Daytime has come. I didn't get a wink of sleep. Surprisingly, I don't feel tired at all physically. Mentally on the other hand… I don't really feel like I'm firing on all pistons. I also feel a bit light headed. Not a good thing I'd imagine. Hopefully a nap after I get some things done will help.

I stumble slightly to the exit and mentally order the entrance open. I blink when nothing happens. Another order does nothing. Why won't it open? I press on the door to try and push it open. Wait, this doesn't feel like the door. It feels like the Creep… oh… the Creep Wall… Heh… right.

I order the Overlord to flatten the Creep wall back out. Belatedly, I glance about the area to make sure no mobs are around, otherwise lowering the Creep Wall now would be a bit silly. Luckily there's nothing around. I checked the status of the Evolution Chamber while the wall slowly lowered in front of me. I'm gratified to know that it's completely healed once again.

As soon as the wall lowered, I stepped outside and did my business downstream. That finished, I turned back to the Hatchery and pointed dramatically and called out, "On to the defenses!" I chuckled a little at my silliness. Now for defenses… no Zerglings, that'd take a Spawning Pool… come to think of it, getting Sunken Colonies would require a spawning pool too. Darn! There goes that idea.

Spawning Pool… Spawning Pool… how much was that thing again? Oh yeah, I can just check the build list of the Drone. Lessee… 200 Bio Energy… 335 to play with… leaves me 135… Creep Colony costs 75… 60 left… No idea how much turning the Creep colony into a Sunken Colony costs… if it's over 60, I'm screwed and I lose my snuggle Drone… hehe, snuggle Drone… wow I need a nap…

My stomach takes that moment to growl at me, so I pluck up some Creep and eat it. I hope I can find some variety soon. Eating only Creep is going to make me rather sick of the stuff eventually… maybe if I cook it? Some salt and pepper, maybe a little pork… Creep soup? The heck did my mind just invent on its own!?

Shaking my head, I focus back on defenses. I can either throw up a Creep Colony and a Spawning Pool and… wait, that would take two Drones… crap! That leaves me only 10 Bio energy to work with! There's no way I could afford to get a Spore Colony into a Sunken Colony for defense! Guess I'm scratching that idea then.

Hm… no chance of any offense at all before tonight… that just leaves defense… at least if I put up another Creep colony, I might be able to get the Creep Wall up completely and prevent Creepers from getting inside at all. Plus, that would let me close up that gate around the Hatchery, preventing mobs from getting in at all!

Pleased with my plan, I ordered my Drone out, only to realize it'd been following me the whole time, so my turning around to gesture in its direction only ended up with me planting my butt in the ground at having the Drone in my face. The thing sure can be quiet when it wants to be… either that, or I'm that out of it.

Slightly annoyed at the Drone for scaring me, I winced as it wilted at my annoyance at it, and hugged the thing, which perked it right back up again. I think I'll be adding mood swings to my list of reasons not to ever go without sleep again.

Ordering the Drone out to the far side of the Evolution Chamber and to the edge of the Creep, I soon had a Creep Colony growing there. At that moment, a Creeper came from the trees and made a beeline for the newly growing Zerg.

"Oh hell no! Sick that thing Overlord!" I shouted. I'm not sure what might've happened if it'd worked out the way I wanted. I kinda had the thought of having the Overlord smack away the Creeper using one of it's tendrils as a golf club. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten just how slow the Overlords are. Granted the Creeper isn't any faster, but the Overlord was definitely too far away to catch it before it reached the colony. One explosion later and the Creep Colony crying out in pain sobered me up a little. I ordered the Overlord to fly low over the cocoon so that it can intercept anything that comes for it.

Thankfully, nothing else showed up. My Overlord spied a few skeletons hiding under the trees, but thanks to the sun, none of them tried to come in range. A single Zombie did try to make for the Cocoon, but it burst into flames as soon as direct sunlight hit it, and the Zombie withered away before it even reached the Creep. I felt a touch of vindictive pleasure, watching the whole thing.

Soon enough, my newest addition to the family was born. A new outpouring of Creep pushed the treeline back even further, much to my consternation. Nothing I can really do about it though, not until I've got a completed Hive Cluster anyway, so I might as well get over it for now.

The Creep Colony is… to be honest, I'm not sure how to describe the Creep Colony. It has little wedges growing around its base, the same color as my shirt. I guess black is my brood color for my Zerg. Awesome. As for the rest of it, a tumor or growth would probably be the best description. It's even got a sail growing out the back of it. Not sure what to make of that at all. It towers over my head by only a couple of feet though. Bit smaller than I expected.

As soon as the Creep finished spreading, I gave the order for the Creep walls to form back up as a test. Just as I'd hoped, the Creep Colony not only formed walls around itself, it also gave enough Creep to complete the Creep wall. Now nothing will get in! Including myself, evidently. The Creep wall is smooth enough that I just slide back down when I tried to climb over it to get back in the Hatchery.

I ordered the part in front of me down, and after making it back in, I ordered it back up. The Larvae, which had come out when I'd first ordered the Creep Wall down, crawled back into the Hatchery since there was no room for them between the wall and the Hatchery itself. I toyed with the idea of getting another Drone to hug, then decided against it. Using the Zerg for something so frivolous when there are far more important things to do, like ensuring survival and all that, just wouldn't be right. Besides, I'm still in the Hatchery. I can just hug that instead. I curled up in my sleeping hollow for a nap, nuzzling the ground with my cheek a little, and getting a burst of warmth from the Hatchery in response. Smiling a little, I fell asleep.

-END CHAPTER-

Overmind Matthew
PSI Energy – 50/50
Status – Normal

Abilities
- Spawn Hatchery – 50psi – 12 hour build
- Regeneration – Passive – Heals anything not instantly fatal; time needed depends on extent of injury
- Anaerobic – Passive – No longer requires breathable atmosphere to survive
- Temperature Resistance – Passive – Currently able to survive temperatures between -450 and 118 F
- PSI Regeneration – Passive – Regenerate energy at .5 points per second.

Zerg Swarm
Bio-Energy – 260
Support – 0/16

Entities
1x Hatchery
1x Evolution Chamber
1x Creep Colony
1x Overlord