Chapter 110 - EVO

Chapter 110 - EVO

***Tirnanog, The Mycelium***

***Charmaine Pinault***

Larvie, larvie, larvie! Come here and get your larvas! Charm threw another handful of woodlarvas to her pets, making sure all of them would get some. In reality, she just wanted them to come closer to the security wall so she could have a look at them.

The yellow shroomheads were always more timid than the greyish, a little shrivelled ones. Probably because they were younger. If Charm didnt make sure they would get their fair share, there would be no woodlarvas left for the prettier shroomheads by the time the others were done. Then they wouldnt come closer to the wall for Charm to study.

She was a little sad that the violet shroomhead didnt make an appearance today. The violet one showed up only occasionally, but she was the prettiest of them all.

The girl leaned against the protective balustrade when she saw something violet peek out through the window of a ransacked and dilapidated house. When nothing showed up, Charm thought it must have been only her imagination, so she continued throwing her woodlarvas strategically so she could attract as many of the shroomheads as possible.Follow current novels on novelb((in).(com)

Long ago, the village had been much larger, but nowadays the lower levels were left to rot. There just werent enough settlers left to keep everything intact.

The adults thought Charm didnt understand the dire situation with her eleven years of age, but she understood well enough that the community was slowly dying. A year ago, there had been a boy of Charms age in the village, but he got eaten by the shroomheads.

Stupid Lesner had listened to their calls and promises despite the adults warnings.

Some of the shroomheads stayed intelligent for a while after they got infected and that was Lesners doom. When he climbed over the balustrade, they snatched him!

And no more Lesner.

Charm could still remember his cries and the adults trying to save him. But there was nothing to be done once he was all scratched up without the mutations to withstand the infection. And within a few days, he was one of the shroomheads.

Charmaine Pinault.

Charm stiffened when she heard her fathers voice behind her.

Slowly, she turned around and smiled at him, hoping he wouldnt be too mad.

His eyes narrowed as his stern gaze wandered to the woodlarvas in her hand. What have I told you about playing outside the villages inner ring?

Charm sighed and looked down at the ground. I am not supposed to leave the inner ring. Or the house, if possible.

And? he urged.

And no feeding the shroomheads, Charm added reluctantly.

And? Her father didnt let go of the matter.

She blinked innocently, hoping to persuade him with her innocence, but he had gotten wise to her persuasive skills some time ago. It had been possible to avoid punishment while he believed she wasnt capable of understanding what she was doing, but not anymore.

Father pointed at her hand. Where did you get the woodlarvas?

Do not climb the coraltree, Charm added dutifully another prohibition. There were so many dangerous and forbidden things to do in the village, sometimes Charm believed the only safe thing for her was to lie down in her bed till she was a grown-up like the other villagers. At least then, the adults wouldnt be able to command her around any longer.

Balthasar shook his head and looked at the sky as if he was the one in trouble. I think you already know what this means.

Charm tried her luck. One-week house arrest.

One for feeding the shroomheads. Her father nodded gravely. And another one for climbing onto the coraltree to collect woodlarvas.

Charmaine couldnt help herself and let out an indignant shriek at the unfairness of the world when her father grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the balustrade. How else was a single girl supposed to entertain herself with nothing but boring adults around in this boring village made up of boring things?

***Tirnanog, The Old Camp***

***Conla Leece***

So far, nobody had identified themselves to be in charge. Some men and women had announced themselves to belong to the organisation and that this was their operation. The few people I had questioned always said the leaders would come last.

I crossed my arms and gave the trio my best glare when the two men and one woman were pulled out of the pool.

Hopefully, they had a really good explanation for dumping this mess to my feet!

What was I supposed to do with...

I looked around, trying to come up with a quick guesstimation of how many people had arrived whether willingly or unwillingly. To my dismay, it was impossible to overlook the crowd.

But if I was right about this debacle lasting around half an hour with a person coming through the wormhole every two to three seconds, then I was looking at a number between 600 to 900 people. Maybe slightly more.

So, worst case scenario, I had now up to a thousand dependants without mutations on my hands!

One of the men, an older fellow with grey hair, bowed like some old-school gentleman while using a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. He somehow managed to make it appear dignified despite looking like a wet socket and the unfamiliar gravity warring with his body.

The trio looked well aged, but athletic for Earthers. No doubt, they had their fair share of medical treatments as far as these things went for the general population. Nonetheless, I was sure they would have faced retirement in a few years if they hadnt chosen to come here.

A starfish mutation would fix the problem of age soon enough.

I am Gunnar Elrod, Miss. I hope Magnus announced our arrival?

The gentleman looked around, scanning the crowd. I believe all of us are here, so there is no longer a need for the portal. Gunnar lifted a device he had held firmly in his hand so far.

It looked like a deadman switch and I stiffened at the sight.

Before I could stop him, he removed a cap with his thumb and pressed a button before throwing the device over his shoulder, it having fulfilled its purpose.

A second later, the wormhole above us closed and was gone.

Since nothing had happened, I abandoned my first thought of him being some sort of suicide bomber. What did you do?

Gunnar smiled. I just nuked the Tibet Gateway. For now, we dont have to worry about our enemies getting more assistance from Earth. At least on this continent. I think you would appreciate it if the three of us help to sort out the crowd behind you. Between storming the gateway facility and trying to minimize casualties, we kind of ended up shuffling our people, exiles, and gateway personnel together.

***Tirnanog, Jeng, The Ancient Grove***

***Loopsfast***

Loop was a very busy drake right now. He had to see to it that his brood always had the right temperature. He had to turn the eggs so they wouldnt lay too long on one side. He had to make sure the moisture was right and there was no mould. He had to do so many things.

He kind of wished his females would help with the caretaking. Where were they anyway?

Loop pondered the problem of his missing females for a moment before his thoughts returned to the eggs.

Counting them again, he made sure none of them was missing. One nest held four and the other five.

Although, the fifth egg from the larger clutch looked unhealthy and it didnt feel like it had the right weight.

Loop studied the egg sadly, remembering the hatching lore taught by his father. Sometimes, eggs just didnt come out right. Sometimes, they got infected with parasites. In any case, the bad egg had to be dealt with or a drake risked the loss of the entire brood.

The young father was conflicted about getting rid of an egg, but he had two broods anyway. More than any normal drake could hope for.

He was fairly certain the females wouldnt remember the number of eggs they had laid anyway, so Loop removed the bad egg from his nest and rolled it out of the nesting hangar until it fell off the humans flying colony.

It disappeared in the forest below and Loop stared after it for a moment, mourning the loss.

Then his thoughts returned to the other eggs. It was time to turn them! No, he had done that a moment ago! Temperature! Yes, he had to control the temperature!