“So what do you think about Nate?” I asked Niki, we were in the field making sure that all the pathways were flowing correctly. Making sure that none of the paths were too high and flooded, or too low and caused pockets of mud.

“Hmm, I don’t know. He seems to take to this whole physical augmentation thing better than the rest of us.” That was accurate. The guy had scales, a tail, and six fingers on his hands. It seemed he didn’t care about the whole not really being a human. “Why?”

“I was just practicing using the connection to watch memories when I saw one about me, it was between John and Nate in the woods.”

“Oh I yeah I saw that one, I mean you two are pretty close in age. Why not go talk to him, he probably already knows you saw it.” That was true, I mean I know that the memories go back and forth but…

“Wait, how come you saw that memory. I thought you were so focused on fixing the plans for the city. Going through John’s memories again.” Niki blushed mildly at the thought, it was surprising really.

I had thought that Niki was gay or asexual, she never really hung out with anyone in college other than me and Sarah. She never had a boyfriend even though she was asked out like every other week. She just told me her standards were too high, even for her own good.

“No. Well yes, but I just didn’t want to misjudge a memory again. Some have so much emotion to them that it is hard not to see it through their eyes. I was just trying to make sure I didn’t do that again. And this was about you liking Nate not me.”

“Sure, change the subject.”

“You changed it first.” That was true, I felt kind of bad for Nate. And knowing that he probably knew how I felt made me feel worse. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the guy, I mean I knew I was only a couple years older than him. Even though it was hard to tell with the scales and everything.

But that is just an excuse, you do not feel the same way because you do not know him. You and him are more alike than you are willing to admit. The same for John and Niki.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Do you always listen to our conversations?” Niki asked in the open air, it was a little weird. We all had our own way of talking to Myc, John acted like he was talking to himself although he didn’t talk aloud much recently. Cat acted like she was talking to someone right in front of her. Niki liked to ask the open air, and I usually looked at the reflection in my watch.

Yes. As I grow throughout your body the increased mass allows for more attention on separate goals. So for every new person that is infected I am capable of expanding enough to listen to the host and apply myself to other tasks.

“So, how are Scarlette and Nate so alike then?”

“Ooo, I wanna know how John and Niki are alike, can we do that first?”

I will do one then the other.

“Fine.” We answered in unison.

Well for starters Scarlette and Nate are both people who have yet to truly find themselves. It is why Nate seeks out so many physical augmentations, he does not see himself as anything specific. So changing that is like adding stroked to a canvas with so few strokes you cannot tell what the picture is meant to be. While Scarlette is similar in the opposite regard. She is afraid of what the picture will be so she rarely ever adds new strokes. Which is fine in both regards, everyone changes so much throughout their life. There is never a final picture to be seen, at least until death. But even then, that picture has been painted over so many times it is hard to see what it used to be.

“Wow, that was deep fungus man.” I chuckled at the thought, although I suppose it was true. I liked staying in my comfort zone, while it seemed that Nate did whatever sounded cool. “Although I don’t know if that means that I am supposed to fall in love with the guy.”

I never meant to imply. Although I do believe that the two of you would make likely friends. You may never ‘fall in love’ but getting to know each other will allow you both to be happier in the long run. At least that is what I believe.

“Yeah, yeah alright.” I don’t think I was going to ever even date the kid. But it would be rude to not at least get to know him. “Ooo, now do Niki.”

“No it is fine, I don’t need to know.”

No it is fine I will tell you both.

“Yeah great.” Niki got sarcastic when she was nervous.

Niki and John are two very intelligent people. You both fear failure and you both are unwilling to let people see weakness in you. John hides behind his new strength while you hide behind your intelligence. You both know that failing can hurt the people you care about. So you both push yourselves to the point of self destruction, scared that anything less than perfection is failure. It is not a bad quality to have, working hard to achieve better results is important especially in some matters. However, like I said, killing yourselves to achieve any goal is pointless as you will be dead. As with Nate and Scarlette I don’t know if you will ever ‘fall in love’ but I do believe that you should talk as well. Learning from each other's mistakes is the best way to grow without making more. So while I do not know if your feelings of attachment will come to fruition as you hope, you will at least have learned something from talking to him.

“Yeah, thanks Myc.” It was hard to see Niki so down, she wasn’t usually chipper. Although she usually never let herself get so down, so essentially being rejected by the one guy she actually liked. That must have been hard on her, she always sought perfection and it seemed it was never enough.