Borderlands: Unnatural selection

The reason for that twitching was sheer irritation because no matter how you look at it the being definitely had some part to play in this matter but hadn't said anything about it. For all I know this place AND my powers were a package deal with same death delivery rather than just my powers being my gift. 

"A kid's got no place on Pandora, place is as savage as it gets. If you've got no choice but to go in a year though I swear on the Jakobs name we'll do our damnedest to make sure you'll at least not die there." The old man swore seriously.

"That sort of brings me to that second revelation I mentioned earlier. What do both of you know about superpowers, specifically the sort that have wicked tattoos involved?" I asked a little nervously.

"You mean Sirens?" the old man asked confused.

I frowned "Not familiar with the term, can I get a description?" I asked.

"Drop dead beauties with wicked glowing tattoos and crazy powers. Supposedly only six in the whole universe." Clay said and I stopped him.

"There are seven." I said and both men looked surprised.

"Whatcha mean boy?" the old man asked seriously.

"I learned that there were seven when I went into the vault, six that escaped their creators and one that got sealed away and forgotten. Until now." I said raising my right hand as my green tattoos started glowing.

"Damnation boy you're a Siren!" the old man exclaimed in shock.

"I take it that is not something I should be casually sharing from your reactions." I said kinda regretting it now.

The old man took a few breaths to calm himself before answering me.

"It's not a simple thing boy. Sirens have been hunted for as long as anyone can remember and for damn near just as long a list of reasons. It boils down to three main ones though, they're rare what with only six, seven now being around. Rare means valuable boy, doesn't matter if it's useful or not and make no mistake Sirens are useful. The second of these main reasons are that no Siren is weak. Each and every one of you are dangerous things that if harnessed can cause untold amounts of damage. Finally is superstition, you Sirens are anomalies, things that nobody can explain and it frightens people. People kill what they fear, it's in our nature." he said seriously.

"Suppose I should mention a standin bounty on all Sirens of a million bucks. It gets higher or removed dependin on the Siren but a million bucks is the start for unbound Sirens. Smart folk know better than to chase that bounty though, your kind tend not to come peaceful like." Clay said seriously.

"Huh? Never had a bounty before so that's pretty cool I guess." I said with a grin.

I really wasn't bothered by it at all. If anything I thought it was pretty badass like "Look you fools! I'm so fucking dangerous that I'm wanted everywhere just for existing!". Biggest flex ever.

"Wipe that damn grin off your face boy you ain't getting no bounty, least not till a year from now. You're under the sturdy branches of the Jakobs tree now and the tree protects those under it from all storms." the old man snapped at me.

"Ah~ you do have a heart and here I was thinking you had a cold unfeeling chunk of metal instead." I teased with a laugh.

"So what can you do with these oh so special powers?" Clay asked curiously and even the old man bit back whatever retort he was about to utter to listen closely.

So I explained how my powers worked and even a few experiments I conducted as well as pointing out how Clay actually found me in one of my experiments. All things considered I'd say that they took it well enough.

"So let me see if I noodled this out right, you're in theory immortal, can in theory grow infinitely and can even make other things more powerful?" Clay asked and I nodded.

"Sounds about right." I said casually.

"You don't plan on starting a cult or nothin right? Cuz that sounds a lot like the description of a god and bandits will worship anything that stands out much less someone who ACTUALLY fits the bill." He said seriously.

"Bandits? like thieves? Highwaymen? That kinda thing?" I asked confused.

"Lawless bunch of inbred, cannibalistic and psychotic folk that are as mad as a jabber in heat. Once normal working folk but driven mad after the wars years back. Not idiots exactly but too nuts to properly use their brains." the old man explained.

"There are a few outliers amongst those born into the clans but they tend not to live long, tall nails get hammered first, get me?" Clay said and I nodded seriously.

"So pretty much kill on sight then right?" I asked.

"Generally speaking best to shoot first and ask questions later where bandits are involved. Now don't mean to be rude but you've got me curious now, but what are my traits?" Clay asked while holding out his arm for me to grab.

{Clay

Lifeforce: 1270

Traits: [Keen sight-Common grade]- 500 units, [Quick reflexes-Common grade]- 500 units, [Gun expertise-Uncommon grade]- 1000 units, [Clever mind-Uncommon grade]- 1000 units, [Athletic body- common grade]- 500 units.}

"Now that's an impressive list of traits, so far you are the first thing I've looked at with my powers that don't have any trash grade traits though you don't have any extraordinary ones either." I said after reading out the feedback I got.

"So if you were to copy all these traits you'd become a mini me more or less?" Clay asked and I shook my head.

"Better than you in all but experience, traits stack remember and I already have some that would definitely stack with those." I said honestly.

"Do it." the old man said firmly catching me and Clay both off guard. "You said that it didn't hurt the prowler cub to copy the traits but even might have helped it by a small amount. Doin the same to Clay's all benefits and no downsides." he explained and I couldn't really disagree with him.

"Not sure I enjoy bein volunteered like this but Monty's got a point. Go ahead and copy away." Clay said and I began to use my powers to grab all of his traits wincing slightly at the huge chunk of my stored lifeforce that vanished to get it all.

Once I was done Clay felt... odd. Like I could feel his traits still within him but at the same time he felt blurry and faint despite him getting a solid 300 or so units of lifeforce during this trade. Units of lifeforce that had an immediately effect on him as he groaned in pleasure as his body got an inch or two taller and his form bulked up a little. He didn't look lean anymore but not like covered in bulging muscles either.-

"I take it back I feel like I could wrestle a Truxican luchador and win!" Clay said moving around clearly pleased with the upgrade.

"What about you boy? You don't look like anything's changed at all?" The old man asked confused.

"I haven't integrated the traits yet, I'm seeing which ones I can fuse into my other traits. So far [Keen sight] can fuse with [Keen hearing] and [Keen nose]. [Athletic body] can fuse with [Alpha muscles] as well as [Quick reflexes]. Ugh, it's so expensive though at six thousand lifeforce to fuse it all!" I said complaining about the price a bit.

"Stop belly aching that self improvement is too damn expensive and just do it already!" the old man barked angrily and I felt wronged but went through with the fusions.

All the [Keen] senses traits fused to create [Enhanced senses-Rare grade]. [Athletic body], [Alpha muscles] and [Quick reflexes] fused to create [Omega body-Rare grade]. Since the two rare grade traits were comprised of traits already integrated into my body they too automatically integrated and the changes started immediately. I started to grow taller and my form began to bulk up and take on a predatory stature. My eyes, ears, nose and tongue all bled as the other trait made sweeping improvement.-

When it was over I groaned and stretched causing my bones and joints to pop alongside my outfit that was now WAY too small to contain my form.

"In all my years I've never seen somethin so... unnatural. A child grown into an adult in mere moments." the old man said disturbed at the spectacle.

I ignored that though and integrated the last two traits though oddly besides a sudden throbbing headache I didn't feel anything. 

"I'm not grown up yet, this is just what an outlier of the human species looks like at thirteen." I said honestly as I stripped off my jacket that was uncomfortably tight to the point of ripping with any movement I made.

From an outside perspective I probably looked like an adult now standing five and a half feet tall with a stupid amount of muscle definition. My face had gotten slightly more narrow as the last of that stubborn baby fat vanished as well. The words alpha and Omega didn't exactly mean what they did in standard context here. In truth alpha referred to the strongest normal members of a given species. Omega however referred to those that were genetically superior to the rest of the species, bigger, stronger and more dangerous at the same developmental stage.-

In my case I as a thirteen year old could pass for an adult due to my appearance but once I actually became an adult I would be a hulking mountain of a man easily considered superhuman. That was assuming I stopped getting more traits that improved my body anyways, spoilers I didn't plan on it.

"Like that buffoon Torgue then?" The old man muttered falling deep in thought.

"Who the fucks Torgue?" I asked Intrigued since if there was actually a human outlier they had to be an interesting individual.

Outliers were supposed to be very fucking rare, the perfect conditions aligning to bring them into existence and all that jazz. Obviously they could be "manufactured" as well through beneficial mutations caused by lucky inbreeding(all positive traits no bad ones) or exposure to mutative substances or a mixture of both. Those while outliers tended to be ... unstable at best. 

"Mister Torgue high five Flexington or just Mr. Torgue as everyone calls him is the face of the Torgue corporation. A simple minded fellow that also happens to be seven and a half feet tall and covered in muscles. Supposedly he looked like an adult as a kid too, got made fun of for it if you believe the stories. Well he invented the explosive damage type that Torgue weapons now all sport and has been a fixture in the borderlands of the galaxy, which is to say here for decades now." Clay explained casually.

"He must have some awesome traits, wonder if I can set up a meeting?" I muttered and Clay just chuckled.

"Not if Monty's got anything to say about it, small one sided feud since Torgue used a Jakobs as the base for his explosive developments. Monty thinks he cheated the Jakobs corporation since he didn't sell it to us instead of Torgue, personally I think it was a matter of convenience rather than malicious intent." he said with a chuckle though the old man snorted angrily after having heard him.