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The further away I got from the den of the beasts, and the hallways leading back to Gamma and the Prime, the more the surroundings changed. While the dilapidation didn’t change, this part of the complex was nearly entirely untouched.

On the one hand that was a good thing, the beasts obviously could not get into these parts, but it was also a bad thing considering that other prey wouldn’t be here either. But I didn’t really have much of a choice, so I continued, trying to find at least something worth my while.

And while it took quite some time, eventually my patience paid off. If I wasn’t somehow connected to the weird floaty text I would have been unable to enter the room I eventually found, a gigantic thing that looked even worse than the room I was first born in. It was pure and utter chaos in there, debris everywhere and everything looked like it had been broken one way or another.

And the reason for this devastation wasn’t far.

Small critters, something in me compared them to rats, even though I wasn’t entirely sure what those beings were, were running all over the place. Taking some time surveying them I figured out that this must be a major pathway to one of their nests, although the nest in question was nowhere to be seen.

Most of the critters stuck to the same route through the room, one group running one way while the other ran the return trip. A few of them, however, decided to venture off from the beaten track, probably on the lookout for more food.

These things didn’t strike me as sentient, although they seemed to be at least somewhat intelligent considering their behaviour, so in my book they were fair game.

The only issue was that, even with my new and improved body, there were simply too many of them to attack them head on. I knew, instinctually, that I could probably get quite the haul with some creative traps, however the issue of getting away without getting mauled after the fact was one I had no real answer for.

Maybe I should follow one of the stragglers first, get a better understanding of what they could do, and also figure out how to best hunt them both in ambushes and in open combat. Experience was key to survival, and I had to earn some for myself.

Spotting a quite impressive specimen splitting off from the group I decided to follow it to wherever it would go. It was close enough to my size that I probably could follow it through tighter passages, if I did some gymnastics. And, of course, a bigger specimen had more biomass.

I quickly learned that I had to be extremely mindful of my distance to it, otherwise it would spot me. It didn’t seem to be able to see me, my Skill probably helped with that, but it's olfactory sense seemed to be quite good.

Eventually I figured out the most optimal distance that allowed me to follow it undetected. These things were tricky to get the drop on, so perhaps I would be unable to do so entirely until my skills and Skills improved.

After following it for a while, without finding anything of interest I decided to finish it off and look for more prey or interesting locations on my own. Waiting for the perfect moment I stalked it from the shadows, claws ready and tail posed to strike.

As it rounded a corner I found the perfect opportunity, being in a prime position to strike its flank before it should have time to evade and escape.

My leg muscles tensed, then I sprang forward much faster than I had been able to previously. Without my heightened senses it would have been hard to control my lunge, and truth be told it was quite the sloppy attack. Instincts or no, I had to get used to my new physique before I was as efficient as I had been before.

Luckily for me I still managed to hit my target, my gripping arm plunging its barbs into its flesh, despite the fur being quite the chore to get through. My pincer managed to get a grip on its hind body, although the angle was suboptimal and I was unable to fully grip onto it and inject the poison.

The critter squealed loudly, probably an attempt to draw the attention of its peers. Unfortunately for it, it was separated from the rest of its nest.

Despite my best efforts it managed to escape my pincer and claw at my chest. While its claws weren’t poisonous, they were quite sharp and managed to get through my chitin armour, leaving three painful gashes on my left breast.

I was just barely able to ignore the pain and slash at it with my two remaining right arms, my combat arm focusing on its throat while the poison arm delivered a heavy dose directly into its stomach.

To my surprise my poison was either extremely potent, or the critter was susceptible to attacks like that, as it quickly started to flail around, before laying still.

With a bit of confusion and a measured amount of surprise I regarded my poison claws for a moment, before I focused back on the prey before me.

Getting it all the way back to Gamma and the Prime would be a chore, especially because I would need to find a route that would let me bypass the critter highway. With sharp noses like theirs they would easily smell their dead peers.

So for the time being I decided to consume it, keeping my store of biomass up, while I searched for a better and more reliable way to bring biomass back to our makeshift lair.

Meal complete I continued on my way through the hallways, which eventually led to stairs leading downwards. With the rest of the hallways around me being dead ends, I decided to venture deeper, if only to get an idea of what to find down there.

The area downstairs was very small, basically only a single room with two doors leading somewhere, both of them closed and with some kinds of symbols on them. I wasn’t quite sure what the symbols meant, but after a quick test I was able to open the doors with the help of the floating text.

The hallways behind that were much more functional, lacking the adornments of the previous ones. Some kind of pipes and other weird things ran along the walls, my knowledge about them limited to what term is used to refer to them, the function being far beyond my understanding.

They were also much more crammed, with only two people being able to walk along them side by side, compared to the rather extensive hallways that led up to this point.

After only a short distance I found myself in a room that had to be quite extensive, however it was so crammed with different things that it was hard to really get a good idea of the dimensions.

I didn’t know what any of them did and my musings about their strange design were interrupted by a surprising but very welcome alert.

Alert: Connection to the Prime has been reestablished.

Alert: Connection to the Hive-Mind has been reestablished.

Suddenly I could feel their presence again and sent off an immediate query to the Hive about the Prime’s condition, as well as all that I have found so far.

Not even a moment later I got a strange notification in front of me.

Alert: Administration and Fabrication Intelligence, Orion-501, requests a connection.

Alert: Establish connection to Orion-501?

Y / N

I wasn’t sure if I should, Orion-501 had told me that connecting to him could endanger the Prime. But at the same time, would he try to connect to me for no reason, if that was the case? Either he had some important news or required assistance, either way I should probably hear what he had to say.

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Yes.

With the affirmation I quickly heard his smooth voice in my mind.

“Greetings, Alpha. I was quite worried when I was informed of your sudden disappearance. Both my host and Gamma were quite suspicious of that sudden disappearance. However, there is also good news. My host has awoken and seems to be in much better condition, although he still requires some more rest and sustenance. He did want to ask you what you are doing at the moment and that you explain your actions to him.”

I was delighted to hear that the Prime was now finally awake again and that he seemed to have improved somewhat. But that also made my current task much more important.

“I have told him about the directive you were given by the Interface, that’s what he calls the text you have described to me, but he still seemed to have some questions. If you would allow me, I can act as a relay for a conversation between the two of you.”

Yes, please. I need to speak to him to ask for further orders.

I wasn’t quite sure what Orion-501 meant when he said he would act as a relay, but as long as I could speak to the Prime I was happy.

“Alpha! What the fuck are you doing?!”, the sudden voice in my head startled me, but it also made me feel very happy. It was the Prime’s voice, and while he seemed very unhappy with me, I was glad to hear it.

Greetings, Prime. I am very happy to hear that you are well. Or at least better than you had been when I left the lair. I am currently exploring the cave system, trying to find biomass and this “generator” you had mentioned before, although I am uncertain of what to look for in that regard. I had quite some success in regards to locating biomass, there is a quite sizable critter population not far from my position, although I have also found the nest of the beasts that attacked us. For the moment I decided to stay clear of it, as I am unable to hunt them reliably.

There was a moment of silence before the Prime responded, “And what’s this about you having separated from the Hive-Mind? Care to explain?”

Yes. Originally I was cut off from the Hive to prevent the severe injuries endured by my body to affect our decision making process. However, I have quickly found that to be an incredibly disorienting experience, and was wondering how you managed to live without the Hive. At that point I decided to remove myself a bit more, to get a better feel of what you are experiencing. I planned to return eventually, however…

I wasn’t quite sure how to continue. Should I reveal the fact that I had disobeyed one of his rules?

“However?”, the Prime repeated, wanting for me to continue. With a sigh I prepared myself for my punishment.

However, my body was failing. The pain got too much and the chances of survival for this body were slowly deteriorating. I asked the Hive for advice, but we couldn’t find a consensus, a part of us wanted to let the body die, for you to consume and eventually birth a new one, another part thought that the loss of the only body that wasn’t protecting you would be detrimental to our survival. So I decided to find some biomass to heal myself, which I did, barely… I… I apologise, Prime, I have… broken one of the rules you set us. I consumed the body of one of those ancient sentient beings to prevent my immediate death.

Silence. I wasn’t exactly sure why I was so scared of his reaction, usually within the Hive there were no punishments, either we survived or we didn’t. My situation was quite abnormal.

But despite not having punishments within the Hive, I knew of the concept, and considering that the Prime, while being our Prime, was not as deeply connected to us and was, in effect, his own entity, It had warned us about cooperating, otherwise we would be punished.

After what felt like an eternity the Prime finally spoke, “I see… That’s when you got separated from the Hive?”

There was surprisingly little scorn in his voice, although he didn’t sound happy either.

Yes. I got some weird text floating in front of me that informed me of my separation and the new directives I got. I wanted to ask you for advice, but at the time you were still unconscious, so I talked to Orion-501, who told me to do as I was told to the best of my abilities for the time being.

“Do you have any idea on what caused the separation? Was it because you ate the body or something else?”

That was a question I couldn’t really answer, the only thing I had to go on was that it didn’t feel like it was connected with the consumption of any specific biomass, it felt more like the general situation. But how was I supposed to explain that to the Prime?

I am not sure. It just… kinda happened.

Again there was a long silence, before the Prime sighed and continued. “Okay… For the future, that rule persists. Do not eat the body of anything sentient ever again, no matter the circumstance. I know, it’s harsh, but… ugh… This fucking sucks!”

I wasn’t entirely sure what had the Prime so upset at the moment, but I decided not to pry. The orders seemed… detrimental. Why not consume biomass when it is available in situations of dire need?

But, he was the Prime, and we were not about to start questioning him.

Understood. Do you have any other orders for me at the moment? I found hunting grounds, but getting the biomass back to you will be quite difficult.

“Where are you even at, right now?”

Another question I wasn’t sure how to answer, luckily for me Orion-501 came to my rescue this time.

“Alpha’s signal originates from below us, in what I assume to be the main power and maintenance hub. It would be quite the defensible location, if a little cramped.”

I wasn’t quite sure how defensible this location would be if those critters started a mass attack, but it was outside of the reach of the beasts, so maybe he had a point.

“I could start to look for a way down, although I imagine most of the normal hallways are blocked now. If my host permits, I would like to produce additional hardware to facilitate that task, and perhaps to increase our comm range with Alpha a bit.”

Prime sighed again, his voice sounding tired, “Yeah, let’s do that. Alpha, scout out the area and prepare it for our arrival. Don’t touch anything that looks important, or uh… Actually, just don’t touch anything in wherever you are. Keep on hunting for now, I guess…”

As you command, Prime.

And with that the connection cut, although it was not entirely gone.

Alert: Administration and Fabrication Intelligence Orion-501 has provided map data of the facility.

Warning! Map data may be out of date. Tread with caution, [Hexclaw Hunter] Alpha.

A small, half translucent… thing appeared in my vision. It was roughly round and seemed to display my surroundings. It was kind of disorienting, but it also included an arrow that pointed somewhere off to the side with the feeling of “Prime” attached to it. That at least calmed me a little. Knowing where he was was nice.

Looking around I prepared myself for the task at hand. I was to not touch anything and keep on hunting. I could do that. First things first, I needed a plan to efficiently capture as much prey as possible. Then, storage and materials. I was not supposed to touch anything inside this room, but there were plenty more rooms around that I could salvage things from.

For the hunts I should probably deploy some traps. I had no capability to produce any naturally, like webs or sticky substances, but I had materials available and perhaps with the help of Orion-501 and the Prime I could put something together. Sending a quick inquiry to both Orion-501 and the Hive, I received many different variations on plans for traps, most of which were not feasible at the moment, however some were quite easy to put together.

While I went to work I contemplated my next evolutionary step. It would take some time, I had just gotten [Hexclaw Hunter] after all, but I wanted something that could produce webs and other natural traps.

Arachnid Hexclaw Strider

The Arachnid Hexclaw Strider is a variant on the Hexclaw Hunter Evolution Path that focuses on silent, three dimensional movement and trap making. It is capable of producing silk with various attributes and excels at ambushing its prey. In return it loses most of the direct combat capabilities that the Hexclaw Hunter possesses.

Stalker of the Night [LOCKED]

An arachnid monster that is said to lurk in the dark and capture its prey in intricate and elaborately woven nets, before beheading it in mere moments. Not much is known about them, outside of their stealth and ambush abilities.

WARNING: Selecting Stalker of the Night locks out any future Evolution Path not on the Stalker of the Night Evolution Tree.

Hm, the last one sounded curious, but if it prevented me from getting [Hexclaw Hive Princess] then it was not an option. I was also apprehensive about possible downsides that [Stalker of the Night] would possess.

Alert: While Stalker of the Night locks out the Hexclaw Hive Princess Evolution, it’s Evolution Tree features Princess of the Night, an Evolution Path with nigh identical capabilities and restrictions to the Hexclaw Hive Princess Evolution, with the main difference being it’s focus on ambush attacks.

Alert: The Stalker of the Night focuses primarily on stealth and ambush attacks, however later Evolution’s in the Stalker of the Night Evolution Tree are fully capable of prolonged direct combat.

Huh… I hadn’t thought the floating text to be so helpful. Perhaps I should take it into consideration? For the moment I decided against it, I would focus on the [Arachnid Hexclaw Strider] as it allowed me to follow my long term goal, but I would speak to the Prime about the [Stalker of the Night] Evolution Path. Perhaps he had some more insight on it.

While I had deliberated on my possible evolutions I had arrived back where I had hunted the first critter. From here I had to find a consistent way to lure the critters into the traps I would be preparing, while also splitting them up from the main group, or attracting smaller groups of them to prevent myself from being overwhelmed. With that thought in mind my first order of business was setting up traps.

Having a quick look around I quickly found many pieces of debris that would serve me well. I smiled. I would deliver the Prime as much Biomass as he could ever want. If I was to repent for my disobedience, I best make sure to prove myself to him.