CHAP 3: Home

I stopped hugging her and got up. I put Bea on my shoulder then picked up my stick. I noticed it was dark outside, so we couldn't have a hunting lesson.

"Go rest, Alice. When the sun rises, we will have our first lesson."

"What about you? Don't you need some sleep?"

She said then yawned, something I saw because Bea was looking at her

"I do not."

"And yet you say you're not some kind of mystical being."

I would've responded, but she was already sleeping by now. I entered the laboratory and noticed that my test subject looked very pale, so I went over to him and put my left hand on his torso. This allowed me to see that his cells were not entirely made from fungus, but seemed to have been infected in a more run-of-the-mill way. This, while not precisely seeming complex, was something I had not managed to do since the fungus was not completely under my control and tended to analyze the cell, replicate it then destroy the original cell. I still don't have the power needed to make this happen reliably, but what I truly needed were the samples. I connected to the heart, then bound the man to one of the walls, penetrating his arms to allow the fungus to feed and hydrate him. Sadly for him, I currently have no means of sedating or inducing sleep, so he'll have to suffer in a personal hell for some time.

Samples secured, I made a chair, desk, paper, and pencil. I started making some notes, getting used to writing again after a long time, after some mindless scribbling, I found myself comfortable enough to start writing some basic mathematical concepts. I never thought I'd find myself writing a book about mathematics to a child, I guess life does keep on giving. I wrote for about 8 hours and got about halfway through what I wanted to achieve, however, I would need to check if what I had written was readable and understandable. I got up from my desk, then out of my laboratory.

Alice was still asleep, so I went outside. I let Bea down, disconnected my vision from her, then lit up a cig. I'm not sure why only my smokes, folding knife, and lighter were transported to this world, even when my gun and my canteen were similarly in my possession, maybe they were lost when I was transported here? I currently have no way of knowing, but I find it interesting to keep in mind. The whole way I got here is a mystery I have been keeping off on thinking about, simply because I have no parameters about interdimensional or temporal or whatever kind of way I got here, or exactly where I am. It looks like Earth, the people are clearly human and are using a human language, but I'm sure that if something like the fungus existed, people would know about it. It would've impacted our development as a whole, which is a big piece of evidence that while this place may be Earth, it is not my Earth.

But if it isn't my Earth, what exactly is it? How many Earths exist? Where exactly is this place, another universe? Or is it possible that, by pure probability, a planet exists where people look and talk human, and at least this part of the ecosystem looks exactly the same, but there exists a piece of fungi that has biological properties that seem magical? If that's the case, can I go back? Will I even be alive by then? As a matter of fact, if I appear older than I was before, why do I feel more energetic than ever? I inhaled the smoke, let it out, and my chaotic thoughts faded away along the smoke.

The only things I know for sure are that I am here now and that I have been, for better or for worse, given another chance. My biggest concern right now is my own mortality, because I am not sure I will manage to achieve the fungi-human fusion in time before I am dead if that even is a possibility, nor am I sure if that fusion would even be a solution to my own maybe mortality. As I exhaled the smoke, I stabbed my stick into the ground and used the hyphae to make three targets in the form of a wolf, a moose, and a caribou. I leaned on the wall, then continued smoking, following with my senses as Bea played around the forest.

"Bea, you done?"

As my little fox got close to me, I kneeled and picked her up, putting her on my shoulder, then connected my vision with hers. I saw that the sun was rising, and entered the house. I spiked my cane into the ground, made some coats for Alice, then made a simple breakfast, double servings for Alice, and as I put the plates on the table, I saw that Alice was already up, she sat down and started munching.

"People normally say good morning, you know?

"Good morning."

"Did you have a good night of sleep?"

"Yes, hadn't had one in a long time."

"Good. We're going to work on your archery, then go hunt."

She hummed while munching on some greens, I don't have a variety of ingredients, but at least it's something to eat. I ate my share, got up, then pointed at the coats I'd made.

"You can use those clothes."

I went out of the cave, Alice following while putting a coat around her body.

"You said archery, but I don't see any bows?"

I stabbed my cane on the ground and made a bow and some arrows for her. I passed the bow over for her.

"Should've guessed. It's too big for me, though."

"Oh, sorry. I'm too accustomed to making bows for myself."

I made another bow and arrows, this time with an appropriate size.

"Try this one."

"It's good."

"Well then, try shooting at the targets."

She shot three arrows, one at each target. Her form was not too shabby, her father must've taught her something before he passed. I walked closer to the targets, then signaled Alice to come over.

"You hit the targets, but that's not good enough. These animals could run away, so you have to focus on the head, neck, and thighs. If we were talking about a real situation, an option would be making traps around the area, simply tying ropes to two trees is good enough, but since we're talking about archery at stationary targets, all that matters is your aim. Got it?"

"Yes."

"Your posture is not bad, but I saw some problems. Your feet are positioned correctly, but you're bending your torso, and leaning into the bow. Hold your posture again, please."

She did as I asked. I corrected her position, then kneeled in front of her.

"Your shoulders are stiff. Before you shoot, always take a deep breath, and release the pressure from your body. The thing that should be under tension is your string, not you. Now, you're going to try shooting some more, maintaining this position, and letting your body get used to it. Got it?"

"Yes."

I picked the arrows from the targets, and we went back to the initial distance, and she started shooting. She still made some mistakes, but she was correcting herself slowly. She shot 15 arrows, hitting most of them in deadly places, but she missed 2 arrows on the wolf target.

"Good. "Did the changes in stance make it feel more comfortable?"

"Yes, it did. Thanks."

"No need to thank me. You got the hang of it quite fast, you know? I'm impressed."

"Is that so?"

"Definitely faster than I did. Think you're ready to go hunting?"

"I'd like to train some more if I could?"

"If you see fit. Want some more arrows?"

"Please."

I made 40 arrows.

"Want more targets?"

"Can I choose the animals?"

"Sure."

"A bear and a lemming, please."

I stabbed my cane into the ground, then made the targets and the arrows. I leaned on the wall, watching as Alice practiced. After two hours, she finally set her bow down and turned to me.

"I'm done, we can go now."

I got up from the wall, then walked over to the targets, noticing that the bear was the one who was shot the most and that she was more accurate, other than that, it seemed that she was overall a good shot, some more training and she would get better than me. I picked the arrows, gave her some, and took some for myself, the rest being returned to the fungus, then created a bow. As we walked towards one of the pressures I felt, Alice ran over to my side.

"Do you know where we are going?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Magic."

"So you admit it is magic?!"

"I admit that I do not have a deep enough understanding to explain the workings behind my abilities, so for the sake of efficiency, it'll be magic until I understand it enough to stop being magic."

"Magic is still magic, even if you understand it."

"Magic is a form of deceit, it's about the spectacle, not about the act itself."

"That's boring."

I sneered.

"Indeed it is."

"How close are we?"

"About 300 meters."

"What?"

"Close, we should be quiet."

We walked for two-ish minutes and finally saw the caribou, which was currently feeding on the buried lichen, Alice went over to me, and tapped me on the shoulder, then whispered in my ear.

"I need some rope."

"You'll have to make those yourself."

"How?"

"Should've thought about that before."

"Please?"

"If you depend on me all the time, you'll learn nothing."

She pouted. Both I and Bea looked at her until she relented, so she moved to a better position, took her stance, took a deep breath, then took the shot, hitting the neck of the caribou. The animal tried running, but Alice shot again and hit it in its leg, stopping it in its tracks. I walked over to it, the girl coming out of her position and following.

"Take it out of its misery."

"What?"

"Pointless suffering is to be avoided. Killing can be a type of mercy."

She took one of her arrows out, but she still hesitated. I put my left hand over the caribou's body, feeling its life fade away slowly. As I looked at its eyes, Alice stabbed it in its brain.

"How did it feel?"

"What?"

"Your first kill."

"It wasn't my first kill."

"It was your first real kill. The proximity makes things personal, it really puts the weight behind what you did. So how did it feel?"

"I only felt the difficulty of pushing the arrow into its brain."

"Is that so? No exhilaration, disgust, remorse, guilt?"

"No."

"Feelings are important, Alice, so be honest."

"I'm being honest already."

I turned to her, and put my hands on her shoulders, looking at her eye to eye. She rapidly averted her eyes.

"I'm not going to judge you for having feelings, Alice. But alright, keep your secrets."

I turned to the carcass and pulled out my folding knife, handing it over to Alice.

"Ever learned how to process a caribou?"

The day passed as I taught Alice the ways of butchering and hunting. The sun set as we reached home, I dropped the sack of meat into the freezer and put the pelts on the workbench.

"Wash your hands."

"Where's the basket?"

"Here."

I grabbed her and put her on top of the sink. I used the fungus to find underground water and to transport said water into a tank, which allowed me to have running water, and soap was easy to make. I opened the tap and washed my hands, closing the tap.

"Got it?"

She nodded and did the same, seemingly amazed.

"Is this another of your magic tricks?"

"Sure."

She dropped down.

"I thought you didn't have water to clean yourself."

"Why?"

"You stink."

"What?"

"You smell very bad."

Strangely, I didn't smell anything. But as Bea looked at me, I realized that I was completely filthy, my once-white clothes were full of dried blood, my beard and hair had become brown, and the only part of my skin that wasn't covered in absolute filthiness was my hands. As this realization hit me, I recognized my own smell, and it was bad. Very bad. I stabbed my cane into the ground and started moving the fungus around, shaking the ground. I extended the length of the bathroom and changed the water system to make a shower.

"What was that?"

"Magic, obviously."

I dislodged my cane from the ground, picked up one bar of soap I'd made, then entered the bathroom. Alice followed me, then pointed at the toilet.

"I was wondering what that thing is."

"That's a toilet. You relieve yourself in there, push the button, and everything's clean."

She looked at me with a twinkle in her eyes.

"That's amazing."

"It is."

"And what's that?"

She pointed at the newly made shower.

"A bigger version of the thing that throws water. A shower."

"So I can clean my body?"

"Yes."

"You should use it, then."

"Was planning on doing that."

"Oh, right, sorry."

She left and closed the door behind her. I took a very long shower, making sure to clean myself thoroughly, dried blood has always been a bother to clean. By the time I was finished, I looked like a new man. I cut my hair, then shaved. I doubted that I would be able to clean my clothes, so, with a heavy heart, I made the fungus consume them, then made a simple t-shirt and pants. The fabric wasn't as comfortable as my old ones, but it's good enough, should probably work on making clothes with the fungus in the future. I got out of the bathroom, Alice waiting for me. She looked very surprised.

"That's what you look like?"

"Older than you expected?"

"Yes. I thought you looked younger."

"But you called me an old man before."

"I thought you were the lord of the forest, that would make you very old."

"I suppose. You should shower as well."

"Can I?"

"I offered, didn't I?"

I moved out of the way, and she entered the bathroom.

"I'm going to my lab."

"Okay!"

The wall moved, and I entered my lab. I approached the subject, noticing he was less pale, made a syringe then took some of his blood, I put that blood into the freezer, then went back to him, putting my left hand on his torso, his body had become even more infected, including his brain. Going by the fact that he seems absolutely terrified of me, it's safe to assume he still has a consciousness of his own, which is exactly what I wanted. Every single subject lost their sentience when their central nervous system was fully infected, and this is why I was hesitating. His blood contains a "diluted" version of the fungus, so if I used it to infect myself, the probability of losing myself is quasi-null, however, I have yet to know if such a mild infection would have any positive effect.

This is why I pulled out my folding knife and made an incision on one of his hands, his muffled scream showing that the pain was not dulled, I watched as the area turned pale and the cut rapidly closed, so a kind of accelerated healing. I slashed his finger off, picked it up then put it back in its place, after some time, the finger reconnected as if nothing had happened, since the finger started to move. Very promising. I noticed that my clothes had been dirtied again, beginner's move, should've made an apron. I stabbed my cane on the ground and moved the man to the horizontal, making a nice little surgery table, and made myself an apron, and a jigsaw. I sang Dark is the Night to myself as I sawed one of his arms off, then reconnected it, so major limbs could be reconnected as well. I had forgotten how messy cutting limbs is, when was the last time I had to do this myself?

It's at these times I realized how much I miss my Walkman. If the history of this world is the same as mine, then they must have already invented the phonograph, I just need to get my hands on one. I should make some instruments as well. I can't even remember when I had free time to play the violin, the piano, or the guitar. I must be very rusty. I should teach Alice how to play an instrument, art is a very important way of expressing yourself, after all. But first, I have to make sure I don't die of old age. I took the blood of the man and infected myself. While this isn't the hybridization I was looking for yet, it's a step in the right direction.

I took my apron off, then connected to the heart and started working on the clothing. Sadly I didn't find any web-weaving spiders around the area, so I didn't have access to the useful material that is spider silk, so the cotton of my old clothes is going to suffice. The nature of the fungus allowed me to work more precisely on the structure of the fabric, so I tested different tensions and arrangements of the fiber. Some were too stiff, some too easy to rip, but after some trial and error, I found a structure that was to my liking, it wasn't groundbreaking stuff, nor was it any kind of effective armor, but it was insulated enough, flexible, and comfortable, which is everything I need, and it was better than my last clothes. I should tan some of the leather I have because going around looking like a caveman wearing the untreated hide of animals doesn't give off the best of impressions.

I made some bedding as well since the bed should be not that comfortable. I wouldn't know, It's been there just for show, really, since it seems I have lost my ability to sleep since I got here, in any case, I made a pillow with the fur of arctic foxes. Maybe I should enter the textile industry if I want to make some money, but it is possible that people would look too much into products and see that they're made out of fungus, which would probably leave them very confused and me very sued. I disconnected from the heart.

I really wish I had some better microscopes, but considering the hassle I went through to make my current one, that will have to wait. Making the fungus assume an amorphous structure was hard, but doing so was probably my biggest breakthrough, the implications of being able to change the structure of molecules so accurately means that I could theoretically make any material I want, but the goddamned problem is that I can't see what I'm doing, so it's just a game of guess, really.

I was suddenly hit with a heavy vertigo, which made me stumble. I supported myself on the table, hearing ringing in my ears. The infection must've reached the brain, but the vertigo was unexpected. As I felt the world spin, I almost lost my support and fell, deciding that the ground was a safer place, I sat down. Bea was looking at me until she jumped on my lap and snuggled to my stomach. I tried patting her, but missed some times, when I finally managed to land my hand on her head, I got somewhat less dizzy. It was bizarre to feel as if your world was spinning but not seeing it. I held back the urge to throw up until the feeling passed.

I slowly got up, regaining my bearings. The feeling of being able to "see" your own brain is very strange. I haven't been fully infected yet, it'll take some more time for that, but the thing I was more worried about was the brain, and since nothing seemed to have gone too bad, I'll consider the test a success. I connected to the heart, and my brain was suddenly bombarded with information. It took some time to get used to the feeling, but I guess this was what was the fungus, I understood now that the connection I had with the fungus before was not as deep as I thought it to be. If before I was the "admin" of the servers, I was now an artificial intelligence with control over nature's greatest supercomputer, and it felt overwhelming.

I finally confirmed my theory that the fungus had a rudimentary intelligence since I could hear it speaking now. Well, sort of speaking, it was more like the transmission of simple emotions, like "hunger" and "curiosity". Other than that, I'm more interested in the fact that I can be a fucking supercomputer. The human brain is very powerful, yes, but this is on another level, and the confirmation of the intricacy of the mycelium is both fascinating and horrifying. The origins of this fungus continue to intrigue me.

But I should focus on the matters at hand, such as the fact that I can see what I am doing when manipulating matter now, sort of. If before it was a process of visualization and then translation to the fungus, who would then create, now the process is shortened to just being the visualization then the creation. Sadly, the process of manipulating molecules is not facilitated beyond the implications of upgrading my brain, since the fungus seems to do such things by guessing as well. If I manage to evolve the fungus in some manner, however, I would have a philosopher's stone.

Other than that, the fact that I can hear the fungus directly probably means that I can communicate directly, and it seems to be able to learn, and so it can be taught. It seems I'll have to be a teacher to two kids. And lastly, my prospects of achieving hybridization are looking much better now, in fact, if before I had a loose theory, I now have a very good idea of how to do it, the problem is that it will be a lengthy process.

While I would like to start working on that right now, I should prioritize working on writing my books, because if I have Alice helping me, hell, even the fungus itself, it'll be much easier. I created a chair to sit on while still connected to the heart and used the fungus to write the rest of the math book. The book ended up being bigger than I thought it would, and now it was the compiled information of mathematics till the high school level. I decided it would be better to separate the book into areas, which transformed a very big book into a bunch of big books. But as I read through them, I found them to be very comprehensible, and if Alice had any questions, I could always answer them. The math book done, I started working on the biology one, and this would be a very important one.

I focused specifically on the subjects of microbiology and genetics, since I found them to be both the most interesting and useful, considering I wanted her to help me with the fungus. I made an effort to be clear on the rest of the subjects but didn't go too deep in any of them, minus the human anatomy one, since I was very familiar with the subject, considering my past with medicine and all. A good surgeon is a good killer is all I'm going to say. I had forgotten how much I liked drawing, and since I practiced it fairly often, I wasn't rusty at all, I even made a new notebook and some nice pencils, since mine hadn't been transported here. With biology done, I moved on to physics.

I have to say, being a supercomputer helps with writing, because I had taken 8 hours to write half of the math book, and now I've made a bunch of books in less than 3 hours. The physics one was basic but good enough, I don't have much of an affinity with the subject, but I would say my knowledge is passable. The same with chemistry.

After all of those were done, I started making some books on languages. Considering my field and my position, I ended up learning a lot of languages, being fluent in the more prominent ones like Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, English, French, German, Arabic, Hindi, Finnish, Punjabi, Urdu, Italian, Bengali, Swedish, and Nigerian Pidgin, and being able to work my way through the others. Quite the long list, yes, but I aim to please, and there's nothing more pleasing to others than speaking in their language, and language is the best weapon in the art of negotiation.

Writing books about those would have to wait, however, because Alice had just called me, so I disconnected from the heart, realizing that I should be careful with the feeling of power being connected to mycelium can give since it can be genuinely addictive. Talking about addictions, I should get to work on making alcohol with the fungus, since I had already secured the production of more cigs by giving the fungus one of mine to consume. Recollecting my thoughts, I moved the wall and got out.

"You dirtied yourself already?"

"I'm getting sloppy. Hungry?"

"Yes."

"Good, Bea may not admit it, but I heard her stomach growling"

I went to put my hand on the little vixen and she bit me, but I patted her anyway.

"You're angry 'cause it's true. Don't worry, a full belly is going to get your humor fixed up in an instant."

She started snuggling against my hand as soon as I talked about food, my little vixen has started to pick up on how to emotionally manipulate me, I'm so proud. I picked her up from my shoulder and hugged her. I went over to the sink and cleaned my hands and face then started cooking.

"So, Alice, how did you like taking a shower."

"It was very good!"

"I'm glad you liked it."

"You seem to be in a good mood, did you find some new magic?"

"I've made some advancements in my research, yes. Not only that, but I got a surprise for you."

"What is it?"

"After dinner."

The lack of seasoning has been bothering me quite a lot. Still, it's better to have something to eat than nothing at all, so I shouldn't complain. I did the same dish I've been making since I got here and served it. If I find a river, I could get my hands on some salmon, fish would make for a nice change. Alice ate the food very fast, and I'm not sure if it is because she was really hungry or if she want to see what the surprise is about. Sadly for her, it's a bunch of books. As I ate my food, I could feel her excitement. I'm almost thinking about changing the "surprise" to something kids would like more than books. Having finished, I got up, and put Bea on my shoulder

"Where is it?"

"Calm down, girl. I'm going to get them."

"Them?"

I entered the lab and made a box to put all the books in. Getting out, I put them down on the ground. Alice opened the box very enthused, and when she saw they were books, she got even happier. Oh, I just made an anachronism. Kids of the past found books to be very cool, especially considering they're so rare.

"Do you like them?"

"Yes! Were you the one who wrote them?"

"Yes, what you have there are very good courses in a bunch of subjects."

She deflated.

"Those types of books?"

"Yes."

"You're a meanie."

"You want some fantasy books?"

She nodded. I squatted and showed my pinky.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Pinky promise. For every one of those books you finish, and by finishing I mean understanding most of the subjects, I promise going to write a very fancy and cool story for you, so you have to promise you're going to finish every single one of those I write."

"Right, I promise."

I twiddled my pinky around.

"What?"

"You have to pinky promise, or we'll not have any kind of real agreement."

"And how do I do that?"

"Wrap your pinky around mine."

She did as I said, and I nodded.

"Pleasure making business with you."

I stabbed my cane into the ground and made a study room with two desks, one for me and one for her, and some bookshelves. I pointed to the newly created door.

"That's where you're going to study, and where our lessons will be held."

She went over and opened the door. She was very happy.

"I have my own desk?"

"Yes."

I brought the books over and started putting them on the bookshelves, at a height where she would reach, of course.

"These shelves are so big."

"Yes, and they're going to be filled."

"Will they? How?"

"Well, when we travel around the world, you're going to find books you like, and as you grow older and taller, you're going to fill all of these bookshelves with those books."

"Travel the world?!"

"Yes, did you think we were going to be stuck in this cold place all our lives?"

"You're going to bring me with you?"

"If you want to go with me, of course. And when you grow old enough, you can go wherever you want."

"Can I?"

"Of course you do. If you have the resources and the will to make the journey, of course."

"And I can always come back here?"

"If you want to."

"If you're going to be here, I'll always come back."

She looked at me and smiled.