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Sam wasn’t sure how he felt about the metallic koala clinging to his right leg like a bad fashion statement. Considering it weighed so much it made it almost impossible for him to move his dominant leg in a manner other than dragging his foot along the ground, Sam knew he shouldn’t be very happy; the metallic sculpture seemed like it had weighed nothing when the blue avian was wielding it. However, the koala, like his other familiars, brought its own set of unique benefits. …Right?
Sam looked down at the koala. He could see a reflection of himself on the glossy metal, distorted by the angles and arches of the metallic body. Sam asked through his throat chakra, “What can you do, Dirt?”
Dirt, that was the name the koala had told Sam. He wondered if there was something lost in translation, but the koala was pretty adamant about Sam respecting the name it had chosen, so Sam now had a koala familiar named Dirt. As for what the koala could do, upon receiving Sam’s question, the koala stared up at Sam with a blank expression reminiscent of the one’s he had given his teachers back when he was in school.
“That’s a stupid question,” Dirt said after a pregnant pause. “Where do I even begin? What can you do, Sam? What can you do?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Sam said. “Aren’t you a mind reader? You should’ve understood my intent.”
“I’m not talking to you anymore,” Dirt said and turned its metallic head away. It still clung onto Sam’s leg, preventing him from extending his leg when he sat down.
Sam used his All-Seeing Gaze to stare at the metallic koala, and it was clear the koala was frustrated with him from how its aura was bubbling with tiny spheres of red. He wasn’t quite sure what he had done to annoy the koala, and he looked at Joe, who was relaxed and calm. If the koala could still muster up the emotion to be annoyed at Sam despite the sloth’s effects on it, then either the koala was immune to Joe’s ability or saying Dirt was annoyed at Sam was an understatement; the koala must’ve been mightily pissed off. Sam had a feeling it was the latter, but he wasn’t sure why, so he probed his other familiars with his mind, searching for answers.
“I get it,” Vercedei said, speaking out loud. “Sam, think about it from Dirt’s perspective. Imagine an ant asks you what you can do. Where do you even begin? Compared to an ant, humans have many more options when it comes to things they can do: humans can build machines to fly; they can build towers to establish long-distance connections with people across vast distances; they can pilot submarines to explore the deepest depths of the ocean. Does an ant understand the concept of an ocean? Do they realize the vastness of the sky?”
“In other words,” Sam said after mulling over the twin-headed snake’s explanation, “Dirt can do so many things beyond my wildest imagination—it doesn’t even know where to begin describing the concepts I never knew existed.”
“Dirt’s also a jerk,” Birdbrained said, letting out a squawk. The bird leaned over the top of Sam’s wide-brimmed hat to look at the metallic koala. “Don’t look down on Sam just because he’s a simple three-dimensional lifeform. He’s good at listening and following instructions.”
Sam knew the eagle was complimenting him, but he didn’t really like how Birdbrained’s words made him feel. After all, the eagle was praising him for being a mindless puppet who fulfilled the orders of higher-dimensional beings, humans, reptilians, mantids, graylings…. Was he just a mindless puppet? Sometimes, it felt that way, which was understandable considering he couldn’t make his own decisions without factoring in the opinions of seven other—well, eight now—individuals as well.
“He asks a lot of questions for someone who only needs to obey,” Dirt said.
Sam couldn’t help but think Birdbrained was right; the koala was a bit of a jerk. Sam turned his head to look at his bed, which he had created out of a heap of soft materials with the three blue avians’ help a few years back. He concentrated on his Sahasrara and Manipura, willing himself to float through the air and onto the mattress, but when he floated forward, his leg remained stuck on the ground thanks to the koala’s dense body. Like a boat moored to an anchor, Sam slowed to a crawl, barely moving forward despite exerting himself with all his effort.
Sam stopped trying and looked down at the koala before taking a seat. Since he had been effectively immobilized, he’d have to rely on Big Fish or Manga to carry him around in the future. Although it was inconvenient, Sam didn’t let his frustration get the better of him. It wouldn’t be the first time a higher-dimensional being robbed his body of its allowed movements. Even now, he wasn’t allowed to tilt his neck too much lest the eagle slip off his head and claw its way back up with its sharp, pointy talons.
Sam took a seat, getting comfortable the best he could with the koala holding him down. He looked up at the roof of the whale’s mouth and asked Big Fish mentally, “How does the situation look outside?”
“They’re not following,” Big Fish said. “Compared to Manga, I don’t move as fast, so we’re still not a safe-enough distance away from the blue avians yet. Where should we go? Back to the mantids to tell them we destroyed the calamity detector?”
“If we do that,” Sam said, “won’t the blue avians cause trouble for the mantids?”
“Does it matter if they do?” Birdbrained asked in return. “The only person you should be worried about is yourself. The mantids can take care of themselves even if the blue avians attack them.”
Sam didn’t quite agree with the colorless eagle whose feathers were tinged green thanks to the lighting; after all, it was the master of the Anunaki, the race of beings who wished to assist entropy by destroying everything. Luckily, another one of Sam’s familiars provided a different route.
“Let’s raid the blue avians’ home,” Raindu said. “They’re all searching for us, so their nest should be undefended. They’re the strongest race on Oterra; they’re bound to have all sorts of rare treasures and ancient artifacts stashed away.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Vercedei said. “Those pesky birds caused us so much trouble, so we should return the favor. Let’s ruin their week.”
“Is that where we’re going?” Big Fish asked. “I think it’s a good idea.”
Sam wasn’t sure why all the higher-dimensional beings around him seemed to be more evil than good. Were higher-dimensional creatures simply more callous than lower-dimensional beings? Since they could apparently do so much more, perhaps they weren’t bothered by things such as the destruction of a lower plane like how humans didn’t care about the lives of birds, squirrels, and insects when they chopped down trees. Them raiding the blue avians’ home must’ve been no different from a bear raiding a beehive.
The wooly pig let out a four-syllable-long cry, agreeing with the plan to raid the blue avians. Since none of the familiars protested the plan, Sam had no choice but to go along with what they had democratically decided. He was going to raid the blue avians’ home and hopefully get away with it. As for finding out the koala’s abilities; well, since it wasn’t willing to share, Sam would have to wait.
***
Paula hovered over the hole the blue avians had dug. The lava pool below bubbled, but there were no traces of the green whale that had allegedly been spotted. The blue avian swept their All-Seeing Gaze over the whole region before their aura flickered with a blue light. “They killed Samuel, stole the calamity detector, and got away?”
“Yes,” one of the blue avians that had been left behind said. “It’s Samuel’s fault.”
Paula directed their gaze onto the blue avian that had spoken. Of course, they had blamed the dead person. It wasn’t like a corpse could defend itself. The reinforcements that Paula had brought along chattered, and Paula’s mind was filled with dozens of conversations at once.
“How are we going to detect future calamities without our calamity detector?”
“If we don’t detect them, then maybe, we don’t have to deal with them.”
“Nonsense. We have to get the detector back!”
“We shouldn’t have lost it in the first place.”
“Isn’t it your fault for slacking off? If all of us were still here when Samuel connected with the calamity detector, would those calamities have gotten away?”
“What do we do, Paula?”
“Yeah, Paula will know what to do.”
“We can’t always rely on Paula. Aren’t we in this situation because of them? They insisted on going to get the reinforcements when one of us should’ve gone instead. They’re better at fighting; they could’ve protected Samuel.”
“Well, if we can’t rely on Paula, who should we rely on? You?”
“Everyone, shut up,” Paula said, their voice piercing through everyone’s mind. “If you were the group of calamities, where would you go next? What would be your next move?”
“I’d take a vacation. Since we can’t find them anymore, they’re safe from us, so if I were them, it’d definitely be time to relax.”
“If I were a calamity, I’d definitely want revenge. We hunted them for so long, so they’re bound to be dissatisfied and frustrated with us. They’re definitely going to try to attack us, so we should travel in groups at all times.”
“Buddy system!”
“Do we know how the calamities are born? Is it just through certain crystals? If I were the summoner, I’d track down every crystal of note to try to summon more familiars. Should we go back and protect our collections? What if they come for them?”
“Even if they’re not coming for our crystals, we should go back to the nest and defend ourselves there. As long as none of us travel outside by our lonesome, we’ll be safe, and the calamities won’t be able to do anything to us.”
“Bach, Chopin, Wolfgang,” Paula said, calling out the blue avians who had been expelled from the green whale. “Are the three of you still you?” Considering the three blue avians had been held captive for years, it’d be understandable if their personalities changed. “Did you learn anything useful about the calamities or their summoner?”
The three blue avians’ auras became sluggish as they became the focus of attention of all their peers. After a second, Wolfgang took the initiative to speak. “The summoner’s name is Sam, and he’s merely a conduit for the calamities to operate in our dimension. He has his own thoughts and opinions, but he’s overruled by the calamities more often than not.”
“There are seven different higher-dimensional creatures,” Bach said, adding onto Wolfgang’s words, “and they all have their own individual personalities, each wanting different things, so it’s difficult to predict their next moves.”
The blue avians focused their All-Seeing Gazes on Chopin, causing the blue avian who hadn’t spoken yet to tingle from the attention. “The summoner is about as strong as an average individual,” Chopin said. “We, uh, trained him.”
“You trained the person who summons calamities?” one of the blue avians asked. “Are you stupid? What were you thinking?”
“Let’s not blame one another,” Paula said. “It’s unproductive, and I’m sure any one of us would’ve behaved in a similar manner under the coercion of seven calamities.” The blue avian focused on the ex-hostage trio. “You really don’t have any clues as to where they’re going next?”
“Well,” Bach said, “Sam, err, the summoner simply wishes to experience everything life has to offer. He’s been to Et Serpentium, Silva Volucris, and the winding tunnels of the Anunaki, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume he’s going to experience the culture of another race next. I believe he was interested in meeting the Venusians.”
“The Venusians?” Paula asked, letting the words roll around in their mind. The Venusians were entities made of energy, and they were great deceivers; when gazed upon, their appearances would reflect raw beauty in the eyes of the beholder. “I see.”
“He did express an interest in seeing our territory as well,” Chopin said. “He asked about it, and when we told him about where we lived, he was quite engaged in the conversation.”
“What did you tell him?” one of the blue avians asked. “Hopefully, you didn’t tell him anything that’d trigger his greed, right?”
Chopin fell silent, and Bach’s and Wolfgang’s auras thickened as if the colors around them were made of soup and had cornstarch added to them. “There might have been mention of one or two or all of the things we’re proud of,” Bach said after the pressure from the onlooking blue avians’ gazes became too much. “We were held captive for years. We were bound to let something slip eventually.”
Paula knew how true those words were. Blue avians loved talking and gossiping, so even when it was in their best interests not to, they talked about all sorts of things. “It’s clear we should split into two separate groups. One group should guard our home against the calamities, and the other group should head towards the Venusians. We’ll warn them about the summoner, and if luck will have it, we’ll capture the calamities at either point.”
“And if luck isn’t on our side?” a blue avian asked. “Do we have to defend against the threat of them until the end of time?”
“Yes,” Paula said. “Unless you have a better idea.”
“Can’t we get another calamity detector?”
“Where are we going to get another one of those? It was a unique item for a reason. Do you know what unique means? It means one of a kind.”
“What about humans?” Bach asked.
“What about them?”
“Well, humans unlock all sorts of whacky talents,” Bach said. “I learned about it while I was trapped with Sam. Maybe there’s some human with the talent of tracking down calamities.”
“Oh, that’s pretty smart,” a blue avian said. “If there aren’t any humans with that ability, we can always breed them until that talent appears.”
“Humans live such short lives though,” another blue avian said. “We’ll have to replace the calamity-detecting human every hundred years or so.”
“We’ll only need one,” Chopin said. “If we manage to breed one with the right ability, we’ll track down the calamities and take back our detector, eliminating the need for another calamity-detecting human.”
“What do we do with the extra humans who don’t have the ability?”
“We’ll drop them off near the human city,” Bach said. “They’ll get taken in as refugees, and if they aren’t, well, it isn’t our fault humans are cruel to their own kind.”
“So, we’re going to round up some humans, then? Just the thought of doing that almost makes me feel like a reptilian.”
“It’s not a bad feeling,” another blue avian said. “Is that what we’re going to do? Do we need to make a third group, one to gather some promising humans?”
“Yes,” Paula said. “Humans were the source of the calamities this time around, so it’s only fair if they become the solution to the calamities as well.” Paula encapsulated three different groups of blue avians with their awareness, forming connections with them. “I’ve divided us into three different groups. We each have our own duties and obligations. The first group shall set up the appropriate defenses at our home to protect our belongings from the calamities in case they retaliate. The second group will establish communications with the Venusians, making sure they’re willing to set up ambushes with us. As for the third group, they’ll create a utopia for humans to live in, so they feel comfortable with having lots of offspring.”
“Does it have to be a utopia?” Wolfgang asked.
“Of course,” Paula said. “We’re the good guys. We’re not evil, so behave as such, okay?”