Alien Evolution System-Chapter 14: The Dark Zone

The Collector ran north to the edge of the forest's light zone. By now, it was simply too large to adequately slink around tree trunks, and though it did avoid obstacles when it could, those that it calculated it could not move by, it simply charged through.

There was a sense of strength in this action that the Collector relished, the feeling of using its body as a bludgeoning gavel to break apart and judge the weakness of this world. It rushed through the thick of the forest like a shooting star of musclebound destruction.

The heat developing within the Collector's being had not settled. Rather, it had intensified upon reaching this next metamorphosis level.

Yet this development did not harm the Collector.

No, it instead made the Collector…feel.

It felt the emotions most strongly programmed within it, the predatory instincts and drive to hunt and to hunger not only for biomass but for battle, for the fight itself, grow in intensity with the heat.

Perhaps this heat was a symptom of something that affected its neural centers in some manner, but it could not sense any infections nor even psionic interferences within itself.

The Collector understood that the current flow of emotions pouring out from its neural systems exceeded the limitations placed by the Collective Hivemind, and had the Collector still been psionically linked to the Hivemind, then surely the Hivemind would have dampened the Collector's mind as it did when tinkering races attempted in rare occasions to psionically infiltrate Collector strains.

Yet, though this was unnatural, against the programmed limits the Collective Hivemind, the most sacred of authorities, the Collector did not mind.

So long as these anomalous neural activities did not hinder its directive to hunt and consume, it would place secondary concern for them.

Fueled by hunger for battle, the Collector sped through the forest.

Its top speed exceeded that of its metamorphosis level even with the occasional tree or boulder it had to smash out of the way, especially with four legs dedicated to locomotion.

There was even a stag it collided with, splattering the unfortunate specimen into an exploded mess of shattered bones and burst organs that split apart around the Collector's speeding body, painting it red for a brief moment.

The Collector did not stop to gather all of the stag's biomass, absorbing only the blood and fleshy pieces stuck to its body from the impact.

>>>

*Biomass gained (+2)*

Biomass Level: 2/100

>>>

By the time the Collector reached the edge of the light zone, the blackened sun's rays had darkened from a golden glimmer to a deep amber, the celestial body beginning to set in the sky.

The Collector looked down at the very literal edge it stood upon, at a deep ravine filled at the bottom of a near hundred meter drop with a raging river current that separated the Collector's side of the forest from the dark zone.

The darker zone of this biome was just as enveloped in shadow as it was in the goblins' memories.

At first, the Collector had thought their memories flawed to a degree, for the darkness in them observed far exceeded any naturally occurring dark.

No, the Collector noted with its yellow compound eyes, a huff escaping its fang and tusk lined mouth, the thick growth of trees in dark zone, wider and taller than those in the lighter zone, were indeed as dark as they were in the memories.

The trees did not just block light with their leaves, they absorbed it.

Absorption to such an extreme degree that there was nearly an entire absence of visible light, the leaves and bodies of trees so black that their dark outlines stood out sorely against even the faintest shade of color or light.

The forest floor, then, would have essentially zero visibility, explaining how even the goblins with their eyes adapted to low visibility environments were blind – there was not enough light even for their sensitive photoreceptors to perceive.

No matter to the Collector.

Sight was simply one of several sensory systems it could utilize to function. Its sensitive hair adaptation as well as its advanced auditory systems would be more than enough to navigate an environment devoid of light.

Likely, the larger spiders inhabiting this zone functioned in much the same manner.

The Collector clicked its mandibles, wishing also to take a sample of their biomass for it was directly superior to the Jungle Spider genes it currently utilized.

It did not waste more time.

It looked ahead at the ravine and calculated how much force it would require to leap across the gap.

The Collector stepped back a few meters, gaining a head start to build up velocity. Then, it charged once more, its staggering bulk bolting forwards in a black blur before it jumped off the very edge of the ravine.

Wind sailed past its form as it contracted its muscles, making itself smoother and more aerodynamic like a living missile.

With surprising grace, the Collector landed right on the edge of the dark zone. It was pleased. Its calculations had not erred, proving that the heat within it was not affecting its mind to any compromising degree.

The Collector entered the dark zone of the forest, slipping into the leafy void of light as it recalled the path the goblins used to reach their camps unharmed by spiders.

Estimated time of arrival to the first goblin camp: one hour.

Estimated distance between the first and second camps: one hour.

Estimated distance between the second and third camps: twenty minutes.

Reinforcements, if there were any, would come slow between the first and second camps. The Collector would find sizable challenge in razing the second and third camps, however, for the risk of reinforcements seemed far likelier.

And, as the Collector clicked its mandibles in anticipation, the third camp held this goblin 'lord'.

The Collector trotted through the darkness, its sensitive hairs upright and alert to any vibration around it while its developed ears twitched back and forth, finding an optimal angle for receiving auditory signals.

It breathed out in anticipation, its warm internal temperatures loosing out a cloud of vapor in this cold, lightless environment.

Here, the Collector would prove to these primitives, these tinkerers that gathered so in such large groups, crowning one among them 'lord' or 'emperor' or 'president' that they were just as worthless and weak as the rest of them, that their titles were constructs granted to them by their societies, not by the infallible hand of evolution.

The Collector traveled the safe path through the dark zone for half an hour. It found that the route was safe because the goblins had placed down chunks of rock that glowed faintly in the presence of heat, shining quite bright when the high internal temperature of the Collector neared them.

Curious. The rocks seemed to emit a spectrum of light that escaped the absorbing properties of the trees around it.

The Collector had already consumed a sample of these trees, curious of whether its light absorption could be a useful adaptation in the future.

These specimens were called deadwoods, and though they provided almost no biomass, their photoabsorbent qualities were indeed present as an anomalous mutation in their bark, allowing the Collector to use it in the future.

The Collector picked up one of the rocks with a long, prehensile tongue, and it glowed a bright blue, sensing the warmth from the appendage.

These were more noteworthy. The type of light that they emitted escaped the Collector's identification, not matching the wavelengths of any light in its memory banks.

At first, the Collector had tried consuming the rocks, but found that they were completely inorganic.

It was not some moss or microorganism within them that emitted this light. It was something inherent in the properties of the stone itself.

A shame.

The Collector could have absorbed the rocks had it evolved an internal systems adaptation known as the Autonomic Neuro-Bodily Matrix which would have granted it access to the Metalloglottic Ossifier, a modification to the throat and digestive system that would let it incorporate inorganic alloys into its carapace and body.

The Collector had skipped the adaptation at first because it did not provide immediate combat benefit, but now that it had enough tools of battle under its disposal to survive, it would focus on restoring its more utility based adaptations, for to ensure maximum efficiency of its weapons systems, it had to build up a strong bodily foundation of internal and external systems adaptations.

The Collector broke off from the lit path at this point, knowing that the closer it neared the first encampment, the higher the chance there was of finding errant goblins that could escape and alert the rest.

The Collector stepped into the darkness, wishing to attempt circling around the first goblin encampment for an ambush attack.

And of course, to also harvest the spider specimen.