Mask of Humanity

Nicolai read through the Examine texts for the three Symbiotes available from Beth’s reward shrine, while Jo and Beth continued to stare at him, puzzled. He knew they were well on the way to working out that he was a Raw, but he figured it didn’t matter.

Fire-Crawler Centipede Symbiote

Tier: 1

Placement: Heart

This Symbiote allows the Cultivator to generate Crawling Fire. This fire grows on the Cultivator’s body up to a maximum size. It can be sent out and will crawl rapidly over the terrain, controlled from a distance via Soul Sense. Once attached to an enemy it is very difficult to remove, and burns fiercely, though it spreads little.

The Crawling Fire, once on an object, can be grown via injection of fresh Oma on touch.

Comes with ten days worth of food.

Gray Dragonfly Symbiote

Tier: 1

Placement: Heart

This Symbiote allows the Cultivator to gather Oma into a powerful burst of wind, either to strike their enemies, propel themselves, or both. It takes a few seconds to charge a burst which will be contained in the air around the Cultivator, acting as a weak shield.

The Cultivator launches the wind from their body, and can then redirect the wind in a limited fashion with their Soul Sense.

Comes with ten days worth of food.

Subtle Needle Symbiote

Tier: 1

Placement: Heart

This Symbiote allows the Cultivator to create and launch a Soul Needle, controlled via Soul Sense. The Soul Needle digs into an opponent and after some time detonates, delivering a heavy strike to their Soul.

It takes quite some time to create a new Soul Needle, though once created it may be maintained at a low cost. Only one may be held at any time.

Comes with ten days worth of food.

The Symbiotes looked as one might have expected from their names. The Fire-Crawler Centipede was a little centipede with a shell that appeared to be made of lava. It was glowing hot, and already surrounded by tiny dancing flames that clung to the stone. The Gray Dragonfly floated above one of the statue’s paws, an insubstantial little creature with humming wings, the air stirring around it. The Subtle Needle was a literal sewing needle, even with a loop for thread at the blunt end, and it shone with a strange, pale light, lying still and quiet on the stone.

‘You’re a Raw, aren’t you?’ asked Jo all of a sudden, staring at Nicolai with wide eyes, Beth beside her wearing the kind of expression one might have worn if a dog started talking to them—or at least, a dog from back in Nicolai’s day. On modern day Earth there existed thriving communities of uplifted dogs, viewed with vague guilt by the race that had created them. He briefly wondered whether they, and the other uplifted, would be pulled into this Great Game too.

Nicolai nodded. ‘Something I intend to rectify, soon,’ he murmured, seeking to move on, his eyes on the three Symbiotes. Which would be best for Beth to choose? Which would make her most useful to him?

‘You ought to Examine them,’ he said, gesturing to Beth.

Her face morphed as her eyes fell on the Symbiotes, igniting with eagerness.

While she Examined them Nicolai lifted Kleos, showing the head the three Symbiotes. ‘What do you think?’ he asked.

‘Mmm. Similar quality as the ones you were presented. I’d choose the Needle, myself. Soul attacks are very useful in fights against Cultivators. But it’s meant to be used alongside other Symbiotes, by itself it will accomplish little. It could pair acceptably well with your Blue Hornet, and will only show more value as more Symbiotes become available to all of you. However, until that point either of the others would be a better pick.’

Beth gave the head a thoughtful frown. ‘So I won’t be able to do much with just the needle?’

‘Not yet,’ said Kleos. ‘It would be very useful if you had more Symbiotes, as it would allow you to break their Soul Sense.’

‘But it would pair well if you fight alongside me, which you will be,’ said Nicolai quickly.

‘Eh.’ She made a face, looking away from the needle. Nicolai restrained a sigh, consoling himself with the knowledge that all of the Symbiotes looked decent. No matter which she picked, she would still become more useful as backup in a fight.

He found it interesting that all of her choices seemed quite close-ranged. Upon looking at the ones he’d been offered, Kleos had said “I guess that’s about what Heaven thinks of you” which suggested to him that Heaven tended to give Symbiotes that fit the user. Based on that, it seemed Beth had a preference to get up-close and personal, which bode well as Jo already filled the role of a long-ranged attacker.

In the end Beth favoured the centipede, for reasons he disapproved of.

‘It looks cool,’ she said as she pointed at it.

However, Nicolai was overall quite glad she’d picked it. The Crawling Fire Centipede at least looked to have quite a high offensive power; it sounded like once the fire got onto someone, it would be very difficult to get off. He imaged it could come in useful against enemies difficult to kill via other means. The Dragonfly would have improved her survivability. But the Centipede would make her more capable of actually killing things in a fight, which may well turn out to be more useful for Nicolai’s purposes.

‘It will struggle,’ he told her, ‘and they are very fragile. Easy to break.’ He chewed at his lip, thinking. He felt the optimal way to do this would be for him to first break his Blue Hornet in. Kleos had given him an inkling of how to do so but there was no replacement for first-hand experience. Once he’d done that, he could guide Beth through breaking-in her own so that less Oma crystals were lost overall, and in the meantime they could satiate it with the provided food. Or, of course, the opposite with Beth going first, but he had faith in his own abilities more than any other. ‘I have a Symbiote I need to break-in,’ he began, and spoke his thoughts.

In the end Beth agreed to take it, feed it, and wait, though she seemed a little irked to have to do so. Nicolai was quick to explain it would be a short wait and then he would share what he’d learned. Kleos assured them that the fire wouldn’t be unmanageable, as it said that they could extinguish it with concerted effort from their Soul Senses alongside physical means like smothering or water, and the Symbiote would be less powerful by itself than a Cultivator utilising it.

Beth tapped the centipede then quickly moved her finger away as the statue sunk into the floor, the centipede falling with it until it was on the ground. There it wriggled around, becoming active, the fires growing around it. A pouch emerged from the statue and immediately burned away, containing a cluster of something like charcoal, glowing like embers. The centipede saw this and scuttled towards it, Nicolai and the other two watching it go.

The centipede seemed happy to settle itself on the little pile of charcoal, curling its body in the midst of it and chewing contentedly on one of the black chunks. It let out more flames when they scraped it and the “food” up and deposited it in the corner of the room. Fortunately its flames had no effect on the food and the ones on the stone they quickly extinguished by simply pressing down with Soul Sense while at the same time smothering them. In spite of its vicious appearance, the centipede seemed less aggressive than Nicolai’s Blue Hornet.

Before leaving, Kleos and his sack in his hands, Nicolai paused at the door. ‘You have food?’

‘Enough for us two,’ Jo replied.

‘Good.’ He was about to open the door when he paused, sniffing at the air. ‘Are you going to stay in here? It’s a bit…’ he made a face.

‘Smelly?’ Jo supplied, and smirked when Beth dug an elbow into her ribs.

‘There’s plenty of rooms,’ he turned his head, his Soul Sense creeping around outside. ‘They’re all choosing ones for themselves, now, you won’t have to talk to anyone if you go out.’ He shrugged. ‘We’ll talk more tomorrow.’

Nicolai left, and with his Soul Sense observed Jo and Beth exchange glances. They were still unsure about all that had happened. No matter. In time he was sure they would warm to him.

###

Nicolai considered which room he’d take. The complex was larger than his old one. There was the large entrance room, tables and chairs and the solid metal door out. A hallway led out of this, and on either side of the hall were doors for bedrooms. Pretty convenient, almost like it had been made for confused humans like them. There was also one more opening in the entryway, and this had a stairwell leading up. He’d quickly investigated it earlier and found it led to a small, secluded towertop.

His Soul Sense’s explorations of the complex had revealed that there were even two toilets, and at the far end of the hall was a room with a big bowl in the floor. Seemed like it might actually be some kind of bath, but he wasn’t sure how it would work. Something for later, perhaps, though if it was supplied by piped water he was wary of using it. This place was old and decaying, and if it had cisterns in some place, he wouldn’t be surprised if they were full of corpses and rot.

He chose the room opposite the one the sisters were currently within, as he’d rather remain near the main exit. That way he would be in position to defend it from any threats, whether they be external—or internal.

The torches switched off as he was transporting his possessions into the chosen room, but with his Soul Sense he was able to find his way easily.

After taking all of his things inside he returned to retrieve Kleos from the table he’d left the head on. It wore a distant frown, which he observed by keeping his Soul Sense close against it, brushing its features as he returned and closed the door.

‘What’s up?’ he asked after placing it on the table in his new room, which contained the standard aged cabinets, a table, chair, and a bed on which the mattress and bedding had rotted away.

‘My jar,’ said Kleos. ‘With the liquid. I’ll start to decay without it.’

Kleos was doing its best to hide it, but Nicolai could hear a tinge of desperation in its voice.

The head needn’t worry. He had no intentions of allowing it to come to harm, at least while their Contract was still active.

‘How long can you last without it?’

The head frowned. ‘I can probably go another couple of days before the rot starts to set in.’

‘No problem,’ Nicolai told it with a smile. ‘I’ll get it soon. I need to go to the Trade Link first, but once that’s done, I’ll get the liquid. But for now, I’d appreciate your help. I intend to see about taking control of the Blue Hornet and growing a second Node.’ He paused, considering that. It seemed to him that he ought to try and break-in the Blue Hornet, first. He was keeping it pacified by allowing it to eat all the honeycomb it wanted, but that was far from an ideal solution. In only a day it had already eaten almost a quarter of the food he’d been given for it, which had been supposed to last for ten days.

‘How does this work, then?’ he asked Kleos as he carefully moved the pouch of honeycomb with its sleepy Hornet to the table. It stirred a little as his Soul Sense surrounded it, but by now it was used to feeling his touch and quickly relaxed.

‘Do what you were doing last time. Only this time, don’t stop. Be ready to restore your Oma with crystals, as your Soul will sustain damage over time. You want to find a balance. If you attack too hard, your Soul might be damaged faster than it can naturally restore. That will make your Soul Sense weaker, less able to break through the Symbiote’s defences, and unless you manage to break through quickly, the fight may turn against you. On the other hand, if you are too slow and do too little damage, you might never make any progress, or it could just take far too long.’

Nicolai nodded. It sounds simple enough. ‘No time like the present,’ he said, grinning in the dark, and he reached for the pouch.

Nicolai flexed his Soul Sense around the Hornet, a sudden attack that took it by surprise, clenching down on it and holding it tight, even as he reached into the pouch and grasped it. As soon as his skin contacted it, he found himself with the leverage to truly strike at it with his Soul.

The Hornet fuzzed and buzzed, crackling with electricity.

‘Hngh!’ His teeth grit and a groan was pulled from him as his body spasmed in response to the charge that surged through him, but it quickly wore off and Nicolai refocused. The Hornet was frozen on his palm, mandibles dug into his flesh, while his Soul squeezed tight around it.

The battle had begun, and both knew it would be a long one.

Nicolai’s first real move was a strike with his Soul, one very similar to the strike he’d delivered in order to break the Chosen leader’s shield. The strike moved through his Soul then exploded out where his flesh touched the Hornet. The Hornet trembled, and he felt the shield which surrounded it fill with tiny cracks.

He took a deep, slow breath, feeling how his Soul had received similar cracks in turn. The Hornet’s shield was rapidly healing, but he gripped it tight with his Soul and Soul Sense, doing his best to slow its recovery. He struck again. The Oma in his Node was being drawn out and disappearing, gradually restoring his Soul.

It was too slow to keep up with the damage he was sustaining. This was harder than he’d expected. No matter. Nicolai maintained the pressure, taking a longer break as his Soul recovered, but the Symbiote recovered a little, too. In fact, it seemed to him the Symbiote was winning, recovering faster. He was doing something wrong.

He wasn’t sitting right. The thought came out of nowhere but he was convinced of its truth. He quickly moved to the middle of the room where he lowered himself to the floor and sat cross-legged, and he held the Hornet between his two palms in front of the middle of his chest, his body as symmetrical as he could make it.

Better. His Soul seemed to be restoring faster. He struck again, grunting as his Soul surged, then relaxed to recover his Soul.

Time began to slip by as he focused on the process. A thought began to percolate in the back of his mind. He was still doing something wrong. This wasn’t quite right.

Every time Nicolai struck he felt an urge to move, and gradually he began to do so. Alongside this progress, Nicolai was continuously touching on Oma crystals and drawing on them, keeping his Node topped up.

In time he ended up holding the Hornet in one hand, and with his other he struck toward it. His hand stopped just before it contacted the bug, but his Soul Sense surged and twisted, continuing the movement and striking the Hornet.

Better. Its spiritual shell was covered in cracks, and he seemed to be recovering his Soul faster than it restored its shell. But, he was still a little off.

After some time he recognised a problem. He wanted to use both his hands, to strike it from either side at the same moment. But he needed one hand to hold it up. He drew his hands apart, wondering how he might do this.

‘Use Oma,’ came a voice, Kleos.

Nicolai glanced at the head.

‘It is halfway broken in. Symbiotes are sacred things, they merge the Spiritual and the Material. In its current halfway state, your Oma should be able to touch on it, and hold it in place.’

Nicolai’s gaze returned to the Symbiote. Oma spilled gradually from his hands. A faint blue pool. It wrapped the Hornet, lifting it into the air.

Now Nicolai stood, with once more his stance symmetrical, but his whole form was tensed and bent, focusing on the Symbiote with body, mind, and Soul.

‘Ossss,’ he breathed. His palms ripped through the air and slammed to a stop inches away from its squirming form. But his Soul continued, reaching out through his Soul Sense over the tiny remaining distance and striking the bug from either side. His Sense surged around him with the blow, acting as the reinforcement, stabiliser, and hammerhead of his Soul, all in one.

Cracks exploded through his Soul, a pulse of tearing pain that rippled through his body. But Nicolai held on tightly, keeping his Soul together and bearing down on the squirming Symbiote. The pain meant nothing to him. A smile was on his face as he looked down at his opponent, seeing that the Hornet was in an even worse state than himself.

He settled back into a sitting position, recrossing his legs. He held an Oma crystal in either hand, drawing on them. Between those hands floated the Hornet, wrapped by threads of Oma.

Nicolai breathed with a certain speed and tempo, in through the nose and out through the mouth, a type of combat breathing designed to help re-oxygenate the body after exertion, and which seemed to help his Soul recover faster. All of these little acts culminated together, and he felt at last he was doing this right.

Meanwhile, the Hornet worked to restore itself in much the same manner. To Nicolai, it felt that they sat there in a kind of quiet companionship, though perhaps the Hornet felt differently.

After some time his Soul was restored. He rose to his feet, preparing for the next strike.