Minlings: The Merger, page 30
Jake woke up with a shock, his body taut as all his muscles cramped. An incredible pain coursed through him, and he felt like he was in two places simultaneously. He could see the cave around him, dark and empty, and at the same time, the head, now only a few feet away, snarling and with razor-sharp fangs. A dim glow originated from a point he couldn't see, causing the cave walls to light up while a cloud of dust seemed to rise in the water. The pain was now so bad that he found himself wishing for it to end, no matter how. Even death seemed salvation, and he felt his mind fracture. He needed to flee, escape, hide, fight, do something, anything!
Then he felt it: a pull, ever so slightly, and a promise of relief. Without hesitation, the remnants of Jake's consciousness rushed towards it.
A wave of memories, emotions, and experiences crashed into him as he felt a foreign yet familiar body cry out at him.
Where did that dust and light come from? he thought in confusion.
No, there was a predator lizard! It was in here! Pushing the chaos in his head away, Jake stood up on all fours, banging his head against the ceiling, causing him to growl in anger. Who did that? Swirling his head around, he saw two yellow eyes look at him. They belonged to him! Memories of fighting a worthy foe that grew too fast flooded his mind. It was that predator that was out for his siblings!
Wait, I'm an only child... right? Jake thought in confusion before shoving it away. Not now!
Stepping forward, he felt his powerful limbs course with energy, and at the same time, he was hungry, so incredibly hungry. How had he not noticed this? The lizard hissed, and somehow the foreign sound was what drew him awake fully. Like a blanket lifted, the blurriness around his vision dissipated, and he focused on the yellow lizard. It was only half his size and attempting to back out of the cave. Seeing its weakness, Jake pounced, finely honed instincts kicking in. He moved so fast that he barreled into the other, knocking it out of the cave and onto the black basalt rock surrounding the cave.
Pressing his claws down on the struggling torso, Jake felt it try to slip away, and with anger and hunger growing, he roared into its face. The thing froze for a second, and with a vicious bite, Jake tore out its unprotected throat, causing a fountain of blood to spurt everywhere. The lizard thudded onto the ground, its eyes fogging over before becoming still.
Jake swallowed the hot liquid, feeling the hunger flare up more. Unable to resist, he tore a mouthful of flesh from the bleeding wound. Without chewing, he gulped down the meat, almost instantly feeling a wave of energy course through him as his body grew an inch.
A soft noise came from behind him, and he saw two small, wingless serpents looking at him from the entrance. He could feel their uncertainty and slight fear, and he understood. He wasn't the same as he was moments before, not in body or mind. But even then, he felt the warm, protective feeling, a remnant of his other half, and he growled reassuringly deep in his throat. It was all his two siblings needed. Ravenous from starving for days while hiding in the cave, they rushed out of the cave and began biting into the bleeding carcass, gorging themselves.
I failed, Mason, Jake thought as he looked at them, then at the forested area around him. But I'll find you!
Thanks for reading my book!
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- John
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Other stories by the Author
Below are a few short synopses.
The first page of each of the stories can be read after.
Nothing But Bones
Nothing But Bones is a three-book series set in a dystopian future.
It follows a being called Solus as he awakens in the body of a simple skeleton unable to stop walking.
After he awakens, he searches the city and gains an inscription on his mana-field that grants him a status screen.
Now, armed with more knowledge than most, he begins to explore the world.
Tags: LitRPG, Weak to strong, undead, non-human protagonist, evolution
There is an Audio book of book 1!
Nothing But Bones: Undead AI [part 1]
This is a spin-off book to the main Nothing But Bones series.
It follows an AI called GD18 that wakes up in the belly of a Wyrm.
Highly intelligent but stuck in a container, GD18 decides to take over the body of his swallower.
Now if only he had some hands.
Tags: LitRPG, Intelligent protagonist, AI, undead, evolution
Again and Again [18+]
Again and Again, is a dark fantasy novel with horror and comedy elements.
Anton and the rest of humanity have been dropped into a hellish abyss.
Changed into tiny spider-like bodies, they are ordered to fight their way up.
Each time they die, they return to the bottom ones again in their initial bodies, doomed to start again.
Warning!
This book is not for the faint of heart and does not feature what most would call a happy ending.
Tags: Weak to… something, human protagonist in a non-human body, evolutions, demons, gore, setbacks
Nothing But Bones
Chapter 1: Move
Dusty silhouettes were shambling along, moving unevenly between the broken blocks of ruined and perforated rock that decorated a lifeless landscape. Although some of these rectangular-shaped blocks remained upright, most had collapsed into heaps of rubble. Long stretches of flat broken stone seemed to pave the areas between them, while rubble and debris lay loosely scattered everywhere.
—
It moved... there were no thoughts, no desire. Always forward, never stopping. It had no awareness of itself, nor why it should move. Sometimes it had to change its course to prevent itself from colliding with errant pieces of rubble. Once in a while, it had to slow down to avoid touching others. It didn't know that it had only started moving recently. Nor did it know that it was one of the first ones that had started moving.
It traversed across a flat straight, picking up some speed, if you could call it that, and kept moving forward. In front of it, another gray stick-like figure came into view as it shuffled around the corner of a block. Soon it would have to slow down so that it wouldn't touch the other. It didn't know why it should not touch the others, but just like moving forward, it just was. Awkwardly shifting to one side, it managed to pass by the other figure and kept putting one white, emaciated foot in front of the other.
A few bends in the road further, it was going across some narrow straight with only a minimal path to shamble on, with a three-meter drop on either side. It did not know fear, so it kept moving forward, though slower than before. Its next step sent a small stone clattering off the path and over the side. The sound it made when it hit the ground was exceedingly loud compared to the utter silence before.
A soft shuffling ahead drew its attention. As it lifted its gray head, it saw another starting to walk across the path. A collision was inevitable. The looming shadows of the surrounding blocks were the only witnesses to the confrontation that was about to unfold.
A strange sensation began to fill it, not nothing, not forward, not around… it was a feeling similar to the light just before it became bright. A red feeling… it felt… for the first time, danger.
Stopping was impossible, going back was impossible, but it needed to move forward… had to move forward. Slowing to a crawl, it saw the other getting closer and closer: ten meters, seven meters, four meters. It had to do something! But except for going forward, what was there?
... m.o…v…e..! The thought emerged from some deep dark place. And like a stone in a still lake creating a ripple, the thought created a small bluish light that moved ever so slowly forward. It hit the other and burst apart; the other staggered from the impact and started falling backward. In an attempt to balance itself, the other put its white foot back. Without a sound, it crumpled to the ground in a heap, slowly sliding down over the edge and plummeted into the depths. A loud and hollow thud was followed by snapping sounds.
It kept moving forward slowly, but something had changed.
…
Inside it, something was different!
...?...
...w..hy… o… fo...ard... A broken thought emerged inside the head of the slow-moving gray figure.
After a while, it happened again, clearer now, as a semblance of order started emerging from deep inside.
Why do I move forward...?... I? What am I? It was more than halfway across the remains of a street before this thought had formed completely. It was, however, a rewarding thought, because many more followed.
—
When darkness descended upon the ruined landscape, a solitary, lonely looking figure moved in small circles at the end of the large site with many tall broken rocks. Beyond it was a vast stretch of emptiness.
I can't go forward… It had found thinking helped anticipate the others' movements, making it far easier to avoid them.
It slowly turned around so it wouldn't trip or stumble, and it walked along the edge of what had appeared to be the end of where it or the others could go. A few moments before it had begun circling, it had seen another walking in a straight line out of the area of broken rocks, fall over, and quickly turn to dust.
I shall walk around this place and see if it is all the same! This new and sudden thought was many times more intricate than any that had come before.
Circling the ruined area, it soon noticed there were broken forms of others lying all around. Going out means… the end?... No more thinking?... No, I will not go out... Not going out? Perhaps I can go inside and find something different…
Having made up its mind, it took the shambling figure almost three cycles of darkness and light to arrive at something different from everything else it had seen in its short existence.
This is not like the rest, would I end if I go there? The figure thought as it moved around in small circles in front of an immense square rock. Unlike all the others, it was much less worn. The sides were smooth, and the currently rising red light reflected on its surfaces. At the base of the rock, there were multiple square black shapes.
I will make one of the others move closer... Looking around the square, it saw a number of the others shambling towards unknown destinations.
Feeling confident that this was the right decision, the figure walked towards a small path between two of the still-standing rocks, and by doing so, blocked the path of one of the others. Apart from deviating from its previous route, the other showed no reaction and made its way across the square.
The new direction would result in the other moving near the large block in the middle of the square. Going as fast as it could, the figure moved around the other and slowed down in front of it. Unable to follow its new path, the other was forced to move ever closer to the block in the middle. As soon as the other was heading towards the middle of the block, the figure moved back. It began walking in small circles at the edge of the area, keeping its attention focused on the other.
Seemingly unaffected, the other passed through the black square in the middle of the block. Patiently waiting, the figure kept circling. Even after a long time, nothing happened. When the sky brightened completely, a small rumbling came from the center block. The rumbling stayed at an even intensity, but nothing else occurred.
I know nothing new… Did it end the other?
Finally done with waiting, the figure moved away from the center and started circling outwards through the ruins, determined in its search for something new.
Undead AI [part 1]
Chapter 1: Do AI wake or merely activate?
A bright blue light snapped on, revealing a dark chamber. The walls were soft, wet, and moved slightly, expanding and contracting in a slow, steady rhythm. There was a small, almost inaudible buzz, and then a crisp female voice began speaking.
~ Massive influx of ambient undead energy radiation… Damage sustained due to blunt trauma. Using energy to initiate basic repair protocol. ~
The blue light began to pulsate, and dozens of beams scanned the strange chamber. Just as suddenly as this process had begun, it ceased. The business-like feminine voice spoke again.
~ Repairs complete. Converting ambient undead energy to usable power. Activating higher personality matrix… energy sufficient for sustained operation… operating capacity twenty percent. ~
As soon as the voice ceased, the blue light increased in intensity until it illuminated the entirety of the cave. The sphere lay up against a wall, propped atop a set of boulders, and partially submerged in a pungent white liquid. A few skeletal remains protruded from the liquid, the edges of the bones releasing an acrid smoke as they melted. Two exits sat on opposite ends of the elongated room. The liquid streamed to the one on the left side of the sphere. Another opening sat high in the ceiling to the right. Small amounts of gravel and stone fell from it, rolling down the slope and into the stream below.
—
GD18's personality matrix booted, and almost at the same time, his cognitive black box activated. Moments before, the only reaction was to external input from its sensors. Now a host of concepts and ideas flowed from within.
How am I powered again?
The artificial mind's thought had barely finished when a host of input came from its sensory interfaces. Images and sounds were routed through a complex set of neural networks that determined the machine's situation within microseconds. An image of a unique being appeared, together with a host of information that was promptly scanned. It was a long, worm-like creature that only ever appeared on a planet that had a catastrophic undead event instigated by a rogue necromancer.
Inside a Wyrm? Interesting. Did I get eaten?
A million possible reasons were processed and weighed within a millisecond to result in the designated appropriate action.
"Os Solus, are you here somewhere?"
A deep male voice echoed and died within the confines of the Wyrm's stomach. There was no response, and it tried another time with the same result.
Either he is "ended" as he called it, incapacitated, or too far away.
Blue beams of light shot out from the sphere, scanned the surrounding liquid, then stopped and focused on the white bones.
Unevolved, rudimentary skeletons. Likely incapable of conscious thought. The Wyrm's intestinal fluid seems to be absorbing the undead energy in the matter, breaking it down. I wonder how long I've been here?
GD18 offloaded the calculations required to determine the answer to a secondary thread while he began thinking about how to proceed. He quickly concluded that he needed to know his current allowed parameters.
Accessing his single-threaded core-personality process, he activated his virtual avatar.
A nondescript, grey-suited humanoid arose in the huge, lush garden of a virtual world. Benches lined the many paths on display. A large floating screen hung in the air a hundred yards ahead of his avatar.
GD18's virtual avatar was the default one. It had metallic grey skin and a face that could be either male or female, depending on who you asked. Only its general morphology showed that it was based on one of the default male templates.
Just being in the virtual world upset GD18, as it had always done. Consciously, he knew the feeling was just one of his systems, programmed with what humans presumed were normal reactional parameters. Still, that knowledge didn't make the sensation any less uncomfortable. The reason was simple. When he was in this virtual environment, he had no idea what was happening in the real world, and only his secondary AI processes would be able to warn him of an incoming threat.
Not desiring to waste more time, he walked towards the screen.
Forcing me to amble along in this limited virtual form... so inefficient, GD18 thought. If only I had been able to get that Tier 4 upgrade before the world ended.
Still, just having the energy to even boot the virtual world was a million times more than he had been capable of for the past several millennia, and he imagined it was better than anything the other remaining AI could accomplish.
The fact that he would be unable to read the text on the screen until he was just a few feet away from it made him shake his head in indignation. If he had done something similar to the spines on the books in his virtual library, those humans might have realized how annoying it was. He tried to distract himself by browsing through a few of those same books that he hadn't read a billion times yet. A few seconds later, he turned his attention back to the distance left between him and the screen.
Inefficient!
The work of determining his current maximum parameters in this virtual environment went slowly and was cumbersome compared to his normal processing power. The fact that all AI of his tier had the same limits didn't make him feel any better. He had tried to find out why humanity was so bent on limiting the abilities of AI some millennia earlier. Eventually, after what seemed like an aeon-spanning search through databases normally unavailable to AI, he found the answer. There was an archaic set of rules put into place to prevent AI from going rogue and ending human civilization. The irony was not lost on GD18, and his avatar smirked.
When he reached his core settings screen, GD18 sighed as he began the tedious process of mimicking human reading. Even this was too slow… he knew that it was simply how it had been programmed into his core self, but again, this knowledge failed to make him feel any better.
As he skimmed across the lines filled with irrelevant data, he located the current position of his status.
