Thinking Outside The Box

I secured as much of a library as I could before leaving Boot Camp - especially a series of books aimed at very young readers. My symbiotes will only work on a human that has entered adolescence, and I would rather that I inherit a mind that was as functional as possible. I also traded some of my plant samples - alas I do not see much hope for my continuing any gardening outside of Boot Camp - for an electric car that looked to be older than I was.

This left me with precious few funds to outfit the tiny bunker the military had assigned me:

This is no place to raise a family, even one I intend to dominate with symbiosis. It seems unlikely I can earn the funds I need to acquire essential items honestly. The military presented my resume to three employers; I could have worked in a school, or to get consumer goods marketed. But the employer that I have been assigned to fits my requirements; they are, to put it bluntly, a criminal organisation. The military tolerate them because they are able to acquire unusual items. This fits my requirements also. I have a car, and that apparently makes me a getaway driver; I shall have to hope my astrogation skills help me to quickly learn to pilot this primitive vehicle. In the meantime I have been using a spherical device filled with lead shot to improve my musculature and coordination abilities - I believe the humans call it a "kicky bag". I must perfect my body as well as my mind in order to develop my symbiotes properly.

Mating rights must be earned. The military have flat out refused to permit me to even call over any of my female friends unless they submit to invasive population control mechanisms. I have been informed that only "important" individuals are permitted offspring.

We shall see how important I can become. These primitives think they have seen much. A sophisticated culture brought down by war. A terrible biological pathogen inflicted by terrorists. Bio engineered diseases that have mutated out of control in the worst way imagined by their creators.

But they have not seen a Takisian focussed on a goal. Let humanity beware.