Chapter 2: Reluctance and Rage

The former spectre, now a transformed zerg organism, sat next to the shoreline of a freshwater spring. He rested there for an hour, meditating on his memories and contemplating on a moral decision.

From the disjointed history that he could glance from his own mind, there was very little that he could decipher from. From the glimpses of his childhood, he could tell that he used to live on a city world. Someplace called... Tar-something? He was then chosen for a program that ended up unlocking something within him and several others. Then they were locked away. And then freed by some guy called Jim. But that was about the most of the things he remembered at the moment. And yet, he has not remembered what his name used to be. What little remained of his childhood. What family he had, if he ever had them at all. Not even a birthday. Just glimpses of a fractured past, many shards of memory already lost.

He wasn't truly sure if he could trust the zerg queen creature with what it said. But then again... with the lack of memories he could go on, it was the only creature he could rely on to get his memories back, and perhaps eventually return to their respective factions. But then came the moral dilemma: Should he help a zerg queen spread the swarm? Despite his new zerg instincts telling him that he should, the ounces of humanity that still clung to his mind shouted in refusal. On one hand, the zerg queen did save his life. But on the other hand, it did strip much of his humanity and turned him into a zerg organism. On one hand, he could help it to try and get back to their respective factions. On the other hand, the queen might end up using him to assimilate countless worlds and expand the zerg territories. On one hand, the zerg queen seemed to be allowing free will to the former spectre. On the other hand, it could be a ploy to get him to agree with helping it expand its hive cluster colonies.

... But should the former spectre decline its offer, then he wouldn't be able to use zerg assets to try and figure out a way to get back. Doing things alone didn't seem like a good idea for the moment. And right now, he was presented the opportunity to guide and command the zerg, who is otherwise in a similar boat as him. The queen found a means to exit the darkened space before becoming completely dissolved, broke out of some lizard-man facility, found a place that had a supply of water, and was now trying to recover after an arduous battle with a god. And all he essentially did was sleep through it all.

With a sigh, he calmed his mind and made his decision.

Calming his mind and closing his eyes, sitting in a cross-cross position, the former spectre took the queen's advice and was now trying to focus on accessing the zerg hivemind psionic connection.

The first thing he saw was nothing, save for the small amount of light that danced on his eyelids, thanks to the reflections of the freshwater spring. However, the more his mind calmed, the more he noticed other forms of lights that was not from the sun or the water's reflection. It was more like... Stars. Stars made of pinpoint thought.

He then saw, from his own mind, stars of consciousness a fair distance away from him. He could feel them as though they were sentient things. One of such lights, slightly bigger than the others, suddenly brightened and illuminated him with its awareness. It was similar to the feeling of having a flashlight turned on and shined directly into the face. But instead of being shined in the face, it was more like having one's mind brightened by the sudden awareness of another mind. 'Hmm? Do you want to talk?'

"Guh!?" The former spectre shouted, hearing a feminine, yet venomous and alien voice speaking right next to him. "Who said that?"

'Don't mewl so much, spectre.' The feminine voice hissed. 'I am telepathically communicating to you through the swarm psionic hivemind connection.'

The former spectre paused, but sighed and calmed down. "So this is how you talk with one another? ... Huh. Kind of weird."

'From what I understand before my severance from the main swarm's hivemind connection, the spectres would talk to each other like this in times of emergency. But even then, I wouldn't understand the human need for individuality. Such an evolutionary trait is counter-productive for the swarm.'

"... Kay, if you say so. But uh..." The former spectre shuffled back into a sitting position before speaking again. "I was thinking through my situation and have came to a conclusion."

'What is it?' the queen asked in a curious, but contempt manner.

"I will help you with establishing a hive cluster. But in return, I want you to tell me anything and everything you know. Specifically about my past, if possible. If what you say is true that you found me partially dissolved, then it's possible that I might be suffering more than just permanent brain damage and amnesia."

'Our regeneration can only do so much for a broken mind. You should know that when I found you, you were but a torso, an arm, a leg, and had a partially empty skull. Your newfound regeneration and my transfusion could repair some of the damage, but your soft skull meat was beyond complete restoration.' The queen said, almost sounding... saddened by this fact. Almost.

The former spectre sighed. "Kay then... How much of my brain had been dissolved anyway? Did you look at the damage?"

'I didn't take an extensive look, but the cavity looked pretty hollow.' The queen said in a matter-of-factly way.

The former spectre got up, opened his eyes and walked toward the direction where much of the consciousness stars he sensed were. "What about the faction I was from? Any info on that?"

'The terrans are an unusual race of primitive primates. A young species on the cusp of developing their psionic powers. They had a reliance on technology, but were capable of an ingenuity that had somehow triumphed over our swarm and the protoss several times. The swarm was at war with them and the protoss, but recent evidence suggested that ruin would come to all if we did not combine our efforts in a truce. The truce was formed in order to defeat an even greater enemy.' The queen said.

The former spectre nodded as he trundled along, noticing a somewhat recognizable patch of dull gray/purple ground just ahead of him. "Alright, I get it. This 'Amon' guy must have been this greater enemy. He sounds like he's done something pretty villainous to piss off the protoss and you guys."

'Amon would combine the zerg and protoss into a single species, then use the hybrids to recreate existence in his own image. Such would result in the death of the swarm. This was something that the former Queen of Blades would not allow.'

"Queen of Blades, huh? Where have I heard that before?"

'Before her transformation into a swarm command organism, she was known by the terrans, and us, as The Kerrigan.'

"Kerrigan... Kerrigan... I think her full name was... Sarah Louise Kerrigan, right? Hrmph. Wasn't she something before she became the queen of all zerg?" The former spectre asked, stepping on creep and noting how disgusting it was. Oddly enough, the slimy ground stuff seemed to make him move faster. For some reason, he had thought that the creep would slow him down or make him slip. He could literally skate on the stuff, becoming ridged with each step, then becoming slick when he slid forward. There must be tiny, oily, slippery collections of filaments within this zergified slime mould to do such a thing!

'She is what you would once call a Confederate ghost. From what I understand from the brief glimpse of your terran history, spectres were once ghosts at some point as well. But other than her third transformation into a xel'naga, and giving her command of the swarm to the broodmother Zagara, that is the extent of my knowledge on you and the terran species.' the queen said, seeming to sigh.

"Kay. Well... Thank you for the brief history lesson from a zerg perspective. I suppose I should honor my end of the agreement. What do you need help with?" The former spectre asked, nearing the center of the creep field and finally finding a collection of monsters located there.

As he arrived, he saw the zerg queen grooming a hydralisk's carapace. The hydralisk was a serpentine shaped creature, whose constantly grinning face showed an array of deadly sharp teeth and long-fanged mandibles. It sported two scythed claws with three blades on each arm. Its elongated cranial skull gave it its recognizable look, as it also housed needle thin spines that shot out of discreet flaps on its head at deadly supersonic speeds. When the former spectre came close, the hydralisk turned to hiss at the intruder before remaining still for his grooming to continue. The former spectre was thankful that this... monster... was on his side. Or was not attacking him, at least.

The queen continued with her grooming duty. 'We are in a need to find mineral deposits and vespene geysers. But alas, we haven't ventured very far from the creep as of yet. We needed to recover, as some of the swarm organisms that did manage to survive are still extensively wounded.'

The former spectre nodded. "What kind of forces do we have available?"

When she was done grooming the hydralisk, it slithered away. The queen turned to the former spectre and spoke through the hivemind psionic connection. 'We currently have myself, the hydralisk that you just saw, two zerglings, eight drones and two overlords.'

"Resources?"

'Virtually none.'

"Hmm... Kay. I'll have to admit, this is not the most optimal of conditions." The former spectre said, walking forward with a hand on his chin in thought. "... I feel as though the zerg can do so much more. Can the drones turn into stuff, or something?"

'Yes, though I would not call their transformations 'stuff'. The drones have the ability to transform into hatcheries, becoming living organic structures, among other things. However, without mineral crystal deposits, we are unable to rapidly morph larvae into the necessary zerg strains. To put it as simple as possible, we require more minerals.' the queen said, trilling softly.

"Huuuuuh..." The former spectre sighed, sifting through his mock-hair with his fingers carefully. "... Well this sucks. I don't know how to proceed in the most efficient way possible without any mineral deposits present. ...Hmm." The spectre knelt and dug into the creep covered sand. The creep, as expected, started filling up the ground that had been sifted. However, this gave him a small idea. "... Perhaps the creep can extract minerals from the sand?"

The queen mimicked the former spectre's hand-to-chin gesture. 'That process is a slow method of extracting minerals. Much of the sand granules contains little metals and minerals to extract, since its composition is mainly silica. ... But it can be doable.'

"Speaking of extract... I noticed that we are pretty close to a freshwater spring. I'm not a geologist, but perhaps we could place an extractor on top of it and extract some gas." The former spectre suggested.

'It is not a vespene geyser.' the queen deadpanned.

The former spectre turned around to face the zerg queen. "I know it's not vespene, but it's a better alternative than nothing. If the zerg are able to use vespene gas to evolve into the more dangerous strains, then perhaps using whatever volcanic gas that comes out the spring could do the same. Lets just start collecting some and see what we can do with it."

The queen paused before sighing and bowing. 'As you command.'

Before she got the chance to turn away to give the necessary commands to the remaining zerg, the former spectre stopped her. "Actually, there might be mineral and metal ores located in the cave and in the surrounding rock of this summit. Could benefit all of us to take a look."

The queen bowed once more and took the chance to take her leave. The former spectre decided to sit back and use his hivemind connection to see how the zerg would act once they were given instructions.

The former spectre's mind waded in the sea of consciousness and saw the stars of conscious beings that belonged to the other zerg organisms. When tapping further into the consciousness of the zerg's psionic connection that formed the hivemind, the former spectre could even see the environment through the other zerg organisms. It was like the stars of consciousness produced lights that expanded and chased away a dark fog with their awareness, giving way to a landscape that was more three-dimensional than what two sets of eyes could ever decipher. It was very similar to a top-down tactical view of the area. The overlords noticed the former spectre's intrusion into their hivemind network. Their grumblings caught his attention.

The giant creatures were large in size, having six hanging legs that dangled, and sported two large pincers that seemed capable of crushing a man in half. The former spectre doubted that those pincers could do such a thing, since they seemed more specialized in carrying zerg organisms or delivering them into their ventral sacs. The size of the organisms were hard to believe, since they appeared to be the size of a large house. Perhaps even a small mansion. It was also hard to believe that such organisms were weightless due to the amount of helium and hydrogen they store within themselves to keep afloat. The former spectre figured that they must also use weak psionic manipulation to propel themselves forwards, upwards, downwards, or in any direction. "Uh... Hi? Mind if I use you guys to patrol the summit's caldera?"

'We, the overlords, obey the We who command.' said the overlords, burbling and grunting in unison.

The former spectre paused before nodding his head. "... Kay? Um... If that's a fancy way of saying 'yes', then go ahead and do a perimeter check. Let me see through your eyes as you explore. ... If that's not too much trouble?"

'The we obey the We that says Kay.' the overlords said, moving away from the former spectre to inspect the environment.

The former spectre raised an eyebrow. Despite the rather snide and caustic way the queen speaks with, the overlords were... delightfully simplistic, yet ominously archaic. It was beyond what he originally expected on how they think or comunicate.

'I see that you have taken command of the overlords.' A zerg queen said, of which was already giving out orders to six of the drones to skim the surface of the creep. They were feeding two drones in particular, forcing them to eat gooey and firm sludge. The former spectre knows this because his awareness had already shifted to focus on the queen, just as hers was shifted onto him.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I have to admit, it's a very liberating feeling. Instant, precise, and efficient."

What felt like a smidgen of flattery was sprinkled toward the former spectre. 'Then would this mean you appreciate becoming one with the swarm?'

"Hey hey hey now, I didn't say that." The former spectre said, shaking his hands to no one in particular. "I might have forgotten much about my history, but I would guess any terran worth their weight might not be very appreciative of being turned into a zerg critter, even if it meant that they could speak through the zerg hivemind psionic network, like we are doing."

The zerg queen sighed. 'You terrans are already developing your psionic abilities. It would only be a matter of time before they develop a network using their psionic potential. But such an evolution is slow, compared to the swarm.'

The former spectre took his turn to sigh. "Kay... I'm guessing terrans and zerg are very different from one another, depending on perspective. We, with our humanity, and you guys with your... Uh... Whatever you guys have. Zerganity?"

'These foolish thoughts are not conducive or efficient to our cause. If you attempt to disrupt my efforts in establishing a hive-cluster, or prevent our eventual return to the main hivemind, then I will instruct the two remaining zerglings to stay at your side and remind you to not perform any disruptive actions to my efforts.'

The former spectre scoffed. "Really? Heh! That sounds like something a zerg queen would say! One that is closely in touch with their zerganity, in fact!"

'Teasing a zerg organism is never a good idea, former terran. Be thankful that you are now part of the swam, or I would have slated you for extinction at this very moment.' The queen warned.

"... Kay." The former spectre said, sighing as he decided to go back into the cave he had awoken from.

'Since you are so fixated on trying to remember your past, perhaps you can call yourself 'Kay' for the moment?' The zerg queen suggested.

The former spectre chuckled. "Sounds appropriate. But that can change later, you know?" He said, caressing the reddish rock walls that made up the mouth of the cave and further within. "But here's a question for you. What do I call you?"

'I was not given a name. Newly formed broodmothers, and long lived zerg organisms, are the only creatures that are given names.'

Venturing deeper into the cave, he could already see the indentation in the sand that signified where he had arisen from. "Still, if you're gonna be calling me by a name you designated for me, it only seems appropriate for me to give you one. How do you feel about... Virid?"

'... Virid?' The queen said in a puzzled way.

"Yeah."

'Why Virid?'

"I dunno. Seems appropriate. When I saw you for the first time, you were next to some very green looking bushes. Plus, the word itself is too fancy for any backwater terran to use in casual conversation anyway. And since many of them hicks wouldn't understand what the word virid means, it would come to my reasoning that I wouldn't understand why you bother with turning me into an infested terran. Hence: Virid." Kay explained.

A mental huff emanated from the queen. '... I will allow my new name to be Virid.'

"Glad we can come to an understanding." Kay said, venturing deeper into the cave. He didn't venture far since sand blocked his path, preventing him from descending deeper. "... Could you send a drone to the cave I am in? I'm thinking about excavating all this sand out of here. Maybe find some ore deposits."

'As you command.' Virid said. After a minute or so later, another zerg organism was in Kay's presence.

This zerg organism was unusual in appearance, which was to be expected when one is to look upon any of the zerg strains. This one in particular wasn't very dangerous looking however, since it had two oversized pincers and webbed legs that danced on the ground as though it was floating above it... Actually, Kay was pretty sure that the drone was floating because of a gravity disrupting organ inside itself. Its face was ugly, just like the rest of the zerg strains. It had six eyes and a sideways mouth which opened apart for its flicking tongue, wetting its mouth as it languidly flop around, which was surrounded by four jutting teeth. As it approached, the creature looked up at Kay. 'Need me?'

"Yeah." Kay turned and pointed at the reddish sand that filled the tunnel. "I would like to know if this cave reaches into a deeper system of caverns. You are to start digging out as much sand as you can. Got that?"

The drone looked at the sand in the filled tunnel. Then it looked at Kay. Then it looked back at the tunnel again. A slight pause later, the drone crawled forward and started sifting its pincers into the sand. 'Me dig!'

"... Um... Kay. You do that." Kay said, noting that drones were somehow even more simpleminded than the overlords. Although, if Kay wanted to be honest, he was curious as to how the other zerg strains thought patterns would be like.

'Complex orders are never a concern for the simpler minded strains. All they need is a command to follow.' Virid said.

"Hey, it's my first time being a zerg with an intact human will. Cut me some slack." Kay whined.

Virid sighed. 'Don't make me regret my decision of turning you into a swarm commander.'

"Reap what you sow, as the old expression goes." Kay said aloud, watching the drone deliver pincer-fulls of sand. Similar to handfuls of sand, except pincers. "Since you saved my life and brought me into this mess, I suppose I'm now your problem, and in your debt too."

'Where did that expression come from?' Virid asked.

"... Huh. You know, I don't really know where it came from. It's just something that some people of the past I remembered say to me sometimes." Kay said, deciding to leave the cave and let the drone work unsupervised. Technically, the drone was still being supervised since it was connected to the zerg hivemind's psionic network.

'... I will slate this train of thought as another disruption to our goal. Must I fetch the zerglings to keep you in check?'

"Oh, the zerganity~." Kay dryly said. As he left the red cave, he decided to ask what Virid's progress was... But he could already see that the drones were still skimming the surface of the creep fields and feeding what was collected to the two drones. By now, one of the drones went to the direction of the spring, while the other formed a chrysalis around itself on the spot. The overlords that Kay had sent was still circling the entire summit of the mountain's caldera, slowly expanding their search pattern that covered an area that expanded to a few square kilometers of ground. It was truly a large and impressive mountain.

PANIC!

Kay could feel that there was an attack, but he didn't register the feeling completely at first. "Uh... What is happening?!"

'Our forces are under attack!' Virid shouted, directing her awareness immediately toward the pain that a consciousness was experiencing.

Kay followed her mental focus and directed his mental vision in the same direction. He could see, from an overlord's perspective, that it was stabbed on its side with an incredibly sharp object. From the overlord's self inspection, the sharp object was a small piercing projectile that appeared to be something akin to a crossbow bolt. After searching through the overlord's synaptic eyesight, Kay saw its attackers.

Three hunched figures came out of hiding, wearing drab colored rags, tan leather armor, and red triangular flags worn on their shoulders and back. They carried with them unusual weapons, but Kay could determine that the crossbow that one of them carried was the offending weapon that struck the overlord. Their body shape was something less than humanoid, since they traveled on digitigrade legs. Their faces were scaled and black, yet partially spotted yellow, and their tongues flicked vigorously.

A deep pang of anger seeped into Kay as he looked upon these creatures. It was a powerful emotion of alien anger. Kay quickly understood that this anger was from the collective members of the zerg swarm, amplified and shared by their hivemind connection. "Virid. Are these lizard-men from the facility you escaped from?"

'They look different from what I remember.' Virid replied. 'The lizard-men we first saw had white and sterile cloth upon themselves. These ones are adorned with what appears to be a hunter's garb. Perhaps ceremonial armor? The design is crude and primitive.'

"In any case, they attacked us." Kay said, surprising even himself when he said that. "... We'll attack them if they keep attacking us, but I don't want to kill them unless we have to."

'The overlord has been poisoned.' Virid reported.

Kay diverted his attention back to the overlord and saw that its health was slightly fading. The poison was ineffectual, but he could tell that the poison within that crossbow bolt was strong enough to counteract the healing capability of a zerg organism. In fact, the overlord's health began dwindling ever since it was hit with the crossbow bolt! The overlord was commanded by Virid to float back to the safety of the creep fields, even though the lizard-men kept on following their poisoned prey. Kay felt like he had an idea on what they are. "They don't seem like the scientist types. They seem more like hunters. Lets send them a message that the zerg are a protected species."

Kay could have swore he could hear the confusion in Virid's mental voice. 'Who is protecting us?'

"We protect our own." Kay said, surprising himself yet again as he ran out of the cave to meet with these lizard-man hunters.

A/N: Was starting to develop a headache as of writing this. Please send me a review as to how I can make my writing better please. That way I can go back and correct any mistakes I have made.

Enjoying yourselves so far? :3c