“In a display of extreme heroism, the twenty-six-year-old Jared Anderson risked his own life in an attempt to save the patients at the Super Care centre in Sector 37. This recording shows off this man’s heroic act, showing that the helper threw himself a wannabe thief moments away from mortally wounding one of the patients at the centre. On the scene we have-”

The Hivemind made the Kara vessel turn off the TV in the break room, seeing nothing positive that could be achieved with that constant noise. With how many so-called miracles had been delivered in the last weeks, there was little to gain from listening to the news channels. Anything important would be gleaned from the written material. For now, it had some much more important tasks to take care of.

With the recently increased budget, more money had been spent on the energy bars for the powered vessel. Yet through the power of heavily using regular foods instead, the Parasite had been able to take most of those bars for itself, rapidly increasing its [Ether] production. The Hivemind was not sure how much more it could truly take in yet it knew that the current rate would have massive ramifications later on. In the current moment, however, it had finally reached the next stepping stone. It had taken longer than anticipated, but it had been able to reach the next [Evolution].

Evolution has commenced. Upgrade [1] stat

Resolution

[X]

Regeneration

[X]

Analyzation

[X]

Focusing on [Resolution], the Hivemind was met with the new screen once more as well as the usual feeling of the Main-Host becoming near-fully disabled with little to no access to the limbs. Even the usual sensorial organs were disabled this time around, granting a near-perfect sphere of blackness.

[Resolution] has been chosen

Evolution will start. Time until completion: 59:59

The livers were the next organ to be replaced, it seemed. Much like what had happened with the lungs, the organ was slowly replaced with a mechanical variant. The actual composition was different than before and the weight turned into something less as well. It seemed to still function with the original purposes yet the Hivemind was utterly unable to figure out what it did more. The actual upgrades made seemed to be the same no matter what stat was increased, making their function a total mystery. What truly triggered the increased mind as well as something the Parasite hoped to get an answer for.

Whatever the reason, it was able to reach so many more vessels the moment the [Evolution] was done, the feeling of its mental space tripling hitting the Hivemind once again. If the upgrades continued to scale in such a way, it feared what it could get up to in just a few more tries.

Evolution complete

[Resolution] has been increased by [1]

Taking out the [Status Screen], the Hivemind checked over the changes.

Basic Information

Name

1310-HM

Species

Hivemind

Stats

Resolution

3

Regeneration

1

Analyzation

2

Resources

Integrity

100/100

Ether

160/160

Ether-Regeneration

0.02/min

Vessels

9

The idea that [Ether] merely increased by forty with every upgrade turned out to be wrong, the actual truth being that it doubled with every upgrade. That wasn’t something the Hivemind had any complaints about, the extra reserves allowing for more rapid fires of eggs. With the new increase in possible size, it knew that it needed every single one of them. If the tradition wasn’t broken, it was able to make another eighteen workers without any issue.

However…

Evolution

Current [Ether]

Required [Ether]

0

5000

The increase in [Ether] required to evolve had started to increase even more. No matter what upgrades were put into regeneration, the Hivemind feared that the time between upgrades would increase more and more. It was slowly becoming inevitable. It had to wonder if there was any material better than the energy bars. With the current [Ether] production from the materials, finding anything better would be challenging.

But such thoughts were for later. With everything ready to go, the production of eggs starting in that instant, the Hivemind was more than ready to begin filling out its ranks once more. There were no plans about filling it to the maximum again, however, the results of that ended with the Hivemind being forced to exterminate a vessel to make space for another. Even then, a certain Vigilante had reached the three-week mark in its coma. While the Parasite within the body was still clearly working to turn the body over, brain damage was stopping the full change at regular speeds. At the very least, the body was overall doing well.

That was no reason to forget the waste of resources required to attain the powered vessel, however. One or two slots were designated as permanently open to insure that no such occurrence would repeat itself. There was no desire to lose so many resources and potential working power

As the morning came around, the final steps for taking over the work began in full force. Letting the doctor vessel, that being a man by the name of Steven Singh, move out into the open, the first couple of new potential vessels were found.

“Olaf Eisenhower, Frederick Knutzen, Jonathan Williams, and Thomas Rodriguez. If you could please step forward and come with me,” the doctor vessel said, leading a small sample of the workforce through the area and over to the surgery room. “Each of you have written down in your contract that you allowed the implantation of temporary tracking devices in your lower neck at the trade of a bonus to your paycheck. Do any of you not agree to this anymore?”

None of the five workers raised their voices. The Hivemind was more than happy about that, the sample group showing splendid results.

“Excellent!” the Steven vessel proclaimed before pointing to a small assortment of chairs. “The bonuses should be delivered in your paychecks due in three weeks. For now, if four of you could sit down over there while waiting for your turn, I will need a… Jonathan Williams to join me in the surgery room.”

Just like that, the insertion of eggs became more efficient than ever. It took nothing more than a fast-acting local anaesthetic on the upper neck before the Hivemind was able to cut through the skin, insert the egg, and close it up again. The process itself took less than a minute, was relatively bloodless, and left nothing but a barely noticeable scar. Even then, hair would likely grow over it with enough time, granted that modern haircuts changed to accommodate for such a thing. The Hivemind couldn’t have the vessels looking unique, after all. Blending in was a must.

The other four vessels had the insertion as well without any issue, allowing the Hivemind to repeat it with another five vessels before it had to stop for the day. Ten new workers would be the dream but it couldn’t simply go after the workers with simple jobs inside the facility. It needed those with higher positions. Administrative duties, even.

“You asked to see me?” Joel, one of the other managers, asked as he sat down in the office chair, Kara meeting his question with a smile.

“Yes,” Kara confirmed, scratching at her neck for a moment. “I’ve come around to let you see a few documents a bit earlier than the other managers. I need to hear your thoughts about it.”

The man took the papers, squinting his eyes as he skimmed through the professionally written forgery. The Hivemind was more than sure that it would take an actual investigation to make sure that it wasn’t fake, nobody but the people in the actual letter being able to say whether it was true or not. And since a certain leader of the entire administration was currently on leave due to stress, there was nobody to call. Kara, together with the other managers, sat at the top of the chain.

“I should have guessed that we would have to start doing something like this soon,” Joel said as he handed the papers back to the woman. The Kara vessel briefly glanced at the small white egg that had been photographed with extreme precision. It was made to look artificial and it certainly triumphed in that area. “With so many disappearances, it’s more of an insurance policy for us. We need a sense of safety and this might allow us to bring along just that.”

“This isn’t meant to be public in the next half year,” Kara reminded the other manager, getting a roll of the eyes in response. “For now, we are only doing trial runs. Ulf got the papers back allowing it and we have already started with some of the workers.”

“But that isn’t enough,” Joel finished for the Hivemind before it needed to say it outright. “You need somebody on the higher levels to agree to it as well.”

“We don’t need just one. We need several,” Kara corrected. “I have personally already gotten the procedure done but we need about three more for now. I was hoping you could join in on the project.”