The Mook Maker

I was drowning. 

 

Murky depths beckoned as I sank down to the impenetrable, all-encompassing darkness below, while the shimmering, alluring light of the water surface above grew ever so distant, lazy waves moving almost as in slow motion, without care for me.

 

I tried to stop my descent, paddle the water, reach up for something, anything, to save myself.

 

There was nothing I could do. 

 

 I couldn’t even yank the heavy chains that dragged me down to the depths.

 

Alone, abandoned, buried in the waves. 

 

Completely paralyzed, robbed of any agency, I could only watch as everything went dim, and I couldn’t hold my breath anymore…

 

I wanted to scream. 

 

There was no sound under the water. 

 

I wasn’t sure if I did scream when I woke up in our bed, gasping for breath, with Tama leaning over me, a concerned look in her enchantingly golden eyes. My heart was pounding, threatening to jump from my chest. 

 

It was that nightmare again. 

 

“Master?” 

 

Vixen asked, her head tilted, fox ears twitched slightly. 

 

“Master? Master?” Narita was over me, and soon Miwah, and others did, but they couldn’t fight the visions that assaulted me in my sleep, only to soothe me afterwards I woke up with fright. 

 

“It’s nothing.” I said, looking at the ceiling, and then into Tama’s eyes as she leaned above me and I pulled her down to embrace. The soft, silky fur and the soothing bodily warmth against my skin calmed me down fast, and I breathed out with relief. 

 

The vixen’s body wasn’t as heavy as the crushing weight of the sea in my dreams. I could be buried in her fur, or Miwah’s, or Narita’s, for hours, feeling that it was how I should have spent my time. 

 

“It was just a nightmare again.” I said, even if they already likely knew, sharing a kiss with Tama. Her rough tongue explored my mouth, and for the moment I forgot how it even worked, considering her anthropomorphic fox shape. I did the same for Miwah and Narita. 

 

No level of intimacy felt out of place for them now, even if they were the anthropomorphic wolf and the rat with horns, respectively. They were mine, and that’s how a female of my kind looked, a treacherous part of my memory recalling the Earth suggesting otherwise. 

 

I was always meant to be with them. They were part of me, and I was part of them. They were mine as I was theirs; I thought as the telepathic connection we shared flared up, and I could start sensing their mind atop their plushy furred, voluptuous bodies. 

 

This reminded me of my dreams. They threatened to take them away. 

 

They tried to separate us, me from my furry menagerie, threatening me with the suffocating loneliness in the dark water's grave. It made me shudder. 

 

I looked away, enjoying my mates’ body heat, but thinking of different, less pleasant things. 

 

Nightmares, in themselves, were quite understandable following the stressful events of the day, even ones considerably more mundane than those of the previous few days had been, and I came to understand that dreams were - in my case - something more than the method for a brain to rehearse the emotion in some vague preparation for some future struggle. 

 

Link. Connection. Network. I didn’t have a proper network. They connected me to the host, the nebulous link that all of my girls shared, allowing me to see through their eyes as I slept, and observe the various broods as they worked together in the chaotic yet beautiful symphony. 

 

I never understood the purpose of the visions, if there were any, and never thought I would be distressed if they went away. 

 

Yet they did. 

 

The recurring dreams that plagued my sleep tonight were the exact opposite.

 

A forceful disconnect.

 

An absence of something meaningful, a missing piece that struggled to rejoin to the greater whole.

 

They were filled with emptiness, loneliness, silence, drowning, the same sequence playing again and again each time I closed my eyes.

 

Three times I fell asleep, lulled to rest because my precious girls were at my side. Three times I woke up from the night terrors, where the connection was lost, and they were gone. 

 

They were there each time I awoke. 

 

Yet, something in those dreams, buried in the depths, returned when I drifted out to sleep, mysterious and foreboding. It made me wonder if this was what my ‘Eviscerators’ felt whilst under the effect of the sealing spell, and why they had been so overjoyed to be linked with us again.  

 

“We provide you more…distractions, Master?” Tama teased me before I kissed her again, which she eagerly welcomed. I did too, though I couldn’t help myself but to think about the recurring night terrors, and the reason behind them. 

 

Considering one of the mystical scrolls has been, quite literally, buried in the water grave, thrown into the ocean, it wasn’t hard to imagine the certain thematic connection, but otherwise, it felt completely random. 

 

Why would I get the dreams now? 

 

What was the purpose of this madness? 

 

Why did the visions decide to chase me when I decided to rest? 

 

Back in our bedroom inside the fortress, with all the mates present, with Miwah, Narita, Mai and Ekaterina, there was more than enough temptation present. There was something reassuring about the full room, and the bed crowded with the bodies to snuggle to. It felt right, somehow, even more so now than even the night before. 

 

I, however, still extracted myself from the tumble, and sat on the bed, looking at my pale white bear lady. 

 

Ekaterina was the one who didn’t sleep on the bed. It wasn’t large enough for all of us, so she laid down spread on the wooden floor, snoozing, uncaring about the world. The large ursine lady didn’t care if I slept lying on her for the warmth it provided, and Mai used the opportunity to snuggle atop of her, but I opted. Not only could it be demeaning for her, she could easily crush me if she rolled in her sleep, even though Mai didn’t have such concerns.

 

“I’ll have to make you something to ease your sleep, Master.” my scaly companion remarked, drowsily, laid atop of Ekaterina as she was the large teddy-bear. In a way, she was. 

 

“You could always keep close to us, Master.” The bear-lady mumbled. Obviously she didn’t mind curling up with Mai when she wasn’t cuddling with me. 

 

They seem comfortable with each other; I thought.

 

“Master?” Tama purred in her husky, come-hither voice of deep desire. Temptress, she was, but I couldn’t take on the offer. 

 

“I don’t think it's the right time now,” I decided, fighting the exhaustion of the restless night. “Work first, pleasure after.” 

 

If the accursed nightmares were somewhere linked to the relic scroll, calling to me like some magical beacon, demanding to be retrieved, then I wouldn’t get much rest, even if I did manage to fall asleep, and I felt tired from the other, carnal pleasures. 

 

My head throbbed, making me reconsider whether I would take up the offer of the life-energy transfusion from Narita, but decided to postpone it, for now. 

 

It was already morning, noon even, considering how bright the light that slipped through the grating of the window was, and I couldn’t allow myself to laze around in the bed while the rest of the horde toiled away.

 

I wondered what they were up to while I was out, though. 

 

My furry menagerie could be quite noisy, for the species that communicate telepathically, they weren’t exactly quiet to begin with, not to mention that even thinking about our shared link had immediately filled my head with the vague, distant chitchat, as the hundreds of my girls went through their day. The link broadened. It wasn’t the simple presence of the closest ones, but the full fury of the host, one that would normally threaten me with the splitting headaches. 

 

I still didn’t know how to control, shut-down, or otherwise utilise this ability - it came and went as it pleased - but it became something paradoxically more assuring than threatening after this night. 

 

Now they were welcomed. Thousands of whispers were preferred to the icy darkness of the soundless sea from the visions - the reminder of it made me shudder even now that I was awake. 

 

I could sense their eagerness, even now, from the distance, and I was nearly certain some of those voices rambling on and on were calling on just to show what they did. 

 

My current headache, and heavy eyelids, came more from the poor sleep, rather from the sudden bursts of soundless communication buzzing through my mind, like a mental radio chatter. 

 

I listened to them, ignoring Tama for a while, even though I couldn’t escape the silvery vixen’s thoughts, even if I didn’t listen to her spoken words. She was, once again, being herself. 

 

We should prepare for the next day, the next challenge. 

 

Paradoxically, hearing voices in my head made me feel a little more sane, in contrast to the terrifying silence and emptiness in those dreams. It made me wonder whether the rest of the host, a thousand minds constantly yelling at each other in the ceaseless cacophony of the mental communication, fear being alone the most. 

 

Was the madness the point when you hear the voices, or the point when you dream they come away? Did such a concept even apply to the massive network of minds used to the constant, uninterrupted link to every member of their horde? 

 

I stood out of the bed, couldn’t help myself but to give a kiss to each of my girls. We were together again, and that was what mattered right now. 

 

Mai looked sleek and slim as ever, her scales soft to touch. I wasn’t sure what the hassle about the eggs was. Her, dispatching her sisters to look for the location of the nest seemed rather a waste of resources, but I wasn’t going to question her instincts. 

 

What the rest of the horde was even doing right now? 

 

I considered asking, but before I had a chance, more girls burst into the room - it was quite common that Tama, and others, made their little kin from the respective breeds into their personal handmaidens exactly for the opportunities like this one. There were two of each - ‘Purifiers, Eviscerators, Corruptors’ and ‘Defilers’ - eager to bring clothes, brush Tama’s fluffy tails, even wash us, or bring us food. Only ‘Ravagers’ weren’t present. Their hulking stature wasn’t quite fit for this, though it doesn’t seem to matter, as the other kins have no issue with tending to Ekaterina, who just mumbled when I smooched her. 

 

When I was wondering about the service, I got my personal ‘Displacer’ instead. 

 

The little blueish cat-girl was all over me, which, unlike my other, more sensible followers, decided to come through the window, blinding me with the sudden light as the shutters were thrown aside. 

 

The ‘Displacers’ were felines. They could climb atop of their quite powerful teleportation, but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t use doors. At least she didn’t decide to drag me through the rift. 

 

She still knocked me down on the bed. 

 

While the others were dragging the wooden tub in, as a collective endeavour, the unnamed ‘Displacer’ being the anthropomorphic cat, bathing wasn’t her favourite pastime either, I suppose. 

 

Grooming me, however, seemed to be fair game, and though she was handed the rag and the water, the feline did consider using her tongue on my face, or neck, a valid choice. I didn’t fight it. 

 

“She might need special treatment, Master. I couldn’t fill this world with your progeny alone…” Tama suggested, whispering in my ear, while the ‘Displacer’ - still unnamed to this point - had decided I needed help to dress, and crawled on my lap. 

 

She seemed to obtain the new outfit for herself, perhaps to not distract me far too much, and perhaps to do so, and I wasn’t asking where they got the new tunic and trousers for me. 

 

At least, it was a fabric. Locally produced, and likely stolen, but still very conventional for the native standard, even though the new one seemed to be silk, rather than linen or hemp cloth, and thus, likely more expensive than the previous one. 

 

It was going to be embarrassing, if it was borrowed from the Viceroy’s own wardrobe, but our version seems to be considerably worse, appearance wise. 

 

I wasn’t quite certain what to think about what the flesh-shaping bats considered normal. 

 

Sparing Narita a glance as her two kin helped her with the morning grooming, and the suit of armour that prepared for her once she was clean - a biological outfit crafted for her by the ‘Fleshspeakers’ was a construct of the flesh, and chitin, bone and skin came with two extra scythe-shaped limbs, which weren’t there before. An upgrade.

 

My rat-girls were gorgeous, big ones or small, and the armour was made to copy her body, but it was perhaps a little creepy. It could even stand and move, ready to accept the wearer, with small, nearly inconspicuous twitches that confirmed it was still alive.  

 

Was this getting out of hand? 

 

Perhaps I should check with Kirke - she was much better in shaping the plants than the ‘Corruptors’ ever were - and wouldn’t have this Hawaiian dancer mock-up costume that most of her scaly cousins wore, complete with the wreaths of flowers that matched their florist-inspired names.

 

“Master.” The voice of Arke disturbed my thoughts - it was far too clear for the muffled speech of the telepathic host network that was nothing but a hum - and I looked around. 

 

When the ‘Fleshspeakers’ absorbed the fruit of the arcane and became ‘Overseers’, they grew considerably, with their massive wings that allowed them to fly. As far I could tell, their flight was natural, but their crafts…

 

“....we finished the translation of the agreement we signed to confirm” 

 

My eyes scanned the room, failing to see the oversized chiropteran girl where I expected it, lurking on the balcony behind the window. Instead, her voice came from the bug - or rough appropriation of one - resembling more of a brain mounted on a chassis of insectoid legs, with far too many glowing eyes skittering around the mini-balcony and the room. 

 

It was getting out of hand. 

 

“Is there a problem?” I asked, watching the strange brain-creature on spider legs swinging up and down in the impatient motion, while its numerous eyes twitched and blinked. Some of those eyes were borrowed from the humans, I could tell, but not all.

 

“Our new translator should be able to be sent with our cousins, Masters. They would speak and read for them.” It - or she, since it was Arke leading it as the puppet from a distance, I couldn’t quite certain - said, and the little abomination made the circle, hopping around on its pointed, insectoid legs: 

 

“See, Master! We could control these better than our normal carriers! And they have 360 degree vision, with the ability to…”  

 

Arke introduced her newest crime against biology with the enthusiasm of a sales agent, introducing the newest marketing toy, while her creation, which I was certain was once a part of the human fused together with magic, jumped around. It was creepy. 

 

I couldn’t quite feel it as I felt the presence of my girls, even if I knew it had an intellect of its own, subsumed by the ‘Fleshspeakers’. 

 

“No, I meant the document, Arke.” I said, trying to focus back.

 

The Viceroy was quite upset by the document made without his approval, or even knowledge, and was, as I later found out, already legally binding when he regained consciousness. There was no way for us to know that stamps did, in fact, act like a signature, making the entire decree official, even if it was obvious in hindsight. 

 

The Viceroy’s anger about this seemed justified, but made his subsequent agreement with the terms suspicious. I have been, however, tired, and the waning light yesterday hastened my decision. Until my girls figured out artificial lighting, we would have to operate on the sunrise to sundown basic. 

 

“Well?” 

 

 “I don’t think so, Master.” She said, “If I understand it correctly, we, the Spirits, are the absolute authority in this province, their government no longer has a say, and he pledged his assistance, and the resources of the province, to our campaign, as long as he lives.”

 

It doesn’t seem to be an agreement he should be excited about.

 

“You are their god, Master.” Tama teased as she sprawled on the bed, half-dressed now. She wasn’t making it easy for her little sisters, but the ordinary, small ‘Purifiers’ were playful enough. 

 

“For Master!” giggled the foxes. 

 

“For Master!” The little kitty seconded, in her girlish tone, and adjusted by the new outfit, uncertain if she wanted to put in on, or away. 

 

“We are not gods, Tama.” I said and directed the rest of the questions towards the brain-bug, which now served as the equivalent of the radio, able to reproduce Arke’s nice, youthful, feminine voice perfectly, to the point it somehow hit the uncanny valley since the ‘drone’ wasn’t even remotely her. 

 

“Spirits? What do you mean by spirits?” 

 

“This is how the humans call us, Master.” Arke said, by her proxy. 

 

“Spirits.” I repeated. It wasn’t quite a term I liked - I didn’t certainly feel like a ghost despite the exhaustion of the night. “Really?” 

 

“Yes, Master.” 

 

I would have to accept it, even though the implication was we would have to officially name ourselves a kingdom, a tribe, an empire, for the sake of similar documents, made me rather uneasy, more than the newest designer-beast by the ‘Fleshspeaker’. 

 

What was the proper name for our horde? A tribe? A clan? We were more than family than anything else, I thought, and the whispers within my mind confirmed. I shook my head, and asked instead,

 

“And the city?” 

 

“Situation is under our control, Master.” Arke said, “We captured most of the humans, and returned the docile humans to their homes. San Hyun-Ki would inform them of our takeover.” 

 

Oh, the Sage name. The scribe we made mayor. 

 

“Brave still wanted to show you how she improves the mining village, Master. She successfully made humans more docile.” Miwah reminded me. It was rather unfortunate to send Brave, and Helmy, back to their tasks yesterday, but I needed them out there, rather than keep me company. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t any more killing out in the mountains, and the villagers continued. It was just this city.

 

“Inspection? Visit, perhaps?” 

 

Not a bad idea, though not at the top of my priorities, assuming the more trouble would keep cropping up. It, however, reminded me of something else. They told me about feeding the mining town earlier. 

 

“Does this city have some food supplies?” 

 

“Yes, Master. We already extracted the information where granaries are.” 

 

“Fine. Make sure humans are fed.” I said, “I don’t want the humans to starve out.” 

 

“Lily took over the food distribution, Master.” 

 

Good, I thought. We could grow food faster than humans would. The ‘Corruptors’ magic skipped the many growing processes with their magic, but I suspected we would have to start refilling the granaries we were emptying with the fruits we grow. 

 

“Excellent. Assure them we won’t take more from them right now…” 

 

Which would be a problem since some of my girls already helped themselves to some items or clothes. 

 

After all, I had one, a silky bright blue one, light, multilayered, but without the excessive embroidery. The sleeves were far too big for my liking, but aside from the bright colour, it doesn’t feel exorbitant, with material most likely making up most of its price. 

 

Perhaps I should ask Viceroy. I didn’t want to wear anything that had their national colour, or their coat of arms, or symbols of their rulers, for obvious reasons, but the current problem was not this.  

 

“If they complain about what was …” I blurted out, I didn’t want to say looted “...procured from their houses, you could offer them money as compensation. We still have a chest of coins…” 

 

Bloody money that used to be some bandit hoard, and the content of some looted shrine - they never leave our possession, like the curse. A fairy’s gold, or rather spirit’s.   

 

“... we could try to pay for goods, commission crafting.” I mused, “And since we extracted the language, we know how much things cost, don’t we?” 

 

“Yes, Master.” 

 

I didn’t let myself be distracted from my current train of thoughts, even if I felt distracted by the glances at my girls, some of them in various states of undress as their respective ‘handmaidens’ dressed them up. 

 

An organic outfit ‘Fleshspeakers’ fashioned for Narita enclosed her sleek, soft, white-furred body. She must be terrifying for humans to behold. After all, she took this fortress almost herself, and could power the biological monstrosity that the bat-girls shaped with her own power. 

 

She was also gorgeous, and mine. 

 

I hesitated to call them ‘my brides’, though, even though it was what the stupid, gamified interface called them. Brides. Except for Tama, my new ‘Broodmother’. I still wasn’t certain what to think about the title itself, as only change seem to be a generous fluffy tail, and a voluptuous figure

 

“Yes-yes, Master.” Narita whispered enthusiastically, even though it was rather a reply to the thought of ‘bride’ rather than reply to anything I said. Her mind touched mine. 

 

I tried to focus on something professional.

 

“...then query Hyun-Ki about how the city supplied itself.” I said, “Any way we could contact the surrounding villages and restore shipments to the city?” 

 

While I wasn’t exactly familiarised with the entire logistic chain, if there was any, I knew for sure that the cities were always trading hubs, or later industry hubs, rather than producers of the necessities. 

 

All those fields we had seen in the distance were not serviced by the city. There were hamlets or homesteads taking care of it. 

 

Arke spaced out - I could tell, because her ‘drone’ froze - and then continued:

 

“I could speak with a human the same I speak with you right now, Master.” “We will inform them.” 

 

“No. Not like this.” I decided, “Ask Hyun-Ki if he could travel there personally…” 

 

I was certain that humans would not appreciate the invention, it was worse than the usual ‘zombie’ version the ‘Fleshspeakers’ controlled to translate. However, then I realised, I couldn’t just throw the Sage - or rather new Magistrate - to the portal.

 

We killed the merchant that way, and we weren’t any closer to understanding what makes certain people immune to the side effect. 

 

“Belay that.” I said, “We could teleport only Ari. And Lady’s priests, but they aren’t very good messengers, or collected enough. Let Hyun-Ki write a letter to them and ask her to deliver it.” 

 

“Yes, Master.” 

 

There was probably only so much we could do right now. I knew I would be over-tasking Ari to the face of all, or at least most, human interactions, but I didn’t have any choice. I couldn’t afford to experiment with the ‘Displacer’ rifts and their effect on natives, and naturally reasonable humans were rare and far between. 

 

What was the Lady doing, anyway? 

 

I could almost expect the self-professed dragon goddess to jump-scare me by materialising her dragon’s head into my bedroom. Alas, she did not. She did not even reply.

 

“Lady?” I asked, tentatively, then followed by: “Lady is still out, isn’t she?” 

 

“Yes, Master.” 

 

I wonder whether the celestial dragon dreamed about the murky depths. 

 

Be as it may, we might be forced to reach the relic without her, and find our answers the hard way, possibly even use its powers to wake the ‘Lady’ if it was even possible. I wasn’t entirely certain how those artefacts even worked. The ‘Oskar’ - as I dubbed their creator - didn’t leave any user manual behind.   

 

For a while, I stared out of the window, to the clear sky behind.

 

I didn’t sense the Serpent even, Ari’s parasitic passenger wasn’t focusing on us either. 

 

A ‘Mutator’ buzzed around. I could catch the glimpse of her as I stared through the window. 

 

Yet, I could not see through the eyes of my other girls, something ‘Alphas’ or even ‘Brides’ probably could routinely, or was not sure how to trigger. Better not know, it may be distracting. 

 

“Any success in reaching the buried scroll?” I asked, turning my attention towards the brain-bug. 

 

“Rye is ready to present you with some designs of their own, Master.” 

 

“Didn’t she try without me?” 

 

“She did, Master.” was the answer, “But we reached the deep chasm underwater, and couldn’t find a way to reliably lift things up.” 

 

“Oh…” I said, “It doesn’t matter, I can check.” 

 

I wouldn’t be able to design a submarine, I wasn’t quite sure how, and the very simple design like the diving bells probably didn’t work that well under the circumstances. 

 

An idea of the scuba-tank, albeit not too outlandish, considering the ‘Fleshspeakers’ could make living armour, and the thought of the human brain on the spider legs as radio, would not help us go up after we go down. 

 

The entire idea of going down made me uncomfortable - the dream, albeit seen perhaps four times, was giving me flashbacks. Just like in my nightmare, sinking was easy. Going up was going to be a problem. 

 

“I’ll visit her on the beach.” I decided and looked at the rest of my companions, who would be hopefully ready to depart. Some were, even though some didn’t put much effort into it. 

 

As I stepped to the door, I had only Miwah and Narita on my side, while others were on the rather slow and lazy morning. It was almost comical to watch Ekaterina, to pick Mai and put her on the bed. 

 

My stomach growled. 

 

“A breakfast on the beach?” I offered, 

 

“A love-making on the beach after, Master?” Tama proposed as the counteroffer

 

“I…” I was ready to refuse her. Afterall,l there were far too many serious things to worry about, but it seems that Tama’s needs seem to be endless in this regard.

 

“I’ll think about it, Tama.” I replied, resigned, and looked at Miwah and Narita next to me. 

 

They didn’t say anything, but considering our nights together, they didn’t seem to mind at all. With a nod, and a smile, I was about to simply stand up and head towards the door, but I didn’t get far without the ‘Displacer’ hanging close.  

 

“For! Master!” She insisted, hugging me, holding me down. Miwah, fully dressed up, ready to go, doesn’t seem to mind the extra attention. 

 

Tama was about to say something, but this time, it was ordinary ‘Purifiers’ that let out rather immature giggles, while handling the ‘Broodmother’ as the lady, probably for their own amusement as well as Tama’s. 

 

Even though Ekaterina was ready quite quickly, her dressing up was a matter of willing the armour into existence, Mai and Tama weren’t. In fact, Mai looked like she was half-asleep. 

 

I was not in a rush, but there was no reason to be followed by the ‘court’ everywhere. 

 

“For Master!” The ‘Displacer’ offered - I should really name this one. 

 

“Fine.” I decided, “Portal me to the beach where I can see Rye.” 

 

The moment after, I was falling through the ever-shifting void towards the destination, accompanied by the little feline. It wasn’t as dizzying as it used to be, even if the very ideas of up, down, left, right, far or close, ceased to exist the moment the crack in the space swallowed us, but it still forced me to close my eyes. 

 

When I opened them, I was almost worried I would end up on some cliff, or worse, up in the air, but no. 

 

Miwah, who was pulled through the rift, steadied me, while the little kitten proudly announced our arrival with the usual meow:

 

“For Master!” 

 

She was proud she could pull multiple people through. I could sense it, but my attention was captured by something else. 

 

A crab. 

 

The crab, perhaps, considering the creature wasn’t a small crustacean one would find on the coast, but a massive monster as large as an eight-wheeler truck, barely hidden within the mass of the otherworldly greenery that struggled to deserve the title of ‘hiding spot’. Pastel green wines barely worked as the camouflage nets for the orange-brown abomination. 

 

It scrambled on its eight massive legs, rising up as much as its legs sank into the sand under the prodigious mass, lifting its pincer, the design of which was purposefully changed to a more threatening shape as the oversized chitinous, three-pronged manipulators. 

 

I was almost certain that no matter of natural evolution could make a crustacean so large, but I considered zombified-humans, biological armour, roach-hounds, spider-horse, and, most recently, the brain on legs, it was quite obvious that ‘Fleshspeakers’ and their powers considered a law of nature nothing more than an offensive suggestion easily ignored. 

 

The plants, equally outlandish, with their toxic colours, shook as the mega-crab made a few hulking steps forward, wading through the sand with impressive speed, considering its weight. 

 

So this was what Rye was making. 

 

There was some rhyme and reason to it: The crabs could breathe underwater. Her mutated version had a manipulator, an armoured exoskeleton for deep-diving, strange multiple eyes for a dark environment, and probably a few other features I couldn’t recognize. 

 

How much biomass it must have consumed to grow so much over a single night, I had to wonder.

 

It was probably getting out of hand, indeed. 

 

The clapping of wings flapping above me heralded the arrival of Rye, the new ‘Overseer’ in question.  She landed atop of the absurdly oversized crab. The creature’s upper shell was shaped a little like a throne, and the bat-girl, spreading her wings as she sat on its back-rest, tried to give the best impression of the imperial eagle. 

 

“For Master!” She announced as the behemoth stopped.

 

I paused, wondering about what she had said. 

 

Sometimes I had to wonder if my recently gained ability to understand their telepathic messages even worked properly. I blinked. 

 

“What do you mean by that? You made more than one?”