· · · · · · ·

August 12

· · · · · · ·

Sarah had only a dim idea of what would happen once freedom was gained. Auton, Aing Tii and herself had a common enemy in whatever the hell Nuitar's kind was, so a war meeting was the next best thing, right?

No such thing happened. While the ship navigated a difficult area, they injured were tended to and then nothing. With her new offshoots, she wandered the guest quarters, all living walls and friendly but silent aliens, and droids reloading. Noasyvé had curled up in the center of the ship to rest and dream at peace, resorting herself and stabilizing the new much faster hivemind.

When Sarah at last outright asked for the next move, she was met with surprise.

The area so difficult to navigate was a portion of space where the enemy couldn't followed. They were retreating.

This was unacceptable. Who knew what those behind the Enigma stations were up to next. Any time wasted ... Kirindi did her very best to soothe her worries, but had little substance to do it with. Just feelings. It wasn't enough, the worries kept bubbling up.

Sarah kept wandering until she found a shuttle that'd take her to the Auton ship. There she found more reasonable concern in Anudjan. He invited her to the bridge of their ship, and she had every intent to start planning right then and there.

Unlike the Aing Tii ship, the Auton ship had windows. What lay outside stole away her breath and her thoughts.

Rather than the darkness of space, stardust from clouds to clusters surrounded them. The nebula painted itself in pale ocean blue with starker colors around the stars here, flowing into a whirl of greens like a forest turned meadow, and further into shining sand and deep brown.

Embedded within this the three planets did not stand out, but once noticed demanded attention.

A lush green one to rival the nebula, this one was named Roh.

Another one grays and silvers, Te.

The third one streaked brown and beige, Ku. Hers.

According to Anudjan they orbited no star in sight, yet had thriving atmospheres. Their nutrition well met by the further stars around, and Noasyvé said the Ashla balanced them.

Te was empty at the time, but they had no interest in disturbing it lest its mistress slash servant returned.

Roh was sapient. Sarah was not ready to deal with the absolutely certainty Noasyvé had in that.

Ku was more like a flowing mechanism, with Noasyvé as its true will. Noasyvé would not, could answer whether it was convergence between herself and a compatible planet, or whether the planet had reached out to create her, or whether she had brought it rhythm.

Sarah tried relaying this to Anudjan as non esoteric as she could, then Noasyvé's plan to reinhabit it to ... expand her hive.

That was the plan, grow until she had an army.

It was so obvious now that had always been the plan, Sarah had missed it for its lack of reiteration. Strategy would only be on the table once they had more information.

Anudjan was a little quicker with that.

"Why would she leave such a place?" Anudjan asked. "She is apparently safe here with a planet at her bidding. So why?"

He looked right at Sarah, who struggled to find the answer provided — living planets what the hell! — and there wasn't much more sense there.

"To counter the resurgence of an old enemy, of Jormungandr. She thinks it is an expansion of an old problem because it drives on biomechanic methods."

"And all she got for her trouble is Kirindi. How tragic," Anudjan said. He didn't blink. It was the most like a machine she'd seen him yet.

Was that her own feeling, or something the coalescent mind wanted her to think about him? Sarah was distantly aware he was prodding at something unpleasant ...

It occurred to her in the muddle of this what living planet meant, and how such entities might even exist in a way that respected life, and despite resistance of some kind — her own? — she arrived at one question : to what extend did Noasyvé actually cared for life, and could she even possess morality, or was she move like those two people. Planets.

Person had become a very troublesome concept.

· · · · · · ·

This was it, they were at the best home.

The Old Mother staggered out of the bay, sinking deep into the soft surface. She shrieked louder than ever before. This was home, this was hers.

Kirindi would love the new planet, she knew this the moment she saw the surface. Endless expanses of biomechanic matter that only needed a guiding touch to be living glory. Noasyvé would be that touch.

Odygos followed right in her trail, though he had to struggle through the ground.

Noasyvé waded on and rolled over, sometimes with Odygos climbing over her.

Anudjan and Persephone and every Auton with enough personality gaped at the scene.

"This is what our history recordings for future recruits is gonna show." Persephone grabbed Anudjan by the shoulder. "Delete it. Nobody will take us serious."

"Deleting information, especially history, is really not something we ought to do," he said without sounding so convinced.

"They are frolicking, Anudjan," she hissed. "Frolicking. That whole concept should never be near xenomorph. It's worse than Kirindi's whole doe eyed xenomorph schtick!"

Well, whom the shoe fits ...

Kirindi ran to the other end of the hall, turned, and took a sprint off the platform.

She landed with a resounding belly flop, weighing too little to sink in. Aww, but she wanted to swim.

The mass wasn't sand or fluff, it was countless connecting chips and hexagons that came to life again. Under the rhythm of Noasyvé, the pieces connected and let go again, adapting to whatever surrounded it. It began to seep off and thin, headed towards the unstable ship.

Someone else dive in, colliding near her.

Oh, Ayo. She had a huge grin and maybe Kirindi would've invited her into the hivemind right then and there, but she still radiated enemy. So she dug herself into the grainy earth and moved after the Old Mother.

As extravagant as Noasyvé's response was to the Auton and the humans, as logical it was to those within the hivemind. Every motion of joy had a purpose of connection here.

And they did have joy, this hive, because Odygos was allowed to change, even if the future brood would be blander. Even if Eliath was still a bit bland — he didn't join even when asked, because he saw no point.

Noasyvé waded on until solid ground, where every step connecting and revitalized the earth.

Not too far from here was the reason they had landed so poorly. She wanted as close as possible to her den.

The entire structure lacked walls in its outer layers — collapsed over the ages — consisting of countless spires and pillars woven into a courtly maze. It was maybe a mile high, but so much wider. The market was dwarfed by it.

Noasvyé went straight ahead, leaving a trail open for the others to follow. With every step, the environment obeyed her better.

In the shadow of the first arch sat a woman of east Asian descent, in robes of brown, thin matter, veil over her long, dark hair. She was picked the last bits of slime out of it; she'd awoken from a stasis not too long ago.

Ayo climbed onto the solid floor next to Kirindi.

"That's Zheng," Ayo said as monotone as she could manage. "Don't try to get along with her. She's messy. Just be as it goes."

What did that mean?

The woman approach with her arms wide in welcome, while her mind set out tests and obstacles much like the structure beyond her. Only Noasyvé passed with ease to find her voice. In body, she bowed her head to the woman's level.

To Kirindi's utmost delight, they touched forehead just like herself and her sister. Though they weren't related, they held similar functions in the hivemind.

When facing Kirindi, it felt like she said so much, but Kirindi couldn't decipher anything.

She'd been observed. That was it. Found satisfactory enough.

Karga'te caught up at last. In all the new sensations, she hadn't even noticed he'd been on her trail. At once she asked, almost apologetic, how it'd been to swim, but he shrugged it off. There were bits of hexagon goo crushed all over him; he'd made it difficult for himself.

"Ah, our new general," Zheng said when she saw him. She gave a respectful nod that meant nothing.

"You can't eat that one, Zheng," Ayo said with a stiff smile.

Zheng handwaved her. "Please, we've got leeway for more creativity."

Kirindi couldn't understand a word they said in audio, yet the meaning came across crystal clear through their coalescent mind. This woman had been part of the hivemind for thousands of years, she moved within it with an ease Kirindi hadn't realized should be.

Zheng let her mind be open as a good hostess.

Nothing here had nor needed auditory names, but there were many concepts that Kirindi easily, instinctively understood. This here was where the queen resided, she could call palace, but also womb, and cradle, and motherhood. Child because it was created by Noasyvé and answered when called, home because she resided in it, and beacon because it was her strength and salvation. Body, because it was her extension.

Beyond this, there once had been things that could be called ships, factories, deserts, industries, albeit all had lacked personal desire. Noasyvé's old realm had known only two individuals, herself and Zheng for a little while, until the brood expanded.

Now, she revived her realm on her own, but Odygos was eager to carve out a space within it, and quite allowed. Kirindi too, and Eliath still didn't care. She wished he did.

Ti'chai-di had a simple want, which Noasyvé already sorted out with quiet commands to her palace. All of it lay in her hands, using calculations Kirindi could not even imagine, nor care about. What mattered was that maybe this time, Ti'chai-di could have children.

Karga'te ... hadn't decided yet how he'd be part of it. Something lay on his mind still, but he was willing to lead Ti'chai-di to the designated spot, and force open some broken down walls with plasma casts and what not.

So maybe they'd stay for as long as Ti'chai-di needed to breed. Ti'chai-di herself, should she get what she wanted, opined that forever sounded good to stay.

Kirindi would like to stay forever, if not for one regret, which she tucked away from everyone : there were so many in this galaxy she'd have no chance to meet here, unlike the market. So many who were worthy of joining. She might have eternity, but others did not. They'd die before she reached them, and they would if Utara and the rest continued on. They'd die, or worse, become the enemy.

How would she add everyone to the hivemind though?

Far on the horizon was a tiny green sphere in the sky. That would be Ro, looking back at Kirindi. She waved it, which it didn't return. Must be the lack of hands big enough to see.

When wondering to Karga'te on whether he'd be okay to add planets to the hivemind, he brushed it off. This one was alive, but he was pretty sure this one counted as alive too and refused to think about it. It was just warm. Everything in the castle was heated like a living being. Kirindi didn't see in heat, but he knew about that, so it had to be true.

He went in abruptly, and followed the group to the throne room.

It wasn't really a throne room, just the central breeding ground : a vast gray hall, old strings from the ceiling to hold up a Noasyvé who had once been much larger. Remnants of a massive cocoon slash womb spiraled across the floor, dried out and almost fragile.

She seemed small before her old shells, as she settled in its midst. The Auton, Ayo and Zheng surrounded her, with Zheng serving as translator for her.

Odygos got restless and found something like a computer at the walls, and invited Persephone to help start it.

Karga'te stood by unusually quiet, waiting. Almost observing the way he did when they staked out prey. It made Kirindi uneasy, which she surely had to respond to somehow.

It took the Auton a long time to reach an agreement with Noasyvé about how to run operations from here. This was the meeting Sarah had been expecting, now she wasn't even around to take part; she was kinda getting sick. Maybe Kirindi could pay attention for her.

All weird and dull stuff about allocation of resources and plans for tracking and food stuff and the roles of the Aing Tii and finding samples and what the hell the weird blob on Enigma II was. In short, old, standard news. Noasyvé didn't talk to them about expanding the hive in the optimal ways.

It made a little sense, she supposed, when this was all leading up to defeating the enemy. But they could maybe do that better with more allies?

Karga'te didn't even complain about her wanting to add more people, this time.

It was Zheng he was waiting for. When the meeting ended and she came over with Ayo, he didn't even say hello.

"Sarah told us a story while that queen of yours slept. How much of that was right?"

Zheng raised an eyebrow. "Your stake in all this, aside of the little girl, elludes me."

Ayo rolled her eyes, telepathically told Zheng something, and Karga'te growled.

"That's a tad drab," Zheng said. "But well, I'd be happy to answer you now I have time, again. Ashla knows it's boring out here all alone.

A long time ago, Shanderha got Noasyvé trapped within the Void ... it's metaphysical, but let's keep it with this : we got her out a few years ago and eradicated her prison, but her physical state needed upgrading and we ... calculated that her method was insufficient for the task at hand. Handling hominoimorphs, who had humanoid minds as their basis quite often.

She needed a mind more compatible with humans, so she took an interest in chimeras like Eloise, Ripley 8 and similar. The place you died, so to say, was her experimental area, an outpost. She fled it before Shanderha found it, so it remained hidden, but the confrontation with Shanderha didn't go right due to Meke'tor.

We would like to figure out Kirindi and Ti'chai-di's mental configuration and work from there to develop a way to control human based coalescent mind."

"Why didn't this Shanderha just kill Noasyvé?" Karga'te asked, because that was what he would've done.

"Sarah missed the mystical aspect," Ayo said. "Since my team destroyed the Void, there is no way for Paya to locked her up without reincarnating."

Zheng nodded. "Indeed. Already injured herself, she could not risk restraining her physical form. She did the one thing she could to keep her subdued : hand her to the enemy. On a lonely little space station, right below the nose of the enemy that she had to stay hidden from. Convenient, and even if something went wrong, it'd likely be a blow to the common enemy."

"Not the question. I want to know what we're dealing with here."

"Never found is strange that telepathic communication works faster than light? There's a layer of existence you cannot grasp, so let's just say the goddess is functionally immortal," Zheng said.

"Goddess? Hmm." Karga'te laid a hand on the reviving palace, feeling its power grow. "Kirindi, if we ever find my brother, don't tell him about gods."

"Okay," she said, and would've left it at that last year. But now, maybe that wasn't really safe anymore, to not question him. There had to be more. "Why?"

He tensed up. "I'll tell you later."

"Sooner than later, if you have to make up your mind yet," Zheng said. "The Auton intend to leave soon."

"They'll drop by occasionally," Karga'te said. "Can Ti'chai-di's problem be fixed?"

"If you let her, and that would rather influence your future plans," Zheng said. "But for now, why don't you make yourself comfortable? You're already so well adapted to the planet, you can skip the whole integration, dear fellow."

Zheng tapped her arm, which sounded just a little off, betraying the hardened underskin.

Karga'te growled, and took this as a cue to stalk off.

Kirindi followed on reflex until they reached the edge of the palace. The stars had shifted a little by now, casting the horizon in a sharper light.

"What are we doing? We can let Ti'chai-di be cured, right?"

His shoulders slumped. "Will she obey if I tell her not to breed in certain places?"

"I think so. She takes a lot of good advice, and she worked well on the market, right?"

Her advice to hide the nest sure had been taken. Was that a hint of distrust still in him?

No answer, here. She still didn't quite asked, wasn't even sure what to ask.

Maybe it was precisely because they were safe and home now, yet so far from her goal on this planet where nobody new could join, that Kirindi saw cracks.

It wasn't all right again between them. The thought scared her, and he didn't even notice that. He couldn't even try.

· · · · · · ·

Jake and Bison were not sufficiently transformed to breathe on the planet yet. Sarah and Jay managed, but it was unpleasant. Shadhahvar was fine, but only if she got high. The rest of the escaped Enigma Cargo was in no shape to even try. As such the humans remained near the Auton vessel while the Ang Tii prepared atmospheric rooms for them, and pools to ease transformation.

Noasyvé spent her mind on rebuilding her palaces, leaving Kirindi alone to oversee the humans who had just joined the crowd. Fresh off of the alien market, they were without home again, and it wasn't the alien nature that stilled their prior enthusiasm. Rather, Kirindi alone didn't offer the same mesmerizing awareness, so she had to argue for concord. It was more complexity than she could handle.

Sarah brought up the issue of immortality, but if it was to be spent on this planet, so ugly to humans, it didn't have the same weight as in the relatable market.

And to undergo a spooky transformation for that? The three men who were already with a foot in this hive didn't have a lot of compelled arguments to offer either.

Sarah barely knew to argue better than Kirindi. Her best argument was the immortality, but after so long on Enigma, she had little patience for anything that painted the transformation negative. It had saved her life.

Jay had more sympathy for the doubters, but she didn't want to put him on the case, because he had less for Noasyvé and her hivemind.

Seriously though, why turn down immortality? They'd live long enough for the universe to come to peace, making it safe to explore for as long as they'd like. Who wouldn't want this?

She would be making a demonstration of how excellent their new bodies were, if not for the almost that still plagued them. Her, specifically.

By the end of the day, she was sickest of all.

Gravity was different, the place buzzed with consonant psychic power, and most of all : she was free. She was safe. Any time now, she really ought to feel that burden lift.

It got heavier.

Instead, one step too many down an unsteady hall and she buckled over. Throwing up got her no relief, just Shadhahvar's attention.

"Calm down," Shadhahvar said, rubbing her back. "It's alright, it's just survival panic. Or something. Cause you were in artificial gravity so long. It gets better in days."

"How are you even fine?" Sarah choked.

Shadhahvar held out her infernal liquor.

"Of course." Sarah shoved her hand aside. "I'd rather adapt naturally."

Odygos kept sending her fascinating new things he discovered here, not understanding how she felt. He was blissfully at home, of course.

Somewhere in another corner, Jay quietly sobbed through a rising headache and Bison set numb at this side. They just felt more and more cut off from humankind.

She sat back against the nearest wall, and waited for her other three to catch up.

Shadhahvar smiled at them. "They're why it's so heavy, you've got four or five different weights to adapt. Sleep better, okay?"

Odygos promised to bring them something nice on his way back. She couldn't help but scold him for being absent now she needed someone to cart her around. Shadhahvar would have to do.

Maybe she ought to try the damn liquor again, after all.

· · · · · · ·

August 13, 2578

· · · · · · ·

One day on the new planet, and new problems. Of course. Lemura had thought freedom meant that would end, but true, nobody had ever said so.

The Auton's aid food was not enough to last the humans long. They'd have to transfer to the local sources, which the Auton worried about but could not prevent. So, Jay and Sarah braved the wilderness to see what they could live on. After carving out a work room in the Auton ship, Bison joined them for adventures in genetic engineering, palate edition.

Lemura joined less because taste interested her — she had none, though she likes the scents — and more because it was together. She didn't have much in common with the drones of Noasyvé, after all, except for Odygos. He was already in the kitchen.

She got a chair at the table, and things to cut, so that's what she did.

Odygos curled up in a corner and occasionally handed things. He spent his time typing up both data and people's responses to it, for some complicated hypothetical plot of cooking things just to get weird responses. Said it was an exercise in humor, and understanding it.

Weird for him to want such unique things for no reason. Lemura could think and understand so much, yet it felt like her mind was hollow. She had no strong preferences beyond what Sarah had introduced, didn't care for most of the things done, yet desired so much to be close to others.

Kirindi darted in once to deliver two arms full of giant, gooey berries that looked awful to the humans. They gave it a taste anyway, even Bison, only to be pleasantly surprised.

Odygos got none, which made sense, but she also passed over Lemura. That hurt. Lemura didn't know it did.

Sarah assured her it was not out of malice. But still, Kirindi had trouble wrapping her mind around her as an individual, saw her as more of an extension of Sarah.

It wasn't fair. Lemura could think ahead better than Kirindi in some ways, like long term consequences, but still ...

Sarah could taste, and Lemura could not. She was a bit more real than Lemura in that way, and at least this way Lemura could get some of the taste. She didn't blend as easily as with anyone else.

Shared. Lemura really was more towards the xenomorph, even if she had human eyes.

It wouldn't matter much in the future, Noasvyé told her, and her alone. It would be alright. Soon everyone would blend better.

Once they had dinner ready, they served all the strange extra humans, inside whose chest stagnated formation finally began to move.

· · · · · · ·

Karga'te got itchy soon enough now the rhythm of protecting the city was gone. In retrospect, he'd preferred it to living in the jungle, where it was just hanging around and hunting for good or gathering materials. There were no needs to follow here, making it harder to keep his thoughts of the past.

That, and that thing's recent appearance.

Ayo and the Aing Tii intended to move to the green planet once all here was set up. She'd visit, probably, but he wasn't in the mood to pretend to not wait for that. He had Jake invite her for dalnauri before she left, with himself conveniently in the room he'd claimed for the time being.

Jake brought her along after some coaxing, took a seat, and immediately threw back a glass of dalnauri. He gestured at Karga'te. "Aaaand it's really about him wanting something."

"Of course," Ayo said.

Karga'te tossed a can at him. Jake ignored it bouncing off his head and said, "What? No point faking shit before telepaths. She figured it out."

Ayo took a seat. "I did guess, but reading your mind's becoming more difficult now you're shifting to the hive. We're attuned differently, which helps me being around you too."

"Oh, cool. One less voice," Jake said. "God, I hope I'm not getting murder instinct."

"Don't worry, it's mostly from my side. You don't smell compatible anymore, so my instincts don't try to push me at you." Ayo chuckled, then sat back with a slight smirk at Karga'te. "Well? Let's see how much we disagree again."

"Noasyvé told me you are the reason I came onto her radar," he said. "And you did not like what you saw."

"Understatement of the ... a short time for. But yes. You joined a clan of badbloods and were having fun," she said. "I've dealt with badbloods a lot since we parted ways, I couldn't see with—"

"I don't care what you think of me. Can you do the same to find my brother?"

Ayo cringed, and he bristled at the insult.

"You know exactly what I think about reuniting with him, and you ask me anyway?"

Karga'te growled. "Do you actually miss you brother?"

"Yes, like I said. But we weren't close the way you and Nra'tex-ne were. He spent years not believing me on the dangers of Jormungandr, then we got separated. It's no big deal for me, not when I have others whom I know and love more. I get the poison that draws you."

"Draws me? You know damn well it's only about him, not the fucking Path!"

"There's no separation between that culture and Nra'tex-ne. He reveled in it."

"So what? That's my problem. All you need to do is tell me where he is."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Dammit, I'm worried for you!" She stood. "Is that so difficult to see?"

"Cut that out. I don't need it."

"I actually spent more time with you than my own brother, giving a shit doesn't just go away. If you could just stop caring, you'd have given up on your shit brother already."

Karga'te snarled, while Ayo just crossed her arms. The staredown would be worthy of tense yautja tradition if only Jake didn't burp right then.

"Cool. I hate this, you hate this, everyone hates that we give a shit. Can we skip the fighting? Today? Please?"

"Fine." Ayo sat down. "Listen. Jormungandr was on the ship they escaped in, that's the last I learned from Mahad before he blanked out. Carly's evolution is practically about weaponizing latency. Your brother might be close to her, Mahad might be. That or they're dead. Though, about Aiv—"

Karga'te shot up and kicked the table over, right at Ayo. On reflex she jumped up, standing on the back of the couch with one foot holding the table steady.

"How are you holding up with this guy?" she asked Jake.

Jake shrugged. "The way I see it, I'm in a sitcom. An extraterrestrial acidic sitcom with casualties and relative privacy."

Ayo hopped onto his couch and plopped down. "You've got a survivor's grasp."

"So, uh, this Nra'tex-ne. He's more yautja style honorable?"

"Like you have no idea. Nra'tex-ne is an honor junkie," Ayo said.

"And honor means lots of murder of good challenges." Jake faced Karga'te. "So in other words, meeting xenomorphs is gonna be insta-slaughter? Like you did the second you thought Kirindi was doing secret evil hive things? And once he's done with that, he's gonna move onto me, or what?"

Karga'te scrambled for answering that.

If Nra'tex-ne was still near either Carly or Aiver, he wouldn't be into the hunter life anymore, right? Karga'te had translated that to him not hunting at all, his default assumption for the past years. But the truth, Nra'tex-ne had only given up the hunt because he was forbidden on most.

He'd be better than Karga'te at not defaulting to extermination hunt right away, sure. Once, at least. Last he'd seen Nra'tex-ne he was far more bitter, and nowadays, Karga'te himself kept questionable company. Hell and pits, Kirindi might just attack Carly for being a hominoimorph.

Assuming he found his brother at all, it could very well mean throwing Kirindi into xenophobic murder, take two.

He could go without her, but he wasn't sure whether this place was safe enough for her either. Whether Noasyvé would still count her as useless, when without him, or do something else to direct her.

"I don't have a plan yet," he grumbled. "I just asked whether you could find him, I didn't say I was going there right away."

"I can try," Ayo picked up the dalnauri cup that'd been intended for her, emptied when it clattered off the flying table. "Maybe you can try to figure out what you actually want. Now, can I get some water?"

· · · · · · ·