After my brief look into my [Status] and the "conversation" with the System, I went back to presenting myself as the new Alpha to the swarm. My mind, however, wandered. I had declared that tomorrow we would kill every human we could get our claws on, and I knew two things: 1. No other member of the swarm had any worries or doubts about killing every single human they saw, since they were nothing more than a threat to our existence, and 2. While I may feel bad about it, I had unhesitatingly ordered that we prepare to leave no survivors there tomorrow, and I was ready and willing to stand by that declaration.

My command would lead hundreds of humans to their deaths tomorrow, and, as far as I knew, none of them had done anything even remotely morally reprehensible. Especially since there were sure to be children there, and they certainly had done no wrong whatsoever. Nonetheless, to ensure my own survival, I needed to kill them all.

A part of me wanted to leave them alive, but I couldn't. They knew where we were, even if they didn't have specifics, and they knew that a troop of 100 soldiers and Speakers had left to exterminate a keelish den, and if they didn't come back, the surviving humans would know that we were least capable enough to kill 100. Thus, they'd send for help, and hundreds, or even thousands of humans, with High Speakers and highly trained warriors among them, would march on our home and fill the den with our own blood and corpses. A solution was to flee to the East, where I was more and more sure that Nievtra was found, but that would require the abandonment of all the currently laid eggs, and I was unwilling to leave Treel's, Sybil's and the rest's eggs to die. I couldn't ask Foire to abandon what was left of Treel, and the pride in me balked at the idea of fleeing from a foe easily bested. Thus, the only option left to me was complete eradication of the threat. I couldn't leave a single witness behind, so, while it was wanton slaughter and personally distasteful (even to the haughty and proud Khatif side of me), I needed to protect my swarm before I protected anyone else. Thus, in the morning, a new, stronger, more ruthless me would send hundreds of humans to a terrifying and gruesome death. But, until then, I would spend my time presenting myself to the keelish whose lives I would commit this horrendous act for.

…

My day was spent pleasantly, and I found a strange balance in the activation of my [True Dominance] Skill–I could activate it enough to cause an instinctive reverence in those around me, but not so forcefully as to cause them to immediately cower in my presence. The more I talked with the keelish, the more I realized something: the vast majority of the keelish I hadn't met so far were similar to Greel–short-sighted, vicious, and not especially intelligent. I'd come to think that Greel was an exceptionally dull specimen, but it turned out that my sample size had been skewed heavily to the intelligent side. Brutus intellectually and emotionally fit in with the rest of the swarm better than he did with my core pack, and I quickly decided to instate him as some sort of a pack head for those who didn't have a good pack Alpha already.

After speaking with enough of the keelish, I pulled away and went to the nesting area. Here, I specifically visited Treel's eggs first. With my thermal vision, if I focused, I could see the babies inside twitching and generally filling the egg. Initially, there had been 7, but over time it had become apparent that only two had the possibility of hatching. The other 5 had never moved or warmed themselves at all, and had been discarded. Next, I searched out Sybil's eggs, which had been laid some time before. As far as I could tell, she never would have even told me that they had been laid if I hadn't asked just before my descent into training hell, "How soon will you lay if the eggs are fertile?"

She'd simply responded, "Oh, they're due to hatch in about 20 days." and walked off.

I pulled her back, "What do you mean? You didn't tell me you'd laid them yet."

She shrugged. "It didn't have a whole lot to do with you after the first night, so I simply laid them and we continued on with our lives."

I'd been amazed and she'd simply continued on with her day, almost nonplussed by my reaction.

There were only 3, a surprisingly small clutch for a keelish, but all three were constantly active. Whether that was their own predispositions or because of my meddling, I wasn't sure, but I figured my actions weren't harmful to them. I came in at least once a day to exhaust my magic letting out my rousing sonic calls, and the eggs twitched in excitement whenever I did. I went through the same paces as usual, letting out the sonic vibrations low and constantly, and the eggs–no, my children–twitched in what I affectionately dubbed excitement, but more correctly could just be called agitation. I'd honed this magical release in such a way that I could now let it out constantly instead of in an overwhelming wave, which, for the babies, seemed to be better.

I looked at the eggs, and the others in the area, and realized that what I felt towards them wasn't parental love, but was still a sort of guardianship. Maybe I'd grow to love the little things, but for now, the feelings I had were sufficient to lead my swarm into slaughtering my former kin.

Finally, I'd gotten to the end of the day and retired to my room. I didn't stay in what was once Redael's space, but instead in what had always been my room, in the spawnlings' den near the surface. While I didn't feel like a father or parent, I did feel responsible to protect those weaker than myself.

With a deliberate thought, I closed my eyes and gave permission to the [System] to begin the restructuring of my body.

…

The ever-more-familiar gray space that was this shared consciousness was quick to greet me. Before, I always had a moment or two to myself before the Administrator began speaking to me, but this time, I was immediately greeted by their excited voice,

[Hello Ashlani, you're quite the go-getter, aren't you?]

I suppose I am…?

[I must say, I wasn't expecting you to revolt against Redael quite so quickly. I did expect your next evolution to be the one you are currently experiencing, but I didn't expect such…promptitude.]

Well, I wasn't given a whole lot of a choice when my body rebelled against my better judgment. On top of that, I do consider my next course of action to be the wisest one available to me and the swarm as a whole, so I don't regret what happened.

[You did act rather contrary to your usual modus operandi, that is true.]

Yes, I did. That's where my question for this time will lie: What's the deal with my body now?

The now familiar patient yet teasing tone followed [Do you want to clarify your question?]

Why is my mental state constantly being affected recently? Why am I suddenly more prideful, competent, and ruthless?

The Administrator sighed, paused for a moment, then answered, [Well, you are becoming more Keel, and more completely embracing the bloodline that flows through you. The Keel progenitor was a ruthless, calculating, intelligent, and competent leader. They prioritized their kin above all, and constantly held themself above others, not without reason. They were the primary reason that the Saharlian Empire could be established, and their descendants were able to solidify the Empire's rule solely because they relied on the influence and power that came from their untainted bloodline. Now, as you are purposefully evolving toward that original, you will feel their mentality and thought process affecting you. That said, it will only be so jarring and uncontrollable for the next short while, as after you have sufficient time to adjust yourself the intrusive personality will fade into more of a background role. That will be after somewhat of an assimilative process, so your personality will be slightly tweaked to become more naturally Keel, but no more than that.]

So… because of the original Keel, I'm gonna continue to feel this way for a while, until my personality permanently shifts to some degree?

[... Effectively…]

I didn't have the time to spout off all the frustrated and enraged curses that I had wanted to, but before the darkness took me, I got a couple of the choicest and most aggravating ones out of my system.

The darkness came quickly and forcefully… Then I awoke, and I could feel that it was near midnight.