Chapter 10: Chasing Humanity
The Hydralisks were the most versatile of the Triumvirate. They could control the force with which they fire their spines to one hundredth of an ounce. The Hydralisks most powerful skill, however, was their ability to produce four different kind of substance with which they could coat their spines.
The most dangerous of the substances, was a type of corrosive acid strong enough to eat through the strongest steel. The second type of substance was a toxin that induced an amount of agony that rivaled the reforging process. The third type of substance was a toxin caused complete paralysis that lasted for hours.
The final type of substance was not a toxin. It was a cure. It could neutralize not only the other toxins that the Hydralisks produced but also all other kinds of harmful poison.
When Night found out about the fourth substance, he had thought that whoever had design the Zerg civilization he currently possessed had a wicked sense of human. The designer of the Zerg Collective had actually made it healthy to get shot in the neck with a Hydralisk spine.
Night waited for a full two minutes before ordering one of the Hydralisks to shoot the man with a spine cove with the antitoxin. Night had endured the reforging. Though the Hydralisk's toxin caused but a shadow of that agony, two minutes of it was still a tour through the pits of hell and back.
Night knelt down next to the man, who was still shaking uncontrollably. "This here is your one chance to explain yourself."
Twitching, his voice hoarse from screaming, the man made a full confession. Seemed the man dreamed Arthur's position as head of Haven Field. Problem was, Arthur was a level five Magic Users, far too powerful for level four Force User like him could challenge. Thought the man had a number of level three Force Users supporting him, more Force Users and all the Magic Users of Haven Field supported Arthur.
When the situation seemed hopeless, an envoy from the Blood Fang clan of White Stone arrived. The envoy told the Force User that the Blood Fang clan was willing to support him in a coup. The price for that support was Emily.
As they listened to the man, Arthur got angrier. Just as the man finished his confession, a bolt of lightning streaked down from the heaven and struck the man in the head, killing him instantly.
Night eyed Arthur. The man was trembling with rage and Night could sympathize. Dozens of people were dead because of the ambition of a single man, and Arthur's forces weren't exactly replaceable like the Zerg. In Night's mind, this was the failure of the Haven Field's leader; he should have kept a closer eye on his underlings. This was the price they paid for challenging him.
In the next instance, Night broke out in cold sweat.
He knew he was supposed to feel guilt. Haven Field was never an enemy. His siege of the outpost town was an unnecessary battle. The men that fell before his Zerglings were simply defending their homes and families.
He could have prevented the battle. If he had just sent an Overlord to make contact with Arthur beforehand, all of this could have been avoided. Just a single moment of prudent was all that was needed.
Back then, he didn't give it a thought; he didn't care enough to. They had invaded his territory, challenged his swarm; they'd had challenged him. The pride of a Zerg Overmind had demanded their blood, and he had been more than happy to give in. He was so eager to play the hero, telling himself that he was doing all of it to protect Emily. A moment of arrogance and he had orphaned a dozen families.
And still, he felt no guilt.
"I'll give you a ride back to Haven Field," he told Arthur. "Seemed you and Emily had a lot to talk about."
It was an excuse. He needed to see the aftermath of his sin, and he prayed that it would be enough for him to regain the humanity that he could feel slipping away.
He summoned two additional Overlords. The men from Haven Field didn't enter the Overlords when they landed and openings appeared on their sides. Even Arthur looked a little nervous as he faced the behemoths.
"It's alright," Emily said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Night felt a flash of irritation and it baffled him. The irritation lingered as he followed them into one of the Overlords. The rest of the men followed Arthur's lead and entered the Overlords. The opening on the Overlords' sides closed and the three creatures rose from the ground, flying east above the treetops.
Inside the Overlord carrying Night and Emily, the fleshy interior faded away, giving the illusion that they were standing in midair. They could see the other two Overlords floating behind them. Beneath their feet, the retreated westward, and upon the ground, a horde of Zerg could be seen, weaving their ways through the plants. The horde was Night's failsafe. There was an off chance that Arthur's reaction was an act, in that case, he wanted the swarm to be on hand to protect Emily.
"This is extraordinary," Arthur breathed.
"Isn't he?" Emily whispered, glancing at Night.
"How is the creature flying?" Arthur said.
"What?" Emily said.
Arthur looked back at the Overlords flying behind them. "They don't have any wings; how are they flying?"
"I've never thought about it," Emily said, turning to Night.
Night floundered. He'd never thought about that either. In the game, the Overlords' ability to fly was a result of a combination of helium gas and their psionic power. He wondered if it was the same for his Overlord. He projected his question to the Overlord.
"They have a special organ that allowed them to neutralize gravity," he told Emily after a few seconds. "Propulsion is generated by a flow of bio energy across the surface of their shell."
"Bio energy?" Arthur said.
"It's an element that only these creatures could wield," Emily explained to him.
"I wouldn't go that far, but that is an aft enough description," Night said.
"What is gravity, though?" Emily said.
Night looked at her. They had argued dozens of times over numerous philosophical issues that he was a little suprise that she didn't know what gravity was. But then it was understandable; gravity was intangible. Other intangibles like wind or light was noticeable because there were situations where there was no wind or light. Gravity, on the other hand, was ever present.
"Gravity is a constant force that pulls you toward the ground," he explained.
Emily startled and looked down. "I've never thought about it."
Night smiled. He wasn't surprised. On earth, it took over five thousand years after history was recorded before humanities began to identify gravity as an actual force and try to understand it. "From what I understand," Night said, "all objects exert a pull to every other object. The bigger the object, the bigger the pull. This pull is called gravity. The gravity of a fruit is so minute that we can't even feel it, but on an object as big as a world, the gravity is tremendous."
Emily was silent, her eyes moving rapidly. Night had seen this enough time to understand it. Her understanding of the world was changing in light of the new information. It was a pseudo-state of enlightenment. What was interesting was that each time she entered this stage, her mental power would grow by leap and bound and, as a Magic User, her power was directly proportional to her mental power. When she saved Gemma, Emily had been a level one Magic User. After arguing with Night for two months, she had grown into a level two and was standing at the precipice of becoming a level three.
"So the entire world is a singular object," Emily whispered. There was a ripple in the air; a small shockwave that signaling her becoming a level three Magic User.
"Congratulation," Night said.
"Thank you," she said. He could hear the smile in her voice and he returned it.
The trip to Haven Field took a little under an hour. The three Overlords landed east of the outpost town, just outside the range of the Magic Users that was on patrolling duty. They exited the Overlords and headed toward the city. Night ordered six Zerglings to accompany him into Haven Field in plain sight. The rest of the swarm that had accompanied them was moving beneath the ground, following Emily and ready to defend her should trouble arise.
There was a bit of commotion due to the appearance of the Overlords and the Zerglings accompanying Night. It took some explaining from Arthur before everything settle down.
"You two go ahead," Night said after they entered the town. "I think I'll take a walk. See the town."
Emily looked at him, her eyes filled with worry. "Are you sure?"
He wasn't surprised that she could see through him. Emily was so intuitive. It was comforting to him, knowing that she understood. At the same time, it was a little annoying.
"I have to do this," he said, smiling weakly.
There was a few seconds of silent before Emily finally sighed. "Okay, be careful."
Night watched Emily left with Arthur. He suddenly felt a stab of pain. He realized that he didn't like it, watching Emily walking away from him with another man. He just didn't know why.
Sighing, he began a walk around the small town. The settlement wall had been restored but the buildings his Zerglings had destroyed had not been rebuilt. As he walked through the town, the denizens of Haven Field gazed at him with open fear, anger, and hatred from men, women, even children. They knew. He was responsible for the destruction of their lives, and now they all knew.
Finally, he could feel the guilt. In the women and children of Haven Field, he saw his mother and sister, and he saw what could have been but for a twist of fate. In his mind, he saw a world where he never became Overmind, where his family struggle every day just to survive. He saw a world where someone else became the Overmind, and that person, in their infinite arrogance, killed his mother, leaving him and his sister all alone in this world, handing out a death sentence without even knowing it.
He walked through every street of the little town. There weren't that many. He saw one blacksmith, and that was it. The rest of the buildings were residential.
Night took his time, making sure that everyone saw him with his Zergling guards. In little time, he noticed some of the people tailing him. After making two circuits through the town he went to the most crowded area of the outpost town, a small clear area that he guessed acted as a town square.
He turned to the Zerglings. "Leave me," he said, making a point to speak loud enough that so that the people could hear, so that they know these creatures served him. It was time for him to face their judgment.
As soon as the Zerglings disappeared, the people swarmed him. Someone struck him in the head; it was a closed fist. He didn't even feel it. The reforging and his Bio-resonance had increased the toughness of his body exponentially. As it was, his skin was even tougher than the Roaches' shells.
Fists and clubs struck him repeatedly. A few grabbed him by the hair, even scratching at him with their nails. Though their blows did not hurt his physical body, each blow was a reminder of his sin. Each of the people striking him had lost a love one, and he was to blame. Though there was a few Force Users in the group, it was the blows from the children that pained him the most. One of them, a little boy, hit his forehead with a rock. That little rock bouncing off his skin hurt him more than the strikes from the Force Users ever could.
He didn't know how long he stood there, enduring their anger. Everything just stopped. The mobs retreated. The people parted and Arthur appeared. Standing next to him was Emily. She looked at him with worry and sorrow, and he was glad. He was glad that she didn't look at him the way the people of Haven Field did, like he was a monster.
She walked to him and placed her hands on his face. Her hands moved down to his chest, her eyes scanning his body. She was checking if he was injured. When she found no wounded, she looked up at him. The worry had faded but the sorrow was still there.
"Feel better?" she said, her voice a gentle whisper.
"A little." His sin was still a boulder, crushing down on his soul, but at least he could feel it. He felt human, and it was a small mercy.
"Let's go," Emily whispered, taking his hand and leading him away.
He didn't resist. As they stepped out of the gate of the outpost town, Night had a realization. The Zerg weren't the only who needed to be with their kind. You are who you are with. If he remained in isolation with the Collective, he would forget his humanity; he would become a true Overmind, living with a complete disregard for human lives.
His sister wasn't the only one who needed to be around other humans. He needed it too, if only to remember himself.