In the beginning, there was a cold, damp mist. It came and when it went, it left behind hundreds of bodies, providing ample nutrients for the colony. With that near-limitless amount of fuel, the mycelium could spread far and wide, bringing in ever more nutrients. The further the hypha spread, the more could be taken in, but there was a limit to their reach. A way to stretch the hyphae further than physically possible was needed, a way for the mycelium to spread further than it otherwise could.

And a solution was found. Not all hyphae needed to be physical, the connection could be formed in other ways, ways that kept the different parts of the colony connected, without limiting their mobility. Their reach was still limited, but the limits were far less constraining compared to the previous need to retain physical contact at all times. Like tiny blimps in the night, sparks were shooting forth, forming a connection beyond the physical. There was something in the air, almost like an echo of ideas long gone, whispering into the ether about an endless ocean of information. The colony was going wireless.

With that new connection, the colony formed new structures, focusing on the bodies that would previously have simply been turned into nutrients. Instead of letting them just decompose, the colony could use them, grow into them and use their traits to the colony’s advantage. Bodies could carry a small part of the colony, keeping connected with the new way and bringing in fresh nutrients, to keep the colony growing, always and forever.

Soon, the colony had those useful bodies, organised by type, giving them roles suitable for their physique. Those that could bring down prey were tasked to go out and drag more bodies back to the colony, so the spread could continue. Those that were small, stealthy and unobtrusive were tasked to venture forth and spread the web further, act as nodes in the new hyphae and keep those going even further connected to the colony. Finally, those that couldn’t bring down prey or keep unnoticed while spreading the influence of the colony were tasked with marshalling those under the colony’s web, to keep the bodies fresh and filled with as many nutrients as possible. All so that the colony could grow and become even stronger.

And stronger the colony became. Slowly, but surely, the various bodies were strengthened to better accomplish their task, the primary colony, still in the tunnels the cold, damp mist had filled with those delicious nutrients in the beginning, was growing. Ever larger, ever stronger, to take in as much nutrients as possible. To feed on the light from above, to feed on the energies in the soil, even the power coursing through the air, the colony feeds on it all. It feeds, and it grows.

As it spread, the mobile bodies encounter some strange things. Nutrients but also not, filled with hunger like the colony but not hunger for the same thing. The colony could ignore them but these things didn’t ignore the colony, they sought to feed on the colony, to feed directly on the connection between the mobile bodies. That could not be, especially as these things had some of these delicious nutrient bags with them, even more numerous than their own number. Whenever they came into the range of the mobile bodies, these strange hungering bodies were brought back to the colony. Despite their hunger, they could provide excellent nutrients for the colony, even if turning them into mobile bodies proved to be impossible. Something within them ate the hyphae, gnawing on the very foundation of the colony. These things had to be destroyed!

Some of the mobile bodies, those that ventured out furthest to bring back more nutrients for the colony, started to have their connection disrupted. Not by the hungry things, but by something else, something with an oddly familiar presence. A different kind of presence, one that was somehow both comforting but also threatening. Not threatening like the hungry things but the presence was getting in the way of more nutrients, so the presence had to be destroyed, familiar or not.

It mattered not for the colony, if the presence wasn’t willing to allow the colony to grow, it had to be turned into nutrients. And what delicious nutrients these would be, so filled with power. The mobile bodies repeatedly engaged with that strange, delicious presence, never managing to bring it down but always gaining something new. The colony could constantly improve the mobile bodies, making them stronger, faster, more agile or more perceptive. So many ways to improve the bodies, it was as if there was no limit, not while that presence was there and challenged the colony. Soon, the colony would devour that presence, find what made it so much brighter than everything else, and take that brightness into itself to grow.

Some days, there were disruptions, a strange cancer within the mycelium, something that needed to be destroyed as quickly as possible, before it could take hold. The colony needed the connections to be pristine, so these tumours were a threat, one far greater than any attacks on the mobile bodies. The bodies could be replaced, their nutrients were seldom lost, but the connection itself was vital to the colony’s longevity. It couldn’t be compromised, so the colony reacted to the tumours and ascertained that they could never spread. Whatever it took.

One day, the strange presence was suddenly gone. The colony continued to improve its mobile bodies but without the strange presence to test them against, the growth slowed down markedly. The hyphae continued to stretch further and further, though mostly in a direction that presence wasn’t in, but there was something missing. It was growth but of a different kind. The colony lacked the effect of that presence as if there were some nutrients only it could provide. Maybe once the presence returned, the colony could acquire it for itself, and take in those precious nutrients.

During one dark phase, one of the mobile bodies felt the familiar presence, it filled the air, almost like it had at the beginning. Maybe there would be another endless feast, though it was questionable where the nutrients for it would come from. The colony had spread far, but never had they encountered such a bounty.

Mobile bodies moved towards the area where the presence was felt, only for the small, skulking bodies to notice that the presence was far more than it normally was, and it kept growing. More nutrients, if the presence wanted to make itself that big, it would hopefully assuage the lack of these odd nutrients its absence had caused.

Only, the presence didn’t remain where it was, more and more if it started to drift outside of the range of the skulking scouts, vanishing up into the sky. The mobile bodies that tried to get at it were forced back, but unlike all the other times, the presence didn’t fade away, it remained in place and grew even more pronounced.

Suddenly, a shudder went through the mycelium, the familiar presence was within the heart of the colony, threatening the very nucleus of it all. Reflexively, the colony struck against the presence, trying to disperse it, to devour it, anything to make sure it wasn’t a threat. But more and more of it came raining down from the sky, not like the cold mist that came and left behind countless bodies but a sharp, freezing rain, tearing into the numerous growth the colony had formed above ground to absorb the light from above. Some of that freezing rain even pierced into the ground, churning it up and destroying the roots, as more and more of it kept falling.

All of that rain was tinged with the essence of that familiar presence but for once, the presence wasn’t comforting to the colony. For once, the hyphae were severed, the mycelium was rapidly shrinking, as the connections were torn apart by the unforgiving rain from above.

Awareness faded away with each body that was severed from the colony, its capacity diminished until there was nothing left. Even the strands that had been digging deeply underground weren’t spared, they, too, faded when the presence changed, energised as if it had devoured all the nutrients the colony had harvested ever since the cold mist provided the initial harvest. Maybe that was what the presence had wanted all along.

Soon, there was no more awareness. No more connection, the mycelium had been thoroughly shattered by the invading presence.