Chris headed to the cafeteria, thinking over what he'd learned with Jacobs today. Was his space really a natural ability? It seemed absurd, but it would explain why no Reader could find it. Readers analyzed abilities by studying a person's ability energy, so if he didn't have ability energy, there was nothing for them to analyze. Which meant he was back to just not having an ability, huh? Instead he was some sort of mutated human… Chris blinked as that thought crossed his mind, slowly piecing an idea together. His space was a natural ability that he could ‘share’ with his minions, letting them open portals and use each other's abilities. Slimes had the natural ability to mutate. If he could share his natural ability with them, then wouldn't it make sense for them to be able to share their natural ability with him? Unless there was a physical basis for it… but then he could just transform, couldn't he? Possibly even just partially, simply adding in the necessary parts to make it work!

Chris barely hesitated before drawing on Jello's spirit to see what he could find. He'd never actually drawn on one of the slimes’ full spirits before, since by the time he'd gotten around to drawing on their abilities, he'd learned how to just pick out what he needed. As the full instincts of a slime flowed into him, he found… surprisingly a lot, actually? For what was essentially just a blob that hopped around and glomped onto things, the slime was a surprisingly complex organism. Just controlling their body already required telekinesis! It wasn't powerful and it only worked on their body, but still! Then there was a shit ton of information on mutation, mostly on all the ways you could maximize what you gained from it, such as making sure you'd consumed a diverse amount of materials, to stay mobile so you experienced as much as you could, to specifically target creatures ability cores so you could steal a part of their experience, how long you should wait between mutations, and even the type of locations you should mutate in. It honestly seemed more like an instruction manual than a set of instincts. There was even a part about humans in there, saying that if you encountered a being with human-like characteristics, you should just take a taste and move on! And finally, adding onto all that, slimes had two special senses, one to sense energy and another to sense… life force? Or maybe vitality? Whatever it was, it seemed to be associated with physique, letting them almost perfectly judge how strong a creature was at a glance.

“Holy shit.” Chris muttered incredulously, not quite believing how much capability hid in the unassuming little blobs. He shook his head, dismissing the thoughts for later as he focused on what it actually took to mutate. The answer was surprisingly little. Over the slime's life, everything it did and everything it ate would add to the information stored in its core. Then, once it was ready, it would find a location with a lot of energy and begin the process, using all the information stored in its core to form a new body for itself. Chris frowned for a moment as he didn't find any physical basis for the mutation process. The core was needed for the information inside, but the actual mutation just seemed to happen? Every part of the slime would dissolve into gloop and then reform according to the blueprint provided by the core, for no apparent reason. Though he supposed it wasn't all that much different from a baby forming in its mothers womb, a single cell dividing over and over based on a preset blueprint… The slime just created new blueprints over and over, constantly returning to the womb to improve itself.

Chris considered what he'd need to do to mutate. The problem was that he didn't have a core to make a new blueprint for himself. Sure, he could copy Jello or Jam's (Jacobs’ slime) cores, but then his new blueprint would be based on them, not himself, and at that point it'd be better to just let them mutate and copy their form later. What he needed was a way to fill the core with his own information. He wondered if he could somehow use the database to create a core based on itself… he'd obviously need to fill it up a bit more, but- Chris paused as it suddenly hit him that his database was awfully similar to a slime's core. In fact, his energy awareness and material awareness weren't terribly dissimilar to a slime's energy sense and vitality sense… he could even use the space to transform himself like a slime's mutation!

Of course, he didn't know how to put together new blueprints, something the mutation process seemed to do automatically, and a slime couldn't heal or form connections, but still, it was oddly similar. Similar enough that Chris wondered if he could simply use his database as the core, instead of finding a way to create a core that was essentially a copy of the database. It couldn't hurt to try, could it? If nothing else, he could always transform back to normal, right? Unless the mutation somehow broke his space… but that seemed unlikely, since all he was messing with was his physical form, something the space could alter itself, so it obviously wasn't integral to the space. Chris hesitated for a moment. Maybe he should talk this over with Jacobs first…

Beth pressed her finger into his cheek. “Poke.”

Chris turned, raising an eyebrow at her. “Yes?” He'd sort of drifted through the process of arriving at the cafeteria and getting his food before sitting down with the squad, barely even touching his food up to this point, as he was too lost in thought.

Beth gave him a serious look. “You've been ignoring me.”

Chris shrugged. “Sorry. I've been thinking about something.”

“Told you.” Derek smirked from Chris's other side. “When Chris is focused on a thought, you could literally kill someone in front of him, and he wouldn't notice.”

Chris frowned. “I would notice. It'd just take me a bit to react. Which reminds me.” Chris elbowed Derek in the side. “Don't steal my food.”

“You don't even like mashed potatoes!” Derek complained, rubbing his side.

“They were still mine.” Chris retorted. “All you had to do was ask.”

“How can I ask when you're ignoring everyone?!?” Derek grumbled bitterly.

“Wait?” Chris offered. “It's mashed potatoes. It isn't like a few minutes will make them any worse than they already are.”

“Warm mashed potatoes are infinitely better than cold mashed potatoes!” Derek countered.

“Gross, mushy goop either way.” Chris shrugged.

“Ugh, you suck.” Derek waved him off with a dismissive gesture, ending the argument.

“What were you thinking about?” Beth asked.

“Well, I learned a few new things with Jacobs today, and I'm pretty sure it means I can borrow a slime’s natural ability to mutate.” Chris explained.

“Mutate?” Carmen asked curiously.

“It's a process they go through to get stronger based on what they've experienced and consumed.” Chris replied.

“Seriously?” Zack blinked in shock. “Isn't that kind of… stupidly powerful? I mean, we regularly exterminate kobolds because they get stronger the longer they're alive! Why don't we do anything about slimes?”

“Because the nature of a slime's mutation means they have to keep climbing the Maze to improve their mutations, while a kobold's growth simply happens.” Beth provided. “Additionally, slimes are solitary, nomadic creatures, while kobolds are tribal, sedentary creatures. Slimes climb and explore the Maze, seeking stronger and stronger opponents to fight to grow their strength, practically doing our job for us in some cases, while kobolds take over sections of the Maze, carving out territories for themselves and upsetting the balance of the Maze. Powerful creatures aren't a problem, it's powerful creatures outside their proper place in the Maze that are the issue.”

“Wouldn't the tribe still climb the Maze for better territory and resources?” Nadia pointed out.

Beth sighed. “Eventually, yes, but it takes time and effort to move an entire tribe, so it could be years before they manage to do so, causing disruptions the entire time. It's better to just go around and cull the population every now and then. Otherwise you end up in a situation like the upper levels, where the entire place is in a constant state of war over territory and resources.”

“Yeah, let's avoid that.” Derek muttered, shuddering slightly. The main reason the Vanguard was so dangerous was because higher tier creatures would come down from the upper levels to escape the wars. If they let the lower levels get that bad, no place in the Maze would be even relatively safe.

The group fell silent for a moment, pondering the tenuous balance of the Maze, until Zack suddenly blinked as he remembered something. “Hey guys… did Chris say he could mutate?”

“Might be able to mutate.” Chris corrected.

“Fucking hell, dude, isn't your ability already ridiculous enough?!?” Zack exclaimed.

“Oh, that's the other thing. It might not even be an ability.” Chris added.

“What does that mean?” Nadia asked, frowning slightly.

“Well, according to Jacobs, my space doesn't obey some of the normal rules abilities usually abide by which would be explained by my space instead being some kind of mutation or something, so it doesn't run on ability energy, it just kind of exists.” Chris explained.

“That seems even more ridiculous than your ability already was.” Carmen commented.

“I mean, my space still functions the same way it always did, this is just an alternate explanation for why.” Chris retorted.

“I- suppose that's fair.” Carmen muttered.

Beth hesitated, shifting uncomfortably. “Chris… I don't want to say you should stay weak, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of you mutating. Would- would you even still be human at that point?”

“Oh, I can transform now.” Chris replied, holding up a hand and transforming it into one of Cabbage's, confirming that he could indeed transform selectively. “Even if I mutate, I can still turn back into a human.”

“Bullshit!” Zack cursed.

Derek shook his head. “You know, it's times like this that I wonder if I'm still in a coma.”

Beth sighed. “Yeah…” The idea that she actually had died and everything since she met Chris had been nothing more than a figment of her imagination had crossed her mind more than a few times.

“What exactly can you turn into?” Nadia asked seriously.

“Myself, obviously, and then any of my minions. Maybe anything analyzed by my space, but I'm not sure since I haven't analyzed anything that isn't one of my minions.” Chris replied.

Nadia nodded slowly. “Okay, so all it means is that we can double up on one of your minions if necessary… wait, does transforming into them let you actually use their abilities?”

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Chris frowned. “I haven't tested it, but I'd say probably not? I still don't have any ability energy and I doubt the transformation gives it to me. I'll test it later though.”

“Alright, let me know if it does, but I'll assume it doesn't for now.” Nadia muttered, considering how this new facet of Chris's space might affect them tactically, and it really didn't. For any specialized goal, she'd rather have his minions with their abilities, and in general Chris was best reserved for healing and controlling his minions. She didn't even like using him as an extra defender, because if it got to the point they actually needed him, they should be running and keeping him available for healing, not draining his stamina for some extra defense, because if he went down, they were screwed. She might use him to stop a hit or two while they escaped, but that was it. She shook her head. “Yeah, okay, this changes nothing, just like the barriers. It's interesting, but Chris is still better in the back.”

“Fair.” Chris agreed. He wasn't going to lie and say it wasn't nice that his space was so flexible, but realistically his biggest strengths were his healing, his portals, and his minions. Everything else was just extra.

Zack frowned, thinking about it for a moment, before sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms. “It's still bullshit.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “You’re just grouchy because Chris can fly and you can't.”

Zack narrowed his eyes at him. “Watch it, buddy. You spend way too much time in windblade range to be getting snarky with me.”

Chris scratched his head. “Don't we all?” It was a ranged ability. It was hard not to be in range.

“And don't any of you forget it.” Zack smirked, before letting out a yelp as his shirt was suddenly yanked up over his head.

“You aren't the only person here with a ranged ability, dork.” Nadia smirked.

“And if you think a little distance will save you from a pounding, prepare to be surprised.” Beth added, waving a fist at him.

“Beth, I know we've already been over pounding.” Chris sighed.

Beth flushed as she realized what she'd said. “It just slipped out! I don't keep track of every word I say!”

Chris paused. “Well that's fair.”

“So, what do you guys want to do tonight?” Carmen asked. They were all used to Beth's slip ups by this point, and it wasn't even worth commenting on anymore.

“Games and/or TV, like always?” Derek replied.

Carmen rolled her eyes. “Yes, but what games and what TV?”

““Nothing luck based.”” Both Nadia and Zack replied at the same time, both glancing at Beth. By now her luck was infamous in the squad, since any time they played something involving random chance, she won at least half the time.

Beth stuck her tongue out at them. “How about Tribes, then?”

“We always play Tribes.” Zack complained.

“Do you have a better idea?” Beth countered.

Zack frowned for a moment. “How about a social game tonight? Friendly Fire, maybe?”

“Absolutely not.” Derek shook his head. “It always just turns into everyone explaining all the innuendo Beth doesn't get.”

“Maybe find a game that doesn't revolve around being gross then.” Beth grumbled.

“We could play Imposter?” Chris suggested.

Nadia frowned. “A six person game of Imposter is a little weak…”

“We could invite one of the other squads.” Carmen pointed out. “Maybe even the entire platoon?”

“Only if they bring their own snacks.” Chris replied. “My stock is already getting stretched thin between you guys and the extra minions.”

“I knew we should have bought more.” Beth sighed.

Chris rolled his eyes. “You wanted to fill half my space.”

“It's always better to have and not need than to need and not have.” Beth retorted.

“When you have money.” Nadia commented bitterly. An awkward silence fell across the table at the reminder that Nadia had grown up in a home where having extra wasn't a thing, because they were struggling just to have enough.

“So… Imposter with the platoon then?” Carmen moved on, breaking the awkward silence.

“As long as my stipulations are met.” Chris agreed, wondering why everyone got so awkward over Nadia being poor. It wasn't like they caused it and there wasn't anything reasonable they could do about it, so why make a big deal out of it? People cared about the strangest things sometimes.

“Sounds like a plan then.” Beth nodded, hoping to her feet. “I'll let Squad A know.”

“I got Squad B.” Derek announced, getting up to go talk to them.

“I guess I can go talk to Squad C.” Carmen muttered after no one else volunteered, getting up as well.

Zack looked between Nadia and Chris for a moment, before letting out an awkward cough. “I'm- going to head back to the barracks to get things ready.”

“See ya.” Chris waved as he left, not leaving himself because he still had some food left to finish.

“Jerk.” Nadia grumbled.

“Hm?” Chris looked up at her, frowning slightly. “Me or him?”

“Him.” Nadia rolled her eyes. “We're obviously playing in your space, which you probably already have set up. He just left to avoid talking to us, because we're the ‘weird’ ones.”

“Ah, that's fair.” Chris nodded. “We are weird.”

“You're weird!” Nadia snapped. “I'm- just awkward.” She grumbled, her expression twisting bitterly.

“Awkward, weird, what's the difference?” Chris shrugged. “It's who you are, so why bother with people who can't accept it?”

Nadia glared at him for a moment, before letting out a frustrated sigh. “I- I don't mind if people think I'm awkward, or touchy, or a bitch… I know how I can come off sometimes. I just- I just wish people would give me a chance.”

Chris blinked. “Do we not? I mean Zack, sure, but what about the rest of us?”

Nadia frowned. She guessed none of the others had rejected her… Things with Carmen had been a bit rough at first, but once she'd started proving her worth as a tactician, showing she could work well with the squad and not cause problems, it'd gotten better. It was just… none of them were friends. Chris at least had Beth and Derek to hang out with, but unless they were all hanging out as a group, Nadia was alone. “A lack of rejection isn't the same as acceptance.”

“But it's the first step to it, and at some point, the effort is on you.” Chris countered. “Like, if someone just flat out doesn't want to hang out with me, there's nothing I can do about it, but if they're just ambivalent, then it's up to me to make the effort to hang out with them, if that's what I want. Like personally, I don't care about hanging out with you one way or the other. I have no need for more friends, so why would I put in the extra effort? On the other hand, if you're feeling lonely, why are you not putting in the effort to hang out with me? I have no problem hanging out with you, other than a few times where I would like to spend some alone time with Beth, in which case you wouldn't be able to find me anyway. I'm sure Derek would be down as well. Not sure about Carmen, but you could at least try. If you're the one with the need, it's on you to make the effort. You can't expect people to just know you want something from them. We aren't mind readers.”

Nadia froze for a moment. “I- suppose you have a point. It just feels awkward to impose on people…”

Chris shrugged. “You're already awkward, so who cares? Sure, there are people who will be uncomfortable, but they would have been uncomfortable with you anyway. Best to know you need to look somewhere else than waste time hoping they'll suddenly decide to accept you.”

Nadia fell into thought, mulling the idea over as Chris returned to his meal. “Squad A is in!” Beth announced as she returned, pausing as she glanced over the table. “Where'd Zack go?”

“Back to the barracks to set up.” Chris replied.

Beth frowned. “To set up what?”

“No idea, that's just what he said.” Chris shrugged. “Nadia thinks it's because he doesn't want to hang out with us. Me and her, not the squad.”

Beth crossed her arms with a huff. “That jerk.”

“Who's the jerk?” Derek asked as he wandered back as well.

“Zack.” Chris replied. “Is B coming?”

“Of course.” Derek nodded absently, frowning for a moment. “What did Zack do?”

“He went back to the barracks to set up.” Chris explained. “We aren't sure what, and Nadia thinks he just used it as an excuse to avoid me and her. Beth seems to agree.”

“And what do you think?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow.

Chris shrugged. “Maybe he forgot my games can't come out of my space anymore and thinks we need more room to play. Or he was just looking for something to do and wasn't even thinking about us. Or maybe he has a crush on Nadia and was hoping she'd follow him back so they could hang out alone. I don't know, people do things for a lot of different reasons, and I try not to look too deep into it. Usually ends up causing problems where there are none.”

“You- why didn't you bring any of that up earlier?!?” Nadia sputtered.

“You seemed pretty sure of yourself and I haven't exactly been paying attention to the issue. All I know is that the squad gets along fine when we're together.” Chris replied. “Plus, I had better points to make. Whether Zack is a jerk or not will come out on its own eventually. You actually making an effort to have friends might not happen without a push.”

“What the hell did I miss?” Carmen asked as she returned, only catching the tail end of Chris's reply.

“Nothing!” Nadia exclaimed, jumping to her feet, flushing as Beth and Derek studied her with hints of amusement in their eyes. “Let's- let's just get back to the barracks.”

Carmen looked at them all strangely before nodding. “Fine, whatever. Squad C is in, so we should probably hurry back to get things ready anyway.”

“Get what ready?” Beth asked. “Aren't we just going to play in Chris's space?”

“I was thinking we'd use the common room, since we're inviting the whole platoon.” Carmen replied.

“The game can't come out of my space, remember?” Chris pointed out.

Carmen froze. “Shit, I forgot about that…”

Chris shrugged. “Eh, it happens.”

*

“So, I think I may have figured out why Jam wouldn't mutate for you.” Chris announced as he arrived for his next training session with Jacobs.

“Oh?” Jacobs blinked.

“Yeah, it turns out that slimes have rather specific instincts for where they can mutate.” Chris explained. “They need to mutate in a location with at least ten times the energy density of their current ability.”

“Is that so?” Jacobs muttered thoughtfully. “Is that the secret to their mutation? That they can absorb ambient energy?”

“Ambient energy?” Chris asked curiously.

“It's a decayed form of potential energy that's- well, pretty much everywhere.” Jacobs explained.

“Potential energy?” Chris raised an eyebrow.

Jacobs frowned at him. “Did they teach you nothing in school?!? Potential energy is the very basis of how abilities function!”

“I didn't learn much about abilities.” Chris shrugged. “There wasn't much point, since I didn't have one.”

Jacobs blinked. “Right… okay, well, potential energy is what causes an ability's effect. Any time you see a fireball or a wind blade, that is potential energy. Once it's carried out its effect, it decays into ambient energy, so you have to keep supplying potential energy to keep the effect going. This is why it doesn't make any sense for your space to be an ability, because potential energy is produced using your body's reserves, and the amount of potential energy your body would have to produce to sustain it should leave you utterly exhausted as a mid-tier.”

“So ambient energy is essentially ability pollution?” Chris replied thoughtfully.

“That's a good way to put it, though it isn't one that particularly bothers anyone, except maybe Readers.” Jacobs agreed. “You can think of ambient energy as smoke from a fire, the last remaining husk of whatever fuel was used to sustain it. If what you say is correct, then slimes must be able to make use of that husk to fuel their mutations. The question is how.”

“It isn't in their instincts, so I have no idea.” Chris shrugged. “But if you know a place with a bunch of ambient energy, I'd like to try mutating.”

Jacobs froze. “You-” He cut off, his eyes widening. “Of course! Why didn't I think of it earlier!?! You can literally transform into a slime and mutate! Though- hm, what would the benefit be of doing it yourself instead of having your slimes do it?”

“I actually think I may be able to mutate using my space's database to replace the core.” Chris explained. “If not, I won't bother, but I'd like to try and see what happens.”

“Interesting…” Jacobs muttered, before shaking his head. “Well, I don't know enough about how slimes mutate to have an opinion, so I guess we'll just have to see, won't we?” He cocked his head thoughtfully for a moment. “I'll need to see what I can set up with the Scouts. Hm. I wonder if they'll let me bring in some equipment…”

“So, back to training then?” Chris offered. If Jacobs needed to set things up, there wasn't much else to talk about. Plus, they'd already wasted more time than they probably should have, considering they hadn't done anything yesterday.

“What? Oh, yes, I suppose we should.” Jacobs sighed. If he'd known Chris's space would be so fascinating, he would have pushed for two research days!