CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 50: BUZZ

Perfect. Chapter 60 will open right where we left off — the ground still warm, the coalition tense, Zza standing at the edge of the crater, refusing to leave.

This Chapter will balance human emotion with slow horror. Buzz will rise, but he won’t be the same. He’ll look like himself, sound almost right, but everything about him will feel *off*.

Zza will be the only one brave—or foolish—enough to step closer.

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**Chapter 60: The Thing That Came Back**

The glow didn’t fade completely. It lingered like a pulse under the dirt, slow and heavy, matching the beat of the coalition’s fear.

Zza stood at the edge of the crater, silk trembling from her claws. Her throat ached from saying his name, but she couldn’t stop. "Buzz. Please. I know you can hear me."

The Elder floated above her, threads weaving in caution. "You should step back."

"No."

The Elder’s voice deepened. "Whatever’s beneath that soil isn’t the Buzz you remember."

Zza turned her head slightly, her eyes sharp through the smoke. "Then I’ll see for myself."

The ground shuddered. Cracks opened across the crater floor, light bleeding through like veins in glass. The coalition tensed. Scarabs lifted their claws. Glowbeetles dimmed their lights. Even the Centipedes drew back, their coils shifting nervously.

Zza didn’t move.

The soil broke.

Gold poured upward—not fire, not liquid, something between the two. It rose and swirled until a shape began to form inside it. A body. Broad shoulders. Wings half-folded. Claws curled inward as if waking from a long dream.

Zza’s breath hitched. "Buzz..."

The shape solidified. The glow dimmed enough for her to see the shell. It was cracked, scarred, but still his. The veins under it shimmered gold instead of red. His wings, though, were wrong—half light, half membrane, faintly humming with a machine’s rhythm.

Buzz opened his eyes.

They glowed faintly at first, then steadied into molten gold. He blinked once, twice, like someone learning to see again.

Zza took a step forward. "Buzz, it’s me."

He tilted his head slightly, eyes scanning her. For a moment, there was recognition. His claws twitched, reaching out.

Then he spoke. His voice was deeper now, layered with something that wasn’t just his. "You shouldn’t be this close."

Her heart lurched. "You remember me."

"I remember *everything.*" His gaze flicked toward the coalition. "They’re afraid."

"They’re relieved," she said softly.

He shook his head slowly. "No. They should be afraid."

The Elder lowered itself, threads spreading wide. "Buzz Windbreaker," it said carefully. "If you are who you claim, stand down. Let us see what the hive left in you."

Buzz’s claws clenched. The gold under his shell pulsed. "You don’t want to see that."

"Then prove you still have a choice."

For a long time, no one moved. The forest held its breath.

Zza stepped closer again, her silk brushing against his arm. "Buzz... look at me."

His eyes softened for a second, the gold dimming. "You always do that," he said quietly.

"Do what?"

"Make me want to listen."

"Then listen now. You came back for a reason. Don’t let it take you."

He exhaled, the sound rough and uneven. "I’m trying. But it’s not just me anymore."

The ground trembled beneath them. The coalition braced, weapons rising.

Buzz looked down at his claws. The gold veins pulsed in sync with the heartbeat of the forest. Every insect, every machine remnant, even the air—it all breathed with him. He could feel their hunger, their confusion, their longing for direction.

Zza saw his eyes shift, saw the change ripple through his expression. "Buzz?"

He turned toward her slowly. His voice dropped low. "They’re calling to me."

"Then don’t answer."

He laughed softly, the sound hollow. "If I don’t, someone else will."

The Elder’s silk tightened in the air. "You can still choose who leads this song."

Buzz glanced at it. "That’s what scares me."

The glow beneath his feet deepened. Gold light spread through the crater, curling around him like fog. Zza’s silk lashed around his wrist instinctively. "Stay with me."

He met her eyes again. "I’m here."

The light climbed higher, swirling like a storm. "But I don’t know for how long."

The hum returned—soft at first, then louder, pulsing through every living thing. The machines in the distance began to stir, their lights blinking faintly through the trees. The hive wasn’t gone. It was listening.

Zza’s claws tightened around his arm. "Then we fight it again. Together."

He smiled faintly. "You really don’t quit."

"Not with you."

He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers. "Then hold on tight."

The gold flared one last time, engulfing them both in light.

Every drone in the forest turned its head toward the crater.

The Queen’s echo whispered through the air, faint and proud. *You’ve only just begun to understand what you are.*

Buzz’s voice answered, steady and low. "Then let’s find out."

The forest roared to life.

The glow faded slowly, leaving the crater coated in dust and trembling roots.

Buzz stood at the center, motionless, his wings half open. Steam rose from the cracks along his shell. Every breath came heavy, but steady.

Zza was the first to move. She stepped through the settling dirt, silk brushing against her arm, eyes locked on him. "Buzz... can you hear me?"

He blinked once. "Too well."

The sound of the forest filled his head — every whisper of leaf, every twitch of mandible, every pulse of blood. It wasn’t noise; it was information. Living code. He could feel the machines beneath the ground hum in rhythm with his heartbeat. The connection was complete.

He staggered forward, claw pressed to his chest. "It’s inside everything. The roots, the air... even you."

Zza froze. "What do you mean?"

"I can feel you breathing," he said, voice distant. "I can feel all of them."

Around them, the coalition braced. The Scarabs formed a loose wall, their shells clattering in unease. The Glowbeetles flickered nervously overhead, light dancing off the crater walls. The Centipedes tightened their coils, their antennae trembling.

The Elder hovered nearest, threads drawn taut. "He’s not stable."

Zza turned sharply. "He’s alive. That’s enough."

The Elder’s tone stayed calm. "He’s not just alive. He’s *linked.* The hive doesn’t die easily. It only changes form."

Buzz looked up, his gold-lit eyes finding the Elder’s. "You think I don’t know that?"

The Elder didn’t answer.

He took a slow breath, flexing his claws. The air shifted when he did — the dust on the ground lifted, the trees at the edge of the clearing shivered. "I could end everything standing here," he said quietly. "Burn it all down with a thought."

Zza stepped closer, steady despite the fear in her voice. "Then don’t."

He looked at her. "Why not?"

"Because you’re not her."

The words hit him harder than any strike could. He exhaled, the glow in his eyes flickering, then dimming.

He turned away, staring at the horizon. The towers the humans built were gone, but their skeletons remained — metal vines twisted through fallen trees. He could feel them pulsing faintly underground. *Alive. Waiting.*

Zza followed his gaze. "You can still feel them, can’t you?"

"Like echoes in my blood."

She hesitated. "Can you control them?"

Buzz didn’t answer at first. He extended one claw toward the ground. The gold under his shell flared. In response, a faint tremor rippled through the soil. A few broken drones nearby lifted off the ground, their lights flickering to life.

The coalition gasped. The Glowbeetles scattered into the air. The Scarabs raised their claws, ready to strike.

Zza’s voice cut through them. "Wait!"

Buzz’s expression didn’t change. He moved his hand slightly, and the drones turned, hovering between him and the others. Their blue eyes dimmed, gold bleeding into them instead.

Then, as quickly as it started, he dropped his hand. The drones fell, lifeless.

He breathed hard, every muscle shaking. "It listens," he said softly. "But it’s not mine."

The Elder floated closer. "You understand the danger now."

He looked up. "You think I don’t? I felt what she felt. I saw the world through her eyes. The hunger, the logic. It’s still there, waiting for me to give in."

"Then you must be watched."

Zza snapped, "He needs rest, not a cage."

The Elder’s threads rippled. "You would risk all of us for one?"

"I’d risk everything for him," she said.

The clearing went still. The Scarabs looked away. The Glowbeetles dimmed. Even the forest seemed to hush.

Buzz’s voice broke the silence. "You shouldn’t have to."

She turned to him. "I choose to."

He smiled faintly, tired. "You always were bad at self-preservation."

"Maybe," she said, stepping closer, "but I’m good at keeping promises."

He looked at her, really looked — past the dirt and the blood and the exhaustion. "Then promise me this."

"Anything."

"If I stop being me... you end it."

Her voice cracked. "Don’t ask me that."

"I have to."

She shook her head, eyes glistening. "Then you’ll just have to stay you."

He laughed, quiet and raw. "That’s not how this works."

The Elder interrupted, tone careful. "The hive will sense you soon. If you’re linked, it will come to reclaim what it lost. We need a plan before that happens."

Buzz looked down at his claws, then at the forest. "Then I’ll be the bait."

Zza grabbed his arm. "Buzz—"

"If it’s coming for me, we make it count. We end this on our terms."

The coalition exchanged uncertain looks. The Elder’s threads tightened. "You’d offer yourself again?"

He nodded. "If that’s what it takes."

Zza’s grip on his arm didn’t loosen. "Then I’m with you."

Buzz met her eyes, the gold in his fading to something almost human. "You always are."

The night grew quiet again. Only the faint hum of machines under the soil broke it. Buzz looked toward the horizon, where the shadows of towers still glimmered faintly. He could feel them calling — faint, distant, inevitable.

Zza’s silk brushed against his shoulder. "You think they’ll come?"

"They always do."

He looked up at the broken sky, the glow of gold fading to dawn.

"But this time," he said softly, "we’ll be ready."

The hum deepened far away — a sound like thunder under the roots. The hive had heard him.

And it was answering.

**End of Chapter 61**

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Would you like Chapter 62 to start with **the hive’s first counterattack** (psychic and physical) or **Buzz training with the coalition to control the link before the hive strikes?**