My consciousness flickered back to life, leaving disoriented and overwheld. The first thing I noticed was this oppressive darkness. Honestly, it was kind of a shock, going from blinding light to utter darkness and... What was that sll? Where am I? Oh god, it feels like I'm buried alive. What did I agree to?
I tried to move my arms but felt nothing. I tried to fight off the panic but it wasn't working, my limbs weren't working, and nothing was working the way it should. I just lay there, flailing about like a maniac.
I kept thrashing around, trying to remove my bindings, if that was even the case. I kept slamming against sothing squishy and yielding. What was happening? Why can't I feel my hands, my legs? Why was everything so, wrong?
I continued lashing out, biting and pushing, anything to get out of here. Eventually, sothing gave and I poured out of my confines and onto... sothing equally gross. I could tell there was fresh air out here, I could feel the breeze on my skin, but the ground was wet and sticky and I still couldn't see anything. The soft squelch of movent made sick as I navigated the surrounding area to the best of my abilities.
Again, I felt the need to attack, to bite at anything around , to do sothing that would tell where I was and what was happening. I struck out, my mouth landing on sothing soft and forgiving. Honestly, it reminded of my ti with the goddess of death, only, less satisfying. The sweet sticky tang lingered on my face as I nuzzled deeper, though this ti I felt compelled to chew and dig into it.
Suddenly, a cold and detached voice cut through my mindless actions causing to perk up and focus:
[System Activated.]
[Larval Stage Initiated.]
[Objectives: Consu. Evolve. Dominate.]
"What? Did it just say Larval stage?!" my throat felt strange, my words barely audible even in my own mind. But no words left my–was it a mouth? I couldn't tell anymore.
I was pushed to act by this strange force and my writhing intensified. A hunger burned within , it was absolutely insatiable. I needed to eat. Without fully understanding why, I latched onto the mushy material around , jaws clamping down on what felt like skin. The taste was foul, yet oddly satisfying, so I consud it greedily.
[Experience Gained: 2 XP.]
The voice returned.
[tabolic Pathways Unlocked. Slight Growth Detected.]
That was, odd, but I could feel my body reacting, it was easier to focus my intentions into action, so I figured, when in Ro, eat until you feel like throwing up, and bit down again. I still had no idea what was going on, but when I bit things, it seed to lessen the overwhelming burden of my very existence. Piece by piece, I bit into the material surrounding . Each bite brought another jolt of energy and another detached notification:
[Experience Gained: 4 XP.][Biomass Absorbed. Body Density Increased.]
Am I in a video ga? This is insane. Gradually, a picture ford in my mind, though not through sight, but through so strange, tactile awareness. Clearly, I am not . I am lying here in a wet sloppy mass of what I can only assu is food. I am wriggling, and formless, honestly more akin to a worm than a human. Horror gripped as the realization settled. "Larval Stage Initiated. Larval Stage... Morgana's words rang in my mory, "Your first body awaits."
Was this what she ant? Did she make a god damned worm? Are you kidding ? If I knew I was going to be a worm, I would have never agreed to that warm, thrilling, mind-blowing mont of–
Okay, I'm getting off-topic. I need to figure out what is going on.
My thoughts were cut short by a sudden movent, or, I figured it was movent, AS I COULDN'T FUCKING SEE WITHOUT EYEBALLS. The best I could do was feel the world around . It felt like dayti because the warm rays of the sun bead down on . That was good, right? Predators mostly hunt during the night, or at least I thought I rembered that sort of thing from the 2 am Discovery Channel specials I woke up to in the middle of the night.
The warm welcoming feeling of the sun was briefly interrupted as sothing cast a shadow on from overhead. My body scread to escape, to hide, to burrow into the, whatever this was. I honestly tried, but every bite only took so far down, and my body was much bigger than my mouth. I felt vibrations, a rapid fluttering of air that grew louder. Before I could react, what felt like massive claws carved into the world around and gripped tightly, threatening to tear in two before lifting and a chunk of the earth below, far into the air.
I wasn't sure what was happening, but what's new with that, am I right? I just felt the wind blow against my face and the fleshy earth press against with intense force as I was pinned between it and the claws around . I supposed that if I was going to be stuck in this situation, I might as well keep eating.
I kept consuming the material below , figuring if I were to die, it wouldn't be the first ti that happened.
[Experience Gained: 4 XP.]
Chomp.
[Experience Gained: 4 XP.]
Chomp.
[Experience Gained: 4 XP.]
Eventually, I was dropped from quite so distance, at least from my perspective. I fell a while, bounced off of the only earth I knew, and landed on a hard surface. I bit into it, but nothing happened. I wriggled and writhed around until sothing grabbed hold of . The creature's hooked appendage snapped at multiple tis, causing quite a bit of pain as I was inford the following.
[Your health has been reduced by 1. 4 health remaining.]
[Your health has been reduced by 1. 3 health remaining.]
[Your health has been reduced by 1. 2 health remaining.]
[Your health has been reduced by 1. 1 health remaining.]
And then I entered a new world. No, I didn't die, not this ti. I just slid down a wet tunnel like so sort of morbid waterslide until I landed in a strange chamber.
Darkness enveloped again, but this ti it was warm and fluid. I struggled to orient myself to no avail. I could feel the walls around , constricting and churning.
[Transference Complete. Objective: Locate Neural Pathways.]
I can't even begin to imagine what that ans. However, as I pondered my situation, a new instinct took hold, overriding my confusion. I began to wriggle upward, pushing through the slurry of fluids around . Eventually, I pulled myself from the burning liquid and found myself ascending. Each movent was driven by so strange compulsion I didn't understand and yet couldn't resist. Slowly, painstakingly, I navigated through the strange corridor, guided by the system's occasional prompts:
[Progress: 40%. Neural Tissue Proximity Detected.]
The journey was agonizing, but I pushed forward. I had no idea what else I could do and certainly didn't want to live my life in a goopy pool of burning water. I felt a strange pulse from deep within the cave. It took a few instances of intense biting, but I broke through the wall and pushed upward. Eventually, I ended up in an oddly soothing chamber. The spongy material called to and I answered with gusto. I worked my way through so thin mbrane and found my way into the massive sponge. The feeling was electric like I could literally feel the electric hum of wherever I was take hold of . I imdiately latched onto it, my body instinctively pressing myself into the object. A jolt surged through as my consciousness expanded.
[Neural Integration Successful. Host Fully Subjugated.]
[Abilities Unlocked: Domination. Enhanced Vision. Flight.]
[XP Gained: 100]
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 2!]
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 3!]
My awareness exploded outward, and I hadn't even noticed the levels I acquired at the ti. Suddenly, the world ca into view and I found myself sitting in a nest. I could feel the wind through my hair. No, that wasn't hair. I looked down at myself and saw a set of curved talons where my feet should be. I glanced to my sides and stretched my arms, only to see wings sprout out from my body. I looked on in horror and realization began to unfold.
I was a bird?
How the hell did that make any sense? I spent my short ssed up life flopping around and biting stuff, and now I was a pigeon? Okay, maybe not a pigeon, it looked more like a crow, what with the black feathers and such, but still. I agreed to have that woman turn into a bird? Seems like a raw deal, do birds even have dicks? Sothing from my early education told , "Kind of?".
I an sure, it was cool that I could maybe fly, but I would much rather be a human than a bird. I tried to figure out what was happening to when that blasted voice bood in my head once more.
[Mission Update: Explore and Adapt. Continue Consuming Biomass to Evolve. Locate New Host.]
This life is for the birds. But if this was what I was, I would make it worth my while. I tested my newfound body, flapping my wings experintally. The motion was awkward at first but quickly beca more natural. The next step was the legs, so I cautiously moved one in front of the other to feel out how movent would work and quickly noted that birds do not walk like humans. I beca so focused in adjusting that I forgot one small detail. The material I arrived here on, what was it, where did I co from?
I glanced over, my eyes locking onto my ride into this nest and to my horror, I saw an eyeball that must have been ten tis the size of my original body. I wanted to vomit, but without a hatchling around I didn't see a point, so I squawked until my squawker could squawk no more. I didn't want to remain here, so I hopped about the nest looking for an exit and felt a little embarrassed when I realized everything was an exit. Being this far off the ground ant that despite the ability to go anywhere, I would have to do it with these wings. I hopped back to the eyeball and absent-mindedly picked at it with my beak before shaking my head and trying to regain control of myself.
[Experience Gained: 4 XP.]
I returned to the edge of the nest and spread out my wings, testing the wind, feeling it beckon upward, knowing that with just a short jump, I could be soaring into the sky. So I guess if that was my only option, I would just have to go for it. After a mont of hesitation, I leaped off of the nest and into the wide open sky. I outstretched my wings and for one beautiful, wonderful, amazing mont, I was flying... Until I began hurdling toward the earth.
[Host Destroyed.]
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