HPDBC Chapter 48 – The Devourer of Worlds
Chapter 48 – The Devourer of Worlds
Chapter 48 – The Devourer of Worlds
“Thank you for your service Dr. Davir. May eternity greet you gently and grant you the rest you have been denied by your work. The future will remember your deeds and your sacrifice. That I promise.”
- A714-24S, presumed host computer of Dr. Davir’s laboratory.
A roar shook the world, stone crumbling underneath us from the sheer force of it. We were angry, angry at the interlopers, angry at those who dared to soil our world with their filth. And that anger fueled our hunger.
As one we moved, a horde of trillions, devouring everything in front of us, crushing the antithesis that tried to arise to our might. Billions died, and billions more were born, an ongoing slaughter of blood, gore, and alien flesh. Nothing survived our will, even less survived me.
It took a moment to internalise the thought, and only vaguely did I return to myself, emerging from the chorus that was orders of magnitudes bigger than my own. It dwarfed me and my Hive and made me feel insignificant. Seven hundred voices against a number that made the very concept of numbers meaningless.
We were Myriad, in all her glory, but next to this swarm we were not even a footnote in history. We weren’t even acknowledged by a fraction of the Hive that we now embodied.
We weren’t even food to them.
The rest of us were with me, muted but present. They experienced it the same way I did, but at a remove. Not sure how Kaysa managed that, or what exactly they went through, but it must be quite the experience if I was anything to go by.
Kaysa had mentioned the human form of a Hexclaw Hive-Queen, which alone was quite impressive. It was the combat form I planned to take, specifically because it was tailormade to fight and to stamp out antithesis. With its many limbs, each a weapon in its own right, it was a sight to behold.
But next to the body I currently inhabited it was not even comparable to an ant.
This was me, a Hexclaw Hive-Queen in her prime, with the force of nature that was her Hive behind her. I knew it was stronger. Kaysa had said that my own form would not be the same as the one of a true Hexclaw Hive-Queen. But to know it and to see it... It was such a massive dichotomy that it was beyond description.
This was it. The true might of an alien race purpose built to crush the antithesis under foot, razing their armies and hives to the ground and leaving nothing but bare rock in their wake.
Even a fraction of this power would be enough to end human civilisation, raze the earth, and then shatter the ground beneath. Without even expending any effort at all.
Hell, even disregarding the swarm that was at my beck and call, the overwhelming force of pure hunger and destruction that crushed any enemy without any hesitation, my body alone was enough to easily flatten any city.
A body the size of a skyscraper moved faster than anything this size should be able to, smashing a dinosaur looking antithesis that I belatedly realised was a model Thirty-Three into paste. I didn’t even realise that it was there. I hadn’t even felt the resistance the body of the antithesis was putting up. If I hadn’t seen it happen I wouldn’t even have noticed. These things that could bring doom to entire cities were nothing but cannon fodder to me.
I inspected myself as best I could, a terrifyingly large creature with the body of a spider mixed with a praying mantis, but much, much more alien looking and with at least two dozen limbs. Covered head to toe in black chitin thick enough to serve as bunker walls.
The limbs moved easily, as if I had been born this way, most likely because Kaysa was helping with the simulation. It was terrifying how easily I could deal with models that on Earth might spell the end of civilization as we knew it.
And I didn’t even need to try.
With numbers as large as this, a chorus that dwarfed any and all conceivable size, and an equal number of antithesis on the other end of a battlefield as large as a country, any kind of applied organisation was useless. But we didn’t need it. We were one, one swarm bigger than the entirety of human civilisation, and together we moved in harmony.
Forces clashed, drones I only now realised would be as big as a bus, making even my Najav recoil in shame, fought against antithesis in the twenties and thirties, and simply overran them. Billions of us died in a battle that spanned the width of Nebraska with ease.
Yet for every one of us that died, two more were born by Broodmothers the size of stadiums. Everything was supersized, every metric by which this Hive worked was orders of magnitudes bigger than I could muster, and I was right there, in the middle of it all, squashing antithesis bodies like ants.
It was a feeling that I could not put into words.
While we were powerful and nigh inexhaustible, with Warleaders and Feastmasters, Broodmothers and Princesses, Champions and Infiltrators, so too did the antithesis have their elite. One of them was visible even from this great a distance. An antithesis so gargantuan that it could easily meet my own height, and just as wide as it was tall.
It was flinging sacs the size of houses across the battlefield, leaving millions dead, spreading a gas that almost instantly killed our forces, and leaving behind roots and vines that sapped those that survived dry in a matter of moments. And they grew quickly.
Not to mention the sheer size of its ten massive limbs, oriented with almost radial symmetry, crushing anything underfoot with no regards for friend or foe. And as if that hadn’t been terrifying enough it was covered, head to toe, with quills the size of ballistic missiles. And with the same impact as one too, considering what happened whenever it shot one of them out.
That is a highly adapted version of a model Fifty-Four-H. This specific variant is mostly found on this world, or worlds like this with large numbers, as they can deal particularly well with swarms and Hexclaws.
Fifty-Four?! What in the fucking hell?!
As if to prove Kaysa’s words, the thing did... something. I could see a small ball of fire in front of... was that its mouth? I wasn’t sure, and suddenly a wave of fire raced across the battlefield, exploding any and all Hexclaws and a good chunk of the antithesis forces with reckless abandon.
This variant has a neurotoxin specifically tailored to work against Hexclaws. It can spread incredibly wide and quickly with the use of seeds and the quills on its body. The neurotoxin in question hampers the Hexclaws ability to adapt, inflicts inhumane levels of pain, and ignites easily. In addition to that it can birth high level antithesis quite quickly. It is, for all intents and purposes, the antithesis answer to the sheer number that the Hexclaws have on offer.
If I had a jaw it would be hanging to the floor. As it was, the giant Hive-Queen body I inhabited had its massive maw that opened four ways open in disbelief. Now we also knew why it threw those sacs.
That said, you don’t have to worry, a Hexclaw Hive-Queen can deal with them quite handily. At least if they are as powerful as this.
Those words finally pulled me back to the battlefield at hand. The Fifty-Four-H had completely annihilated huge parts of our forces. It was time for me to join the fray, even if it meant dashing straight through burning lands and scorched earth.
It made me smile inwardly. I might never be able to reach this level of sheer destructive force, but I would gladly go ahead and try what it felt like.
Eventually we had enough. We didn’t know how long we wandered around, the rest of the chorus now also done with their fight and lost in contemplation, but it had to be some time.
“Thanks, Kaysa. I think this is enough... I’ve... learned a lot today. What it means to be a Hive-Queen and what it means to be human. Shut it down.”
And with that we returned to our body, still seated on the chair in the wilderness of the Hexclaw homeworld.
Taking a deep breath we got up, stretching even if we didn’t need to. Chloe and Jenna were still out, both looking kind of adorable. There was a moment of silence and we took the time to really take it all in. To digest what we had experienced, and to think about it all.
“Might I inquire what your opinion is on the Devourer of Worlds?” Atlas asked, ‘looking’ at us.
We nodded, taking a few steps and glancing into the distance, admiring the beautiful alien forest, the sun high in the sky, and the rather peaceful, if barren, landscape in front of us. It was very different from the battlefield that we had experienced, but now that we had seen that, we could also see the marks of combat left behind on the ground.
This had been a combat zone before, and only with time had it regrown and recovered.
“The Devourer of Worlds is powerful,” we said finally, “The name fits, definitely. They could crush Earth with only a fraction of their numbers. Hell, we are pretty sure they could crush this planet if they needed to. From what we remembered of the simulation we are pretty sure that they have some kind of space tech, so they could leave. It’s terrifying really what it can do, really.”
Taking a moment to think we continued, “It is... definitely a nice feeling. Exhilarating even, to be that powerful. Addicting may be the right word. That pure power, and the knowledge and certainty that you could do whatever you want, crush anyone under foot and there is nothing that anyone could do about it. In a way it might be the most exciting thing we ever felt. True power the likes of which no human could imagine.”
We shook our head, “But that’s not us. We are Myriad, we are human at the core. We do not feel that hunger, that deep insatiable desire to consume. We know emotions, we know compassion, we know what it’s like to be at the other end of that raw force. We know what it’s like to be helpless, to be a plaything for the world to do with as it wishes. And we treasure it. True, raw, primal power, it can be nice. And it can be what you need in specific circumstances. But that is not us. That is not Myriad. That is very firmly the Devourer of Worlds, and we would not change that for anything. We... We were afraid of what Chloe and Jenna might think about it all. But maybe, deep down, we were terrified of that most of all.”
With a sigh we continued, “Being a Hive-Mind... it opens a lot of doors. It’s the catalyst to power that no human could ever imagine. But we like being human. We like being what we are, and we like that we are not like them.”
One by one the rest of us appeared around us, the full swarm, as meager and small as it was compared to the memory of the planet eater that was the Devourer of Worlds.
“We are very glad that we are what we are, that we took this path and that it allows us to be the way we are. But we are also very glad that we are not different. For all our faults, all our mistakes and misdeeds, we are still human. This morning has put a lot of things into perspective. We don’t know how Chloe or Jenna might react. It might have made everything infinitely worse. But even if it did... It doesn’t feel as... overwhelming anymore. Because just as they learned about us, so have we learned about their own fears. Fears that they have for a reason. If we ever wake up like that, with that deep and primal hunger... Kaysa, please do both of us a favour and just end it, okay?”
“You won’t.”
Much to our shock the voice wasn’t Kaysa’s, it was Chloe’s. We turned as one to look at her, still sitting on that chair and looking at us thoughtfully, but with a small, genuine smile.
It made us idly think that maybe Atlas had asked us this question specifically for her, and for Jenna, to hear our opinion. It would make sense, considering the calculated personality he seemed to have. Not that it mattered much. Even if he did, it wasn’t something we would have wanted to hide from them.
There was a short moment of silence, before she spoke up again, voice calm with only a hint of hesitation in it.
“You are right. I have my fears for a reason, and you are correct that the Devourer of Worlds is terrifying. It’s exactly the kind of thing I feared you turning into. But I’ve also seen what you are like. We don’t know each other that long yet, but it’s very clear what your personality is like, and after this morning, I also know what your Hive-Mind is like. I’m not going to say that I don’t have any more reservations. There are still some things that will most likely only go away with time. But one thing I know for sure: You aren’t a monster. You aren’t like the Devourer of Worlds, and you aren’t like what I feared you might be.”
We didn’t know what to say or how to react. For a long moment there was silence in the chorus, before it all devolved into a giant mess of differing emotions. Between the experiences we had today, the still present pain from the day before, and the fears we had harboured about their reaction, her words made us stumble over ourselves.
Then, as if on autopilot, we dashed for her, almost tackling her off the chair in a big bear hug. With an almost physical desperation that we didn’t quite understand ourselves we squeezed her tight, relief washing over us like a calming breeze. It was as if a weight had lifted from us, leaving us finally able to breathe again.
Chloe answered our hug with one of her own. “Hey there.” Her voice was only a whisper, but the support in it was clear and it was soothing.
“Thank you,” was all we could manage in reply, our own voice just as quiet, if not more.
“Chloe is right,” Jenna chimed in from next to us. Her earlier enthusiasm of exploring the whole Hexclaw thing was mostly gone, and she was taking things a bit more seriously now. There was a certain thoughtfulness to her, plus something we couldn’t quite identify. It wasn’t bad, per se, but we also couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was. Hesitation? No, that didn’t seem to fit.
“Earlier one of you said that they aren’t human. That they are Hexclaws. After experiencing this, I’d have to disagree. Biologically that is true, but that only tells half of the story. Mentally you are still very much human, all of you. Different, yes, not only because you are a Hive-Mind, but that doesn’t change the fact that underneath all of that, you are still human and you care, as you said. Of course, the Devourer of Worlds might be at the other extreme of that scale, but that doesn’t change anything.”
The voice in question ran towards Jenna, surprising even herself, and gave her another tight hug.
“Thank you... Both. We... We won’t say that we aren’t still a little anxious. As nice as it is that you understand how we work now, we too learned a lot of things. Some of them have us worried. But we are very glad that we could share this with you. All of Us are.”
The last part was delivered by every single voice, the full swarm of Myriad. They might not be as comfortable with that, even with their recent experiences, but we wanted to let them know just how much we appreciated them.
To Our surprise and relief neither seemed too bothered by it. Chloe smiled in reply, squeezing us gently, “And I’m glad that I asked. I will take some time to really think about it. As I said, there are still some things I need to get used to. But it’s... It took a lot of my worries away.”
We nodded, fully understanding her. It would take some time, but the weight that had settled over us at the idea of showing them what we were like, how we experienced the world, had lifted.
For a long time the three of us and our combined Hive’s just sat there and talked, exchanging experiences and ideas. Chloe and Jenna both took their time to really explore being a Hive-Mind, now with the contrast of the Devourer of Worlds in mind. That perspective gave them an even better understanding, and one they fully dove into.
We let them, gave them as much time as they needed, answered any questions they might have, and generally just enjoyed spending time with them in this way that wouldn’t be possible in the future.
Of course, unless we decided to dive into it again, which we might. It didn’t matter to Us. We were just so glad and happy that we could share this with the two people we loved most. It made the previous day feel so much less awful.
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