"Hey Jace, I am done with my part." Shilla announced over the communication channel as Jace moved to the last station. "I was only able to get away with extracting the essence of the creatures but I have the seeds we need and then some. This place is a biological heaven worth of resources."

Jace smirked as he nodded. "Cloning. If I recall the UEE dabbled in it and it appears someone in this galaxy at least partially perfected the technique."

"Right." Shilla quietly chuckled. "Now then, how long are you going to be?"

Jace moved to remove the growths covering the interactable console that he needed to access. But as he did he heard something and looked to the side. It was dark down here but the light from the volcano next to him not only kept him from freezing it also lit up the area slightly.

"I... am almost done. I just need to-" He cut himself off as he felt something tighten around his leg. He looked down to see a mix of an orange and red tentacle that was bright. "Shit!" He was pulled off his feet and toward the hole where the volcano was.

"Are you okay?" Shilla asked.

Jace grabbed a protruding piece of rock and he stopped being dragged. But now his leg was being pulled. "Yeah, just surprised." The rock broke and he was pulled down into the volcano ridge and down towards the boiling magma. He also got a good look at what was dragging him. "I am going to be a bit."

"Do you need help?" Shilla asked.

"No, just relax and see if you can do anything extra to kill time." Jace answered as he looked down at the giant fiery tentacle monster that was floating just above the magma layer. Roughly a bit lower than where the devices were turning the thermal heat into electrical heat and steam.

Just by looking at it for a moment he knew that it was bothered by the energy cycling devices. Mostly because most of them were churning water quickly. The only one that wasn’t was the one he had not gotten to.

He would say it was angry by the way its tentacles started grabbing him and pulled it towards him. He could pull away but he was curious because it did not appear to have a mouth. Once it was close enough it stopped pulling him and then he could feel it.

It was like a clumsy attempt at knocking at his mind. Which meant it was like something was running its head against the barrier in his body. He would say it was a clumsy telepathic intrusion. One that Jace’s natural barriers just blocked.

He closed his eyes and opened a partitioned part of his mind. The moment he did it flooded into the partition and he opened a door that he could see and talk through like he did when he talked to the spirit of Prima Terra. In his mind he opened the door and looked into a fiery inferno.

"Well this is interesting. I don’t even think you know how to hide your intent or your true form. This must be how you see yourself." Jace admitted as he looked at the flames. Flinching backwards as several tentacles launched towards him but just slammed into the wall. "Come on now, use your words. I know you can. All things as sentient as you can transfer intent into communication with just a thought."

The tentacles moved back slightly and he watched as the center of the flames changed slightly until it was something resembling a ball of light. "You... are... strong."

"Yeah, any human that comes this far down is bound to be." Jace told it. "Was there something in particular you needed or did you just grab me because I was doing something that was slightly bothering you?"

There was a moment of thought as the tentacles slid along the barrier. "You bother... me... but... no... I was... curious... wanted... to... know... what... you... are... was... sleeping."

"Huh." Jace chuckled. "Sorry about waking you from your nap. As an apology is there anything I can do for you?"

"Want change... not want to sleep... but need heat to survive." Jace could tell that it was starting to get a handle on being able to speak. If he had to guess the creature had a natural affinity to brain wash people and tried to do the same to Jace but he just blocked it instead.

"I guess I can help with that." Jace told it. "Give me a moment." He then exited from his mind, "hey Shilla, how much of that stuff did you make? Do we have any extra?"

"I made several gallons. We only need a few and it is already packed up. I was going to dump the rest into the ocean to see what happened. Why?" She asked.

"Because an angry tentacle creature that I accidentally woke up wants to evolve and doesn’t know it." Jace answered, "you can just toss one of those vials into the volcanic pit. I will tell it to grab it."

"Ha... okay." Shilla began explaining with what sounded like a tired tone. To be fair she had done far more than he had. "It will be a few minutes. I have to find my way around."

Jace took a breath and then dived back into his mind. Looking at the ball of light that seemed to be getting impatient. In the real world he could feel it trying to pull his limbs off and failing to. "Okay, I got something that should help you change. My partner will drop it into the volcano pit. You just need to consume the liquid that is inside."

"Consume? What is consume... I do not understand... this concept." The creature responded in what sounded like confusion. Before it was speaking in monotone. Now it was speaking in emotion. That was an interesting change, how was it learning?

"How do you sustain yourself and your growth?" Jace asked, now feeling genuinely curious.

"Heat... absorb." The creature answered.

"That is definitely unique among any species I have seen before. But it could still work. When you get the liquid spread it over your body. The same orifices that absorb heat should absorb some of the liquid and it will begin changing you." Jace told it. "Now are you going to release me so I can complete what I was doing?"

"What doing... were you?" It asked.

"I was making a more efficient energy absorption system for the nearby facility so it can generate energy on a higher level." Jace explained.

"Okay." He could feel as his body was no longer being stretched and looked back to see it was slowly pushing him back up where it pulled him up from. "But want... know... change... keep connected."

Jace frowned but sighed both verbally and mentally. "Okay. But I will leave soon." Jace informed it mentally as he was placed back up on the edge of the volcano. The tentacles unraveled from his body and he moved to the console again. He went to pull the hammer off the belt that was magnetically stuck to his waist. But instead he found it along with all of the other things had melted to his armor.

He would have to remove it later. Instead he tore the growths off the giant wire and then accessed the machine. This time it was much simpler and only took a few moments. Once he was done rewiring he moved back to the edge of the volcano and began making his way around the edge to the facility that he was on the opposite side of the hole.

By the time he got to the other side he found Shilla walking over with a container of the semi-translucent stabilization liquid. "Hey, how are you doing?" She asked as she approached.

"The metal things I had on me fused to my armor because of the heat. The tentacle monster tried to pull my limbs off and brainwash me. Oh, and I am sweating underneath my armor." He answered and noticed a shadow moving behind her. "You notice something is following you?" Jace asked.

Shilla turned around and then waved it off. "That one, yeah I noticed it. It seemed really curious about me. It was following me from the outside. I saw it through a few of the windows." She explained as she looked down the volcano. "That is hot. How are you okay?"

Jace shrugged. "Hurry up and toss it in." He told her. "I want to get back into the facility." He told her.

"How many other things do you have left to do?" Shilla asked as she tossed the canister of mutation stabilizer into the pit and started walking back with him. The other creature followed them as they did.

Jace had the vaguest sense of familiarity from the creature. "A few other alterations I thought of so it can be self-sustaining." He explained as they walked into the pressure chamber. The creature moved to the outside. While mentally he told the tentacle creature, "There you go." A moment later he felt the presence pull back from his mind completely. It felt unintentional.

"Is that a good idea?" Shilla asked with a chuckle.

Jace just shrugged in response. He did not really care about the mess he left behind once he left this galaxy. As long as this system was intact.