The alien presence awakened after a long, long slumber. Too long. The war the mortals had led against it had been devastating. Millions of the Hivemind destroyed. Millions of useful tools shattered.

The Presence was furious.

But it was also patient.

So it outstretched a tendril, and a small chunk of flesh sloughed off, already writhing as new life was granted to it. A Core of its own.

An Invasion Core.

The Core awoke in the darkness, filled with panic. For the first time in its life, the soothing hum of the Hivemind was absent. Silence replaced it.

It had no idea how long it laid there, intellect slowly developing, panic slowly subsiding. It didn’t care. Slowly, a faint crimson light began to illuminate the area, revealing dark stone, and equally dark water. A thin layer of pale flesh spread across the ground, centimeters at a time. Desperately wanting more light, the Core tried to expedite the process.

The light flared more brightly, and the flesh leapt forward, covering the floor entirely, the blood-red radiance nearly blinding. The substance pulsed and churned, black veins pumping blood from seemingly nowhere.

An unwelcome thought inserted itself in the Core’s newly expanded mind.

The Hivemind had returned, after so long.

So long, the Core barely recognized the signature anymore.

{ASSESSING CORE DIVERGENCE}

{0%...30%...55%...82%...100%)

{ASSESSMENT: EXPECTED DIVERGENCE LEVEL}

{ASSIGNING NEW DIRECTIVE: ASSIMILATE NEARBY ECOSYSTEM}

{ERROR_%%%%1100101011010_INTRUDER_IN_INFLUENCE}

The Core suddenly noticed a sharp stinging in the edge of the flesh…its influence?

A enormous white creature crawled toward it, long sinuous form sharply contrasting with short limbs. Red fan-like structures burst from the side of the thing’s eyeless head.

The Hivemind seemed scared.

{NEW BLUEPRINT GRANTED: ASSIMILATOR}

{ASSIGNING NEW DIRECTIVE: ELIMINATE HOSTILE LIFEFORM USING ‘ASSIMILATOR’}

Following directions, the Core conjured the new blueprint, a pod of translucent pink gel starting to develop nearby. A small orb covered in tendrils burst from the pod, limbs flailing, and an unearthly shriek following it.

It raced toward the nearby invader, and wrapped around its neck. The creature struggled with the new challenger, as acidic chemicals scoured into its skin. At last, the creature ceased struggling, and collapsed.

The ‘Assimilator’ began to burrow into the head of the corpse, and it twitched. Slowly, the dead beast rose on unsteady legs, eyes glowing with malevolent light.

{NEW BLUEPRINT ACQUIRED: ANCIENT AXOLOTL}

{ASSIMILATED ANCIENT AXOLOTL ADDED TO MOB POOL}

{NEW TITLE GRANTED: INDUSTRIOUS}

Kill and gain the blueprint of a new creature less than 24 hours after awakening.

A surge of energy filled the Core, and it felt a rush of energy course through its flesh, repairing the damage caused by the ‘Ancient Axolotl’. It expanded slightly.

The word ‘Mana’ filled its mind. The title intrigued the Core. Had really been less than a day since it had been created? Early memories were blurred.

Ignoring this, the Core started to explore the blueprint of the creature it had killed. It apparently dwelled in water, but could come to land for a short time. The assimilated Axolotl was no longer alive, and thus needed no water. It did have something unique, however…

Psionic Potential.

Suddenly, the Hivemind granted new knowledge.

Psionic Potential is the capacity for an organism to manipulate the Ethereal and Material Realms using their minds. Psionic Potential is most common in humanoids, and is usually not useful in lower levels, but can lead to effects such as Mind Control and Telekinesis as it develops. Travel between the realms is also possible through advanced Psionics.

The Core sent a feeling of gratitude to the Hivemind, and began to follow its instincts, focusing Mana on the segment of the brain responsible for this Psionic Potential.

It began to mature in the mental image in its head, and started to grow, taking space from the other portions. The nervous system of the hypothetical Axolotl was drastically improved, and it became faster and more aware of its surroundings, despite being blind.

The Hivemind sent a new message.

{ANCIENT AXOLOTL BLUEPRINT MODIFIED: LESSER PSYCHIC AXOLOTL}

This Core-spawned creature is a fast and reactive species, although its intelligence isn’t much improved. The Lesser Psychic Axolotl is also a moderately adept Psion, able to improve the morale and pain tolerance of allies, and plant fear and panic in foes. This species retains room for evolution.

Excited, the Core ordered-something it hadn’t realized it could do-the Assimilator to leave the Axolotl corpse, and then recycled said corpse instinctually, using the regained Mana to summon a pair of Lesser Psychic Axolotls. They instantly circled the Core, and it could detect a fierce desire to protect it within them.

{ASSIMILATED ANCIENT AXOLOTL RECYCLED-MANA REFUNDED}

{LESSER PSYCHIC AXOLOTL X 2 ADDED TO MOB POOL}

Finally, the Core glanced at itself, noticing it was an orb of the same ivory flesh, although red crystal shards dotted its surface periodically.

The Core recalled the Hivemind’s command. There must be more creatures nearby. It looked forward to gaining additional blueprints. It ordered the Assimilator to slip into the cavern the original axolotl emerged from.

As it moved, the little creature left behind little drops of flesh, providing a faint view of the surrounding area. It was a relatively large cavern, with a small shoreline of sand, and a pool of water. A crack in the ceiling led to a sky far above. The Core felt little interest in expanding up there. It was, however, interested in the lifeforms in the pool.

Greyish, long plants waved in the shallower waters, and eyeless fish swam among them. The Core noticed small shelled creatures in the depths of the pool, with sharp pincers, feasting on the detritus supplied by the other creatures.

The Assimilator silently approached the pool, diving into the depths, and attacked one of the fish, which was unable to resist. Quickly, it was killed, and reanimated.

{NEW BLUEPRINT ACQUIRED: DEEP STONEFISH}

{ASSIMILATED DEEP STONEFISH ADDED TO MOB POOL}

The fish was rather dull, being a herbivorous thing that fed on the plants. The crack in the ceiling was new, however, or they would have retained their eyes. Moving on, the Core ordered the Assimilator to attack the shelled creatures at the bottom.

The assimilated fish rammed into the creature, but was swiftly cut in half by the superior beast’s claws. The Assimilator inside was swarmed, and pulled apart.

Pain lanced through the Core, and it felt a deep sense of loss.

{ASSIMILATOR REMOVED FROM MINION POOL}

{ERROR_DIVERGENCE LEVEL INCREASED}

{SUSPECTED REASON: REMORSE/LOSS}

{RESTORING DIVERGENCE TO ACCEPTABLE LEVELS}

The Core awoke again, mind foggy. It didn’t remember what had happened.

It noticed the Assimilator had been destroyed, and created another.

Remembering the shelled creatures, rage filled the Core, and it sent both Axolotls after the creatures. It did not like being injured.

The Axolotls slid through the cave, diving gracefully into the water, and their eyes began to glow a bright purple.

Even as the shelled creatures began to attack, they suddenly fled in fear, affected by the Psionic attacks of the axolotls. They were consumed, and the Core got another message.

{NEW BLUEPRINT ACQUIRED: CAVE CRAYFISH}

{NEW TITLE GRANTED: DOMINATOR}

Kill two or more creatures at once without taking any losses.

The crayfish was very interesting, possessing more combat potential than the axolotls, but much smaller. Together, they might work better, like the group that had granted the blueprints. The Core was much too distracted to focus on the crayfish, though. One of the axolotls had changed slightly, faint nubs of teeth beginning to form in the mouth of the creature. Not a fully modified creature, but close.

The Core now turned its full focus to the crayfish mental model.

By increasing the strength of the creatures, they could be even hardier, but also slower. The Core also increased the social interaction part of the brain, to make it more likely for the creatures to form groups. The Hivemind recognized enough changes.

{CAVE CRAYFISH BLUEPRINT MODIFIED: CRAYFISH SENTINEL}

Crayfish Sentinels are Core-spawned creatures that are more resilient and aggressive than their natural counterparts. The chitin of the Sentinels is hardened, but their speed is vastly reduced as a result. To counter this weakness, Sentinels often band together into groups. This particular variant doesn’t have much more evolutionary potential.

The Core wanted to create its new creations, but it was lacking in Mana. It decided to rest, knowing from the Hivemind it would slowly replenish, especially if it had more territory.

The Core was aroused from its thoughts by a Hivemind notification.

{DIRECTIVE COMPLETE: NEARBY ECOSYSTEM ASSIMILATED}

{NEW BLUEPRINT ACQUIRED: ABYSSAL KELP}

{COMPLETION REWARD: MIMIC BLUEPRINT}

Shocked, the Core analyzed the surrounding area, noticing the flesh had spread across the entire adjacent cave, warping the ‘Abyssal Kelp’, and devouring all remaining creatures in the pool. There were so many changes to go over-

{LESSER PSYCHIC AXOLOTL EVOLUTION: FANGED AXOLOTL}

The Fanged Axolotl is a natural evolution of the Lesser Psychic Axolotl, retaining much of its former Psionic potential, but gaining increased combat effectiveness. Sharp fangs and stronger jaw muscle make for a dangerous predator. This variant has a large amount of evolutionary potential.

{NEW DIRECTIVE ASSIGNED: ENSLAVE NEARBY LESSER HUMANOIDS}

The Hivemind was overwhelming the poor Core. It took a moment to comprehend the information it had received.

It had passively completed the objective.

The Hivemind had given it a new blueprint.

The Mimic was an amorphous blob of the same whitish flesh, but had the ability to shift into a variety of forms, forming skeletons and even musculastructure. However, Mimics have issues hiding their alien behavior or skin. Very interesting.

The axolotl it had observed before had evolved while the Core was resting, likely participating in the slaughter of the surviving creatures. It was mostly the same, but its jaws were indeed stronger, and curved fangs glinted menacingly. It would probably be good to protect the physically weaker Psychic axolotls.

Finally, it had been given a new directive. Apparently, a group of ‘Lesser Humanoids’ was in the area. The Core didn’t know how to enslave them, but was eager for additional rewards. It was excited to grow its domain.