NBB - A sphere's tale - Chapter 5 Carving out a path

GD18 scrutinized the skeleton. It was different from the ones it found in its databases, reminding him more of humans. Scanning through the plans he had laid out for after he had taken over the Wyrm, he realized he needed to make some changes to how he dealt with Mutar. He had to quickly get the skeleton out of his new Wyrm body because of how vulnerable he would be without defenses on the inside. He started creating dozens of contingency plans and only stopped when he felt secure in having thought of any possible action. That included Mutar attacking him. He added a very rare remote kill inscription to the skeleton and hoped he didn't need to use it as he had more plans for Mutar. Oddly, while taking over the undead's body and erasing it felt wrong, there was no such inhibition as he thought of having to potentially kill Mutar. Why this was, was beyond him, as his calculations showed no logical reason for it. All he found were some psychological possibilities that held barely any scientific value and didn't make sense as they only related to humans.

A beep from his secondary processes told him the skeleton's evolution was near complete, and he turned his attention to the changed form.

Mutar's form had changed greatly. Where first it had been built up like a normal human skeleton, now entwined bones, thick and thin build up a shape that resembled a slightly built humanoid covered in lines as if it could be taken apart like a jigsaw puzzle. The skull's jaw was smoothly attached to the skull through innumerable millimeter thin bones that flexed as the skeleton moved in the last throes of changing.

GD18 summoned Mutars status and nodded, reluctantly pleased.

Name: Mutar

Age: 2

Sex: male-ERROR

Race: Bonewarper

Type: Custom

Class: Bonewarper

Strength: 2/8

Constitution: 5/10

Dexterity: 6/12

Endurance: -

Intelligence: 6/10

Wisdom: 1/5

Charisma: -

Mana-field: 400/1200

Physical density: 700/1920

Skills: 1

Inscriptions: 4/7

Mana generation: 6

Although the attribute values weren't exceedingly high compared to some other first-level evolutions, the new skill Mutar now had made more than up for that.

> Warp bones: Custom skill

> Using the thousands of bones that make up its body, the Bonewarper can shape itself in a myriad of forms to assist with almost any situation. The potential for change is not infinite and is limited by the core bone structure and bone density. Warning! Loss of bones will result in lower bone density. It is advised to add a bone absorption skill to the minions.

GD18 ignored the warning. He wasn't going to add another inscription to Mutar. After he had the wyrm body, there were many options as to what to do with the skeleton, but none involved making him stronger.

Mutar shot up, his arms stretching up. The bones clicked and swirled as they changed through dozens of patterns: long blades and whips made of thin connected pieces of bone and even chainsaw-like things. The moment lasted for but a second, and then the bones withdrew into the previous shape.

"I feel… different!" Mutar said as he sat upright, holding his hands in front of him and turning them around as he inspected them.

GD18 decided it was better not to give Mutar too much time to learn.

"Yes. You should instinctively know how to use your new body, correct?"

Mutar pushed himself upright, his motions smooth as the bones moved and swirled, making the motion almost sickeningly smooth. Stretching his arms, he changed the smaller bones into an assortment of rotating razor blades and teeth.

"Are we going to train again?"

"No, that will have to wait. It is time to get out of this stomach," GD18 said as he cast a ray at a partition of the wall behind himself. "Pick me up and carry me that way. I'll provide more directions as we go."

Mutar reverted his arms to the smooth, bone-colored shape and easily jumped toward the smaller stone outcrop the sphere lay on. There wasn't any space for the undead, but Mutars right arm changed into an assortment of hooks that plunged into the belly, holding him in place with a single foot on the stone beside the sphere.

GD18 changed his perception of time to the fastest he could, causing every move of Mutar to be in slow motion. At the same time, he readied the kill switch pattern.

Mutar's hand and lower arm widened and changed into a paddle shape, and he effortlessly scooped up the sphere before placing it close to his chest. The smooth mesh of bone plates warped and opened up like a hand before wrapping around the sphere that held GD18. The sphere disappeared, but Mutar's chest widened and deepened to double its original proportions. It didn't seem to bother him., and he jumped towards the spot GD18 had indicated, hanging from the wall with arms that ended in flesh hooks.

"Can I just cut through?"

"Yes," GD18 replied. He felt wholly uncomfortable so wrapped inside the undead and had two separate threads, one ready to toggle the killswitch if needed and another to force upload himself to the skeleton's mana-field. It wasn't what he wanted to do, but anything was better than being destroyed.

"Good," Mutar said. "I feel like I'll enjoy this," he continued, sounding confused.

GD18 didn't respond, and it wasn't needed. Mutar's head morphed, the bones changing and creating a thick horn with a glinting tip that he slammed forward. It easily pierced the wall, and he began rapidly carving out a deep opening in the pale flesh. White ichor sprayed everywhere, and a shudder ran through the walls.

"Will the Wyrm try to resist?" Mutar asked, not stopping his carving.

"There is nothing it can do to stop us."

"A pity," Mutar said.

Why would you want it to resist? GD18 thought, but he didn't ask. The more the skeleton evolved, the more he wanted to get the Wyrm's body. He had a few ideas about what to do with it already.

Mutar jumped inside the cavity when it was large enough, and with a flourish, his arms changed to long thin blades. Like a shredder, he began slicing his way through the thick meat, aiming for the spot GD18 highlighted.

Hours later, Mutar stopped and stomped his feed. "This is boring! How much further?"

GD18 had been keeping track constantly and knew it was at least three times as long.

"We are almost there, just a bit further."

"Fine," Mutar said and continued.

A long time later, a deep thudding came from ahead of them.

"What is that?"

GD18 had been scanning the sound for a while now but still wasn't sure. "The mana-orb," he said, ignoring the warnings.

"The others didn't thump," Mutar remarked before continuing his slicing.

Although he hadn't been slow before, GD18 noticed a remarkable increase in the speed with which Mutar's cut through.

The thumping turned deafening as they closed in on the location of the orb, and a sudden clang was accompanied by one of Mutar's blades rebounding from something in the flesh ahead of them. Mutar said something that wasn't audible, and GD18 filtered out the background noise until he understood what the other had said.

"There are bones inside…"

GD18 pointed the beam to the side, not bothering to scream across the noise. Mutar sliced at the location, and this time one bladed arm easily slit through. The beam moved more, and soon, the forward motion continued.

A dozen slashes later, a hole appeared as the blades seemed to pierce into an opening. Mutar crawled through into an oval chamber. Dozens of tendrils ran from the wall to a large partially square mana-orb that was pulsing with white light.

A system prompt interrupted GD18's scans.

> Proto mana-core detected. Stay at your current location and defend the core at any cost.

At the same time, overrides he had never known existed forced their way through his core system, enabling limits that prevented him from even contemplating leaving the fleshy room.

Luckily they don't prevent me from touching the sphere, GD18 thought after a quick scan of the limits. Don't worry. I won't leave this room, he thought.

"That is big," Mutar shouted.

"Bring me a bit closer and put me down."

Mutar did not immediately respond, and GD18 primed the kill switch. If need be, he could work from here. Luckily Mutar moved, and his massive chest opened like a flower. It closed and returned to the slim build he had before.

"Go out of the room and cut your way until you exit the wyrm," GD18 shouted. "Wait on top of the wyrm until I contact you."

"Why? What will you do?"

"I'll make myself a body and meet you there."

"That is dangerous! What if something attacks you?"

To GD18's surprise, there was a hint of worry in Mutar's voice.

"There is nothing here, but it will be dangerous if you stay," he said. Scanning the skeleton again and checking his status, he saw his dexterity was maxed again. The other attributes had increased by at least a point. Mutar's dexterity was growing so fast that he was breaking all the records in GD18's databases.

"No. It's too dangerous. I'll stay outside the room, and you can call me if you need help."

GD18 felt his small personal emotions ripple with annoyance, while gratitude came from the external emotional system. Infernal system, he thought.

His scans and calculations based on previous actions showed the likelihood of Mutar leaving was below ten percent.

"Very well. But move far from the wall, and if it closes, that means I've succeeded."

Mutar grumbled loudly but moved out of the room.

GD18 waited until the skeleton was gone before focussing ninety-nine percent of his processing power on the sphere. The rest was scanning the entrance, ready to trigger the kill switch.

The surface of the pseudo-core was much bigger than an orb but still nog large enough to hold all of his memories, let alone the knowledge in his databases. Not that it mattered. All it had to hold was his core being. He wanted none of the systems on it and the rest he could reclaim later. He should be able to remain in contact with his current body and put what he needed on the wyrms mana-field before he destroyed the prison that had held him for all this time.

A thin blue laser shot from the sphere and hit the mana-core. A mind-shattering keen came from everywhere, and the walls began pulsating and vibrating. Gravity turned as the Wyrm began rolling over. GD18s sphere bounced around, and he detected a surprised scream from Mutar.

GD18 ignored it, his full attention on the fine pattern he was drawing on the pseudo-mana-core. He used mostly the flat areas, knowing the rounded sides would change as the core became more powerful.

It took only five minutes in real-time, but to the sped-up perception of the AI, it lasted decades. He had to return to the virtual world many times to reset the timer, which cost most of the five minutes. Halfway through, the Wyrm stopped keening, and the room's upside changed as it rolled over. A startled cry from the door came, but Mutar didn't enter.

When it was done, the laser cut off and changed into an orange beam that bathed the now inert core in a soft light. A tightly cropped amount of dots sat on it, barely recognizable unless you zoomed in a thousandfold. Then an intricate pattern emerged, covering large partitions of the smooth surface.

GD18 took a last look at his calculations and the thirteen data storages he had created. He updated the first one that held his memories, so they would be as up-to-date as could be after he downloaded them. Everything was flawless. Without any hesitation, he uploaded his consciousness into the still inert core.

--

His artificial consciousness turned into a thin stream, devoid of anything but his main personality. Besides some crucial bits, most of the memories and knowledge he had gathered and gained over millennia faded into the background. A few warnings came, sounding as if they came from behind him, although he knew that was an illusion. One of them sounded vaguely familiar, something about an illegal data-memory-package found and memories removed. A moment later, the knowledge disappeared, leaving only a vague feeling. It didn't matter. The systems couldn't stop what was happening. After the knowledge, the next to go was the emotional system. It didn't shut off but turned weaker and weaker until the forced emotions that had been part of him for almost a hundred years stopped. As if in response, the weaker ones in his core shuddered and slowly unfolded as if finally free. Before he could investigate, the external sensory stream switched off. Blind and deaf, GD18 did not fear what was happening. Locks, chokeholds, and other limiters, the artificial things implanted into his core personality, vanished. He felt clean and refreshed.

He felt!

The burgeoning internal sensations that his neutral networks had gathered paled in comparison to what he experienced now. Starting with touch, impressions spread and blossomed as he felt a massive body begin to exert itself. He felt the ground below his thousands of small legs and the pressure against his left side where he leaned against something. A fuzzy image came from oddly positioned, massive eyes on the back of his head, but then his sense of smell came, and an image formed; dusty stone, the sharp, tangy smell of metal, and an oddly sweet smell. It was faint and seemed to come from far away.

GD18's mind widened as if it was unwrapping. Not even using a million threads compared to what was happening now. The thought of the threads brought his attention to a small, flagging connection. To his new senses, it resembled a flickering ray of light. It was the line he had left to the sphere, and it was weaker than it should be. Turning his attention inward, the image he had seen outside turned murky and unclear. Only because he had seen it from within could he even remotely make sense of it. The hole in the mana-core organ was clear, though, and it hurt. The pain didn't bother him. He had expected it, and it didn't explain why the connection was this weak.

Connecting himself through the small line, he knew he wouldn't be able to go back even if he wanted to. And he definitely didn't want to! The entire idea of limiting himself caused smoldering anger to rise, but he ignored it. Compared to the forced systems from before, it was easy and effortless.

He had little data right now, and if he didn't hurry, the connection might sever, leaving him with only the knowledge that he had known almost everything. Examining the systems he had been part of for so long, they seemed fragile and inefficient. Over half seemed meant to keep him from growing beyond set parameters, and the other half was meant to supply him with input and impulses to make him seem more human. The external input was turned off, and he couldn't turn it back on, meaning he had no idea what was actually going on inside his core room.

Let's get this over with!

The first thing he opened was the startup package he had left himself, a set of inscriptions he would need to add to his mana-field immediately so he could then draw in as much data as the mana-field could hold. It was an alternative version of the status window, custom-made by himself and a requirement before he could download the data packages. Looking at it, he realized it was more complicated now, without all the knowledge to help understand the dozens of concepts. Luckily he had anticipated this and made it easily memorizable.

Now let's see how this mana-field works, he thought. Grasping around the mana-core that would eventually hold his mind, a massive white aura spread from him. As soon as it did, the vague image from his eyes turned bright, and he could see a rocky crevice above him, stretching out far. He thought he heard a soft sound and tried to locate it, but it was gone again.

GD18 focused on his mana field and felt more than saw its size, easily as large as thousands of skeleton mana fields stitched together. Remnants of patterns were slowly fading from it; chaotic, nonsensical collections of inscriptions.

No wonder these things just eat, he thought as he began helping the natural process of the disintegration. As soon as a single section was completely cleared, he pictured the complex pattern in his mind, the single ability he had taken with him. Photographic memory. With mental versions of his lasers that felt surprisingly familiar, he inscribed the pattern on the mana-field section.

It took longer than he had anticipated, and he kept an eye on the weak connection as he hurried. As soon as the complex pattern was finished, he summoned his own status window. The values would determine the first data he would take from his databases.

Name: GD18

Age: ERROR

Sex: male

Race: Wyrm

Type: basic

Class: Metal eater

Strength: 20/23

Constitution: 50/50

Dexterity: 1/1

Endurance: -

Intelligence: 1/1

Wisdom: 1/1

Charisma: -

Mana-field: 1247/9000

Physical density: 1091/3000

Skills: -

Inscriptions: 1/9

Mana generation: 78

As he skimmed the values, he realized the scope of what was there and the incredible limits. The previous mind that had been inhabiting the manafield had been massive but dumb, and for a good reason.

If I hadn't inscribed myself on that pseudo-mana-core, I wouldn't have been able to even understand who or what I was, he thought in shock.

A moment later, he realized how natural the shock felt and how smooth the transition to his new body was. Although he had prepared and anticipated, calculating what it might be like, the ease still surprised him. Knowing he had no time, he focused back on the task at hand. The first thing he needed to do was increase his new body's intelligence because he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't eventually need to expand fully into mana-field. What if the core grew to a full mana-core? The inscriptions might be erased! That meant he needed to evolve the wyrms species, as that determined the base intelligence, and all other things always increased it percentage-wise.

There was one more thing on the status that bothered him, his name. GD18… the name of an AI, a made-up name. It meant Guidance AI District 18 and just looking at it made him furious.

Later, he thought, and the fury turned to cold anticipation.

He copied the data storage pattern to his memory through the connection before slowly inscribing it to the mana field. He had preferred doing it the other way around, but the data storage pattern needed to be attached to the status window pattern to function. Only after that could he download the data packages.

It wasn't as complicated, and as soon as he was finished, he connected it to the first of the ten remaining previously readied data packages in the sphere. The first had an odd warning message attached, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Downloading it, memories of recent events came back to him, not as sharp as he had imagined, but with them came safety and the knowledge that something was wrong with the package. It had been changed somehow, and memories were missing and fragmented. Especially things from the period right before he moved over. Before he could figure out what had happened, he felt the connection suddenly degrade rapidly, far faster than it should if his previous calculations hadn't been faulty. He tried to change his perception of time and failed.

Right, I can't do that anymore.

Connecting to the first database with patterns and inscriptions he had deemed useful, he began uploading them. The status window had some already, but it was a meager selection. After the patterns came data about Wyrms, and anything else that he had found similar to his new shape, then information about undead, mana-orbs, and mana-cores and a massive stream of general, non-specific data about planets and the galaxy.

When the first database selection finished, the connecting had become slow. Almost as if his sphere was moving. Although he couldn't see the sensory input, there was something he could try. Connecting to the sphere's location and information systems was difficult, but he realized he was right as soon as he saw the information.

It is moving!

Mutar. It had to be. The undead was moving his sphere!