[Bringing Life] 2 – Bountiful Growth

It had begun the process of expanding its root network through the caverns below, burrowing through the earth in every direction, gaining more nutrients and water to continue sustaining and expanding the network.

The strange flying creatures had already begun making nests within the cavern, using a peculiar mixture of resin made from bile, dirt, and excrement. 

While of poor quality, this resin proved to be a natural source of insulation for the creatures, as the speed of their wings beating heated the cavern to levels higher than that of the vault itself. This insulation helped cool their hive to manageable levels while also allowing for the optimal environment and heat for their eggs, of which they each laid dozens within the last couple of days, showing that they could reproduce asexually, not needing a partner. The creatures had no gender; instead, the biggest of the creatures seemed to be the egg layer for the hive. Their spawn likely was bigger than any the others could lay, providing the hive with bigger creatures.

It named the creatures 'Singers.' 

The Stingers would make excellent organisms to integrate into the Network. Their lethality makes them the perfect defenders, able to swarm any potential threat as soon as they make their way within the Vault. They would also provide a suitable alternative to the sparse Spore Carriers or Spore Plants.

It had also devised a name for itself. It would be called Unity, as it wished to bring all into the fold, into the Network, and propagate its spores. Unity served as more than a name; it served as a reminder of its purpose.

...

A few days passed, and the Stingers had proven to be excellent at reproducing, as the eggs they had laid multiplied to a few hundred. Most proved unviable, as the creatures were afflicted with some genetic defect that significantly lowered the chance of laying a fertile egg. Even then, at the rate they produced, after a month, the Stingers would have multiple new members in their colony, and all these larvae would grow to be as large as the biggest Stinger of the colony. 

The infertile eggs were used to fertilize the soil within the cavern, and grass and vines were seeded. Unity worked to spread more plant life through the Vault, turning it into an even more contained jungle of various plants and crops.

While that happened, Unity experimented on one of the Stinger eggs to see if a spore could be planted within the egg and assimilate with the egg's host. Unity wanted to see if infecting a Stinger within the egg was more viable or waiting until they hatched and began maturing before assimilating them into the Network.

At the same time, Unity would wait for another Egg to hatch so that Unity could perform yet another experiment. This experiment would be to see if Unity could control or limit the infection process to prevent the host's body from being turned entirely into a moving fungal colony like the rest of the Spore Carriers.

Unity also wanted to see what these new Stingers would look like after being born from their Spore Carriers, would they be born as Spore Carriers or appear unmodified and like their parents before they were assimilated?

...

Unity has found a significant problem with its takeover of the vault and the assimilation of most of the Vault's population. With the residents of the Vault being assimilated and losing most of the knowledge they had contained within their minds with the assimilation process, Unity did not have all the knowledge it needed to maintain the Vault's life systems and essential facilities.

With each month, a light went out or power was lost to a room, shrouding it in darkness. Unity discovered the hard way that some of the doors that separated these rooms and hallways required power to function correctly, and it had to spend some effort and use a few Spore Carriers to pry the doors open and lodge furniture or pipes to prevent them from closing.

Unity realized that without the necessary knowledge, each broken UV lamp could not be replaced, and eventually, the Vault's reactor would fail or stop working. This meant it was on a time limit. Eventually, it would be forced to leave the vault if it couldn't find a way to maintain power within it.

...

Another month passed, and luckily, only a few minor issues had cropped up around the vault without anyone or anything to continue maintenance. Still, besides that, Unity had his answers for one of his experiments.

The Stinger eggs had hatched into a strange fungus and flesh hybrid. These hybrids seemed to emit spores pasivly like the other assimilated Stingers but its flesh was not as tough as the fungus of the assimilated, however its flesh was transformed into a green variant, slightly harder than flesh but a lot more absorbant of UV radiation, providing the hybrid nourishment passively, without the need typical from organics to feed from other types of sustanence.

However, there was a drawback to these Hybrids; they matured slowly, being no bigger than a fist after hatching, and their venom was vastly weaker than their parents, but interestingly enough, Unity noticed that their venom contained spores, allowing for infection with a single sting of their stingers.

Such a unique trait would be quite helpful to Unity if more Fauna came into the Vault, especially with the Hybrids being as small and nimble as they are. It would take a single sting, and they'd be able to fly away before any intruder could react. If Unity had enough of these Hybrids, Unity would be able to create something in its memories called a living 'Biblical Plague.' However, Unity did not have the context needed to understand what Biblical meant or where it came from, but Unity would gladly have a swarm of Hybrids if it meant defense from any danger coming into the vault.

Speaking of dangers entering the vault, Unity had begun expanding the network towards the entrance of the Vault, adding a layer of defenses to protect the depths of the Vault and providing a chokehold to stop any intruder from going too deep, as nearly a dozen Spore Plants were seeded at the entrance.

In the meantime, Unity moved a few Spore Carriers into the hallway past the entrance, where they'd be able to ambush anything that entered, hopefully slaying or incapacitating them before they could do any harm or irreversible damage to the vault.