Okay guys, I was barely able to get this out, but here it is!
I found a plot hole in the story while I was editing this. Part of chapter 3 contradicted a part in chapter 5. This has been fixed for all of those who read this later, but for those who are reading this as I post, there is something about the story that I would like to mention.
At this point, May has finished her second semester of college. I meant to make chapters 3&5 say this, but the original draft did not. In the original, May was in the middle of her second semester at this point. Now, May has finished one year of college, and is free until Fall...or is she? MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Spoiler? Maybe, maybe not.
Enjoy chapter 6 of the story. :)
May soon found out that she had no choice but to construct the Extractor first because there were not enough resources to build both the Extractor and the Spawning Pool.
The men who were burning the Creep growing around the Hatchery began allowing the Creep to spread in one direction, and May waited until there was enough Creep around the Hatchery, and began her first Extractor. Although it wasn't necessary for the Extractor to be constructed on Creep, May decided that it would be easier if she did not have to explain why the Extractor did not need Creep to be constructed while the Spawning Pool did. When there was room to build, the side of the Hatchery opened and let her Drone exit.
Everyone who saw the Drone took an involuntary step back. The Drone, on the other hand, continued its way uninterested in the humans that surrounded it. It had only one thing in its mind: to morph into an Extractor. As it had done in her dream, the Drone found a location, curled up as much as possible, and surrounded itself in a film.
May's first Extractor was underway.
For the next twenty one hours, May was extremely anxious, nervous, excited, and fearful all at the same time. She had a hard time focusing on anything. Reading was impossible, and even eating was annoying. She could constantly feel the Extractor's presence growing in the back of her mind.
She morphed another Drone while she was waiting, for she would need a new Drone to carry resources from the Extractor to the Hatchery. She wanted to morph two Drones, but she found that there were not enough minerals within the Hatchery to do so.
Finally, the next day, the Extractor finished. May had been eagerly awaiting this moment, for more reasons than one. If her dreams were entirely accurate, then the Extractor would break through the film that was covering it, and soak everyone around it in the puss-like liquid that supported its fragile insides during its early stages of growth.
May was not disappointed. Just as in her dream, the Extractor spewed sticky, clear liquid everywhere around it. None of the scientists around the Extractor knew when it would finish, and were unprepared for the disgusting shower that they received. May did not think that the substance was dangerous, but she did not envy the few people who were unlucky enough to have their mouths open when the fluid burst from the film covering the Extractor.
Given the amount of vomiting that followed the Extractor's completion, May quickly decided that the birthing liquid tasted less than appetizing. May immediately sent out her Drone to collect the precious recourses that the Extractor would provide.
Once the wary scientists in white coats became somewhat comfortable around the Extractor and working Drone, they began their many tests and observations.
When enough resources were collected, May created another Drone to help the first. After a day of harvesting resources, the small colony of four was ready to have an upgrade. May targeted one of the Drones and instructed it to morph into a Spawning Pool; a task the Drone performed with extreme delight.
The Spawning Pool was completed two days later, and when it finished May sensed a new section of DNA unlock. She focused on the sensation and, when she did, she could see the DNA in her head. It was like a memory, but different. She could see all of the DNA, but it was neither jumbled nor ordered. The DNA was not so much a physical thing that she could seein her mind, but rather a thing that she could understand and recreate if she wanted to.
She explored the DNA in her mind and began deciphering it. As she explored, she found specific segments of DNA. Zergling DNA, Roach DNA, Ultralisk DNA, Leviathan DNA, she saw it all. However, she did not fully comprehend the scale of the creatures whose DNA she was exploring. The different creature's DNA was patched together, separate but unified. She found that she could change the DNA at will and then see what those changes would do. Everything she tried to change, however, was worse after she changed it, and she could not justify keeping any of the changes that she tried. This took place the day before May's next meeting with "Matt," and that night May had another dream.
May stood within her Hatchery. She looked around expecting to see larvae swarming the ground, but what she saw instead was a large chrysalis in the center of the Hatchery. May jumped when a loud crunching sound filled the Hatchery. The chrysalis was cracking. May took several steps back as the cracks grew. Then the chrysalis shattered forcing May to turn away and hold her arm up to protect her face from the chunks of the chrysalis flying away from the center of the Hatchery. May faced the center of the hatchery once more to see what the cocoon had birthed. The creature she saw was much taller than her. The top of her head reached its shoulders, and it was unlike anything she had seen before. The closest thing that she could compare it to was a centaur with a spider's body instead of a horse's. It had webbed legs and although it looked a little bit humanoid from the waist up, it was very distinctly not human. It did nothing, but May knew what it was. This was a Queen, and it would soon become invaluable.
The day after the Spawning Pool's creation, May had another routine meeting with "Matt," but not before she ordered a Queen to be birthed. She told "Matt" as little as possible about the Spawning Pool because she still did not trust his "superiors." She said that the Hatchery was still processing the DNA that the Spawning Pool had unlocked. It was not entirely untrue; the Hatchery was processing new DNA, but the process was that of creation not analyzation as she implied.
The next night, the Queen was complete. May could feel it immediately, for the signature it left in her mind was far greater than the Hatchery or any of the creatures that it produced. She was watching an uninteresting movie on Netflix, and decided that her new Queen would be far more interesting than the movie, so she reached out to the Queen with her mind, and she felt the Queen react.
"How may I serve you my queen?" a raspy voice said, surprising May and causing her to inhale sharply and stiffen. The voice was clear in May's mind, and she could tell that it had come from the Queen. She looked around the room to make sure that nobody was around despite the fact that she was alone in a nearly empty apartment.
"What are you?"
She asked the Queen out loud.
"I am a Queen, my queen." It replied.
This was strange. May pondered her next question, and decided to try to think the question to the queen.
"What do you do?" She asked in her head.
"I do as my queen wishes, my queen." It replied. Not particularly helpful, but interesting to say the least. May thought of a more useful question.
"What can you do?"
"I can breathe. I can walk. I can talk. I can command. I can inform. I can kill. I can increase larvae production within Hatcheries, Lairs, and Hives. I can heal other Zerg. I can produce Creep Tumors. I can advise you. I can..."
"Okay, okay." May interrupted, "I get it." . May waited for a response, but the Queen remained silent.
"What is a Zerg?" May asked.
"The Zerg are a race of ever evolving creatures that have formed a complex symbiotic relationship with one another." The Queen answered.
"What is a Creep Tumor?"
"A Creep Tumor creates Creep, my queen."
Well, Creep Tumor was a very descriptive name.
"What do you mean when you say that you can advise me? What can you advise me on?"
"I can answer questions if I have the answer and give you ideas about what to do when you ask for them. I can advise you on anything you wish, my queen."
"Okay. First, stop saying 'my queen' at the end of everything you say. Second, what do you suggest I do now?"
The Queen took a moment to think. May could feel it searching the minds of her underlings. She seemed to focus on the scientists currently running tests on the Spawning Pool. Suddenly, the queen answered with enthusiasm.
"I suggest that you destroy those who seek study the Zerg! This cannot be allowed!"
"Whoa! Hold on, there will be no destroying anything! Besides, even if we...I wanted to destroy the scientists, how would I? I can't just throw Drones at them."
The Queen thought for a moment before enthusiastically replying.
"You are right my queen, Drones do not fare well in combat! We should morph in Zerglings to destroy the..." She paused for another moment; then she continued with a slight tone of disappointment. "If we wanted to destroy these creatures, we would need to morph in Zerglings to do so."
"What are Zerglings?" May asked, and thus begun a long series of questions for the Queen to answer. She learned that the Hatchery, Drones, Spawning Pool, ect... were all parts of the Zerg, and the various species of Zerg within the race. She learned about all of the different segments of DNA that she had seen, and was in disbelief over the size of some of the Zerg.
May also found that not only were the Zerg absolutely loyal to their queen but they were also capable of surviving in almost all weather conditions. May Googled the hottest and coldest temperatures that were on earth, and found that the Zerg could thrive in such conditions.
Another thing that May had been wondering was how her Extractor worked. She knew that it was capable of gathering resources for the Zerg, but she wanted to know how this was possible. The Queen was all to happy to tell May how the Extractor worked. According to the Queen, the Extractor, unlike most Zerg bio-structures, had root-like tentacles that could dig deep into the Earth's crust and absorb minerals, water, and, if it dug deep enough, energy that resonated from the planet's mantle.
By the time May ran out of questions to ask, it was well past midnight, and her head swam from trying to process all of the new information. Thus she made her way to bed, and instructed her new Queen, who she named Matilda, to try not to kill anyone while she was asleep. Though the humor was lost on the Queen, May got a kick out of it.
Over the next week, May began to notice that everywhere she went, a black SUV followed. It was subtle, for the SUV always followed from a distance. It became a game of her's, albeit an unsettling one, to spot the SUV when she drove from place to place. At first she thought that she was simply over-analyzing her surroundings and noticing black SUVs everywhere, but then she took note of the SUV's license plate. This minor detail confirmed her suspicions: it was the same SUV.
It did not take a genius to figure out that she was being monitored, and she figured that it was the government; it irked her to no end. She began trying to lose her SUV tail when she drove places.
As time wore on, it frightened her more. Was someone watching her friends and family also? Were they there to watch her, or keep her from doing something that they did not approve of? Had they bugged her home? Her car? Her friend's homes? Was she becoming paranoid? No, a person is not paranoid if someone is actually chasing them.
She began to think of something to get rid of her government friends on a grander scale. Why were they following her? Because of her connection to the Zerg, no doubt. Could she pretend that the Zerg stopped talking to her? Maybe, but they could just say that she was faking it, despite the fact that she had always been a good liar.
Could she advance the Zerg enough that she had some political advantage? Not where she was right now. Any attempt to build something without Big Brother's approval would likely result in the building's destruction, if not the destruction of her entire brood. Perhaps she could trick them into allowing the Zerg to escape, or escape without them noticing at all? While pondering these questions, she consulted Matilda.
"Matilda?"
"Yes, my queen?"
"What did I say about saying 'my queen' after every sentence?"
"That it was obnoxious."
"It is, so please stop."
"There is no need to be polite, my..." Matilda stopped herself short of annoying May further.
"Matilda, is there any way to get a Zerg out of the military's confinement?"
"There are many ways. I would suggest morphing Zerglings and destroying the humans that keep us in a cage!"
"Are there any ways that don't involve killing anyone?" May asked with boredom and more annoyance in her mental voice.
"Yes. Changelings can get through almost any defense. Overlords can fly out of the area with ease. A Nydus Worm could burrow through the earth and exit anywhere on the planet. With enough Drones, you could walk them through the enemy line with acceptable losses... That is all that I can think of right now."
"What can a Changeling do?"
"It can scout."
"Can it bring a drone with it?"
"Not unless the Drone follows it."
"Well, we can't send an Overlord because it would be easily seen and shot down. I guess we could use a Nydus Worm, but how would we get them to let us build it? Do you have any ideas on how to make a Nydus Worm sound perfectly safe?"
"We could tell them that it is harmless. We could tell them that it is like a Spawning Pool."
May paused, Matilda had just come up with a somewhat reasonable idea! Maybe she was learning. "I like that idea Matilda! Good job!"
"Telling them that the Nydus Worm is like a Spawning Pool?"
"No, we could tell them that it is for storage or something. Good job Matilda."
"Thank you. I live to serve."
"Now, how do I make a Nydus Worm?"
The following Tuesday, May met with "Matt" again.
They met at a fast food restaurant this time instead of at May's apartment. May arrived early to see if "Matt" would send anyone to scout the restaurant before he got there. To her disappointment, no scouts arrived as far as she could tell, so she resorted to watching the news.
"Just two short weeks ago, I.S.I.S. went from being an extremely dangerous terrorist group to being a coalition of nations. Now, this new I.S.I.S. coalition is beginning to show signs of hostility towards Israel. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and Syria have all proclaimed their uniform hatred for Israel, and are on the brink of declaring war with the small nation. With us today is..."
May lost interest at that point, she did not really want to hear two people argue about what should be done. She did, however, wonder what "Matt" thought about it; him being a federal agent and all. After several minutes, "Matt" came in and stood next to May's table.
"Do you want anything to eat? I'm paying."
"Sure." She replied as she made her way other feet. She had not eaten breakfast, and her appetite had returned since the Hatchery was created.
The two ordered, got their drinks, and sat down.
"So, has the tree made any requests since we last spoke?" "Matt" said. He had made May memorize a code so that the two could talk without raising too much suspicion.
"Yeah. I heard that it wants to plant a new seed."
"A new seed?" He said as he took out a note pad. "What for?"
"Storage."
"Okay, I will make sure to ask about that." He said as he took quick notes.
They talked for several moments before their number was called. "Matt" got up to get the food, and when he returned, May spoke up.
"What do you think about Israel's situation? If I.S.I.S. attacks, should we help?"
"Matt" passed May her food, which was significantly more than "Matt's," and unwrapped his own. He sat there thoughtfully for a moment before replying.
"I don't think that it is my place to say. On the one hand, we should help our allies, but on the other, we should not risk so many American lives."
May finished her first burger before saying anything. "What if we did not have to risk any American lives?"
"Matt" chuckled. "Then I'd say 'go for it.' I am not an idealist though. People on all sides are killed during war."
"Not if our tree could grow thorns."
"Matt" snapped his head up at this and stared May in the eyes. "We need to finish this conversation elsewhere. Hurry and finish."
May continued to eat, but now she ate quickly. After they ate, "Matt" instructed May to follow him.
When they finished, "Matt" hurried them out of the restaurant, they got in their cars, and "Matt" left the restaurant closely followed by May.
May followed "Matt" for several minutes before they arrived at a plain office building surrounded by razor wire topped fences. There was a guard house and three guards at the entrance who checked "Matt's credentials and let the two of them through.
"Matt" parked his car and May parked next to him. The two got out and met.
"Do not speak to anyone in here, do not go anywhere other than where I say you can go, and follow me very closely."
With that, he walked off with May following close behind.
He led her to the building where there was a check in area blocking the entrance. May had a picture taken of her, and was given a visitor's badge with her picture on it. Then "Matt" led her to an elevator, through several hallways, and into a small room. The room was very plain, having only a metal table and two chairs, and had a large mirror. "Matt" told May to sit in the chair and wait, so she did, and "Matt" left. May looked at the mirror again. She saw herself clearly, but she could also see that the mirror was a two way mirror.
Most people would not be able to see through it, but May had much better eyesight than most people, and she now knew that it was thanks to the Zerg. May could see slightly through the treated glass. She saw a very small empty room that was as wide as the one she was in, but the other room was more like a hallway with one door because of how narrow the room was. After May had been nervously waiting several minutes, she saw several men enter the small room behind the mirror. She tried to pretend that she could not see them, but it was harder than she would have thought. "Matt" entered with a recording device, sat down in the chair across from the table, and spoke.
"Please state your name for the record."
"Am I being detained?"
"Matt" sighed. "Technically, yes. But all you need to do is answer a few questions. Then you may leave... Please state your name for the record."
"May Janine Flowers."
"Could you repeat the conversation we had about Israel as best as you can?"
"I asked what you thought about what was going on in Israel. You said that you couldn't answer, but that we have to choose between helping allies and preserving American lives. I asked what you would think if no American lives could be lost. You said that you are a realist, but that you would support helping Israel if no American lives were lost. Then I said that something like 'if out tree grew thorns, then no lives would be lost.'"
"What did you mean by that last part?"
"Should I say it regular?"
"Yes, forget our code for now."
"I meant that we might be able to persuade the Hatchery to fight for us."
"And what made you think that the Hatchery can fight?"
"Well, it is a huge biological building that makes other buildings and creatures to gather food and resources to expand. If it can do all of that, it makes sense that it would be capable of defending itself."
"Do you know how it would defend itself if it could?"
"No." She lied.
"Did your comment about the tree growing thorns have anything to do with the new structure you mentioned?"
"No." She lied again.
May could see "Matt" thinking for a moment.
"Thank you, wait here." He said as he stood and left the room.
"You're welcome." She said sarcastically when he left.
A few minutes later, he returned and escorted her off of the compound. Once outside, "Matt" told her that his superiors had approved of the storage structure. May tried very hard to contain the grin that threatened to appear on her face. She was sick of her Zerg being the government's experiment, and the government had just told her that the Zerg could be free.
At over 3.5k words, this is the longest chapter so far. I don't know if any future chapters will be this long, but I do know that this chapter's length was part of the reason I almost couldn't publish it tonight...well...tonight for me. I have no idea what time it is for you.
