The Salmon Fragment was busily swimming through the wast ocean, she had been instructed to dive deep and far away from the coastline before she began to infect things. Plants were the primary priority for infection, animals were less of a focus but if the Fragment could do it then it had permission to do so. The former salmon was swimming down along the seafloor to most effectively get deep into the ocean before the work was to begin.
Her mental faculties were limited but the Sovereign Swarm had taken care to carefully program her to be able to operate as effectively as possible. One of the instructions was to determine the depth that she occupied and be aware of how long she had been swimming in the Ocean specifically. After swimming for approximately 5 hours the Fragment's infestation protocol kicked in and she began biting small plants while channeling the trickles of energy needed to begin the process.
It was tiresome work for the single Fragment to access the dredges of energy that she had the right to dispose over, such complex decisions strained the thought capacity that she had to the point that it almost felt like she would burst. And yet she continued to nibble at small plants before moving on.
Something was watching the Fragment as it swam about fulfilling its purpose. Not the ambitious leigh of the sea, no the watcher was a far more primitive creature than that. A large barracuda was watching the fish as it worked and while it didn't recognize what it was, it thought that it had come across a tasty morsel. So, when the Salmon Fragment moved close enough to the rock that the predator was hiding behind, it launched itself out to try and bite the Unit.
It struck home almost perfectly as the Fragment was too focused on its task to pay proper attention to her surroundings. The Fragment registered that something struck her Unit and started tearing into its flesh. All thoughts about the task were forgotten as the self-preservation protocols kicked in and she began to struggle against the larger predator.
The barracuda was surprised as its deadly attack had somehow been resisted by the smaller fish, it was actively struggling against them and the brief battle brought both of them down to the seafloor. Silt started swirling around the two fish as they struggled before the Fragment managed to tear herself free and started swimming away.
Unfortunately, the predator was not dissuaded by its initial failure and it quickly pursued its quarry through the water. Fungal Zombies were lesser than their uninfected counterparts, even if their bodies were stronger because of the Sovereign Swarm, they simply lacked the fundamentals of...living that the original inhabitants of the bodies had. Fragments had instincts for sure but they were broad and meant to be universally applicable, so that meant they were inherently worse at things that the animals were designed towards doing.
They were worse at fighting and at using their natural senses. On land and in the air they were clumsier and inefficient, and as it turned out that also applied in the water. A Fragment had nothing to bring to bear in a swimming race against a natural predator born to stalk the oceans, it caught her again after she had clumsily tried to dodge out of the way.
Once more the two bodies crashed into the seafloor as the barracuda desperately tried to chew through the enhanced flesh and bones of the "salmon". This time she was effectively pinned in place and all of her desperate struggles were for naught as she couldn't dislodge the predator. She wasn't even capable of using Infection on the enemy fish as she wasn't able to strike at it, and the Fragment didn't have the mental capacity to think about using their flesh and blood as a vector. The last emergency protocol was then activated as there was no other recourse.
----------------------------------------
Øryja watched the two little fish struggle with a detached amusement mixed with a profound sense of disappointment. Was this "fish" all that she had sensed? She had felt the strange power radiating from it like a dull light, and to her leigh-eyes, the "fish" was both a fish and the tip of a tentacle that she could not yet see. But if it couldn't handle a mere mundane predator then what worth did this new discovery of hers have?
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
She was about to swim away and see if she couldn't find a merrow or a siren to have fun with when the interesting thing happened. For a mere heartbeat the little struggling fish was filled with power so vast that it threatened to blind her, and the tip of a tentacle seemed to attach to a tentacle so large and far-reaching that it threatened to engulf the entire world. Øryja saw it all in that moment and when she blinked it was gone.
In the moments that followed Øryja saw the "fish" change.
----------------------------------------
The Salmon Fragment had a secret weapon, she disposed over a single activation of the Adaptive Trait each day for just such an occasion. So when it was activated the Sovereign Swarm casually reached out and reworked her body to combat the problem at hand. With that activation, a lot of very complicated things happened at the same time.
She elongated and grew to look more like a coiling serpent than the fish/eel hybrid that she had looked like before. Underneath the scales, an elastic but hardened layer of bark formed to serve as armor plating, and long fangs with poison glands grew inside of her mouth. Several more fins grew out of her sides to add to speed and maneuverability in the water, and then of course natural spikes like those on a hedgehog grew out among the scales, but unlike a hedgehog, these thin and short spikes were completely retractable.
Her transformation spurred the Fragment into action as she began to wrap around the predator that had now become prey and crush it to death with her spiked coils. When the deed was done the Fragment unfurled itself from around the dead fish and let it drop to the seafloor. For a single glorious moment, Mar had been there to fix her and make her more. The Fragment hadn't been able to comprehend the ecstasy she felt in that moment and the strain of the battle was still regenerating, so she didn't notice the humanoid shape looming over her in the water.
----------------------------------------
Øryja sensed that the tentacle was once more just a tiny tip compared to the massive limb it had been a few moments ago, and she was never one for hesitation so she seized the moment with gusto. Reaching out with her beautifully manicured left hand she channeled her magic.
The lesser species were pitiful when it came to magic, having to beg for scraps from greater beings or tediously study natural forces to grasp a glimpse of what they were. Leigh were greater than that they were a power in their own right so like dryads, elementals, dragons, devils, and other beings like them they were their magic. Their magic was the power of perspective because that is what they are at their core.
Beautiful and immortal humanoids with three-pointed ears, glistening and silky smooth skin, eyes radiating ancient power, and features so refined they would make the stateliest cat bow down in shame. Or were they weaker beings infested with a colony of parasitic worms in their guts who extended their lives for centuries at the cost of ravaging their bodies? What the truth was didn't actually matter because perspective changed it all. The leigh had learned long ago that if you are stubborn enough then you become right even if the rest of the world disagreed with you.
Øryja channeled her magic to twist the perspective of events to make the strange serpent-fish tired and sleepy after the "grand battle" and channeling the power that it had. From the perspective of fish, the deadly battle must have been a grand spectacle after all and Øryja could reinforce that view of events and weave it further to an outcome that she wanted.
It fell to the floor sleeping and she descended down to gently pick it up, this was after all a much more interesting discovery than what she had expected to find on her little excursion outside of her chambers. She would have to return home to study this little morsel and find out how she could wield that power herself. A Witch needed a familiar after all and she could see that this one would serve well in that role.