There’s nothing left for me on this asteroid.

I look up. Small asteroids whizz by at a million miles per hour, some crashing into each other, exploding into clouds of dust and ice. Larger ones move with the same speeds, making even bigger explosions, causing even more destruction, likely killing even more insects. Uhuh. Uhuh. Yeah, okay, alright. That’s fine. Mm-hm. I just need to. Sit here. For a moment.

...I seriously don’t want to do this. That insect made it look so easy! Just grab an asteroid and off you go!

How should I know it's just another death-trap??

This is ludicrous. I had better chances of succeeding at the entrance exam.

...Alright. Fuck it. I’ve got no alternative, do I? Either I stay on this asteroid and eventually get eaten or I just out there and probably die.

I ready my tentacles. Bend down. Focus all my eyes on the prize. Asteroids whizz past. I don’t need to grab one. I just need to get out into the stream. I tense up my tentacles. They’re ready. I’m not. Not really. But I act like it. And in moments like these, acting like it is enough. Another asteroid whizzes past. I focus. Yet another flies like the wind. My body trembles. I tense up one final time. And with a mighty push…

I throw myself into the thick of it.

One of my eyes catches a glimpse of the asteroid I was previously on as it flies off into the distance, moving far too quickly for me to see any longer. I try to focus on the here and now. It’s tough. Some asteroids fly past me quickly, faster than I’ve ever seen anything move. Others are slower than me. Some are just at my own speed, but too small for me to realistically grappe on to. And some, a rare few… Hold faces I recognize.

...Nibble?

Why hello there!

Cronch.

15 -> 20

Thank you, buddy! I must say, this first use of my extended extra mouths has been very useful. Furthermore, I can note that the insect was a very small thing. Like, if it was about the size of a small dog before, it is now the size of a large rat. Depending on where you live that might not be too big of a difference, but to me, it’s a very big shift!

This does tell me that I’m not likely to die by insects anymore, at least.

Which is nea-,

In a split second, I lose an entire tentacle, mouth and eyes and consciousness and all.

I barely saw it, could barely comprehend the small, almost invisible asteroid shooting away.

And I realize in this moment that I really need to get somewhere safe. Just standing around will get me killed, or worse, expelled!

Sadly, moving is harder than it might otherwise seem. I have no jets like a normal octopus, but what I do have is a bunch of tentacles that can easily grab hold of other asteroids. Right now, I am anchored to nothing. That needs to be changed. Having many eyes now proves advantageous, as I can keep an eye behind me, seeing what asteroids approach at what speeds. I avoid a few that threaten to dissect me further, ignore the small and slow ones, and then I finally see it. Not large, far from big enough to be viable as a semi-permanent home, but enough to ride on.

It approaches quickly, jagged edges threatening me, but I hold out. Spread my arms wide. Prepare to grab it.

It approaches. My nonexistent breath hitches. It comes so close I can even see the various insects clinging desperately to it. It’s right there. Right in front of me.

I grab onto it.

Ohhh, baby, now I sure feel safe! Which is probably the opposite of how these here insects feel. Heh.

There aren’t many, but in a minute of so, they’re all gone.

20 -> 50

Okay, okay, one modification cost 17, so this should be enough! Even though my fifth tentacle hasn’t recovered completely enough…

50 -> 16

And while I’m at it, I’m just going to add five two-fingered tentacles around my mouth. Y’know, just to make things easier. I don’t want all my methods of grabbing things to be way off over in my hands, do I?

16 -> 6

Hm. That-, that might have cost a little much, huh?

It’s-, it’s probably fine!

Heck, my fifth tentacle has already grown out again, so I’m in prime condition! All my eyes are telling me I look really cool, too. I look like a little many.axoned neuron, which is just. Very cool. I like being this shape! Certainly better than being a beanpole. All and all, this isn’t really that bad. Maybe except for the fact that I’m travelling at a hundred kilometres an hour in an asteroid belt trying very hard not to die.

Speaking of that latter fact, I should probably try to get off this small asteroid before I get another limb bisected.

Speaking of that, I see something just up ahead! Well, a fair ways ahead, but still.

It’s dark like all the rest but much larger. Not as large as the moon-like spheres, and not as round either. But large enough to be able to sit on comfortably.

It is my target, and it is approaching rapidly.

I climb over to the side of the asteroid. Lean out part of my body. Stretch out three of my axons. And wait. Wait. Wait… My tentacles quiver. I’m ready for anything. It approaches. Closer, closer. What if it rips off my tentacles? What if I don’t recover? What if-,

-It’s here!

I grab ahold of its rocks and jutting edges with my tentacles, digging my limbs into it, instantly releasing my grips on the lesser asteroid, but part of my body still continues flying, far too far to keep ahold of the larger asteroid, I can feel my tentacles tearing, flesh stretching past its limits and snapping, breaking, going off, one of the three tentacles holding onto the large asteroid for dear life tears off, flying away into the blackness, and with one pillar removed, yet another has to pick up the slack, but it isn’t enough, the muscles tear and snap again, but I don’t give up!

In a desperate attempt, I pull up my two unused and dig them into the asteroid.

Half of my tentacle is torn off, but it’s enough. The pressure fades, and in a few moments, I’m okay. Clutching the asteroid.

...Phew. Yeah, that was damn close.

But now I’m here! I’ll be safe he-,

Ah. A bug.