An Inucubs Life - 183 - Mind Space Hijinks

Chapter 183

My harvest from Captain Aida was moderate. I had banked enough aether and life essence to upgrade. The question was, should I wait until the confrontation with Deserae was imminent? I left Aida sleeping and heard Lilith still questioning the poor kitsune. I approached the alcove to see the kitsune trapped inside, Sofiel’s body blocking her escape.

“Are you going to harvest this one now?” Lilith asked teasingly. The kitsune shrank further back. Lilith laughed, “She heard your energetic session. The Eladrin Captain can be quite loud when she climaxes.”

I creased in thought, and I had just not been paying as much attention to my partners recently. Captain Aida was definitely vocal, and it did spur me to go faster and harder on her, but she seemed to like the intensity and could take more forceful sex. I looked over the kitsune. She would be a knockout at my old high school. “No, I have satiated my sexual appetite for now. What have you learned, Lilith?”

“A lot, actually. But not much useful to our current predicament. A vast tram network runs under the surface so that researchers can get around the planet. The vaults are located at stops along the tram. I am most fascinated by the research. They have sapient plant creatures here! If possible, I would also like to get samples of some of the cross-layer plants to study.” Lilith said excitedly.

“You are not keeping Sofiel’s body,” I warned her. “You are getting too comfortable in there and will not have the opportunity to research the plants in the real world.”

“Why not? It is not like she can use it at the moment.” She stood and posed provocatively, “It is a good body. Fit and unblemished. I wouldn’t mind getting some experience in it.”

“No. Has Pandora switched with you?” I asked with a concerned tone. I was not really concerned but wanted her to believe I was to get her to pull back. “What can we do about the confrontation with Deserae and her battleship?” I focused on the important topic.

“Nothing. Caretaker Daenra is a stickler for the rules Andromeda left behind. Even if Andromeda’s life is in jeopardy, she will follow the rules.” My mind was turning with how I could bend the rules to our cause.” Lilith smiled devilishly, “If you want, we can probably get the kitsune here to get you some bones of the kentaurs and kitsune. That way, you can create strong mind constructs from them. Also, it would give you a shape-shifting template.” Lilith explained.

“I don’t think I could shift into a kentaur. My mass isn’t enough for the form.”

“You can shift into a dragon if you want. You need to store the excess biomass in your mind space.” She added, grinning. “This little fox has lots of tricks for shapeshifters. When she changes into a smaller fox, she stores the excess mass. She tried to escape an hour ago as a tiny, cute little fox.”

“I wasn’t trying to escape. I was just thirsty.” The kitsune whined.

“How do I increase my available biomass?” I wasn’t thinking about becoming a kentaur, but the dragon Lilith had mentioned sounded fun.

The kitsune, seeing her chance to get away from Lilith, moved out of the alcove to explain. “It takes time. But the first thing you need to establish is a mind construct reflective of your self. That construct will contain your mass and grow and shrink as you use it or return it. It is also an efficient way to heal instantly.” The kitsune explained.

I considered the implications. “Lots of tricks indeed.” I asked, “Whose kentaur and kitsune remains would you get for me?” I figured it was time to add another construct in my mindspace. Two would be better.

The kitsune edged closer to me, away from Lilith, and put her hands affectionately on my arm. “I can get you a herd leader of the kentaurs. He recently passed, and his remains were returned to the soil not far from here. For a kitsune…matron Citrine…she was revered among the kitsune. She died a long time ago, but I know where a piece of her is.” I arched my eyebrow, confused. The young kitsune explained quickly, “She lost her hand in the tram accident. I found it while adjusting tracks for the tectonic plate shifts.”

I looked to Lilith for confirmation that this was a good thing to do. Lilith looked eager to try this and nodded. I affirmed with the kitsune, “Get them both.” The kitsune raced out of the suite, and by her eagerness to leave, I wondered if she would be coming back. “What did you do to her?”

“Who? Me?” Lilith said innocently. She admitted, “I may have learned how to use some of this body’s lesser powers. She doesn’t have the aether for much, but simpler force magic is fun to play with.”

“I thought the kitsune has a much stronger core than you. How are you dominating her?”

Lilith chuckled, which unnerved me a bit. “Dominating is too strong a word. All her magic is focused on shifting. She has no defensive magic at all. I think that is why she is just a servant and runner. Even with a strong core, it does not guarantee you will wield power.”

Lilith turned and motioned for me to follow. “Now, there are three plants for which I want you to store seeds. The first is the equinox flower. It is a brilliant yellow and only blooms on the longest day of the year, no matter what planet it is on. According to the kitsune, it stores aether from the environment all year long and then blooms, releasing its aether into seeds.”

I laughed internally. Lilith had distracted me with the idea of creating more mind constructs to eventually bring us back to the plants she wanted. “What is it good for?” I asked pretending to be fooled.

“The seeds are precious for enhancing alchemy. If you plant them on a planet that has a very long yearly cycle, say 900 days, the resulting seeds will accumulate aether even longer, making them more powerful.” She explained excitedly. I nodded as that was indeed a useful plant.

“What are the other two plants?” I asked. Lilith was thinking long-term when our immediate futures were in doubt but I accepted it.

“Something called life sugar. It is like sugar cane but has natural healing properties. I am not sure if we can get it to grow on the twenty-third layer, but it could help people on earth fight cancer, viruses, and bacteria.” She smiled at my surprised reaction. “Combine those two in alchemy, and you get a miracle drug.”

“Okay, I will try to get them. What is the third?” I was distracted as I thought of the implications. Would I be a hero for eliminating cancer and disease? Probably not. The healthcare industry employed millions of people, and drugs and medical care accounted for the largest part of the economy.

“The third plant is really special. It has self-awareness. It forms a symbiotic relationship with its host. Growing its root system along the…”

“What? No! You want me to introduce a plant to Earth that feeds off of people?” I was angry at the suggestion.

“Hear me out, Caleb.” Lilith retorted. “The roots settle along the region in the body where the aether core is. It shields the aether core, allowing its host to travel to much higher layers than it normally could. In exchange, it siphons off a small amount of aether.”

“The answer is still no. And this parasite has sapience, too? Absolutely not.” I said firmly with a threatening undertone.

“It is symbiotic, not parasitic.” Lilith seemed upset at my refusal. I would have to check our luggage to make sure she didn’t pack this creature in there somewhere. Maybe I wouldn’t have to worry about it anyway, as we could all be dead shortly.

Captain Aida woke, and we practiced some unarmed combat in the room. Her style was honed from thousands of years of evolution, so I was not above learning from her. I had superior speed and strength to Aida, which made it easy to frustrate her no matter how superior her unarmed combat skills were.

The kitsune eventually returned with two sealed metallic bags. She was nervous until the door closed behind her and then visibly relaxed. She walked confidently up to me, and I could see dirt under her nails and smudges of dirt on her clothes. “I got them both. You should take them into your mind space immediately. I might have been caught on surveillance.”

She handed me the bags, and I opened the largest first. It was a large hoof, definitely from one of the oversized kentaurs. The other bag had a desiccated hand. The kitsune seemed nervous and kept looking back at the door, so I assimilated both body parts. She relaxed visibly, and I thought of asking, “What is your name?”

“My name is Momo. Are you going to do it? Create your mind constructs?” She seemed like the most anxious person in the room. Lilith was keeping her distance, and I knew she was going to ask again to take the parasite plant with us. It was not beyond me to realize the plant might protect Sofiel’s body. The reason why she had not suggested it was clear. If Sofiel took on the parasite, she wouldn’t need Lilith’s intervention to protect her core.

“I will go check it out.” I sat on one of the furnishings and entered my mind space. Immediately, Pandora found me in the pedestal room.

“Caleb! It is my turn! Lilith won’t let me ride the controls of the angelic!” She sounded like a whining teenager. It would have been funny if all our lives were not on a precipice.

“Maybe after we get back to Earth.” I found the hoof and hand and picked them up. Nashima, Calypso, Aria, and Casper joined the gathering.

Nashima questioned me, “Are you creating more constructs?”

“I am. I have a sample from a kentaur.” Nashima looked confused. “A kentaur is just a big centaur on the higher layers.”

I used the massive hoof to formulate a construct. A massive black centaur formed in the room. It was easily over eight feet in height and probably longer. Its coat was glossy black and it had an impressive tail. As I was walking around to the front, Pandora was under the frozen manifestation. “It is a male! Okay, I guess I can wait until we get back to Earth to ride the angelic if you let me ride this horsey in here.”

I ignored the lustful construct and stood in front. The humanoid torso had dark, caramel skin and was ripped—muscles on muscles. The face was much too hard, and his all-black eyes were spooky. His mane of hair cascaded down his back as well. I altered the facial features to resemble mine and the eyes as well. I left the skin tone alone.

Nashima was standing next to me, “That is a big centaur. He will make a good addition to your mind space defenses.”

“Actually, I plan to use this as a template for a shapeshifting body,” I responded as I made more cosmetic changes.

Pandora charged me and fell to her knees, begging, “No! You can do both. This can be your gift to me for helping you. Please!”

I smiled slightly, “I will consider it. I have to figure out how to store biomass in here to transform in this.” I indicated the horseman. I knew Abigail and Jade loved to ride. Maybe I could get them on my back when I returned.

Nashima offered, “It is not that difficult. You must have a mental construct designed to store your extra mass.”

“So, I have been told. How do I add mass to it? And pull mass to it? I weigh about 270 pounds in the real world, and my body naturally compresses my weight when I am smaller. Being an adolescent, Caleb weighing 270 pounds, while I look to be 120 pounds. soaking wet is kinda silly.” I reached up and changed the hair on the centaur from thick and coarse to fine and silky.

“You just get a feel for it. It will come naturally after a time. You enter your mind space and invest mass in the construct, return to the real world and process mass into your body and drop more off.” Nashima explained that it was the most common thing in the world to do.

“Sounds like an amazing weight loss plan.” I joked. I stepped back and considered the massive centaur. I needed to infuse an aspect of myself into it. It looked like a warrior, so that is what I went with. Not the anger and rage but the cold, calculating nature of a seasoned fighter. I invested the single life essence into him.

His frozen form moved, and everyone stepped back. His hoof clattered on the stone floor as his eyes turned to look at every one. Pandora squeaked in joy, “Yes! I want to name him. Colossus!”

“That doesn’t feel like a real name,” I replied. The centaur was a bit eerie with my face on it, even though it was brown. “How about Magnus.”

Pandora bent over to look between his legs again, “Yep, we can go with that. Come on, Magnus. I will show you around.”

The centaur’s eyes narrowed at the woman. Hearing my voice come out of him was odd, even more so when Aria mimicked me. Right now, Aria was Pandora’s twin. Pandora made to leap onto Magnus’ back, and he shifted, and she slammed hard into the floor. “I will not be ridden unless I permit to do so.”

“I like him,” Nashima chimed in.

“Just a moment before you explore, Magnus.” I walked up to him and invested 100 life essence into making a shifting copy for myself. It wasn’t long before Aria and Pandora led the centaur away. His horse tail swished from side to side in irritation. I guessed I had instilled some of my annoyance at Pandora in his personality. I guess she would be disappointed when she tried to tease him sexually. What would that even look like?

“Are you going to do the other one?” Nashima asked. Calypso and Casper were still here, but both were patient.

“I think I am going to do the construct for accumulating mass first and then see if I have enough capacity for the kitsune.” I replied as I focused.

“You need to invest more in this construct,” Nashima advised. It is like tearing a part of yourself off and adding it to the construct.

It was more difficult than I expected. I invested about 20% of my mass, pulling it from the real world. My body was in pain as the mass was sucked from it—about fifty pounds. The construct looked like me—just very small. I had made a hobbit. Nashima continued advising on establishing the proper links to the construct. It was more a duality than a construct. I could see through its eyes if I focused.

It took time in the space, and the mind space tour passed through the central room twice while I worked. When I was done, I had my own mini-me. “So all I need to do is gain weight in the real world, bring it back here, and invest it in him?”

The construct seemed a little stupid as I had to control it willfully. Nashima nodded, “Yes. It will take time, but eventually, you will be able to shift into the centaur.”

“How much mass do I need? What happens if I try and don’t have enough?” I asked my resident expert.

Nashima considered, “I am guessing 3,000 lbs total for that beast. You need to achieve a minimal density. If you don’t, then you will most likely be smaller—the size of a pony, maybe.”

“Interesting.” I mussed. “Okay, I am heading back to try it then.”

Only a little time had passed. I focused and took on the centaur’s body. I laughed as I was small, smaller even than a pony. I realized I had not pulled the mass from my mind space, but the extra fifty pounds would not have helped much. Captain Aida stood and walked around me. The kitsune had wide eyes at my failure. This was definitely not the body of a Magnus.

Lilith approached in Sofiel’s body, “It worked, although I think you should size up a bit.”

The kitsune, Momo added, “I can get you food. Did you do the kitsune as well she asked eagerly.”

“No, not yet. I was just figuring out the centaur. Bring us food then. I wonder how much mass I can convert today.” I said, shifting back into my Apollyon body.

The answer was that it was easy since I was much lighter after losing fifty pounds. Momo was running out constantly for more food. It took my body some time to process the food, but I was efficient in my abyssal body. About half of the mass of everything I ate could be stored in my mindspace after two hours. My gluttony ended after adding fifty pounds.

I just felt like I needed a rest before resuming. Momo was close by as I paused, “Are you going to add the kitsune Matron now?”

Her anxious nature around the kitsune had me ask her, “You have asked me multiple times. Is she important to you? Your mother, maybe?”

The kitsune retreated, flushing, “No. She was not my mother.”

“Even if I created her in my mindspace, you would not be able to visit her,” I stated.

Momo shrunk on herself a little. Maybe she looked guilty. “That is fine. As long as she can live on somewhere.”

“Do kitsune have genetic memory?” I asked the room.

“No we don’t,” Momo blurted.

Lilith shook her head as well, “Not from what I have read. But we are on the 17th layer, and this species on the kitsune may be different.”

“I will ask Nashima then before proceeding.” I entered my mindspace and had to search for Nashima. She was in the library.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Magus has them all training below. I think Pandora is sick on him already. Every time she tries to leave, he drags her back.” Nashima chuckled.

I didn’t ask how Nashima got out of the training. “I wanted to ask if kitsune have genetic memories.”

“No,” she answered immediately. “Their race teaches their young. They are generally solitary creatures, but the mother will teach the daughter everything she knows over a decade or two before leaving.”

“So, no danger in using this?” I held up the desiccated hand I was told was a kitsune. She shook her head no.

I created a kitsune construct from the hand. It looked like an adult version of Momo. “Do all kitsune look alike?” I asked Nashima.

“I don’t have a lot of memories of their race. They are very rare on the lower layers. But yes, from what I can access from my ancestors, they are similar.” She replied.

“Maybe she lied then. This definitely looks like a relative of Momo’s. If not her mother then someone else.” I stated.

“Kitsune are trickers. Usually not malicious from what I know, but they are playful, silly, and mischievous all in one. This one will make a good guardian to your mind space.” I nodded and decided to invest in life’s essence to formalize her as a construct.

Something went wrong immediately as I felt the construct connect to something outside my mindspace. The little bitch of a fox. The owner of the hand was still alive!