Imposter System

Chapter 11: No More Meat

There were several samples on the counter that were labeled with a date. Matt had a tube rack with various reagents that he would put the sample in to purify. First it would break down all the non-nucleotide cellular material. Then he would spin the tubes in a centrifuge and extract the lightest fluid at the top that was dissolved in the reagent. After which, he added another set of reagents and repeated the process.

This took a few hours to purify all of the DNA and then move the purified sample into the DNA sequencer to rebuild the DNA and also record the full sequence. The AI would then run several algorithms by cross analyzing all of the samples that were purified to create the best matching genetic code. This would take a day so there would be nothing left to do tonight.

Matt held one of the vials of purified DNA that he did not place into the sequencer and confirmed his guess. His instinct told him that this small bit of liquid was worth several evolution points. However, the details of his DNA absorption skill specify flesh and blood. Therefore, he knew that consuming this liquid would be pointless. This information will be useful for the future once his DNA absorption ranked up to the next tier.

With his experiment complete, he sealed the top of the tube with wax parafilm and placed it in the freezer. There would naturally need to be some backup samples so this wouldn't be too suspicious. However, his main intention was to secretly study the DNA if he ended up being blocked by secrecy. For now, he would stay under cover, but once he tiered up, he would be able to start silently influencing people.

"Dr. Bradshaw, I'll leave you to it then. I'll come by tomorrow once the sequencer is finished. Hopefully we have enough samples for the AI to calculate the genetic code."

"Indeed, have a nice evening. Take some more of those nuts since you seemed to like them so much."

Matt wasn't polite and grabbed the two bags of nuts. He planned to stash these away from Alexis's reach and eat them once his DNA absorption was a higher level. He felt like a squirrel storing food for the winter. Except, that he isn't a squirrel but an alien parasite. And he is storing food for his inevitable clash with the crew instead of a change in season.

'I have fourteen points right now, which is more than enough to level to five in absorption. I held myself back from increasing it until I was able to analyze the purified DNA sample, but now there isn't anything to wait for.'

[DNA Absorption Lv. 4->5: After absorbing and assimilating various species' genetic code to become a stronger organism, you can now disassemble higher order structures. Whenever you consume blood or tissue containing genetic material, gain EP.

]Absorption Grade Limit: 1 -> 2

]Efficiency: 40% -> 50%

]Level Cost: 10 EP -> 15 EP]

[Residual Grade 2 Material Detected. Absorb for 4 Evolution Points.]

Matt was surprised with the last notification. He didn't realize that the sausages and blood he consumed previously would still be lingering. He had just assumed that the excess would be ignored. However, thinking about it carefully, this was likely a reduced figure than how much he could have acquired. After all, it had been several days since he consumed those Grade two materials.

A mouthful of blood and two large sausages gave seven points total with a reduced value. This means the value of grade two materials cannot be compared to grade one or grade zero. With his eight evolution points, Matt made his way to the cafeteria for dinner. Out of the two thousand people on this journey, very many chose red meat as their ideal dish. The AI perfectly balanced the side dishes to match for taste, digestion, and health. Because of this, eating steak every day was possible.

Therefore, when Matt saw the sign outside of the cafeteria, his blood ran cold. The sign stated that steak will be a restricted meal due to a limit in supply. The criteria would be officers rank Lieutenant or higher, and non-commissioned officers rank Chief Petty Officer or higher. This was a difference in three ranks for Matt. It was not ordinary to raise three ranks in a short period of time, so this effectively meant he lost his most basic source of Evolution Points.

Matt ate his dinner but never saw Alexis. When he returned to his room, she still hadn't returned. He began to formulate various scenarios in his head about the possibilities. It was unlikely that she was currently reporting his suspicious activities. She would not leave such a big opening to reveal that she was onto him. She would maintain the same schedule until more evidence was acquired. Additionally, they wouldn't make a move until after the medical examination in order not to raise an alarm among the crew.

The plan would be simple; Wait for Matt to take his exam, and then say he has some incurable disease and leave him in quarantine. However, if they outright call him out for being an alien, they reveal the existence of such beings to the crew. Mass hysteria would be dangerous as well. If Matt could be a disguised alien, what about another crew member?

Once that thought was stifled, he began to wonder if it was health related. Alexis kept him up to date on when things came up with the pregnancy so it was unlikely to be related to that. However, if something really bad happened she might hold back the information, unable to tell him. She didn't seem like the type of woman to do that, but he was no expert.

Therefore, the final conclusion would have to be related to another containment breech. Matt was certain they were keeping aliens in the ship to study. Out of the sixteen-hundred non-military crew, half were engineers, a few hundred were lifestyle crewmen, and the rest were scientists or doctors. Although this number seems quite high, Matt would estimate only half the number of "scientists" were ever present in the upper decks.

Whatever they needed all those scientists for in the lower decks was a mystery. Most assumed it was secret military research, but they couldn't even imagine just how secret it is. Coming to a likely conclusion, he put it out of his mind. There was nothing he could do about it, nor did he really care. If something happened to Alexis, he could use Cindy as a cover instead. Although it would be unfortunate since he had invested quite a bit into preparing Alexis for hypnosis.

At night time during and after intercourse, he would whisper sweet words to her about their future. Matt would say various things that gave Alexis confidence in their relationship and increased her devotion to him. The original Matt O'Connely read this book about the use of hypnosis in a long term relationship. Although it sounded very farfetched and even borderline despicable, it was actually a very innocent approach.

Often times, a person would hypnotize themselves with negative thoughts and invent scenarios that lead to breakups. This book just taught the reader techniques to establish a source of positivity through hypnosis that would prevent the wandering thoughts and imagination from causing issues in a relationship. Matt took this knowledge and applied it to strengthen his position in Alexis's mind and prevent her from overthinking the things that he did.

Once there is a high level of trust between people, true hypnosis can take hold much easier. The prerequisite for the skill Weak Hypnosis was to target a weak mind. One would think this is referring to animals with low intelligence, or perhaps someone with mental illness, but these two things were wrong. The main factor for a weak mind is trust. An animal with aggression towards the person using hypnosis would never be hypnotized. A person having a mental condition would likely resist all forms of hypnotism depending on the type of condition they have.

Alexis trusted Matt quite a bit. It was akin to letting your barber shave your neck with a sharp knife. He had asked her subtle questions during workouts and at dinner about various situations and felt confident that his plan was in the right direction. Of course, he couldn't ignore the possibility that she was lying in order to pull a reversal on him. If her intention is to build trust in him for whatever reason, he could only shake his head. Such a thing wouldn't work on him since he can't trust anyone.

"Ah, sorry, I'm back late. We were called in for a late meeting. I hate that I missed dinner with you, sigh!"

"Guess we'll have to make it up with a midnight snack." Matt smiled as he pulled her to the bed.

'I suppose I might have a tiny bit of indulgence for her'