20 - Right Seed

Zwei finally woke up two days after she became my host. Her next session is in three days. I really hope nothing goes wrong this time. No explosion. No deaths. Just the normal stuff. Even if I don't know what 'normal stuff' means, I'm sure it does not include anyone dying, which is enough for now.

I don't like the feeling of dying. Nor do I like the feeling of losing the bond to one host.

This entire house is a copy of Adel's house, the final confirmation that all houses are the same, not only on the outside but also on the inside. Everything seems to be made almost in industrial scale, following a pattern that works, not personalized for each individual, focusing more on efficacy than anything else.

From what I learned about Mother, she takes memories and experiences from her children when they "die", or better, when they get recycled. She uses this knowledge to improve the society she commands as a whole, not considering individual gains, only the improvement of the community.

These houses are an application of that. I'm sure that at some point she concluded that houses following these patterns, in a separated environment (the nest) and with a live-in teacher was the best to raise the new generation. Everything Mother does, every decision, is for the greater good, for the good of her people. I believe it. Mother is just that amazing.

Leaving the house I noticed that we were on the edge of the nest. A bit far away from what I'm used to. Now that I think about it, the very fact that this house is on the edge may be the very reason that Zwei was chosen for my new host.

When we were on the core, after the accident, we took a long tunnel and walked quite a bit. I imagine that we left the nest's boundary, but on the underground. I think that when the last Drei finally died we were far away from the nest itself, which is why it took longer to find a host, and when it did it was in a completely different place. There were no longer any children on the core by the time it happened.

Zwei spent her days like any other day. Even as she interacted with lots of people outside her household, I did not hear anything about the mana explosion incident. No one was talking about it. Mila also did not mention anything, I'm not sure if it's because she was not there, since she does not have a 'Drei' under her, or if the incident was kept hidden from the children.

If I had to guess, this was being kept hidden. It is not something that happens frequently, it is actually an extremely rare occurrence, taking as true what I heard from Mother and the green aliens, which I now think are called "Oracles". It really makes no sense in telling the children about it, it will only cause panic and fear. They do not need it.

I agree with it being kept hidden, but I want to know more about it! Damn… It is sad that I have no way to find more information. You know, being the invisible being that I am, no interaction with the world and all that… also no one will tell Zwei this information out of nowhere, and it is not like Zwei will ask about more information if she doesn't even know that it happened in the first place. I can only give up.

*

It is finally Zwei's second session. Mila took us to the core from a different entrance than Adel did last time. This one is a lot closer to Zwei's house. Everything else was the same. We took a lantern, descended a long staircase, and arrived at the beautifully illuminated underground with floor covered with moss.

The session was uneventful. The same ritual took place, which surprised me. I was sure that 'seedling' referred to what was already planted and rooted inside the children on the first session. I did not think another seed would be placed in them. But of course I was wrong.

The last seed was implanted on the left side of their chest. Today's seed was on the right side. Aside from this difference in placement and the very fact that no one exploded or died from a mana explosion, the rest was exactly as before. Not any less magical, ethereal or holy than before. But nothing new happened.

Believe it or not. That was the end of the ritual. Nothing happened after that. Once the seed took root on the child, the skin was healed up and all that. With nothing exploding, the woman just took the children out and into their own homes. The path was the same as when we came in.

Not what I wanted or expected to see. Now I have to endure another few days of torture of boredom while I wait for Zwei to wake up. Then what? Another seed? Not having any information or knowledge about what is happening is terrible.

To my delight Zwei woke up a bit earlier this time, she 'only' slept for three days. Once awake she resumed her normal routine of Seontto in the morning, leaving, socializing and playing chess with other children the rest of the day, coming back to a good long bath, another Seontto then bed.

Random information… Zwei did not lose to anyone in chess, except, of course, her two sisters, which were already awake at this point. Still, she taught herself as useless and dumb child because of it. So sad that a bright kid like her has to deal with this so early in life.

"Tomorrow we will start the third session for you all. This next one will be a bit different, it may hurt a little bit, stay strong and it will be fine. Everything is from Mother and for Mother. She knows what's best for all of us." Mila said with a stern face when we were already descending the stairs to the core. I'm a bit happy that it will be different today, but also a bit worried that it might hurt 'a bit'. Zwei did not react much to this warning. She doesn't even remember much from the other two sessions anyways.

Mila chose a spot for us, it looked like a random spot for me, but I'm not sure. She was looking very attentive to the ground before stopping here. We waited while sitting on the moss floor. It was pretty comfy and fluffy, I did not pay enough attention the last time I was here, this is amazing. It is so comfy I almost want a puffy made out of this thing for myself. We did not have to wait long before everyone was present.

"We shall start the watering of Zwei" I always forget that every child here is temporarily named 'Zwei', that's so confusing.

"Stand up" we all did. Who does this voice belong to? I'm sure it is not Mother, her voice is much more… angelical than this.

"Prepare the seeds" ohh, we are seeds now? No longer hosts hum?

"Be sure to stay still, this is important" whispered Mila while placing Zwei in a specific very random spot.

"We shall begin"

A similar beginning. The women all sang. They all made the same gestures, at the same time.

What followed tho was not the same.

The globs of mana that were floating in the air with the song were all agglomerating near each child. At some point the mana forced its way into Zwei's body. It did not hurt 'a bit'. It hurts a lot. A LOT. "Hurt's a bit" my ass. This damn sadistic people.

I could hear screams all over the place. Zwei's voice was not among them. She was enduring this like a pro. Lots of mana came into her body.

The mana that was forced into the body took place in the "roots". The roots, the ones that were also implanted into their body last two sessions with the seed. These roots were now glowing a bit, which is why I can safely say the mana is rotating through them.

The roots were all over her body, somewhat similar to a normal blood system. The big difference is that all was merging into two points in her chest. And all mana was flowing from the roots to the seeds. If it were not for the pain this would be somewhat beautiful.

The roots glowing in her body looks like a very detailed blood vessels mannequin from some fancy museum, it is beautiful to observe. It goes through the entire body. From finger to hands, to the arms to the two points in the chest. From the foot to the legs and torso to the chest. From head to neck and to the chest. The funny thing, since it all merges in the two seeds, on the chest, and the seeds are placed on the left and on the right of the chest… it looks like two nipples blowing up.

Just a few minutes passed since we started, and I could hear less and less screams. Some of them are subtly vanishing. The children were passing out from the pain.

It did not take too long for Zwei to also pass out. Yet, I must say. She holds still for longer than almost everyone here. I won't dare to say she was the last to faint out of every child here, but I can guarantee that in my field of vision she was.

That's my Zwei, always the last!