When I woke up I was in a crude looking mud shelter. I looked around for my weapons and saw that the natives had not figured out how to get my null space storage off of my arm so I still had my Double Saber and my Lockgun. I activated the readout and selected Double Saber on the menu. It suddenly appeared in my hand and I activated the blade on one end about an inch. I cut through the leather-like bonds that were holding my feet and wrists (good thing I can activate my null item storage with my mind!). I got up from what I could now see was a splintered wooden table in the middle of an adobe hut with a straw mat covering the entrance that had just been pulled back. Both of the blades on the saber were active as Capricorn walked into the room. He had a Pallasch out so I guess that these people had taken his Musashis. A Lockgun appeared in my hand in place of the Double Saber as Capricorn told me that Zan had been captured and that these people had a few photon weapons aside from Zan's Pole, Capricorn's Musashis and my Blaster and that we were in a large town or even city. All of the citizens seemed to have a crude gun so I guessed that this was an all-Ranger community since none seemed to have any swords or canes. We stepped out of the room and began scurrying between shadows looking in every house window for traces of Zan. Suddenly I felt a hand upon my shoulder and I jumped about two feet and spun around with the Lockgun pointed at none other than. Zan! But this was not the same Zan that we had come down here with; this Zan had a lopsided grin on his face and was holding his Pole as if it were a Partisan. He was dressed in something that looked a lot like Hunter's clothes also. I could see that somehow his class had changed to a Hunter! I was also as startled as he spit at me and swung the Pole in a crashing downward blow to where I had been standing a few seconds ago. I knew that I would have to fight him as he took a low horizontal slash at me that I leaped above as I brought my newly brought out Double Saber up in a rising blow that would have severed Zan's arm if he hadn't switched hands holding the Pole. As I landed I rolled aside from what I could tell was coming, and sure enough a swift jab down to where I would have been. I took out my Lockgun and fired two swift rounds that hit Zan in the shoulder and made him release his hold on the Pole. He clutched at his shoulder in pain as I rose from the ground and switched my level of power on my gun from 100% to 5% as I shot Zan in the head to knock him out. I dragged him into the nearest hut as I paged Capricorn on my Bee Messager. A few minutes later the mat covering the entrance to this hut was pulled aside to reveal Capricorn 'looking' quizzically at me. "What did you say?" He asked amazedly as I told him what had happened. "What would he do that for?" Capricorn asked himself as he paced the room.
"I don't think HE did it, somehow. I think that his body tried to kill me but not the mind. I think that he's-" "Insane?" Capricorn cut in. I nodded transfixedly as MY mind tried to puzzle together what had happened. I could faintly sense Capricorn pacing back and forth as I suddenly realized I wasn't doing anymore. What I was doing was taking Capricorn's weapons and using his Musashis to try to kill him! Now I knew what had happened to Zan. the same thing that was happening to me; something had possessed him somehow!
I knew that Capricorn was going to kill me because he was a level 200 while I was only 147 (I had gotten a few levels higher). I forced my body to realize this yet all that I had control of was my mouth. From a distance I could hear someone say, "It's not me it's someone else I'm not trying to do this! HELP!"
I felt a searing cold impact as I blacked out for the second time today.
When I woke up this time I was greeted with a searing, bone-chilling pain all over my body. "Wha-wha-what-t-t-t ha-hap-happened?" I stuttered out to the fuzzy-looking shadow standing over me. "I set a Freeze Trap and backed you into it. It activated and you turned into a snowman for two hours." "Ri-ri-right, s-so wha' ha-happen'd aft-after th-tha-that, since I'm out- outside?" "I heard some natives approaching the hut we were in so I carried you out." "OK."
I managed to stagger upright and noticed that all I had was a shirt and boxers on! Capricorn had obviously taken all my stuff and after what I had done I couldn't blame him. I managed to convince him that I wouldn't be a match for him if he gave me my Lockgun back. I was feeling sufficiently warm now to stagger into the nearest hut and make a poncho out of a wool- like sheet. Surprisingly all there was in any of the huts was a single thick rug that obviously served as a mattress, a table, chair, weapons shelf, and a 'waste' basket. From this I could now make a better educated guess that we were in a military camp from some semi-high-tech species since they also had crude guns.
I staggered slightly more gracefully back to the shadow that Capricorn was in and fell asleep.'
As I woke up I could finally see the sun and I could tell from its position that it was early morning. I looked around and saw Capricorn peeking around the corner of one hut and listening to what I could tell were at least three natives talking to each other. I saw that I had a Buster and my barrier / hunter's pad at my side. I equipped all but the brand since I still had my Lockgun and stepped over to join Capricorn in eavesdropping on the people. "We've got those intruders still around but there most likely just some of those shades we've had lately." "Well, I don't give a shit about no shades, a good mind blast'll kill 'em off!" "It might be some of those possessed freaks again though."
From their conversation I guessed that this village was a border guard into the main civilization, this species had some crude physic capabilities, and that they had some trouble with monsters just like us, the only difference was that we knew that our troubles were because of a Greater Evil which is also why people had gotten possessed.
I was concentrating on this as I heard a gun being loaded and a voice saying, "Give up."