Path to the Apocalypse

The next Sunday, Beth and Nadia prepared to confront Zack in Chris's space, to see if he was actually avoiding Nadia and why. Even if there were other explanations, Nadia still couldn't help but feel bitter about it and Beth refused to let that situation stand. “This is stupid.” Nadia grumbled.

“It's necessary.” Beth insisted. “We're a squad. We need to know everyone here has our backs, no matter what!”

Nadia groaned. “I hate this.”

“Well get over it, it's happening.” Beth retorted. “Chris, bring him in.”

Chris nodded, opening a portal back to the barracks. He found Zack on his bed, playing on his phone. “Hey Zack, we need to talk.”

Zack looked up, blinking in confusion. “We do?”

“Yup. Come with me.” Chris waved, opening a portal.

Zack frowned but followed Chris inside, getting even more confused when he saw Beth and Nadia sitting at the table. “What's going on?”

“Have a seat.” Beth replied seriously, gesturing to the chair across from her, Chris sliding into the one across from Nadia. Zack was beginning to look nervous as he sat down, still wondering what was going on. “Zack, we need to know if you have a problem with Nadia.”

“If I- huh?” Zack looked between her and Nadia, utterly baffled. “What are you talking about?”

“Nadia feels that you've repeatedly taken steps to avoid her.” Beth explained. “We need to know if that's true, and if so, why?”

Zack froze for a moment, turning to Nadia. “Did- did you not want me to avoid you?”

Nadia glared at him. “Why would I want someone to avoid me?!?”

“I- you wanted to be on a squad with all girls, didn't you?” Zack pointed out. “Plus, you always give me this look, like I'm intruding or something…”

“When have I ever given you a look!?!” Nadia retorted.

“All the time!” Zack exclaimed. “Whenever I try to talk to you!”

Beth coughed. “Zack, have you considered that might just be her face? Nadia always looks like she wants to start a fight with someone.”

“I do not!” Nadia protested.

“I think it's something about her eyebrows.” Beth continued, ignoring her. “And it doesn't help that she has a tendency to stare people down.”

Nadia flushed, slapping a hand over her eyebrows. “There's nothing wrong with my eyebrows!”

“So you don't have any issues with Nadia?” Beth asked Zack.

“No, why would I?” Zack replied. “I mean, I don't have much to say about her personally, since… I mean, I was avoiding her, kinda. But she works great with the squad, so I figured it didn't really matter if she didn't like me personally? I know she wouldn't do anything to get me killed, even if it was only to maintain her record as a tactician.”

“What a glowing endorsement.” Nadia grumbled.

“Nadia, sarcasm isn't helping.” Beth commented.

“And insulting me is!?!” Nadia snapped back.

Beth sighed. “Nadia, if you want to receive grace you need to give grace in return. Particularly when no one here is trying to insult you. You have facial features that incline people to think you're not happy with them. It's just who you are. You can get pissed about it, which will only confirm people's thoughts, or you can accept it and recognize that this is an issue you're going to have to deal with in life.”

Nadia grimaced. Why was it always on her to deal with things?!? Why was it her problem that other people decided she felt something she didn't and avoided her for it!?! All they had to do was ask and they'd know she felt nothing of the sort! “I hate this!” She complained in a choked growl, her eyes stinging. She felt like her life was one long battle just to break even! All she wanted was a chance, yet everything in her life conspired to deny it to her! It wasn't fair!

“Hey.” Beth placed a hand on her back, rubbing it comfortingly. “It's okay, alright? We're here for you. We can help, just like today. You just have to let us.”

Nadia blinked at her, seeing the genuine concern in her eyes, and- tears began to flow as she hugged Beth. “Thank you.” She whispered hoarsely.

Beth smiled. “We're a squad. If we don't support each other, who will?”

*

The next day, Chris found himself in the Scouts’ ability core storage area with Jacobs and some techs from his lab. “We had some Readers check the area, and this is the place with the densest amount of ambient energy on base.” Jacobs explained. “Think it's good enough to meet your needs?”

“Not sure. Let me check.” Chris replied, opening a portal to bring Jello out, since he'd need to borrow their senses to get an idea of the energy level. He was about to dive into their mind, when a flood of excitement surged through the connection and Jello began bouncing around the storage area, circling it a few times before hopping up onto one of the storage bins. The moment they settled down, a hard shell began to form around them, beginning the mutation process. “Well… I think that answers that.”

“Get scanners on that thing, now!” Jacobs ordered the techs, who began rushing to set up equipment around Jello.

“Now, the question is where should I mutate.” Chris muttered, pausing as he suddenly got a message from Jello of all the best places to mutate they'd found, with marks for him and Jam. It didn't have any visual information, but based on the energy from the cores stored here, he could figure out the positions fairly easily, noticing that Jello had left the best spot for him, taking the second best for themselves and leaving the third best for Jam. Of course, he wasn't going to mutate Jam at the moment, since he needed at least one of the slimes in his space so he could borrow the ability to mutate, but it was nice that they'd thought of them. “I'm going to try mutating over here.” Chris announced, walking over to the spot Jello had indicated, before pausing and turning to frown at Jello's now fully formed chrysalis. How had they known he was going to try to mutate?

“Something wrong?” Jacobs asked.

Chris hesitated for a moment, before shaking his head. “No, it's fine. Let's see if this works.” He could deal with Jello later. Chris moved into position and pulled on Jam's spirit, focusing on the process of initiating the mutation. He'd spent the last week preparing for this, analyzing everything in his space, including his minions and even the others in his squad, along with several boxes of materials Jacobs had brought from his lab, both organic and non-organic. He'd even tried pushing all his memories into the database, though he wasn't sure if it'd done anything. There was nothing he could do that would make him any more prepared for this. As he focused on initiating the mutation, willing it to connect to his database, he felt his vision go dark as gasps of astonishment echoed around him, accompanied by Jacobs excited cackle, until even sound faded away, and Chris found himself floating in darkness, his body completely unresponsive. *I'm going to guess it worked then.* Chris thought to himself, settling in to wait while the mutation process continued. He let his mind drift for a moment, before pausing as he realized he could still sense his space. He sent his mind over to Dyrdek. *Hey.*

Dyrdek froze as Chris's consciousness touched his. “Chief?”

*Yup. I'm kind of stuck at the moment, so I figured I'd hang out with you guys.* Chris explained.

“Dyrdek, are you alright?” Sidulpek asked, placing a hand on his knee with a concerned look.

“I'm fine.” Dyrdek quickly replied. “The Chief has decided to join us, and he's using my mind to do so.”

Sidulpek's hand flinched away, staring at Dyrdek wide-eyed. “The- the Chief is in your mind?!?”

*Huh… I never went over that part of the connection with them, did I?* Chris muttered.

Dyrdek nodded. “The Chief can project himself into our minds whenever he wishes. He's done so with me several times, but only to communicate.”

[Why is the Chief using your mind instead of simply coming here himself?] T'ka asked.

*I'm mutating at the moment, so I can't move.* Chris sent her and Sidulpek, mostly just to see if it'd work. Judging by the way they froze, it had.

“Ch-Chief?” Sidulpek gulped nervously.

*Who else?* Chris sent back. *How are things with you guys?*

The three of them shared hesitant looks. [We're fine…] T'ka replied. As much as they were essentially slaves, they couldn't argue with the way Chris treated them. They ate the most delicious food, slept in the most comfortable beds, and were provided with multiple ways to keep themselves occupied. T'ka just hated the fact that it'd taken her from her tribe. It felt wrong to be enjoying herself when she knew her tribe, her family, was still struggling to survive in the Maze.

*Are you sure?* Chris asked, noticing the hesitance. *I can probably see about getting you guys some video games or something. I know there isn't much for you to do at the moment.*

T'ka quickly shook her head. [No! We really are fine! Please, you don't have to do any more for us!]

Chris examined her curiously for a moment. Was she not feeling useful enough, like Dyrdek? There wasn't much he could do about that at the moment… at least she and Sidulpek at least got to train with the squad and Jacobs. Dyrdek didn't even have that. *Alright, fine, if you insist. Mind if I watch TV with you guys?*

“Of course not!” Sidulpek exclaimed, as if she was horrified at the idea of refusing. Chris noted that he was going to have to do something about that at some point too. He should probably spend some more time with his minions, so they'd get more comfortable around him in a casual setting.

Chris spent an hour or so watching TV with his minions, before focusing on his body for a moment to see how much longer it would take, frowning as he realized he had no idea. His body was completely unresponsive. If only he could check from the outside… Chris could have smacked himself if he had hands. Why not just have Dyrdek check? He could still open portals, couldn't he? Could he? He frowned for a moment. Where was he going to open a portal? He had no idea what Jacobs and his techs had set up around him, so he wasn't sure where to open a portal. He supposed he could open one above and look out to see if there was a good spot? Chris nodded, feeling for ‘above’ himself, hoping he didn't open it in the ceiling. As he did, he felt his senses expand in a very familiar way, as the space around him began to come into focus. At first everything was blurry, but slowly he began to make out boxes, equipment, and people around him. Chris sat there stunned for a moment, not sure what to make of the fact that his space had been hiding yet another sense from him, before mentally sighing and opening a portal for Dyrdek.

“The Chief wishes to know how things are progressing.” Dyrdek announced as he walked out, causing Jacobs to jump, looking up from a screen he'd been studying intently.

“Chris? You're conscious?” Jacobs asked tentatively as he approached the goblin carefully.

“The Chief never lost consciousness.” Dyrdek answered. “He's been watching TV with his minions.”

Jacobs blinked, looking between Dyrdek and the chrysalis. “But- you don't have a brain at the moment! All that exists in there is goop!” He exclaimed, gesturing to the chrysalis.

“The Chief asks if it's because of the TV. Wait. He says that was a joke.” Dyrdek paused, then nodded. “Yes, Chief, I would be honored!”

Dyrdek's demeanor shifted as Chris took over his body. “Sorry about that, what do you mean I don't have a brain?!?”

“I mean your brain has dissolved into a protein sludge along with the rest of your body as it slowly rebuilds itself from a single cell.” Jacobs explained. “I'm literally watching it happen right now!”

“Okay… but clearly I'm still conscious and thinking, so what the hell?” Chris frowned, trying to understand what's going on. Obviously it had something to do with the space, but what? Did- did the space act as another brain?

“I don't know, but this is incredible!” Jacobs exclaimed excitedly, before falling into thought. “Is your body even necessary for your survival? Could you simply exist as the space? Wandering around, snapping up creatures using your portals and dominating them, before sending them out to gather more creatures…” He paused as his eyes landed on Dyrdek, widening as another idea occurred to him. “Would you be able to claim their bodies as your own? Like you're doing now, but deeper, so that instead of simply suppressing their control over their body, you erase it entirely, allowing you to live again!”

Chris frowned at him. “But I already pretty much can't die, right?”

“Ah, but what about as you age? How long can your body resist the ravages of time? And even if aging isn't a concern, the longer you live, the higher your chances of running into something that could end you completely, erasing your body from existence. This- this suggests that even then, it wouldn't be the end for you!” Jacobs explained.

Chris raised an eyebrow. “So what you're saying is, there's a good chance I'm immortal immortal?”

Jacobs chuckled. “You may not be able to die even if you wanted to.”

“Huh… not sure what to do with that, honestly.” Chris muttered, thinking for a moment, before shaking his head. “Whatever. How long do you think this will take?” He asked, gesturing to the chrysalis.

“Judging by the current rate of growth, about a week.” Jacobs replied.

Chris's eyes widened. “A week! What about my training!”

Jacobs blinked at him. “You're here, aren't you? I thought we'd have to make up for lost time, but since you are so ridiculously conscious, you can simply train using the goblin's body instead! What real difference does it make?”

Chris paused. “Huh… fair.” His focus turned inward. *Dyrdek, buddy, it looks like I might need to borrow your body for a bit. Is that okay with you? If not, I can switch between you and Sidulpek to give you a break.*

There was a pause. *I would be honored to host your mind for as long as you require it, Chief!* Dyrdek exclaimed, almost giddy at the idea of finally being useful!

Chris shook his head. *You're a weird guy, Dyrdek, but thanks.* Chris turned his focus back to Jacobs. “Alright, yeah, I can use Dyrdek for training. The question is how do we keep people from killing the goblin randomly wandering around the base?”

Jacobs cocked his head. “A tiny uniform?”

“Do we have tiny uniforms?” Chris asked skeptically.

“Of course.” Jacobs nodded. “Plenty of soldiers shrink due to various transformation abilities, and we can't have them walking around naked, can we?”

“Fair enough.” Chris agreed.

*

“I am not happy.” Beth grumbled. Chris had missed dinner getting a uniform for Dyrdek, meeting the squad back at the barracks and explaining the situation to them. Beth wasn't thrilled.

“Would you rather I be gone for a week?” Chris asked.

“No.” Beth pouted. “Ugh, I want to cuddle with you though! Can't you transform or something?”

Chris shook his head. “It doesn't work on my minions, just me.”

“Damn it!” Beth cursed. “What about your space? You can make bodies for your rats, why can't you make a body for yourself!?!”

Chris blinked. “That- actually makes sense, hold on.” He could remake and control his minions bodies, so why not his own? It'd be stuck in his space, but for Beth's purposes, was that really important? They usually hung out inside it anyway, just like they were now. He took some material and made a copy of his body, jumping out of Dyrdek's body and into the copy. “Huh.” Chris did a few stretches, making sure the body worked right, finding no difference between it and his normal body. “Neat.”

“Chris, clothes!” Derek snapped.

“Oh, right.” Chris muttered, quickly making himself an outfit from his space's material. The body wasn't leaving the space, so he didn't need to waste time putting actual clothes on. Dyrdek hopped off the chair next to Beth and went to hang out with Sidulpek and T'ka while Chris replaced him. “Better?”

“Much.” Beth smiled, leaning into him.

“So Dyrdek is going to be replacing you for the rest of the week?” Nadia asked, getting them back on topic. “Is there anything else you can do that he can't?”

Chris cocked his head, considering the question for a moment. “His arms are too short to make use of my bow, but other than that, I think he's fine.”

Nadia nodded. “I can work with that. His barriers won't be any weaker than yours, will they?”

“They shouldn't be, but we should probably test to make sure.” Chris replied. “Not something you really want to take a chance on.”

“No it isn't.” Nadia agreed. While she didn't usually like using his barriers, if they did need to use them, they would be important. She thought over everything else she might need Chris for that using Dyrdek might conflict with, but she couldn't think of anything. “Okay, I can work with this.” She nodded, breathing out a sigh of relief. Missing Chris for training was one thing, but missing him for the practical exercise on Sunday would make completing whatever task they were given significantly more challenging, and their performance in the practical exercises would affect their final ranking at the end of boot camp. The better they did, the better the platoon they would be assigned to, the better missions they would be given, the more accolades they could earn, and the faster they could climb the ranks! Nadia wouldn't stand for them losing a single point they didn't have to!

*

The squad quickly adjusted to Chris using Dyrdek's body. The only real changes they had to adjust to were Dyrdek's inability to use Chris's bow, and the decreased range of Chris's portals. It turned out that the range for portals from Chris's minions was only a tenth of Chris's own, giving them just a bit over half a meter to work with. Thankfully the barriers were still just as strong, so it wasn't a complete downgrade. Plus they had four minions to create barriers from, so the range was practically a non-issue with proper planning.

Chris actually found that it was convenient to have someone else to control the body he was using. Throughout the week, Chris took more and more of a backseat in controlling Dyrdek, allowing him to focus on secondary tasks, like his portal projectiles and coordinating Cabbage, Sidulpek, and T'ka. The squad actually functioned smoother when he used Dyrdek's body instead of his own! “I'm beginning to think we should have Dyrdek replace me permanently.” Chris muttered as they headed back to the barracks from their practical exercise, having gotten the best result they'd ever had so far.

“Yes!” Nadia exclaimed, before flushing in embarrassment. “Sorry, I don't- I didn't want to be the one to say it, but you guys can't deny that Chris is more effective like this!”

“It'd be better if he could use Chris's bow, but yeah, other than that, he's been a great addition.” Beth agreed with a sigh.

“I've been thinking about it, and I think I'll get him a crossbow.” Chris commented. “It won't be as quiet as the bow, but it's better than a gun, and if we're already in a fight, which is the only time he'd be using it, it won't be an issue.”

“The issue is the reload speed of a crossbow is terrible.” Nadia pointed out.

“True…” Chris muttered, frowning thoughtfully.

*Could I use darts?* Dyrdek suggested. *Poisoned ones, to weaken the enemy?*

“What do you think of poisoned darts?” Chris repeated out loud for Nadia.

“In the crossbow?” Nadia asked skeptically.

“No, like throwing darts.” Chris explained. “He could use my portals like I do with my bow and the rocks, so the range wouldn't be an issue.”

Nadia considered it for a moment. “That could work… I'm not sure, let me think about it. We'll definitely find something for him though.” Chris nodded, smiling slightly as he felt joy fill him through Dyrdek. It was good to see his minions finding their place.