The farmer he had just consumed wouldn't be useful to him just because of the information contained in his gray matter. He transformed into the farmer in the blink of an eye; not only in body, even his clothes changed since, of course, they weren't clothes at all.
He didn't like this body too much, but he had no plans to wear it for too long anyway. Just to go unnoticed.
This world represented the second chance he had always wanted. Not since he learned of his true nature, but since the first dark and confusing moment, waking up in a morgue about to be opened for an autopsy.
Confused and scared (even more than the poor bastards after discovering that today's corpse really was not one), with enemies on all sides, without even memories to draw strength from.
At first, deep down, he hadn't cared about the reasons why they were hounding him. He had only wished they would leave him alone.
Alex frowned.
Everything wasn't perfect, of course. He knew he wasn't Alex Mercer, he knew he was the virus, but in too many ways he had been a better Alex Mercer.
A better person, a better brother. And he'd gotten used to it. He could never see himself any other way.
He could never see Dana any other way.
She was his sister, his only family.
She was everything.
Of course he wished she were here. He wished he could be by her side, holding her hand, even though she couldn't respond or talk to him or smile at him, not anymore. It would be enough for him to be there. But...
She was no longer there. Not in this world or any other.
And perhaps she would never be again.
Alex Mercer, in the farmer's guise to go unnoticed, set off before he could think too hard. Before his regrets paralyzed him like a statue.
-Maybe it's better that I disappear from your life, anyway," he uttered in another man's voice.
Maybe she'd wake up someday.
She wouldn't find him by her side, but then she too would be free at last.
It would be several hours before he found the target, he could only see if it was suitable or not after eating it, however.
He had no time for research!
Of course he hadn't intended to keep the farmer's body. It would be easier to live in peace and quiet discovering himself if he didn't have to worry about having the money to pay for everything. Nor be forced to restrain himself from tearing off the head of the first nobleman who gave him a dirty look or insulted him.
He had seen in the farmer's memories that nobles did what they wanted without consequence, almost all the time. It had been that way in his world (that is, before heads ended up rolling) and they didn't even have access to magic, only a supposed divine right.
His requirements for the right target were very simple, he didn't think he was going to waste much time looking for one. Alex wanted to be a noble, but not too important so that not much would be expected of him and his actions wouldn't draw attention to himself.
Oh, and the noble in question had to be a man, of course.
These times weren't much kinder to women, noble or otherwise, than they were to commoners. His patience wouldn't hold out for long.
He was not famous for his patience and he was famous for many things.
Not in this world, though, and that was the point.
Bottom line, Alex caught a nobleman on his balcony drinking wine and probably watching the rabble go by, rock hard with his sense of superiority. If only he knew who was at the top! Meaning, of the food chain.
But Alex gobbled him up before he realized it, just to make sure he didn't make the slightest noise.
He even made sure to catch the glass of wine before it exploded on the floor. He didn't spill a single drop. It was wrong for him to say so himself, but it had been a perfect job.
He leaned back in the seat, very pleased with himself, twirling the wine glass in his left hand. He rummaged through the memories of the guy he'd just scarfed down to find the most pertinent details. He had done it so well that he didn't even remember the time of his death. The warm wine going down his throat, the view from the balcony and then nothing. Darkness.
That was not pertinent. But satisfying.
"Raymond II of... Oh, a viscount, whoops. Too notorious for my taste."
He shook his head.
Tough luck, he'd have to try again. Alex drank all the wine and concluded that he now knew at least one more thing about himself: he didn't like wine. He left the empty glass on the railing. No one stopped him on his way through the mansion or looked at him for too long, advantages of being important, he supposed. Still, he couldn't wait to discard this skin. It would bring him nothing but trouble.
At least he wouldn't have to try a third time.
Thanks to good old Raymond, he had a good list of nobles' names in his head. Even the less important ones. He was, that is, he had been a manipulative prick and tried to keep tabs on everyone, to have everything under control. So now all he had to do was think it through, choose from hundreds of possible skins.
The servants guarding the doors of the mansion were the first to speak to him.
"Where are you going, sir?"
"I'm going to whatever I want," Alex answered simply.
In a jovial, joking tone, but of course the servants (or should he say vassals, to make it sound more formal and old-fashioned, perhaps) didn't take it as such. Rather they crapped themselves.
But Alex kept walking in search of his new life.
As soon as he reached the outskirts of the city he thought about doing the usual thing, propping a boot on a tree and taking off over the trees, proceeding to fly with blood dripping from his wrists like an emo Peter Pan. But then it occurred to him to try something else while he was at it. New world, new possibilities.
Raymond was a Triangle mage, which supposedly meant he was powerful, though he hadn't had a chance to prove it. And supposedly the spell to levitate was a no-brainer, any mage could do it no matter how incompetent they were.
It sounded interesting, so he put it to the test and did manage to rise above the trees.
At first he was pleased.
Sure, his method was better, but what child had never believed in magic? And what child hadn't suffered the terrible disappointment of learning the truth, that the world was a dull place and that's why there were so many fanciful tales?
But then something went wrong and Alex collapsed.
He let himself fall, and did nothing to prevent it. He was many scientists. He knew how to accept the consequences of a failed experiment (the really scary thing was the consequences of a successful experiment, as he was). Besides, it wasn't like the fall could do anything to him. What's more, he landed smoothly, graceful as a cat.
Okay.
That had been a resounding failure. He'd probably have to eat more mages before he could get that sort of thing under control.
I know who'll be next, he thought.
Under the cover of night, Alex avoided all the guards by transforming into the first animal he had devoured after arriving in this new world. A bird, more specifically a crow.
He landed on the balcony and returned to his original appearance to pry open the door and enter the bedroom.
His target was there next to a woman; his wife, his whore or mistress, he didn't care. He caught them asleep, but made just enough noise for the target to wake up.
He looked at him, his eyes wide as saucers, but at the same time not exactly aware. He looked as if he thought he was still dreaming and the stranger who had burst into his quarters was nothing more than a nightmare rippling through the shadows of the night.
Alex's flesh and clothing began to change, to deform. Preparing for the feast. Then the target smiled in relief.
"I must be dreaming, after all."
Those were the last words of Count Edmond Dantes.
He probably wouldn't have screamed even if his mind hadn't sought refuge in the fantasy he was dreaming about. The shock of seeing his true form, especially for someone who had no conception that such a thing was possible, would have been too much for anyone.
No one in this world was really prepared for him.
And if things went well, they wouldn't have to be. He was sick of fighting. He'd had enough for a lifetime.
The woman, Angélique, fortunately woke up when he was done with his business.
"What's the matter, you can't sleep?" she asked, nervously. The reason was something Raymond couldn't have known. Edmond treated his wife like a punching bag.
Although he made sure not to bruise her in visible places.
Not because he minded people knowing that he knew how to "tame" his wife, but because it would give a very ugly image in public. She had to look pretty even while suffering that kind of abuse.
What a monster I've picked, he thought.
He wasn't very happy about it, but hey, justice had been done. He'd been eaten without a trace. And he didn't have to act like Edmond, he'd wear his face, but that was it. He didn't have to live his life the same way.
He didn't think he would be discovered just because Edmond had a change of heart, some sort of mysterious epiphany.
At worst they would suspect the use of a love potion (he would worry that such things existed in this world except that Dana was well away and he couldn't be affected, he was pretty sure), not that Edmond had been replaced by the mysterious Familiar who had escaped from that ritual.
When they didn't hear from Alex they would probably assume he had died, killed by some mage or some other fantastical creature. They had a lot of ego, after all.
"I thought I heard something, but it's nothing."
He thought she'd say something like "no one would dare try to steal from you or hurt you." Which would be silly, of course, in this world and any other there wouldn't be a shortage of people desperate or ambitious enough (the line was a fine one) to do anything.
But it would be the kind of placating phrase one might expect from what she was, a woman trapped in a marriage to a monster in human skin.
However, she chose the safest option to avoid punishment: nothing. Just saying nothing.
" Good night," Alex said.
Impulsively, he bent down to give the woman who was now his wife a kiss on the cheek.
She tensed from head to toe as if from the corner of her eye she had seen him raise his fist, but even after feeling the touch of his lips she didn't allow herself to relax. Quite the contrary. Now she was not only nervous, but confused as well.
Alex lay down on the bed, although he didn't need to sleep at all. In this he would also have to pretend, at least for tonight, later he would find an excuse to "sleep" alone.
Besides, he could use some time to think.
For example, to think about Edmond and Angélique having a daughter. A part of Alex was very glad that, for whatever reason, he had never laid a hand on the child. Then he would have thought his death had been too quick.
For example, about whether he could come to love what were now his wife and daughter, even if it was only a fraction of the love he felt for Dana.