This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/TurinaPurina on 2024-10-30 15:57:46+00:00.

Grimnak circled his sleeping pod. An opulent piece of art it was, carved out of marble, filled with softest synthetics and finest fabrics. Hiding eloquently all the all the sophisticated technology needed for his glorious task. He laid his spindly body onto the soft beddings. Hidden sensors started logging his vitals. Subtle mechanisms relaxing his muscles. He laid his near perfectly round head onto the pillow. A soft buzz entered his mind as the mental matrix synced with his mind. He laid his three fingered hands over his chest and closed his small black eyes. He allowed himself a sharp toothed grin before falling asleep.

It was time to dream. Time to harvest.

He could feel the machines driving him, guiding his mind, towards an event he already knew.  A joining. In his sleep he met another mind of his kind. They touched. And they were one. Grimnak was now more, his knowledge, will and drive bolstered by the other. More minds came, bigger and stronger. But always Grimnak knew himself. For he was elected to be the spearhead. The guiding will of the whole of Hypteian people. Whole planet dreaming together to join in the great slumber, to create the great spirit. The sum of the will of his people. And he was chosen to lead this great feat. This glorious task. He smiled as he opened his eyes. He could see the starry sky, dimmed by the colorful aura of the planet, intermingling spirits of the living beings on the planet. For a moment Grimnak marveled as colors of the aura sifted like molten light. He then focused and drank from the it. As its colors drew dimmer, flows slower and colors subdued, he could feel the spiritual body of his people growing stronger. He would return the strength later to his beloved home planet. With dividends. But the journey was long, and they needed strength.

He then set his gaze to the stars. With his spirit he could see new lights among the stars. Auras of other living planets. He focused on a familiar one. A Strong but colorless world. slowly the tiny dot started to grow larger, closer. Bigger it got the harder it was to focus on it. Once upon a time the strain had been almost insurmountable to his people. But now it was barely an effort. The planet grew until he could almost touch it. A blink and he was there. He marveled at the aura of the planet. It had once been very similar to their home planet. Full of flowing colors and bright and dim spots. Now it was simple bright yellow like a flame. He looked closer at the planets inhabitants. Once wild and ferocious planet was made tame. Jungles made to forests. Forests into plains. Trees dared not to reach the sky. Meek herbivores dared not fill the plain. Lazy predators reduced to carrion eaters. There had once been budding intelligence there, banging rocks together and figuring out tools. But even they had been reduced.

The great Hypteian spirit touched the planets fuming aura and drank steeply. The Aura grew dimmer and paler. It was almost monochrome and sputtering before Grimnak stopped. The inhabitants of the planet crew slower. Lethargic. Simplistic. Small creature trapped in water stopped swimming. A flower growing in a rocky crevice wilted away. A bird dropped a stick from its beak and used its talons instead to fish out a now still maggot. Hypteians had been here many times to drink the spirit of the planet, and it had grown tame. “A garden” Grimnak thought. A sing from the universe of their right for the bounty of these planets.

Grimnak looked into the sky again. Another familiar world shone in the sky. He focused. Blinked. And he was there. This world was inhabited by sentient people. A civilization even. When Hypteians had found these squat tentacle people they had been building nations. Creating art. Engineering technology never seen before. Building spires to touch the sky and reach deep into the earth. Oh, how they had fought each other. Competed. Struggled.  Then Hypteian Spirit had arrived. The aura had been so complex. Full of complicated thoughts and emotions. Dreams both noble and vile. Strange and uplifting. The spirit had feasted greatly upon their ideas, visions and hopes.

The people of the planet had noticed something wrong. An odd laming of the culture. The art grew boring. Technology stagnant. The great works too much trouble. The warring nations settled too but it seemed out of dejection rather than understanding. But they could not find the reason why. Eventually they had recovered. Only to be drained again after a century. and then again and again. They knew, they sensed, they suspected something was wrong but could not find the reason. Their anxiety had eventually crystallized into shell around their collective psyche.

Oh, how Grimnak had enjoyed crushing that shell. Inside Hypteians found the focus of the planets sentient minds. They started molding it. Forming it. Straighten its colors until it was harmonious and pleasing to the Hypteian spirit. The people on the planet now all thought alike. Acted alike. Dreamt alike. Soon Hypteian fleet would come to their planet and they would be greeted as their masters. “As they should. We gave them peace.” Grimnak thought to himself. They weren’t the first either. The great spirit drank deeply from the mosaic aura. Careful not to upset the stalemate of colors. For a moment Grimnak tough about thanking them but could not remember their name. Instead, he gazed into the stars once again.

There were many familiar planets in the sky, but it was time to focus onto the prime target. The glorious task. The great spirit was feeling invigorated, full of power. No work would be left undone this time. He focused on the world they had found. Third rock from the yellow star far in the arm of the galaxy. An wild world here the unstable planet gave birth to creatures that furiously clung to life. And oh, the sentient of the planet. Colors of its aura were so wild. So vivid. Constantly clashing, changing, combining and dividing. Deeper hues and brighter highs they had never encountered. Hypteians had harvested there before. Grimnak drew on the strength of the spirit to focus on the faraway planet. And with a blink the great spirit was there again.

They had found something strange here. A hard thick shell in in the aura. The great spirit had not been able to get trough it when they were here last time. Grimnak knew not how or why it had formed. Maybe it was quirk of the unstable life. But he knew it had to something precious. Something delicious. Something that would surely elevate his people into new heights. The sweet rich aura of the planet promised so. So had all the Hypteian wise men agreed. Almost salivating the spirit behold the thick orb made of iron will. It collected its might and stuck. A crack. Again, it struck. and again, and again. Slowly the crack spread. It spread until small chip fell away. Eagerly Grimnak peered inside. It was empty? A black void? The shock made Grimnak blink. And then the great spirit was… inside the orb? Surrounded by nothing.

No.

Not nothing. A thing devouring even the light and space. The resulting impossible void in void had sucked in the great spirit. Such a thing should not be possible. It should have devoured itself along with the wild aura long ago. But somehow it was contained inside this orb. A hunger. Grimnak could feel it gnawing inside him. Hunger for sustenance. Hunger for experiences. Hunger for Knowledge, meaning, dreams, hope, conquest, love, sorrow, friends, enemies, discoveries, worlds, creation, destruction.

Hunger for everything.

Hunger for Grimnak.

With a shock the great spirit felt itself diminishing. Being eaten by The Hunger. With speed the spirit rushed for the opening it had made. It had to escape. It had to stop this.. this monster. These creatures  could not be allowed to leave the planet. They could not be allowed to exist. Otherwise it would one day devour Hypteians. Devour the galaxy. Devour all of existence. He sped to escape, but smaller the spirit got the greater the void of hunger felt. The spirit dwindled as the Hunger gnawed away. Grimnak pushed toward the opening. Escape was close—so close—yet shrinking as the void closed in, the shell reforming faster than it should. Faster than possible. In a panic Grimnak focused beyond the opening. To an aura in the nigh sky. His home. He closed his eyes. and

Grimnaks body woke up with a jolt. It rose slowly and looked around. The room of slumber. It was epitome of Hypteian society. Creation bolstered by the strength of other worlds. Around him was masterful of architecture. Marvels of art and science. He knew all this. But he no longer saw the beauty. He knew the effort and genius it took to make them. But he no longer felt the significance. It was as if colors were drained of all their meaning. A man walked in with his robe. A person with empty expression and tired steps. Grimnak knew his name. He knew his face. But Grimnak did not recognize him.

“Hi Mark. Ready for the for the weekend”

“Mhmm”

“Me too man. Hey, wanna grab a drink after the sift”

“Sure”

“…”

“…”

“Hey Mark, uh, I have a strange question.”

“Hm?”

“Do you feel.. strangely satisfied today? Like you had had a really good meal. But like, feel it for the whole day?”

“…Yeah.”

“Me too. Darnest thing is for some reason I know everyone else is feeling it too.”

“Weird.”

“Yeah… And I feel, like, bigger? somehow. I mean I’m not taller, I checked, and I don’t think I’m any fatter either. Just… more? You know what mean?”

“I feel ya. I mean I literally feel the same darn thing.”

“Weird”

“Mhmm”

“…”

“…”

“I still want that drink though.”