It must've been days at least since Selene had met with the resistance telepath.

  So far, the nightmarish dreamscape hadn't let up—it tormented her constantly with visions of her fears and insecurities. Though it wasn't so bad now that she understood it. It wasn't real, and it could only affect her as much as she let it. So long as she stayed in a certain area, it wouldn't change so rapidly.

  It often took going through a door to go from one dreamscape to another.

  That was one rule she had learned.

  And it never hurt her physically. Probably because she didn't really have a physical body to hurt. She felt the wind on her face, the rain on her skin, but it felt far less intense than it did in the real world.

  She did come across more visions of people she knew being infested.

  But again, it wasn't real. Just a possible reality that could come about if she didn't do what she needed to.

  As time passed, the idea gave her solace. And the resistance would capture her the moment she returned to Endelon 2, surely. Maybe they have already, it was hard to tell how much time passed here, and she never slept.

  Selene and Pipsqueak were currently patrolling some building in the original Endelon. A supermarket.

  A wide, expansive room with many isles that had groceries of all kinds on display. There was a freezer section along the wall, checkout counters, bins with fresh fruits or vegetables. And rows of florescent lights on the ceiling above. Their light muted and dim in a haunting way.

  "This sucks so hard, Pip." she complained.

  The little scantid chittered in affirmation before diving onto an isle with bags of chips. It came apart beneath his claws, and he came away with a bag of cheese puffs. He whipped it around, sending them spraying all over the isle.

  While he repeated this with different foodstuffs—Selene went behind the checkout counter and began pressing buttons on the register. But the monitor didn't change. It continued to emit a dull light with blurred letters on the screen that were indecipherable.

  A headache began to surface and she hesitated. Standing still in place. It was happening again. Like before, when she saw herself kill that man in some trailer.

  The pain built until her vision was overlaid with the bunk room inside the Sequester. She was talking to Raymond and Danny.

  As the events played out before her, she shuddered in horror. Selene clutched her chest and crumpled to her knees.

  She killed Danny.

  That wasn't just some nightmare in her dreamscape. That was a peak at reality.

  "Why?" she sobbed, "It would be nothing for you to leave them alone, please!" she begged from the tiny space behind the checkout counter. If the resistance hurried, maybe she could turn him into an aboleth and revive him. That was the frantic hope she clung to at the moment.

  Just then there was a shuffling behind her. An infested cashier shambled behind the counter. Their green apron torn in places by barbed sections of chitin on their body.

  Two extra yellow eyes had appeared on their forehead, their regular eyes were drifting off in different directions and prawn-like feelers replaced their lower face.

  "Paper or plastic?" it asked in an electric sounding insectoid voice.

  Pipsqueak noticed and quickly ran over before leaping over the counter—tackling the nightmarish apparition to the ground. There was the sound of tearing fabric.

  Selene ignored them, enraptured by her thoughts.

  The other version of herself was causing irreparable damage. There was no way this could go on. But she noticed something else from the vision her Zykra self had shown her. Her meeting with the resistance would happen finally, and they would capture her then.

  What better opportunity? They know how dangerous she is, thanks to Selene's advice to that dream-walker telepath they sent.

  She felt a strange satisfaction in that—that bitch would finally get what's coming to her.

  Pipsqueak walked from behind the next counter over and began nuzzling her side, Selene hugged him close, pulling a tiny bit of green fabric off his mandible.

  General Adler sat at the end of an oblong table about six meters long.

  The machine implants on the side of his scarred face beeped with a tiny green LED.

  The room was shadowed at the edges, with only the table illuminated with a vibrant white light. Smoke drifted across the room from two different commanders who were smoking.

  "So we put the bug bitch down. That's the easiest solution I'm seeing here." a gruff man said, his brown mullet was messy and his gnarly beard had bits of white in it. He was smoking a cigar and had his boots up on the table.

  "That's my niece you're talking about, Duncan." Preston warned.

  Duncan flicked his cigar, ashing it on the floor.

  "You barely know her. And besides, who here hasn't had to make sacrifices? You heard the telepath. Her bug side has gone wild. Putting her down is the right thing to do. It's like when your dog rabies."

  "Rabies is curable." Xaya muttered. The pale woman with dark black hair had her elbows on the table and was holding a few fingers to her brow in consternation.

  Duncan looked to her in surprise.

  "It is? Well shit. In any case, my point still stands."

  Stolen novel; please report.

  The 'telepath' still stood at the end of the room. The many daggers and other weapons he carried were gone, but he still wore his rough clothing.

  "I've seen her dreams, the girl is loyal. She never asked for any of this. She wants our help."

  Duncan raised his eyebrows at that; "Huh, never figured you to be the bleeding heart type."

  Preston stood up then, pushing his chair out away from the table. He looked at General Adler pleadingly.

  "General, I never asked for much." he looked around the room. "From any of you."

  "Oh here it comes." Duncan sighed.

  Preston ignored him; "And I'm calling in my favors. All of them. Together, we have the resources. My niece is superhuman, but not invincible. With the right implants, a unit can bring her down without killing her. With the right facilities, we can keep her contained until we figure out what's controlling her."

  A few of 15 or so commanders at the table began to confer. Making arguments that were in favor of capturing her or executing the threat.

  Xaya was looking at him with sympathy at they did; "You have my special taskforce." she said.

  He nodded in thanks towards her.

  A man who wore a wild afro of curly red hair spoke loudly over the rest. He wore glasses that made his eyes seem larger, his eyes had black sclera and red iris's. ; "The data we could gather during her capture could prove beneficial as well. From our own independent research and what we've scavenged from the Protectorate, these Zykra represent quite the opportunity."

  "More like a fucking apocalypse." Duncan said casually. "Ever since I heard about this Zykra shit I've been doing some research of my own. Fuckers multiply like roaches, chew through steel and can hop planets. I say we go full defcon on their asses."

  There were murmurs of agreement to his words.

  During all of this, General Adler listened patiently. Staring ahead with his hands folded in front of his face.

  "What do you think, Xaya?" he asked.

  Xaya leaned back and crossed her arms. She shrugged.

  "This is a huge development... Dreamcatcher says that Selene was taken over by her 'Zykra side', and we barely know what the Zykra even are. She told him about 'encephalons', and hive hierarchies, 'essence', territories, but there's zero precedent for any of this. We need more information. And I don't see how we get that without capturing her alive first. We question this 'Zykra' Selene and see what she knows. And go from there."

  Adler nodded slowly, then ran a hand through his hair, which was parted down the middle and combed to the sides.

  "I agree. But this is a distraction we can't afford."

  Preston glared at the general; "The cost of ignoring this is what we can't afford—Ron is already asking questions, and before long he's going to start using his abilities to get answers... This might push him back into the man he was before he settled down, and if we're talking about costs, well that's a pretty big fucking cost. The man wants to see his daughter again soon, and if he doesn't, he might go to the Protectorate out of spite. Then we're truly and utterly fucked."

  "Sounds like another loose end to me..." Duncan commented.

  Preston's gaze snapped to him then.

  "Say that again."

  He said with a dangerous calm.

  The tensions were rising quickly now. Adler let out a tired sigh before speaking again.

  "Calm down Commander Carrington. And I don't want to hear another word out of you for the rest of this meeting, Commander Tressel."

  Duncan raised his hands in a placating gesture. General Adler continued speaking.

  "I don't intend on ignoring this, we just can't allow it to distract us. We can't afford to dissolve our command structure over one woman. That's all. So I want you and Xaya to work together on this, Preston. You will have our full support, and I expect us to spend far more resources than we need to in order to ensure success."

  Preston relaxed visibly at that. "I'm relieved to hear it, General. And I agree. My niece is dangerous in her Zykra form, and who knows how many of those things she has. It might get hairy, but it's been awhile since my boys were able to flex their muscle."

  Adler nodded.

  "This 'Zykra' version of Selene has agreed to a meeting with us on Endelon 2—that colony we gave her. That is where our battle will likely be fought. So let's strategize. Then we'll move on to the other matters we have on the docket."

  The Sequester was parked idly in space, dwarfed by the caasiok next to it. They had begun to grow many of them using the biomass from multiple planets now. The growth of their brood was increasing incrementally. Which would be useful when they mounted their attack during on the resistance during their meeting.

  Dr. Bryant stood in the pilot's cabin of the Sequester. He looked around for a quiet moment, ensuring Selene was not around. Even though she was much more sensible now and not so weighed by moral trivialities, she would still not appreciate his shared loyalties.

  He closed his eyes in concentration.

  'Your majesty, the changes your evolutionist had made to the green Queen are growing in affect. She has begun to see her mission with more clarity. I thank you for your intervention, if not for your clever insight we would not of made such progress so rapidly.'

  The scientist waited for a moment for a response, when he heard none he continued.

  'The green queens brood grows rapidly now, and it will not be long before-'

  'Swish'

  The pilot cabins door hissed as it opened and Selene walked in. Blood had stained the white tanktop she wore.

  "Oh, did something happen my Queen?" he asked with mocked concern.

  She shook her head complacently as she strolled past him and plopped down into a wheeled chair near the holographic table between them.

  "Just messing around. Aboleth says that we're ready for the meeting, we should be able to take out a good chunk of their command structure, and maybe even assimilate a few of them. That'd be cool."

  "It would. And the infested have been performing adequately?"

  She shrugged.

  "Some are better than others. We need to refine the process enough so they can change back into their human forms, or it'll never convince Protectorate elites to come to ourside. They need to feel like themselves and have the benefits of the Zykra, like I used to." she waved it off; "We'll figure it out. Trial and error. What have you been up to?"

  Dr. Bryant went to the holographic table and swiped up from his tablet, casting it's screen onto the 3D projection. Lines of text began to scroll with the header that said; 'Priority targets for infestation', and beneath that it would say 'Intelligence network', 'law enforcement', 'command structure', with names below each of these.

  "Oh, you've been busy." Selene commented.

  "Yes your Majesty. I've prepared a list of suggested targets for once the infestation process is refined. These are figures of influence that may feel disenfranchised by the current regime. They will provide an adequate trial for future conversions."

  "Good-good. It would be nice to have some useful subjects. Has Ku'senai told you anything?"

  Dr. Bryant's breath hitched in surprise.

  Selene tilted her head at him; "Of course I know you're more her subject than mine. I'm not an idiot, even the old Selene has her suspicions. We were playing you as much as you thought you were playing us. It's all worked out for the best in the end. I don't care, but I expect transparency from now on doctor."

  "Of-of course your Majesty, I always had the best for the brood in mind!" He stammered nervously.

  Selene stretched in the chair then stood up.

  "I know. So, what does Ku'senai think of our progress?"

  Dr. Bryant wasn't sure, from a distance their connection wasn't so stable. And the 'visions' she communicated with him using were less intense.

  "She's likely delighted that you have taken to your true calling my Queen."

  Selene smirked; "I figured she might. You know, I've been thinking... About my ability, about where it came from, about these 'preserver' aliens and... I'd like to know more about them. So put a message through to her about that, would you? I'd like to meet with her and the other encephalons about it."

  The truth was the encephalons probably wouldn't see her as deserving of meeting with them yet. Not with their brood so small, and their goal not yet accomplished. To them—they were little more than an experiment as of yet.

  "I'm sure they would desire the same your Majesty." he said anyways. Ku'senai and her circle of encephalons may be willing to at least. And that would be enough for now.

  "Okay. Well, have fun organizing your little shadow government. I'll be interfacing with my brood in the captains quarters.... I wish we could just take over Endelon 2 already, but I guess we need to keep up appearances for now so that the resistance lowers it's guard... It's just so boring to wait."

  "Yes, well, at least you won't have to wait much longer my Queen." Dr. Bryant told her as she left.

  Their meeting was only days away now, and they would mount their first attack against the resistance.