They ca like molten rain; tears of fire torn into the blanket of space.
An alien invasion, trillions... no, quadrillions in number. Each of them represented by a fiery star in the sky, watching him, examining him in ways he could not fathom.
How he must’ve looked to these creatures; a mortal man sewn into the skin of one of their own. And now this mortal was to convince them to join his cause.
But could he?
"Oh sacred unity, vessels of collective order," the woman announced, facing the sky. "I present to you, the voice of the void. Your chosen whisperer."
And from that ca a tsunami of buzzing, shaking the fabric of reality.
Han’s mind was overwheld by their response, by the quadrillions of different ideas trying to implant themselves into his mind, attempting to manipulate his neurons so that they may invoke the thoughts they carried.
So were greetings, others re acknowledgents of his existence, but most of them were laughter... or so gesture that roughly translated to it at least.
’They think I’m a joke,’ he realised. These creatures were no better than the gods of myth, those from ancient history that found amusent in the lives of mortal n.
Han felt pathetic, but more than that, he felt angry.
’No. If they really thought I was a joke, they wouldn’t have chosen over Beelaques,’ he reassured himself. In parliant, there would always be those who didn’t believe, for now, he would just have to focus on those who did.
The woman bowed before taking a spot behind Han. "They await your voice, my Lord," she said.
Han straightened himself out, now more aware of the hexagonal crown that floated on his forehead. Proof that he could not converse with them without a crutch.
He pushed the thought aside and cleared his mind. "I greet you, Oh sacred unity," he announced.
And a resounding buzz ca back in response. A mixed bag of ssages, so greeting him once again, and others asking him to get on with it.
"I co before you to ask for counsel."
Han thought that the best way forward was by being direct, but from the silence that followed, and the coughing from the woman behind him, it seed he had made so sort of mistake.
"Lord Whisperer," the woman said to him, the ssage made private to only their minds. "The Whisperer does not ask anything of the Hive. He demands," she explained. "You are the key to ultimate survival, they agree or they do not. But you are not beg as the mortals do."
Han felt slightly embarrassed by that. ’Well, you could’ve ntioned that earlier,’ he wanted to say.
However, before he could converse with the stars once more, he noticed a great number of them had gone dim. ’So of them are already leaving, huh?’
What a fucking joke.
"It seems I have mispoken," he began. "I am still learning your— our ways," he added.
"I have co seeking counsel. If there are any that wish to serve the survival of the whole, co forward now." His tone now was fiery with the annoyance and anger that festered within him. He felt satisfied with that, feeling that it is how a lord ought to speak.
Another tsunami of buzzing rained down in response. This ti, he handled it slightly better, having been expecting it.
All of them sent the sa ssage. "What are the offerings?"
Han turned to the woman. "They’re asking for offerings. What offerings?"
The woman tilted her head. "Did you not co with any?" she asked, her ssage erratic and slightly panicked. "Beelaques had told your native species practised this. I did not think it would be a—"
Han held up a hand to stop her. ’Beelaques, of course.’
He scrolled through his system inventory, looking for sothing he might be able to offer. His eyes landed on the echo-dagger. It was currently his only weapon, but it would be a worthwhile trade if he could get a soldier in return.
He summoned it, presenting it to the Hive. "I have brought a weapon for offering. One imbued with magic," he announced.
The gallery of stars broke into muffled buzzing. It seed they were conversing with each other now, and not him.
One of the stars, closer and thus brighter than all the others, buzzed to him directly. "Offering a weapon to an audience of priests and rulers is bold, whisperer," it said; a hint of playfulness attached to the ssage.
Once the audience quieted down, another star buzzed to him directly. "We have conversed whisperer, and have co to a judgnt."
’A judgent? Already? I barely said anything.’
"We are not impressed with the current offering, and are not convinced that you are yet ready to hold a Hive of your own," the star said, its ssage a cold and concise one. Similar to how a president would speak in parliant.
Despite the rejection, Han’s mind was already picking at the ssage, trying to reverse engineer it so that he could speak in a similar fashion.
"As such, we have decided not to partake in this audience. We wish you well in your endeavours, whisperer, and look forward to all you will achieve."
This sounded strangely close to a university rejection letter. How odd it was for him to be thinking of Earth even at a ti like this.
With that, the stars began to rip out of the sky one after the other.
"Wait, all of you? Stop, you can’t just leave."
However, it seed his begging did nothing but hasten their retreat.
The woman walked to stand beside Han. "It was not a bad audience. You are still learning," she said.
Who would’ve thought that even god-beings were capable of pity.
"So what, when next can I hold an audience?"
The woman looked at him as if confused. "When next the Hive decides it is necessary. It may be a few hours, or perhaps a few millennia. Only the oracles know why they allowed you one so early."
She said that last bit with a sort of disdain. It seed even this woman, who had been so kind to him, did not believe he was ready.
And could he bla her? He had seen the images, the war those Guard Bees had brought to a planet. It was not a simple thing to entrust such a weapon to soone, more especially a mortal such as himself.
Dejected, Han began thinking back on all the mistakes he had made. But even now, with the power of hindsight, he knew that there were many he did not know off.
What he needed was for soone to teach him the proper way, for soone to explain what his role actually was.
This had been his chance... but ofcourse he blew it.
"Shall I sever the link?" She asked.
Han was about to agree, but then he noticed that a lone star still burned in the sky. It had been the sa one that buzzed him earlier, the one with a playful tone.
He held up his hand to stop her. "You there. Do you wish to join my council?" he asked.
There was silence for a mont.
"That depends whisperer. Will you insult with the offerings of a re dagger, or will you hear my request."
Han turned to the woman beside him, wanting to ask her how best to respond lest he ss this up again. However she was focused solely on the lone star.
"I will hear them," he replied.
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