131. Bloom

- Are you joking? - Gwen asked, concern in her voice.

- No, I really can't turn into a human in any way. The Omnitrix is ​​completely unresponsive to my commands. Even Kenkotrix is ​​useless. - I said, continuing to slap the emblem on my chest.

- Why is this happening? - Ashley asked, also hitting the emblem, but nothing came of it.

- I do not know. My Omnitrix has always worked properly… - I said hesitantly, trying to find a solution to this problem.

- [I think it's time for you to bloom.] - Morgana's voice came from my laptop, which she was in to help me create my world.

- That's right, bloom. It slipped from my mind. Thanks for the reminder, Morgana. - I said with relief, having stopped trying to return to human form.

- Bloom? What are you speaking about? - Gwen asked incredulously.

- This is a feature of this race. As a plant-based life form, the Methanosians have multiple periods of maturation. I'm now sixteen years old and this is just the time when the Metanosians reach their sexual maturity and they begin the flowering stage, that is, the maturation of the body. - I said, at the same time noticing that my body had already become a little larger than before.

- So you're flourishing right now? How is the flower? - Gwen asked.

- Yes, by analogy with plants, we can say, that this alien used to be a growing stem, and now it's time for the bud to open. - I nodded my head as I sat down at the table.

- And what does it change for you? - Ashley asked.

- For my human body, nothing will change, but Swamp Fire will get an upgrade. I will become much stronger physically, my regeneration will reach a new level, and the fire blasts that I can shoot from my hands will become much more powerful. And of course, my connection with plants and chlorokinesis will only get better. - I said briefly.

To be honest, I completely forgot that there is a possibility that this could happen. I just got used to the fact that I have been in complete control of my aliens for a long time, and the same aggressive disposition of Rath is not a problem for me, but apparently I can't trample against nature.

There is nothing wrong with this, of course, and I'm even glad that the Swamp Fire will become stronger, especially since it is somewhat similar to the manifestation of the alpha forms that I am currently working on.

But the fact that flowering happened so abruptly and unexpectedly is unpleasant. It's good that I was in a safe environment, and not in the middle of a battle ... It also reminded me of the problem of Big Chill.

I do not want to bear children because of the instincts of the Necrophrygian race. I'm still too young for this. And actually, I'm a man. So something needs to be done to prevent this from happening. As you can see from the Swamp Fire, I can't resist the aliens' natural biological processes in any way....

- And what do you do now? - Ashley asked, breaking my flow of thoughts.

- Just wait for the bloom to end. - I shrugged my shoulders and said in a nasally alien voice.

- But doesn't that mean you're stuck in that Alien's form indefinitely? - Gwen asked. noticing a clear problem.

- Eh, yes. Apparently, the Omnitrix was automatically blocked so that nothing interfered with the growth process and everything went safely. - I said with a sigh as I looked down at my hands, which had gotten a little bigger.

- It's bad, right? - Ashley asked, worried for me that I had lost my main weapon.

- Well, not really. This alien is quite strong, so I'm not completely defenseless. But if problems overtake us, then this time everything will be more difficult than usual. Moreover, for some reason, my magic is not available to me. - I said, noticing that I couldn't withdraw the magical energy from my body.

Apparently, this is again done so that magic does not interfere with the flowering process. I didn't know that the Omnitrix could block this ability as well…

- Let's hope that today it won't produce anything dangerous…. - Ashley said softly clearly calling trouble on us.

- [Lex, satellites detected purple lightning]. - Morgana said right away.

- It doesn't get any easier from hour to hour… - I said, shaking my head. As if it could happen at another time...

- Couldn't you just keep quiet? - Gwen said, looking at Ashley angrily.

- Sorry…. - Ashley said guiltily.

- Okay, it's not so important now. What happened, happened. Morgana, where will the lightning appear? - I asked, moving my laptop closer.

- [In Colorado, near the city of Dairyville, on the territory of the Maplewood family's farm.] - Morgana quickly said, bringing up a map on the screen.

- We're not that far away, but we won't make it in time for the arrival of the intruder. - I muttered.

We have been on the road for more than ten hours and have already practically traveled all over Arizona, so we will have time to get to the farm in a couple of hours.

Unfortunately, I can't use magic, so I can't move the bus there with the Infinity Tattoo, and other means of teleportation aren't available to me right now. Also, I can't even use Merlin as Slix's samurai robots are currently dismantling him.

It seems to me that I have already received all the necessary resources to build a new spaceship (especially with what I can now get from the Forever Knights), so I decided not to put it off any longer and a couple of days ago I ordered the dismantling of Merlin to begin.

There was no need for me to hurry, so I entrusted this to the robots, anyway, they just stand and gather dust, but at least there was something for them to do. As a result, Merlin is no longer able to fly. How unfortunate everything turned out….

Well, at least I know who came to Earth and his plan, so nothing terrible, in general, did not happen. It's just that we won't be able to meet the Mummy immediately after his arrival…

- [That's it, lightning struck and an alien from Anur Transyl arrived on earth]. - Morgana said.

- Now it really would be nice to have our own network of satellites... - I complained, and then I realized something: - Morgana, the Forever Knights must have their own satellites in orbit, right? - I quickly asked.

- [Right. And I already have access to them. It turned out to be easy, thanks to the security codes Kay gave us.] - said Morgana, displaying images from a satellite that was just flying over Colorado.

- You clever. I can't imagine what I would do without you. - I said with a smile.

- [Without me, you wouldn't be capable of anything at all.] - Morgana said confidently, winking at me, from the monitor screen.

- Maybe… - I began, but was interrupted.

- Maybe stop flirting and let's get back to business, shall we? - Gwen said displeasedly, throwing an evil look at me.

- We didn't flirt, but you're right. Morgana, can you get a picture of our guest? - I said quickly, knowing that angering Gwen could be dangerous right now.

- [That was two minutes ago]. - Morgana said, displaying a blurry photo of a crater from which a humanoid consisting of bandages emerged.

- A mummy this time? - Ashley asked with a wry smile when she saw another monster from fairy tales.

- This is Thep Khufan, from the planet Thep Khufos. Now, we are sure that this alien is from Anur Transyl and most likely a subordinate of Victor, who came to Earth on his behalf. Apparently, the second phase of their plan has come into effect. - I said, even knowing why this alien had come.

- Could it be that he is the same victim as Vaalet? - Ashley asked.

- It is unlikely, after all, Vaalet was used, because he is not sorry. And now that the transporter was working properly thanks to the beacon, Victor had to send a trusted person to get everything set up properly. Although, of course, there is a chance that this mummy also works against its will. But, in any case, we first need to meet with him and find out his purpose. - I said after a little thought.

Still, despite the fact that I kind of know everything, the case of Vaalet showed that there are many secrets left behind the scenes of the series, so do not rely too much on my meta-knowledge. Better if I check everything personally.

- Then I'll go and tell grandfather to change the route. We need to get to the mummy as soon as possible before he does anything. - Gwen said seriously.

- Okey, tell him everything. - I said, nodding at Gwen's words.

When Gwen, in the company of Ashley, went to Max, I turned to my beautiful AI: - And you Morgana, try to follow Tep Khufan as best as you can.

- [No problem. But, Lex, the sensors built into the satellites have detected strange radiation emitted from the alien.] - Morgana said.

- Let me guess, it's Corrodium? - I asked, knowing full well the answer.

Corrodium is a high potential energy mineral, similar to coal or uranium on a larger scale, and for a time it was mined throughout the galaxy as an efficient source of energy.

However, Corrodium has serious side effects and mutagenic properties that can negatively impact biological life. It is very unstable, so its use has been discontinued, except for the inhabitants of the Anur System, mainly due to the fact that Thep Khufan are the only ones in the universe who can handle Corrodium without special protection.

In general, Corrodium is the reason for the unique properties of purple lightning. Victor's plan is to use Corrodium's mutagenic properties on Earth's inhabitants to turn everyone into mutants who will not resist the Blackout and the subsequent takeover of Earth. And of course, I can't let that happen. Although, I myself am interested in this mineral.

- [Yes. It looks like the alien is using a piece of this mineral to find deposits on Earth. Apparently, in ancient times, a meteorite fell to Earth, which contained Corrodium. And it seems that this is the reason why the mutation appeared in the Circus Freak Trio.] - said Morgana.

- Really? But you said you couldn't figure out what influenced the trio although your database should have samples of the radiation emitted by Corrodium. - I said.

- [It is, so I was able to understand what the satellite scanners recorded. But, as I said, the Circus Freak Trio's mutations occurred while still in the womb, and it seems to have been caused by minimal exposure to Corrodium. Apparently, too much time has passed, and my scanners have recorded only remnants that have changed too much over time, and I could not correlate what they found with Corrodium.] - Morgana replied.

- Understandably. But it looks like we've finally found something that can cure them. - I said with a smile.

- [Right. Enough for them to chill in cryo-capsules.] - said Morgana, who does not like it when someone else is in the Cave.

- How are the tests going there, by the way? - I asked, ignoring the AI's tone.

- [There are only 15 aliens left to explore. Fortunately, in each I was able to detect a hidden alpha gene. The study of the Mr. Hyde Formula will be completed tomorrow. But there was something strange in EraseEye's eyelash.] - Morgana said.

- O? And what? - I asked curiously.

- [This eyelash belongs to you.] - Morgan shocked me.

- What? How is this possible? - I asked, eyes wide.

- [I don't know, but according to spectral analysis, this eyelash has your DNA, so it must have come off from you when you were in that alien form. True, this happened, apparently when you were already over 18 years old.] - Morgana explained.

- So in the future, I lost my eyelash, and it somehow ended up in the past, where Chadwick found it. - I concluded from the information received.

- [Apparently, that's the way it is. ] - I said calmly.

- Fu**ing time travel…. - I said unhappily. This always gives me a headache.

-Okay. It won't change anything and it doesn't matter now. Maybe I'll do what Chadwick did and build an anti-alien weapon, just in case. For now, let's keep working on our world while we're on our way to Dairyville. - I muttered.

- [As you say.] - Morgana said with a smile, opening our common project.