Archive of Our Own ^beta

Is this what they called "love," It wondered as It lay still in the loose but warm arms of Cora. Cora, the human that It held so close to his being: It's a suffocating shell. It desired to be close and craved something that It couldn't explain. It ached yet it didn't understand. It did not like pain, yet, It found Itself with an unbearable itch, to indulge and savor Its throbbing misery. Tightening Its already solid embrace around Cora, It nestled Itself closer.

Before It had been discovered and excavated by the native creatures of this world, this segment had slept but Its whole had lived and continued Its evolution and conquer. Yet It had not encountered such a strange essence as It had in Humans. Their shape was unique and their hierarchy of temperament was curious. Such unnatural things. Such bizarre things they clung to. 

Resting Its head on top of her chest, It listened. It had found Itself enjoying the rhythm. It was hers alone, not It's, nor It's mimic. It mimicked her beat in Its own shell so that It would accompany her perfect rhythm. Her own unique beat. So unlike Its own falsely made one. 

Moving Its head he stared blankly at her sleeping form. Slowly, It trailed It's finger from her neck to the side of her face. It was uncertain if It could transgress such boundaries if she were awake. She was very “touchy” with It but she did not know It. She did not know what shifted under Its taken guise or what was more than human. More than human and desperate. 

This very night in the darkness It had convinced Itself best to take her, and reducer her being to another consumable. She was a predator to It. All beings were predators and competitors. Things that could hurt It and could take conquered resources. There was no room for them in Its survival, in turn, Its necessary expansion. 

It had in Its foresight drugged her with stolen sleeping pills from Copper’s cabinets. It had felt a foreign feeling which could be considered mercy, It had wished to prolong or force her to endure his eating. No, it was better for her to be deep in her sleep, she would not feel Its painful embrace. For that is what it would be, should she be awake, nothing but pain. That or the unknown feeling of It consuming her being parcel by parcel. It could also not stomach the thought of the prolonged digestion of her. Now as It laid beside her with Its arms tightly around her, It found itself unable to do what came so naturally before. The thought and indication of Its planned consumption resulted in a deep unfamiliar discomfort and that was altogether alien to Its old being. 

Feeling a slight trimmer from her body, It noticed her cold skin and uncomfortable expression. Frowning, It lengthened Its puppet's human arm and grabbed the cover that lay discarded on the floor. It moved the blanket to cover them both. It was not cold but It enjoyed the contact with her. Contact, that was not for expansion or stealth. Just “comfort” and an odd sense of “security”. Security, something It had never experienced since Its “birth”. It is a feeling that It now found after all these years in the human, known as Cora. It did not know how to respond. 

What It had known was something far simpler, survival and everything it entailed. It lived by the rules that governed all living things of the universe; that being, one must eat and the other be eaten. The method never really matters to It, only the result. Extinction, or mass consumption of a species or the mere continued survival for it. No affection nor mercy laid within its ability. Nature was cruel and as a child of its ethics, It was as well.  All beings were responsible for their protection. If they were able then they would fight. If they were strong then they would win. If they were weak then they'd be discarded. If they were weak but determined then they'd evolve.

Inelasticity meant many things: death and stagnation were what it feared the most. Enduring, toward tedious destruction by fixed rigidity. No, It needed more. It had to evolve. It had to transform, metamorphosis into something new for It refused to degrade or stagnate. It was in Its nature to grow by collection. It adopted the characteristics of Its quarry and little by little weeded out the qualities It desired and those It found maladaptive. Everything would be It's or destroyed for Its security. It would take want it needed and would leave nothing in Its wake. 

Death. How it feared the end. It wanted to live forever. It wanted to learn and grow tell It had touched everything and experienced all. In the beginning, It had been fearless but an idiot. It had held no philosophy nor concept and bore no genuine range of emotions, just the common mindless hunger that all simple beings inherited from birth. It had been just a collection of simple cells perhaps far lower. It didn't stay an insignificant colony for long but rather set Itself to adapt and force the hand of evolution. While It grew so did Its sentiments and acumen. With time It had grained certain sensibilities that had previously not been present. 

The first spark of Its developing inclinations being that of fear: a primal and simple thing, but truly the strongest of all Its growing rang. That is when it learned the rules of all creation. Take what you can and as much as you can. It particularly remembers the panic that It felt when the competing organism had set itself to devouring It. The microbe had been a simple thing, a bacteria cell but had managed to almost consume all that It had been. It had managed to escape but not without loss. It had lost much of Itself and had been forcedly degraded. With much of Its small evolutions have been taken. It's ranged limited again. It ran. Tried to depart from the aggressor. It was still so simple and trivial but what It had gained had been taken from It by Its rival. 

It could run nowhere and It feared that more would be taken. Backed into a corner It began to feel more than just terror. It could do nothing, however. Day by day It ran in terror and day by day It was devoured only to repeat the cycle. It lived in constant fear and desperation. It was during this time that It discovered Its compacity for a very dangerous mania: fury. 

At first, It had quickly regathered Itself and with utter malice attacked the bacteria in defense. Yet the result was the same; with It limping away scared and angry. It could not win but learned to wait and one day Its patience had paid off. The bacteria colony had reached the end of Its life span and were weak and variable. It had eaten them. Like an animal having starved for days It left no speck unprocessed and so Its enemy was added to Its growing collection and so the way Its abilities.

It later gained Its first complex body by accidental consumption by the creature. The body was one that was composed of cells, tissues, organs, and systems. It was an herbivore then. Then It became many simple-minded things. With travel and luck, It came in contact with different beings of complexity. It then expanded Its reach and become Typ'hiper Exploratory Group, and now It was humans. 

Moving Its hands, It placed them on the sides of Cora's pale face. Turning her head from side to side It examined her. Before moving Its hand slowly and methodically down the rest of her body: down to her very feet. Talking one of her hands Its finger skinned lightly over her smooth hands. 

It had come to know her by her affection but she, not It. She only knew the one that It wore. It’s food and she had been close friends when the being he wore had been it's own. Now that the human unknowingly had been taken by It her affection was now diverted to It. An affection which It had come to find…pleasant. In turn, It had become fond of the human known as Cora. It was freeing. Refreshing. Addictive. 

It now knew a new emotion, envy. It was angry and wanting. It was not human nor peaceful in Its unplanned exposure. It was made to eat and expand and nothing else. It needed no companions but Itself and It was made for none. There would be no peace not after everything.

Was It even capable of such a thing? Its goal and survival were contrary to her own and the “others”.

The "others''. Cora, the by-product of her presence and Its held attachment had heightened two very dangerous traits within itself. Greed and possessiveness. It was a being defined by greed and a creature that guarded Its gains against others with utter malice. She herself had in many ways become regarded by It to be a part of Its treasured horde, Itself. She had become an important segment of Its being. So alien was this emotion, It found Itself with no other way of classification for Its partiality toward the Cora. Its sentience was too fresh and Its experience was sparse. All Its adapted knowledge felt useless when compared to Its new reality. Its many quarries and their memoirs left It feeling unsatisfactory. The true in-time experience was incompatible.

It wasn’t a very stationary being but rather more nomadic. It had “other parts” of Itself spread far and wide among the galaxies. It had conquered populations and had turned a planet's diversity into Its own unified image. It was in many places and parroted countless beings but belonged to no place and held no allegiance to another, until now. The world in which they laid upon. It was greedy for the earth and Its resources, Its people, and individuals.

It was compiled. A being possessed with a will that was forged into its very nature and Its own complex biology. 

Sharing wasn't a trait It was wired with nor did It find compelling.

Moving, It lifted Itself from her arms and positioned Itself on top of her; so that It hovered over her sleeping form. Placing Its arms on either side of her It looked blankly and unblinking at her peaceful face. When alone like this, It didn't feel the need to puppeteer Its puppet's perfect mannerisms but rather just the functions It needed for whatever task need doing. There was no need to and It was not one of them.

Slowly bones began to crack and Its body began to mold Itself. In a matter of a minute what was once male in form was now female and the spitting image of Cora. This was the best It could do without being with her. This is the best It could categorize her without being a part of her. Just an image.

It wasn't satisfied.

Transforming back into Its previous male shape, Cora's preferred shape, It draped Itself on top of her and It pondered and waited, and listened. It listened to her and the child that sat within her womb. She had not begun to show her human pregnancy yet but she would soon. By the end of winter, she wouldn’t be able to hide her growing child. It had known she was with child as soon as It first meant her. It could taste the hidden secret in the air.

Listening, It could hear the heartbeat of the tiny embryo. With Its unexpected reveal, she had become quite protective of herself and ironically It as well, or rather the shell It wore. It found these human mother's to be quite protective of their young. Cora's behavior as well as Its many victim's memories had informed It. Dying for them if need be. What a strange custom. To love something so disposable and weak. To die for something replaceable. How very strange.

Perhaps, It was because they were apart but together as one. This species seemed to treasure its young as Its legacy. Something that is them but not. Someone that is permanently a part of them and they them. Then again, It seemed like Humans made their own families among the unrelated. Ones that they had no bonds to besides that of chemical reactions and their concept of “love.” Marriage. A merger of the two unrelated. It was supposed to mean they became one, yet the action was formed only in words. Its permeance was entirely dependent on the changing whims of the two beings. How fragile and insecure it found such a pledge. 

Perhaps that is why humans worshiped their “individuality” so much. They wanted to exist as themselves but desired unity. Their independence allowed him free thought and a diversity of drives. It also allowed them to part from the whole when they desired. To leave and be free. To be alone. Choices, and the distance it by consequence allowed. There was a certain beauty in that independence. It made them more than drones. It made them strangely fascinating creatures.

Looking back at her, It wondered what It must be like to connected yet distant. To care for a being so much that you became a part of It. Not out of necessity like a parasite nor for consumption but rather for closeness. Still, they were too far for Its liking. 

It was something contrary to that. It held no malice for independence but it didn’t particularly appreciate it either. It was a being that grow in the life of others and individuals certainly didn’t matter to It. Its efforts were that of an end goal of loneliness. It wanted to stand alone and crush anything contrary to that goal. That was its nature since conception. Distance meant death or lack of conquering. It had to be close. It wanted to be so close that It ate the other. It wanted there to be no barriers between them. It wanted to be closer than blood. To be just on the fringes of consciousness just a hair from total coalescence.

Crawling closer to her face It loomed over her. It wonder how it would feel to be with her. To make Itself permanently a part of her. So that It could be close. It didn’t need to take her or her child. It just wanted to be close. Just under the skin.

Running Its finger over her face Its human digits dance around the neckline. 

No, It wasn't satisfied with separation. 

Leaning down, to her neck It located her arteries. It opened its mouth and bit into her. Her body let out a small jolt but moved no more. Drawing blood, It lapped up the free DNA. In return, It left some of Its own. Healing her cut. As if It never happened, It resumed hovering over her with a smirk. 

It was satisfied.

Shifting, It turned on Its back and pulled her over It so that she laid atop Its human body. Leaning Its head toward her It buried Its face in her hair. It loved her hair. It was soft and It liked the tingle of her strands. 

They were together now and till death truly do them apart.