The Core: The Dark Enemy

32. Brushing death's hand

Tutor and George looked ragged as Nurse made her way through the swarm defensive layers of the shuttle and crept invisibly along the ceiling. The swarm had, as far as she was capable, perfected using Manifest and was ready for the next salvo from the General. For some reason, probably due to Kevin's earlier combative display and the subsequent tragedy, the General's cannons had been silent.

Tutor was finishing up arranging the delivery of the rescued Blidda to their fleeing ships, her actions uncharacteristically mechanical and distant.

Well, those Blidda that could be moved.

There were some, namely those rescued that were hooked up to the U'lennea's system, that would not survive any further movement. Even Nurse with her swarm couldn't disarm some of U'lennea's cellular self-destruct sequences that occurred when the subjects were disconnected from their feeds. The children, at least, were safe and were being cared for with great tenderness.

Nurse didn't bother to manifest, she simply moved along the ceiling to place herself in a corner. She didn't want to be seen or forced into a conversation about how she had failed.

She didn't want anything now.

Kevin's swarm was nothing like the Hive Mother's. She dominated her swarm with massive oversight and strict control, while Kevin shared himself freely with his swarm, giving each of them near autonomy with all of his memories and power. But probably because of how Kevin's mind was built, his swarm, for the most part, acted like one body, working together toward his common vision.

They all lacked the ability to act as a Monarch. His swarm was not given the directive to ever become more than what he had given them. They would never supersede him or morph into anything else but his vision of himself, his character, and his dreams. He had, in his way, designed his perfect vision of his swarm.

As every Monarch should.

Kevin hadn't done the same with Nurse. Sure, he had shared himself with her completely, yet when it came to commands, objectives, and independence, Kevin had been completely hands off with her, letting her choose what she wanted to be.

As a swarm Nurse, her initial desires had been to be the best healing drone possible. Yet as time went on, more of his emotions, physical needs, and their shared experiences had been absorbed by her need to serve him.

Now she had no Monarch to serve.

No best friend to be with.

No...

She was alone.

She could become something greater... yet...

Nurse watched as Tutor's hands shook as she adjusted the settings of each of the children's pods, optimizing them for transport. George kept looking off into the distance with a thousand mile stare. "Here goes the last of them." She said as the pods were moved quickly into their delivery craft home. Her gaze watched them go before she took note that George still seemed lost, looking in another direction.

"What?"

"Invicta is coming, and she's very angry," he muttered to Tutor as a resounding click echoed through the bay—the final piece of the Skii's intricate device snapping into place. Much of their work had involved constructing machines to build other machines, an endless cycle of assembly that led to even stranger creations. Only after reaching this advanced stage had they finally printed and assembled the enigmatic device now before them, each piece fitting perfectly like a puzzle.

To George's practiced eye, the device didn't appear to have any clear function. It featured a massive seat, cryptic displays, antennas, and a few buttons that looked as though they had grown into one another. The displays produced only gibberish, and the antennas seemed to lack any specific frequency they monitored. But when a Skii— the only one of their kind who could sense future events—settled like a toothpick into the seat and linked the device to the ship's hull, the machine powered up fully, finally coming to life.