Imposter System

"Okay, lets start over. Explain to me exactly how you caused seven of the twenty-one reactor cores to go offline." Matt said, rubbing his eyes in frustration. He didn't know what was worse, dealing with Willard, or dealing with the aftermath of his capture.

"That's what I was trying to tell you. I was just doing my experiment, when suddenly, the prototype dark matter collector overloaded causing a feedback loop. The system couldn't handle the sudden power drain as it just happened to coincide with the initiation of the engines.

"It's not my fault! The engine team didn't stick to their schedule! It clearly says they would initiate the engines exactly at sixteen-hundred hours." The doctor flailed his arms on the other side of the metal table while explaining.

"Doctor Patel, the incident happened exactly at Sixteen O One hours." Matt said with an exasperated expression. "So, to say, you lost track of time, and when you turned on your device, it overloaded the reactors?"

"…" Doctor Patel simply stayed quiet as he realized his mistake. Matt stared at him in silence for a long while as he flicked through the case report on his tablet device.

The long pause combined with the close quarters and dim room caused Doctor Patel to begin sweating in nervousness. Ever since Matt was given the position of Head Investigator six months ago, he was very good at his job. Almost every case ended in a full confession or discovery of the cause.

"So, assuming this was an accident—" Matt started, but was cut off.

"It was an accident!" Doctor Patel shouted. Matt gave him a dangerous look and he quickly shut up.

"Assuming it was an accident, how exactly did you acquire permission to test dark matter technology? I don't see any documentation in your file." Matt had gotten to the main point of his investigation and Doctor Patel really wanted to leave at this point.

"I… I… I request representation!" Doctor Patel wasn't good at articulating so he immediately asked for counsel to mediate for him. However, there was another reason why Matt was so terrifying. No matter who asked for counsel, or who locked up, he would always get them to squeal on their own accord. The AI which monitored him carefully never discovered a broken law or policy.

[Hypnosis Activated.]

Matt stared at Doctor Patel for five seconds before he started fidgeting. Matt stayed quiet and simply maintained eye contact. No matter how much Doctor Patel wanted to look away, he simply couldn't. And as if the guilt had overtaken him, he suddenly blurted out the truth.

"Shepherd contacted me directly and approved my research! He said it would pave the way to the future and my contributions would be no lesser than Chandrasekhar's!"

"I see. Do you have any proof of this contact? Emails, recordings, notes, etcetera?" Matt said offhandedly as he looked back at his tablet. Although he broke eye contact, the influence seemed to still be active.

"N—no." He felt downtrodden. At the time, he was so immersed in his theory, that getting his work directly approved was all he could think about. Doctor Patel deeply regretted not recording the conversation. Many researchers had been stripped of their labs and sent to assist in menial jobs. Matt was the one who caught them in every case.

"Alright, you're free to go. However, all future requests for experimental research will be denied until further notice. Thank you for your time, Doctor Patel." Matt said as he powered down his tablet and began placing it into the carrying case along with his pen and notepad. Doctor Patel was confused and while still under the effects of hypnosis, blurted out again.

"What? You're letting me go? Why?"

"It's simple. We have a recording of you speaking with Shepherd, and a copy of the audio file. I just wanted to make sure there weren't any other dealings that we had not captured. Good day." He said and left the interrogation room. The job of being the sheriff for a bunch of mad scientists was frustrating. He wondered if this is how Colin Ferguson's character felt.

[Host: Matthew O'Connely

Status: Grade 1+ Mind Slug

Evolution Points (EP): 334

Abilities: [Perfect Mimicry Lv. Max], [Improved Metabolism Lv. 3], [Mental Resistance Lv. 5], [Improved Reflexes Lv. 2], [Biological Reinforcement Lv. 3], [Enhanced Soul Lv. 1]

Skills: [Genetic Assimilation Lv. 7], [Toxin Resistance Lv. 5], [Hypnosis Lv. 1], [Dream Eating Lv. 1], [Primary Reproduction Lv. Max], [Psionics Lv. 3]

Allies: [Alexis Alexeyev Grade 0]]

[Hypnosis Lv. 1: Whenever you make eye contact with someone, they will understand your intentions and be influenced by your will. If simple commands are given, they will do their best to follow them. This influence lasts even after eye contact has been broken. Each command requires a new activation.

]Hypnosis: Master

]Ability: Command

]Ability: Mesmerism]

[Hypnosis

Activation: Eye contact

Duration: Special

Proficiency: Master (0/100)]

[Command: Utilizing the influence your vast mental prowess exudes, command one creature to do a simple task. The creature must understand your command. Anything beyond its capabilities will cause the ability to fail. Self-harm will cause the ability to fail.

Activation: Voice

Duration: Until Completed

Words: One]

Matt habitually checked the Hypnosis ability. Ever since reaching Master proficiency, he had not been able to raise it by even one point. He had tried using a combination of Command, Mesmerism, and Hypnosis to no avail. It had already been two months since he reached Master, so it frustrated him greatly. No matter how ridiculous or mind-controlling his requests were, the number refused to go up. He wondered if it was a limitation on his grade, or perhaps the grade of humans.

He shook his head and continued toward his lab. Along the way, many people greeted him as sheriff. At first, people were very formal with him and didn't dare act chummy anymore. However, when Matt began to do good work and actually straighten things out in the lower decks, people began treating him differently.

At some point, in a bar somewhere, someone offhandedly mentioned that, as pioneers, they would be a small rural colony. Therefore, Matt would technically be the first sheriff. Ever since then, the nickname spread through the crew like a wildfire and everyone called him that instead of doctor. Matt was okay with this since he never got a doctorate in his past-life.

When Matt opened the door to the lab, he saw Alexandria wearing a lab coat and working on something with various glassware on the bench. When she noticed him, she stopped what she was doing and came over to greet him.

"The test solutions number thirty-one and thirty-two are finished. I left them in specimen room one for you."

After fully recovering from being excessively drugged in Willard's lab, she requested to become Matt's assistant in the lab. Since he would be focused on his new duties, he wouldn't be able to accomplish his research alone. Losing the first pregnant goat was unfortunate, but life moves on and he would need to show some progress again eventually. Matt didn't have a single clue about any of that, so he used his Perfect Mimicry for the first time in a while and started a new direction for their research.

"How's Martha doing?" Matt asked as he approached specimen room two.

"Still the same." She replied slightly anxious. Matt nodded and walked into the room that housed her. After what happened in Willard's lab, she reverted back to her tree form. However, her cat body was still nestled in the hollow knot of the tree trunk. Matt was able to tell she was dreaming, but didn't manage to summon her consciousness when he entered her dreams. Seeing there was no change, he went over to the next room and let Perfect Mimicry administer the new test samples.

Once Matt finished his work, he returned to his quarters. As soon as he stepped up to the door and opened it, he was accosted by a flying object. He quickly snatched it out of the air and saw an angry Alexis with a very large belly shouting at the tablet in her hand.

"If I hear you trying to pass a motion to turn the water conversion pools into a public bath one more time, I'll strangle you myself!"

The person on the other end was the infamous Charles Musk. In the end, Matt found him to be innocent of any specific laws and regulations. However, due to his various misconducts, he was suspended for several months. Alexis took his place, and when his suspension ended, he somehow convinced another member to vacate their seat for him.

The object that he had caught was a ceramic mug. Once his position as Head Investigator became permanent, he was promoted to Lieutenant and required to participate in a monthly examination for all soldiers to maintain their physique. Because of this, he became a lot more agile and was fully able to utilize his strength.

Before she could continue shouting, the call ended and she threw the tablet at the couch in frustration. After the call ended, she turned toward Matt and her mood took a full one-eighty. She went up to him and gave him a side-hug and a cheerful smile.

"How was work?" She asked.

"Another crazy scientist has been taken care of." However, before he could go into detail, Alexis gave him a strange look.

"I think my water just broke."