There was a strange bnce to be had at Aveksen’s level of power. Was he really capable of properly bncing his own capabilities against the risks he took? Was it right to put a hundred individuals at risk for the sake of capturing one enemy?

    Could he justify emnot/em doing it? That would mean the stagnation of the hivemind. Of course, someone else emmight/em be inclined to solve the problem on their own, just like he was attempting. He couldn’t bet on that, however. There was a lot of fear among the hivemind, fear that should not exist. Fear of emeach other/em, even though it should have been the opposite.

    They should have beenfortable and secure in their unity. That was what Aveksen hated the most, and why he had to act. Regardless of whatever doubts he had, he was alreadymitted to a particr direction. He refused to waste the good will of Bear Hug… and also the efforts of a Domination cultivator. He had too much respect for Velvet, and she’d been fulfilling her part of things.

    She’d actually managed to get copies of various stages of the technique training. Aveksen was more confident that he had a method to counter it- though the actual counter might take care of itself. He did have to spend some time training emdifferent/em techniques- illusory techniques- with Velvet herself. Otherwise, he couldn’t fool the hivemind.

    He moved forward with trepidation. He finally had a small group advancing to the final step where they would be connected to the greater hivemind. That was where the greatest risks came in. However, he still had support. Not of everyone, but a few individuals who trusted him- and shouldn’t that be enough?

    The group was gathered into aplex arrangement around Aveksen. They only had a fraction of the normal numbers, so there was a vast quantity of extra space around them. However, physical presence was unimportant. Instead, he needed mental connection.

    The process only took a few moments. The hivemind was ready and willing to ept more- it had been done countless times over their existence. Counting expertise from the lower realms, they had many centuries.

    A sweeping feeling of wee. Aveksen felt so appreciated. Even if emhe/em wasn’t the one being weed, countless voices were joined together at once. He tensed and… nothing happened. No assault. Hadn’t there been an enemy among them? No, how could that be. He wouldn’t have gone forward with it. The previous disaster didn’t happen again. Others had been sessfully recruiting small groups for some time.

    Aveksen was at peace. Then, three monthster, he introduced a second group to the greater hivemind. He relished the weing, the sharing of knowledge, the unity that he hadn’t felt enough of as ofte. It was a greatfort.

    His tension faded as once again there was no issue. Those days should be behind them.

    Then the attack came. One month after the second group, it happened all at once, while he was asleep. He felt it all too suddenly, an injection of chaos and death. That led directly to recalling the memories of prior disaster, ships veering off course as their pilots fell unconscious. Hand slipping in vital surgery- the kinds that couldn''t be left to automation. Fighters stumbling in friendly spars, only to find themselves or their foes injured as energy went wild.

    Aveksen clutched his chest as he tried to fight back. He felt the echoes off of the vast hivemind. This time was going to be much worse. His n had failed. He was a fool. How had he not noticed the infiltrations? Wasn’t there…

    Aveksen was stabbed directly in the spine. Except, the de didn’t touch him. It merely shed all around his head… and the fog cleared. Two hundred individuals in two groups. The feedback wasn’t even the tiniest fraction of what happened with the greater hivemind. He sprang into action, disying his technique to the ny-nine while the remaining one was rapidly overwhelmed- while at the same time finding themself underwhelmed about their actual technique.

    “You got it?” Velvet asked. “Need me to take anyone out?”

    Aveksen shook his head. Now that his self imposed illusions were dispersed, he was operating at full capacity once more. With the infiltrators not finding the results they expected, they were bbergasted. Taking out two cultivators was emsimple/em. They were captured in mere moments, as members of the small hiveminds converged on them… and then rejected them from the hivemind as their physical forms were overwhelmed.

    The moment of confusion faded as quickly as Aveksen’s own. Those who remained were all aware of his plot, as he revealed it to them. Their doubts were quickly dispersed. Some were upset, with legitimate force behind their grievances, but Aveksen epted their smoldering anger.

    They would forgive him. It was hard to argue with results. They had eagerly sought out the hivemind, and though they were dyed a few months it wouldn’t affect their greater cycle of life. Besides, they would bepensated appropriately for the deception.

    Velvet had known all along which were the traitors. Even Aveksen was informed, which was why he had self imposed illusions that made him forget. It was a risk, he understood, but the risks emhad/em been understood before they began. The reason they actually let the attack happened was simple- they needed to know that it could be countered, and to confirm some of their suspicions.

    The feedback was vaguely logarithmic. In a group of one hundred, their fears and doubts struck out at each other causing true unpleasantness… but not to the point it would incapacitate people or kill them. Not even close. Ten thousand would be several times as powerful. A hundred million would be several times more. Ten quadrillion- the sorts of numbers that required numerous dense systems- another factor still. Thus it was that the actual effect was multiple orders of magnitude lesser.

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    The two captured individuals- along with a number of others who had been carefully removed from the joining before that step but still taken into custody- still shared no prominent factors, except perhaps having practiced a particr technique. However, they were emalive/em this time, not having been crushed by the feedback of their own techniques. That meant they could be interrogated.

    That wasn’t Aveksen’s job. Nor was he responsible for previous background probes- not that he would have been sessful enough to find the threads they needed even if he put in all his effort.

    He got to rx while Velvet did most of the work. The only exception was that Bear Hug spoke to some of them as well. Positive interactions sometimes produced results.

    “Most of them don’t want to be friends,” Bear Hugined. “I mean, I know they tried to kill a bunch of people and stuff. But Briar tried to eat me, so it’s not that different. They’re pretty stubborn. I don’t think I can break down their will fast enough. Though there is this one woman here.”

    “Her testimony aligns with others who were less cooperative,” Velvetmented.

    The woman inclined her head. “Greetings, sir. I am Edith.”

    “I am aware,” Aveksen reminded her. “I don’t forget the names of those I watch over unless the memory is burned from my mind.” Edith had been one of those that was removed prior topletion of the joining. Velvet had gotten the impression that she was misled- perhaps more than others, or perhaps she was just better at realizing it. “You may still call me Aveksen, if you are true with your intentions.”

    “Very well, Aveksen,” she said. “I was promised… power beyond my imagining. It should have tipped me off that something was wrong. I… thought I was better than that.”

    “I think she was!” Bear Hugmented.

    Velvet nodded. “I am inclined to agree, actually. She was under some measure of mental influence. I have removed any emactive/em effects, but any long-term effects on her memory aren’t something I can just cut away.”

    “I’m sorry I can’t tell you much,” Edithmented. “I… I don’t remember who told me. I barely remember where I came from, or who I was before this. I think… the Trigold Cluster?”

    “Not the Exalted Quadrant?” Aveksen asked. “I was inclined to believe it was a local conflict. And your cultivation method…”

    She shook her head. “This isn’t it. I was offered a new one, along with techniques. I-” she grimaced. “I can’t remember, precisely.” She looked over at Velvet. “Are you certain you can’t do anything?”

    “emI/em can’t,” Velvet said. “We might be able to do something for you, though.” She was quite capable of cutting away active effects with her voidsteel dagger, but brain damage or mental blocks not maintained by energy were a different question. The Scarlet Alliance emdid/em have research into such areas. Nothing was ever perfect- sometimes things were just emgone/em- but they had sufficient capabilities to have emsome/em results. “As long as you promise to share what you recall, we will give you the best treatments we have.”

    Normally, they wouldn’t have given such effort even to a converted foe. However, the information she might hold was extremely important to the Alliance. Arge section of territory was at risk. Aveksen’s sess was key, however. There emwere/em cultivators that could absolutely be trusted among the hivemind. The vast majority would be trustworthy even, but emoriginal/em members could bepletely cleared of any doubt. Likely those beyond a certain seniority as well, but Aveksen would start with just a few.

    Keeping his meetings from the greater hivemind might not be necessary, but if there emwere/em any infiltrators left they needed older and more powerful cultivators apprised of what might happen. Edith’s information might also help.

    “That technique you have is tainted,” Aveksenmented.

    “I… presumed so,” Edith agreed. “I never got the chance to use it, but when my mind cleared a little… it wouldn’t make sense. It was supposed to give me dominance over the hivemind? At emmy/em cultivation? Or even a small portion of it? It makes no sense. I… would like to think that I wouldn’t normally have fallen for such grand promises. But I can’t be certain right now.”

    “It was supposed to kill you so that you couldn’t reveal any information,” Aveksen said. “That means you emshould/em be capable of remembering something. We will guide you through that process. After that… we will assess the situation.”

    “I’m truly sorry for what I might have done,” Edith said. “I wouldn’t…”

    Aveksen knew such mental maniption couldn’t be done without emsome/em core of desire- but that didn’t mean she would have actually taken such actions on her own. There was some level of maniption a cultivator was still responsible for their own actions. The others might technically be the same, but they were still uncooperative. That spoke to a certain sort of character that they had developed beforehand.

    Ultimately, the Scarlet Alliance didn’t have infinite resources nor infinite patience. Those who were cooperative early would be far more favored when it came down to the end. The consequences for those who were more stubbornly unhelpful would take some time to decide. The hivemind would have much influence over it. Aveksen would have to consider his personal opinion on the rest, but Edith felt quite sincere. Repeated personal interactions would be necessary to make sure, but she might just want to have her memories restored and then be shipped off to somewhere tolerable where she could cultivate alone in peace.

    The threat was not over yet, not by a long shot. The hivemind would still have to be emmore/em than careful about recruitment. However, they now had some tools to fight back. Even if it was only small scale, the counter technique that Aveksen had developed seemed to do emsomething/em. Bringing in Augmentation cultivators with greater experience, they could certainly develop a better version that could be widely distributed. Or perhaps they woulde up with some way to discern who was involved from the various individuals that had been captured. No doubt there were more hiding among the popce- but how long would their mental maniptions hold?

    If the hivemind just had to endure for a decade or two, they could handle that. Alternatively, their foe might continue to send new troublemakers with better techniques far into the future. That was something they were going to have to figure out.

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