Woohoo! Got reviews by Michi-chii, clawfulGood and KazzieLegran! I'm so glad you guys are enjoying my story! I wanted to put in an early update for being a day late before.

~ CHAPTER 37 ~

Matriorb and Feeling Ablution Trapped

As a testament to Wesley's blue blood badass-ness, he'd managed to cut into the mother grub's corpse with power tools after she'd been taken away and then pull out the bloody Matriorb. Dwayne hadn't seen him do it, he'd seen the rising smoke pillar in the distance as the other two trolls took care of things before going back inside. Dwayne was reading another book by himself when he heard a firm knock on his door. Putting the book under his pillow he got up and pressed a button, the grey door swishing open.

Wesley stood flecked all over in Jade Blood that matched Dwayne's own. His expression was devoid and he held out the bizarre alien egg. Dwayne felt revolted and that fearful new distance between his Moirail again. Reaching out he took the gory sphere and cringed, it was like an organ and it was making his stomach churn. The blood was lukewarm and dribbled down his fingers. Wesley walked off wordlessly towards the showers. After hesitating Dwayne went to find a private bathroom as well.

He set the Matriorb down in a bathtub and turned the tap, blasting water down on the fleshy egg and his green-painted hands. He watched the blood wash away with a hollow feeling. The book he'd been reading in his room was a scientific study of Moirallegiance. Dwayne hadn't wanted something scientific, he wanted something emotional to help him. The first thing Moirails did was communicate but there was no communication between him and Wesley. Dwayne didn't know what the taller boy was thinking... He kept telling himself to give it time but there was a sinking feeling in his stomach that their relationship was crashing down. Dwayne didn't even want to talk to him, was it because he was scared of Wesley?

When the Matriorb was clean it occurred to Dwayne he had no idea how to store it, or how to hatch it. But they didn't know how to do any of the jobs they'd been left, and Dwayne was determined to find out. He took a moment to admire the black orb with the multiple orange spike protrusions before going back into his private bedroom. Dwayne wrapped the Matriorb up in blankets then he stored it in the top section of his cupboard. Afterwards he walked out to the front room and overheard Camila talking to Wesley.

"... though you were like the terminator! That's creepy sociopath stuff, man."

"I can't believe you vomited."

"I wretched! Like, a little!"

"I saw, you vomited."

"Bullsh-!" they stopped when Dwayne walked in but he didn't look at them. He was still very angry, especially at Camila for the thoughtless and uncaring things she'd said about his mentor.

Dwayne looked around and then found the yellow switch in the place the mother grub had said it'd be. He flicked it and the three trolls watched as with a whirring sound a wide screen spun out of the ceiling. There was a slot beneath it for disk-like things and Dwayne crouched down before going through the drawers, stopping when he found one full of what looked like alien memory cards. Dwayne could feel Wesley looking over behind him.

"Well there you go, Camila. If you don't like reading you can watch educational TV."

"At leasts it's TV."

Dwayne's finger brushed through the different sections. He found a section marked 'mine' and saw various subsections like 'blog recordings', 'troll psychology' and... one marked 'Dwayne'! There was just a single card in that folder. Dwayne held it in his hands before stepping over to the TV and standing on his toes to fit it inside. The screen became static and then started playing, Dwayne felt himself go numb with anticipation.

The screen was blue, and then words started to appear.

"Hello Dwayne," Camila read out loud and then the text started on a new line "This is a recording I've left for you to help you all with your journey after I'm gone. As you know, your situation is currently dire. The completion of your mission will be a huge challenge but I trust you. I trust all of you. For the moment there are four of you, the four that I've managed to track down. The Jade Blood, Teal Blood, Bronze Blood and Purple Blood."

"Purple Blood..." Wesley mused "So Reagan's only the third highest on the hemospectrum?"

"Without my ability to sniff out blood castes you won't be able to identify them in trolls when you manage to find one," Camila continued reading but Dwayne thought morosely, we don't have a way of finding them anyway. "There are eight trolls left to find and of those left there are a few you must be wary of. The Cerulean and Indigo Bloods are blue bloods like Wesley, and they will be similarly hard to control. They will possess both violent tendencies and inhuman strength, but this is why your role is so necessary Dwayne. The Yellow Blood will have an impressive psychic ability the likes of which you haven't yet seen, but it will not compare to the Lime Blood who I will get into later. The Burgundy and Olive Bloods will perhaps be the easiest to handle, with limited abilities and typically mild temperaments. The Violet Blood will potentially be the most destructive of the trolls and posses the ability to breath in and move quickly underwater, being of a sea dweller caste like your empress the Fuchsia Blood. The Fuchsia Blood is the most unpredictable of the castes as there is little information on a long-living caste that is so sparse. She could be a kind, loving ruler or an unshakable tyrant. I fear her disposition may be what decides the fate of your mission... But the Lime Blood was created through processes of genetic modification as the caste had been once extinct. The Lime Blood's psychic powers will be unrivalled and potentially limitless, making him/her tied first place in significance to the Empress in your mission.

"Convincing the psychically gifted trolls to aid you first could help with controlling the difficult ones like Reagan. I'm afraid I have no method for you to find the other trolls" Dwayne felt himself sinking at that "You will have to manage yourself. Perhaps by monitoring the media and luring them out by travelling to different locations. But with only enough uranium for three further teleportations you must use them sparingly, and while stored with advanced technology the isotopes will completely deplete in twenty-three years. Only after you have managed to find all twelve of the trolls are you to play the red disk beneath the fake bottom of the drawer. And now that I've explained the basics of your situation I will continue with what you have to do now.

"First off – Reagan. It's imperative that she be convinced to join our objectives. She is not to be mistreated or made to suffer, that will only further to solidify her resolve. I was able to understand a lot about the highblood in the moments that she was conscious. Reagan has developed a severe chemical imbalance in her brain, but just by being isolated from humans and near others of her kind that will gradually help to mellow out her chaotic tendencies. She will always be dangerous however. But acts of kindness and compassion will hasten the-" Camila stopped reading and Dwayne turned around to see Wesley storm out of the room. The brunette girl seemed conflicted herself about what the mother grub was saying about Reagan. She looked at Dwayne's unforgiving gaze and her eyes hardened "We're never letting her out of that cage. She'll kill us all." and then she left as well, but through the opening that led to the holding cells.

Now by himself Dwayne watched the rest of the recording. Then he watched several more. He spent the whole day watching and several hours of the night sitting on the floor absorbing information and not noticing when people passed by. Several times he got a bit teary-eyed thinking about how devoted the mother grub had been to saving their species and how it wasn't fair for her to die. He felt a lot more alone without her voice of reason, and knowing keeping them all together would fall on his shoulders. Finally Dwayne got off the floor and flicked the yellow switch, sealing the TV back into the ceiling. He decided to get himself something to eat, check on Reagan, and then go back to his private room to sleep.

Actually... I did forget about the Matriorb inside the mother grub before! Thank goodness you guys are around to remind me of important plot stuff like that. Hehe... heh...