Severe Cranial Trauma Detected.

  Body assessment… severed C4 and C7, crushed left orbital bone and grade three concussion… Cell integrity… ninety-eight and one-half percent… reconstituting body in… one hundred-five Earth minutes.

  “Fuck you you piece of shit!! That is it! I’m cutting off your balls and making you watch!!”

  The woger had been cooperating a little too well since the start of its conditioning and admittedly it was incredibly naive of me to turn my back to it when Zee and I found an arrowhead mostly uncovered while patrolling, but we needed to look!

  We got comfortable.

  Getting suddenly bitch slapped when I found something interesting sent me right over the edge towards violence and seeing it paws up in the air seizing after the attack did little to assuage my anger. Breaking my toes on the side of its thick skull did even less.

  “Fuck you! Gah fuck I am so pathetic! I should have left myself in that hole!”

  Jada calm down

  “Alright end seizure, maintain hold and angle its head towards its crotch!”

  Jada can you hear me? Beginning physical assessment.

  There’s a look of confusion on its face when it sees that I am technically alright and then an even bigger look of confusion when it sees me open the small knife I always keep on me. That look turns to terrified, painful horror when I do what I said I was going to do.

  “This really is too small of a knife! Note to self, make a bigger one later!”

  Getting done with the hack job I toss the danglers off to the side and get ready to move on but I’m still seeing red.

  “This shit has killed me twice.”

  Snapping and pointing my finger at the set-

  “Eat it.”

  Obviously it was reluctant to do that through all the shaking, retching, not understanding me and general instinct to not do that. So I forced it to. Finishing off I finally force it to snap off one of its horns it’s probably so proud of on its forehead.

  “Done!”

  Breathing heavily I sit myself on the ground and wipe the sweat out of my eyes; that wasn’t sweat. Looking back at the former monster it’s looking at me like I’m the monster.

  “I probably look like a blood-soaked stark-raving mad idiot right now…”

  Jada...

  “Yes, what?”

  Oh good you can hear me, I thought the concussion messed something up. Are you done? Because our charge is bleeding out.

  “Ya… I’m done, I went too far didn’t I?”

  I would say you did when you forced it to eat the penis and testicles, yes.

  “Alright lets bring the scepter and family jewels back, I’m keeping the horn though, the one from its head.”

  Packaging up the horn in a shredded bloody shirt sleeve and returning to studying the found arrowhead the woger is giving me a wide berth while barely blinking.

  I was trying to tell you earlier, but the tree analysis is mostly done, guess how old it is!

  “Nine and a half mill.”

  … that’s… right… how did you know?

  “Growth rate of this dead zone adjusting for any drought or disease that could slow growth, plus trees slow down as they get older.”

  Nerd.

  “Glass houses Zee.”

  You stole my reveal!

  “You bet, what else do we know?”

  Root structure could take a decade to map at current rate, it dug deep first before expanding it seems. It is carnivorous, gaining most of its nutrients from the surrounding, contains lots and I mean lots of proteins. Also blood is where the red color comes from.

  “It has blood? Well that and the proteins explains how we can rebuild so fast.”

  Turning my head to the woger to see it still several yards away and that hunger in its eyes completely gone; I give it the hand signal to sit, which it obliges.

  “I think we are on the same pa-”

  Kill us and we make you eat important things.

  “Yes, that. Any ideas on a name for it so I don’t have to keep calling it ‘hey you’? That would get very confusing if this arrowhead points to what we think it does.”

  Civilization. How about Baihu for its name?

  “White tiger? Works for me, better than woger. Lets work on getting that association in that thick skull of his. Mime bringing its attention to me when I call its name. Baihu come!”

  ‘Do not get comfortable this time.’

  Coming over to me low to the ground like I just gave it another death sentence we run through a few of the established commands like sitting, rolling and stay before moving on to test whether or not that organ is actually what catches the trees attention.

  “Alright lets cut off its pain for this, no need to multiply its trauma for one day. Okay now to cut out that organ again… what did we call that before when it was discovered? Memory isn’t what it used to be...”

  You mentioned before it was a split debate between Door and Core. Rhymes not withstanding.

  “Well I’m not calling it a Door even if it does feel like it’s connecting to something else. So Core it is. Still pisses me off that they keep that information classified.”

  Don’t want people to know that powers can be removed?

  “That’s what they told me before they shredded everything I own, including my house. Oh well, old history, can’t mount heads on asses anymore anyway. At least not the heads that I want. Baihu roll over.”

  ‘Moment of truth? Or moment of more research.’

  Ignoring the thousand yard stare from Baihu I cut out and toss the Core to the side. Stepping into the dead zone while facing Baihu, I order him to follow.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  ‘Fears me more than that tree I guess.’

  Its feline eyes keep switching between me and the ground before taking several tentative steps into the soft soil. Seeing nothing happen we move back out and return the Core to its proper spot before the damage gets worse.

  “Amazing that it needs a core that big just to keep its digestive system running, seems it can eat anything. I wonder how toxic the other animals in this area are? We’ll find them eventually I guess. Find anything interesting about that arrowhead Zee?”

  It’s made with metals and minerals consistent with a meteor, it’s not refined at all.

  “Pre-Iron age tool. How old is it?”

  Sure you don’t want to steal that from me first?

  “No just that one time, hard to infer the age of rust.”

  Few hundred years old.

  “Few hundred huh. Well we were using bow and arrows just that long ago as well, so that says nothing about the inhabitants. Seems everybody wants to be able to take pot shots. Being up close is dangerous after all.”

  Glancing at Baihu it immediately takes a few steps back from me like its approach was all a joke. Stepping several hundred feet into the dead zone while I think, I leave Baihu to its own devices. It did try to follow me in but the ground rumbling told it to do otherwise. He’s smart enough to figure that out.

  ‘

  -Add more so life won’t become meaningless again - ?

  -Survive – for Zees sake

  -Find out where I am – Duh

  -Enact self defense protocol – in progress, move onto next stage when Baihu is reliably under control.

  -Stay cautious of Baihu

  -Find a local if there is any – after at least Phoenix gaining control of the wogerworking name

  -On the off chance they know a language I know – speak

  -Otherwise – pick brain – may or may not have to be literal

  -Find way home – do I even want to?

  -Find way to scan ground – be obnoxious with sonar? Cells shifting around me? Wireless points and lots of math? Use tree roots? Make the woger Baihu do it – mine sweeper?

  -Dying – never again now never again

  -Start on Cell mitosis again – need to work on them being smaller than virus – soon.

  -Work on Safe Harbor protocol – next few months, review flyer plans.

  -Research local flora and fauna – moving target.

  -Make bigger knife – before leaving area. Carve and sharpen horn? Spear using tree branch?

  -Stop being clumsy so I can properly use weapon instead of flailing wildly – in progress with cell upgrades.

  -Add way points between me and tree – moving target. Tree will act as bigger and bigger reference point as Cell concentration increases.

  -Increase Cell efficiency and control so I can do more with them – so they’re not such home bodies

  -Find food - priority

  ‘

  Digging my hand into the dirt to be among the roots I act like a parasite again while watching Baihu watch me. Getting myself refueled, I realize one important thing about having a pet, I need to get him fed reliably until I have him fully trained.

  “Time to fatten Baihu up Zee, your going to need to take over and make him eat this grass.”

  On it. How much weight?

  “How much does he weigh now?

  Little over three-thousand pounds now.

  “Big boy, uhhhh add three percent for now. Just need to make sure he’s not deficient in anything.”

  What’s good enough for the tree is good enough for thee Baihu!

  “Baihu eat!” Pointing at the grass to reinforce the need to follow orders.

  While they’re working on that I get to work very very slowly shaping the horn with my tiny little knife and a rock.

  “How the hell did he snap this off?!”

  …

  Jada come look at this, Baihu found a rodents nest, they’re kinda cute.

  “Oh! Make sure he doesn’t eat them! Need to see if they have Cores as well!”

  Woops, ones gone! Still three to go though...Quit moving I’m trying to catch you! Jada help, you have thumbs!

  Managing to corral the little rodents between his legs, I reach under his drooling mouth fully paying attention to keeping him staying still until I get a hold of them with my shirt.

  Warning: foreign airborne toxin detected

  Scrubbing system now… one percent… two percent… one percent… one percent… zero percent…

  “Holy shit!”

  Tossing the bundled shirt on the ground in a panic I have Baihu stomp on the bundle while I take my distance until I get that to manageable levels… by coughing my lungs out, almost literally.

  “How is he not affected? His digestive system is the only thing weird!”

  One sec... he is, just too big to care it seems. Like you against a baby black widow.

  “Well is the toxin still over there?”

  Concentration dropping after their apparent expiry. Not so cute to look at now.

  “Fuck sake, I’m going to have to handle everything with a full hazmat suite and body armor aren’t I?”

  Seems likely. Do you know how to make that?

  “Nope. I studied biology and programming. I just wore the suits, not made them.”

  Too bad we don’t have the internet anymore. Trial and error it is.

  “You’re telling me. How’s the concentration now?”

  Ten percent of what it was.

  “Alright lets see what’s left of them can tell us.”

  They kinda look like a Picasso painting now, don’t they?

  “That’s fucked up Zee.”

  Well they do!

  “Standard rodents. Underdeveloped eyes, teeth are worn down on two of them with not much regrowth, so they’re the elders; possibly parents. Core shattered on the female, both male look fine. Looks like we got out okay on that end, wish all four had made it. Lets test out self defense while we’re here. Zee, knock out Baihu so we don’t have to keep track of him.”

  Night night Baihu. Preparing Cells for Core injection. Splitting off monitors for Baihu.

  Tossing the shattered Core into the dead zone I watch absentmindedly as the roots slowly wrap themselves around it and drag it into the depths.

  “Huh. Still finds broken ones of value. Fascinating. Alright, now the attempt to combine these Cores. I’ll dig a trench- should’ve kept Baihu for that but whatever, can’t risk an explosion if these things meltdown like last time.”

  Last time? Oh, so you were testing more than taking away powers then.

  “Got to get funding somehow. Combining powers makes peoples eyes sparkle. They all want to be God, even if they won’t admit it.”

  And you don’t?

  “I have no illusions about my place and context in this existence, I’m just another being who’s too small. Plus, who cares about worship?”

  I’m sure there’s more than a few. Subset of Cells are ready, are you?

  “Ready as I’ll ever be, plus if it doesn’t work I’ll have a reliable way of making massive explosions.”

  ‘Since they’re of the same lower species it should work, should… should. Here goes nothing.’

  Instead of smashing them together like atoms in a particle accelerator, this time I’m just trying to build subtle pathways between them like veins to connect the ligaments that hold the gem like separators together.

  …

  At two-hundred and thirty-eight ‘veins’ a change occurs in the two rodent sized Cores in the palm of my hand. The gems start to glow.

  ‘That’s new, didn’t do that before.’

  Jada I think we should move, you know, just in case.

  Cautiously throwing them the fuck away, I duck and cover in the previously dug trench and wait for the inevitable explosion.

  …

  Waiting until the sky starts to darken I eventually poke my head up and look in the direction of the tossed Cores, spotting the little stars in the grass almost immediately.

  “HAH!! It worked! They didn’t blow up!”

  I could have told you that hours ago. Why did you wait so long? There was no sounds or rumbling?

  “Well the times they blew up there was no sound or evidence that they did so. Unless you count the hole in the ground. See? No hole, we’re good. Can you wake Baihu up please, we need to store these before they go inert.”

  You used human Cores right? Maybe it’s an implosion instead of explosion?

  “Maybe, I’m not a physicist. At first we were just testing to see if it would work, then we moved on to trying to find very compatible so-to-speak Cores. Like fire users. The whole combining thing was difficult to do by hand, lost a few machines and colleagues in the process. So thanks for existing Zee.”

  You’re welcome! Morning Baihu!

  “Baihu roll over. Don’t look at me like that, roll over.”