Chapter 3
I couldn't think. How could somebody think if they are having their senses overwhelmed by the information coming into their brain? I couldn't assimilate the information. It was just too much all at once. The information flow stopped, and I tried to sort out what the information was. Apparently, I'm in something called a "Hatchery." What does it hatch? No sooner do I think this then I sense the huge informational data flow starting up again. Not again! The information stopped. I felt some sort of query in my mind. Something was confused, but what? Guess this thing can hear my thoughts. I feel a distance sense of rightness, as if something telling me "yes". Alright then, can you slow the information down somewhat, or at least give it to me differently? I feel confidence emanating from somewhere in my mind, as if something was saying, "Of course I can!"
"I will simply tell you the information, though this way is far slower, with some parts of the information losing context,"
says a voice in raspy tone.
"Then do so please, it would be easier for me," I replied.
"As you wish. You are now the Overmind of the Zerg Swarm 05/03/14/7328/01, which is formatted as Galaxy, Quadrant, Sector, System, Zerg-Swarm," granted the disembodied voice.
"That is quite the lengthy name, could it be changed?" I ask.
"As the Overmind commands, the swarm obeys. What do you wish this swarm to be called?" answered the voice.
"I need to learn more about what a Zerg is first," I put forth.
"Very well, the Zerg are a hive intelligence species that is focused on the acquisition and use of improved sources of DNA, with Zerg separated into different swarms to improve the acquisition of DNA in any part of the universe through competition," replied the voice.
"So Zerg fight Zerg to evolve?" I query.
"Not necessarily, there are other beings then Zerg, as well as natural calamities that need to be overcome. When one swarm fights another, it is usually to steal DNA sequences or to wipe out the competition." answered the bodiless voice.
"Wouldn't one Zerg swarm eventually overcome all others? I mean, what would stop this from happening?"
The voice hesitated, and then replied, "Nothing, but the universe is infinite, and could end before such a thing happened."
"Great, it is nice to know that the only thing stopping the Zerg is the end of the universe," I reply with some concern.
"Which may or may not ever happen. To continue on, a swarm is headed by an intelligent individual called the Overmind."
"So I'm the leader of the Zerg?" I ask tentatively.
The voice huffed, "Of course not, the Overmind controls the will of a swarm, but don't forget that there are other swarms. Of course, an Overmind can potentially split his/her/its swarm into different broods. These broods are still part of an individual swarm, but are headed by Cerebrates. Cerebrates can be any being that is integrated with the swarm but has an individual consciousness. The Zerg can grow Cerebrates if required."
"So I could delegate things, interesting, but what would I use to fight other species or Zerg?" I wonder.
"Well, the Zerg are functional due to the different DNA sequences it has acquired and modified, and the Zerg uses this DNA to create clones of whatever it wants. This includes soldiers, spaceships, scientists, workers, philosophers, and everything in between. To answer your very first question, the hatchery hatches larva that can be manipulated to morph into any kind of Zerg, given the appropriate amount of energy, and DNA sequences," replied the voice.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, I know basic physics, and I know you simply can't create mass, in this case a Zerg, without having some mass already. Where do you get said mass?" I ask, waiting with baited breath for the answer. This could change everything I thought I knew...
"The Zerg simply manipulate the energy and transform it into mass," calmly the voice answered.
"WHAT! You're telling me that to create more Zerg I need the utterly massive amounts of energy to form matter?! I would need to do something extreme like siphon the energy of a star!" I exclaim. I mean, everyone knows, or should know about Einstein's E=MC^2. Even working it out to M=E/C^2 for using it both ways is... staggering.
The voice answers as calmly as ever, "All hatcheries, have special organs that create a catalyst for such a reaction and put it into everything else. This catalyst drastically reduces the amount of energy needed."
"A catalyst? Really? I could solve a lot of humanities problems with that," I say. Of course, we could also annihilate our Star System, so... "How do I get the needed energy then, even with the catalyst, I'll need significant amounts."
The voice answers, "You can consume material with creep. Some material is easier to convert to energy then others though. For instance, there is no way to store that much energy right now in the Swarm's database. It must be spent immediately. Creep is an excellent superconductor of electricity. Creep is produced by hatcheries, creep tumors, and, for a limited time, from the Overmind. There might be other ways to get energy or spread creep of course, but that is the only way that this swarm knows how to do so at the moment. You can devise other ways yourself."
Great, answer me and give me some more questions. I can work with that. So I answer, "Alright, so the Zerg are incredibly more highly advanced compared to the human race. This is nice to know."
"Why? You are no longer human," states the voice.
I exclaim, "Don't be silly, of course I am! I can breathe, eat, die, sleep… I haven't eaten… … I couldn't fall asleep before…" I stop at that, thinking of the lest few days.
"Sleeping is for the resting of the body, and Zerg are continually filled with energy with no need to rest. You can't even die, so long as there is still some of your swarm left. The swarm will give you energy to preserve you above all else, killing itself in the process is necessary. You can always start anew, but only if your alive," fills in the voice.
"Alright, how do you do that? I haven't even asked for some of that information, and yet your giving it to me before I can." I ask.
"I am simply a way for you to understand this information. I do not exist. I am your intent given form," replies the voice.
"Oh, okay.. I'm going to pretend I understood that. Now, what is this about me being unable to die? Immortality is but a dream. Even these Zerg must die, eventually," I state.
"Oh, Zerg swarms die off all the time, but only because they were wiped out by an outside force," the voice comes forth.
"So I can't even die if I play my cards right?" Wow, immortality. I'm not sure what to say, or do about that. I'll just go ahead and question this thing more. "How would I expand my swarm, in the interest of not dying?" I ask. After all, someone has to look after my new found ageless being. Might as well be a Zerg swarm.
"Make hatcheries, spread your swarm, consume all threats," replies the voice.
"Okay, enough questioning. I have been in here long enough," I say, as I remove my hand from the spire.
With this end note, I look around and notice the depressions on the walls are now covered with the same kind of cocoon that the hatchery came from, but formed around the depressions, and stopping before the dividers of skin. Bet that would be the larva I learned about. They might take a while to grow though, so let's go check outside and see what time of day it is, can't have been in here that long. I step out of the chamber, head back up the tunnel, into the dawn of a new day. Okay, so maybe it took awhile. I walk to the edge of the dune, and see that the creep has completely covered it and is starting its way over ground toward the next one. Wonder how far a hatchery spreads creep...
"1 mile at the start, but more creep can be made with more energy," comes the voice.
"Hey! I thought I had to access information at the spire thing where you are," I yell out, over the empty desert.
"I am nothing but the way your brain is being made compatible with an informational download that all Overminds get upon their access to their first hatchery. You have now grown accustomed enough for this sort of contact to be initiated. Touching the heart of the hatchery instigated a contact that can never end," the disembodied voice states coming again.
"You mean I can never be without you again. Isn't that just a tad bit... personal?"
"You are the Overmind of this swarm. It is as much an extension of yourself as it is something separate," answers the voice, "In a sense, you are talking to yourself."
"This is too much. What do you mean, I am the swarm, and it is me? I'm just me, right?" I nearly shout over the link.
Then the voice, calm as it was when it first talked to me, states, "As you know, you are no longer human, you are Zerg."
Left with that, I don't know what to say... It was then I felt a new presence in my mind then, something new, and weak. Maybe that means a larva has hatched! I head back in the hatchery to find out.
A/N: I hope all the returning readers like this formatting better. I know I do.