Ch 3

I didn't get a very good night's sleep. Every once in a while, I'd get jolted awake by a flash of pain from my Hatchery caused by a Creeper exploding. Thankfully, it's not like I'm actually feeling any pain. It's more like getting the non verbal equivalent of an 'Ouch that hurts!' pop up message. It's not really like a pop up message of course, but that's the best explanation I can think to compare it to.

By the time the sun comes up I am thoroughly sick and tired of Creepers and their ugly creepy mugs. That's one thing that's clearly different from these monsters and the game. Nothing is squarish at all. Zombies actually look like the walking dead, only they look gangrenous on top of that. Creepers and Endermen look utterly alien and utterly creepy. Between the endless pits of the Creeper's black eyes and mouth, to the glowing eyes and mouth of the Endermen, I'm fairly certain these creatures would not look out of place featuring in some of my nightmares.

Thankfully, I have some consolation in that before I could think to look away, I had already looked directly at the Endermen via the Hatchery, and they didn't react. I guess direct eye sight is required to set them off. I can't even begin to state how relieved I am that's the case. I don't know what I'd do if the Endermen treated the Hatchery as one giant eyeball and automatically came at me for it.

The spiders have generally been more of a nuisance than anything else, crawling all over the Hatchery, but not doing much else. They're certainly nightmarish looking, but nothing too out of the ordinary, and any that hold still long enough on the Creep get absorbed fairly quickly.

Then it came. The first rays of sunlight shone over the horizon. As the sun further rose, the light slowly moved to engulf the creatures of the night, slowly but surely vaporizing them to burnt crisps. Not even the creatures under the trees survived since these leaves don't fully block sunlight. It was absolutely glorious, and I idly wished I had my Ipod so I could listen to the Hallelujah Chorus as I watched them all get burnt down. Even the spiders shrank in on themselves till they were only half the size they were before and scurried off looking less demonic and more like regular old house spiders that are just a tad too large.

The Endermen didn't burn, but they held up their arms to block their eyes and warped away from the sunlight so fast I would have missed it if I'd blinked. The only things truly left behind are the Creepers. The last few are still coming, but no more are showing up like before. I never saw any monsters actually spawn, but I'm sure I will eventually.

With the threat of Creepers out there, I'm unfortunately stuck inside the Hatchery for the time being. I don't fancy getting blown up anytime soon. That seriously limits what all I can do for the moment though, and I'm getting pretty hungry. Unfortunately the apple tree is gone, so that possibility is out. Maybe since I'm supposed to be Zerg now, perhaps I could eat some of the Creep?

Making my way to the closest exit from the Hatchery, I paused outside the sealed doorway, trying to ignore the fact that it looks a bit like a muscle that's pinched closed like a sphincter. Shaking my head, I took a quick glance to confirm that no Creepers are nearby, then quickly stepped outside and pulled up a piece of the Creep, then darted back inside. It was a lot easier to do than I thought it would be, though I'm thinking if anything but a Zerg tried to rip up a piece of Creep, they'd probably have an easier time ripping up cement. The entire process took me about 4 seconds. Out, rip, in, done.

Making my way back to the central chamber, I sat down in my hollow that the Hatchery had graciously left in place for me. I eyed the piece of Creep in slight distaste, but also morbid curiosity. It looks a bit like a cross between gum and tarmac. It's a bit squishy, and doesn't really have a defining scent to it that I can tell. A quick taste had me raising an eyebrow in surprise. It tastes like sugar gum with a hint of apple flavor. Unexpected, but certainly not unwanted. A small bite tells me that the stuff has the consistency of taffy in my mouth, slowly melting as I chewed. The crunchiness is odd, but I attributed that to the sugar taste, with it possibly being solid sugar crystals. That's what I'm telling myself anyway and I'm sticking to it.

After that first test bite, the piece of Creep didn't last very long at all. I did say I was hungry. I'm surprised and gratified though that the one piece of Creep has me feeling as though I'd eaten a full course meal for breakfast though. Certainly a far cry better than how I felt only eating apples. I could easily get used to eating Creep. I can only hope the taste isn't always the same though. Food without variety gets old really fast. Perhaps I could find some spices and experiment with seasoning Creep? That brought me up short as a mental image of a Zerg cooking show with this week's episode of 101 ways to prepare Creep made me snort in laughter.

Now generally amused, I turned my attention to what I should do now. Before I could even decide on that, the counter for the Swarm's Bio-energy that I'm always consciously aware of suddenly changed.

Bio-Energy – 1

I blinked in confusion. Where did that one point of bio-energy come from? Then just like that I suddenly knew the answer. Sunlight. The Creep is absorbing it along with nutrients from the ground, but the sunlight is more of a surplus while the rest is being used to keep itself and the Zerg buildings alive. Thus, the energy converted from the absorbed sunlight got deposited into the Zerg Bio-energy pool. I wish I knew how I know that… evidently it's a perk of being the Overmind. Generally anything the Zerg can do will be something I already automatically know, even if the majority of such knowledge isn't conscious, and I have a feeling some of it won't make any sense until I get a better understanding of genetics and bio-engineering.

I shook my head, slightly overwhelmed at this new information. Evidently my subconscious is now a repository for information, the vast majority of which I would have no hope of understanding, and some of which require words that aren't even in the English language. Well that's just great. Like my life wasn't complicated enough being in a totally new and bad situation, but I've also got a ridiculous amount of information shoved into my head, most of which I can't even understand! Oh well, gotta count my blessings I guess.

I have to admit though, gaining bio-energy from sunlight alone would be extremely ideal even if it is currently inefficient in the extreme. Better yet would be if I could find a way to alter the Creep so it isn't so malignant. I can't see myself and my Swarm making too many friends if just the mere presence of our buildings attacks and destroys their environment in just about the worst possible way. As it is, I have to make sure that I don't spread the Creep too far as it is, lest I cause permanent damage to this world's ecosystem. I refuse to be labeled as a planet killer, especially by my own conscience, and lowering a planets T-Score is definitely planet killing.

How to go about doing that though has me stumped. I suppose if anything, there might be a way if I got a hold of the Evolution Chamber, but until that happens, I'm stuck.

Bio-energy – 2

Another one? It's only been about 5 minutes. So I get a point of bio-energy every 5 minutes. Good to know. I start in realization as I realize I don't have my watch. How did I know it's been 5 minutes? Ah. Evidently that's another perk of being the Overmind. I have an excellent biological clock. A nice side effect of this is that I no longer have the sleep disorder I used to suffer from. No, my body finally knows when to sleep and when to be awake for once.

So, it seems my first goal as Overmind is to get an Evolution Chamber. Well, to do that, I need Bio-energy. Or at least I hope that's all it takes. I have no idea what counts for crystals or Vespene gas on a Minecraft World. Thankfully it seems all I do need is bio-energy. Now what is bio-energy…

Evidently bio-energy is something I can barely consciously comprehend that's basically the equivalent of the energy the body produces when it converts food into energy, only in this case it's what the Zerg produce when they consume matter. Matter to energy conversion? Seriously? That's pretty high tech for the Zerg… that also opens up huge avenues for energy collection. If all I generally need is matter of some sort, preferably biological, then all I really need to do is get an army of Drones and set them to start landscaping. This world is going to be very flat, but at least I'll have an easy source of bio-energy.

First things first though, I need a Drone. That's going to cost me 50 Bio-energy. At the rate I'm going, that's going to take me… let's see… 1 point every 5 minutes… 5 times 50 points… 250 minutes… a little over four hours. Can I stand sitting around doing nothing for four hours? That's the question. Run out and grab a branch or something, or sit bored for four hours…

I lasted all of 2 minutes. 2 minutes and I was standing in front of the closed exit of the Hatchery, heart hammering in my chest, as I used my Hatchery to get a good look around for any more Creepers. Should I really be doing this? I thought back to how bored I'd gotten just from 2 minutes of nothing, and took the step outside. Keeping my eyes peeled, I carefully and stealthily made my way towards the tree line. I'm rather impressed with how far the Creep has grown. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be expanding any further.

Also I noted with interest that the Creep had circumnavigated the river by growing along the bottom rather than covering the top. I'll have to remember that fact if I ever decide to make any underwater Hive Clusters.

Having succeeded in distracting myself, I relaxed a little, and continued for the trees, keeping an eye out for a decent sized branch or rock. I'm not really sure what to do with it though… ok, evidently I have to take it to that pit in the center of the Hatchery and toss it in, where it'll dissolve. I'm now doubly glad I didn't test if I could touch that liquid or not, though I'm still getting the feeling it wouldn't hurt me or any other Zerg.

Finally spying a particularly large branch about ten feet long and the thickest part about the same size around as my head. I hoisted it up, only to be surprised by how light it is. Have I gotten that much stronger, or is this branch just that frail? Cracking it in half over my leg had it bend rather than break. I'm just that much stronger then. Impressed, I started making my way back, only for the Hatchery to send me a warning. There's a Creeper right behind me!

Eyes widening, I instantly took off sprinting as fast as I could back to the Hatchery. Quickly I got inside and had the door slam behind me. Not even seconds later the Hatchery gently rocked with the sound of an explosion, and I grimaced. I really need to get a weapon or something.

Sighing, I made my way back to the chamber and tossed in the branch I'd run out to get.

Bio-energy – 5

My eyes widened. That gigantic branch was worth 3 bio-energy? Sheesh! I'm both heartened and disappointed. Disappointed that I'll have to go out and get more. A lot more. But I'm also heartened because if a branch that large gives me three bio energy, just what will a whole tree give me? Probably 10 or something, and with a hundred drones or so to gather that lot up? That's going to be a LOT of bio-energy!

Of course, collecting trees solely for bio-energy sounds like a really good way to go down the slippery slope of planet killing, so let's avoid that. Need to collect rocks instead I think. Unfortunately I didn't see any while I was out there, but I did see a few more branches. Now here's the million dollar question. Where the heck did that Creeper come from!?

Mentally reviewing what the Hatchery saw when I went out, my eyes widened as the Creeper came out from behind a tree it'd been hiding behind. Those sneaky bastards! There could be hundreds of Creepers out there right now and I wouldn't even know it! I really need to get an Overlord up there as my eyes in the sky! That'll take even longer than getting a Drone though… but if that Drone gets blown up, that's quite a waste of resources and time right there…

Groaning in annoyance, I realize I'm going to have to get an Overlord out first and that's going to take 5 hours at the most, depending on how much I can grab myself. I'd be better off if I could get a weapon. Unfortunately there's nothing ranged readily available unless I want to try my hand at chucking boulders. Again though, no boulders.

Biting my lip, and having calmed down enough to venture out again, I quickly made a few more runs for the other branches I saw laying on the ground. True to form, those blasted Creepers (no pun intended) came out and ran after me as soon as I got close. Least I'm getting a good work out in. I even got annoyed enough that I tried to smash one with a particularly large branch. Needless to say I abandoned it and took off running when it started hissing at me. Had to double back and grab that one later.

I'd worked up quite a sweat, and the sun had gone past midday and well into the afternoon before I finally reached 100 bio-energy. With relief, I gladly ordered the Hatchery to spit out one of the larvae it has residing within its walls and have it start morphing into an Overlord. That's a nice departure from the Starcraft game. Rather than sticking the Larvae out where they can be attacked, the Larvae stay and live in pockets inside the Hatchery until needed. There are still only three larvae at a time though. That seems like a really dumb limitation I'll have to fix at some point.

Ten minutes later, my work all day is rewarded by the sound of a new Zerg being born, and the sound of an Overlord trumpeting echoes in my mind. Like with the Hatchery earlier, new information floods my mind, along with the sensory information, namely sight, sound, and smell. Trying to translate the sight that's coming from the Overlord is giving me a slight headache though. It sees in a lot of extra colors I never even knew existed. From that alone, I believe I can accurately say Overlords are detectors since they see far more of the electromagnetic spectrum than we do.

As such, I felt a kind of perverse pleasure when the Overlord quickly identified and highlighted numerous Creepers hiding behind trees. Granted, I can't really do anything about them yet, but it's good to know they can no longer hide from me.

Oh did I mention that Overlords see in 360 degrees all around themselves at once? That perspective alone really is starting to give me a headache, what with all the new colors on top of that. Only the headache is already starting to fade. I think I'm actually starting to get used to the new vision actually. Thank goodness for regeneration. It even takes care of pesky headaches!

I think the headache receding has more to do with the fact that I've automatically started to compartmentalize the information I'm being given. Rather than getting it directly, I've started to automatically filter it to something I can more easily use. In this case, I'm basically taking the sensory information from my Zerg and shoving it into the equivalent of a mental map, similar to what can be seen when playing the original Starcraft. Honestly, I prefer the Overhead Interface from Supreme Commander 2. Far more useful that.

That done, all I have to do is focus on the image with my mind's eye and I can easily see everything my Zerg see from a far more simplified but no less useful perspective. Now, what to do about those Creepers? I suppose I could try and tease them out by lowering the Overlord just within range to see if the Creepers will take the bait. Then when they're about to explode, the Overlord can just fly out of the way.

It's as good an idea as any, so I immediately relayed what I wanted my Overlord to do to said Overlord and sat back to watch. Everything is going perfectly. The Overlord is floating nearby, it's lowered itself to just barely being within range. Any second now… a minute went past before I realized the Creepers aren't buying it. Maybe if I had the Overlord lower it till the tentacles are actually touching the ground? Still no reaction from the Creepers. What are they waiting for? Do they even see my Overlord!?

Feeling a bit annoyed, reckless, and wanting to test this, I had the Overlord suddenly rush forward to a Creeper that is by itself. Immediately upon the Creeper obtaining line of sight with my Overlord, it immediately started for it, and started hissing. I quickly realize there's no way my Overlord will be able to fly out of range fast enough. In a panic, I somehow automatically slipped into the mind of the Overlord itself, taking direct control of its body, and flung out one of it's tentancles, to smack the Creeper away.

I watched gobsmacked as the Creeper was sent flying back by about twenty meters before exploding in midair. I just stared at the scorch marks made from the explosion, stunned. Did that really just happen? It only took me a moment before I realized I'm still in direct control of the Overlord. With a bit of wonder, I lifted the tentacle I smacked the Creeper with to 'my' face, marveling at the nearly instinctive control I have over it.

On an impulse, I shot into the air as fast as I could go, which is unfortunately just walking speed, but still, I can fly! It took all of ten seconds of trudging along at a snail's pace before the novelty wore off. I can't help it. I'm a bit of an adrenaline junky. Speed to me is like a drug. If I can't go as fast as I can ALL of the time in a racing game, I don't enjoy it as much.

That's when I had a rather telling thought. How do I stop controlling the Overlord? Thankfully, before I could panic again, my instinctive knowledge took over, and I simply willed myself back into my body. Too easy. The Overlord is feeling sad to see me go though. It actually welcomed my taking control of it. Hard to be closer to someone than a direct mind link I guess. I sent a mental pat for lack of a better term to the Overlord, and I got the mental image of the Overlord nuzzling up to me in return. I couldn't help but smile.

Hard to believe the ferocious Zerg Swarm, plague of the Universe, is so affectionate. Then again, maybe it's not so surprising. As the Overmind, the Zerg are an extension of my will… so if anything, whatever the Zerg do or act like now are just a reflection of myself… and I can't deny that I'm a fairly affectionate person. Nor can I deny that I can be ruthless in the defense of those I care for. I can only be grateful that I've not had the need to unleash that kind of violence on anything, since I'm also a bit of a pacifist. Unfortunately, as leader of a budding galactic super power, it seems the chances of that happening aren't so small anymore.

-END CHAPTER-

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.

Zerg Swarm

Bio-Energy – 144 a day (1 point every 5 minutes)

Support – 0/11

Entities (Non Sentient)

1x Hatchery

1x Overlord