Weeks since the takeover of the jungle refinery...

  "Todd, be nice to your brother!" Katie called out to her 8-year-old son. He was being rude, taking the swing his much younger brother was trying to use. Emphasis on trying—he was a bit too small for it still.

  Katie was in her late twenties. She wore Khaki shorts and a white tank-top. Her bob-cut bounced a bit as she sat back down at the park bench.

  The boy in jean suspenders and a white shirt looked at her in irritation from the playground a short distance away.

  "Don't make me come over there!"

  Katie's mom-friend laughed. Ali, or Alice- a shorter woman who wore a summer dress.

  "You tell him momma bear." she said jokingly.

  The sun was high in the sky, which cast shadows from the large supporting structures that made up the dome above. It was an architectural marvel how the hulking structure covered the colony. Insulating it from the toxic atmosphere outside.

  Outside was covered in brown sand that was often tossed about by rapid winds. Black rocks like obsidian dotted the landscape, some large enough to be considered cliffs.

  This planet was a mining colony, created to harvest metals from the surrounding system.

  Katie spent all her life here. She married her high-school boyfriend, and went to college while raising this little brat. And now she was a stay-at-home mom. Not that was all she was—she was also working towards her career as an interior designer, but only as a hobby for now. She would get more serious about it when the kids were older.

  Katie let out a tired sigh, making sure to keep an eye on Todd. He didn't seem to think about other kids that much when he did anything. Like now, he was swinging really fast even though there were kids running around nearby.

  "I love the little snot-ball, but sometimes wish he was more like Jacob." she breathed, propping an arm up on the benches arm rest and resting her chin in it.

  Ali gave her a skeptical look; "You should've seen him when he was five.", then she looked back down towards her tablet. She was texting her husband. "Kids have phases." she went on to say. "Sometimes they're angels, mostly they're demons. Just give it some time and maybe you'll get an angel phase."

  "I hope I survive until then."

  Then Ali gave her a more concerned look then; "Is everything alright?"

  Katie shrugged. There were things going on in her life, but it's not like she and Alice were so close. They were just park friends.

  "It's fine. Just a low week for me, I guess. How's Jacob's karate going?" she asked.

  Alice smiled at the opportunity to brag about Jacob.

  "Actually, he went up to yellow belt. I was worried that he wouldn't, after that little spat he had with Akeem. You know, sometimes these kids get so mad-"

  The proud mom could talk endlessly if you knew how to get her started.

  Just then, the sounds of crying could be heard. Todd had knocked over a little girl while swinging.

  "I knew it! Todd, you're in so much trouble!" she got up from the park bench and stomped across the wood-chips that filled the area around the swing sets.

  Just as she pulled up Todd by the arm, she felt herself be pulled up.

  Up into the air. That made no sense. What was going on? She was being carried? How? By what?

  "Whaaa-?!" the clawed hand held her shoulder so tightly it drew blood. Which caused her to slide out of its grip, she flailed as she flipped towards the ground, but the monster still held her by the ankle. Todd swung from the momentum- she was losing her grip on him.

  "AAAAH!" she screamed.

  "Mommy!" Todd cried as her grip on his arm slipped. He fell, shrinking into the distance as Katie was carried upwards.

  The vespaxyn reached down with some of its appendages and gripped the upper half of her body and pulled until she felt a burning sensation in her midsection. Which grew flaming hot as it tore her in half. She was dead long before her two halves hit the park grass, many meters apart.

  Emergency alarms blared as the colonie's defenses engaged.

  The sounds of screams became white noise across the colony.

  Selene sat on a throne of carapace aboard her caasiok. The chamber she was in was about 3 stories tall and an acre long. Many pillars lined the room, as they should in a proper throne room.

  All queens needed a throne room.

  Said throne sat at the top of a platform with a wide set of stairs that led down to the rest of the chamber. Moisture dripped from the ceiling in places, a result from the collective condensation within the caasiok. It sounded like a windy cave here.

  Dr. Bryant approached Selene from the side.

  "Your majesty, another colony has been inducted into the swarm. Do you wish to begin the trials?"

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  She looked over lazily. She had one leg curled up onto the throne's seat and was propping her head up with a hand sleepily.

  "We haven't already? Yeah. Start them."

  "You may need to speak with them, your Majesty. Human Zykra are not as easily controlled without proper incentive."

  So annoying. The 'human element' was so tedious. But they had to learn to deal with it at some point, hence these trials. They would learn how useful human infested could be.

  "Fine." she got up from her throne and stomped down the stairs like a pouty toddler. With Dr. Bryant in toe.

  After a myriad of tunnels and chambers, she appeared in the dungeon. A section of ship sealed off using a membrane evolved to only allow Zykra to pass through. It dissolved around her shape as she stepped through and reassembled itself once she was on the other side.

  It was mucus yellow and thin like paper. Strong enough to keep humans contained.

  The double-acre sized chamber was full of random humans of all kinds.

  Children, elderly, strong, fat. It was the best way to experiment, collect all the variables.

  They stared at her as she entered. No one spoke. They were in a stunned silence.

  A boy with a broken leg sobbed a bit, "I-I want my mom..." he sniffled. Dressed in jean suspenders and a white t-shirt.

  Selene gave a sympathetic smile as she kneeled down next to him. The crowd leaned away from her. Some of them more familiar with her than others.

  "Oh? I think that can be arranged. Evolutionist?" she called, and a short mothman appeared. Wings drapped around his shoulders like a cape. Fuzzy antenna and eyes with foggy green orbs floating around them acting as pupils.

  "Yes Queen?"

  The Evolutionists' voice was very deep, which was almost comical paired with it's small stature of about 4 feet tall, give or take a couple of inches.

  "Take this one to biomass storage and see that he is processed."

  "Yes Queen."

  Selene took the boy by the shoulder and led him towards the mothman. "Go with Evolutionist here, he'll take you to see your mommy." she said tenderly.

  He sniffled; "Really?"

  "Sure kid." Selene said, losing her patience. The kid went with the mothman, using him for support as he limped out on one leg.

  Selene stood up and faced the rest of the crowd as the mothman led the boy from the room. She took them all in for a moment. Her magenta orbs of eyes scanned around the chamber. Her whip-long antenna drifted around behind her as she began to patrol in front of them.

  "Hello, everyone, I know you're probably feeling pretty inconvenienced at the moment."

  The crowd shared skeptical, worried glances.

  "Don't worry, it'll all be over soon. The fact that you're here means you've met the selection criteria, but there are a few more stages to go through before you become honorary infested."

  Cautious murmurs began at that. People asking; "Infested?", "What is this?", "Where did she send that kid?"

  Selene clapped her clawed hands together and batted her fuzzy eyelashes at them; "Aaaall you need to do, for now, is raise your hand if you want to become infested. Go on, show me some hands!" she raised her hands.

  A few hands hesitantly went up.

  She tilted her head confusedly.

  "Hmm... Not quite the turnout I expected. Oh, well... Keep your hand up if you want to be infested!"

  She raised a hand and snapped her fingers.

  Scantids emerged into the room from small holes that opened up all around the chamber and began tearing into the crowd.

  The survivors quickly realized the ones who were being attacked were those who did not raise their hands, and did so themselves. Many hands went up.

  Dr. Bryant was taking notes on his tablet about all this.

  "That's more like it!"

  One of the prisoners threw up, lowering his hand in the process, and a scantid jumped on his back. Mauling him to death. The other surviving prisoners winced as they heard the sounds of his bones snapping.

  Selene waited until the screams died down to speak again. Like a patient public speaker at an event might.

  "You all reached the next qualifying stage of the selection process! Congratulations!" Selene was beginning to actually enjoy this. The prisoners were looking at each other less now. They all stared at her, ready to do whatever they had to in order to survive.

  That was the part of humanity worth salvaging.

  "Bring in the worms!" Selene cheered. They rained down from the ceiling. Tremorasque.

  Dark worms with backs of chitin, about the size of a grown man's forearm. Their mouths had beaks which opened up to reveal many tendrils. Their bodies ribbed with tiny stub legs, perfect for burrowing.

  The crowd cried out in terror as the slimy worms landed on their heads and shoulders.

  "What is this, you crazy bitch!? I thought you said we could live!" a burly man tore the tremorasque from his shoulder and stomped it into the ground. He had unkempt greasy brown hair and pale skin, but he was fairly strong looking. In a denim jacket and beige pants of some soft fabric.

  Selene snatched a worm from the floor and walked towards the man. She put it on his shoulder.

  "Yeah, as infested. Let the worm do its thing, or you're dead."

  The others heard that and looked to her, holding the worms in their hands. Which mewled about helplessly.

  "What are they going to do!? What does being infested even mean!?" another person called out- a woman. Half her black hair was buzzcut with a couple horizontal lines shaved on that side, the other half was long with the ends dyed white in a gradient.

  "You'll just have to see."

  The woman with frosted tips held a hand in front of the tiny tremorasque hesitantly. Its tentacles emerged and licked across her white fingernails.

  "How? Do we just let it touch us?" she asked. Her voice was rocky, as if she had overused it lately. Or had a life of over using it.

  "It needs to reach your spine." Selene said plainly. She had second thoughts about the infestation trials when she looked at the remaining members. A lot of punk rockers and criminal types.

  "Fuck it." one of the more criminal types- who had tattoo sleeves running down his sinewy arms and piercing on his eyebrows grabbed a worm off the floor and put it to his back.

  It dug in. Slithering beneath the skin and muscle above his spine.

  The man cried out in pain and fell to all fours. The other prisoners looked to him curiously and in fear of what will inevitably happen to them if they don't choose to die instead.

  The bulge of raised flesh travelled up the length of his back to the nape of his neck. Then a snapping sound was heard, and he fell limp.

  "He'll wake up in a couple hours." Selene said.

  The bald burly man from before hurried to the fallen mans side and put two fingers on his neck.

  "He's fucking dead!"

  At that, protests erupted from all over the room. The remaining members were feeling rather bold at this point. Faced with death so many times so quickly might give a person a sense of survivorship bias like that. So she allowed them their little complaints.

  "What the hell is with that!?"

  "Is this some sick game!?"

  "Are you the devil!?"

  Many protests like these sounded across the chamber.

  Selene took a deep breath; "SHUT UP!"

  Her layered voice reverberated around the room. They had no choice but to obey her command. They had no idea why.

  The insectoid woman looked to them with annoyance written across her expression.

  "Why would I lie? I could just kill you outright. Either do it or don't. I'm tired of trying to sell it to you. I'll give you two minutes before I send the scantids back in."

  She turned and walked out of the chamber. The green membrane squelched as it deformed and reformed around her on her way out. The doctor followed her.

  The prisoners were left with an impossible choice. About 3 dozen of them remained and held a worm each. Other worms were crawling along the ground tugging at their pant legs. Trying to climb up.

  The woman with the half-buzzcut lifted her hair from her back and let out a shaky breath.

  "I'll try anything once..."

  Levity was always a coping mechanism of hers. She'd rather look half-bug like that woman than dead. She brought the worm to the nape of her neck—might as well streamline the process. The beak bit into her and thankfully it was over quick.

  One-by-one the remaining prisoners allowed the worms to infest them.

  There were a few children and defiant people left over who for one reason or another didn't do it and were culled by scantids a few minutes later.

  Behind The Chapter...