Chuck feasted on the gorilla laying in front of him with an enthusiastic delight. Yesterday, he’d gained his memories back and with it, an even greater appreciation for his capabilities. He was an apex predator, a pinnacle of biological capabilities. He knew his mind wasn’t yet developed enough to be considered intelligent, but he was growing with every delicious bite.

  Merrin crouched next to him in a tasmanian devil form, sharing his meal and pulsing an unstable mix of adoration and desire towards him. She had proven her worth and redeemed herself in his eyes. The way she protected him and sped up his growth was impressive. She was still useful for now.

  Chuck couldn’t send the emotional pulses back yet for some reason, which suited him fine. Merrin was capable of assessing her own worth.

  Chuck wasn’t sure what to do about learning of the FBI seizing his human body, but it didn’t sit right with him. Part of him felt like making an example of them. Another part felt like continuing his research in an obscure location that had nothing to do with anyone he’d recently been involved with.

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  Merrin had told Chuck of how she had enacted their water plant experiment and launched the frequency across the town and about her encounter with CX21 afterward, and how he let her go.

  Chuck was apathetic towards CX21 since he wasn’t a threat, but he was interested in how the Changed would develop. Would they be able to regain autonomy in a way the Gilberts never managed to?

  When he thought of the Gilberts and all of the hypnosites that the FBI seized from his lab, it didn’t sit well with him. They’d given him free reign on experimentation as long as he kept things quiet and then seized all of his research and results the moment it suited them?

  No. Didn’t sit well with Chuck at all.

  It wasn’t okay for them to think that they were in control when he was a true Apex predator. Chuck might’ve let the issue go if it wasn’t for the stolen hypnosites, but the more he thought about it, the more it enraged him that they treated him like a useful tool and nothing else. There is no puppet master that could pull on his strings.

  Chuck growled and ripped another bite out of the gorilla more viciously than necessary. They needed to understand that he was the one in control.