Chương 27: Reunion and Release

Squeaky's arms quickly started to shake, and she was forced to place him back on the ground, tell him that while she was a lot stronger, she wasn't going to be throwing cars any time soon. Still, he was beset on all sides by other nosferians, all of them squeaking happily that he was alive. They quickly ran into an issue, though, when Squeaky immediately attempted to drag him away- likely going back to the convoy.

Aaron resisted, meeting her look with a gesture towards not only his friends, but also the army of plants. Squeaky looked exclusively at the other humans, and he realized she was probably just mentally blanking on the giant plant masses, assuming they were terrain of some sort; he chose to handle that after the humans were introduced. Taking a step towards the others, gesturing to each of them one-by-one, he said "Julio, Celina, Freddy, this is Squeaky and her… I suppose pack? Tribe?

I think nosferians are still a bit primitive compared to humans."

"They're awfully tall," Celina said, eyeing them.

"Yes, but also fragile. They have light bones like a bird, so be careful. Just about the only durable part of them are the legs, and that's because they can take off a dozen feet into the air from resting." Seeing Aaron socialize with them in a friendly manner, Squeaky and friends quickly started to examine them, leaving Aaron to give one last warning "By the way, they're very handsy.

I think it's because they tend to huddle up closely, but they're likely going to feel you up, and you're pretty much expected to reciprocate. Freddy, don't touch them inappropriately or I'll tell them to stop interacting with you."

"I wasn't!" he insisted, and while Aaron didn't think he would, it was always good to cover base. A round of hugs, pokes, and proddings later, the nosferians mostly seemed to accept the strange new humans, leaving Aaron to smile.

"Once you get past their faces, they're actually quite nice," Julio said after being hugged deeply several times, and Aaron couldn't agree more.

"Squeaky's tribe seems to be, though the person who ended up turning me into a monster was actually a nosferian, so be careful. Just as humans are varied, so are nosferians." Now that introductions were complete, Squeaky again tried dragging him away, and again he had to gently fight back, this time leading her to the mass of plants. He'd already been working on getting himself attuned to her the entire time they were in contact, and soon enough, the expected notification passed over his eyes.

{Corruption: 0} -> {Corruption: 1} He'd been thinking about how Silver was able to speak with him the entire time, and he thought his biggest hint was likely to be Corruption. Though for him, he could only have one at a time, Silver didn't have to worry about oversaturating himself with perspectives, and that might give him the freedom required to actually speak with other species.

Aaron already knew it let him read body language, but with his new experience, he realized it was almost certainly a two-way street; with more Corruption, it would probably be easier for Squeaky to understand the complicated topic he was about to try explaining. As if sensing the change, she stopped and looked at him, curiosity radiating off her, then understanding.

Aaron wasn't entirely sure what Squeaky's Primary- if that is what she had- told her, but it was clear that she had a much more instinctive understanding of the Underworld that he simply didn't, and it seems that she was able to gather what he'd done. She quickly brought her face closer, nuzzling her forehead with his, and he froze a bit, not understanding- until he sensed a change within her, and she pulled back, though obviously struggling a bit more than before.

She squeaked unhappily, rolling her shoulders as she tried to adjust to the weight. Suddenly, it was even easier to read her body language.

'She met me in the middle! She also reached 1 Corruption.' And, in that, he felt he could go even further; the path had opened slightly. Before, when he hit Corruption: 1, his body simply couldn't contain any more, but now there felt like a new facet.

'So this is how you push past your Corruption limits when it comes to another species rather than your own Primary.' He quickly did just that, delving into Squeaky's perspective again, seeing it as she would, a nosferian who was actually quite similar to him in that she would fare well alone as well as in her grou- {Corruption: 1} -> {Corruption: 1. 1} He nodded to himself; ultimately it was still just 1.

1 Corruption, nothing too extreme compared to what he'd been through before, and Corruption appeared to be the easiest stat to raise- though also the most dangerous.

"Alright Squeaky, how do you hear me now?" he said, and while Squeaky expressed surprise, the other humans did too.

"Woah," Celina said, "What'd you do? You sound all… like there's an echo to your voice, but it's just you slightly pitched up." Squeaky as well suddenly had the epiphany that there was more to do, though Aaron quickly said "This will be okay for now Squeaky, I know the stronger gravity is unpleasant." Squeaky seemed relieved. He quickly told the others what he'd done, but most of his attention was on leading Squeaky to the plants.

When they were near them, he said "Squeaky, these plants are the survivors of the silver bat, the twisted grays and nosferians." She blinked at him, and asked to clarify if he meant the sick ones and the evil rock-heads.

'Rock heads? Is that what they call the grays? That's hilarious,' he thought, but this was sadly no laughing matter. He nodded, "The Silver nosferian was evil, and he, ah, commanded them with his power? He made it so they couldn't refuse. When he used his ability on me, my Primary went out of control and I also became a monster, though not under his orders. Then, the monster-version of me killed the silver nosferian and… ate him, taking his ability for its own.

Now that I'm back in control, I still have the ability, and I now have control over all these twisted grays and nosferians." Squeaky was giving the equivalent of a thoughtful frown, then again asked him to clarify: Sick nosferians now under his control, rather than evil nosferians? Now, they are twisted according to his ability?

"Yea, that about sums up the important part." She asked if he could cure them, to let them go and get better. He opened his mouth to say"No they're literally made of roots," but hesitated. Could he? He'd also been made of roots…

"I… can try?" He said, and opened the ability again, and it might've been his imagination, but it felt like his Primary thrashed with significantly more emotion, though the same amount of effort considering it put every fiber of its being into every single battle. He first threw his senses back to the human frontier, glancing through the seed and finding an entire team of people around it, studying, analyzing, a billion other things that he didn't really care about.

With his arrival, they were thrown into a tizzy, marking it down and discussing fervently. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

'This is incredible horse shit; definitely military if THIS is how quickly they move in some supposed emergency.' He could tell he wasn't the only one thinking this either, as the "General" as he'd call him was in the back, calmly discussing with Amelia as she screamed one inch from his face.

He grimaced, that didn't look like it would particularly help his group integrate with whoever this was, so before ever delving into the bodies of the infected nosferians, he looked at Squeaky and said "Hey, Amelia and the other humans are still back there and don't know we're here, could your nosferians tell them or something? Do you have a way to contact them?" Squeaky suddenly remembered that she had an item specifically for "If you find Aaron, press this thing."

From a fold in her tunic, she got out what looked like a C4 detonator and quickly clicked it. Aaron watched something on the general's hip light up, and he startled, pulling it out and staring at the light on the switchboard for a beat. He looked up towards the still-glowing ball and scowled, shouting something along the lines of "Everyone in the truck," if Aaron was reading his lips correctly. Aaron could only roll his eyes.

"The general dude thinks I tricked him somehow by forcing him to stand around and do nothing. Squeaky, he might be a little upset that you went ahead and found me." Squeaky said something along the lines of not liking him anyway because he always kept a distance from the nosferians and humans, making Aaron smile.

"Alright, I'll try to cure them now." Withdrawing from the vision, he searched through the nodes of people until he found the one of the nosferian right in front of him. He hadn't looked through any of their eyes yet, because not only did it feel violating… he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it if they ended up being conscious and there was nothing he could do to help.

But if he never checked, he would only extend their pain, so he fought through the Primary's interference again, and linked up with the mind in front of him. Instantly, he knew that this being was entirely conscious. A stream of babbling met Aaron's ears, and because of his Primary, he could understand it at least a little bit- the nosferian was afraid, and lonely.

The first order of business was throwing more of his mind into the connection, finding where the concentrated shape of the nosferian was and giving it a warm hug. In the real world, he jumped to his feet and wrapped the vine beast in a hug, permitting it to reciprocate. Squeaky was there as well, likely understanding what was going on and hugging the hidden mind as well. The nosferian calmed significantly, only a slight quiver in its mind, and Aaron searched desperately for a way to free it.

His Primary flared up with everything it had to stop him, but it couldn't even make him hesitate as he crushed its opposition instantly, the all-consuming rage he felt generating enough of his own energy that there was absolutely no question on who was in charge. He found it quickly, the ability to rescind the piece of his tether and set the nosferian free, and was about to when his Primary changed tactics.

Onward Evermore stopped fighting him, completely reversing its tune and instead shoving a large portion of the ability right in his face- another piece he hadn't known of, nor knew to ask for. He could farm energy from the people. Its plot revealed; the Primary had fought him on how to make the monsters hibernate, but in actuality, it fully intended to have Aaron send them to sleep and gradually reap the excess of energy they would produce once they were stable.

It was begging him not to reveal this to Squeaky, to just keep the nosferians- it promised that they would be able to spread endlessly, and with so many producing for him, he would be immortal. He slapped it away with all his might, casting his Primary back and nearly cutting it off from his flow of energy. He was not tempted even slightly. He freed the nosferian without hesitation, even as he felt a chunk of his allocation of energy be siphoned away to stabilize its body.

How could he ever do anything else when he heard it actively begging him to not let go? He was enraged at his Primary for doing anything else; Even if he understood it was not a person, that its goals were completely different from his own and it was entirely consumed with the desire to survive as long as possible, he still hated that it was such a bestial, desperate little fucker.

Even when it wasn't in danger, it continued to make morally reprehensible decisions, just because it didn't understand what it meant to have morals. The monster shuddered, and Aaron slowly felt his tether to the nosferian waste away. Soon, he sensed the fragment of his power on the other side crack and dissipate, spreading evenly through the nosferians body, healing and reforming its flesh.

With the final wave, Aaron felt a wave of his own power burst free from the nosferian, the excess sending vibrations through him as, all around, the underglass bent and rippled in response to the energy. To his Sensitivity, it was a blinding flare, and he grimaced as he realized every single one of these would serve as a beacon for whatever monsters there were nearby. Squeaky seemed to have the same thought, as they shared a look.

The nosferian in their grip started thrashing, its hands going to its face much as Aaron had when he broke free, and he stepped to the side, rubbing its back as the mask of leaves were yanked from its mouth and nose, gasping the first breath of air that was truly its own. * Squeaky quickly explained the situation to the other nosferians, Aaron separating the Vinyard residents from the Grays.

Squeaky's nosferians talked to the vine statues, comforting them even as they couldn't respond, while Aaron stood in front of all the grays, a slight distance away from the nosferians. He flared his Primary, removing the Corruption, as he didn't really want Squeaky to hear this next part- it would come off as cold to someone who didn't understand the different wants/needs for different species. {Corruption: 1. 1} -> {Corruption: 0}"Listen," he said to the twisted visages, "I'm going to get all of you out as well, but it's not going to be simple. Every time I do, it takes a portion of my strength, and if I get too weak, I become twisted again. Not only this, but every time I let one of you go, it sends out a beacon that will absolutely attract monsters, so we'll have to be careful how we go about this, so it might take a while.

I am going to release all of you, though, but I'm just telling you, I'm releasing the nosferians first. They simply don't understand what's happening, and I'm not sure if they'll get that I have to spend some time healing back up to not fail entirely. The tall nosferian over there does, but she has some… stuff going for her, that might also make her smarter, I don't know.

"Either way, the nosferians are like puppy dogs and I just can't stand to have them suffer when they don't understand. Now, I'm ninety percent sure you all understand me because the last gray I spoke to had a language implant, but just to be sure, I'm going to go through each and every one of you, to hear your affirmative or any complaints you might have. There are only eleven of you, but still, I'd appreciate it if you didn't rant at me or call me inferior until after I got you out."

Then, he went through them one by one. His Primary couldn't even put a fight up any more, Aaron's intense emotions creating five to ten percent of his current maximum: more than enough to not only outrank his Primary, but supplement his own usage to the point that casual usage wouldn't slowly strain him. Still, it was barely anything compared to what his Primary could make, reminding Aaron why something like his Primary was necessary.

Contrary to what he expected, not a single one of the grays had their typical haughty attitude.

"Human… thank you. We will await your rescue."

"Thank you, so, so much."

"Human, my gratitude shall be never ending. When I am free, I will loyally follow you. Whether I escape or not matters not, you deserve life once more." Perhaps it shouldn't have taken him as off guard as it had. One of the largest issues with grays was that it felt like every single one of them was a sheltered kid, having never fathomed true struggle. No matter how close they got to being killed, tortured, or suffering, they just… couldn't visualize a world where something bad happened to them.

Not until it actually did. It spoke volumes of what he guessed was a utopian society and likely generations of laziness. They were doubtlessly intelligent, but their survival instincts had atrophied into absolutely nothing. He accepted their gratitudes, offering them words of comfort as well. After seven tearful declarations of gratitude, he was starting to feel an ache of his own, and when the eighth gray quietly said "Thank you. I don't know how I will repay this, but one day, I will."

This time, he hesitated to leave just yet, and asked "Would you… like a hug?" Their face scrunched in mild disgust, and Aaron couldn't get the image out of his head that it felt like he'd just farted in front of a Victorian noblewoman.

"No." Aaron chuckled as he drew back. At the end of the day, he guessed they were still gray. He moved through the last few, all of them giving similarly worded thank you's. The entire time, Aaron was analyzing them, and he could not for the life of them find any sort of sexual dimorphism, leaving him questioning if they even had any. As a matter of fact, they all looked and acted practically the exact same way- though that sounded a bit speciest.

As the last one finished their customary gratitude, Aaron paused as he heard the rumbling of engines, and quickly moved back to the front, Squeaky walking by him to confront what was likely to be a tedious or infuriating interaction.