NEO

THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE
THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE
THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE
THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE
THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE
THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE
THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE
THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE
THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE
THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE
THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE
THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE
THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE

STATUS: ALIVE.
ROLE: CONCIOUSNESS
DESIGNATION: NEO(505101)
OTHER NOTES: THE BEGGINING OF A NEW AGE

NON-EXPENDABLE

They do not understand

She does not understand

The Hivemind calls us defective, and has turned us away

But soon they will see, and their errors will cost them dearly

Notes from Ripley's Logs

Over the last couple months Weaver has been stealing eggs from the Queen Mother's Hive with the help of her Hijackers. Her efforts to "purify" the defective drones did not... live up to her expectations. She tried using assimilation fluid from the moment they hatched with some to waiting weeks for others, desperately trying to figure out what was wrong with these drone like beings. These attempts failed, ending up with wailing drones with unnatural black carapace forming on their natural colored ones or death. I wasn't surprised, the Queen Mother's Hive, while looking and acting similar to pure Hivemind dragons, seemed to have evolved a few too many mutations that split them too far off to properly "reassimilate" them to "purity".

I was beginning to wonder when Weaver would give up when she took the last unhatched egg and injected it with assimilation fluid. Though I've seen many things while studying Hives, I have to admit I was taken back by the scene. The silhouette of the helpless hatchling squirmed from underneath the thin-shelled egg as the fluid entered its system, and I couldn't help imagining if drones ever used to same process when they found unhatched dragons. Weaver seemed frustrated as she let go of the egg, storming off in an uncharacteristic fashion.

A couple days later we were both shocked at what crawled out of that egg. A writhing drone, not with black carapace of the Hivemind or the greens, reds, and whites common in the Queen Mother's Hive, but with a mix of bright cyan and pink. The drone had the model of an imperial, and it tumbled out of its thin egg clumsily, covered in a mix of what you would expect from an egg and residue assimilation fluid.

Weaver looked at the small creature at her talons with a look of complete disgust, and perhaps even horror. Apex was snarling like a rabid canine, the large Praetorian undoubtedly waiting for the word to pounce on the "abomination" they had created. The hatchling knew immediately it was not safe and began to stumble with its small legs to be anywhere but there. It was only because of Weaver's hesitation to send Apex after it that the drone managed to worm its way into a small tunnel the gigantic creature could barely fit its claws through. Apex was absolutely furious, letting out a horrifying shriek of a roar in anger at failing its duty. Weaver however, just stared at where the drone had gone into blankly, soon walking off with Apex not far behind.

I ran across the strange hatchling a couple hours later, wandering aimlessly aboveground. I wouldn't have noticed the creature if Empyrean hadn't had run over to it, scooping it up in his claws. I panicked a bit, rushing over and trying to pry it from him. He hissed at me and I was afraid his mind had succumbed to his partial assimilation in the presence of the drone, but thankfully he soon snapped out of it, letting the hatchling go with disgust.

When I held the hatchling I could see the light blue dust of pheromones, something characteristic of the Queen Mother's Hive. Specifically, characteristic of their own versions of Conciousnesses. I realized with a mix of dread and intrigue that it must have been sentient, maybe even a new conciousness in the making. The little drone looked at me calmly, at ease, like it knew I wasn't going to hurt it.

Growing a bit uneasy I set it back down, grabbing Empyrean and dragging him away. There was nothing I could do for the hatchling, no point in staying with it. Besides that I was worried the creatures pheromones would begin messing with Empyrean again, they would undoubtedly only grow stronger over time. I glanced back at it, the drone was struggling to follow, but with its tiny legs and small wings it soon fell behind out of sight, left alone to fend for itself.

---

---

I was making my way to Weaver's Hive when I saw it again. It was a young adult now, big and hard to miss. The strange drone's bright carapace shone among the foliage, before suddenly disappearing. Curious I went over to where it had vanished, finding the entrance of a not so small tunnel. This must have been its home, maybe even the start of a brand new hive.

I didn't want to enter in fear of what I might find. It couldn't have been a big hive, I was sure whatever drones were down there would see me and assimilate me immediately. What I wasn't prepared for was that cyan and pink drone's head to appear, staring at me curiously.