"Lateral Line Overclock... Activate."
The world of murky water vanished, replaced by a wireframe grid of vibrations. Every movement in the water sent out a ripple that Cell could feel against his skin. He could feel the erratic, stupid heartbeats of his siblings.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
"Target acquired. That one. The straggler."
Cell engaged his Hyper-Myofibrils. He didn't just swim; he launched. His body became a blur, cutting through the water with terrifying speed. The unsuspecting tadpole didn't even have time to flee.
CRUNCH.
Cell's jaws, still soft, but reinforced by his will clamped onto the tail of the smaller tadpole. It thrashed wildly, sending panic signals through the water.
"Don't worry," Cell projected a thought that the beast couldn't hear. "I'm not going to eat you. I'm going to upgrade you."
[Ability Triggered: Parasitize (Hivemind)]
[Cost: 500 Energy]
"Five hundred?!" Cell twitched. "This better be worth it."
He felt a chunk of his own biomass detach from his brain stem, travel down his bloodstream, and vomit out of his mouth into the open wound of the victim.
The struggling tadpole went rigid. Then, a headache split Cell's consciousness in two.
It wasn't like looking at a screen. It was like having two heads. Suddenly, he was seeing his own main body from the victim's eyes, while simultaneously looking at the victim from his main body. The disorientation was nauseating.
"Stabilize..." Cell hissed. "Left is Alpha. Right is Beta. Focus."
He willed the Beta unit to move. It jerked unnaturally, swimming in a tight circle before stabilizing.
"Good. Now... let's see if we can optimize this investment."
Cell looked at his energy gauge. 9498/10000. He needed to recoup the cost.
He piloted Beta to swim casually toward a larger, fat tadpole grazing near the surface. Beta looked harmless, wounded even. Perfect bait.
"Come here, brother..." Cell thought, maneuvering his main body into the shadow of a lily pad below.
The fat tadpole noticed Beta twitching. Driven by opportunistic cannibalism, it swam over to investigate the "dying" sibling. As soon as the fat tadpole opened its mouth to nip at Beta, Cell struck from below.
"Kill."
Alpha (Cell) shot up like a torpedo, aiming for the soft underbelly. Simultaneously, Beta whipped around and bit the target's eye.
It was a massacre. The coordinated attack overwhelmed the larger tadpole instantly. Cell tore into the gut, his Solar Metabolism reacting to the fresh influx of nutrients.
[Biomass Consumed.]
[Energy +250]
[Mutation Point +1]
"Two hundred and fifty..." Cell crunched the numbers as he tore another strip of flesh. "I need to eat two more just to break even on the Parasitization cost. This economy is brutal."
He looked at his Beta unit. It was missing a chunk of its tail, but it awaited his command with mindless obedience.
"Hmm, what is a mutation point? I'll check that in a bit," Cell thought.
[System Alert: New Mutation Available]
[Mutation Point Threshold Reached.]
The consumption of vertebrate flesh had unlocked the genetic potential he was looking for.
[Choose Mutation Upgrade:]
A) Serrated Ridge: The weak jaw of the tadpole hardens, a row of sharp teeth replace the mouth. Attack x2.
B) Parasite Ability Boost (F+): Time needed to parasitize is halved.
C) Mental Fortitude (F-): Increase Mental Defense by 50%.
"System, select Option B: Parasite Ability Boost," Cell decided. "Teeth are crude. Control is absolute. In a battle of attrition, speed of infection is the only metric that matters. If I can steal a body faster than they can kill me, I am immortal."
[Choice Accepted: Parasite Ability Boost (F+)]
[Consuming 1 Mutation Point.]
[Genetic Rewrite Complete. Parasitization Time reduced by 50%.]
[New Infect Speed: 30 Seconds (Unresisted).]
Cell felt his neural pathways burn and expand. The mechanism for projecting his consciousness became slicker, like oiling a rusty hinge.
"Now," Cell thought, "Let's expand."
He sent his Beta unit (the small, damaged tadpole) out as bait. "Go. Wiggle. Look delicious."
Beta obeyed, swimming erratically near the rock crevice. Minutes passed. Then, the water pressure shifted. Beta returned, but it wasn't leading a school of weaklings. It was fleeing.
Behind it, emerging from the gloom like a leviathan, was a Big Tadpole.
It was three times the size of Cell's current host. Its skin was mottled green and brown, covered in toxic mucus spots, and its tail was thick as a thumb. It had small legs, still forming, yet showcasing the danger.
"Jackpot," Cell whispered.
The Big Tadpole ignored the small Beta. Its beady eyes locked onto Cell. It recognized a rival for territory. It didn't want a snack; it wanted a fight.
[Threat Detected: Big Tadpole]
[Stats Comparison: Hard Enemy.]
The Big Tadpole charged.
"Beta, intercept!" Cell commanded.
The small puppet threw itself in front of the beast. The Tadpole didn't even slow down. It rammed Beta, sending the small body spinning into the mud with a crushed spine, and slammed into Cell.
BAM.
Cell's vision blurred. His health dropped.
[HP: 0.62 / 0.9]
"Heavy..." Cell grunted, shaking off the concussion. "If I had taken the teeth, maybe I could fight it. But now? I have to steal it."
The Big Tadpole circled for another pass, its mouth opening to crush Cell's head.
"Hyper-Myofibrils... Max Output!"
Cell waited until the last millisecond. As the Big Tadpole lunged, Cell burst upward, his muscles screaming. He didn't dodge away; he dodged onto the beast.
He slammed his belly against the Big Tadpole's back, wrapping his tail around its throat in a chokehold.
"You are strong," Cell projected directly into the beast's skull. "That is why you are perfect."
[Ability Triggered: Parasitize (Hivemind)]
[Target: Big Tadpole - Juvenile]
[Resistance: High]
[Time to Breach: 40 Seconds]
The Big Tadpole thrashed. It slammed Cell against the rocks.
Crunch. [HP: 0.3 / 1]
Smash. [HP: 0.2 / 0.9]
"Hold on!" Cell screamed at his own muscles. "Just ten more seconds!"
The Big Tadpole did a barrel roll, scraping Cell against the gravel bottom. Cell's vision went dark. His current body was dying.
[Breach Successful.]
[Connection Established.]
A bridge of light opened in Cell's mind. He saw the big tadpole's consciousness, a raging, red storm of instinct.
"I'm done with this rental," Cell declared. "I'm moving in."
Instead of just creating a link, Cell poured his Primary Consciousness across the bridge. He abandoned the pilot seat of the tadpole and invaded the Big Tadpole's brain stem.
[Transferring Core Ego...]
[Dominating Host...]
The Big Tadpole froze. Its eyes rolled back. The raging storm in its mind was silenced, replaced by the cold, calculated lattice of Cell's will.
Cell opened his new eyes.
The world looked different. The colors were sharper. He felt heavier, powerful. He flexed his new legs and tail, and the water erupted behind him.
He looked down. Floating below him was his previous body. It looked dazed, its connection downgraded from 'Host' to 'Vassal'. Further away lay the broken body of the first puppet.
"System," Cell said, his voice deep and booming in the water. "Reassign designations."
[Updating Hive Registry...]
[Main Body]: Big Tadpole (Current Host)
[Unit One]: Tadpole (Former Host)
[Unit Two]: Small Tadpole (Damaged Puppet)
Cell checked his new stats.
[Host: Big Tadpole (Juvenile with legs)]
[Class: Parasite / Tank]
(As host has reached leg-stage, host-class is unlocked. Tank is automatically selected.)
HP: 4.5 / 5.0
Energy: 8,000 / 14,000
Strength: 0.02
Agility: 0.1
Defense: 0.5 (Mucus Coating)
Traits: Poison Skin (Passive - Taste is foul to predators).
[Hive Status: 2/10 Units]
Unit One (Normal): HP 0.2 / 1.0 (Critical). Needs healing.
Unit Two (Small): HP 0.1 / 0.9 (Critical). Spine crushed.
"I traded speed for raw power," Cell analyzed, admiring his new mottled skin. "And I kept my old body as a spare. Efficient."
He looked at Unit Two. It was paralyzed, twitching in the mud.
"You served your purpose," Cell said coldly. "But I don't waste resources."
He turned to Unit One. "Eat Unit Two. Recover your health."
Under his command, his former body swam down and began to cannibalize the broken puppet. It was a gruesome sight, Cell watching his old self eat his first slave, but the results were immediate. Unit One's wounds began to close.
[Unit One HP: 0.2 - 0.5 / 1.0]
[Hive Status: 1/10 Units (Unit Two Deceased)]
"One strong vassal is better than two weak ones," Cell concluded.
Suddenly, the water darkened. It wasn't a shadow; it was nightfall. But with nightfall came the hunters.
Cell's Lateral Line picked up a massive vibration. Something with many legs was entering the water from the muddy bank.
The Dytiscus (Water Beetle) Larva.
It was the size of a human hand. Mandibles like sickles. It was the Reaper of the Puddle.
Cell felt a spike of fear from the Big Tadpole's instincts, but he suppressed it.
Current Status:
Main Body (Cell): HP 4.5/5 | Energy 8000
Unit One (Vassal): HP 0.5/1 (Recovering)