The door opened softly and only the noise of the swishing princess dress behind me alerted me to Drag-On returning. I was only using human ears, it would be rude to go full bore with people around. They’d find it more than just creepy if they knew I could hear their heartbeats.

  “I have a friend, Depth Charge. He’s in Portland but he’ll be here in a couple hours. Do you think this can wait sweety?”

  “I fucked off as fast as I could. I don’t think I whipped the hive into a frenzy, but I might have. The longer we wait the more prepared it could be. It’s up to you. Naylle and I agree something smart is down there tho.” I sat up and shrugged as they sat back down at the end of the table.

  “I think everyone would feel better with a specialist involved. Depth Charge is a good man. A little light on words but he’s definitely got it where it counts.”

  “Action?” “A big dick?” Bomberman and my replies overran each other, but were both clear enough. I snickered.

  “Enough antics, young lady.” Drag-On gave me a sharp look. Finally relaxing into a smile. “Do you have any more information for us?”

  “Standard Battlefield control and information network scans. So yeah.” I sent them all a ping request for a network connection. They accepted quickly, allowing me to upload the maps and video feeds for them to view.

  [Oggy.] Gravitas sent a direct comm request. I looked over at her, allowing it. [Do you still want to stick with the… shoggoth thing? I’m sure we could rebrand you? It’s stupid how Samurai have to do that.]

  [Agreed, it is stupid. But no. I’m actually good with this. Trust me.] I smiled my best cute smile at her before focusing back on adding metadata, to the upload, of my own observations adding to Naylles.

  By the time I finished everyone else seemed ready to discuss things.

  “Are you seriously okay with the way things are going?” The demand came out of nowhere for everyone else. Gravitas, Alex, had been staring at me the whole time, so I kinda saw it coming.

  I sighed and sat back, rubbing my face with both hands before looking at them for a moment. “Flesh is a prison. No matter what kind it is. It is a prison of our own choosing now. You can change yourself now. To be anything you desire. Provided you have the money, or means, to acquire it. Machine, or meat, it doesn’t matter. And when you’re as fractured as me. Picking one face and sticking with it isn’t an option. Yes. This is my face now, when I am with people anyway. It’s what I see in the mirror. But I don’t have the attachment to it you do to yours. So shifting it. Changing it. Replacing it. It’s fine.”

  I shifted, changed and completely replaced my face as I spoke the last words before resetting it back. “Since I can reset whenever I need to. Two months of therapy isn’t enough to unfuck my poor trashed psyche. But It’s enough to piece the whole puzzle back into a shape that can grow and heal. I need a shit ton more therapy, but I’ll be alright. In the end I left being human behind, and I have to find the new me. Right now I have things I need to do. I need to finish. Until then I can’t… I can’t sit still. So please, don’t get in the way of that.”

  She sighed and stared at me a moment before finally nodding and sitting more primly. Maybe the use of Eldritch Voice for that “need” got to her, maybe my argument. Maybe I fucked up and made her mad but she’s not showing it. Mortals are complicated and even with emotions mostly back I still don’t get them.

  “So you only have this hole to go on? I admit it’s definitely antithesis but….” Bomberman seemed happy to change the subject. “Is it really worth all this?”

  “Hon, there’s less depth in that lake than there should be even with fifty years of sediment.” Drag-On sighed and rubbed the bridge of their nose. “Sweety, you did good bringing this. But I feel like we should get more people in for this. That’s a very large lake, and it’s way too shallow. Enough to hide a very large hive.”

  “We, Naylle and I think it is where the twenty two variants came from in the big dust up I became a Vanguard in. We think it may have a Thirty or higher in reserve.” I let my voice be small, crossed my arms to hug myself. I wanted them to understand how freaked out this whole thing made me, therapy helped me with body communication a lot. The last fight I was in nearly killed me, this one wasn’t going to be happy or easy. “I can’t guarantee anything. I’ve only got intuition to lean on here. That said, Naylle is a super AI from the Protectors, and he agrees.”

  “<>Indeed. I looked into it on the way over, nobody has gone to check after the incursion. No one even was aware there was anything up river.”

  Everyone shifted a little in their seats and seemed to zone out. Talking with their AI based on the twitching in their throats. I waited patiently, shifting my personal time to slow so as to avoid impatience. Handy thing that, being able to shift my personal time by a factor of five. Two months can seem like almost a year. Hence why I’ve been going stir crazy. At least I’m not bat shit insane anymore. Mostly.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “My AI agrees, based on the data it could be absolutely huge. No one has seen a stealth hive like this… I don’t know.” Drag-On seemed even more disturbed than before. “We should do some scouting and such before Depth Charge arrives. Do you feel up for it sweety?”

  “With backup. Yeah. I’m not quite immortal yet, only ageless.” I let loose with a small smile before taking a deep breath and slapping my knees as I blew it out. “Let's do this? Before the idiots at the hole close it up.”

  “What? Idiots at the hole?” Gravitas’ head whipped back and forth between me and Drag-On in confusion.

  “Yeah, they’re sealing up the hole. With Concrete. Nice guys, even the supervisor. That said, who knows what pretentious dick is yelling at them now. I’d hate to have them have to fix it after we fuck it up again.” Nodded along with each few words, a smile on my face. “So that said. I should eat before we go. I need more mass.”

  “How much? Uh. Sorry.” The Family rep ducked his head and mimed zipping his lips again.

  “Uhhh… five tons?” I blinked twice, even made it look like it wasn’t deliberate, as I raised my hands in a shrug. “Preferably tier two materials? Or at least a bunch of Titanium, Tungsten and Carbon? Some base metals for circuitry too….I’m not quite where I can make tier two for everything, but the armor would need it.”

  “Get on that Hon.” Drag-On had turned to the rep as well, ordering him to get me what I needed. “We’re going to want her at full strength.”

  I beamed at Drag-On, nodding in thanks. “That’ll give me enough mass to be a threat, I’m currently at half my baseline. The other reason I booked it instead of sticking around to scout more. That was with eating everything in the river water even.”

  The rep looked up from his tablet and smiled. “Everything requested can be found in recycling. There should be more than twenty tons available. I can lead you there.”

  “Yeah. I’mma go have a snack, I’ll meet you guy’s in a bit.” I stood up and gestured to the door. “After you suit. I promise I won’t eat you.”

  “Is she… serious?”

  “As a heart attack honey. Better be quick, she's not exactly known for patience.” Drag-On smiled placatingly at him.

  He all but ran out of the room, I just raised an eyebrow at them and got a wink in return. Grinning cheekily, I moved to follow the rep, shifting to be faster to catch up. The elevator ride was amusing, as he was tense as fuck the whole way down. But I think the mystique wore off as my eyes lit up at the garbage heap in the recycling room.

  The room was huge, with individually sorted bins full of different scrap in the bulk of the room. There were a few nano forges around for matter reclamation and a few chatty guy’s feeding them. Work stopped as the elevator opened. It might have been the squeal of glee out of my mouth.

  I all but dove into a bin, going liquid as I hit. I started eating immediately. Quickly regaining mass I filled out what I needed, being kind enough to leave the bins. When I finished reconstituting my whole body, and four additional sub forms I flowed out, absorbing all of them into my subspace. Finally solidifying back into my base street form I walked over to the elevator, which had been held for me.

  “Done! Five tons. Not an atom more.” I settled in next to him again.

  “I don’t think anyone would complain if you took more?” He gestured at the still mostly full room.

  “No. Greed isn’t one of my sins. I’ll be able to grow more of me once we start fighting. Frankly the junk in here is kinda… bland.” I shrugged and smiled at him as I reached out and poked the button for the top floor. “If everybody’s already left, I’ll leave from the roof carport.”

  “Understood.” He keyed his id card and the elevator finally started moving. The ride up was not nearly as fun as down.

  I did notice the elevator music this time. First swaying to it, then snapping my fingers and bobbing along. “Is it me or does this elevator muzak actually slap a little?”

  “We went to great efforts to ensure that the elevators had music that would be appealing to a wide variety of Samurai. So, it does indeed Slap.” He smiled in the most plastic way I had ever seen. “Do you need anything else before you go?”

  “Not that I can think of.” I shrugged and started forward a half second before the elevator dinged. “Don’t go getting killed. I’d hate to lose the chance to eat you.”

  I grinned too toothily at him and wiggled my fingers in a goodbye as I walked out backwards. Once outside I found that nobody had left, they were all having a chat on the overhang off the front of the building. I quickly approached, trying to catch some of the conversation with my enhancements, but they managed to stop before I got close enough. Even with my whole skin being a giant ear, the fucking wind cock blocked me.

  Judging by the looks, they were definitely talking about me.

  “I know you were all gossiping behind my back. But I’m a bigger person and am fully willing to let it go.” Grinning, I shifted into a childlike form, maybe five years old. Adopting a child like tone and mannerism. “Nice Princess Drag-On can I wide your dagon?”

  “Cute sweety. But no. There’s not enough room to carry everyone else and you, and we know you can fly on your own.” They smirked at me. “Good try though.”

  I floated up, morphing my face into a demonic shape and made my hair stand up and get all wavy in the wind. “I will consume your soul!!!! Or somebody's anyway….”

  “Well? Coming?” Pouting, I shifted back to normal and floated off the edge of the platform, stuffing my hands in my pockets, I turned back to them as a hoverboard formed under my feet for the style of it. “It’s not like this hive is going to kill itself or anything.”