140 bodies

It was so obvious; why hadn’t I seen it before? If I could inhabit one of my bodies, then I could inhabit more than one. I was limited to twelve bodies, but each of those bodies could expand to reach out to twelve more, and so on. It did mean that any of those bodies being killed meant that I would lose control over all the bodies that were connected to that body. It was like a giant Ponzi scheme, a pyramid where every level was larger than the one above.

 

My mind was expanding, and I now had bodies all over the city.

 

“I’ve lost several spider bots,” she said. “Three levels down.”

 

“We’ll have to give them a proper greeting then,” another voice said amiably.

 

I stopped my expansion; losing this body now would mean that the entire pyramid would collapse. It was going to take some thinking about strategy. Would I have to hide some of my bodies in secure locations just so that the whole structure would stay stable?

 

A hundred and forty four bodies were now under my control; they were scattered and rising in their new forms. None of them were close enough to help me currently, but I started drawing them all to my current location. I had plenty more to spare if my senses were telling me right.

 

***

 

Down