Chapter 3

  Call To War

  My consciousness seemed to split and I could feel my thoughts and emotions being downloaded I guess is the closest word into another vessel some distance away. When the feeling subsided, the connection to my original virus was terminated and I was now in my new virus body. It did not feel any different which made sense. Everything should be the same except the location. Time to try and figure out what went on and what I need to do now. Virus List.

  Well that did not help, at least not very much. This host has more virus units than the last one I checked, but that may not actually be true. I could have had more in the last host because I do not know how many generations I was asleep for before the host recognized and attacked my viruses. I better play it safe and prepare to be attacked in the next ten generations just to be sure. Let’s try something different. Absorption List.

  That is actually very helpful. Let’s see here, everything has improved and some traits have been consolidated. I don’t see anything new though. I guess I have hit the limit of what is inside a rabbit. I wonder if I can spread to other organisms if I can pick up different traits. That sounds possible, I need to remember to look into that. Now what was the command that I was told I could access right before I lost consciousness again? I remember now. War Summary.

  Ok, I obviously overwhelmed the last host and I guess killed it? That is probably what conquered means. So the death of my host allows me to move on to another virus. That is good information to have. I do not know how many hosts I have right now I will check that next so no new target right now. NO. Now the command to check the number of hosts was what? Oh yeah. Virus hosts.

  Alright I have moved into 9 different rabbits. I think that I should continue on as I was until the numbers go up or stay the same. Since my hidden trait went up I should not be detected by the hosts immune system as fast. I might get many more generations in before I have to resort to attacking again. That will allow me to spread myself out far and wide. Now before I hibernate again there was something else I was going to check on. Think Mark, what was it. I know numbers of viruses, war stuff, of course. The mutations, I was going to check on mutations. It should be this command. Virus Mutations.

  Strange I was thinking it would be about the traits. Oh wait that would be a different command, but this is still informative. I am currently in a mammal, but it looks like I can mutate and be able to attack other major groups of animals, plants and fungi. I bet the chimera function allows me to attack more than one type. That would seem to be the best choice. It would spread my viruses out amongst a large variety of organisms, I don’t know why someone would pick one of the other options, I must be missing something. Well time to figure out how to mutate I guess. Observe Chimera Virus.

  Hmm, let me check one of the others just to be sure. NO. Observe Plant Virus.

  So that is the difference. The chances between them are huge. I guess I can see why someone would pick their favorite and stick with it. However, I am an evolver and I need to become as powerful as possible. Even if it takes a lot longer I still think that Chimera Virus will be the strongest and best choice. So I have to decline Plant Virus and then select Chimera Virus again. NO. Observe Chimera Virus. YES start mutating into Chimera Virus.

  Now that I have selected my path there I guess all I have to do is wait. I am going to continue to hibernate since it seems that I will regain consciousness if something important happens that needs my input. Virus Hibernate. Custom. 25 generations.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  When I regain consciousness I see that my host has died once again, but the message is slightly different.

  Wait, how did I get into another animal? I was in a rabbit and then hibernated, then I regained consciousness to this message. Rabbits are prey animals, could I have been eaten by something else and somehow infected it? I guess that scenario makes the most sense. I wish I had something to do so I could stay awake long enough to read all the messages as they come in, then I would not have to guess so much, but my mental health is important. I guess I can stay in this new animal for now as I cannot think of a reason to switch. NO do not switch. I do want to know what I am in though. Virus Hosts.

  I forgot it is the observe skill that lets me know what the common name is. Observe.

  Blood wolf, sounds powerful. I really do not have a reference though for power levels. It could be something small and fluffy for all I know, but I doubt it. I don’t know many cultures that would name something blood wolf without it being a bit ferocious. Time to check the old progress. Virus List.

  Hmm, I must not have been in this animal very long. I assume that if the Blood Wolf is the predator than it must be at least 2-3 times larger than the horned rabbit. That would correspond to me being able to have 2-3 times more viruses. I probably can even have more than that now. I assume that my trait levels have risen also. I should check those next. Absorption List.

  Goodness, so much information to process. First, it seems that my different methods of infection have merged into Lesser Multi-Infection. I guess that is fine as long as I can still infect things in a variety of ways. Next, it seems that being in a new organism was beneficial as it provided a new trait. Finally, I reached level 10 in a trait and it seems that is what is necessary for it to evolve. I wonder if every trait evolves or if some take more levels? I will have to keep an eye on that. I better figure out what everything is first. Observe Basic Tactics.

  Interesting. I wonder if I got that from just being in a pack animal or if it was from another type of microbe that practices it also? Oh well, I may never know. Now I need to figure out what each of the evolutionary choices do so I can make an informed decision. Observe Carnivore.

  Observe Herbivore.

  Observe Omnivore.

  Observe Detrivore.

  Very interesting. Obviously since I am trying to mutate into a Chimera Virus I need to choose Omnivore. While the experience boost will be smaller it will apply to anything. Since I plan on infecting EVERYTHING that would be my safest bet. Alright choice made. Evolve Predator to Omnivore please. I better make sure it took. Absorption List.

  Huh that also gives me some information I did not have before. My Omnivore automatically reads Level 0 – 1% when I have not done anything with it. That means that anything that reads that like Basic Tactics, has been learned but not used. I guess I did learn it from just entering into a pack animal then. Enough generations have passed inside the Blood Wolf to increase the population of my viruses significantly. There is no way that I could have only found a single microbe that had that trait and no other inside of it by now. That means Basic Tactics will probably only earn experience if I use it or infect more organisms that have that trait.

  Well there is nothing else to really do now except keep hibernating and checking on my progress as I come to. Virus Hibernate. Custom. 25 generations.

  When I regain consciousness I see that I have leveled up.

  The observation trait is no longer available. I do not know if it is gone because I selected it or because offering traits is rare. There is no new opportunity to get a free trait at this level. I guess I will take the 5 free trait levels. I can put them in something I like that is not really progressing. I better see what my trait levels are at to make a final decision. Absorption List.

  Everything went up except for Basic Tactics, even Omnivore. One of my other hosts must have triggered a response and I guess my viruses won the engagement since I earned experience. I have seen Hive Mind on here for a while, but I do not actually think I have observed it in detail. It is rising but very slowly. It might be a good place to spend a few free trait levels. Observe Hive Mind.

  Extra intelligence seems like a good choice, but absorption only needs one more level. I think I will split the levels between the two. I want to get absorption up to level ten to test if it triggers an evolution. Add one level to Absorption and four levels to Hive Mind please. Time to see if this worked. Absorption List.

  Why would they give me a chance not to evolve? I better check it out first. Observe Mimicry

  Why would you not take this? It seems a little suspicious that they also let you not have the better trait, but I think the benefits outweigh any risks. Please evolve Absorption into Mimicry.

  So that was the trap. If I denied the change I could have leveled it up further before switching it over. That more than likely would have either increased the efficiency or lowered my energy using it or something. Oh well, live and learn. If it is a single trait it may be better to keep leveling it to the max before evolving it. Time for another hibernation nap. Virus Hibernate. Custom. 25 generations.