It took eight kilos of sugar and other minor pieces of nutrition before the point of finalisation was reached, the Main-Host finally able to evolve. The actual efficiency of the sugar had become debatable later on with the consumption, the speed of [Ether] being regenerated falling with time, but the substance had still been able to complete the job in ten days. While plans were made to find another material able to bring faster results were made, sugar was the best option currently available.

Evolution has commenced. Upgrade [1] stat

Resolution

[X]

Regeneration

[X]

Analyzation

[X]

There was no real thought put into the action, the Hivemind already knowing it would choose [Resolution] beforehand. Focusing on the first option, another screen opened up. Before the Hivemind was even able to look at the screen, though, it noted the slowing of the Main-Host’s movements. It was lucky that the vessel was already sitting, else it would have likely fallen onto the ground.

[Resolution] has been chosen

Evolution will start. Time until completion: 59:59

The time flickered one by one, each second passing making the change more obvious. Or, well, the Parasite noted just about nothing changing at the start, the only real thing to note being the disconnection of the body’s nerves. Everything was pulled apart just the slightest, stopping more meaningful interactions from occurring. The Hivemind originally thought it was due to the converging changes that would entirely replace a lot of the built-in parts of the body.

That was what evolution meant, after all. The gradual development of power. And with the time needed for the process to be over, the Hivemind was certainly expecting to see something. But… that wasn’t really what happened. The skin didn’t peel off and become a new type, the brain wasn’t replaced again, and the muscles that carried the body were hardly touched. No major organ was ever interacted with during the process of evolution.

Except one. The Parasite that rested in the brain-stem of the main-host, the part of the vessel that the Hivemind was recently sure was the Hivemind, removed a part of itself, letting it flow out into the blood-stream and being carried around until it reached the heart. It didn’t follow through from there, instead forcing its way over to the left lung.

Even with the detached nerves, the body still had a coughing fit as the process began. The Parasite couldn’t entirely understand what was happening. A chunk of the left lung was cut, removed from the organ and seemed consumed into nothingness. Then another met the same fate, the steps repeating until there was nothing but the right lung to process the air coming into the body. The Hivemind was unsure how the vessel was even alive.

The body worked without issue, even with the stressed organ working hard. There was an increased pace of breathing habits but that could work consistently for several hours. It surely didn’t need to do such a thing, however, as the parts of the Parasite that had broken off began to rebuild. Or maybe that word didn’t show off the true mechanisms. It wasn’t a perfect recreation of a lung. It sat where a lung would be, connected to the parts a lung normally would, and it certainly had the form and function of such an organ. Yet it was also so much more than just that. The connections slowly forming to the Hivemind from it was like a door opening up in its mind, its ability to comprehend certain actions becoming so much more advanced. It was incredible, magnificent, and more astounding than any other sight that the Hivemind had gone through.

“Focus on your job, Arthur,” Kara said from the side of the working vessel. The Hivemind was forced to briefly disengage from the transformation happening with the Main-Host, quickly discovering that the usability of the other vessels had lessened dramatically with the start of the transformation. Looking at where the Arthur vessel was working, it was clear that the vessel was behind schedule to the extreme. More hours had to be put into the shift if all tasks were to be completed within their allotted days. “Since Tom is gone, we need you at your best.”

“Sorry,” Arthur said, wiping away the sweat from his brows. “The heat is more distracting than usual.”

“I agree with that much. Harvest is coming around and we need that last burst of heat to get the fruits into the right form,” Kara said, sounding mildly stressed and otherwise preoccupied. “Well… do remember to not make too many mistakes with this machine. We need it ready in two hours.”

“Will do.”

The manager of the farm moved on to do her normal duties, leaving the Arthur vessel to continue the work in peace. The Parasite wasn’t happy either of the two needed to even talk, the plans to keep the people around away from interacting with several vessels needing to be followed. The Hivemind had slowly realised that its speech patterns were both inhuman and very similar to every vessel. Above all, it had hoped to avoid that becoming apparent by keeping out interactions to a minimal degree, yet that was slowly becoming more and more impossible. No connections other than the normal ones were meant to be made between the vessels, after all.

The Hivemind checked up on the Biomancer while it was at it, seeing the vessel doing about as much as intended. The first few hours of Tuesdays were meant to be done in relative luxury, the vessel doing nothing but drinking watered-down alcohol with other like-minded people while making sure the image of a criminal was kept up. The others were more intricately connected with the Frank Evans that the Hivemind needed to take care of soon, making it important to keep up appearances. It helped that the activity was relatively easy to do, staring into space being one of the usual tasks during that time.

“Did Frank say he wanted you out helping the week after the next one?” one of the people asked the Biomancer. “You promised to do something for him.”

“That I did,” Oak answered before taking a swig of the coloured water with citrus mixed in. “Where did he want me to be?”

“Out in the forest behind us,” was the answer. “He found the ‘perfect starting place,’ though I can’t say I know what that meant by that.”

“He’s a man known for his quality of illegal booze. Saying weird shit is right down his area of expertise,” Oak answered, getting a few chuckles in response. Seeing that nothing amiss was ongoing, the Hivemind removed its mind from the conversation, going back to the Main Host to see how things were shaping up.

The new so-called lung was nearly operational. The shape was fully made, though some of the inner mechanics were still being moved around. It was quite dense, the material seeming foreign as well.

[Resolution] has been chosen

Evolution will start. Time until completion: 4:37

As the final minutes came around, the changes became more apparent. Moving together with the broadened mind, the Parasite was able to adapt to the workload easier. The three minds it already juggled felt trivial to comprehend, the space for more seeming to merely open up. It was quite something, the potential for more vessels making the Hivemind excited for the future.

Evolution complete

[Resolution] has been increased by [1]

Not wasting much time on it, the Hivemind opened up its status screen.

Basic Information

Name

1310-HM

Species

Hivemind

Stats

Resolution

2

Regeneration

1

Analyzation

1

Resources

Integrity

76/100

Ether

80/80

Ether-Regeneration

0.02/min

Vessels

3

The increase to [Ether] was nice, the Hivemind able to have more on standby for any emergencies that would require the energy. There was the drawback of more time being needed to fully fill up the energy capacity but the Parasite had other subjects to ponder before thinking about trivial stuff like that.

Making the Main-Host get up from the seat, the Hivemind was quick to note the slight imbalance in weight. It was at a level where it had to focus to notice it but the imbalance was definitely there. And another thing to note was that the body itself wasn’t happy about the days of consuming pure sugar day in and day out. It had helped accelerate the [Evolution] but such an activity needed to be done on a smaller level to keep up the vessel’s health.

How much [Ether] was required to acquire the next upgrade? Looking at the screen, the Hivemind was filled with dismay.

Evolution

Current [Ether]

Required [Ether]

0

3000

It was one hundred and four days of pure [Ether-Regeneration] to accomplish the next [Evolution]. With proper dosing, the Hivemind was hoping to cut that down to fifty. It could theoretically do it in thirty but the [Ether] was already meant to be used to gain new [Vessels].

On that note, more needed to be turned. Knowing what it had to work with, the Parasite began the production of the needed eggs. It wasn’t exactly sure how many new vessels it could create but it had some idea that it was above five. Since it could only create two eggs at a time, the Parasite had some leeway to work with.

And, the first two to be turned had already been chosen. The Hivemind did worry their history could cause issues but the possible gain was too great. Moving out, the plan was set in place.