Greg snuggled closer to Tessa after indulging in what was quickly becoming their regular before bed activity as a strange feeling came over him, two paths appearing in front of him. On the one hand, he could follow Tessa and his body into the sweet embrace of sleep for the first time in forever, or… he could let his body rest while his mind moved to his smoke, escaping the need for rest once again. A bleary groan escaped his lips as his consciousness slid out of his body and into his smoke. He had shit to do.
With a sigh he focused on the smoke he had in the uncivilized section of the ship, considering his options for a moment before turning it into Jennifer and heading towards the bird girl. He supposed he could head to the male section as the scorpocroc, but he didn't actually know anyone over there… through no fault of his own, of course. It wasn't that he didn't meet a lot of males, they just… usually ended up dead afterwards. Of course, he could go see the wolf man or one of the random males he'd ended up tagging, but that just seemed inefficient, since he'd have to waste time calming them down and explaining things before getting the information he wanted.
Greg quickly arrived at the bird girl's building, turning back to smoke and slipping inside, flying straight to the bird girl's room. “Knock, kno- oh, shit, are you crying?” Greg called out as he transformed back into Jennifer, cutting off as the bird girl whirled on him with bloodshot eyes.
“Who- who are you?!? How did you get in my room!?!” The bird girl exclaimed.
“It's me, Greg- er, the mighty one? Hold on.” Greg sighed, transforming into his scorpocroc form. “There, recognize- Oof!” He grunted as the bird girl slammed into him!
“Mighty one!” She exclaimed. “I- I thought you'd abandoned me!” She added with a choked sob.
Greg frowned. “Why would you- oh, cause I took the glass? Sorry, I needed the smoke from it so I could actually be here, and in the process I sort of got side tracked… but honestly, do you really need it now? You're safe, right? You don't need me to protect you anymore.”
“But- I want you to protect me.” The bird girl murmured, pressing herself against him.
Greg frowned, putting his hand/pincer on her shoulders and gently pushing her away. “Okay, what is up with your obsession with me? I mean, I sort of got it when you needed my protection, but now… aren't you with that rat dude? I mean, isn't he your mate?”
The bird girl gave him a weird look. “You think I'm mating with my brother?”
Greg blinked. “Your brother?” The bird girl nodded. “How- would you even know that?”
The bird girl paused, cocking her head. “I- don't know? He simply is.”
“Huh… okay, but that still doesn't explain why you want me.” Greg replied.
“Why wouldn't I want you?” The bird girl cooed softly. “You're strong, caring, cute… what more could I ask for?”
“Well… that's fair I guess. Though ‘caring’ comes with disclaimers.” Greg muttered. “Alright, well, in any case, I'm already with someone else, and I'm a one woman guy, so…” He gestured between the two of them. “Not gonna happen.”
The bird girl froze, then wilted. “Oh.” She hesitated. “Then… why have you sought me now?”
“Well, as you know, I've been going back and forth between the ferals and the unformed, so when the aliens came, I got lumped in with the unformed, and now I have no idea what's going on with you guys.” Greg explained.
The bird girl tensed, letting out a hiss. “The unformed are here?!?”
Greg blinked, not expecting such an extreme reaction. “I mean, not here, but yeah, they were picked up by the aliens too… I doubt they're actually going to be a problem for you though. The aliens seem to want to reintegrate the two groups, so I doubt they're just going to let you kill each other.”
The bird girl frowned. “Reintegrate?”
“Yeah, cause, you know, you used to be unformed. Before all this.” Greg shrugged.
Her eyes widened. “We- we were?!?”
“Yup.” Greg nodded. “But then mana showed up and fucked with your heads, turning you wild. Then you started mutating, turning into bird and rat and cat and bat and… gnat?” Greg offered hesitantly, before realizing he was getting off track and coughing awkwardly. “Anyway, it turned you into a bunch of animal people. But originally you were baseline humans, like the unformed.”
The bird girl narrowed her eyes. “Then why do they hunt us?!?”
Greg sighed. “Cause people suck sometimes? When you went wild, a good portion of you became violent, apparently, so now the unformed think you're all violent, and they don't want to risk dying to make sure you aren't. And, since you do the same thing on your end, you pretty much are all violent when it comes to them, so it just kind of perpetuates. Cause people suck.”
The bird girl looked a bit lost. “I- so the unformed aren't our enemy? But… they are?”
Greg paused. “Kinda? Basically, it isn't that they want to be your enemy, it's that up until now they haven't any other choice. But now it seems like the aliens are doing something about that, so who knows? Maybe in a year or so, your best friend will be an unformed.”
The bird girl shifted uncomfortably at the idea, deciding to change the subject. “You wanted to ask about our situation?”
“Right! Yeah, I'm just wondering how the aliens are treating you and what not. The unformed pretty much just got dumped in the wilderness and told to figure it out, so the fact that you guys have rooms is a bit of a shock.” Greg replied.
“The ‘aliens’ are treating us well… we have classes we must attend and challenges we must face, but otherwise they leave us to our own devices. The only rules are that males and females cannot enter each other's zones and we cannot kill each other.” The bird girl explained.
Greg nodded slowly. “So, similar to the unformed, just a bit more guided… I suppose you guys do need a bit more help.”
The bird girl glared at him, crossing her arms. “What is that supposed to mean? Do you think the unformed are better than us?!?”
Greg raised an eyebrow. “No, they just have a lot more… history. Like, when was the last time you worked in a group larger than like… twelve people? Never, right? Well, the unformed regularly work in groups of hundreds. Organization is natural to them, while you have to start from scratch. It doesn't mean you're worse than them, it just means you haven't built the foundation they have. But they've had millennia to build that foundation, while you've had like… a year. Maybe two.”
“Oh…” The bird girl grunted, not sure how to even process that information.
“Right, well… Do you need anything?” Greg asked.
“I- don't think so?” The bird girl replied. “Except… maybe another piece of glass? I'd- still like to be able to contact you…”
“Fair.” Greg agreed, finding a small plant in the corner and using some smoke to dissolve a bit of it to make her a piece of glass. “There. Now, I have one more person to check on, so I'll see you later.” He waved, turning into smoke and flying out of the building, before turning into Jennifer again and heading towards the spider girl, quickly finding the building she was in and slipping into her room. “Hello?” Greg called out as he reformed as Jennifer again, not finding the spider girl in the bed. “Anyone ho- gah!” He cut off, jumping as the spider girl popped in out of nowhere, driving some kind of shiv into his chest! “Fuck, you scared me.” Greg let out a breath as the spider girl jumped back, watching him warily.
She blinked as she watched him heal, standing up straight. “Oh, it's you. What do you want?”
“What, I can't check up on a friend?” Greg grinned. “How'd you jump out of nowhere like that?”
“My mana allows me to create a web of subspaces throughout an area.” The spider girl explained, narrowing her eyes. “And since when are we friends?”
Greg blinked. “That- could be very useful.” He muttered, thinking of how he could use it to hide and protect the base as he sent a wisp of smoke out to nab a bit of hair off her. “Anyway, yeah, I was just checking in to make sure you're okay, see if you need any help, you know, the usual.”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“I-” The spider girl began dismissively, before pausing, her eyes narrowing. “Do you have a challenge team, yet?”
“That- is a good question.” Greg muttered. “I do, but I'm not opposed to having a second one, depending on the schedule.”
The spider girl frowned. “The overseers recommend sticking to a single team.”
“Well sure, for normal people, but I'm not exactly normal, am I?” Greg chuckled. “We'd just need to do challenges at night and I'd need a place to store my body during the day. Though I should probably talk to the Archmage to make sure… oh, and eventually I'll be able to control both bodies at the same time, supposedly.”
The spider girl blinked. “You- No, of course you have multiple bodies.” She sighed. “Your existence is objectively unreasonable.”
“Heh, yeah.” Greg agreed, grinning slightly. “But, if you work with me, that unreasonableness can be on your side. And not gonna lie, your pocket spaces seem like a great place to stash a body.”
“That- is true.” She muttered tentatively. “I will need to discuss it with the others first.”
“Of course.” Greg nodded. “I have to discuss it with some people myself. Meet you here tomorrow? About the same time?”
“That should be fine.” The spider girl replied.
Greg smiled. “Alright, unless there's anything else you need, I'll see you then.”
The spider girl gave him a small smile back. “I shall see you then.”
*
Greg stored his smoke as a boulder near the spider girl's building before turning his focus back to the base, spending the next hour or so digging a slanted tunnel deeper underground, heading further into the mountainous zone. Due to his experience with the awakening station and the room the aliens had used to dispose of the people who couldn't use magic, he was certain he wouldn't end up damaging anything important in the process, since anything important would repel his smoke anyway, and he figured the deeper they could get, the better. He was proved right when the tunnel got to about two hundred meters long and he finally reached the bottom, which was made of a silvery metal his smoke could barely even touch. He then managed to widen a small cavern before the strain got too much for him and he had to call it quits, letting his consciousness drift back into his body and enjoying a few hours of sleep before waking up to a kiss from Tessa.
“Mmm, good morning.” He greeted her with a satisfied groan.
“I was wondering whether or not you were in there.” Tessa grinned as she stroked his chest. “There's something nice about waking up to you and not just an empty body.”
“I'll have to keep that in mind.” Greg muttered. “I was out for a bit, early in the night. Made a nice long tunnel, too.”
Tessa raised an eyebrow. “Oh, did you now? For our new base?”
“That's the plan.” Greg nodded. “I managed to reach the bottom where the rock ends and the ship begins, which the aliens have fortified to hell, so no one is getting through it. One less direction to worry about, you know?”
“I suppose…” Tessa agreed. “Though I wasn't particularly worried about people coming from beneath us.”
“Now that there is a fundamental lack of imagination.” Greg chuckled.
“Oh, you think my imagination is lacking?” Tessa purred dangerously, her hand shifting as it wandered lower.
Greg gulped. “That- oh, fffuck!” He groaned, Tessa grinning as her hand went to work.
“What do you think of my imagination now~” Tessa whispered in his ear.
“Just perfect~” Greg hummed in satisfaction, a glint flashing in his eye as he sent something a bit imaginative Tessa's way as well.
“We- we should probably stop.” Tessa gasped a few minutes later.
“I'll- stop when you- stop.” Greg grunted.
“Mmmpph.” Tessa groaned. “Okay, okay, just- mm!” She hummed sharply, tensing for a moment before relaxing and pulling her hand back. “Okay, now we need to get up.” She muttered.
“Yeah.” Greg sighed, a part of him wishing he could spend all day in bed with her. “Right, okay.” He urged himself on as he rolled over and pushed himself up, swinging his legs off the bed.
Tessa scowled at his back as he stood. “You could have at least argued a little.”
Greg snorted. “Believe me, if I thought there was any chance of changing your mind, I would have. But we aren't in a position where we can afford to spend all day in bed. You need to start using those mana pills and I have my whole freaking month planned out thanks to the Archmage.”
“I know.” Tessa grumbled petulantly. “But I'd still appreciate it if you argued at least a little.”
Greg cocked his head. “I'll keep that in mind.”
“You better.” Tessa muttered, hopping out of bed herself, pausing for a moment before grinning at him. “Join me for a shower?”
Greg smirked. “As a wise man once said, if I ever say no to that question, shoot me.”
Tessa rolled her eyes. “What good would that do?”
“Ha! Fair.” Greg laughed.
The two ended up taking longer than they probably should have in the shower, forcing Greg to practically sprint to his meeting with the Archmage, and still… “You're late.” The Archmage chastised him as he burst into the room.
“Sorry, I- got a bit lost.” Greg threw out as an excuse , which was at least half true. The Archmage had reserved a room in some kind of training complex on the strip, and it'd been harder to find than Greg had thought it would be.
“Hm.” The Archmage grunted. “Very well. I assume that won't be a problem next time, though, so I expect you to be precisely on time, if not early.”
Greg nodded. “I will be, I promise.”
“Good. Now, did you complete the assigned readings and do you have any questions?” The Archmage asked.
Greg paused. “About the reading or just in general?”
The Archmage smirked slightly. “I was referring to the reading, but I'm willing to entertain any question you may have.”
“Right, well, the reading seemed pretty simple. Mana turns thought into reality so watch yours and learn as much as you can so you can think better. Easy peasy. I just wanted to ask you if there's anything in particular I should look out for when making defenses for a base, and if it's a smart idea to join a second challenge team on the feral side of the ship, which I would focus on during the night while my main body sleeps, at least until my multitasking gets up to snuff. Cause, I mean, it isn't like I'm doing anything else with that time. For the most part.” Greg finished with a shrug.
The Archmage frowned thoughtfully. “That is a basic, yet admittedly functional understanding of mana, and though it doesn't cover how mana affects the environment it's placed in, that isn't a concern for you at the moment. As for defenses, simply infusing mana into whatever structure you create should protect against the majority of threats, given that your structure is suitably durable. And if I correctly presume that ‘feral’ refers to the uncivilized, then I believe forming a working relationship with a group of them would be wise indeed, as long as it doesn't hinder your growth.”
“How do I infuse something with mana?” Greg asked.
“Simply release your mana without any intent for it to act.” The Archmage explained. “Certain mana types are better for defense than others, but I believe yours should be perfectly effective.”
“Hm. And how does it work?” Greg followed up.
“Mana resists mana, so by filling the structure with your own intent, it will naturally block any mana that doesn't match that intent. Your structure will still have to resist any attacks brought against it, but your opponents will not simply be able to bypass it as they wish. Their own intent would have to overwhelm yours, and in that case it would be unlikely that you would be able to resist them in the first place.” The Archmage elaborated.
“Fair enough.” Greg muttered. “Alright, that's all I had.”
“Very well, then we shall begin by deciding which intents you wish to focus on.” The Archmage began. “Based on your previous inquiry and the nature of your mutation, you wish for your primary focus to be multitasking, yes?”
Greg nodded. “That seems like it'd get me the best bang for my buck. It's kind of wasteful to have multiple bodies if I can only control one at a time, right?”
“Indeed.” The Archmage agreed. “Then we shall focus on determining your secondary intents, which will complement your primary. Force, projection, and illusion meld well with multitasking, as they allow you to create illusionary constructs containing your consciousness, allowing you to be in multiple places at once, but given that your mutation seems to cover this on your own, it may or may not be wise to pursue. There are benefits to redundancy, allowing you to reinforce what you already do, but learning how to accomplish something you can already do quite handily is somewhat wasteful. Ideally I would tell you to look to your natural mana for insight, finding intents that complement it, but since I can barely fathom what your natural mana is, I don't believe that advice is particularly sound.”
“My smoke is pretty weird.” Greg agreed with a sigh, considering what she'd said for a moment. “I don't think it'd be particularly useful to focus on illusion or projection… My smoke can already be practically indistinguishable from reality and it carries my consciousness just fine. Force might be useful though? Add magic to the force my smoke can already produce?”
“I have similar thoughts.” The Archmage nodded. “However, I would not rule out projection. It does not simply involve projecting your consciousness to the clone, it includes sending your mana, allowing you to cast through the clone.” She paused. “Though perhaps transfer would be a better focus… I'm not sure which would fit better with your natural mana.”
“Transfer?” Greg asked.
“The idea of moving something from one place to another.” The Archmage explained. “It's primarily a spatial intent, but it can also carry more ephemeral ideas, such as transferring thoughts or ownership. The reason I thought of it is that from what I understand, your smoke doesn't project your consciousness, it contains it, even dispersed, and all that matters is where you focus. I believe conceptualizing it as transferring your consciousness between your bodies fits better than projection, as projection is sending your mind outside your body, and technically your mind never leaves your ‘body’.”
Greg frowned. “Shit, this is more complicated than I'd thought it'd be.”
“Indeed.” The Archmage sighed. “And it is only made more so by your unique nature.” She shook her head. “For now, let us simply focus on multitasking and force. There is no need to rush your choice at this point, as those two will round out your capabilities nicely on their own.”
“True.” Greg agreed. “So, where do we start?”
The Archmage smiled. “Let us begin with the nature of intelligence…”