The rhythm of life within the goblin village, observed from the fluctuating vantage point of the Caretaker child’s shoulder or from brief moments at ground level in the crude enclosure, had become a predictable pattern. Swarmaster continued to absorb the details – the layout of the shelters, the worn paths between them, the areas dedicated to preparing food, the central communal fires that pulsed with warmth and activity during the cooler parts of the day. His internal map of the settlement, initially a rough outline, grew increasingly granular, marking locations of significance like the surprisingly abundant waste piles that offered a constant, if varied, source of secondary biomass. He continued to parse the cacophony of goblin sounds, slowly, intuitively linking specific vocalizations to actions and objects, the basic structure of their communication subtly imprinting upon his awareness.
While immersed in this detailed observation, Swarmaster simultaneously initiated a strategic deployment extending beyond the immediate vicinity of the goblin village. The knowledge gained from Jade's embedded perspective highlighted the need for broader awareness around the settlement – a network of eyes to monitor approaches and activities the goblins themselves might miss. He directed units from the main, distant swarm collective to seek out suitable transports – not just any symbiotic host, but creatures whose natural ranges or movement patterns were known to pass near the goblin territory.
Guided by Swarmaster's will, Adult units, with their more versatile mobility, and even carefully directed clusters of Juveniles, performed the [Hitchhike] maneuver onto deer grazing in meadows miles away, wolves tracking prey through the outer woods, or large rodents scurrying along ancient animal trails. It was a silent, calculated infiltration, leveraging the natural flow of the forest to position his forces.
From the perspective of these attached units, the world was a blur of motion, a rhythmic swaying and jarring dictated by the host's gait. They were passengers, conserving energy, their senses focused outwards, extending Swarmaster's awareness across new terrain as they were carried, often faster than they could travel on their own, towards the target area.
As these animal hosts reached the periphery of the goblin village – perhaps pausing to drink at a stream that bordered the settlement, Browse near a cluster of rocks that marked the edge of the goblin's regular foraging, or simply following a well-worn trail that curved around the crude palisades (if any existed) – Swarmaster sent a subtle biological signal. A gentle imperative rippled through the attached units: Detach. Without causing the host significant distress or even conscious awareness, the units released their holds, dropping silently to the ground.
Once detached, the units sprang into action. The Adult units, utilizing their legs, scuttled quickly into the nearest concealment – thick bushes, dense patches of ferns, tangled roots beneath ancient trees. The slower Juveniles inched their way into similar hiding spots, relying on their numbers and the terrain to remain unseen. They became static, hidden nodes, silent sentinels forming a loose, unseen cordon around the goblin habitation, significantly expanding Swarmaster's direct observation capabilities.
Swarmaster's awareness now encompassed a multi-layered perspective: the intimate, elevated view from Jade within the village, combined with the numerous ground-level viewpoints encircling the perimeter. He could watch the goblins' internal activities while simultaneously monitoring approach paths, spotting movement in the surrounding forest, and integrating all this data onto his expanding strategic map.
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Amidst this complex process of observation and strategic positioning, a seemingly minor interaction occurred within the village that would have a profound impact. The Caretaker child, in one of their moments of simple play with Jade, was handling the small cluster of eggs the Adult unit had laid earlier. The eggs, tough and dormant-looking, were being rolled between the child's fingers, examined with simple curiosity. And then, the child made a sound – a short, surprised bark – followed by a gesture.
The egg had stuck. It adhered firmly to the child’s rough skin. The latent [Hitchhike] capability, inherent in the egg state, had manifested as simple stickiness. The child, rather than being alarmed, found this fascinating.
The child, rather than being alarmed, found this fascinating. They carefully peeled the egg off their finger and, with a curious sound, pressed it onto the lobe of their ear. It stuck. Firmly, subtly, held in place by the same biological mechanism that allowed a hatching Juvenile to adhere to a host. The child made a series of excited barks and gestures, pointing to the egg on their ear.
Other goblin children, drawn by the commotion, gathered around. Seeing the egg affixed like a strange, tough bead, they too began experimenting. Soon, it became a small trend within the children's group: finding Jade's laid eggs and carefully pressing them onto their ears, attached to their crude clothing, or onto favored objects. The sticky eggs became a new form of simple decoration, a testament to the prized champion bug, a curious, self-adhering bead.
As the eggs attached to the goblins, Swarmaster experienced a new, astonishing sensation. Connecting to an animal host provided a limited awareness – a sense of their physical state, their basic instincts, flashes of fear or hunger. But connecting to the goblin… it was different. It was a flood of information, raw and overwhelming at first, then slowly resolving into patterns that spoke of a qualitatively higher level of consciousness. He perceived not just instinct, but flickering impressions of rudimentary thoughts, simple chains of cause and effect, flashes of memory (crude images of past events), the ebb and flow of emotions like frustration, joy, curiosity, fear, anger. He felt the underlying hum of self-awareness, a distinct sense of 'I' that was fundamentally different from the distributed unity of the swarm or the instinctual drives of animals.
Consciousness… Sapience… A self-aware mind…
The realization struck with the force of a physical blow, a profound expansion of his understanding of existence in this world. He was connected not just to a biological form, but to a thinking, feeling entity, however primitive its thoughts. The potential, the sheer strategic implications, were immense. Symbiosis with goblins was not limited to guiding movement or siphoning biomass. It could involve influencing their decisions, subtly guiding their ideas, perhaps even shaping their rudimentary beliefs or complex actions in a way utterly impossible with animal hosts. The very mechanism that allowed his units to attach and draw substance could now potentially provide a window into, and a lever upon, a sapient mind.
His strategic landscape, already transformed by the discovery of cooked food, Adult units, and safeguard hibernation, shifted again, revealing a new, dizzying dimension of possibility. The goblin tribe was not just a society to be observed; it was a network of primitive minds, now potentially accessible. He focused his distributed awareness, prioritizing the sensory input from the eggs attached to goblin hosts. Every flicker of thought, every ripple of emotion, every memory fragment perceived was invaluable data, unlocking the secrets of this new form of consciousness.
Swarmaster's purpose solidified once more. He would cultivate this connection, encourage the subtle spread of his eggs and units onto these sapient hosts. He would learn their minds, understand their world from within their own perception. The potential for subtle influence, for guiding this primitive society towards ends that benefited the swarm, was a strategic prize of unimaginable value. He was embedded, he was observing, and now, he was beginning to understand the profound complexity and potential power that came with touching the minds of others in this real, strange world. The age of sapient symbiosis had begun.
