Stealing Credit; Civilization Here I Come: Plant Hive Mind?

(POV: Kai Conningsworth)

I have finally done it; I got Julius's kid back to my private plane so that we could get out of this place quickly. Well, I mean, I would like to get out of dodge immediately.

But I have to check on the Wendigo tribe that resides here to build up an alibi so that whoever(Star Of Eagles) wanted me to help out with the situation won't get a sneaking suspicion that I dipped out without even trying to act like I was helping.

From my knowledge of them, the Wendigo from this area seems to be an extremely small-knit group... And they seem to be at the vanguard of fighting against the Wyrm; they've been backhanded a lot, too.

Honestly, I think I should just check in and dip out immediately, telling the Wendigo tribe that the threat is no more. The Uktena should've asked another group that was much closer to them than the dream speakers.

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(POV: Third Person)

/Location: Somewhere in The Gates Of The Artic

They both walked a long way to the private plane near the outskirts of Alaska. When they got there, Tristan became excited seeing actual transportation for once as he hollered.

"Oh WOW!!!!!! That looks cool!!!!" what Tristan saw was the white private plane awaiting him. Kai grinned when hearing the little boy's excitement, believing that he was amazed by the cool looks of the plane.

"I know, right!!! At least I'm not the only one thrilled by the looks of this plane!!" As of now, Tristan was right beside Kai, and Kai patted him on the head, telling him that everything was going to be alright in his way.

"*Sigh* There's no need to worry anymore, Tristan; you only need to head inside the plane and rest in there. The flyer of the aircraft will also give you something to eat, as I'm sure you're pretty hungry at this point from all of the walking. Oh yeah, the name of the plane's flyer is Derrick. He's pretty chill." Tristan asked back.

"What are you going to do? It seems like you have something else to do?" Kai chuckled and gave a small smile as he spoke.

"Well, let us just say that you were the real reason why I'm here in the first place, and the secondary is a job I was handed from the dream speakers as I was the only one who wasn't busy at the moment. My job was to help out a specific tribe that would certainly refuse my help till more would arrive to help... Go inside and wait till I'm done." Tristan didn't take a second to say anything else and walked to the plane to finally get a breather, he thought to himself.

'Don't mind if I do!!" He sped his way to the plane without any pause, making Kai's head shake as he talked to himself as soon as he got inside the plane.

"... That child didn't even hear a word I said until I talked about food... He's going to grow up to be like his father, I bet. *Tch*" Right now, Kai has never felt this salty in a while, ever since he talked to Julius. And Tristan already gave him a similar vibe. At least, unlike Julius, it seemed that he was more well-grounded than him. Kai begrudgingly left to find the tribe that would probably act hostile first and then ask questions later.

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(3rd POV: Tristan Devroop Akvash)

As Tristan made it inside the plane, it looked luxurious to Tristan's taste. He was so used to a more simple lifestyle with his parents, but at least the only thing that looked appealing to Tristan was the seats themselves. He then went near the cockpit to knock on the door to make sure that his presence was known to the flyer of this plane.

*Tap Tap Tap*  

Tristan knocked on the door three times and waited for a response on the other side of the door. It didn't take too long for a person to open the door on the other side, and he looked like an older man in a fancy black suit and tie. He had a well-developed beard. It seems like he also has heterochromia; one of his eyes is black, and the other is blue, with the last defining feature is his white hair. He spoke with a hint of surprise.

"Oh my?!? I wasn't expecting Sir Kai to bring you here this quickly. Go ahead and relax on one of our seats carefully handcrafted by Conningcrafts." The kind man led Tristan to one of the seats. Also, when Tristan heard Conningcrafts, he couldn't help but think how stupid the name was, but then again, he couldn't judge at all with originality. The old man spoke again as soon as he was well-rested on the seat.

"Sir Kai might've told you my name, but if not, then you could call me Derrick. At this moment, I'm here to serve you, so please ask away." There was an awkward pause, but Derrick had the patience of a saint. Tristan, at this moment in time, was going through a dilemma. 

'What should I say... THIS IS SO WEIRD?!?!?!?' yep, that's right, for someone who has the makings of a cult leader, he has never talked to anyone else except for his parents, or with some people they were friends with.

Also, the guy named Kai as Tristan only felt bad for him in the first place, and from random encounters when he was by himself... which was also minimal as Tristan was starting to realize that his parents were complete control freaks. But luckily, Tristan was able to snap out of it without Zil's reminder.

"I am particularly famished as of now, Mr. Derrick. Is there anything in here you could give me to eat?" The elderly man smiled at Tristan as he started to list off a few that were on the plane.

"Well, for dinner, I have Chicken or beef with rice or pasta, Sea Bass with a side of any vegetables of your choosing, salad with grilled Chicken or shrimp, Sandwiches of either turkey, ham, or vegetarian, and finally, Cold wraps with various fillings." Tristan's stomach began to growl from all of the choices.

*Grumble* 

That grumble made Tristan awkwardly laugh and say to Derrick, "How much food do you have here? If it isn't any trouble, I'll take one of everything..." Derrick couldn't help but smile even wider as he told Tristan.

"There's more than enough. Now I'll start preparing your dinner, Young Tristan." When Tristan heard Derrick stating his name, he became startled and then realized he had forgotten to tell him his own name.

"Oh, my bad, I was so focused on my hunger that I forgot to tell you my name out of courtesy... Did Kai tell you about me?" As Tristan expressed innocently, his voice Zil also had something to say. 

<Well, now Tristan, aren't you acting all coy as you're already fishing around for info to see if the old guy says anything extra? You're definition of a wolf in sheep's clothing.> That comment made Tristan irritated, but he still kept his innocent expression.

'Shut up, zil, and let me focus; this guy's giving me dangerous vibes already.'

(A/n: Here is a hint on why he seems dangerous to Tristan: the Enlightened One having fun acting human. Another title of this cameo is The Blessed Lord trying his luck as a pilot.)

"Yes, he did, but he only told me a bit about you. And I am sorry about your loss, Tristan. All you need to do is relax and let me get you something to eat." When Derrick said that Zil had quipped one last time.

<So... How much do you want to bet that Kai didn't tell him something <strong>that personal about us?>

'...' Tristan didn't answer back. He doesn't want to put any more thoughts into the what-ifs.

"I bet your parents would be proud of you for moving forward, even when facing such tremendous difficulty." Tristan felt like he was struck in the face when Derrick said that, thinking that he said that in order to get a reaction out of him.

Tristan had a feeling he was walking on eggshells already when listening to him carefully; it might just be his paranoia acting up, but the only thing he could do was look down and act like what a child would do if they lost something precious.

Now that Tristan had time to remember his 'parents' last message, he became teary-eyed. The silence between them didn't last long till Derrick patted him on the head and spoke to Derrick.

"This will only be the beginning of your wild journey, Tristan, as there will be more that has yet to come for you." With those words, Derrick eventually left to prepare Tristan's dinner, leaving Tristan in his thoughts.

<Yeah, I don't think he's actually bad at all... He's strange, though. It's almost like trying to look further into our existence and then more.> Tristan sighed to himself when he told Zil.

'That could be a valid reason why I felt awkward around him, maybe even a significant factor, but we both know that we haven't talked to anyone else except Ana since walking barefoot in the snow.

Even before that, my parents in this new life of mine were utterly controlling, especially with the fact that I was homeschooled ever since I could speak. The area we live in was completely closed off from civilization, but it wasn't too bad either since they cared more about traveling.

Now that I think about it, they did say something about being chased by some organization about their tax fraud, so they moved around with me in hand as they threw them off of their actual location...' 

<Ok then, I guess right now I'll be your therapist at this point, huh? What are we going to do point? At some moment, meet our new caretaker, and world isn't exactly one of those fantasy worlds where all the politics laws different from past lives unless you become a powerful mage create realm in Umbra. But even before that, also need status for yourself here, too, see which factions would give us most benefits.>  What Zil said were some excellent points, but Tristan rebutted.

'I like the sound of that, but aren't we underutilizing the anomalous energy?' Zil, if he had a body, would be shaking his head and said.

<If we are going to be using that, then should try doing it without our ability make huge waves, as do not know the repercussions of how your anomalous energy would go against this world... < em>

Also, we should try and copy what The Cult Of The Broken God did and create a figurehead God for the masses to worship while we, the 'creator' of said religion, will make stacks upon stacks of money... But our Cannabis comes first; our last batch is gone now.> 

'And this Kai guy will help us out with our cannabis?' Zil answered with glee.

<Bingo~ > And with that, all Tristan did was wait till Kai returned.

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(POV: Kai Conningsworth)

~40 minutes away from the plane~

Finally, I began my trip down near Bettles, which was south. From the info that was given to me, the Wendigo Tribe should be there... Right?

And just like that, my question was soon answered with a feral attack that came with frightening speed to my left side; luckily, with my spirit sense that I kept on full throttle after that 'incident' with Tristan, I was able to narrowly dodge by moving a few steps backwards.

And the blur that lunged at me still kept moving at insane speeds, as if it was floating in mid-air, destroying the bunch of healthy trees and causing deforestation. And I thought humans were the ones causing deforestation, not Wendigo's.

Finally, when the creature began to slow down 80 meters away from me, and just like an acrobat, it started spinning in mid-air, landed on the most enormous tree in the area, and used that tree as a spring. I already had my staff in hand, ready for its next lunge.

And that lunge bursted with so much velocity to the point it destroyed the tree and caused a shock wave, making the rest of the trees around the huge one splinter within a fifty-meter radius. 

Within a few moments of the time frame, the figure lunged with tremendous vigor, blitzing through my direction. Now, honestly, something like this would kill me, but with the amount of time I was working on my entropy magic, I could predict how fast he'll get to me while he was spinning around with that front flip like a dumb ass ballet dancer, I've moved to a different spot.

I turned to face the opposition and moved to the right so that he would miss again. This wasn't a fight I could win at all; I was only biding time so that an elder of their tribe would stop this fight.

And I predicted precisely on the spot. The Wendigo targeted my original placement, and just like last time, he bulldozed the part of the forest again. Now I'm just wondering what the hell is wrong with this Wendigo.

And when the Wendigo was far away enough, 95 meters, instead of just lunging at me, it began to crawl towards me at top speed. It seemed to be slower, as it wasted too much stamina from lunging at me, but it would arrive around 5 seconds. And luckily, my gamble was right on the money.

"ENOUGH!!!!" The young Wendigo immediately stopped in its tracks and deformed into a human form, breathing heavily beyond tired.

The Elder shook his head, looking at the sight of his son, and spoke with disappointment. "Now look at you, Cheveyo. Not only would you attack a human mage on our land during our time of need, but you also wasted so much of your energy doing it... Stay on the ground, and don't say a word while I'll talk to the guest." Cheveyo still spoke while also too tired to speak.

"B-but.... I... Smell Wyrm on human... *Heavy breathing*" Still heavily breathing on the cold snow, the Elder still felt disappointed, but at this point, he was starting to pity his son, and then changed his mind when remembering Cheveyo started this.

"*Sigh* I'm incredibly sorry about my son; he's always been this aggressive ever since my wife died, and it had to do with the same incident as last time around five years ago when one of the spirit servants of the Wyrm had been released itself to the physical plane, and because of that insect it caused a 12 of our tribe members to sacrifice themselves through a ritual in order to detain it...

And one of those members was my wife... My son was only thirteen when he had to watch it happen including me.

The ritual worked for five years, and I thought it would've been the end for my small tribe here. But I don't even smell that things abominable corruption anymore, except for the aftermath. I don't think I've ever been this happy.

My wife can finally let go of her worries about that corrupted creature and finally reincarnate. If it was you who were to fix this mess somehow, I, from the bottom of my heart, thank you." The Elder gave Kai a bow in gratitude.

Kai, who was planning to take credit, was starting to feel like he didn't deserve the credit now, but he still did anyway.

"Ummm? You are welcome, sir; I really am happy to help you, but what's your name?" The Elder completely forgot to give him his name.

"Oh, my, I apologize that I forgot. My name is Chenoo." Kai, who felt uncomfortable with the happy atmosphere, said.

"And my name is Kai. Also, will the kid be alright?" He now looked at the kid, still breathing heavily on the ground.

"Yeah, he's just a bit tired from showing off like a clown... But I'm happy that he was showing off. Even if you had your tricks, it seemed like he would've injured you badly." Kai shook his head and told Chenoo.

"I wish I could stay, but I'll have to leave early, and before I leave, I have to give you this." Kai began rummaging from his supply bag on his person and gave him an orb.

"This is supposed to work like a beacon for a distress call, and within a couple of weeks, more help will arrive from the Dream Speakers, and hopefully, the Technocracy will have more free time to get rid of the corruption." Chenoo smiled and expressed happily to Kai.

"I really can't express just how thankful I am to you, Kai; come back here any time." Kai was feeling squeamish from this entire conversation.

"Well, I've got business to do, and I will come back, but I'll drag someone else along with me!!!" I said without putting any thought into my words as I began going back to the plane, which wasn't too far away. As I waved them goodbye.

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(Short 3rd POV: Chenoo)

Chenoo looked at the ground to see that his son was finally regaining his stamina. Chenoo wasn't angry whatsoever because of his son's reaction to the stench and spoke with calmness and gratification he hadn't felt for years.

"Cheveyo... My dear son, I believe that our nightmare is over." Cheveyo was confused when his father said that.

"The Nexus Crawler, Cheveyo, I can't sense him anywhere here." His son's eyes widened, and Cheveyo excitedly asked.

"Does that mean that he was sent back to the Umbra?!?!?!?!" Chenoo only stared at Cheveyo with a smile that said everything. Cheveyo's body began to shake, and his tough exterior began to melt as that heavy feeling he had within himself as he cried from pure joy. After that moment, when Cheveyo finally grieved for the first time, he was hugged by Chenoo.

"Let's go, Cheveyo, and tell our tribe that the problem that plagued us is no more." There were no other words that needed to be spoken as they both walked back to the village.

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(3rd POV: Tristan Devroop Akvash)

Tristan was holding his stomach after he finished eating the food prepped by the strange pilot, which would only lead Tristan to even more unanswered questions. But now that he was finished, he finally went to his needed nap as he waited for Kai to get back here, as civilization was only one flight away. 

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[The Technocracy]

[Unit Of Sector: The Progenitors/ Pharmacopoeists]

[Base of Operations/Underground Bunker Of Kansas.]

Somewhere deep underground, Kansas was an entire Sector working day and night tirelessly studying a seemingly new species of plant with similarities to a cannabis structure. But unlike its cousin plant, this one seemed to infect its host, with the infection spreading within the body of the victim within five minutes. A researcher was typing a new report of a harrowing possibility.

{Variation Type: Unkown.}

{Original Species: Crossbreed between Sativa and Indica}

(Danger Level: ????)

(Color: Originally green but turned into a purplish red color.)

[Report Log one]

No matter what experiment from phase one we used on the subject of plants, the results have only shown the originality of the plant, which came from the shared sativa, not why it has become what it is in the first place.

There has been no reason behind the outlier at all. Luckily, the plant has already been separated into a tightly sealed environment to see how the subjected plant will grow. We do know that the victims who inhaled this plant will slowly transform into something else entirely.

Within five minutes, the person subjected to such horrors will go through excruciating pain through what we call a metamorphorcical evolution, where the human body will completely transform into something entirely plant-based. Head Researcher Carle Hayes is signing out.

[Report Log Two]

It was now the beginning of phase two of going deeper into the experiment. If we couldn't use ordinary means to figure out the causation of why this plant was different from the rest of the plants from this world if phase one didn't work, we tried using this plant as a weapon to truly test the plant's capabilities on a bunch of vampires, which in my opinion was a terrible idea.

Still, we did it anyway. We relocated further operations away from the original base in the dead of night, where there was an abandoned building in Romania [Redacted]. It had the intended effect on the random vampire coven, like what happened to the human subjects, but because the experiment was in a more open space, it caused a change within and outside of the building.

It terraformed the entire building in a matter of twenty minutes. Still, it infected the vampires rather quickly, within seven minutes before they had the chance to do anything. It seemed that the plant heightened a vampire's pain receptor to a higher level than humans. It kept growing like a violent tumor, so the experiment was forced to a temporary stop as we had to use our dimensional technology to separate the infectious tumor into a bounded field for further study. We made sure to create the field to have the necessary space for the infection.

The vampire coven inside became a part of the plant's area of infection; their once human-like bodies became plant-like structures, still in bipedal form. As of now, the Infected vampires seem to have stopped functioning. Carle Hayes Logging Out.

[Report Log Three]

This will be a shorter log as there has been no discovery of the causation of the plant's behavior and growth within the two years of study, but through time, the plant has morphed the building into an unrecognizable mass. From the looks of it, it now has more of a metallic look to it than before.

If we look at this from a different point of view, we can guess that this infection is developing into a proto hivemind. Still, without opening it up or going further in without the necessary equipment, this theory will be unknown.

Instead of the entire building, its entire spread went further infecting the entire abandoned town in the process.

At this point, we are handling the entire operation of the study to The Void Engineers temporarily so that they can send this alien-like plant to a random planet to see if it would still spread its growth there.

The only fear I have is that there might be more than one outbreak somewhere in the world with a more developed hive mind. I hope that the new head researcher will keep on creating Logs for the current hive mind further down in the future, but before I go, the oddest thing about this plant is the fact of how it interacts with the quintessence of this world. It's like it has its own wavelength, trying to adapt to its new reality. Current Head Researcher Carle Hayes, signing off.

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