Chapter 8: Snakes in the Sand

Kay was sitting in a criss cross position on the bare sand inside the red cave. He was psionically controlling the creep to recede, giving himself a creep-less place to sit on.

Kay seemed to have a slight aversion to creep. He didn't know why for whatever reason. Perhaps it was simply because he had a hazy memory of an incident relating to creep from some long time ago? Though he couldn't remember why he had an aversion to it, he was also slowly recognizing his own instinctual responses that were related to his diminished human memories. From what he understood, this is what usually happens when the human side of his mind is allowed to take command, whereas the zerg hivemind just bides its time, jumping in on instinct when the need to fight is required.

But even so, he was grossly focused on trying to understand the current situation. Especially in regards to the 'Crescent Arms Division' forward base, which was 10 kilometers southwest from his current position.

Apparently, there were a lot of important high-value people at the base Kay felt needed to be surveyed. Phelioc, the colonel that seems to be in charge of running the forward base, was an immediate high-value person that required some spying on. Virid would do well to have the infestor follow him around to acquire as much information as possible. The roach that was already at the forward base, soon to be joined by another roach in around an hour, would keep track of the other soldiers and their patrol patterns.

With the various conversations that took place in and around the command tent, Kay was slowly beginning to see the wider picture. As it stands, Kay's knowledge of this gilanian-inhabited world followed as thus:

Raxa is a captain that lead Patrol number 20, and had his hand struck by a hydralisk spine recently.
Phelioc is a Colonel of the Crescent Arms Division.
Pallax is a general of the 'Four Armies'.
There was a commander mentioned, named Kralluf.
There was an emperor mentioned, named Gollog.
There is a faction mentioned, called the Cube Research Division.
And there was an empire, called the 'Golden Star Empire'.

And they happened to be on an artificial prison planet, its people calling it 'The Kiln Prison System'. But it was also widely known by its nickname 'Kiln'.

Kay sighed long and tiredly. Apparently, he had gotten himself in between two factions in a military operation. The gilanian general had sent Phelioc to capture the hidden water spring tribe in order to take their reservoir, and that the tribe was located somewhere on the mountain that Kay and Virid's swarm happened to be settling on. Kay wasn't sure if he and Virid should hightail it out of here, since he wasn't familiar with the capabilities of Kiln's gilanian military.

But the zerg were incredibly adaptable. They can tank nearly everything, and be able to match or outmatch their enemy's strengths. The only true threat to the zerg is this emperor finally understanding that Kay and Virid's swarm are more dangerous in superior numbers. Alas, it was only a matter of time till the zerg grows to its full-strength, and become capable of overcoming any threat that dares try to eliminate them.

And now, whether Kay wanted it to be or not, he is now part of that swarm.

Kay sighed. "Virid." He asked. "Were you able to collect any important information from our neighbors?"

Virid was tending to the lair with four, soon to be five, queens, but she divided her attention to share whatever information she had gathered from the gilanian forward base. 'There are four military branches that is commanded by a gilanian named General Pallax. The military branches he fields consists of four 'divisions'. Commander Kralluf is the one in charge of the Crescent Arms Division, and he commands the division for the purposes of taking territories and resources in their emperor's name. There are three other divisions that has different focuses. The Cube Research Division, commanded by a commander named Faddoh, is responsible for protecting and funding research outposts and science laboratories. Then there are the two other divisions that I have investigated with the help of the infestor, roach, and a sneaky changeling that accessed their computer systems. The third division is the Torus Chain Division. The commander that heads this division is named Ralkan, and he is responsible for defending and policing the populated areas that has joined Emperor Gollog, as well as protecting any locations deemed vitally important to the empire. The fourth division belongs to Commander Guik. She is in charge of the personal defense of the emperor, and manages the resources of all territories owned in his name. However, the warriors in this division also functions as the emperor's personal assassins. This division is called the Pyramidal Guard Division.'

Kay nodded his head as the information was fed to him. "Seems like these lizard-men have a heavy focus on geometric shapes. Crescent, cube, torus and pyramid. Huh."

'One of them is female. They are not all lizard-men.' Virid added.

Kay shrugged and got up, deciding to walk to the freshwater spring. "Excuse me for being racist then. Or uh... sexist rather. ...Although, to be fair, I don't think I ever saw a gilanian woman before."

'Will you let me continue with my report?' Virid hissed impatiently.

"Oh... Uh... Yeah, sure, go ahead." Kay replied dumbly. He gazed upon the surface of the freshwater spring, wondering if its calm waters would be quickly leeched by the advancing carpet of creep.

Virid mentally sighed before continuing. 'This area we are in has been contested for over several years now. They say a group called the Hidden Water Spring Tribe occupies this land, and have been avoiding and fighting the Crescent Arms Division's takeover efforts with guerrilla warfare. Progress in scouting the terrain is slow for them, and resources within this desert is limited to the forward base positioned southwest of us. From what I have heard with the help of the burrowed zerg strains, their progress have been inexorably slowed by the wildlife that haunts this mountain. They are also awaiting for a convoy that is transporting a certain item that can assist in the delivery of resources and more soldiers.'

"... Like a... conveyor belt over the sand?" Kay asked, now deciding to walk to the hatchery that had evolved into a lair.

'No. The name they gave it is 'the MEM device'.' Virid answered.

"... The fuck? Is that, like, an acronym for something?" Kay asked, already reaching the lair bio-structure. It was a relatively short walk.

'I have no clue. But if I were to guess its purpose, it is something that is bad for us.' Virid replied.

"Uh huh. Did you learn anything else about them? You know, stuff on their cultural habits and the like?" He asked, watching Virid and the queens tending the larvae and lair. Another drone had cocooned itself next to the lair.

Virid nodded. 'This gilanian species has placed great importance on water. They would try to hoard it, and even use it as currency. On a desert world, it is both a precious resource, and commodity.'

"Oh... That actually explains that 'two drops' comment that Phelioc guy said." Kay said, remembering that part of the conversation in the previous chapter.

'They also practice slavery. They have a class of gilanian called 'slave-masters', but I know not much else other than that.'

"Slave-masters? Wow! They are almost as bad as the zerg! ... Almost." Kay chuckled, palming his face and shaking his head.

'From the computer systems, a changeling was able to discover much more about the world we are on. There are 38 populated areas that are loyal to Gollog, 3 that are currently being invaded by the Crescent Arms Division, and 14 confirmed populations that are neutral. The area that we are in is owned by a neutral population, of which the Crescent Arms Division has confirmed belongs to the Hidden Water Spring Tribe.' Virid explained.

"So wait a minute..." Kay interrupted, approaching the lair and leaning on one of its large outer 'thorn-teeth' that protruded from its base. "Would that mean the three hunters we first encountered came from that hidden tribe? And what about that flying machine we saw earlier? Would that plane be connected to them?"

The zerg lair twitched and knocked Kay off of itself. Apparently, it didn't liked to be leaned on. Virid took a break from injecting growth hormones into the lair to approach Kay. 'It's possible. We now have a need to find the hidden gilanian tribe. If we eliminate the smaller foe, we can focus on protecting our hive cluster from even less threats.'

Kay slowly stood up after being knocked from his leaning spot, sighing. "Oh... That's just great. And all we have at our disposal is a slowly growing army of zerglings, and a select few zerg strains we were able to make with barely enough accelerant. I suppose we should count ourselves lucky that we are in between two enemies."

'Lucky or not, it is better to be prepared.' Virid said, a bio-structure erupting next to the lair. In the span of their entire conversation, a spire was born. It was birthed slightly behind schedule. A slight recession of resources was difficult to work with, after all.

The zerg bio-structure, designated as a 'spire', looked like a rooted jellyfish that was covered in carapace and thorns. Appearing to hover over the ground with thin tendrils that anchored the weightless 'main body' of the bio-structure to the creep, the stationary zerg organism would provide the necessary adaptations that the whole zerg swarm required. In fact, its main purpose is to provide the necessary mutations to flying zerg strains, and provide new combat strains. The mutalisk and the corruptor specifically.

However, the accelerant extracted from the extractor on the freshwater spring is a trickling resource that both Kay and Virid had to manage carefully. Kay knew that Virid needed the spire bio-structure for the mutations it provided. The overlords and overseers definitely needed a more tougher carapace to protect themselves.

Kay imagined what a sky full of mutalisks, corruptors, brood lords and guardians would look like. It might be amazing from a zerg perspective, and possibly quite horrifying to anything and everything else.

But the zerg guardians were a bit trickier to gestate and deploy since they were, at the moment, unable to be spawned. Even with a spire available, unlocking the strain still required an extra element before the strain could be accessed. Only a master of evolution has the ability to unlock such a powerful unit.

Kay took a deep breath and sighed. "... Alright. Since we need to give ourselves an advantage, how about setting up the five evolution chambers to try and spawn ourselves an evolution master?"

Virid cocked her head and clasped her claws together excitedly. 'Yes... Spawning our own evolution master to help us would be wonderful. But we have nowhere near enough resources to spawn one.'

Kay nodded his head, turning away. "Kay... How long do we have to wait until we have enough?"

Virid paused, making calculations before continuing. 'It would take us seven days from now to gather enough bio-matter and accelerant to spawn the evolution master. We could save up some of our bio-matter, but we must refrain from using any of our accelerant all the while.'

Kay looked down and huffed. "Dammit. Using up our limited supply of accelerant isn't helping our situation, isn't it?"

Virid shook her head. 'It is not. If we refrained from spending any more accelerant until we have stored enough to spawn an evolution master, we would be left vulnerable.'

"Ohhhhhhhhh man..." Kay said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What to do, what to do... We need a more efficient means of gaining accelerant, yet there is none that I know of."

'We can always transport an overlord to carry drones to a new location.' Virid offered.

Kay scoffed. "Like where? The moon? We don't even know if it is a moon!" He said, gesturing to the white hexagon in the night sky.

'It would take but a few days of uninterrupted travel. With any luck, it will ensure a safe, anaerobic environment for a hive cluster to form.' Virid answered. 'But... We don't know if it has resources we can use.'

Kay sighed again and walked back and forth between virid and the lair. "Hmm..." The decision to send overlords and drones to occupy the hexagonal moon was a hard one. On one hand, the zerg would be able to create a safe forward base that they can create and station their forces on. But on the other hand, the hexagonal moon might not contain any resources to capitalize on. After much mediation between different scenarios, Kay had finally came to a decision. "We send two overlords up with ventral sacks filled with drones and a queen each. You and I will remain here unless we know it's safe to go up there."

'An acceptable tactic. Sending commands.' Virid then turned away to do just that. Two overlords hovered close and awaited for the queens and drones that were to embark with them on their journey. Several drones and three queens that Virid had mentally selected went up to the two overlords and were loaded into them. Unfortunately, the drones and queen that had entered into one of the overlords suddenly started crying in pain. It was as though their health began to deteriorate!

This had gotten Kay's attention quickly, his brows furrowing upon learning of their pain. "... Okay, what the hell is happening?"

Virid stared intently at the overlord that seemed to be damaging the drones and queen it contained. 'I don't know, and I don't understand it. The queen within the overlord is doing her best to heal the drones, but I don't know why it's happening!'

Kay turned his gaze to the other overlord. "What about this one? He has cargo that isn't being hurt."

Virid gazed back between the overlord with its unaffected cargo and the overlord with its affected and deteriorating cargo. 'It is strange. The other overlord is carrying zerg that are not exhibiting the same conditions.'

Kay was suddenly alerted by the drones that was digging the sand out of the red cave. 'Found something! We curious. We investigate?'

"Okay okay, just shut up for a bit. Let me think. Uh..." Kay said, walking back and forth between the lair and Virid again. "Hmm... There has got to be... SOMETHING here that I am not seeing or sensing. The queens and drones started getting weaker when they entered that overlord, so... Maybe there has to be something unique about this particular overlord?" Kay suggested.

Virid tilted her head. 'Unique? It is not a metamorph, otherwise I would have known about it.'

"Meta-what?" Kay asked, looking at Virid.

'Metamorph. A type of zerg creature that evolved by themselves, rather than evolving through the influence and command of the swarm.'

"And you say that you would have known about this if that were the case?" Kay said, gesturing to the overlord that is seemingly affecting the drones and queen within itself.

'Correct.' Virid answered. 'And that overlord is not a metamorph.'

'Blugh... I do not feel well.' The overlord complained.

Kay nodded and contemplated this information. "Hmm... Then perhaps there was something that happened beforehand that we are forgetting... OH!" Kay turned around and pointed at Virid. "The hunters! The hunters shot the overlord with a crossbow, and used some kind of poison on the crossbow bolt, didn't they?"

'... Yes, they could have. Evidence may suggest that they have used some kind of poison.' Virid said, turning back to look at the overlord with scrutiny. 'Their weapons have poisoned it a while ago, but zerg regeneration have made it negligibly ineffective, even when a queen had to transfuse energy to heal this overlord several times from then.'

"And how many times had this overlord in particular been transfused?" Kay asked, pointing at the weakened overlord.

Virid paused before answering. '... 27 times.' She said.

Kay turned toward the overlord and saw the light within its eyes fading already. A new type of sickness that even the zerg can't overcome was incredibly distressing to Kay, and was no doubt also distressing to Virid too. It's obvious that the zerg on planet Kiln desperately needed an evolution master to figure out what is wrong with this overlord. Kay nodded frantically. "Okay... Okay... Let's uh... Let's put this overlord aside for now. He can use his abilities to relay our control over the zerg, but I don't want him to pick up or drop off any zerg, or even depositing ANY creep anywhere."

'And the strains that are held within his ventral sacks?' Virid questioned.

"I'm afraid we'll have to let them die. Free up control that can be relayed to other zerg strains. ... Or alternatively, we could get two queens to keep each other healthy, plus allowing them to keep a drone for them to take care of. That way, once we do manage enough resources to create an evolution master, then he will have multiple patients to tend to." Kay said, placing a hand on his chin.

Virid nodded. 'Then I shall place another queen within this overlord, whilst the other overlord will fly to the moon.'

Kay nodded. "A good plan we both can agree on. Good. ... Wait, did a drone mention something?"

'The drones did notify us of something. They have made an underground discovery.' Virid answered, turning to the entrance of the red cave.

Kay mimicked Virid, facing where Virid was looking at and focusing on the drones. Apparently, they had dug out several metric tons of sand out of the red cave's tunnel. It branched off a couple of times that resulted in dead ends, but the drones eventuated upon a large wall of boarded-up wood. It was a curious sight to see from the drones' perspective, which was being shared by the whole of the zerg psionic hivemind network. "... What do you think, Virid? Knock on the door, or knock the door down?" Kay asked.

'If this relates to the hidden tribe, then I recommend knocking the door down. Should the tribe be beyond that barrier, then I want to see their fear as we pull their meat off their bones.' Virid hissed.

Kay turned to face Virid with a concerned stare. "... Calm down, Virid. I'd rather attack them if they start attacking us first. Since we now know their language, we can start getting things straight between us. Maybe form a truce."

Virid hissed. 'Terran diplomacy is not the way of the swarm.'

Kay started into a jog and went toward the cave, several zerglings already going on ahead when Kay had commanded them to. "Yeah? Well think of it like this. If we get new friends, then they can be convinced to fight for us! I mean... think about what Kerrigan did when she joined forces with the protoss and the terrans. They ended up combining their strengths and they went to war with that evil xel'naga guy."

Virid failed to add to that comment. Instead, she opted to scuttle after Kay and follow him through the long length of tunnel.

After a jog through the constant downward inclined tunnel that stretched on slightly longer than a kilometer in length, Kay, as well as a few zerglings, with Virid in tow, was greeted by a magnificent sight when they passed through the other side of the barred door. A huge, artificial underground cavern greeted them. It was an upright and conical shaped hollow cavern, its ceiling supported by several stone pillars. Within this cavern lied several housings of unusual make that dotted the outer regions, seeming to look like several large blocks that was supported and suspended in the air by wooden supports, all connected by a central spiral structure in the middle. Many of these cubed spiral structures were located near raised hexagonal ground that was several meters wide. They had ruined electrical equipment that hanged above this raised ground, and a small number of dead plants were found in tilled soil which withered away a long time ago. The dead plants somehow remained intact as husks. Kay would have guessed that this underground civilization used grow lights to supply light to their crops, despite the rather stale air that smothered the air.

Nearing the center, however, these cubed spirals grew in number and in size, with the raised hexagonal ground supposedly used for farming appearing less and less when nearing the center of the underground chamber. In fact, some of the larger cubed spiral buildings opted to have square farming plots on the top of their structures. Closer to the center of this conical cavern, there was a large wall, three times Kay's height, that separated itself from the outer buildings. The central structure that was guarded and surrounded by this wall was a hodgepodge of spirals and interconnecting cubes that reached all the way to the roof of the cavern. On this building, and on the wall that surrounded this tower, had several intricate spheres with many spokes poking out of their sides. These spheres could be turret installations, but Kay and Virid couldn't be sure unless they decided to test that theory and provoke the supposedly ancient security system.

But considering the condition of the entire place, Kay would guess that whoever once lived here had either vacated it or died a long time ago. And that gave Kay a curious thought. "Virid. Can you tell me how the wooden barricade was made?"

'In what way?' She asked, turning around to inspect their only entry into this place.

"Was it nailed shut from within this place, or was it nailed shut from the other side of the entrance?"

After a pause, the cursory inspection by Virid was detailed. 'The wooden barricade was made on our side.'

Kay Sighed. It was no doubt to him that whomever once lived here had barricaded themselves inside and made this place their tomb. But he wasn't sure what would elicit such an action to do so. Whatever purpose involved barricading this entrance from the inside would entail, it could only mean that the entombed inhabitants realized that a threat from outside their underground village were endangering them, and they didn't want it coming in. Judging from the staleness of the air, this had happened years ago. This didn't sit right with Kay.

"Hmm... Let's have a pair of zerglings and a drone check ahead of us. Better them than us if a trap activates." Kay suggested.

'Agreed.' Virid approved.

Two zerglings were sent out to assist a drone. The drone was ordered to inspect one of the cubed spiral structures, and these structures were everywhere within this cavern, much like a forest of metal, wood and clay. As two zerglings raked and ruined one of two doors located at the base of the spirals, one zergling went ahead into the new opening and ascended up a staircase. The other zergling checked the other door, revealing another set of stairs that twisted the same direction as the other, entwining together. After ascending the steps to the first set of doorways, one zergling rammed through it to find a living quarters of some make. It had an earthen design, but it was mainly designed to service a race of bipedal reptilian organisms. The two reptilian skeletons even tied the whole living room together. Speaking of skeletons, there were skeletons on what looked like a couch. After using a clawed paw, a zergling carefully upturned one of the two decrepit and dead bodies that was bare of any scales and flesh, yet saw no revealed injuries that had harmed its bones. Without any remaining healthy flesh to look at, there was no way to tell what killed the prior inhabitants. Even the bones were pristine and undamaged. No staining of blood ruined the carpet either.

It was like this within nearly every cube in all of the cubed structures. Some cubes had rooms that were specialized in utility. Others were storerooms. Others, storage for food and seeds. Some even specialized in smithing and tool making. There was one cube that contained a defunct generator that had power lines running to one of the hexagonal farming plots, but the drone didn't dare prod it. It would appear that these small cubed spirals were some kind of housing spaces that the gilanians used to live in.

There were other zergling/drone groups that were sent to investigate this curious underground cavern village, and they steadily increased their search perimeter as they continued. From what Kay could calculate, the scout teams covered nearly 5-6% percent of the underground village and all of the cubed spirals, not accounting for the area that was contained within the wall and the tower itself. And yet, he had covered nearly 325 meters within this new territory. If his math was correct, then the entire chamber would have to be around 7,000 square meters wide.

"This place is... amazing." Kay breathlessly said. He had entered the nearest cubed spiral structure that had already been scouted, deciding to paw through its contents at his own leisure. He chanced upon several rotted, yet somewhat preserved, pieces of paper that had writing on them. Sadly, it was in a language that was too crude to read. He could make out some of the words though. "... Krell eggs. Skracken mushrooms. Pitcher fruit fluid. Mai grain. Medicine. ... Oh. I guess this is some kind of grocery list!"

Virid huffed in an annoyed manner. 'Where are the inhabitants? Surely, the Crescent Arms Division had located the hidden tribe wrongly if this was the very place they were searching for?'

Kay discarded the piece of ruined paper and sifted through more belongings, disheveling clothes that once had been fashionable in the past. "Maybe this is the hidden tribe?"

'Then where is the rest of the tribe?' Virid asked.

"All dead, I think." Kay answered.

'Then explain to me the hunters that had tried to eat our sickened overlord.' Virid hissed.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have an explanation for them. I'm sifting for clues to figure out what may have happened here though, so sit tight. ...Hmm?" Kay managed to pick up a collection of parchment that was connected together by a bolt and a lug-nut. After reading the first few sentences, Kay whistled aloud. "I think I found some reading material. ... It gives details to some past events that happened to the tribe that once lived here. I must have found a big-ass diary."

Kay could hear Virid slightly musing over this opportunity to learn about a culture from the long ago past. 'I have no interest in learning this people's history, but I am curious to learn how their deaths transpired. You may proceed with reading it to me.'

Kay nodded to no one in particular, and started reading aloud. "Twelfth day of the wet season, year 514 of the Age of Ascension. The chieftain has finally decided to cut off all contact with the surface. The dangers that would come with seclusion was great, but the looming threat of the bandit master, the self proclaimed 'Emperor Gollog' of that Golden Star Empire or whatever it's called, was greater still. The bandit master, king of all evil-hearted gilanians, has access to terrible technology that would scare anyone to death! Though I disbelieve such claims, I still believe that our chieftain made the appropriate decision, and was wise to do what he did. By having a select group of warriors to protect our only entrance into this city, and another group chosen to fill the various tunnels with as much sand they could shift, it was our hopes that this decision would ensure that our city would remain hidden from our foes for a long time. Hopefully, by the chieftains calculations, fifty years. The crops would be provided with gentle machine winds and soft artificial sunlight, preventing the air from becoming stale. The livestock would be carefully maintained to ensure that breeding the animals won't degrade in health and virility in further generations. Water is to be purified from our own waste, boiled, and then reused. Only those within the tower have prolific access to those wondrous machines that we farmers know for certain they abuse. At least they are merciful enough to teach us how to use perpetual motion generators to power our homes and automate our farms. Damnable are the wealthy and higher classed, as always.

"Alas, I am afraid that we farmers are not so lucky in this exchange. Rather than rely on using water to trade for resources, we are forced into a socialistic and communal society. We were only given enough water to sate our thirsts, and were forbidden from using such life giving fluid for something of trade. The chieftain had stated that everything was to be made free. Exchanging services were no longer bartered with ounces or liters of water, but instead only needed to be asked to have such services. Still, old habits were strong with me, as I kept a few pints of emergency water in case there was a dry day. Gods knew that even the hottest of dry seasons affect even this cavern!

"But since I still have high hopes of ascending into the higher class as a scholar, I shall be documenting and keeping these records. I will keep them till the day we are released from our underground sanctuary. But should something happen, and that a reader were to scratch through my belongings with their dirty claws, then I say to you, 'hello.' If I am away, and that you happen to find this collection of past events, I ask you to put it back where it came from and hope I don't find you pilfering through my belongings like a pervert. But if I have been killed... I only ask that you would give my killer righteous judgement. Preferably having his heart removed and having it placed into the mouth of my corpse. Don't judge me please. I was raised under traditional values, and I only ask that you enact justice onto my murderer by the old traditions and laws that I follow in my own home.

"But I digress. It was only yesterday, on the eleventh, that the doorway had been boarded up. And now, I shall keep my sanity with this hobby.

"With a ray of hope in this unceasing darkness, Pwaf, the scholarly farmer."

'How many pages are there?' Virid asked.

"Uh..." Kay checked through all the pages carefully. "... They have been numbered. It goes up to 812. All I have read so far was pages 1 through 2."

'Could you skip to the last entry? I don't want us to be too distracted here.'

"You got it." After glimpsing through several pages, Kay found a starting place. "Fortieth day, soon to be the first day of the dry season, year 540 of the Age of Ascension. Damn the chieftain. Damn the higher classed. Damn my neighbors. Damn the warriors. Damn it all. I don't know how they came in here. It has been days since I exhausted my water supply. More of them kept trying to enter my home. I was wise to place metal bars on all my windows, and put a heavy lock on my door, but I had set myself for a painfully slow death. Haven't eaten in days. Haven't found water in a while. Feeling so lethargic right now. I can feel the dry days on us already, and the cavern is hot today. I can hear panic in the tower. Serves those fools right. They broke the automated farming machines trying to get to the water sources. Our livestock had became fallen prey. There were squeals from the krell, and then no evidence of their existence followed. Not even a moist soft-shelled krell egg. They must have found a crack in our chamber and dug their way in. How else would they get in here? The chieftain opted to no longer send his warriors to combat these foes. They are now smart against their tactics. I'm afraid that this is my final entry. I am hungry. I am thirsty. I am scared to know that this is my final day.

"Hope is lost. Our tomb is this unceasing darkness. With final goodbyes, Pwaf, the late scholarly farmer."

'... Tragic.' Virid replied. She almost seemed moved.

"Is that sympathy, I hear?" Kay asked, putting the diary back.

'Starving to death is not fun. It's much like not having creep to nourish from, and having to go on without it for several days.'

"I'm more concerned with 'them' that this Pwaf character mentioned. What did she mean by 'them'?" Kay asked, looking outside of the barred window in curiosity.

'Perhaps some animal had came in?' Virid posited.

"Sounds likely." Kay replied.

PANIC!

One of the zerglings that was traveling to the next cubed spiral to investigate had suddenly died.

A/N: More world-building anyone? :3c

Also, don't worry. There is bound to be action happening next.