Of Men and Spiders

Scott came across Alice looking at one of Charlotte's hands. She was focusing intently in a way that got his attention. One of Charlotte's larger selves was present, too, appearing to watch the girl work. It wasn't her usual "I'm talking to Charlotte in my head" look. This was something else entirely.

In truth, Scott sometimes felt a little left out with how close Charlotte and Alice had become since his sister had gotten her new body. Not that he envied her or anything. She'd gone through far too much to attain that connection, and it would only further complicate her life going forward, but he couldn't help but feel like a bit of a third wheel sometimes.

Not wanting to interrupt and ask what was going on, Scott decided he might as well go visit the fields when Alice let out a frustrated "Argh! I'll never get this!"

If that wasn't an invitation to jump in, Scott didn't know what one sounded like. "What's the matter? Charlotte got you working on something new?"

The look on Alice's face was genuinely pathetic...as if she was way over her head. "Yes! She's got me working on exercises to control some of her hands! But I'm not getting it!"

That confused Scott. "Control her hands? As in, spread your consciousness out like Charlotte?"

The larger Charlotte turned to Scott and spoke. "Not quite the same. Unlike me, Alice's consciousness will always be located in one body, not spread out over many appendages like myself. Your human physiology simply won't allow for anything else. However, her body still has all the required physical and mental capacities to connect to other appendages. With enough time and practice, Alice should be able to control and even see and listen through other appendages, though likely only one at a time, given human limitations."

Scott thought about this a moment, already seeing potential dangers. "What happens if the appendage she's in is injured or dies?"

Charlotte tilted her head. "As I said, her consciousness will always be located within her core body, so if an appendage she controlled was rendered inoperable, she'd snap back to her main body. I suspect the sensation would be similar to when you wake up from sleeping, though perhaps a little less pleasant."

Alice crossed her arms and huffed. "Well, it's not very easy! I can't even get it to move one leg!"

Charlotte turned back to Alice. "That is because you have already decided you cannot do it rather than really trying. You need to relinquish some control of your current body to influence the other."

Scott crossed his arms, thinking. "Sounds kinda like virtual reality."

That got Charlotte's attention again. "Virtual...reality? As in a reality that isn't real?"

Scott couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, it's pretty much exactly like it sounds. It's a reality we create to simulate, well, pretty much anything we can set our minds to. It can be used for anything from playing games to designing real-life structures without investing time and materials. It obeys whatever rules we establish, though it is still limited by what we can imagine for obvious reasons. Honestly, I'll kill for a good VR setup here, but the people who used this ship before us didn't share my interests." Then, realizing what he'd said and who he was talking to, Scott hastily clarified. "Er, I wouldn't actually kill anyone for it. That's just a figure of speech..."

However, as inscrutable as Charlotte could be at times, Scott could still tell something he'd said had shocked her when she replied. "You humans create alternate realities for things like playing games or designing structures? Wouldn't that be far more complex than just building a structure?"

Realizing the misconception, Scott laughed. "Well, they're not really other realities; it's more like a way to lie to our senses to tell us there are. It's kinda like a visual and audio version of our written words, except you can directly interact with it if it's designed for that."

When Charlotte still didn't seem to appear to understand, Scott sighed. "It sounds a lot more impressive than it is, really. I'm just wondering if it wouldn't help Alice to think of this more like a VR game than transferring her consciousness or whatever."

Alice made a face again like she was thinking really hard when Scott noticed one of the legs on the appendage she was looking at move a little. Alice hopped up and cheered, a fist in the air.

Scott grinned. Knowing he could still help with Alice's new life challenges felt good.

-

Cleo was sitting in bed with her eyes covered by her hands. This had gone on long enough. Sitting around doing nothing because she was afraid some smart spider might be able to get a read on her wasn't going to get her anywhere. It was time to take back control of her life. She sat up and looked over at the Charlotte in the corner. Charlottes, she reminded herself. There were two of them now.

Hopping to the end of her bed, Cleo looked at the spider, which gazed back without signs of any emotion. "Alright, listen here, Charlotte. I may not be some goody two shoes, but I'm not your enemy either. At least not so long as you're not mine! I'm not looking to pick a fight or make trouble. I'm just trying to get by, got it?"

After a moment, the spider that spoke to her before answered. "Understood."

For some reason, that reply irked Cleo. "What, that's it? You know, for someone who's supposedly studying humans and wants to learn from them, you sure don't offer much of yourself in return!"

The spider was quiet for a moment before answering. "What more would you like to know?"

Cleo threw her hands in the air. "I don't know! How about just being nice for a change and telling me something without being asked? Maybe sharing something about before you met Alice and Scott? What did you do before that?"

Charlotte became quiet again, and Cleo wondered if she'd gone too far, but then the alien spider started talking. "Before meeting Alice and Scott, I did what any other of my kind does. I traveled the stars looking for ways to improve myself and my people. This was often accomplished by observing natural phenomena and sampling the genetic makeup of various biological organisms."

Cleo made a face. "So basically you flew around looking at stars and eating things. Fair enough, I enjoy a good meal as much as the next gal, but what did you do for fun?"

If the spider was bothered by Cleo's interpretation, it didn't show. "I had no concept of 'fun' as you know it, though I would say I experienced a degree of satisfaction in the betterment of myself. Perhaps you should try it sometime."

Did...did that spider really just sass Cleo? Or did it not realize how that could be interpreted? Cleo stared at the thing while trying to decide when her door chimed.

Walking over to the door, Cleo couldn't help but turn her head to watch the spider as she moved. The Charlotte turned as well, keeping its many eyes on her as well.

Opening the door, Cleo was surprised to see Scott. It was too early for their usual exercise time, so why was he here?

Cleo couldn't help but notice that Scott looked like someone trying not to look nervous as he spoke. "Listen, you've been stuck in here eating alone for a while. How about you come out and join us for a meal for a change?"

This was something Cleo could handle. She smiled mischievously. "What, Scott, are you trying to ask me out on a date?"

Scott suddenly started stammering. "Uh, maybe this isn't such a good..."

Cleo didn't want to lose her opening and decided to take pity on him at the same time. "No, I'm just teasing. A little bit of company of the two-legged variety sounds nice. Don't get me wrong, Charlotte is a delight, but she is just so talkative I can't get a word in edgewise!" Then she realized that she was leaving someone out. "Oh, and Alice too!"

Now it was Scott's turn to look at her like he was trying to figure out if she was serious or if this was a joke. He either figured it out or decided to leave it be for now because he shrugged. "Fair enough. Well, our dining hall is this way if you want to see what we've got to work with."

Cleo stepped out with a nod. "That sounds great!" Then, impishly turning back to her room, Cleo addressed her roommates. "Don't wait up!"

Turning around, she just about ran into the larger, scarier-looking Charlotte with the scything blades who would evidently be joining them. It answered calmly. "Don't worry, I won't."