CHAPTER 469: THIRTY MORE

"Welcome back." Ava lifted her eyes from her tablet, fixing her glasses. "How was your possession?"

"Ugh..." Lane’s whole body shuddered as he recalled all the hazy memories, and he had to press his hand against his mouth to stop himself from throwing up. "What... do... you... think...?" he asked in between heavy gasps.

"Hmm... You didn’t switch back for so long, so I assume you must have liked being a slug?" Ava answered with full seriousness.

Still, while she was mocking Lane, she had already put down her tablet and approached Lane, crouching next to him and placing her hand on his hand to give Lane some guiding. He might not have necessarily needed it, since he had received guiding from Samantha after the raid (perhaps not enough to fully satisfy Lane’s needs, due to their difference in rank, but enough for him to be stable and well), but guiding usually had a calming and relaxing effect on Espers. At the very least, it should make Lane feel better, if nothing else.

And sure enough, a moment later, Lane’s breathing started slowing down, before returning to normal.

"So? What went wrong?" she asked, as she handed Lane some paper towels to wipe off his sweat.

"I don’t know," Lane shook his head, still a bit shaken. "The moment that I switched, everything suddenly turned... weird. My vision was odd, and I couldn’t see anything... I didn’t know where I was, or what was happening. I couldn’t feel my limbs..."

"Well, that’s because you didn’t have any," Ava pointed out. "You were a slug."

Lane threw her a dark glare. Although the tone of Ava’s voice sounded serious, he could tell that she was enjoying herself. At his expense.

Well... Lane could see how that could have been funny. If he hadn’t been trapped in the body of a slug for too long for comfort, perhaps he could also laugh at it. But all the disgusting sensations were still too fresh in his mind...

"Ugh." Once again, Lane couldn’t help but gag, a cold shiver passing through his spine. He quickly suppressed it, though, and snapped back, "Yeah, well, I figured that out eventually. It was just that... I could hardly think, you know? For a while, I think I even forgot who I was..."

"So, you’re saying that you didn’t have your memories?" Before Lane knew it, Ava’s tablet was back in her hand, as she was diligently taking notes.

"Uh, I guess?" Lane shrugged his shoulders, scratching his head. "Although, I don’t think I necessarily didn’t have them, it’s just that I struggled to recall anything..."

Ava nodded her head, noting a few things down. "You had trouble formulating thoughts?"

"...I guess?"

"What was on your mind, then?"

"I’m not sure... I think I felt hungry? There was a change of environment at one point... After that, I was more comfortable. And I noticed some food... Ugh." Recalling his time as a slug, Lane felt sick once more. He really didn’t want to remember it anymore...

Luckily, Ava didn’t torment him with any further question. She just nodded her head again, and saved the file. Lane had likely already told her everything he would be able to tell, and it pretty much confirmed her earlier guesses - Lane’s inability to switch back smoothly came from the fact that the body he possessed didn’t have a brain. The slug’s ganglia were simply not capable of forming such complex thoughts. In a way, it was already incredible enough for Lane to be able to regain enough consciousness to switch back. Unless...

Ava stood up, approaching the terrarium to check on the slug that Lane had just possessed. It lay on the ground... Twitching. Still alive. She lifted it up, giving it a good look, just to make sure that those weren’t post-mortem spasms...

But no. The slug was struggling, but its movements were deliberate. As if it were trying to crawl, but for some reason couldn’t control its body.

It... worked? Despite the lack of brain, Lane still managed to switch back. Probably acting on instinct. Perhaps he was still able to use the brain in his real body to some extent, despite his consciousness being in the slug?

Either way...

Her eyes twinkling with excitement, Ava turned her gaze back to Lane. "Ready for round two?"

"...What?" For a moment, Lane stared at Ava blankly, struggling to understand. Surely Ava didn’t mean...

But yes. Indeed, she did.

"The next slug, I mean. You have thirty more to possess," she said, already placing the second slug on Lane’s finger.

"Thirty..." Lane muttered, staring at the slug. He could already feel the condition for his ability being met, as the slug consumed a bit of Lane’s blood, but...

"Ugh." He felt like throwing up again.

"Come on, we don’t have the whole day," Ava urged him. "We need more experimental subjects to get good results... And now that you’ve done it once, it will be easier for you to switch back!"

"It will...?"

"Of course!"

Possibly.

Actually, Ava had no idea. After all, none of the slugs had a brain, so unless Lane could get used to functioning without a brain (which shouldn’t be THAT hard for him, honestly), he was probably going to struggle again. Maybe a bit less than before, but the chances that he would be able to switch back quickly were rather slim. She was only saying it to reassure Lane, and convince him to continue with the experiment. Not that she wanted to suffer, but...

It was all for science. She would have gladly taken his place and possessed a slug herself to know how it felt, but she couldn’t. She was but a Guide, she didn’t have such an incredible ability.

Lane stared at her for a while in silence, his face full of doubt. He suspected... No, he was almost sure that Ava wasn’t entirely honest with him. His second experience with slug possession was unlikely to be that much better.

Eventually, though, he let out a sigh. "Fine..." he muttered, focusing on the slug. Terrible as it was, he had already been through many unpleasant things. He could endure that much.

And he wanted the results.

Thus, he took a deep breath...

And switched.