Ch 5

Zerg Mana – 2,340/1,000,000

Zerg Supply – 23/60

Mana required for Evolution: 500,000

Huh. I have more mana than before, yet I hadn't gathered near as much. Why is that?

"It's because the creep is absorbing sunlight, which converts light into mana. The more creep available, the more light is absorbed." Answered Asura.

I blinked, "Did I ask that out loud?"

Asura giggled and answered, "Yes."

We're still laying on the floor of the Hatchery, and I'm still wrapped in her arms. I'm still a little sleepy though, having just awoken. I never was a morning person. Asura, on the other hand, looks like she's been awake forever.

"Didn't you sleep?" I asked.

Asura shook her head and replied, "Zerg don't need to sleep."

"Then why do I need to sleep?"

"Because you're still mostly human. You can change little things like that when you level up."

I nodded, "That makes sense. If none of the Zerg have to sleep though, can you keep the Swarm going while I'm asleep?"

Asura looked at me wide eyed, then shook her head rapidly, "You are the Overmind. I couldn't possibly…"

I interupted, "You have free will Asura… and it's what I want. You're not the Overmind that's true, but neither are the Cerebrates, and can't they do they same thing?"

Asura bit her lip, a motion I'm starting to find rather endearing despite her very non human appearance. She then hesitantly replied, "If you gave me orders to fulfill before you sleep… I could try my best to fulfill them for you. I couldn't just guide the swarm without your input. You are the Overmind."

I shrugged and wondered, "What if you or someone else with free will in the Swarm could lead the Swarm better than I could?" She shook her head emphatically and answered, "That's not possible. The Zerg would never answer to me. In your absence a few might answer, but ONLY in your absence! You're the Overmind! Your very presence is that of a bright star! You're presence is all encompassing! Compared to you, I'm just a speck. You can command the entirety of the Swarm, a Swarm that can span across the entire universe! Whereas I… I can only command a few Zerg. Possibly one brood if I tried hard. No one could lead the swarm as well as you could."

I frowned in thought, then wondered aloud, "What if I made a being that could? A literal successor, something greater than a cerebrate, like a mini Overmind? Or better yet, what if I made you into that form? An Overmind does need a Queen… an Overlady if you will? Queen sounds better though. Overlady sounds silly…"

Asura just looked at me while I pondered this like a deer caught in headlights. I caught the look and wondered, "You don't want to be like that?"

Asura stuttered, "I-I want only what you want…"

Concerned, I asked, "What's the problem then?"

Asura shook her head, but still regarded me in open wonderment, "I'm just a Queen, Matthew. Nothing more, nothing less. I've only ever been a Queen. To be something more… is beyond my comprehension… or it would be, but somehow I can see it. This free will… I can see myself in this position you describe clearly. A part of me even… desires it. I've never wanted anything else other than what you want before… but I'm just a Queen. I'm a Queen. I could never reach such a position without you. You're the Overmind. I'm a Queen."

I watched in interest as her shock seemed to clear up near the end. It's almost like she'd grabbed onto something familiar and comfortable, the way she'd considered herself just a Queen.

Asura turned to me and stated clearly, "I want only what you want." And she honestly meant it too. I could feel that. I can still feel her desire to become what I'd described to her, but at the core of it, she still only wants what I want, and since I desire to make her a Queen… dare I say it, MY Queen, she desires it too.

At this point, I can hardly see her spider like body with alien torso anymore. To my mind, she's become so much more. It's like I can see past the physical body to her core self. Maybe I'm just projecting onto her, but more and more her appearance seems almost… human. And a fairly attractive human at that. At that thought, I feel a slight stirring in my loins, but I repress that feeling for now. I'd been a slave to such feelings before. There's a time and place for everything, and this time is NOT now.

At this thought, I reluctantly climbed out of her arms and stretched, ambling over to the pool to drink. After munching on a piece of creep, I felt ready and raring to go. Turning back to Asura, I stated, "Since the collection of mana seems largely up to the Creep, I want the creep spread as far and as fast as possible ok? To quicken this… I want more Queens created. As many as possible."

Asura nodded at this, agreeing. I had been worried for a moment that she would be jealous, but then I realized how foolish that thought was. She's Zerg. I'm Zerg. We're all Zerg. It'd be one thing if we weren't all connected like we are, but we are. What use is jealousy when affection is freely given and felt by all?

With that squared away, I turned my attention to the larvae. I'm going to need more than three at a time, so I command three of the drones to stop what they're doing and start forming Hatcheries. Unfortunately, it'll be another 12 hours before they're finished, but that'll still be midday. With 1140 mana left, I set about creating more Queens. Supply wise, I can get 18 more… mana wise though, I can only put out five. I'm starting to think maybe I should've held off on creating more Hatcheries. Unfortunately in the game, I'm used to cheating so right off the bat, I usually put up four hatcheries in a square formation to pump out more units fast. Not exactly viable in this situation. Still, it'll be good for the long run, so it's not a crippling mistake.

With five new Queens out, I only have 140 mana left and 33/60 supply. Just for the heck of it, I pump out one more Overlord so now I have 65 total supply and only 40 mana. I consider putting out more Zerglings, but decide against it. More to the point, I wonder if I should start up on defenses. Unfortunately it seems that I can't build anything else while at level one. The two main defenses, spore and spine crawlers can't be accessed till level two. Level two will change everything though, with six queens available, all of which are pretty much deferring to Asura's lead in figuring out how to get used to free will, I have more information than I know what to do with.

Evidently, once level two hits, between the six queens and myself, we can change the swarm at the next level in small ways. Each level up we'll be able to change more and more, especially with the use of Overseers and their massive brains. Unfortunately, it's been determined that I won't be able to completely raise the Queens to the state I want until level five.

At level one, I can only access hatcheries, spawning pools, extractors, drones, overlords, Zerglings, and Queens. This is just to start off at.

At level two, I can access lairs, evolution chambers, spine and spore walkers (though my admiration of the protoss is causing me to favor doing away with spine walkers and making spore walkers capable of targetting land and ground, as well as make them sensors), the Roach warren, Baneling nest, and Hydralisk den, as well as those three units respectively, plus Overseers. I'm thinking of doing away with Banelings though. The idea of having suicidal troops when I'm shaping the swarm around the idea of unity and togetherness is extremely vulgar to me. Asura talked me out of that once I'd voiced it, with the other Queens agreeing most heartedly. When I asked why, their explanation caught me by surprise.

"It's because we're Zerg. We can't die. Not through old age, and not through the destruction of our physical bodies. Through you, if I were to die, by your will I would be reborn. Perhaps not immediately, but I can see it in your core that you would not allow me to be without form for very long." The other Queens agreed. Forarmed with that knowledge I had to agree that as the first line of shock troops, they would be useful. Still it'd be nicer if they could provide such an explosion without dying. I have a few ideas of how to pull that off, but nothing concrete yet.

At level three, I can access the Hive, Nydus Network, Spire, and infestation pit, giving me access to infestors, nydus worms, mutalisks, corruptors, guardians, and scourge. I'd been thinking of getting rid of the scourge for the same reason as the banelings, but again I was talked out of it. I am thinking of combining the scourge with the broodlings the Broodlords spawn as their weapon. It'd be my answer to the Protoss Carrier, having Broodlords spawn scourge instead of broodlings. I'd definitely have them capable of targeting ground as well as air targets though. Of course, I'm really hoping that I don't run into the Protoss, but if I do, I'd like to think we could be friends. I'm not evil after all.

At level four, I can access the Ultralisk Den, the Greater Spire, the Defiler Mound and the Nydus Canal. When asked the difference between a Nydus worm and Nydus Canal, the Queens had the grace to look embarassed. Asura answered, "We don't know how a Nydus Canal works. A nydus worm is a creature based from the Nydus network that has a vast interconnecting body with many heads. It can swallow a large number of Zerg forces and deposit them anywhere you wish on the planet from any unearthed head. Nydus canals… they are capable of instantaneous transport across any distance both ways, but can only transport one Zerg at a time, and only units that can walk on the ground. We don't know how they work, only that it involves some form of technology assimilated into the Zerg Swarm. We know how to use it and replicate it, but it is unknown how it works. The entire process is biological. Much like how the Leviathans and Behemoths are somehow capable of pushing themselves into warp space. We don't know how they do it, we just know they can."

Speaking of Leviathans, I can access them at level four as well, along with Ultralisks, broodlords, .

At level five though, that's when things get interesting. At level five, I can access cerebrates and behemoths. After this level the only real reason to raise the genetic level of the swarm is to make genetic changes and become tougher. That's it. After level five, the Zerg Swarm truly comes into it's own, and I can change anything on a genetic level that I want, hence why I have to wait till level five to elevate Asura and my other Queens to true Zerg Queens. Right now, it's easier to just refer to them as Broodmothers since that's what they basically are. They won't be true Queens of the Zerg until they can become like Sarah Kerrigan was and more.

Speaking of which, after learning all this, I could see that the Queens were corresponding telepathically with each other. They weren't really trying to be secret, but I still let them have their privacy. It didn't take them long before it seems they'd come to an agreement, and the youngest looking one stepped forward. She's a shy and timid thing. It seems free will is affecting them on a much deeper level than I'd first suspected, at least personality wise. I can still tell that they're all completely for me. I can't help but feel humbled at that.

Gathering her courage, the youngest Queen spoke, "My lord Overmind… M-Matthew… I and my sisters were wondering… if you would name us?" I glanced at Asura and she nodded to me encouraging not just me, but the youngest Queen as well. Even if I wanted to say no, I wouldn't have. The hardest heart would have melted from the earnest feeling being expressed by my youngest queen.

"I would be honored to name each of you." I answered gently. The Queen erupted into the biggest smile I'd ever seen. I smiled back and said, "Your name will be Joy." The newly dubbed Joy gave a squeal and faster than I could blink, tackle hugged me, I laughed out loud in surprise, and hugged back.

Slowly, one by one, the other Queens came forward to receive their names. I didn't really have much of an idea of what to name them, only by going off their personalies. I beckoned the next Queen forward and asked, "Is there anything in particular you want to be named for?" My next oldest Queen seemed to cast her eyes about and answered, "I like nature. There's something beautiful about the plants here. I think I'd like to tend to them as well as the creep. Especially the flowers. If anything threatens them, I will be pierce them through and scatter their corpses to the far winds. Nothing will harm my family or what I find beautiful."

Smiling, I told her, "Well said. Your name will be Rose. Beautiful, yet deadly." Rose smiled at this and whispered, "Thank you."

It seems my Queens have decided to go by age. The next oldest stepped forward and said, "I want to be named after something dangerous, yet beautiful too! I like seasons better though…"

After thinking a moment, I hit upon the perfect name, "Snow. Very little is as beautiful and yet deadly. Like the reflection you sometimes see in the ice, you shall have this name to match your younger sister."

Snow immediately hugged Rose, bringing the image of a frosted rose to my mind. Those two will go well together. After hugging Rose, Snow came forward and hugged me too. I hugged back and said, "With such warm hugs, maybe I should've named you Summer instead!" She laughed lightly and said, "I think I like Snow better." I smiled and nodded.

The next oldest stepped forward with her arms crossed, looking slightly defiant, yet anxious at the same time. I raised my eyebrow and her front seemed to crumble a little. I asked simply, "What would you like to be name for?" She seemed to reaffirm her self and said, "I don't know, Matthew." She seemed to deflate and continued softly, "I would like a name, but I don't seem to really have anything I want to be named after. I want a good name though. A strong name. One that my enemies will hear and know fear…" She seemed to want to continue, but she didn't. She looked down and shuffled her foot a little. Almost like an epiphany I suddenly got it. She wants others to fear her name so she won't have to actually fight. She's a pacafist like I am. Peace through making others not want to fight you in the first place. She does need a good strong name. A number of them passed through my head, but none really came close to the first that had entered my head while she was speaking.

"Your name… I will name you after one of my best friends. Being with her was like standing in the shelter of a wall of fire. At once, it can scare you, you don't want to come near it, but once you do, for those who know the real you… you are warm, passionate, and full of life. You are fun to be around. Your enemies will burn before you, but your loved ones will know your warm embrace. You are Faye. While not her true name, it is the one she used as a defense to stay hidden from those who didn't know her, while allowing her friends to stay close if they wished."

I held open my arms, and Faye slowly but firmly came forward and I pulled her into my arms. She clung tightly to me and whispered, "I will do all in my power to honor your friend's name. Please… tell me her real name?" I hesitated then said, "Talia… her name is Talia." She nodded and said, "I will remember it. Thank you for giving me such an important name to you."

With a lump lodged in my throat, I nodded back. It is entirely possible I might never see my best friend again. At this, my next oldest, and last Queen came forward hurriedly and gathered me into her arms and wrapped almost every limb she had available around me, doing everything short of smothering me. She even beckoned the other Queens forward and I somehow ended up in the middle of a giant group hug. After a few minutes like this, I felt loads better. I have my Queens now. I'll be alright. Smiling, I said, "Thanks, I needed that." Faye looked anxious and said, "If my name bothers you, I could always go by something else…" I smiled. She really is living up to her name sake. Although Faye didn't wear her heart on her sleeve quite like my Faye does. I shook my head and said, "It's not that. It's just thinking about my old friend had me realizing I might not ever see her or my original home again. It made me sad, but then you all cheered me up, and I realized with you all here with me, I'll be alright."

I turned to my last Queen and smiled. She twisted her hands together and asked, "Are you sure you're ok? I could always give you another hug if you want." Before I could even answer I found myself scooped up in another hug. I laughed and hugged back, "You remind me of Quatre. That's not really a girl's name though. No, I have a better name for you. Cuddles. Hmm… but that seems too much like a pet name. Not really one to strike fear into the hearts of enemies really…" Cuddles eyes widened and she waved her hands in front of herself, "No no no! I don't want to strike fear into the hearts of my enemies at all! I'd much rather we find a way to get along. Especially if we can bring others into the Swarm. Being in this giant family of ours is the best feeling ever!" I raised an eyebrow and asked, "But what if someone threatens our family?" Cuddles replied simply, "Then I'll keep offering them chances to surrender even while I stomp them flat."

I couldn't help it. I laughed. I laughed hard. "That response… was soooo Quatre… Cuddles it is!" Once again I found myself gathered up into what I'll probably end up later referring to as one of Cuddles' Hug of Doom!(TM) hugs. I have to say though, that look in her eye when she got to the part of stomping her enemies flat scared me more than anything. It was so flat and empty, like staring into the dark recesses of Death itself. I shuddered. Yup. Definitely Quatre. I wouldn't want to screw with him either, especially when he goes all Zero mode like that. You got to respect the one pilot who has a bigger body count than all the other pilots combined, all while still wearing that cherubic smile of his.

After a good amount of time being cuddled, Cuddles finally set me down. At this point, I regarded each of my Queens. First Asura, then Cuddles, third Faye, then the twins Snow and Rose, and then Joy. I shake my head in wonder. I don't know if I'll even be able to keep their names straight in my head let alone keep track of them all, even with a deep seated connection to all six of them. Smiling at them, I stated, "Right, time to spread the creep!"

With a chorus of affirmatives, many as varied as their personalities, each of my Queens split up to further spread the Creep. I don't really need any more space at the moment, so I don't have to worry about taking down trees. Unfortunately, with the size of my Queens, they're knocking down trees anyway. Sighing, I order a few drones out to collect the fallen trees. With nothing left to do for the day, I wandered back over to the Spawning Pool and stripped, swimming a few lazy laps before turning on my back and spending a good chunk of time flying around as an Overlord. I don't think I'll ever get over the novelty of actually flying. The only thing that might be more fun is taking control of a Mutalisk. I wonder… would any of my Queens be bothered if I entered their minds to control them? I know none of the non sentient Zerg are bothered by it. In fact, they welcome it. But my Queens… they're sentient and have free will… eh, maybe I'll ask at some point. Not that I can really think of a reason to do so.

When my stomach grumbled for food, I went to the edge of the pool, and leaning down, I plucked up a piece of Creep and ate it, then went back to floating around, both in the pool, and up in the sky. Man life can't get much better than this! With the day winding to a close, the only thing of real interest to note is that Rose came across an exposed chasm in the forest. She reported hearing a large number of monsters echoing from within. Also of note, is that Joy had finally spotted the edge of the forest, leading into a desert. With nearly the entirety of a large biome covered in creep, or at least I think it's almost the entirety. We've only spotted one edge of the forest after all. But, with that much covered in creep, I can't help but wonder just how much mana will have been gathered during the night?

Before I turned in for bed, Asura asked, "Do you have any orders for tonight?"

I thought about it for a moment, then answered, "Not tonight. I'd prefer to have some better long range defenses up before we seriously take up expansion during night time. Until then, we'll keep turtling up in the Hatcheries. I know you Queens can handle yourselves, but I don't feel comfortable having you deal with Creepers even if you can regenerate. Those things are silent as the grave and are very sneaky. Skeletons I doubt would cause you any trouble, but I definitely don't want to find out if Zombies could have any effect on you, and especially not Enderman. We've been extremely lucky none of them have shown up yet, though if I'm right, Zerglings may be the best fighters to take them down. Anything long range is automatically dodged."

Asura shook her head and said, "You worry too much. With the Overlords connected to all the Zerg, we have near perfect vision for the entire area too. It'd be almost impossible to sneak up on any of us." The Queens agreed and I smiled sheepishly. "Ok you caught me. Most of those are really excuses. In truth, I really just want to be able to snuggle up to the lot of you while I sleep, knowing you're safe."

A chorus of 'awww!'s broke out, and next thing I knew, Cuddles had me wrapped up in her arms in the bottom of a pile of Queens with Asura pressed up to my back. Closing my eyes, I almost missed Asura's words, "Whatever you want is what we want."

-END CHAPTER-

Overmind mana – 100/100

Zerg Swarm Mana – 40/1,000,000

Zerg Supply – 33/65

Units:

1 Overmind

11 Overlords

15 Drones

12 Zerglings

6 Queens (Broodmother)

Structures:

4 Hatcheries

1 Spawning Pool