Jeff sat back on his tail behind the couch that Whitney and Grace were on as they listened to Melody and her father, Simon, go over more of the history that Slug People had had. He'd known about the lose connections between Slug People and warlocks and witches in the past, but he'd never thought that they were created to essentially serve as a sentient familiar to less powerful wizards. It had to mean that in the creation of Slug People, they had to have started with mundane slugs and then combined some element of "humanity" or at least human magic to create Slug People. It would be something that would lead to the differences between Slug Men and Slug Women, with Slug Men having only one gender, being male, and Slug Women being like the mundane animal and being hermaphrodites and not necessarily needing a male to reproduce.
That was something that also fueled some private feelings of "competition" with Simon when the Chapman family arrived at Simon's home, and he answered the door. Jeff couldn't explain it, but a part of him just felt a bit on edge when finding the mayor of the Slug Person colony was another Slug Man. A part of his mind told him he really shouldn't, as he was there with his family, and he wasn't going to have sex with his mother and sisters. At the same time there was the whole issue of dealing with Edward Cupple and the tricks he'd pulled against the Chapman family that were bigger than any sort of issue regarding sex. Thus, if Simon had interest in his sisters, Jeff really had no reason to fight for their attention and with Cupple causing trouble, they had other things to worry about. But a part of him just seemed to see Simon as a rival and he was forced to try hard to remain polite, and he was glad that Lucy was able to pull more of the "lead" in getting what they'd learned so far.
"And I take it... Cupple's another of these weak and/or lazy wizards?" Lucy asked as Simon got to the end of the commentary on the history of Slug People.
"That's part of it," Simon grumbled slowly for a moment and then continued, "or at least part of what we can guess at. He wants to have Slug People under his control and thus provide a steady stream of familiars. Which would at least make him wicked. Whether or not he's weak or lazy may be different."
"He is wicked," Lucy commented, looking first to Melody and then to Simon, not noticing Jeff looking to her and then to Melody with one eye, "he's got two Slug Women working with him... or enslaved by him, who showed up at our house. Bathed us in enough slime and transformative magic that each of us would inevitably turn... which all of us ultimately did."
"And when we ran into him in person," Grace said slowly, "his words... just seemed to carry some added influence on them. It hit my mind in a way like I was supposed to just conform to what he wanted. If it weren't for the fact that Lucy, Zoe, and mom were all there the first time, and then Jeff was with us the second time... I... I don't know what would have happened."
"And who were the two Slug Women that came to you?" Simon asked.
"We never got a family name," Jeff answered, "just that they were named Megan and Jenny... so we can't tell if they were from the colony or were humans that Cupple transformed BEFORE he sent them to our home."
"The latter is the most probable, though," Whitney added, "he works for a real estate business... might even run it... and both Megan and Jenny told us they'd moved into the house across the street from our own... in town, that is."
Jeff watched as Simon clinched his fists, and only relaxed them when Melody put a hand on his shoulder. It told Jeff that Cupple had to have at least tried something with the Slug Person Colony. He might not have had much in the way of success, but Cupple had to have tried something with the colony before moving on to the Chapman home.
"When did he do this?" Simon asked after a moment.
"They arrived yesterday evening," Whitney answered, "I transformed first under the lust driven influence they'd put all of us in."
"I transformed later in the night... I'm not sure what the exact time was," Grace said slowly.
"Zoe and I transformed after sunrise and trying to free mom from Megan and Jenny's influence," Lucy added.
"I transformed a little while later when we realized we'd need to leave the house in order to get some help against Cupple," Jeff answered, "and it's after that that we got out and had our second run in with Cupple... and like Grace said, there was some mental nudge he was trying for... and I'd think we could all feel it, but it didn't work."
"That's part of our hive mind," Melody offered, "as I'm sure you've all figured out. It's not true telepathy, but it's long been there, likely as part of what Slug People were created for."
"That we'd sense what the witch or warlock wanted?" Grace asked.
"Or at least the mood the witch or warlock was in," Simon nodded, "adding in a comforting element to those we'd work with. But once free from them, that hivemind helped us work with our own kind, and has served to protect us from manipulation."
"And that's a good thing," Zoe commented, "given that Cupple also admitted to some stuff that would be criminal, but we couldn't record it and have no other evidence."
"And I get the sense we weren't the only ones that Cupple has bothered," Jeff said slowly.
To that, Simon nodded, and felt some reassurance from Melody squeezing his shoulder slightly. One eye noted that Melody was looking over Lucy periodically, but he focused more on doing what he could to give the new family of Slug People the information they needed.
"Yes, he showed up here more than a year ago," Simon answered, "rambling about deals and bargains and making all sorts of vague promises. Like he wanted something..."
"And promised us wealth or anything else we wanted," Melody commented, "arrived during dinner, too."
"I take it it wasn't something either of you wanted?" Lucy wondered.
"Of course not," Simon answered, "the colony conducts its formal business during the day or at scheduled hours. Not unannounced and late in the evening."
"But as you found out," Melody spoke, one eye looking over the Chapmans and one eye focused on Lucy, "he couldn't overcome us linked together. And because there are so many of us in the colony... we don't always have to be supper close to each other to benefit from it. You'd have to go outside the gates... ALONE for about a hundred yards before a lone Slug Person would actually lose the protective benefit that the colony provides us."
"So... Megan and Jenny likely weren't members of the colony?" Lucy asked.
"Did Jenny have amber colored eyes?" Simon asked.
"Yes," Jeff said slowly.
"Then she might have been a member of the colony," Simon answered, "she was always a bit adventurous and curious about how people live outside the colony, and at times it meant she ventured from the colony. And it's not something she was alone in, but the curiosity was often in different specific things, and more often than not, those that go out do come back, so it's been nothing to worry about."
"I take it something happened?" Whitney asked, feeling some sense of guilt in Simon, and reminding her of how she behaved after first transforming into the Slug Woman she now was.
"A few days ago... she went out on some errands, and told me she would come back with something fun," Melody spoke up, "as we'd been friends, and like her... I've often had some curiosity and interest in things that go on outside the colony. But she didn't come back that evening. I went to her home here, thinking she might have just gotten back late, and she wasn't there... That was unlike her, as she wouldn't just leave without telling anyone."
"Cupple must have caught her alone, somewhere in town, and brainwashed her," Grace realized.
"That is probably what happened," Simon nodded, "and when Melody told me of Jenny's leaving the colony... took a few members of the colony's police force to question Cupple on the disappearance... given that he'd already tried to convince the colony and failed. He knew he couldn't influence us when we arrived, but also knew that we had no concrete proof of Jenny being taken by anyone and that it could be theoretically possible that she decided to leave. And so, we had to leave... defeated, but it was enough to allow me to give the warning that he would not be welcome on the colony's grounds again..."
"What about those that also do business outside the colony?" Lucy asked, one eye glancing to Melody, and feeling fairly curious about the eye Melody was looking at her with, "wouldn't Cupple target them?"
"There we've had to change some things," Simon answered, "those that DO have work outside the colony, must be able to go with at least four other colony members, so that they can be protected from any influence through the hive mind. The extras would also have to directly assist that colony member with what their job is. Outside of that... we've had to remain here, where Cupple's ability to influence minds would be weak, and he knows it... and that... that will go until we can be sure he's been stopped. We've had help against these sorts of threats, and we got warnings of Cupple's presence before he started causing us trouble. But we've also had to wait until we can hear more."
Jeff thought slowly on this for a moment. It was clear that Cupple had given the Slug People colony some trouble in the past, and it appeared that Jenny was a colony member and had been caught by Cupple. It made her as much of a victim of Cupple's scheme as the Chapman's were. It also likely meant that Megan was also a victim, though one that was caught later, and it made him think more over the strategy on what to do with Cupple. Some of it was based on his interest in video games and ultimately designing them, but it was the best sort of strategic ability that he had, and it did provide a better distraction against the feelings of rivalry with Melody's father.
"That'd then add to some of the imperative to forming a hive when Megan and Jenny showed up at our house," Jeff spoke, more to his mother and siblings, "he'd tried and failed to enslave the colony here and took his next best option. And if he's looking for familiars to boost his magic..."
"I get the sense that in many ways, Cupple is not so naturally weak in magic that he truly needs a familiar to channel magic for him," Simon cut in, "He's not super powerful... but neither is he weak."
"Wouldn't that mean he'd have something big planned if he's wanting to essentially create a new colony that is brainwashed to serve him?" Jeff asked, "use their numbers to gain influence over you?"
"In theory that's possible," Simon commented, "but he'd need to turn nearly everyone in the town into Slug People and then have the colony go sterile for a weak, and that's just to try and get an equivalent population. More than likely, he's looking at recreating the system in which we were sold and used as a sentient familiar."
"Which he could then use to gain influence over the wizarding community and go big from there," Melody added, "starting a war with our colony would only attract negative attention and criminal prosecution against him. And while he may be strong enough to cause individual harm... he is mortal."
"There'd have to be some way to stop him, though, right?" Zoe asked, looking to Lucy and then to Jeff and then to the Slug People that they were talking with.