The process of getting Juggernaut back to Ursa was long and painful. Mostly for him. Finally, with the help of many lessers, he was hauled back to home base. Mother's love was his anesthetic, and his mind swam in it for hours afterward as he sat within the nest.

His eyes followed the movements of cleaners lazily as they made their way through the caves, always occupied with the many little tasks maintenance required.

He'd never been wounded like this before. His own body forced him into stasis, exhausted beyond belief. He wondered if even Mother could override that instinct - and then realised she already had. He was, at the end of the day, an extension of her. He was absent of the selfish drive of outsiders.

He only felt this need to rest and recover because she wanted it for him. He could not serve her vision effectively in this state. He felt no guilt over it, because she knew the truth and it was her gift to Juggernaut that he knew it too.

Still, his leg hurt, and bad. The pain itself was a kind of call to the network for assistance - he didn't want to demand anything from his family, not consciously.

@Siren

Siren does not spend a lot of time within Mother's nest - but this time it had come with a specific reason. One of its siblings had been hurt, Siren could feel the pain through the Hivemind's collective. One upon a time Siren's siblings helped her to recover from something evil feeling, so she will do the same here.

When Siren moves through the nest and finds herself near Juggernaut, the first thing Siren sees is the severed leg. Unfortunate, unsymmetrical. The instincts inside demand Siren to fix it, and Siren will offer to do so. Even if Juggernaut is not actively asking for it. The Hive looks out for one another.

"You are injured." Wow, stating the obvious. "Do you require assistance?" Siren is sure she has a spell that can fix this.

@Juggernaut

He felt Siren before he saw her, which was a feat considering the extent of his vision. He recalled the agony that tore through his head when he... Well, when he failed. He had done that a couple times now.

He couldn't feel any resentment or malice from or inside her, nothing but that itch to fix what had been broken, scattered, disorganised. But there are some things that only Mother knew. And there were some, more distant things, that she did not.

She addressed the matter at hand directly. Who was Juggernaut to deny a sibling the opportunity to repair symmetry? "I would like it." He mumbled.

It presented the stump of its leg. The cut was incredibly clean, its pereopod severed at the last and largest section. All debris it had collected in the journey from Eridanus to Ursa had been removed since. "The only injury."

"I won." he added.

@Chishio

Siren is a direct creature when it comes to her family - something Juggernaut is experiencing now. There is no reason for her to hide things from them, and thus she does not use the same tactics she may use otherwise. Siren would ask to see the injury, but the best she can do is inspect it with clicks of sound to pull the image to her head.

A clean cut, easily healed. Very good. Bad for the perfection of which is Order, good for healing. Thankfully, Juggernaut should not have to worry about the healing portion, Siren is here! And always ready to show off her magic.

Siren hums when Juggernaut says he won the fight and only sustained one injury. "Congratulations on the win!" She feels prideful for her sibling. Yes! Very good!

Siren has lost the only fight she picked, perhaps some training is in order. "I am going to use the spell now, so don't move."

Siren watches as Juggernaut's flesh begins to restructure itself, it would be gross if it weren't so fascinating. Siren hasn't used that spell before, the way the body quickly heals over to look as perfect as it was before is quite strange. Still, it's good for situations like this.

"There you go! All better now."

@Juggernaut

Juggernaut stiffened, joints clicking into stasis as he allowed Siren to repair the damage. he recalled the times Mother had forced it to still. The force of her command was almost painful, the structure of his body no longer his own. It was a needed reminder he was made to serve her will first, and his second. He found it comforting.

The sensation of his limb growing back was even stranger. The reborn tissue itched and ached terribly, but Juggernaut kept still.

It moved only once the sensation had left it fully, tapping the limb gently against the ice, as if it wasn't sure if it was real. It then rose, carefully, feeling its wings press up against the walls of the chamber. The leg did not give - a success.

His body glowed with pride in his sibling, sending his thank you through the network with a surge of affection and gratitude.

@Siren

Juggernaut's quietness does not bother Siren. Normally she's also not the talkative type, preferring to use clicks and calls to take sight of an area before silently stalking things nearby. It's different around the Hive - her family.

When Siren watches the leg work, thankfully all is well. That spell is not one Siren uses a lot - or has the skill for, really. So it coming out good is a success!

"Do you need anything else?"

@Juggernaut

The true answer to that question was no, not really. Juggernaut had his leg back. Life was good again. Life was right.

But it'd been a while since it got the opportunity to talk to this particular sibling. It would be a shame to dismiss her so quickly. Perhaps a conversation was in order?

A brief one. He was exhausted.

His energy shifted from gratitude to a gentle caution, stretching across the connection. Query. "What do you... remember, of Leo?" If that wasn't too much to ask.

@Siren

Siren feels the tone shift through the familiar link - her own emotion clearly swapping to one of caution and concern. Matching somewhat with Juggernaut's own. "Has something happened?" Did her sibling forget or is there something else going on?

Siren remembers, well, everything. Mostly remembers being pretty useless to the fight as a whole - not knowing much about combat or the world around her at the time. Some guilt travels through at that, but Siren does her best to push that thought away. None of the Hive should feel guilty for being unable to provide right away. Siren just needs to work harder.

Maybe she'll go infect some corner of a cave soon. That would be good.

Siren thinks of the strange... Oily creature she fought under the water. Completely dark with bright eyes - a strange one. Siren also remembers losing miserably - the chaos of so many voices and emotions in her head was too much to handle. She'd gone into chrysalis. And then had become... Tainted. Now, though, Siren is fine.

"I remember that we lost." That I LOST. Siren has the urge to hurt something. To RIP and TEAR at the beings who do NOT BELONG. There are no chaos beasts here, Siren is at home. So Siren can only sit and stay with her tired sibling. Everything will be okay.

"There was... A lot happening. Was there something specific you would want to know?" If this were anyone else asking questions, Siren might've gone silent and ignored them. Siren cares too much about her family to at least not try to help.

@Juggernaut

He switched to comfort again, reassuring his sister. "No." Not recently, at least. He'd been thinking back further than that, to the battle they shared. The wounds were older. Juggernaut hoped they were healing.

They'd both been young and inexperienced, and it'd cost them gravely. But Siren had truly fallen that day, one of the handful that'd been sent to chrysalis by enemy forces. Juggernaut's first taste of death. Not the true kind, though. Not yet.

But even that momentary absence had shaken him deeply. He'd realised he could lose more than just himself, and he'd tried to wish that away.

He'd failed. We know this already.

They'd lost more than just Leo that day. Juggernaut felt the itch of violence from Siren, and it strengthened its affirmations. She would find vengeance, in the spilling of blood and oil. Oddly, the thought sickened it.

"Nothing, specific... Just what you saw. Felt." He had been unable to connect at this level in the battle, and he felt he'd neglected her by not asking.

@Siren

Siren, only realizing what Juggernaut meant when he explains sends an apology through their shared link. Siren may feel rage at the loss - and want to take her revenge just as much, but it's not fair to subject everyone else to those feelings. It's only Siren's fault that she lost - she needs to do more.

It was cycles ago, and yet Siren is still coming to terms with the loss. She pauses to calm herself. These things are easier explained by sending those feelings and images across through the mindlink. There is deep settled confusion when she was attacked by an opponent she hadn't seen before. Anger at the prospect of losing - and then nothing as her chrysalis overtook everything else. There was no good feelings from Mother, only the feeling of failure inside.

Bad Drones don't get rewarded. After that, Siren had returned to normal duties to make up for it. So all is well now - but the memory of failure will be stuck with her forever. You will get better. Healing Juggernaut brings those good feelings. She'd done something good! Her purpose of keeping the Hive well is being done! Still, it is not enough. Siren will have to work hard for it to become enough.

"How did you feel?" It is only when the curiosity takes over does Siren come out of her head.

@Juggernaut