...

A few moments later, Aether interrupted and told Lairay to calm down.

As Lairay returned to himself.

He tried to inspect the corpse while trying to control his emotions.

The drones are wearing leather sandals and a black tunic at knee length, belted by another white garment, he also notices that they have a hairless long tail and sharp pointy ears.

Looking at the other drones all of them are wearing black tunics.

He touched his right ear with his right hand, surely enough he still had his human ears.

He then touched his back where the tail he saw should grow, but there was none.

Aether told Lairay that after his soul went into this body, the pointy ears turned round and the tail disappeared.

This was his first time seeing a drone that had no pointy ears and no tails.

Aether added that the disappearance of the tail does not have much of a disadvantage.

Aether then said that his ears were the real problem, although they are unique, his round ears have decreased his hearing, compared to having pointing ears which is helpful to avoid and locate predators effectively.

Lairay couldn't help but feel helpless.

"Do I have other unique features other than the ears and tail?" Lairay asked Aether.

For Aether, he didn't have the chance to tell Lairay earlier how much this body could do, even for him he doesn't understand much of this new body, since his focus was to get outside of the chamber and figure out the situation of the hive. He was so focused on some things that he was not able to deeply explore this whole new body.

Now that he had a chance.

...

After a brief moment of silence...

"After deeply exploring this body there are two surprising differences that set you apart from the previous Hive Progenitors," Aether said.

There is this organ that allows him to create and manipulate DNA, and a new gland on his hands allows him to excrete those... (Author's note: Please read the SGM Organ and CLG in the Auxiliary Chapter Part 1, it is very detailed and I can't put them here since they are long.)

Aether explained the two new abilities of Lairay in detail.

Lairay was amazed and full of energy. 

Imagine having this superpower.

Although Lairay won't be able to directly control his SGM Organ since he needs deep concentration and knowledge in genetics, Aether assures him that he will assist him and help him create and manipulate the DNA he desires. 

Despite being unable to control SGM, he can however control his CLG by will.

As Lairay wanted to do it, Aether advised him not to do it for now since he would require nutrients to produce the 'Blue Tear', which will make you hungry later, he really, really wanted to try it but he couldn't help it.

He understood Aether so he decided to try it after he found some food.

Besides, the situation they are in requires them to find out more about the hive.

...

Aether told Lairay not to head in the direction where he found the bodies of the corpses. He also added that the hallway leads to the deepest part of the hive and the increasing corpses of the drone would overwhelm him as they were protecting the Hive Progenitor as the last resort.

Lairay acknowledged he wanted to at least give the drones a proper burial but Aether proposed that he can do it later when they feel safe and secured.

Lairay headed in the opposite direction.

...

After walking for a few minutes, he can't help but feel cold as his body is naked and asks Aether where he can find clothes to wear.

Aether replied that most of the clothes of his size were in the nursery near the Hive Progenitor's nest.

He should also be able to get clothes on the way, but they were for adult drones and would be big for his size.

While walking cautiously and having to witness a few groups of corpses lying around, Lairay finally arrived near the center of the hive, with numerous chambers, the only thing he saw inside was broken nodes and their connections, broken furniture, and other unknown fragments as if a tornado had gone by inside the chambers.

When having to discover the barracks chamber of the hive.

Aether told Lairay that there should be clothes in the cabinets beside the beds.

Each bed has its own cabinet, and all of them were opened.

Lairay speculated that the enemy must have left no stone unturned.

When looking at the barracks carefully it was like a military barracks on Earth, everything is organized and neat.

When approaching the nearest cabinet it contained 5 tunics of the same color, a white garment, and at the bottom of the cabinet was a pair of leather sandals, he also saw a few purple garments. 

Lairay asked Aether and said that they were recently made before the enemies appeared.

The clothes size is too big for Lairay's 10-year-old body, so he opened the other cabinets, with each cabinet having varying sizes he could only find adult-size tunics and sandals, the same number and color as in each of the cabinets.

After searching the whole barracks and the nearby barracks chamber as well.

He had no choice but to wear the smallest of the sizes he could find and that one purple garment as his belt.

The tunic was enough to fit for it not to fall, the problem was it might trip him when he walked.

He had no choice but to keep one of his hands to raise the garment below, preventing him from tripping.

After walking for a few distance, he finally reached a destroyed door leading to the Hive Progenitor's nest. 

The door was half closed, the other part of it was destroyed.

Fragments of the door were scattered in the hallway outside the Hive Progenitors Nest.

Upon entering the chamber, Lairay was stunned, the chamber was huge, it was like a stadium.

Most of the space was occupied by nodes and supported by thick columns, but upon careful observation, it was a mess, liquids from the nexus nodes made pools of them, and other damaged nodes were found, all the nodes from small to largest encircles the center which was a raised round stage. 

Aether said, "The stage was where the Hive Progenitor would stand and get connected with the whole hive, particularly with the Nexus Nodes which would extend the Hive Progenitor's domain and dominion over the hive.

 Right now you can't do it. The nodes are broken and the connections throughout the hive seem to have been damaged by the enemies."

Lairay understood he walked around, avoiding the stage.

All of the nodes if not damaged, died, due to the connections having to be torn apart from other nodes, and perished from lack of nutrients.

Going around the stage, there was a huge door similar to the chamber he came from, but this was big.

The door was open.

At the door, there were a lot of corpses, both inside and outside of the chamber. They are the warrior drones holding back the last line, though they were heavily armored, it didn't stop their enemies' attacks. It was as if their enemies were able to discern how to cut and pierce their armor as if they were butter.

This is the door heading toward the exit of the cave where the enemy entered.

The Hive Progenitor retreated as deep as he could when the defense line outside the cave fell.

Most of the drones on the ground are equipped with swords, spears, and shields, they must have fought valiantly for their nest.

Only their bodies were found. No sign of the enemy, however, except for the yellow blood which supposedly originated from the drone's body, was the blood of another color, different from the drone's, this blood was blue and of the same color as each other, but no sign of the bodies where they apparently originated.

Lairay speculated that the enemy must have gathered their fallen comrades when they retreated.

Compared to the deepest of the hive's caves, where supposedly unarmed drones unfit to fight and a few warriors defending the last chambers where the Hive Progenitor and a few important drones should have escaped, this scene should not be compared there.

A few moments after observing, Aether directed Lairay to the door on the other side of the chambers where a new hallway should lead to the nursery of the hive.

Lairay was relieved that there were no young drones inside, they were empty.

"The Hive Progenitor took them with him when he retreated in case he was able to survive with the remaining drones," Aether said. 

Lairay didn't respond, for him, it was enough that there were no young drones left behind.

This hive collective* may be alien to him, but when knowing the ins and outs of this hive. He understood that they were also trying to live life, if not survive in this world.

They were like the human society on Earth but on another level.

After searching the ransacked chambers, Lairay was able to obtain fitting clothes and sandals, surprisingly and unbelievably, it is also black and the white garment used as a belt just added to it.

Lairay paused for a moment and couldn't help to complain internally in his head to Aether for having the same color of tunics in the hive, he accepted partially because they were cool but still, all black?

Aether reasoned, that the sheep that the hive farms to collect the wool from, were all black, and white sheep are rare in the land, the hive only recently tried to change the color, and the result was the purple garment Lairay is now wearing, which was produced either from plants, insects, and some sea creatures that live on the rocky areas and shallow waters. After that, the invaders came and the process of changing to other colors stopped.

Lairay understood and quietly cursed the invaders.

After wearing the tunic and the sandals, he changed his belt to white because it was small and fit his body perfectly, then he went back to the nest and went out the front door. Different from the two doors he came from.

"Beyond this door is a complex system, and hallways will lead to dead ends, this section of the hive is where the majority of our chambers are located, storage, blacksmith, refinery, kitchen, dining, and empty rooms where drones will rest when on standby, etc. I won't dismiss your thought that this is a maze, for someone to enter our hive uninvited they would be lost in the hallways and that is the hive's intention." Aether said.

Lairay then had a thought when he heard him about preventing someone from easily reaching the nest.

While walking toward the direction Aether told him to go for them to reach the exit. Lairay asked Aether.

"Aether, which species have the hive been able to make contact with? Have you met anyone that looks similar to me?" Lairay asked Aether in his head.

"Except for the animals the hive farms, hunts, and other wild animals, there has been no contact with anyone the hive could communicate with its level, or someone that looks similar to you," Aether replied.

"This land we are in is surrounded by water too salty to drink and other lands far away were seen from the top of the mountain in the west, no one except for the birds was seen entering this land and we never dared to cross the harsh waters.

I also speculate that this is the largest land we have seen so far." Aether added.

After navigating the numerous chambers, haunted hallways, the corpses of warrior drones, and the chaotic mess inside the hive. 

A chamber consisting of a few staircases was heading below. A light forming a shape from the form of the door can be seen from the top, entering from another room.

Both of the doors were forcefully destroyed and fell inward. 

Cracks and broken parts of the door can be seen from the top when they fall on the ground.

The beating and pressure the enemy used to open the doors made them collapse.

Only the arc which has allowed the light to enter remained and took its shape.

After Lairay reaches the bottom of the staircases, the source of the light can be seen coming from another broken door.

This time it should be the outside world.

As Lairay was walking toward the door, the dust could be seen floating around the light.

Drifting in and out as if playing with it.

Lairay didn't let them bother him and continued walking while focusing on the source of the light from another chamber.

As soon as Lairay is able to traverse the ark, from which the two mighty doors stood, he finally reaches the last chamber and the entrance to the hive, unlike the Progenitor's Nest, this chamber is also big and elongated inward.

Just after admiring the vastness of this chamber, he was unimpressed, compared to the Progenitor's Nest, this was a bit small, but the length, he admits, if there were paintings on the ceiling, he would think he is entering a museum.

When his eyes adjusted from the light coming outside.

He was aghast.

This chamber is full of bodies of warrior drones lying on the ground. Unlike the others inside, this showed a fierce fight of a group of people fighting a beast.

Traces of blood can be seen on the ground, walls, and even some on the ceiling.

Bodies were thrown around the chamber. Their armor was no different from the others inside the cave.

Still, there was no body belonging to their enemies.

But not all were in vain, traces of blood from the enemy can be seen as well, and the suffering was not one-sided. 

It can be said that the blood from their side was more, than the blood originating from the hive's side. 

Lairay was unable to move when he saw this scene.

Surprisingly, the drones' corpses' were also preserved despite being close to the exit. It seemed that the outside world did not dare enter this sacred place.

He is in a state of shock, his emotions which he had bottled up ever since he saw the corpses in front of his chamber, overflowed.

For him this was unbearable.

They may be of the previous Hive Progenitor's drones, but for him, he still felt that it was also his.

Despite this, he never cried, but his emotions made him unable to move, staring at the corpses around him.

He didn't know what to do in this situation.

Aether was not spared, this was his first time witnessing another being mourning someone else's death.

For Aether, this is also painful, for the entire lifespan of his consciousness, he was the only one to ever mourn his drones, feeling Lairay's state was his first time seeing it from this perspective, he understood what caused this, but was curious in the end.

Aether didn't completely feel what Lairay was feeling, except for knowing the pain was there in Lairay's head.

The portion of consciousness he received from the former Hive Progenitor was not enough, but enough to be able to hold himself.

...