Chapter 1: Lost Lamb

Khepri?

Couldn't move.

Pain, throbbing pain.

A shape passed by. Blurry. Enemy?

Within my range of control. Part of my swarm.

Senses reached out.

Nothing.

No control. No swarm. No safety.

Have to get away. Somewhere safe. Until ready to fight back again.

The blurry figure made noise.

A threat? Didn't understand.

The figure moved closer.

Had to get away. Run. Run or attack!

Nothing.

Body wouldn't respond.

Wouldn't move.

No swarm. Only pain.

And sleep. Wanted sleep...

Couldn't sleep. Figure got closer.

Beeping around me. Other voices. Couldn't see who.

Distracting. Had to focus. Had to be ready to fight.

A light from the limb of the figure. Shining into my eyes.

An attack?

No. Weak. Stinging. Annoying.

Closed my eyes to block it.

Shouldn't have. Can't open them.

Too hurt. Too tired.

But couldn't fall asleep… Needed to…

Dark. Could barely make out the room.

Sparse. Bland ceiling tiles. Didn't like them, couldn't remember why.

No one was around. Just the annoying beeping. Alone. Safe?

I tried to move. Muscles hurt, seized up and sore. Couldn't get up. Couldn't move.

Enemies? No one around.

Fight.

Fight? Who? Where?

Head hurt. Vision cloudy.

Pain. Throbbing, stinging, consuming.

Hurts worse than my body. Except for my arm. That throbbed too.

Was I safe? From the strangers? Wait. Not strangers. They were enemies. Weren't they?

Couldn't remember. Fuzzy. Hurts.

Need to look around. Can't move. Use swarm.

No swarm.

Panic. Trying to panic. Body wouldn't respond.

Felt something. Too tired. An extension of me? Elsewhere. Not me, but also me. Part of me? Couldn't remember.

So tired…

Room was orange now, coming in from the glass. Glass? No… window.

Sunrise? Sunset?

Didn't know. Only beeping. Still annoying, but distracted from the pain.

Less pain than before, but still there. Always there. Everyone was ready to inflict pain—no. Somewhere safe. People around didn't attack. They came in, made noises, watched, but didn't hurt.

Something else was beside me now. Big and red. Plant things, couldn't remember the name.

Paper beside plant things. Things on it. Words? Only saw blurs.

Did friends leave them? Friends? Who?

Blonde… green eyes… freckles… She cared, even at the end.

Dogs… friend… don't show teeth… Loyal. No matter what I did, she would be there.

Wait.

No, they wouldn't.

I controlled them. Weapons. Slaves.

Didn't I?

So many in swarm. Only numbers and tools. Soldiers. No names. Friends too?

Yes… friends too.

That… hurt. Not like pain in my head or arm or muscles.

Pain like fire, like weight, like guilt.

Why? When? Who?

Against the enemy. Everyone an enemy?

No, the golden man.

Scion.

I remembered the name. Why that name? It wasn't the important one to remember.

He's gone now. It's over. Did what had to be done.

Regret?

No… yes?

Regret. Not for him. For everything else.

How did it happen?

Trapped on a bed by my own body.

Remember running.

Stars. So big. So small.

Two shots.

I waited for them.

To bring my end.

Darkness…

My eyes closed and—

"Oo, oowur ahak. Oww urr oo eeying?" the enemy said to me.

The noises out of my mouth were like hers.

Flowers beside me. Who put them there?

Green eyes? Dad? Dogs?

Person left after making more noises.

They were simply waiting, to betray or kill me.

I moved aching limbs. Sore. Hard to move, like through water, but I could move.

Safe? Didn't know.

People should be after me for what I did. Hat Lady was supposed to have stopped me.

Need to get away. Somewhere alone.

Prepare, in case of enemies. They would be coming. There were always enemies.

Heal enough until I could bring this world to heel.

I traced the two spots on my forehead. Twin contradictions to the fact I was alive.

They were supposed to be the last of it. The last of the fighting.

A buzz flew by me. Like before.

Reached out, took hold.

It would slip away after a while. They always did.

More joined my army. Little sparks that gave me their touch and sounds. Sight too blurry, just like my own.

Weapons downstairs in a locker. Clothes in other lockers.

Would rest until then...

It was time.

Darkness shrouded the room, curtains blocking the windows.

It might have been the same day, but I wasn't sure.

Sounds from other people in the building. Quiet breathing, asleep. Slight murmurs, needed to avoid.

Took the card by the flowers. Couldn't read. I'd bring it for later. Could only feel the letters, their angles and curves, but they didn't mean anything to me. Frustration and fear for… something. Something I liked. Vision was still blurry unless up-close. Glasses. I had forgotten I needed glasses.

Jittery, restless, wanted to move, but stiff and uncooperative.

Floor was cold on my bare feet as I slipped out of the room. My swarm spread out, marking anyone still awake.

Some people were making rounds around the rooms. They opened the door, and if the person inside made slumbering breaths, they moved on.

Didn't matter, the way to my weapons was clear.

I was cold, my thin gown breathing the chill in.

Empty halls, cold floor, sleeping enemies.

Crouching low, I dashed down the hall and snaked down a stairwell. Two floors down, I entered another hallway.

The room with my weapons was locked, though the door had a window.

I grabbed a bundle of gowns from a nearby laundry hamper, padded them around my elbow, and struck the window.

The glass shattered, and I reached in and unlocked the door. Some residents stirred from the sound.

Like a trap ready to spring, I waited to see if one of the enemies would make their approach.

Most rolled over and returned to rest.

It was a room of metal shelves and plastic bins, all labeled but unreadable. I let my gown fall around me and grabbed a random set of clothes. Pants from one bin, a blouse from another, and sneakers that hugged my feet too tightly.

At least I was warm now.

Bugs found my weapons in a locked metal container. A keycode was required.

I braced myself to smash the keypad with a sharp kick.

Then the glow came. Not a bad glow; it soothed the pain and made it easier to move. When I was awake, it kept the darkness away... too many times to remember, too often to forget.

My heel came down on the keypad, and the metal crumpled beneath it.

That's not right…

I tugged my foot out and looked into the hole.

The glow was very good, a new weapon.

I collected my things from the now open box. Smashing the metal had made the people stir.

My tattered utility belt went under a hoodie that was slightly too big for me. Costume would take too long to put on, needed to leave. The mask could be useful to hide my face though.

Flight pack was gone. Knife, gun, spare magazine, baton. All of my weapons were accounted for but nothing else. Probably all destroyed when—

I blinked, and the world went gold.

Heat, blood, death, but no screams. There weren't any unless I allowed them.

Simple focuses kept me rooted through fire and death.

But the only focus I needed was my subjects, my goal, my enemies, and my power.

My passenger and I—us—we—one—

I was back in the hospital room. Panting. Heart hammering. Alone.

Not for long. People were coming.

They came up in a rising mechanical box, so I rushed down the stairs.

Just need to sneak by people at desk and—

My swarm vanished from my senses. Their streams of sensations that ran through my mind pulled away from me, like a receding tide. No matter how hard I grabbed and reached, it flowed around my fingers and away.

No no no! Why?!

Enemies could sneak up on me now, couldn't map out the area, couldn't fight properly.

Run.

I moved in a sprint, the glow surging forth and adding to my speed.

The door at the bottom of the stairs opened up into a lobby. As soon as I burst into the room, two people in white clothes spotted me.

They waved their hands in front of them and spoke more unintelligible threats.

I was gilded in the glow, my new weapon too unpractised for anything but escape.

Hands tried to grab at me, but I slapped them away. Even I could tell their grunts were ones of pain.

Their shouts faded as the night air passed by me.

No direction, only away.

Needed to prepare. Heal.

Buildings flew by as I bolted down empty streets.

Explosions of sounds and touch barraged me as my control returned. Insects moved to scout my path.

Things on street corners. Cameras. Had to avoid.

The air froze my burning lungs.

Legs hurt from the exertion. Adrenaline dying down.

Couldn't rest. Escape.

Sky was lit with stars, still blurry. Moon looked like a long smudge, almost like it was scattered across the sky.

Numb throbbing tingles spiked from the soles of my feet with every running step.

It hurt, but had to get away.

From enemies. So many enemies. In beds and houses. Sleeping. Waiting to attack.

Killing them now would only draw attention, too many to safely end without notice. Swarm wasn't back yet.

I would prepare and be ready for the right time.

Eventually, a wall blocked my path. An endless barricade that moved beyond the realm of my control and into the distance.

There was nowhere else to go.

Exertion caught up with my body as I moved through back alleys. I stumbled on shaky limbs and couldn't get back up.

My swarm sparked into my power and spread, my sentries and army once more.

Air. Precious breaths I fought to take in; my lungs ached when expanding but shriveled when exhaling.

Sweat like a second skin let cold air grip my body. Spasms ran down my arm and legs.

Insects pooled in hideaways and shadows, ready to drown every enemy around me in a whirlpool of bites and death.

Large weapons were mounted on the wall, spaced periodically. Only two were in my range. They faced outward.

An outside threat?

None of my enemies seemed to know where I was—

Something moved outside the walls. In the forest beyond.

Right into my control.

Wasps, but carapaces like armor and stingers like swords. Perfect for creating a swarm of stinging death.

They were flying around something else.

Something big. Spikes and bone-like plating. A giant bear-creature.

Some bugs died around it. Asphyxiated. The bear had a shroud of some kind of gas? Poisonous?

It was safer for the bugs to land on its odd bone armor than on its flesh. Its body felt… odd. Not skin or metal or stone. More like rubber pretending to be flesh. No body warmth. Cold, like a moving corpse.

An enemy. Separated and alone.

I moved to choke it—no breath. It didn't breathe.

A construct? Projection? Very fleshy for a robot.

My new wasps swarmed it, stinging and stabbing its thick hide.

The beast stood up on its hind legs and roared. The leaves shook and some bugs died from the outcry.

It flailed and thrashed about, massive paws with unnaturally long claws swiping at my soldiers. More smog poured out of the thousands of pinpricks throughout its hide, yet the bear-thing didn't slow or stop.

It rampaged.

Trees snapped and flew away from heavy strikes. The ground was torn apart with claws and vicious stomps.

Seconds turned to minutes as the battle went on. I started sending the wasps—the most resilient to the monster's smoke—in shifts, letting some recover while others continued to attack.

More and more of the regular bugs died, from trampling or the beast's gas.

I had pulled some garbage bags from a nearby dumpster and settled next to it. The bags covered and hid me.

My body demanded sleep, even through the shivers and aches, but focus kept me awake for the fight.

The bear-thing's body had been stabbed repeatedly in almost every inch where it wasn't covered, its eyes smoking holes from being gouged and dug out by bugs. It still fought.

I didn't know how long it had been, but the beast finally fell onto its side, unmoving. My bugs continued to attack, right until the corpse began to dissipate. I felt the body fade into nothing.

The swarm scoured the ground but there was no trace. It was simply gone.

Good.

My swarm returned to me, as did a wave of exhaustion.

No pursuers. The swarm spread out, just in case.

Rest…

Two days went by.

Every movement sent the world spinning and threatened to upheave the contents of my stomach; fruit my bugs had stolen.

The glow was my support. A soothing shield against the elements and pain. I reached within, and it came when beckoned. Eventually, it would strain and retreat, but there was a little more time with each session. Progress.

I waited and listened to anything and everything. My bugs gathered in places where they could eavesdrop.

Each conversation added another sound, another syllable. Every hour I took out the card from the hospital and went over the words, studying the way the lines formed.

My tongue felt clumsy, and every sound felt garbled and strange, but it was getting clearer. The fog slowly lifted, in leaps rather than steps. Moments of clarity gifted me with full sentences before the headache stole them away.

It wouldn't be long. The haze would pass, and I would be ready.

Another day came to an end. Its dying light didn't reach far enough into the alley for me to savor its warmth.

I glanced down. A tired, broken body covered in filth, and garbage for a makeshift shelter. Weapons that I didn't trust myself to use correctly. Fingers that shook with effort from just holding them up. An ever-present migraine that I fought to ignore.

My mind would be ready, but my body would not.

I didn't understand why.

I was safe and hidden. No enemies had found my location. The glow was soothing any wounds I had.

My bugs found nothing that indicated a direct threat.

Yet, something was wrong. I was wrong.

Then, suddenly, like a hand releasing its grip, my headache eased, only to invite a weight that pressed down on my eyes.

I drifted off.

Chapter 1 End