Planting the seed?  How will that help?  Kyle wondered, considering whether or not he misunderstood the drone.

Understanding his meaning, C.H.A.D.D. clarified.  [I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT PLANTING THE SEED IN THE GROUND HERE, DR. MAYHEW.  I AM GOING TO PLANT IT IN YOU.]

Kyle was aghast at the thought, though for different reasons than he once would have been.  It’s too valuable.  You had so many plans for it, when the time came.  You can’t waste it here.

[DR. MAYHEW, WHILE IT CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO CREATE A SPACE WHERE THE PLANTS FROM EARTH COULD ALL BE RESTORED AND SPREAD BACK OUT, I WAS VERY CLEAR IN MY VISION.  WHEREVER I PLANTED THE SEED WOULD BE ‘HOME.’  AND TO ME, THAT IS WHEREVER YOU ARE.  MY DREAM IS TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS, AND USING THE WORLD TREE SEED HERE IS THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT.  I WANT TO DO THAT.]

Kyle was about to protest, but was halted by the wave of compassion and dedication coming from the drone.

C.H.A.D.D. continued before Kyle could center his thoughts.  [FURTHERMORE, DR. MAYHEW, USING THE WORLD TREE SEED GIVES YOU THE BEST OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUR C GRADE EVOLUTION.  I HAVE FELT YOUR MANA STEADILY INCREASING OVER THE PAST MONTHS, EVEN AS YOUR BODY HAS STRUGGLED.  I IMAGINE THAT EVOLVING TO C GRADE WHILE IN THIS STATE WOULD BE DETRIMENTAL.]

Kyle considered, then relented.  Though one phrase caught his attention, and his curiosity spiked.  “Months?”  How long has it been?

[IT HAS BEEN NINETEEN MONTHS, THREE DAYS, AND ELEVEN HOURS SINCE YOU WERE ATTACKED.  JUST OVER NINETEEN MONTHS AND ONE DAY SINCE THE FUNGAL COLONY, AND MOST OF THE PLANET’S SURFACE WAS WIPED OUT.]

Confusion turned to alarm.  What happened to the surface?

[IT IS CLASSIC PRACTICE FOR AN AWAKENED FUNGAL COLONY TO BE DESTROYED, AND IN SEVERAL CIRCUMSTANCES WHEN A GROUND ASSAULT WAS INSUFFICIENT, AN ORBITAL BOMBARDMENT WAS USED INSTEAD.  IN THIS CASE, THE ORBITAL ATTACK WAS OF SUFFICIENT STRENGTH TO ALSO SCOUR MOST OF THE PLANET’S SURFACE.  SEVERAL OF THE OTHER CENOTES NEARBY COLLAPSED, AND THE CHADDLINGS HAVE BEEN WORKING SINCE TO REEXPAND THE TUNNELS TO GET ENOUGH PREY FOR THE GLUTTON.]

It’s been so long, Kyle thought, images of Jarberry and Suierrillax coming to mind.  After so long, surely they didn’t expect that he’d survived.  His eyes inclined unbidden toward his left side, where his wrist would have been.  It was far from a perfect system, but the Collective Guilds used the nav bracelets as a tracker for their people when they went missing on jobs.  His would have gone missing when he lost his left arm, but amidst all the chaos, Kyle highly doubted they would have bothered sending a search party.

Kyle was brought out of his musings by a faint disturbance in the air behind him, courtesy of Synaptic Barbs.  His sense of the world around him grew fuzzy to his left, as if part of him had stared at the light too long then looked into a dark room.  It was still present, just indistinct compared to the sharp impressions he had elsewhere.  The shape in question this time was a large, flat bug, roughly a meter long.  It had long, whip-like tails and antennae, with a mana signature putting it in early E Grade.

His curiosity spiked, and he found Parasitic Resonance activating on its own, the body of the insect immediately falling limp to the ground as the Core of the Parasitic Devourer consumed its energy and life.  A chaddling walked up, grabbing the body of the creature and shuffling off toward another side of the cavern.

What’s going on there?  Kyle wondered.  Before C.H.A.D.D. could respond, however, he got a reply from none other than the Core of the Parasitic Devourer itself.

Hungry.  So close.  So very close.  Just a few more morsels, and then we will emerge.

Kyle wasn’t sure that he liked the word “emerge” being used in the context of his core, but a reassuring emotion from C.H.A.D.D. helped to calm him.  Ultimately, they’d been working together to keep him alive for over a year and a half.  Not to mention the fact that Kyle was planning on bringing the Core of the Parasitic Devourer to 100% in any event.  The core was his key to understanding the Progenitor that was attacked near Earth, and if he could talk to it again, he was confident in getting some answers.

What will the procedure look like?  Kyle asked, turning his attention back to C.H.A.D.D.

[AS SOON AS THE GLUTTON HAS CONSUMED ENOUGH TO BEGIN ITS MATURATION, THE PLAN IS TO BRING THE WORLD TREE SEED OUT OF THE BETWEEN, AND CONNECT IT TO YOU.  I WILL NEED TO ANCHOR IT TO YOU, AND BELIEVE THAT I HAVE A MECHANISM IN PLACE TO DO SO.  THE SEED WILL NEED TO TAKE ROOT IN BOTH YOUR PHYSICAL BODY AND MANA NETWORK, WHICH I EXPECT TO BE THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF THE PROCESS.  HOWEVER, I BELIEVE IT ALSO GIVES US THE HIGHEST PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS AND LONG-TERM SURVIVAL.]

Kyle sent affirmation, considering what was to come.  C.H.A.D.D. helpfully provided a projection of his body, showing the positioning of the seed right where his heart had been.  The process looked a lot more complex than the drone’s description, though looking through the research and hypotheticals C.H.A.D.D. created, Kyle couldn’t help but be impressed.

What can I do?  Kyle thought to the drone.

[MEDITATE AND PREPARE.  AS SOON AS THE GLUTTON COMPLETES THEIR PIECE, WE WILL BEGIN THE PROCEDURE.]

Kyle followed C.H.A.D.D.’s advice, focusing on his breathing and his Center.  A body that adapts as it’s needed; a soul that is immutable.  These words resonated within him, as he reflected on the silver-white light infusing one skill in particular: Adaptive Regeneration.  He understood on a fundamental level that he could put more into the skill now; infusing the concepts of Growth and Adaptation to push his skill to ever-greater heights.

And yet, he waited.  If experimenting now had unintended side effects, or created a delay before he could use it again, the entire plan could be put into jeopardy.  So, as the days wore on, he reflected, and he waited.  C.H.A.D.D. was kind enough to illuminate the interior of the cavern, even doing its best to replicate a day and night cycle to help Kyle with his rhythm.

As more of the silverfish were drawn to him, courtesy of C.H.A.D.D.’s pheromone manipulation, he watched the same scene repeat itself, day in and out.  The bodies of the slain insects were processed by a horde of chaddlings for fertilizer, which was then being used to nourish an entire planting of pogrits.  Those in turn were harvested and blended by other specialized chaddlings, who then fed the slurry into large gourds, where it was stored until C.H.A.D.D. needed it to feed Kyle.  C.H.A.D.D. really machined the process here, he mused, smiling weakly beneath his mask.

The routine continued until finally, just over a week later, the Core of the Parasitic Devourer consumed its final insect.  Immediately, Kyle felt the mana in his body shudder, and entering his Center, he watched the Core of the Parasitic Devourer tremble.  The crimson, pulsating sigils froze for a single moment.  Then, as one, they expanded, fierce light shining through each one.  The light faded, the core stabilized, only to shine even brighter as the core pulsed again and again.

The cycles repeated, accelerating, until the Core of the Parasitic Devourer seemed to unfold.  The sigils widened, opening to reveal nothing but a nexus of bright crimson energy, while at the same time his body began to feel as though it was on fire.  As he watched his Center, the crimson light began to radiate off of the swirling arms of his attributes, centered on the nodes from his Adaptive Anatomy upgrades.

The only thing that remained unchanged was the emblazoned symbol of the Survivalist, which now stood fast in a maelstrom of crimson power, as something began to materialize around it.  As it did, Kyle felt a presence in his center, and a shadowy form appeared; indistinct except for two crimson compound eyes.

In his mind, and through the bond formed by Pack Leader’s Instinct, he heard words clearly through his mind, the voice almost uncomfortably calm.  So, you are the one who has harbored me; who fed me.  A pleasure to finally meet you, though the circumstances could have been better.

I remember you mostly being a bundle of instincts and hunger, Kyle replied.  You seem awfully aware of everything that’s going on.  Kyle understood that there was room for a lot to change in the nearly two years since he’d been drifting in and out of consciousness, and the last thing he wanted was to take too much for granted.  After all, anything named “Parasitic Devourer” needed to be treated with a modicum of care.

Oh, don’t worry.  I’m not going to try and take over your body, or turn you into some world-ending calamity.  Although, to be fair, that would be quite amusing.  For starters, whatever you absorbed from that C Grade theropod has unfortunately put you very much in the driver’s seat.  Trying to usurp that would end badly for me.  Furthermore, any attempts at subterfuge would be quite easily seen through, given you can feel emotions from me, and vice versa.

At that, a wave of annoyance came through the bond from C.H.A.D.D.  [YOUR MANA IS STABILIZING, DR. MAYHEW.  GLUTTON, MAY I BEGIN THE PROCEDURE, OR DO YOU INTEND TO TALK ALL DAY?]

Give us a moment, the Core of the Parasitic Devourer admonished.  If this is going to work, he’ll need to understand what I can do.  You only have one chance to get this right, after all.

There was a moment of grudging acceptance from C.H.A.D.D., then the Core of the Parasitic Devourer continued.

You have experienced the power of the forebear.  Tell me, Kyle, what did you think of it?

Kyle’s mind immediately was drawn to the Progenitor, remembering the feeling of its energy pouring out from the crack in reality as it confronted Zierlan.  It was incredible, Kyle replied.  The power to destroy worlds.  Mana intense enough to change his very being.

With my emergence, we are a step closer to achieving that power.  You consumed the forebear’s essence before, back on your world, which allowed me to come into being.  To that end, you have claimed a small piece of its power, and made it your own.  You have already taken the first steps toward integrating it into your path.  Perhaps there was already compatibility, waiting to be realized.  Pray tell, Kyle, what do you think its nature is?

Kyle stopped for a moment, thinking about the question.  His first change had come long before his fight with the Fly, before he absorbed the first crimson gem.  No, his initial change to become an Arthro-Human Chimera happened after nearly nonstop use of Regeneration, bathed in the chaotic mana of the world, eating mutated beetles to survive.

He remembered the visions he’d seen from the Progenitor as he progressed along his path.  So many different creatures fighting for survival, making use of whatever they could to climb their way to success.  He thought about the changes he, too had undergone in his pursuit of survival.  And he remembered the concepts that he had truly begun to understand.

Growth and Adaptation, he replied, feeling a strong sense of approval from the shadowy form before him.

Exactly right.  The forebear’s power lies in adaptation, specialization, and endless growth.  I can feel how you have made use of these concepts; and wish to help you use them more.  We have already begun the path toward adapting our skill to the World Tree Seed your metallic companion plans to use.  I have personally tasted and attuned to it many times.  Now, as it takes root, our goal must be to dominate it; to prevent it from overwhelming us.

The seed is Growth incarnate, and the only path to survival involves matching it and bending it to your will, to your purpose.  When the time comes, allow me to make use of your connection skill, and I will help with the integration.  Follow my guidance, and we will both survive, and flourish.

As the specter spoke, Kyle felt the ambition behind its words; the hunger as it discussed the Progenitor.  It wanted to grow stronger, it wanted to ascend to that level, and Kyle fundamentally understood that he was its vehicle to achieving those goals.  At the same time, he felt the truth behind what the creature said.  It understood its power, and thinking about his own skills, he had to admit that it used Parasitic Resonance in better ways than Kyle had done on his own.

I agree, Kyle finally said, though he had one other order of business to address.  If we are going to be working together, you’ll need a name.  Calling you the Core of the Parasitic Devourer just seems… wrong.

The specter paused for a moment, confusion leaking through their bond.  Then, it smiled, satisfaction radiating from it as it spoke.  Call me Phaegos.