Allina climbed along the walls of the room, the talons of her new body sinking into the stone with ease. It was like sinking her nails into a bar of butter. Practically no resistance at all. Al wasn't used to this body, hadn't really wanted to try to use it yet, but with all the creatures swarming around her it was slowly becoming necessary. Grimmjow's gaze had also spurred her into action. She hadn't wanted to simply sit in one spot and be stared at. So here she was, climbing from wall to wall, eating these creatures, watching the ones that came too close and picking which of the hollows below she would eat next. Which had the highest pressures going, had eaten the most. How long had she been here for? How long had this churning mass of monsters eating monsters been here for? She found she'd lost track of time however long ago, the number of times she'd slept and awoken being her only indicator of how long she'd been here. Only, she hadn't been keeping track of that, and may have been sleeping more to make up for how tired she was getting most of the time. Like now. But she couldn't sleep. Not with all these things here. But…she was hungry. So constantly hungry, and wasn't sure she would have been able to sleep anyway. Not with that gnawing emptiness, urging her to attack, to chew.
She pushed off the wall, flapping her wings, diving low and sinking her claws into the back of some creature that didn't really look like anything, was just some strange abstract form. Flapped her wings more, flying to a wall. Gripped it with the claws of her wings, bringing the hollow up to her mouth with the claws that formed where her feet should have been. Bit into it, chewed. The whole time, she could feel eyes on her. But, the longer this went on, the less she really cared. It was starting to be normal, having people watching. They were always watching. Always out of reach, too, and the two that were there now smelled oh, so delicious. It was too bad, really.
She stared at what was left of the hollow in her grip, at the green juice that poured from its wounds. Bit again. She gained power from just breathing alone, and these hollows…each one that was thrown into the room was stronger than the next, she could feel that. It was a gradual, painfully slow increase, but she could tell. Eating some of the newer ones gave her more power than eating the ones who'd been there, devouring uninterrupted by her.
She swooped down, biting a chunk off of a massive hollow that had been dropped into the arena in passing before flying up to the ceiling and facing it. This one was at least the size of a two-story house, walking around, each step so very loud. She chewed, watching it picking up hollows in spite of having been bitten, tossing whole creatures into his mouth. Some of the larger ones were two bites for the big guy.
Al chewed steadily, swallowed, and looked around. A pterodactyl-looking hollow flew to her, screeching. She simply flipped around, flew headlong into the creature, flapped her wings and slammed it against the wall opposite the one she'd been on, effectively pinning it. As the flighted hollow thrashed, she bit into it, quickly devouring it. This time, there were no remains for her to drop. She ate it all before turning her attention back to her mark. Interestingly enough, no more hollows had been dropped into the room from the ceiling, so there were barely any hollows left. Those that were, the large hollow was cornering. Allina took out one of the winged hollows remaining, but by the time she finished with it, her and the largest hollow were the only ones left.
They faced each other, clearly intent on making a meal of the only remaining hollows. The large hollow was imposing, so much bigger than herself. But that also meant he'd be slow, clumsy, and easy to maneuver around. Allina, with her wings and small body, should be fine. The biggest challenge would likely be eating the ugly brute, nothing more.
A short while later, he was merely chunks of hollow meat on the floor that she was eating. "Well done, Subject VLB-001." She snapped her head up at the intrusion, the dying hollow's flesh tearing because she hadn't released it, and she chewed it before swallowing. Again, it was like the voice came from all around her. Only, she knew exactly where to look now. At the window. And sure enough, that's where the owner of that voice was.
"You know my name. None of this Subject-followed-by-random-numbers bullshit." Her eyes were narrowed on the pink-haired man as she growled this.
"The name you claimed was given to you by your human parents, no? Just as I, the one in charge of this experiment that will birth a new you, have chosen to call you Subject VLB-001. It's something you were given at birth, that does not distinguish who you are. What you believe in, how you look, any of that. It is simply what I have decided you are, as was the case when your human parents decided to call you Allina. You want a real name? Earn it, and I'll even let you pick what you're to be called…" His voice was utterly uncaring, and the level of disrespect she sensed in his decision to take her name away irritated her.
She went back to chewing up the remains of the hollow. Hours later, she was back to fighting. Back to eating hollows, dodging their attempts to eat her. Diving low and picking off the stronger ones while leaving the newest to eat and build up their strength, pinning those who dared to climb up the walls after her while she was having her meal and eating them next. If there were multiple, she would throw the weakest down randomly into the crowd and only take the most notable reiatsu source for food.
Eventually, she felt Grimmjow wander away, immediately relaxing. She couldn't help but notice that the occasional hollow would fire a cero, which burned the walls and even seemed to almost…dent it. Hmm. She filed that away in her memory for later reference. Assuming she didn't "burn out", anyway.
Something odd was bothering her though. Whenever she ate, or breathed, she would gain additional power. She could feel that energy welling up inside her very clearly. But…once it had built up inside her, a power at the center of her being took that power, split it apart, and enhanced it. This was leaving her with somehow twice the energy she'd originally taken in. Strange…it denied all logic, went against all the scientific laws that she'd come to know in human life. That you couldn't put more in than you got out, energy could not be created nor destroyed…somehow, on this weird spiritual plane, those laws were being negated. By something inside her? Was this the device Szayel was using on her, or some special ability she had?
Time passed immeasurably, people came and went. Hollows came at her in a steady stream. Some seemed to give up, laying half dead on the ground. Everyone, it seemed, was covered in bite marks, half-eaten, struggling for life. It was then when she realized something strange was happening. The hollows stilled, and the stream abruptly ended. The bonds holding together each being in the room were beginning to shatter, all the hollows losing form, becoming glowing embers of blue that floated about. Al - or Subject whateverthefuck, if that was what she was to be thought of now - found that even she was losing her form. Disintegrating, feeling like she was merely a disembodied mind. A strange, irritating tugging came, and she found herself crowded together with many other disembodied minds. Fighting with them, being surrounded in darkness. Feeling some solidity once again, but she couldn't control it. That solidity was twisting, writhing, lengthening, stretching…she felt a hole form even in it, felt spikes poke through it, a mask trying to form but…not, as though it were waiting for something.
It was then that she got the notion that she was actually able to shove at these other minds. And shove she did, only they began pushing back. Each one was battling, fighting upwards. It was like the mayhem on the ground with the hollows all over again, only she was down in it, fighting, clawing, screaming. She was making some headway though, and slowly she began forcing herself ahead of the others. Finally, the mask began to form. The darkness fell away, and the other minds, which had fought her before, were now trying to simply blend with her. Instead of blending, she devoured them. It was an odd sensation, and she found that she still felt incomplete at the end, but she managed. And then she was towering in the room, far higher than even the largest hollow had been. She found that this body was…far more clumsy. Not only that, but she was barraged by the voices still, their emotions, their thoughts, their memories…and she slowly realized that hers were disintegrating. Not her will, her personality…but every time she thought of her family, they lost detail. She couldn't remember who her friends had been. She couldn't remember how old she'd been, or how her brother had looked. Wait...she had a brother? Ridiculous.
"How are you feeling?" A voice interrupted her dwindling thoughts, and its head turned, mouth slowly opening as it howled. Took a slow, bumbling step forward, head turning again. The source of that voice remained undeterminable. A chuckle crackled around the large hollow next. "Hungry?"
Hungry? What is…hungry? The Menos Grande's attention was drawn from the fragmenting thoughts a moment later as the wall in front of it slid away. Stepping forward were several large black creatures, all with the exact same features, from the curl-toed white feet, to the hole in the middle of their bodies, to the spikes running through their necks and the masks over their faces. They were…boring. In that moment, the Menos knew that it was, in fact, hungry. Had something asked it if it was hungry?
"Dinner, Subject." A crackling, gleeful voice once again distracted the monstrous creature, though it was still not as large as those coming into the room. It didn't remember about them until they took another, thunderous step. In response, Subject lumbered forward, mouth already opening for the first bite. It somehow knew they would taste good. Hoped they would fill the emptiness, stop the hunger. Taking that first bite, it chewed, swallowed, waited for relief to come, in whatever small amount it was. It never came, and so the Menos took another bite. And another. The hollow it was biting into fell, and the Menos followed it to the ground, continuing to eat.
The others stood around the two hollows, howling, turning, disturbed by the event unfolding in front of them, but unable to think of anything to do about it. As though they needed some form of direction, to be told what to do, or they couldn't respond to what was happening. How…pathetic. Subject knew this to be pathetic, even if it could only hold and remember that opinion for a few seconds at best. Wait…Subject? Hm…
The Menos straightened, began walking towards the nearest Menos. The next target. So…hungry…
Neliel stood in the shadows of the laboratory, watching the Gillian eating the others. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Grimmjow rest his head in his hands and sigh, the sound full of boredom. Violent man that he was, this slow killing had to be putting him to sleep…or making him want to dirty his own hands up a bit. Meaning, there'd be a slaughter soon. Grimmjow was just too violent and restless. A wild animal dressed up in clothes, pretending for the civilized to be as domesticated as they were. The insane gleam in his eye gave him away though. And how merciless he was in fights. And how impulsive he was.
It was surprising that instead of storming off in search of a fight, he was still sitting here. He had to be dying of boredom, though. Neliel shook her head and shifted her weight from her left foot to the right. He was acting weird. Well, aside from the Hollows he recently chose to sic on an unsuspecting group of Shinigami in training. That behavior wasn't so abnormal for him.
With a sigh, she wandered outside, beckoning Pesche and Dondochakka with a crook of her finger before heading for her palace. Nel would go ahead and enjoy a cup of tea. It wasn't until the familiar walls of her halls and rooms surrounded her that she began to feel at ease, though. Unlike the other Espada, the palace she kept was more house-like. Comforting. Low ceilings, well-lit halls, perfectly decorated with portraits, vases of flowers, dressers, desks…wallpaper covered the walls instead of them being left as plain stone.
She…liked it better this way. It was calming, welcoming, instead of winding, dark, and eerie. Deep, confusing, and colorless. True, the colors she'd picked to decorate with were all pale pastels, but it was ten times better than any of the other palaces. Walking in here almost felt the same as walking into any decently-decorated house in the human world. That was the intent, what her aim had been. Neliel couldn't have lived in one otherwise. No sleeping, and there certainly was no way she could've gotten a cup of tea down. Here, though, she could relax.
She walked into a sitting room, reclining in a chair. After a few moments, Dondochakka and Pesche were coming into the room with a kettle in hand. Poured three cups, dropped two lumps of sugar into one that they handed to her after stirring, and then sat back as well. Nel swished the liquid around in the teacup, gazing at it. "So…" She took a sip, felt the sweet liquid slip down her throat, heat and vibrance seeming to radiate through her and sighed. This was so nice… But, mind on the task at hand.
Her eyes flicked open, and she looked to her fracciones. "What do you believe will be the results of this little experiment?"
"I don't know. Seems she's made it through the iffy point. That, or something else came out on top. But we aren't dealing with a completely mindless entity in that room like what usually happens when a Menos forms. I saw the screen readout, and it was pretty clear that we almost lost her. At the very least, her memories are definitely gone, and right now the creature appears to have the memory of a goldfish." (Goldfish can't remember what they did three seconds ago, just by the way.) Pesche shrugged. Dondochakka remained silent, tapping his mask and hmmmm-ing.
Neliel sighed. "I don't suppose there's any way to tell if the base soul we put in is the same one we're getting out. That's actually disappointing. Means we can't pick loyal, strong souls to do this to and expect that to still be what we get out. Unless we handpicked and created every last hollow we used in the process…"
"No way! That would be too tedious. Who has time for that?" Pesche slammed his hands on the coffee table, clearly forgetting he had a cup of tea in his hand. It shattered, spilling the liquid all over the wood. "Oh! I'm sorry."
"It's not a problem." Neliel smiled. Her opinion on this was the exact same. She certainly couldn't see herself taking the time to hand select who and what would be mixed in for hollowification and Vasto Lorde creation. Szayel had brought this girl out of impatience, had even overlooked her abilities instead of experimenting on her for that. He could've gotten another specimen for the hollowification process, after all. Or perhaps it was the fact she possessed those powers that made him so much more intent on proceeding. Maybe it made him more certain some part of her would survive becoming a Menos, and he wasn't willing to risk the chance of destroying her soul on a detoured project. Maybe he just didn't care. There was no telling with him.
