She’d betrayed the trust of her kin in favor of power. She’d lied to them, getting most of them killed and killing the remainders herself. Her subordinates- her kin, had all been killer by her, indirectly and directly.
Her instincts didn’t wage on this like they did with regular hunting of her kin; she didn’t have the orders of her Queens to hide behind. She was meant to protect the hive and her kin, and she’d done the opposite.
Seconds crawled by, and while her mental state rapidly declined, a small, still-rational part of her mind tried to figure out how to calm down. It came up with a blank, and every idea it cobbled together was flimsy and fell apart under its own weight.
Eventually, the System tried to help. Myrmidon leaders oftentimes do the exact same thing; it is not so bad.
The System’s words only made the emotional majority of her mind deteriorate even faster. The rational splinter couldn’t find a reason to take back the majority, and slowly lost more of its already small ground. Her form dug the fingers of its Articulated Arms into its own body, deep enough to draw blood.
…Many minutes passed, and eventually, her vestige of rationality disappeared, and she was fully engulfed in grief, self-hatred and madness. Her mind proved to be a double-edged sword, as horrifyingly realistic visages of her murdered subordinates clawed at her, demanding to know why she’d done what she’d done… and this time, she couldn’t just kill them to avoid responsibility.
The two large Teryls restrained her arms, having noticed the harm she was inflicting on herself. The small Teryls stayed far away- which was a very wise decision, as she would’ve taken any opportunity to harm the Teryls holding her back at that moment.
Minutes turned into tens of minutes, and those blended into hours. She went through phases of depression and then rage, hatred and grief, before soon returning to depression. It was a cycle of immiserating that she couldn’t seem to escape.
Eventually, finally, the brief fragments of rationality had a reason to take over.
You have twenty four hours left to make it to Cavern 1. The System told her.
She’d been making brisk progress before, but now that she was as wounded as she was… she was ninety-nine percent sure she’d make it if she left within the next hour, but it was enough to tear most of her away from her state of misery.
She had a goal, now, and she fought to keep it in sight; to distract herself from the consequences of her actions. Thinking of it that way almost caused her to slip back into the fugue, but she was rational enough now to recognize that the best way to make up for the sins she’d committed was to do better in the future. Even knowing this, she didn’t think she was very interested in building another group of subordinates… not yet, anyway. She didn’t even really think she had it in her to kill more of her kin than was absolutely necessary.
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Speaking of… how else was she meant to become stronger? Surely, they didn’t only grow from killing one another; surely, the Myrmidons weren’t able to exist while being so self destructive.
She tried to free herself from the grasp of the two big Teryls that were still holding her down, not having realized that she’d broken out of the miserable cycle, but failed. She needed to go soon, but could only hope that the Teryls would let her go soon.
It was difficult to remain rational when she was being temporarily held back from the goal that was keeping her rational, so she distracted herself with questions.
“Say I ate one of the Teryls… how would I take their Biomass? I don’t think they’re large enough to have Cores… aside from the big ones.” She asked the System.
The Myrmekes are special; most other creatures don’t have Cores. Thus, simple consumption of the body is enough.
“Why doesn’t that apply to Myrmekes?” She asked.
All of a Myrmeke’s Biomass is sent to their Core. The System answered.
“Why?” She asked, “What’s the purpose of the Cores? And why would other creatures bottle up all of their Biomass, anyway?”
The System took longer to answer this time. She’d learned that that meant it was having trouble answering her question without exposing sensitive information.
The purpose of the Cores is to sustain the System. It said, dodging the second question and not fully answering the first.
“Elaborate,” She pushed, and the System was silent.
A minute passed, and she’d begun to believe that it wasn’t going to answer when, finally, it spoke up again.
Lower Queen Andromeda has permitted me to explain due to your unusual circumstances. To begin with, Biomass is not what its name, description and everything else implies; deliberate deceit. Biomass is the System’s Ether, and the Core is where the System’s Ether is contained in each specimen, as alterations to the extent that the Myrmekes are capable of would be impossible if they were based only on mere biomass. The Cores are what fuel the- Before she could read any further, the message vanished. A few seconds later, it was replaced.
I went too far; more strict, but still looser, restrictions on the information I can divulge have been placed upon me. I will restart and finish with the important part; eventually, the Ether within your body will grow too dense, and you will be forced to form a Core of your own to progress.
…A dangerous thought emerged in her brain, and she only barely managed to hide it from the System- at least, she was pretty sure she managed to banish it before it could glimpse it.
‘Is it possible to rid myself of the System by gouging out its Core?’
It was stupid anyway; such an act would doubtlessly get her killed, and it would have almost no benefits unless she was intending on frequently breaking rules.
“Is there anything else on the subject you can divulge?” She asked the System.
Don’t push the limits. I have already been reprimanded by the… It trailed off, before adding Queens. Needless to say, that was very strange, but there wasn’t much she could derive from it, especially when the System was likely busy trying to save its own ass.