Path to the Apocalypse

The rest of the week was spent getting Sidulpek (the goblin), T'ka (the kobold), and Cabbage (the cave wyrm) trained and integrated with the squad. T'ka wasn't the kobold's actual name, but Chris didn't know how to make the sharp, clicking sound her name actually started with, and T'ka had given up on trying to teach him, so they'd both decided it was close enough. Sidulpek could emit a shadowy, smoke-like substance that interfered with any form of detection, keeping her and the squad hidden or blinding their enemies. T'ka created threads she could control telekinetically as long as they remained connected to her. The telekinesis wasn't all that powerful, but the threads themselves were pretty durable, letting her bind and trip their enemies. As for Cabbage, he could grow a hard, rocky carapace, increasing his defenses and allowing him to blend in with rock formations, so he could act as both a front-line fighter and a hidden ambush.

“I can't believe you named that thing Cabbage.” Beth grumbled, glaring at the cave wyrm resting his head on Chris's lap as he scratched his brow ridges, the cave wyrm rumbling in contentment. Though admittedly part of her bitterness came from the fact that she wanted to be in his lap, instead of just curled up next to him.

“You don't think his head looks kinda cabbagey?” Chris asked. “Kinda round and layered with the ridges?”

“Not my point, Chris.” Beth rolled her eyes. “He's a killing machine! Don't you think Cabbage is a bit too cute a name for him?”

Chris blinked at her, then looked down at Cabbage, then back at her. “But he's adorable? Look at this big happy face!” He gave Cabbage’s face a vigorous rub, getting some complaints from Jello who was hanging out on his shoulder.

“Chris, he could literally bite your face off.” Beth pointed out.

Chris shrugged. “And you could put your fist through my chest. Does that mean you aren't adorable?”

Beth glared at him. “Chris, putting me on the same level as a cave wyrm is not a smart move.”

Chris paused. “It's- a different kind of adorable?”

“You're lucky you're adorable, or I'd be tempted to test your fisting theory.” Beth smirked, waving her fist at him playfully.

Chris grimaced. “Okay, that was a bad one. Fisting is generally used to refer to the act of sticking your arm up someone's ass.”

Beth's eyes widened in horror. “Why would anyone even do that?!?”

“I honestly have no idea.” Chris shook his head. “Seems unpleasant for everyone involved in my opinion.”

Beth's expression twisted. “People are disgusting.”

*

Monday Chris and Jacobs headed to the ability management office to see what was up with his ability sharing. “Why didn't we do this earlier?” Chris asked. “You're always pretty excited to see what's going on with my ability.”

Jacobs coughed awkwardly. “My contract with the Scouts only allows me one research day a week. You are primarily here for training, after all.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Chris nodded. “Should we get started?”

“Right, yes!” Jacobs clapped his hands eagerly. “Show me what you can do!”

Chris nodded, bringing T'ka out. “Alright, so I've done a bit more testing and I've figured out that as long as my minions are in my space, I can push their ability to any of the others, like so.” Chris pushed Cabbage’s ability at T'ka, and the kobold grew a rocky carapace, holding out her arms to display it for Jacobs. Chris had also figured out he didn't have to send everything in a spirit out, so T'ka wasn't bombarded with all the instincts of a cave wyrm, and just got the ability.

“Incredible.” Jacobs muttered numbly, reaching out to stroke the carapace. “Is it as strong as the cave wyrm's? And can she still use her ability?

Chris shrugged. “No idea and yes, she can still use her ability.” He waved and T'ka produced a few threads to demonstrate. “If I had to guess though, I'd put money on the carapace being on the same level as her threads.”

Jacobs raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Why?”

“Because it'd explain why I can't use the abilities, while my minions can.” Chris explained. “See, my body doesn't actually have any ability energy. It's all in the space. But abilities need ability energy to function, so even if I give myself an ability, it won't do anything, because there's no ability energy.”

Jacobs frowned. “No ability energy at all?”

“None.” Chris confirmed.

Jacobs frowned thoughtfully for a moment, before shaking his head. “Let's confirm your theory, then try to dissect what it means.” He waved T'ka over to one of the testing machines, which was essentially just a large press that would increase the pressure on an ability until it broke, giving a rating in ability units, one ability unit being about the same amount of force as a healthy man's punch. There was some specific measurement associated with it, but Chris didn't know it, and knowing something hit about four times stronger than a punch was easier than trying to conceptualize four hundred Newtons or something. “It looks like you were right!” Jacobs announced as he finished testing the abilities. “Both abilities have exactly the same ability rating!”

Chris clicked his tongue in disappointment. He'd been hoping that somehow he'd gotten it wrong, and there was some other reason he couldn't use his minions abilities, possibly something he could fix. “Alright, guess that's that then. Back to training?”

“Now, now, hold on.” Jacobs stopped him. “We still need to address the fact that you apparently don't have ability energy? How do you know that?”

“Well, the first indication was every Reader I've ever seen telling me I have no ability. But also, my space can sense ability energy, and I don't have any.” Chris explained, before pausing. “I also don't appear to have a spirit, but… well, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be alive if I didn't have a spirit, so I think I'm just missing something there.”

Jacobs blinked. “Okay, let's focus on the ability energy for now. You clearly have an ability, so you must have ability energy somewhere, yes?”

“I mean, yeah, but I'm pretty sure it's bound up in the space.” Chris replied. “Huh… that's probably the case for my spirit too, isn't it?”

“Sure, yes, okay, but that should still mean you have the ability energy, yes? So why would it prevent you from using the abilities of your minions? The kobold is clearly capable of using both abilities simultaneously, so why wouldn't you be able to do the same?” Jacobs retorted.

Chris blinked. “Huh… that's a good point. But I've tried several times with all my minions abilities, and I can't use any of them.”

“I believe you, which is why this situation is so curious.” Jacobs muttered, studying Chris intently for a moment. “Are you aware of transformation abilities?”

Chris raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? My friend Penny has one.”

“Do you know that transformation abilities are notoriously hard to judge? Since the ability is simply to transform the user, its power has little to no relation to the user's ability energy, instead revolving around the physique of the transformation. Ability energy simply enhances the speed and flexibility of the transformation.” Jacobs continued.

“Okay… what's your point?” Chris asked, frowning slightly.

“Well… okay, I'm going to stress that this is purely theoretical, but given that we know ability energy can alter a person's nature, and we know you don't have any ability energy inside you, instead of your ability energy being bound up in your space, what if instead any ability energy you had was consumed to create the space, and the space isn't an ability at all, but instead some new racial characteristic not unlike a slime's mutation!?!” Jacobs finished excitedly.

Chris narrowed his eyes at him skeptically. “And what would that mean? How would it be any different than my ability energy just being a part of my space?”

“It isn't so much a difference in function, but it could explain a few of the discrepancies I've noticed with your ability. But yes, functionally, your ability does what it does, and we should get back on track. Now let's see…” He trailed off, humming thoughtfully. “Hm. Okay, tell me exactly what happens when you borrow an ability.”

“I get all the instincts on how to use it, they just don't do anything.” Chris shrugged.

“And that's all?” Jacobs frowned.

Chris nodded, before pausing. “Okay, that's all I get for the ability, but I can pull out any of their instincts. So if I pull on a rat's spirit, I get all the instincts necessary to actually be the rat. But I mean, I'm not a rat, so there's not much point to it, is there?”

“What if you could be a rat?” Jacobs asked thoughtfully.

“Well… I suppose I can take over the rat's body? They might be useful then?” Chris offered, frowning as he realized that wouldn't work. “Nevermind. The rat needs to be in the space for me to borrow its instincts. Though I guess I could use them to control a different rat…”

“Have you tried transforming into a rat?” Jacobs suggested.

“No?” Chris gave him a weird look. “It seems like a bit of a leap to suggest that I can transform just because I can borrow the instincts of my minions.”

“But why else would you need their instincts?” Jacobs retorted. “Just give it a try.”

Chris wasn't convinced, but he supposed there was no harm in trying. He closed his eyes, focusing on turning into a rat. A moment later he opened his eyes. [See- son of a bitch!] Chris cursed as he found himself on the floor, sitting in a pile of clothes.

“It worked!” Jacobs cackled. “This is incredible! Your space is simply the single most fascinating thing I've ever seen!”

Chris focused on turning back into himself, opening a portal to cover himself as he put his uniform back on. “I officially have no clue what's going on with my ability.”

“Neither do I!” Jacobs exclaimed almost giddily. “Isn't it exciting!?!”

“I suppose.” Chris muttered. “Though I'm beginning to think my ability is just to randomly produce new abilities.”

“Ha! Wouldn't that be something?” Jacobs chuckled. “But no, I think we're onto something with this idea that your space is a part of you, not an ability.” He muttered thoughtfully. “Somehow, anything connected to your space becomes a part of you, allowing you to draw on their form and abilities… I honestly cannot fathom why.”

“So I can use them, apparently.” Chris shrugged. “Or at least my subordinates can… do you think I can transform them as well?”

Jacobs blinked. “I honestly could not say one way or the other.”

Chris glanced at T'ka, who had been watching them intently as they talked. He'd given all his minions his understanding of the human language, so she could understand them, but her mouth was different enough from a human's that she couldn't actually speak it. “What do you say? Want to see if you can transform into a cave wyrm?”

T'ka’s snout crinkled in disgust. [If you have to change me, turn me into Sidulpek.]

“Fair enough.” Chris agreed, focusing on her and pushing the idea of her turning into Sidulpek at her. “Huh, nothing…” Chris muttered, before snapping his fingers. “Wait, I think I know why.” He quickly found Sidulpek in his space and focused on her, analyzing her form into his database. His transformations couldn't come from nowhere, right? Once he had her analyzed, he focused on T'ka again, willing her to transform. “Still?” Chris frowned as T'ka once again failed to transform. He tried again, this time pushing Sidulpek's spirit at her to see if that made a difference, but it didn't. T'ka still remained T'ka. “Huh… I guess transformation is just a me thing.”

“I wonder why that is…” Jacobs muttered, looking between T'ka and Chris thoughtfully. “Chris, what do you think the primary difference is between yourself and your minions in regard to your connection with the space?”

Chris frowned, wondering what theory he had now. “It's my space? Not theirs?”

“So the difference is a matter of depth?” Jacobs replied. “Obviously they are connected to it, since they're capable of opening portals on their own. You're just more connected?”

“I guess you could put it that way.” Chris agreed.

“And the space pulls your body into itself when you die, yes?” Jacobs continued. “Which suggests it has some form of control over your body, doesn't it?”

“I- suppose so?” Chris nodded hesitantly.

“Then we can infer that your transformation could also be an effect of the space's control over your body, can't we?” Jacobs added.

“Sure?” Chris gave it to him so he'd get to his point.

“Which is further support for the theory that your space is a part of your physical make up, rather than an ability!” Jacobs exclaimed excitedly.

Chris gave him a weird look. “Why are you so attached to that theory?”

“Because it explains why your space ignores so many of the basic rules abilities are supposed to follow!” Jacobs replied. “The use of ability energy always takes effort, but you can open portals, heal people back from the dead, and command multiple minions, all of which are usually extremely high effort effects, without feeling anything! Which could suggest that your space is simply astonishingly powerful, except for the fact that any testable metric puts it solidly in the mid-tier! However, if the space is something natural, then everything starts to make sense! Since natural abilities are a part of you, they don't take effort to use, at least no more than it would take to raise your hand or tap your foot. It would also explain why you can feel your space, sensing how much strain it's under, since it's a part of you. Of course, it would still be the strangest and most fascinating thing I've ever seen, but at least it would stop breaking my entire understanding of how abilities are supposed to function!”

Chris scratched his head. “Can't you just say my space is weird? I mean, if ninety-nine point nine nine… a lot of nines percent of abilities function one way, and a single ability functions a different way, I'm pretty sure you can dismiss that one as an outlier and ignore it.”

Jacobs scowled. “Outliers are only acceptable when considering random effects. What we're talking about here is like finding someone who simply ignores gravity! Who doesn't even realize it exists! That isn't an outlier, that's a sign that our fundamental understanding of reality is wrong somehow. You are that to our understanding of abilities. If it weren't for the Scouts, I would have dragged you to my lab ages ago and subjected you to as many tests as necessary to make sense of what you can do!” He paused, before letting out an awkward cough. “With your consent, of course.”

“Is it really that big an issue?” Chris asked. “I mean, if my space is an ability and abilities can work this way, what does it actually change? No matter how flexible an ability is, it's still bound by how strong it is. No matter how many barriers I can make, they'll still get crushed by a high-tier.”

“Practically, it isn't an issue, no. Abilities are what they are, no matter our understanding of them. But as an ability researcher, your space's flagrant disregard for the rules I've based my entire career on is a bit… uncomfortable.” Jacobs sighed. “Don't underestimate the power of quantity over quality, though. Sure, one of your barriers can't block a strike from a high-tier, but what about two? Or ten? Yes, it'd be a painful experience for you, but it'd work and it'd take you no more effort than putting up a single barrier!”

Chris frowned. “Blocking that much damage would still drain me though, so isn't it still about the same? What does it matter if it drains me on the back end instead of the front end?”

Jacobs shook his head. “You underestimate the power of blocking one attack. Of being sure that no matter what, that one attack won't go through. Most fights are decided by a single move! If there are two evenly matched opponents, then all it takes is one opportunity to cinch the victory, and no matter what, you can provide that opportunity! It may knock you flat on your ass, but if the other guy is dead, it doesn't really matter, does it?”

Chris grunted noncommittally. Being able to defend against one attack didn't seem all that different from being able to defend against none to him, at least not when it was important, but he didn't see a need to argue about it. “So why does my space being a natural ability make things better? I mean, it would still have come from ability energy, right?”

“Yes, but the transformational and creative aspects of ability energy are well documented. Ability energy creating your space makes sense, ability energy sustaining your space does not.” Jacobs explained. “If that was the case, then by every rule we know abilities to follow, you should be completely exhausted all the time! It would be like your cave wyrm keeping its carapace active twenty-four seven!”

“But then what does sustain my space?” Chris countered.

“Nothing, because it doesn't need to be sustained, like a rock. Or possibly like a plant, capable of taking everything it needs from its environment without any extra effort on your part.” Jacobs replied. “It could also feed off your body somehow… would you say you find that you need to eat more than the average person?”

“I don't think so?” Chris muttered.

“Hm.” Jacobs hummed thoughtfully, before clicking his tongue in irritation. “If only I could get you to my lab!”

“I can probably swing by after boot camp.” Chris shrugged. He was getting somewhat curious himself, honestly. As much as it wouldn't change what his ability did, he kinda wanted to know what the hell was going on with him. Like taking a personality test to see what it told you, even though it wouldn't change a damn thing about who you were.

“That would be fantastic!” Jacobs exclaimed excitedly.

“So, is there anything else we should test?” Chris asked.

Jacobs considered it for a moment, trying to figure out anything he could test now that might confirm things one way or the other. He snapped his fingers as it came to him. “I want you to transform into your cave wyrm so we can test if your barriers get any stronger. If your space is an ability, then the stronger your physique, the stronger your barriers should be, but if it's a natural ability, then no matter how strong your physique is, your barriers will remain the same.”

“What if the transformation just doesn't count as my physique?” Chris pointed out.

“That- seems unlikely.” Jacobs frowned. “But still, this would at least discount one possibility.”

“Fair.” Chris agreed. “Give me a moment.” Chris began to take off his uniform, since Cabbage’s form would definitely tear some holes in it, opening a portal to cover himself again. Just to make sure, he tried turning into Cabbage before he analyzed him, confirming that yes, he did need to analyze something before he could turn into it. He took a moment to analyze Cabbage before turning into him, closing the portal. [Alright- shit, he can't understand me now.] Chris turned to T'ka. [T'ka- wait.] He sighed as he reopened the portal, calling out Dyrdek. [Dyrdek, I need you to tell Jacobs I'm ready to test my barriers.]

“Yes, Chief.” Dyrdek nodded at him, turning to Jacobs. “The Chief is ready to test his barriers.”

“Excellent! I'll get the machine ready.” Jacobs nodded. He quickly set it up and Chris placed a barrier in the testing area, grimacing slightly as the machine began to increase the pressure, knowing he was in for a headache after this. The pressure quickly rose to over six ability units approaching seven when the barrier cracked. “No change!” Jacobs announced excitedly.

Chris covered himself again as he changed back, putting his uniform back on. “I guess that's a good sign for your theory. Still seems weird to me, though.”

“Oh, it's definitely weird. Practically unheard of! But it makes more sense than any other explanation I can think of.” Jacobs shrugged, sinking into thought for a moment before shaking his head. “That's all I have for you today. I need to take some time to consider the implications of this.”