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"How long before they hatch?" Betty asked lovingly as she watched the Hactery's symbiote limbs pick up the newly laid eggs and attach them to the chamber walls secured in place by a thick layer of creep that partially entombed them.
"I designed the first generation of every Hatchery to consist solely of drones so they should finish gestating within a week. While their primary function is to assist in nest construction and tend to the brood, they can still hunt for small game until the first generation of specialists reaches maturity," Harry replied as he watched the Hatchery produce another set of twelve eggs that were quickly fastened to the walls. It was a level of precision and efficiency one could only find in complex machinery.
But that had been Harry's goal from the very beginning, the Swarm would operate as an industrial complex, with each individual Swarm performing its specialized function with absolute dedication and peak efficiency.
"And just exactly how many specialists are there?" Betty asked as she walked over to the egg-laden walls and tenderly ran her fingers over their leathery shells.
"Eventually there will be an infinite number," Harry replied as his eyes gained a far-off look, "But currently there are five unique castes within the Swarm, Drones that act as a labor force, Guardians who will defend the hive from intruders, Hunters that secure biomass for the nest, Warriors that work to expand the influence of the Swarm and combat any sentient life who resist our expansion, and finally Broodmothers so far the only caste I've imbued with a higher level of intellect, they can directly command the other castes below them and even splinter off to create new nests."
Betty frowned as she looked over her shoulder, "Surely you don't truly mean an infinite number?"
Harry grinned despite Betty's doubt, "Only if the universe isn't infinite itself. Otherwise, the Swarm in its quest for endless expansion will have to adapt and evolve to an infinite number of scenarios, environments, biomes, and planets."
"And you're going to facilitate every single adaptation and evolution for the rest of time?" Betty asked with a raised eyebrow, "That doesn't seem like a very efficient solution."
"You're right it isn't," Harry agreed with a dip of his head, "That's why we need to establish a proper hive mind, the biological equivalent of a Quantum computer capable of processing trillions of individual streams of information from across countless galaxies and facilitating the correct reaction such as editing genetic information."
Betty shook her head as she tried to imagine the scale Harry had outlined, "Is such a thing even possible...and if so how would you even begin to go about creating such an entity."
"It is possible, and fortunately life has already given us a prototype we can scale and modify," Harry explained as he tapped his temple, "The brain is essentially a computer, able to sense, process, and store away information in the form of synaptic pathways that inform future decisions and thoughts. Creating a central brain that houses the collective information of Swarm will be difficult but not impossible, however, the truly difficult issue is connecting the minds of every single Swarmling, which requires an extremely powerful telepath to control and process that much mental energy."
"That's the second time I've heard you mention telepathy and mental energy, but I still have no idea what you're talking about," Betty complained with mock annoyance as she walked over to Harry.
"Telepaths are those who can manipulate mental or psionic energy the same way I can manipulate bioenergy. On the lower end of the spectrum, it allows them to read surface thoughts and communicate with others telepathically. On the high end, infinite possibilities: telekinesis, mind control, psionic constructs, clairvoyance, mind control the list goes on."
"So right we're on the low end of the spectrum?" Betty concluded.
"Yes, it's an attribute of Nyx's species, an attribute that we need to drastically improve upon and empower."
"Can't you just genetically amplify it?"
Harry smirked, "I tried, but it seems as if the source of Nyx's telepathic abilities is not genetic, and attempting to mess with its origin will draw the attention of forces we can not begin to contest with any time soon."
"So we're stuck then?"
"No, we simply need to find a telepath whose origin of power is genetically based," Harry clarified, "I've already identified a few noteworthy individuals, but there's no rush to move on them any time soon."
"So we just continue to hunt within the city until then?" Betty asked as her fingers started to trail across Harry's chest, "Surely there must be something more stimulating we can do with our time."
Harry stared into Betty's eyes and after a second an idea began to form, "Well there is one possibility, though I'm afraid it's not what you're suggesting...at least not directly."
Betty frowned, "What are you talking about?"
A wide grin spread across Harry's face as the more he thought about the idea, the more it grew on him, "How do you feel about charity work?"
---
"Hey girls, did ya miss me?"
MJ and Liz looked up just as Betty sat down at their lunch table. For a moment both were stunned into silence before they both exploded asking a slew of questions and cursing Betty out.
"Oh my god, where the hell have you been!?" Liz exclaimed as she leaned over and wrapped Betty in a death hug, "We thought you were dead or chained up in Harry's basement!"
"Alright, alright, she needs to breathe to talk," MJ chastised as she peeled Liz off of Betty who coughed once.
"Thanks, Red, and I'm fine Liz," Betty muttered, "As you can see I'm over my cold now."
"Cold my ass, I know you're hiding something. What really happened?" Liz scoffed still clearly upset.
Betty let out an exaggerated sigh, "Look I was recovery....just not from a cold...and not in my own bed."
"Hold on you're telling me that you spent the last two days, in Harry's bed," MJ asked with a raised eyebrow, "Just what exactly did he do to you?"
Betty smirked as she crossed her legs "I won't go into specifics but let's just say I needed lots of rest."
Liz rolled her eyes, "Stop exaggerating Betty, Harry was in a coma for three years you really expect us to believe that he put you in one for two days?"
Betty's smirk turned downright catty, "All I'm saying is that you missed out Liz, Harry's bank account isn't the only big thing about him."
"How big are we talking," MJ asked with sudden interest as she leaned in close.
Betty was about to respond when suddenly she looked around the table and frowned, "Wait...where's Gwen."
Liz let out an exhaustive sigh, "God don't get me started about her, she's ducking all of our calls and hasn't been in school all week."
"You guys think she relapsed?" MJ asked casually as she tossed a fry into her mouth.
"We never established she was on drugs in the first place," Liz countered making MJ roll her eyes, "What else could it possibly be? I mean it's been a year since Spiderwoman killed Peter, she should be over it or at least processing it better."
"Okay first of all Spiderwoman didn't kill Peter, she fought a massive lizard monster that happened to be Peter, and he died from their injuries. At most, it's manslaughter as a result of self-defense," Liz interjected, "Second of all, there's no way Gwen is on drugs, we would have seen much clearer signs."
MJ rolled her eyes, "We're just running around in circles, we don't know what's going on with Gwen and she clearly doesn't want or need our help."
"How can you say that? She's our friend MJ," Liz insisted looking personally offended.
The redhead looked away and her voice came out barely above a whisper, "Just trust me, Liz, people like her won't ask for help until they reach rock bottom. There's nothing you can do until then."