The Core: The Dark Enemy

17. The treasures they hold

Believe it or not, Hunger was the second ability and being that I managed to connect with. I found the trigger after spending hours messing around with Loss's power. Loss's ability "Depletion" manifested a problematic effect when it was used too often before the surrounding matter of this dimension could regenerate.

To limit the amount of time I used up testing out how to get Focus or Willpower to work, I used my swarm version of my Prime Speed Control key to freeze the world around me. This allowed me to see just how fast I could force Loss's depletion aura into the surroundings and how often I could cause it to pulse, draining everything within its radius.

I quickly found the limit and a mountain of agony as my ability turned its ugly head against me when it couldn't find anything to consume. This agony turned my world into a living hell and caused me to understand what Hunger truly was. As the depletion aura cored me out, it left me feeling hollow and ravenous for anything and everything! This inspiration and suffering caused Hunger's ability to balloon into the pit that Loss left, creating an ability that felt like a ravenous stomach. Hunger it seemed, wasn't about consuming something, no, rather the ability caused something to expand exponentially. In this case, the depletion aura expanded, causing it to kill off the entire section of the tunnel around the relic, rather than just several hundred feet around it.

It was horrible. I had become death and everything around me was now a massive graveyard. Even the tree no longer held even a shred of life, having turned into a shriveled statue of a tree. Its bark was now porous and resembled sandstone, having repeatedly been depleted nearly to death several times before finally meeting its end.

"Kevin, what a joyous discovery. Loss said that you were trying to reach us." came a faint voice from beyond the boundaries of my mental space, making me realize that I had managed to connect with the neverending biomass that was known as Hunger.

"Hunger!" I said as I invited the odd being inside. Again, just like last time, what manifested in front of me was nothing like the form that Hunger had managed to grow into. Before me was a tiny set of spiky teeth barely jutting from a shallow bit of gelatin that resembled a wad of used chewing gum.

"Huh..." I said as I looked at the tiny being. "Your designers really didn't do you all any favors starting out, did they?"

"They gifted myself and eighty-seven of my fellow brethren with a tool of a body that they hoped would thrive. It was all for my benefit in the end. My fellow brothers nourished me and allowed me to mature enough to be the one implanted with the prized concept orb."

"You ate the other versions of yourself that the designers created?"

"Yes, there is only one orb to be gained per creature design."

"Ok... so... what was that about concept orbs?" I asked, no longer surprised at their true nature. If anything, the savage nature of the Hive Mother should have clued me into this dog-eat-dog world a long time ago.

"Each of us, when we grow large enough to be implanted and when all of our brethren have either died or been absorbed, become bearers of our concept. These orbs house the knowledge of an ability that is tailored to our designed bodies. We are intrinsically linked to it. My concept is "Expansion" and I achieve that through my cells and continually growing."

"You know your names all seem a little messed up, right? Loss and Hunger are backward to how I think they would work. Loss feasts where Hunger grows... hmm never mind," I commented, getting lost in thought.

"By the way, would the concept orbs happen to be this size and invisible?" I said, holding up my hand to shape my fingers into a golf ball-sized circle.