Acolyte Infection

Into battle I flew. But how could I have known what awaited, what cruel fate waited for me and my kiith siblings? I flew into battle unaware of what demons rested silently in the dark. A flash of light burst forth at us from the black of space, and then everything blurred. My console twisted and crackled as it reshaped itself, bands of my own skin winding around my arms and legs like wires melded to the controls of my ship. Then a terrible pain struck my foot. I looked down with curious fear to see what had happened. In a blinding flash, my legs were gone. In their place: a winding network of wires and flesh, intertwined in a terrifying new geometry. I reached down in a panic to remove this wire, only to find my arms were not attached to my body. Not anymore. My chest opened and split as it spun and twisted, forming many small strings of flesh. For a split second, I saw my heart beating. And then it stopped. And then it faded into nothing. More than a cold mass of something I used to be able to identify. Pain filled my mind as my neck was torn. And then my head. But I did not die. Instead, I became more. I saw everything. I heard everything. I saw wars being fought with ships I’d never seen, or never imagined possible. I saw infections rising across the surface of a planet, a sea of blood in all directions. I saw frightened crewmen running for their lives as hallways twisted inward and turned, as their being was warped and preserved. So overwhelmed with all these images, I neglected to notice my own pain, for I was so filled with sorrow for the countless lives being lost. And then it all faded away. And I felt a great sadness. First for myself, being locked away in this terminal black. My mind, a prisoner. And secondly, for the thousands of lives I saw... as the Beast smiled.