Nwaps rarely ever became angry, but even the unlikeliest of events occurred when given enough time, and Nwaps had lived for a very long time spent in multiple different hosts, experiencing their lives as well. Of all the hosts Nwaps had ever possessed, none of them had rebelled against the higher-dimensional creature; they weren’t capable of it … until now. Sam, who Nwaps was sure was the perfect host, turned out to be too perfect and actually escaped the tapeworm’s influence. The first time something didn’t go one’s way, they were bound to feel frustration, and Nwaps, who wasn’t very proficient at processing such an emotion, became hellbent on hurting Sam to punish him. Unfortunately for Nwaps, the tapeworm’s plan to hurt Sam brought about an even greater frustration: an alliance formed between Sam and the blue avians.
Dozens of humans, Nwaps’ hosts, had entered the temple courtyard where Sam was having his meeting with the Mother. However, before they could do anything of meaning, they were bound in place by telekinesis, their limbs held in place by hundreds of blue avians working in tandem. “Sam!” the hosts shouted in unison, their voices reverberating as the tapeworm ordered them all to speak. “You will regret making an enemy out of me!”
“There’s nothing you can do that’ll make me regret my decision,” Sam said. He was floating in the air along with the blue avians, acting as if he had been a part of their flock for several lifetimes. “Hold their jaws open. Don’t allow them to speak.”
Nwaps fumed as Sam’s All-Seeing Gaze probed the tapeworm’s hosts, scanning them and zeroing in on Nwaps’ location within each. The tapeworm barely had time to brace itself before it felt Sam’s aura wrapping around its bodies. Without much resistance, Sam ripped the tapeworms out in as safe a manner as possible; of course, some minor wounds were inflicted during the process, but the hosts were relatively unharmed.
Nwaps communicated with Sam’s mind as the tapeworms floated in the air above their hosts. “Even if I you stop my hosts from speaking, I can still—”
The tapeworm didn’t get to finish its sentence before Sam’s aura compressed, squishing the worms into tiny balls, ending their existences. As Nwaps’ awareness of the temple’s courtyard faded, the humans within the capital city all let out a curse at once. It hadn’t been difficult for the tapeworm to infect everyone within the capital since it could spread through a simple touch. Since Sam could so easily remove tapeworms from their hosts, Nwaps gave up on using them to get revenge against Sam. Humans were too weak to contest against blue avians; they could only hide, so that’s what Nwaps had them do. If a single one of its clones could escape detection, then Nwaps would escape and get revenge on Sam later when he least suspected it. Since Sam was powerful and now had the experience of trillions of lives, it was much more difficult to deal with him directly, and underhanded methods had to be taken from the shadows.
However, it was much harder for Nwaps to hide from Sam’s All-Seeing Gaze than the tapeworm had expected. In the brief moment the Mother had sent Sam to spend a trillion lives, his abilities had obviously grown. Even if most people didn’t have their Ajna’s and Sahasrara’s unlocked, Sam still must’ve spent several lifetimes using the All-Seeing Gaze, becoming extremely proficient with the technique. With his guidance, the blue avians flew around the capital, leaving blue trails of light in the sky as they snatched their human targets with their telekinesis and whizzed them back to the temple’s courtyard where Sam removed and eliminated the tapeworms inside of them.
At the rate Sam was eliminating its clones, Nwaps wouldn’t even be able to threaten Sam with the lives of the ones it had parasitized. If it sent a host out and threatened to have the person it was infecting kill themselves, well, the blue avians wouldn’t care and would immobilize Nwaps’ host with telekinesis, rendering it very difficult for the tapeworm to make good on its threat. Besides, Sam didn’t even give Nwaps a chance to speak much less announce a whole threat.
“Fine then,” Nwaps’ hosts said, speaking at the same time. The tapeworm was sure Sam could see its actions. “If you won’t give me a shot at winning, then I won’t let you get a perfect victory.” Rather than threatening Sam, it was better to take action. Since Sam was determined to get rid of Nwaps, then there was no point in playing nice. “See if you can save everyone.”
Sam frowned as he watched everyone in the capital—who hadn’t had their tapeworm removed—collapse to the ground with his All-Seeing Gaze. The tapeworm had forced its hosts to enter the subconscious expanse, the only realm where it had an advantage over Sam. If the tapeworm had its hosts kill themselves, Sam could easily bring them back to life with Joe and Werchbite’s help. His familiars couldn’t help him in the subconscious expanse.
“But I can,” the Mother said. “If you wish to help those people escape the subconscious expanse, you can allow me to unlock and occupy one of your external chakras. The subconscious expanse is one of the dimensions you’ll be able to connect with more easily. If you don’t save those people soon, they might be lost forever.”
Although Sam’s familiars didn’t say anything, from the vibes they were given off and the way they were looking at him, he could tell they were saying, “Don’t trust her,” without actually saying it. Sam rolled his eyes before turning his attention onto the Mother.
“I’ll try to handle this myself first,” Sam said. “If I can’t do it, will it be too late for me to ask you then?”
“No,” the Mother said. “My offer will always be open to you.”
“I’ll be going to the subconscious expanse then,” Sam said. He communicated with the blue avians around him. “Locate the rest of the humans and remove their tapeworms.”
“That’s a lot of work,” a blue avian said. Then, it realized the Mother was right there. “We’ll do it so you don’t have to. You can count on us.”
“Good,” Sam said. He communicated with his familiars through his mind. “I trust you’ll behave while I’m gone?”
“While you’re gone, the Mother’s going to kill us all, and you’ll find yourself in a new body after reincarnating,” Vercedei said. “Are you really going to enter the subconscious expanse and leave yourself completely vulnerable out here with the whole blue avian colony inside of our base?”
“What’s the matter?” Sam asked, a faint smile appearing on his lips. “You can’t handle them without me?”
“No, we can,” Vercedei said, “but—”
“If you can handle it, then I don’t see a problem,” Sam said. He descended to the ground and reached up to scratch Raindu’s head. “Get me a chair, would you?”
Raindu reached into the fur by its chest and retrieved a plush recliner, the piece of furniture falling to the ground with a clunk. Sam took a seat and looked up at the blue avians hovering in the sky above the temple’s courtyard. His gaze landed on Paula’s body, the Mother. “You’re not going to attack us the instant I enter the subconscious expanse, are you?”
“If I were, I wouldn’t tell you,” the Mother said. “However, you may put your concerns to rest. We’ll leave you and your familiars alone while you deal with that tapeworm problem of yours.”
“I’ll trust you,” Sam said and leaned back in the seat, his body sinking into the plush material. For a brief moment, he wondered where Raindu had taken this chair from since its quality was obviously very good; whoever owned it before must’ve been missing its presence. Sam closed his eyes and relaxed his body before focusing on his Muladhara, imitating the vibrations the Venusians emitted when they traveled to the subconscious expanse.
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Sam’s familiars exchanged glances with one another whilst the blue avians chattered on their network. Had Sam really left for the subconscious expanse, leaving his body wide open with all of them present? Was the Mother lying earlier when she said they were going to leave Sam and his familiars alone? It was the perfect time to get rid of Sam and resolve all the troubles in one go.
“Don’t attack,” the Mother said in the minds of all the blue avians.
“Why not?” a blue avian asked.
“You don’t ask why not,” another blue avian said and buffeted the first blue avian with a telekinetic blow. “When the Mother gives an order, you listen. It’s that simple.”
“The Mother has other considerations in mind we aren’t even aware of,” a third blue avian said, chiming in to the conversation. “She doesn’t do things without a reason, and if I had to guess why she’s keeping Sam alive—”
“That’s enough,” the Mother said. “Didn’t Sam give you all tasks to do? Remove and eliminate the tapeworms from their hosts. The person who eliminates the most tapeworms will get a reward from me.”
“Is it a good reward, or is it an added responsibility in disguise?” a blue avian asked.
“I didn’t say I was accepting questions,” the Mother said. “Go.”
Sam’s familiars watched as the blue avians scattered, leaving the Mother to float in the air by herself. “Alright,” Vercedei said, crawling up from Sam’s leg to his face, reoccupying the spot Sam had removed it from whilst he was conscious. “What’re you planning?
The Mother looked down at Vercedei, her actions becoming smoother the longer she stayed within the lower dimension. “You think I’d tell you if you asked?” The Mother wagged a finger at Vercedei. “You didn’t even say please.”
Vercedei’s face didn’t change as the snake’s blue head stared at the Mother. “Please.”
The Mother beamed, her aura lighting up. “Please what?”
“Will you please tell me what your plans are for Sam?” Vercedei asked in a sickeningly coy voice. If a glass of milk had heard the snake speak, it would’ve curdled.
The Mother’s aura brightened even more as Paula’s beak curved into a brilliant smile. “No,” the Mother said. “No, I won’t.”
Vercedei flicked its tongue in the Mother’s direction before turning its head away, not saying a word.
“She got you there,” Raindu said with a grin on its face, evidently pleased by the Mother toying with Vercedei. The ferret walked down Sam’s arm and stood on his hand, standing upright to look at the lone blue avian in the sky. “How about me? Do you want to have a chat?”
“With you?” the Mother asked. “Why?”
“I know what you want,” Raindu said, “and even if you get it, I’ll still be with Sam, so why not be friends?”
The Mother sank towards the ground, stopping several inches above the grass and a few feet away from Sam. She looked at Raindu before shifting her gaze onto the twin-headed snake covering Sam’s face. The Mother nodded at the black ferret. “I think we can work something out.”
“What is even happening?” Big Fish asked, whispering in Joe’s ear. Perhaps the whale would’ve asked someone else, but the sloth’s shoulder fur happened to be the whale’s place of residence. “Sam is fighting Nwaps and Raindu is conspiring with the enemy. Wasn’t our alliance solid?”
“We never had the same goals,” Joe said, the sloth taking its sweet time to enunciate its words. “We had similar ones, and Sam was the glue that held us together. The Mother compromised the glue, so it’s only a matter of time before we fall apart.”
As the sloth spoke, Raindu and the Mother communicated with one another in private, both of them completely still as they maintained eye contact.
“It’s rude to have a private conversation in front of a whole group of people,” Vercedei said. Unfortunately for the nosy snake, neither the Mother nor Raindu acknowledged the twin-headed snake’s existence.
***
Sam floated in the void of the subconscious expanse. Although being in close proximity in reality didn’t mean two people would be close in the subconscious expanse, Sam had become an expert at navigating through the region during his multiple lifetimes. Not everyone had their Muladhara’s unlocked to mimic the vibrations required, but anyone could lucid dream to visit the subconscious expanse in their sleep. Sam cleared his mind, allowing his subconscious to bring him where he needed to go.
Sam relaxed, and before he knew it, a chunk of land appeared underneath him with a doorway not too far away from where he was positioned. The doorway was standing alone without any walls to the side. Sam approached the door, causing it to swing open automatically. He floated through, and his foot made contact with a sidewalk. His surroundings warped as the capital city came into view, and people materialized on the streets as if Sam were in a videogame rendering its non-player characters.
“You actually came to the subconscious expanse,” a voice said immediately after the door closed behind Sam and disappeared. “In Oterra, you had the advantage, but here? What can you do to me?”
Sam recognized Nwaps’ voice, but he couldn’t see where it was coming from. He scanned the region with his All-Seeing Gaze. As it usually was within the subconscious expanse, the All-Seeing Gaze wasn’t completely reliable. Noise filled Sam’s psychic vision as objects and people faded in and out of existence. Sam concentrated, keeping track of everything in an attempt to find the objects that stayed constant; that was where the host Nwaps had possessed was more likely to be.
“Given enough time, there’s a possibility you’d find and destroy all the pieces of myself on Oterra, but the people I’ve sent to the subconscious expanse today, they won’t ever be waking up,” Nwaps’ voice said, “all your underlings and little brother included. However, I am willing to return them to you if you apologize and allow me to reside within your skull instead of your intestines.”
“Keep dreaming,” Sam said before lifting himself off the ground with telekinesis. “That’s all you can do.” He turned into a blurred streak as he flew through the air faster than the average blue avian, arriving in the region he suspected the host to be located within an instant. There was a woman sitting on a palanquin with four extremely handsome, shirtless men with chiseled bodies carrying the covered litter. There were transparent curtains made of silk, allowing the woman to see outside without being affected by things like dust or mosquitoes.
Sam descended, coming to a halt in front of the palanquin while floating in midair to remain on eye level with the woman. “Hello,” Sam said. “You’re in a dream right now, and if you don’t wake up soon, it’s possible you’ll be in a coma for the rest of your life.”
The woman smiled at Sam, not questioning his existence. Perhaps it was because she was in a dream, or maybe, she was still under Nwaps’ influence in Oterra—the blue avians moved quick, but it’d still take them a hot minute to find and remove all of Nwaps’ clones—but she wasn’t taken aback by Sam’s appearance nor did she question his claims. “That’s nice,” she said. “Then, I can live like this forever.” She picked up the biggest apple Sam had ever seen and took a bite out of it, crunching down while spraying non-sticky juices in a cone radiating outwards from her face.
Was this how Nwaps intended on keeping people trapped in the subconscious expanse? By fulfilling all their desires, making them never want to leave, it wasn’t impossible to keep someone detached from reality until they died. “Don’t you have anyone waiting for you in Oterra?” Sam asked. “Your family?”
The woman stared at Sam with a blank expression.
“A pet?” Sam asked.
The woman shook her head.
Sam raised an eyebrow. “Plants?”
“How about bills and a dead-end job with a micromanaging boss?” The woman shook her head. “I’d much rather stay here and die in a coma.” The woman smirked upon seeing Sam fall silent. “What? Did you come here to save me or something?”
Sam scratched his head. Although Nwaps had transferred its host to the subconscious expanse and was planning on trapping her there forever unless Sam capitulated to the tapeworm’s demands, he wondered if he’d be doing the right thing to wake the woman from her pleasant dream. If Nwaps had chosen to subject the woman to torture, Sam would immediately know what to do, but if the woman wanted to stay because of the environment Nwaps had crafted for her, it was a bit of a trickier situation. Then again, Sam didn’t really care too much about whether the woman lived or died; he had grown numb to death after living and dying trillions of times.
“Alright, suit yourself,” Sam said. He closed his eyes and was about to summon another door to leave, but a thought came to him. What if Nwaps messed with the woman’s memory, and she actually did have people waiting for her in Oterra? It was better to be safe than sorry. Sam opened his eyes and gave the woman an apologetic look. “Sorry about this.”
“You don’t have to be sorry,” the woman said. “You were just looking out for—”
The woman’s head disappeared. It had been struck by Sam’s telekinetic attack, one where he formed his aura into a lance and pierced everything in its path. Since it was just a dream, Sam didn’t have to worry about her remembering him killing her; she’d forget everything that had happened in a few hours—unless, of course, she wrote the details down, but Sam doubted she was prepared for that. Of the lives he had lived, not many of them had the natural inclination to write down their dreams; they had to be influenced by him to begin the habit.