Parasitic Love Ch. 08

"Fine, Chidoh. I don't care. Just do what you must."

I took control of his body but didn't render him unconscious. Not yet... I was a parasite, and my host was important to me. Even if our goal was extremely important, my inner feeling was that my host was the most precious thing I had. It was the nature of who I was. Lans was not just my host; he was me. Losing him would hurt me more than anything in the world, as it always has been when I lost my previous hosts.

After starting the engine and enabling everything I had to enable, I initiated my main travel device, something that my race had promised never to use again.

"Hang it in there, Lans. This technology is going to hurt us like you can't even begin to imagine."

"Nice, you never told me that part!"

"First distortion! ENGAGE!"

I slammed his hand on the trigger and, immediately, the fabric of time shredded in front of our eyes. This maneuver was not possible. The universe wasn't designed to withstand such a wound. Even me, an almost invincible space slime, couldn't do anything else but suffer greatly from this rupture. I would never tell Lans that what we just did put an immediate end to his planet.

My first genocide.

Only us, protected by a time shield, survived this distortion despite the massive pain it inflicted us.

As our ship emerged millions of miles away, I knew that I had played my first card and that I couldn't reuse it against Elarkans' home planet later on. My people just witnessed what I did and would know how to protect themselves against this specific technology.

"AAAAH! CHIDOOOH!"

"Sorry, Lans... I know it hurts... But we have to do it two more times right away before they can react so we can reach the Elarkans' system.

"What... what was that? What did you do?"

"A little technology I learned from an ancient civilization. There is nothing comparable to this... It's very unlikely that another race will ever learn how to do that. They tend to disappear way before they reach that level of advancement."

"Why... Why does it hurt so much?"

"You and I are the universe itself. You and the universe are one single entity, and when we cause a tear in it, it causes a lot of anguish. Second distortion. ENGAGE!" "

"YAAARRRRG!"

This next distortion was a particularly violent one. So unpredictable. To my initial guilt, I added my selfish desire to keep Lans conscious just so I wasn't going through this alone. Hurting him wasn't fun, but it was necessary. I didn't think I could do this without him.

My real plan...

It was something I had never done before. It was something so unthinkable that even I was terrorized by it. It was something my race had never done before. We knew of only one previous instance, an ancient race that had done what I was about to do, and even then, it had been an accident and not a voluntary action. It was so long ago that my memories about it were faint. But the truth was, I had never been this scared.

"AAAARRR! CHIDOH! IT HUUURTS!"

"I know! Hang in there... Please. I need you!"

"Are... are you serious? You? The strongest being in the universe? You don't need me."

"Yes... I'm terrified."

"..."

"Please, just one more distortion... Stay with me, Lans..."

"F... fine... But... I don't feel so good... Can you do something about it?"

"No. I can't... You won't survive this..."

"Haha... I knew that already... Alright, space slime... Let's finish this, then."

"We are not far now. One more distortion, and we will be in front of Elarkans' home world. They know we are coming."

"If they know we are coming... How are we supposed to..."

"Third distortion, ENGAGE!"

"YAAAAARRGG!"

Shredding the fabric of time and space was no joke. It really shouldn't be possible. It should be forgotten. The simple fact that the Elarkans and their parasites also knew about this technology was troubling me deeply. In the wrong hands, it would be the end of everything, and it WAS currently in the wrong hands.

"Bbuuaarggh!"

As our ship integrated its new position in front of the Elarkans' home planet, Lans vomited blood all over the control panel. I was doing my best to keep him alive, but most of my efforts were on my self-preservation. If I were to die, everything would be over.

Our smoking ship was a venting atmosphere, the metal was carbonized, none of the displays were functional anymore, and in front of us was our enemy, healthy and more powerful than ever.

At least five thousand interlinked spaceships formed an impenetrable net between us and the planet we wanted to destroy.

As predicted, they knew.

They knew we were coming. They knew we were going to use this ancient technology to slice the planet in half. They knew my goal more than clearly. They also knew that my host was at its limit, and if I were to lose him, I would be nothing else than a useless black mass. Without a host to carry us, our race was nothing else than irrelevant. They knew I couldn't put up a fight in my current state. How could I, with my dying host and an archaic carbonized spaceship?

But...

I knew they knew...

I was even surprised that they took the bait.

I couldn't complain about that...

But, it didn't matter. My new problem was that I had a choice to make and wasn't strong enough to make it.

It was time to tell Lans the truth.

"L... Lans?"

"Aaarrr..."

"I... I really want to taste the Elarkan blood."

"Is... is that so?"

"Yeah... That's what I feared..."

"Ah well... I'm disappointed, then... All that for nothing..."

"No! Help me... Help me, Lans... I can't do it..."

"Help you do what?"

"You... you have to press that button..."

"The flashing one? What will it do? I thought your people could counter everything you threw at them."

"They... they made a mistake... They are protecting the planet."

"That's not a mistake... we came here to blow it up... and now we can't..."

"Not... not really... I kind of... lied... to you... I couldn't take the risk..."

"What do you mean, Chidoh? What are we doing here then?"

"Well... I kind of had a different target..."

"Do you? What is it?"

"One that would kill both of us..."

"Kill you? You are pretty much immortal, sooo... Wait... Why am I thinking these things all of a sudden?"

"Yeah... I just showed you, in your mind... Everything is programmed... you just have to push the button..."

I shared everything... the real plan... I let him know how monstrous I could be...

"This is INSANITY! CHIDOH! IF WE DO THIS, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!"

"Yeah... Probably... And you will be the one killing me... Because I'm too scared... Too weak... Do it now... Please... Lans..."

"..."

"... Please..."

"You are one messed up parasite, Chidoh..."

"Do... do it... I'm so close to the Elarkan Blood... I'm not sure... I can resist much longer. There is no more time left..."

"Chi... Chidoh..."

"I'm... I'm sorry Lans... for everything... This death... I deserve it..."

"... Nah... It's me who is sorry... because you don't deserve it, actually."

"..."

"And you know what, Chidoh? You'll survive this... I promise... I'm sure you will..."

"... Goodbye... Lans..."

"... Farewell, Chidoh... You'll get your happiness someday. I promise... Just hang in there, okay?"

I wasn't controlling him anymore, it was too risky. My thirst for the Elarkan blood was too strong, so I detached from him as I didn't trust myself anymore. He taught me courage and selflessness when his finger pressed the flashing button on the console. I would never forget this moment... and him.

I lived a long time. Longer than most of the other lifeforms could ever hope to. I've seen everything. I've seen more than everything.

Immortality was a relative term used to define a myth. Only my race, due to our longevity, could tell that there was no such thing. We were giving the illusion, to our hosts, that it was a thing because, from their perspective, a million years seemed like an eternity.

But it wasn't. Immortality didn't exist.

Plants could die...

People could die...

Planets could die...

Stars could die...

Galaxies could die...

The universe itself could die...

It was only a matter of time.

My people knew this fact very well, even if their judgment was currently clouded by the Elarkan blood controlling their minds.

After Lans pressed that button, they also understood what I had just done with this junk spaceship... The unthinkable; something that should never have been repeated, a revolting act that defied all sense of empathy and self-preservation.

It threw them off...

I triggered the most incommensurable bomb that could be found in the universe, short of igniting the universe itself.

I knew I wouldn't be able to destroy their home planet directly...

So I decided to detonate their star...

They had anticipated all possible scenarios. I ignored them all. I gave them the least likely and the most extreme one...

... A supernova.

It would wipe out the Elarkans' home system along with hundreds of other civilizations in the vicinity. The ones who would have all died at the hands of the Elarkans eventually.

It was my second genocide.

My solution was the equivalent of a nuclear bomb to take care of a splinter.

With their natural environment vaporized and forgotten, in a few hundred thousand years, there would be no more Elarkans and their cursed blood, and my people would have regained their free will.

After Lans pressed this button, our ship emerged at the center of the star, and the disturbance in the space and time fabric triggered a chain reaction that would be devastating for the entire sector.

An artificial supernova... and an act of destruction that should never be forgiven.

I knew this would work... Of all scenarios, because of its disproportionated violence, it was the only one guaranteed to succeed.

The proof was in the past...

It was how the ancient civilization that had created this impossible technology had perished accidentally.

Defying the universe came at the highest costs.

It was inevitable.

***

"..."

"..."

"Sky...?"

"... that's it, Alli. I showed you everything..."

"You... you are... Chidoh?"

"Chidoh... Skylar... My hosts apparently like to give me names. But no... I'm not Chidoh, I'm a direct copy of Chidoh created 8326 years ago. Lans was right... Chidoh did survive the supernova... barely. But it doesn't matter... What happened before, this horrific disaster, it is also my responsibility."

That was far from what I had expected Skylar to tell me. I was speechless. There was a slight margin between my initial supposition that, maybe, Sky had a difficult relationship with a previous host or perhaps had experienced a tragic loss, and having committed a full-fledge intergalactic genocide along with an almost successful suicide attempt to save the universe.

This whole story turned my stomach upside down. None of my future questions could even remotely get close to relevancy. My life and Skylar's life had no commonality.

There was, however, only one thing that really bugged me at the moment. I sat up, still covered head to toes in Skylar's black flesh.

"Sky? Why are you even spending time with me?"

"... What do you mean, Alli?"

"You said you loved me and that you wanted me to be your girlfriend and all... It doesn't seem to make sense. You can do so much more."

"Because it's true. That's what I want."

"But... You are so... powerful. Why waste time with me?"

"Love is simple. I need simple."

"..."

"Alli... Do you understand what happened earlier when I was so angry? Why I did what I did and why I reacted so strongly when you seemed to be okay with what we did to Lilian?"

I reached behind my neck and massaged Skylar a bit while carefully choosing my next words. It was a unique situation, and none of my experiences could help me come up with a canned answer. To be honest, I wasn't even sure if this was another test or if Skylar was genuine about this question.

The rain had stopped, and there was even a bit of sunlight piercing through the branches. With this light hitting my eyes, I couldn't help but remember that Skylar was capable of destroying our Sun. Such a concept was beyond comprehension for a mere human being like me.

But did it matter?

"You were scared?"

"Yeah, Allison... Very much so..."

"You were scared that I would become like the Elarkans and use you to cause chaos."

"Yeah... Something like that."

"But, Sky... I don't have Elarkan blood in me. How could I even begin to control you? You could turn my brain to mush just by thinking about it."

"You do have your own Elarkan blood, Allison."

"Uh? No, I don't. I only have Irish blood and American blood. I swear. Maybe some Italian too, but my grandmother always refused to talk about it."

"I was paraphrasing... Alli, I fell in love with you... I really did. Humans are... special... very special. You experience relationships in a unique manner... A manner that I had not seen anywhere else in my whole life. This is something I want to cherish and preserve."

"But... Sky... I know you love me... but I still don't have Elarkan blood in me..."

"Love IS your Elarkan blood, Alli. It feels the same. You could use it to get things from me and..."

Sometimes, a few simple words were enough to explain something seemingly complex. I understood that Skylar was an extremely powerful being, possibly the strongest in the whole known universe. But at the root, she was pretty much like a child who knew nothing about life because life took an infinite number of shapes and therefore was a topic impossible to master. Despite her insane abilities, she was as ignorant as I was. Or perhaps, the human race was truly exceptional, and what our race possessed couldn't be compared with whatever else existed in this universe.

No matter where the truth lies on the spectrum of rationality, I was friends with a traumatized space slime who needed a bit of help to get her bearings together.

"Sky?"

"Mmm?"

"You are really clueless..."

"Hey! What was that for!?"

"You know NOTHING about humans. This test you imposed on me when you moved my mind to Lilian's body was utterly stupid."

"... but... I needed to know if you had good values and wouldn't use my power to do bad things, like the Elarkans..."

"Oh, shush!"

"..."

"Do you know what true love is about? Trust."

"... Trust?"

"That's right... Living in symbiosis with me is cool and all, but it's not important. Keeping me healthy isn't important, feeding me or preventing me from getting sick isn't important. What is important is trust."

"... But..."

"Shhh... Let me finish."

"..."

"You have a thing or two to learn about humans. We make mistakes all the time. We are full of flaws, we get angry, we do things without thinking... But that's why we have each other. When we decide to share our life with someone else, we take a risk. We hope that the person we love will do the right thing. We TRUST that the person we love will do the right thing. It's critical. If we don't believe in that person, love cannot thrive. Do you understand? There is no guarantee that it will go the way we want, but we must trust that it will."

"But... I need to know for sure... I cannot take the risk... I'm too powerful... I showed you... I can't ever let what happened to the Elarkans and Chidoh happen again..."

"Then we cannot be together, Sky. If you can't trust me, if you can't forgive my mistakes, if you expect me to be perfect, love cannot exist."

"... But..."

"Sky... What you did to me was very nasty. You took control over my brain and made me experience something humans are not supposed ever to experience. It was not nice, and it was not fair. Too much. I never wanted to use Lilian for pleasure without her consent. But you twisted my hormones so much, and you presented me with impossible choices along with all kinds of strange perversions. I couldn't win your test if we can even call it that. You set me up for failure. We can't do that to each other."

"... I'm sorry... I just..."

"I think you were so scared to make a mistake that you pushed me until I failed and until you had the justification to ditch me. You used the easy route to avoid dealing with your own feelings."

"..."

"Am I right?"

Of course, I was right. I was also very proud to be human today. What other race could have scolded an intergalactic space parasite this way?

But I had no interest in losing Skylar. I was just trying to make her understand how things worked down here.

"Look, Sky... I'm not sure how I feel about what you've done in the past. The scale of it is way beyond what I'm capable of judging, so I'm not going to condemn you for it. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll live until I'm 80 years old, so the fate of the universe is not mine to decide. It may be something for you and your people to manage and safeguard. Just thinking about time and space makes me dizzy."

"I... I understand..."

"What I do know is that you, above all else, deserve a bit of love. Despite your insane age, I don't get the feeling you truly experience it, and I'm willing to show you. I want to give you something that you'll be able to carry with you for the rest of your eternal life, something that will help you make future choices, something that will bring you some sort of balance, something that will help you distinguish good from bad. Something that you will share with your future copies. I believe you are well on your way to understanding what love means. But for that, you must trust me, and you must learn to trust yourself too."

"Mmm.. That's not going to be easy... I wiped out a full sector of this galaxy. I'm extremely dangerous."

"Chidoh did. Not you. Bah... Anyway, one day, you'll see, you'll meet one of your people again, perhaps one who had been under the influence of the Elarkan blood, and they will thank you for what you did. You have an eternity to redeem yourself."

"Redeem myself... I don't see how that's possible..."

"Hehe... You started already. Remember? You saved a child from that burning house. Start with something small, little things we can do together, and work your way up. I wouldn't mind being a hero, you know. Working at the firm during the day and saving people at night in the sexiest way."

"Alli?"

"Yes?"

"You are weird."

"Haha... I know. That's why you love me. Alright, Sky. Let's go back home now. Show me the way. I have no idea where we are."

"Okay... It's this way... 527 kilometers northeast."

"WHAT? Sky! Why do you always take us this far from home! It's unnecessary!"

"The Universe is over 94 billion light years wide... Do you realize how silly what you just said is, Alli?"

"Oh, shush! Just lead me to the nearest road, then. I'll have to use my boobs again to get us back home before I'm 80 years old."

"Ah, I won't mind making your chest bigger again... It was fun last time."

"Yeah... Silly parasite."

Epilogue - Random isn't a thing

"Mmmph!"

"Shhh, Alli! You always make noises when I'm watching the lottery."

"Mmmph!"

"No! You are wrong. This time I'll get it right. Last time I only overweight the influence of Venus' gravity. It was a rookie mistake."

"Mmmph!"

It's been six months since Skylar told me about her troubled past, and to me, it has been an amazing moment together. My space parasite decided to put her trust in me, after all, and I did the same. After that dramatic event, she showed me more and more about her past. She held nothing back. Often, when she showed me some alien worlds she had visited, it was a bit scary, but it was a humbling experience. Most of it was very positive experiences. The universe didn't belong to humans. If one thing, we were insignificant, even if very unique.