_ _ _Carmen Pov_ _ _
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Knowing that they were about to get off track again I quickly interrupted them. <>
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(I will never get used to talking to her...) I shivered as a chill went up my spine.
As you can probably guess I had just been speaking to Ashley about the progress of everything going on over on their side of things, apparently it was going pretty well. Anyway, at the moment I was possessing one of my thralls while inspecting my newest little investment, more specifically I was looking at a group of native animals being somewhat cared for by a group of my more willing followers.
I had indoctrinated several dozen creatures from various species, after all I needed them for the future. As for the species themselves, well, there weren't that many over all mostly because of my limited indoctrination slots but I was able to gather several groups of the creatures I had been using as host up until this point.
As I continued to think to myself, someone eventually brought me out of my thoughts all of a sudden. "What is the matter, Miss Carmen?"
(Where the heck did she come from?) I was a little surprised that I hadn't managed to notice the cute brown skinned girl standing next to me before now to be honest
"Did I startle you? I'm sorry..." Mel, the adorable cutie she was, had a worried expression on her face when she asked that.
Honestly since she and the others had joined my hive mind they had gotten far better at sensing when I was possessing someone around them. In fact the knowledge that they could do this seemed to have put them at ease somewhat, after all not knowing when I was listening in on them could be rather anxiety inducing. Either way though, talking about those that had ended up joining me, well, all of the refugees had made up their mind at this point.
Some had left of course, they had all headed towards that still growing village close to the city mostly because of my recommendations. It took some time to transport those who could no longer walk however but that was fine, I just took a little more effort on my part.
As for those that stayed though, well, their numbers came to around a hundred and twenty people, one hundred and forty five if you also counted those that joined around the same time Mel had as well. Additionally, not only has Edward and Ophelia joined the hive but my little experiment has been working out relatively well all things considered, the people that joined me are still traumatized and scarred mentally but the support from the hive mind seems to be helping to some extent.
Anyway, back to the present events. "It's fine, it's fine." I chuckled before humming softly as I crouched down so that I was on eye level with her. "Do you need anything?"
"No, I was wondering why you were standing so still over here all by yourself."
"Awww, you were worried about me, how cute." The embarrassed look she gave me after I said that only amplified my point.
In all honesty things had been somewhat relaxing over these last three weeks, to the point that I even had time to help teach the kids some things about biology and stuff, of course I left that kind of thing to others most of the time. This unfortunately doesn't mean that I hadn't been encountering problems, for one the attacks from my "mother" and her hive had been increasing in frequency out of late.
Moving on from there, as for my little farm, well, I don't know if "farm" is the right word for it but whatever. Anyway, I had ended up putting Harper in charge of it all, mostly because she seemed to have some kind of background in both biology and animal behavior. Not the most perfect set of skills for the task but it was far better then most of the others I had working on it. Of course I had also placed several dozen xenos in the area as guards just in case, in fact I had also ordered two of my Pretorians to stick close by as well.
[Bored bored bored bored.] Goldy muttered in my head causing me to sigh in annoyance.
(Then just go and pester Jonas or whatever.)
[Nah, it's no fun anymore, he seems to have caught on that I was just fucking with him.] He complained before adding. [That hint that you gave him didn't help either.]
(You were trying to make a cult that worshiped me!) I hissed in frustration.
[It wasn't that bad anyway.] He mused with what I guessed was a shrug.
(They all thought that it was me doing it for fucks sake!) God, I really wanted to strangle him right now. (It took me a week to fully get Ophelia to believe me when I told her that I wasn't actually trying to turn the refugees into a fanatic group of lunatics.)
[Yeah...that was a fun week.]
(I hate you, I really do.)
[I know, I know, however that's what makes our dynamic so dang interesting.] He chuckled much to my growing irritation.
(Prick...)
Before this little argument could continue any further I was once again pulled from my thoughts by the worried voice of Mel. "Miss Carmen?"
"Huh...?" I stuttered as I came back to reality.
"Are you sure you're okay, Miss Carmen?" She asked and I had to quickly shake off the anger that was welling up inside of me.
"Yeah, sorry about that." I sighed with a small smile on my face.
And so I spent some time observing and talking to my new followers or whatever you wish to call them, honestly thralls didn't really feel right considering how much free will they still had compared to the others. Anyway, after a while of chatting with Mel I said my goodbyes and left to focus on other things.
[So, what now.)
(We wait until everything is ready for the final assault.) I muttered not really paying attention as I switched between various xenos that I had scattered over my territory like security cameras.
[Cool...want to play UNO?] That made me groan as a certain memory popped into my head.
(No, I refuse to play with you ever again after last time.) I hissed in annoyance.
[Like I said before, you have no evidence that I was cheating.]
(You ended up using fifteen Draw Fours in a row.)
[I don't see your point.] He hummed before quickly changing the subject. [Oh and by the way, is your little "dream team" still enjoying themselves on the front lines?]
(Please, just stop calling them that already.) I sighed with a shake of my head.
[Never!]
Anyway, Goldy was talking about my named Xenomorphs as well as the Yautja I had added to my hive recently. As for what they were all currently up to, well, Alpha, Beta and Gamma were currently off killing every hostile xeno that somehow managed to make it close to the city and in turn my hive. I had been sending Alpha out with both Beta and Gamma, Gamma being the newest and youngest predalien, mostly because someone had to keep them from running off to who knows where.
Honestly Predaliens were far more aggressive and independent then I originally expected, they are of course still loyal to me but their need to collect trophies is getting a little out of hand. In fact the two of them have begun stashing various skulls in what appears to be their nesting area, or at least the two places they've seemingly designated as theirs.
As for the Yautja, well, I had sent them off with two missions, first was to transport their ship closer to my area of influence. As for their second objective, they were to kill as many potential hosts close to where I believed my "mother's" nest to be, after all I needed to reduce her hive's growth speed if at all possible. Talking about that actually, I still hadn't pin pointed their exact location but from what I could tell they seem to be somewhere within a region west of the station crash site.
Anyway, I had also finally learnt all of the Yautjas names as well, something that took a bit considering the language barrier. Thankfully for my sanity however, the hive mind mitigated that fact allowing me to understand them with relative ease.
Starting from the top, there was Darook, their leader and the one with the hound like mask. Second was the Yautja who wore the smoother version of the original mask from the first movie, her name was Anow'ka, she was also the one who had tried to kill me in that little four way battle we all had. Third is Ootora, the one who got picked up by my Scavengers and who has the draconic looking mask. Fourth would be Enu, she was the one with the mask that resembled a mix between a bird and a snake or whatever. And finally Dengwei, the apparent brother of Darook and the one that was wearing a mask that resemble something akin to a Japanese samurai. Also the name of the guy that I had ended up using to make Gamma was apparently call Ta'kanar.
Overall I was a little unnerved about talking to them, so for now I've been restraining myself from doing just that. In the end I am rather curious about their species and technology, in fact the biologist and researcher in me is rather excited at the idea of talking to another sentient species. Unfortunately, I have been avoiding it mostly because I feel uncomfortable around them. I don't particularly know why I feel this way but instead of finding out the reason I've been continually putting it off. Very mentally healthy of me, I know.
(They're doing the things I ordered them to.) I answered with a slight shrug.
[Great explanation.]
(Oh shut up you whiny bitch.)
[Good insult, however I'm not one to care about the words of the mentally insane.] Goldy chuckled much to my irritation.
(Can we just move on please?) I sighed while rubbing the smooth part of my head in frustration.
[Fine, if you want to keep ignoring your growing list of emotional bullshit go ahead, just don't blame me when you go feral.]
(First off, it's all your fault for dragging me into this mess to begin with, so yes, I will be blaming you if anything happens to me.) I muttered, causing him to gasp to himself sarcastically. (Second, what the fuck do you mean "go feral"?)
[I could tell you what I mean by that, I really could, however you hurt my feelings just now, so I won't.]
(God...you really are a petty bastard, aren't you?)
[You're damn right I am.] He chuckled while showing just how "hurt" his feelings were. [By the way, how is your little secret project coming along?]
(Oh that...) I mused knowing that there was no winning with this dickhead. (Take a look for yourself.) I hummed while switching my vision over to a dark isolated chamber.
Inside was what appeared to be a Praetorian cocooned up against the back wall in a large amount of hive resin. [Ooooooo~ it seems that it is coming along rather nicely.]
(Indeed.) I hummed in response. (And once it's finished I'll finally be able to put an end to this fucking Trial.)