The Night Plan Cometh

After dinner, you and the others wandered back to the hotel. Everyone looked ready to get some rest, particularly Kazumi who had worn herself out with her frisbee game earlier. The moment everyone piled through the door, she made a beeline to the couch, and toppled onto the cushions, falling asleep immediately. She didn't bother to wait to unfurl it into a bed.

You glanced back at Chloe, with just a hint of nervousness in your eyes. "I have a question for you, Chloe. If Ela is certain she can do something for the betterment of another, like it works out to a net benefit in the end... should she just go for it?"

Chloe frowns, sitting on the edge of the bed next to you, as you at as well. "That's an odd question, are you and her still on about whatever she was asking about at the noodle shop? Well, it must be a big deal if that wasn't just some fleeting hypothetical." Chloe paused for a little, looking out the window as she gathered her thoughts. "Ela is designed to be so much more capable in a variety of ways than any of us. She has her abilities, but also her intelligence. I would expect in about a week, Ela would be teaching Zoe and me about biological breakthroughs we probably couldn't have even developed on our own. With her abilities and that kind of brainpower, she could quite literally change the world with relative ease."

Chloe puts her hand on your shoulder. "But, she has your sense of empathy now. And you've demonstrated that you care for your friends, you ask the right questions to understand the true nature of things, and nothing about you makes me think that either you or Ela would put anyone in danger. Even if there are unforeseen consequences, I have to think that Ela is considering every angle as much as she possibly could with whatever it is she's planning. Now, I'm really tired, could we talk about it more in the morning?"

"Sure," you said. Though, that conversation was going to be far different, you knew.

With another quick little hug, Chloe departed to the bed across from you, before Ela formed pajamas on your form as you climbed into bed yourself. Chloe clicked the light by the bed off, and in the darkness of the hotel room, you stared up at the ceiling, unsure if you were even going to be able to sleep at all that night.

Hours later, everyone else was asleep. You and Ela were the only ones still awake, and Ela had been quiet as she did her own planning. Without a word at the time she deemed suitable to begin, she oozed off of your form, flowing out of your mouth as well as unraveling from your exterior. You lay back, too sore to move much still through Laura's form, but able to turn and watch as Ela's stealthy approach of Chloe's bed.

You had no idea how Ela managed to climb onto the bed, turn to her own slimier consistency, and flow onto--and then into--Chloe and Amanda. Chloe provided Amanda with heightened senses, and Chloe herself had unique senses as a slime, but Ela somehow kept both in check. The thought also crossed your mind that perhaps Chloe was aware and let whatever it was happen, maybe guessing what Ela had planned and allowing it to occur? That would be a relief if so, but you didn't want to assume it.

Ela never re-formed into a distinct human like she did when you wore her like a bodysuit. She instead created a sort of pink golem, faceless and without distinct features like fingers or toes at first. You briefly poked into Ela's mind to try and understand what was happening, realizing quickly that the amount of concentration she was using for what seemed like dozens of simultaneous activities pulled her focus away from maintaining a true form.

At any point, you knew, you could stop this. You could enter into Ela and control her, you could even suggest in her mind that this was a bad idea and she would believe that thought originated from her. You held that sort of power over her, but you did not feel like you could stop her. If you did interfere, then your trust and friendship with Ela was something of an illusion. It was one thing to influence her to dance sexily for you while doing other things, but it was wholly another to halt something she believed so deeply.

Ela stood up, bringing the contents of her golem-like body with her. She slowly walked toward Kazumi and Zoe--and Roxie, to be entirely fair--and began to lay atop them, absorbing them into the pink ooze structure that made up Ela's exterior. Ela again entered the body as well as wrapping around it, although after she had succeeded and stood up again, you saw no change in her body shape--which you'd expect from a being that comprehends higher dimensions.

Finally, with everyone else contained within her structure, the featureless body stepped slowly, deliberately, back towards you. She moved like she was in slow motion, probably because everything else she was doing was slowing down her ability to process anything too quickly. Ela had taken on a giant mental burden, as well as a physical one, with planting nanites and converting whole beings into living elastomer just by some sort of mysterious process that you didn't understand.

You sat up, as much as you could, staring up at Ela. "You have them all, now what?"

"The conversion will take all night," Ela said, slowly, her voice sounding strangely ethereal, with no voice box similar to how she would normally speak. Even her manner of speaking had changed drastically, as she deliberated on each word rather than her perky, carefree nature from earlier would suggest. "I took all of your concerns to heart, Emily. I am testing every process that must work successfully in order to complete the conversion. Should I fail at any task, then I will stop. But for now, everyone is stable."

You nodded, thinking a little. "Are they aware?"

"Yes. Somewhat." Ela paused for a moment. "One of my tests is to understand how they would react and behave upon realization of their changes. That is, I am simulating dreams for them. I took that concern to heart as well. Should anyone reject the premise of their dream as well, then I will halt the conversion. But this will give me insight to ensure they are sufficiently prepared for the outcome, and how to help them acclimate to their new reality. As well, I will need to discover a way to unify everyone, as it is possible we can be either one being or many beings. For this, I may need your insight once more as a human, and as the core mind of this ANG."

It was weird to hear her talk about this 'Aggregated Neural Group' and still refer to you as somehow elevated above the other minds. Ela must think particularly highly of you, not only because you were a part of her, but because you made the choice to give her capabilities she would otherwise lack. You nodded a little as you listened, unable to come up with a reason to challenge Ela any further. "So then, I assume you need me to participate in this mixture as well?"

"Yes. But something more." Ela points to the limiter band on your wrist. "Do you trust me enough to deactivate and remove this?"

You paused, looking at the device before turning back up to Ela, a slight look of worry in your eyes. "Are you certain this is a good idea? The limiter keeps things separate for a reason, for both our sakes I think."

"It would mean so much if you would trust me with this final thing. If you remove the limiter and allow me to adjust my own nanites, you and I will share ourselves more deeply than you could imagine. You are always still in control, but you would see my mind and my perspective and understand me on a level that is not possible if this connection is one-way. Had you chosen to activate all your nanites at the start before I could make these adjustments, I would exist only as you, and would have nearly no independent consciousness. But now, I know we can share a unified consciousness, where we can work together. Just like with the others, we could be one being, when we wished, in this way. And, with training and patience, we could control our connection to one another without the limiter band."

"And... if I say no?"

"I would not argue. In fact, if you choose this path, I would request that you mentally command me to forget the other possibility. But, we as a group would likely never be able to achieve our fullest potential of supporting one another. We would all still exist, and be close, but any singular form would be less comprised of 'us' and more simply 'you', as you would maintain that one-way control path. I would trust you with my life and well-being in this way, of course. I already have, and I cherish our bond. But when we awake in the morning, we would remain three distinct mental groups even if we all combined into one body, and that sends us on a very different trajectory. With the removal of the limiter, we can still be individuals, but when you and I are unified with a true shared bond within our minds, I think you will understand why I suggest it. Losing that independence, though, seems to be a challenging thing for a human to accept."

You nodded a little, staring at your wrist. This was not a decision to be taken lightly. When this idea began, at least as far as you understood it, you might need to include more nanites to have a stronger connection to Ela, but now she wanted to utilize everything you had, which was a very different story. And she wanted to essentially link your minds together so you could understand how she thought and worked on a broader scale. But, she was also right about why you'd hesitate--even if you were in control of it all, as you still remained the central mind apparently, it meant losing that independence. But you didn't worry about it less for what happens to you, but what happens to the others. Would it feel like when you talked to them, or engaged them in other activities, that they were ever unique, independent beings again? Or would it feel like in the connection that they could ultimately be controlled by you, and thus nobody was really an individual anymore? That felt like it would be rather lonely.

Despite what Ela suggested she really desired, you had to weigh that against everything else, as there were others to consider. If you remove the limiter band, you're essentially a hive-mind from how Ela described the connections. Keep it on, and you're more like those robot toys that combine to form a bigger robot--you'd work together as a synchronized group but the others would still be distinct from you. Ela still thinks that's possible to do without the limiter, though... what to do!

"I need to include you within me for this final part," Ela said softly. It pained her a little to see you struggling with this choice, though it wasn't that she felt like you distrusted her. She knew the burden she had placed upon you, to decide the final configuration of this change that Ela suggested, and how much it would change the lives of the others. She truly didn't want to see you in distress, so she leaned down, and wrapped her arms around you.

"Please, Emily. Do not worry about which path you choose. I trust that your heart knows what is best for all of us, and you should have no regrets with your decision. I will fully support you in every way, in either case. You're dear to me in so many ways, even if our time together has been brief. That will not change regardless of the path you set us upon. But... I need to bring you in now. So the choice must be made now."