Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3)

by Brian Wilkerson

  A second tried to teach him the lyrics of a song, but he couldn’t understand them because of the man's accent. This got him pegged with “limited memory.” When he asked for a different song, the man marked him with “classical grendel anti-merriment.”

  A third wanted to pluck his hairs and sample his blood, and even more degrading, she requested that he be strapped down for it. It was an understandable request, given that the woman was missing an arm and a leg, but Eric refused to be restrained. He picked the hairs and injected the syringe himself. Next were full body x-rays to search for changes beneath his skin.

  While they waited for the results to come in, Percy engaged him in a civil conversation about a popular sitcom. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Percy asked him if he wanted to eat any of the characters. He was about to stab the guy with his spear, but Kallen shook her head no. So he stomped on the floor instead, cracking it with his human-like foot.

  “I’M NOT A GRENDEL!"

  Noticing their apprehension, he took a breath, smiled without showing teeth, and started again. In a human voice, he said, "I do not appreciate being treated like one. No wonder Kallen has issues with the word 'lab-rat.' If this is how you treated her then..."

  He trailed off and gears clicked in his head. His eyes narrowed but they did not slit.

  "You don't still treat her like this, do you?"

  Everyone noticed the change in subject. He was no longer concerned about himself, but someone else. Kallen would have jotted it down for his defense but wanted to bask in the moment first. Talbot also made note of it.

  "Of course not," Percy said. "Kallen is—"

  "Not you. I don’t care what you have to say."

  A flush of happiness colored Kallen's checks. Then it soured. "It's just a check-up every month or so. It's no big deal."

  Percy walked over to Kallen and gently grabbed her shoulder. Kallen looked up at him in surprise. The tiger man bared his teeth.

  "Correct. All we do is strap her to a table and cut her open."

  He extended a claw and drew it across her shirt, tearing it open above her chest.

  “As she says, it is no big deal.”

  Grendel rushed through Eric’s veins. It moved into his heart and accelerated its pace. It moved through his arms and legs and created adrenaline out of nothing. It moved into his eyes and made them slit. It moved into his brain and drove out every other thought. In the space of seconds, he was tackling Percy. With one hand, he squeezed the tiger man’s throat while the other chambered to deliver the killing blow. The soiléir crystal extended like a claw of his own. Kallen grabbed his wrist to stop him.

  “Let go! I must kill the threat to you!”

  “He’s not a threat! Not to me or anyone! I’m sure he has an explanation for this!”

  “THREAT!”

  It took all of Kallen’s own demon strength to hold him back, so he choked the tiger man instead. If not for Percy’s barrier, Eric would have snapped his neck in an instant.

  “Eric, please stop!”

  “Mr. Watley, I have an explanation,” Percy replied.

  He sounded as stoic as ever; completely unconcerned about the feral boy straddling him with a crystal claw poised to strike and a hand around his neck. His colleagues were not so calm.

  “Kill him! He’s relapsed!”

  “Don’t kill him! This is fascinating!”

  “Will you listen to my explanation?” Percy asked. “I was kidding about Kallen’s treatment. I will buy her a replacement shirt tomorrow.”

  “Blood for blood.”

  Kallen took out her own staff and made a cut on Percy’s shirt. He didn’t react. Only then did Grendel recede. Eric dismounted the tiger man without regret or shame. Instead, he watched him like a snake in the grass.

  “I will listen to your explanation. Then I will reconsider whether or not you are a threat.”

  Percy stood up and straightened his shirt and coat. Then he smoothed down his fur and retracted his claws. Finally, he said,

  “The Emotional Memory hypothesis states that sapients lose their memories during mutation but retain the emotions connected to those memories. As monsters, they feel certain ways towards certain stimuli without knowing why. In other words, the person they used to be is still present to some degree, depending on the strength of their emotional content.”

  “So it’s similar to the Ghost Residue phenomenon,” Eric said. “Just like a spirit can leave traces in places of personal importance and/or frequent use, so too does a sapient leave traces in the monster created from it.”

  His answered excited everyone. Kallen was visibly relieved. Percy was unmoved.

  “Yes, it is similar. The ‘docile pets’ that Director Pluagi referred to have long been assumed to support this hypothesis because they are docile in the presence of people important to them, typically family. However, this tame mindset is generally extended to only one or two people, and sometimes not family. To everyone else, they were just another monster. Thus, the hypothesis remains a hypothesis.”

  “I’m different from them because I am fully sapient.”

  As he finished this sentence, Eric realized that he still had his spear’s blade extended from his hand. He quickly retracted it and tightened his fist to hide it, and just as quickly loosened it so he didn’t appear as if ready to punch someone. Percy replied as though he hadn’t noticed.

  “Yes, I believe that your case is different from the tame monsters’. Instead of a monster influenced by a human’s memories, you are a monster who thinks he is human. ”

  “I just told you—I’m not a grendel!”

  “Frankly, Mr. Watley, we don’t know what you are. You don’t look like a grendel, but you act like one. You certainly don’t act like a human.”

  That last sentence provoked Eric’s ire. He crossed his arms and raised the hand of his left arm. Raising each finger in turn, he said, “You want to start a debate about what it means to be human? Fine. I find food for myself so I can stay alive. I kill threats to myself and my family, i.e., I protect them. I dislike being treated as though I cannot think and reason for myself. Is any of that not human, Tiger Man?”

  “Very well. We will wait for the test results to come back to continue this discussion.”

  “What am I supposed to do in the meantime? My short-term memory lasts longer than five seconds. As a human, I get bored.”

  “Kallen will show you around and ensure that you are entertained.”

  “She’s to be my keeper?”

  “She is best suited for the role, yes.”

  Kallen grabbed Eric’s hand.

  “Come with me.”

  Despite the surroundings and his day so far, it was impossible not to feel happy and peaceful when her hand was in his own. Why does this happen? I’m sure Grey Dengel would be able to explain it. Despite this, he couldn’t relax. His mind was constantly on the lookout for danger or opportunities to eat. In addition to this, Kallen’s proximity stirred another desire.

  Eric clamped down on that third one immediately. While he couldn’t deny that he found Kallen attractive, the last thing he wanted to do right now was jump her. He told himself it was just the grendel talking and pushed it to the back of his mind.

  If only I could expel it like I did with Dengel….

  Kallen left the testing area and her arm pulled him in that direction. He followed without comment. The door opened for her and she led him into one of the facility’s hallways. The cameras watched both of them. The scientists they passed subtly raised their barriers, and the guards kept their weapons close at hand.

  “They consider me a threat just as I consider them a threat,” Eric mused. “Is it because I also consider them to be food?”

  “Yes,” Kallen replied. “Humanoid sapients don’t consider each other to be food. No, I should rephrase that. City-sapients, who are most often humanoid, rarely consider each other to be food. It’s a different story in other places.”

  “Sou
nds complicated.”

  “We can’t have a society based on nothing but food, family, and threats.”

  “There’s also ‘obstacles’...What am I saying?”

  He shook his head and hit himself. Kallen gave his hand a squeeze.

  “You can’t shake the monster out. Believe me, I tried.”

  “Oh yeah, I remember you saying you’d tell me about Siduban sometime, but you always said ‘later.’ Is now a good time?”

  Her grip on his hand shifted. It was too minute for a human to notice, but someone with his heightened sensitivity to prey picked up on it. She was defensive.

  “I suppose we have time for a short version.”

  Kallen drifted away from him. The absence of her hand left him feeling cold and isolated. Clasping both of her own behind her and staring off into the distance, she said, “My parents were the directors of the Siduban Chaotic Research Facility. My sister and I went there for a day to watch them work.” Her eyes transformed. “Then, a greedy little imp appeared and sabotaged the Chaos Machine. He caused the Chaos Explosion. It mutated me in body, mind, and soul.”

  “But you’re human now, and sane. In all the time I’ve known you, there’s never been anything ugly or monstrous about you.”

  Kallen turned back to him and smiled. “Thank you, but it wasn’t easy and….not everyone shares your opinion.”

  “Getis. Getis Darwoss. Lab-rat insult.” His eyes slitted. “A threat.”

  Kallen quickly grabbed his hand again. “Eric, please, calm down.”

  “Why?”

  Kallen grabbed his other hand. “Because you need to learn about disproportionate retribution.”

  “What about it?”

  “It’s going to happen to you in five seconds.”

  Both behind him and in front was a wall of guards. Clad in armor and carrying shields, they were a formidable barrier. Behind them was a wall of mages. Brandishing spells and carrying bolts in orbit around themselves, they were an intimidating barrage.

  Eric snarled. Then Kallen gave his hands another squeeze and maintaining it became impossible as peace flowed into him from her. His eyes unslitted.

  “Please stand down,” Kallen said. “He will settle this peacefully with words, like a civilized sapient. Isn’t that right, Eric?”

  He nodded. “Yes, I can and yes, I will. I am not a threat to you as long as...” He shook his head. “No, I don’t want to fight you because no one paid me to do so. I am a mercenary, not a monster. Just now, I was recalling someone unpleasant. Surely there are people you don’t like but aren’t going to hurt, even though they’re threats, I mean! I will not hurt him either because no one paid me to do so. Besides, he would probably taste nasty.”

  He bit his lip to stop himself. Kallen smiled uneasily at the guards, who hadn’t lowered their shields or their spells. Eric struggled with himself not to bring out his staff. His grendel instincts shouted at him to kill the threats before him, but his human memories said such an action was more dangerous.

  “I didn’t mean that either! It just slipped out.”

  “I’m leading him to the cafeteria,” Kallen said. “He hasn’t had a proper meal since a day or so before mutating. I’m sure he’ll feel better once he has food in his stomach.”

  “I completely agree. I’d rather not kill my food before…”

  He hit himself on the head repeatedly. The action agitated the guards. Kallen’s mind raced for a way to calm them and then one mage fired out of nerves. She stepped in front of Eric to guard him with her barrier, and he registered this as them attacking her. His eyes slit once more and the guards prepared for him to charge. Then, a pearl of laughter broke the tension.

  Tasio appeared in their midst, holding his sides and guffawing up a storm.

  “Oh, what fools these mortals be!” he cried. “Neither of you wants to fight, yet you’re about to kill each other. Ahh…” He wiped a tear away. “I’m sorry for interrupting. Go right ahead. Don’t mind me.” He disappeared as suddenly as he appeared.

  There was a pause as the hostiles reflected on The Trickster's words. They reconsidered each other and sheathed their weapons: guards put their blades away, mages depowered spells, and Eric kicked the grendel back to the basement of his mind.

  "The Trickster's right. We don't want to kill you, but you must admit that you are dangerous to us."

  “Yes, I am. I bet I could crush your head like...Sorry! What I meant to say was—”

  Kallen grabbed his arm and pushed him forward with a hand to his back. It was clear that she was trying to smile through her cringe and doing a terrible job of it.

  “Let’s put some food in your mouth before you stick your foot in it again.”

  “You’re right!” Eric exclaimed. “I can eat my foot!” He stuck his hand in his mouth and chewed on it. “I don’t taste good.”

  “He’s still groggy from waking up. He’s not normally like this,” Kallen said apologetically to the guards.

  While hesitant, they allowed her to pass with her strange charge. Their weapons were still at hand and the spells were still charged and ready. Kallen smiled and nodded as she led Eric through their midst.

  “I used to be pretty strange myself. Percy could tell you all kinds of stories about the shenanigans I got into. Now I’m perfectly sane and helpful.”

  “I completely agree,” Tasio said. He was again floating above them. “I couldn’t ask for a more pious devotee.”

  “You’re not helping!”

  Inside the cafeteria, Kallen showed Eric the food line. Then she had to hold him back from pouncing and eating all of it right then and there. She had to explain the use of utensils and why they were necessary.

  “We don’t use those at my guild. I remember that!” Eric insisted. “Some people used them, like Nolien, but he was in a minority.”

  “Your guild, right. That’s good!” She looked over her shoulder at one of the guards that had followed them in. “Please fetch some videos about the Dragon’s Lair, and none of that offensive slanderous stuff.”

  The guard looked to Talbot, who nodded. The guard ran off and someone else filled his place. Kallen returned her attention to Eric, who was loading his plate with bacon. When he ran out of room, he put all the bacon back into the tub and simply took the tub with him to the table. He ate a piece along the way.

  “What is this stuff? It’s magnificent!”

  “It’s called ‘bacon.’”

  Eric swallowed and then stuffed another four pieces into his mouth and swallowed again. He started choking. Kallen performed the Heimlich maneuver and it came out. Eric stared at slimy bacon and then put it back in his mouth, chewing this time before swallowing.

  “Memo to myself: Never eat cooks because they make bacon."

  While this scared the sapients (except the cook, of course), Kallen immediately shushed them. Instead, she sat next to Eric and encouraged this line of thinking to convince him why he shouldn't eat others. For instance, she explained that he shouldn’t eat plumbers because they unclog toilets and to respect policemen because they neutralize threats like he did.

  "Okay. That makes sense. If someone is unemployed, can I eat them?"

  "No."

  “Why not?”

  “Because even the unemployed have friends and family.”

  “What if they’re unemployed and loners?”

  "No."

  “Why not?”

  “It’s dangerous for you to attract attention.”

  “I can handle that.”

  Kallen scratched her head. The answer was obviously “it’s illegal.” Nor was it civil. It was clear that his monster instincts and human memories had merged to create a new sense of morality. Only by appealing to that could she make him understand. She didn’t remember having to deal with this years ago. Then she got an idea.

  “You know the Omnipresent Mana Principle, right?”

  “Oh yeah. Reality is made of chaos and mana is the most diluted form of chaos. Thus,
everything is made of mana; you, me, this food, those walls—everything.”

  “Right. And everything can become everything else. That’s the River of Chaos; cycling through Noitrearc and through different stages on its way back to the Sea of Chaos. The same holds true for human relationships. Someone without a social circle or a job could become a bread-winning family maker and vice versa.”

  “So, I shouldn’t eat them because they could become a job or friend.”

  “Yes.”

  “Hmmm... That’s stupid. Rot needs to cycle and they can do that by becoming food for something stronger.”

  Guards, already surrounding the pair with weapons ready, prepared to strike. Kallen started fidgeting.

  “Think of it this way! Are you a monster or a mercenary?”

  “Mercenary definitely because I’m human and not a grendel.”

  “Then they could become a client or the subject of a client’s mission.”

  “Ohhhh! That makes a lot more sense.”

  He grabbed a vat of mustard and slurped it like a beverage.

  Kallen looked uneasily over her shoulder. “Progress is progress.”

  Eric slammed the vat on the table. “Speaking of progress, how much do I have to make before I can leave?”

  “Um...” Kallen looked to Talbot, who shook his head. “Uhh...”

  “Setting goals and achieving them is a sapient mindset, isn’t it?” Eric asked. “What do I have to do to prove that I am not a threat to the general public?”

  “You see, Eric, there are public concerns due to mana-born demons because of past events...and so there’s a...um…”

  “The Butchin Tragedy will make releasing you difficult,” Talbot said.

  "Butchin Tragedy...Harry Butchin... Nulso. Threat."

  Kallen reached across the table and squeezed his hand. Peace and contentment mitigated his aggression. He took a deep breath and continued speaking.

  "I remember Annala telling me about the Butchin Tragedy. Amputees, terminal illness sufferers, and body artists received components of monsters in surgery. Over a span of time, they all went insane; no different from monsters. You think I'll relapse. Maybe not today or next week, but it will happen eventually."