Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Life in the village was tense, but in some ways satisfying. There were few people that dared take up their line of work, and the handful scattered towns throughout the system did their best to survive. The work they did, though, was important. The infestation needed someone to keep it at bay, while bringing back samples for the scientists to use, to better understand the disease and how to fight it. But however difficult life was inside the village, it was infinitely worse anywhere else. Somehow, people could tell what their line of work was. Even the clone legion looked upon them with contempt or pity. The higher-ranking members of society would treat them as if they already had the plague and dared to bring it near them. If they ever happened to walk near the top Orokin, they would be killed on sight by the Dax. This they knew from experience.

Despite the prejudice, despite the constant danger, despite never being thanked by the scientists that so desperately needed the samples, the villagers were happy. They laughed together, and told stories over meals of times long ago, and of times yet to be. Whenever a new face would show up in the village, they would bring more stories to eager ears. The villagers would cry together, and send off the dead with heavy hearts, reminded of how perilous their existence was. Nobody left the village except through death.

Death, and the disappearances that would come soon.

This village was luckier than others, as the infestation was very tame. Most of the grotesque monsters that they encountered had no particular intelligence to speak of, and Ancients never showed, as the area was too fresh to have allowed them to grow. There were very few bodies in the area in the first place, so the danger was exceedingly low. The majority of this village’s job was pruning back the strange growths that were hallmarks of infested territory. The curious thing was, it seemed as though the growths learned where they weren’t wanted. The paths near the village had remained clear for many months, and seldom were the times that any sort of infestation was detected nearby.

This odd behavior was noted by the villagers, but never questioned. They were thankful that there was one less thing to worry about. While on patrol, one group of villagers discovered a new room that hadn’t been explored previously. What greeted them was a bizarre sight. Infested tendrils, some with blades on the ends, were cutting into a crawler. After… something was accomplished, the tendrils seemed to staple the creature back up with what looked like pieces of bone. The crawler then began to move towards them, not out of aggression, but simply since the door was in their direction. They stepped out of its path, and the thing continued down the hall, wandering out of sight. The patrol group became nervous, retreating to the village to tell of their findings. They compiled a report, sending it off to the scientists.

The report caught the attention of one particular person, who was struck by an idea. Was there a possibility, that perhaps the infestation wasn’t a single strain? Could it be that this failed weapon in the War would yet bear fruit? He set out to conduct an experiment. He shrouded himself, so as not to alarm the villagers, and began.

This shall be the beginning of my notes on a new wave of using the infestation. I have set up observation equipment in the room where the tendrils apparently perform surgery on other infested. Current hypothesis is that the tendrils are reducing aggression of subjects as a defense mechanism to prevent annihilation, likely because the tendrils do not have mobility. If it is possible to manipulate the tendrils into creating infested that fight the Sentients, our overall casualties should be greatly reduced. Possibility of communicating with the tendrils should be a first avenue of exploration. I shall procure a living person from the village and present it to the tendrils. Perhaps some sort of amalgamation will result, allowing communication from both parties.

I sedated a villager, placing it in the room with the tendrils. Strangely, they seemed hesitant to perform work on the figure. I decided to leave and return in an hour’s time. If anything interesting happened, the feeds that I set up should have provided all the detail I need. Upon my return, I found that I did not need to review the footage. The tendrils had apparently done something to the figure, though it was not immediately apparent what. I took them back to my ship, quarantining them.

Two weeks later, an eternity in terms of infested growth, the villager began to change. Their body twisted, and functioning became increasingly difficult. I interviewed the specimen daily, trying to ascertain when the ability to speak and reason was lost. After this point was reached, the abomination was terminated. I procured another three villagers to perform the same experiment, taking it further. At a point three days before expected cessation of higher functions, I took one specimen back to the room with the tendrils. Subject had shown some aggressive tendencies, so was heavily sedated as to ensure ease of transport. After placing the subject in the room with the tendrils, I interrogated them on whether it was possible to communicate with the infested. The subject sat quietly for many minutes, the tendrils… watching? silently. I believe there was some sort of rattling being produced, but the audio quality of my field surveillance equipment is subpar to put it nicely. The subject reported being unable to communicate.

The next subject proved to be more useful. After repeating the same procedure, the subject reported being able to understand some of what the tendrils were saying. Much of it was nonsense, of course. However, this understanding was important. Upon request to communicate with the tendrils, subject reported not having the ability.

The final subject of this batch was degrading faster than expected, so I had to accelerate its schedule. This subject provided data indicating it was able to pass on communications to the tendrils, but was too lacking in vocal capacity to translate for me as the former subject had.

With this in mind, I gathered two more subjects from the village, and performed the same experiment. This time, however, I had them both amalgamated into a basic cephalon, with the sole purpose of allowing me to communicate with the tendrils. Having accomplished this, I returned to the room.

The ensuing conversation is recorded in the cephalon’s memory archive, but to summarize for this report, I made a deal with the tendrils. I would ensure its safety if it worked with me to produce warriors that could fight against the Sentients. The creature replied that it could indeed try, but it would need materials and subjects. Luckily, I have access to these in abundance. I briefly wondered how it had gotten any technical knowledge, but the potential to turn the tide of the war was too great an opportunity to waste on pursuing such trivial details. The creature also declared that it had a name, though I shall not deign to acknowledge that until it has provided results.

I allowed the tendrils to take up several rooms on my ship, providing myself numerous failsafe mechanisms in case it tried to attempt something. After it had grown to a sufficient size to allow multiple conversions at once, our research began.

The first thirty experiments were complete failures. They all had varying levels of strength, but the mental faculties always degraded past the point of usefulness for any kind of weapon against the Sentients. They would often end up fighting against themselves. I integrated the cephalon I had created with the tendrils, allowing it advanced data processing. We weighed all parameters, and the tendrils produced more serums, altering variables as we saw fit. The next batch of subjects were all attempting to analyze different variables to find what might be effective. Three in particular stood out.

One of them had their skin turned incredibly hard, to the point where many of the weapons in my personal arsenal had little effect. Unfortunately, there were no joints that survived the transformation, rendering the subject completely immobile. If this trait can be moderated, it will significantly increase the durability of our potential weapons against the Sentients.

Another showed remarkable agility, well beyond that of a normal humanoid, let alone an infested. Mobility is always useful when fighting in battles, so I took note of this.

The third was harder to explain. It seemed as though it was able to produce weak fields of energy, though there were few concrete effects. Doing this drained its life incredibly rapidly, reducing its body mass as well. If this capacity to manipulate energy of some sort can be harnessed, it is possible we will have our answer. I raided some manufacturing depots for parts that we could try incorporating into our next batch of tests.

For the next set of tests, we reduced the quantity, going for the best quality we could muster. After performing extensive surgeries to implement the power equipment, we waited for the serums to take their course. Unfortunately, half of them died after reaching a certain point in development. The equipment in them overloaded, though the manner in which they died was curious. One burst into flames, another simply exploded, and a third somehow froze to death, affecting a not insignificant area around it, but to name a few. These potential abilities were noted to be elaborated upon in the future.

Of those that survived, only two were not feral to the point of uselessness. One showed simply absurd amounts of physical strength, with a form that had swelled to match. The other had somehow acquired the ability to bend light in its immediate vicinity, rendering It close to invisible if it concentrated. We considered these great successes.

After weighing several more options, we aimed to formulate a serum to compile the best elements that we could from previous tests. This single serum would be administered to ten individuals representing variables that may arise from the subjects themselves. Seven of them died. Of the three that remained, one had no abilities at all, and was slowly twisted by the growths, eventually losing their voice. However, their mind stayed intact. Another actually changed very little, visually, the hardening of their skin somehow also affecting their clothing, incorporating it as part of the whole. Unfortunately, their mind was completely destroyed, so they responded to no external stimuli whatsoever. But the final one was our first masterpiece.

Our first success was hideous. It was a frame riddled with infestation, but it stood with dignity, retaining its mind. Most significantly, however, it showed concrete abilities. It was able to command the infestation, giving it direction to attack what it wished. It was capable of sending growths out to strike at targets, somehow summoning the matter for these growths from nothing. But the most significant thing was that this brand of infestation that it commanded was only able to live for a short time, and only while it was nearby. Somehow, it had produced a non-infectious infestation that could be used exclusively for combat! Additionally, it showed some benefits from the infested body it wielded, being able to mutate and adapt if put under enough stress. The subject complained that the process was excruciating, however, so these tests were done sparingly.

With our first true success behind us, I deigned to acknowledge the tendrils’ name. Helminth. Our creation needed a name too, so we settled on Nidus. I requested that Helminth make more of Nidus’ serum, leaving to procure more of the same type of subject as the one that succeeded.

Our other attempts at replicating Nidus were mixed. Only a quarter of those that I had procured showed success, leading me to wonder if there are other requirements that the serums need from their hosts to result in a functional amalgamation. With those successes, however, we had a total of eleven Nidus units. I took the ten newest ones, deploying them in a remote area to fight the Sentients. There were very few in the area, all of them small. Through the battle, three of the Nidus units were killed, another four gravely wounded. But when the dust settled, they were victorious.

Even though we had come so far, there was an unfortunate factor that we discovered with time. None of the units we produced could retain their minds more than a couple months. After this, they either died, eventually rotting away, deactivated, somehow never dying, or went feral, beginning to attack indiscriminately. When I discussed this with Helminth, it hypothesized that the strain of all the factors combined made it impossible to keep the subjects’ minds intact for a meaningful amount of time. It suggested that further alterations to the serum could extend the functional time, but that it was questionable how effective this would be. It also suggested that if we were exceedingly lucky, some subjects may make it through with little to no impact to their mental health, though this was bordering on impossible.

However, I finally allowed myself to consider the ramifications of our research. We had finally discovered a way to effectively fight the Sentients.

Chapter Text

It was on this day that I was destined to die. I once was a prolific actress, well revered for my powers of drama, a household name across several planets. My life was easy, with many things being given to me quite literally on a silver platter. I had suitors lined up around the block, and people begging me for autographs whenever I stepped outside. Occasionally, I would get disturbing letters from particular… shall we say fans. Despite all of this, I was happy. I thought I had it made.
As I aged and lost that youthful glow, however, things changed. I was called less often for roles, people preferring to watch those under 30 perform our art. I was reduced to a background character, and then the calls stopped altogether. My wife and adopted children still loved me, though, and that meant the world to me. I may have lost my acting, but I saw a bright future ahead for my family.
But on this day, I made a terrible mistake. I went out shopping, and decided to take a different route home, to see what sort of scenery might be on the other side of things. I didn’t notice someone start following me, then two. Mere minutes later, I was cornered in a dark alley, a group of thugs surrounding me. They brandished knives at me, and I tried to withdraw my pistol from the garter under my skirt, but I only had time to shoot one of them before the others sunk their blades into me. They took my purse, pistol, and most of the groceries, leaving behind the milk for some reason, and fled. I looked up at the evening sky, and thought of my family, waiting. A tear tried to form, and my last coherent thought was, “I’m so sorry, loves.”

A voice whispered in my ear. “Do you wish to live?” I nodded faintly. “Excellent.”

My body felt like it was on fire, but strangely, it didn’t hurt all that much. I had no idea how long I had been asleep. I roused myself from the bed, discovering that my body moved more fluidly than it had in years. A flash of panic shot through my head, but a quick brush with my fingers confirmed there were no knife wounds in my stomach. The room was dark, but as I focused, I thought I could make out something. My hands looked, odd.
The lights turned on, and I was momentarily blinded. My eyes adjusted exceptionally quickly, however, and I saw an odd-looking man walk in. For lack of a better description, he was, well, blue. I had never seen someone with that shade of skin in person. “How are you feeling?”
I tried to respond, but it felt like my tongue was fused to the bottom of my mouth. All I could muster was a sort of grunt. “Ah, what a shame, it seems that your voice was affected more than we predicted. Are you in pain?” I shook my head. “Perfect. We shall have your training begin immediately, then.” I had no idea what he was talking about but followed when he beckoned.
A scientist in a coat was waiting in a room, separated from me by a large pane of extremely thick glass. “Alright, subject PWF-02093-L-537, we will begin analyzing your adaptation. Your brand of serum has been shown to have light-related abilities. You will manifest these abilities, or you will receive shocks.” I looked at the floor, noticing a grid of wires. “Begin. You must bend the path of this laser.” I tilted my head, and seconds later, felt an excruciating jolt of pain run through my body. “Follow the instructions.” I frantically set my mind to obeying.

Two weeks later, I was able to perform some tasks. In low light, I was able to completely mask my presence. I was able to diffract light off of myself to create clones, more or less, that moved exactly like myself, just a pace away. But the pride and joy that I had developed with the… encouragement of the scientists, was the ability to condense light into a sphere, and send it out, emitting powerful lasers. I think that the stress that I went through would have broken many others, but being an actress is a difficult world sometimes. Perhaps my capacity to get inside other people’s heads was what allowed me to improve these abilities so quickly. I was still completely in the dark as to what was going on, much less what I had become. They deemed it unnecessary to inform me.
That blue man came to me again. “I’m so proud of you. You’re the first successful instance of the serum 02093 series. However, you must prove to me that you are capable of following orders and executing the tasks we require of you. Your first task is to kill those that attempted to murder you. There is a file over there with their images and locations. You have two days.”
“Ah,” I responded.

I decided to go after them at night. The scientists had provided me with a simple sword and a less simple silenced pistol. I opted to use the latter. The first three, I assassinated with no trouble. The final two, however, were early risers. Before they could escape me, I ran after them, eliminating one with the pistol. The other turned, and saw triple of me, before a bullet silenced him too.
My heart was pounding. I had never killed before, and even knowing they had tried to kill me, it didn’t feel good. I had to steel myself, though. I had seen the looks in the eyes of the scientists, and I was certain that a terrible fate waited for me if I were to cross them. It was simple for me. I just had to play the role they wanted, and maybe after a while they would let me go.

I was greeted with a smile from the blue man. He congratulated me on my work, exclaiming that few would have been able to do better. Another task awaited me already, however.

I had always heard rumors of the War, but it was something distant, unimportant. I never thought that I would become part of it. But apparently, whatever they had done to me was to prepare a new soldier. I’ve never played a soldier before, I thought to myself. I’m getting all kinds of experience for my next roles when I go back to acting. My first deployment was with a truly disgusting figure, with twisted flesh and nightmarish looking tendrils poking out from parts of its shoulders and head. I found my body trying to vomit, musing at the fact I didn’t need to eat anymore. The other one led the way, and our battle began.
The Sentients are quite something. Whenever you hit them, they adapt a little bit. I tried to defeat them with the weapons I had been given, but that soon proved to be futile. Even though there were only three of them, I was certain that I was going to die. But the other person managed to kill two of them with what looked like powers. Seeing that inspired me to use mine. I gathered as much light as I could, condensing it into my laser sphere, unleashing it on the final enemy. I think I went a little overboard, though, as the only thing that remained was a blackened furrow in the ground ten feet long. I laughed at the rush that I felt, my cackling ringing through the quiet air.

I was used several more times to fight. Every time, I felt the most incredible rush, and my laughter permeated the battlefield, my light clones serving to make the effect incredibly frightening. My abilities made it so that I rarely suffered much more than a scratch, and Ballas often looked on me with a sense of accomplishment.
Who I used to be was getting harder to remember every day. I thought I used to be happy, though I couldn’t remember why that was. Once upon a time, did I have a family? I thought I did, but their faces eluded me. Ballas would often give me orders to assassinate people for him, as I was one of the stealthiest of his experiments to date. This assassination felt off, somehow. It wasn’t anyone particularly famous, and it wasn’t one of his staff that tried to run. It was simply a woman and two children, living on the edge of a city. Regardless, I had to perform my task.
I found the house and saw the three on a couch watching a show. I thought I recognized one of the actresses but was unable to place exactly why. I took out my silenced pistol, and quickly ended the job, letting out a small giggle of pride in a job well done. As I rounded the couch to see my handiwork, a sense of dread blossomed in me. I definitely knew these people. Something clicked, and small fragments of memory returned to me. I saw my wife, and children before me, never again to draw breath. I turned around to find myself on the screen, playing out one of my most famous roles. They had never forgotten me after my disappearance. That’s when I broke. I cried for hours over them, and when my body and mind had gone numb, I returned to the lab.

Many parts of the lab were being packed up. Ballas was relocating to a new sector, to continue his research there. A small crew was left at our post, however, with the best of the experiments available to be called into battles if the need arose. We were sent out time and again, and after every battle I felt a piece of myself fall away. I felt an incredible despair, but I couldn’t remember why. I craved death, but it never came for me. I was too powerful, and no matter what mission I was deployed to, I always walked away. I went mad to the point where I attacked the others in the lab, the few that were left. I was the only survivor. I huddled in a corner, rocking back and forth, alternating between laughing maniacally and wailing.

Some time later, a blue figure found me. I felt like I should know him, though I couldn’t imagine why. “Are you ready for another mission?” I stood and followed him.

I was dropped in the middle of the biggest battle I had seen yet. There were bodies everywhere, some shining with power, others twisted and grotesque, opposed by sleek Sentient warriors. Some of the twisted ones were even fighting each other, having forgotten their purpose. I joined the fray, cutting a swath through the enemies.
The battle raged on for hours, or maybe it was days. Our side fell, one by one, slowly being overwhelmed by the sheer number of Sentients surrounding us. I continued blasting my way through them, taking weapons from the corpses when I ran out of ammo. Eventually, there were no more corpses to take from. I continued fighting, blasting many of my enemies out of existence with my light. I realized that I was laughing. I had been laughing the entire battle.
After a time, I noticed my power weakening fast. I had overexerted myself, and my energy was gone. I pressed a button, and heard a familiar voice tell me that a ship was headed to retrieve me. I knew that this was a lie, though. I would die here. My laughter intensified, as I channeled one last burst of power. I gave the energy my very form, and felt it bloom inside me. I exploded, the radiance outshining the sun for the briefest moment, my laughter echoing across the desolate landscape.

“Subject PWF-02093-L-537 has finally perished. Overall, this test has been deemed an incredible success. The power that was manifested through this unit was capable of eliminating an entire field of Sentients and was capable of following orders fairly well. The only apparent downside was a severe degradation of subject’s memories, and an increasing mania throughout the conversion process and subsequent training. Ultimately, this appears to have increased the subject’s power, though the decrease in stability is concerning, even potentially dangerous. A new serum has been created that may fix these issues, though it has been shelved for the immediate future until the process of truly priming the serums and process has been perfected on a previous unit.”

Chapter Text

The War isn’t going well. The damned Sentients tear through our ranks without even breaking stride, and we have to put everything we have into the fight to have a chance of bringing down the bigger ones. Our disposable foot soldiers, those tubemen, are little better than cannon fodder, while our extensive engineering division is useless. Those things just infiltrate our machines and turn them against us. I’ve heard rumors of new weapons in development, but nobody is putting much faith in rumors any more. I’ve learned that the only ones worthy of acknowledgment in this fight are the elites, like me. But I trust just one person to watch my back, my partner on the front lines for this past year.

She is truly incredible to watch on the battlefield. I would say she’s a monster, but there is such grace in her movements that saying so would be a disservice. She brawls with the smaller Sentients with nothing but her power gauntlets, and when she takes on the bigger ones, she moves so fast they can’t even scratch her. And if she ever gets into trouble, which is far too often for my tastes, I’m always there to bail her out. I’m easily one of the best snipers in the Dax, but I’ve paid some prices for my success. I have had several body modifications to make it so I can wield a rifle that none of the others could even hope to lift. Once I find a crack in the Sentient’s armor, it puts them out of commission. Being so modified, however, the other Dax look down on me. They are all perfect in their strength alone, and I had to change myself just to keep up.

Regardless, many of those that spat in my face have died, but the two of us fight on. We won’t be able to turn the tides of this war alone, but we’re going to do our best just to survive.

I look over at my partner, laughing and messing with another person stationed here with us. Her smile is infectious, her laugh doubly so. We couldn’t possibly be more different, and sometimes I wonder how she stands me. But after all that we’ve been through, there’s nothing that could drive us apart from one another. Only through death may we part.

Huh. Guess that makes it sound like we’re married. That’s not really true, though. We haven’t had time to think about stuff like that because of the War, but after it’s all said and done, I might like to entertain that thought. I’m so scared that once she doesn’t need me watching her back, though, she’ll see me for what I am, and treat me like the others do. I couldn’t bear it if that were to happen.

I feel a heavy hand slap my back. If it weren’t for my enhancements, I probably would have been bowled right over. I startle a bit and look at her again. “Ready to head out and scrap some assholes?”

I nod my assent. I guess while I was thinking, I missed the announcement that our detachment was heading out on an assignment. We both gear up, meeting in the ship that’ll drop us off. Apparently, the Sentients are attacking a small lab nearby and need some backup. As we arrive, I snipe one that I suppose was serving as a lookout. My partner jumps down, even though we’re still fifty feet in the air. The ground shatters under her, and she starts running for the lab. I scan the area, making sure that everything is safe before making my way in after her.

It only took us a few minutes to clear the place. Just three of the things made it inside, and my partner alone would be able to handle that even on her worst of days. I felt that something was amiss, though I kept my thoughts to myself. The scientists thanked us, shooing us away. Never liked scientists much, always tinkering around with who knows what.

As we walked out the door, the other shoe dropped. I don’t know how I could have possibly missed it, but a giant sentient was heading towards us, flanked by twenty others of varying size.

“Well fuck. This day just went to shit, didn’t it?” my partner says, flexing her hands.

“Uh, um, y-yeah,” I stutter. “I-I’m going to call for backup while I find a good spot.

“Well hurry your little ass! I’m gonna give ‘em hell until the others come!” she roared.

“Please be careful…” but she was already gone, drawing her line in the sand, waiting for the Sentients to close in.

I scrambled to an elevated spot, sending out our distress signal. Help en route, expected arrival is five minutes the beacon crackled. I looked at the field. The smallest Sentients had rushed ahead to meet her, and she had already wrecked one. I hastily fired off some shots, taking out two more, then got settled in for the long haul. There was no way we would last five minutes, not with this many, just the two of us. She had finished off the last two little ones, the fifteen others closing in fast. I took aim, weighing every factor in my head. For me to take out those sized ones, I needed about a minute per shot to fine-tune the parameters. I knew my partner could dance merry circles around a couple Sentients, but not this many. I saw her start to engage. I locked on to one, and focused. I hit one, sending it flying into a hillside. It didn’t get back up. My partner had destroyed one too, but I could tell she wouldn’t be able to keep going at full steam for long. Just after I fired, though, several of the Sentients broke away from her, and headed toward me. I can’t fight them in close combat, so I started sweating. All I could do was breathe and pull the trigger. I waited, and let loose another round, sending one of them to a watery grave. The rest kept coming, and I didn’t have enough time for another shot. I saw that my partner was running towards me, and I knew the plan from here.

If ever I got targeted, we would meet up. I’m agile enough to give her room to work, and in turn she keeps them off me while I plan my shots. The only problem is that there’s too many this time. I looked over, seeing that the massive Sentient is walking ever closer. We needed to kill these little ones fast or get some backup. My partner burst through the ones coming for me, and we got ready for battle, again.

We managed to hold on for another thirty seconds before things went sideways. A sentient managed to get me in one arm, so I couldn’t lift my rifle any more. I dropped it, pulling out my pistol. I knew it wouldn’t help, but it felt good. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a spray of red. My partner had taken a hit to the side, a good chunk now missing. In the split second that I hesitated while witnessing this, another one vaporized my leg. I crashed down, completely helpless now. There were only four of them left, but it looked like this was the end of the line for us. I saw one of her arms drop near my head, the rest of her body landing at my feet. We were both going to die here. Help en route, expected arrival is one minute. I closed my eyes, blinking back the tears.

It took me a while to notice, but the area around us had gone quiet. I opened my eyes to see that all the Sentients were dead, and a strange, almost malformed figure was racing towards the giant. Seeing that we had another chance, some fire reignited in me. I refused to die here. We were invincible, we were going to make it through this. I saw the bottom of a white robe come into view, the legs coming from it a strange shade of blue. “What would you give to survive, nay, perhaps gain even more power?” I made a noise, and I could hear my partner do something similar. “I’ll take that as an ‘everything.’ Well then, I wish you the best of–“ I blacked out.

My body was on fire. Everything hurts. Both legs are cramping. Wait I have both legs now? Pain. Please let it stop. I think I hear someone screaming nearby. Ah, blessed peace…

I woke up, and my body felt odd. I tried to rise, though the numerous bindings keeping me on the table made that impossible. I tried to call out, realizing that I didn’t seem to have a mouth any more. But strength flowed through me. I felt healthier than I had in years. A door hissed, and a tall blue man walked in. I faintly remembered seeing his legs before, and gathered he was the one that offered me… something. Wasn’t really sure what.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. I did the best I could to shrug. “You remember fighting the Sentients and losing?” I nodded. “How curious,” he muttered under his breath. “We’ve never had one retain memories before, let alone two.” I wondered what he meant by this. “Are you feeling any rage, or the desire to destroy things around you?” I shook my head. “Well then, I’ll release you too.

The bindings fell away, and I stood. I expected there to be burns near where I had been tied down, but there was no such thing. In fact, my skin seemed harder, and it was the wrong color. I looked at my hands, my legs, my body. What had happened? I frantically looked around the room, spying a mirror. Even my face was different. Horns swept up from my head, and white armor gleamed everywhere. I stepped back, leaning against the table. In the mirror, I saw the blue man beckon me to follow. I complied numbly.

I recognized where I was after stepping outside the room. It was the lab we had been sent to defend. The man led me to a small courtyard, where I saw a figure sitting under a tree. It turned to look at me, then jumped up. She was beautiful, a black dress flowing around her, and the same horns as mine rising from her head. Somehow, we both knew. We ran to each other and embraced. After a touching moment had passed, the blue man clapped his hands to get our attention. “It’s time for you to perform some tests.”

I would say that the tests and training were grueling, but I never seemed to get tired anymore. My partner was the same. We stretched the capabilities of our bodies, demonstrating how much we could lift and move. That was the easy part for us. The other part? Not so much. We had some sort of powers now, but they were hard to use. I don’t know if it was just me, but I felt mine were weak, like there was supposed to be more. I think the blue man felt the same way, though he was good at hiding his frustration. I think he was glad we had our minds, though. I had seen some of the others, despite his best attempts at hiding them. Most were completely inert. Once, though, one had gone berserk, and he used us to subdue it. It refused to go down, so we ended up killing the thing. He applauded us for that.

After we had proved ourselves, we were sent on tasks to kill Sentients again. With our new bodies, they never stood a chance. We fought hard, and a glimmer of a thought had started forming in my mind. Maybe we would be able to win this war.

The more sentients we killed, though, the more came our way. After a month of battles, I noticed something disturbing. They were getting harder for us to kill. Another month later, the time it took us to kill them doubled. Ballas noticed, taking us off of active duty for the foreseeable future. I was glad for this, as I didn’t want to die again.

I could tell he was still angry at us for something. Neither of our powers seemed to work right. The only reason we had been winning before was due to our new bodies and weapons. If the Sentients continued to adapt, we wouldn’t make it much further.

Two months later, the facility was overrun with Sentients. The scientists let loose every single experiment, though some of them ended up just fighting each other. My partner and I were allowed to fight, but it was so hard. We kept hitting them, but they never stayed down. Reinforcements arrived, and the Sentients started dying, but so did our side, in equal number if not more. My partner and I still whirled in the midst of it, bleeding from many wounds. Our tattered crew managed to whittle away the enemies to the last one, but it was a type I had never seen before. It started to glow, gaining in brightness ever faster. We turned to run, but the explosion caught us.

It hurts. Where is my arm? My head feels funny.

Huh? Whaddya mean where’s your arm, I wanna know where mine is! And my head feels off too, weirdo.

Who are you?

Eh? Wait, lessee. I’mma open my eyes. Wait, I only have one.

Why do I see things too? I haven’t opened my eyes. See?

Oh, lookit that, I can see out of two eyes now. Hmm, I can’t move my left arm, my right leg either. I think I feel them, though.

I can’t feel the opposite. I’m going to try propping myself up now.

Woah, why am I moving? Hey, there’s a mirror.

Wait what?

The pair glanced in the mirror. What greeted them was a fusion of the faces each had grown to know. Ballas walked into the room a short time later. “Oh good, you’re awake. There were only enough pieces of you two left to make one body, and we didn’t want to waste anything, so we went ahead and tried it.”

Does that mean…

Yeah, I think so.

We’re the same person now.

Rehab was brutal. Since each of them controlled one leg, it took an incredible amount of focus just to move. The two were forced to agree on anything just to be able to get things done. Strangest of all, their powers seemed to be completely gone. Ballas was frustrated with this, leaving the pair become one to the lesser scientists.

I want to go inside well I want to be outside so deal please we need to agree on things well we’ve been inside the last two days so I’d say it’s my turn to decide

What went wrong?

Eh?

I used to love you.

Wait, come again?

When we were separate, you were so beautiful, and I thought you could be the one for me.

Well lucky you, looks like you got your wish to be with me.

But now I see that you’re just as cruel to me here, in this body, as you might have been to me with my last one after the war.

Well suck it up, bitch. You’re stuck with me until we die a third time. It pisses me off that I need to talk to you just to take a fucking step.

Please stop

Y’know, being silent was so much better for you. If people could see in your thoughts like this, I’m sure you woulda been killed ages ago.

Please

Quit your whining! If I didn’t have to deal with you, this would be so much easier!

Quiet!

The figure trembled as a swirl of energy consumed it. When the whirlwind stopped, a black dress was draped around her, with one black horn curling up from the right side of her head.

A-are you there? I could feel all of my body, somehow. I took an experimental step and it felt steady. I was overjoyed at this. Hey look, we can walk! But there was no response. I looked down at my body and stepped back in horror. I was wearing a black dress. This isn’t me, this is her. My thoughts started getting hazy.

…ker. Yo... piece… shit… out!

I’m losing consci–

Another swirl of energy filled the courtyard.

I swear I’d kill that asshole if we weren’t connected! I slammed my hands into the tree. Wait, both hands? I looked at them, noticing that they were white. Hold up, those aren’t my hands. What’s going on?

…p… e… hel… me… let… out…

A third time, energy filled the courtyard.

What the fuck happened?

I don’t know. I was in your body, but you were gone.

Say what now? That’s basically what happened to me!

What? That doesn’t make sense.

No shit.

Ballas chose that moment to make his presence known. “How very interesting. It appears as though you can channel your power to regain either form again. But I wonder, who is in control in there?” he paused. “Are both of you conscious when a single form is chosen?” We shook our head. “Ah, curious. Are you regaining your original form?” Again, we shook our head. “Most interesting. I know how training is going to progress from here on out.”

The union went through weeks of training to figure out how to channel the metamorphosis. While each one was dominant, the other effectively ceased to exist, though their ego would start surfacing after a while, and the longer one form held on, the more likely it was that a transformation would occur.

Ballas recorded all of this. “When we previously administered serums PWF-07184-S and PWF-07185-R to those that matched the apparent abilities personality-wise, the individuals would without fail perish or go berserk. However, if the serum was administered to the opposite personality type, the powers would be severely muted. Through a sheer stroke of luck, we have discovered that fusing the two individuals that had been mismatched with their serum, the ability to occupy the other’s body has manifested. This allows unrestrained access to the full extent of abilities, without the usual drawbacks from previous experiments. This union does not appear to be wholly stable, however, as the merging of two consciousnesses within a single body appears to put undue stress on each of them. It is unclear what the long-term effects of this will be.”

Have you noticed?

Yeah.

It’s taking longer.

And I feel so tired.

I do too.

But we gotta keep going…

Yeah.

“An update. It appears that after three months of unification, the two personalities are starting to decay. Transformations take longer, and the powers are beginning to fade in intensity. I have confirmed that the next batch of this new fusion model are functioning in a similar way. These units have proven effective against the Sentients due to the dual nature of their capabilities. The drawback of their wills being eroded is under review.”

I’m sorry…

For what?

Well…

Are you going to… what were we saying?

Wait, who are you?

I don’t know.

Huh.

So tired… just going to give in…

“The prototype has ceased movement. All efforts to ascertain a response have been unsuccessful. Newer units have begun mental degradation. Project EQUINOX will be put on hold for the indeterminate future.”

They were placed in a closet, both sides of their face having gone dull. One by one, other units were lined up in the same closet, until all of them were together. They gathered dust and were forgotten. Centuries passed, but time meant nothing to them.

One of their hands twitched.

A dimension away, there was a dream. A dream of someone, caught between light and dark. A dream of how to keep the balance.

Chapter Text

It’s too hot…

I have never liked working at the hot springs. Sure, I make a lot of money, and yes, it has been in the family for generations. But I just can’t stand the heat! Whenever it’s winter, I lie down in snowbanks, and it feels so very nice. But the customers always come, and I am the best host in the world, so I don my suit and greet them.

I actually rather like to host people at our hot springs. I can thank my parents for giving me the best of both of them, endowing me with a jolly nature, as well as a face permanently cracked in a smile. I always act the cordial part, and they always leave with a smile of their own, skin looking years younger. Sometimes, on very rare occasion, we will have our whole resort booked for a select few guests only. These are the times that bring in the most money, but also the ones that scare me the most. After all, when you are visited by the Orokin elite, you need to tread carefully. Surprisingly, the Orokin are pretty calm, and never have complaints about my resort. But still, with the power they hold, I am endlessly terrified of them.

But when it’s just the normal folk at my resort, things are quite lovely. Sometimes, we even get troupes of animals that come to share the waters. Our guests actually like it even more when they do this, saying it makes them feel close to nature. I used to scrounge up scraps for the animals to eat, but since they became more of a permanent fixture, I’ve actually been cooking them their own meals. If I’m honest, I actually pretty much know their individual taste preferences by now.

I have tried to get my children interested in running the hot springs, but they are just far smarter than their old man. Ipaid their way to go to advanced universities, and I laughed and cried with them every step of the way. My oldest daughter is training to join the ranks of the Orokin’s personal engineers, while my youngest daughter and middle son are both looking to be architects in cities across the oceans. Their buildings are truly phenomenal, at least I think. Does being a proud parent make everything of theirs look good?

And of course, I couldn’t survive without my wife. She is my indispensable partner in keeping the resort running, given that she is the one that takes care of the finances. I barely know how money works, which is why I rely on her so heavily. Honestly, life is good here.

The good times can’t last forever, though, can they.

We were as popular as ever, in the mad rush of the winter season. The resort was loaded to capacity, people present from all walks of life. I was just about to serve dinner when the ground trembled. I knew that it wasn’t a volcano, despite us being so close to lava tubes. No, this was the most incredible earthquake I had ever experienced. The guests that were in the spring proper were actually completely fine, it’s the ones that were in the buildings that had trouble. The whole The ceiling dropped on us, instantly killing some, but leaving the vast majority groaning in pain. I had happened to be outside tending to the meat smokers (not my favorite job as you might imagine, but it sure tastes good). When the quake hit, I was thrown on the ground, and the smoker nearly fell on top of me. I got up after the ground stilled, running to the building to see if anyone was hurt. Unfortunately, everyone was. I called for help, but the emergency services were completely flooded with calls. I had to do something, though, so I ran to the springs, gathering up anyone who was fit enough to dig through rubble. We went inside the wrecked building, carefully extracting the people that could be safely moved, and making note of where the more serious cases were. Unfortunately, we also made a catalogue of the deceased as well. Once the situation was under control, and as many people were outside the building as possible, I started looking for my wife. She wasn’t in the dining hall, which was to be expected (we usually eat in our own room), but I hadn’t seen her at all. I rushed to find her, only to be met with the exact sight I was fearing. The majority of the ceiling had come down on her as she was leaving the room, meaning that only her torso was left exposed. Just as I started digging her out, however, the aftershocks came. The walls started falling, and in a heartbeat, I held myself over my wife to keep her safe. Unfortunately, that meant that I was the one that took the brunt of the next wave of debris.  The last conscious thought I managed to have was I could have sworn we weren’t this close to an earthquake zone…

“Over here, there’s two severely injured. It’s unclear if they’ll survive.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of them.”

“Wait, but you’re…”

“Now, now, no need for that. Just tend to the others.”

“Right away, sir!”

I heard footsteps receding. Once they had faded, a voice whispered in my ear, “Do you want to live, and perhaps even save the one you’re protecting?”

I might have groaned an affirmative, but I don’t really know. All I know is that the pain went away after that.

When next I woke, a whole new pain engulfed my body. Searing pain, a fire running through my blood. It’s too hot…

The pain lasted for years, perhaps, or maybe just a few days. All I know is that when I woke up, I was in the strangest looking hospital I had seen. I tried to move, but found that I was strapped down to the operating table. I struggled for a bit, but only a bit.

Shortly after I woke, a person in a hazmat suit entered the room. “How are you feeling?” they asked.

I tried to reply, but only made a groaning noise.

“Let’s try something else. Are you comfortable?”

I thought about my situation. Despite being strapped down, the table wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. The only issue was that I felt far too warm. I shrugged my shoulders, pulling the restraints tight.

“I see. Is the temperature alright?”

I shook my head.

“Too cold?”

I shook my head again.

“Too warm then?”

I nodded.

“I see. I’ll find out what can be done. Oddly, I think I heard the person’s teeth chatter at the end.

At one point, I was moved to another room, and my restraints were removed. I don’t know how many days passed, but I found that I never got hungry. More than anything, I was just far too warm. Once in a while, a voice would talk to me over the intercom, again asking similar questions. I always let them know that It was just too hot in the room, and they always said they’d try to do something about it.

“Subject PWF-00989-271 is producing cold through unknown means, in a measure large enough to be effectively used as a cooling system for the entire facility. Worryingly, the temperature of the room is still slowly dropping every day, despite the constant flux of heat into the room from the air conditioning system. It is unclear what will happen if this temperature decrease continues. Most worryingly, subject reports without fail that it is too warm, indicating that the drop in temperature may in large part be due to the abilities of this serum manifesting properly and in accordance with the subject’s wishes.”

I don’t know why I never bothered to look at myself while I was in the cell, but when I finally noticed that my arms had gone white, and that my skin was as strong as steel, I didn’t really feel surprised, just intrigued. I didn’t really feel any desires, nor any motivation to do really anything. The only thing that I wanted was to feel comfortable. I constantly felt like I was dying of heatstroke, which led me to be quite lethargic.

“The room containing the subject is reaching dangerous temperature levels, it is possible that structural damage will occur soon. We are investigating possible ways to fix the issue.”

I wondered how long I’d been in this place.

One day, I figured it out. If I was too warm, I should just go to one of the poles! It was cold there, so I should feel better. I walked over to a door and tried to knock to get the attention of whoever was watching me. Strangely, the door shattered under my fist like it was made of glass. I shrugged, making my way to the exit. At first, I saw a couple people in the halls. When they turned to notice me, they just kinda stopped, frozen in time. As I went further, people stopped showing up. As I left the facility, I looked to the sun to set my course, and started my march.

“Subject escaped, and we currently have no method of restraining it. Temperatures around the subject are nearing 20 K, resulting in all materials reaching severe levels of brittleness when in close proximity. Subject appears to be making its way to the south pole, likely to try to ‘cool off.’ Observation is to continue with minimal resources, as subject has shown no violent tendencies, the researchers killed by its exit from the facility being written off as accidental.”

I saw an ocean in my way, and at first, I got sad. But when I got closer, the water started freezing! I stepped on it, and it seemed to be solid, so I continued my trek.

Once in a while, storms would rage around me, but whenever they got close, it stopped being rain and turned to hail. The music that the ice falling on ice made was really quite pleasant.

Eventually, I did it. I reached the pole, and I was greeted with a frozen landscape. I picked a nice-looking snowbank, laying down. After a while, I realized I still felt too warm, so I fitfully tried to sleep.

“Subject has reached the pole and is no longer moving. Temperature readings indicate that the area around the subject has reached absolute zero. Some sentient scouts have attempted to reach the subject, but all were completely frozen before getting within 50m. The majority of these sentients shattered upon contact with the ground. Current intentions are to leave the subject there. Refinement of the PWF-009989 serum need to be made in order to limit the temperature flux, but otherwise it appears to be an effective countermeasure to the sentients.”

Chapter Text

“We are going to continue testing our best serums on willing and able-bodied people. Today we have two participants, who will be receiving the same serum.”

Ballas set the syringes out on the table, looking at my friend and me. We had been approached by some scientists in his research group, having been told that they needed the strongest people to participate in their experiments. We had been defending Earth from the Sentients for far too long, so this summons came as a bit of a shock.

I glanced at my friend and noticed that she was just as nervous as me.

“If you will each follow one of my associates, we will begin.”

I took one last look at her, then followed the white-clad researcher into the sterile room.

“As a warning, this serum may hurt, but if all goes well you will be significantly more powerful after it has done its work,” the researcher said.

I held out my arm, the needle plunged into me, and the pain began.

I spent a week in agony, though I could feel the strength growing in my body. My skin hardened into steel, and I could feel strange energies at my fingertips. My muscles strengthened, and even as my mouth was sealed, my thoughts clarified in a way I could never have comprehended before.

When my transformation was complete, they asked me a series of questions, and seemed surprised that I was so lucid. Ballas entered the room himself to examine me. Below the surface, I could tell that he was shocked. They allowed me to wander the facilities while they kept performing tests, not quite ready to let me rejoin the War.

One day, I asked them what happened to my friend. The researcher I had cornered shifted uncomfortably but eventually caved in, taking me to her room.

Things started out so well for me. The researcher injected me with the serum, and I actually felt fine. More than anything, I just felt hungry. No matter how much they brought me, though, it wasn’t enough. I kept demanding more food from them, to the point they brought me whole cartloads of meat. At some point I lost my sight, and it’s probably good that I did. I could feel the extent to which my body had grown, and it sickened me.

I heard the door open, and a voice announced to me that my friend was coming to visit me. I felt her run up to me and put her hands against the wall of flesh that I had become. I traced her face with one of my hands, and felt the cool, hard edges. From what I could tell, she looked beautiful. She never spoke to me, which the researcher told me was because she no longer had a mouth. This saddened me, as her voice had been truly beautiful before.

At some point, my body reached a critical point. Fire spread through my veins, and my being contorted. I fused with the floor and walls of my room, and when I did, I felt my being continue to expand through the building, but somewhat slower. I heard alarms blare, and through the newfound eyes of the security system I watched the researchers scramble to evacuate. One figure fought against the tide, however. She really was beautiful, with arching pieces of glass accentuating her form. She ran to my room, throwing open the door to see me. I could look through the door too. The twisted forest of flesh that lay in that room must never again be seen by anyone.

I found that I could send words through the computer terminals, so I put up a message for her. I’m alright. I just fused with the tower I think. You should leave with the researchers. She took one last look at me before winding her way outside.

Over the next months, my consciousness continued taking over the tower. I could feel where my flesh continued to grow, eventually taking up entire rooms. After quite some time, I realized that to a small extent I could control the growth. With this in mind, I tried to keep the lower floors of the tower clear so that my friend could continue to visit.

Once I had completely taken over the tower, I felt that my body wasn’t done. It needed to keep growing somewhere, so I focused, channeling the growth into a wall on either side of my new self.

While I was growing, I felt my perceptions ever increasing. At first, it was just interfacing with the equipment in the tower, analyzing the data banks, and seeing through the eyes it afforded me. Eventually, though, I started seeing beyond it. I could see splashes of color, crackles of chaotic energy, and vast expanses of light. After a time, I realized that my body was drawing some energy from that chaotic place.

I learned more about myself with every passing day. In my growing, I was able to produce numerous different types of material, though everything grew inside a gilded case like the outside of my tower. Once it was cut open, though, the things I created could be extracted.

Ballas came to visit a couple times, and we talked for a very long time. I wonder just how much he managed to learn from me, sometimes.

Once, an animal found a crack in my wall, and took a bite of my flesh. It didn’t hurt, and more than anything, I was amused that I could feed the creature. However, it had nicked a large artery, and it licked up some of my core blood. I found that I could look through the creature’s eyes and hear through its ears. Learning that those that drank of my blood shared their senses with me was a valuable lesson. I changed my growth so that as little blood reached my extremities as possible, so as to avoid occupying other’s minds unintentionally.

Through everything, my friend rarely left my side, only leaving occasionally to go on missions.

The war eventually worked too close to home, and I could feel the rumbling of battle through the earth. My friend told me to prepare defenses, so I tapped into the knowledge I had found as well as the technology I had occupied and started growing further. This proved to be a mistake, however.

A massive sentient had landed on the planet, intent on destroying the Orokin presence there. But in its destruction, it caught wind of me, and started its advance.

When it reached me, I strained the defenses I had grown, drawing on the swirling energies I was connected to. I poured so much effort into it that I actually stopped growing for the first time in years. The sentient raged against me, and I focused on it with all my effort. When the sun rose, the sentient ran and hid.

My friend checked on me, and I told her about what had happened. We tried to come up with a plan, but we weren’t sure what to do.

The second time the sentient came, my friend bore witness. When I looked, I saw just how small she was, and how enormous both I and my foe were, and I was shocked. I had forgotten just how large I had become. When the sun rose, the sentient fled again. My friend and I tried to plan, but again we were at a standstill. The sentient was just too big for her to deal with, and I was straining myself just to keep it at bay.

Several days passed this way. After the first week, my friend suggested that we use the animals to track it down that we might destroy the sentient while it hid from the sun. I thought this might work, so for the first time, I let my blood flow freely that the animals might drink and share their sight with me. It did end up working, as I was able to track the sentient down. However, it produced an unintended side effect. The sentient acquired one of the animals, and through it, it gained a sense of me. It saw my proliferation and realized that if it took the growth for itself, it would be able to reproduce again. I felt its focus sharpen and realized it would come after me with renewed vigor.

But all was not lost. As it saw me, so I was able to peer inside it. I saw its core and saw how to destroy it, so I set to preparing as well. I started growing a weapon, pouring all of my energy into that one small device. It took several days to complete. During those nights my war against the colossal sentient raged. When the device was complete, I told my friend where to find it, and she went to get it. I told her where to place it on the sentient’s body in order to kill it.

And so, we waited for one final night to fall.

I held the bomb in my hand, placing the other on the tower that was my friend. I waved at one of the cameras, taking off the second the sun dipped below the horizon.

She had given me a simple mission. Put the bomb on its core, arm it, run, watch the fireworks. I was ready, my senses keener than ever. I felt the trembling of the earth as our enemy approached. When I saw it, I leaped into action. I dashed up one of its limbs, avoiding the lasers and flailing segments. I took several glancing blows, but nothing too worrying. As I approached its core, though, everything started going wrong. The sentient noticed me and started focusing on trying to shake me loose. I nearly dropped the bomb, but I did end up losing my sword. I inched my way along its rippling body, when one of its limbs started coming after me. I tried to avoid it, but it trapped one of my legs, immediately ripping it off. I nearly passed out from the pain, but I couldn’t afford that. I crawled on until I reached where its core was. A laser lanced up from it, taking out most of my right side. Knowing my time was short, I set the timer. But again, one of the sentient’s arms reached towards me. I realized that I was not going to survive this mission at that moment. Summoning up all of my strength, I pushed out, and an eruption of molten glass slowed its limb. I covered the bomb in glass, fixing it to the thing’s body. The limb was still approaching, so I threw even more glass at it. The plume was far weaker this time, however. I could feel my life ebbing away, but the mission was not over. One last time, I pushed out, covering the limb in glass. Even though it barely slowed the sentient at all, it was enough. Just before it crushed me, a blinding light ushered me into unconsciousness.

The light shone in the sky brighter than the sun for what seemed like forever. When it finally dimmed, impacts could be heard as pieces of the sentient crashed to the ground. Using my animals, I tried to find any trace of my friend, but there was nothing except a few blobs of glass. I had the animals bring them to me, and I took them into myself, as a memory of the one that gave her life for me.

Many weeks later, I saw a terrible thing. Some of the pieces of the sentient were beginning to move again. I could tell that there was no reasoning or purpose behind their movements, but even so, they could cause some massive damage if they got out. I spread myself, growing walls around the disaster area, and managed to contain all of the living fragments. After so much concentration and effort, however, I found that I was so very tired. I could keep growing a bit each day, and I could keep the sentient fragments contained, but it would take a very long time before I was able to do any more than that again.

Some people have moved into my shadow, and they are peaceful. I offered them my flesh, and they gladly take it. I make sure to withdraw my blood from it, though. I want them to remain independent unless they wish to join me.

There are hostile people trying to attack now. We can’t have that. I’ll protect those that live in my shadow.

I wonder… Who did I used to be? I am now so many people, such a large expanse of land, and still a couple animals. Who am I again?

Chapter Text

Interview log with subject/source Helminth

Translation provided by infested cephalon

Interviewer: Lavair Scientist II

“Hello, Helminth. How are you doing today?”

We are irrelevant, as long as the blue one is satisfied.

“Come, now, you can tell me.”

[The tendrils writhe for a few seconds]

We suppose we’re hungry. The walls here taste bad, and we are rarely provided sustenance.

“Oh, that’s good to know, I’ll see if I can get you something. Do you like anything in particular?”

We enjoy flesh, but we don’t like to kill.

“Why don’t you like killing?”

If we kill, others come to kill us. We feel the fire, we feel the pain. We are connected to all the others, even sometimes to you.

[Lavair stiffens, a strange look on her face]

“What do you mean, you’re connected to me?”

We feel your life, your pulse. We sense the bruise on your foot where you bumped it. We even sense the second life-

“Anyways, you mentioned Ballas earlier. Why do you keep working with him?”

The blue one took us away from the others, though he did not kill us. But…

[The tentacles shift; Helminth goes silent for two minutes]

We… don’t know.

“Hm?”

Tell us, how many of those that we changed are alive? We sense so few.

“Well, many of them are fighting in the war to save us. You’re helping to save the system from the sentients.”

We know… we can feel that many did not live. While they are not dead, they could not complete the transformation. We failed them.

“You didn’t fail them; they were necessary to make the ones that worked.”

[One minute of silence]

Every life is precious, every soul unique. You are not connected, you cannot feel.

“So we shouldn’t sacrifice a few in order to save all those that would die?”

[The tendrils writhe, agitated. Three minutes of silence]

“Helminth?”

Please, leave us, we will continue our work. We wish to not think any more.

[Lavair leaves]

End interview log