They said I would get used to it, but I don’t think I ever will. Wearing someone else’s skin is like putting on a suit made of flesh and then expecting it to fit perfectly. This is not the case, it does not fit, it does not fit at all. The burning sensation of your consciousness amalgamating with someone else’s body is pure searing pain until your consciousness stops fighting and settles in for the ride. And let me tell you the ride is often an extremely bumpy one, not unlike a bucking bronco where your host's body is trying to throw you off in an attempt to get rid of you, the foreign invader. This side effect to the converging process is what we refer to as ‘The Retaliation’ because the body revolts and tries to cause as much damage as possible. It can sometimes be so severe that we have to abandon the host and return immediately to base just to recover… and that recovery could take months jeopardising the mission itself.
This host however, seemed to be adapting fine. I wriggled my toes and rolled my shoulders, the new body I found myself in felt old, used like a worn leather shoe. I fought hard to calm my breathing to help ease the nausea that was starting to rise. Another temporary side effect, this one usually passed pretty quickly. Curious to find out whose body I currently possessed, I tapped the side of my eye which brought up the soul stats in front of my vision:
NAME: Agatha McKlintock
AGE: 94 years
SOUL AGE: 1,204 millenia
SPECIES: Human
TIME: 1:34pm Wednesday 31st January 2074
CURRENT LOCATION: Setting Sun Retirement Home, Sugu Province, Planet Meezes
PLANET OF ORIGIN: Earth
DIMENSION OF ORIGIN: 3rd
HEALTH: 50/100
MAGIC: 0
STRENGTH: 50/100
AGILITY: 20/100
SPEED: 20/100
INTELLIGENCE: 90/100
SPECIAL SKILLS: Good with numbers, speed reader, excellent baker, prolific knitter, quilter…
WEAPONS: Unknown
‘Could baking utensils and knitting needles be weaponized?’ I murmured to myself. I tried to imagine how I could use them if I needed to defend myself, although I was hoping that because I’d landed in an old folks home there wouldn’t really be any need to use these things in any other way apart from what they were designed for…baking and knitting.
Delayed, another skill blipped up on the list:
SPECIAL SKILLS: Ex-salsa dance instructor
Okay, ‘Agatha’, I could work with this once I finished downloading,
Shaking out my new hands, I looked down at them curiously and saw the skin that covered them was leathered from years of use. The fingers were calloused probably from all the crafting that had been undertaken.
Looking around I saw that I was in the living room of a small apartment. It appeared to be extremely tidy, everything seemed to have a place. The afternoon sun filtered through the lace curtains casting shadows on the neatly arranged furniture. The room was filled with dark wooden antique cabinets, displaying delicate porcelain figurines and what appeared to be family photographs. In one corner, a rocking chair sat next to a small table with a porcelain tea set. The scent of freshly brewed tea made me realise that I had connected to the autonomic nervous system and the sense of smell had activated. I inhaled deeply, enjoying the aromas that lingered in the room. Hints of a floral perfume tickled my nose, maybe Agatha’s signature scent? I smiled as I thought about her applying her perfume as she started her day.
A sharp tweak on the top of my head brought me out of my thoughts, the transition process was well under way. I rolled my eyes up and back and closed my eyelids and began to meditate. This small technique helped me relax and calm myself for the intense pain that came as the next part of the integration was completed - as ‘Agatha’ was slowly pulled from this body and my consciousness was added. Through this part of the process I could feel threads of the host’s own experiences and memories intertwining with my own, heightening my awareness and adding more power to my own abilities.
There was a loud banging at the front door. Surprised, I opened my eyes. Jonty was meant to be holding the perimeter while the convergence took place. No one should be within 100 miles of here.
“Jonty.”…I whispered urgently. “Jonty, I’ve got a breach. Jonty?!”
One large thud, then an axe head smashed through the wooden door. The glint of the blade caught the light as it tore through the wood. It was pulled out effortlessly, then a few seconds later it came smashing through again. I heard laughter and grunting coming from out in the hallway. Whoever was on the other side of the door wasn’t taking this very seriously, it sounded like they were enjoying the destruction.
I quickly looked around the apartment to see if there was anything I could use to protect myself.
“Come out, come out wherever you are…” A deep rasping voice called, its tone sent a shiver down my spine.
“Ariah, we know you’re in there!” More laughter.
Shocked, I froze. How did they know my real name? Only Jonty and my colleagues at Integration Operations had that information. Our missions themselves were always top secret due to the dangerous nature of the work that we did and to protect the hosts that we needed to occupy to complete our investigations.
More laughter, then the axe came through the door once more, this time knocking out the hinges that were attaching it to the door frame. It fell forward, attached to the door frame no longer.
I felt my pulse quicken. I checked my stats to see how much longer I had to wait:
NAME: Captain Ariah O’Connoll
AGE: 21
SOUL AGE: Classified
SPECIES…
DOWNLOAD COMPLETE IN…10…years…
Glitching, the stats gave me nothing and as for the top notch download speed, I didn’t have 10 years to wait. From how I felt, it still seemed like hours before full connection would be complete.
I glimpsed a bag on the floor beside the couch with knitting needles and wool protruding from it. Using all of my focus, I walked ‘Agatha’ over to the couch and bent down as quickly as I could to pick up the bag, the stiff body aching at the movement. Just as I did so two thugs burst through the doorway. One appeared to be large and cumbersome, with slimy blue reptilian-like skin, his snake-like blood red eyes flicked in their sockets searching the room. The other intruder appeared thinner, his face gaunt and pale. A patch covered one of his eyes and he had a scar that ran behind it all the way from his forehead down to his chin. Both were wearing what looked to be ELITE uniforms but they weren’t the usual ELITE officers. The sleek navy blue uniforms were ill fitting and partially ripped in places, it looked like they’d potentially acquired them by dubious means. The ELITE were like intergalactic police, they worked with the governing galactic council to facilitate compliance throughout the galaxy and beyond. These two looked like they’d crawled out of the ELITE’s garbage, so my trust levels in their credibility was basically zero. They stepped closer. I took a breath and closed my eyes.
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“Awh, does Grandma need a nap already? We haven’t even got started!” They both laughed, the sound of their cackles made me cringe. The larger one of the two pulled out a chainsaw from the pack on his back. He grabbed the starter and pulled it, the machine sputtered to life and he revved it. The blades swirling, the motor growling.
Taking a deep breath in, I filled my lungs to capacity, drawing strength and oxygen into my system. I opened my eyes and looked at the two assailants. Hoping that my stats system was now running properly, I quickly tapped the side of my eye to see if I could bring up any information about them. My eyes scanned them both and their stats scrolled on in front of my vision. First, the info about the one with the chainsaw came up:
NAME: Lar Farcel
AGE: Unknown
SOUL AGE: Unknown
SPECIES: Brosund
TIME: 1:41pm Wednesday 30th January 2074
CURRENT LOCATION: Setting Sun Retirement Home, Sugu Province, Planet Meezes
PLANET OF ORIGIN: Toruseek
DIMENSION OF ORIGIN: 3rd
HEALTH: 90/100
MAGIC: 20/100
STRENGTH: 90/100
AGILITY: 50/100
SPEED: 90/100
INTELLIGENCE: 30/100
SPECIAL SKILLS: Skilled in combat, marksmanship and martial arts
WEAPONS: Chainsaw
Chainsaw Attack Type: Physical
Chainsaw Attack Power: 80/100
Chainsaw Attack Rate: 90/100
Chainsaw Defence Power: 20/100
Hmm, this one would be a formidable foe but I’ve had to deal with his type before and martial arts was also my specialty…in my own body. I wondered how I could attempt a roundhouse kick with the 94 year old body I currently inhabited. Challenging but still doable?
Next, the info about eye patch scrolled up:
NAME: Sei Doron
AGE: 50
SOUL AGE: Unknown
SPECIES: Arcadian
TIME: 1:42pm Wednesday 30th January 2074
CURRENT LOCATION: Setting Sun Retirement Home, Sugu Province, Planet Meezes
PLANET OF ORIGIN: Arcadiana
DIMENSION OF ORIGIN: 3rd
HEALTH: 80/100
MAGIC: 40/100
STRENGTH: 90/100
AGILITY: 70/100
SPEED: 80/100
INTELLIGENCE: 40/100
SPECIAL SKILLS: Remarkable physical endurance, can withstand extreme conditions and heals quickly from injuries
WEAPONS: Axe
Axe Attack Type: Physical
Axe Attack Power: 50/100
Axe Attack Rate: 50/100
Axe Defence Power: 10/100
Okay, so I definitely had a challenge on my hands, but I felt confident I could defend myself one way or another.
“Oh this is going to be fun. I’ve never had the experience of chopping up a Star Armada Captain before!” Lar Farcel said gleefully. His gnarled hands clenched the lever on the chainsaw and it revved again, taunting me.
“Jonty, Jonty, where are you?” I whispered harshly. “Now’s your time to shine buddy…”
“There’s no one here to save you.” The two laughed again.
"Good thing I know how to save myself then, huh?” I smiled and assumed a combat position. This is good, I thought, my abilities must be finally connecting with Agatha’s.
“We know you’re bluffing, by our calculations you have about…” Lar looked at a bracelet on his wrist and tapped it, it bleeped and he laughed again “...2 hours before full integration is complete.”
“That’s more than enough time to make you wish you’d just stayed in bed today.” Sei smirked at me.
Lar lurched forward with the chainsaw, its blades brushing past my cheek as I dodged the attack. Using the knitting bag, which seemed surprisingly heavy for something that just carried wool, I swung it. It connected with his chin causing him to stumble backwards. He lost his grip on the chainsaw and it fell, cutting into the linoleum between his feet. It sputtered to a halt as it stuck fast through the linoleum, deep into the floor. He growled and tried to pull the chainsaw out. While he was occupied I turned my attention to Sei.
Sei grunted and ran towards me brandishing his axe. He brought it down with a mighty heave, but missed me as I awkwardly leapt out of the way. The axe smashed into an antique wooden chest. Swearing in frustration, he turned leaving the axe where it was and charged at me. I swung the knitting bag again but missed, and he tackled me, knocking me backwards. I stumbled, falling in a heap on the floor, the old body crumpling into the ground with Sei on top of me. He quickly got back to his feet and kicked me in the chest causing my heart to leap in my ribcage. I could already feel bruises forming and the pain was significant. As I lay there trying to will Agatha’s body to let me take full control, Sei’s large boot came down on my chest and held me to the floor. His sneering face peered at me from above.
“So this is the great Captain Ariah O’Connoll, it wasn't so hard to defeat you. The stories aren’t true.” He grunted and laughed, rasping as he did so.
I tried to move but his boot held me firmly to the ground.
“Who said I was defeated?” I said as I quickly grabbed a knitting needle from the bag next to me and stabbed it into Sei’s thigh. He screamed in pain removing his boot. Making the most of the opportunity to get out of his way, I rolled across the floor to the small table and grabbed onto it so I could use it to help me get to my feet. With what seemed like every muscle aching, I rose from the floor and stood hunched panting at the effort. Picking up the tea tray that was on the table, I flung it behind me catching Lar across the face while he was still trying to extract his chainsaw, giving me enough time to rub my finger and thumb together to create a small ball of static energy.
Hope grew in my stomach, my abilities were almost fully connected with Agatha’s body. Lar’s estimation of two hours was wrong thankfully, or a mere ploy to make me think I was weaker than I actually was.
I blew on the small ball on my fingertips and it grew into a basketball sized mass of blue throbbing crackling energy. Lars and Sei scrambled towards me. I threw the energy mass at them as hard as I could and Sei countered with a ball of his own. The two masses of energy collided in the air, erupting into a massive explosion. I murmured an incantation and quickly tried to cast a protection spell before I was thrown backwards.
But unfortunately, it was not quite quick enough, the spell hadn’t worked. Landing awkwardly against one of the cabinets from the force of the explosion, I felt my leg break, the pain that shot through me was unbearable…which meant full integration was finally complete, I could feel every part of Agatha’s body. Gasping, I tried to get up.
I saw stars and then…nothing.