Rook

- Hivemind subspecies
- Glitch drone
- Was submerged in assimilation fluid. Removed by Ebon before he was complete
- Thin, fragile chitin(Metallic rather than Wasp)
- Permanent chitin cracks(Veined, from a drone attack)
- Very weak connection to the Consciousness(only present close to the Hive)
- Has faint, broken memories of his life before assimilation
- Remembers nothing of the attack where he was captured

---

It was dark. Dark, everywhere. It surrounded the child. Hid him away, hid everything from him. It seeped into him, over him. Suffocating him. He could feel it creeping under his scales, trying to get to the center of him. It felt like his life was being sucked away.

It was cold. Cold, all around him. It wrapped around the dragonet, holding him close. Trapping him. It wanted to freeze him, solidify his body. He could feel it in his wings. They felt stiffer than before. Heavier. The cold had taken his wings and was moving to his body. It wanted him, like the dark did.

It was everywhere. An uncomfortable buzzing in his head. It swirled in his thoughts like waves, drowning them. It wouldn't let him think about anything. There was only him, and the current of static.

The noise was shifting. The buzzing began to settle, and the oppressive static formed sound. Words shaped themselves from the streams of static flowing through him.


...The all are one...The one is all...


The child was afraid. This did not sound like a friendly voice. It was cold and empty like the dark around him. Where was his mommy? His daddy and siblings? They had warm voices that cared about him, they should be here to protect him...but they weren't. It was just him and the strange quiet words.

The child reached out, trying to move forward. He didn't want to be in such a scary, dark place anymore. His talon felt slow moving it around...all of him did. He focused on the feeling, waving his talons around. He had a vague memory that felt like this. What had mommy called it? A bath? There had been splashing, and fun. The sun made sparkles go everywhere. One of his firebugs went toward the deep end, where mommy had said not to go. But his sibling had called her, and he needed it to come back...And then he'd slipped beneath the surface.

His legs pushed upward, acting on instinct. His head broke the surface and he sputtered as he desperately gulped down air. He flailed around, trying to keep his head clear, panicking at the thought of sinking under again. He squealed in fear, hoping someone would hear him in this empty place, that he wouldn't die alone not knowing where his family was. His cries cut off as his air left him, sending him back into the fluid. The child kicked out, lost, trying to find the bottom but unable to find purchase with his claws. His lungs burned for air and he opened his jaws, sucking down thick liquid as he gave into the urge to breathe. He coughed, trying to bring it up, but he only swallowed more. It filled him, weighing him down, rapidly weakening him as he tried in vain to find the life-giving air. And with it came the static.

The words came back with new strength, seeming to find encouragement in the hatchling's struggles. Static filled his head like a swarm of bees, completely drowning any thoughts his tired mind could have formed.



Something yanked him from the liquid. He was laid down and whatever
had saved him began working to pump it from his lungs. It made worried sounds as it carefully pushed into his chest. After a moment it spoke, its voice filled with horror. "Only one out of all of them. It's a wonder this one isn't gone yet..."

Thick, vile fluid came up his throat and the dragonet heaved, trying to rid the life-stealing substance from his body. He laid there, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath between shuddering coughs. His body felt so heavy, so cold and stiff. Alien. Like the scales he wore had thickened and warped before melding into each other, until they weren't his anymore. He wondered if they actually were. The hatchling strained to open his eyes, the action was taking more effort than it should have, but he had to see.

At first it seemed like he'd lost his sight completely, there was nothing but a dense black around him. But the child came to realize there was a little light, although he couldn't tell where it came from. He was just able to see the outline of the figure above him. It was larger than him, but didn't have a very powerful build. There was a thin neck and a small head, and as it seemed to realize he was coming to, large fins unfurled on either side of said head. The talons that held him felt slender, and they squeezed him in a way that kind of hurt, but with a tightness that betrayed anxiety.

"Are you alright? Is it all out?" The dragon spoke to him. The dragonet didn't know what he meant at first, was what all out? Then he realized he must mean the puddle of bile he'd coughed up. He nodded shakily. Fatigue drug at him, and though it had quieted after being removed from the liquid the static still buzzed ominously in the back of his head; but at least he wasn't at risk of drowning now...

The finned dragon nodded as well, looking satisfied. "Good. Let's get out of here. They'll be noticing something is wrong pretty soon, hopefully we still have time to escape with the time I took to save you."

Who is they? Where are we escaping from? He wanted to ask these questions, but the larger dragon was already lifting him, cradling the hatchling against his chest as he began to run.

Darkened walls rushed past them, crisscrossing paths opening into black passageways that yawned like gaping mouths. As they ran through, the hatchling would occasionally hear echos. They belonged to something big. Several somethings. Whenever they grew louder the larger dragon hid, cowering down into any dips or cover the tunnel could provide and covering the hatchling's muzzle so he wouldn't make a sound. They would wait that way, motionless, until the sounds receded, not daring to move again until it had been quiet for some time.



"It can't be much farther...right?" The guardian said to himself. They had been past more tunnels than the child could count, and he could hear frustration seeping into the older dragon's voice. His body was growing tense, and the dragonet whimpered as his claws pricked into him. The guardian looked down in surprise, then loosened his grip as he realized his talons had hurt his tiny charge, an apologetic look in his eyes. He started to take a step forward when it crashed through them.





The larger dragon seemed to be affected as well, stumbling and having to brace himself against a wall. His breathing grew heavy, and he groaned as the voice droned on. He almost didn't notice when something huge appeared in front of them.

"UNIDENTIFIED DRONE. CONNECT TO CONSCIOUSNESS TO RECEIVE ASSIGNMENT."

A dragon loomed over them, much bigger than the child and his guardian. She was as black as the walls around them, with a strangely solid-looking hide. From somewhere behind the wall of static, he was able to pull a memory of learning about dragon breeds. Struggling through the headache the buzzing left, the dragonet identified the long spines and extra sharp claws. Ridgeback.

The guardian gazed at the huge beast in shock, seeming too afraid to understand her request. She was looking down on them, unmoving as she waited for an answer, until she spoke again, "CONTACT FAILED WITH UNASSIGNED DRONE. ANOMALY FOUND. BREACH SUBJECT LOCATED. REQUESTING ASSISTANCE.....ASSISTANCE INBOUND, TASK UPDATED: ELIMINATE POTENTIAL GLITCH/HIJACKER. BREACH SUBJECT EXPENDABLE. THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL IS ONE. THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE. THE ONE-"

The Ridgeback droned on as she lifted her claws to attack. The guardian darted under her, avoiding the blow as it smashed into the floor behind them. He snapped his wings open, finally lifting from the floor. It was no use hiding anymore-they had to get out.

They sped through the tunnels as fast as they could, the blackened Ridgeback turning to follow them. Unable to fly in the tight space she ran after them, the string of words unceasing even as she snapped and swung at them. The guardian chose paths at random, all sense of direction abandoned as he tried to escape the onslaught. Then finally, light broke ahead of them. Hope began to tentatively blossom inside the hatchling as it brightened, even as it grew stronger and stung his eyes.

The air shuddered behind them, the power of the Ridgeback's snapping jaws vibrating the air. The child grabbed onto his guardian's shoulder, slowly bringing himself up with his weak muscles to look behind them. Despair washed over him again as he saw her huge form behind them, terrifyingly close but dropping back as she prepared to lunge. The huge dragon lurched forward, long, fierce teeth glinting in the growing light. They were going to reach them, sink onto the guardian and keep them both from the escape that was so unbearably close.

But what scared the child the most was her eyes, glowing a stark, empty white as they locked onto him. As he looked into them he heard the words, just barely, but he knew. They spoke to her and made her move, like they were trying to do with him. A flash of an image came to him, only for a moment but long enough to make it out. His own terrified, pink eyes staring back at the Ridgeback. He'd gotten a glimpse through her eyes. An idea started to form, twisting to join with some unnatural instinct he hadn't known before. His jaws opened, and something spasmed at the back of his throat. A shot of dark fluid escaped, flying past the shining teeth of the monster, right toward her eyes.

She flinched. Her maw slammed shut an inch from his face, and she fell back rapidly as panicked jibbering erupted from her.

"VISION IMPARED. UNABLE TO LOCATE TARGETS. ASSISTANCE REQUESTED. TARGETS ESCAPING. DESTROY THE ANOMALY. THE ONE IS ALL AND THE ALL ARE ONE-"

The guardian shot into the open air, leaving their pursuer stumbling behind them. His breath rattled in his chest, but he pushed on, not daring to stop until the twisted prison was left far out of sight.