After Lairay went outside the cave he was relieved when he saw the outside world of the Hive.
Unlike the city he lived in, this place is untouched by civilization.
Except for the huge stones acting as an open wall. This place is nature’s territory.
The forest encircling the hive’s cave is teeming with life, wild plants, and animals grow wild.
Despite the limited size of the island, the environment here thrives.
After walking and enjoying the fields, Lairay looked back at the cave, and before it was huge mountains, stretching to the north and south.
The mountain range had peaks rising toward the sky, the lower slopes were covered with forests, streams of crystal-clear water cascading down the rocky slopes, the higher slopes had meadows with vibrant wildflowers, and further up, the mountains became more rugged and untamed, it had hardy shrubs and tenacious vines clinging to life as the wind blows strong.
Lairay was in love and amazed by this magnificent view.
Below the majestic view was the entrance to the hive.
The arc leading to the hive’s entrance can be seen as ‘keeping the darkness trapped within it’.
Aether told Lairay, “The mountain range cuts the island into two sides, the West and East.
There are still more mountains behind that, which makes it hard to cross. There are no alternatives besides using the sea.
You are currently on the Eastern side where the sun rises. This place is where the hive mostly operates.
In terms of landmass, the Western side was much larger than the eastern side. But the East also has a fair space, stretching from north to south.
If Lairay were to head further east, he would reach the nearby sea, which was not far away.”
“Aether, have you been to the west side?” Lairay asked Aether.
“I have, the wildlife over there is thriving and there are more animals than on our side.
The forest is large and dense. However, whenever the hive ventured to the other side, I always avoided the center because there were a lot of four-legged black beasts living there.
One night, when I camped near their territory, they suddenly appeared and killed all of my drones. Not a single one survived,” Aether explained.
Hearing Aether’s story gave Lairay a thought that Aether was scaring him.
“That’s why I have avoided their territory ever since. Unfortunately, the westernmost side was blocked by another two mountains, one from the north and one from the south. The only path was in the center where their territory was located,” Aether added.
“How did you get to the westernmost side?” Lairay said.
“In order to avoid their territory, I directed my drones to travel along the shoreline. It was a long journey, even more, if I chose to cross the mountains, but I managed to reach the other side anyway.
I rarely go there since the journey is long and the resources don’t significantly differ that much from the East side of it” Aether replied.
“Right, based on your knowledge and my past experiences, this island was a tropical rainforest, there may be no winter seasons, but typhoons and heavy rainstorms frequent this region in all seasons.
But don’t worry about the typhoons; the mountains behind us will keep them from reaching us.
The cave was also designed to make sure it wouldn’t cave in, and if we were trapped inside from the outside, we still had supplies until we successfully removed it.
It should be the same region as where you came from,” Aether added.
Hearing this, Lairay became worried. Living underground could be beneficial since strong winds can destroy most houses. However, living inside a cave has its own disadvantages, such as the risk of getting trapped inside during landslides or rockslides.
Lairay couldn’t go back to the hive in its current condition.
The enemies may still be patrolling the area and it will turn bad if they are found.
“The hive has another cave, not far away from here, we use it whenever we visit the other side, but will require us to go around that mountain behind the cave’s entrance.
That cave doesn’t have much equipment, but will allow us to survive for now.” Aether said.
Before departure, Lairay went back to the cave entrance and took a sword from the hand of a fallen drone, although it’s big Lairay should be able to wield it in front of an enemy or someone who would eat him.
He then used it to chop down a few small trees nearby for a long time, considering his 10-year-old body.
After taking a short break, he dragged each tree one by one toward the entrance and placed it carefully with Aether’s assistance, this will act as a cover to keep animals from easily entering the cave while he was gone.
It was unbelievable that no animals dared to enter this cave.
Talking about animals, “Aether, you said you farmed animals right? Like where you got your wools from your sheep, where are they?” Lairay asked Aether.
“I didn’t keep them all in one place, I let some of them roam these fields freely since they don’t really go somewhere else, if they did they always go back the day after, most of them that were inside a pen must have died.
Some of them must have run off when we got attacked and got scared, if not some of them must have been killed.” Aether replied
Lairay understood and Aether then went back to the topic.
Aether told Lairay that this would also help them figure out if the enemies were still around, if the enemies were still here they should notice that someone was here and would destroy the blockage.
If they didn’t, then they would notice it anyway, upon entering the cave and finding the collapsed wall in front of the chamber we woke up in.
After building the blockage, he sheathed his sword to his scabbard and carried it on both of his arms, and headed for the other cave.
Upon climbing the mountain and reaching the middle, he looked back in the direction of the cave, and all he could see were the stones surrounding it, far beyond the cave and the forest, he could see the vast ocean near the horizon.
He continued walking, surrounded by trees and following a trail avoided by grass. He came upon a stream of water, and he looked for a place where he could drink. After finding a suitable spot, he had a short rest on top of a huge boulder.
While resting, he saw an animal not far from him: a deer. It was unlike anything he had seen in pictures. Its body was white, slowly transitioning to pink then to black toward its head and legs.
Its antlers were growing with leaves and its fluffy tail was colored blue.
The deer was heading for the stream but was suddenly stunned by Lairay sitting on top of the rock and running as fast as it could.
Lairay was surprised and a little scared when it suddenly turned around in his direction and headed back to the forest.
It was in that split second that almost gave Lairay a heart attack. But surely Aether will handle it.
Aether assured Lairay that it was harmless and joked that it was the first to feel frightened when it saw Lairay’s unfamiliar form.
Lairay continued walking after that and wanted to reach the cave as soon as possible to avoid drawing attention, especially to evade hunting predators.
Lairay foraged for anything edible on their way with Aether’s help. In the end, Lairay only ate wild berries and what looked like an apple, since he felt uncomfortable eating other unfamiliar fruits that didn’t even taste great.
Lairay never went to the top of the mountain, Aether warned Lairay that while it is a short path, it is also dangerous, the path would get perilous and would have to go through a narrow cliff, he should only go there if he had escort drones for the journey, which he did not have.
Aether advised him to stick to the path, Lairay didn’t notice but it was finally afternoon; the sun would be setting in a few hours.
After hours of walking, Lairay was able to reach the back of the mountain.
Lairay noticed that the shadow of the mountain from which he went around could be seen nearly reaching for the top of the other mountain behind it, he noticed that the sun would go down in a few hours, but there was still time before the sun rested for the day.
Aether advised him that some animals frequently hunt at night in this land, and this place would get darker faster than on the front side of the mountain. Since the light from the sun is now getting weaker and the rest of it will be blocked by the mountain in the front, Lairay had to pick up his pace.
He knew he had to head to the cave soon, rather than later.
Aether directed Lairay to the shortest route to the cave.
But on their way, they were suddenly disturbed by the sudden movements of the bushes from a distance, which made Lairay stop and quickly unsheathed his sword preparing to defend.
But Aether advised him that he was practically inexperienced and that he should hide quickly before it approached him.
Lairay searched his surroundings for cover.
Fortunately, there was a bush that could accommodate his size behind a tree, it should also allow him to see what it was that was approaching him at that speed.
The sound of bushes gets nearer and nearer.
He hides himself perfectly.
As the sound of the bushes approached near where Lairay stood, four figures suddenly appeared.
They looked similar to Lairay’s body, another human being.
Two tall boys about the same age as he was in his previous life, a girl but a bit shorter than the first, and a boy just as tall as Lairay being held by the other tall boy.
They were wearing half-clothes, and the rest of their bodies were exposed.
The two tall boys only had clothes around their waist to knee-length, they had a good lean body, the rest of their bodies were exposed with unknown drawings and marks, slightly different from each other, and a necklace made of bones could be seen. There is a spear made of wood and sharpened stone on top being held by one of the two.
The girl wore clothes covering his breasts and a cloth below her waist to knee-length. She had a petite body and had drawings that massively differed from the rest, a few ornaments, on her hair, a crown made of small feathers, some beads on her hair, and her necklace with colorful gems and stones.
The little boy had only one cloth on his waist and had fewer drawings than the others, however, he had a necklace and a bracelet made of beads.
The four were being chased by 3 animals just as tall as Lairay.
Seeing that there was an open space, the 4 people stopped on the opposite side away from their chasers.
“We will face them here!” said the boy with a spear.
The tall boy carrying the child put him down and guided him to the back, he then picked up a tree branch nearby where he noticed an unfamiliar object, it was Lairay’s scabbard, but kept silent about it, and went back to the group.
Aether pointed it out to Lairay for leaving his scabbard behind, Lairay was speechless as he blamed himself for leaving it there.
The two tall boys went in front and the girl was behind them with the child.
Aether was confused when the four people appeared and expressed his curiosity with Lairay as there had been no human beings seen here before since the hive had explored this whole land long enough.
Lairay then asked Aether inside his head, how long they were asleep.
“Supposedly, a drone will spend its days inside a growth vat normally for 7 days and will be born like a 3-year-old.
In your case, the former Hive Progenitor (Aether’s former self) at the time decided to give you more time after the invasion.
However, I do not have the information for how long, I wasn’t able to tell how many days it had been since the invasion, and I only recently was able to gain awareness just after a long time before your soul saved this body,” Aether said.
Aether’s current consciousness only had information on how to survive and some helpful information that would help him rebuild the hive.
Lairay’s body during the invasion only developed a 1-year-old baby and was not old enough to fully allow the former Hive Progenitor to fully migrate the Mind to his body, therefore, only a portion of the consciousness was shared that would help it survive and rebuild the Hive.
“Priestess the barrier,” the boy said with the spear.
“Right,” the girl replied.
During Lairay’s and Aether’s conversation, they were interrupted when the girl suddenly made awkward gestures with her hands.
Lairay and Aether were confused about what the girl intended to do.
But was then surprised when the leaves in the area suddenly flew toward the four, right after the girl did her hand gestures and stopped around them while suspended in the air.
Just at the same time the girl, three grey wolves suddenly appeared from where they came from, they looked skinny and seemed to be hungry for food.
The girl’s barrier formed just in time.
This was the first time Lairay saw wolves his size except for the Beethoven, but at the same time doesn’t know which one to be astonished by what happened.
The two of the wolves rushed forward while the other one remained standing aggressively behind.
The two wolves rushed toward the group but were blocked by the leaves floating in the air.
This gave an opportunity for the tall boy to use his spear to successfully stab the first incoming wolf’s front body.
It was not deep, but made the wolf yelp, whine, and howl in agony, the tall boy tried to kick the wolf hard rushing toward them but avoided it.
The injured wolf rushed backward and took a moment to recover from the pain.
The other boy on the other hand who had a tree branch tried to attack but didn’t successfully hit the second incoming wolf as he was aiming for its head, but the wolf was quick to avoid and went one step backward.
Meanwhile, the wolf that stayed back accidentally sniffed a scent and suddenly turned his head around to find out more about the scent and it turned to where Lairay hid.
The wolf was able to notice Lairay peeking just before the leaves.
Then rushed toward Lairay’s direction. This wolf had excellent eyes.
Lairay was panicked and got scared by this and suddenly made a small shrieking sound but Aether was able to inhibit Lairay’s fear for a bit and controlled his adrenal gland to produce adrenaline just enough to ensure he was able to fight and run after.
Lairay had no choice but to go outside the bush where he was hiding and try to confront the fierce wolf.
Lairay couldn’t no longer hide from the group, he didn’t want to risk his life when the wolf already made it obvious.
Aether knew that Lairay didn’t have experience in actual combat, but still decided to help Lairay by controlling the flow of adrenaline and other hormones throughout Lairay’s body based on Lairay’s knowledge of the human body, influencing his muscles with adrenaline, unknowingly inducing a human’s secret ability, the ‘hysterical strength’.
(Hysterical Strength: It enables a person to operate beyond their physical capabilities during moments of extreme stress)
The tall boy carrying a tree branch (or ‘wooden stick’) noticed the other wolf that stayed at the back rushing toward a distant bush on their left side and was surprised to see a child suddenly jump out in front of it, the boy’s clothes were somewhat unfamiliar and carried a sword.
The tall boy then remembered the scabbard he had seen near where he had found his wooden stick. At the time, he suspected it had been left there unintentionally for a very long time, as it looked old with marks of tearing.
Looking back and analyzing the little boy, Lairay can be seen as slightly shaking, this child is trying to do his best.
Lairay and the tall boy saw the other wolf that was stabbed previously which followed the wolf when it made a sound and followed the wolf as fast as it could heading for Lairay.
Lairay couldn’t hide his fear. With his body size, he will only be thrown back and pounded by the two wolves rushing toward him.
Aether was also overwhelmed by the situation, he could help Lairay handle with one wolf, but two? Especially Lairay’s size?
The tall boy who had a wooden stick seeing that there was no time to think ran as fast as he could before the wolf, followed by the former, could reach the child, he never thought of himself, as he intended to save the child out of impulse.
The other wolf in front keeps the two in check and keeps scratching the barrier with its claws, barking and viciously growling, showing menacing gestures to provoke the boy to attack him with the spear and bite the stick on the side pulling him toward itself but let’s go every time the boy tried to pull harder.
The tall boy holding the spear was heavily focused on the wolf in front of him preventing the wolf from heavily damaging the barrier.
The tall boy suffered from ‘tunnel vision’ due to this stressful situation.
His attention on the wolf prevented him from noticing the other tall boy who rushed out of the barrier and the other two wolves now rushing for Lairay.
Meanwhile, the girl did notice the little boy after the tall boy carrying the wooden stick suddenly jumped out of the barrier and the wolves’ sudden change of behavior.
“Haan! Where are you going? Get back inside,” the girl said anxiously. The boy holding a spear still didn’t notice or was unable to hear what the girl said.
The little boy behind the girl was crying heavily, he was frightened and was now crying when the two wolves attacked the barrier which shocked him, and cried more while holding both the girl’s legs from behind, hiding behind her.
The boy who rushed for Lairay was able to arrive before the wolves did.
Lairay was frozen in place momentarily as the two wolves rushed for the boy in front of him.
Aether did induce his adrenaline, this was the effect, Lairay was preparing for close quarters.
Before the wolves arrive he notices the tall guy rushing in front of him and from the wolves.
“Stay behind me,” the boy said.
Lairay couldn’t reply as he didn’t understand what the boy just said.
“Don’t worry, just hide behind my back,” the boy said, he was determined.
The tall boy didn’t look back at Lairay, he was determined to face the wolves in front of him.
Just as the two wolves get near him, he steps forward and prepares to deal a blow from the top with his right hand holding the wooden stick and hitting the head of the nearest wolf.
As the wolf enters his range, he then swiftly swings his hand from the top and successfully hits the wolf’s head and is stunned.
The next wolf rushed from behind the first wolf and aimed for this guy’s right hand where it was holding the wooden stick.
As the wolf quickly charged, the tall boy was not able to prepare his next blow and the wolf bit his right hand accidentally dropping the wooden stick.
“Aaaagghhhh” the tall boy shouted.
His scream made everyone turn their heads to him, even the wolf that was harassing the group behind the shield, turned its head toward the sound.
The tall boy holding a spear did turn his head, but instantly returned it toward the wolf in front who was distracted by the sound.
He knew his friend was in danger and wanted to come to the rescue but first, he needed to take out the wolf in front of him.
As the wolf was distracted, the tall boy prepared himself to deal a heavy blow to the wolf and was successful. This in turn made his spear get stuck in the wolf’s body. Stealing his time to rescue his friend.
As the boy shouted, this promptly made Lairay think about how to react.
Aether then directed Lairay to attack the wolf with his sword, which helped Lairay focus and rushed forward to the wolf’s right side and aimed for its upper body, he successfully swung his sword to the top of the wolf’s body and dealt a serious injury, which killed the wolf.
But at the same time, the first wolf that attacked them was able to recover from the blow as it was disoriented when the wooden stick struck his head hard.
The wolf that was attacked by Lairay accidentally released his bite on the boy’s hand, but the wolf on his left side, the first wolf that attacked them rushed to the boy and bit his left abdomen causing him to agonize with pain.
When the wolf that attacked the group’s barrier died, the boy hurriedly went toward their friend to help.
The girl and the little boy followed the boy with the spear, at the same time the girl made a gesture with her right hand and stretched his right arm forward, on her left hand was the little boy’s hand still crying.
As the girls gestured, the barrier made of leaves followed them, not breaking their position and trying to center the three inside the barrier.
Seeing that the wolf went for the boy, Lairay hurriedly took back his sword with a bit of struggle, he headed for the wolf and this time Aether directed him to stab the wolf’s body, so he headed for the right side of the wolf, and charged there.
The attack force that Lairay dealt was effective and the tip of the sword could be seen on the other side of the wolf’s body.
The wolf released his bite and fell on the spot.
Lairay felt a bit of accomplishment for saving his savior’s life.
He then headed for the tall boy who was lying on the ground struggling to cope with the pain and intended to stop the bleeding.
Lairay went beside the boy but didn’t know what to do when he saw the wound bleeding heavily.
He tried to stop the bleeding by applying pressure to the wound but he was struggling as it didn’t slow the bleeding but kept on applying pressure with both of his hands on the side.
Seeing that Lairay was struggling, Aether advised him to intervene with the boy’s body and induce him to heal faster, of course by using his ‘blue tear’.
Aether warned Lairay that this would make the boy different from the rest of his friends as he would be able to heal from most injuries faster.
“Aether, are there any disadvantages to it?” Lairay asked inside his head.
“The boy will have to consume a lot of nutrients and proteins after or when the body is healing from a wound, other than that there is none.
This in turn will weaken your body as you didn’t have a proper meal,” Aether replied.
“Do it, this guy saved my life, it’s only fair to return it,” Lairay said.
Hearing Lairay’s confirmation Aether then started to modify a part of Lairay’s gene and make it so the boy’s body would have the ability to heal quickly.
After a short time.
“It’s ready,” Aether said after he successfully modified Lairay’s DNA and confirmed the result.
Lairay then tried to feel his CLG on his hands and SGM organ, trying to visualize the virus flowing to his hands. This was Aether’s advice to Lairay since it was his first doing this.
(Author’s note: Readers can find out more about CLG, a.k.a., “Cyanolacrima Gland” in the Auxiliary Chapter – The Hive World Compendium)
Lairay’s hands began to produce blue liquid, the ‘blue tear’ gradually covered the boy’s entire bite wounds.
After Lairay successfully covered the wounds with ‘blue tear’ he stopped producing them and observed the boy’s condition.
Lairay also noticed that the ‘Blue Tear’ stopped the bleeding from the bite marks, and isolated the contacted blood into tiny balls separated from each other by a tiny gap.
Seeing this he tried applying ‘blue tear’ on the boy’s hand without the virus, and it gradually stopped the bleeding.
“It will take a short time until the virus is able to deliver the mRNA to the boy’s cells and for it to take action,” Aether told Lairay.
The tall boy holding a spear finally reaches the two, concerned for what happened here.
He saw his friend lying on the ground struggling with the pain, he noticed an unknown blue liquid on his bite wounds, assuming that the child must have stopped the bleeding with his medicine.
As the three arrived, the girl tended to the boy but was surprised by what she saw, blue liquid covered the bite wounds of her friend, and she was unsure what it was.
“What is this?” the girl said and looked at Lairay.
Lairay didn’t understand, even Aether didn’t, he remained silent while looking at the girl.
The girl repeated what she said.
But Lairay still couldn’t understand what the girl said and was pressured by the repeated question.
The tall boy holding a spear also looked at Lairay. The little boy was still crying beside the girl.
Lairay got a gist of what they were asking as the girl pointed out the blue tear and told them what he did, but the tall boy and the girl were only confused and the tall boy frowned.
They didn’t understand what Lairay said. It seemed that they spoke different languages.
As the blue tear slowly becomes effective, the wounds start to slowly heal. Lairay who was beside the boy suddenly felt something and was dazed.
“Lairay, the blue tear is effective,” Aether said.
Lairay was confused, he was feeling dizzy and slowly feeling unknown stimulation, Aether didn’t mention anything about this.
The tall boy and the girl were confused as Lairay suddenly made expressions on his face as if he was feeling pain and confusion.
The tall boy who was injured suddenly stopped moving, as previously he was trying to cope with the pain.
The tall boy holding a spear and the girl was shocked when their friend suddenly stopped his struggle. They thought that something happened and were nervous by the sudden passive behavior of their friend.
The injured boy gave no response as the girl shook the boy’s shoulder.
The tall boy holding a spear suspected the blue liquid must have done something, so he went beside Lairay and pointed his spear to his neck, threatening Lairay to satisfy the boy’s request.
“What did you do!! Speak!” the tall boy holding a spear angrily said.
Lairay was still dazed and couldn’t respond, his face and eyes was fixed to the blue tear on the injured boy’s abdomen.
The tall boy was triggered by Lairay’s silence but noticed that Lairay was looking at the blue liquid on top of the injured boy’s wounds.
The tall boy holding a spear noticed Lairay’s hands and saw that they were also covered by a blue liquid. He grabbed Lairay’s hands and inspected them closely.
He didn’t see any wounds on the little boy’s hands and was confused as he assumed that Lairay put them on his injured friend to heal him with his medicine.
The boy searched the boy’s whole body where he contained his medicine but there was no container or anything in particular.
He then searched the surroundings for any containers but there were none.
As he was panicking, he suddenly remembered cases in his tribe where individuals who were bitten by some wild animals like a wolf didn’t survive.
Looking back at the blue liquid it was the first time he saw such a thing and no one in their tribe had described anything like it, except for the saliva, a clear fluid, unlike this one.
He assumed that it was the blue liquid causing Lairay’s behavior he got from touching his friends’ wounds and the sudden condition of Haan, the tall boy thought ‘It is not medicine’.
Aayan is panicked by his assumptions and is anxious about Haan’s life, because of this he isn’t able to think straight.
Aayan forgot that Lairay never had a wound and is safe and should only be traumatized by what happened. He was driven by his impulsiveness.
He dropped his spear on the ground and decided to remove the blue liquid with his bare hands, his face looked anxious, and as he removed the blue liquid, he wiped it off with his front garment to ensure nothing remained.
The boy then turned his head toward the girl.
“Priestess, don’t touch that blue liquid!!” the tall guy shouted anxiously.
The boy then headed toward Haan hastily after wiping the blue liquid on Lairay’s hands and repeated the same process wiping the liquid off with his back garment.
The girl was confused as to what caused the tall boy’s actions.
“Aayan, what is it?” the girl asked.
“I’m not sure Priestess, but do you know anything about what happened to the people who were bitten by animals? I think it might be related to those and these wolves have them” Aayan said to the girl while removing the liquid.
“You don’t mean… no! But it was happening too soon, unlike theirs this was fast and didn’t behave as those people did, removing it is useless as they must have entered their body,” the Priestess said anxiously.
The tribe had also people who died after being bitten by animals, especially the wild ones.
The tribe didn’t have much scientific knowledge and relied heavily on traditional medicine and wished for them to work.
There was a tiny fraction of people who survived, but even if they did, they would become crazy and helpless.
Their tribe had never known exactly what caused their death, but one thing was for sure, if you were bitten, you would rather amputate the limb that was bitten immediately than expect a miracle to happen, at least you have a huge chance to survive.
On Earth, it was only a matter of time before the disease infected your vital organs and received an injection to fight the disease.
As Aayan successfully removed the blue liquid from Haan it was time for him to remove it from his hands as well, but it was too late for him.
Aayan was able to remove the blue liquid from his hands he was relieved, but shortly after, he suddenly felt something from within him, he suddenly felt dizzy and was fazed, he couldn’t move his body and his vision suddenly darkened.
He was fully aware of the whole process, he could hear the Priestess calling his name as he suddenly collapsed to the ground and the little boy cried louder as he suddenly saw Aayan collapse and was more scared.
Lairay however didn’t move, he was still sitting as he did when he came for the injured boy.
He saw the tall boy collapse beside the injured boy and was in front of him. He was more confused, he didn’t know what was happening to everyone who came in contact with the blue liquid, Aether told him that there shouldn’t be any negative side effects.
“Aether what is happening? You said it was safe,” Lairay asked Aether.
“It was safe Lairay, the injured boy’s wounds are starting to heal and should disappear by now.
I didn’t think afterward that the other tall boy would also touch it, it seemed that as he made contact with the blue tear he was then infected as well, the virus was very contagious” Aether replied.
“That’s not what I asked, did you do anything else? Did you add something to it?” Lairay furiously asked Aether in his head.
“I did, Lairay the situation has changed, the existence of other Humans in this world is a threat to our collective, we must be cautious and strategic.
I intended to introduce the Balmoral Organ to the injured boy and to his companions but I failed.
That tall boy suspected that the blue tear was behind this, as he did search for your body and looking around, he did not trace it back to you, instead, he must have assumed it came from the wolves and started removing it from your body and his friend’s.
This should also be beneficial as we would learn more about them and decide what to do” Aether explained.
“What have you done? Aether, I did not want them to become part of me, they are of the same kind as I was, if they knew about this they would kill me! If not destroy the entire Hive!” Lairay said angrily.
“I’m sorry Lairay, I didn’t know that you would reject my advances, it was my blame I accept it, but I did all of it for the hive as what I knew was best and for you as well,” Aether replied.
“Still, you should have consulted me first, what am I going to do now? If I act rashly their tribe will attack us,” Lairay said.
He was shocked by Aether, he was worried about what the humans of this world would think of him.
At first, he intended to make contact to show good impressions, and be friendly with them as it is beneficial for the Hive to coexist with humans especially since he knows the capabilities of a human society.
And especially a part inside of him that still couldn’t part with his Human self.
It seemed that he and Aether were not on the same page, Lairay was thinking for the long term and Aether was for the short term, it was a letdown for the two great ‘Minds’.
Lairay began to think of ways to handle this carefully, not moving his body.
He understands that Aether did those because he was thinking for the future of the Hive but at the same time, was wrong because Aether only thought about the Hive’s current condition and didn’t think clearly about the possibility of coexistence and long-term prosperity.
He knew this because when he was playing games on his computer especially if it involved cooperation, the side that had clear goals, strategy, team spirit, and especially resources will always win.
Even in life, people who learn to cooperate successfully, build a network, and knowledge would have a high chance of being successful, blending oneself into society is more beneficial than doing things alone.
If Lairay were to refuse this opportunity to cooperate, he would have a hard time rebuilding the hive, especially since there is another civilization in this land, and war is not an option if he would like his Hive to prosper.
Lairay understood what Aether said to him previously, Aether was only able to receive a portion of his previous consciousness, and it seems that this made Aether unable to decide the best option for the Hive.
‘Aether must have been influenced by my knowledge regarding human society and was unable to see the bright side of Humanity’ Lairay thought to himself.
“Aether, in the future, make sure to inform me when you are going to do something like this,” Lairay said.
Hearing this made Aether reflect on his position, he is no longer the Hive Progenitor and will have to take Lairay’s confirmation for him to do things he wants in the future, as he is not the only one thinking about the future of the Hive anymore.
“Yes Hive Progenitor,” Aether said.
Even though he said that what’s done is done, he would have to take responsibility and earn back Lairay’s trust.
“I wi… ” Aether said but was interrupted by Lairay.
“Is there anything I can do to return them from who they were?” Lairay said.
“We couldn’t reverse it Lairay, the Balmoral Organ is already developing and is now slowly forming your connection with them, they will become your drone soon.
If you want to make them act with freedom while still under your control, you can give them full autonomy, although that is risky and they might rebel if their connections to you are not handled with care, you will have to sync your consciousness with them from time to time to avoid this,” Aether replied.
Hearing this, Lairay was hesitant to do it but there was nothing he could do, at least they should act normally in front of their friends.
…
After a moment, Lairay then focused, he felt his entire body and tried to feel the two, he kept at it and after a short time, he finally succeeded.
Lairay was slowly able to recover from the dizziness, strange sensations and stimuli could be felt, he was confused, he didn’t feel they were coming from his body but were from the two who were infected earlier.
He had an uncanny ability to sense their emotions, their environment, the temperature, their thoughts, and their intentions. It was as though Lairay had an instinctive understanding of their innermost motives and desires.
As the two boys’ memories flow to Lairay he gets to know more about their people and society, and the more questions he gets as the memories of the two boys flow to him.
Lairay then asked Aether if he could stop it for now and analyze more about their memories later. He wanted to know more about their situation and how to speak their language.
Aether told him what to do, simply, focusing on imagining that he block those unimportant memories and filter only the memories Lairay deemed important.
Even though it was easy to say, it was hard to do. Especially, imagining them while also feeling them.
Lairay tried his best and slowly started practicing doing it until he got used to it and the memories that were flowing slowly decreased and were filtered with only the memories he wanted.
‘Will these sensations be more different if they were given semi or limited autonomy?’ Lairay thought.
The girl was crying while shaking the injured Haan’s body and Aayan’s, he was dismayed by their sudden loss of consciousness.
The little boy had stopped crying and behaved himself while watching the Priestess crying, he didn’t understand why she was crying, he just didn’t know, he was still a kid, and didn’t have much understanding of the world around him.
As Lairay accomplished his intentions regarding the two boys, he stood up and approached the girl.
“They are fine, you should give them a moment to recover,” Lairay said to the crying girl.
By now, Lairay already understood their language and the situation they were in thanks to the two boys becoming his drones, he was able to analyze some memories.
Lairay intended to keep it a secret from the girl.
This made the girl feel a sense of relief knowing that this child was fine, it wasn’t the illness that she thought and made her worry.
‘That Aanyan just made me worry by giving false assumptions, he got carried away by his silliness and now got exhausted’ the girl thought.
She assumed that they were safe and were exhausted and should only be recovering from the fight.
The girl wiped her tears from her face with her hands and stood up.
“What’s your name?” the girl asked.
“My name is Lairay, I live near here,” Lairay replied.
“May I know who you are? And what are you guys doing here? This place is dangerous when it gets dark, you should come with me, I live inside a cave it should be safer than staying outside,” Lairay replied.”
The girl was confused when hearing Lairay, because this part of the island should be uninhabited, and there should be no communities other than the other tribes on the west of the island, especially, since this kid was wearing unknown clothes made of materials that she had never seen before.
“My name is Tanyn, I’m an apprentice Priestess of my tribe and this little boy is ‘Kanan’, he is the Tribe Chief Kennaan’s second son,” Tanyn said.
“Hello,” Kanan said. After saying that he went beside Tanyn’s side and hid his body avoiding eye contact with Lairay.
“I can explain our situation later when we arrive at your house, for now, our safety should be secured first, don’t worry Lairay, we are not bad people, since you helped us, it was only right to return it with kindness,” Tanyn added.
“I understand,” Lairay replied, although he was confused as he said lived in a cave earlier not a house.
Lairay then turned his head toward the two unconscious boys with a serious face.
Seeing that Lairay understood and had nothing more to say Tanyn moved his hands, and the leaves forming the barrier expanded and more leaves joined them in forming the barrier slowly expanding more until it was able to encircle everybody.
Lairay noticed that the girl moved her hands and was amazed by what followed, Kanan couldn’t also hide his amazement.
Although for Tanyn they were just leaves moving where she wanted it, still, this made the two children make an expression as if seeing a clown’s party tricks.
But for Tanyn this made her gather a few leaves and do tricks with them impressing the two even more and got distracted in showing off her abilities.
Over time the three forgot the two unconscious boys and got carried out enjoying themselves.
