//Writing Soundtrack: (221) A Soundtrack for the Apocalypse - Dark Dystopian Music - YouTube

Concentrating was hard, I kept coming back to all the things I had seen during my… dream? It didn’t really feel like a dream, to be honest. I wasn’t quite sure what it felt like, but it wasn’t a dream.

I tried my best to focus on the tasks at hand, but thinking in a straight line was hard. Luckily for me Orion was pretty good at keeping me on task. He was right that I needed some help navigating this place, and while his map data was severely out of date, it was helpful.

However, there was one thing that bothered me. Why didn’t he simply show me the map? The answer was quite simple, apparently.

“My dear host, I am currently running on meatware that was decidedly not designed for hosting me. You are missing a neural implant with me to properly interface with, outside of verbal communication and some very basic visual indicators I am unable to do anything. I have the database you downloaded available to me, but that’s about it.”

That did make sense, in a way. “What about the Interface I have?”, I asked while slowly making my way into the direction he directed me to. Gamma was walking in front of me, her rifle still gripped tightly despite having only one or two shots left.

“I am as of yet unsure of what you speak, although I assume it has something to do with this other implant you have, one I might add has undergone a slight change. Ever since Alpha contacted me I got a very limited interface with it, although it is highly regulated in what it allows. The Firewalls it has are beyond anything I have ever seen. It is like all I have seen so far are mediaeval castles from the holo-vids I was sometimes tasked to save, outside of regulations of course, and now I finally saw a true modern fortress. It is beyond belief!”

That was another very interesting thing to know about, even if I didn’t really know how to use that knowledge. I did have [Cybernetic Self-Enhancement], but I didn’t know how those implants worked. I could create them if I got a blueprint for them from Orion, but if I was given one I wouldn’t be able to figure out what it was. Hardware had never been my thing.

Wait… Hardware… Something came to mind. I groaned and facepalmed.

“I am SOOOO stupid”, I complained, before continuing, “Hey, Orion? You got information on building mats and elements in your database, right?”

“Affirmative. Part of my task was to oversee and organise the construction of various projects relevant to this outpost.”

“Okay. Can you send me the details and composition of them? Like, for example, what do you know about Mercury?” I had an idea that needed some testing.

“Of course. Here you go, everything I have about Mercury.”

And with that I got a ping from him, similar to the one I got when he sent me the blueprints. Taking in as much as I could I concentrated on [Taking Control of the Matter].

Focusing some mana into it as my instincts guided me I quickly formed a small blob of Mercury in front of me. Success!

I had been such an idiot. I could have thought of this way earlier! Maybe this could have helped us!

Although, despite its success, it did take a lot of mana. So maybe it wouldn’t be as helpful as I thought it would have been. Time for another experiment.

“Alright, what do you have on iron and steel?”, I asked, hopeful.

“This is certainly a sight to behold. I think I understand your plan, let me pull up all the relevant information for you.”

And with that I knew what iron and steel was, atomically, the exact ratio of components, the best combinations, anything and everything that Orion could dredge up. With another quick thought and some application of mana I was soon holding a clump of pure iron. And I do mean pure iron. The clump was quite sizable, if I cupped both hands it would be slightly bigger than what I could hold, and strangely it used up near to no mana, at least compared to the mercury.

Satisfied I absentmindedly started munching on it, my mind already working on steel, and only noticed a few moments after I took the first bite that I could easily chew the metal. That threw me for a loop for a moment, before I decided that that was the least strange thing I experienced in the past few days. I have been eating a myriad of other materials already after all, so I just continued to eat while I formed a similarly sized clump of steel. I was not quite familiar with the different types of steel, but I knew that different elements could be added for specific purposes. For this experiment I simply picked one at random, silicon infused carbon steel.

Once more I quickly had a clump of steel in my hand, it had taken marginally more mana, but the difference was so little as to make no real difference with the sample sizes I made.

This opened so many doors for me. I could make knives and other tools, maybe even some basic protective gear!

That thought brought my mind halting back to reality and I looked down on myself. When I had first awoken I had crafted myself some clothes to cover up, not that I felt particularly embarrassed while naked. My pants were quickly destroyed when I laid my first egg as I had entirely forgotten about them at that moment, while my shirt had been pretty much totalled during my fight with the beast.

I should probably make something more durable later on, especially since I could now ask Orion about the exact way to use Graphite reinforcements.

“Okay… I think I have some ideas”, I said in between bites of iron and steel, “For the moment, do you have a way for us to get to Alpha? The implant upgrades should be done shortly too.”

I had started them the moment Orion had told me about them, so they were already nearly done. From what he had said they were basically the basic framework that I could build upon in the future, if needed. And I was pretty sure that would come in handy sooner rather than later.

By this point we arrived at the end of the maintenance tunnels and I waited for Orion to give me more directions.

“I have some ideas on how we can try to get to her location. If we could dig through the Composite Titanium making up the facility we could get there quite fast, the direct distance is quite small after all. However, we are currently missing the means to achieve that feat. If you would find a severely weakened path through the metal we might be able to achieve it, however that is very unlikely and could potentially be a huge waste of time.”

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I had to agree with him there, while it would be nice to skip through any dangerous areas, it could be a huge time sink. Despite my newfound ability to think and actually use the tools I had at my disposal, I didn’t think I had any way to dig through something like that. I could potentially use Antimatter for it, but that had some immense risk on its own, so I dismissed the idea immediately. I asked Orion to give me the details on the material while I was lost in thought, and sure enough I had no clue where to even begin going through that.

Unless…

I had just realised what I was able to do when I combined my different powers, why stop at this most basic step? I could create some poisons with my tail, only minor ones, but what was to say that I couldn’t change that with [Taking Control of the Matter]?

“Okay, Orion, do you have any acids that could melt through that in your database?”, I asked absentmindedly, looking around at the room we were currently in.

“Indeed I do. However I am not sure how safe it would be for you to… materialise? The acid in question. It is quite dangerous and I doubt your strange alien carapace will be all too protective.”

It was a fair point, but my hope was that I didn’t need to touch it. My first attempt was to produce it with my tail, but that turned out to be impossible. I didn’t exactly know why, but I couldn’t create it inside my own body, nor was I able to use my poison stinger for it.

I was able to produce a droplet with no issues, and without it touching my hands, but the mana costs were quite high. Not unusably high, but it would leave me drained quickly.

I decided to attempt it regardless, and so I went ahead and started to melt the floor where Orion directed me to.

However, my hopes were quickly squashed when I realised that this was not going to work. Okay, technically it did work. The issue was that it would take me hours of just creating more acid, waiting for my mana to recover, then rinse and repeat. It simply was not feasible.

So, after a while, I decided to just carry on normally, trying to find a way.

With the help of the new implants Orion was able to project a map into my vision with proper directions, not just a small green arrow. That helped greatly at finding the correct path.

Surprisingly the trip was uneventful. Each turn and fork in the hallways I expected some kind of ambush, but we found nothing. No weird beast, no small critter, not even anything automated. It was just shy of boring.

It did help me get some time to think however. With Gamma in the lead I didn’t need to pay too much attention, although I still did my best, and I could spare a bit of my focus to work through my current situation, something I had up to now pushed away.

I knew why, this was simply so much, but with Alpha’s recent actions, and my recent near death experience as well as the weird dream or vision or whatever that trip had been, I realised that I had to shift my approach.

So far I had been quite naive and careless, reckless even, in how I went about things. I had already decided that I needed to rely more on the Hive, even if I didn’t like it. They were my only viable option to stay alive, at least until I figured out how to properly use my strange combat instincts and some weapons, as well as my magic. I had a lot of power available to me, I just had no fucking clue how to use any of it properly. The one spell I had thrown at the beast had been proof of that.

So, what could I do in this situation?

For the moment I needed more Hatchlings, as much as it pained me, and for that I needed biomass. Alpha said she was hunting, and while I was suspicious of her, I also couldn’t afford to outright dismiss her. I couldn’t trust her, but I also required her help.

With more Hatchlings I could also start scouting out the area more thoroughly. Next up would be finding a secure and safe place to stay and build a lair. If I had a lair I could start building my hive and that would mean I was safe…

I trailed off, my thoughts coming to a sudden halt. What was I thinking about? Was the Hive influencing me? Or was it a result of my new body? So far I could trust my instincts, but this went a little too far! I was not ready to accept my fate yet, and wasn’t sure if I would ever be. I wanted to figure out what happened to me and why I was here, maybe eventually return to a more human body! This went entirely into the opposite direction of what I wanted!

But… I also couldn’t outright dismiss it. It was only logical, to find a safe place to live and build up, before I carried on. I needed some kind of base to find my footing. Right now I was missing everything I needed to get off this rock. And even if humanity was wiped out I still wanted to return to civilization.

That thought again ripped me out of my thoughts. Would people even want a Hive-Mind in their midsts? Would I be welcomed or hunted? If I would meet humans they most likely would hunt me down until I could prove to them I wasn’t a threat.

My mood soured with those thoughts, but I also couldn’t deny the truth in them. It left me torn. I needed the Hive to survive, yet this very Hive could prevent me ever returning back to civilization.

I really didn’t know what to do, so I decided to ask Orion. He was the closest I had for reference, perhaps he could help me.

“Say, Orion… If I would venture into civilization, how would they react to me? Would they welcome me or hunt me down?”

Orion was quiet for a moment, a moment that felt like an eternity.

“To be honest it would be hard to tell. From what I have seen, you are capable of some amazing feats, but sentient beings are, in a vast majority of cases, quite sceptical and cautious. Even the Oltrar, who are the most open race I have on record, would be at least slightly cautious regarding your goals. Knowing you personally I don’t think there would be too much of an issue, but at the same time I have absolutely no idea what kind of time you live in, and I don’t know what other factors any potential civilizations would take into account in this day and age. For the moment I would recommend avoiding direct contact until you can ascertain a proper perspective on the circumstances in which you find yourself.”

He had a point, one I found myself agreeing with. Perhaps I should do that frst. As much as I yearned for civilization and my old life… whatever that had been, I also wasn’t stupid enough to run head first into danger like that. I had been reckless enough up until now.

Even after I had sworn to myself I hadn’t really acted like it, truth be told. I could have the Hatchlings scout out the route we took before going with them, that way maybe the meeting with the beast would have gone different.

With these thoughts I made my decision. First goal: Find a secure place and a stable income of biomass. Build up my troops, as much as I hated it, so I could navigate the place safely. Find ways to evolve and then a way to get off this moon. Everything else could come after that.

Hopefully the first step was quite close to completion, finding a secure place. If Alpha’s and Orion’s words were true, the place she had found would be quite safe, so that was a start. She also was currently gathering more biomass. That was step two marked down. Next up would be evolving, learning to properly use my tools, and eventually building myself some equipment for the future.

Hopefully I could find out what Alpha had been up to and what the deal was with her. It would make everything after this much easier.

“Okay… I need some things. I know right now I’m not really in a position to fabricate it all, but what do you have on weapons and armour? Maybe turrets and other defence mechanisms? Once we find a safe place to hunker down in, I want to start fortifying it.”

“A superb plan. Here is everything I have that could help with that, in order of importance. Maybe we can find a generator down there, that would make everything a whole lot easier, especially if you decided on automated defences.”

The amount of things he sent me was mind boggling and it took me quite some time to work through it all. By the time I had done my first skim of the list Orion notified me that we had arrived. In front of me was a small maintenance door. Opening it I found myself in quite the gigantic, albeit cramped, room.

And in the middle of it, surrounded by around a dozen dead animals, stood Alpha.

With mixed feelings I entered and walked up to her after I closed the door, Gamma behind me. I had the first vestiges of a plan, now I had to figure out just what the hell had happened with Alpha.