If we can bring Symbiote up to the top fifteen in power stone rankings this week, I'll also post chapters for it next week. Make sure to give it as many power stones as possible.
***
"So, I just walk out?" Susan said as she walked behind Alex.
"Yeah, you can take Victor's apartment. I'll have someone tear down this fake containment room tomorrow," Alex said.
"By someone, you mean you," she said. "Don't you, Apex?"
"It's Alex," he said. "Apex is a sort of screen name for my dictatorial duties. Goes well with the crowds."
"Alex, huh?" She said. "Sounds…normal."
"Come on," Alex stepped in front of the wall, and it opened up to reveal a doorway that he stepped through.
"You sure I won't get zapped?" She asked.
"I'm the one doing the zapping. So yes, you won't be zapped," he said, stepping out of the room.
Susan hesitated while looking at the exit in front of her. She raised her foot and brought it forward before suddenly jerking it back.
"Oh, just come on," Alex grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room. "There, happy? You can do whatever you want from now on."
"Yeah, how about we go back and finish breakfast first?" She said.
"It was all a farce, Sue," Alex said gently. "You don't have to be worried about emitting gamma particles all around you and killing everyone. I lied. So instead of eating breakfast in that tiny ass room on that tiny ass table, we'll eat on the dining table. And we'll train in the large gym downstairs. And you can go on a walk outside when you take a break instead of being cooped up all alone with nothing to do."
"Okay," she nodded with slight hesitation as Alex led her to the living room. "Since it was all a farce…do I need to keep these wires on me from now on?" She asked, raising a wire that was coming out of the back of her hospital gown. "They may be extremely convenient to the traditional stuff, but they are still things tethering me."
"The part about radiation was a lie, not the part about you gaining superpowers from a cosmic cloud. I need to keep monitoring your vitals at all times. But if you are annoyed by the wires and machines, there is a solution. I'm just not sure whether you will agree to it or not."
"What is it?"
"You can keep a part of me with you at all times. It can take any simple form, like a bracelet, or anklet, or a choker, whichever one you prefer. It will stay on you at all times and allow me to keep monitoring your entire body live. Plus, it will have an extra function of becoming whatever clothing item you want it to become."
"So if I wear it, you'll know immediately whenever there is something irregular with my vitals. Like, say, a spike in my heart rate."
"Yes," he nodded. "But you don't need to worry about it. I won't mess with your hormones anymore. Now, whatever you do, it will be done by your own will."
"That sounds…Good, I think. But what's this about forming whatever clothes I want?" She asked. "Do I have to ask you to make me a sundress?"
"It's better if I show you," Alex said, handing her a plain black cloth. "Just wrap it wherever you want. Neck, ankle, wrist…thigh? I guess. It will clasp automatically and refit itself snugly, such that it doesn't even feel like it's there. Also, you won't be able to move it around if you decide to agree after this. At least not without asking me. You can't move its default form from one spot to another randomly."
"A bit long for my wrist or ankle. And a bit short for my thigh…" she said with narrowed eyes before putting it around her neck. "Heh, this reminds me of the time that I went full goth for two whole years in school. I'd dyed my hair black, started wearing edgy clothes, got one of those nose rings that just clasp on the side of the nostril and don't require actual piercings. I used to have just a chain around my neck for a brief period of that."
"Now that is an image that you merely need to say the word for. I will make sure you find yourself in that exact outfit in an instant," Alex chuckled amusedly. "Goth Sue sounds hot as all hell. I kind of imagined you to be a sweet girl-next-door kind of woman. It surprises me that you didn't go for the bracelet option."
"Normally, yes, that's what I would choose… but this situation is as far from normal as it can get," she said. "Wearing a choker is kinda representative of the absurdity of the situation."
"Well, it looks nice on you. Freely tell me if you ever want to go full goth and rebel against your parents by having sex with an alien," he said as the wires that were all attached to her snapped away from her body, disconnecting her from the machines. "As for the clothes thing that I was talking about…" He snapped his fingers. "Look down."
The choker on her neck started expanding and covered her entire body within seconds. Soon, it morphed into a red dress that left her shoulders bare and hugged her perfect figure. Merely training for a week with Alex's bonuses had given her such a perfectly sculpted body that pretty much no normal woman could even hope to achieve naturally.
"Oh, nice sundress," she said while observing her new clothes. "I love the lace situation it has going on at the bottom. Can you turn it into anything?"
"As long as I have the image, sure. Even when I'm not here, you just need to speak out loud and describe what you want. Though it would be easier if you had some kind of visual example to show me."
"So you'll be hearing everything I hear and say?"
"Just pretend the choker has a voice assist kind of thing going. It's not me, it's the choker."
"Yeah, my privacy be damned," she said. "Fine. Whatever. It's not like I had any privacy in that damn room. All that furniture that you made with your body… You could hear me through that as well, couldn't you?"
"You're really smart," Alex said with a smile. "You should be a scientist."
"Don't patronize me," she said. "Since you already know and hear everything, I might as well get some convenience in my life from all that."
Alex chuckled and sat down at the dining table while Susan sat down opposite him to continue their breakfast.
"Hey… do you know about…" Susan suddenly thought of something before starting. "What I was…using."
"Oh yeah. I know all about your secret books and their contents," Alex nodded. "If you want, you can get the choker to modify itself to look like an actual slave collar. If you don't remember, I consider submission very hot."
"You have to make it weird, don't you?" She sighed. "It doesn't matter. If you would recall what I told you after that… It's fun to fantasize about that stuff, but in reality, it's just not feasible long term."
"I mean, I can sustain you for as long as you need, including making sure that your body and mind aren't overwhelmed. I think long-term or even permanent bondage is downright feasible for someone I'm taking care of."
"…I was talking about the general relationship, Alex," she said dryly.
"Oh…" He looked down and focused on his food.
"Will we change any of our trainings, or will it all stay the same?" Susan asked.
"It's going to stay the same. But since we can use the large gym downstairs instead of the cramped room, I'll add in some movement-intensive exercises. You can rest for half an hour once we finish food, then we'll go down and get your spectrum-based invisibility going. By the end of the week, you should at least be able to switch between any spectrum of wavelength of visible light."
"I'll be a walking and talking club at that point," she said with a mock dreamy look. "I've always wanted to bring the club wherever I go."
"In your further training, we'll move beyond the visible spectrum so that you can eventually become invisible to every single means of detection."
"Except for sounds," she said. "My movements still make sounds."
"Do you want me to make you intangible again to make a point?" Alex asked. "It's been a while since I saw you fully naked."
"You're probably already sensing my naked body," she mumbled under her breath.
"And do you want me to share my observations regarding your knowledge of that fact?" Alex asked her with a glint in his eyes that made her shiver.
"No…" She changed the topic. "Intangibility. Sounds like a plan. Are we going to be doing that for two hours?"
"Yes. Then we get lunch, followed by thirty minutes of rest and a thirty-minute simple cardio circuit."
"More cardio? Didn't you push me enough this morning?"
"That was for a different purpose; the one after lunch will be for a different purpose," he said. "It will get your body ready for the physical pressure that you face when working with your force fields. After two hours of that, we'll hang out for a while.
"Are we skipping strength training?" She said excitedly.
"That comes after an hour of rest while we are hanging out," he said. "Strength training is just as important. Then dinner, and you can do your usual nightly routine and go to sleep."
"Bite me," she snapped at him angrily.
"Hey, I've seen what you like to read," he said. "I'm pretty sure that if I take it seriously, you'll enjoy it."
Susan gave him a warning look before focusing on her food, attacking it as if taking her anger out on the sunny-side-up eggs.
Soon, they were done, and Susan decided to go out on a walk by herself to clear her head.
***
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