Chapter 412
Chapter 412
At one point, while making his way down the street, Jake spotted a Change Machine positioned at the corner of the street. It had been a while since he had last seen one, and the sight sparked his curiosity. As far as he could recall, he had never encountered a Change Machine during his time as a human. Strangely, the longer he remained a mutant, the fewer details he could remember about his previous life. He even had the unsettling feeling that, eventually, he might forget entirely that he had ever been human.
The last time he had encountered a Change Machine as a mutant was long ago. He remembered passing by it without so much as casting a glance at the device. The Change Machines were designed for humans, so as a mutant, he had no use for them. At that time, he hadn’t yet acquired Morph Disguise, an ability that allowed him to disguise himself as a human, which made checking one of those devices pointless. But now, with that ability in his possession, he decided to examine the Change Machine he had just discovered and to see what it could offer.
Jake eased his speed, pivoted, and jogged across the street toward the peculiar device. He knew that Change Machines allowed humans to alter their appearance, but having never examined one himself, he wasn’t certain how the process actually worked. He didn’t know whether the device would allow him to alter his appearance after he had disguised himself as a human. Could it see past the illusion? Perhaps it would be able to detect his true nature and refuse to alter the false human form. Or maybe it wouldn’t. Putting it to the test was the only way to find out if he could use the Change Machine while wearing a human disguise.
As he neared the device, he studied his surroundings with all of his senses: sight, smell, and hearing. As far as he could tell, there were no humans nearby. He could detect their presence not only through sight, which allowed him to see fine details over great distances and pick out details far beyond human capability, but also through his finely tuned hearing that picked up even the faintest murmur. There were no living beings around, and all was quiet in his immediate vicinity, not the slightest sound reaching him from the surrounding buildings or nearby alleyways.
He also possessed the acute scent-tracking of a predator. The faintest trace of scent told him more than footsteps ever could. From the air alone, he knew that numerous humans had walked this street in recent days, and someone had lingered here not long ago. However, he couldn’t detect any sign of humans currently present in the nearby vicinity. If a human were hidden behind a locked room, he wouldn’t be able to catch their scent, but all the buildings around him had shattered windows, and not a single whiff of a human smell drifted from within.
So, he was sure that he was alone and that nobody was spying on him from a hidden spot. That was good. He didn’t want anyone discovering his ability to take on a human identity. So far, only Skullface had learned about this ability of his. After infiltrating the Los Demonios’ main base disguised as a pilot named Omar, he had proceeded to eliminate numerous guards stationed on the main level of the base. He then made his way to the mines below, after which Omar vanished without a trace and the morphus appeared, sweeping up from the deepest tunnels and leaving nothing but death and destruction in his wake, crippling the gang’s infrastructure. Just before they had been slain, some of the bandits may have pieced together fragments of what had happened. However, anyone who might have discovered his ability to disguise himself as a human was no longer alive to share it.
However, though Jake preferred to keep Morph Disguise a secret from humans, he knew that, in the long run, it wasn’t a big deal. Even if someone discovered his ability to disguise himself as a human, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. After all, he could take on the identity of any person he wanted. He had maxed out Morph Disguise some time ago, and now, at Rank V, the ability offered several useful benefits. For example, he could store not just one human disguise as a backup but several at a time, swapping between them at will whenever the situation demanded.
But even if humans learned about this ability, it didn’t mean they would be able to spot him in a crowd while he wore a human disguise. Visually, he would be completely indistinguishable from a normal human while disguised. Even advanced technological or magical means couldn’t see through it. And if, by some unlikely stroke of insight, someone discovered that he was merely pretending to be human, he could simply shed the disguise in an instant and adopt an entirely new human identity, vanishing once more into anonymity.
So, even if humans learned about Morph Disguise at some point, simply knowing he could disguise himself as a human wouldn’t help them see through his disguise. This was especially true considering that, while disguised as a specific human, Jake retained much of that person’s memories and knowledge, making it easy for him to play their role convincingly.
Upon reaching Rank V, the ability unlocked a powerful new function: he could now fabricate a human identity entirely from scratch, no longer relying on Mind Reader to copy appearances from actual people. Seizing the opportunity, he created a persona a few days ago: a tall, rugged-looking man with a short beard and striking blue eyes. He not only crafted the physical appearance for this persona but also came up with a name, Mark, and an elaborate backstory, detailing how Mark had survived all this time, where he had been, what he had been doing, and how he had endured through the rise and fall of Los Demonios.
According to the backstory Jake had woven, Mark was a lone wanderer, surviving on his own and detached from the three established human communities. This alter ego was his contingency plan, a mask he could wear whenever he needed to blend in with a group of human survivors for any reason. So far, the need to use his alternative persona had not yet arisen, but he knew that, eventually, he might have to integrate with humans as an ordinary survivor. And when that moment arrived, he would be prepared to adopt Mark’s identity instantly.
So, he was now planning to check whether the Change Machine he had just discovered would allow him to modify Mark’s appearance. Of course, he didn’t truly need the device, as this character’s appearance was already fully designed, and if he needed to make any changes to it, he could do so any time he wanted. He didn’t really need a Change Machine for that. He was simply curious to see whether the device would mistake him for a human being and let him modify his alter ego.
Upon approaching the Change Machine, Jake gave it a quick once-over. The structure resembled a rounded box, about the size of a fitting room in a clothing store. Its front surface bulged outward in a convex curve and was reflective, like a mirror. As he neared the device, he caught sight of his reflection: an obsidian-like figure with a faint hunch to its stance, unblinking blue eyes devoid of emotion, and slightly extended jaws lined with jagged teeth. Since he didn’t often get the chance to see himself, he lingered for a moment, studying the reflection in the device’s front panel and once again marveling at how terrifying he looked.
After a moment, Jake tore his gaze from his reflection in the convex wall and glanced around again, just to confirm he was alone. Once satisfied, he activated Morph Disguise, shifting into his second persona. The transformation was instantaneous: one moment, a black, terrifying mutant stood on the pavement, and the next, he had taken the form of a tall male survivor clad in a weathered leather jacket, jeans faded and frayed by time, and a pair of scuffed combat boots.
Secured to Jake’s right thigh was a drop-leg holster, currently empty. However, just in case he ever needed to assume his alter ego, Jake always kept an epic heavy-caliber revolver in his inventory, a weapon he had found some time ago. With a swift motion, he called the weapon forth and slid it into the holster. A generous supply of ammunition was stored away in his inventory as well, ready for action. So far, there had been no need to use the revolver in combat, though.
Just as Jake took another step toward the Change Machine several feet before him, something unexpected occurred. Without warning, the reflective front surface split vertically down the middle, and the two halves slid outward along the sides to merge with the device’s walls. A moment later, someone stepped out from within the interior.