Prologue

Pain.

It was not something that normally affects drones. We can acknowledge that there is pain, then ignore it. There are many things far more important than your own safety, and so safety is a low priority to focus on.

This pain, though, was something else entirely.

It ran up my leg in a hot stream, like fire was running under the skin and cooking it from within. I screeched, ignoring the thing that had hit me, so completely overcome from the pain that I was blinded for a few moments.

Then my senses started back up. In an instant I was running, running as fast as I could, and dived into the narrow shaft ahead of me just before the fire could hit me. Splinters broke from the walls and dug into my sides, but they were nothing. They were manageable. They could be ignored.

I scurried upwards. The shaft ended in a sharp turn and I followed it, moving as quickly as I could. The sounds of the hosts were everywhere, travelling through the shaft in a way that caused a dull ache to spring up in my mind. I ignored it. The pain in the leg had dropped almost without me noticing, and it too was ignored.

Then I felt it.

-...Mother?-

-I am here, little one.-

As soon as I heard her voice... calm. There was still the danger of the hosts, yes, but the Matriarch... she was near, and if she was near, there was no reason to fear anything.

-I tried to open your cell,- I said. –I tried to but they stopped me, and I can't feel-

-Patience, little one,- said the Matriarch, -patience. Think. Stay calm. There is always a way.-

-What the hell are you doing! Oh God! Stop them!-

The new voice that I heard was loud, quick, and dug into my mind like a set of razor-sharp claws. Then I heard the whirring noise from one end of the shaft, and angled to listen to it. Without warning a wall of fire came rushing through the shaft, superheating whatever it touched, and before I could move it reached and smothered me in a tide.

Drones are not normally affected by pain. This pain, though, was something else. I knew that the Matriach could feel it as I screeched in agony.