Imagine waking up somewhere completely foreign, with no memory of how you got there, no explanation for why you were chosen. That’s my reality now. My mind pulses with an endless stream of biological knowledge how life forms adapt, how cells divide and heal, and the microscopic patterns that form the basis of all living things. It’s as if the secrets of life itself have been poured into me, and yet, I barely know what to do with them. This strange existence as a hive mind is both a gift and a burden. I can see through countless eyes, feel through countless senses, and understand each creature within my domain as an extension of myself. Every individual’s instinct, and every microbe’s purpose, all make up the larger, shared intelligence that I now command. I didn’t decide this, but here I am, forced to adapt.