Chapter 8: Respite

Nathan half leaped, half jumped through the bridge entrance which on this side was a small fissure in the ground, the edges surrounded by small black petal looking structures that fanned out from the pool of liquid itself.

When the sensation of water crashing over him hit Nathan, it felt relieving this time almost like a shower after a long day's work, also what was different this time was that Nathan was expecting the ground to suddenly make contact with his feet, and so he didn't fall over -which was a win in his books.

As soon as he stepped clear of the Bridge, his tendrils fell limp and a strong sense of relief radiated from them as the stalactite bioluminescence ceased, and the pool drained seemingly into nowhere in a few blinks of the eye.

"Master! Alive. Good" The Hive's voice slammed into Nathan's mind, along with a tsunami of relief and genuine happiness.

The sensation was welcomed by Nathan's tired mind, and he let himself melt in the pleasant feeling for a moment, before he shrugged off his bag and asked "You hungry? I have sugar." In a blink, the boney support protrusion heading back to the main room clicked open and a sense of eagerness slammed into Nathan like a puppy in the middle of a zoomie. Nathan chuckled, "I'll take that as a yes." he said as he began to walk into the main room.

Pouring a good ten or twelve cans of the most sugary energy drink he could get his hands on into the pool under the Orb that was the Hive, eventually the Hive gave a satisfied "Hive: Fed."

"Yeah, you know one of those can's is around 64% of an average human adult's sugar intake per day?"

"Hive not Human Adult. Hive bigger." The hive said matter of factly, but Nathan jokingly replied, "Hey, no need to get touchy on your eating habits boo, you do you." A part of Nathan died at his response, but given the stress of the events leading to here he was desperate for a more jovial encounter and this was how he was going to get it, even if he was the only one understanding the nature of the conversation.

After confusing the Hive to no end, eventually Nathan felt tired something the Hive also sensed and so reflexively opened another of the boney protrusions on its wall's with a click. This one led to a large open space, that was distinctly more softly lit than the others.

At the far wall, Nathan could see an elevated platform pressed against the wall. Walking over to it, he could see that the top was made of what looked like a sheet of bone, but upon close inspection it was made of a series of woven links of the ivory like substance.

With an experimental poke, Nathan was surprised to find that the material was surprisingly giving and not coarse. Shrugging, and crawling onto the platform he sunk into it slightly, it was similar to lying in hammock, and was surprisingly comfortable.

Within moments, Nathan fell into a slumber, the Hive dimming the lights entirely in response and patiently waiting its master's awakening.

Nathan awoke, and was immediately greeted by the Hive slamming into his mind with a happy, "Master: Awake." His mind quickly knitting together the chain of events that got him to awakening here, and not the bed he had been waking in for the past few years, before replying "Yeah, Hi Hive... We really need to get you a better name than that."

"Hive: Name?"

"Yeah, lets see... Hive... Hive-an like Ethan? Hmm, maybe not." Nathan began to think deeply, trying to come up with a clever name, then early morning partially drowsy inspiration struck: "HIVEBERT! Its perfect, yes I shall call you Hivebert from here on." Nathan proclaimed eagerly, his tendrils projecting him to his feet subconsciously. "Hive: Hivebert..."

"Yes, you like it?"

"Hivebert: Uncaring."

"Aww, you're already using it, no need to be coy." Nathan said teasingly, something Hivebert still didn't understand and so replied, "Hivebert: Care not" To which Nathan simply chuckled and strode to the main room, his mind recalling the events of the fight the last day and the spines the girl had launched at him.

If he was to go out more, and was expected to encounter more of his kind he would like to know just what they, and by extension himself, could do.

Leaning against the wall of the main 'heart' room, as Nathan had decided to call it, he asked his questions -it somehow feeling more natural to say it to what Nathan assumed was Hivebert itself. "I encountered another... I guess 'Master' last night." Nathan led,

"Hivebert: Knows." Hivebert replied with lightning quickness and blunt delivery. Dismissing this slight curveball, Nathan pressed on, "Well in that case, she shot spikes at me... How?"

"She: Evolved, Developed."

"But how?" Nathan said, a small part of him thinking he may already know the answer,

"She: Desire, Feed: Meat." Nathan's mind latched on like a vice to the first part, 'Desire? you mean she willed her hands to be spike launchers?' Nathan thought. Hivebert heard this but given its experience with the Master so far, deemed it best to wait for him to voice it rather than answer now as it had sensed discomfort when it had done so in the past.

"Aside human, what's the best meat I can eat?" Nathan eventually asked,

"Master-kind. Eat: Master-kind dangerous." Nathan frowned at this, 'Master-kind as in human? no Hivebert knew the word 'Human' so it would of said that' Nathan thought. That only meant to eat others like him, like that woman.

A memory flashed into his mind, the warmth radiating up his tendrils as he struggled to come to terms with what he had done to the girl after beating her. The slight resistance his tendrils put up as he left to get a new bag.

He began to feel sick, and cupped a hand to his mouth immediately noticing something that shouldn't be there. Hivebert sensed the Master's desire to see himself, and so with its new reserves of energy manipulated the Shade below it to create a reflective surface next to the walkway closest to the Master.

Nathan looked into the glossy obsidian surface that floated up from the pool that he had originally climbed out of, and caught sight of himself. If he had eyes, they would of bulged as he touched at his face in destress.

Once again, Nathan was sent reeling. His mind running in circles on thoughts, particularly existential ones, but this time he was a bit more experienced in pulling himself out.

After a few minutes, his logical mind managed to drown out the emotional one running everything around in a great big tailspin. It simply proposed that they were alive, they could survive and thus everything was fine.

This thought pattern wasn't entirely Nathan's own, instead Hivebert who had been slowly getting an understanding of it's master gently helped nudge a few of the ideas into the right places to get it's Master back on track, something that worked to great effect it noted, pleased with its work.

Latching onto this thought, and setting it as a goal to 'Survive' whatever this was, Nathan's resolve firmed and he knew what he needed to do.

He got to his feet, and head over to the tunnel to the Bridge room, Hivebert opening the support as he approached.