*
(It)
I've been lost in my thoughts for a while now. Perhaps it's the adjusting process. Having many memories and knowledge flow through you is a bit of a hassle. Even for me.
The thing that has been biting me for a while is the change in my disposition.
Is this the price that comes with high intelligence and ingenuity?
Straying from the path of seeking sustenance but fishing for new ways to plunder more than needed?
I've long passed the point were my sole intent is to only keep Hunger at bay.
Is this the reason why these humans constantly war against each other the more they know? Becoming cockier and more arrogant by the century. Brazenly declaring war against each other because they believe they have the bigger mettle?
It seems I have become the same. Or even worse.
This is what I feared. My simple life as a wandering energy body where the suns were the light and vast black everywhere was the darkness was....simpler.
Ah.
What then? Shall I stop and pretend that I haven't ended billions of lives in my pursuit of a pain-free life?
No.
I hold myself accountable for that. I always have. I have never justified my actions as right.
This is because even before I gained this intelligence, I knew. It was them or me.
Naturally, I choose myself.
I have objectives now.
To find my origins and to find a permanent solution for Hunger.
On the topic of Hunger, I made an unsettling discovery. When I gained knowledge of different things through the six Invigorated, I understood what Hunger was.
Yet I also didn't.
Hunger is a desire of the body to feed which manifests as a pain from the body. In the base cases at least.
When I learned of this, I thought I was one step from understanding how to solve it.
However, I was wrong.
Hunger in me is not a physical reaction of my body. He is something more. He speaks to me just as he did when I was a mindless and aimless creature roaming in space.
Nothing changed.
I'll need more information to work with. I need more humans to extract information from. Daniel can handle one part. He has already begun his own escapades, though he has his eyes on the mission.
I wondered how he was going to dispose of the body of the individual he just killed. It's too early to blow his cover.
I sat down in the dark, well-structured cavern. Its walls were smoother now, multiple rooms actually filling the entire cavern for Grace and her work mainly.
What lit the entire space were floating lights that danced in the darkness. They had different colours that illuminated the darkness and made it look like something more than just a bland, endless page. Less in my room though.
I was practising using my abilities for simple tasks.
I somehow missed traversing through space as I looked at those stars I once condemned as being evil, watching as I was tormented by the vast darkness.
I stood up and walked out of the room and into another gigantic room where many 'projects' were being facilitated by Grace.
The room itself was only one of many, with dark walls that reflected the light from the floating lights I made. There were different sections with tonnes of experiments occurring.
I couldn't be bothered to understand what she was doing. She took pleasure in her craft as she even danced lightly while humming.
"Finally done with your lonesome thoughts ?" she said without looking back. She was tinkering with a large humanoid that lay on a metallic platform. Its body was entirely black with a sheen that made it look like it was made of steel.
The number of materials she had managed to procure in the last four days was staggering. A few Stragglers could be seen helping to set up more of that equipment, with massive capsules where large and small bodies were standing still as if devoid of life.
"Indeed I have," I replied to her. "How is the progress? I need a large amount of life energy to sustain your experiments which use your enhanced innate ability for really long periods."
"Don't worry about that. Project Minute Assassin is almost ready," she said as she finally turned to me.
She wore a black coat and goggles just for the fun of it.
"You know, you should get on with cutting off your supply to the old model stragglers. We won't be needing them anymore. The Sentinels will be way more efficient," she said.
"I should probably do that. However, the Sentinels will probably sap even more of my energy. And why does it feel like we're negotiating funding instead?" I said with concern.
Grace laughed.
"That's why Project Minute Assassin is the best course of action. I guarantee that the energy received will help us with the supply we need for starting up the rest of the projects. You won't have to deal with Hunger too soon. Elite Invigorated will be targets too, and they provide tonnes more energy." she said reassuringly.
"Hmm. How effective are these new stragglers?" I asked, referring to her Project Minute Assassin.
(A/N: Minute as in small).
"Well. They are made to last for a few minutes. From here to the rest of the world, they should be able to reach their designated locations in at most 5 minutes. They disintegrate immediately after they draw all the life energy from a target and send it to you," replied Grace.
I contemplated.
This was pretty efficient. The humans wouldn't even know what hit them and would have no way to investigate. Unless they have a clairvoyant.
The idea of the amount of energy I could harvest at once was attractive and I was on board.
"I see. Will they be applicable for later raids though?" I asked.
"Not these ones. I have long-lasting ones in the making for later use. I have a lot of specimens that I need to get up and running after the Sentinels. I feel that all we have may not be enough after all. For more powerful stragglers to be born we will need more elite Invigorated," she said.
"No need to worry about that. The humans are planning to come here and investigate. The thing with my body attracted their attention. I had wished to hide from them for a while until my body stabilises but..." I said as my mind began to churn.
"That will be impossible. Unlike your former body which consisted only of unique energy, this one releases radiation that they can track down with their satellite," Grace explained.
"I see," I said. "Why don't we destroy it?"
"It's not really necessary at this moment. There'll be plenty of time for that," Grace said with a devilish smile that made me wonder how it truly felt to assimilate with a different body and create a new individual.
"Ah, right. I've been thinking," she said as she raised her finger in the air. "You should really get a name. I'm tired of calling you, you. I have become Grace. How about you give yourself a name to identify with?"
The thought of it was actually good. I had an identity now. Or rather I needed one since I would keep splitting my consciousness into different bodies in the future.
Scrolling through my memories, I tried to find something about myself that I both loved and hated. Something that I kept close to me.
I found it after a few seconds.
It was in one of the memories of a Greek Invigorated that I had extracted.
"The best name for me is not a complicated one. A simple colour will do. Though I prefer its ring in Greek. Nkri. Enkri for a better aesthetic," I said.
"What does it mean?" asked Grace.
"Grey."