability. It felt… sensitive somehow. Like it was something that wanted to reach into his senses and crank up the dial. Ryker tried to find the right words to describe it as he felt the upgrade out.

Increased… No that’s not right. Enhanced… Sensory Receptors? Not just a single sense? That could be invaluable. Ryker realized. He had just made it his mission to hunt down the Kaiju that escaped from his nest after all. What better way to do that than to enhance his already heightened senses like his sense of smell? Hopefully it would be able to put his visual acuity and other things back on the same level they’d been at when he’d been human.

Without waiting another moment Ryker focused on the upgrade as it became highlighted in his mind’s eye and his body went to work. He felt the most annoying itch in his head as his eyes, nose, and other sensory organs tingled as changes were made in them. It was a bit more concerning than the muscle cramps but what else was there to do but bear it? Not like he could complain to anybody about weird feelings in his new body after all.

Finally Ryker focused on the last yellow DNA Segment which was an amalgamation of his Cardiopulmonary abilities and everything else in between not covered by the other trees. Feeling out the first upgrade with more confidence now he could tell it was…hmm… it felt like a heartbeat somehow. His heartbeat pushing blood out to the rest of his body. It felt like it flowed faster, his heart pumping harder with more ease, his blood taking in more air even as it traveled through his lungs and picked up oxygen to fuel his strengthening body.

Some kind of… Hemodynamic Augmentation. Ryker felt certain. He could have used simpler words to describe all the abilities he noted belatedly but he’d spent so much time with Beck over the years that using the bigger words felt better.

Alien as his body was now it still needed oxygen to function properly and this upgrade felt like it would let him go further and longer without tiring. Which was why Ryker felt pleased when he took the upgrade with the last of his energy stores and felt his heart thump in his chest. Like a bell it continued to thump as it rang out to the rest of his body as that body augmented itself to work more efficiently.

Coming out of his meditative state Ryker was surprised to find the room he’d been in smaller than it had been when he’d entered. Not by a great margin but a noticeable one none the less.

Did I just grow a bit? Just from that? I mean… I did just eat some double digits worth of Kaiju Hatchlings but really? Ryker thought bewildered as he went to the bathroom to check his appearance again. Rather than the five foot nothing Kaiju he’d been just a few hours ago. Ryker came into the bathroom almost two feet taller than he’d been before. Gaping at himself in the mirror he was shocked to find how close his head was to the ceiling. He hadn’t needed to bend his head down to move around yet but he was at a height where he’d be able to look down on every human he came across.

I should have the height advantage on those five for now. But I’ll have to hurry. Ryker thought. Immediately cooling his emotions. If it was this easy for me to get this large in just a few hours, then that means that other Hatchlings might have done the same.

With a surety of purpose Ryker left the abandoned radio station behind as he trekked into the wilderness. The rain had come and gone now. Only the bright shine of the half moon lighting the world from above as Ryker raced through the beams of moonlight piercing the canopy. Feeling a surge of happiness at noticing the slightly improved color tones in the environment as Ryker’s upgraded eyesight took everything in. Empowered muscles pushed Ryker to an easy jog that would have been a light sprint for most humans, thanks to his increase in strength and height lengthening his strides. Tearing up the earth with his hind claws as he weaved between the trees he focused his heightened senses and caught the trace scents of his kin as they traveled together. Ryker remembering a lesson from long ago how young Kaiju hunted in packs until they developed enough to survive on their own.

It was good for him since he could follow them all at once and take them down together. But…

As long as there’s no one nearby. I can take them down without having to worry about endangering civilians.

With a desperate kind of hope in his chest Ryker pressed on following the scent before the Hatchling could grow strong enough to wreak havoc on the world at large.

Miles away. After having fled their nest in the midst of their own kin’s mad frenzy, five Hatchlings broke through the expanse of the darkened woods to a slight outcropping overlooking a valley. The largest of them. A full foot taller than the rest since it had gorged on any stray animals it could find as they ran. Stepping forward it took the lead of its brothers. It looked out over the valley, knowing that it should continue to flee but stopped once it’s eyes rested on the bright cluster of buildings in the valley below.

They were stark against the moonlight. A small cluster of buildings and tents huddled together like frightened animals in the dark. There was the flickering light of something the primal part of the Kaiju’s mind registered as fire. Which made it shy away at first. But the smell drifting up from below was too enticing to ignore. It had never smelled cooking meat before but it salivated at the stench of it.

Rallying its brothers who turned to it for guidance the pack leader. It trilled for them to follow as they made their way down to the valley below. Finding a widened trail made of a flat black rock they made their way forwards not sparing a glance at the sign on the side of the road. In large faded letters with an artistic depiction of a campsite it proclaimed…

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