Imposter System

He read down the list and after laser tag the main wedding ceremony would start. Then, the afterparty would be a lot of drinking and more food. Besides the one strange inclusion, everything else was fairly normal. Matt sighed and closed the menu. Alexis came out wearing the black dress and showed it off to Matt. It was truly stunning.

"It looks incredible. I wonder how it would look coming off though…" Matt said with a flirtatious tone as he approached her and put his arms around her waist.

"Hold it in, tiger. What if you rip it?"

"I'll be careful." He responded instantly. Alexis wasn't able to hold a straight face and started laughing. Matt didn't know what to do so he stepped back and scratched his head awkwardly. This wasn't the scenario he had in mind. He sighed and remembered something.

"Do you have a dress for the ceremony?"

"Unfortunately, not. I'll have to ask around. If I knew the Captain would have the ceremony so early, I would've requested one made."

A ding came from the door and Matt checked who it was. Someone he had never seen before was standing there with a large box. Matt opened it, and the man handed over the box and left. It was his first time getting something delivered on this ship. He wasn't aware that there was a delivery service.

"What is it?" Alexis said curiously.

"Not sure, there's a card." Matt said handing it over for her to read while he opened the box.

"It says 'I thought you might need this. – Captain Stark'"

Matt opened the box and a folded up white dress was inside. Matt took it out and realized that it was a classic wedding dress. It seemed that the captain was well prepared. Seeing the look in Alexis's eyes made him happy. He decided to forgive the captain for the laser tag event. Alexis took the dress and went to try it on. When Alexis came out, she was almost in tears. Although she didn't say it, she was slightly upset not getting to wear a wedding dress like in their dream.

"How is it?" She asked with anticipation. Instead of replying, Matt sent several images of himself doing naughty things to her. Since her mental resistance was fairly low, she couldn't help but get overwhelmed by the images and turn bright red.

Alexis tactically retreated to their bedroom to change, but, like the hunter he was, Matt stalked his prey and went in for the kill. After some intense exercise, the two of them washed up and sat together in the bath. Matt realized that he could try to get Alexis to gain the Drug Resistance skill as well. He still had three capsules left from when he got his skill as well as the capsule that he tested the other day. However, that medication also has risk of fetal toxicity.

"What are you thinking about?" Alexis noticed he was in one of his deep-thinking modes.

"Trying to find ways to deal with the pinecone problem." Alexis placed her hands on his cheeks and squeezed while leaning her head back to look up at him.

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out. For now, we still have time."

Matt nodded and she let him go. There was one other option, but it had its own risks as well. The blood samples of the test subjects in the lower decks. Alternatively, he could harvest blood from some random alcoholic crewmen. However, since he was now aware of Willard, this was very risky. If he figures out that Matt isn't an esper but instead, an alien, then all hell will break lose. It might even be the catalyst to Willard's complete takeover of the ship.

The rest of the day went fairly uneventfully. Matt and Alexis relaxed in their room, only leaving to pickup food to bring back. During that time, Matt read several articles on the ships database concerning radioactivity and pregnancy. He wasn't a medical doctor and only understood a fraction of the content. However, he wasn't willing to consult any of the medical doctors on board as they may be compromised. Not to mention it would simply be suspicious if he asked about it.

{Figure anything out?} Alexis thought while lazily lying on the couch.

{Well, it seems to be safer than the radiation we are exposed to from outer space and the reactor.} Matt replied while scratching his head. {But this is for external exposure. I can't find anything specific about ingesting possibly reactive material except not to do it.}

{Why don't you go into one of the doctor's dreams and ask there?}

Matt sighed and hung his head backward. He had thought of that also. But something was stalking him in the dark world. He tested it a few times, and even a short distance to the bed next to him gives him the feeling of danger. He is certain that this is related to the living metal because that is the only thing that changed. His biggest concern is what the monster told him in the dream.

There was a possibility that the collective consciousness of all the living metal is trying to take his body from him. Since his parasite was the sub-body of the source of the living metal, they may be trying to exert their authority to turn him into the main body. Although there was no precedent for this in the game, his instincts were flaring up. But Matt didn't know of any way to beat his predecessor. It's possible that becoming a stronger organism would work, but he was far away from that goal.

The next thing he could try is to evolve his Dream Walking. Based on what happened to his telepathy, it is possible that a similar mutation will happen to Dream Walking. If it improves his ability to move through that black and white world, then he could push back the threat of whatever was watching him. After organizing his thoughts, he decided that was the best course of action.

{Are any of the medical doctors invited to our wedding?} Alexis checked the list and nodded.

{Looks like there are two. Doctor Brown and Doctor Kim.} She responded.

{Okay, I'll try interrogating both of them. You can continue eating my steak and I'll take the pinecones for now. Once I evolve my Dream Walking, I'll start saving up the pinecones for you.}

The next day, Matt went to the lab after breakfast. He checked in on Alexandria and confirmed the status of her infection. He kept a log to track the spread and so far, it only seems to have increased by half a percent of her total body. So, the total was eight percent. After confirming that the solutions were made correctly, he took two vials and entered the secure room. He poured them out and Martha happily absorbed them.

With the two new pinecones and the two from yesterday, Matt gained another thirty-five points. It was one point less since Alexis had already eaten part of one. After leveling his Dream Walking to two, he had twenty-three points left. It required twenty-four to level which annoyed him, but since he needed to evolve it anyway, he didn't mind waiting. When he returned to his quarters, Alexis had already set out all of his formal wear.

The reception was tomorrow so she wanted to make sure his clothes fit since they were borrowed. He had two sets of clothes, one for the reception and one for the ceremony. After wearing it all, except for the suit jacket, everything fit well. Fortunately, the ceremony clothes are his formal military uniform and it didn't need any adjusting. He decided to pin the medal so that his uniform didn't look so bare.

Alexis was already back up to nine points and only needed six more to level to six on DNA absorption. She had discussed with him the use of her power at the wedding in order to practice using it. It apparently wasn't as simple as turning it on, she had to mentally will the effect to particular emotions. Matt didn't really understand her explanation but didn't see a problem with it so he thought it was a good idea. Matt decided to do the same thing with his hypnosis, since it was a good opportunity to meet the top brass.

That night, Matt activated his Dream Walking to see the difference of a single level. To his surprise, he immediately noticed the distances to his marked targets were a lot closer. Before, even though Alexis was right by his side, he needed to travel quite a distance. However, now, it felt like it was within an arm's reach.

Suddenly, he felt something approach him. When he turned to look, there was nothing there. As soon as he turned away, it felt like it was moving closer. He kept his back turned as it crept up closer and closer…

Then he suddenly turned and saw—

{RAAAAAAH}

Matt woke up in a cold sweat as he was pulled back to his body. He tried to remember what he just experienced but it was a blank spot in his mind. However, merely thinking back, he shuddered.