Dustin crouched behind a rock, looking out over the enormous cave before him and Olivia. Below them, a rough city rose from the cave floor, teeming with life. Few of the creatures they could see, looked similar, so it was probably a safe bet they were all prisoners that had made their way here for safety from the hunters.

“PED, can you return me to the form I had prior to gaining the wings?” he asked silently, in his head. If he needed to fight, he wanted to be larger then the three feet he currently found himself.

(UNABLE TO COMPLY WITH HOST REQUEST WITHOUT GENETIC MATERIAL, OR TWO MORE UPGRADES.)

Clutching the scales in his hand, he debated using one of them. Would he lose the abilities he had gained from the ground worm?

(NEGATIVE. EVOLUTIONARY TRAITS ARE ONLY REMOVED DURING AN EVOLUTION IF HOST REQUESTS IT.)

Nodding, he shoved one of the scales into his port.

(GENETIC MATERIAL ACQUIRED. ANALYZING. NO NEW EVOLUTION OPTIONS.)

“Initiate evolution to remove the wings and increase my mass size to that of the genetic material provided,” he told it, trying to make sure he worded his request correctly.

(EVOLUTION INITIATED.)

The wings on his back began to shrink, and he had to move to another rock as he started to grow. Olivia watched him curiously, before moving closer and motioning for him to get closer.

“None of them have PED’s,” she whispered, waving to the city below.

Looking back at the figures below, he saw a group start heading their way. “We’ve been spotted.”

(EVOLUTION COMPLETE)

Staying low, he darted back towards the cave they had come from, but stopped just inside it. There were three figures waiting for them. He stood up straight, and waited for them to say something. Olivia stopped just behind him, trying to keep the PMS devices she had from the hunters, hidden.

“Don’t try hiding them, missy, we can see the evolution devices you have,” growled one of them. It had spikes, like from a cactus, and seemed to almost glow in the dark. As it stepped closer, Dustin could make out that it was almost a honey yellow color.

“You’re mistaken,” Dustin said, lazily.

“What do you mean? We’re not blind!” exclaimed a flower man. He had vines for arms and legs, but still had his package out in the open, for all to see.

“They’re not PED’s,” he said, refusing to look at the flower. That was just vulgar. At least his package was covered with a scale plate.

“We’ll be the judge of that,” said the cactus, stepping forward.

“Don’t touch me.” His voice was a deep growl that caused the cactus to hesitate for a moment.

“Fuck you,” he said, grabbing him on the arm.

Swinging his arm around to grab him by the neck, Dustin opened his mouth, to show off his sharp teeth, and bit him.

It was over in moments. The cactus fell on the floor, spasming and going still. The other two backed away a few steps in horror and surprise. Casually spitting the chunk of flesh into his hand, he placed it into his port.

(GENETIC MATERIAL ACQUIRED. ANALYZING. POSSIBLE EVOLUTION OPTIONS: IMPROVED STRENGTH. ALL OTHER EVOLUTION TRAITS AVAILABLE ARE PLANT BASED. DOES HOST WISH FOR ALL FUTURE PLANT OPTIONS TO BE IGNORED?)

“Yeah, ignore them, I don’t want to be a fucking plant. Initiate evolution.”

(EVOLUTION INITIATED.)

“Holy shit, he just killed him!” said the flower, stepping back again.

“The others are almost here, get ‘em!” growled the third figure, pushing the flower forward. It had fur all over its body, with long quills sticking out of it’s back. Opening its mouth, tentacles flew out and wrapped around Dustin’s arm.

The flower jumped past him, as he jerked the quill guy forward, and went for Olivia. She smacked him in the face with one of the devices before kicking him in the crotch. Dustin didn’t see any more, as he focused on fighting the guy who was trying to eat his arm. Leaning forward, he bit through the tentacle, freeing his arm, and watching as the guy fell to the ground spasming. Palming a piece of the tentacle, he let the rest of it fall to the ground, before turning and seeing the flower fall to the ground, spasming as well.

(EVOLUTION COMPLETE)

“Enough, we get that your bite is deadly, stop killing my men.” The guy who stepped forward looked familiar, and Dustin realized that was because he had the same hood as the white snake he had killed.

“You should teach your people manners.” Dustin turned to look at him, while Olivia moved behind him again. She was just as deadly as he was, but he appreciated her staying out of his way.

“I don’t normally have people who find the city, then try and leave. Unless you have a date?”

The guy glanced at Olivia, before returning his gaze to him. Dustin looked over all the creatures that had followed him, and was mostly unimpressed. Shoving the piece of tentacle into his port, he made a point of snapping it shut before looking back at him.

“Where’s your PED’s?” he asked, nodding towards their empty arms.

(GENETIC MATERIAL ACQUIRED. ANALYZING. POSSIBLE EVOLUTION OPTIONS: IMPROVED DEXTERITY, TENTACLE MAW.)

‘Give me the improved dex, not the maw,’ he thought.

(EVOLUTION INITIATED.)

“Everyone is required to give up their PED’s when they join the city. It’s the law. They don’t work for long after you stop evolving anyway.”

“We don’t want to join your city.”

“No one wants to live out there. Those alien hunters will kill you in a few days. Have they started using their ray guns yet? It only gets worse after that.” Snake man didn’t seem to get it.

“I think we’ll take our chances.”

“Why don’t you at least come see what we have to offer?” he said, waving back towards the city.

“No, thanks.” He turned, and Olivia started to walk back the way they had come.

“You better not bring those hunters here,” called the snake man as they turned around a corner.

“Do you think they’re just going to let us leave?” she asked in a whisper.

“No,” he answered, looked around. “They’re hiding something.”

(EVOLUTION COMPLETE)

“You haven’t accepted any plant traits, have you?” she asked softly, moving quickly to keep up with him.

“No. You?”

“No.”

“Good.”