Chapter 28

As Haledon walked, he felt the pressure of the tree gripping his body in a familiar sensation. It felt like he was falling through a canopy thick with leaves before his momentum shifted forward again, and he stepped into a dimly lit room.

The roots that dangled from the ceiling began to radiate the faintest glow from the thin fibrous hairs that grew from them. They hung like glistening icicles illuminating the sizeable earthen cavern. And as Haledon's eyes adjusted, he noticed that the room was divided into sections by two stone crescent islands.

The central platform, encircled by the stone, was a step above the rest of the room. Filling the space where the two islands met, a tree trunk blocked the path, making it impossible to easily reach the upper layer.

Haledon glanced back to the awestruck Gazeas before walking around the lower tear-drop-shaped section of the room. Running his hands over the dense, leafy foliage covering the bramble walls lining the space, he could feel the tight buds of new growth ready to release. Occasionally, his walk would stop, and he would take a moment to inspect the various support limbs emerging from the thicket at odd angles. He followed the branches as they reached across the room and rooted into the ceiling just above the second platform's stone.

"What is this place?" Gazeas asked as she approached Haledon.

"Something new..." He muttered.

"Correct," Birchbark answered, their voice detached from a body. "This is the Nucleus."

"What is the Nucleus?" He asked in reply.

A corner of the room began to twist and tangle as the form of Birchbark appeared. They crossed the space with awkward steps, their limbs rigid to their side and bobbing slightly with each footfall. Reaching the platform's edge, they placed a hand on the tree that blocked the path.

"Observe." They said and beckoned the Druids.

Haledon looked to Gazeas before being the first to approach. Reaching out, he touched the tree, feeling it tug at him. Without resisting, he stepped into it and emerged onto the central platform.

His vision was suddenly shrouded in dense fog. Everywhere he turned, the same haze would follow him, and it was only once he adjusted his eyes to look down his cheeks that he noticed that his SOIL was gone. It had been replaced with a thin vine suit that hung to his body like a second skin. Exploring the vines, he felt his limbs and discovered they covered every bit of his body except for his face. As he raised his hands and felt for his ears and nose, he found that a half-visor of translucent sap shielded his vision in dull white light.

Without moving his head, he glanced down with his eyes to inspect the platform's floor. The dark surface sparkled with bioluminescent points like a sea of stars, and Haledon immediately experienced a flush of vertigo.

"Birchbark, what is this?" He asked, reaching for something to steady himself.

"Approach the spring and place your hands into the nutrient fluid."

Carefully stepping forward, Haledon extended his hands out and reached for the stone island. His fingers gripped the cold rock as he quickly brought his feet to its edge. He looked down under his visor and examined the broad trough that contained a steady stream of viscous fluid.

Hesitantly, he dipped his fingers into it. The visor came alive as a rush of sights, scents, and sounds flooded his consciousness. He was everywhere at once, sensing everything. Ripping his hands out of the fluid, Haledon stumbled back against Gazeas.

"Ow, hey," She yelped, catching both him and herself against the opposite stone island. "I can't see. Why is everything all white?"

"What—what was that?" Haledon panicked.

"What was what?" Gazeas asked as she touched Haledon's suit. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, there—I was—"

"Everything," Birchbark informed. "You were everything within this Astralaceae for a moment."

"How?"

"Integration—please, try again. This time both."

Haledon shook his head to clear his thoughts before placing a hand on Gazeas' shoulder. Turning, he slipped his hands back into the fluid of the closest trough. He was again overwhelmed by a rush of senses and could feel the pulsing of the Astralaceae's nutrients through his veins. Haledon's eyes darted across the visor as colours fluctuated, transforming into particles and waves. A quick, sour flavour of nutrient imbalance in the fifth seed shocked his taste buds.

Like dipping a hand into the watering hole, a sudden coolness entered the back of Haledon's mind. He felt Gazeas, her heartbeat racing as she sank into the waters of sensory information for the first time. She disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.

Slipping his hands from the fluid, he could hear Gazeas panicking.

"Gazeas." He spoke, following the sound of her panicked breaths. Reaching her, he found a hand and gripped it. "Hey, are you okay?"

"That was—a lot."

"I know, but I could feel you the second time. I felt you integrate, and everything became easier to understand."

"Yes," Birchbark's disembodied voice answered again. "The more relationships, the easier it is to work."

"And what is this again?" Haledon asked the invisible figure.

He felt Birchbark's presence enter the back of his mind.

"It is the center of my nervous system. The influx of nutrients from the Megacolides has allowed me to accelerate the process I began two seedings ago."

Haledon felt Gazeas move away from him. He listened to her soft footfalls against the spongy floor as she approached the trough again. Even though he was not attached, he felt a tingle against his neck as Gazeas integrated with the Astralaceae.

Without hesitation, he returned to the stone and carefully placed his feet against it. Again dipping his hand into the fluid, he felt Gazeas beside him. His senses attempted to comprehend how he experienced her presence. He could visualize the sounds that quietly escaped with every movement of her body, touch the smells of her hair and face, and taste the chlorophyll in the foliage of her SOIL.

Haledon suddenly felt himself under scrutiny as Gazeas turned towards him.

"Hey." She snapped.

"I—uh, what—?" He replied.

"You have an essential nutrient imbalance. It's sour. Likely ascorbate. Consume oranges instead of blueberries for a while."

"I don't like you in this," Haledon remarked, catching a tangy smell of frustration from Gazeas. He quickly corrected, "I meant to say you're an even more efficient herbalist here."

"Uh-huh," She turned away with a smack of her lips. "Now, to check on everyone else."

Haledon also looked forward, his vision clouded again by fog. Breathing momentarily, he shifted his gaze to remind himself that he was still standing on the Astralaceae. He saw his hand within the fluid, observing its coolness and the needlepoint seeds within as they brushed against his fingers.

Haledon looked back up, and Birchbark stood before him in the fog. Curiosity overflowed him as he tried to sense their presence.

"That would not be wise."

"Why?"

"When you first entered, you sensed but a fraction of me. Beyond that, I am tied to my sisters and their ecosystems."

"So, too much for me."

"Correct."

"You mentioned the other Astralaceaes as your sisters—I've been assuming—is there—"

"I can sense your unease, and it is unwarranted. We are both, and all. You may refer to me as you see fit."

"Well, you are our mother tree—" Haledon smiled and nodded.

"Where do you wish to start?" Birchbark asked, moving on from the topic.

"Show me all lycanthropes on the Astra," Haledon ordered and then paused as he waited for his senses to be overwhelmed. A feeling that never came. "Please...? Oh, right, you may not know what lycanthropes are."

"I am aware, but there are no lycanthropes onboard. But I have detected multiple therianthropes."

"Wait, how do you know what lycanthropes are? I just learned what they were."

"How did you know Mek-Tek was a squirrel without ever seeing one? What rivers and oceans are? The cold of a glacier and the heat of a desert? I am not simply a seed for regrowing worlds—I am a repository of collective knowledge and genetic data. Lycanthropes were common folklore in the memories of the First Pioneers."

"So you carry their memories?"

"In a way. And when the Megacolides attached and began to share nutrients, I was genetically modified with two hundred generations of historical development. These are your therianthropes."

The fog around Haledon swirled and focused, and he could clearly see a dozen animal figures in the distance. He approached the collective quietly, his mind translating his steps and the form he embodied, taking action. As he neared the group, he noticed that each was toiling with something invisible, unaware they were being watched.

The closer he approached, the more he began to sense that they weren't animals but Druids. Their forms varied, from the elephant that Haledon had seen days after the first Earth Druid contact to crows and parrots he had never crossed before. Pigs, rats and a raccoon also worked quietly away at whatever they were doing in their separate corners of the ship. Nearing the last creature of the group, Haledon stopped in surprise. He saw a familiar squirrel running in place.

"Mek-Tek?" Haledon gasped. "You're a therianthrope?"

Haledon felt a chill in his core and pain in his stomach as Mek-Tek stopped to fiddle with his backpack. Reaching for his gut, Haledon watched as Mek-Tek withdrew his small orb and breathed deeply from the straw. The pungent odours wafted in its particulate form around him, and Haledon observed as the vapour immediately affected his body. The chill and pain Haledon had felt on behalf of the squirrel quickly left, and he watched as Mek-Tek continued running.

"He's an old Druid—" Haledon continued. "But I think we can sense Mek-Tek from Hilum to Nexus. I don't think he is the one we're looking for."

"Correct, this is not the void sense I mentioned," Birchbark replied, appearing beside him. "But these are the nearest genetic markers to your requested lycanthropes."

"Okay—" Haledon looked around at the active Druids. "So, therianthropes are...Druids who are reborn into animals."

"Correct."

"What—oh, sorry, I was talking to myself," Haledon said to Birchbark.

"I notice Druids do that."

"It's a way we audibly process things." He finished as his mind wandered to the Hypogeal Nexus.

The mist swirled around him, and he stood before the nutrient tree in an instant. He looked around wildly, seeing his companion watching him curiously. Adjusting his sight, Haledon looked down at his feet. Seeing them still firmly placed against the stone island, he felt a wave of vertigo as his body tried to process the disorientation. Knees beginning to buckle, he caught himself on the stone before falling.

"Gazeas." He spoke out.

"She is alright," Birchbark stated, touching Haledon's shoulder. "I am with her, as well. Some disorientation is expected. Your consciousness is currently dissociated from your body, which I assume must be unsettling."

"Okay—that makes sense, I guess," Haledon grumbled as he shook his head and stood up straight. "Birchbark, can you show me the void-being now?"

The room turned to a thick mist that again swirled around Haledon. It brought him to a corridor near the front of the Astralaceae. The single-level hallway was lush with young plant growth, releasing the sweet aroma that led him to believe this was the youngest accessible pod on the ship.

He watched as a group of Druids slowly made their way from the main corridor and down the lateral path. Reaching the same grassy screen on the left, they walked into a watering hole that had not yet grown terraces.

As they went, Haledon recognized each Druid that passed through the screen. Hannar, Purgat, Liluan, and Salru—all Layered Primevals of the Astralaceae Hilum. He was less familiar with the last two figures entering the watering hole, but he recognized the first. The Druid with rooted hair and a purple-flowered SOIL who joined Mesa and Hummingbird when they boarded the Astralaceae stepped effortlessly down the hall. They walked with graceful yet determined steps past the veil and were quickly followed by a less agile companion. The final Druid following was a Sequoia Squad member, their red armour standing out against the hall's fresh green foliage, steps loud and echoing off the walls.

Then Haledon felt it. The world became eerily quiet as the Sequoia Druid walked through the grass. Haledon was still in the hall that had once been full of various smells, sights and sounds from footfalls and nutrient flows, but now, they were muted. The flavours were the same but bland. The sounds reverberated but quietly.

Looking more closely, he felt a chill run down his spine—something pushing back, keeping him from looking too deep into the calm. But he pushed on, finding only more stillness. The hallway was reading as it should, nothing was wrong, but Haledon felt like it was missing something.

And just as suddenly as he had felt it, it was gone. The hallway seemed to brighten ever so slightly as the green of the leaves once more smelled crisp and fresh, and the sounds from the nutrient veins displayed a vibrant ambience that filled the hall.

"Was that the void?" Haledon asked as he watched the watering hole's grass veil become rigid, solidifying into a protective wall of thatch.

"Yes. Everything is there, but not the same. A wolf stalking in plain sight."

"I need to get to the front of the ship before that meeting's done."