Through no fault of their own, most people didn’t understand hiveminds. That lack of understanding made them afraid. Aveksen understood more than most, as he’d been part of four. Well, more like three and a half. His original hivemind in Unified Sector was one, then the one he’d next transferred to, and finally ascending into the Scarlet Alliance was pretty much just a different part of the sa overall organization. Then he ended up transferring to the western part of the Alliance.
Moving between hiveminds was more or less like moving between cities or planets. Relatively simply on the surface, and a much larger impact than many people realized. The actual chanics were simple- none of the hiveminds forced anyone to stay as part of them. Overall, they had been part of the sa system and were compatible for linking up with other minds that had been in the sa position.
But it was still different. A big change. There were a whole lot of customs and a different culture to get used to. Different resources that could be accessed, though learning how was actually far easier for a hivemind cultivator than a standard civilian. Just a simple thought and a number of helpful responses would co. They could even answer real questions, not simply what people thought they wanted or needed.
Aveksen wasn’t a confluence cultivator. He hadn’t co with a whole bunch of people or tied himself to a power structure that would raise him up. Nothing was wrong with those- assuming people were willing. In short, not how the Nurological Compact did things. His path simply didn’t match up with that. He was interested in growth of the system. When the Nurological Compact in the upper realms fell, he had gone to be a part of that whole network. It was mostly one network, with the greater populations of enslaved cultivators turning into a wider spanning hivemind.
Only a few sub groups had been missed, and they had plenty of opportunities to join. A few more had actually split off, interested in smaller communities. All of that was fine. It was a serious undertaking to swap hiveminds, just as much as it was joining one intentionally instead of being swept up in the original tides, but cultivators could make a lot of big decisions in their lives. Where to find their early education, whether to try to join a sect or a trade guild or pursue pure or mixed tech or anything else, all of those could result in similar magnitude choices.
That was why it was important for them to do it right. And thus, Aveksen was responsible for induction ceremonies. Not even close to the only one, but he was one of those with the most experience, having co from older hiveminds.
He tended to take on groups of a few thousand. The process took a few months for it to be done right. First, it started by educating people on what becoming part of the hivemind ant. What it didn’t an was preferential treatnt by the governnt. It was true that hivemind cultivators naturally gravitated towards businesses known about by their mbers- but not necessarily owned by their mbers. Knowledge was important, convenience of access, specializations, and everything else. Hiveminds just shared those things more easily.
That was why so mbers were assigned specifically to assess different aspects of their worlds. If the skills of one of their mbers were lacking, they could help them grow. If there was one outside that was superior in so way, they could learn from them. Not everything was taken to the extres- sotis people just followed their whims. So things were personal preference.
Explaining to outsiders what it was like to be in a hivemind was an impossible task, but one that Aveksen took up every day. Once people were educated as fully as they could be and had self-selected in or out, an actual induction could begin. That worked by Aveksen introducing himself and the others to each other- ntally. This took the form of massive arrays that connected people, reminiscent of what the Nurological Compact had once entrapped people with- though with no restraints. Instead, it was up to the individual to retain their position.
Forcefully breaking away would be uncomfortable for them, possibly even damaging. There was a reason there were many warnings about even beginning the process if they were uncertain. So people would not believe the hivemind would release them, even though it ca with practically no risks. With every batch, Aveksen observed a few individuals take ntal strain due to incompatibilities of so sort, usually personal issues.
For all who passed beyond that step, Aveksen would then introduce the group into the larger whole. For the most part, there weren’t any issues at that step. He could smooth the impact that the new group might feel, though he would already anticipate they could handle it.
In the last century, he’d only witnessed a few disasters. Nothing more than could be expected for a journey of cultivators, and indeed he might expect to witness more unfortunate happenings even among the general population. A few people found themselves incompatible and tried to force things. No individual could harm the hivemind, but many minds could harm one. If the stubborn fools were lucky, they would pass out. Dying was another possibility and still better than the third possibility- their minds turning to mush in a way not even the best ntal doctors could help them recover.
But again, only a handful of incidents total.
Until this last year where there had been three. The first one had seed pretty standard. A woman that was a little bit too eager to be part of sothing. Aveksen sensed that wasn’t really what she wanted and that had resulted in him pushing back on her. Yet she had kept trying, even when the rest of the cohort subconsciously pushed back.
The incident left three in a coma, including the woman herself. Without anything else, it would have been out of his mind already. He wouldn’t chastise himself for a failure on another’s part. Cultivators had to be resilient.
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The second was a man. There was instability there that he had seemingly overco, until the ti ca. He didn’t try to force his way through, even making a successful link, but Aveksen sensed it in the small group. The man tried to hide it.
Aveksen cut off the man and he just… stopped. His mind shut down, but not from any sort of force Aveksen had imparted. He simply died. No coma, no middle ground. An anomaly. It could have been an unfortunate accident.
If not for another woman. This ti, Aveksen almost didn’t notice. She really wanted it. Perhaps too much, but so people were obsessed. Being part of the hivemind absolutely wouldn’t fix all of a person’s problems… yet on the other hand it would provide an avenue for such things, if they were willing to put in the effort. The sa was true of the Alliance as a whole, but there was sothing comforting about constant ntal support.
It was only when introducing the incoming group to the wider hivemind that it happened. The calm flow of the woman’s mind- he couldn’t even rember her na anymore- suddenly transford. Aveksen reacted instantly. He had to. However, alone he couldn’t stop it. A horrifying feedback spread throughout the hivemind. Whatever it was had to be a targeted attack, and it was all Aveksen’s fault.
A horrific wave of mories- real or not was unclear- burst out into the community. Aveksen did everything he could, and what he actually accomplished was minimizing the number of people who actually died. But as previously considered, he wasn’t sure if that was better or not.
Over half of the population passed out all at once. It was only through instant responses of surrounding cultivators that further disasters were prevented, but loss of consciousness was the least of their concerns after the imdiate threats like potentially crashing ships or unstable generators were handled.
It was with no thanks to Aveksen himself that the disaster was mitigated. The hivemind cultivators as a whole withstood it, and those around them but not part of them saved the rest.
There was an investigation, of course. Once Aveksen was conscious, he bared his mories. However, he didn’t know anything. The woman herself was no longer anything. She certainly wasn’t part of the hivemind. mories of her were carved out- with a rusty blade. The only thing that survived were a number of recordings- physical things, not mories. Her cultivation thod… wasn’t familiar. Neither were the other two, and they weren’t the sa.
Even so, Aveksen was convinced they were connected. When his brain did anything.
Induction ceremonies had to be cancelled, leaving thousands and tens of thousands adrift, cut off from the hivemind they had been planning to join. The hivemind couldn’t risk it- and those who were joining would be the most at risk if there was another disaster.
The one thing that everyone was certain of was that it was not an accident. Instead, it was a targeted attack. Was it sponsored by so remnant of the Nurological Compact? Others in the Exalted Quadrant? The Trigold Cluster? They might want the Alliance to start a war with their eternal foes. Any possibility could be true, or multiple. Not likely all of them, as the Exalted Quadrant probably wouldn’t want to start a war against themselves. There were easier ways.
It was possible they wished to have plausible deniability, but most of their sects weren’t strong enough to face an actual war. Not against the Alliance’s Domination cultivators- unless the whole of the Exalted Quadrant was ready to act together.
Whatever the case, people had been used as weapons. Their minds and souls. Not every cultivator suffered the sa long term effects after the ntal shock. So of those who passed out were fine imdiately afterward- so who remained conscious had lingering effects. If it had been just a little bit worse, they might have created a chain reaction of death.
If the hivemind had died… it wouldn’t have been just then. No doubt their deaths would lead to chaos in those around them. They could have erased multiple systems, all at once.
Aveksen was ntally scarred and completely determined to track down whoever was responsible. He had no idea where to start, and he could barely even think even a month after the event. Yet he wouldn’t give up. Paranoia told him to hide his intentions from the hivemind. Logic told him that if there were any true threats already within the hivemind, they could have done worse. But he wasn’t certain. Besides, they might not be willing to sacrifice themselves as easily as others.
Considering his options, Aveksen needed to investigate sects that focused on the mind and soul. Possibly also reincarnation techniques, if they were sacrificing their own mbers. Alternatively, they might be brainwashing or programming others to unwittingly serve as their pawns. Would they need a Domination cultivator for sothing of the sort? Perhaps they had their own hivemind- if so, it was well kept secret.
Maybe he could join them. It was a crazy thought, probably brought about by lingering ntal damage. He wouldn’t really join them. Just do the sa thing to them they intended to do to his people. No, that wouldn’t quite work. He would need to be at least an Augntation cultivator to provide such horrific ntal anguish, and rely experiencing it wouldn’t let him replicate it. Being a strong Augntation cultivator would be better for that.
He had no intention to subject himself to torture or twist his own mind into knots. Nor did he really want to kill however many people that way. If he could do so rcifully and swiftly… that wouldn’t be so bad. The Alliance would approve.
It would also be extrely problematic if he screwed up his own mind and there wasn’t an enemy hivemind. Then his head would be broken, and he’d at most get one or two people as they tried to probe him for answers- which would be far less valuable than just revealing them to the Alliance.
Aveksen would hold off on any drastic asures. For the mont, he would dredge up as much of his own mories as he could. Small details about any of the candidates in those batches- not just the ones that were a problem. He would need to work with soone outside the hivemind. Soone trustworthy but incorruptible. He doubted he could get a Domination cultivator on board, and even if he did they might be too obvious. Still, he wouldn’t reject them if he had an opportunity to get their help.
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