Ch. 3.5
The mind of a stranger
Black and gold, that is all that the eye could see. The black was the abyss that surrounded me and the gold was a series of constantly moving lines. I got up no that isn't entirely correct it's more like a floor appeared below me one made of the same gold as the lines. It was a floor that extended as far as the eye could see. "Hello." I shouted. My voice was quickly swallowed up by the endless void.
I decided to walk and kept it up for hours. Am I dead? Is this heaven or? Perhaps purgatory. Where am I? "Hello." I yelled cupping my hands over my mouth in an attempt to spread my voice further. As I began to think more about my situation I realized that there was a shadow that spread over my form. The shadow was long and the being that owned it must have had great wings. The spread nearly forty feet in the shadow.
Turning around, I witnessed a figure out of nightmare. Black chains adorned it with golden veins running through them covered the creature and held it in place. The being had no hair but a pair of great horns atop its head two like a bull and one in the center like a unicorn. The creature was five stories tall its feet clawed and human like digging deep into the fabric of this reality. It six sets of wings adorned its back of various types. Its mouth was a jagged line almost a smile, like it was laughing at some unheard joke. But the most frightening thing about the creature was its eight eyes. Four on the sides of its head, three in the form of a triangle in the center, and one in the center of the triangle of eyes but turned from horizontal to vertical.
All eyes of the great beast turned to me. It opened its mouth showing off multiple rows of fangs dripping with a great bile like slime. But strangely I smelled nothing not even the air. The beast roared and snarled and shook his chains. The chains held firm they even seemed to pull him as he pulled away. It thrashed wildly and shook never taking its eyes off me.
"Can you speak whoever you are?" I asked, that stopped the creature short. The chains it was previously shaking stopped as it looked at me. All pupils rotated towards me. There were many actions I was predicting at the time shots of free me. Mad snarls and swipes. Even howls or threats. The creature straightened its back and folded its wings taking on a different posture.
"It has been so long since you were willing to listen to me Samuel have you truly grown to accept me, even after locking me up for the last ten years." My eyes widened before I could stop them. Not only by the intensity of the voice so deep and booming that it felt like my very existence was rattled. "Are you here to free me Samuel are you finally going to fuse with me and become one whole being. Like we should have always been." I looked at the creature and sat down upon the ground in front of the beast that seems to know me.
There is no way I'm going to take his words at face value. Not a chance in hell. Or this place. "Maybe if I knew more about you and this place I could give you an answer. But to do that I need you to tell me what you know. And besides that I was falling from a giant meat grinder just a few hours ago I don't know what kind of place this is." The great beast looked down upon me and turned its head to the side as if weighing my statement.
"Let us play a game Samuel would you like that. This game should answer all your questions. After all you love games more than anything." The thought of Lucy entered my mind. "Almost anything." The beast grinned and chuckled darkly. Yet still, I couldn't feel a breath nor smell his fetid breath. "Do you want to play a game with me." I thought about it for a moment and decided to nod. What did I have to lose after all. "Oh but there is one minor thing you must do for me for every question you can't answer you must remove one of my chains. And if you give up you must remove one of my chains." My eyes widened at the prospect of this being's freedom. The creature gave a large shit eating grin take it or leave it.
As far as I knew I was trapped here with it so what did I really have to lose. "Fine but I will start this show. And for every question you can't answer I get to ask another out of turn." The creature grinned at this he seemed to even be beaming in pride for some reason.
"Very good." The creature seemed to strain as it bent down. A mighty tail moved around pointed with a large needle and covered with armored scales swung around and wrapped around its waste. "I am ready start." It was strange how cordial the beast was like it couldn't not be polite. And stranger yet its wording. They seemed so similar.
"My first question is where are we and how it pertains to me." The beast scowled at me. And shook its head.
"One question at a time Samuel or are you really going to cheat right from the beginning. I will only answer the first one. Though it happens to answer the other as well. We are in your mind deep within a part of it that has only recently developed. From your forced adaptation of your cells. You could say this is a world of your very own imagining. A world you created. A white canvas yet to be painted fully. It is a collaboration between my existence, Lucy's intervention, and your will. You could say it is the throne of your power." The beast grinned at me as he said this and it left me reeling from the revelation. "I believe it is my turn to answer this question is it not Samuel?" I only nodded unwilling to say anything while I thought of the meaning of a mind scape. "Samuel what is your goal beyond rescuing Lucy?"
My mind stopped in its tracks it felt like the cogs screeched to a halt. "Truthfully I hadn't thought of that for me up till now it was all about saving her at any cost but now that you mention it. I don't really know what I will do. Perhaps I will come after every scientist that had anything to do with this damn organization and kill them to the last man. Destroy their homes rape their daughters torture their sons or indoctrinate them to my cause. Find every single benefactor of this organization rinse and repeat." I looked at the surprised beast in front of me. "I'm sorry did I not answer that one fully."
The beast let out a loud chuckle one that reverberated through my body like a tidal wave. "You have changed from the naïve easily guilt ridden boy that used to reside within you. In fact I do believe I like the change. Your guilt always held you back. Even when you were still just a human and I only a spark. It is your turn to ask Samuel."
Why does he keep saying my name what does it mean. I shook my head it doesn't really matter not in the least. "How do I control this world?" The beast looked upon me with shock. Then frowned.
"It is very simple you must will this world to bend to you. This world is the controller by your will. By simply willing things in it they will appear. The limits are up to you." The demon lost his bored expression. "Now it is my turn to ask a question. What happened to your body when you fell from the meat grinder as you called it?" Now it was my turn to frown. I knew I wasn't in control of the conversation anymore. I looked around and saw thousands of strands of golden lightning traveling all over my mind scape.
I got up and started to pace. Back and forth as I thought the creature waited patiently. With a will born from long hours of torture from multiple doctors I formed a screen in front of me. It was large hundreds of feet tall. There were many smaller screens that made it up. And in front of it I forged a throne made from the golden lightning that constantly collided around my mindscape. Once I sat down the screens turned on to show nothing but blackness. I then forged a key pad and a smaller monitor. The key pad was to right commands to my body and to set them. The first thing I did was separate the 5429 into units of measurement. I decided that the amount I had would be divided by a hundred to make sorting it easier. And I marked my physical wellbeing by a red bar. Once done with that I decided to create stats, skills and perks. "I seem to be buried under tons of meat, bone, blood, and shit. But The blood I lost earlier made a hard cocoon around my body to protect me. It seems to have gained its own consciousness." I quickly finished the modifications to my body through my mutations. Once finished my power would work like that of a video game characters. Though the real world will play a huge part in it.
"So I guess our game is over then you have what you wanted from me I suppose." His voice sounded disappointed. I got up and turned to him he was covered in chains. Hundreds of them. I will take ten away. His eyes widened at that. "Pity is that what you feel for me then. If that's the case I don't want it put the chains back on."
"You know my mind still isn't sorted out but I do know you're a voice within my head one that tried to help me. So think of this as a thank you. But it is my turn to ask a question and it will be my final one. Who exactly are you? And how do you know so much about me?" The beast merely chuckled.
"I am you." The beast shrank down and became a carbon copy of me. Except for on difference its eyes were golden with a black background and it still had a single set of black angelic wings. "Or what you could be. I am the darkness within given a form of power by your consciousness. Or I was until you decided to change your physiology. Now I am a completely separate entity. But I am still you just with different thoughts. If you free me then I can help you adapt your body to the changes that you will be going through." I thought about it for a moment it was tempting it surely was. But something wasn't right about this creature.
Looking deep within its eyes I saw a flicker something not myself. I removed the chains. "Thank you so much now. I can finally take over." Then suddenly millions of white and gold feathers started to burst from every pore of the creature. It fell over in a panic. "What's going on Samuel we are on the same side really I was just kidding I would never try to consume your mind." A white slug like creature appeared out of the soil. I reached down and petted it. Then I looked at my foe.
"Do you see this creature you should know it I consumed it recently." I continued to pet the vile thing in my hands that took control of many humans and worked them like puppets. "You see this guy is like you a parasite that kills its host and spreads more of its kind. But unfortunately for it I am a predator that prays on all. It is a part of my body I can tell by the way it feels. But you are different. You are alien to me a disease. Yes you are a part of me but a cancerous part. One that will be consumed like everything else. Billions of bolts of golden lighting struck me and I changed. I could feel my skin molt fall off only for new stronger flesh to grow and take its place soon it stretched broke and fell off again to be repeated. Soon I stood fifty stories tall like the beast before me.
It was strange I had more than two arms in this form I had six. The creature before me was now little more than a pathetic mess on the floor. I approached it. "You won't destroy me so easily." It roared at me and blindly as it attempted to run me through with his tail. While attempting to get some distance with his wings. Catching the tail before it could pierce me I dug my feet into the ground and flung his body on the ground all six arms holding on. Quickly I dragged him in close to deliver a stomp at his torso.
By some miracle it was able to hold onto my foot and stop the blow. I used the grip I had on its tail to turn the huge hypodermic needle towards where I thought its heart should be. I stabbed down hard and fast sparing no time in delivering what I hoped was a killing blow. The beast yelled out in pain but otherwise didn't seem too bothered by my action I could see the wound already attempting to close. With a roar I bit down on the creature in hopes that my virus would make quick work of it. The creature though in pain from my bite was otherwise unaffected. It flung my foot away and rolled away. Unwilling to let it escape I slammed my arms into its head before it could get up shattering its horns. "I won't disappear." It roared. I used one of my arms and ripped off its unicorn horn as it was attempting to head butt me. I turned the horn around and slammed it into the creatures middle eye. It froze. Wasting no time I sent thousands of chains at it and bound it once more. Then I forced the chains to retract slamming the creature onto the ground.
I shrunk down to my normal height. The creature looked up at me with its remaining eyes. "Any last words?" I asked, he shook in anger at me. I smiled in return just to piss it off.
"I am the true owner of this body you can't destroy me I won't allow it." I looked at the sad fool of a fragment I decided that's what it must truly be. Some fragment of myself that I lost. My journey through the prison must have broken him from me.
Floating up I placed a hand on its forehead. "No this is not the end of you. Merge with me and become one." I willed his consciousness little more than a bubble compared to my massive presence now. And I popped it turning his existence into nothing but shards, I ate them savoring the forbidden fruit. Until what this creature was ceased to be. Oh, he wasn't gone I held up my end of my word. He is now a tiny part of me. Nothing more nothing less. The now empty shell of a body began to merge with my mindscape soon it was as if it never existed. I willed four statues into existence after that. One of doctor Cullen's arm, one of the parasite creature that I devoured, and two of the creature I just devoured to destroy the only usurper to my existence.
I looked upon my stat page.
Stats
N.E.P. 100
Hp 100
Strength 3
Agility 5
Dexterity 2
Wisdom 4
Intelligence 3
Skills
Close combat 10/1000
Throwing 2/100
Running 20/50
Stealth 10/500
Weapons 20/200
Mutations
Humanoid – The user won't ever forsake their human form. In return they retain a higher amount of sentience.
Minor healing factor – The body will slowly burn through its natural ep in order to heal itself.
Gamer mind – The user is a gamer through and through. They won't lose their cool when facing a giant boss type abomination. Their psyche is safe from most inner threats.
Over Mind – The user has forced every cell in their body to take on the same functions as a human brain.
Feeding pores – The pores of the users skin filter feed form the environment. Absorbing microbes that hold small amounts of Ep.
Harmful mutations
Viral gums – The fangs within the users mouth are coated in a horrifying flesh eating virus. If not removed the user will become consumed by the virus.
Random mutation - The user has been experimented on for too long and has his cells have changed far from what they once were. They no longer hold resistance to radical change.
"Huh rather pathetic. I really need to work on those harmful mutations. Maybe I should make something like a market app. Something to spend ep and get better mutations in return or refine existing ones. Oh well I will build the foundation for it here then begin my quest." I laughed madly after that. Video games were the foundation of my creativity they were the catalyst of my journey through fantasy and science fiction. They gave me the will to dream.
With a few thoughts I created a market app on the monitor of my mindscape. I sat in the throne like seat in my still rather bland mind scape. Besides the giant monitor it was still rather bland. Next I added a quest app to keep track of any projects.
That done, I glared at the monitor that shoed what was happening while I was knocked out. It was time to wake up.