A scream escaped the gunner as Lucy opened her mouth wide and lowered it back down onto the tank. They all knew that mouth was large enough to consume a tank whole. Apparently she had resolved that it wasn't worth the trouble. A horrific scream eclipsed all of theirs though as the armor of the vehicle screamed in protest against Lucy's teeth. The alloy's struggle to resist Lucy's teeth and jaws was futile though as she bit off a large portion of the upper turret. Her mouth once again pressed against the tank and she began to try to suck the soldiers out.

While the sound that reached Albert had been dampened he couldn't help but chuckle. "I guess you finally decided that little opening you first created wasn't good enough."

Instead of responding right away Lucy waited until she'd sucked out the tank's crew. A sigh escaped her as she shook her head. "I'll try to use a smaller one then the second one I made next time. However, there is no way that I could have gotten them out without severally injuring them or killing them. At least I can't if the only thing I'm allowed to use is my mouth."

"I'm not sure how much more you're going to be able to experiment. It seems like you've gone through quite a bit of their armor already."

"I'll have to make sure those that are left count then."

Jacquelyn couldn't help but shiver as she noticed how slow the sound of cannon fire had become. She couldn't even be sure if half the explosions she heard were real or her wishful thinking. For a moment something told her that she should go and see what was happening. If she looked outside she would know if the giantess was dead or if she was still alive. Unfortunately her legs didn't want to move.

Helping to prolong the suffering of others wasn't something that Albert liked the idea of doing. Yet he had been the one to suggest that Lucy try to suck the tank's crew out of it instead of just swallowing the tank itself or tearing it apart with her hands. He knew perfectly well that this would increase their suffering yet he couldn't keep the suggestion from himself. Lucy's amusement seemed more important to him and while his suggestion did prolong their situation it didn't change their final destination.

"What's the matter Albert? You went quiet for a moment and don't seem to be watching me."

"I was just considering some ethical questions. Would you like to hear them?"

"Nope, I can't say that I would."

For a moment Albert was made to laugh upon hearing Lucy's response. "I believed that would be your reaction and apparently I was right."

"Ethics just aren't any fun to me. So why should I worry about them whenever I have you to think about them?"

"Do you want the ethical reason for that?"

"Mm people squirming around in my stomach, tickling my insides as I slowly digest them."

Albert gave his head a slight shake though his grin didn't vanish. He figured that was a good enough no. "I suppose you want to resume your game then."

¡°You supposed right. Ah drat! Some of the crews have started leaving their tanks and trying to escape on foot. Humph, well I suppose that it was bound to happen anyway. I blocked off all the easy exits after all so they're going to try to climb over the debris or go through other buildings to get out."

"Didn't you say that you had smaller versions of yourself stationed to keep people from escaping?"

"Yes I do. I don't believe I want them to get that far though." Before she had even finished speaking Lucy had resumed crawling towards the nearest group. They were some that remained within their vehicles who she resolved to save for last. She was going after the runners now.

"We have to get out of here now. The military won't be able to delay her for much longer." As Gaeten spoke he was calmer then what he had been previously. He had time to cope with his fear. His ego received a slight boost when several people in the conference room were made to stand up.

"Fortunately we also have all those citizens to keep her busy for a while. Do you really believe that she's going to go after us immediately after finishing off the army? She wants to extend her fun and make sure we suffer. It's a shame that we couldn't bring in some airpower but after what she did to most of our airstrips and the equipment there we just didn't have it."

Gaeten immediately turned to the speaker. "So you're still trusting in your symbiot? It's clearly not doing its job."

"If you wish to try running by all means do so. I might try to run myself however I don't intend to do so with everyone in a group."

At first Gaeten said nothing but observed the speaker closely. "I see. You believe that she's going to come after us. You're even more certain that she will if we leave as one large group. So you're going to wait for us all to depart then try to sneak out on your own when you'll be a less of a target."

"Lucy, just how much of the city can you observe at once? You seem to be keeping track of about everything."

"It might seem that way but it's not really true. I'm using my smaller bodies to monitor the outer edge of the city very closely including every escape rout. I'm also keeping track of what is in relatively close proximity to me. I don't have to worry about what is in the grey areas as long as I keep track of what is close to me and what is escaping. Well that and what is in the sky."

"Is there something that you're worried about?"

"I'm not really worried about it but there is something I still watch out for."

"I take it you mean a rocket that might shattered your gems."

"Yeah that is something worth watching out for. They're only a few weapons that I believe could do so though and it'd be hard for them to sneak up on me. I'd even go so far as to say it is almost impossible." As Lucy was speaking with Albert she finally came upon a group that had abandoned their tank and were trying to make their way out of the city. "Hey there, you're not going to leave before dinner is over are you?"

It had been clear that Lucy had found them yet the soldiers had continued trying to run. If nothing else it bought others more time. Instinct also played a part in this as it urged them to keep trying. No animal instinctively allowed itself to be eaten after all. Much to their surprise they actually froze up whenever Lucy began speaking to them and had to will their legs to begin moving.

"Humph, well that is inconsiderate. How about instead of running that way you go ahead and climb into my mouth then down my throat? You're going to end up going that way after all." Lucy actually waited a moment to act as the group continued to run from her. "I swear it's hard to find someone that's willing to just give up and get in my belly without a struggle."

"You could try reasoning with them more or pouting."

"Come on fellows, you know that you're not going to escape me. So why not just let me lie down, open my mouth, extend my tongue and you climb in nice and peacefully? You can run in if you want. You're going to end up taking the trip regardless of what you do and by trying to run away you just end up going tired." As she was speaking Lucy moved forward slightly to keep the soldiers from putting any real distance between her and them. "It's not like you'd be alone they are plenty of others inside of me now."

"You don't seem to be making much progress."

"Hey, you know that I enjoy chasing you and toying with you. So why make this more enjoyable for me then you have to?"

As Albert listened to Lucy he knew that in fact this was another form of chase. She was trying to convince them that climbing into her mouth and down her throat was their best choice. He doubted that Lucy would be able to do it though given the time restraints. To convince someone to perform such an act would require a great deal of time and more controlled conditions. It did seem to him that she could convince someone to do so if given enough time.

There was no way any of them were going to stop and let that giantess make a meal of them. As they ran though it seemed their efforts were at an end as a massive shadow descended over them. However, instead of feeling a torrent of air pulling them in or something gripping them they saw a massive hand slammed down on the street several meters away. The force of the impact was undeniable and it threatened to send them all on their tails.

Before they could even move a darker shadow passed over them. Impulsively several of them looked up and were surprised to find Lucy's chests just over head. They didn't have time to admire the view though as Lucy continued to crawl past them. Upon realizing what was happening several of them glanced towards her knees expecting them to come crashing down upon them. Much to their surprise Lucy carefully avoided crushing them as she crawled over them.

None of them had time to celebrate though as Lucy quickly spun around. She then lowered herself closer to the pavement and opened her massive mouth wide. As Lucy opened her mouth her tongue flicked out and hovered just a meter over the street so that it would be easy for them to climb onto. With her right hand she promptly pointed to her extended tongue while a slight giggle escaped her. She closed her mouth just long enough to speak. "Come on. Climb right on in."

"You're persistent!" Albert couldn't help but chuckle as Lucy continued to taunt the soldiers. He still doubted that they would comply.

Once again the group broke into a run. This time however a few of them thought to break away from the main group instead of running as one. Given her scale she could have blocked their escape with an arm or even a hand easily but it still gave them a better chance.

"Humph, well you can just be that way then." After speaking Lucy quickly moved forward and puckered her lips. Lowering her head towards the closest runner she quickly inhaled. The force with which Lucy inhaled lifted the soldier up and brought him into Lucy's mouth before he could even take breath to scream.

Albert was actually surprised at how quickly Lucy had inhaled the soldier. He didn't have to think too hard to realize what was going on though. He doubted that Lucy believed they'd willingly go down her throat. However, she still felt the need to repay them for resisting her.

"Since your arrival have there been any problems with those you're currently sheltering?"

"Yes. After the initial week when numbers began to grow we started having organizational issues. There were also a few problems with some feeling as if they'd traded in their freedom for a moderate form of safety. Things became particularly tense whenever we were forced to remove certain hostiles from the city."

"How did you handle this situation?"

"Each district of the city was allowed to form a committee to express their grievances in a more orderly fashion. Unfortunately this hasn't resolved all of our problems but it has helped to relieve some of the pressure."

"What exactly is the major dilemma?"

"We have many people that are upset because we turned away a friend or loved one for being too great of a risk factor. Unfortunately there is little we can do to resolve that situation. They are some people that are just too great of a risk for them to be permitted in."

"I can see where that might be a problem. Given the situation I doubt anyone would be happy when you refused to grant someone's brother access."

"Yes, we understand their situation however we can't do anything about that. They had began to camp close to the city but we've began forcing them to stay out of a mile perimeter."

"How do you know that you're actually protecting the people here and not just gathering a meal for Miss Angeye? You don't know if she would move against you if you allowed these people in. She might just consider them beyond her reach if she can't tell who sided against her."

"She may also decide that since we offered protection or a hiding place to even one person that sided against her we've all sided against her. If that happened she may very well destroy those areas we hold and kill everyone in them. That is a risk that we can't take."

Sam didn't say anything right away as he considered what Patrick had just told him. Of course he could already see other motives for such behavior. They were cleansing the population of those that would not relinquish their current culture. Once that had been finished it would be easier for them to build Mizia into something they found more agreeable. "Have you stopped to consider that by rejecting those people you've marked them as a group that Lucy should consume?"

"We have considered that possibility. However, it doesn't change the fact that they can't be allowed in. It's difficult to break up a family and friends but these situations require such decisions to be made."

"Hi everyone, did you come out for me to eat you?!" A delighted giggle escaped Lucy as she looked down at the group of civilians. Several of them seemed frozen in place as they looked up at the massive giantess. They had attempted to sneak out while Lucy had been consuming the military however they hadn't managed to make it out of the city due to the debris littering the roads and some sections being destroyed.

"Please let us go, we're not military. We're civilians! We never fought against you!"

"Sure you did. Whenever you chose to support the army that was trying to kill me you fought against me. The army just happened to be the ones standing on the front lines while you stood in the back. Now how do you all want to do this? You climb into my mouth willingly or I find a fun way to eat you?"

"You invaded our homeland! What choice did we have?"

"You could have recognized that it was your leaders that started the conflict and refused to support them." As she finished speaking Lucy quickly leaned forward and let her massive tongue flick out. A horrific scream escaped the crowd as her tongue slammed into them. The massive muscle stayed low to the ground as Lucy slipped it into their legs first. Several of them were tossed into the air by the muscle others were brushed aside while several actually stuck to the muscle.

As Lucy's tongue met the group Albert was shocked by how many actually stuck to her tongue. He'd been inside of her mouth and coated with her saliva before so he knew that it was cohesive to an extent. As Lucy lifted up slightly and began to draw that muscle into her mouth though the number he saw upon its surface was far greater then he thought possible. "Lucy, how did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Lick them up like that! How did you do that?"

"Oh, I produce different types of saliva. What I normally use just helps my food go down and allows for some more fun. This stuff I'm using now is more of a gel then the other and has a more adhesive nature."

The crowd had been stunned when Lucy's massive tongue had suddenly dipped down into them. They'd expected her to give them time to respond however that wasn't the situation. As they heard those pulled into her mouth they didn't even try to respond verbally but quickly began to run. Fortunately the group quickly broke into smaller ones each one running in a different direction.

"Mm you taste good. Hey don't leave now!" A slight giggle escaped Lucy as she quickly lowered her head to the ground. Her massive tongue flicked out of her mouth as she lowered her head and extended towards the group.

As the massive muscle neared the runners they could feel the heat on their backs. The air seemed to grow more humid and they felt Lucy's breath wash over them revealing just how close she truly was. As the tongue began to touch upon them their cloves grew wet as her saliva seemed to grip them. They felt their clothing being pressed against their back and the saliva seeping through against their skin followed by the heat moments later.

Soon it wasn't their legs pushing them forward but the massive crimson muscle as it first took hold of the slowest and moved forward. Some of those that were first trapped against that warm wet muscle were made to slam into the back of those just ahead of them. Their numbers added quickly as Lucy scooped them up with her massive tongue. Then they felt their hearts drop down into their stomachs as the forward momentum suddenly became upward and backwards as they were pulled into Lucy's mouth.

The bones of those Lucy scooped up with her tongue were made to rattle as she pulled them within her mouth. A slight moan came from deep within her and shook their very being as they were drawn past her teeth. Their screams were drowned out by even Lucy's slightest moans as they were drawn into Lucy's mouth.

"You're all just so tasty! I don't know how you expect me to stop eating you!" Even while Lucy was speaking she resumed moving towards another group. As she crawled forward her tongue flicked out of her mouth and ran over her lips. "Yummy, yummy you all go into my tummy!"

A cry of pain escaped the woman as the very tip of Lucy's tongue brushed against her. Fortunately the spot that would have gripped her was already occupied by another so that she was sent toppling over. As the woman was sent toppling over she had no idea where the words came from or that she was speaking them until they had escaped her lips. "Please I'm pregnant!"

"Oh so I get something that is extra tender and wrapped in a nice protective covering?" An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she lowered her head towards the woman and once again extended her tongue being careful to keep the action nice and slow as she brought the massive muscle closer.

While Albert tended to be able to guess what Lucy was talking about when he heard her teasing people he couldn't help his curiosity this time. "What are you talking about?"

Instead of just scooping the woman up with her tongue Lucy leaned forward and flattened it out. As she pressed the flat of her tongue against the woman she made sure to add additional pressure around the chest region. While she had scooped up the previous people immediately she held the woman pinned for a moment to insure she was well adhered to her tongue. Lucy then began to slowly pull her tongue back into her mouth despite the woman's protest. "She's pregnant; I get to eat two for one this time."

By consuming the woman Lucy would be extinguishing two lives. One was the mother's and the other was an unborn child. However, Albert had already had to cope with such realizations. Whenever Lucy ate a soldier she could have been eating someone's father or brother. She then moved to the civilians. Given the destruction Lucy was bringing upon the country many would die not from direct interaction with her but from the break down of the nation.

There was no shock or horror as far as Albert was concerned whenever Lucy didn't seem to care that the woman was pregnant. After all they were things she didn't joke about and she had told him she'd let him worry about the ethical questions. There was no thought of stopping Lucy on Albert's part. If Lucy was to stop because she would be harming or even killing a child she'd had to stop already. "She should have thought of that before she came here. After all she's responsible for the lives of two people."

"Hey Albert, do you think I should provide a recording of everything that has happened to the media? Without Sam here I doubt that the footage is going to be as good as it has been."

"That's a given! Most are avoiding the areas you move to since you've eaten a few of the reporters!"

A slight giggle escaped Lucy as she licked her lips. "It's something of a shame that they didn't get to send any footage of what happens while inside of me. It's not my fault though. They were with the Mizian army."

"I know and I didn't say that it was."

As Lucy had been speaking with Albert she had been slowly following those that were trying to escape. Instead of running out in the open though they had dashed into one of the buildings. It would have still been easy for Lucy to tear the building apart and eat them but instead she found herself watching the structure and waiting to see what exit they would try to use. "I'm glad that the UR has resolved to recognize this as a military action. Do you realize how many legal problems that solves for me?"

"It would have been several more murder trials. As it is now they were within an enemy encampment whenever a bombing run came through. Even beyond that though there is an element of personnel responsibility for ones own safety whenever in these situations."

"Come out come out wherever you are my delicious little morsels." As Lucy finished speaking she stuck out her tongue and pressed it into one of the windows. The glass didn't even slow her tongue down as it shattered it then the concrete that held the window in place. The sound of crumbling rubble drowned out the screams of those inside however Lucy didn't quite reach them with her tongue. Instead she proceeded to flick the massive muscle about teasingly.

They had heard the woman's cries of terror only a few moments ago her pleading to have her baby spared and how Lucy had enjoyed eating the woman. None of those inside of the structure expected any mercy from Lucy after such a display. None had any true hope of escaping from her at this point but fear told them that they should keep trying to escape though despair told them just to give up.

After a moment Lucy withdrew her tongue from the building. "Hey maybe a quick glance of at least part of where you're going to go would help relax you. I think I'll give you a quick look and if you like what you see feel free to climb inside." Upon finishing Lucy opened her mouth as wide as she could. It was easy for her to block the opening she'd torn with her tongue entirely so that where there had once been a wall there was an open passage right into Lucy's mouth and down her throat.

Lucy actually held her position for a few moments giving those inside plenty of times to stair into her mouth and down into her throat. She then closed her mouth and backed up slightly. "See? Now how about you come on out and I'll gobble you up and you can spend your last few hours of life inside of my warm tummy."

"Patrick, you have some reports to read."

While a woman in the UR military wasn't rare Sam was quite surprised by the tone of the voice he heard. It was enough to get him to turn to face the source. What he found surprised him. The woman was technically in uniform however the way she wore it was far from normal and far from suiting to a combat situation. Her shirt was open partly revealing a good third of her cleavage, her sleeves were rolled up revealing most of her arms, her boot laces were tied but no in a conventional manner at all and her hair was a wreck.

"Okay Sara, can it wait until I'm done here?"

"Nope it can't."

"Okay then, Sara if you don't mind, take over for me. Sara should be able to answer any questions that you're permitted to know."

"Hey how do you know I'm not busy as well?"

"Because I'm the one that assigned your work schedule and I know you. Now answer the questions while I go and see what is so urgent."

"Fine" As Patrick passed Sara she made her way further into the room and promptly set down in his chair. "So what would you like to know?"

"Um pardon me Miss but who are you?"

"I'm second in command."

After a moment of silence in which Sam continued to observe the lady in front of him he finally gave his head a quick nod. "I see. If you don't mind, what is the current state of affairs of those under your protection?"

"As well as can be expected I suppose, we're currently trying to find some of them employment which might seem foolish but idle hands can be dangerous. We also don't want them to become stagnant under our protection. They're quite a few mouths to feed here already and the number is growing larger."

"So you're trying to get industry moving again already?"

"To a limited extent yes, it seems to make people happier knowing that they have a method of providing for their family. Power was an issue when we initially arrived however we've set up some temporary stations on several of the buildings roofs."

"Don't you believe that is dangerous? I assume you're using the solar energy collectors Miss Angeye developed and you've seen what happens whenever people use her technology for military use without her consent."

"That's why we're keeping the grid we use for military purposes and the one we use for humanitarian separate. There is some intermixing but none more so then what she already has allowed."

"What do you mean what she's allowed? To my knowledge she has never given such permission."

"You use materials and energy systems in a manufacturing plant that produces computers chips, you use those computer chips in flight systems and you use some of those flight systems in military aircraft that is what I mean. Ultimately you can't introduce such systems to a nation and permit their use without strengthening their military if indirectly."

"So you're not worried you're in violation of your contract?"

"Nope, Patrick is quite certain that we're well within the terms of use."

"Excuse me miss."

In response to the voice Jacqueline quickly looked up, if she had been listening to the voice though she'd looked down. Upon not finding anyone standing in front of her she glanced down and was rather surprised to find a child standing in front of her. Of course she knew that children were in the shelter however they'd been so quiet she hadn't given them any thought. After realizing that she was staring she gave her head a quick shake. "Yes? What is it?"

"When is big sister going to get here? We can hear her, but we can't see her yet and the others are becoming real quiet."

"What are you?" For a moment Jacqueline grew silent. After a moment of thought she resolved that the child must be talking about a family member that didn't make it. "Listen, sweaty you're big sister isn't going to be coming. I'm sure that she'd like to be here but she just can't make it."

"Yes she can!" A slight chuckle escaped the child. "I can hear her singing outside right now. Hey maybe we should go to her."

All Jacqueline could do was stair as the child quickly sprinted away laughing. A shiver ran up her spine moments later as she tried to figure out what had just happened. There were a few moments in which she tried to comprehend what had just occurred but she couldn't bring herself to give it much thought. Despite what the child had just said to her she chose to turn away and focus on the wall she'd been observing.

A horrified scream escaped the woman as she toppled backwards. She hadn't been the one scooped up by Lucy's tongue however it had just about been her. They had finally resolved to try to run for it again by splitting up into three different groups and using a different exit for each group. Two would be using doors while the other had to use one of the windows. She had been in the group using the back exit. As they had started to run though a massive red object had swooped in and scooped up the first one out of the door.

Few truly realized how quickly Lucy could move whenever she wanted to. Their decision to use different exits had been logical in a since however they hadn't accounted for her speed. It had been easy for Lucy to quickly move around the building lapping up the first out of each exit as she did so. The best any of them had done was to take two steps. Of course they were consequences for moving so quickly.

The building was now surrounded by massive holes on either side from where Lucy's knees and hands had slammed into the ground. She had actually plowed through a building on the right side of the one the now reduced group resided in as well. Fortunately she'd managed to keep from destroying the building they were in so that her game continued. "That was a nice try! Do you have any more ideas? I hope so but I suppose you wouldn't tell me that. Oh but I'm running short on time. Okay, everyone you have five minutes to come up with a new idea and try it before I have to come in there and eat you. They are others that need my attention."

"Attention everyone, it seems that the military has failed. The giantess remains at large and active with no signs of slowing down. At this time we're asking for anyone that might volunteer to delay her so that at least the women and children might escape. We don't know how long it's going to take her to get here. We won't try to stop anyone from leaving but please refrain from leaving in large groups."

As the words reached Jacqueline's ears she nearly collapsed. While it had been rather silent for a while now she hadn't been able to face the fact that it probably meant the military was on the losing end. Now they were being told to evacuate without knowing what condition the outside was in. They didn't know what roads were blocked and which ones weren't. They didn't know what areas would be the easiest to travel or which Lucy was watching.

"Danny? Danny, where did you go? We have to get out of here. Danny?!"

While Jacqueline didn't recognize the voice she glanced towards the source. What she saw was a woman quickly moving throughout the crowd clearly searching for someone. It didn't take much effort to guess that it was a child given how she was looking. Soon her voice was joined by many others as men and women began to search around. Despite the situation Jacqueline found herself joining in the search though not for any specific child, much to her surprise she found she couldn't find any children even the little girl that had spoken to her earlier.

"Congratulations you lasted the longest!" A delighted giggle escaped Lucy as she lifted the woman higher into the air. She had been forced to finally tear the building apart in order to retrieve the people. Now she held the last of them above her head and opened her mouth wide so that she could see down into it. Her fingers released and she let the woman's screaming form fall down into her waiting throat.

"So where are we going next?"

"They're a few soldiers left. I believe I'll finish them all off first before moving to the shelters and the bunker last. Besides if that was an indicator they'll be coming to me soon enough." Before moving Lucy raised her voice so that anyone in the city could hear her. "Okay I'm going to head to the north and eat everyone there first. Please keep that in mind and try to look lively and tasty. Lots of running around to show how energetic you are would help."

It actually surprised Albert when he felt himself accelerated upward as Lucy began to stand up. He had thought she'd continue licking up those she found for a while longer. "So have you decided on something else?"

"What do you mean?"

"Have you decided on a different way to enjoy your meal?"

"Mm well maybe I have but how about you try suggesting something?"

"I suggested how you should deal with the tanks!"

"Yeah and it was fun! So why don't you try to come up with something else? Come on think fast it won't be long before I catch up with more of them."

A sigh escaped Albert as he leaned his head against the side of the gem. As he rested his head against the cool material a slight chuckle escaped him. It was one of the few times he found himself regretting the gem's protection as he would have preferred to be able to touch Lucy's breasts.

"Come on Albert time is running short, you have to think quickly."

"Fine, fine. Okay I have something. You have to pick them up by licking your finger and using your saliva to do so. There should really be a penalty for you whenever you mess up."

"Mm that sounds like fun! What kind of penalty do you have in mind though?"

"You've hardly given me time to think about this I don't know."

"Well you'd best get to thinking." A slight giggle escaped Lucy as she let her tongue slip out of her lips and pressed a finger against it. She then slowly drew her finger along the bumpy surface coating her finger in her more adhesive saliva.

It was impossible for Albert to keep from groaning as he rubbed his forehead. He could think of some things that he knew would upset Lucy but he didn't truly want her to suffer when she failed. He needed to think of something that she didn't tend to do but not something she would openly hate doing. "Okay if you don't manage to pick them up with your finger then you have to chew so that they don't suffer more then an instant and by an instant I mean less then a second."

"You're on and just in time to." As Lucy neared the group she directed her attention away from Albert and towards them. "Good news people! I'm going to be eating you differently from how I have been and you're the first group I get to try the new method out on. So would one of you like to be the first of the first?" Even as she was speaking Lucy began to lean towards the group and extend her soaking wet finger towards them.

While the distance Lucy's arm had to travel was relatively great the speed with which she could move was even greater. So that if one was to simply rely on the distance to judge how much time they had to flee they would be disappointed. This proved to be the case with the first person Lucy pressed her finger against as he felt her finger press against his back. The force of the impact was undeniable and he found himself toppling toward he never reached the ground.

As Lucy had pressed her finger against him her saliva had quickly adhered him to the tip of the finger. The only reason he found himself falling downward was that she had continued to press forward. Lucy then began to raise the struggling figure up and towards her mouth. Unlike when she extended her arm she kept this action slow and opened her mouth wide for him to see inside of it. This also had the advantage of letting those on the ground see inside of her mouth.

Even if breaking free meant falling to his death the fear of going into Lucy's mouth was far greater then the fear of falling. Due to the greater fear he found himself struggling against the sticky substance that held him trapped against Lucy's finger. As he struggled he heard his shirt tear and the fabric began to loosen. He pushed off against Lucy's fingers with his feet and hands at the same time and felt himself moved forward slightly he then felt Lucy's hot breath wash over him.

"Mm yeah a nice lively one" for a moment Lucy held the man just a meter away from her lips as she spoke. As she finished speaking her mouth once again opened wide and she finished slipping him past her lips. Her lips closed around her finger and she inhaled slightly while slowly withdrawing her finger. Those on the ground that chose to look up saw her finger exit her mouth coated in a fresh layer of her saliva however there was no longer a person trapped on the tip of it.

Having finished one person Lucy once again extended her finger towards the group. This time she had more saliva coating her finger then what could actually adhere to it so that a few drops were made to roll off and splash on the ground below due to the substance being more adhesive then cohesive. "You look like a nice lively lady. Good muscle tone and look how far out you are? You're almost ahead of everyone and with nice legs like that I'm surprised your not. It was so nice of you to develop your body so much to be a nice lean treat for me."

Lucy hadn't given any names but the woman knew exactly who she was talking about. Regular morning runs had indeed left her quite toned and she had hoped that would give her a better chance of getting out of the city. Instead it had brought her Lucy's attention. "Damn it if you weren't so big you wouldn't be doing this."

A delighted giggle escaped Lucy as she pressed her finger against the woman and began to lift her towards her mouth. "Yes I would have to come up a whole knew way to eat you if I didn't have such a massive scale."

"You call yourself massive! I swear you're down right puny."

For a moment Lucy held completely still as her gaze slowly shifted from the woman and down towards Albert. Despite looking in his direction she could see that he still wore a massive grin upon his face. "You're going to pay for that. I hope you realize that. I'm going to get even with you for that comment." As she finished speaking Lucy slowly placed the struggling woman inside of her mouth and closed her lips. When she withdrew her finger the woman was gone.

Despite the display Lucy just put on Albert couldn't help but chuckle. He could tell that he'd caught her off guard with that last comment. "Oh and what do you think you're going to do about it little lady?"

"I don't know yet. I will come up with something though."

"Patrick, what are you doing?"

As Sara entered the room Patrick glanced behind himself at her. He instantly noticed that she'd undone another button on her jacket. "Did you do that during the interview?"

"Yeah the camera was spending too much time on my face and not enough time on my tits."

In response all Patrick could do was shake his head. "I see. So they used biological weapons against Miss Angeye. From what I'm reading we're talking about some seriously dangerous materials."

"Not materials, life forms. It was alive."

"Yes, you're correct. It doesn't seem like any of it managed to escape from the city at least." A sigh escaped Patrick as he shook his head. "We're going to have to burn everything within it to ash then burn the ashes. It also seems that people are trying to escape from the city now. I want some gun boats in the air to insure that no one makes it out alive."

"Why? I doubt that she's going to let anyone get out alive."

"Yes but we need them up there as a display. There is a perfect reason to begin inoculation."

A slight chuckle escaped Sara as she moved to stand next to Patrick. She then proceeded to lean forward and slightly to the side so that her hips brushed against him. As she rubbed her hips against him she scooted forward even further. "I assume you're talking about the transmitter?"

"Sara, um you're going to tip me over." As Sara had been brushing against him Patrick had found his chair actually being tilted backwards. Fortunately her rear had enough give that it still felt nice pressed against him though he was most assuredly pinned by it.

"Whoops!" Even before the word had finished leaving her lips Sara leaned forward a bit. Upon hearing the front leg of Patrick's chair impact the ground a slight giggle escaped her as she realized how much force she'd actually be exerting. "I didn't realize I was exerting that much force. I didn't bruise you or anything did I?"

Before responding Patrick removed his arm from his seat and proceeded to stretch it a few times. When Sara had leaned forward she had went from rubbing her thigh against him to pressing her but against him. He knew that she had been holding back or he would have been sent across the room but she had still done a good job of trapping him in his seat as well as tipping it. "I see that you're still not quite used to your body."

In response Sara gave a slight sigh and nodded her head. "They winged me from the limiter drugs a little quicker then what I was ready for I think."

"None sense. If they'd done that then you're threshold of awareness would have been breached and you'd been a vegetable."

"I know but it can still be kind of hard to control especially when something feels nice." A slight chuckle escaped Sara as she once again pushed her rump against Patrick though she was more conscious of the force she was exerting this time.

"You'll learn to cope and you'll learn to cope with the fact that you're getting stronger. Yeah, we've been looking for a reason to introduce a transmitter into the populace. We can begin doing so under the form of inoculation as a protective measure made mandatory by the Mizian's use of a man made parasite."

"We've been waiting for this chance. It can even be expedient due to us insuring that the parasite doesn't make any more progress." As she finished speaking Sara drew forward once again taking the pressure off of Patrick. Instead of allowing him to stand up she quickly seated herself in his lap having been slowly scooting him backwards the whole time her rear was pressed against him.

Sara suddenly plopping herself down into his lap forced a slight grunt from Patrick as the sudden pressure forced him to exhale quickly. "I swear at times I forget how heavy you are!" As he was speaking Patrick reached a hand around Sara and placed it against her stomach pulling her more firmly against him.

"Does it bother you?"

"No, just please don't bruise or break anything. I take it that Sam finished his interview."

A low groan escaped Sara as she shook her head. "Do you realize how persistent that man is? He would have kept me busy for hours if I hadn't been influencing his mind and I don't mean the regular level of suggestions either. I had to really focus to block the little questions that would have brought on greater ones that I couldn't block."

"I thought you liked attention."

"I do but" instead of finishing speaking Sara leaned forward and pressed her lips firmly against Patrick's forehead. As she kissed his head she made certain to press her breasts against his face so that the majority of his head was either covered by her face or by her breasts. "They are certain types of attention that I value more then others. We haven't been able to spend a lot of time together like we did before."

"I know but you knew that once we arrived we'd be busy."

"Yeah I know, I know. Hey, guess what?"

"You found some more people that we should remove from the city?"

"Nope, I took off my boots before I came in here."

"Huh?" While Patrick trusted Sara completely he couldn't help but look to the side to confirm what she'd told him. Indeed he found that she wasn't wearing her boots. He then checked behind himself and found that they were indeed still at the door. "You mean that you've grown?"

"It's only a few centimeters but yeah I've grown. Neat isn't it?"

"That's wonderful news! So have you actually become any more capable or is this a superficial change?"

"I'm fairly certain that I'm physically more powerful then what I was. I haven't been able to check yet though. We don't really have the equipment here that I'd need to get a better idea. Still, I suppose all of that strength training is paying off. I was a little worried that my body would recognize it was being trained against itself so it wouldn't feel a need to adapt. It's really taking some getting use to though."

Patrick had been Sara's partner almost since she'd been brought into the project. She had been found to have a rather high threshold of awareness and high potential however she also had several traits that had been holding her back. It had been his job as her partner to help increase her threshold of awareness and to remove those restrictions. They'd made progress but there was still much to be done. Sara was rather self conscious about her size much to Patrick's frustration as well as his superiors. "That's good to know. Have you drunk your shake this morning?"

"Whoops! I forgot."

A slight chuckle escaped Patrick as he reached up and ran a hand through Sara's hair. "Why don't you go and down it now then? You're a growing girl and you need your nutrition."

In response Sara gave a quick nod and once again leaned forward placing a kiss on Patrick's forehead. "Okay."

"Oh and Sara, drink the entire thing this time."

"Huh? But I do."

"Sara, I know you got a bottle last night. I meant it when I said I was fine with you drinking as much as you want and want you to. However, you need to finish what you open or at least not throw it away. The R&D team doesn't mind but that doesn't change the fact that those shakes are expensive."

"I thought I wanted one last night but I got half way through and well."

"Were you full?"

"No I just felt like I should stop. Ah well, I'll be right back." As she went to rise up Sara was suddenly stopped as Patrick took hold of her arm. It would have been easy for her to physically break free of his grasp or drag him along but she instinctively stopped.

Patrick knew that words alone wouldn't have been enough to stop Sara from leaving. He knew that she couldn't have began feeling full given how much she tended to drink so there was only one reason she stopped. He still had to approach the situation carefully. He needed to encourage not scold her. "What happened last night Sara? You know that I don't want you starving yourself or even feeling hungry. If you're worried about going through too many of the shakes I'll just call in more."

"I don't know. I just. Well you know that I use to try to limit my snacking after hours well I limited my eating period. I didn't want to put on a lot of weight after all. Well more then what I had already put on."

"Sara you don't have to worry about that anymore. Even if you don't feel like finishing what you open you can just place it back inside of a container. It's not like you have to hide your eating habits from me after all and you sure don't want to worry about fattening up."

"I know." A sigh escaped Sara as she exited the room. She had been quite obese before she had joined the project and been introduced to Patrick. It hadn't been her fault though. When she had been young her physician had given a wrong diagnostic and she'd spent several years taking pills that she not only didn't need but were destroying her body's biology as well. By the time they realized the error she truly did have a problem that had to be addressed with medication and changes to life style.

One of the greatest changes had been a restriction on when she could and couldn't eat as well as what she could eat. It had been difficult for her to live by the strict regiment but she'd managed to stick to it she'd even began to lose weight. Then two men wearing expensive suits had showed up at her door one day. They explained they were there to talk to her about the rather high limits of her awareness and asked her to participate in a few more tests. She'd met Patrick a year later and began to learn what was really going on.

Now they were trying to undo years of dieting habits and actually convince her to eat more often. She understood that this was for her own development but it still was going against years of learning. For a moment she stopped, focused her thoughts on Patrick and listened very carefully. She could hear people even when their lips and vocal cords didn't move to form words.

"How am I going to get her to stop that damn dieting? This wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for that dumb ass doctor. How long can you see someone and not realize something is going horribly wrong anyway? Maybe if I start feeding her? Perhaps I'm putting too much pressure on her to undo what she's learned by herself. It might be easier that way. I'll tell Green what I'm going to do then give it a try."

As Sara listened to Patrick she felt her cheeks grow warm at the thought of Patrick feeding her. She didn't find the idea objectionable just rather surprising. Tonight she'd have to do it on her own though. Patrick tried to take care of her but they were certain things he had to run past the project's head psychiatrist. Green had second say so to anything that might influence mental health which turned out to be just about everything.

"What's been taking you so long?!"

Well before the group had arrived Lucy had heard them coming. Yet she still wasn't prepared for their arrival as they rounded a corner to face her. She was used to chasing after people not being chased especially not when she was busy eating people. Now she found herself faced with a small mob that seemed to actually be upset that she hadn't arrived sooner. Lucy wasn't the only one at a loss for words.

All Albert could do at first was stair and second guess what he was seeing. The idea of an unarmed group of people coming out to confront Lucy in a war zone was surprising enough. What was happening now was enough to leave him tongue tied as he tried to think of how to handle the situation. In the end all he could do was come up with a question. "Lucy what is going on?"

At first Lucy said nothing but took a single step towards the group being careful to halt her foot a few centimeters above the ground for a millisecond before setting her foot down. This slight delay reduced the force released whenever her foot touched the ground so that no one in the group was even shaken. She then began to slowly bend at the knees and settle down to get closer to them.

I don't" Lucy didn't get to finish as she felt a sudden shock run throughout her system. Lucy's muscles tightened reflexively and she thrust her chests outward. Her mouth opened and a slight gasp escaped her as she began to feel as if the world was shifting about her. She didn't even notice whenever she placed a hand on the ground to help steady her as all she could think of was the heat that was building inside of her forehead. It took Lucy a moment to decide what she actually felt but she soon settled on pain as she placed a hand on her forehead and began to rub it.

At first Albert hadn't thought much of Lucy's sudden silence. When he was suddenly lifted higher though and felt himself accelerate forward he quickly became concerned. "Lucy? Lucy, are you alright?" Instead of waiting for an answer Albert moved to the side of the gem and began to try to work it open. He didn't know if it was possible but he felt the need to be closer to Lucy. Unfortunately it didn't seem he could open the gem when Lucy was wearing it.

Even as Lucy rubbed her forehead the pain continued to increase as the heat grew all the greater. At last her right hand joined her left one on the ground as she struggled to keep herself steady. She wanted to talk in order to ask what was happening but she couldn't even form words in her mind much less with her lips. All she knew for sure was that her body was doing something and she hadn't been prepared for it. The fact that it was hurting her was the most amazing part though. Only during drastic changes did she feel something occurring and she'd never felt it hurting her.

While Albert struggled to escape from the gem he considered what might be happening. Instantly his mind flew to the symbiot that Mizia had used against Lucy. He had no doubt that she'd tried to kill it whenever he'd told her to however could have it fooled her? Was it possible that a few of its cells had survived and managed to find a way to harm Lucy? These thoughts served to drive Albert and forced him to push all the harder against the gem yet it showed no sign of giving.

As Albert was struggling he continued to glance out the gem at Lucy. Upon one quick look though, his eyes turned to the group that had come out to meet her. What he found was that at least a fourth of them had collapsed. Once again he grew more concerned as he began to wonder if they might have all be carrying a viral symbiot when they came to Lucy. Perhaps they had planned to use them as a secondary means of introduction should the first have failed.

As Patrick continued to examine the files before him he was a bit surprised whenever his receiver began to buss. His training insured that his hands were going to the device even before he had thought of what he was doing. As he withdrew the phone from his pocket he felt his heart skip a beat as he noticed the emergency number. "What's happening?"

"Sir, Miranda is down. She's still alive but she's not responding to anything I've tried. Her vitals are checking out but something is wrong."

Even before Patrick could respond he was surprised when he had to switch over to yet another emergency. This time he didn't get a chance to say anything. "Sir, Valerie just collapsed. I can't tell what is wrong. She said she felt something and then she went down."

"Another one is down?! Hold, I'm getting another message." As Patrick switched over he didn't wait for the other to speak. "Is your partner down?"

"Yes sir."

Even before he began issuing orders Patrick quickly stood up and began to dash out of the room. "Keep with your partner and try to keep their vitals stable. Call in if you begin to feel any ill effects. Call for medical teams right away." As he was running Patrick made sure to send the message out to everyone.

"Wow." A slight giggle escaped Sara as she reached up and took hold of the counter. As she drew herself upward she was amazed by how shaky her legs felt yet she couldn't stop giggling. She had felt a remarkable wave of energy slam into her just moments earlier and seemed to be suffering some residual affects as she tried to keep from laughing openly.

"Sara, are you alright?" Patrick didn't wait for a response from his partner as he quickly dashed into the room. He moved behind her and took hold of her placing his hands under her arms and beginning to lay her backwards.

"Huh? OH! Hey Patrick!" Once again an amused giggle escaped Sara. She tried to brush Patrick aside as he lay her down but she couldn't find the focus. "Yeah, I'm fine." A slight chuckle once again came from Sara's lips. "Just feel a little odd is all. Um I felt something." A slight giggle escaped Sara once again.

Patrick wasn't sure what to think as he laid Sara back though he was glad to see that she was still aware. Her mentioning of an energy surge caught his attention right away. "Sara, are you going to be okay?"

"Oh sure I'm going to be fine." Once again Sara was made to giggle as she reached up towards Patrick. Her movement was slow but he seemed too stunned to respond as she grabbed his nose.

"Sara, what are you doing?"

A delighted stream of laughter burst from Sara as she released Patrick's nose. "I don't know! I felt this energy before. Oh I know I know. I know where I felt it!"

"Where did you feel it before? We need to figure out what is going on."

"Guess!"

It was impossible for Patrick to keep from sighing as he shook his head. Sara could be quite playful at times but this was going beyond that. Something had happened and he needed to know what before he would know if she was going to be alright or not. "Did you feel it when the symbiot was first introduced to you?"

"Nope, but you're getting warmer. Try again!"

"Okay, how about whenever you learned to use the mental abilities the symbiot gave you access to?"

"You're getting closer but not there yet."

Patrick didn't respond immediately but took in a deep breath. As he became silent he tried to remember everything about Sara's training and their bonding that he could. "How about whenever another candidate unlocked their abilities?"

"Yep! That's it! This is different though, at least it's a little different. It's close though."

After a moment Patrick gave his head a slight nod. "Sara, I want you to try to answer me. Is this like when you flooded your instructor with your emotions during training?"

"Yeah, that is it!"

"So that is what happened to all the others. Sara, do you believe that this is going to wear off?"

"Um, yeah I do. I most assuredly do. What happened to the others?"

"They weren't strong enough to endure the flood of emotions and lapsed into a coma like your instructor did. I imagine they'll be coming out of it soon enough. But this only tends to happen when done intentionally or when someone with a very high potential violently broke through to a higher level or awakening."

"You already have a suspect don't you?"

A sigh escaped Patrick as he nodded his head. Feeling certain that Sara was okay physically and would be mentally soon enough he slipped an arm under her. He then began to lift her being certain to employ his legs in the effort as well as his arms while sparing his back as much as possible. A sharp grunt escaped him as he was reminded of just how much mass she actually contained. "Uh, yeah, I just don't know if it was intentional or if she was just awakening."

Even though she had resisted being laid down Sara didn't budge as Patrick tried to help her stand up. Instead she shifted her position slightly so that her weight was even more exaggerated due to the positioning. "I don't believe it was intentional." As Patrick continued to struggle to lift her Sara gave his legs a quick push forcing them out from under him.

Upon feeling his legs be removed from under him a cry of protest escaped Patrick. His arms extended before him to slow his fall but instead of finding the floor they found Sara due to their position. As his hands came to rest upon her thighs he felt them shift under him rapidly in order to keep him from slowing his fall. Before he could even begin to compensate for this his fall brought him face first into Sara's groin.

The moment Patrick landed atop her a delighted giggle escaped Sara and she quickly brought her legs up. In doing so she shrugged off his hands and took his head between her massive thighs. "I caught you!"

As Patrick spoke his words were muffled due to his face being pressed into Sara's crotch. "Sara this is highly inappropriate right now." Even in this position Patrick found himself trying to figure out what was going on. Sara was acting like herself in most respects she was only being giddier. Due to her laughter before hand, her grabbing his nose, tripping him and her pinning him against her crotch he couldn't decide if he was dealing with a woman or a little girl right now. Her yelling that she'd caught him didn't help the situation.

Sara didn't respond to Patrick's comment but proceeded to inhale sharply and thrust her chests upward. Her actions had the desired effect as her breasts lifted and tossed Patrick into the air ever so slightly. The moment he came back down she quickly repeated the action her giggling once again resuming as she easily lifted and tossed about the vast majority of his mass with her chest alone.

With each toss Patrick couldn't be sure if he should be enjoying himself or embarrassed. If they were in private he knew that he would be enjoying himself but this wasn't the way a superior officer and subordinate were supposed to act. At least he could explain the situation if anyone spotted them given the massive emotional influx that Sara and all the others had received.

It was clear to Albert that Lucy wasn't doing very well. She was in pain and didn't seem to be able to communicate at the moment. He wasn't sure what was going on but he knew that he wanted to help her. Fortunately he had regained his composure after a few moments of trying to force his way out of the gem and could think rationally. "Lucy, I don't know what is going on but I know that you can handle it. I'm right here with you and I'll help you in anyway that I'm able but I know that you can handle it."

A low moan escaped Lucy in response to Albert's voice. The pain had yet to go away but she could hear him. She had been able to hear him since it had begun but he hadn't been talking then. As she listened to his voice she tried to focus more on him and less on the pain she was feeling. She didn't even notice as several children placed their little hands on her massive one.

"Breath Lucy, I know that you can handle this. You might not have had to deal with physical pain in a long time but you're plenty strong enough to handle it." Even as Albert was speaking he couldn't help but desire a way to take away Lucy's pain. Whether it was by rubbing her skin or taking the pain upon himself he didn't care he just wanted to take it away from her. It was these thoughts he was focusing on whenever he began to feel himself warming up.

Listening to Albert seemed to be helping Lucy as she began to regain some of her focus. The world shifted from a red blur to shapes outlined in the crimson hue as she felt the pain diminishing. Her mouth felt dry and her tongue flicked over her lips to wet them as she took in a deep breath. The air tasted warm and unpleasant to her as she struggled to cope with the pain and figure out what was going on.

Albert could feel the heat building as he continued to focus on Lucy. At first it had been hardly noticeable but now he could most assuredly feel it. This only fueled his fears as he worried that Lucy's body was heating up in response to whatever was attacking it. He didn't notice the children outside so he didn't realize that none of them seemed to be feeling anything at all. "That's it Lucy, just focus on getting better. You're stronger and smarter then they are and you can handle anything they throw at you."

A slight chuckle escaped Lucy though she stopped breathing. She knew that the oxygen would help her body if it needed more energy but she couldn't stand the taste right now. At the moment she just wanted to shut out the rest of the world and focus on the sound of Albert's voice. It didn't even matter if he was forming words or not she just wanted to hear the sound to distract her from the pain.

"You know Lucy it's been a while since I saw you hurting. No one has been able to cause you physical pain for a long time. I remember when your father and mother had to come to the terms with the fact that spanking you didn't work anymore. I also remember how much you hated it whenever they extended the duration of your time outs when that became clear. You offered to spank yourself just to get to leave more quickly."

Despite the situation a slight chuckle escaped Lucy as Albert brought up the old memory. Her parents had refused her offer and she'd ended up setting in the corner for the full time. She had been quite upset at the time but when Albert reminded her of it she couldn't help but laugh a bit despite her pain. As she laughed she found the pain diminishing.

While the pain Lucy felt was going away the pain Albert was dealing with had been going up. The heat that he had first felt had gone from noticeable to annoying to painful and now it was approaching searing. One thing that surprised him through all of it though was that he hadn't begun sweating. He didn't mention it to Lucy. Resolving that as long as his vision was clear and he could stand he would keep it quiet. "Please Lucy if you're feeling better give your head a nod."

It was still rather hard for Lucy to think but she was able to do as Albert asked and gave her head a slight nod. What had been simple shapes in a red hue had finally begun to take on features again. This time when Lucy turned her attention to Albert she was able to make him out inside of the gem though she couldn't tell what condition he was in or if he was smiling at her or not.

"That's good Lucy. Now Lucy, can you tell me what is happening to you?"

Lucy slowly gave her head a shake in the negative as she tried to figure out what was going on herself. She was rather surprised whenever she was once again made to giggle despite the pain. This time it wasn't because of a memory though rather she began to feel rather giddy but she wasn't sure why. With her focus slowly returning to her though she glanced towards her hand and could have sworn the group of children that had gathered there had been reduced. She considered asking Albert if she had eaten any of them but she still couldn't form words quite yet.

At least Lucy was feeling better. It was enough to make Albert smile despite the growing pain he had to deal with. With Lucy seeming better though he found himself considering his own situation and trying to figure out what was going on. One possibility seemed that Lucy's body heat was super heating the gem however as he looked at the surrounding area he didn't believe that. Given what the gem had protected him from if Lucy was becoming warm enough to heat it up he knew the surrounding area would be much worse off.

If it had just been Sara and him Patrick would have been enjoying himself. Even with the risk of someone walking in on them Patrick couldn't help but enjoy himself to an extent however he had other concerns to worry about. He needed to make sure that Sara and the others were okay. He also need to figure out how this had happened to them so he'd know what actions needed to be taken if any at all. "Sara, that's quite enough."

Sara knew what Patrick was saying. She even knew why he wanted her to stop and why she should stop but that didn't change the fact that she wanted to continue. "Don't you like playing on my nice big boobies? Maybe they're not big enough though. Oh wouldn't it be neat if I became so big that you could set atop them? Then I cold really bounce you!" A slight giggle escaped Sara as she once again bounced Patrick into the air.

It was rare that Patrick brought his rank into a conversation with Sara. He didn't like to use it in order to win a debate however the situation wasn't normal. "Sara, this is an order. You're to release me right now." Patrick didn't bother giving a reason knowing that if he did Sara might think it was open to debate or that she could even ignore him. He felt rather guilty as he felt Sara's thighs release his head and he stood up.

Even though she released Patrick Sara didn't bother standing up but proceeded to cross her arms over her chest. "No fun."

"I don't enjoy doing this Sara but you're not yourself right now and regardless of how it happened. I can't be with you whenever you're drunk."

Despite her giddy mood Patrick's words immediately hit a note with Sara and she felt her eyes widen. Her right hand came up and pressed against her forehead as she tried to steady herself emotionally and began to raise herself to a standing position. "Patrick, I wasn't thinking. I'm still not thinking clearly but I'll try harder to keep it under control. Thank you."

A sigh escaped Patrick as he willed his arms to stay where they were. His first instinct had been to give Sara a quick hug or at least a pat but given her condition he didn't know if that was a good idea or not. "It's alright Sara. Now we need to get in contact with the observers and see what condition Miss Angeye is in. Once we know what is going on we can see if she's just broken through or if she's awakened."

"And if there have been no visible indicators?"

"We'll have to assume that what has just happened was intentional. Do you believe that you could flood her if it came down to it?"

"I couldn't kill her by doing it but I could temporarily immobilize her with the right feelings. At least that'd give us time to evacuate the area. What about the chance that Mizia has someone?"

"I'd say the likelihood of them having someone powerful enough to emotionally flood you is borderline impossible. However, I can't truly justify ignoring the possibility. If they did have such a person it seems likely that they would use them to flood Miss Angeye while they evacuated the survivors in the city."

Lucy couldn't ignore what she had felt or what had caused it just because the pain was diminishing. For her to feel such pain she knew that something had changed within her or something had come very close to causing her serious harm. Unfortunately as the pain diminished enough for her to think about this other emotions began to flood into her mind as she found herself starting to chuckle.

"Lucy, what is happening now?" While Albert hadn't managed to get much of a response out of Lucy despite his previous efforts he had to keep trying. Talking to her seemed to be helping her a great deal. Unfortunately he was having trouble thinking of what to say next as he had to deal with his own pain now.

"I." A slight giggle escaped Lucy stopping her cold and forced her to cover her mouth to keep from bursting into laughter. She didn't risk opening her mouth again for fear that her laughter would overwhelm her and she wouldn't be able to speak for even longer. She needed to regain her composure before she tried to speak.

For a moment Albert was stunned by Lucy's laughter. Her giggle caused her chest to shake lightly and he could feel every little chuckle as it lightly shook his world. He could at least hope that her laughter meant that she wasn't feeling pain anymore. It was also to his great relief, that as he heard Lucy chuckling, his pain seemed to be diminishing as well though not as quickly as he would have liked.

"I see. So they're waking up but now they started laughing and you can't keep them from it. Oh? They're not just laughing." Patrick gave his head a slight shake as he talked to his subordinates about their partners. Apparently the others were going through the same thing Sara and he went through. However, the personality of each person's partner also seemed to be affecting it.

"So what's going on?"

"It seems that Lorie is trying to breast feed her partner. Right now I'm talking to someone from the medical team and a few others."

A slight giggle escaped Sara as she shook her head. "I see. That sounds like fun actually." As she was speaking Sara slipped a hand behind Patrick and began to rub his back. "Would you like to try it?"

"Sara, take a deep breath."

"Ah, but why? Whoops! Ah crap." As she spoke Sara quit rubbing Patrick's back and took a step back from him. "I'm trying to keep myself under control right now but these emotions are really powerful and hard to defend against."

In response Patrick gave his head a quick nod. He had a good idea of why they were hard to defend against and he doubted it was due to them being that powerful. "Given how enjoyable they seem to be I imagine it's quite tempting to just give in and let them take over."

"Yeah, it is." A slight giggle escaped Sara as she felt her hand moving towards Patrick and she had to force it to her side again. "So what have you learned about Lucy?"

"The observers report seeing her collapse suddenly but they couldn't get a very clear view of her. She'd been crawling around for so long they weren't certain if she had collapsed or was just playing around. They did confirm that she's spent quite a bit of time stationary and were able to confirm that she had indeed collapsed."

"How'd they do that?"

"They located and examined several of her smaller bodies believing that they would reflect the condition of the main body if she had indeed collapsed. They weren't able to get much information as they were limited in how close they could get."

"Do you want me to go there and examine them?"

"No, so far we haven't seen anything indicating that what happened was an attack by Miss Angeye. I have to say though I'm surprised that she's only now beginning to awaken. I would like to know what took her so long."

It had taken some time but at last Lucy's laughter had died down and she was able to examine the general area. As she looked down, the first thing she noticed was her hand and several bits of children's clothing lying about it. "Albert, where are the children?"

If Lucy couldn't see them Albert knew that he wouldn't be able to still he looked towards her hand as if checking for them. "I don't know Lucy. They were there whenever you collapsed and even started gathering around your hand."

Slowly Lucy shifted her hand and lifted up one of the dresses that lay next to her finger. "I can't detect them Albert but if they did leave they left naked." A slight giggle once again escaped Lucy as she turned her finger and let the clothing fall to the ground. When she had lifted up the clothing she'd checked under her hand and hadn't found any blood so she doubted that she'd crushed them.

"I thought that I saw some of them go missing earlier but I couldn't really tell. I was focused on you and the pain was keeping me distracted."

"Pain?"

"Oh, I was worried about the pain you were in."

For a moment Lucy said nothing but turned her attention away from the clothing and to Albert. "You're lying."

It was tempting to continue with the lie and try to convince Lucy that he wasn't but he didn't. The certainty in Lucy's voice told Albert he wasn't going to be convincing her otherwise. "I started to feel a burning pain while I was talking to you. I thought that perhaps your body heat was affecting the gem but I don't know if that was the case. I'm still hurting some now but the pain is going away."

Instantly Lucy's mind turned from the kids and she began to stand up. As she stood up her right hand reached up and took hold of the gem. "Albert, I'm going to need to examine you to make sure that you're in good health still. It'll be easier for me to check you over if you're out of the gem."

"What about you Lucy? You could still be in danger yourself. I think you need to take some time and examine yourself carefully."

Instead of opening up the gem Lucy turned towards the largest grouping of her smaller bodies. "Albert, until I know what caused that pain I don't believe you can be with this body. I'm going to place you outside of the city and then come and meet you with one of my smaller forms. You're to stay inside of the gem until I show up to let you out."

"Lucy, do you really believe you could be in danger?"

"I. I don't know yet. For now I believe that I should start looking for those kids. Who knows, maybe whatever happened to them will give me a better idea of what happened to me." Lucy was quite surprised when she was made to convulse when she finished speaking. It wasn't due to pain or shock rather she had to keep herself from laughing.

"Lucy, do you believe that whatever happened could be affecting your mind?"

In response Lucy gave her head a quick nod and began to walk out of the city. "I'm having." Unlike before Lucy wasn't able to finish speaking as she had to use her free hand to cover her mouth to keep from laughing openly. She wasn't sure what she found so amusing at the moment just that was how she felt.

At least Albert wouldn't have to leave Lucy entirely. He understood why she wanted to be careful. For the moment he hoped the fact that he wasn't breaking down laughing was a good sign. "Lucy, what if that symbiot did manage to affect your body?"

"I'll do what I have to in order to purge it but. That might involve letting a large portion of my body die and if that is the case I don't want you to be around to see it." A slight giggle escaped Lucy before she could cover her mouth. "Why do I find that funny?!"

It was clear to Albert that Lucy was trying to stay calm but he also knew she was concerned. His first impulse was to tell her to try and relax but given the situation that hardly seemed appropriate. "Lucy, is there anything that I can do to help you?"

"Talk to me."

Fear for her safety was something that Albert hadn't seen in Lucy for a long time. She had shown fear since she had begun growing and even after she had reached thirty meters tall. However, it had always been fear of losing someone or fear for someone else. Fear for her own being was something entirely knew. "Lucy, I don't know if I want to be with your smaller bodies right now. I'd rather be here with the majority of you regardless of what is happening. I want to be able to help you in whatever way I'm able to."

"I know Albert and I want as much of me as possible to remain as close to you as possible. However, if this is some form of infection it would be best if you were far away. It would be a set back if this body was destroyed but I would survive. If you died though it would destroy me no matter how many bodies I had."

"The pain is going away though. You don't even seem to be feeling it now."

"That could just mean that whatever is happening has sped up. You felt the pain as well but you don't seem to be suffering from the same emotions I am."

"Lucy, surely I couldn't have contracted the same symbiot you did. If it's actually able to harm you it would have killed me by now. Let's just stop and think about this rationally."

"We can do that once you're far away from this body. Even if the chance is small we shouldn't take any more chances then we have to."

Albert couldn't think of much to say as Lucy carried him through the city. He knew that Lucy was right. There was nothing to gain by him staying and taking such a risk and plenty to lose if there truly was something to be worried about. Fortunately he remembered what Lucy had asked of him. "Perhaps the pain you felt was your body adjusting to the symbiot that tried to harm you in order to insure that it couldn't. The change might have caused a shift in your mental functions causing your current problems. You seem to be getting that under control though."

"That's only because you're here. I can feel that I'm smiling and I feel happy however I know that I shouldn't be feeling this way right now. Your life could be in danger and this body could be dieing. I don't know how I could be happy right now but for some reason my body seems quite pleased."

"Lucy, what are you going to do whenever you hand me off to one of your smaller bodies?"

"I'll move back to the center of the city and concentrate more of my conscious mind on myself. Hopefully a closer inspection of my being will let me figure out what is happening to me. I'll also begin looking for those children with two of my smaller bodies"

"How are you doing now Sara?" As Patrick spoke he moved the phone away from his head and glanced over at his partner.

It was hard for Sara to keep still without putting her head through the hall. Indeed she had actually taken a good chunk out of the wall whenever she'd began rocking in her seat while trying to stay calm. "I can keep from laughing now but I still have more energy then I know what to do with. I'm also having trouble keeping from acting on certain thoughts and you can forget about me putting the thoughts out of my head."

"Um I see. Well it seems that Miss Angeye has left Mr Guarsen at the edge of the city in the care of several of her smaller bodies. She then proceeded back into the center and has remained their since. I assume she's trying to keep him safe while she figures out what is going on."

"I can't blame her. Suddenly awakening to an entirely new aspect of ones being is hard to handle. If you hadn't told me what was going to happen during my training I probably wouldn't have believed it. Still, I wonder what caused her to awaken in such a way. I remember that my instructor had to force me to become aware of my abilities before I could even begin to use them. It hurt."

. "I don't know what delayed her awakening. It is possible that she had been developing slowly but was suddenly forced to take on a great deal due to some stimulus. I would guess that Albert's relationship with her had something to do with it as well."

"Should I go to her now? I could try to explain what is happening to her and why she felt so much pain."

"Honestly Sara I would prefer if you didn't. We're not clear on the details of how this happened and acting from speculation could make this much worse for her. I wonder if perhaps she happened upon something that her awareness responded to."

"Responded in what way?"

"Do you remember how you had trouble keeping Lorie's thoughts out of your head even whenever she hadn't awakened yet?"

"Ah yes I do. We were similar on enough levels that my awareness naturally reached out to hers in search of communion. Regardless of how much it hurt my body."

A slight chuckle escaped Albert as he considered the idea of Lorie and Sara being similar. The women were drastically different in many respects but they did indeed have a few key traits that allowed them to touch one another even before Lorie had awoken or received her symbiot. They were still only beginning to learn what caused one's awareness to reach out to another even if they seemed very different. "Yes, fortunately we had sedatives that were capable of relieving your pain. It doesn't seem Miss Angeye has that option though and I doubt we could help her."

"It would help her relax if I explained what was happening or I believe that it would. You were right though whenever you said if I tried to explain what was happening and turned out to be wrong it would make things much worse. I could at least try to explain that she isn't dieing. That should help her to relax."

"Are you taking into account that she doesn't know you?"

"Oh, good point. Yeah if someone I didn't know came up to me while I was in horrible pain and confused then started telling me what was going on I'd be kind of concerned. So we're just going to let her deal with this on her own?"

"I did say that this was Miss Angeye's war to win or lose. That said I'm not going to shut the door on helping her. We just need to gather some more information and you need to quit fiddling with your shirt."

"Huh?!" Sara's eyes widened as she glanced down at her shirt to find she'd unbuttoned her jacket and had been fiddling with her shirt collar showing off increasing amounts of cleavage. "Whoops!"

The difference between the outside temperature and the temperature in the gem was far more drastic then Albert had expected. He'd almost been made to recoil from it whenever Lucy had opened the gem. As she climbed into the gem he actually felt relieved whenever he noted that Lucy's small body was still a good bit larger then his own. "I guess you're getting ready to begin."

Before responding Lucy quickly moved into the gem with Albert. She then took hold of it from the inside and closed it shut. With so much of her so far away she wanted to keep him as well protected as possible. "Yeah, I'm going to be focusing a good deal of my awareness on myself. I won't be able to keep track of anything that is happening around my main body short of something striking it."

As Lucy took a seat in the gem Albert moved to set down beside of her. He was a little surprised whenever he felt a hand take hold of the back of his shirt and he was pulled against Lucy's body. "Huh?"

"You mentioned that you were in pain earlier. I'm going to check you over." As she spoke Lucy proceeded to lift Albert's shirt off of him.

There would be no resisting this and Albert knew it as he felt his shirt being removed. So instead of even trying he went along with it and didn't even try to resist when Lucy removed his shirt. "Is it really necessary to remove my clothing?"

"Don't worry. No one can see in here with us and I want to be as certain as I can be." As Lucy removed Albert's shirt a sharp gasp escaped her. Reaching around him she pressed her right hand against his chests and slowly began to draw it down carefully taking note of his chest as she did so. "I see all that exercise is paying off nicely."

"Yeah and since I've been spending so much time riding around I guess I need it." As Albert was talking he was made to move backwards as Lucy pressed against his chest. He was a bit surprised whenever he felt Lucy's knee sliding up between his legs. Before he could think of what was happening he felt Lucy's thigh raise up just enough to press into his groin. "Lucy, what's going on?"

"I'm just checking you out."

"I notice."

For a moment Lucy grew silent as she seemed to realize what Albert was saying. "Damn it! What is going on?" A long sigh escaped Lucy as she reached up and pressed a hand against her forehead. As she took in a deep breath she found herself beginning to shake lightly from laughter. This laughter was stopped when she felt Albert begin to scoot forward on her knee and she quickly reached around pulling him to herself.

Lucy had always felt like there was more then one awareness sharing her body. She had felt that way ever since Symbi had been placed inside of her. It only grew stronger as her body began to grow and adapt as if it had a mind of its own. However, it had never been this vocal in her physical actions. Despite that she simply couldn't bring herself to be scared even as she tried to figure out what was going on.

As he was pulled back against Lucy Albert felt strange. Memories of when she'd just began to grow and they'd been playing together came back to him. One time in particular came to mind. They had been watching TV and there hadn't been enough room on the couch thanks to Lucy's greater size. He had moved to set in the floor when Lucy had picked him up and set him in her lap.

"Hey Albert, are you feeling better?"

"Yeah I am. Why do you ask?"

"You just started smiling. You don't think that whatever is affecting me."

"No, I'm just remembering something from long ago."

"Would you mind telling me about it?" As she spoke Lucy began to run her hands over Albert. She was able to examine far more then any human with her hands, eyes and ears though. Now she intended to use all three senses to insure that nothing had infected Albert's body and to insure nothing did.

"I was thinking back to when you'd just reached four meters tall. We were all watching TV. The couch had to be strengthened to take your weight as had the floor. Even after the modifications though there was hardly room for you and your parents. I started to set down in the floor not thinking much of it then you reached down and picked me up."

A slight giggle escaped Lucy as she pulled Albert closer to herself pushing her breasts against him as she did so. "This body might not be four meters tall but I didn't have these back then either. Now you get something nice to rest your back against."

It hadn't been Albert's intention to stimulate Lucy in such a way as he felt those breasts pressing into his back though he knew he needed to remind her of what was going on. "Has your main body lost track of what is happening around it now?"

"Yeah, it's almost entirely dormant now. I'm not finding anything strange I might need to go further."

"I see. You were always so excited whenever you realized you'd grown large enough to do something new. You were particularly happy the first time you realized that you were now large enough to wrap your fingers entirely around someone. Even if it happened to be a young boy at the time, I swear I had no idea how long you were going to pack me around the first time you picked me up. It didn't seem like you were ever going to let me go that day."

Albert grew silent as he waited for Lucy to respond a slight chuckle escaping him as he focused on the memory. His mind was taken away from the past when he felt a hand slip down to his thigh and remain there. Slowly he found himself becoming somewhat concerned as Lucy didn't respond to him and he glanced down at her hand which now remained still.

It had actually caught Lucy off guard whenever she'd heard the children. She had expected them to still be within the city but not so close to her. She was quiet as she drew closer to them carefully examining them as she did so. An odd feeling began to move within her reminding her of whenever she recalled one of her smaller bodies back into herself however different in some ways. "How did you?"

For a moment the group glanced at Lucy as if they were going to respond. After a moment of observation though they looked away and continued on with their game. However, while words weren't spoken the feeling of rejoining with her other bodies grew stronger. Instead of questioning Lucy gave a sigh and tried to focus on the children.

By splitting her bodies and stretching her awareness Lucy could be in several places at once. This did require some extra effort though and did indeed weaken Lucy's awareness to an extent so that she always felt a slight rush when she rejoined with them. Lucy gave a slight sigh as she felt a slight bit of annoyance towards herself.

How the children even got inside of her body should be her first concern. In all her life there had only been two awarenesses that Lucy had invited into herself and they had accepted. Now she was faced with several inside of her and they seemed quite contented to stay there. She was able to gain one tidbit of information as she looked at them. The emotions that had been conflicting with hers were theirs.

When Lucy had quit speaking Albert had been tempted to try to wake her up. However, he resisted the urge for fear that he'd make the situation worse then what it already was. Lucy had told him what she wanted him to do tough so he had continued to speak to her even after she became still. He was glad whenever he felt her hand grasp his leg. "Lucy?"

Instead of responding verbally Lucy once again took hold of Albert. The hand that gripped his leg released and slipped under them. She then shifted her hand from his chest to his back for support and lifted him ever so slightly. Upon turning Albert around she revealed herself to be wearing a very large smile she then pressed her lips firmly to his locking her lips. She continued to hold onto him to insure that he couldn't pull away as she kissed him.

At first Albert had expected to be able to speak to Lucy. As his lips met hers though he instinctively kissed her in return so there was no need for her to hold him in place. He didn't intend on going anywhere. He was a little surprised though whenever he felt Lucy's tongue press against his teeth. Moments later he learned that opening his mouth wasn't an option it was mandatory as Lucy would have forced his mouth open.

With so much of Lucy's awareness focused on her inner self she was having trouble thinking. It had actually taken her a little while to realize that having even one additional awareness inside of ones body wasn't normal and she had several now. For the moment she needed to keep her focus and figure out what this might cause and after that she could figure out how it had happened. One thing quickly came to mind. One's awareness determined how powerful a body they could handle without breaching the threshold. Her threshold had just gone up.

Albert was actually more use to being inside of Lucy's mouth or being covered with her tongue whenever she used it to play with him. This was the first time he could remember her tongue ever being in his mouth. As they kissed though he couldn't help but notice it seemed to be filling more of his mouth. At first he thought that perhaps it was due to her forcing more of her tongue into his mouth but then he noticed her skin shifting against his and that her tongue was withdrawing.

In order to keep from chocking Albert Lucy instinctively withdrew her tongue from his mouth. She didn't release him from the kiss though but used her growing lips to fully engulf his mouth. As she covered his lips with her own she inhaled drawing the spent air out of Albert and then exhaled.

It hadn't gotten to the point that Albert had begun struggling for it but as they had kissed Albert had felt his need for air increasing. He was still rather surprised whenever Lucy inhaled. There wasn't time to be concerned though as she began a slow exhale moments later. Fresh air filled Albert's lunges as Lucy more breathed for him then he did for himself.

Why should she worry how the children's' awareness had come to be within her body? They were strengthening her and didn't seem to be able to harm her. Lucy mentally winced as these questions engulfed her for a moment. Unfortunately focusing inward didn't just make her awareness distant from the world it made her awareness distant from the needs of the world. It was becoming increasingly hard to focus and continue her search as she remained in her concentrated state.

Fortunately she was still focused enough to realize that the answer to her questions could most likely be found in the connection between her bodies. As she looked upon the children she also focused on the bond between herself and her various bodies. She had noticed the similarities to a limited extent before hand but now they became very clear.

Whenever one of Lucy's bodies felt something all of them felt it. So that if she felt warm and safe in one location all of them had the same feeling. In much the same way the bonds the children had responded to had extended her feeling towards them however they were more selective. The bonds spoke of warmth, safety and love. It wasn't a connection initially but rather an invitation to anyone that might be touched by it.

Not only were they more selective in what they shared those bonds the children responded to also consumed much more energy. It didn't take Lucy long to realize why as she knew that her body and awareness would have to make up for what the bodies of the children lacked. They weren't designed to communicate as well with the awareness of others as hers was.

A feeling of elation ran throughout Lucy as she grew surer of what had happened. The children hadn't invaded her body rather she had extended an invitation to their awareness to come join her without realizing it. Why had she done so though and how had it been done? Why were the links the children responded to only carrying her core emotions that seemed to constantly fill her instead of the superficial temporary ones as well?

At least Lucy felt herself relax as she became more certain of why the children's awareness had come to enter her body and why she'd felt as she had. Her awareness and her physical body had been under tremendous strain to cope with taking the awareness of each child into herself. She had felt the pain declining though as the children made it into her and as someone had taken some of the load for her. Instantly all of Lucy's thoughts turned to Albert.

"Um Lucy, I thought you were going to examine me to make sure I wasn't in any danger." As Albert pressed his hands against Lucy he wished that he wasn't in such an awkward position. Due to her growing body and the position she held him in though the only thing he could really push against was her breasts.

An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she held Albert against herself. She then began to increase the force with which she pulled him against her body forcing his hands to press against her breasts more firmly. As she brought Albert closer she shifted her chest causing her breasts to sway and forcing him to adjust his hold to keep the pressure on her breasts her lips turning from a wide smile into a pucker as he came closer.

When Lucy had first kissed Albert he had been a little concerned. Now it was clear that something wasn't normal. This was made more apparent by the fact that Lucy's body was still slowly expanding as if she was going to fill the gem. As he looked into her eyes he was rather surprised to find they were slightly aglow. "Oh crap, you're not even a tenth conscious."

A wide grin adorned Lucy's face as she noted the origin of the bond between herself and the children. It had formed within her however she hadn't been the instigator. While she didn't know all the details yet she couldn't help herself and began to quickly rush back to the conscious world. "You were the one!"

Lucy's sudden proclamation caught Albert off guard so that he had to keep from giving a slight shout. Before he could even think he felt Lucy push his arms aside with her hand and his lips were suddenly pressed against hers. He had no idea what she was talking about but apparently Lucy was back and she seemed very relieved.

"You were the one. You're the reason I absorbed the awareness of those children into my body."

"Huh? What?!"

"Oh that's right you don't know. Those children are still in the city and they're inside of me. I didn't eat them though. I actually absorbed them including the awareness of each child into myself. They're the reason I've been feeling so excitable all of a sudden."

"What do you mean I'm the one though?"

"You're the one that caused it to happen. And now there helping to strengthen me as they share my body as well, I can't wait to see how much bigger they help me become."

"Um Lucy?"

"What?"

"Look at how close your head is to touching the top of the gem."

There wasn't a moment of hesitation as Lucy moved to do as Albert told her. She was actually surprised though whenever she looked up and found her nose pressing into the gem. Upon her discovery she quickly glanced down at the seat she found herself in to see that her hips had actually crushed the arm rest to either side of her to make room for her expanding form. "Well, I guess things got started without me." A slight giggle escaped Lucy as she looked at Albert and noticed how little clothing he had on.

"Lucy, I'm still not clear on what you found out. Would you mind telling me without yelling?"

In response Lucy gave a quick nod. "Sure, I can while we wait for my main body to get here. First you'll be glad to know that it wasn't the parasite Mizia tried to use against me that caused me that pain. It seems that it was me suddenly taking in the awareness of the children using a bond similar to what I use to connect my various bodies. I didn't even realize I was doing it. That was also why they came to me like that. On some level I was calling out to them and guiding them to me."

"What did you mean it was my fault though?"

"You're the reason the bonds formed. I wouldn't have done it on my own if you hadn't provided the initial stimulus to do so. I don't even believe that I could have done it on my own. The pain I felt was due to the sudden exertion taking them into myself caused. It was sort of like opening your eyes for the first time. The pain you felt was whenever you began to pick up some of the slack."

"What? You mean we're connected?"

For a moment Lucy couldn't answer Albert as a slight giggle escaped her. She knew what he meant and in truth the answer was no. However, he was close enough to the truth that she felt there was no true lie in continuing as she was. "Of course we are Albert. I've spent more time with you then anyone else in this world except for myself and you know me better then anyone else. So you'd naturally be the first one that I would establish a bond with other then myself."

For a moment Albert couldn't help but blush a bit as he grinned. "Why did it only bring the children though?"

"I'm not entirely sure why it only touched the children I do have a few guesses though. I believe that it was partly due to the fact that they were the ones most easily contented by the offer and not capable of harming me. They're content to play safely within me and share in my delight. They have the least knowledge and personnel experience to cause our wills to conflict. Finally they get to regain what they lost whenever they left their mother's womb."

"That sounds like a deal that far more then children would be interested in."

"I imagine that it is! However, they're also the ones that chose to accept my terms. I'm in control. The awareness of a child is also more receptive to such links just as it's more receptive to new ideas."

"Um Lucy, are you sure that you're in control?"

A slight giggle escaped Lucy as she immediately realized that Albert was talking about his current condition. "I'm as in control as a mother is while she's carrying a child if not more so. That said they can still influence my emotions and behavior with their own especially while I'm only partly aware. Also, well it looks like that while they were influencing my emotions what actions I took were based on my own desires."

For a moment Albert said nothing but continued to look into Lucy's eyes. He could see the glow fading away and as he hadn't heard the gem crack he believed that she was done growing. After all had she continued at the rate she'd started at her head would have burst through it by now. "So you really believe that I'm the reason you invited the awareness of those children into yourself?"

"I'm certain of it. Believe me Albert there is no way that I could have done that alone. I don't believe that anyone's awareness could do such a thing by itself. It isn't just a matter of having the power needed to do so."

"I need a little time to think about this Lucy. I know that they are questions that I want to ask you I just haven't thought of them yet. I'm sure that I'm going to be quite concerned whenever I have time to consider every implication. I really don't like the idea that I can unintentionally affect your awareness without either of us knowing."

"Ah you don't need to worry Albert. It isn't like I wouldn't have gone along with the change regardless. I just wish that it hadn't taken me so long to make the adaptations. Then I wouldn't just have been able to invite the children here into myself I could have invited those I ate before hand."

"That is true. So did you get all the children?"

"No. Not all of them accepted my other. They ran back to the shelter whenever they realized where all the other kids were going. At least some of them did."

"How do you know that?"

A slight giggle escaped Lucy. "The awareness of each child is now inside of me. I have access to what the awareness recalls."

"Lucy, if this body was growing does that mean that all of your other bodies started growing?"

"The first thing I noticed when my main body became aware again was that my but was in the building that was behind me and I'm naked."

For a moment Albert just looked at Lucy, that look grew into a grin, turning into chuckles moments later and then all out laughter. While it wasn't the answer he had been expecting it was most assuredly an effective answer. He'd seen how large Lucy was compared to the buildings around her before hand and while there was relatively little room for her between buildings even back then he doubted that she'd pressed her rear into a building before she began to focus on herself.

"I suppose that is to be expected though. I didn't design my clothes to handle such a rapid increase in size and they were getting tight regardless. It's a good thing I plan ahead otherwise I wouldn't know of any clothing that would work on me. I swear though if this continues I'm going to have to come up with something longer lasting and more adaptable."

"So what are you doing now?"

"I'm searching to see how many people might have escaped from the city and bringing them back. I see no reason to stop my plans just because a few unexpected events occurred."

"You don't worry that the children will protest you consuming their parents?"

In response Lucy shook her head. "They chose the warmth and safety I offered them over that of their parents whenever they came inside of me. They relinquished their bodies to me in order to escape this world. They have no such attachment to their parents that would cause them to protest the destruction of their bodies. Besides I killed most of them already."

For a moment Albert grew silent. To him the parents had deserved to die for supporting those that would take Lucy's life and for not leaving when they had the chance. The children were the parents' responsibility not Lucy's and he couldn't expect her to take responsibility for them. He was glad to know that they had an escape rout though even if it meant giving up their bodies.

"That's strange your emotional state went down but you seem more content."

"Huh?"

"Whatever you thought about made you less happy then you were a few moments ago but your content with the thought. Generally when someone is content with an event or thought they become happier not less happy."

"Don't worry about it. Lucy, do you have any idea of what the long term effects of this will be?"

"You're seeing one of them now. They're helping to strengthen my body by resonating with me and one another."

"Are they any risk involved though? What if they should decide they're no longer content within your body and the awareness should try to escape? Can they do that?"

In response Lucy gave a quick nod. "If an awareness is badly weakened it will no longer be capable of sustaining a body. One of them could decide they're no longer content with our agreement and I would lose the support they offer as they lost the will to remain where they are. Eventually I would have to start reducing myself in order to keep from breaching the threshold."

"So they could harm you?"

"I wouldn't say that they could harm me. They could withdraw the aid that they are currently giving me and I would have to make due without." A slight giggle escaped Lucy as she pressed her lips against Albert preventing him from asking her another question. "I don't believe that is going to happen though. An awareness is in some ways more fickle then someone who still retains their body but in other ways it's much easier to keep content."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"I've developed and help develop symbiots for people. I've been dealing with the human awareness for a while now and we've found some trends in behavior."

For a moment Albert pressed his hand against his forehead as he felt his skin warming up. A slight chuckle escaped him as he removed his hand though he didn't quit blushing. "I can't believe I forgot that. You've also studied the idea of two awareness being linked together in order to give one body a boost like what Sandra and Phillip want to try."

"Yep, generally speaking if an awareness accepts and arrangement it's going to remain content in it unless something changes."

"Well that's a relief. If they did become discontent though do you believe that you could handle the sudden strain?"

"Fortunately it isn't a matter of suddenly becoming discontent. It would be a process as one awareness became tired of the environment or found another environment more enticing. I would begin shutting down various aspects of my body in order to keep from breaching the threshold before they left me. You don't need to worry so much."

"I just don't want to risk something I helped initiate harming you."

"So she's active again? I have to say that was quick. I didn't believe she was so weak that she'd lapse into a coma but I never expected her to recover so quickly. She almost beat Sara's time."

"Sir, we're not actually certain of her exact time of recovery. We could only observe her main body."

"I know but I choose to believe that Sara recovered from her awakening more quickly."

Despite speaking to a superior the soldier couldn't help but chuckle. "I heard that everyone that went through the joining developed such feelings towards their partner."

"You're partly correct. Everyone that has survived has. If I'm not mistaken you're a candidate for the project as well."

"You're correct sir however they haven't found a partner for me to date. So what are your orders from this point? She seems to have resumed her assault on the city. We've had to fall further back due to some people making it outside however she's quickly bringing them back in."

"As she returns to the city you're to move in again but just close enough for observation. I don't want to risk disturbing her while she's having fun and besides the others haven't recovered yet."

"Recovered from what Sir and who?"

"Lucy's awakening seems to have affected most with such abilities. At least those in this region and some of them are still out of commission. Until they recover I don't want to take any more risks then we have to."

"I see Sir. We'll keep our distance and keep you informed."

A sigh escaped Sara as she rubbed her forehead and glanced over at Patrick. "You know I'm about fully recovered now. They're just a few more giggles still inside of me that I need to get rid of."

"I know. Well it seems that Lucy has grown even larger. Whatever caused her to collapse, did more to strengthen her then weaken her apparently. I wonder what it would require to convince her to share just how that happened."

"Mm I could always offer her lessons. She only recently awakened to her abilities after all and I've had mine for a few years now. I'm sure I know some tricks that she hasn't caught on to yet."

"I believe you're right. That's a very good idea."

"We have to approach it delicately though, right?"

"Yes I'm afraid you're right. I don't even know if we'll be able to go through with it. It really comes down to what the bosses wants and if they think sharing such knowledge with her would be dangerous. Then again perhaps you should arrange a more private meeting."

"Patrick what are you suggesting?"

"I believe you know."

For a moment Sara just looked at Patrick as if gauging if he was serious. Instead of responding verbally she reached out directly to his awareness. "It sounds like you're suggesting I do it regardless of the orders I receive. Would you mind telling me why?"

There was no movement from Patrick's lips rather he focused on Sara knowing she'd hear him. "I'm not sure how she did it but perhaps you could use the same method to strengthen yourself. Right now your mental abilities are on par with hers but your body is no where near as powerful. If you two were to confront one another the outcome is fairly easy to guess."

"We'd cancel each other out as far as our minds went and it would come down to our bodies. I'd lose in an instant if she didn't decide to play with me first."

"I don't propose to do this right away of course. We can contact our superiors and see what they think is best. Hopefully they'll see the wisdom in sharing such knowledge."

"My only fear is that we'd be exchanging useful information for information that we can't use. If only I could develop my body more then perhaps it wouldn't be so worrisome. After my initial change I felt so strong and powerful. I hate that she's able to make he feel weak and helpless all over again."

"I know Sara but keep in mind she's had her symbiot for years now. You may be older then she is but you've had your symbiot for far less time."

"Yeah, but the symbiot placed in me was meant for military purposes the one used in her was just for healing. It wasn't even meant to remain inside of her like mine."

Well hi there! You know it was very inconsiderate of you to try to leave during dinner time and when you have company no less. Fortunately I'm a forgiving lady and still decided to roll out the red carpet for you." As she spoke Lucy leaned forward and let her massive tongue flick out towards the group. Unlike previous times this time she used a few of her smaller bodies to move the group towards her massive tongue.

It had seemed like they had escaped her. Some had even hoped she was dead as they'd made it out of the city. Then they'd seen several small dust clouds approaching. As the clouds had neared them they had grown larger and an odd roar could be heard. It had sounded like several small explosions happening in very close proximity to one another in both time and space. It had been Lucy's feet striking the ground with enough force to move her at such speeds.

They had caught up to them in a matter of moments. They hadn't given up then though and continued to try to flee in hopes that she wouldn't be able to bring them all with her. That had been when she began to split herself. What was only one massive body soon became several. After splitting herself three times she'd been roughly the height of an average woman. She had then split herself one last time so that she seemed to be a small child.

It had been encouraging to some who had hoped that her size revealed her strength. That had lasted until she struck one of them in the stomach. She had then proceeded to gather them up. They had split up as they had been told to in order to keep from drawing her attention to any one group. Yet it had also meant their numbers were small enough to be brought back to the giantess with ease. Now they were being forced to walk into her mouth.

As she stepped onto Lucy's tongue the massive muscle gave initially. She felt her feet sink down a slight push from behind almost toppled her as she climbed onto the unfamiliar surface. A blast of hot air from Lucy's mouth slammed into her and the woman tried to recoil from the heat. She wasn't allowed to do so as she was pushed further along. With both feet on Lucy's tongue and being forced to move forward the woman felt something take hold of her shoe as Lucy's saliva adhered to it.

Each step further along Lucy's tongue was made more difficult as with each step they grew closer to the void of her stomach. A living cavern that would slowly take them apart as if they were nothing more then tiny snacks awaited them right ahead. The initially giving surface of her tongue made it hard to move and each step was made even more labored by her sticky saliva as Lucy had yet to switch to the more cohesive form she tended to use.

When Lucy had initially picked up the gem Albert had wondered just how she was going to continue carrying it with her. He had thought that she'd use some strips of her clothing to cover herself and make something that could be used to hold the gem. She had done neither though. Rather she'd taken some strands of her hair and quickly crafted a sort of cradle for the gem. She'd then slipped it within the strands and used some of her hair to secure him in place.

This time Lucy had opted to secure him to her forehead. Albert hadn't bothered to ask why she had chosen that location but he had a fairly good idea. Lucy's hair was quite long but there was still no way she was going to secure him to the front of her chests. She could have worn him around her neck however that would have limited his view even further. On her forehead he had a clearer view of what was going on then around her neck and still had a great view down into her cleavage.

As the small crowd was forced to march into her mouth Lucy slowly drew her tongue back into it speeding them along further. She was actually grateful that some of them chose to stop whenever she quit pushing on them as it allowed her to better demonstrate how large she was. As her tongue was being drawn back into her mouth Lucy slowly set up and began to tilt her head backwards but was careful not to swallow.

The crowd had been far from silent as they had been forced into Lucy's mouth. Their pleading had just done nothing to inspire her mercy. As her head began to tilt though and the crowd began to slide back towards her throat their cries grew all the louder and less coherent. Those that had been trying to reason with her soon resorted to pleading as they felt gravity taking hold of them so that they tried to actually cling to her tongue.

Lucy had no intention of closing her mouth, working her tongue or swallowing. Rather she had resolved to see how long it would take them to fall down into her throat. Before hand she had been able to take someone down her throat without actually swallowing. She had grown since then and was eager to see how easily they could slide down and how many at once. It would have been easy for her to do the calculations and figure it out but she resolved to experiment until she found out.

While Albert didn't want to make Lucy worry he couldn't help his concern as he set within the gem. She had told him not to worry about how he might unconsciously influence her development but that wasn't possible. The idea that he could help Lucy by simply desiring to do so had great appeal to him, however it also brought a fear that he could hurt her with his desires. "Lucy, I don't recall ever thinking that I wish you could absorb the children."

Before speaking Lucy tightened her grip on Albert squeezing him more firmly against her body. With the seats destroyed due to her growth she had settled on keeping a smaller body in the gem with him to hold onto him and keep him from be shaken about. "You wanted to help me grow more quickly but on some level you still felt bad for the children. After all even if it was their parents' responsibility that I ended up eating them you still felt they deserved more of a choice. I responded to both desires even without realizing it. At least part of me didn't realize it."

"So you found a way to strengthen yourself by creating a space inside of your own body for their awareness?"

"Yeah, though I'm not really sure where that spot is located. I assume that it's part of my brain."

"You learned a lot while you were focusing."

"I was pretty well gone at the time. You could probably tell from the way I was behaving though. I was even beginning to lose track of why I was worried and not just enjoying myself. There were a few times that I actually did forget but each time I would think about you and that would remind me. I can't hear or see the children anymore but I know they're there."

"So you have to just about go to sleep entirely to hear and see them?"

"Yeah, I haven't been that close to truly being asleep in many years now."

"That means you haven't been so close since you were a child. What did you see whenever you found the children?"

A thoughtful expression appeared on Lucy's face as she reached up and rubbed her head. "I saw a bunch of kids that seemed more interested in playing then answering the questions of their host. At first everything was foggy so I couldn't see much until I dedicated enough of myself. What I saw after that looked to be like a field but." A slight giggle escaped Lucy as she rubbed her head. "It was changing."

"You mean the play area was changing?"

"Yeah, it had several features from places I remember from our past. I imagine that it was a mixture of places I had fond memories of. It wasn't just that though. They were also several places that were entirely new to me. I'm going to have to assume that they're places the children's awarenesses were fond of. It was shifting though."

"Do you have any idea why?"

"It could have been any number of things really. My first guess is it was due to the various wills meeting and settling on their environment. Perhaps when they joined with me they found places in my memories that they were even fonder of then in theirs so they replaced what they brought with something from me. Then again perhaps it was being designed to suit the combination of wills and creating entirely new environments. It might even be shifting from moment to moment."

"I thought you had the children's memories."

"I do from whenever they had separate bodies. An awareness is harder to read though even whenever it happens to be residing within you."

"Did anything else stand out?"

"I'm not sure. Yes actually I believe something did. I didn't think about it until now. I'm certain that all the children I absorbed were there however they were some that clearly weren't children. I didn't think anything of it until you brought it up because they felt like they belonged there."

"Do you have any idea of what they were?"

"I'm not sure I want to speculate. I've had to do a lot of guess work already and if just one guess was wrong it could change the whole situation. If you want I'll give you my opinion but that's all I can offer."

"That'll be fine. Your guess is bound to be better then mine."

"You saw how they were affecting my emotions. How they are still affecting them actually. Most likely that was an aspect of me playing with and taking care of some of the children."

"I see. Lucy, do you believe that you could restore those kids to bodies of their own?"

This time Lucy didn't hesitate as she gave her head a quick shake. "I sure could. Well if, if they let me." A slight giggle escaped Lucy as she rubbed her head. "That's another problem with an awareness. If it decides that it likes where it is you can't always force it to leave without destroying the vessel."

"You mean you couldn't force them out of you without destroying your body?!"

"Now I didn't say that. Not that forcing them out of me would be easy. I couldn't force them into a different body though. You've heard of a situation in which a person absolutely could not work with a symbiot I believe."

"Yes, the military had some trouble with their combat oriented symbiotic life forms."

"In a few of those cases it wasn't the symbiot or the person's body that was the problem. It wasn't even the person's conscious mind. Rather it was due to the person's subconscious awareness not liking what was going on."

"Can't they use stimulants to force it to work though?"

"Well yes you can. Right up until the awareness gets so desperate that it destroys the body in order to escape."

"I see. Thanks for answering my questions Lucy. I know you're trying to enjoy yourself and I'm probably not helping you."

"Don't worry about that! It's always nice to have someone to talk with while one is enjoying their meal." An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she lowered her head back to a more regular position. "You know I just realized that you haven't eaten yet. Well it's a good thing that I'm in here with you." Instead of waiting for Albert to respond Lucy quickly turned him around and brought his lips to her breasts.

Gaeten cringed as she climbed over the pile of rubble. His occasional slip ups had resulted in the sharp stones tearing through his pants legs and now they were working on his flesh. Unfortunately the only options were climb over the pile of debris or go around and that would have taken even longer. Of course that was only half the battle. They also would have to find a way out of the city and quickly so Lucy didn't track them down.

As he climbed he could still remember whenever she'd left the city limits. The hurried pace with which she moved had made them hope that something had gone wrong. Even he had been made to hope that the parasite was having an affect on her. He was glad that he hadn't remained behind to see if it had though. Rather as soon as Lucy had gone down him and several others and moved to leave the city.

This had been a calculated risk. If it had been the parasite that had killed her it might have very well killed him. Still, he didn't want to stay behind and hope that it had finally managed to affect her after being disappointed so many times. He was quite happy with his choice whenever Lucy had began to move again however he was horrified whenever she'd suddenly began to grow even larger.

Now she seemed fully active once again and all he could do was hope that she wouldn't take notice of him as he tried to leave the city. This seemed to be a false hope as he felt certain each time she bent down she was consuming another group of people. It was enough to keep him from even looking back at his colleagues as he climbed and kept him from thinking too much about the pain.

"Attention. Attention please. You're all getting kind of thin in numbers and I have to travel a bit to enjoy my meal. Now as you can tell I recently grew quite a bit so there is also quite a bit more space in my stomach. So I was wondering if you would mind running towards me instead of running away. I can assure you a warm place to go to."

Running hadn't worked for anyone that had encountered Lucy however no one from Mizia had managed to reason with her as of yet. So that Gaeten continued to climb as did the others despite the seeming futility. At least they continued to climb until they heard a gun shot and glanced back. What he saw was one of his colleagues falling backwards with a rather noticeable gun shot wound in his head.

While the city was filled with noise as people attempted to escape from her Lucy could still notice a gun shot. As the sound waves reached her ears she clinched her fist and immediately pressed them against her thighs while turning in the direction of the sound. She then leaned forward to better orient the sound waves. "Hey! Don't kill yourselves! I like my food fresh! You are all so darn rude."

"Lucy, haven't you ever seen the signs no" there wasn't time for Albert to finish as Lucy once again forced her nipple into his mouth. In response he pressed against her breast in hopes that she would pull him back. After a few moments of pushing though it was clear she wasn't going to let him speak. As he began to suck on her nipple once again he glanced up at her face and wasn't surprised to see her sticking her tongue out at him.

At first Gaeten had thought nothing of the man killing himself. As he had continued to climb further though he'd realized that the gun shot had drawn Lucy's attention. The fact that she was actually moving towards them now pushed him to move faster and even to hinder the progress of those he was traveling with. Hopefully she would stop to consume them and allow him more time to make his escape.

"You can kill yourself if you want but I must request you wait until I've eaten you. It isn't like there is a big difference between putting a bullet in your head inside of my stomach or outside. At least there isn't one to you. Besides, there is always a chance I'll get bored and decide to leave, someone will talk me out of what I'm doing or you might even figure out a way to escape. There is nothing to be gained from quitting in these situations as long as you don't lose your weapon.

So come on. Show me some human spirit and keep on fighting until the very end." As she spoke Lucy quickly slammed her fist into the palm of her right hand. This time when she spoke she spoke through her smaller body so that only Albert could hear her. "I thought they could use a little pep talk. This really hasn't been going their way and I'm sure they could use some encouragement."

In response to Lucy's comment Albert did one of the few things he could do and rolled his eyes. He could actually think of one reason for them to kill themselves before Lucy found them. It would deprive her of some pleasure which was a victory to an extent though a very small and even superficial one. At the moment it seemed the best chance for any type of victory they had. He couldn't voice this though as his face was pressed into a breast bigger then his head.

"You're all making it very difficult to get a mouthful you know? Come on I want to see how many of you I can let slide down my throat at once. It's not like you're accomplishing anything by fanning out and running away other then making me take more time and insuring that you die tired. Just set down and wait for me to get to you. Some of you would even have time to have a nice conversation, some prayer or perhaps play a game of some sorts. Actually, I'm sure they are some taverns in the city I haven't destroyed. You could stop and have a nice drink before I get around to eating you."

While Lucy was speaking Albert finally managed to pull his head away. Realizing that his time was short he spoke up. "When your mouth is full you" yet again Albert didn't get to finish as Lucy once again forced his face into her breast. As she did so he could hear her giggling. Apparently she had decided to keep him from teasing her by shoving his face into her breasts each time he tried to speak. He could think of worse ways to be silenced.

As Lucy came upon the body she bent down as if to get a closer look. When she spoke she made sure most of the city could hear her. "It's strange. I don't mind eating dead animals in fact I prefer for them to be cooked and seasoned. When it comes to people though, I just don't find them as appealing as food whenever they've already been killed. It becomes even less appealing if they've been dead for even a minute. I don't mind the idea of licking your crushed remains off my fingers if I was the one that picked you up though.

I suppose that it just doesn't give me the same rush if you or someone else has already killed you. After all it isn't like you're still around to be scared or even acceptant of the situation if you're already dead. So I just want to say. Thanks for not killing yourselves." As she spoke Lucy straitened up once again and easily stepped over the pile of debris were the corpse lie.

By now Gaeten was well ahead of the others as he hurried through the city streets. As he ran he paid close attention to any form of transportation he saw in hopes of finding one that he could use to escape. Unfortunately they roads they had been moving the armor along had been those best suited to traveling through the city. It had let the heavy equipment move effectively but it had left the roads badly damaged.

It was impossible for them to know which sections of the road were still passable and which weren't. Another major problem that everyone trying to leave the city was facing was fatigue. Nearly everyone that hadn't been eaten nearly right away had been forced to decide between trying to find a rout that was passable in a vehicle and going on foot. Most had chosen to go on foot instead of going back towards Lucy or into the city.

At last Gaeten couldn't help himself and risked a glance back. He was actually surprised whenever he noticed two people stopping and turning into a store. It seemed impossible as he read the sign and quickly realized it was a liquor store. The two that had stopped seemed to be exhausted and probably couldn't have gone any further but actually seeing them stop was shocking.

Running on foot wasn't working that had become painfully clear. They had no transportation that could get them out of the city quick enough and weren't ready to kill themselves. Yet as they had passed the store the two had stopped as if having one mind and moved to the store. At least they could drink something to duel the pain and perhaps the fear. It depended on how much time they had but they might even be able to drink enough nerve to kill themselves or each other.

"I just can't get into it. I've been thinking about cooking you all and trying to spice you up but it just doesn't appeal to me. However, perhaps I should try some spices. I wonder what would go the best with you. It probably varies from person to person but I personally believe ketchup goes with just about everything. Honey can go quite well with certain meats and so can mustard. Mm" As she was speaking Lucy continued her progress through the city finally catching up with the tail end of the group Gaeten had been leading.

Even if Lucy had been perfectly quiet, even if she had been invisible it would have been impossible to not know she was close. The shockwaves from her foot steps were still able to travel through the broken street and reach the runners. At first they hadn't been noticeable but as she drew closer they became impossible to ignore. So that those that had stopped to enjoy a last drink found themselves tipping the bottles upward and trying to take in as much as they could.

An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she bent down next to the store the two men were in boozing themselves away. "I swear if I wasn't going to eat the two of you I would think that you're trying to kill yourself with alcohol poisoning." As she was speaking Lucy brought her fingers to just centimeters away from the windows. When she finished she gave them a slight flick shattering the glass in an instant and clearing some room for her to reach in.

Neither of the men tried to struggle as Lucy took hold of them. They weren't drunk at the moment but they were most assuredly feeling a buzz and pain was being numbed. As Lucy brought them towards her mouth neither of them bothered struggling though they did clinch firmly to the bottles they'd taken with them as well as their side arms. Neither of them intended on enduring a long painful death.

As Lucy swallowed the two men an amused giggle escaped her. She was partly amused because some people had actually taken her suggestion to have a last drink and partly because they'd gone so quietly. She could tell they weren't all out drunk but it did seem to have relaxed them. "I wonder how much of that alcohol will have kicked in by the time they hit my stomach."

As Gaeten pushed onward one couldn't say that he was running any longer. He had tried to pace himself to make as much progress as he could but that wasn't enough. Upon hearing Lucy he realized she'd caught up to the two that had stopped to spend their last moments boozing away. With this knowledge driving home just how close Lucy was he finally quit trying to run in a strait path and moved to take shelter.

"Powdered sugar might be a nice flavoring. Salt is okay and I like pepper. I'd probably go with something sweet though so honey or powdered sugar seems the most likely so far. Chocolate could work but I don't know. Chocolate is great on its own, goes wonderful with nuts, fruit and some forms of bread but I don't know about with meat. I'm thinking I like the idea of honey and people more then chocolate and people."

Every few words Lucy spoke was punctuated by an increasingly powerful shockwave running throughout the ground as she grew closer to the group. Some of the stragglers were even sent toppling over as the rapid succession of impacts was enough to make them lose their balance. Standing up again after a fall proved to be quite a challenge due to both the panic and the increased power of the shockwaves.

"Well hello there." As Lucy approached the group of three she let her tongue stick out of her mouth and slowly ran three fingers over it coating them in a thick layer of her saliva. Upon coating her fingers she began to extend them towards the group even before they were in arms reach giving those that dared to look back a glimpse of her saliva soaked fingers.

None of the group seemed to have the energy left to scream as Lucy pressed her fingers against them. The saliva adhered to both them and her finger allowing her to lick them up without actually pinching them between her fingers. Much as she had done whenever she reached down for them Lucy opened her mouth well before they were near it wanting to give them as much time as possible to see into the living cavern that would swallow them whole.

Every time he had tried to speak Albert had found his faced pressed into Lucy's breasts. This time whenever he felt her arms relax he quickly shifted his position so that he turned his head away from her breasts hoping to buy enough time to finish speaking. "I'm surprised you didn't mention barbeque."

This time Lucy didn't move to force Albert's face back against her breasts but let him finish. A slight giggle escaped her as she felt him shift about in her arms to keep her from pushing his face into her warm flesh again. "Well, I don't believe that would go very well with human or anything that hasn't been flame cooked."

Instead of licking all her fingers clean in a single swipe Lucy pressed the edge of her index finger against her tongue. She then slowly slid it over the surface of her tongue while slightly rotating the finger causing the person stuck to her finger to adhere to her tongue. Her middle finger pressed against her tongue as the first person came off and followed a similar motion so that he ended up deposited next to the first. The third was soon to join them.

"I'm surprised you haven't tried making your own sauce."

"Yeah! That is a good idea! But" A sigh escaped Lucy as she shook her head. "How often would I get to use it? I've been really trying to enjoy myself as I don't believe I'm going to get a chance like this again."

"That is true but at least you could have some if already waiting should the chance ever arise again. I doubt you're going to find any natural form of seasoning that would match your taste perfectly."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't believe you'd find any that is quite sticky enough to let you eat like you seem to enjoy."

"Mm well I don't believe I'd be pouring the sauce on them. I'd probably end up dipping them instead so it wouldn't need to be sticky enough to pick them up with. Actually, it'd probably be best if it wasn't that adhesive or I could have problems. Still, coming up with my own would be fun. There is something to be said about the classics though and those provided naturally."

While Lucy was speaking Albert glanced out the gem and down at the city below. He couldn't help but compare how high up he was now to how high up he had been when Lucy had been wearing the gem in her top. He wasn't entirely sure if she had doubled her height but he knew that she was around double it. "So how do you feel walking around naked?"

"Eh it's alright I don't have anything against it. I just like wearing clothing as it both serves a function and allows me to better accent certain features. I don't need a bra for support but I feel that it's more enticing. Just let them see enough to make them want to see more without showing everything. I like to make them use their imagination a little while wondering if they imagined correctly."

"In other words you like clothing because you're a tease."

A slight giggle escaped Lucy as she lifted Albert higher and brought her head down planting a kiss firmly on his forehead. "You know that I am. Certain clothing also lets me carry more things while keeping my hands free and gives me a place to keep you. Though, I can think of at least one place I could keep you that that I would enjoy and doesn't require any clothing."

It wasn't clear to Gaeten how many of his colleagues were still on the move and how many were dead. As he set in the office though he tried to relax and keep his breathing under control. He was tempted to try holding his breath however he knew that would only increase the odds of him given away his location when he was forced to breath. At least he wasn't hiding in a bombed out ruin. Much of the city was still intact and he found himself a small office.

"I suppose I can't be picky about what I eat you all with at the moment. I've been eating you plain for a long while now and that has worked quite well. They are several diners and markets still standing I bet they would have a wide selection of sauces. I don't want to have to open a few hundred packets though just to get enough to dip you in and even bottles could take a while." For a moment Lucy stopped moving and tapped her cheek. She then closed her fingers together so that the tips were against one another and extended her hand forward pressing it into the building before her.

Lucy's fingers meeting the building sounded like a bomb going off just outside the wall. It immediately drew his attention to it where he noticed a massive crack had formed and the wall had been forced to bulge inward. His eyes widened and the wall failed as Lucy's fingers easily pushed through breaking through the concrete as it didn't even have the structural integrity of lose sand.

Despite his previous resolve a horrified scream escaped Gaeten as several chunks of debris slammed into him. Despite the sudden pain though it would have been impossible for him not to notice Lucy's fingers as they closed in around him. As Lucy's fingers came in towards him he struck out and slammed his fist into them before they had even reached him this however did nothing to slow Lucy down.

¡°Yummy nice little treats for my tummy. Hey do you want to see if I can drop you so that you go strait down my throat? I believe that I'm large enough now that I could." As Lucy was speaking she was already lifting Gaeten higher and turning her head upwards. This was both to let him have a good view down into her mouth and to an extent her throat as well as to let her attempt the drop.

¡°Lucy, you do realize who that is?"

¡°Yep, he's another little snack that's been waiting for me to gobble him up. Oh and one of Mizia's government officials."

For a moment Albert shook his head. He knew that if he recognized him then Lucy knew exactly who he was so there was no need to push the issue. "You might want to provide a recording of this. It's not often that people of his political standing end up being killed."

¡°It would do a good job of proving that political station means nothing to me in such matters." As she finished speaking to Albert Lucy relaxed her grip and allowed Gaeten to freefall towards her awaiting throat. As he fell she shifted her position slightly to compensate for his movements as well as the wind currents generated whenever she exhaled in hopes that she could indeed keep him from touching her tongue.

As Gaeten fell towards Lucy's throat he couldn't keep himself from screaming. A massive wave of heat rose up and met him as he fell engulfing and seeming to burn his skin. He saw her massive teeth move past him as he fell and her tongue moved swiftly underneath him. Frantically he reached out with his hands attempting to grab anything that might stop his fall yet nothing came within reach. In his panicked state he didn't realize that Lucy was moving to insure that he didn't touch anything until he met her throat.

Searing pain exploded throughout Gaeten's body as it made contact with Lucy's throat. If the pain was mental or if it was due to the heat of her throat he didn't know. All he knew is that it overwhelmed his senses and his screams were caught in his throat. He was still able to tell when those muscles shifted and he found himself pulled downward towards Lucy's awaiting stomach.

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"How are the inoculations proceeding?"

"They're going well sir. If things continue as planned we'll be done in three days with two days to spare."

In response Patrick gave a quick nod. The symbiot they were introducing to the populace in the guise of inoculation had a life span of five days. By completing in three days it would allow Sara and the others to scan the entire populace and see if anyone else needed removed from the city. "What news do you have of Miss Angeye?"

"She's been keeping a fairly steady pace as she moves about. We're expecting her to be finished soon however not before we've finished."

"That's good and the other centers?"

"They're proceeding steadily as well though not as rapidly as here. It seems that they're going to have to make use of the two day buffer time."

"Thank you, that will be all for now."

Sara waited until the soldier had left the room to speak up. "Do you think they're having their enhanced monitor the thoughts of those who have already been inoculated? It tends to help locate those that haven't been already."

"You know I'm not sure. I hope that they're not waiting to do a general sweep. I'll have to relay a message and find out in a little bit."

"Why not right now?"

"Right now there are others things to talk about. Sara, it might be silly to ask this but how have you been feeling? This is the first time that you've had to use your abilities on such a large scale."

"I'm doing fine. It does take more effort to monitor so many but it hasn't been stressing me. I just work with one chunk of the population at a time. Once the inoculations are finished, it'll be easy to check the entire city."

"So you haven't been feeling fatigued?"

"I haven't felt more fatigued then what I expected to be."

"I see. Then how about tonight we go out for a little bit? With things settling down I believe that we could afford taking some time to relax even if it's for one night."

"Really?!" Before the words had left her mouth Sara pushed off against the seat using both her arms and legs to quickly propel her across the room. She didn't notice the frame of the seat fracture due to the force of her hands pushing off against it. As she neared Patrick she extended her hands and took hold of both sides of his seat. She then leaned in bringing her face closer to his. This served two purposes. It let her examine him very closely and it meant he could easily look down into her cleavage due to her height. Regardless of his discipline Patrick was still a breast lover and a good cleavage view always helped Sara in getting her way.

A massive gust of wind slammed into Patrick as Sara drew to a stop. Unlike her he had noticed the sound of the chair fracturing and the sound of her feet pounding on the ground. As she suddenly stood in front of him though he was amazed that the sound waves had been able to reach him and register with him before she had. "Yes, really, you've been busy lately and I believe you need a break."

"Yay!" Before continuing Sara quickly leaned forward and pressed her lips firmly against Patrick's. As she kissed him she was careful not to harm him but insured that he couldn't get out of his seat. "So what are we going to do?"

"I was thinking that a nice private dinner was in order followed by a trip to a spa."

"No movie?"

A slight chuckle escaped Patrick as he shook his head. "Well I could download one for us but the theater is just showing old movies here. I thought that we should spend some time talking though. We haven't really been able to talk outside of our military roles for a while. Sure we've had random little conversations but none like usual."

"That does sound a nice. So when do we leave?!"

"Just as soon as you let me get up so I can go get cleaned up."

Instead allowing Patrick to stand up Sara quickly released her hold on his chair. Her right hand pushed into the cushion of his chair and quickly slipped under him while the left went around his back. She then smoothly lifted him out of his seat and quickly turned around. As she turned she wasn't paying as much attention as she should have and her hips collided solidly with the chair sending it flying across the room.

His chair suddenly slamming into the wall and splintering into little bits caught Patrick off guard so that he gave a slight jump. As he looked upon the wreckage though his first act was to wonder. Had Sara done that on purpose or was it accidental? He had been partnered with her long enough to learn that she did enjoy flaunting her strength from time to time and enjoyed it even more if she could do it in such a way that it seemed accidental. He had no doubt that whatever it had been she was happy with the results.

A slight giggle escaped Sara as she glanced over her shoulder. "I guess my bottom has gotten bigger along with the wrest of me."

Patrick could only shake his head as he leaned against Sara. He didn't think it would be appropriate if someone saw her packing him around however he wasn't worrying about that at the moment. It actually surprised him that no one seemed to be responding to the impact but most likely they knew Sara was in the room with him. Regardless of what was happening they wouldn't be much use if she was there.

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Ever since Lucy had left for Mizia Amy had been somewhat on edge. It was no secret that she was friends with Lucy and she worried that she might be made to pay for that friendship. Given how far things had progressed though the fear had began to diminish and she found herself typing a message to her friend. "Hey Lucy, I've been seeing even more of you on the news then regular lately. It seems that you have the world's attention. I bet that Albert is enjoying spending so much time with you and probably the break from his lessons. I see from the reports that you've also grown quite a bit. How did that happen?"

As Amy clicked the send button she began to stand up in order to go get a drink. Before she could move away from the computer she received a message indicating she had voice mail. Her thirst was pushed to the back of her mind and she opened it quickly. "Crap. I didn't even think of his lessons. He's several weeks behind now and I'm going to have to make sure he catches up. Oh he'll just be thrilled to learn you're the one that reminded me."

Impulsively Amy found herself typing away. "Hey, don't blame me! If you had remembered he'd never needed to catch up. That's you're doing."

Once again Lucy's response came nearly as swiftly as the line could carry it. "Well I can't be expected to remember everything! I almost forgot you asked me how I'd grown so much recently. Without going into the boring details my awareness was strengthened a great deal all at once. Well perhaps strengthened isn't the right word. My awareness is now receiving some additional support."

It was tempting to Amy to ask Lucy more about her awareness however she refrained for the moment. "You know. After you got started I worried I'd be taken hostage. Thankfully that hasn't happened."

"They are some new faces in the building you just don't recognize them due to them blending in. While not all of them are in your classes they are around you long enough to almost be your shadow."

"Huh? Did you hire some people to look out for me?"

"I keep an eye on all those that are close to me but these aren't mine. They're agents from the UR. I'm not surprised you haven't noticed them though. They've been a few of them watching you since you came to know me."

"Lucy, are you serious?"

"Amy, stop and think about it. Think about the knowledge and power I have and the levels I've had it at for years. Think about what could happen if I was forced to give away certain knowledge or aid certain people in order to save my friend's life and think of the likelihood of me doing it."

A sigh escaped Amy as she rubbed her head. "That is true. Are you sure that they're not here to kill me incase you ever go rogue?"

A slight giggle escaped Lucy one which she included in the next audio file. "That could be a possibility however unlikely. At the moment they're watching over you and they're the primary reason you haven't had any trouble."

"How do you know this and why didn't you mention it before?"

"Well before I go on. Do you want them there? After all they are technically invading your privacy."

At first Amy went to type that she didn't mind but her fingers didn't work. Instead she placed her hands on her legs and closed her eyes. Part of her didn't like the idea that she was being watched however it was also nice to think she had someone watching over her. "Are they any more invasive then bodyguards?"

"I don't believe so. I've never caught them getting too close to you. They just seem to insure no one suspicious gets closer then they are."

"Do I know any of them?"

"You know two of them one on a first name basis and one on a last. However, you don't regularly hang out with them. If you'd like I could tell you who they are."

"No thanks. Okay, I believe I'm okay with them watching me."

"I first noticed them whenever I heard their communications. They started watching you roughly a month after we started spending time together. I suppose they consider you a long term friend. They're not quite so watchful of those I'm less fond of."

"In other words if it isn't someone that could be used as a hostage they're not really interested in them."

"You got it."

"Hey Lucy, when you eat someone can you really feel them moving around inside of your stomach or is that just an act?"

"I can feel everything that is going on inside of my stomach depending on how aware I can afford to be. Whenever I really ramp up my digestion I have to duel what I feel otherwise I would end up screaming in pain instead of enjoying myself. I haven't had to bring things to the level where I'd need to duel the feelings though in a long time."

"What about when you swallowed those tanks?"

"I could feel them. Some of them even made the trip semi operational and managed to get off a few shots."

"Well so much for them conquering from the belly of the beast."

"Well naturally if they had a weapon that could have harmed me I wouldn't have just swallowed them like that. How are the others doing right now?"

"They're doing fine. There has been some discussion about what change this is going to cause the world's political setting. There has also been talk about the merit of your actions though not as much as I expected. I suppose that's to be expected. Of course they're not going to risk is relaying any information to you that might make you angry."

"I'd like it if people would be more open about their thoughts with me. It isn't like I ever ate someone or even crushed them for expressing their opinion verbally. At least I wouldn't without giving them fair warning first and to even get a warning I believe they'd have to find one of my truly soft spots."

"That may be true but people tend to be more careful about what they say in regards to someone that could eat them alive. Even if that someone says that they can be honest it's still unnerving especially when they don't truly know you."

"You know me fairly well. What side of the debate are you on?"

"I'm on the side of the debate that realizes they don't know what it's like to have a body like yours and that has never had someone try to murder them. I suppose if someone did try I'd have a better idea of what you're feeling at the moment. Now from my own limited experience. Well I believe that you played around too much Lucy. I really would have preferred if you'd removed the leadership first and shown the civilians and army more mercy. I don't have any real room to judge though."

"Because you don't know what it's like to be in my situation?"

"You know better then that. If I had truly felt strongly about your actions then I would have contacted you sooner. I didn't though. I set here, watched it on the news and waited until everything had settled down before I got in touch. People who only stand on the side lines and watch while everything happens have no right to judge. I don't agree with the methods you use currently however I'm far from offended."

"How much would you disagree then?"

"That's kind of hard to say. Do you remember whenever Brad insisted that he makes the best omelet there is? Then how green Albert and I turned whenever we tried some and later had to purge our stomachs?"

"I was amazed that either of you managed to take down the first bite. Honestly if you think something taste that bad you shouldn't force yourself to swallow."

"Well, I'm about as upset by your methods as I was with Brad's cooking skills. I'm not quite as upset but I'm kind of close."

"So you wouldn't let he handle negotiations for your?"

"I wouldn't let you settle an argument between me and a friend or family member."

"Well that just isn't any fun."

"So what are you doing now?"

"Albert is taking a nap while I work on rounding up a few more survivors. It's pretty late here."

"I didn't think about that. Hey Lucy, once this is all over what do you plan to do?"

"Ask Albert what he wants to do."

"Is that really the limit of your plan?"

"Yep! I don't believe Albert will just leave this region in turmoil and will probably think of some way to help stabilize the region. Most likely in conjunction with the UR's efforts. This is my vacation though, I'm just going to have fun and not worry about the details."

"I see. Lucy, I didn't mean to get out of touch. It's just that you're normally the one that comes and finds me. It also took me a while to decide how I felt. I've only been able to get up the nerve to contact you recently."

"That's fine Amy but don't ever be scared of sending me a message. I'll either reply or ignore it. However, if I do ignore one of them don't try to find me or come to meet me in person. If I'm ignoring your messages you can safely assume it's best to leave me be."

"Yeah I would probably throw the nearest heavy object I could find at anyone who walked in on me while I had a do not disturb sign up. That includes friends and family."

"I'm glad we understand one another." It was impossible for Lucy to keep from giggling as she glanced down at Albert while waiting for Amy's response.

"It's nice to talk to you again Lucy. I'll be in touch sooner next time."

"Next time hook up your web camera and use a microphone. You type so slowly."

************************************************************************

A sigh escaped Sara as she leaned back in the heavily cushioned seat and glanced up at the roof. Human ears that had not been enhanced wouldn't have been able to hear through the walls and the entire room had been painted white. It had been chosen as it did an exceptional job of blocking out the rest of the world and letting Sara focus. It made it a wonderful spot to scan the entire city.

"Sara, are you ready?"

Upon glancing down at Patrick Sara quickly exhaled sending a powerful burst of air towards him. It wasn't powerful enough to nock him over but it did thoroughly mess up his hair and ruffle his shirt. "Patrick this isn't necessary. With the transmitters in place I could easily scan the entire city while listening to rush our traffic."

"I have no doubt that is true but we might as well make this as easy on you as possible. So shall we begin?"

It wasn't necessary for Patrick to be there with her however Sara wouldn't dare ask him to leave. She might not have needed his presence but that didn't mean she didn't like having him there. "You know what I hate most about this?"

"What you see in some peoples' minds?"

"You got it in one. No matter how exact I try to be in what I'm searching through some images push their way through. Most are fine but some I really could do without seeing."

"Well I'll take as much of the burden as I can."

"Pfft, don't worry about that! It isn't like there is anything out there that would horrify me. Though, after this I might want to go and bust a few people up." As she finished speaking Sara began to focus on the city around them and the awareness of each person within it.

As Sara began to work Patrick felt a slight pressure on his mind and relaxed. If he hadn't felt anything he'd known that Sara was taking the entire load upon herself and he would have been forced to call her down. As he relaxed though he felt a sudden spike and knew instantly that Sara had seen something she didn't want to see. Instead of trying to shield himself from these feelings he allowed them to come to him. He wanted to take as much of the emotional load as he could.

"Yeah there is one person I want to hurt already." Generally the more specific the information to be found the easier time Sara had. It was general questions that proved difficult to handle. Currently she was searching for any feelings of allegiance to Mizia and any hostility towards the UR or Lucy. All three were general enough to be gripe worthy as far as Sara was concerned but they weren't beyond handling.

"If you locate anyone that you feel is truly a threat even if they wouldn't fight against us feel free to retain the information. We don't want a city full of rapist, thieves or murderers after all."

"I'll keep that in mind. At least they are some good things about doing this. Not every thought that pushes through is a bad one." A slight chuckle escaped Sara as she shook her head. "Some of them are down right cute if messed up. Patrick do you want me to keep track of those I find who seem to be particularly useful?"

"If the strain wouldn't be too much then that would be beneficial."

A contented sigh escaped Lucy as she wiggled her bottom forcing the earth to shift beneath her. The sound of the more solid bits of ground cracking and shattering due to her movement was quite pleasing to her. What was more pleasing though was the feeling of the tiny figure moving within her. It wasn't due to his own will, Albert had fallen asleep long ago rather it was due to the shifting of her own body.

While Lucy didn't want to wake Albert given how she'd exhausted him before hand it was hard for her to keep from shifting about. The feeling of him moving within her was a delight. Fortunately she was able to reason it out and convince herself that letting him wrest peacefully was in her best interest. After all if she didn't let him recover he wouldn't have any energy for more active play later. So it was with a sigh that Lucy forced her hips to remain still and she tried to relax.

After settling down Lucy began to listen to the sound of the empty city around her. There were no more people to be found within the area but it wasn't entirely quiet just yet. She could hear the sound of a few engines still running. Most likely the result of people being forced to abandon their vehicles and not bothering to turn off the engines whenever they'd run. She could hear chunks of debris breaking off buildings and even entire structures collapsing from time to time due to the damage she'd caused.

A little music drifted through the air and reached her. Some of those that had resolved to give up the chase had either had or managed to find some stereos and had spent their last minutes enjoying favorite songs. She had even found a few with the stereos blaring, a few bottles around the room and a corpse. Not everyone was content to die in her stomach and had chosen to be a corpse instead of food for her.

Most of the music wasn't too Lucy's liking so that she began to shut it out. As she relaxed she began to let her mind wonder. A strange energy wave soon caught her attention and she began to follow it. She could tell that the waves weren't directed towards her and they were coming from the occupied territory. However, they were strange enough that she wanted to see what they were about. Perhaps the UR had developed a field radio that made use of a biological life form

While Sara was focusing on the city Patrick turned his attention to a small computer setting next to them. The images and names that appeared on the screen were moving too quickly for him to read but he knew what was happening. Instead of trying to retain all the information that was gathered Sara was uploading it onto the computer. The names were almost always accurate as was general information. However they had been miss lead by the images at times. Everyone didn't have an accurate view of themselves.

Even looking at the screen Patrick wouldn't realize that Sara was speeding up and she knew it. At first she had been taking things slowly and only examining a few people at once. After a few people though she'd began to slowly increase the rate at which she scanned the city. This required her to exert more effort however she was still far from exerting herself. If she had been walking in the beginning she was now swiftly jogging. This meant that Patrick would tell her to relax if he caught on though so she was careful to keep from putting any additional pressure on him that would tip him off.

As Lucy examined the signals she began to realize what they were. Images and thoughts began to form as she read the messages. Given the volume of them and the nature of the images as well as the emotions attached to them she didn't have to think hard about what she was examining. She quickly realized that she was seeing memories and thoughts from people within one of the UR controlled regions.

Previously Lucy had only been exploring the signals to give herself something to do and moderate curiosity. As she realized what the signals were though her curiosity grew rapidly and she began to focus more attention on them. After her experience with the children she felt that such happenings deserved a good deal of attention and began to avidly search out what was happening. She also had a fairly good idea that what was happening was intentional and she wanted to know why.

"Are you doing alright Sara? If you need to rest for a while we can."

A slight giggle escaped Sara and for a moment she stuck her tongue out at Patrick. "I'm fine Patrick."

"You're breathing harder then you were in the beginning."

"Well this does take quite a bit of energy. You don't need to worry so much Patrick. I will be feeling kind of peckish after this though."

"I already thought of that. A meal will be ready whenever you're done or should be about ready. If you push yourself too hard though you're going to be finished and hungry before it's done so take your time."

She had known Patrick for quite some time now but Sara was still made to blush when he told her there was a meal already being prepared. She had actually meant it to be something of a tease and planned to down two of her shakes to help her recover. Eating a big meal was more fun then drinking two shakes though so she was quite happy with the news. As she refocused her efforts on searching the city she continued to work at an accelerated pace. She wanted to pester the cook and see if she could sneak a few tastes.

It was easy for Patrick to tell whenever Sara resumed her efforts though he wasn't sure to what degree she was exerting herself. He was fairly sure that she was pushing herself more then he had suggested though. There wasn't anything he could really do to prove it though or be truly sure and he wasn't going to accuse Sara of something unless he was certain. He did however feel his heart rate speed up whenever she suddenly went wide eyed.

"Oh crap!"

While Lucy searched the energy waves she quickly realized they were sending only. Whatever was causing the energy waves clearly wasn't meant for two-way communication so there was no chance of it being a form of mind control. Once she recognized this fact one wave immediately stood out as one that could both receive and send. As she began to examine it she felt a sudden pulse of emotion and a feeling of recognition as her awareness and the other awareness touched for a moment.

"What is it Sara?"

"I'm being contacted."

"Did something happen to one of the others?"

"No, um Lucy found me. It seems that we drew her attention."

As Lucy felt a rush of feelings from the awareness she immediately realized that whoever it was hadn't intended to be found. So she wasn't surprised whenever she felt the other awareness quickly sealing itself off to prevent further contact. "Hold on!"

"I'm not getting anywhere. I'm just reinforcing my defenses so you can't see me so easily again."

Upon hearing the other awareness response Lucy grew silent. She had only touched on the other person for a moment and had only gained a very small amount of information but apparently that was more then the other liked. Lucy didn't simply wait around though rather she began to focus on the person and try to gather what information she could. She was already surprised by the power she'd felt when she touched the mind. "I take it that you're one of the UR's agents."

"I'm not at liberty to give you such information at the moment. I didn't actually mean to draw your attention."

"I see. What information are you allowed to give me then? You know I'm not going to leave until I at least have a few answers. After all you touched me for a moment as well."

A low groan escaped Sara as she glanced down at Patrick. "Her mental defenses are too strong. I can't read her. Damn it! How is she doing that? It isn't like she's had these abilities for long."

"Are you sure that it's her keeping you from reading her awareness?"

There was no immediate answer from Sara as she considered the possibility. Had it not been for her link to Patrick Lucy would have seen far more of her then she had when they first touched. Patrick's awareness had acted as a shield though and protected Sara's awareness for the most part. "My name is Sara."

"Hello Sara, I'm guessing that you already know me. Hey I bet you're the Sara that was on the news earlier."

"Yeah that's me."

"So why were you so jumpy a few moments ago? It isn't like I'm on bad terms with the UR and I've been playing nice so far. Oh wait. You're the UR's trump card incase I get out of hand aren't you?"

"Now why do you want to know that?"

"I get the feeling that you're not as powerful as I am. However, your mind sure seems to be which leaves me thinking that you're body is not as powerful as my own."

"You got all of that from that brief moment of contact?"

"Yep!"

"Ugh, if it hadn't been for Patrick protecting me you'd been able to see all of me."

"You seemed to be kind of busy before I interrupted. You can get back to work. I won't try to pry as long as we're talking."

As Sara resumed her work she tried to think of what she should stay. Fortunately with Patrick guarding her mind she didn't have to focus too much on defense. "So you had your awakening a few days ago."

"What do you mean by awakening?"

"You finally managed to awaken into these abilities or developed them. Just so you know as well whenever I said see I didn't mean read."

"I thought as much. So is it like seeing a person in the physical world?"

"Yeah, you see them and you can get an idea of how big they are and how they're built but unless you know how to read them you can be entirely wrong. I won't deny that your awareness is stronger then my own though."

As Lucy examined Sara to the best of her ability she also watched her working. It didn't take Lucy long to realize at least one thing about Sara. "You're good at this. I wouldn't have ever noticed if the transmitters hadn't gotten my attention. Just what is causing that though?"

"We introduced a symbiot into the population a few days ago. It makes it easier to search through their memories and feelings so we can insure that were not harboring any hostiles."

"Neat! Once you're done are you going to kick them out of the city so I can eat them?"

"Most likely we will."

"Thanks! You've been doing this for a while haven't you Sara?"

"I've been at it for a few years now."

"Are they any tips that you wouldn't mind giving me? I believe there is probably a lot you're not allowed to tell me but surely you can give me some tips."

"I really can't right now. Lucy, you're quite powerful and could pose a serious threat if you wanted to. At the moment people like me are the only defense the UR has that might be effective against you. My superiors and I trust you for the most part however, well we don't want to be defenseless."

"Ah don't worry, I understand. Perhaps we started things off on the wrong note given that I stumbled upon you while you were working. Do you want to start over?"

It was impossible for Sara to keep her amusement hidden as she gave a slight chuckle. "I suppose that we might as well. Hi my name is Sara."

"Hi I'm Lucy. So I've already gathered you're part of the UR army. You mentioned someone helping to protect your mind and keeping me from seeing all of you. Is he your partner?"

"Yeah and in some ways my superior, I was partnered with Patrick shortly after I joined the project. Once it was decided that we were compatible I received a symbiot which linked the two of us together."

"Um do you mean two people one symbiot?"

"Yes."

"Well crap! Phillip and Sandra are going to be steamed!"

"Who?"

"Two of my friends, I suggested a similar system to the two of them whenever they started talking about the threshold of awareness. Now I have to tell them that the government had already beaten them to the punch and have been refining such procedures over the years."

"Oh I see. Well to be perfectly honest the project is based on data gathered from you."

"What do you mean?"

"Come now. You might have been the first but that isn't why you're as powerful as you are. If you hadn't had someone to nurture you then you'd breached the threshold of awareness and been reduced to a beast if not a vegetable years ago. You and Mr. Guarsen have shared such a union for years."

Lucy couldn't help the feeling of happiness and embarrassment as she listened to Sara. "Yeah I really do owe him a great deal. I don't believe he has any idea how much he had to do with my success and still does."

"One thing that perplexes me though is why you only broke through recently. The three of you have been together for years now. Even without a guide it shouldn't have taken so long unless there was something in the way."

"Ah, I see you don't know everything about me!"

"Well it's kind of hard to gather information on you."

"Maybe I could tell you more if you told me more about the union between you and your partner. From what you said I gather that awakening depends partly on being connected to someone else."

"Oh crap. I did say that. Didn't I? Well the information isn't exactly dangerous so I suppose that it can't hurt. As you probably already know creating a connection between your awareness and the awareness of another person isn't like having several bodies. What we've found during our studies is that while it helps having someone who has already developed their abilities if they haven't been connected to someone the effort is entirely useless."

"Why is that?"

"It seems that in forming the bond an awareness learns something that it can't learn in any other situation. We're not sure exactly what it learns but whatever it is. It's absolutely vital to awakening and developing such mental abilities. This is speculation to an extent though. We're not sure if the awareness learns something or if it gains something in the union. In either case we haven't found any way around it."

"I see. Tell me something, does this require both minds to be in agreement?"

"Yes and even general confusion can cause things to go wrong. That's one of the primary dangers of undergoing the procedure. Even if the two people get along there can be a break down of communication or miss understandings that aren't seen until it's too late. So instead of working together the awareness of each person tries to rip the other apart."

"Ugh, just breaching the threshold of awareness is bad enough. I imagine you ended up with a few vegetables."

"So I gave you a little information. Do you believe you can enlighten me now?"

"I've been very close to Albert for a very long time. I think we formed quite a strong bond the first day we met. However, we've only began taking certain steps in our relationship recently. Before hand there was always a certain degree of space between us. Do you believe that would have hindered things?"

"I know that it would. So are you going to tell me how you suddenly became so much stronger so quickly now? Generally speaking there is an increase in what one can do when they awaken however that tends to result in the awareness being more stressed as it has more to cope with. It can even cause other areas of development to stop for a long while. You on the other hand not only awoke into your abilities you also grew considerably."

"Now I'm not sure if that is a fair trade. I'm pretty sure I know why you want that information and I rather enjoy the power gap between you're and my awareness."

A slight chuckle escaped Sara as she nodded her head. "Well I rather enjoy the knowledge gap between me and you."

"Humph, if I tell you what caused my awareness to suddenly strengthen so much what do I get in return?"

"I'll better explain the workings of your new abilities so that you can develop them more quickly. They are a few basic concepts that while not immediately useful are in a short time and become exceptionally useful in the long run."

"Okay what we need is a confidence test here. I'll tell you but if you try to back out on me or I don't consider the information to be an equal trade I'll come looking for you. Are those terms agreeable?"

"Eh nope."

"Oh come now! I've proven that I'm a reasonable individual on numerous occasions. You don't have to worry about me trying to cheat you."

"So if the information is of no use to me I can give you information that is no use to you?"

It was impossible for Lucy to keep her feelings of amusement from showing as she physically chuckled. "Drat."

"Oh I see. So you don't believe that it's something that I'd be able to duplicate. Alright Lucy I'm going to give you a little tab bit of information. You'd figure this out on your own so it isn't too valuable and then you can decide what you want to tell me. The greatest hindrance and support of our abilities is our partners. To strengthen those abilities and allow greater access to them it is absolutely essential to train the one we're joined with."

"That's useful enough. I don't seem to be strained because I don't just have my awareness and Albert's supporting me. I actually invited several people into my being and they accepted the offer. They're now inside of me and in return for a pleasant place to exist they strengthen me."

"I see. Well that brings up more questions then it answers. Thank you for the information. I'm done examining the city so I'm going to be going. Perhaps we'll talk again later."

"I'm sure that I'll be seeing you around. Until then, I guess they are some things I need to talk to Albert about."

End a very long chapter 5