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Vai’s light orange hand rapt gently on the door. A shuffling behind it lead to a small viewport opening.

“Who goes there?” The rough voice asked, a rumble deep with age.

“I’m Vai, from the clinic that Orren houses,” She bows deeply, unsure if she should mention her purpose for the visit, out in the open like this.

“Touch the door with your intent and we may let you in,” the gruff voice already backing away from the threshold.

She sighed, wondering if the surroundings would hear her request. No way around it. Her dainty hand brushed up against the door. It took some explaining, but the door opened. The elderly alpha knew everything she mentioned, and guided her to the locked room.

“Just a sample?” He asked, only waiting the most brief of pauses before opening the vault.

She nodded, “And more if we are successful. Thank you for keeping them safe all this time.”

The gruff, wolflike maw cracked into a smile, exposing ivory teeth, stained with black ink climbing up from the gumline.

“We may end up with Lichen soldiers, but if it saves their lives, I’d love to train a fresh new squadron…” His eyes glinted with the glory days.

She took her sample and politely bowed again, feeling like a mere spore in comparison to the vast divide of experience and service between them.

Her exit was as brief as her visit. Back at the clinic, nurses were distributed samples to craft poultices. After trying alpha poultices alone, it was approved to try both at once.

Alpha spores are quick acting. Both in their deployment during an alpha wave, but it seems like they nested within the humans quickly, as well. Left and right, the coughs died down. The most severe cases were quickly remedied with the new poultice.

“It’s very possible that alpha spores were all that those patients were waiting for,” Vai bowed her head in deep sincerity to Darmon, “We take full responsibility for the ones lost.”

Darmon nodded solemnly, “We take responsibility,” his voice uttering in agreement before he knew what he was saying. It was true. He could feel the honesty in the network. Perhaps it’s from being the first human connected, but also because he could feel his mote-brethren also mourning the loss of those who weren’t able to find a match in time.

“We want you to inspect the alpha matches. We don’t know what to look for in humans, but our alpha spores are more aggressive. They are dispersed during war,” She admitted to Darmon.

He looked pleased, yet again, to have his intellect engaged. Human trials in an emergency. It saved their life, but what were the effects?

“Take me to them,” he obliged, sitting up in his bed. He saw a faint trail of lights pulsing in the direction that Vai turned towards. Now that it’s been a few days, his eyes have adjusted. Or, his mote is helping him see.

They both followed Orren’s guidance. The patient laid on the bed, propped up by a few pillows and making small talk with the nurse. Darmon didn’t have to ask the network for either of their names. The woman was Yule, and the nurse was Maven. Yule was a scientist from his hometown. And Maven was the nurse who temporarily shared their thoughts while checking his vitals when Darmon was first admitted.

“Yule, how do you feel?” Darmon sat beside her. He honestly couldn’t tell if he was speaking his human tongue or if they were communicating in their new, hybrid way.

“Alive. And happy to hear a friendly voice,” She glanced in his direction.

“It’s still dark for you? That may actually return. We have seen improvements in vision as our mote integrates," Darmon said. He keeps slipping into this ‘we’ speech. Maybe he was trying to relate to her?

“Ironically, I know all of that. I can see myself through your eyes,” She puts a hand on his, and her thoughts become clear.

She has been very successful in using the network, even more so than Darmon. She meant it literally, whenever Darmon made contact with Orren: the walls, the doors. She could see through his eyes.

She hasn’t switched to speaking in terms of the community, so it’s still early on for her acceptance of her mote. Darmon feels a bit left out, like he hasn’t been that exploratory with the network.

Velvet chimed in, across the network, “Beta spores are typically more passive. We expected a personality difference for alpha spores. We just wanted to know the extent of the difference.”

Darmon could feel Vai agree. Well, he had a general idea of how Yule used to act. So why not have a conversation?

“Do you get any impulsive thoughts, or say any words before you think them?” He asked, reflecting on his own experience with a mote.

She shook her head, “not really. I am incredibly hungry, though.”

A wave of embarrassment passed through the room. Darmon was almost just as astonished, but then caught himself. That’s not astonishing; it’s been a few days since they arrived. How could he forget something so fundamental?

“Yeah, we should eat.” He agreed, and another emotional tremor shook the room. What was going on?

Maven smiled knowingly at Darmon, and mentioned that he would get both of them some food and privacy. The doctor asked him to report back on Yule’s personality after his visit, and hurried off to assist other new alpha mote patients.

Darmon felt Velvet’s sudden absence, like someone hanging up the phone. What an odd sensation.

He does have to hand it to Maven, who made quite the spread. The plate of food, to Darmon’s newly recovered vision, looked beyond appetizing. He sat it between them on the bed, then had Orren close the door on his way out.

“I wonder what that was all about. I suppose eating is a private experience?” Darmon wondered aloud, taking a small nibble of a new food. Yule shrugged, picking up an otherworldly vegetable and unceremoniously chomped on it. She was hungry, after all.

“I guess I never really got hungry in the past few days. So much was going on, I guess? But this is wonderful,” Darmon couldn’t imagine a sweeter treat. The nibble turned into a hearty gnash; the strange, tough fruit releasing the most pleasant aroma and flavor.

They chatted about the underground, Darmon telling her about his uncanny use of the communal plural in his speech patterns. Yule giggled, “I noticed. It’s really obvious. But rather charming. I don’t mind it.”

Darmon blushed. Orren seemed to also be giving them privacy; he couldn’t feel the network listening in. This was honestly his first time in a shielded pocket of quiet since he arrived. All it took was requesting dinner, interestingly enough.

From what he could tell, Yule was quite similar to how she was in the past. She always had high standards for herself; she was a motivated scientist. Her figuring out how to use the network wasn’t much of a concern for him. He was more surprised that he didn’t think of it himself. One thing stuck out to him though.

“Velvet told us that Betas are more passive. Could it be that beta spores have an easier time in a human with a similar personality?” Darmon mused, “this whole time we were talking about motes finding a compatible match, but for some reason my mind kept thinking about blood type or DNA.”

Yule nodded, adding on, “that seems straightforward to me. Alpha spores could just match with more assertive people. No offense,” she chuckled.

“No, you’re right. You’ve known me long enough. I’m a bottom for sure,” Darmon’s comment got a boisterous laugh out of Yule. She always did like the more crude jokes. Darmon was happy to see that she was flourishing in this environment.