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29.36% Imposter System / Chapter 36: Here's Matty

Chapter 36: Here's Matty

(A/N: First of all *kowtows* please forgive this lazy author! I totally could have finished this chapter yesterday. Anyway, hope it was worth the wait~)

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Matt placed Martha down and rubbed his chin in contemplation. Martha didn't know what to do with her body so she just clumsily sat on her limbs. Instead of relying on sunlight to create sugars from carbon dioxide, Martha must be utilizing radiation. He could not think of any way for a biological creature to turn into a nuclear bioreactor, but seeing it in front of him was proof. The large release of heat from the reaction previously must have been the trigger that "woke" this body. For now, he couldn't do much. His plan was to level Whispers until it could create a two-way channel.

Matt took out his water bottle from the bag and poured it out into the feeding dish. Since only the cameras were knocked out, he didn't want to risk using anything else in the lab that would alert the AI to his actions. After the water bottle was emptied, Martha awkwardly crawled forward, unsure of how to move. Her body inched forward like a worm and it was an adorable sight. When she reached the water, she placed her paws into it and it was slowly drained.

After the water was completely drained, Matt could feel heat radiating from Martha's body. It wasn't like the radiation from earlier, but seemed to be excess heat being released. Water must be an important ingredient to whatever is going on inside her body. Martha seemed to fall asleep, so Matt went back to his bag and took out the pieces of the membrane. This was something he was very excited about. Just small shavings from the surface were able to give him evolution points.

Matt cut a small chunk from the membrane and examined it. This little cube was enough for an evolution point. When he looked down at the large sack, he started salivating. The problem was, he wasn't sure what function this membrane played for Martha. Matt wasn't sure if this was like an egg or a womb. If it was an egg, then it might be necessary for Martha to eat it for nutrients. However, Martha was a plant not a mammal or bird. It was all very confusing. Matt decided to only eat enough of the membrane to evolve his Whispers skill.

[1 Evolution Point Gained.]

[1 Evolution Point…]

[…]

[Whispers Lv. 1->3: Utilizing your mental energy, you may whisper into someone's mind directly. They will hear an unrecognizable voice in their mind.

>Ability: Whisper

>Evolution Cost: 5]

<Whispers Lv. 3 has evolved to Telepathy Lv. 1>

[Telepathy Lv. 1: Utilizing your mental energy, you may initiate a channel of communication between people's minds. They will sense each other's thoughts as their own. The channel will last as long as you maintain it with mental energy.

>Ability: Telepathy

>Level Cost: 10]

[Telepathy

Activation: Thought

Duration: Special

Targets: 2]

While looking over his new ability, Matt saw Martha get up and try to use her limbs again. He walked over and attempted to use telepathy. The ability wasn't as simple as he thought. In order to form the connection, Matt needed to manipulate his mental energy to connect the two targets. It took a lot of effort, but he finally managed to form a stable path between Martha and himself. He waited but didn't notice anything. Either Martha wasn't capable of thought, or Telepathy doesn't let you 'read' thoughts.

{Can you hear me, Martha?}

However, instead of words like he expected, his mind was flooded with images. It was a collage of various scenes of Matt from when he visited her as a plant. After 'hearing' his voice again, Martha looked up and blinked. Matt understood that Martha wasn't capable of language, at least not yet. However, she was able to understand his words at least. Another thing he realized is that the connected people have to want to communicate for the channel to work.

After the first interaction, Matt started to feel dizzy and couldn't hold the Telepathy up. He had done several failed attempts so he was already a bit tired. He decided to rest a bit and try to communicate again. Martha was able to figure out how to stand on her limbs but when she started moving, she fell down. It seemed that the coordination of her limbs wasn't instinctual. Matt wondered why Martha chose that form if it was so inconvenient.

Eventually, Martha made it to the membrane with her poor movement and started eating it. Matt clicked his tongue in disappointment. He wanted all of it to himself, however, Matt worried that if Martha didn't eat it, she wouldn't have the energy to survive. Martha seemed to understand something and turned her onyx-like eyes toward Matt. She lifted a paw up and shook it once.

'Is Martha inviting me to eat? Well, I won't say no to that.'

With permission, Matt started to eat larger chunks of the membrane than before. He was getting five to six evolution points per mouthful. The two of them ate the sack for half an hour and all of it was gone. Martha curled up into a ball and slept. Matt, however, beamed with excitement. In order to improve the efficiency of this big platter in front of him, he leveled DNA absorption each time he could. Because of that, he made huge progress.

[DNA Absorption Lv. 6->Max: You have reached the peak of the innate skill of all parasites. Due to this, the complete instincts of your species have been released from their genetic locks. All organisms have become your prey. Whenever you consume blood or tissue containing genetic material, gain EP.

>Ability: Sense Life

>Absorption Grade Limit: 2 -> 3

>Efficiency: 60% -> 100%

>Evolution Cost: 80 EP]

[Sense Life: When activated, you are able to detect living organisms. You will sense their general direction and their life rating.

Activation: Thought

Distance: 60 meters

Duration: 60 seconds]

As soon as he reached max level, he felt his body undergo incredible changes. It was as if a boulder was lifted from his shoulders. The connection between his body and his host improved to levels he wasn't aware of. Additionally, he could feel the deep instinctual drive and control it to an extent. When he looked at Martha, he could sense how vigorous her life was. What he didn't realize was that he automatically activated Sense Life and was feeling her vitality. Matt turned his head and sensed someone walk past the lab. Their vitality was much lower than Martha's.

After the minute passed and his ability went on cooldown, he went back to normal. Although his Sense Life wasn't on, everything still felt much easier to do. His body felt more natural. Matt stood up and did some stretches and felt very good. The portion of the membrane he ate had granted him one-hundred ninety-two points. After leveling his ability at each increment, he was left with seven points. Although it was depressing to sink one-hundred eighty-five points into DNA absorption, it was definitely worth it.

It was a common way of thinking as a gamer. In order to win the long game, improve your resource collection sources. Once you have the best income, you will eventually overwhelm your opponents. As an avid gamer, Matt felt proud of this achievement. However, that evolution cost was a great bait to him. He had already figured out the existence of aliens and the connection to his ability. His theory that the realm beyond DNA absorption would allow him to absorb alien genetics was strong.

[Host: Matthew O'Connely

Status: Grade 1+ Mind Slug

Evolution Points (EP): 7

Abilities: <Perfect Mimicry Lv. Max>, <Improved Metabolism Lv. 2>, <Mental Resistance Lv. 2>

Skills: (NEW!)<DNA Absorption Lv. Max>, <Toxin Resistance Lv. 5>, <Weak Hypnosis Lv. 2>, <Dream Casting Lv. 3>, <Primary Reproduction Lv. 0>, (NEW!)<Telepathy Lv. 1>]

Matt saw the 'plus' after his grade that wasn't there before and investigated. What he saw surprised him, but he somehow already knew. In the back of his mind, he always felt that the progression of the Mind Flayer was lacking.

[Grade 1+ Mind Slug: Your species lives amongst other creatures as its main habitat. (…) Once a Mind Slug unlocks their core genes, they will gain the option of evolving toward the life branch of the tier 4 Eldritch Horror.]

Eldritch Horror. The name alone showed just how powerful it was. There was no such thing as a lifeform above tier three in the game. Mind Flayer, Faceless Devourer, and Hive Queen were all tier three creatures. There was also no way to go beyond that point. However, in this reality, Matt took the first step to becoming a being that could only be described as a god. The most memorable Eldritch Horrors ranged from a deep-sea octopus monster that fed on insanity to a whimsical clown that fed on fear. The common point between these two was agelessness and surviving without organic sustenance.

Matt was extremely thankful for his obsession with value. Something told him forming a sub-body first would have blocked this evolution variant.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Pill_Guy Pill_Guy

Oh man oh man. I bet you didn't expect that!? All you Mind Flayer Haters out there don't need to worry anymore. What is an Eldritch Horror? Well, guess you'll have to wait to find out.

Chapter 37: Emperor Jagang

Matt brought more water to the lab while using his new ability to make sure no one saw him entering. Martha had since woken and was practicing walking again. Matt poured out the four liters of water into the feeding dish and started to create a connection with Martha with telepathy. While he was concentrating on that, Martha absorbed half the water through her paws and then laid down lazily. Matt finally formed the connection after ten minutes, taking much less time than before.

{I have to leave you alone here, is that okay?}

Martha shook her body once. It was normal that she didn't understand any of the mannerisms of humans. Matt planned to teach her various things to make their communication easier. Matt made sure to lock the door. The W logo spun around on the keypad before disappearing and returning to the normal image. Matt sighed in relief knowing that Willard had followed through. He was afraid that his Hypnosis would wear off. It hadn't yet, but he wouldn't get too reliant on it.

The whole ordeal had taken a very long time. When Matt turned on his personal device, he saw that it was almost dinner. With his now maxed DNA absorption, he should get three or four points from a steak. This was a great motivator for his plan later that night. Although he got a huge windfall from Martha's membrane, Matt already put this plan in motion so he wouldn't give up on more points.

When he arrived at the café, it was packed. There was a long line weaving between the tables going around, along the wall of the café. When Matt entered, Alexis leaned to the side in the middle of the line and called him over. Since she was a high rank, he wouldn't be polite and simply took the spot. He didn't care if anyone complained anyway. Once he stepped in line there were some grunts of annoyance but no one voiced their opinion.

"What's up Lexi, why is there such a long line?"

"Because of the emergency earlier in the Botany labs, everyone is receiving some antirad medication. It's just standard procedure. Are you okay? I know you went to Dr. Bradshaw's lab today."

"Yeah, I left before the alarms went off."

"That's good. Oh, I got to see my personal combat suit today. It's really incredible."

"Are you allowed to talk about that?"

"Psh, its fine. Who is going to steal technology now that we're so far from earth?"

"Oh, then please do tell all the details."

"My suit is called 'Space Marine.' It has the ability to move through zero- to low-gravity regions with ease. Since most of the functions are built for maneuverability in space, the weaponry is low caliber. This is the common beginners suit."

Matt nodded as he listened to her. This was what he remembered from the game. Space Marine was the basic model of combat suit. She described it as being used to maneuver in space but it had an even better function—Speed. In normal gravity, when the maneuver system is activated, a human could reach very high speeds. He wasn't sure the exact numbers since movement speed wasn't calculated with standard conventions in the game. However, an unsuited crewman moved at two-hundred. In the suit, they moved at five-hundred. This was a two-hundred fifty percent increase.

"So, I'll be practicing with that suit until I master it. Unfortunately, since I'll be unable to do my duties soon, that will have to wait until after the delivery."

"Have you already set up your maternity leave?"

"I'll be off-duty starting next week."

The two of them eventually made it to the front of the line where people were being served their meal and two capsules. In order to ensure everyone was protected, they were required to take the capsules in front of the server. Matt thought this was all extremely suspicious so he carefully hid the capsule behind his molar and spit it out into a napkin on his way to a table. Fortunately, he had a mass spectrometer in his lab and would be able to confirm whether this drug is what they say it is.

Once they sat down, Matt started on his meal. He figured out that his actions may have been a bit too forward in the past so he recently became stealthier about his eating habits. He would eat some side dishes first with a few slices of steak in between. Seeing his points go up by three made him disappointed. A slightly bigger steak would likely give him four all the time, but his current serving had a good chance of only three.

Regardless, he was still happy about his gains. Matt decided that evolving Dream Casting would be a good idea. He brought up the skill and read it over a few times. Based on Whispers becoming Telepathy, he was certain that Dream Casting would become much better once it was evolved. He confirmed the evolution in his mind and suddenly felt lightheaded. He covered up his change in demeaner by coughing after drinking some water.

[Dream Walking Lv. 1: Your consciousness is able to form an astral body which can enter the dreams of living creatures. Once within, you are capable of influencing the dreams directly and witnessing them.

>Ability: Dream Walk

>Level Cost: 16 EP]

[Dream Walk

Activation: Astral Body

Duration: 4 hours

Influence: Minor]

Once Matt was able to take control and stop his Astral Body from forming, he internally cheered in excitement. This is exactly what he needed. Matt couldn't keep risking interacting with people directly until he was stronger. This was a silent means of interrogating people. Although he would need to filter through a lot of subconscious dream noise, there is a high chance he would learn some very sensitive information. Matt determined that this was definitely high priority to level.

Additionally, he would be able to screen his potential allies. With this, he could safely investigate Alexis's mind. Once he was satisfied that she wasn't a hidden agent investigating him, he would begin her brainwashing and eventually have her become his first acolyte. The thought of being the target of worship excited Matt. He wasn't sure if this was his human side, his parasite side, or both. Matt realized how scary those thoughts were which led to many wars in history.

'Anyway, that's in the future. I'll cross that bridge once I get to it.'

After dinner, he walked Alexis back to their quarters and went to see his 'good friend.' Matt still didn't know the man's name, but he also didn't really care to learn it. Once he arrived, the guy was already there drinking while leaning on the bar. Matt came over and patted his shoulder. He was all smiles as he greeted this unknown victim.

[Hypnotism Activated.]

"Hey man, you're early! Let's get a table."

"Oh hey. Yeah, sure."

The two of them drank for hours. Due to Matt's Toxin Resistance, he couldn't get drunk unless he took in fifty times the amount of a normal person. However, he was good at acting due to perfect mimicry and was able to fool everyone. He intermittently used Hypnosis and once the man was drunk enough, he created a Telepathy channel and started saying things into his head as if they were his own thoughts.

{It's all his fault.}

{He is stealing my spot.}

{…}

Matt made sure to build up the man's resentment toward Lorenz. There was no basis for these thoughts, but he was drunk and it would slowly seep into his subconscious. Matt occasionally asked some leading questions. Once the man started cursing all the wrongs he suffered because of Lorenz in the past, Matt knew it was working. However, he didn't go overboard and once he seemed too drunk to stay conscious, Matt brought him to his quarters.

"Hic, ye-eah that-that's the one. Ah crap, my ro-oom mates are going to be pissed."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of them."

"Ah-ha. Thanks Mike."

Matt entered the room shaking his head. He had used Life Sense outside to see how many people were in the room already and confirmed it was only one. Once they entered, Matt set the man down and started explaining to his roommate. He used Hypnosis to make everything about the situation seem normal and then he marked the two of them.

He discovered that he could leave a piece of his Astral Body on someone so that it was easier to find them once his Astral Body left Matt's mind. With the two of them marked, Matt hypnotized the roommate to sleep early. Then, Matt took out one of the metal bracelets from his lab and stuck it around the drunk man's leg. It pierced him and drew out a vial of blood. Then, Matt left as if nothing happened.

[Grade 2 Genetic Material Detected. 100% compatibility. Consume for 6 Evolution Points.]


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Pill_Guy Pill_Guy

Today's title is a very obscure reference. If anyone knew it without googling it, you're awesome. Is Matt's potential godhood going to mess with his head? Well, lets drink some blood and think about that later.

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