Chapter 87: I Guess

Alec didn’t need to be a genius to know that a brain would undoubtedly be more complex than an arm even before he tried. But he was confident in his spell and his mind. As such, even after he collapsed, he didn’t give up.

He knew he had it in him to unravel the labyrinthine hell that was the reconstruction of the monster’s head. He refused to let it go and stubbornly followed the threads, twists, and caves of light in his mind until he figured out what was up and what was down.

But up and down weren’t enough. He need right and left, back and front.

Alec had no idea how much time he had spent reading the feedback from his spell, but it didn’t matter. It was time well spent. He closed his eyes with a satisfied smile.

It was not because he was going to sleep. It was because they had remained open and glazed over all the while he studied the monster’s brain. They were drier than the desert.

Only after reciting the Poem did Alec allow himself to sleep. Although he still wasn’t sure why there was a limit to how much he could use it, he had gotten a feeling for when he could.

When he woke up, he looked around, but Moira hadn’t returned yet. He ignored his hunger and aimed his hand at his head.

Now, he just had to compare brains.

He was a little worried about how it would affect his brain and whether he would be able to grasp it properly, but he cast those worries aside and used the gentlest version possible of Scan 2 on his brain.

It was like a smooth, warm, gentle, silk breeze swept through his head.

It made him want to throw up and tear his hair out. But he resisted the urge and focused on the incoming feedback.

He absorbed it all and sat down to focus on the information. After doing it once, he was a little more prepared and managed to put himself in a comfortable position at least before the outside world disappeared.

Once again, the only thing on his mind was the structure of a brain. But this time, it was his own.

Alec suddenly found himself beset with curiosity beyond the need to understand a monster’s nature.

What did a brain look like? What did the different areas of it do? And what did his brain look like?

Alec realized instantly that his brain was starkly different from a monster’s.

For one, it was far easier to understand. It had a proper structure. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

Second, it was smaller? Alec didn’t know how, but it felt like the monster’s brain was too big and bloated for the head it was inside.

’Is it the feedback?’

Third, he caught activity in his brain. It was only the moments during which his spell bounced around to map out his brain, but there were areas that were fully active.

He did not see anything like that in the monster’s brain, which fit the fact that monsters were completely void of thought.

Alec had confirmed that the reason why monsters were completely empty of intelligence was related to their brain.

’Is it the structure?’

The same mutation that transformed the feeble arms of a human into weapons of destruction turned the soft and fragile brain into bloated mush?

’I guess?’ Alec tilted his head from side to side while mentally comparing the two different brains to the structure of the rest of the body.

He wanted to know why the same transformation had such different results just because it was the brain.

’Is it just a flaw?’

A piece of paper could become a paper plane when folded properly. A piece of cloth given the same treatment just became a neatly folded piece of cloth that didn’t fly any further than before it was folded.

The other tissues of the body thrived under monsterification, but the brain couldn’t handle it.

Alec guessed that it had to be something like that.

’Now, I just have to figure out how or why it happens.’ Alec sighed. He had made progress, thanks to his Scan 2, but he still had a long way to go.

“You’re alive?” Moira said when she returned, sounding a little too surprised for Alec’s liking.

“How long have I been here?” He asked, ignoring her pointless question.

“A few weeks, I guess.” Moira shrugged before dumping her haul, a lizard and a cat, inside the monster cell. She made separate sections right before they started attacking each other.

“You guess?” Alec asked, glancing at the monsters. The green lizard was stage two, and the cat with four ears and a few dozen extra teeth in its mouth was stage three. He was not comfortable.

“Maybe months,” She said, handing Alec his food.

“…”

“Why should I keep track of how long you’ve been down here, anyway?”

“It’s not about keeping track of me. It’s about knowing the passage of time. It’s the same whether it’s here or aboveground, no?”

Moira’s head bobbed to the side, and she tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“I guess that’s true. Still, what’s that got to do with me?”

Alec stared at her for a long time before sighing.

“Nothing, I guess.”

“Hey!”

“Anyway. Those two,” Alec said, pointing at the two new monsters sharing the underground space with him.

“I figured you would need more test subjects. And since you seemed mildly upset about Shim using children, I picked up those two. They shouldn’t be strong enough to break out and kill you while you sleep.”

“Ah, just like how that one shouldn’t have been strong enough to break out and kill Shim?”

“Exactly!” Moira clapped her hands together with a bright smile.

Alec sighed and turned back to the two new monsters. The cat was as black as the night and slightly smaller than an average housecat. It stared straight back at Alec with an empty gaze, its mouth opening and closing like it was practicing for the moment it could finally sink its teeth into his flesh.

The green lizard was the size of a small dog, but a lot closer to the ground and a little wider. Its scales looked smooth. Spots of dark green and brown ran along its spine. It looked a little like a gecko but more robust.

To her credit, Moira had made sure that the cat’s prison was very tight. Despite being a cat, it wouldn’t be able to escape. But it was still third-stage, so Alec did not let down his guard.

“Alright, hold them down for me, please.”

“You’re getting started right away?”

“I guess.”

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