Elder Cultivator

The worst possible thing was being a member of a hivemind and working alone. It wasn't just the resources that Aveksen lost out on, the extra hands, the wisdom and thought processes of billions or more- it was the uncertainty. He often questioned why he was doing it. He was aware that others were making their own attempts to root out trouble. However, from what he understood they hadn't gotten anywhere. Not that he could say he was doing anything better.

The problem was that he couldn't totally and completely rule out there being a traitor still in the hivemind. They could have come in earlier batches in the last few years, or perhaps been corrupted over the course of years. He couldn't just ask if anyone had been captured for a long period of time and suddenly returned. He was lucky that a few of the possibilities had been ruled out by others. Hopefully. It was possible he gained a false impression, but the participation of multiple individuals provided him some assurance.

He still had his plan. They needed someone alive and confirmed to be part of this conspiracy against them. Hopefully, they could capture more of the technique. To do that, he had a plan. He was going to open up a special induction ceremony. Others were doing them too- a few years was enough for the upper realms hivemind to realize they couldn't just give in. More in depth processes were being taken to ensure there were no problematic integrations.

That was Aveksen's plan too… except he was going to be less careful. Intentionally, visibly careless in certain ways. He had it all planned out. First he would start with a smaller group. Then, he would induct them into the 'greater hivemind'. The catch would be that he would be bridging the gap for them instead of them actually being part of it. It was risky, because it would be difficult to hide his intentions. It wasn't something he practiced. It was better to not, in the grand scheme of things.

He could see it now. First he would widely advertise his group. He'd catch two or three potential candidates, those who were eager to get in but couldn't quite articulate why. If they happened to look up his history… well, he had been the one to let through the most troublesome woman. The one who almost achieved their goal. Or at least, one of them. Aveksen presumed widescale disruption wasn't done for just a momentary interruption. They could do worse, with death and destruction everywhere.

He had the plan. He was taking steps to implement it. He didn't say anything about it to anyone… except for Bear Hug. If the algae friend was a traitor, Aveksen would just die. There was the possibility of accidental revelations, but maybe Aveksen wanted that. He wasn't really sure what he was doing. His conviction was failing.

"You need to spy on them!" Bear Hug said. "While they're in the process. Sneak around and make sure they aren't up to nefarious things. Or that they are…? Whichever one makes sense!"

Aveksen made a face. "For all that I have been sneaking around, I don't think I can do it if anyone is looking. I was only able to be successful when it involved deceased individuals… and it was barely subtle. It's not like they could have caught me."

"Okay," Bear Hug said. "Get someone else to do it then."

"You?"

"Me? I'm moist. I'd leave huge trails! I was thinking Velvet?"

Aveksen was taken off guard for a moment. "Velvet… who?"

"Velvet… uh… Velvet something. Does she have a human second name?" Bear Hug twisted themself up as they tried to think. "I dunno. Velvet the head of cool spying and stuff. That might not be the right title."

Aveksen sighed. He thought that might have been it. It would be an odd individual who didn't know the names of all the Domination cultivators in the Alliance- even her. "She'd a busy individual you know. It's not that simple to call upon her."

"This is important, right?" Bear Hug said. "And you need someone you can trust."

"Both are true," Aveksen agreed. "But again-"

"Hold on a second."

Aveksen waited. Obviously second wasn't intended to be precise, but after a minute he wasn't certain if Bear Hug was still… there. Obviously he could see them, but… "What am I waiting for?"

"Can you wait a week?"

"I… have plenty to keep me occupied during the next week, yes. If you need to go think about things." Aveksen had already been waiting for years. One more week was a small delay if there was something helpful Bear Hug could accomplish.

"Okay. One week it is, then," Bear Hug nodded.

-----

He was sitting alone in his apartment when he heard a voice. "Aveksen, isn't it?" He nearly jumped out of his skin.

He turned to find a woman standing there- though he would be hard pressed to confirm that fact because he couldn't confirm that she was real. He couldn't feel an energy signature. He would have thought that her figure was an illusion except for the fact that he expected to be able to feel energy manipulation if it was that.

"Uh… yes." This person was too dangerous to lie to. "That is me."

"So what's the plan?" she asked.

"I don't know if I can… tell you that." He might have to die. If he did, he was absolutely making sure that the hivemind saw everything as he disappeared.

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The woman tilted her head. "Then why am I even here? Ah. They forgot to tell you, didn't they?"

"Who? Tell me… what?"

"Bear Hug confirmed you could wait a week. But they aren't always…" her words hung in the air, "Precise."

Aveksen looked at the woman standing in front of him. Really looked. Domination cultivators were the most famous individuals in the upper realms. He knew what all of them looked like. Even Velvet. Just… less. There were fewer pictures of her, rarely video, it was possible that all of the aura recordings were fake, and so on. But just recognizing her face- if she wasn't hiding it- was easy enough. "Velvet?"

"In the flesh," she agreed. "I hear this is quite important. Well, I already knew about the troubles you've run into here, but Bear Hug was convincing that you in particular had a plan."

"I suppose it's too late to say that I'm not as confident about that as I once was. I'm not sure if it's any good."

"I can be the judge of that," she said. "Just show me."

"I… should probably confirm that you are you. Somehow."

"You probably should," Velvet agreed. "I could just be someone pretending to be me."

It would be a huge problem for the hivemind if he gave up information to someone just pretending to be Velvet. Could they fake her aura too? What about-

"You should just have Bear Hug come over," Velvet said. "Since the two of us aren't acquainted. In the future…" she held out one of her daggers. Aveksen didn't even see her move. He felt it press through his defensive energy. And yet… it was just the hilt. "This voidsteel dagger is distinct enough to be a good start. Plus a demonstration of my true energy."

Once he felt it, he was nearly convinced. Mistaking the aura of Domination would be insane. And yet, it almost didn't feel real. It was so… faint? Distant? Or perhaps just hidden. Then again, displaying her full might would reveal far more to the planet and thus every part of the hivemind than they really intended.

Bear Hug worked though. As expected, their algae friend pulled them both together into a big hug. "Hi! You made it! This is probably however long you said later but I wasn't paying that close of attention!"

Completely surrounding a cultivator they were familiar with, it would have been strange if Bear Hug didn't notice anything wrong- if it wasn't Velvet. The smile on her face was also hard to fake- that of someone encountering a good and very odd friend once more. Even if it hadn't been long, Bear Hug always brought at least a moment of joy.

"I did say a week," she commented. "I did mean it. They're still working on balancing the spatial distortion, so I had to cover half of the distance properly."

"I believe that it has been a week," Bear Hug said.

Aveksen cleared his throat. "Well… yes. This should be sufficient verification that you are the real Velvet."

He wondered how many flaws his plan had.

Two hours later, he wondered how many flaws it didn't have.

"You'll need more small groups for this to work. It is entirely possible one hundred percent of your candidates from a single group will be legitimate. And, with my aid you shouldn't have to worry about getting multiple infiltrators at once. At least, not without catching any of them. Overall, though, I'd say your plan is solid."

She said that after she poked it full of holes. She did provide suggestions on how to fix them, but he was still a bit concerned. "Are you sure you can keep up with that many candidates?"

"How long do you think it would take me to search them?" Velvet said. "To do a thorough background check?"

Previously, it would have taken Aveksen only a moment to do what he had once thought was a thorough background check. Through the hivemind, of course. However, there had apparently been some flaws. They would work that out… eventually. "It would be at least three per day at a pace of a month to a hundred," Aveksen said. "It just seems like a lot."

"I don't have to do it all myself. There are enough non-hivemind agents here. Of course, I can do all of the room infiltrations. And watch them. It's just one planet, after all. We can bet not all of them will have fully mastered the technique, from what you told me."

"And those that have…?"

"I'll find some dirt on them," Velvet said. "We can come up with excuses to exclude any of them if necessary."

"Okay. I, uh… wasn't expecting it to be so… easy?"

"You came up with the plan," Velvet pointed out. "You just have to implement the part you are confident in. We may have to reach the final step where you actually experience an attack, but I think my part is easier for me."

-----

Half a year later, they had thrown out about half of their candidates that were close to the 'final step'. Aveksen was a bit sad about that, because realistically if they wanted to be part of the hivemind they were acceptable candidates regardless of other qualifications. Assuming they were mentally stable… and not infiltrators. The reason it was so many- and this was after numerous prior filters- was for various reasons.

Some were excluded simply to provide more opportunities for infiltrators. They were perfectly good, and it was a shame that they might have to wait years to get another attempt- though hopefully the normal process would be able to start up again in the near future. Whether that was a year or a decade he didn't know.

Others were excluded as fake suspicious individuals. So that if they had to do anything with true infiltrators, they weren't singled out. That was a layer Aveksen hadn't thought about, and it really bothered him to see it done. He couldn't argue that it was correct, though. This was a mission. At first it was self proscribed, but now it was official. As official as things could get with the Domination cultivators that probably did the most unofficial official things.

Aveksen was afraid of how much Velvet found. Alone, he might have gotten a handful of tainted candidates in his first batch, all at once. If they had worked together, they might really have taken down the hivemind- or a good portion of it.

Assuming they were actually connected to it. Instead, they would be in only a partial hivemind- with a mix of good and mediocre candidates. Aveksen really hoped that none of them got killed, and he was willing to get himself killed to protect them. He was just waiting until they could begin the first 'full' integration into the hivemind. As he had planned, it would be fake- with the sensation replicated from his own memories. Whether anyone would act instantly or wait for a better moment was unclear to him, but he'd have to stay on his toes.

Some people weren't meant to engage in espionage. Aveksen felt like he was one of them. Hopefully, he would be done soon.