It wasn’t long before I polished off my food, and finally feeling satisfied and full, I relaxed, and to my chagrin, belched unexpectedly, a lot louder than I would have liked. Normally, I wouldn’t care about a burp or two – but with Siri riding around in my head, it kind of felt like I had company over. Weird.

I put my dishes in the dishwasher – I’d need to run a load of them later – and stretched. Now that I was full, I realized I felt pretty good – which was all kinds of wrong, since I SHOULD be freaking out that I had an alien mind bonded with me, that I was mutating into something possibly superhuman, and would be bonded with Siri for the rest of my life. The weird part was that I wasn’t panicking.

*I’m having something to do with that.* Siri chuckled. *It eases the bonding until we’re more at ease with each other.*

“Good to know.” I replied. “Is there anything else you can tell me about what’s happening to me?”

*Yes. Over the next day or two, you will feel a powerful ache in your bones and skeletal structure – part of it will be a minor realignment, while part of it will be your bones becoming denser and more resistant to damage. It will probably feel like a flu with body aches. It will be over soon.*

“Why do I have to be altered at all?”

*It was how I was made. When I bond with someone, these changes take place to make the host more comfortable for me – but also to strengthen and reinforce the host. I can’t turn that part of it off, sorry. If I enhanced your strength, without reinforcing your skeleton, the first time you tried to pick up something heavy – like a car or something – your muscles would tear free from your skeleton and you’d be crippled.*

“I’m going to be able to pick up a car?!”

*Maybe. Some of my hosts have been very strong – and others not so much. It depends on what your body and your genetics have to offer me while I’m reinforcing us, Jason. If you have a tendency for strength and agility, then you’ll have greater helpings of both when I’m done. I can enhance your natural talents – but I cannot create them from whole cloth.*

“You said I could also get other powers, too, if you allowed me. What kind of powers?”

Siri took a moment to speak – and the silence was deafening.

*I could help you heal your father. I could help you save his life. Maybe.*

“You can!? What do I have to do? Please, tell me!”

*It’s not that simple, Jason. It depends on how well – how compatible – we are in our bond. If we’re very compatible, I can give you the power – but if we’re not, then I just can’t.*

“Are we compatible enough right now?”

*No, Jason. I need at least another day or two to finish bonding with you, and then we’ll know more.*

“Is it possible to die from impatience?” I asked, laughing. “Seriously, I feel so anxious right now knowing I might be able to save my dad.”

*No, Jason, at least I don’t think so. I understand feeling anxious – I’m anxious right now, and feeling rather unwell. I’m also mourning my previous host. She was recently killed, and we had been together for many years.*

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“Oh crap! I’m sorry, Siri! I didn’t even think to ask about your previous hosts. Did she get killed by those aliens you mentioned? The Krel... Krelnari?”

*Yes, she did, along with some of my brothers and sisters. They captured us, stripped our hosts of us – the symbiotes – and left our hosts to die, while we were encased in those egg-shaped pods. They were going to try to experiment on us – to see if we could be changed into weapons they could use against us. I don’t know if any of my brothers or sisters escaped with me – I may be the only one.*

“Oh, gods, I’m so sorry. May the Allfather watch over them, and Freya bring them mercy.”

*Thank you for your well wishes, Jason. I’m sure my friends rest with the gods as we speak. They were good people, brave and true. They deserve no less.* Siri paused a moment, and then continued. “The Krelnari are an alien race that my people have been warring with for the last several decades. They are losing, but losses mount on both sides. In the end, I believe my people will prevail – but there will be many deaths prior to then, unless our Lords and Ladies take the field directly, which hasn’t been done in an age.*

“Your lords and ladies? Your government is a monarchy?”

*Yes.*

“You’re not going to tell me any more, are you?”

*Not yet, Jason. Not until the bonding is over. Two days at most, I promise.*

I smiled sadly. Considering the events of the last day or two, I could wait another two days. Dad wasn’t going anywhere – and he was still doing okay. I had time to wait.

*Thank you for not pushing, Jason.*

“You’re welcome, I guess. What now?”

*I suggest you get some sleep – when you wake, you will be very sore and achy, and quite hungry.*

“Gotcha.” I looked at the clock – it was sometime around 11pm, so Siri and I had been taking for a bit more than an hour. I was feeling a little tired, and could feel that ache she suggested I’d feel starting, mostly around my shoulders and hips, but also my skull too. Peachy. The next few days sound like they’re going to suck.

I sighed and got ready for bed.

* * *

Siri was right. When I woke, I ached all over. Everything from my skull to my shoulders, to my back and hips – all of it, legs and feet included, ached. It felt horrible! I groaned in pain, and realized I was starving, and I had to go to the bathroom – neither being conducive to staying in bed and trying to feel better.

Groaning in annoyance, I crawled out of bed and began my morning routine – bathroom, shower, shave, clothes – and was surprised when I got to step three and realized I didn’t have any facial hair to shave. What the fuck? “Siri? Why don’t I have facial hair anymore?”

*Good morning, Jason. It’s part of the bonding process. Most of your body hair is gone, save your head and your crotch.*

“Yeah, I had noticed that part. Why?”

*Um. Can I tell you later?*

“Is it harmful?”

*No, this and the skeletal changes are the extent of what will be altered as a result of our bond.*

“Then I guess I can wait. At least I don’t have to keep scraping hair off my face every day. Not sure I’m fond of that, but it does give me a ‘swimmer’ vibe, doesn’t it?” I looked in the mirror, and the clean-shaven face of a young twenty something year old young man looked back at me. My reflection had short, light brown hair, and my eye color looked a bit off – like it was green instead of my usual blue. My face looked subtly different too, but not in a way I could put my finger on... It was still me, but a slightly different me than yesterday.

“Why are my eyes green, Siri?”

*Your eyes are changing color. When the bonding is complete they will be amber in color. All my kin have amber eyes, unless we use our powers to disguise ourselves.*

“How do you disguise yourself?”

*In hosts whom we bond to closely, we can sometimes alter ourselves with a power so that we appear like someone else. It is a useful power, but not without its own weaknesses. It isn’t a genetic change – more of an illusion that disguises us. I can make genetic changes in my host, but not enough to simulate shapechanging. That power is beyond me.*

“Cool. An illusion disguise sounds kind of neat, actually. Do you think we’ll bond that closely, Siri?”

*No, I don’t expect us to Jason. Maybe. We’ll see.*

“I guess it’s one of those ‘wait till we’re bonded’ moments?”

*It’s complicated, actually.*

“Ha! Like everything with this isn’t already!”

I turned from the mirror, and went to get dressed – some loose track pants and a loose t-shirt seemed the order of the day. After getting dressed, I went and found some more food, and prepped a crock pot of browned ground beef, melted cheese, pasta, onions, mushrooms and spaghetti sauce so that I’d have ample food throughout the day to nom on when I felt hungry from the change. It was a kind of pasta casserole I’d made a dozen times and it was filling and tasty.

By the time I was done meal prep, I felt starving, and sat down to eat what eventually was a half a large box of cereal with milk. I didn’t know how I did it, but I just kept packing it away until my stomach said enough... I think I went through an entire quart of milk, and a costco sized box of cereal that morning. Damn.

*You should get some rest, Jason. The bonding, and the changes will be faster if you rest or sleep.*

“I suppose I should try resting. I’ll call dad later today, when I get up.”

*You’re a good son, caring for your father like this. You show great honor.*

“Thanks, Siri. He’s my dad. He’s worth it.”

*If it’s any help, I hope I’m able to help you save him.*

“Me too, Siri. Me too.”

I headed back to the bedroom, and lay down to rest. It wasn’t long before sleep took me.