The hivemind is conquering for me? Chapter 2: You call that a boon?

Apollo Minor-Spartari Outer Rim—Active Warzone

"We must keep advancing, the bugs have shattered the defense forces' line!" A man bellowed to his companion. "Wha-what about the baby? They won't permit it on the evacuation shuttle—it's military only!" The woman fired back, staring down at the tiny innocent bundled in her arms.

"I warned you to abort that thing when you learned of it. We're fortunate you weren't showing, or we'd both be court-martialed for an affair during deployment." The man snarled, causing the woman to recoil.

"But—" The woman began, but "No buts! If you want to survive, conceal the baby somewhere and let's haul our asses out of here!" the man cut her off.

Gazing down at the baby, it peered back with a frown, as though sensing its abandonment. The woman stifled a sob and murmured to it, "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry." She halted beside an alley, pressed a kiss to the babe's head, then tucked him into a nearby trash bin.

"If the defense repels the monsters, I promise, I promise I'll return for you." She uttered, fighting back tears—her maternal instincts screamed to snatch him up and chance it—but an iron grasp snapped her from that impulse. "Come on, you've done enough for the bastard. We have to move; the battle's drawing nearer." Thus, she was yanked away from her son.

Their fates—hers and the father's—now depended entirely on reaching their shuttle.

Meanwhile, within that same bin, the discarded baby's mind buzzed with frantic thoughts.

"What the heck, man! Yeah, just ditch your kid to certain doom. Man, that cursed blue lamp has screwed me over." I scowled inwardly as the thoughts raced on, "And what the heck is this 'boon'?" Though no one had explained it, I grasped it instinctively.

'The first female who sees you, not a family member, will fall instantly in love—pragma, eros, mania.' "You call that a boon? I'd call child services." I sighed to myself. "I should've chosen to merge into the infinite as energy; at least I wouldn't die again so quickly."

"Anyway, what did my parents mean by 'bugs'? To overwhelm a defense force, they'd need to be either endless swarms of tiny devourers or—" Shouts from the adjacent street shattered my musings.

"Fall back, fall back! A basilisk strain contingent has bolstered their assault with a queen guard!!! Regroup at the next checkpoint—incendiary rounds await for swapping! Go! Go! Go!" A commanding feminine voice roared amid the stampede of dozens of boots, kinetic rounds crackling and laser blasts thundering mere meters from my bin-turned-refuge.

"The combat's closing in fast. What in the world is a basilisk strain?"

Meanwhile

"ATTACK DRONES. FULL FRONTAL ASSAULT. CONSUME BIOMASS AND RELEASE THE EGGS."

Issuing this psionic directive, the basilisk queen guard—humans' label, while it identified as Freethinker Variant #1700354—trailed its drone swarm as another 50 basilisk swarm guards thundered past. The hivemind had ordered it to seize this planetary sector with minimal biomass waste.

As a freethinker, it understood the ongoing biomass losses were staggering, yet harvesting the sapiens' flesh and this minor world's remnants would yield a hundredfold return.

Navigating the prey's so-called 'streets,' it paused. A faint prey scent wafted—tiny, scarcely a meal, but biomass demanded consumption. It commanded its guards to maintain the primary push, diverting toward the alley and the metal container harboring the snack.

…

Confined in the bin, sweet pheromones overwhelmed my senses, accompanied by clicks, chitters, and shrieks surging past my alley. Then, massive, thudding footsteps approached. "This is the end. Whatever's out there isn't human," I realized.

An eternity of dread seemed to stretch as the steps halted right outside the bin. Was I undetected? Had it deemed the alley vacant? Before optimism could stir.

*BANG*

The bin's lid was wrenched off with brutal force. Peering up at my doom, the sight froze my blood: 5 meters tall, a white chitinous frame accented in tan along its front and flanks, spikes studding its entirety.

Four legs tipped with thick, lethal spikes that could impale a man effortlessly; an upright torso armed with two scythe blades razor-sharp to shear metal without effort. A pentagon-shaped head crowned by a row of small protrusions. Saliva-slick ivory needle-teeth and void-black eyes boring into mine.

Totally petrified! Even as no mere infant, my body refused to stir. Those profound, shadowy eyes locking onto mine wielded an immobilizing power.

Suddenly it clicked. "Ah! Basilisk strain! The legends say their gaze paralyzes prey—no surprise I can't budge, even if I could anyway..."

Refocusing on the creature dooming me to death, I couldn't deny a strange allure in its design during my final breaths. It embodied the ultimate apex predator, exuding pure lethality. Knowing demise was certain, I found solace in perishing to such flawless perfection.

I smiled at it. Serene, prepared to depart...

…

Seconds dragged on. Nothing happened. Peculiar—perhaps relishing the prey like humans savor a feast. A full minute passed, still idle—truly odd. Abruptly, the paralysis lifted. Baffled, I raised my arms toward it, inviting the kill to prove no flight possible, and then it recoiled...

"Huh? Di-did it flinch?" I marveled internally. "How could I make it flinch?" A 5-meter epitome of destruction flinching at a newborn's uplifted arms? Utterly baffled sums up my mindset.

"What's going on?"