Sapience

Hours may feel fast to a non-sapient being, but sapient creatures can feel the flow of time quite differently than simpler beasts. This is something the cryptid not only learns when it begins the process of absorbing Nathan's knowledge, but also something he experiences firsthand.

The elevated beast has the instinctual sharpness of mind to devise a scheme that both allows it some form of limited consciousness while also absorbing the more active portions of Nathan's identity even after it snaps out of the worst part of the haze it falls into whenever it consumes someone. This simple scheme is a rudimentary plan, but it's still proof that the beast is learning, even without repeated consumptions of animals and people.

The reason the horrific monster kept itself active during the time that following it devouring Nathan but preceded the moment it read the notification alerting it to intruders was that very plan. The result of the straightforward plan is that when the creature is done viewing the notification it can act with more complexity and depth of thought than it could have before, something it will soon have a chance to demonstrate.

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As I mentally process the notification I have just read, a hungry and wolfish grin pulling my lips upward all the while, I reflect on my first few hours of sapience. They have been… strange.

Sapience, at least as defined by humans, came slowly to me. There is a reason I spent the first few hours following my acquisition of sapience doing things as seemingly simple as familiarizing myself with my limbs and reading the floating text that would infrequently appear in the middle of my eyeline.

All my actions during the hours between the moment that I devoured Nathan and when I have just finished reading the latest "Alert" were part of a quickly hatched plan to give myself the space needed to develop a sort of self-identity. That process has been weird.

The influx of knowledge, the sudden gaining of the preliminary parts of an identity, and the beginning of my version of meaningful awareness was overwhelming primarily because all three of those things happened at once. After having gone through lesser versions of this before when I devoured other animals it appears that I began to understand portions of this process on a curiously instinctual level and so I was able to nearly instantly come up with a rudimentary plan that allowed me to have the time I needed to get used to this new treasure trove of knowledge and cognitive ability.

That plan, simple and unimpressive but serviceable, was for me to focus on gaining an appropriate level of familiarity with my own body before I devoted any real mental intent to deeper, less material questions aside from ones that were directly relevant to my immediate circumstances like "What is a cabin?". This would distract enough of my mind that I could limit the strain a mental scan like this would put on me and thus keep it from sending me back into something akin to a haze.

During the time I spent doing simple exercises, like walking, stretching, or running, I was able to both unconsciously and consciously sift through the "highlights", as an American human might put it, of a lifetime of memories and thoughts without losing awareness. That is one way of demonstrating some higher thinking that I possess now, compared to my thinking before I devoured Nathan.

The time I have spent doing this has allowed me to gain the active knowledge needed to make the sort of sense a human would make of my surroundings and my instincts. Not to mention that my investment of time has given me a chance to truly appreciate that my first human victim was someone as educated as a college professor.

Armed with the knowledge I now possess I can tell that if I had devoured someone less astute… Well, I wouldn't be as prepared for the events to come as I can be, thanks to Nathan's mind. Thanks to the professor's awareness of many great works of literature, according to him at least, I can recall topics, themes, and events in many classic novels which gives me a curious and extensive knowledge base.

It is the part of my mind that has shown itself to be savvy at unpacking memories that began to scheme the second that I read the notification which has refused to vanish the first time I read it. That mentally dexterous part of my mind has already hatched a range of ideas, many of which make use of the fact that I have a shadowy companion in the shape of a real human man, which if acted upon will allow me to get an advantage over my foes.

The text box in front of me, the only one so far that hasn't vanished as soon as I finished reading it, is a curious thing. It is a blue box, almost like a weirdly colored speech bubble from a comic book. Inside of it is the text that informs me of the presence of uninvited humans in the forest, though as I study the thing I begin to connect my memories with what I am currently experiencing and I realize, at least on an active level, that this is the same sort of text box as the one I saw when "My" cabin alerted me to the fact that Nathan and Peggy were inside of it.

With what I know when it comes to Nathan's knowledge and life, neither of which I have totally comprehended just yet, as well as the words of the shadow, I am confident that this is unlike anything he experienced while he was alive so because his ignorance is coupled with my own this is far less intuitive for me to try and make sense of than human things are. Hmm… That's a weakness, but I have enough self-awareness to know that I can overcome it under the right circumstances.

If I want to overcome this weakness all I need to do is devour more people, and other living things, until I eat someone or something with the right knowledge and experience when it comes to these text boxes. If I can see them then there's no reason for me to believe that no one else can, after all, even if many or most other people can't see them. I also know they aren't hallucinations since I was able to find Nathan and Peggy by using the boxes.

I wonder if the "Jumper" that the text box mentions would know about this? It's hard to imagine that the events of today are not related to the fact that the jumper, a being specifically noted by the lengthiest text box I've seen so far has appeared especially when I think about the fact that today is the first day I've seen any of these boxes. If the jumper is knowledgeable when it comes to all of this… Well, it's not like I need to ask him, since I snatch knowledge from those slain by myself. All I have to do is end his life, whoever "he" even ends up being.

I snap out of my internal musings and intently study my surroundings. I am still in the bedroom where Nathan met his end, and the creature I created out of the professor's lingering shadow is still here as well.

Well… to say that "I created it" is giving me more credit than I deserve even if it's an accurate, if rushed, summary of the being's origins. As far as I can tell I am the creature's creator, but not in an intelligent way… I created the thing by accident, in an uncontrolled burst of power after I slew Nathan.

The being has not moved much in the time since I snapped out of the bizarre haze I fall into every time I kill and devour another creature. It has kept watching me silently and has seemed more than content to simply watch me.

The being is an exact replica of Nathan, down to the clothes the being is wearing which are a copy of the outfit I slew Nathan in. The one difference between the man's outfit and the shadow's outfit is that his clothes, unsurprisingly, do not have the holes I created in the actual man's outfit when I pierced his heart and destroyed his brain.

I can sense, with enough certainty that I believe it, that the being's loyalty is directed towards one creature: me. My senses, both physical and supernatural, assure me of that. There is something in the way the creature looks at me, and something about the emotions in its body language, that fill me with confidence that whatever I created when my energy seeped into the shadow from which the man was birthed is mine in any and every important way. Just like the forest and the cabin. And things being mine feels… natural, and good.

"Y… o… u." I mutter, "my" voice is still alien to me and it's difficult for me to exert the same control over it that able-bodied humans can exert over theirs due to just how wide the differences between my experiences and theirs are. My words cause the shadow-duplicate to look at me excitedly.

"Yes, me?" He asks, as he puts a hand over his chest, and I can see the flicker of excitement in his eyes. I nod at him.

"D…o, you, know… what you are?" I ask, and with each meaningful utterance, I can feel my skill with this physiological ability increasing. The shadow's eyes brighten as I speak more articulately and the creature nods in delight at me.

"I do! Kind of. If nothing else, I can guess what I am. Though it is, thankfully, an educated guess. I'm a 'Shadow Servant'. At least according to a strange text box that appeared in front of me when I was able to free myself from the lingering shadows of Nathan's real, slain body, I reflect the man, knowing what he knows and able to do what he can do… But I am enhanced, better than him, due to his essence mixing with your power. I am smarter, more in-shape, and otherwise improved." The creature explains.

As it speaks, I am reminded of just how skilled humans can be with this ability of theirs. Nathan's shadow is a quick speaker, and a talented one, just like the actual man was if his memories of himself can be trusted as reliable indicators of his skills. And a split second later I realize that he knows what he is, which means that he knows more than I do about his current condition.

"Your power is responsible for my current state. I was born from the last scraps of Nathan's identity, which were contained in his shadow. When your magical energy seeped into his shadow, I was gifted the power to wrench myself free from it in exchange for my loyalty. Given how I was created, or at least freed, it should be possible to replicate this feat with the shadows of other creatures… Sadly Nathan did not know about the supernatural in life so aside from what I know about you and what I know about my own current circumstances neither do I." The shadow tells me, looking apologetic by the time he finishes speaking.

I do not bother responding right away. The words of the creature, which I can tell are the truth at least as far as the shadow knows, are weighty.

The fact that the being itself believes that the process could be replicated means I ought to consider the possibilities that come with committing an act that would be described by humans as "Murder". Armed with Nathan's knowledge of these complex, language-heavy topics, I decide to pause and actually think about the killing I've done and whether I should plan to execute tremendous violence or do literally anything else given the powers I possess.

Until now I've only eaten things because I could. I had no malice towards other creatures or any sort of ulterior motive, I was just capable of killing them and they weren't able to flee so when we met, I ended their lives. Now I can kill, an act which many humans look down on, for reasons beyond filling my stomach. At the same time, I could easily use my newfound knowledge of philosophy and ethics as justification to stop my acts and to behave in ways that go beyond my instincts…

I begin to pace the room. As I do this I think about my own actions, and I consider the different schools of thought that Nathan was aware of during his life. The man was a well-renowned academic and a prolific writer who opined on a range of topics. Like many writers he was well-read as well and because of this, thanks to the fact that some of his knowledge has already been absorbed, I also personally possess a decent level of awareness of several different schools of ethics and morality.

Nathan wasn't a professor of ethics or morality, but he sure liked those topics. After several moments contemplating what I internally dub the "A Few Human Takes on Morality and Ethics", I begin to turn inward and I allow myself to think less like a human and more like a hungry and powerful unholy beast.

When I leave behind the ideas of stuffy philosophers and modern-day preachers, I consider my instincts. Initially my instincts pushed me to answer either every, or at least as many as possible, problems with the use of powerful and overwhelming force. Now, to be fair to my instincts, while humans spend centuries grappling with complex moral quandaries and making no little to no headway, I have been able to go from a simple beast to a complex, internally insightful being in a matter of hours.

Humans, who have created whole schools of thought devoted to understanding morality, ethics, science, and life, can't even attain knowledge of beings like me, but my murderous, supernatural abilities have allowed me to become a being able to take on humans, at least when they are surprised, and come out on top. Hours ago, in my animal form, I would have perished if I happened to stumble across anyone owning a sizable gun, decent aim, and a desire to bag a big predator.

Now… Well, now I can take on a form that should stop humans, or some humans at least, from trying to shoot me; that of a human. It seems, if Nathan is to be believed, that while humans would do it if they felt they needed it too, most people, on a statistical scale, prefer not to shoot each other anymore.

Nathan's thoughts were often dark and he viewed the coming of non-violence in a cynical way. The cynic felt that nonviolence was a new development for them. It seems that in their millennia of existence, humans are only just coming around to the idea of non-violence, and even then, not completely. What a species!

And all of this is without factoring in the new news… When I kill, it's possible that I snatch away a specific portion of someone's essence and bring it to life. This act gives me new allies, at least so long as it works. The shapeshifting shadows I command are another reason for me to feel free to kill whenever I please since doing so grants me more than new knowledge and abilities. Killing can even grant me valuable manpower, a rare and expensive resource according to many different business magazines Nathan read during his childhood.

When thought of and placed along a sequential list in my mind's eye, I realize that it feels like "the universe" as some humans would say is sending me a clear message regarding which path I ought to follow. After all, I am not human so why should I do things the human way if doing so only slows me down? Just because human intelligence is what granted me the boosts to my cognitive capacity doesn't mean the human way is the best way all the time. I need to contextualize things carefully and thoughtfully and respectfully consider every possibility when determining the best choices for myself.

This targeted, internal contemplation causes a new notification to appear in the middle of my eyeline; one that is all about me and my powers! The notification is a lengthy thing that tells me the details of my powers, or as the notification puts it my "Build".

According to the newest text box to pop into existence in front of me I am a "Cryptid", "Monster", as far as "Origins" go, so "Naturally", according to the text box at least, I possess all the "Perks" and "Items" available to either type of being, though many are situated throughout the state rather than being on my person.

The rest of the long text box is a list of my abilities, even detailing the processes and thoughts which I need to know to be able to meaningfully exert any particularly power on the list. The thing even ends in an ordered list revealing potential perk combos I can use on those I hunt! I read it eagerly and have never been so happy to be able to read since it means that now I can fully use at least some of the powers inside of me.

Several moments pass as I contemplate a range of topics, a variety of sources, and I even look inward as I read the notification allowing me to consciously know about my powers, while I muse about both the human way of getting knowledge and the monstrous way of taking knowledge. All of this is for the sake of developing my own thoughts on these topics, but I won't get the chance, today at least, to really dive into the nuanced and continuous work needed to begin to make meaningful progress in areas like those ones.

My inward contemplation is only interrupted when I am alerted to the fact that the intruders are delving deeper into the forest and closer to me by another alert. This new one appears next to the one that I've just been reading. This causes me to turn to Nathan's shadow and open my mouth to speak yet again, causing the figure to look at me reverentially once more.

"Should we… greet some visitors?" I ask, menace audible in my voice even though I have to pause partway through my words. I can still manage to get the whole thing out quickly before I begin to smile darkly at the man. I am much more dangerous than I was minutes ago now that I have full, real control over my powers and the ability to make use of "Perk Combos". The creature I asked to accompany me responds silently with an equally mischievous grin.

In no time at all Nathan's shadow and I are on our way in pursuit of foes who have not yet felt our cold touch. The forest outside of the cabin is pitch-black, the sort of eerie, cold darkness which doesn't make much sense this time of year, but chills to the bone all the same. I am thankfully not bothered by the cold but it's good for me to be able to sense it on my skin and feel it enter me like a jolting of refreshing, chilly water. By looking around in my new surroundings, the road right outside of my cabin, I can see what I know is my target…

My eyes track a pair of lance-like headlights, somewhere on the road behind enough trees to partially obfuscate my view. They stand out like sore thumbs and even as I gaze at them, I can hear the different heartbeats belonging to the multiple passengers of the… what I determine, after squinting, is a small van. I smirk, hungrily, and I turn to the shadow at my side.

"I have a plan... And I need your help with it." I explain, causing my ally to nod seriously at me.

"We're going to set a trap, because there are multiple people in that van and I want to eat them all." I add, seriously. There is no humor in my gaze, and my servant does not smile or smirk when he sees my facial expression.

"Yes master. By your will, it will be done." The shadow tells me, a serious, stone-faced look on his face as he waits for my specific instructions.