Chapter 05

Fetter had been in the transport pod long enough to almost lose track of time. As far as he could tell it had been three cycles, roughly the same amount of time as two days on the planet he was traveling to, but he couldn’t be sure. Living without a Host wasn’t impossible if you had the right nutrients, of course, but it severed one’s connection to the Link and nearby members of the Hive. Total isolation made it hard to judge things like time and hunger. He never felt the need to feed the same when he wasn’t in a Host, after all, he had no stomach to begin with.

True, he generally made a habit of keeping himself at a distance from others. He wasn’t particularly close to anyone in the Hive, but Fetter took comfort in feeling that they were nearby via the Link. Just knowing they were there, if he chose to reach out, made a huge difference between choosing to be distant and truly being alone.

Isolation.

He hated isolation.

Surely, it would be nearing time for him to board his new host.

It had to be.

Fetter couldn’t take much more floating helpless and alone. He needed some sort of sensory input or he’d start thinking entirely too much about his mission and the reasons he kept himself from mingling with other members of the Hive and the fact that Follower was now dead and how small he really was. He had to do everything he could to keep his mind off that last one, especially. He couldn’t think about how none of his Hosts would have even noticed him in the past had he not invaded their bodies to use for his own purposes.

The Hive’s purposes, not my own.

Yes. Fetter was working to serve the Hive. Not his own goals. If it had been up to him he would have stopped everything to settle down inside Follower. Maybe found a nice little hut on Follower’s home planet to kick back and relax in. That would have been divine.

No, I can’t think about fantasies that can never be.

Soon, the transport pod would be guided to the target creature and flush him up its nose, if it had a nose. If it didn't, the device would find some other orifice. Then, he’d make his way through the animal’s body to its brain and take over. Easy. He’d done it countless times before...before Follower.

Fetter doubted he’d find another Host like Follower.

Gods, do I miss Follower.

The fluid he was floating in suddenly moved, stirring him up, spinning and spinning. Then there was another quick shudder before the pressure mounted and he was shot out of the pod into his new Host. The animal violently bucked and thrashed, trying to sneeze him back out but he was already deep in its sinuses.

Warmth. Blood.

Gifts of the gods themselves.

Fetter followed the warmth and the blood. The membranes in the way were easy to wriggle through. It didn’t take him long to reach the brain, drink in the creature’s memories, and find the central nervous system to latch on to.

The problem was this new Host was a fighter, beyond the physical sense. The animal didn’t have a spoken language of its own but it roughly understood sounds made by the larger creatures of the world. Noises that meant ‘food’ and ‘come here’ and even some that it recognized as referring to itself. So, instead of words cursing his presence, he was assaulted with malevolent feelings and thoughts of disemboweling prey. As if his new Host was screaming, ‘This small animal I killed for fun, that’s you! That’s going to be you! I will kill you like I killed this flying creature! Like I killed this crawling animal! I will tear your insides out and drink your blood! I will litter the ground with your feathers, fur, and flesh! Then, I’ll roll on your corpse!’

Fetter ignored the animal’s hatred as he quickly assessed what he was working with. Meanwhile, his unruly Host had no idea how to actually kill him, so it began rubbing its face on the ground and yowling in agony. He was sure it would injure itself, which would require him to do more work than...

Those assholes!

The animal was nothing like the report had stated.

His new Host was not in the ‘prime of its life.’ Nor was it even in remotely good shape. Aside from himself, Fetter counted multiple other parasitic infections. The exterior parasites and a few internal ones were in the process of dying thanks to some foreign chemical that had recently been introduced. The animal had memories of a larger creature it wasn’t very familiar with applying the chemical to its back. The Host had multiple bones that had healed improperly after being broken. There were several active infections of the skin and teeth. But what galled Fetter the most was when he realized one of the animals eyes was outright missing.

When I get back I am going to kick the collective asses of everyone in charge of this operation. I will tear them from their Hosts and flush them into space for this!

His new Host ran straight into a metal wall then dragged its head across the ribbed length of it before clawing at its own face again. At this rate it was going to take out the remaining eye, and then what was he supposed to do? How would he find his target? He wouldn’t be able to heal his Host without kickstarting his shapeshifting ability by eating from another still living lifeform, commonly known as a ‘Spark.’ Could he even take down a Spark at the moment? He wasn’t confident he could kill any of the larger animals on this world in the shape he was in, but he knew he’d have better luck with one eye rather than none.

Calm down, Fetter ordered his Host.

The response was even more thrashing and resistance. The animal wanted him out at all costs, even its own life. The murderous intent from his Host grew even more intense. He’d never felt such disgust from a Host before in his life.

I have to put a stop to this or its will kill us both, he thought. As much as it pains me to do this you’ve got to go.

Fetter seized total control of the animal’s brain, putting an end to the thrashing and forcing his own senses to overwhelm it. He felt it continue to struggle against him as he fully absorbed its memories into himself. After a few short moments the animal’s consciousness was completely gone, leaving only Fetter.

Alone again, he thought with a sigh.

He needed to know where his next target was so he could repair the damage the animal had inflicted on his new body. So, he reviewed the new memories he had just obtained. Things had changed recently for the creature. The big animal that normally fed it at this location had vanished and a new smaller one had shown up. It liked the new smaller one as well as the food that animal provided, even if that one had put the smelly chemical on it that was killing its parasites. However, that animal was gone right now.

Shit.

His new body was worn out and heavily injured. Fetter padded over to a shady spot near where he knew the water and food were located before collapsing. If the new animal who had been feeding him arrived, perhaps it would be foolish enough to pick him up? He didn’t have to fully eat the creature to start his shapeshifting ability in the new body. He only needed to ingest some blood or flesh. It was easier to kill the Spark after he had modified his body, anyway.

He could still save the mission.

But first...he needed...to rest...