Imposter System

Chapter 32: Enemy Moves

"Willard Nilsson is crazy crazy smart. Lives in the abandoned operations room in the back of the ship. Complete loner. I heard he was the reason it is abandoned. The Captain leaves him alone because he is the only one that can completely reprogram the AI. In case of a major malfunction, he is the only qualified personnel to reinstate a clean AI."

"Why doesn't Shephard's group deal with him or rope him in?"

"No one has seen it in person, but the rumors say that he hijacked an old model combat suit and rebuilt it himself. I suppose it is a deterrent. Well, in the end these are all rumors. I'll give you a round of the good stuff if you confirm the information on him."

"Wait, that seems like a very big deal; if it's a rumor, why did no one mention that?"

"A rumor between the highest ranks."

"Who are you to be able to get rumors from them?"

"Just an old bartender."

"Ah, whatever. It's not like knowing that will change your information. I just wonder about your intentions."

Scorch had been cleaning a glass the whole time they were talking. However, when Matt questioned his intentions he stopped and stared at Matt for a moment. He turned his attention back to Matt and answered in his usual deflective way.

"Just doing my job."

Matt was tempted to force an answer out of him, but he wasn't very confident. The more information he was able to learn from Scorch the more he feared him. There was no one in the game like this. Someone that knew everybody on the ship and even knew a few details about their life was frightening. Matt was actively trying to hide or distract from his identity and it felt like Scorch was trying to peer through the cloth curtain around him.

As he was leaving, Matt thought of something strange. There was no character like Scorch in the game, however, there was something in the game that was very similar. At the beginning was a short intro that explained the setting. If someone wanted to, they were able to open the help menu and read various facts about the ship. This is also where the credits page was located. Someone like Scorch seemed like the personification of the help menu.

'No way, that's crazy. This game versus reality thing has really gotten to my head. I need to think of the game as a guide and not an explanation. If by chance there's something wrong or different, I could lose my life.'

Checking on Willard now would be too early. He needed to finish off the last few proficiency points on his hypnosis and then see what happens. Matt headed toward the military quarters. He wanted to level his hypnosis and also find out the trainee's name that he targeted. The military quarters were fairly close to Scorches bar so it did not take long for him to reach it. However, he did not expect to overhear a conversation as soon as he reached an intersection. He quickly hid up against the wall and listened since the contents were rather dubious.

"Are you going to accept the deal?"

"No way. If you get caught, you'll be court-martialed, or worse, sent out of the airlock without anyone knowing."

"I'm tired of living like this. I joined this mission expecting luxury, but I'd rather be back on Earth with these conditions."

"He promised us that if we sabotage the containment field, the ship will be brought into a state of emergency and us security officers will get all of the power."

"Shh you idiot, what are you doing saying it out loud."

Although they were being too quiet for someone to hear them normally, Matt was using his mental energy to pick up their conversation. Once he heard the plan, he made some quick assumptions. Someone, likely Shephard, was trying to shift the balance of power on the ship. However, randomly sabotaging a containment field didn't seem to be that bad without context. However, Matt was certain that whatever was being contained would change everyone's lives on this ship forever.

Something didn't really add up. Why did they choose now to start these plans? Matt didn't want to stay in the area lest someone notice he was here. He quickly made his way back to his quarters while pondering the timing. It was easy to consider that he is the trigger to all of this. However, Matt thought about it logically and was able to come up with some guesses.

First, the timing. They had reached the minimum distance for communication with Earth to be near impossible. Although space travel had advanced considerably, long distance communication was still an area of weakness. However, they reached this distance half a year ago so something else must have triggered their initiation of whatever plan they had in mind.

The next idea is that there were specific people that needed to be placed in certain positions. The only thing he can specifically point out is Alexis being promoted. However, she would be going on leave in another month so he didn't think she was related. A reduction of power by one person didn't seem to be relevant enough. Going along this line of thinking it was possible they needed to properly position scapegoats incase their plans go awry.

Finally, it was in fact Matt that triggered this. Rather, the parasite that has Matt's memories. Thinking about how Shephard knows that one of the crewmen is infected, Matt thinks it is fair to assume that he might be the spark for this. There must have been some sort of containment breech or an intentional release of the parasite but then they lost track of it. It was also possible that a fully evolved member of his species was captured and managed to release a spawn.

Although he wasn't one-hundred percent certain that there were no other parasites of his kind on this ship, his game memories and instinct told him that was the case. Any one of these options or a mixture of these guesses could be the cause of the sudden change. For now, Matt needed to focus on killing the man in a coma so that he could enter the Second Strike squad. Whatever was happening behind the scenes was going to be dangerous for all non-security personnel.

At the start of the game, the only members you can play as are security. There is no one else onboard the ship. Although this is likely a design decision, what if it is also accurate? Where are all of the engineers and science officers? Matt couldn't discount the possibility of a purge and hostile take-over. With the combat suit technology, it wouldn't be impossible. He returned to his room to see Alexis was still fast asleep.

With the weakness in his body slowly going away, he could start being more adventurous. Since he decided to make a move on someone's life, he wouldn't let humanity hold him back anymore. In order to become strong before people in combat suits patrolled the ship, he needed evolution points. The best source of points would naturally be the humans on the ship. Matt went into his office and took out the black bag from his safe. The meat was still as fresh as when he cut it.

Through the rest of the night, he slowly ate piece by piece. Although he could ignore the taste, the poison was making him feel sick again. However, he watched his evolution points go up. Matt carefully and systematically ingested piece by piece. In order to protect privacy and sensitive information, there were no security cameras in the private quarters. Matt also left his personal device on the night stand outside.

After eating enough to level his DNA Absorption, he immediately did and continued eating.

[DNA Absorption Lv. 5->6: 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: 2 -> 2

]Efficiency: 50% -> 60%

]Level Cost: 15 EP -> 21 EP]

Once he finished secretly devouring the remains of the goat, he felt like passing out. The poison that he had painstakingly suppressed was circulating again throughout his body. Fortunately, his Toxin Resistance was high enough to make it nonlethal. However, something pinged in his mind that surprised him. A new notification came up.

[Mental Resistance has leveled up!]

[Host: Matthew O'Connely

Status: Grade 1 Mind Slug

Evolution Points (EP): 6->15->0->9

Abilities: [Perfect Mimicry Lv. Max], [Improved Metabolism Lv. 2], (NEW!)[Mental Resistance Lv. 2]

Skills: (NEW!)[DNA Absorption Lv. 6], [Toxin Resistance Lv. 5], [Weak Hypnosis Lv. 1], [Dream Casting Lv. 1], [Primary Reproduction Lv. 0], [Whispers Lv. 1]]

[Mental Resistance Lv. 1->2: The strength of your mind and consciousness have exceeded the biological standard for your host. The difference has manifested as mental energy. This mental energy provides a natural resistance to influences on the psyche.

]Mental resistance: 20->25%

]Mental Recovery: 1->1.1]

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Dammit, I accidently submitted the chapter 22:00 the next day instead of yesterday. I am so sorry!

I have the weekend off and I'm being featured on fresh new tropes banner so I'll be spending my time writing.