Chapter 52: Enter the Advisor Strain
It was a dry day within the summit of a red mountain, which was many miles wide, yet had a center that contained an oasis of water that benefited any life that found it. One kind of life that had found it was a small brood of surviving zerg. The brood had recently survived the wrath of an evil god, forcing the zerg to evacuate from the void that they were banished to. Miraculously, they emerged from a scientific facility which had created a doorway to the blackened space that Virid had absconded from, with only a couple overlords, several drones, a few combat strains, and an unconscious terran that had been given a transfusion of the queen's fluids.
And Virid, out of all the zerg strains that had somehow survived Amon's attack, had squirreled away from that blackened space with the surviving zerg and terran spectre she had saved, despite being disconnected from the main zerg psionic hivemind network.
But now, she was intensely staring, with great bitterness, towards a new zerg organism that was approaching the creep field that she had established. She was apparently named Othafurn, and that was all she learned from Kay's exchange. She faintly recognized her strain, remembering that another like her served as the Queen of Blade's advisor. However, this new zerg organism, that had recently appeared from the structure of light, was not a cause of jealousy to Virid. A completely different issue was bugging her for different reasons.
Othafurn eventually found the creep field that was slowly growing outward, and sighed when her long body and coiling spiked tendrils found comfort in its cool wetness. "Ah... This warm air is nice, but it's too dry and overwhelming."
Kay slowed his jog to a walk, but stopped when he was at the edge of the creep. "How do you mean?" Kay asked, curiously.
Othafurn turned to Kay as she dragged the rest of herself onto the cold creep. "In the infested facility I was spawned in, the daylight was virtually nonexistent. It was always cold there."
Kay nodded. "Ah. ... So uh... Where is that facility?"
Othafurn shook her head. "Not where. When. It is a place that used to belong, and in some cases still belongs, to a dangerous group of time travelers known as era agents, which head an organization called the Era Agency. Alas, I cannot divulge too much information at the moment. I still have a task to accomplish."
Virid crawled up to Othafurn in a confronting manner. 'Then perhaps you could explain why you haven't connected with our hivemind network when you arrived?'
Othafurn turned to Virid, steeling her expression. "I cannot right now, for my main purpose is to learn and keep vital information, and impart it to only the highest commanders of our swarm's brood." She held out the brown and green sphere she was clutching, and presented it to Virid.
Virid stared at the gross ball filled with green puss. '... Then tell me why you have came here, if you have no desire to share any information right this moment.'
"To change the future." She tore open the spore pod, the liquid within glistening in the sunlight, and emptied its contents in a wide splash. Some of the fluid had dumped onto Virid and Kay, while much of the liquid had mixed intothe creep, which was absorbed into it.
"GAUGH~!" Kay tried to brush off the liquid as fast as he could, but it was quickly caking onto his carapace in the dry air. "Othafurn, what the hell?! Uh... Oh god, it... Blugh, it's smells so bad. Like something died in an asshole, and then something else crawled into that dead something's asshole and died too. Blugh! I can't breathe!" Kay complained, bowing down and coughing afterwards.
Virid inspected this liquid substance that was solidifying onto her carapace. She could feel her body changing already, but she did not know the end result of what mutations were contained within the spore pod. She looked up at Othafurn, confusion plastered onto her face. 'What did you do?'
"I gave the zerg swarm a fighting chance." Othafurn answered. She then turned to a retching Kay and bowing. "I apologize for drenching you unexpectedly. The mutations that were contained within the spore pod had to be delivered to you in that fashion."
Kay raked the dried green ooze from his carapace, the smell still overpowering his nostrils. "Blech. Yeah, well, warn me next time, kay?"
Othafurn nodded her head and sighed. "I will remember to warn you in the future. However, now that the spore pod has been delivered, it is time to build up the brood that is here." She turned to Virid. "Virid, set clusters of four creep tumors adjacent to each other, and set them at the edge of this creep field. The creep tumor cluster will develop into a new tumor mutation that the swarm here will need."
Virid hissed in confusion. 'Why do you need me to set creep tumors so close to each other? The creep will not spread very quickly in that manner.'
"The creep tumors have gained new mutations, which will enable us to acquire more resources in less time. And the creep will spread faster than before." Othafurn replied coldly to Virid. She then turned back to Kay. "But now that the mutations have been applied to the swarm in this timeline, it is time I impart my knowledge to you."
Kay paused from cleaning off the green and smelly gunk from his person to look at Othafurn. "... Oh? Uh... Kay then. How long is this going to take?"
Othafurn slithered closer to Kay. "It will not take long, unless if you prefer to use verbal communication instead. What I have in mind is simpler. We mentally link together and psionically share what each of us have learned from our perspectives."
Kay took a step back from Othafurn. "Uh... Wait, what?"
Her slithery tendrils slithered around Kay and coiled around his body. "This needs to be done. The fate of the swarm's future depends on this exchange. If we don't perform the psionic link, then there will be no future."
Kay struggled slightly as he was brought into a firm hug. "Whoa whoa whoa, first of all, this feels a bit too intimate for my tastes. And secondly, how about you just open up to us using the hivemind connection?"
She tightened her hug, bringing her own arms to gently stroke his face. "Please, do not resist. This needs to be done. I promise that this won't hurt."
Kay blinked a few times and paused, but sighed and relaxed. "Well... Alright. Just don't make me regret lending my trust to you."
"Thank you." Othafurn said, closing her eyes and slowly bringing her face closer to Kay's. Kay felt slightly confused, but he allowed Othafurn to do what she needed to do, whatever that may be. Their foreheads connected, and the two zerg organisms became as still as statues. He couldn't understand why she wouldn't connect to the zerg hivemind connection, but it could be that she had her reasons for doing so. Then again, Kay was slowly becoming comfortable with this exchange. Virid, on the other hand, wasn't.
Even so, the last surviving queen found the furthest edge of the creep and laid four tumors that were close together. Once the creep tumors were clustered, she took notice of their ability to merge and morph into a different bio-structure, and commanded them to do so. Curious as to see what this new bio-structure looked like, she prompted the four tumors to merge, forming into a resource tumor that grew transparent veins underneath the creep, and formed slimy, translucent, legume shaped pods many seconds later. The gray and purple coloration was unusual, but she did take note that the size of the creep field also assisted and quickened their growth.
A nearby drone came up to the strange growth, prodded at the largest of these gray and purple legumes that the resource tumor created, and plucked it from its stem. The flesh tasted very much like metal, mucous and blood, but the drone greatly enjoyed the flavor of the zerg-grown flesh. Virid was both impressed, and annoyed of this new development. She was impressed, because the means to acquire more bio-matter had became easier for the zerg. But she was also annoyed, because the new zerg organism, Othafurn, that had recently joined with her brood and granted her the new tumor strain and other mutations, still kept her mind from merging with the hivemind intelligence. If a zerg queen ever had intuition, then it would be telling her that the newcomer to the swarm carried bad news with her.
Despite the ominous feeling she felt, the drone that fed on the large resource tumor legumes had formed a chrysalis. A minute and several seconds later, a hatchery had erupted from its embryonic chrysalis, the liquid filled bubble revealing its thorny form, the first of its kind to ever appear on this world... again, apparently. Virid directed another drone to collect the resource tumor's 'fruits' to deposit them onto the hatchery. The means to acquire more bio-matter by processing minerals was a faster process compared to acquiring the resource tumor's fruits, but it was preferable over using only the nutrient rich creep to feed the hatchery with. Virid sighed, knowing that she will be quite busy depositing more creep tumors to convert into resource tumors. At least more queens could assist her, if enough bio-matter was amassed to spawn one from the hatchery.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH~!"
Virid turned around in rapid response after hearing that yell. When she analyzed the sound of distress, it turned out that Kay was yelling as though he was terrified. She had no idea what Othafurn had psionically shared with Kay, or if the link between the two had somehow became awry. She rushed toward the two in the hopes of separating them quickly.
Meanwhile, within Kay and Othafurn's minds, Kay was learning of past experiences at speeds considered breakneck, except that he didn't have to move around violently at all, and was experiencing experiences that were not his own. Well... Technically speaking in a chronological difference from his own paradoxical existence. So many memories of his alternate past had came to him with great clarity, and many of such events that were witnessed by the zerg have filtered into Kay's head. He came to know the language of this world, the awkward kinship between himself and a lovechief named Kragnon, the enmity he held for the emperor known as Gollog, the changelisk that took the name of Johnny and infiltrated Baroness Tak's city called Gargantua Citadel, the defense of Red Mountain, the violent mind probe and infestation of Commander Ralkan, the battle at Empire Capitol, the destruction of Commander Faddoh's research cube known as S-01, the lengthy war between the zerg and the Kiln Keepers, the titanic battle between Commander Mecha-Kralluf and the swarm's leviathans, the siege of Emperor Gollog's Palace of Dreams, and the entire world succumbing to a flood of chrome slime that enveloped and flowed over everything.
But then there were new memories that persisted after Corvurn Junior had thrown Kay into the time gate. Future-Kay was splayed onto the slightly warm ground that he had landed on. After lifting himself off of the creep, he took notice that the temperature of the environment he was in was a lot warmer than being on the moon. It even had an atmosphere for him to breathe, even if it tasted a little stale. But still, it was such a difference in temperature that Kay couldn't stop himself from crossing his arms and holding his hands to his body.
He noticed that there was very little light in this new place he was in. Much of that light was produced by the bio-luminescence of the zerg that was stationed here. He saw that he was within an infested facility, where the hard and smooth linoleum flooring was already covered by the creep that had moved into the facility. Many of the light fixtures were either dead, replaced by bio-luminescence growths, or barely flickered due to how inefficiently maintained it was. He saw towering hydralisks that guarded the halls, and they watched Kay with what seemed like a combination of awe and loyalty. They bowed before him seconds after his arrival.
Corvurn Junior followed through the time portal that he threw Kay into, and he hovered over the recovering Kay. "... Apologies. Action needed. Little time available. Less time on moon. More time here."
Kay turned around to face Corvurn Junior and sighed. "Well... I guess you had a good reason to move me here. Huh... Uh... Where are we anyway?" He asked, looking around once more.
Corvurn Junior turned around and accessed a console, which closed the time gate that he had forced Kay through. "Infested Era Agency. Contains important information. Provides little resources, but adapted. Developed mutations in peace."
Kay paused, but then nodded a few times. "Kay... Uh. So why did you bring me here?"
Corvurn Junior turned again to face Kay. "Timeline in danger. Command organism Kay in danger. Needed to extract. Timeline nearing end point. Swarm existence, threatened. Found way to propagate swarm in new timeline. Must use unorthodox methods, difficult to track. Era agencies in alternate timelines will detect. Cannot allow."
"I see... So you brought me here because I am pivotal to your plan to give the zerg a fighting chance?" Kay guessed, tilting his head and crossing his arms behind his back.
Corvurn Junior nodded. "Correct. Time here, extended. Thirty times more. Day multiplied by thirty. Used time gate to acquire command organism Kay. Aqueous metal stalled from entering. However, timeline still in danger. Facility automated to self-terminate after ten days. Must enact solution before then."
Kay nodded as he looked down at the creep, sighing. "Hoooh... That's a heavy piece of detail to learn. If it's true that the zerg cannot survive in this timeline because of that chrome slime, then I think I can agree to using time travel to fix a few problems." He looked back up to Corvurn Junior. "So what did you learn from this facility, and what's your plan to ensure the survival of the zerg?"
Corvurn Junior lead the way through the facility, while Kay tagged along. "Facility contained knowledge regarding time travel. How to operate time gate. Taught how temporal radiation works. Methods of temporal shift detection. Methods of defending against temporal incursions and recursions. Time sand substance contained interesting isotopes. Somewhat difficult to understand, but can be manipulated. Performed extensive analysis of agency research and covert operations. Agents thorough in their roles. However, swarm unaccounted for. Facility quickly infested. Agents and staff, infested. Knowledge shared through hivemind connection. Gained much information. Password locked files accessed, revealing further information."
"And we have about three hundred days to come up with an answer to surviving the destruction of this timeline." Kay said, nodding as he walked with Corvurn Junior. "But why bring me here in the first place?"
"Seemed appropriate." Corvurn Junior answered. "Command organism Kay contains many experiences and memories. Could share with past self. However, problem detected. Sufficient temporal radiation creates unstable time loops. Era agencies can detect unstable temporal radiation. Must create stable alternate time. Avoid detection, if possible."
"Ah, I see. Well, since you brought me here in the hopes that I can help you stall the death of me and our swarm, then I see no harm in trying to assist in preventing our extinction." Kay said, noting that they have reached the outside of the building that he had appeared in. Kay saw that the infested Era Agency building was surrounded by a chromatic dome, which allowed no light from the purple hexagonal moon. The darkness within this dome was alleviated with the bio-luminescent glow of the zerg, and they had already adapted to living in the low-light conditions. Kay took note of the hatcheries and the other bio-structures that were grown within this 'time-locked' facility. Many of the overlords had adapted to hover low to the ground, or else they would be subjected to the time dilation field that was projected over the infested agency facility. But without this time dilation field that dissipated matter on the molecular scale, the overlords would have be torn into molecules by the chrome slime instead.
Corvurn Junior shook his head. "Extinction unfavorable. However, time travel unveils worse fates. Existential annihilation. Time travel contains dangerous qualities. Can rewrite history. Swarm could cease from events. Swarm could never infest Red Mountain. Must prepare for possible scenarios. Analise all data. Prepare for contingencies. Brace for incursions and recursions."
Kay nodded and sighed. "Yeah, it kind of sucks that time travel can be a double-edged sword if you don't know what you're doing. To be honest, I don't have the expertise like any of the time traveling assassins that once plagued the zerg. All I know is how to be an infiltration agent with my ghost training, and use my psionic powers to read minds and move objects." He said, shrugging.
Corvurn Junior dismissively waved his hand. "Three hundred days time. Plenty for planning all contingencies. Can discuss strategies."
Kay smiled and stretched his arms. "Three hundred days, huh? Heh. I guess that gives me some time to relax! Do you think you can bring Virid and your dad here? Maybe even some other gilanians that might deserve to be saved?"
Corvurn Junior shook his head. "Impossible. Time gate requires temporal energy. Nearly exhausted. Rare energy source. Difficult to collect. Had enough energy to bring command organism Kay."
Kay stared at the evolution master, but then sighed and slouched. "Crap. I can already tell that the coming three hundred days are going to be INCREDIBLY boring. And... Not only that, it's going to be a rather depressing three hundred days too. Hoooh... Do you think there are any intact board games in this facility?"
Corvurn Junior paused for several seconds before shrugging. "Unknown. Also, unnecessary distraction. Prefer to plan now."
Kay sighed again. He somehow knew that being in the company of an evolution master for three hundred days was going to create some adverse effects to his psyche. He doesn't even know when the topic of finally leaving the infested era agency comes. But if the topic does come, Kay would have to brace himself for what he might need to sacrifice to escape extinction.
Kay could feel searing pain all around his head, and it was at such an intensity that he couldn't feel the rest of his body. He wrested himself out of Othafurn's mental link and struggled with every ounce of strength he could muster to return his control to his own body. He was delirious when he became self aware, but he couldn't help but scream in his sudden agony. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH~!"
Othafurn was pushed away violently, forcing her to fall down an release her embracing hold on Kay. It was at that moment that Virid had entered into the scene, right where Kay freaked out and escaped Othafurn's coils. 'What have you done to him?' Virid questioned Othafurn, already prepping her wings to fling acidic spines if she was given an answer she didn't like.
Othafurn raised her hands and her giant hair tendrils defensively. "Please understand! The mental exchange needed to be formed to transfer my knowledge to him!"
'Then why did he scream in pain? Explain, or I will end you.' Virid warned, trilling and hissing at Othafurn.
"GAH, FUCKING HELL THAT HURT!" Kay shouted, holding up his head and shaking it. He staggered forward, but he regained his bearings and sighed. "Othafurn, why did you fucking lie about the link being painless?! It felt like I had my head chopped off and then put inside of a washing machine set on hot!"
Othafurn sighed and pouted. "I apologize. It was the only way I knew to get you to agree. I really needed to transfer my information to you as quickly as possible."
"Yeah, well, thanks for the info of my future self, but that was not fun in any way whatsoever. Gawh... I feel like I got a crick in my neck now!" Kay said, walking away and rubbing the back of his neck's nape.
Othafurn shook her head. "The transfer of information is incomplete, however. You backed out of the mental link too soon."
Kay shook his head and waved his finger at Othafurn. "Ah-ah-ah, no. I can tell that I'll experience that same migraine if we make that mental link again, so I refuse to do that again."
Othafurn righted herself up. "But the remaining information of your alternate self..."
Kay sighed. "Can wait, Othafurn." He said as he walked up to a red cave, looking it up and down. "But thank you for giving me the important details that I needed. I didn't know that there was so much going on in this world."
Virid crawled up to Kay with her head cocked. 'What did you learn from the mental link?'
Kay turned to Virid and shook his head. "Not enough time to explain right now. We need to grow our cluster and prepare for a fight we might lose if we don't adapt soon. Virid, I want you to make more of those resource tumors, and spawn more drones, queens and overlords to assist. Once we have enough bio-matter, create a carbonation extractor near the hatchery. Developing the hatchery into a hive is our highest priority right now. After that, we can develop two more hatcheries to turn into hives, then morph five evolution chambers, five greater spires, and the other bio-structures that unlocks the other strains."
Virid blinked and stared at Kay with surprise. '... Whatever Othafurn has shared with you within that mental link, it's making me regret less about inadvertently turning you into my co-commander of our swarm.'
Kay smirked and shrugged. "If the future I have learned has any merit to our situation, it's that I get to have the upper hand over our enemies."
'We have enemies?!' Virid asked incredulously.
Kay nodded. "Indeed. Also, I think you should verbally talk more often. When we are face-to-face like this, or when you're in the company of a friendly non-zerg, or friendly non-telepaths, then you are to limit your communication abilities to using sound, unless it was for something important or urgent. Understand?"
Virid tilted her head at Kay. '... But I have not verbally talked once. How did you know that I could communicate through sounds?'
Kay chuckled. "You can blame Othafurn for that. Now if you don't mind, I got a hidden village to find. Send some drones into this cave when you have grown them, and grow the creep into this cave too while you're at it." He then turned around and headed into the entrance of the red cave, a determined step to his march.
Virid was surprised with the events that had been occurring recently. With Othafurn inviting herself into Kay and Virid's brood, Kay became incredibly driven by what Othafurn had shared with him. Before her arrival, Kay was too relaxed and too aloof in his newly appointed duty to the swarm. ... Well... He was still somewhat relaxed and aloof, but it seemed like he was given a kick to his butt which had sent him into motion. Virid could FEEL the will emitting from his psionic connection to the hivemind.
But she also still had a pang of doubt within her carapaced self. Now that Othafurn had mentally linked with Kay, he too was withholding the memories that he had learned from the mental link, and keeping it separate from the hivemind. She couldn't put her clawed finger on it, but she knew that something was still off, and it was only going to become more obvious in the future. This new future might even develop the zerg into something that the swarm's supposed enemies cannot easily adapt to. But at the moment, she could only allow this scenario to play itself out, and she will be ready to react when the time is right.
At this moment in time, however, she has a few questions to ask from a very specific zerg organism. After she is done growing the hive cluster, of course.
A/N: Plague Inc: Evolved sounds like a fun steam game. :3
