Chapter 9: [Command]

Gio’s wasp hovered beside him, its translucent wings humming with an otherworldly light. The battle still raged around them: screams, gunfire, and the relentless buzz of the swarm filling the air. But for a single breath, everything else faded.

What now? he thought.

The wasp twitched. Its head tilted toward him, awaiting something. An order. A direction. Anything.

"F-Fight?," Gio rasped, his voice hoarse from smoke and fear. "Fight them."

The replica launched itself into the air, a streak of white light cutting through the chaos. It slammed into a mutated wasp mid-flight, its stinger driving deep into the creature’s thorax. Green ichor sprayed. The real wasp convulsed and fell.

Gio watched, stunned. His creation moved with terrifyingly efficient: faster than the real thing, sharper, unrelenting. It tore through the swarm, each strike precise and lethal.

But one wasn’t enough.

He reached down, snatching another core from the dirt where a fallen wasp lay twitching. The moment his fingers closed around it, heat flooded up his arm. The core dissolved, particles sinking into his palm.

[F-Rank Mutagenic Wasp Core absorbed.]

[Bioenergy stored.]

Without hesitation, Gio raised his hand. White energy oozed from his palm, thick and luminous, swirling into form. Within seconds, a second wasp hovered before him, its glowing body humming with the same ethereal light.

"Go," he said. "Protect the civilians."

The second wasp shot into the fray, intercepting a mutated wasp that had been diving toward a cowering woman. It slammed into the creature, knocking it off course, and the two spiraled to the ground in a tangle of chitin and light.

The battle shifted.

Heads turned. Eyes widened. The recruits nearest to Gio stared at the glowing wasps as they carved through the swarm. Even the prisoners paused, their brutality momentarily forgotten.

"What the hell is that?" someone shouted.

"Is he... controlling them?"

"That’s not... normal."

Kojiro appeared at Gio’s side, his katana slick with green goo. He let out a low whistle. "Well, well. Looks like the kid’s been holding out on us."

Gio didn’t answer. His focus was locked on the wasps, on the strange connection he felt to them. It was like threads of light stretching from his chest to their bodies, invisible but undeniable.

Protect them, he thought, and both wasps immediately changed course, intercepting two more mutated wasps before they could reach the huddled civilians.

He blinked. He hadn’t said it aloud. He had only thought it.

C-Come back to me.

The wasps instantly broke off their attacks and circled back, hovering at his shoulders like loyal sentinels.

A slow realization dawned on him. He didn’t need to speak. The commands could be mental. Instinctive. As natural as moving his own limbs.

But something else was happening too. A faint weariness was creeping into his bones, like he had been running for hours. His limbs felt heavier. His breathing came harder.

[Warning: Bioenergy reserves at 47%.]

The system notification flickered before his eyes, and Gio’s heart sank. Using the replicas was draining him. Every moment they remained active, every command he issued, it was burning through his stored energy.

I can’t keep this up forever, he realized.

But there was no time to dwell on it. A shout of pure fury cut through the chaos.

---

"You shot at me, you worthless noble piece of shit!"

The tall noble with the slicked-back hair stumbled backward, his rifle still smoking. A burly prisoner was advancing on him, fists clenched, murder in his eyes.

"It was an accident!" the noble shouted, his voice trembling. "You were in the way!"

"In the way? IN THE WAY? I’ll show you what’s in the way!"

The prisoner lunged, and the two went down in a tangle of limbs. Other prisoners rushed to join. Nobles scrambled to defend themselves. The civilians screamed and scattered, caught in the crossfire of a battle that had nothing to do with them.

Gio acted on instinct.

Stop them.

His wasps shot forward, intercepting a swing from a prisoner’s club before it could hit a civilian woman. Another wasp body-blocked a stray plasma bolt, absorbing the blow with a flash of light. The civilians stumbled away, wide-eyed and shaking.

"Everyone, STOP!" Commander Darwin’s voice boomed across the battlefield, amplified by his communication bracelet. "Soldiers, separate them! NOW!"

The armored soldiers moved instantly. They waded into the brawl, pulling fighters apart, shoving bodies to the ground, brandishing plasma rifles at anyone who resisted. Within moments, the three groups had been forcibly separated.

The prisoners stood on one side, bloody and furious. The nobles on the other, disheveled and terrified. The civilians huddled in the middle, caught between two fires.

Commander Darwin walked into the center of it all, his bionic arm gleaming under the sickly light of the sky. His expression was cold, unreadable.

"Let me make one thing clear," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "This is not a game. This is not your petty district squabble or classiest nonsense. Out here, the only thing that matters is survival, we are all equal in the face of death! So if you can’t work together, you will die together. Understood?"

No one answered.

"UNDERSTOOD?" he roared.

A reluctant murmur rippled through the recruits.

Darwin turned to the noble with the slicked-back hair. "You. What’s your name?"

"L-Lloyd," the man stammered. "Lloyd Vanworth."

"Lloyd Vanworth." Darwin’s voice was cold. "You fired on a fellow recruit during combat. Consider this your only warning. Do it again, and I will personally ensure you don’t make it back to the city. Am I clear?"

Lloyd’s face went pale. "Y-yes, sir."

Darwin shifted his gaze to the burly prisoner. "And you. Name?"

"Rook," the man grunted.

"Rook." Darwin’s bionic fingers twitched. "If I see you start another fight, I’ll chain you to the back of the truck and let the wasps finish what they started. Clear?"

Rook’s jaw tightened, but he nodded. "Clear."

Darwin surveyed the group one last time. "Good. Now clean yourselves up. We move out in five."

He turned and walked away, his footsteps heavy on the cracked earth.

---

The tension didn’t fade. It simmered beneath the surface, thick and volatile.

Gio’s wasps dissolved into wisps of white light, their Bioenergy spent. His body sagged, exhaustion crashing over him like a wave. He stumbled, and Kojiro caught his arm.

"Easy there, kid," the older man said, his voice gentle despite the blood on his face. "You look like hell."

"I feel like hell," Gio muttered.

Kojiro guided him to a nearby rock and helped him sit. "That was something else back there. Those wasp constructs of yours... you’ve got a hell of an ability."

Gio shook his head. "It’s not unlimited. I felt it. The energy drain. I can’t keep them out forever."

"Nothing’s free, kid. Not out here." Kojiro clapped him on the shoulder. "But it kept people alive. That counts for something."

Nearby, Melody was watching him. Her cat ears twitched, and when she caught his eye, she quickly looked away. But not before Gio saw the flicker of something in her expression. Interest. Maybe even respect.

The twins approached next, their faces mirror images of unease.

"Those wasps were creepy," Tabitha said, her form flickering with barely controlled invisibility. "Like, really creepy."

"Effective though," Reuben added, his stone skin slowly receding back to flesh. "But where did you get them? Did you... make them? Necromancy?"

Gio hesitated. How much should he tell them? How much could he tell them without sounding insane?

"I’m still figuring it out myself," he admitted.

Blaze sauntered over, his hands still faintly smoking from his earlier flames. He looked Gio up and down with a feral grin.

"You’re interesting, newbie. Most of us got claws or fire or big muscles. You got... pets." He cracked his knuckles. "I want to see what they can really do sometime. You and me. A little spar."

"I’ll pass," Gio said flatly.

Blaze’s grin widened. "Suit yourself. But if we’re going to survive out here, I want to know what everyone’s capable of. Including you."

He walked off before Gio could respond.

---

The convoy moved out shortly after, the trucks rumbling back onto the broken road. The atmosphere inside was different now. Heavier. The earlier nervous chatter had been replaced by a tense, watchful silence.

Gio sat with his back against the cold metal wall, staring at the system panel still hovering in his vision.

[Host: Gio]

[Species: Human Mutant]

[Core: E-Rank]

[Bioenergy: 12%]

The number was climbing, but slowly. Too slowly.

I need more cores, he thought. More creatures to absorb.

The realization settled over him like a cold weight. His ability was powerful, far more powerful than he had realized. But it came with a cost. A constant hunger. Every battle would drain him. Every construct would demand energy. And the only way to replenish it was to keep killing.

Survival will require constant hunting, he thought. Constant killing.

It was a harsh truth. But out here, in the wasteland, it was the only truth that mattered.

He closed his eyes and let the truck carry him deeper into the unknown.