The white male bug had already fallen asleep.
The Core Species rose almost soundlessly, leaving the nest without disturbing his partner. Like a lithe leopard blending into the night, the tall predator made no sound as he moved.
Before stepping out, Sakedi took one last look back. Gela was clutching the small blankets tightly, curled into a soft ball amidst the plush fabrics.
This was the fourth night.
It seemed as though the concept of sleep had vanished from Sakedi’s vocabulary. Tossing and turning would only wake his partner, so he was forced to get up and find something to do.
Once one looked past the traditional Zerg aesthetic of the docking orbits, the core star zone of the Grey-wing tribe was perhaps the most pleasant, least "sanity-draining" Zerg habitat Sakedi had ever seen. Behind the cluster of nest buildings where they resided, there was even a small lake.
He had once asked the silver-grey high-tier bug about it.
The other had given him a cold look and replied, "I read a human textbook on the psychology of healthy child development."
Fine. In a way, they were brothers in arms. While Sakedi was fluttering across the universe trying to figure out Zerg physiology, his boss had already self-studied an entire curriculum on child psychology.
Bugs didn't have as many rules and regulations as humans. This nest complex had previously been Clark’s private property; now, as the other’s status soared, it had become the private estate of the new Sub-King.
Sakedi waded directly into the lake. This man-made feature was lined with stones along the lakeside path, ensuring one wouldn't step into mud. The shallow area was wide and safe; even if a crowd of children were tossed into the water, no accidents would occur.
The lake water was cool at night. A ring of reed-like plants grew along the shore, though they were much taller than the species humans were familiar with. Sakedi couldn't help but curiously pluck a handful, discovering that the white, fluffy tassels didn't fall off at all.
An ideal ornamental plant.
And so, he lay alone in the grass by the water, a pile of scavenged pebbles beside him, skipping stones for half the night.
In the past, he might have wanted to chat with Red Tai Sui. But now, even that option no longer existed. He could only gaze up at the starry sky and contemplate life... or rather, bug-life.
Who would have thought the male bug would sniff him out before dawn?
Waking up in the nest to find his partner gone, Gela had immediately sat up in a panic. He used his spiritual perception to sense the other's location while sprinting out of the nest to find him.
Sakedi’s mental state wasn't great. Gela understood this.
During the day, the other was very busy. As a key figure in the current situation, he had to run back and forth constantly. The Grey-wing tribe had been severely weakened after this war of secession; the new Sub-King had not yet fully recovered, and the Grand Information Hive was badly damaged. For now, they were barely holding the star zone together thanks to Red Tai Sui’s presence.
Human starships couldn't stay here long-term. Once the Grand Information Hive was out of danger of collapsing, Red Tai Sui would have to return to the human side immediately.
The two bugs in control, Clark and Sakedi, were essentially counting every second. They were reorganizing the army, taking over new territories, incorporating the remnants of Krisha’s faction, and simultaneously planning to thoroughly crush their peripheral neighbors.
However, every night, his partner could not sleep.
Sometimes when Gela woke from his dreams, he would still see the other’s eyes open, lost in deep thought. Those powerful arms would still be holding him, but Sakedi’s mind would be drifting somewhere unknown.
He wanted to kiss him, to nuzzle him, and tell Sakedi that everything would be alright.
Thus, when he followed the trail to the reed thicket, he saw—as expected—the tall female bug lying between the water and the reeds, with a pile of unthrown pebbles beside him. Pitch-black bug wings were spread across the water's surface, their scale powder reflecting the faint light.
Before the other could stand up, Gela plunged into the water with a splash, paddling toward him like a little puppy.
The Core Species caught the white bug in his arms. The water temperature was a bit too chilly for a male bug. Sakedi had Gela straddle him, sitting on his chest.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"I couldn't see you." Gela touched the other’s cheek and twined his tail with his partner's.
The air was indeed a bit cool, but because of his restlessness, the female bug’s body temperature was slightly higher than usual, which compensated for the chill.
"I found the nest was empty."
"Sorry." Their scaled tails intertwined, and Sakedi let out a low sigh. "I was worried about waking you, so I came out."
"It’s okay. I can bask in the moonlight with you," the male bug said quickly.
Only after saying it did he remember that the core habitat planet had no orbiting satellites, and thus, no moon. There was only the distant starlight reflecting on the water, rippling out in scattered circles.
"Are you sad because you saw Red Tai Sui?" Gela asked softly, pressing their tail-whips tightly together. "After seeing it, you haven't been able to be happy again. Do you miss your old friends?"
"It’s not because of it... or them." Sakedi patted the other’s head, dispelling the misunderstanding. "It’s my own reason. And I think Red Tai Sui is probably a bit sad too. In its eyes, I’m likely more of a hybrid entity. A corrupted data record of copied memory fragments."
Sakedi chuckled, resting his arms behind his neck.
The male bug sat properly at first, but then, without realizing it, he quietly slumped onto Sakedi’s body, his head resting against the side of the other's neck.
There was no river between life and death that could be easily crossed; what was gone was gone. Fate accepted no mockery from the start; everything belonging to the past would never return.
"None of this will interfere with my judgment or disrupt my plans. It’s just that every day, there are a few moments where I can’t quite figure out who I am."
"You are my partner," Gela whispered. He caught the Core Species’ hand, interlacing their fingers and squeezing tight. "It’s unfair to say this to you, but I am grateful to whatever sent you to my side. I don’t believe in fate, but if waking up and coming to me—allowing all the stories that followed to continue—is thanks to fate, then I am grateful for such a fate."
Sakedi couldn't help but laugh softly, his fingers stroking the male bug’s soft little wings. "Maybe it’s not all bad. The old me was much fiercer toward bugs than I am now. You would have been terrified."
He could sense it somewhat; his tolerance toward the Zerg after waking up was indeed higher than in his previous life. He couldn't rule out that this was the result of the "impurities" in his nature.
"It’s a good thing you didn't know that version of me. I used to be super scary."
At his words, the male bug curled his limbs, and his tail gave a slight spasm. The Core Species thought he had frightened him and instinctively hugged his partner, wanting to pet the head that was burrowing into his chest.
However, when Gela looked up, there wasn't a hint of fear. Instead, he was flushed red from his neck to the tips of his ears.
Sakedi: "???"
"What are you thinking about now?" He was almost moved to laughter by exasperation. His tail-whip wrapped around the other’s waist, securing the male bug.
He had realized that Gela was actually a little lecherous cat with a top-tier imagination; his train of thought often veered into very strange territory.
"I was just thinking... what would happen i-if I were caught by you when you were a human," the white bug whispered, his coiled scaled tail trembling slightly from his fantasies. "Would you... would you grab me very fiercely and interrogate me with very harsh methods? Like... tying me up, the kind where I'm bound to a chair?"
He was confined in the other’s arms, but he tilted his head up. "Officer?"
Good grief. A live roleplay session.
Sakedi felt that coming out here in the middle of the night to catch a breeze was a total waste of time; he might as well have spent it dealing with this naughty little bug. If he’d known they were playing like this, he wouldn't be sleepy at all.
"Your interests are quite dangerous..." With a complex expression, the Core Species stared at his partner before immediately pinning Gela’s hands behind his back in a capture hold.
He had pretty much figured out Gela’s little hobbies. The male bug liked to see him being dominant; he liked being held in an inescapable embrace, but he was afraid of actual pain and, due to past trauma, was afraid of deeper intimacy.
"I... I’m not a bad bug." The little actor entered the role faster than anyone. The moment he was flipped over, he immediately began stuttering in character as the captured prisoner, naturally tilting his tail up to beg for mercy. "I didn't mean to do anything bad. Please don't arrest me."
Then he added, "O-Officer?"
*Crap.*
Sakedi couldn't hold it together. This was simply too cute.
He wanted to send a telegram to Evelyn and Klein, then carry Gela around for a victory lap: *See this cutest bug in the universe? He’s my partner!*
"Thank you," the Core Species whispered, hugging his partner and laughing softly.
The way the other stood there dazed with his tail tilted up was... incredibly adorable. He looked a bit like a razor clam—poking its head out of the sand, only to zip back in the moment it was touched.
"You should be frisking me now, feeling all the suspicious places, and saying, 'Is that so? Let me check thoroughly,'" the "Cat Teleprompter" whispered a reminder, telling him to follow the script and not flub his lines.
The "prisoner" then discovered that his female bug partner and "interrogator" behind him was shaking with laughter.
Gela, flushed with embarrassment and anger, couldn't help but let out a faint buzzing sound, lightly flicking the other’s arm with the tip of his tail. How could a bug break character and laugh at a time like this?
"Don't laugh... you're not allowed to laugh."
The Core Species immediately straightened his face. "Quite the temper you have."
He grabbed the unruly, slender white scaled tail, winding it several times around his own arm, completely cutting off any chance of escape. Later, he would have to ask where the other had seen such strange films and where he had learned this stuff. The archived footage from Kamlan probably had some improper things mixed in.
"Since you want me to check, I’ll check thoroughly," Sakedi said solemnly, fully cooperating with the script as he toyed with the tip of the tail in his hand.
He had lived two lives and had never played anything this "creative."
"Inside and out, every detail. I’ll make this little bug who fell into my hands cry and beg for mercy, begging me to let him go."
Truly, life was full of surprises. It was good to be alive.
But in the next second, he saw a pale red liquid dripping down Gela’s chin.
Startled, the pitch-black Core Species immediately reached out to wipe it away. His experiences with bleeding every time he linked to the Grand Information Hive had left him with some trauma; his first reaction was that the male bug’s spiritual power was malfunctioning again.
The other was equally stunned. Upon seeing the pale red blood on his partner’s fingertip, Gela suddenly began to struggle frantically. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he yowled and tried to spring off the female bug.
Gela let out a rare, wet chirping sound of extreme shame, scrambling to jump down. But Sakedi held him tight, preventing the escape.
Such a violent reaction made the Core Species understand instantly.
This time, Sakedi truly roared with laughter.
He buried his head in the other’s chest, shaking with laughter. He tried thinking of every sad thing from his two lifetimes, but he couldn't manage to pull his lips down.
His partner, because of a roleplay skit, had gotten so excited he had a nosebleed.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 驳杂体 | Hybrid / Mixed Entity | Refers to Sakedi's sense of being a mix of human memories and Zerg biology. |
| 尾鞭 | Tail-whip | The whip-like tail of the Zerg characters. |
| 鳞粉 | Scale powder | Bioluminescent dust or powder found on Zerg wings. |
| 角色扮演 | Roleplay | Referring to the "Officer and Prisoner" scenario. |
| 蛏子 | Razor clam | A type of burrowing clam used as a metaphor for Gela's behavior. |
| 长官 | Officer / Commander | The title Gela uses for Sakedi during their roleplay. |
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