A Lone Dungeon Life

It had been approximately eight hours since the soul had first met the space whale and seen their second ever 'habitable' planet something that the soul was under the misassumption were rare. Sure, most weren't exactly the green and blue marble that he had expected every habitable planet to be. With some experiencing some sort of ice age or its equivalent while others were seemingly of barren water but covered large patches of green all the same.

On the twenty third planet the soul and the space whale visited a planet with a pink atmosphere and purple bodies of water. The planet also coincidentally being the first planet that had a vessel above eighty percent compatible to the soul 'essence.' The prospective vessel was projected into the mind of the soul by the space whale, it was a humanoid creature with a large, octopus-like head featuring four long, tentacles surrounding its mouth, smooth, purplish-grey skin, elongated and horizontal pupils reminding the soul of a goat with its queer infinity symbol shaped pupil, and had a slender build similar to a normal fit human.

"Should I try and see if my essence will reject the vessel." The soul cautious suggested not wanting to have to spend whatever he had as an after life being a barnacle on space whale.

The whale remained silent contemplating the proposal.

Slowly and deliberate in its plain conversational tone. "There are risks with trying to inhabit a vessel that does not suit your essence."

"For instance?" Queried the soul.

"Your essence may be warped from the interaction with an incompatible vessel as you naturally attempt to adapt."

"And how problematic is that?"

"Not especially, it's normal for an essence of a being to be warped by its vessel and an essence to warp its vessel."

The soul taking the initiative. "About how many more planets do you think we'll have to visit until we find a vessel that's a hundred percent compatible to my essence?"

The space whale waited a period of five minutes in thought contemplating the question, "around five thousand planets, with a three hundred planet margin of error." The space whale said succinctly.

The soul thinking about how long it would take to find a vessel that has a hundred percent match, 'ten minutes give or take two minutes for every planet we have to visit will take… five thousand times ten equals… (move the zero on the end to the five thousand,) makes fifty thousand minutes, divided by sixty… makes around eight… hundred hours? Divide the eight hundred hours by twenty-four and that's… thirty days? All while being in quite possibly the best deprivation chamber in the universe.'

"Precisely how compatible is the vessel."

"Eighty-one percent, and if I find the most compatible of its species eighty-two." Relayed the space whale.

'Nineteen percent isn't terrible.' The lesser optimistic part of the soul thought. 'A one-in-five chance to warp my essence — whatever that mean — is… atrocious odds.' A more wary part of the soul thought. 'So, then you want to wait a month attached to some messed up looking whale like a barnacle for what… a perfect vessel whatever the hell that means.' A traitorous piece of the soul needled.

Coming to a decision, "I would like to try and enter the vessel."

"Very well then, this should take but a moment."

The soul waited quietly theorizing about what the space whale was doing. Coming to the conclusion that the space whale was creating or at the very least getting the vessel and was slowly filling the inside of his mouth whatever mixture of air the prospective vessel breathed.

Coming farther down the large mouth of the space whale was the humanoid looking squid covered in a thick mucous sliding beneath the purple glowing tentacles and where the soul was. It was thinner than in the images projected to the soul and was slightly shorter with five fingers instead of four on each of its two hands and was a few shades darker a purple as well.

'Is this what he meant when talking about, "most compatible of its species," a member of the vessel species that has mutations that are naturally occurring in its species that raises the compatibility rate?'

"How do I enter it?" Asked the soul.

"Touch the empty vessel." The space whale stated in its usual plain tone of voice.

The soul happily used its only means of movement to propel itself towards his soon to be body. Entering was easy he merely touched the inert body and slipped into the head of the body strangely though it was as if he were being pulled into the body.