Maria slowly opened her eyes and realized that she was lying in her bathtub. As she slowly rose her hand to get out the water she was lying in, she realized that a strange smell enveloped her and she looked at her arm that oozed with nasty substance.
''What the hell... ?'' She rose from the water and saw Nicky that passed out on the floor. Her whole body was covered in sweat and she was just sprawled, not moving a bit. Luckily Maria could see her chest moving and was sure she was still a life.
She tried to stand up but slipped on the gooey matter and almost broke her bones. Just as she thought she will break something and tried to hold on the rand of the bathtub, but slipped again and again while the black substance oozed even more.
''Zero!'' She remembered the system and heard this voice.
''Stop panicking. It just the rest of impurities that are getting out your veins and bones.'' He tried to calm her down, but she still tried to stand up. ''The more you move the worse it is. Just plug out and let it go down the drain, duh!''
Hearing him say that she almost hit her head. Of course, logical. But who can be logical in this kind of situation? She unplugged the tub and saw the gelatine-like substance slowly gathering on that spot. But as it was too thick, it just stopped.
Zero spoke almost with annoyment. ''Hey. Use your brain. It's too thick. Wash it up with water. I mean seriously...'' Even a deep sigh could be heard, that almost made Maria curse. But he was indeed right. She slowly sat up and turned warm water on and started washing her won body off impurities and as the gelatine slowly diluted, she could finally stand up.
She just wanted to get out and help Nicky, not caring about the gooey matter that still oozed out her pores. There was no time for that. She almost fell down as she slipped on the clean bathroom tiles and just somehow slid towards her.
''Nicky.'' She slowly put her hand on top of Nicky's body and tried to heal her, but nothing happened. ''Zero, did I lose my healing power?''
''Nope. She is just not sick. She literally fell asleep as she puked a bunch of impurities. Oh yeah, she had her fist evolution. I never heard of the evolutions afterward. Maybe other humans will evolve as well?'' Zero was curious about these creatures. Humans gave him new mysteries and puzzles. How interesting.
''She... sleeps?'' Maria didn't know should she laugh or cry as she saw Nicky being just fine. She got used to this child. Suddenly she realized what he said. ''Did you just say she evolved?''
''Yeah. She has quite a strange power. I saw it only on Góohla planet in one of the creatures. She can utilize any power she likes. But only for short periods of time.'' His voice was filled with excitement.
''Any power? But how long is short?'' Maria knew that in case of danger Nicky could protect herself now, but for how long?
''I don't know. The more she uses it and cultivates it, the longer the periods of use will be. At the moment her powers are quite weak.'' Zero was honest that he didn't know. After all, she just evolved. And every power user has their own strength and length of duration of power use.
Maria had to let it go as she needed to take the child off the cold floor into a warm room. Somehow the temperature seems to get colder and she realized that Nicky opened the window. Probably to let out that nasty smell that came out her body. Poor child. She probably fainted because of it.
''She didn't faint. Oh, never mind.'' Zero gave up explaining again as he knew her stubbornness. Maria will just do as she thinks its best even after hearing his own ideas and suggestions.
Maria at this moment had no time to think about his ranting. She picked up the girl and realized that she was truly light. ''Did she lose weight?'' She stepped quickly into the living room and set her up in front of the fireplace. The fire was burning slowly and she realized that the girl probably fell asleep not long ago. The firewood inside was seeming shortly put on.
''She didn't lose weight. You became a bit stronger. Not only that. You gained a new power. But just like her, you can use only a bit of it and just for a short period of time.'' His voice cracked a bit in excitement and it became pitched. ''I am more than honored to meet creatures that could develop new evolution after such a short amount of time. Your people are amazing and scary at the same time.
Maria nodded. ''Humans brought our own planet on verge of destruction, not taking care of the balance. You could see all the data from the internet. Anyway, we are kind of very good at adjusting to new situations. Even I adjusted the new situation...''
She stopped talking and silently covered Nicky and went back to the bathroom. She needed to get the oozing stuff of her body and then she must clean the mess she left around. Seriously, its dirty and nasty smelling. With a sigh, she climbed now into the empty bathtub and started rubbing her body.
But it oozed for two more hours out her body and after that slowly disappeared. Zero suddenly could be heard. ''Finally. Now let's talk about your stats. Your real stats. As you evolved to the next form, your stats became completely different. wanna see them?''
Maria was just putting clothes on when the small bug appeared in front of her and shook his head. ''No matter how I look at you, you are still ugly. Even after evolution.''
She rolled her eyes and waved her hands. ''What did you expect? To get six arms and a pair of wings?''
Zero patted his head with one of his hands and smiled. ''That would turn you a tiny bit more attractive.''
''Oh, Zero...'' Maria rolled her eyes. ''I don't care about such things like attractive or bad looking. Clean or dirty are more important facts. By the way, my shield is no more on?''
Zero glanced at her then at her body and nodded. ''That was protection for you in your basic form. I gave your shield to Nicky. At least until she doesn't learn how to protect herself.''
Maria closed her shirt and then finally did something she wanted to do for a long, long time...