My Swarm Academia: Call Of The Void

That night, after bringing Ayako some donuts, Kai lay in his futon staring at the ceiling. He couldn't help thinking about the dream. It was strange. It was obvious to say it wasn't a simple dream, but the more he tried to explain it, the crazier things got. And the crazier things got, the scarier they got. He was almost scared to sleep, after thinking about it.

Did this have to be my line of thought before going to sleep? I must, but I'm not so sure I want to go to sleep now.

Ayako had much more ease of mind. She also was able to put herself to sleep easily. So, it was without much guilt that Kai got out of bed, put on some clothes, and ran to a nearby park. It was the only place big enough to get some answers.

Luckily, most people would be away. And he could stay out of the lights.

Once he found a suitable spot, Kai sat down cross-legged on the ground. He placed his hands on the ground and focused his Quirk. There were two presences that he wanted. The whole field in front of him rippled almost imperceptibly in the dark. Then two large creatures clawed their way out, stretching up six meters into the air. As the ground ceased to ripple, they bowed their sectioned bodies, arms across their c.h.e.s.ts.

"Greetings, my lord," they said in unison, with raspy voices.

"Hello Arachne, Minerva," Kai said with a bow.

"My lord, why must we do this greeting every time?" Arachne asked. "We are not Terrans, or from this… Japan. Why must we act like them?"

"Because," Kai said, "though I am one of you, I am also a Terran. Additionally, I intend to treat you with respect."

"We are but tools. It is but a waste of time. We serve the Swarm and will perfect it."

"You are almost religious about that. Actually, that is exactly what I want to ask about," Kai said, putting his hands together.

"You have but to ask, my lord." Minerva said, bowing and gesturing for him to speak.

"You see…" Kai explained his dreams. He even tried to share the images that he had seen with them.

"What does it mean?"

"Why does it have meaning?" Arachne asked. "The meaning you have taught of dreams says they are meaningless. If they bother my lord, we can eliminate the ability, if I may improve your essence."

"No, I would rather keep this ability. Besides, I don't know if it is a dream anymore. They are too vivid, and you know how this ability works. It has to do with the Swarm. What can you tell me?"

"My lord," Minerva said cautiously, "I'm afraid we cannot do much to help you. We are but a small piece of the Swarm. My sister and I control but one hive cl.u.s.ter. That is the our place as queens."

"You mean, that you queens are near the bottom of the food chain? Then who is at the top? It can't be me, I'm a universe away."

Kai knew that the zerg were from another universe, an alternate one. They had referred to humans as "terrans" after all. But humans, at least, the ones of this Earth, hadn't ever met aliens.

Well, this was in line with the Clan's abilities anyways.

"A Broodmother would lead us. However, decades ago, while exploring the outer reaches of space, we lost our Broodmother coming to our current planet, and we were forgotten by the Swarm. We would have remained mere beasts if you hadn't reached out and connected us. With you, we became Zerg again," Minerva said with a bow.

"You mean, that you weren't meant to lead, and so you don't remember the past of the Zerg?" Kai asked. "You have no idea who that woman was? Her voice was not like yours. She was more like me."

"I am sorry, my lord. We do not know. We did not have to remember for ourselves. Your memory of her is familiar to us, but it would be the memory of memories of our dead Broodmother, who could have inherited the memories herself," Arachne said apologetically.

"… Then there's nothing that can be done," Kai concluded. He had been hoping it was a memory. A memory of the Zerg's history. And maybe it still was. It would explain why they didn't react to him- as memories, he couldn't change anything. But he was able to walk around and see things that the Zerg hadn't. This chain of memory was too thin to be so vivid.

If it wasn't just a dream, or a memory, it was dangerous.

It might not even be his.

"If that is what my lord is worried about, then the answer is simple," Arachne said when the thought crossed his mind. "Wait for the source to reveal themselves, strike and take their essence."

"But what if we can't strike them? I'm not really there. Or what if they are stronger than us when we do find them?" Kai shook his head. Arachne had improved, but she was still rather simple-minded. The reason that he had both Arachne and Minerva was for them to improve each other's mental capacity, but they still tended towards blind aggression.

"Then we die until we are victorious," Arachne said, as if that was the obvious answer. Regardless of how clever the Swarm could be at times, their overall war tactics was to just overwhelm with numbers. "Either way, it is no longer a problem."

"You know," Kai said thoughtfully, "as dumb as that is, it's rather smart. You'll be with me if we can attack it?"

"Always, my lord," both queens said in unison.

"Good." Kai turned around so his back was to them and removed his shirt. "Then, let us begin. Focus on basic nerve enhancement for reaction speed, and see what we can do about my Quirk output. Let's reach the next level."

"Yes, my lord," Arachne said, reaching out with her claws. She was the true master essence spinner, while Minerva was both test subject and applier for changes for Arachne. Minerva was dismissed, disappearing into the ground.

That night was another "cursed night" for the city of Musutafu, as cries of pain rang out into the empty city. The denizens of the night fled to their shelters, finding ways to occupy themselves and cover up the sound of suffering. There was nothing more to be done. Though they had called the authorities on the last three, which were also the first, no hero or policeman had ever found anything. In the end, the most they had found was an unconscious teenage boy with strange hair lying in the middle of the park. But only once.

Well, cells and DNA getting rearranged wasn't a pretty process.