ORIGIN

It was time for the walking one to leave. And it was then, so deep in their conversation that it was wrapping to a close, that the two of them had never formally introduced themselves.

While the Chorus did not need names to remember others by, it knew them by the heat of their body, the unique vibrations of their voice and the heaviness with which they walked, the unique chemical signals of their skin...it saw the purpose in them. To attach a label to these things, especially in conversation. They had, after all, given each other names, and given name to their system as a whole.

"We will prosper. Take care. But before you go, take with you our name. We," and here, all the voices of the network chimed in at once, "are the Chorus." They quieted, and Lichen would be treated to the singular voice, the one she'd heard on the day she'd found their amber, alone and defenseless. "And I am the heart, the first, Abdicus. I am the one you buried."

Lichen was correct to feel honored, for there may never be another soul in the caves that would hear the name "Abdicus". It had no intention of uttering its name to anyone else, but Lichen had seen them at their most vulnerable and helped them. She had given them a future. Without her...nothing would ever be possible for them. And so they would honor her with the gift of their Heart that would speak to few others.

"And you as well, Lichen." They would look out for her. A part of them felt a pang of regret that they could not offer to take some of them with her, to plant. They had learned already that any piece of them disconnected, any spores they shed, would not be them. They would quickly die without their magic to sustain them.

They rejoiced at her promise, looking forward to the study of Others. They would prepare places to contain them, they decided. Perhaps tangles of mycelia so thick they could not escape. And if one proved to be hostile, they would destroy them.

"Take care, Lichen..." They liked her name too, and for a while they listened to her fading steps in the forest before they continued their work, growing and observing.

*exit