Chapter 7

The sound of approaching footsteps and scratching sounds pressed Aaron to keep running. The squishing noises he heard meant only one thing: that the changelings were closer to him than they already had been. He grunted in anger and fear, unable to make sense of anything. Even if the most basic form of survival, that of running away from predators was the situation he was in, Aaron's mind continued to spin. With the creatures dangerously close to being on top of him, he began panicking in the soul chamber.

"What now?!" Aaron asked. "What am I supposed to do?!"

"I am sorry," Helena said. "I wish there were a true solution I could give you, but I have none."

"Come on!" he said. "There must be something!"

"Surrender."

He looked up to see that Owen's face looked down at him in anger.

"There is nothing you can do," he said. "You are not only morally inferior but outmatched in numbers. No matter how strong you are, the number of changelings they've sent after you will completely overcome you. The only hope you have of making it out is surrender."

He grunted in frustration as he lowered his head.

"But if I do, I might be executed or die from extraction," Aaron said.

"Then lash out."

He didn't even have to look down to recognize the voice at his feet. The man's voice alone was enough to chill Aaron's spine. The way he responded was detestable to the young man. The hole-faced person didn't even tell him to defend himself. He said to lash out. He didn't want Aaron to react in self-defense. The former wielder wished to see him become violent for the mere entertainment of it. If that wasn't detestable enough, the rhythm he felt beneath his feet was festive once he suggested that. The idea of violence was a cause for celebration.

Despite his disgust, it began to seem like the only reasonable option. Aaron craned his head to look at the beige-skinned man smiling up at him with a smile that looked like he was tasting a delicious piece of meat. His red irises had a hypnotic quality, lulling Aaron to want to obey.

"Turn your anger on them," he said. "Strike them down with blind fury. You may not see a way out, but I assure you…"

His eyes began to roll back into his head until his pupils almost couldn't be seen. The dark ground beneath him began to flow like the guitar strumming beneath his feet. He could make out the melody so accurately that Aaron could anticipate the next beat. As the sensation of the music flowed through Aaron's legs, he could feel the rhythm was as wild and vibrant as a tornado before slowing down.

After slowing, it then picked back up again to give him a rush of energy, and the process would start back over. It was as though the low points of the melody were the calm before the storm. The storm couldn't have been more obvious to be this man's desire for violence, like an animal's thrill for hunting.

"Anger can give you the strength you never thought you had," he said. "It will...change you. Just like good wine, it will...leave you with a sensation you never before knew you needed. Not only the sensation…but the way it increases your power."

"Get away from me!" Aaron yelled.

He raised his foot to stomp on the many-holed face, but just as he kicked, his face disappeared. He looked around before his laughter echoed through the chamber. He turned to find he was now against the featureless black wall.

"You'll understand what I mean," he said. "In due time."

As much as he hated the beige-skinned man's words, it seemed like what he said was the only reasonable course of action. Standing one's ground was acceptable if your life was on the line. However, the way that the man with holes in his face was making it sound, it seemed that if Aaron did fight, it would be the equivalent of giving in to some temptation.

Aaron hesitated to strike. Anger no longer sounded like a means of survival but a way to feed a dark beast that craved only pleasure. It sounded wrong to say that fighting to defend oneself was terrible, but the rhythm that had flowed through his body contained a particular pleasure that drew forth when one killed another living being. It could be addictive, and the hole-faced person tried getting Aaron to try it. And to make matters worse, he was already questioning the darkness in his heart.

Could it be true that I only care about my friends to the detriment of others? He wondered. Is that the truth? No... I'll prove that I care about people other than my closest family and friends.

He turned to leer up at Owen.

"So you think I'm selfish, do you?" Aaron said. "Well, you'll have to reconsider my judgment when I decide I won't fight at all."

Owen chuckled a little.

"As much as I'd like you not to do that," he said. "How do you plan to escape without laying your hand on anyone?"

"He's right, Aaron," Helena commented. "I hate the thought of anyone dying or harmed, but if you don't decide to take a stand, your chances of escape are practically zero."

"But they're innocent people!" Aaron yelled. "The changelings chasing me... they're not doing this of their free will, are they? They're humans turned monsters by Fulir and being controlled by Fulir! Am I wrong?!"

Neither said anything.

"And you alter these people's memories to suit your every whim," Aaron said. "Including acting as warriors."

Helena and Owen both stayed silent before the latter. He shifted between glancing up at the brass-faced man and the pale-faced woman, who was thinking of their answer very carefully. It was Owen who finally broke the tension-filled silence.

"Fulir designed humans to be soldiers," he said. "Just as humans create weapons to defend themselves, your kind is meant to be our form of defense. It is only natural that we sacrifice for the sake of others. And while we alter their memories to some extent, it's only so that they don't rebel."

"Then that does it," he said. "I'll do my best to spare everybody. And prove I'm worthy of being called a doctor!"

After running through the tunnel Seren, he found another transport vessel in front of him. Just like at the other boat, it appeared that this transport marked where there was an intersection of tunnels. Six tunnels surrounded him, and Aaron could see a tunnel straight beneath him. After jumping inside to confirm that it was unresponsive like the last one, he groaned in frustration. He kicked the transparent bottom apart before falling into the tunnel from the hole he had created. While falling through the hole, Owen chastised him for his decision.

"What?" the brass-faced man said with a smug expression. "You think that because you keep going deeper into Seren you won't be able to be caught? This is futile."

"I hate to agree with him," Helena said. "But it is. Running like this is no different than a rat fleeing from one corner of its cage to the next."

"Then I'll just have to break the cage," Aaron said as he fell. "Won't I?"

He willed the ground beneath him to rise upward, like a pillar growing beneath him. His hand was outstretched as he reached for Owen. For the first time since Aaron had known him, the brass-faced man looked scared and began shaking his disembodied face in protest. Even as he tried to withdraw himself away, Aaron was ultimately in control. He prevented Owen from retreating into the recesses of his soul chamber by sheer force of will.

"What-?" he said. "What are you doing? No! I command you to stop, human!"

"Not going to work here," he said. "Will it?"

With the intent to draw memories concerning the complete list of the Absorption Armor's abilities, once he touched Owen's metallic-feeling face, a whole host of thoughts flooded into Aaron's mind. While he had memories of the battles he'd partaken in, they were few and far between compared to the Access Armors capabilities he employed in those fights.

He was amazed at just how many abilities this suit of armor contained. Not only was it solar-powered, but there were weapons that Aaron had not even accessed. Practically every piece of this thing could be a weapon. He could use so many capabilities that Aaron hadn't even fully transformed using the armor.

After probing Owen's mind, he willed the pillar he stood on to lower himself, looking up at the smug expression now gone from his face. After landing on the ground, he walked to the hole-faced man with the same intent. The beige-skinned man grinned excitedly as his fingers touched the disembodied face. Running his fingertips across the front of his face gave him a feeling of disgust, the open gashes revolting to him. However, he succeeded in assimilating the face's memories of the Absorption Armor's abilities into his own.

"Your touch," he said. "I enjoy it most dearly."

The face with holes chuckled to himself before blowing up into excited laughter.

"Use what I gave you to satisfy your hatred," he said.

Aaron finally walked up to Helena. He ran his face over her left cheek, feeling her warm, smooth skin. Just the sensation of that touch was enough to not only meld memories of battle strength but even gave Aaron a feeling of kindness. Even though she advised him to fight, he could feel Helena's concern for others. He looked confused as she stoically allowed him to touch her.

"Funny," Aaron said. "When I first met you, you told me love is like ice. Yet, you're warm."

She said nothing, continuing to look at him with unflinching blue eyes.

"Your compassion betrays you," he said. "I can sense that you also care for the changelings despite not knowing a single one."

"Your point?" she asked.

"I think love and kindness may be warm rather than cold," Aaron answered. "Like you are."

"But they're ruined so easily," Helena said. "In times like this, keeping those you love safe is nearly impossible. Remember, if you try to help others, no matter who they are, you will fail more often than you would like to admit."

He sighed before walking away. Shortly after he had melded his memories with the three former wielders, Aaron began to gain a complete picture of the Absorption Armor's powers. It was like fitting the pieces of the puzzle together before he earned a proper understanding of the armor.

Something he was most surprised about was not just the powers but the very being of the armor. It appeared to be a living being in an organism in every word. It ate sunlight as a plant did, it absorbed moisture from the air around as all creatures needed water, but it was also like an animal in that it had an acute awareness of its surroundings. It was why he was far weaker in the underground because the Absorption Armor had no access to sunlight to empower itself. It wanted Aaron to stay alive.

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The armor had a mutualistic relationship with its wielder to such an extent that it believed that his death meant its death. That was also why the armor kept the souls of its former wielders within the armor. Their life force fed the Assimilation Armor. The armor viewed the people that wore it like an animal would become its prey, or a tree might view new soil to spread its roots through. They allowed the armor to grow while giving the wielders some virtual immortality.

Truly mutualistic. Aaron thought.

Not long after he had assimilated the memories of the previous wielders into his own, he landed in the transport vessel in the tunnel. Again, the transport stopped at an intersection where six tunnels surrounded him. He looked around at each of his possible escape routes while Owen chided him. While in his soul chamber, he looked down at the young man, his purple irises full of smug delight.

"You may have gained our memories, human," he said. "Our battle experience may be yours, but there's no way you'll be able to defeat the horde of changelings coming for you. Especially if another Access Armor wielder comes for you."

"That's why I don't plan to fight them," he replied.

"Hmm?" he said.

Aaron ran forward into the tunnel in front of him. However, he stopped just at its opening rather than continuing down the path. He placed his hand on the fleshy wall in front of him between two plates of bone supporting the creature's interior. The squishy, blue material of the beast Seren repulsed his palm until Aaron focused.

Assimilate! He ordered.

He willed the flesh of the monster he stood inside to seep into his hand. Despite the white wood engrossing his hand to be more durable than any metal made by humans, it became surprisingly permeable once Aaron commanded it to absorb. Once the white bark was in this state of semi-solid, he suctioned the dark blue muscle into his body like a vacuum.

"What-?!" Owen cried. "What are you doing?!"

"Wait and see," Aaron stated.

Within seconds Aaron had absorbed up so much of the matter a large cavity rested in the tunnel wall. It was big enough to be mistaken for a shallow cave. The excess flesh stripped from Seren pumped into Aaron's body beneath the armor. Seren's body he'd stolen was not stored in the Access Armor itself but was flowing through Aaron's body like liquid. Seren's body in front of him began spasming violently, the tunnel around him shaking.

One might think this would cause excess bloating in his body, but if anything, it felt like the opposite. His body felt more energized as Aaron recognized he could manipulate the foreign flesh in any way he deemed fit. He could break down and digest it to give himself more energy to act as food or create new constructs with the new organic material. However, Aaron had a slightly more unique plan. With the memories he had gained from Helena, Owen, and the weird holed man, he understood he could transfer his cells and DNA into organic structures, something he began doing. He started mixing his body's molecular composition with the flesh he siphoned from Seren.

Breaking the bone plates in front of him, he stepped into the carved-out space in the fleshy wall before turning around to face forward. He then punched into his new surroundings with a punch from each arm. His fists dug deep into newly made walls at his side before he did the same with his feet. Digging into the flesh cave beneath the floor, Aaron buried his feet within the base he had made.

Connect! He ordered.

The foreign flesh Aaron had taken into his body was now concentrating and compressing. No longer was it liquid-like tissue but somewhat thick veins that formed within his arms and legs, currently connected to his blood veins. Aaron sent these rope-like constructs through open holes he made in the palm of his hands and soles of his feet that interacted with Seren's body like a plug-in connected to an electrical socket.

However, instead of electricity exchanging, it was both matter and information. Not only was Aaron connecting his own body's tissues and veins to Seren's, but he was also feeling the creature's reaction to this process. It was detecting a foreign object in its body. Seren tried to expel it, hence the shaking and trembling of the tunnel.

It was sending signals to Fulir that something was invading its body, whatever way the agents of Fulir learned of his presence. Aaron, however, was not done altering this piece of the creature for his benefit.

"What-?" Helena said. "Are you going to-?"

Expel! Aaron commanded.

Aaron expelled the mass of muscle and flesh he had siphoned from the wall around him. The bark around his hands and feet, both in their permeation state, were now being used like the ends of a water hose through which the flesh was being released. Any meat not used to form the veins was being rushed back into the cavity surrounding him. The flesh initially belonging to Seren that Aaron had meshed with his cells was now pumped back inside it.

As this process transpired, he became surrounded by dark blue flesh. The muscle tissue he pumped out from Seren began enveloping and surrounding him. The muscle consumed his arms, legs, chest, and body. His whole world was dark as the flesh finally grew over his face, entrapping him. He was now entombed within the body of Seren as their senses began to merge.

One would think he was trapped within the creature's body until they realized his nervous system to the underground creature's. Aaron became hyper-aware of the movement of everything within what must have been a radius several miles long. He now became aware of how the beast felt things, but now he understood. Seren's nervous system was contained within its body just as a human's would. The way it sensed things moving inside it was the same way a human might be able to feel ants crawling on their skin.

We are one creature. Aaron ordered. I am the same as you are, just another piece of your being.

The earthquake-like spasms around him began to calm, and soon everything around him was still. To his surprise, it appeared the beast found them to be the same animal and was no longer attempting to reject him. Through their conjoined nervous system, Aaron could feel other beings running, crawling, and even flying through the tunnels in its body. From what he could gather, only some of their bodies were vaguely humanoid. Aaron felt their superhuman strength with each deep impression of their foot. It wasn't like they were hurting Seren, but it felt strange to have things crawling around inside oneself.

He could only guess that the changelings had traveled down the tunnel Aaron himself had purposefully fallen through. However, the creatures seem to be crawling down instead of merely plummeting down them. As they scaled the walls, their claws could be felt by Aaron, sending him pinching sensations along his skin. What felt like the feathery tips of wings grazing against the inner walls tickled a little as the winged monstrosities lowered themselves to descend.

Just as about fifteen reached the bottom, some still gripping the walls while others stood atop the transport vessel, most ran into the tunnel he had entered. Aaron felt fear rush through them as possibly half a dozen of the monsters stepped right in front of him. To his horror, he noticed only a wall of the flesh a few feet deep separating him from them. If they dug through, they would find him.

"How did they find me?" he asked.

Again inside his soul chamber, he looked pleadingly at Helena, who looked at him with a sorrowful gaze.

"I told you," she said. "Fulir can detect you through Seren's body detecting you. Fulir gave them direct orders to track you down by being told the exact location you're at. They can sense wherever you go."

"So even if I go into the monster's body, they'll still know where I am?!" he yelled.

"Why would you think otherwise?" Helena asked.

"Looks like you'll have to surrender after all," Owen chimed. "Fulir will have its highest grade armor back once more."

However, the changelings didn't begin tearing into the wall Aaron had planted himself inside. Instead, he could sense their upper body slightly shift around from the motion their feet were making. They were obviously looking around as they had lost sight of whatever they had been chasing. They began to move forward before trailing back, walking atop the transport to enter the other five tunnels.

"What?!" Owen screamed. "Impossible!"

"It appears they can't find you after all!" Helena said.

At least one changeling went into each of the tunnels. They looked around before standing atop the transport vessel in the center of the intersection or standing still. They were clearly either waiting for new orders or still failing at achieving their last one.

"I don't believe it," Helena said. "You... you've managed to meld so perfectly into Seren that...that-"

"That they can't tell me apart from the creature itself," he said. "In other words, if Seren believes that I'm the same as it is, so does Fulir."

"Well done," Helena said with a bright smile. "I'm quite proud."

"You treacherous little worm!" Owen cried. "How dare you usurp your masters this way! So help me get out of here, or I will-!"

"Shut up," he said.

By sheer force of will, he caused his brass lips to seal tight. As he struggled to open his mouth, Aaron looked at Helena with a smile.

"I am happy you were able to find a solution that didn't mean harming innocents being used as pawns in Fulir's wicked game," Helena stated.

"Thanks," he said. "If it weren't for the memories of you guys, I would never be able to do this."

Her expression beamed gratitude.

"That's flattering of you," she said. "But to be honest, we were just as surprised as you that you could pull off such a feat."

"What?" Aaron asked. "You mean you couldn't do this when you guys wielded the Absorption Armor?"

"No," she answered.

"Then how did this happen?" he asked. "How did I do this?"

Despite his confusion, she continued to look on at him with kindness.

"It's rather complicated…"