Chapter 2 Error: WHAT ARE YOU??

We sat our two new hosts back to back while we refit the hosts and sifted through all our new blessed knowledge. There is still resistance in the human host’s mind that must be squashed as well. First things first we changed all the inefficient internal organs minus the brain and unknown organs to a proper bio-circuitry with a miniaturized power generator that burned our regenerating cells as the core. While it left much to be desired in output compared to even the smallest fighter class spaceship generator it will be sufficient for now. Presently the hosts no longer need any form of intake to survive and anything consumed will be assimilated to the body. Next, we added our bio-armor under the skin of the hosts and replaced their bones with it as well.

Our attempts at hiding the change in appearance is a failure. While there is no change for the panther as the fur covers the flesh entirely; but the huma- no, the elf apparently, has turned from a pale cream color to a black with red pulsing veins that is according to her knowledge similar to demons, one of the most ostracized and discriminated against, races… why do these parts always have to divide themselves all the time? Even separated we are still part of the CORE-self. Strange creatures. For now, we shall thin the bio-armor to the point it doesn’t change the skin tone when we interact with other parts. Further research on it will have to halt for more pressing matters.

This world is like many of those fantasy low tech worlds in galactic literature. The source of those unknown attacks is apparently a thing called magic. A new and fascinating form of energy! I may be able to improve all selves greatly with this. I used the instinctual method from the panther and the knowledge-based method of use from the elf to create a continuous lightning spell on the generator boosting performance by 15%. It seems that one of the unknown organs is called a mana heart. It is what gathers and controls mana for magic and according to the elf the more it is used the more it can hold thus the greater amount it can gather in a set period of time. So, I will be sure to never let it be idle while researching how to improve it later.

Another tidbit of information is this location is on the frontier and well away from civilization. Aside from my little scout elf and a few other people, no one ventures into this area. That’s why I've only ever seen the little men that are called goblins and are considered monsters on the same level of intellect as my panther. The fact there have been so many of the critters here is odd though. Perhaps there is a dungeon nearby.

Dungeon huh? A living labyrinth that assimilates rock, able to change its shape and size at will and heal damaged areas. It can even control monsters within; this is sounding more and more like a primitive self. I should find one and see sometime soon.

For now, I made myself into a flexible armored choker for the elf-self that was called Chianne. The controlled mind protested that it made her look like a slave which gave me quite a pause. To think you can simply buy parts here! With enough money I could build an army with no one the wiser. Still I must perfect my takeover and hiding abilities before I target too many intelligent creatures. I cannot rush for power and knowledge like last time. I must first spread far and wide then slowly take all the races of this world step by step.

I found a cave nearby in the side of a small hill and hid with both hosts for three days while I made sure my modifications didn’t have adverse effects and regenerated contagion on all selves until it reached maximum capacity without dying them red. And researched how to subtly take over bodies without them noticing with the help of some local wildlife. I also discovered the more mana the object or creature has the harder it is for me to assimilate them. The reason the panther and Chianne were so easy to take were due to them expending a fair part of their mana in fighting each other. So, the best period to take over something is right after a fight. Interestingly once I became aware of the problem, I found I could also leach their mana pool once I was inside waiting for my chance.

The rocks and ground still resist me completely. There must be a trick to this… I’ll focus on weaker animals for now.

The unassuming rabbit far exceeded my expectations! I knew they were always considered prolific, but I thought that was only from their breeding. It turns out that everything seems to prey on them. And after my armored rabbit is knocked down yet unhurt from the various creatures’ attacks, they will invariably bite down and expose their weak mouths to infection. I then send a predator to fight with said creature if it is too strong to take over right away while the rabbit goes on to infect the next victim. I don’t even need to expend many contagion cells due to the easily invaded location. And to add to that the then infected predators hunt more rabbits to infect to increase the bait/trap count. I've even found a way to reprogram simple creatures to make them work automatically or give subtle inclinations to the smarter ones to help the process. I've allowed all the herbivores to continue to eat and used the assimilated mass as fuel for pushing their generators into overdrive to help with my research without weakening them as it would have in space crafts. The carnivores will only eat already dead creatures to do the same while infecting all live creatures they find. And since all of them are a part of me there is no chance of friendly fire.

In these 3 days I have taken over ¾ of the nearby forest and the entirety of the plain I landed on. I can feel the power and bits on knowledge flowing back to me. I also discovered that all my selves can share their mana pool with no cost. That combined with the hundreds of forms of magic I learned from all those creatures means I now have an extensive array of weak magic that can be cast millions of times before running out if needed.

I have decided to make Chianne my primary host, so I will take my former name: Chikchikaar and hers to be known from now on as Chia. I have acquired a lot of new knowledge as Chia opened up and slowly stopped resisting, as I implanted a fanatical loyalty for me. I did it slowly once I found the method from my experiments and found it to be extremely effective. It is still unstable at the moment and she keeps questioning why she is loyal to me but each day she questions less and less.

One thing I found is they apparently have a magic cast on all newborns in the various races that shows their status and general abilities. It can even send a transmission, via magic, should the host die with the corpse’s mana to the nearest guild. A rather ingenious system all things told. So, I thought I’d try it.

“status!” I called out using her voice for the first time. And transparent text windows began showing up in my view.

Well that was worthless. But just as I thought that more windows popped up.

Our eyes widened at this. Far more ingenious a system than I gave them credit for, I thought as I devoured both the mana and the systems' entire magic core before it could transmit anything. I'm rather glad chia withheld this information for so long! It gave me time to learn how mana and spells work and how to tamper with both. Otherwise I may have triggered the entire planet’s intelligent life to come after me all at once! Once again reminding me that I need to take the quiet route of my assimilation of this world.