Mary quickly recalled how the orange goop necklace had given her the uncanny ability to observe a place where she wasn't present. In her current predicament that seemed useful. But last time it had taken over 24 before she had been able to even start to hear the location, let alone see it. Seeing had taken much longer.
She retrieved the box containing the jewelry and heaved it onto one of the work tables. Opening the box revealed the pile of jewelry and several pill bottles. The "Terminate Link" bottle of pills was quickly pulled out and set aside after Mary confirmed there were still pills in it. She read a few bottles' labels before finding an "Accelerator" bottle. The note on the front of it simply stated "Accelerates maturation and linking speed."
Last time I wore this I accidentally spread goop all over the city... I remember seeing and hearing from at least a thousand different spots at once. That was too much. But if I limit it I should be okay. I was fine with like a dozen spots in my bedroom and bathroom last time, so I should be fine starting around there. Just need to get those up and uh... I guess 'matured' in a timely manner? I don't want to have to wait a week. Would be pretty pointless a week from now. Well... Probably not pointless. Would be cool anyways.
Mary shrugged and swallowed a pill from the Accelerator bottle then put the orange goop necklace on. She held her finger just below the necklace and a few seconds later a droplet of orange goop fell on it. She stepped over to the wall and spread the goop in a small area on it. Mary took the necklace off and watched the thin layer of orange goop on the wall.
It took the goop about 3 minutes to dry. It became progressively more thin and transparent until Mary couldn't tell it was there any more. Once it dried she ran her finger over it and was surprised to feel only the wall texture itself. Inspecting her fingers revealed there was no residue on them, only a little dust. She waited intently, curious when she would feel anything. But she felt nothing out of the ordinary. Well, nothing out of the ordinary since she had entered the lab: she was still a 6-legged human centipede.
Mary picked up the necklace and glanced back over at the wall. She remembered that last time she used the necklace, sound was the first thing she had been able to perceive.
"Hi"
Mary heard herself say "Hi", complete with the skull resonance reducing the tone she heard her voice at. And simultaneously she heard herself say "Hi" with the sound her voice actually had. Until her experience last year she had not heard her own voice as it really was and it had surprised her. She grinned and immediately left the lab. Then paused, turned around and spread some orange goop on the door. To her relief she could still hear her Dad snoring in his bedroom.
She went to the house's front door, made sure no-one was there then opened it and spread some orange goop across the peephole and down onto the knocker before shutting and locking it again. Her next stop was the living room/parlour where she put goop on 3 walls, including 1 spot directly opposite the TV.
If I'm going to be able to see and hear all around the house, I might as well be able to see and hear the TV. That's basically a superpower.
Next was the kitchen which got goop on the wall opposite the clock. The dining room got goop on 2 walls, and then she gooped the walls in the stairwell, foyer, and the upstairs hallway. Mary gooped the outside of her door and quietly entered her room.
A sudden wave of disorientation passed over Mary and when she recovered she was seeing not just through her eyes, but also through the goop she had placed in the lab. She grinned and proceeded to apply goop to all 4 walls of her room, the door to her bathroom, to the ceiling above the shower and the mirror in her bathroom.
Mary glanced at herself in the mirror, taking particular note of her 2 additional segments and a thought struck her. She grinned and waited for another drop of goop. When it came she carefully scraped it from her finger onto a finger from her 2nd pair of arms. Then transferred it from her 2nd pair of arms to her 3rd pair. Once it was there she reached up above her back and spread it across the small of her 3rd back, right next to her jeans.
No idea if this'll work. But if it does, that would be neat. I've always wanted to see behind me.
Mary experienced another wave of disorientation and when it passed she was observing the world through 4 viewpoints: Her own eyes, the goop on the wall in the lab, the goop on the lab door, and the goop on the front door of the house. After a few seconds the sudden onslaught of visual input went from feeling overwhelming to feeling merely typical.
Happy with the progress so far, Mary quietly left her bedroom and returned to the lab door. On walking up to the lab door she had the surreal experience of simultaneously approaching the lab door and seeing herself approach. Her vision through the goop was a bit weird - it didn't seem to come from any one point, but rather from the entire surface area she had spread the goop across. Due to the large spread she simultaneously saw herself standing in front of the door, and still continued to see the wall behind herself. She could see the depth and curves of her body in an infinitely more detailed manner than was physically possible with human eyes.
But while she marveled at the vastly improved depth perception the goop provided her, she also saw her dramatically changed human centipede form. Something about the fact that she was wearing clothes and looked so calm made her look... still freaky, but a normal kind of freaky. As if she was going about mundane everyday activities.
I think I'm going to get used to how I look pretty fast. Wasn't really prepared to be constantly looking at myself, but I guess that's fine. Still... I do look pretty good. Kinda surprised by that, actually. Not often I get to see someone with 6 legs and think they look good.
Mary re-entered the lab and had another wave of disorientation as the rest of the goop she had spread around the house finished linking to her mind. Once it all finished linking she gained sight and hearing at 20 static locations. Like before the tsunami of sensations quickly died down and she had no problem perceiving all the different spaces simultaneously. More excitingly, she discovered that the goop on her back had dried and she could now see and hear through it. It expanded her range of perception to not just behind her, but also to the sides and forward - but only upwards.
Oh wow. I forgot how amazing it was to be able to see so many places at once. Plus one of those places is practically my own butt. Maybe later I'll put some goop on my boobs and go to a topless beach.
Mary giggled and a moment later laughed as she heard her giggle both through her own ears, and echoed by the various goops placed nearby. Satisfied that she now had a superhuman awareness of what was going on in the house, she turned her attention back to her modified form.