After the Hive Progenitor sealed the memories Peter chose.

Peter's mind was in disarray. 

Moments after the darkness enveloped his vision, he became aware of the whole process and entered a state where he could see pitch black even when closing both of his eyes.

He slowly began to feel his heart beating and his lungs breathing in and out.

Gradually, he became aware of more sensations: temperature, touch, and the entirety of his body.

He felt the comfort of laying down on a soft mattress.

Slowly, he opened his eyelids and was surprised.

...

At the same time, this was happening, from the Hive Progenitor's perspective, darkness enveloped his vision, and Peter's body began to glow brightly, outshining the background until the darkness took over completely.

The Hive Progenitor experienced something vastly different from Peter.

At this time, he was no longer the Hive Progenitor; Peter had successfully taken over the body. The former Progenitor slowly regained his vision and was surprised.

Like how a normal human body works, the nervous system consists of both involuntary and voluntary functions. The voluntary system is controlled by conscious awareness, such as breathing, blinking, balance, and movement.

In this body inhabited by two consciousnesses, Peter, as the major consciousness, became the primary controller, while the former Progenitor managed involuntary functions, like the heart, glands, organs, and internal and external sensors.

The former Progenitor became the master of the body while Peter became the master of the mind.

The most interesting part was that the former Progenitor knew the health and condition of the entire body.

He could sense the opening and closing of blood vessel valves, the flow of nutrients and proteins, the status of the immune system, and the activity of immune cells in the lymph nodes.

It was a new and rich experience for the former Progenitor, and he was glad to have these abilities now that he was no longer the mind of the Hive.

Maintaining the life of the Hive Progenitor was more important and valuable than the drones' tasks in the hive.

'This endeavor is worth it and vital for the prosperity of the hive now that I have someone who could change my fate,' the former Progenitor thought.

...

He found himself lying inside a capsule fit for his size.

His body was positioned like a baby inside a mother's womb.

Seeing his hands in front of him, he was relieved to still have human hands. He had expected to be transformed into an insect-like creature, similar to a bee or an ant.

Deep down, he felt a sense of relief. It was like having another chance at life as a human being.

...

After appreciating his new body, he fixed his gaze on the transparent glass cover of his capsule.

When he touched it with his right hand, it slowly vanished from the point of contact, stopping at the sides and creating a hole large enough for his body to pass through.

After waiting for it to 'open', he raised his upper body and checked his surroundings, as he was expecting, he was surrounded by stone walls, like inside a cave, which he heard from the former Hive Progenitor when they were talking earlier, after checking he stood up.

When he moved his feet outside the capsule and touched the ground, he felt it warm and smooth, like a heated carpet. He was amazed by this. In Peter's life, he had always needed slippers around his house to avoid the cold floors.

The warm and smooth carpet, resembling sheep's wool, amazed him with its cleanliness and purity.

As he stepped out of the capsule, he observed his surroundings, illuminated by glowing yellowish lamps in three corners. The fourth corner had two lamps, with a pedestal and a door in the center.

Once more, he looked at his body, but the combination of darkness and the yellow light from the lamp made it difficult to confirm his skin color. However, he suspected it was likely white; the light was sufficient to see the form of his new body.

It resembled a human body, with no visible external changes, so he thought this body was very similar to a human body on Earth.

Other than that, there was nothing else, except only his capsule, and a black ball the size of a basketball lying half of its body flat on the ground beside it.

Peter approached it and saw a few blinking lights.

Admiring the lights, he suddenly heard a voice in his head.

It resembled a man's voice.

"That is the Nexus Node. I used it to store my knowledge base to survive after going outside my growth vat, and of course, for future use, but after you took over my body, it was erased, I also lost the connection to it since you are now the Hive Progenitor" said the former Progenitor in Peter's head.

Peter was surprised to hear the former Hive Progenitor which is now inside his head. What's more surprising was that the former Progenitor spoke with a single voice.

"Your voice," Peter said.

"I am no longer the Hive Progenitor and I lost that right when you succeeded me in this body. In the future, when you create drones, you should be able to speak as one, simultaneously and in unity," the former Progenitor said.

"Are you now a voice inside my head? Like the system in the movies?" Peter asked.

"I am more than a voice inside your head. Unlike a system, I am another consciousness inside your head. My functions may be limited compared to those powerful beings, but I assure you that I will provide my very best capabilities to assist you, Hive Progenitor.

I have been given a very important function: to ensure your life and health and give you the power to control your body in ways not previously possible, even for me and surely not for your body in our previous forms," the former Progenitor replied.

"Monitoring your heart, breathing, body nutrients, and conditions, and manipulating them, is just one of my capabilities as the one maintaining your health and body.

The systems you know may have vast knowledge compared to my current self, but I can fill that gap based on my current functions," the former Progenitor added.

"I agree, unlike those systems, you are more than enough," Peter replied.

"So.. umm... voice? What is your name? I feel troubled calling you that way" Peter asked.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have a name like yours. In the hive, we are identified based on our role or function. In my case, the Hive Progenitor," the former Progenitor said.

"I can't keep calling you 'former Hive Progenitor'; it sounds arrogant and cumbersome in my opinion that is. I think changing or shortening it would be better," Peter said.

"I don't know much about naming myself like yours. Since you came in that kind of a world, why don't you give me a name?" the former Progenitor said.

'Naming someone is not that easy, especially if the person might not like it' Peter thought.

'I think it is best to name him based on what he said, according to him he names things based on their role or functions... Rafael? No, he might say that that should be my name based on our situation... Aether? It refers to an ethereal being in another realm, an overseer... wait, how do I know what it means in detail? ... Is this one of a Progenitor's power?' Peter thought.

The former Progenitor did tell Peter when they first met, that he would have a perfect memory and would easily learn things fast when he became the Hive Progenitor.

After deciding and calming down. Peter said.

"Umm... Voice? How about Aether? It suits you entirely as someone on another realm and an observer or overseer" Peter reluctantly said.

"Aether..." the former Progenitor said. Then a few moments of silence followed.

"I like it. Aether, the observer and transcending other realms. It really suits me as someone inside your head, observing your actions, as well as keeping your body safe, it fits my name," Aether enthusiastically said.

"Aether it is," Peter added.

Peter was relieved after hearing Aether enthusiastically say he liked his name.

After giving the former Hive Progenitor a name, he also thought of giving himself a name.

He reasons that since it is a new life and a new beginning for him, he should start anew, leaving his previous life behind and giving this new life a new meaning.

'Goodbye Previous World! Hello New World' he thought enthusiastically.

As the two progenitors are enjoying their new selves. Peter spoke.

"Aether, starting today call me Lairay, you don't have to call me Hive Progenitor when it's just the two of us," Peter said.

"Understood Hive Progenitor Lairay," Aether acknowledged Lairay.

...

After talking about their names, they both decided to check the situation of the hive.

Aether informed Lairay about the pedestal in the center of the two lamps.

When approaching it Lairay carefully observed the top of the pedestal, he could see a few glowing green lights forming a shape with thin lines.

As he puts one of his hands near the top of it, it slowly brightens as the hand gets closer, upon touching it, the light grows brighter as fully as it can, but soon it starts to weaken as the door mechanism has been triggered.

The door split into two and opened sideways.

As the door was opening, Lairay could see that the door was thick and a wall of rocks piled together could be seen in front of the door, mid-way the door stopped. Aether said

"The power didn't last long. We are fortunate it was able to open the door just enough for us to go out"

Lairay was surprised when he heard Aether say that 'if the door weren't able to open widely enough, we could be stuck inside' he unbelievably agreed.

"What about the wall in front of the door? How are we gonna go out?" Lairay asked.

"You will have to push the centermost rock and the wall will crumble outward by itself," Aether replied.

The center rock was too high for Lairay to reach. So he decided to push his growth vat in front of the door and use it to reach the rock in the center.

Surely enough, he didn't exert much force on the rock and the wall fell outward.

This chamber room he was in was hidden by a wall of rocks.

'This must have been what Aether said, his special measures when hiding the last Hive Progenitor' Lairay thought.

After the rock wall fell, a hallway appeared. It was made out of rocks and no decorations at all. Even the ground was just a pile of rocks.

'The hive must have seen no need for decorations, this cave system just looks like a normal cave made out of rocks, and there isn't much light from the lamps, if I'd be playing a game this would be a dungeon' Lairay thought.

Lairay was horrified by the darkness, he couldn't help himself calling this cave haunted due to the lamp's weak light.

Lairay put his head forward while hiding his body, he looked to his right side first and saw nothing, after that he looked to his left and was shocked.

What appeared in front of him was a bunch of corpses, their bodies looked like they were defending the path further.

The corpses were a few distances away from the door; they were left out in plain sight, and the lamp's light was enough to distinguish the corpses.

The corpses no longer have the rotting smell. Instead, their bodies were perfectly preserved, and this pristine environment of the cave lacked the ecosystem to decompose the bodies.

'Even though the hive showed no appreciation for beauty, the Hive Mind, however, should have practiced a clean and organized environment for this to happen' Lairay concluded

As Lairay saw these bodies, Aether spoke.

"Those were the hive's drones, the current Hive Progenitor at the time used them to lure the enemies away from your chamber and avoid suspicion to the wall," Aether said.

After checking the hallway, Lairay decided to approach the closest corpse since there was currently no danger in the hallway.

As he approaches the corpse, he starts feeling uneasy and experiences a mix of sad emotions.

As someone who was a former human, his emotions remained intact.

Aether was expecting this scene, as a hive mind there are no other individuals in the hive other than the Hive Progenitor who have the consciousness, having the drones around him was enough to fill that hole.

The death of a single drone is a huge pain. But the death of more drones is greater than what words could describe. It was pure agony for the Hive Mind.

Aether only received a portion of the consciousness from the previous Hive Progenitor so he could not entirely comprehend this nightmare.

But for Lairay, as the current Hive Progenitor, and as a former Human, he could feel it.

Aether decided not to interrupt Lairay. Even for him, it was as well painful.

This was a shock for Lairay, he had never seen someone treated like this. All these corpses were in an awkward position, and yellow blood was scattered around their body, although the blood looked dry, if you touched it, it was still wet.

...