Hive Mind Snippit (Patreon)

"So... you're Chul."  May as well state the obvious right off the bat.  Kaita received a nod from the closest.   "And you're  a hive mind," Kaita said as she curled up on the stone, watching the scaled creatures warily.  "Should I get used to you addressing yourself in the plural?"

"Why?" the closest answered as it idly slapped its tail in a pool.  "Do you address yourself as 'We?'  I'm Chul.  I find a nice short name is generally easiest enough to get by."

"And that's you," she pointed at another with a claw.  "And that's you.  And that's you?"  She fidgeted a little as each one she pointed to met her gaze and gave a little nod.  "That's so strange."

"And that's you," Chul replied, pointing its own killing claw at her leg.  "And that's you."  At her arm.  "And that's you."  It said as it pointed at her other foot.  "It's the same with me."

"Except my parts are all connected," she said with a frown, focusing on the closest one.  The others just turned away, seeing to the pens filled with worms.  Protein was protein, she supposed. "How is this possible?"

Chul crossed its arms.  "You're familiar with quantum entanglement?"  Kaita nodded.  "Oh good.  Then I won't need to use the word magic!"  It moved closer and sat across from her on a rusted pipe.  "I evolved on a very unpleasant world.  It's actually where I get my name, since I've always called myself 'me'."  It's tone grew more somber.  "My homeworld's a pretty unpleasant one.  Constant meteoric bombardment.  Two horribly radioactive suns.  Green seas with heavy metal ions.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I only developed technology because I wanted off it."

She couldn't empathize.  Tekil was a paradise, but she didn't want to be rude.

Chull continued.  "I was an apex predator on my home world.  When I reproduce, the first cluster of cells entrap quantumly severed atoms.  This allows those cells to communicate with each other when they're separated.  I give birth to twenty or thirty eggs of myself, all interconnected.  When I reproduce, many of those quantumly entangled cells can be reorganized, so I stay in contact with myself, even if parts are separated over several generations."

Kaita frowned, but understood the principle, a little.  It wasn't quite magic, but it was close.  The galaxy utilized the same phenomenon for interplanetary and interstellar communication.  "So you're... I mean... each body is connected to every other body?"

Chul laughed, and thankfully only the closest one did so.  If they'd all started laughing in unison, she probably would have taken her chances with the acid rain.  "Oh, no.  That would be wonderful, but no.  Each body only has a connection to maybe twenty or thirty others.  Those are connected to twenty or thirty others.  The networking isn't instantaneous.  No, communication between two bodies takes milliseconds, but it all adds up.  It might take weeks, months, or even centuries for really complex ideas to permeate through each and every body."

So it was more like networked computers.  "So there are twenty or thirty brains all thinking about this conversation?"

"Oh no.  This is a rare event.  I've devoted a million minds to make certain I do it right.  I seldom have pleasant conversations with others.  You must understand, it took me millions of years just to understand the concept of communication.  It was so natural to me that I never developed things like writing and words.  In fact, I didn't recognize others as people.  It was a profoundly disturbing experience to meet things with different thoughts from my own."

"You ate lots of people," she said and was relieved when Chul didn't laugh.

"Billions.  And billions.  And billions.  Please understand, I'm a carnivorous apex predator.  When my instincts act, they tend towards 'eat it'."  It sighed.  "It took me two centuries just to figure out other intelligence was possible.  Then you used noises and images to convey words.  It boggled my mind."  It shook its head slowly.  "I remember picking through your remains and just struggling to understand why they existed at all.  A book makes no sense if you have no words, no language.  Why compress plant fibers or synthetics together and cover it in specific pigmentation markings?  I went millenia just trying to figure it all out that you weren't like me.  You're individuals.  Every body unique."

"You do have a bad reputation," Kaita said with a little nod.

"And well earned.  When I think back on it now, all the individuals I killed..." it twitched its tail and let out another sigh.  "I don't blame them.  I still don't know how to make things right.  But you must understand, I didn't understand death.  I've existed for as long as I've been conscious.  I have memories going back twenty or thirty million years.  Granted, most of that was spent finding ways to eat things and survive on my world, but still, it was always me.  The idea of me ending... I never had it!  I knew other things could die, but I just... was.  So even when I found out others were intelligent, their lives didn't mean anything to me because, as long as I didn't eat all of them, they still existed."

"The difference between killing and murder."

"Exactly!  Exactly!" It said, clapping its hands together.  

Kaita frowned at the motions.  "You... you're trying to talk like we talk.  With the gestures and sighing and clapping?"

It paused.  "Am I doing it right?"

"Well, not for my species.  We use our ears and tails more.  But, I can appreciate that it must be difficult."

"Thank you," it slumped.  "I was afraid I was messing this up.  I need to try harder.  If I'm going to have any place in the galaxy, I need to communicate.  My survival depends on it."

She pursed her lips.  "I never thought what the purges were like to Chul.  I mean... no offense, but galactic civilization doesn't regard you as intelligent."

"I know.  I know." It repeated with a nod.  "I am.  Frightfully so.  But I need to learn.  I can't just eat all life in the galaxy.  I don't want to.  I want to understand things.  Like art.  I don't have art.  Everything that I've ever made was for a single purpose, and I knew exactly what it meant.  I spent a thousand years contemplating art, and I still don't understand it.  But I want to.  I need to."

"Why?" she couldn't help an ear smile.  "Wouldn't you be more interested in technology?"

It gave a dismissive little wave.  "Technology are things.  Things that assist in feeding me when I'm hungry and increasing my population.  No, it's ideas that I crave.  I've never had a disagreement before I encountered other intelligences.  No war.  I ate, I expanded, I ate more, and I expanded more.  I became better at eating and expanding, but I never had meaning before I encountered others.  Not just another, but millions upon millions of others!  Each one of you is as unique as an entirely new species!"  It paused.  "Of course, I wish I'd known that before spending thousands of years devouring other intelligences.  That would be good."

Kaita gave another ear smile.  "Well, if I ever get off Stannis and back home, I'll take to people I know.  Who knows, maybe we can get a fresh start?"

"You are a very optimistic intelligence." It said with another sigh.  "We've tried negotiations with the Ith, but unfortunately they refuse any diplomatic exchanges.  Since they always employ force whenever possible, I have to defend myself.  The loss of a few cells is inconsequential, but loosing billions can cause drastic changes in myself.  After all, my memories are distributed across bodies.  If enough is lost, I lose things.  Memories.  Ideas.  Concepts.  I love my concepts.  I don't want to lose them just because a misunderstanding."

Thousands of intelligent species devoured by the Chul... no, not the Chul.  Just Chul.  "Well, for what it's worth, I don't bear you ill will."

Chul just regarded her solemnly.  "It is worth a great deal.  I will commit your magnanimity to memory.  Ten million years from now, when times, I hope, are better, I will remember you."

Kaita just blinked.  "Oh."  she murmured.  "That's... nice of you."