What was [Ether]? That was a question that the Hivemind had wondered about for nearly a few months now, unable to truly decipher the peculiarities behind that strange name. The [System] was about as helpful as one could have guessed, the basic exploration of the word disappearing once the Hivemind left the [Status Screen]. It had no clue about how it worked, what it was meant to do in the long run, and how it was meant to optimise the extraction of it through what the Main-Host consumed.

It had originally thought the [Ether] to be somewhat straightly related to the joules in the food that was consumed. It helped base the idea of pure sugar being a great assisting material, the chemical bonds in the food quick to be dissolved with the Main-Host’s internal systems. However, that theory was blown away the moment that the so-called Energy Bars came into play.

Carrying the name of ‘Hyperspeed Energy Bars,’ the small cubes of various materials gave more [Ether] than sugar could hope to do in an hour. The two products were on different levels of quality, the new product allowing the Main-Host to create [Ether] at a rate never seen before. What the bars were made of remained a complete mystery to the Hivemind, however, the packaging not including the normally-required dietary information. According to the site, it was assumed that all powered persons had been tested to see if they could process the bar and knew if they needed to consume it or not. Having asked Eric, the new hire, about it, the man knew next to nothing.

But that mattered little. As expected, the man with Super Strength had been hired without issue, the Kara vessel easily able to convince the other managers of the potential of having another powered person in the company. The Biomancer was used as a prime example of what could be achieved under the right conditions, the Hivemind making sure to increase the efficiency of the aforementioned super during the initial evaluations. It was all pure theatre, however, the Parasite knowing fully it would get its way in due time. There were too many pawns who endorsed the hire, the other forty or so hires bringing in the sweet news of pure efficiency.

While there were initial issues with bringing all new hires up to speed in their respective working environments, the Hivemind was happy to see that a crime-free working atmosphere helped make the people learn at extreme speeds, any lost revenue from time lost being regained with bonuses. The workers were happy and they would be even happier once the Hivemind had control over every one of them.

And with those hires, the previously mentioned ‘Hyperspeed Energy Bars’ became possible to buy through government sites. The actual supply was rather limited due to their current environment only having one worker who required it on a lower scale. That mattered little to the Hivemind, though, buying out all the bars it could acquire in the next month under the pretence of setting up a testing phase. It had the idea of minimising the number of bars that the powered person would need, letting the Parasite keep the rest.

It was the perfect deal, all in all. In only a week, the regeneration of Ether that should have taken a month was finalised, even with the setbacks of creating new vessels. The Hivemind consumed a large part of the available supply of the bars, however, making the current process quite hard to repeat since more would be needed next time around. It was a setback for the future that would need to be considered yet the current moment was incredible as the [Ether] had been gained at record speed.

Evolution

Current [Ether]

Required [Ether]

3004.7

3000

Giving it a minute more, the [System] notified the Hivemind of what it had been waiting for.

Evolution has commenced. Upgrade [1] stat

Resolution

[X]

Regeneration

[X]

Analyzation

[X]

Now, previous plans had already been made where [Resolution] would be chosen. It was the obvious answer, the Hivemind knowing that it would need the capacity for more vessels in the future. And with the plans to take over the entire farm so it had every person under its control, there were certainly some parts that needed to be dealt with. Yet… the other parts of the system were still shrouded in darkness. Some elements had a promise that could make the Parasite prosper yet it wasn’t sure what those parts were. With the new resource at hand, it did not doubt that it would soon be able to upgrade the stats once more. So why not take a chance and upgrade to something else?

Putting a focus on [Analyzation], the Hivemind felt the Main-Host relax once more. Its controls were out of the Parasite’s hands. It had already planned for such to happen, of course, relaxing as the Main-Host hit nothing but soft pillows as it fell onto the sofa it was already on. Nothing was close by to possibly damage it, allowing for an easy [Evolution] without external danger.

That is until a person tried to enter the apartment that the Main-Host stayed inside. The knocking on the front door could be heard loud and clear. While the Hivemind couldn’t move the body, the regular senses still worked fine.

“Tom!” the voice of Olivia could be heard saying. How strange. “You put in a sick day but you forgot to properly fill out the form! I need you to do that so we don’t have to give you a strike for missing a work day.”

What? Putting its focus through the memory of the Main-Host, checking through every notation that had been done while filling out the form, the Hivemind felt the need to act aggressively as it noticed its mistakes. It had filled out the questionnaire improperly, missing questions 3, 7, and 13. It was a minor mistake but one it knew the machines wouldn’t accept, forcing a person from administration to handle it. That would normally mean sending a request digitally but that had been turned off in preparation for the [Evolution].

“If you don’t open the door, I’ll have to open it myself, you know,” Olivia said through the mechanical door. That wasn’t good. The Hivemind had no way to stop the process since it had already started. Looking within, parts of the right lung had already been dissolved and were being worked on while the left lung took up most of the workload. Even if the Hivemind figured out how to discontinue the operation, it knew it wouldn’t make it to the door without serious issues.

Letting the woman come inside was a direct ‘no’ as well, though. If Olivia was to see the Main-Host in a state strongly resembling that of a coma, there was no telling how the human would react. No focus was to be made on the Main-Host under any circumstances. It would take one forced trip to the hospital before the truth was revealed. At that point, the connection to the other vessels would likely be lost as well due to the sheer distance.

Taking a glance at all other vessels in the area, the Biomancer and Arthur were the obvious choices. The two vessels gained during the fight with the drug lord were too far away, and the Kara and doctor vessels were preoccupied with other tasks that couldn’t be avoided without extreme suspicion. The new powered vessel and the security guard were still being turned as well, making it impossible to use them without extreme consequences.

As the Hivemind heard Olivia fidgeting with a key that wouldn’t go into the door, the Arthur vessel arrived on the scene with the Biomancer still a minute or two away.

“Good morning to you, Olivia,” Arthur said with a friendly smile. “I think you might have mistaken Tom’s apartment for your own.”

“Oh, good morning, Arthur,” Olivia said, taking the eye away from the keyhole and letting them have a few extra seconds to work with. For how long would the vessels need to distract the woman before the [Evolution] was complete? “And, no, I know this is Tom’s apartment. It’s the entire reason I’m here, to begin with.”

[Analyzation] has been chosen

Evolution will start. Time until completion: 1:58:37

… Right. Alternative methods had to be chosen.