Published at 28th of October 2025 4:28 pm

Chapter Interlude Hunt IV

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How long have I been here? Telling time becomes almost impossible when you are deprived of sight and sound. Im sure its been at least a month, but it could have been ten months. Im so hungry. Left in the dark with nothing but the hunger is driving me mad. Regardless of whether its been one month or ten, its the longest Ive ever gone without eating. Im no closer to eating or escaping than I was before. Whatever the woman did to block my powers has persisted. Without access to my powers, I cant contact or interact with the swarm. The last command I gave them was to fall back and stay behind, which means they are exactly where I left them.

Some apex predator he created. I cant even escape a bubble. With each second that passes inside here, I get closer to resorting to self cannibalism. My regeneration seems to be the only power that isnt affected by the bubble. Cutting my body with my claw works. I should be able to eat a limb and use the mass to regenerate the same limb. Its a line I never wanted to cross. It would be so easy to do it, use my claw or teeth to rip one of my legs off. Animals, insects, and beasts self-cannibalize. Humans dont. What does it say about me that everything is getting easier to accept with time? Maybe I really am just a monster created in a lab like this one. The pangs inside me are growing more painful. Im never going to be able to focus on escaping if I dont do something to satiate my hunger.

I have to do it. I extend the two insectoid appendages located at the base of my neck toward my opened jaws and chomp down on them. They sever easily under my bite strength, and the pain isnt even noticeable compared to my starving stomach. The crunchiness and taste of the legs arent bad, but it isnt enough. I need more. Twisting my neck, I bite down on my front left leg, through the scales, chitin, and dense skin. An odd realization from this is that I am more powerful than I am durable. Pulling and ripping at the leg, it holds strong, but I yank harder. My mind is hazy with rage and pain. The limb is regenerating even as I shred it with my fangs. I press my right paw on top of the left to hold it still and pull my body away. All I have are the sensations; I cant see how close I am to succeeding.

One final tug, and suddenly I feel nothing from the leg. FEED. I rip chunks out of the leg, swallowing my own body just to survive. I continue to bite and chew, trying to ignore how tasty it is. I hate myself. Here, alone and isolated in the dark, I am disgusted at what Im doing, but I dont stop eating. Does it matter if I used to be human if I give in to the beasts instincts? Trapped like a lion at the zoo, at the mercy of the Worthy. The only comfort is that the man hasnt spoken to me. Its unfortunate my stomach is large enough to fit the entirety of my leg, and the shame I feel.

My idea worked. Im able to survive on eating myself. Recycling my mass via regeneration does get easier as I work out an efficient system for removing limbs. Maybe thats my mind and body slowly becoming one, or its due to the darkness allowing me not to have to face what Im doing. I can pretend it isnt my own body, even if deep down I know what it is Im gulping up. All I do is eat, wait for my leg to come back, and eat again.

I am miserable. The silence and darkness are bad enough on their own, but being left to stew in my regret and mistakes is unbearable. My mind is my enemy, my crystal clear memory of all the atrocities I committed. The desire to be human is only hurting me. Should I abandon it and just become the monster the man claimed I am? Could I truly give up on the idea that I am a person, give up on the hope of maybe undoing this? The passing of time is lost on me, and despair is creeping in.

How much time has passed? Will I ever be free, or am I going to be trapped for eternity? Where is the Worthy? If she ever comes back, Ill agree to her terms just to be freed. Anything to break the endless darkness. Anything just to not be alone. I hate her almost as much as I hate myself. This is a fate worse than anything I could imagine. Trapped in endless purgatory, doomed never to see light again.

I hear a noise, something besides myself, and my head whips around to find the source. My eyes are assaulted as an explosion of sensory overload happens. The lights are on and I can see. I can finally see again. The woman walks toward me, wearing the same clothes as before and holding a dark tablet.

Good, youre awake. I hope this time alone has allowed you to reconsider my offer, she said.

Worthy, please free me. Anything not to go back.

As long as you dont do anything to mess with my lab, Ill let you out, little guy.

I will not harm your lab, Worthy.

You keep calling me worthy like its a name or title, what does it mean?

There are Worthy: those that are worthy of being hunted because of their strength, and there is weak prey who only exist to be devoured.

Im not sure if I would describe myself as strong. Im not much of a fighter; Im a researcher by trade, she laughed.

You defeated and captured me; you are Worthy. I will leave here and never return.

Slow down there. Id like to talk with you for a bit before you go, if that's alright. Do you have a name?

I agree to your terms. I am called Six.

Nice to meet you, Six. My name is Elaina Constance. Its a rare occurrence to meet another immortal, especially one who is a Shifter, Elaina said.

I am not a Shifter. Someone made me this. I do not know if I was once a human or if I was created.

You dont have a human form? Youre constantly in this beastial form? Thats unheard of. Youre massive and seem to be an insect, reptile, and mammalian hybrid. I wasnt aware there was a Tinkerer who could interact with genetics besides him. You seem much more reasonable than the first time you woke up, so Im going to let you out now. Dont break my stuff.

I should eat her to make sure she never traps me again. But I still dont know how she trapped me, or how her powers work. She also said shes immortal, so eating her might not even work. My mouth is salivating at the idea of devouring her. Chomping down on her bones as her body bursts in my mouth. To taste something besides myself. I cant fight it.

Hey, Six, despite your whole face being so alien, I can understand what your tongue tasting the air probably means. I will put you back in the bubble if you cant behave, Elaine warned.

I understand.

I lay down in my bubble, trying to look unthreatening. I cant go back in there. I wont come out the same. It will break me completely. Elaine looks at me, smiles, and presses the tablet shes holding. The bubble disappears immediately, and I drop through the floor. The rest of my powers are back, and the swarm awakens from their slumber, quickly swimming for shore. I promised not to hurt her lab, not her. I rise through the floor, grabbing her, and try something I hadnt before. I try to make my intangibility affect her, but it doesnt. No problem. Based on where I feel my swarm, I fly up with her, crashing through the roof. Keeping my front paw corporeal to keep a tight grip on her body isnt as challenging as I thought. Somehow, my claws aren't hurting or harming her. She feels solid or dense in an odd way. I see the lush forest that I first spotted and lift her up to my mouth to bite her. My jaws close around her, but suddenly stop. Theres some kind of resistance, preventing me from piercing her soft skin.

I tried telling you, Six. I am an immortal like you, but theres more than one way to achieve immortality. You cannot hurt me, so why dont we go down to the beach and we can have a conversation? Because the alternative is that you go back into the bubble. You respected my wishes mostly, and only damaged the roof, so Im willing to entertain an outcome that snt trapping you again, Elaine said, irritated.

I could drop her and fly away, never to be seen again. I could slowly amass a swarm and send it to strip the island bare. But Im lonely, and having a human to talk to, one that I cant just eat when the urge arises, would help. I need to try, if Im going to be more than a monster. Gently, I lower us to the beach, placing her down.

Why cant I harm you? What makes you immortal? I asked.

Wow, right into it. Real charmer you are, buddy. Im a Tinkerer, you know what that is, right? Im not trying to be rude, but its hard to know what Ill need to explain to you.

General knowledge exists within me. It is my own origins and past that are blank.

Okay. My specialization is motion. Everything has motion: the wind, the oceans, the blood that pumps through you. But so do more esoteric things, like molecules, gravity, and time. My specialization didnt just let me build things that achieved motion, but also create things that had the opposite effect. The stilling ray that hit you on your way here is an example of that. So is the bubble, which cuts you off from the outside world. My power led me to build something that allowed me to achieve immortality. Calling it immortality isnt technically correct, though. I am immune to the effects of all things by being in a fixed state of stasis from over a hundred years ago. I will never age, I will never die, I am a constant anchor of reality. I exist, I will always exist, and I have always existed in the state you see before you. So whats your story? Elaina asked.

I dont quite understand what shes saying, but if it means Ill never go on a rampage and eat her, thats good. She could be my only chance at having a human connection.

As I answered previously, I have no clear memories from before I first awoke as this creature. I believe that I used to be human. I have vague recollections of a shadowy figure who is responsible for what I am. He did something to my brain, and I have urges, programming that I cant seem to ignore. He wants me to reduce the population, culling humanity's numbers. He is also capable of speaking into my brain, but I have not heard from him in, actually, how long was I inside the bubble?

You were in there for about a year, Elaine answered.

Then its been about two years since I last heard him. One more thing is that I grow stronger with every death.

So hes a telepath who implanted some sort of geas inside you? I didnt realize there was another telepath besides Mr. Magnificent. Perhaps I should make more of an effort to keep up with current events. Wait, what do you mean you get stronger?

I become faster, more durable, my mental faculties increase, physically stronger, and all of my abilities are similarly enhanced. When I first woke up, I was little more than a wild animal. I couldnt fly at first, only slightly hover. It took a lot of deaths to get to this point.

Wow. Unfortunately, Im not a mathematician, or Id try to figure out just how much you get stronger by. There must be a way to track and graph it. But Im not going to be the one to do it. Then, Six, the only question I have left is what you want. Do you want to stay here with me? I wouldnt mind the company, honestly. Do you want to listen to the man in your head? Do you just want to explore? What do you want to do?

What do I want? Ever since I became aware, all Ive done is follow the directives in my head. Hunt the strong. Feed on the weak. Perish in battle. Grow stronger with every death. That or try to rebel against them and wallow in self-loathing. What do I want? Hiding away wont do any good, and theres no telling if Ill ever be able to be human again. If Im going to be stuck as a monster forever, maybe I dont have to be a bad one. I doubt Ill ever be able to venture into large cities, the risk is too great that I'll cause a calamity. I cant be a Cape or a hero, but maybe I could rid the world of the other monsters.

I want to hunt the other monsters who prey on the weak. No matter how long it takes. If I die, Ill just keep going until Im strong enough to kill them. I want to be a good monster.

Well, last time I checked, this planet's got no shortage of monsters. You can always come and stop by in between hunts. Its a good idea, Six, so why dont I help you decide who to go after first? Elaine asked, smiling.

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