KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
The door-knocking sounds reverberate throughout my apartment, rousing me from my slumber. I groan as I roll over in my bed to check the time; the glaring red lights of my alarm clock shine back at me '3:55 AM'.
Who the hell wants something to do with me at four in the morning?
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"Alright, alright, I'm coming...", I mutter, sliding my feet off of my bed and onto the floor to stand up. I slowly walk over to my closet, grab my bathrobe, and put it on, making sure that not too much of me was showing.
Confident now that I'm not going to accidentally flash the one who was so patiently awaiting my arrival, I tiredly hobble my way through the hallway out to the front of my apartment. I head straight to the front door as soon as I see it, eager to get this over with so I can hopefully get another hour or two of shut-eye before I have to go to work.
After I take a minute to unlock the dozen or so chain locks on the door (when did I have those installed?), I swing it open and tiredly ask, "Alright, what is it?"
The midnight blue pony on the other side looks up in alarm and says, "What... Who-
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-
I magically press the off button on my alarm and yawn tiredly. Happy one-week anniversary, I think to myself as I look down at my hooves where I had laid my head for sleeping, a trail of drool sliding off and pooling on the sheets below. Hmm, well, I guess some things don't change, I grimace and wipe my hooves off on a dry spot.
I sigh and look over to the alarm clock; '7:01 AM'. Right, Monday, the first day back to the office since last week and, most likely, my final week on the job. Yeah, it's bittersweet, but while I am going to miss working there, I'm actually somewhat looking forward to getting started on the hive.
After hopping off the bed and walking to the bathroom, I just lean on the sink with my forelegs and look at my reflection. It's crazy to think that even though it's only been a short time since this all started, I'm already perfectly comfortable as a changeling; it's just as 'me' as my human form is, anyway. The buzz of passing conversations between my changelings in the back of my mind puts me strangely at ease; all is well in the hive this morning, it seems.
A quick flash of green flame puts me back onto two feet and I study myself to make sure everything is as it should be. One of the nice things about transformation magic is that it really cuts down on the time it takes to get ready in the morning; baths are really only for pleasure now that I can just flash away whatever odors I accumulate.
Finishing up my morning routine, I quickly throw on some clean clothes, gather up my laptop and work supplies, and head out, briefly stopping at the kitchen to consider some breakfast.
Nah, I wave it off and leave my apartment. Just another thing that's become unnecessary under the weight of other concerns. Like how I'm going to break the news to my boss.
Standing in front of the door to my boss' office, I take a deep breath and steady myself. Not that this is going to be difficult, I mean, people fantasize about quitting their jobs every day.
But... this is the first job in my life that I've really enjoyed, so it means a lot to me.
Finally, I knock on the door and wait for a response, absentmindedly tasting a mix of mild emotions emanating from within.
"Come in!" the muffled sound of Chris' voice says from inside and I finally open the door and walk in.
I briefly glance about the room as I walk up to his desk, idly taking notice of the usual sports memorabilia decoratively placed on a few shelves along the walls displaying his obvious love of the Denver Broncos.
"Ah, Tyler, good to see you back. Feeling better, I hope?" he says, looking up from his computer.
"Way better actually, thanks," I say, rubbing the back of my neck, "Listen, so, something came up over the weekend—a family issue—and... I'm going to have to move to help take care of it."
"Oh, I'm sorry", he says with a look of concern and, after a moment, closes his laptop, "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, no one is dying or anything," I say quickly, feeling his growing worry and pity, "It's just, this whole thing will be taking up most of my time for the foreseeable future, so I'm going to have to quit."
"Oh... Damn," he swears quietly, looking off to the side in thought, "I suppose even going fully work-from-home would be too much then?"
"I don't think so, sorry," I say apologetically.
I had originally thought about accepting WHF if offered, and it might have even been fine for the first week or two after setting up shop, but I'm going to need to start love-gathering myself if I want to play it safe with the energy reserves. I can't just rely on Echo for all that, it would leave the rest of them with barely anything substantial.
Not only that, but as soon as I start pooping out however many changelings my biology thinks I need, the hive management side of the job will get more and more complicated. There's just going to be too much to do.
"I won't be leaving the rest of the team hanging right now, though." I say placatingly, "I'll make sure we get the project done by the end of this week and then leave after that."
He sighs in relief, and looks back at me, "Alright, I thank you for that. You going to tell the rest of the team now, then?"
"Eh," I shrug in response, "I mean, we've been on quite the roll for this last stretch, probably shouldn't rock the boat until we've landed, right?"
He gives a quick chuckle, "Planning on making a quick getaway afterward so no one can try to convince you to stay, then?"
"Yeah, something like that," I grin in response.
"Alright, well, let's get the day started, then," he says opening back up his laptop, "I'll notify HR later about your departure."
"Sounds good, thanks boss," I say, excusing myself from his office.
Having arrived early enough to have that talk with Chris, I start to see other people filter in as I reach my own desk in the main work area. While setting all my stuff back up, I overhear a couple of my co-workers start talking two desks over.
"So, how was your weekend trip, anything exciting happen?" Dan asks, leaning against the desk.
"Oh, it was awesome, man. I love having a girlfriend that likes the outdoors as much as I do." Steve says, leaning back in his chair and sweeping back his blond hair with a grin. "Had a great time hiking, did some fishing, camped out, the whole shebang."
"Nice, dude," Dan says back with a fistbump, "See any bears when you were out?"
"Nah, thank god," Steve replies, "I mean, they're rare to see, but that's really not the kind of luck you want to have out there, you know."
"Right," Dan laughs back, "I guess that wouldn't really be fun."
"But something weird did end up happening that I can't really explain." Steve says, frowning, "When we were watching a movie before bed, I could have sworn we heard a mountain lion or some sort of big cat."
Unfortunately, I had been drinking out of my water bottle when I heard that last sentence, and the shock of realization made quite a bit of water go down the wrong pipe. The resulting coughing and spluttering causing the two of them to turn to me with concern.
"You okay there, dude?" Dan says, "You know you're supposed to drink that stuff, not breathe it in."
"Ha ha," I reply back sarcastically after I get my coughing under control, "Yes, I'm fine, thank you."
"Well, anyway," Steve continues after a beat, "I looked outside the tent, and not more than two feet away was a deer. And I was thinking 'deer don't make noise, right?' Because they're a prey species, making noise would just draw predators to them."
"Don't know, guess I never really thought about it," Dan says, scratching his short, black beard with a contemplative look.
"Yeah, well, that's not the weirdest part though. I had turned to look at Diane because she said something about feeding the deer carrots, but when I looked back, it was gone, so–"
"Wow," Dan interrupts with a shit-eating grin, "It's so weird that a deer would run away from you like that, it must know something we don't."
"No–shuttup–listen," Steve says with a light punch to Dan's arm, "I had stuck my head out to get a better look and see if there was something else nearby that might have scared it off, something that might have made the noise we heard earlier. I waited for a bit hoping to catch any movement, but I didn't manage to see anything."
"Shocker," Dan deadpans.
Steve just rolls his eyes and continues, "Just when I'm about to turn back in and close up, I heard a quiet buzzing noise. It was hard to tell where it was coming from, but then I looked up, and I saw this large, black... something flying away. What's weird is that I didn't see any wings flapping like a bird or anything."
"Hmm, interesting," Dan finally says, "Maybe it was someone's drone? Could have been someone spying on you."
"Ugh, creepy," Steve shudders with a grossed-out look, "But, no, I don't think so. It was way too large, and it wasn't shaped right."
"Or," Dan replies, a mischievous smile spreading across his face, "Maybe it was the Mothman, ooOooO."
"Oh, fuck off, we're not even on the right side of the country for that," Steve says with exasperation, "Whatever, it was weird, but I'm sure there's some dumb explanation for it."
"Yeah, probably," Dan relents, "So, anyway, about that UI bug we were talking about on Friday, do you think..."
They continue talking about work, but all I can do is put my head in my hands and quietly groan. How did I not think to avoid flying back over that camp—hell, even just traveling a good distance away as a deer would have sufficed.
Why am I so bad at this, I can't help but ask myself
Sighing, I lower my hand and gaze blankly at my computer screen. Through my peripheral vision see Dan go back to his desk and Steve gather up papers preparing for the morning meeting.
Okay, sure, I was a little distracted by Fractal's outburst that night, and it seems that everything ended up fine in the end, but still...
Hitting print on my keyboard, I head over to the office printer and grab the still-warm paper with today's important topics. The short list mollifying me, at least it'll be a quick meeting today.
Thankfully it was an easy workday too, allowing me to leave a bit early to get started on the hard part of today.
House hunting.
Getting into my car and starting it up, I pull out my phone and look at the list I created last night of prospective places to settle down. It wasn't very long, rather unsurprisingly, because it turns out it's not easy to find an affordable home that could safely support a growing hive.
Urban housing is out of the question, I'm trying to get out of the city after all. At some point in the future, I'm sure we'll have a sub-hive hideout for emergencies, but that's something for future me to worry about.
Suburban is possible, but not ideal. There are some decent places with better spacing and good basements, but I have a feeling we'll quickly be outgrowing anything I get. Not to mention most places are still surrounded by people making it difficult to hide... unusual activity from nosy neighbors. I've got some places bookmarked in case I get desperate, but as it stands right now, it's unlikely I'll be picking anything here.
Rural is where it's at, however; wide spaces, many more trees, and good options for future-proofing. In the end, digging down is almost guaranteed to be the safest way to expand the hive, and doing so in a rural area would reduce the likelihood of such a thing being noticed. Most of the places I plan to look at are in this region.
Then there's the wilderness, mainly the cave networks in the mountains. Not really an area I'm looking to set up initially; after all, I'd still like to have electricity and internet access. However, I do plan on eventually having a backup hive there in case we need a place to escape to. Also somewhere to put an interdimensional portal or something if Skitter's research finds that it's even possible, assuming we can safely get her into Canterlot to do any research.
Pulling up the first address on the GPS, I set the route and start heading out of the city for what's sure to be a long evening.
My car crunches to a halt on the dirt driveway of a relatively newer home, the sky-blue siding sporting a recent coat of paint along with the separated side garage. Two other cars currently occupy the paved area in front of the buildings, most likely other perspective customers also checking out the open house.
Having turned off the engine, I get out and do a few small stretches while gazing about the area. One of the features of this property that really got me to come and check it out was not only the distance from the neighbors, but the number of trees fully surrounding it providing optimal privacy. The small garden that starts just in front of the porch and crawls along the side of the house gives it a friendly aura that promises good times.
Not that it would stay nice that long if I bought it, of course. I'm no gardener and I'm certainly not going to pay for the upkeep. Plus, there's no one who would ever come to visit us besides my sister, so there's really no benefit to making the place look welcoming. In fact, I want to keep people away as much as possible; there's a reason the Equis hive is located in a desert, after all.
Sighing, I start up the path to the house.
I wish I had at least a couple changelings for this, I think to myself, it would be nice to have more than one set of eyes and opinions–
Wait, I stop and facepalm, Why couldn't I? We're a damn hive-mind.
Hey, anyling free for the next few hours?, I broadcast to the hive, idly pinging their locations. It seems Echo and Skitter are in real-space doing their things while Fractal, Grift, and Maul are in the hive-mind overworld. The Hyrule Field portion, actually.
Oh, I am!, Fractal says after just a couple of seconds, What would you like me to do?
Before I can answer, Maul speaks up, Grift and I are available as well; we're only just doing some combat training against these odd monsters you've created here.
Monsters?, I ask, suddenly very confused, What do you mean?
Sorry, My Queen, Echo says, the next one to speak up, I'm in the middle of some love collection.
That's fine, this isn't that important, I tell her, then focus back on Maul, There are monsters in the overworld?
Yes, the skeleton things, Maul continues, They seem to only come out at "night" in this field.
Oh, those things, I say, realizing what he was talking about. Which is weird, because I specifically didn't add any NPCs when I was copying the game for the overworld. Of course, I didn't put in anything to prevent stuff from spawning, but that's mainly because I didn't think that was a thing that could happen.
They aren't hurting you, are they?, I ask with concern.
No, their attacks don't really do anything, he replies, A little disappointing, actually.
Speak for yourself, I hear Grift quietly mutter.
Right, figures the warrior would prefer his fights have a possible risk of bodily harm. Bet he would love Dark Souls.
Sorry for the late response, My Queen, Skitter suddenly says, I was just finishing a chapter in this book.
No worries, I say, then address the four of them, So, how would you all like to join me in surveying the potential hive locations? I could use the extra viewpoints.
How so?, Maul asks, I assume you don't mean physically.
No, of course not. I figured I could just send you what I'm seeing; that should be possible, right?
Hmm, maybe, Skitter says, I mean, before with Chrysalis, anything more complicated than talking had to be within a certain radius of her. With the way your hivemind seems to work, though, I think we could.
Alright, I'm going to try it then, I say.
Logically, sending image or video information shouldn't be all that different than speech; at least, if I'm comparing it with computer data. With that in mind, I focus on the four of them and, instead of just talking, I try to force through what I'm seeing.
Woah, neat!, Fractal pipes up, I'm seeing double.
Close your eyes, that'll help you focus on just the one view, Skitter tells them.
Pleased with the results, I once again start up towards the house and make my way inside.
Pretty home, Fractal says, and I have to agree with her. The entire place was tastefully decorated with a nice Fall theme, pairing nicely with the weather outside.
So, um, I have a question, Grift says timidly, waiting for a response.
Please ask, I say, continuing to walk through the home and casually glancing through the standard rooms, As I said, I'd like to have as many opinions on this as possible.
Grift sends a hint of thanks through the connection, then asks, Why put the hive in a pony home, isn't that dangerous?
'Human' home, and yeah, It is a little bit, I concede, but it's not nearly as dangerous as it would be to do the same on Equis. At least, right now, anyway.
I finally find the door to the basement and, after turning on the lights, start walking down the stairs before continuing, My reasoning being, there's just no one looking for us over here. I mean, if we were to go through the list of the biggest threats, the government would obviously be at the top of the list, but even acknowledging that, I still don't think they're going to be that big of an issue. I know there are quite a few conspiracy theorists out there who really believe there are hidden departments in the government dedicated to hunting down and covering up anything magical, but I don't buy it. Magic literally exists and I've used it, and I don't believe there's a single government on earth that's competent enough to actually crack down on every instance of it to the point of where we are currently at with just scams and crappily edited videos.
Realizing I was starting to rant, I stop and say, Sorry if that doesn't make much sense. There's obviously some context missing and it'd help if you knew the culture.
I think I understand the gist of it, Skitter adds, Basically, they can't find what they don't know to look for, or how to, right?
Succinctly put, thank you, Skitter, I say, arriving at the basement.
The basement is actually pretty expansive and well furnished; nice for standard living, but it will make hive expansion more difficult. Actually...
I suppose I should ask, how does hive expansion usually work? Are changelings natural diggers that make caves?
Not in the way that you're probably thinking; we pretty much do it the same way as the ponies do with a set of standard mining spells that even a novice spellcaster can use, says Skitter, sending me the requisite knowledge for everything needed to use them, Of course, it's not nearly as efficient as, say, the diamond dogs whose natural digging ability is terrifying to see in person, but the spells get the job done.
Fascinating, I say, going over the spell arrays and I find that what she says is true. Even I, who still knows basically nothing of how magic really works, would be able to cast them with just the basic information that Skitter sent me.
Would be a shame to tear up such a nicely furnished basement, though, I mutter, mostly to myself, especially after paying a bunch of money for it.
Wouldn't you want to have a hidden entrance or trapdoor somewhere rather than just having a plain hole in the ground?, Grift adds, picking up on my utterance, That way, if the house ever gets searched for any reason, there's a better chance of not being found out; plus, the basement could still look nice.
Oh yeah, I say, suddenly feeling stupid that I didn't think of it, That's a really good idea, thanks Grift!
Um... You're welcome, Grift says meekly.
Casting one last glance around the basement, I head back upstairs. Having now seen the main feature I was worried about, I take a quick tour around the upper floor, obtain a business card from the realtor, and leave the house.
Well, I say, fishing my keys out of my pocket, that was the first house on the list; any final thoughts before we move onto the next?
Hmm, Maul hums after a few moments of silence, I think it could function well as a hive-cover and should easily be able to shelter up to fifteen or so changelings comfortably. That should give us enough of a workforce to get started on the main portion of the hive, so I don't see overcrowding being much of an issue.
I stop at the door to my car, looking back and imagining what it would be like to have that many changelings under my care. A brief wave of vertigo overcomes me as I try to comprehend that fifteen changelings is a tiny number compared to the size of a full hive.
I give my head a small shake and compose myself, climbing into my car and replying, Good to hear. This will be my default choice then, unless the other places show any significantly better benefits. It's well within my price range too, so I have a feeling it's going to be hard to beat.
Isn't this a bit... excessive? Skitter says, watching through my eyes as I follow the real estate agent who's giving me the tour through what could ostensibly be called a house. We walk into a large room and I just stare at the Olympic-sized pool while the salesman continues to brag about how fancy everything is.
Possibly.
And you can afford this?
Define "afford".
All I hear in my mind is the sound of a hoof meeting a face.
Well, it's functional, I guess, Grift says optimistically.
If you want to live like the wilderness ponies, sure, Skitter quips back.
Meanwhile, I'm standing in the middle of the empty, single-room log cabin while making a show of mocking consideration for the rustic abode.
Hmm, it would save a lot of money, I say with a smirk, We could easily fit a hundred or so changelings in here if we had everyling stack on top of each other.
Sounds cozy, Fractal giggles.
Sounds awful, Maul mumbles, That might even do the impossible and give a changeling claustrophobia.
I just laugh.
At the end of the day, I've decided to make an offer above the asking price for that first house. There really was no contest when compared to the other ones I looked at, and I want to hedge my bets just in case of other offers coming in. I really don't have the time for a bidding war.
After I head home and clean up, I find myself back in the hive mind overworld, this time on the Hylian field waiting for the simulated sun to set. Maul is the only one with me as everyling else was turning in for the night.
"So, these skeletons," Maul asks from my side, "They're from a game in your world?"
"Yep, everything out here is," I say, gazing across the field at various landmarks, "It's not a perfect recreation, but it is a successful test of my capabilities. I do feel like I'm missing something, though, and that's what I'm here to find out."
The sun finally dips below the horizon and the trademark howl echos through the air signaling the arrival of nighttime. A few seconds later, a stalfos burrows its way out of the ground and looks around, searching for a target. Finally, it notices me and waddles over, intent on attacking me.
pat
pat pat
At least, that's what it seems to think it's doing. In reality, I can barely feel its touch as it swings its arms at me.
"Fun game," Maul deadpans, watching the scene with a disappointed expression.
I sigh, "It's much more dangerous in the actual game, trust me; this is just..."
Two more of the small stalfos climb out of the ground and quickly join their companion.
"...An unintended feature," I continue, knocking one back with a light push. "Give me a few moments, I'm going to try something."
Without waiting for a response, I close my eyes and delve back into build-mode, and analyze the area we're in. As usual, I see all of the terrain and objects that I placed last time, but what sticks out to me is that featureless, transparent box sitting a few feet in front of me.
Curious, I mentally reach out and prod it, causing a screen to pop up in my vision.
Stalfos Spawner
[Properties] - [Scripts]
Speechless, I silently stare at it as I process this new information.
Scripts?
Scripts! Is my hivemind fully programmable?
I just barely managed to stop myself from bouncing in joy. With this revelation, the overworld has conceptually changed from a simple map-maker into a full-on game engine. I quickly select the scripts tab and bring up a new window.
[Scripts]
-: behaviorBasic.ling
+
Just one?, I muse to myself, I guess that makes sense, nothing about the mob seems very complex. Weird file extension, though. Once more I make a selection, bringing up a third window.
-: behaviorBasic.ling
~̶͓̈́~̴̥̕`̴̣̑`̶̫͝~̴͚̐~̴̟̇`̷̩̏`̵̩͋~̷̤͛~̵͉̋`̸͈͗`̴͈̈́~̵̖͠~̸̣̆`̶̡̍`̵̰͘~̵͍̓~̵̜̈́~̸̺̀`̵̗̃`̷̡̀~̴̻͒~̷̱̚~̵̢͛~̷̯̑~̵̝̒
̷͖̿~̷̳̈́~̸͓͒`̶̣́`̴̰́~̵̪̂~̵̭̀`̶̼̍`̷͈͋~̶͓̐~̵̱̃`̴̺̊`̶̪̿~̸͎̀~̴͉͋`̷̹͝`̴̨͒~̴̼͐~̴̜̈́~̶̹͒`̵͑ͅ`̷̤̆~̶̜͌~̶̖̏~̴̲̾~̴̫͠`̸̜͆`̵͕́~̵͔̈́~̷͖̈́~̶̺̽`̴̝͐`̷̲͐~̴̲̓~̶͉̎~̵̩̾
̴̎ͅ~̸̲͗~̵͙̋`̴̣̕`̴͎͒~̵̼̽~̵̮̀`̵̩̄`̵̦̓~̷͕͝~̴͓̏`̷̳̚`̸̰̌~̵̯̏~̵͕͘`̴̰͆`̸̡̎~̶̮̒~̴͓̐~̸͙̐`̷̪̉`̴̪͋~̸̏ͅ~̵͈͛~̶̫̑
What I see makes me pause, as what is shown is not the code I was expecting. Instead, the lines are occupied with a mass of ever-changing squiggles almost eldritch in nature and completely unreadable.
The thing throwing me off most, however, is that I can actually understand it without much issue. Not the visual text, mind you, but more like the... feeling of it; almost emotional, in a way, and incredibly complex too. So much information is contained within these lines that it almost makes my head spin.
Unfortunately, none of it is structured like any traditional programming language that I've ever seen, meaning it's going to take me quite a while to figure it out. Consequently, it seems that I'm going to have a lot more time on my hands once I no longer have a job to worry about.
Curiosity sated for now, I close out of the scripts to go back to the first window and select the properties tab. Basic properties are shown, "position x", "position y", "speed", etc; everything that you can find in a typical game engine. One thing that catches my eye is the value of "damage" is set to null, which explains why the mobs weren't doing anything when attacking before.
I'm about to change the value when I hesitate, looking over at Maul for the first time. The damage has to go somewhere when it attacks, so... yep, he also has properties values; a quick scan over his reveals that his damage is set to "10" and his health is set to "100". Focusing back on the spawner, I change the damage value to "1" and the health value from "30" to "10".
Leaving the editor, I come back to the game world with the stalfos still hitting me, only this time the hits feel like small pinches instead of nothing. "Interesting...," I mutter to myself as I crush one of them in one hit, the bones fading to nothing after a few moments.
"What did you find?" Maul asks, looking at the scene with intrigue.
"What I should have expected, really," I reply, swiftly killing the other two by me, "I made a small change so they can fight back a little bit."
"Oh?," he wonders, walking over one of the newly spawned and letting it hit him, "Hmm, better than nothing, I guess. How difficult can you make it?"
"Anywhere between here and 'impossible'," I say with a grin.
"I see," he states, the glint in his eye betraying his desire.
"But, the question is, what's the most important thing the hivemind needs right now?" I muse, gazing out into the landscape, "You five are going to be on your own for quite a while; what is it that I can make here that'll best help everyling deal with the situation?"
Maul takes a moment to think before replying, "Well, the only thing I can really speak with confidence about is fighting due to my specialization, in which case I recommend having a training area that can be flexibly used for a wide range of combat simulations. Without a full guard force, everyling needs to be able to defend themselves if the time comes where a fight is inevitable."
I look back at him and nod, "I agree, true specialization really isn't a luxury we can afford right now. In fact, I'll take it a step further and also ask Skitter and Fractal about areas for magic and enchanting, transformations with Echo, and..." I pause, trying to recall what I know about Grift but fail to come up with anything relevant.
"What does Grift specialize in?"
"He's a worker drone, so he doesn't specialize in anything specific," Maul shrugs, then continues upon seeing my questioning look, "Workers are those who never tested into any of the dedicated roles in the hive and are relegated to basic labor jobs."
"Then I'll let him decide what to put in that room," I say, already going through rough building ideas for a changeling academy, "No changeling of mine shall be uneducated."
"Okay." Maul simply says, not fully understanding, but accepting.