Ch 1

The instant I woke up, I knew something was wrong. There's hard rock beneath my back, and there's light to my left. Last I checked, my bed is not made of rock, and I have all the windows in my apartment covered so there shouldn't be any light at all. Startled, and a little frightened, I wondered what's going on? Have I been kidnapped? At that thought, I carefully continue to feign sleep. Testing my limbs carefully, I feel relieved to know I'm uninjured and I'm not even tied down. If I have been kidnapped, these kidnappers are either really dumb, or really arrogant, just leaving me here like this.

Carefully, I slit open my eyes and look around. No one to my left. No one to my right. Cautiously I open my eyes further. I'm in some sort of cave. The walls and floor are smooth and perfectly rounded. I note idly in the back of my mind that can't be natural. For now, I'm more concerned with making sure not to tip off whoever brought me here. To my left is an opening that I can see trees beyond and not much else. A forest? To my right is the end of the cave, though now I've seen how small it is, I'd call it more of a hollow.

Semantics aside, I sit up carefully, taking quick stock of myself. My glasses are missing, but someone went to the trouble of dressing me in a plain black T shirt, and my ABU military pants and boots from my stint in the Air Force. A quick check of all my pockets reveals I literally have nothing else. Crouching low, and stepping lightly, in case my alleged kidnappers are outside, I make my way towards the entrance of the cave. First and foremost, I need information, and maybe if I'm lucky I'll overhear something that would tell me what's going on.

As soon as my face hits the sunlight, a white flash overtakes my vision and I throw up my hands to shield my eyes. In an instant the light is gone, and I open them, only to my complete shock, the burrow and trees are gone. Instead I find myself surrounded by pitch black. I would be frightened, but somehow I feel detached, as if I'm watching this happen to someone else rather than myself. A pulse of light attracts my attention from the darkness around and I turn towards a warm pulsing glow of light coming from an enormous ball of white energy suddenly in front of me. Or was it behind me? I have no frame of reference to tell in this place, this… void.

The light is warm, and it seems to ward the chill of the darkness away I hadn't even realized had been making me cold. I can't help but step closer to it. The light is stirring up feelings of warmth, safety, and protection. Raising my hand, I touch the light, and it flickers and pulsates like a pool from my touch, and I get this feeling as though I should step into the light. I only have to take one glance back at the darkness before I make up my mind and step fully into the ball of light.

All at once, I'm aware of myself again, and I blink. I'm back in the cave with the sunlight shining on my face, but at the same time, I can see in my mind's eye that same ball of light surrounding me, as if I'm in two places at once. Part of the light ripples, and I focus my attention on it, and to my astonishment, a box appears, almost like a window opening up on a computer screen and displays text.

Overmind Matthew

PSI Energy – 50/50

Status – Normal

Abilities

- Spawn Hatchery – 50psi – 12 hour build

- Regeneration – Passive – Heals anything not instantly fatal; time needed depends on extent of injury

- Anaerobic – Passive – No longer requires breathable atmosphere to survive

- Temperature Resistance – Passive – Currently able to survive temperatures between -450 and 118 F

- PSI Regeneration – Passive – Regenerate energy at .5 points per second.

What… the hell? I read the words again and again, not fully comprehending what I'm reading. Even more strange, is that I don't even have to look at the words to be able to read them. It's like they're… engraved on my mind, like I can just feel them. Not just that, but I know, somehow, that the words are about me. It's a list of stats. My stats. The words alone are ridiculous enough, but I can't shake the feeling of truth that rings in the words. I try to deny them anyway for a moment, but it feels similar to denying that I have two arms, utterly ridiculous. All in all, from the information displayed, to the general feeling I get from this place, I can infer one thing; I'm supposedly an Overmind now, and this ball of light is my mindscape.

A large part of me wants to deny everything, to focus on how absurd it is and just turn away and ignore it and go on as I normally do, but… I can't. I've always been more accepting of strange happenstance than others. I often see things that can and can't be explained away, and even if it turns out it was just a cat hiding in a bush that made it rustle, I can't help but wonder what if, just what if it was a ninja following me around that slipped up while following me, or something equally as ridiculous. I know that's not the case… but it does make life more interesting and fun. Especially considering…

I shake my head away from potentially depressing thoughts and focus on my situation. Whatever's happening, I can't shake the feeling that it wasn't just my imagination. Well, there's obviously one way to prove it.

Slowly, I refocus on the world around me, or try my best anyway. It takes a bit of an effort, but seeing two things at once is extremely disorienting, like standing in a doorway and looking into two separate rooms at once. As a minute or two passes of just trying to get used to my new perspectives, I start to notice that slowly, but surely, it's actually starting to get easier to see both things at once. Soon, it's almost as easy as breathing. It becomes even easier when I notice that if I look past the translucent ball of light my mental self is in, the void that was surrounding me before now matches my surroundings in real life. With a little practice of moving both at the same time, which I find even easier than moving them separately, I can almost pretend that both are one in the same, and that if I ever come across anyone, I'll be the only one who can see the yellow-white globe of light surrounding me.

When the flash happened, I must've fallen over because I'd been flat on my back the whole time. Groaning, I sat up, expecting to feel a bit of pain from my back from falling over, only to be surprised at an utter lack of pain at all. I wonder at that for a moment before dismissing it from my mind, making a mental note to figure that out later.

More importantly, time to prove to myself whether I'm actually the Overmind, or if I've just developed a special brand of crazy. I slowly drop to a knee and place my hands on the ground. I've no real idea what I'm doing, so I'm just following my instincts, and think aloud the words:

'Spawn hatchery'.

Words scroll across the wall of light next to the display of my stats.

Not enough room.

Sweatdropping, I stand back up. Well that was partially a bust. Evidently I'm going to need to find a clearing or something if I'm going to settle this. Only one small problem with that. I have no idea where I am, let alone where there might be a clearing around here!

Ok, putting this supposed Overmind business to the side, first things first, I need to get to a vantage point and look around. Maybe I'll spot a town. The burrow I just left is situated in the base of a small mound, but it doesn't even crest the top of the trees.

I sigh as I realize what I'm going to have to do. With some trepidation, I examine the trees closest to me, looking for one that would hopefully be taller than the rest and easy to climb. It takes a moment, but I spot one that might be likely. It's not much taller than it's fellows, but it looks sturdy all the way to the top and has several low hanging branches. Gulping, I leap and haul myself up, climbing up to the top. It takes all of my willpower to ignore the height and keep my muscles from freezing, or worse, looking down.

Finally I'm at the top. I take a moment to close my eyes and force myself to relax. I've no real fear of heights. It's the falling part I'm afraid of. So long as I keep a good hold, shaky muscles or no, I'm not going to fall. I keep telling myself that for a few moments, then open my eyes and look around. Trees to the front. Trees to the left. Trees to the right. Nothing but trees all the way around, and no sign of civilization anywhere. No buildings, no roads, no smoke, no nothing! I really am in the middle of freaking no where!

Closing my eyes I rest my head against the trunk of the tree and let out a sigh. I allow myself a small moment to panic, before I gather myself back up and open my eyes. No place to go, no direction to go in to safety. In that case, I need to look towards survival. Looking around more carefully, I spot a river over in the distance. I can just barely make it out. I wish I knew truly what direction it lies in, but the sun is directly overhead and I can't remember any other ways to tell direction other than the stars, and I only know enough to recognize a few constellations, including the big dipper, which will let me tell where Polaris, the North Star, is.

More to my interest is the very reason I was able to spot the river in the first place. It winds along the edge of a fairly decent size clearing. A meadow, if I miss my guess. That'll be a convenient place to head towards to test out this Spawn Hatchery thing.

It takes some time, but I'm finally able to climb back down, even if it does take over twice as long as it took to climb up the thing. After a moment to let my heart rate go back down, I walk back into the hollow to double check if there was anything in there that I might find useful. There's nothing. All I have are the clothes on my back. I notice something odd though. The only foot prints in the dirt coating the cave floor are mine. If someone brought me here, they sure went to seriously long lengths to make sure I'd have absolutely no way of hunting them down. I contemplated the idea that they scattered the dirt over the area to mask their footprints, but there aren't any tells for that either. None that I can spot anyway. I'm not Mr. Uber Tracker or anything like that.

Sighing, I head back out and head in the direction I'd noted the river was. I hadn't even gone very far before I could hear it lapping against the sides along the bank. Following the sound, I finally reach the clearing with the river flowing off to the side. I was right, the clearing is a meadow, and a lot larger than I expected. There are flowers scattered in a lot of different places as well as tall grass. There aren't any animals in sight, nor did I see or hear any on the trek over. I'm not too worried though, since they probably heard me coming and ran away. At this point, I'm really thirsty. I don't want to risk catching anything since I can't be certain the river doesn't have anything in it, but I don't exactly have the means to boil the water either.

Praying that I wouldn't get sick, I scooped out a few handfuls, inspecting each one for any specks of dirt or anything else as best I could, then took a small sip. Next thing I know, I literally have to stop myself from just dunking my head directly in the river and sucking it right up. This is the best water I've ever tasted, bar none! Granted, it's just water, but considering I don't even normally like the taste of water, the fact that this tastes good is almost too good to be true.

That last thought finally breaks me from my water binge, and I slow to a stop, having sated myself for now. When something seems too good to be true, it usually is, and I examine the water with some suspicion. Other than being unusually clear, there doesn't seem anything off though. I'd say it's roughly two meters wide and a meter deep. A rather small river certainly, but not small enough to be a stream.

It's about this point I notice something I should've caught early on, but hadn't. Despite not having my glasses, my eyesight has improved drastically. Now that I've noticed it, I can't help but look around in wonder. The world is so clear and crisp to my view! I can literally count the individual leaves on the trees clear across the clearing if I wanted to!

How is that even possible? Who would go to the trouble of bringing me out here without my knowing, and fixing my eyesight beyond anything I'd have ever expected even if I'd gotten my eyes treated with laser surgery!? This doesn't make any sense!... Unless… that Overmind business is more legit than I thought. One of my supposed abilities is passive regeneration after all. Something like that would have probably considered my less than stellar eyesight as an injury and healed it, but that would mean… Quickly I check for the few scars I'd gained over my 25 years of life. They're all gone. Heck, even my sunspots and freckles have disappeared!

Checking my reflection in the water, I note that my appearance has changed slightly. My beard is gone for one. Feeling my face reveals I don't even have any stubble. Almost to make up for this, my hair is longer than usual, reaching almost to my shoulders. Pulling a lock around to in front of my face, something I've never been able to do before, I'm surprised to see my hair is no longer brown, but rather pitch black. I also seem to have gained some muscle definition. Not very much, but enough that someone would probably mistake me for a swimmer or runner rather than the sedentary person I am.

Other than that, nothing else seems to have changed. I can't tell if I've gotten any taller or shorter, though I don't think I have. I notice my body hair has also disappeared along with my facial hair. A sudden thought has my eyes widening and pulling open the waist band of my pants before I sigh in relief. The bush is still there. I also note nothing else down there has changed either.

I suddenly realize I'm in the middle of the outdoors staring into my pants. I pull my hands from my waistband as if they were burned and try to pretend I hadn't been doing exactly what I'd been doing a few moments ago… right.

Putting the matter from my mind for the moment, I turned towards the center of the clearing. I'm sure this is big enough for a Hatchery. I don't know how I know that. Maybe it's my inate Overmind-ness? Chuckling at the silly thought, I walked over to the middle of the clearing, I put my hand on the ground and once again thought the words,

'Spawn Hatchery'.

As soon as the words enter my mind, I see and feel a whoosh of energy leave me, as the globe of light around me dims, and the same light shoots through my hands to a spot just underneath them. Immediately following this, another box of text appears on the globe of energy next to a point of light beneath my hands.

PSI Energy - 0/50

Zerg Swarm

Bio-Energy – 0

Support – 0/10

Entities

1x Hatchery (Non Sentient; Unborn)

At the same time I see these words, I feel something push up against my hands. Startled, I remove them quickly, only to see a small blob of translucent flesh sitting where my hands had been. I can't help but stare. It's pulsing slightly and seems to lean in my direction almost, though I'm not sure if I'm imagining that or not. Having played Starcraft before, I recognize it instantly. It's a Zerg cocoon, the egg like state a building enters while it's growing into its 'adult' form. I note idly that it looks more like the appearance of the Zerg from Broodwar rather than Starcraft 2.

It's at this point I think I start to freak out a little. First off, there's a freaking Zerg Hatchery growing right there. Second, why the hell did the words say there wasn't enough room before if it's going to be this small? Maybe it'll grow bigger? Finally, THERE'S A FREAKING ZERG HATCHERY GROWING RIGHT THERE!

Ok, ok, calm down. There's a Zerg Hatchery right there. Proof positive. I'm the bloody Overmind. Either that or I'm in the loony bin and my brain has decided to give me highly detailed full sensory hallucinations. As good as the human brain is though, it's not this good. This is too real. For another, I already know I'm not insane because insane people don't question their own sanity. And for that matter, why in the world would my own brain drop me in the middle of nowhere and make me into the figurative and literal head of one of the Scourges of the Universe? Can't it give me something a little more interesting like, I don't know, a private yacht or a hammock on a beach at sunset?

Speaking of Scourges of the Universe, what am I going to do!? There's a freaking ZERG HATCHERY in front of me! I have in front of me, the literal first step of a race perfectly capable of destroying the universe! A smart person would probably step on the thing to make sure they don't unleash the apocalypse on existence!

A large part of me cringed at that thought, and I instinctively hunched over to protect the little cocoon from anyone stepping on it, literally or figuratively. My sudden reaction brought me up short, and snapped me out of it. Ok, ok, let's not panic. That last bit was a little melodramatic. After all, I'm the Overmind right? I'm the head of the Zerg. They'll follow my lead, and I certainly don't want to destroy the universe! I don't particularly want to destroy anything actually. The Zerg exist as an extension of the will of the Overmind, which is me, so my Zerg will be good. They won't destroy anything. Well, except in self defense. I don't want anyone stepping on my Zerg, either literally or figuratively.

I'm a little surprised at this sudden protective streak in me, and I stop to think about it. Is my being the Overmind affecting me, changing who I am? Well, beyond how I'd normally change to adapt to this situation. Looking down at the cocoon, I look at it curiously. I feel protective of this little thing. Why?

The answer comes to me almost immediately. Because it's mine. I regard the cocoon in slowly growing wonder. This little Hatchery is mine. I made it. In a way, that almost makes me its parent… Slowly, I reach out a finger and gently touch it. With the touch, I can feel a presence coming from within the sac. It's close enough that it's within my globe of light, and I can see it has its own light, the same color as my own, connected to my light by a strand, almost like a web, born of my light. I don't know how I know this… but I do. It's small, and tiny, and very very fragile.

I brush a finger against it again. I can feel its presence. It stirs and brushes up against my own. I'm almost overwhelmed by a flood of love and affection, flowing over the web of light, the bond, connecting me to it. I've never felt anything like it before. I'm peripherally aware that I'm crying, but that doesn't matter. I can do nothing but sit there, and just feel. I continue to stroke the side of the cocoon with my finger, as I instinctively return its feelings ten fold over the bond. I'd question how I'm doing this, but at this point I don't really care. All that matters is that I can, and I'm taking full advantage of it to return the gift it's given me.

I note idly that the cocoon is getting bigger as time passes, it's also not slimy like I'd first suspected, seeing a Zerg Coccoon on the computer screen. It feels more leathery and gummy than anything else, like stretched rubber. Looking at it and the light it has, I can tell somehow a few things along with the information being displayed on my light near it. Examining the new born Hatchery with this new mental sight, I can tell it doesn't seem to have any real intelligence like I'd expect a human baby to have. It's more like a baby kitten, just a bundle of pure feelings, instinct, and a drive to please its parent, me.

I glance again at the window of information being displayed on the wall of my light. It has a timer displayed, counting down the time till it hatches. Closing my eyes confirms I still know exactly how much time is on the timer, even without seeing it, just like I somehow know all the other information displayed in the windows regardless if I'm looking. It's going to take an entire half a day for this thing to finish, and I still have things to do. If I'm going to survive the night, I need to take care of the three necessities, food, water, and shelter.

With that thought in mind, I slowly get up. Thankfully, the river takes care of the water requirement. I need to make myself a shelter and get some food. Food first though, since I'm getting hungry. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a single animal at all. Though come to think of it, it hardly matters since I have no way of starting a fire to cook meat anyways, and I'm not about to try and rub two sticks together to get a fire going. I know how, but I've never done it before. I'd be better off foraging for edible plants.

Speaking of which, is that a ripe apple I see just laying on the ground? It's just sitting there next to the bank of the river near the edge of the trees. That's strangely convenient. Looking up, I spy apples growing from the branches of the tree it's under. Picking the apple up, I make my way back over to the river to wash it off. Biting into it, I pull the piece from my mouth and examine it and the flesh of the fruit itself for any bugs. It was just lying on the ground after all. I don't see anything though. Shrugging, I finish the apple off, and make my way back to grab another from the tree itself, washing and inspecting it before eating it as well. I finished off about two more before I finally felt sated. I just hope I can find something else besides apples. Push comes to shove I could probably live off of those for a while, but eating nothing but apples doesn't sound healthy.

Now for a shelter. Where should I build it? Perhaps halfway between the apple tree and the river? It would suck if the banks flooded and washed my shelter away during a rain storm after all. I should build it on the edge of the clearing though just in case the hatchery does get as big as I think it will. My first real problem though is what I'll use to build said shelter. I can't exactly build a log cabin without tools after all, and it's not like I need anything that permanent since I can probably just use the Hatchery as a shelter once it's grown.

I guess I'll just try and make a make shift Teepee with long sticks and leaves or something. Too bad I'm not in Florida anymore. Palm fronds are excellent since even dead they're still wide, flat, and easy to use as walling. Considering the dryness of the air here though, I strongly doubt I'm anywhere near Florida anymore…

I quickly shake my head to clear it before depression can set in. Survival first, figuring out where I am later. One step at a time, Matthew. Going out into the forest, I break off a lot of branches and start to fashion myself a teepee on the edge of the clearing, making sure to clear them of leaves first, though leaving some of the smaller branches jutting out, hoping to use them to sort of weave the walls together. I pick a straight and sturdy looking branch to act as the central support, and start leaning the branches against it, sticking their ends partly into the dirt for support. Surprisingly it worked. With the frame set up, I start pulling down branches and leaving the leaves on. By the time I've finished, my shelter looks more like an igloo made of leaves than a teepee, but with the sticks jammed into the ground, it should be able to stand up to most winds.

By this point, the sun is just about to set, and the hatchery had increased in size to that of a two story house. I'm hungry again, so I pick some apples to eat and drink some more from the river, which I'd been doing a lot of to make sure I don't dehydrate. I may be the Overmind, but the fact that I can still get hungry proves I can still die from thirst if I'm not careful, and working under that hot sun was NOT enjoyable.

With the sun setting and finally full, I pull up the branch full of leaves I'm using as a makeshift door and enter my shelter. I don't have anything in the shelter itself, especially not bedding. I don't fancy the idea of having bugs crawling from the leaves onto me that I might use. The best I can do is pile up a mound of dirt for a pillow with firm thoughts of dunking my head in the river to wash it off tomorrow. Tomorrow… at that point the Hatchery'll be finished, and then I can sleep in there. I just hope it'll be as dry as the sac covering it is. I don't want to sleep in anything slimy.

With that thought, and after the long and hard day I'd had, I drift off to sleep.

- END CHAPTER –