Chapter 1: Sprout

I am the First. And so I will be the Leader.

...

What does that mean? Who am I? How do I know that? What if I want to follow? Why does the First become the Leader?

I already know the answers. I just need to stop asking questions.

I am the First. That means I am the first, and so only, of the new Colony. There are no others, only me. I need to be the one who gets the Colony started.

I will be the Leader. The First must be the Leader. There has to be a Leader, and there are no others that can be it.

I want to follow. It's how it is, how we are. But someone has to be the Leader, and that's me.

I don't know how I know any of this. It must be instinct. If I didn't know this, the Colony would have no Leader, so she created someone who would already know this. Me.

So what now?

I can only wait. I am the First, so there is no one to pluck me. That's what the Leader does, and as the First, I will be the Leader. Whether I like it or not.

I can feel the sun on my leaf while I sit in the soil. I will grow big, strong, and smart over the coming days. Then, I can-

?!

Suddenly I'm standing on the surface. I must've landed on my feet without thinking about it.

I've been plucked. By...something.

It's not one of us. It's shaped kind of the same, but fat in weird places. It's a lot of different colours. Its bud is small but glowing.

It's not trying to eat me. So it's not a predator. A predator wouldn't wait this long to attack.

It looks like it's made of metal. So it wouldn't make good prey. It would work if we had nothing else, but we're not that desperate.

That makes it neutral. Might be harmless, might not. But it seems safe enough right now.

It seems just as confused as me. Maybe-

(((FOLLOW)))

Follow! An order!

I run right up to the Leader. He seems a bit surprised about it.

Wait. I'm supposed to be the Leader. I don't want to, but I am. He's not even the same as me. So how can he be a Leader?

But what if this is what a Leader should look like? I don't know how I would look as a Leader. I never will know, because I got plucked. To become a Leader, I had to stay planted and grow for many days.

The Leader starts moving. He told me to follow, so I follow. We're not going anywhere, we're just wandering around in circles. Either he's testing me, or he's new at being a Leader. Maybe both? I don't see any others like him. Either he's new, or he's not very good. I hope he's just new.

I see something weird over there while we move. It's made of metal. It's making black smoke and letting out sparks. It looks like it doesn't belong, just like the Leader. Maybe it's the Leader's Colony. You can't have a Leader without a Colony, and they both look made of metal. Like how both me and my Colony are red.

The Leader stops, so I stop with him.

There's a pellet flower nearby. Even as a Leader, it's my job to take pellets to the Colony, so she can make more of us. But I'm following the Leader right now.

I'm so confused. I'm supposed to be the Leader, but I'm also following the Leader. Which is it?

(((DISMSS)))

An order! I do as he says and take a step away. I can do what I want now, until he calls me again.

The pellet flower is still there. I'm going to go get it. The Leader won't mind.

Something makes me want to attack it with my hands. But I'm not a Leader yet, and my hands are weak. So I attack it with my stem, like a follower would.

Bonk.

Bonk.

Bonk.

Bonk.

Got it. The flower is down. I take the pellet to the Colony.

The Colony accepts the pellet. She produces two sprouts, which land in the ground.

I'm conflicted. I'm the First, so I'm supposed to be the Leader. But I didn't get a chance to grow and become the Leader because the Leader plucked me, so I might not be able to pluck the rest of us. But he plucked me, so he should go on the pluck the rest of us, right?

The Leader is staring at me. The shapes on his face are moving. What does that mean? Is it normal for a Leader to not say anything but orders? If I were the Leader, I would want to speak with the others.

I see another pellet flower nearby. Should I got get that one too? The Leader dismissed me, but he's also looking right at me. I want to be ready if he calls me.

The Leader is stepping towards me slowly. He's got his hand out. It's a red hand, so we have that in common. I think he wants to throw me, but he's doing it very slowly, like he's never done it before. Maybe he hasn't. He does only have a bud, not a flower.

Hehe. It tickles a bit. He's being very careful. It looks like he's going towards the other pellet flower.

Whee!

I'm right on the pellet! The Leader has a good arm.

I take down the flower in a single hit and carry the pellet back to the Colony. Two more sprouts come out and take root. That makes five of us, me plus four others. A good start, enough to carry a bigger pellet if we need to. But as the First, I need to be more careful and stay safe. If we can get one more other, that would be better.

I return to the Leader's side. I think he's thinking about something. I don't know what the moving shapes on his face mean. I've noticed his head is actually completely covered by a round crystal, and doesn't look metal like his body. Can that be normal? I know some creatures are partly crystal, and some creatures are partly metal, but I don't know any that are both.

The Leader's started to pluck the rest of us. Good, I was worried for a moment he was too different to understand what we need. They start following him right away. I join them as he takes us to another pellet flower over there.

"follow"

"follow"

"food"

"follow leader"

"leader"

"food"

"follow"

The others are only babbling. Not talking, just repeating their orders and desires. I wonder why?

I want to ask them why but I don't know how. I know how to ask where, or when, or how many, but not why. Why don't I know the word for why? There is one, right?

The Leader seems to be learning fast. He takes us to not just the pellet flowers nearby, but the pellets sitting on the ground, and orders us to carry them back to the Colony.

Well, sort of. He seems to only know the words for "follow", "dismiss", and "here". Everyone knows what he means when he says "here" and the "here" is a pellet, but why would he not know "carry" or "home"? He's so different from us, maybe he uses different words too.

There's 12 of us now. As the First, I can count a lot better than the others. 12 is a very good number for one day. If we can keep going like this, we'll have enough that some of us can rest during the day. But somehow I think the Leader has other plans, that he isn't thinking about just increasing our numbers.

The Leader has brought us to a push wall. I haven't seen one before, but I know what it is, by instinct. A push wall is a wall light enough that we can push it instead of destroying it. The Leader seems to be trying to push it himself. For a moment I thought he could, but then he stops and grabs his back. He has a big red square on his back. Does it hurt?

I walk up to the place where he was pushing. There's small dents in the wall where his hands were. The wall was bending instead of moving. The pushing needs to be spread over a wider area.

Everyone else is doing nothing. They don't seem to notice or care about what me or the Leader are doing. They're just standing there staring at the Leader.

The Leader is trying again, pushing with his shoulder this time. He doesn't seem to be getting anywhere.

We're not supposed to do much without orders. A Leader's orders are what keep us from wandering off and getting eaten. But I'm the First and so also a Leader, even if I'm also not. And the Leader doesn't seem to know how to be a proper Leader, by trying to do this himself. I think I should help, even if he doesn't ask for it.

I turn to yell at everyone else.

"help leader!"

Everyone perks up and runs at the push wall. Good, they listen to me. I was worried they might not, because I never grew properly into being a Leader.

The Leader seems surprised that everyone is coming to help him. He stays still while the wall is pushed away from him. We push the wall until it won't go any farther.

With the push wall stuck, we go back to the Leader. The shapes on his face are moving again. The one on the bottom, it looks like a hole, is moving the most. Is it a mouth? It could be a mouth, a lot of creatures have face holes for mouths. Not us though. And if it is a mouth, why is it silent? Maybe the crystal blocks the sound.

The Leader nods and does a motion with his fists. He seems...determined?

(((FOLLOW)))

We group up around the Leader. I noticed this time that he put his hand to a small piece of metal near his mouth before the order. That seems strange.

The Leader quickly takes us to...something. It's a piece of metal that's moving by itself, but not going anywhere. He seems happy to see it. Maybe it's part of his Colony? Or maybe it's a pellet for his Colony. But it's pretty big, I'm not sure if any of our pellets can be this big.

(((HERE)))

The Leader wants us to carry it, probably back to his Colony. We all run forward to grab it. But it's too big for us, and doesn't move. We need more of us.

(((FOLLOW)))

The Leader knows it too, that we need more of us. He takes us with him further along the path to find more pellets.

With the Leader's direction, we find and carry more pellets back to the Colony. There's no predators around here, so it goes quickly. There are 25 of us by the time we stop finding easy pellets.

The Leader takes us back to the big piece of metal, and orders us to it. We are enough, and it moves.

It's slow to carry. Normally we only carry small things, things that take 10 of us to lift. But because this is so much bigger and heavier, we aren't built for it. Still, it moves.

We approach the Leader's Colony. The black smoke is thinning, and the sparks have stopped. That must be a good thing - smoke and sparks are for creatures of fire, not metal.

The Leader draws a circle in the dirt with his hand.

(((HERE)))

A crude target, but an effective one. We place the metal piece exactly where the Leader wants it.

The Leader's Colony accepts the piece. There's suddenly a lot of movement, and she's now facing the other way up, with the piece on the bottom. Somehow this looks better.

The Leader is clearly happy with what happened with his Colony. He hurries over to her bottom and starts looking at the new piece. Then he enters her and quickly comes back out with a metal box. Now he's taking other metal things out of the box and using them to poke and prod the new piece. I don't understand any of it, but it's interesting to watch.

The others don't seem to care. They're looking around, babbling "wait" and "leader", pacing a little but staying mostly in the same place. It's clear they just don't think like I do, or like the Leader does. They only follow. Which is good for a follower, but...

I would rather be a follower. It seems easier. But the followers seem to be...nothing more than a follower. That's...a bit sad.

The sun is setting. There's still enough daylight left to gather food, but the Colony is ready to leave for the night if I tell her to.

I watch the Leader continue to do things with his Colony. I want to help, but there's no way I can. He's doing things that look very careful and precise, and he only knows three of our words. He can't tell me how to be useful for this.

The Leader seems done now. He's put the metal things back in the box and has gone back into his Colony. She's shaking a bit now, the smoke is coming back. Is that good or bad?

I suppose it's good, she's lifting off. She doesn't look very stable, but she's flying.

There's nothing else the rest of us can do, with our Leader done for the day. It's time to leave.

I look at the others. They seem anxious with the Leader gone. I'll have to help.

"home! night!"

Everyone makes a mad dash for the Colony. Not pretty, but effective. I enter last.

It's nice and cozy in here. Everyone's getting ready to go to sleep. For being followers, they have a lot of variety in behaviour.

It's subtle, but I can feel the Colony's mind, as if she is calling to me.

I hope this works. I'm only a First, not a Leader. They should be the same, but...

I go to the place closest to her mind. Here I can initiate the confluence, the process of our bodies and minds combining to think as one, something only a Leader and his Colony can do. Or multiple Leaders, if I ever see another. Somehow, I don't think our Leader will be able to confluence with me. He's too different.

I take the feeler in my hand, and open my mind.

[*]

The Colony is calm and patient. She desires to find other Colonies for collaboration, and will do so if given no other directive. But she lives only to house and propogate the people, not to force any decisions on them - she will accept any orders her people give her, as long as she lands during the day and takes off at night.

The First finds all of this agreeable. Followers will not be able to confluence with her, so he will be the only one who can direct her movements. He shall have to be extra careful - as a First but not a Leader, he has all of the responsibility but none of the physical abilities. If he dies, the Colony is lost.

The Colony acts to soothe the anxiety. Leader or not, the First is the First, the smartest and most able of her people. No First ever feels comfortable with their position on the first day.

The First is still doubtful. A First was never supposed to be plucked on the first day, after all. He is an unripe pellet.

The Colony acknowledges that things have not gone as they should. But the mysterious Leader from a strange Colony has so far shown to be able. Things will only improve from here.

The First accepts this. It has not gone well, but it could be so much worse. They will continue to follow the Leader for now.

The Colony accepts the order and begins to lift off.

[*]

I pull my hand away. It all happened so quickly, without a word being spoken. Comforting in one way, spooky in another.

Well, at least now I know the Colony accepts me, only needing to be a First without needing to be a Leader. I can't see what's going on outside, but I know we will follow the Leader's Colony, no matter where she chooses to land tomorrow.

Night 1, supplemental. As expected, I am having trouble staying asleep. The noises of the Dolphin's holed carcass are so unfamiliar, and the fear of not staying up until morning consumes me. I can't even risk having some warm milk, with power at a premium. Not since the delivery room have I felt this much unease.

Was it the right choice to lift off, or should I have remained on the surface? I don't like testing the engine this hard so soon, but I also don't fancy sleeping in a shell of a hull when I have zero knowledge of what nocturnal creatures might lurk on this planet. It's been the right decision so far, at least.

I can see the Onion hanging outside my window against the blackness of the stars. I wonder if it knows my ship is in such a state? Or does it think everything is normal, having never seen a thing like it before? Does it even think, or have all of its actions thus far been pure instinct? If this weren't a life-or-death situation, I might enjoy investigating it.