Promise

You have reached Level 12 in the Biomancer Class.

No skill this time uh? That’s okay. Still progress.

Alice was once again drifting weightlessly in the dark room in her mind while her body floated, unconscious, in the shining pool.

That damn spider really saved my butt didn’t it? And now it’s in my home. I bet it is watching me sleep. Super creepy. Also I think I need to call it something. Back at home I even named my Roomba for fudge sake… I’m just procrastinating because he/she is so ugly while Meepo was beautiful.

Aaanyway, let’s think about my current issues.

I need a more reliable source of food, stronger weapons and clothes, and an inorganic water container to hold the glowing water for long periods of time, something made of glass or metal would be amazing. I’ll also very much want to find an exit if there is one at all.

Finally, if I really am to help that huge-ass spider, I need to start thinking on how to do it and most of all how to do it without getting eaten as soon as I’m done.

Oof. That’s a lot of things.

Well let’s start planning again. I’ve seen where taking things for granted and going with the flow has brought me.

She didn’t want to replicate what happened with the spiders a few days before, thus, Alice started thinking, planning and strategizing as she floated in the dark void of the room, her body sleeping while her mind remained active.

She woke up with a start when something sharp poked her side, pushing her body underwater and causing her to breathe in some of the fluid.

She rose from the pool spluttering and gasping for air. With her pruney hand, Alice cleared the tears from her eyes and glared at the spider that had apparently decided she had slept enough.

“Yeah I know what you are asking. Again. But we need to make clear a few things before I even think about meeting that thing”.

She sat down on her stalagmitic seat, a sharp look in her eyes.

“First of all, you’ll need a name. I’m tired of thinking you as ‘the spider’ so I’ll pick one for you. Do you even understand what a name is?”

And thus, the young woman commenced a very complex and extenuating week-long signed conversation to try and reach an understanding between two very different creatures.

The dialogue was hindered not only by their anatomy, but also by their very own natures; what was obvious for one wasn’t for the other and vice versa.

Alice, who at first had had trouble explaining the simple concepts of yes and no was now working with the concepts of individuality, possibility, promise and finally of truth and lie, with very different degrees of success.

“Okay, for the last time” said an exasperated Alice six days later, as she signed over and over “I will meet with your mother—as far as she understood the large spider produced eggs— and I’ll see if I can solve her illness” she said as she repeatedly pointed at their agreed-upon sign for possibility: that of two eggs, one unhatched and the other turning into a tiny spider.

“If I can cure her, you’ll make me silk clothes and help me eat and finally your mom will answer to my questions?” the spider clicked affirmatively; she had spent a long time especially trying to discover if the mother was as clever as the one in front of her. In the end, it seemed to be so, and she really hoped she would be understanding and not overly hungry.

“Otherwise, If I cannot cure her, you’ll let me go home and I’ll try to unlock something to help her in the future” once again the spider clicked affirmatively.

“Okay then. I’ll do it. But you’ll have to relay all this to your mom before I follow you. She must accept too” Alice was having problems with this part in particular as the spider seemed to want to bring her directly to the place where its mother was. In the end, however, it once again clicked a yes before starting to mime the sign of sleep over and over.

“Many sleeps? It’s far away? I’ll wait for you to be back. Then I’ll come” she promised as the spider clicked once more before rushing out of the cave, disappearing from her sight.

“See you soon Skitter; I really hope I’m not making a mistake”.

She stood up, stretching her limbs and walking around the cave as she mulled over the pact.

It’s done uh? Let’s make sure I’m as prepared as possible for this thing. I still don’t trust them, but I stand to gain far too much from this not to risk it.

As they discussed, the improbable duo had done various foraging runs into the main caves and she had obtained a number of new materials for her crafting. Materials she started experimenting with in the days following Skitter’s departure.

To begin with, Alice finished shaping the last remaining ribs of the salamander into more bone spikes and needles, which she neatly piled near her workbench.

She then labored to produce a quite misshapen breastplate, using a few lengths of braided silk and a thick, armored plate she had obtained from one of the millipedes and subsequently cleaned up into the pool. Alice hoped that wearing it over her cleaned bra would help protect her vitals without hindering her movements or chafing too much.

One time, the spider had come back from its hunt with a wrapped-up wasp, and she had taken the chance to study it for a bit before it dug in.

The insect was absolutely disgusting; its eyeless head sported four long antennae that quivered at her every sound and movement, while the large, serrated mandibles clacked angrily every time she got close, eager to taste her flesh.

Once the creature had been paralyzed by Skitter’s venom, she had removed the silken wraps and inspected its translucent wings. The limbs were supported by large veins of hardened chitin and their entire surface was smooth and hard to the touch, almost like some sort of plastic.

While inspecting them, Alice had gotten too close to the extremities and paid for it with a deep and thin cut, as the razor-sharp edge sliced cleanly through the flesh of her hand.

When the creature was finally sucked dry by the hungry arachnid, Alice harvested the thin and sharp stinger, admiring its smooth appearance and noticing the almost imperceptible hole in its tip, surely used to inject venom in their prey.

But I was stabbed by that huge wasp back in the spider nest and it didn’t seem to do anything. I wonder why.

Curious, she carefully pricked herself on the finger with the tip of the stinger, a tiny drop of red blood staining her skin.

For a few seconds she felt nothing and shrugged as she lowered the object, already thinking of more things to do; then, a hot sensation of discomfort started spreading from the wound, quickly growing into a wildfire of pain that enveloped her entire hand which subsequently started swelling until twice the normal size. She curled up on herself, trying to ignore the waves of pain that were hitting her over and over.

In a panic, Alice activated her Basic Biological Instincts skill and, following its hints, started producing a higher amount of adrenaline, trying to prevent her body from going into anaphylaxis. At the same time, she flooded her pain receptors with her power, numbing them severely until, many hours later, the pain finally subsided, leaving a very red and tender hand as a final memento.

Better not get stung by the wasps; thankfully, I’m not allergic, otherwise that would have been bad. I wish to know why the larger wasp didn’t have such an effect. That is strange.

She left the stinger propped beside her hideout as she didn’t really want to risk debilitating herself during a fight, even if it could give her an edge against her foes.

After a bit of holiday to recover from the stinging accident, Alice started working on the silken cover, tying down the fraying parts and managing to shape it into a beautiful cloak, tied to her neck by a single, large bone button. The garment would offer a bit of protection while leaving her completely at ease with her movements and able to doff it in an instant.

Finally, she produced a larger wineskin out of many layers of stitched hide, ready to fill it to the brim with glowing water once Skitter came back with news of its mom.

Once done with her crafting, Alice proceeded to start something she had postponed as much as she could, still a bit scared of what might happen.

That day she would be adding more glowing specks to her body; banishing her fears, she would progress further in her journey towards real symbiosis.

I’ve seen the difference between normal and mutated cells and there’s simply no reason to avoid doing it.

She sat down beside the pool’s edge with her legs crossed, pushing away the anxiety bubbling in her mind, Alice cupped her hand and carefully sipped a small amount of the twinkling water, trying to ignore what she had chucked into it over the last few weeks as she swallowed the rich fluid that travelled down her throat like a living thing.

She dived into herself, taking hold of her body from within and focusing on the liquid traveling down her esophagus and into her stomach, coating everything in a bioluminescent sheen.

She started controlling the globules of light contained within, reaching the same state of mind she had been in while in the spiders’ silken prison, she lead them where they were needed and controlled their fusion with her muscles, bones and organs.

Only one place the girl kept them away from, the most important one.

As the organisms merged with her own cells, Alice felt the changes taking place, how every single one of them worked and interacted with the other, how they formed a new structure from the old one; a system more reactive and powerful than before, as if shining their bright light in a place that had always seen darkness and gloom.

Light. Lumen. I’ll call them that.

The sudden thought felt almost instinctual as she moved gulp of water after gulp of water inside of herself, letting her body steep in the energizing radiance of something so magical and otherworldly such as the Lumen globes.

The following day, when she stood up from her bent position, hearing the bones creak and the muscles strain, Alice looked down, into the dark pool in the hidden cave in an unknown world, and slowly ordered her body to light up, marveling at the soft viridescent glow of her skin as the green light shed by her cells passed through the red of her blood, giving her skin an almost golden hue.

I think I could get used to it.

She turned off the light, trying to keep down her consumption of nutrients.

Now back to waiting for Skitter I guess.