Symbiosis: At World's End

Addition

Brianna was in a particularly foul mood. She had been called down to the office because she was accused of passing notes. It took her half an hour to prove she was innocent, and by that point, the classroom was already coming up with wise cracks. She spent the rest of the day trying to find a way to get back at the accuser and trying to find a way to escape the annoying aforementioned wise cracks. The only upside was that she managed to escape history when school had, for some unknown reason, ended early. She spent the rest of the day roaming the streets and catching up on homework. She was mentally trying to find ways to get back at the numbskull who had decided to pin the transgression on her in every way she could imagine.

She looked up and noticed it was starting to get late. The sun was already setting. She didn't really care though. Her parents always had to work late. She threw her belongings into her bag and began the walk home. She looked out at the sky beyond the walls, wondering what was out there.

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Merrick groggily woke up to the sun beating down on his face. He slowly pushed himself upright and rubbed his eyes. Suddenly, the events of the previous night hit him like a lightning bolt.

"Ah, you're awake. I was becoming concerned."

Merrick spun his gaze from side to side, looking for the source of the strange voice.

"Down here."

Merrick cast his gaze down and saw a black glob of goo, a symbiote, on the ground with a single tendril connected to his foot. His heart leapt into his throat.

"Calm down. I'm not going to harm you."

Merrick began to slowly back away. The symbiote remained perfectly still. Finally, the tendril disconnected from his foot.

Okay... I'm really confused now.

The symbiote remained perfectly still. It seemed to be waiting for something. Merrick watched it cautiously. Finally, he decided to try talking to it.

"So, based on what I've observed so far, your species would normally take a human as a host at first opportunity. Why have you left me alone?"

The inky black goo made what he equated to be an exasperated shrug. Then he realized.

"You can't talk to me unless we have physical contact, right?"

The blob made a sort of motion that vaguely resembled a nod. Merrick thought for a second.

"I can't believe I'm doing this."

He lowered his hand to the symbiote to let it extend its tendrils to connect with him.

"Well, you certainly catch on quick. And to answer your questions, our two species are more alike than you think. For example, we are all different in some way."

Merrick took several moments to digest this information.

"So, you aren't going to turn me into a fanged monster of hellish terror?"

"Correct."

He spent a few more minutes digesting this new info, then asked another question.

"Are there others like you, who don't force themselves on a host?"

There was a short pause.

"Yes. The politically correct term for the majority of my species is Overlord. The rest of us are known simply as Aberrations. We seek partnership. Not dominance."