Learner’s notes: Day 7

One hooter ‘week’ into my observation of these hooters and I noticed the strangest thing. A flat hooter and a lumpy hooter pressing their mouths together. Alerted to this behavior, I began pay attention for it, finding more than I ever thought on casual observation.

Flabby or wrinkly hooters put their mouths on each other’s cheeks or quickly against each others mouths before parting, while smooth Hooters spend long amounts of time with their mouths pressed together, making strange motions with their jaws, as if…transferring something between them.

I can only assume that there is some kind of control mechanism…a chemical or some kind of large brain parasite, that transfers over from the mouths of the weaker, lumpy ones, to the larger, flat hooters that convinces them to do heavy, more dangerous labor on the lumpy one’s behalf. They even seem to use it on the undifferentiated ones to control them as well, though usually on the cheeks, and with no tongue. Most ingenious.

This once again reaffirms my choice of forms, although I have yet to isolate the parasite in my own form. It is possible that it’s a symbiote that isn’t present in my body given that I never had it passed on to me by a flabbier lumpy hooter.

Even Ryan’s behavior improves after a few of these parasite transfers. His immune system must be quite resistant to them, as this never lasts very long. In short order, he goes back to being what the other hooter’s call ‘an asshole’.

Requires more study.

Early in the day, even more ‘refugees’ arrived, some sleeping in tents, others under thisck clothes. They looked…not as quick of step and mind as typical hooter. Ryan said they looked ‘tired’ – New Vocabulary! –

They wore different wrappings than the ones I’d gotten used to, although under their wrappings, they looked largely the same. Perhaps the wrappings were some way of indicating affiliation?

If I understand the gist of what happened, these ‘refugees’ crossed a great distance and lost many of their own in order to escape some great danger.

That suggests to me that these refugees could not possibly have taken an accurate accounting of who arrived and who did not. I could vivisect a few of them to gain a more accurate understanding of their anatomy. I’m especially curious about the lumpy and undifferentiated lumpy hooters, with a mind to identify and obtain my own parasites.

But…Priority one is to appear ‘harmless’.

Killing two of the most valuable castes of hooters would not be likely to tag me as ‘harmless’

Perhaps there’s a socially acceptable way within these hooter’s paradigm to get what I want?

Requires more study.

***Calvin***

Shadowboxing 84% Repaired.

“It was like a tide of black from beneath ocean foam.” The woman said, her hands shaking as she touched her forehead in a brief nod to the gods. “They came up to the city in boats, enough to cover the horizon. And they kept coming, in endless numbers, those snakes. On the third say of the siege, the creatures must have found some kind of crack, because in the middle of the night…”

She paused to take a breath.

“In the middle of the night, thousands of men and women ceased to be as they were taken in their sleep. My Boon, he has trouble sleeping, so he was awake when they came into the room.”

“He fought them off, and I ran,” She said, her voice breaking. “The streets were just, thick with them. The only thing I could see of them was their black skin shimmering in the moonlight as I ran. That was enough.”

“Cries of alarm started going up through the city as I ran, then a brilliant light from our prince rose above us…” She paused, touching the top of her head as though recalling the sensation. “little, fingertip sized pieces of…something began raining down on us, and I ran into a patrol, who set up a line preventing more of those things from reaching the palace.”

Her face crumpled in sorrow. “I made it, but Boon…” She heaved a single sob. “I looked back, and he just stood there in the street, staring at me, and I knew it wasn’t Boon. We lost most of the West district that night.”

I got the idea from Slither, and other body snatcher fiction. Zombies are a lot more effective than you might think, because of the psychology of hurting your friends and family. And everyone knows hive-minds win like crazy. You like them?

I can’t say that I do, Calvin thought.

Bah.

“And you said this attack was how long ago?” Calvin clarified.

“Let her get to it,” Kala said, her voice tightly controlled. Calvin glanced over and saw the way the princess’s jaw was straining against her skull. She was barely holding it together for her people.

“Over the next week, we gathered in the palace as the Hash’maje joined the fight personally. The walls were claimed by the enemy.”

She dabbed her eyes “Everyone thought we were doomed when the city walls became our prison, but Andra and the Malkenrovian pirates punched a hole through the next day, at a spot where the flesh wasn’t growing.”

The flesh? Elliot asked.

“The flesh?” Calvin echoed, eyebrows raising.

She glanced up at Calvin and shuddered, then continued her story. “They guided us through and guarded the path of our retreat, with instructions to seek you out, milady.” She said, nodding her head. She glanced at Calvin. “That was two weeks ago.”

So the invasion started a little over three weeks ago. The refugees set out day ten-ish. If things were already bad before…I have no idea what the defense would look like now…and what in Vashniel’s name is ‘The Flesh’!?

Ummm…I don’t know. You don’t want your backup revenge killing machine to be unthinking, because those are the easiest kinds of killing machines to fight, so I miiight have given One a little bit of latitude on how to go about its business and respond to threats.

Great. Calvin thought, rolling his eyes.

“Did the monsters follow you?” Calvin asked.

“No, Jinnei and the others made sure we were able to get a good lead, and we kept the pace as best we could. Partway into Uleis, the creatures turned back.”

“Who?” Calvin and Kala asked as one.

***

Calvin’s fingers moved at a blur as he got himself fitted in the boiled leather armor, but his mind was completely elsewhere.

Jinnei.

He hadn’t thought about his sister in months, flying from one life-threatening situation to another every time he had a moment to catch his breath.

Here I am about to fly into another one.

Maybe take some goggles.

Last he’d heard had been vague accounts of Karen and Jinnei boarding a ship out of the country before the war with Iletha got into full swing.

Calvin had been under the naïve impression that Jinnei had been…I don’t know, safely knitting and herding sheep somewhere.

But when he stopped to think about it…That was not the girl who’d gotten herself killed fighting a legend. That was some other idealized sister that wasn’t a thrill-junky. This particular sister was raised by one of the most accomplished killers of all time, and it would be foolish to think she wouldn’t put herself in the thick of things.

But staying there? after they got the refugees out? What were they hoping for, reinforcements from Uleis.

Calvin knew after listening to the woman’s tale, that the Uleisans would scoff at it and any hope of reinforcements from them was hopeless…Had they not recently come under new management.

Kala was watching him lace up the armor. Her gaze felt conflicted and in turmoil. It slowly hardened into steel.

“I’m not going with you.” she said quietly.

“Yeah, I figured.” Calvin said. “Lotta people here who don’t exactly have our bes interests at heart.” A thought occurred to Calvin.

“The Uleisans won’t believe an invasion of strange creatures, but would they believe a new war on Gadvera?”

Kala frowned. “Explain.”

“The refugees are obvious evidence that Gadvera is in dire straights, why not convince the Uleisans that they can retake their former colony?”

“You mean to send the Uleisan army into our country, only to feed them to these monsters as a way of relieving pressure on Gadvera?”

“That’s a bit of a simplification. They might win.” Calvin said with a shrug. “in which case we’d negotiate a deal to buy back your country from the people who saved it…who I have a fair amount of sway over.”

“It’ll take two weeks to muster them and another week to send them over the sands on sleds.”

“What about all that mustard?” Calvin asked, gesturing toward the army that had been roused by Polluq to ambush him.

“They’re not equipped for a trek across the desert. They need water, food, and transport. If I could drive them into some kind of rabid lather, I might be able to cut the time till arrival down to two weeks, but I’m just one person.”

“Shit.” Calvin muttered, running his fingers through his hair as his legs became jittery. He could theoretically stay behind and pour his Bent into hastening the departure time, but it would still take days before they were ready to go.

Or he could go right now.

You could stock up on warp in that time.

That’s a non-issue.

Oh?

When I get there, if things are as intense as they say, there’s going to be plenty of Warp on the battlefield. Get it here, or get it there where we can also make a difference, which would you rather do?

Umm….

No. I’m going.

“There’s only one of you, correct?”

“A copy wouldn’t last long enough –“

Chained spirit

22/33 Bent remaining.

Eight Nadias emerged from the smoke, glancing around curiously.

“Nadia. Coordinate with Kala. You’ve already heard the plan. If you succeed, I would be very appreciative.”

All eight of the Nadia’s swallowed a shudder.

“Of course.” She said with her usual ‘planning something’ smile.

Chained Spirit.

21/33 Bent remaining.

“Kurawe. You’ll be the force and the face behind the push to invade Gadvera while those two bend ears.”

“I’d be honored to fulfill your design,” Kurawe said, bowing. And he meant it.

“You see?” Calvin asked, pointing at the giant zealot, while giving Nadia a look. “He means it. Kurawe’s a model Chained Spirit. Don’t make me replace you.”

“I’m sure Kurawe would be wonderful at seducing dumb noblemen for you.” Nadia said, her crimson lips curling in a smile. “I’m sure he might even enjoy it as much as I do.”

Did she change her lipstick? In my head?

I may have given her the option to change her appearance, a little. Nothing more than makeup and a change of clothes.

Bribing my Chained Spirit?

Ehh….

“Get outta here, succubus,” Calvin said, pointing at the door. Calvin glanced at Kurawe. “You too, zealot.”

Chained Spirit Has reached level 21!

7/34 Warp Remaining.

He had taken the Chained Minds Ability so he could control his ‘disguise’ more convincingly, but now they were going to provide a perfect communications link between himself and Uleis from miles away.

That and he was dead set against allowing his Chained spirits Bent until he both got to know them very well, and had a staggering amount of Stability.

The only thing that would prevent Nadia from taking advantage of him was if she literally couldn’t do it.

Seven Warp remaining. More warp at our destination. Need to make a big splash upon entry.

Do the chained spirits need any more time on their summons? At their current level they’ll last a little over six days.

Plenty of time to see if the push to reinforce Gadvera is going the way I want it to.

The politicians of Uleis wouldn’t be able to sell helping Gadvera, especially after he did so much damage to it in their name. But they could sell the idea of annexing it. And if their conquest-bent army were to happen across a horde of monsters outside Mujenan?

Two tarak with one stone.

No, he didn’t need to raise Chained Spirit any more. He needed more levels in Calvinian Summoning and Dupdomancy, his two most powerful forms of offence.

If I can spend the warp I have to get Calvinian summoning to level twenty-five, I can take Chimera and make something that could roll over the enemy…

Sounds like a plan.

Calvin finished lacing up his foot armor as the Bent constructs left to go do their jobs, leaving him in the room with Kala, Ella, and Baroke.

“I’m coming.” Ella supplied as soon as the view was clear. “I’m not…administration material.” She glanced at Kala and sighed. “And a little envious of the time you two spent underground.” She bit her lip.

“I’m coming too,” Baroke said, his full-sized bow slung over his shoulder. He glanced over at the two girls who’d locked eyes.

“But, umm…not for the same reasons.”

“Good, cause we’re gonna be heading out in a couple minutes.” Calvin said, stomping the hardened boot against the floor to make sure it settled properly on his foot.

“Minutes? Don’t we need like, a couple barrels of water and sleds?”

“No, we’re going to be riding the wasps.” Calvin said, glancing up at him. “Up high, where we can see Gadvera but they can’t see us for a cloud.”

“Umm…” Baroke squinted. “Riding wasps…flying wasps, up high…in the air?”

“Yep.”

“Fuck it, I’ll just run the damn thing.” Baroke said, shaking his head.

“How fast can you run?” Calvin asked.

“Here to Mujenan? Over sand?” He glanced in the direction of their home, his eyes meeting the glass walls of the mansion. “Couple hours, probably, at full speed.”

“Alright,” Calvin said, standing. “I’m not gonna force you ride a wasp, but it’s gonna suck otherwise.”

“I can hack it.”

“Calvin,” Kala said, getting his attention.

The princess threw her arms around him and held him close, her hands running over his back and shoulders while she gave him a long kiss, holding him in place until he relaxed into her caress, his heart hammering in his chest. Kala pulled away from him, her breath tickling his face as she looked into his eyes.

“You be careful.”

“If there’s more where that came from, I’ll be immortal.” Calvin said, blinking the shock away.

“Good,” Kala said, stepping away. Then she turned and surprised Ella by grabbing the girl’s head and bringing it down into another kiss, her other hand digging into the Genosian’s leather-clad butt.

Huh.

Huh.

“You too,” Kala whispered, flushing furiously before she retreated from the room, Practically skipping on her tiptoes as she left the three of them staring after her, awestruck.

“Um...” Baroke frowned, gaze following the fleeing princess, his thick brows furrowed. “What exactly did I just witness there?”

His gaze turned to Calvin.

“I kinda wanna hit you right now.”

“No time!” Calvin said, resisting the urge to grin. “Send a message to Grant, then we go!”

“How in the abyss am I supposed to send a message to Grant?” Baroke demanded.

“How do you think you would send a message?”

***Grant***

“You see? The roots are edible, but you gotta cook ‘em” Grant said, roasting the Knotweed roots in front of the mixed audience, internally lamenting at his fate.

Stuck babysitting a bunch of new recruits in a ragged band of two thousand, with mixed species and mixed ideologies. It’s a godsdamned nightmare.

They even needed survival lessons.

Agh, gone are the days where I had hand-raised lieutenants who could anticipate my every need. But you gotta start somewhere. Damnit, I’m too old to start over again.

By the time Grant had raised anyone to any level of leadership competence, he’d be a sickly old man.

There was a sudden hissing of displaced air coming from above him, and an arrow detonated the campfire, sending bits of flaming wood and particles of shredded knotwood root everywhere.

“Enemy attack!” Grant shouted, jumping to his feet and preparing to ward off thousands more arrows with his swords.

No more arrows came. No one charged. Not a sound was made that wasn’t their own panicked movements.

“Everyone shut up and listen!” Grant shouted. Nothing.

What in the abyss? Grant ordered a perimeter check, his head on a swivel.

When they determined they weren’t under attack, Grant took a look at the arrow buried in the slowly cooling glass pit that used to be his cookfire.

It was made of a strange metal, and it had etched words in the side. Grant plucked the arrow loose and read it.

Took Uleis, Meet Kala east of city for instructions.

***Calvin***

“You think he got that?” Calvin asked, staring after the arrow that had disappeared into a point of light in the sky.

“Oh yeah,” Baroke said, putting the bow back over his shoulder. “You know, assuming they were still camping where we left them. or even if they were within a few miles. You know, Called Shot gives a much better correction with a lot of time and distance so it’s ideal for -”

“Archery nerd!” Cal shouted.

“Magic nerd.” Baroke replied with a shrug.

“Okay, ritualistic insults before life threatening mission taken care of, let’s head out,” Calvin said, unbottling the Warp tank.

Calvinian summoning.

Atom Ant

Calvinian summoning.

Calvinian summoning.

Calvinian summoning has reached level 21!

Calvinian summoning has reached level 22!

Calvinian summoning has reached level 23!

Calvinian summoning has reached level 24!

Calvinian summoning has reached level 25! 3 slots remaining.

+1 Will

- Chimera: The user may rearrange parts from any slotted creature onto any other slotted creature in any combination. (New slot every 5th level)

2/33 Bent Remaining

2/34 Warp Remaining

Calvin created two large, extra strong wasps to carry himself and Ella, along with several hundred Knick-Knacks to be used at Kala’s discretion to help the refugees get the shelter that they needed.

“Don’t you need your Bent when you get there?” He asked. Calvin thought of the multiple Nadias he’d left behind.

“Nope. After you,” Calvin said to Baroke as they climbed on the wasps.

Baroke took off, leaving a gigantic plume of sand marking his trail as he raced across the dunes, Making the biting desert wind look slow.

Wow, that guy can move.