How are Zerg made?

Chapter 3: Fit · Chapter 3: Adhesion · Dividing once more—this was The Organism's next objective after its calls into the darkness went unanswered. · Coping with the surging, overwhelming forces that pulsed through the dark, the single cell stabilized its form as best it could, striving to maintain a state of relative equilibrium. · The division began again. · Repeating the process from before, in this timeless darkness, The Organism’s Cellular Replication quickly reached its final stage. · The sensation of shackles falling away surged forth once more. The Organism could even feel the pitch-black world around it beginning to change. · As the separating outer membrane fully formed, the two single cells began to drift apart, and the shackles reappeared, slowly locking into place. · The feeling of lightness began to fade, replaced by an indescribable sense of stagnation. The Organism did not want to accept this; it wanted to maintain that state of being. · “...Don’t go.” · The Organism called out, instinctively. · There should have been no response, but this world was full of strange and peculiar things. · The Replicant, not yet fully separated from the mother cell, actively pressed itself against The Organism. Those surging forces, after the Replicant adjusted its shape accordingly, became a binding force that held them together. · “So happy...” · “...What is ‘happy’?” · As always, it was a question it could not answer. · The Organism shifted its focus inward. It suddenly discovered that what it could ‘see’ had increased. · Initially, it could only ‘see’ a single point by relying on its senses. · Then, after being attacked by that bacteriophage, its perception expanded from a point to its entire body. · Now, its vision within the pitch-black world had expanded again; it could see the internal state of the Replicant pressed tightly against it. · Indeed, this was a change—a transformation just like the previous one. · The Organism felt joyful because of this. It did not understand why it felt joy, but its instincts dictated this feeling, so it followed that instinct. · “Want more... more change...” · This was desire. The Organism had learned ‘desire’ without even realizing it. · Driven by this desire, it wanted to continue Cellular Replication. · Materials for Cellular Replication were not scarce; they were everywhere in the darkness. Every time it was swept up and carried by those surging forces, The Organism would inevitably collide with a heap of such things. · With the help of the Replicant pressed against the mother cell, The Organism quickly collected the necessary materials. · “More... more...” · Amidst the pleasant bio-electric currents within The Organism, a new division began. · The number of members huddled together in the dark world increased by two again, and the Replicant, under The Organism’s direction, also underwent Cellular Replication. · What followed was the double-impact sensation of the ‘shackles’ being unlocked. · “So many… so wonderful……” · Enjoying this feeling of total upgrade, the unlocking of the ‘shackles’ brought with it even more fresh things. Compared to the hazy, indistinct sensations of when it was a single cell, everything seemed to be gradually becoming clear and structured. · A greater longing followed, driving The Organism to act. · If the adhesion of just four individuals could produce such a level of awareness, what would happen if more Replicants gathered into a cluster? · The Organism impatiently began the act of Cellular Replication. · Four split gradually into eight, and with them came an endless freshness, the comfort of clear thinking, and countless other indescribable sensations. These feelings captivated The Organism deeply; it had tasted the marrow and knew the flavor, unable to stop. · Regrettably, these sensations did not last long. · A spiral-operating force swept up the cluster of eight cells. The fragile, single-cell aggregate immediately met its fate: disintegration. · “No!” · The Organism resisted, but it was a futile effort. No matter how it transformed its shape, it could not defy the force emerging from the darkness. · Once again, it was left as a lone individual, drifting aimlessly. · Falling from heaven into hell. · “…Painful…” · Having experienced being clustered with seven Replicants, The Organism found the state of being a single individual once more even more painful and miserable. It did not want to stay in this state for even a moment. · The replication continued. Compared to before, the longing was now even more intense. · As the new Replicant appeared, while enjoying the newfound clarity of thought, The Organism realized belatedly that the empty shell of the temperate bacteriophage was still firmly attached to its exterior, not having been cast off by the sudden forces like the other Replicants. · “Why was it not separated?” · With this question, The Organism began to observe the empty shell of the bacteriophage. · “Six protein-based tail-like structures dock with the cell membrane to form a single entity, thereby ensuring that external forces cannot easily separate it.” · “What is ‘protein’?” · “And what is a ‘cell membrane’?” · These were the answers The Organism received subconsciously. It did not understand why it could obtain such profound answers just by observing. · Like before, it could not comprehend this situation. · Abandoning the pursuit of questions without beginnings or ends, The Organism began to focus on collecting materials. Since the problem was already solved, only action remained. · The key points were the six tail-like structures with linking functions. Thanks to that special perspective, The Organism could easily see the macromolecular structure of those six scaffold-like tails. · It placed the collected materials into its cytoplasm. · The tangled core began to partially unwind, making small, experimental attempts to find that sequence of bacteriophage genetic chain hidden within its own. · After countless attempts, The Organism finally found the part it wanted—the genetic blueprint for assembling the bacteriophage tail. · The genetic chain began to play its intended role. The single strand captured the free-floating macromolecular clusters in the cytoplasm to complete itself. · Soon, the macromolecular clusters in the cytoplasm were exhausted, replaced by dozens of protein structures identical to the bacteriophage’s tail. · These structures possessed the same function as the bacteriophage’s tail. · That is, they could form a single entity with any cell membrane they touched. · Once finished, the The Organism impatiently transported these protein structures from its cytoplasm to its outer cell membrane. · The scaffold-like protein structures extended naturally from the gaps in the cell membrane, forming a single entity with the membrane of the Replicant pressed against the mother cell. · Following this, more protein structures were added one after another. The connection between the two single cells became increasingly unbreakable. Those omnipresent surging forces were no longer a threat that could separate them, but rather a catalyst that helped them move even faster. · [END]