Chapter 8: Restoration
He waited for half an hour until Dawn was done playing in the water. They got dress and headed to the Hatchery. Like the Zerglings, the building had grown bigger, the fangs was larger and looked more menacing. It was the first evolution of the Zerg Hatchery, the Zerg Lair.
The information that pop into his head was virtually identical to that of the Hatchery's, though the number of larvae spawn every day had increased from five hundreds to five thousands, which meant, given enough bio energy, Night could order the creation of ten thousands units every day.
Eve was there, waiting for them. There was no physical change to the Zerg Queen but there was a palpable aura of power radiating from her. From the information in his head, Eve had gained two new abilities: Genetic Infusion and Psionic Focus.
"Eve," Night greeted.
Eve bowed slightly. "Greeting, Overmind."
Night took a second to shake off how human the Zerg Queen looked. "Restore my mother's arm," he said.
"As you wish," Eve said. "Overmind, the process would be much more effective if we reforge her."
"Reforge her?"
"It is a process in which we break her down at the cellular level, purging all pollution, and rebuilding her physical body into its ideal state."
Night blinked and a thought occurred to him. "Was that what happened to me three days ago?"
"Yes, Overmind."
So that was what'd happened to him. Night shivered at the memories.
"What effects does the reforging have?" he asked.
"The process will increase her strength and speed. Her cerebral functions will be optimized, sharpening all her senses and increasing her reflexes. The process will also increase her ability to heal wounds and fight off diseases, significantly increasing her life-span."
Night fell silent. The augmentation of Gemma's physical body meant little to him. He would not allow his mother to get involved in a battle. What appealed to him were the latter effects Eve'd listed. A strengthening of her ability to heal and immune system, and especially an increase in her life-span were irresistible temptations. Still, he couldn't subject her to the agony he had endured.
"Is there any way to keep her sedated during the process?" he asked.
"Yes, Overmind."
Night was elated. "Wonderful, let's do that."
"As you command," Eve said and led them into the Lair.
Once inside, she guided a nervous Gemma to the fleshy wall of the building. Night offered his mother a reassuring smile when she glanced at him. Inhaling deeply, Gemma stepped to the wall and didn't resist when a clear membrane grew out of the wall and encased her. It only took a few seconds before Gemma's eyes slid close and she slumped in the pouch. From the wall, a bright red liquid seeped into the pouch. Gemma was soon submerged in the liquid and began to float. Night could see wisp of black ink seeping from her body and dissolving in the liquid. He felt someone tugging his pants.
"What is it, Dawn?" he said, looking down.
"Can I do it too? It looks fun," Dawn said.
Night was taken aback. This looked fun? His sister was getting far too comfortable with all things Zerg and he wasn't really sure if that was a good thing.
"S…sure," he said and turned to Eve. "Can we reforge my sister too or do we have to wait for my mother to finish?"
"The Lair can reforge multiple creatures, Overmind."
"Ok, reforge my sister."
"As you wish," Eve said.
Eve brought Dawn closer to the wall and the little girl was almost giddy when the membrane grew out of the wall to encase her. Within seconds, she yawned and slumped in the pouch and was soon floating in red liquid herself.
"How long will this take?" Night asked Eve.
"It's different for each person, Overmind. Your sister will be done in half an hour, while your mother will take three hours."
"Why the different?"
"Your sister is small, and younger. There is less pollution in her body."
"How come it took me three days? Is my body that polluted?"
"No, Overmind. It took you so long because you did not have a Lair to aid you, and your bio energy reserve was depleted."
Night fell silent. There was nothing to do except wait. Half an hour passed and the liquid in his sister's pouch drained away. The clear membrane dissolved and Night rushed forward to catch his sister. Dawn stirred awake and Night gazed at her in wonder.
His sister was perfect. All the blemishes on her skins, all the signs of malnourishment and scars that she had received from growing up in the wild were gone. Her black hair, which had been as dry and rough as tree roots before, were like black silks. Her skin was soft and supple. She looked as though she was made of malleable gemstone. Even the excess fat she had put on these last month or so thanks to the excess food his swarm had provided was gone. She looked like a miniature goddess, glowing with vitality and youth.
"That wasn't fun at all," Dawn pouted, standing up and examining her clothes. "I'm all sticky."
Night's eyes flickered. If Dawn had been aware during the process, if she had endured even a fraction of what he had, he would never forgive himself. "What do you remember?" she asked
"Falling asleep," Dawn said. "I want to take a bath."
"So it didn't hurt?"
Dawn shook her head.
Night sighed in relief and sent a command to Eve. "Go with Eve," he told his sister. "I have to stay here with mom."
"Ok," Dawn said and gave him a hug before leaving the Lair with Eve.
After seeing his sister's transformation, Night was a bit exited to see what his mother would look like. For that matter, what did he look like? He'd been so occupied by the prospect of restoring his mother's arm that he had neglected to check his new appearance. Before he saw the change his sister had undergone, he didn't know that he had changed. That his mother showed no reaction showed just how distracted she was about getting her arm back. As for Dawn, it would be asking far too much to expect a four-year-old to notice such thing.
He examined his body. His skin was as flawless as his sister's. The reforging process had sculpted his muscle. It may sound conceited by this body reminded him of those Greek statues he saw in the museums on Earth. He went to the side of the pool and looked at his reflection. The face in the water was his own, except more polished. His face was like those pictures in the magazines, airbrushed to perfection. If only he had looked like this when he was in high school.
Half an hour later, Dawn returned with Eve. Seeing the two of them together, the eerily beautiful Zerg Queen and the physically perfect little girl, it felt a little surreal to Night, and for a moment, he was struck by how extraordinary his life had become.
Night sat down in front of his mother's pouch and waited. Dawn nestled against him. Ten minutes passed before Dawn got restless.
"I'm bored," she complained.
Night glanced at his sister and allowed himself a small smile. "It hadn't even been that long. Were you this impatient when I was being reforged?"
Dawn pouted. "You turned out ok. Beside, momma is just sleeping."
Night sighed. Without any fear for their mother, it would be difficult for Dawn to sit still for long, and he preferred it that way. Dawn was much smarter than most four-year-old on Earth and that wasn't a good thing in his mind. The children on Earth could stay a child for much longer than the children in the wild of Luminous; most Earth children didn't have to learn about the nature of life and death until they were in their teens.
Dawn did not have that luxury. Her four years of life were already riddled with worry, fear, and hunger. Here, a shadow in the night was a thing to be fear; the monsters outside wasn't imaginary. On this planet, you either grow up fast or not at all.
It was heartbreaking. Night wanted his sister to be a child for many more years, to worry about nothing except what game to play.
"How about I tell you a story?" he said. He hoped that it wasn't too late to instill a little wonder into his sister's life. He wanted to fill her imagination with a little magic, not the life-or-death magic of this planet but the magic of fairy godmothers and the handsome prince on his white steed.
"Ok," Dawn said.
She sounded indifferent and Night wasn't surprised. Fairytales didn't exist on Luminous and she didn't know what to expect. He hoped she would be pleasantly surprised.
"Ok, once upon a time, in a land far far away…"
He told her the story of Cinderella, the Disney's version, not the gorier ancient version where the stepsisters hacked off their toes in order to fit into the glass slipper or the even bloodier oriental version in which Cinderella killed her stepmother and fed her stepsisters the corpse.
Night was delighted when his sister's eyes widened in wonder at the part where the fairy godmother conjured a beautiful gown and a pair of glass slippers for Cinderella. The four-year-old even held her breath when one of the stepsisters 'accidently' broke the glass slipper before Cinderella could try it on and then smiled brightly when Cinderella pulled out the second crystal slipper.
"…and they lived happily ever after," he concluded.
There was a moment of silent before Dawn grabbed his sleeve and started to shake him, fairly bouncing where she was sitting. After being reforged, she was quite strong for a four-year-old and was nearly able to pull Night over. "Tell me another one! Tell me another one!"
"Ok, ok." He laughed. "How about the story of Sleeping Beauty?"
Dawn nodded eagerly.
Smiling, he patted her head. "Once upon a time…"
After he finished with Sleeping Beauty he had to tell her the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Of course, he had to explain to her what a dragon and a dwarf was. The dragon was easy; he just told her that it was a very powerful Hellite. A dwarf was much harder to explain, and in doing so, he made the mistake of mentioning the elves. Dawn was absolutely enchanted by the legendary fair-folks.
Just as she was pestering him for a story about the elves, the red fluid in the sack containing their mother drained away.
"Later, ok? Mom is waking up," Night said.
Grudgingly, Dawn agreed.
Learning from last time, Night stepped closer and caught his mother before she could begin to fall. The reforging effects was even more pronounced on his mother. The process seemed to have melted away ten years of age from her body; she looked like to be her late teens or very early twenties. Her hair was as beautiful as Dawn's and the crowfeet along with the other wear-and-tears that came with living in the wild were gone.
Her eyes fluttered and she awakened.
"Night?" she said. Even her voice was smoother, more melodious.
"How do you feel, mom?" he asked.
"Wonderful. I hadn't felt this good in years."
"That's good." Night turned to Eve. "Can we restore her arm now, or do we have to wait for anything."
"There is no need to wait, Overmind. Her arm can be restored now if you wish."
"Do it."
"As you command, Overmind."
Eve knelt down and placed the tips of her fingers to Gemma's forehead and the woman gasped softly. Night watched in fascination. This was one of Eve new abilities, Genetic Infusion. It allowed the Queen unit to temporary graph the genetic ability of one Zerg unit onto another biological creature. When Eve took her hand away, Gemma was trembling slightly and her breathing was erratic.
"Mother?" Night said.
"I can feel…everything," Gemma whispered.
"What?"
"All the Zerg, the creep carpet, the Overlord, everything. Even this building."
Night looked at Eve.
"She is a member of the Collective, Overmind, if only temporary."
Night knew that, for a Zerg creature, their connection with the Collective was everything. They were utterly dependent upon their bond with their Overmind. It was like a drug. If that connection was severed, the withdraw would be so severe that their mind would shattered and they would be forced into a dormant/comatose state. It was a major reason for their absolute obedience to the Overmind and their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the Collective without a second thought. Of course, this dependency was not very apparent in the Drones and the Zerglings since their intelligence was excessively low.
That his mother was subjected to such a thing was very troubling. It might feel good now but
Eve had said that the connection was temporary. What will happen once the connection fades?
"Mom," he said.
Gemma turned to him, seemingly in a trance.
"Are you ok?"
"I…uh…yes…" She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "It just…so amazing. Is this what it is like for you all the time?"
"I suppose," Night said. He'd never given it any thought. He had been connected to the Collective since the swarm was just a single Hatchery. He was used to his mind being connected to everything that it all just seemed normal to him.
"Momma!" Dawn's gasp caught his attention. "Your arm."
Startled, Night turned his attention to his mother missing arm. It had only been a couple of minute and Gemma's arm had regrown halfway to her elbow.
"Wow, that's creepy," Night said.
"I didn't even notice," Gemma said, eying her restoring arm. In the next second, the stump started waving up and down.
"Oh, for heaven sake, would you stop that," Night said, looking away.
"Eww," Dawn said in agreement.
"Sorry," Gemma said, smiling.
It didn't even take twenty minutes for Gemma's arm to regrow. Afterward she left for the river to wash up and Dawn went with her. Night sent Eve with them.
When they were gone, Night stepped outside. He gazed at the floating clouds above and sighed. For the last two months, he had been consumed with the evolution of the Collective. The restoration of his mother's arm had been a mountain, constantly pressing down on him. Now that it was done, he felt a sense of relief and freedom. There was no pressing goal anymore. There was no need to save bio energy. He was to expand the swarm, and he was free to explore this world.
