Looking around my apartment for what was probably going to be the last time, I was kind of glad to leave the old place behind. It was a depressing part of my life and I felt like leaving it would allow me to start anew.
Don’t forget to grab my old prison.
“I won’t.” I looked around what little was left of the place. Some old furniture, the T.V., and random pieces of clothes I wouldn’t need. Anything unnecessary or too big to fit in my little sedan got left behind. Already having called my landlord to end my lease and my boss to quit, I was finally getting ready to head out towards the first meteorite report.
A few days after our argument, Myc and I decided that ditching everything immediately would be the best option. No need to hold onto old attachments, it would be better to just fully dive into this new life. So after a strugglingly tedious search we found a couple possible meteorite crashes that could have been capsules like Myc’s. One was found just before a monster started lurking in the forest, the other was supposedly some metal scrap from a space station. They were both relatively close, and although the space station part seemed less likely. It was also most likely the safer option, if the monster was a new aggressive species we could do little to defend ourselves.
That should be the first thing that we work on. Increasing your reflexes and muscle mass should be easier and not too complex. Also it will be the simplest to observe the practical effects on.
“It will mean that I need to increase my food budget.”
Yes, increase in proteins and caloric intake in general will be necessary to offset both of our increasing mass. Although I will need you to start working out as well, it will allow me to see the exact muscles that are needed to do things like sprinting, dodging, and defense. A general increase in muscle mass would limit flexibility and be an unnecessary waste of nutrients.
“Hmm, I suppose whatever city we stop in should have a boxing gym.” I wasn’t too keen on meeting another species without some measure of defense. I thought about getting a gun or something, but I was cautious of putting my name out there in really any fashion. I was even thinking of using a fake name for getting into motels or something. Since the first thing I planned on doing before leaving my little city was to rob some mansion of all of its valuables.
It would be better to stay as inconspicuous as possible. It is entirely possible that the government knows something about the meteorites. Although the best case would be them thinking that it is just some new element or disease causing adverse effects on the local population. Depending on what other species were in the capsules and how they were spread, they may not be capable of having a mind of their own like my species does.
“That would be preferable, if they do know of other species than it is possible they could find us. Oh shit.”
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Yes before we go we should attempt to erase all of our DNA from the forest.
“That would be a good idea.” So packing up my car with what little I was willing to take, I headed to the park to wipe away the bloody scene.
Heading deeper into the forest to the mile marker where I bled profusely, the bench was still stained. It was haunting to look at it again, I had two sets of memories from this horrible time. Both, of nearly dying. Unfortunately I wasn’t sure of how to get rid of it all, so I just grabbed the little bench and took it into the woods. Planning on creating a small pit, and just burning off any evidence. Grabbing everything that had any blood that leads to the hole, created by the little alien relic in my trunk. So, with a cluster of stained leaves and a random bench in a circle of stones. I tried to figure out how to start a fire. “I knew I was going to do this. I should have brought a lighter.”
Hmm, maybe this would be a good time to test some of my abilities.
“You won’t be using my actual eyeball will you?”
No, I will grow a section between your fingers, create a small circle with your hands.
Creating a small circle with my pointer finger and thumb I let Myc get to work. A layer of skin extended around my fingers, connecting my two digits into a single fleshy ring. It looked worse than it felt, that was until the small transparent layer started to extend out from my hand. It grew from the top section of my pointer finger slowly lowering itself, like a curtain closing at the end of a play. Once it finally connected to the bottom of the circle the lens flexed and firmed up into what was essentially a lens. The light focused through the little lens, moving my hand back and forth trying to figure out the correct focal length. Then with a slight adjustment, I stopped my hand as a small focus of light caught the pile of kindling underneath the heap of evidence.
After light entered your pupil, it would hit the lens and be focused to hit your retina. This allowed you to see a focused image in front of you. Myc used the lens to focus the light from the sun like a magnifying glass.
Sometimes I got an idea in my head and had to do some research, so I had a lot of random garbage in my head, like how the eye works, you know in a general sense. It was nearly never useful for anything practical.
Yes, connecting your hands allowed me to create a simple lens to focus the light.
“Wow, have you been reading biology and physics books while I was asleep?” The amount of knowledge of the eye and how light moves through a focus was a little past my understanding. Although it seems that Myc was far more intimate with my own body than I was.
Yes. Examining your body better allows me to understand possible creations. With my ability to manipulate matter throughout your body on such a small scale and to a greater extent than many humans can in a lab makes it far easier. Being capable of moving individual muscle cells and closing off or creating new blood vessels. This allows me to move, alter, or copy essentially any part of your body. I may even be able to tweak the DNA in your cells to create more overall changes in your body more permanently.
“Well, suppose we gotta start somewhere.”
The small fire on the kindling had finally begun to spread, the dry wood from the bench caught rather quickly. It spread throughout the rest of the pile, burning away the heaps of my own DNA evidence.
I am kinda surprised that it worked.
Looking at my fingers revealed the clear lens and excess skin flaking off into the fire, before new skin started to stitch over the raw flesh. I stared into the flames, taking note of the fact that no human had ever done something like that before. I questioned when I would stop considering myself to be human, if I still was one.
Defining yourself as human is pointless, being human only had meaning because that is all there was on this planet. Now with species like me and who knows how many others, being human does not mean that you are worse. Truthfully it will most likely turn into a term for lesser beings, less intelligent and crueler.
“We should see what else you can do.” Staring at the burning blaze, ignited my own inner fire. I wanted to do more, see the limits of my humanity combined with those of Myc’s. If we could do something as simple as this with barely an effort, imagine what else we could do.