It had been a few days since Athan had visited and, as usual, it was boring as hell being holed up in this hole. I was actually happy I hadn’t zapped the two humans’ brains, because at least eavesdropping on their thoughts was somehow still less boring than all of the rest of the nothing currently going on.

I was trying not to sleep too much either, because while it was a great way to pass the time, every time I did, I got to hear the humans thinking about how traumatized they were by it when I woke up. That and I think I really pissed off Athan last time I did, so I could at least try to go without.

So I was stuck doing what I usually did when I was bored. Surfed on the consciousness of animals.

Animals, relative to humans, were just fantastic. They never lied or complained, didn’t really care about me riding their minds except for being a little more skittish and confused, and were always up to something. Even if 99% of that was eating and fucking, those were both things I wished I could do.

I was currently riding my all-time favorite animal, an owl. Owls were great because they flew low relative to other birds of prey which had the tendency to go up out of my range, hunted often and competently, and had great eyesight. If I were in a wolf or something, I could still use the wolf’s awesome sense of smell, but Exhumans like me (and humans too, I guess) were a lot more visual, so I got more out of animals which were also visually-inclined.

Something had ruffled this owl’s feathers and it was out flying during the early morning. Normally it would be bedding up by now, but instead it was up and out, alternating between flying and landing on trees near the edge of my range out among the hills to the east.

It was pretty easy to find out what had set this owl off. Someone was driving a loud motor vehicle out there, and pretty much all of the wildlife was on-edge. Winter made every animal a lot more nervous, with potential starvation just around the corner and things just being quieter and slower in general, so something causing that much of a racket was a huge attention-grabber, whether the animal thought it was food or predator.

The owl watched with interest as the rider drew closer, moving southwest, toward me, but likely to swing wide of my range. Through the owl’s eyes, I saw the figure all in black, hood tied low over their head, mask on their face to protect against the wind, and a black scarf or bandana over the lower-half of the mask again. They had a cloak which billowed out with the speed of the vehicle, revealing a form-fitting suit with plenty of pockets and equipment strapped on every available surface.

I couldn’t be sure–last time, the person had shut me out and hadn’t let me get a look at themselves–but this might have been the same spy who’d been sneaking around a week back. I hoped he made the same mistake and slipped into my range again. I wanted to test just how strong his mental safeguards were.

But no, apparently once was enough for him, and he veered wide around the southwest, skirting my range while heading towards the ruins. Shame.

Suddenly the owl panicked, and I saw why. Apotheosis had appeared.

Apotheosis exploded from behind a snowbank with a feral roar and lunged at the rider with terrifying speed, sending them veering wide to avoid him. Bouncing over the hilly terrain, the rider lost control of their vehicle and it went careening, rolling like a toothpick down a hill, throwing the rider instantly. In a moment, Apotheosis was on him, bearing down with enraged ferocity.

It made me smile like a proud mother.

Apotheosis was a project of mine that had…not turned out so great. In my boredom and desperation, I had a great plan to mentally alter some of the local wildlife to conditions that would help me, or just provide amusement. Like his name, Apotheosis was supposed to be uplifted until he was god of the forest.

But as it turns out, bears just aren’t smart enough to be gods. Try as I might, I couldn’t get him past being very quick, cunning, unpredictable, and tenacious. Compared to the other animals, he was a god, setting traps, using his incredible strength and senses to destroy anything which might be a threat to him, while living an easy life. He hated when I rode his consciousness, and went into a frenzy anytime I so much as touched him now, so I mostly just left him alone, unless he was threatening to head towards the ruins and Athan.

But today, a frenzy was exactly what I was hoping for. If only he’d chase the rider just a little further west, they’d both be in range, and I could help Apotheosis tear that stupid human apart.

It didn’t look like it was to be. The human was prepared and had thrown down a handful of small orbs which created a shocking web between one another, paralyzing my poor bear temporarily and letting the human slip off. A few minutes later, the orbs ran out of juice, and Apotheosis arose, enraged and confused.

He could track the human down if he wanted to, but wasn’t sure if he wanted to. He lumbered after him for a while, giving a half-hearted chase for 10 minutes, keeping in view of the human enough to scare the guy, but not close enough to get zapped with anything else. Being smarter meant Apotheosis was even more aware of others’ perception of him, and if the human didn’t flee with the proper amount of terror, that was a slight the bear would not tolerate.

Fortunately for the human, he looked like he was about to pee himself, and sprinted pell-mell headlong through the trees, practically screaming as he went.

It was fucking hilarious.

Satisfied that the human wasn’t coming back again, Apotheosis went about the much more important business of foraging around right at the edge of my range, and so, totally lost my interest.

The human wasn’t taking chances though, and kept booking it, top-speed. I had to give him credit, he was pretty good, deftly moving through the trees, over rocks and fallen logs, and around brushes and outcroppings with fantastic athleticism. The owl even lost track of him a couple times, and I urged the little beast to go fly to a better vantage point. If I could just catch him, he might do okay work with a pickaxe against my chamber door.

Finally he slowed and caught his breath, still glancing behind him every few seconds, but now totally winded, having sprinted full-tilt, for a good few minutes. Convinced he was safe, or maybe just overcome by fatigue, he slumped against a tree and pulled a pack off his back from under his cloak. Lunch time, maybe? Now I wished he was in range for entirely different reasons.

He took off his riding helmet, setting it by a treed and pulled his hood up. He had a small computer, larger than a book, which folded in half with a holo display on top and a holo keyboard on the bottom, which he used while he ate from a tube. Looking up directions maybe? I couldn’t get the owl to quite understand to look right at it, because owls didn’t give any shits about holos when there was an unknown human right there to look at instead, so whatever was on the screen would remain a mystery for me.

The human remained there for most of an hour, busy with their computer, with nothing else exciting happening at all.

I would have been bored, if this wasn’t the highlight of my entire day right here. At least I’d have something to talk to Athan about.

Finally he moved again. He seemed torn on going back for his vehicle and not wanting to cross the bear again, facing one way, checking some things on the computer, and then turning back, and then repeating the whole indecisive mess a few more times. I could hardly believe that anyone doing this much waffling had the hardened mind to combat psychic influence enough to keep me out, but that was apparently the case. Disgusting.

Finally, he moved again, which was good because my owl was starting to drift off. I prodded the owl to alertness and watched as the human continued to move slowly but surely further west, making a beeline for Athan’s place.

Hmm, kind of felt like I should warn him or something, but we didn’t have anything like that in place. Also, he could handle himself, I was pretty sure. Karu might have been a pompous, self-righteous, obnoxious jerk (even by human standards), but she had true mettle, and yet Athan had fought and beaten her a number of times. I was pretty sure he could handle anything which had to run away from Apotheosis.

Speaking of whom, I felt the bear’s consciousness just enter my range. Normally I would have left him alone, but a delightfully horrible idea crept into my mind as I felt the bear’s lingering anger at the rude interloper.

I had to be very sneaky. Apotheosis pretty much hated me for all the mucking around I’d done in his head before, and would become completely unworkable if he caught on that I was behind any of this.

Slowly, very, very slowly, I shifted onto his consciousness, only enough to pick up his impressions. I didn’t need any more than that.

From there, I started working on him. Hints of embarrassment and shame, ridicule and inferiority. I worked with subtlety, but what I inflicted on him was anything but — animals were pretty simple creatures after all, and didn’t work in as many shades as people did. I got him frothing upset, but not certain why, and then, holding my breath, dropped into his mind the picture of the rider casually on their computer, eating their lunch, just a few thousand feet from him.

Instantly, Apotheosis roared and stormed into a rage, slashing at trees, putting his face into his huge bear hands, and roaring at the sky. Only barely hanging on his senses, I couldn’t tell if he’d figured out the image came from me, or if my work had done its magic, and he would now rip that human to bits. After a final roar, he started into a loping run to the west, and I had my answer.

The human meanwhile had heard the distant roaring and found a new spring in their step as they also headed west. Still not entirely aware of their situation, they moved fast but careful, when really, even at full speed, they’d never be able to escape a determined bear.

The actors were in place and all I had to do was enjoy the play. I looked for my owl and found her almost asleep in a tree where I’d left her. Poor girl, but I needed her now more than ever, and jolted her awake. Frustrated, she preened herself anxiously and flew off at my bidding.

The human was close to the clearing ruins now where the rocky ground would be bad for him but the open area would be ideal for a charging bear. He had heard the bear crashing through the woods behind him now and was again in full flight, but Apotheosis was closing the distance rapidly. I wished I had some popcorn.

The human broke the treeline and ran for Athan’s house, probably hoping there was a door he could put between him and the bear. He would never get there, because only dozens of feet behind him now was an enraged bear, moving with shocking speed, spit and froth pouring from his mouth. With every loping stride, he sent hunks of shattered concrete flying.

And then I saw something which made my blood freeze. Athan, wearing that new outfit which he filled out very nicely was there, out on a run, short on breath, but putting his all into heading towards the two figures running out of the woods. Whether he was just running or had seen them and was running to intercede…

I apparently would never know. The owl flew out of my range at a crucial moment, leaving me staring at nothing but the blackness of my own chambers. I frantically searched the skies, but she was gone, presumably to roost in some tree and get some well-deserved rest at last. There was nothing else in range I could use either…tons of wildlife, but nothing nearby with vision good enough to see that far while still in my range.

I swore, and swore, and swore again.

And I really, really hoped that Athan had some experience with fighting bears, because he was about to have a hell of a bear to deal with.