Dr. Ariel Handson knew something was wrong the instant she drew breath. The air was fresh and tinged with salt, a gush of wind settling into a breeze as she blinked away the haziness of her vision as the darkness that enveloped her vision. Tiny white specks laced the black sky, the moon irrevocably shattered upon a double take. No planet she knew of heralded such a unique, broken satellite but conceded that she was no space rusher. Yet, it defied all science. The situation itself shouldn't be. Shouldn't exist.

It was wrong because, by all rights, she should be dead. No more than a husk of infested flesh and bone riddled with too many of those damn bullets to breathe, let alone still be alive. The how and the why were muddled, blurred even. Memories refused to answer her call.

As much as she'd love nothing more than to ponder the prospect of her liveliness, Ariel considered herself a practical woman. Science accepted little else after all.

Her tail hefted as her body lifted upwards, fresh and strong carapace doting unnaturally potent muscle from her form. Mandibles flinched as she drew in a deep breath, before exhaling with a slow calmness.

That's right. Infested. That's what she was. A product of the Zerg's unending need to assimilate. Human's weren't exactly an exception to that rule. Nobody was. It was hard, so hard to remember what happened.

But the past was for later. The environment seemed tropical if her senses were to be trusted. The salted breeze was back again, dancing with her brown hair with glee. An ocean? Clementine narrowed behind framed glasses.

Oceans surmised two distinct possibilities. An island, or a coastline. Or both if the said island sported a large enough mass.

A snapped twig alerted her, fired up the infested doctor's senses into overdrive, brandishing claws and a low hiss as she crouched down an admittedly feral pouching position. Her tongue licked her mandibles as the shrubbery shifted and grumbled to reveal...

Ariel's felt her eyes widen like saucers as she took in the site. It was a infested medic, but by the gods she was in a terrible, terrible shape.

Perhaps it was the knowledge of understanding she would not be the only infested upon this... place, for lack of better being able to identify where exactly this 'place' was. Perhaps it was her naturally inclination as a Doctor. Regardless, Ariel's armored feet clawed into the dirt as she rushed to aid the now stumbling infested medic, barely in time to stop her from falling. The weight was immense, Ariel's swiftly but gently sliding her down to the soft dirt without delay. Her mind blazed, thoughts blinking in and out in a rush. She needed, no, pleaded for help. Orange orbs met orange and it was there Ariel understood.

This medic. This Infested Terran, did not wish to die. Her name was Emily. How she knew that was for later.

Ariel went to work immediately, advanced medical knowledge from years cramped in medical school shoving her forward. Ariel grasped the still active nano-boosted syringe healer fused to the medic's armor encrusted arm. Bones and metal cracked as she aimed Emily's own arm towards her center, where the mainstay of the damage evident as blood oozed to from it's rightful confines. Ariel suddenly understanding exactly why the medic could not heal herself. Her arm was not broken, it was shattered. The pain would be unbearable for most, but somehow Ariel doubted Emily was in too much pain. Ariel felt Emily's gratitude, no matter how it was possible, it was a welcome appreciation nonetheless.

Ariel once again blessed her expertise in the other fields other than healing. CMC Power Armor was a marvel of Terran ingenuity, and she more of less understood it's inner workings. Yet for all the good it got her, the infestation occupying the young lady's suit did little to help her understanding. The injector mechanism was located upon her forearm, though the syringes themselves were absolutely loaded with smaller Zerg creature, swimming about in the tubes like some kind of monstrous tadpoles. It took the better part of two minutes before progress was made. The sound of shallow breathing and fumbling of metal was hardly ignored. Then a clicking noise ramped up, small but noticeable. The good doctor readjusted Emily's arm so it was more of less directed as herself. Ariel shifted her grasp as Emily's mind mentally pulled the trigger her own salvation in the form of Nanoboosted syringes erupting from her arm, whatever bio mechanical contraption receiving the link from Emily's mind to heal.

A blaze of green erupted from the syringe, nanomachines and very-tiny Zerg tadpoles bubbled in pockets of green exploded into action. Injured Terran and Zerg flesh twitched in pain before suddenly growing in potent rapacity. Surprisingly, hunks of tattered armor also merged back into, somehow growing back into place. The once smaller Zerg must have merged with Emily's infested flesh, for Ariel could spot no sign of them.

With a release of breath Ariel did not know she withheld, Ariel slowly unclasped the infested medic's arm, darting her eyes over her one last time as the medic's own bizarre equipment repaired the damage, the Zerg biology coursing through her system doubtlessly helping speed up the process.

Ariel had so many questions to ask, yet she knew that asking such questions would be baffling at best and, with her luck, insane at worst.

Ariel shifted her gaze up, admiring the night sky. Would this sun's UV radiation harm them just as it had the other Infested? Ariel was far from willing to test the theory. With a grunt, Ariel slid her carapace body beneath Emily's own without delay, heaving with the additional weight of biomass and metal as the medic silently willed herself along to Ariel's plan. The infested doctor's locked eye's briefly.

"We need shelter." An understatement but no less true. Her glasses gleamed in front of glowing orange hued eyes as she spotted mountains in the distance. They weren't far, barely an hour's walk at best. Her patient had offered no comment. Mountains likely meant caves. Caves meant safety.

"Can you walk?" Without assistance, but the meaning was understood. Emily's headed nodded, twin appendages each tipped in a single sharp spine lifted briefly. Good.

With probably too much care, Ariel removed herself from the now standing medic. Ariel briefly adjusted her mandibles to close, eye's scanning over the heaving hulk of metal muscle that was Emily.

They shared the same clementine eyes that much was certain. The CMC Power Armor wasn't so much in ruin as it was overgrown. Zerg biomass slathered most of her in thick brown. Spots of white were few and far between, but it was there. Her tainted red cross gleamed proudly despite itself. Tendrils akin to most infested groped the exterior armor plating, moving as if only to ensure itself that it was indeed still alive.

The combat shield was actually very impressive. Its original status was quite protective, no doubt. It protected and saved just as many lives. Ariel suspected the combat shielded boasted more armor then there more gun driven counterparts to compensate for a medic's lack of weapon.

But now? It was damn near a battering wall with spikes. Zerg flesh tottered on its surface, thick brown flesh and tough chitin overlapping once pure white metal in an effort to defend itself and the woman hosting them. Earnest spikes stuck out from its middle and down, giving Emily's a well worth chance of knocking some heads around. Ariel approved.

Ariel chimed herself mentally. She could walk and run if need be. That was all that mattered for now. Emily stayed her silent vow, but somehow, she got the sense the other Doctor agreed. Strange really.

And with that in mind, the journey for shelter was underway.

•∆•

Ariel had time. Night time stroked it's prime and with that came a sense of comfort unfamiliar to the former Doctor. Humidity blanketed the thick foliage without remorse. It didn't bother her. And Emily actually seemed to find happiness it it's wet warmth.

Taking point wasn't a bad idea. She was smaller, more agile than Emily's imposing bulk. But this action carried with it the pretense of danger. Infested or not, Ariel valued caution over all else. She liked to think Emily would agree.

Speaking of, the armored medic was looking quite well for herself. Infestation aside, the defensive joints and plates broached a fresh paint job along with the fleshy reinforced carapace that grew upon it like a hungry moss that just found the perfect host, the Zerg flesh night cancerous in it's growth as it worked it's way in and out. Tendrils blessed with carapace protection and piercing tips caressed over the hardy regenerative armor plating that entombed Emily's body, with all but her eyes shrouded in shadow. It's concealment birthed from the angle of the overrun interior, covering all put the upper portion of her face, exposing the same orange eyes Ariel herself shared, touched by an a small strand of braided blonde hair.

Ariel did not know where the woman underneath started and the armor ended. But she held her tongue. It was probably a rude gesture to ask. Ariel wasn't even sure if Emily herself knew.

The hike was ultimately uneventful. Not a single sliver of of untamed life. Trees and leaves faded to torrents of untouched sands. It was cold, but again, irrelevant. Ariel smiled as the typical Viking phrase sung true, fortune favoring their small exploration with a cave. It was wide, not to talk and looked deep enough. The fact that Ariel could see deep into the cave at her current distance despite the pitch blackness of night was as atonishing as it was alarming.

As the Infested duo neared the hopefully natural rock formation, Ariel glanced back up at Emily. The gesture was understood. No words were exchanged. They weren't needed.

Emily took point this time, her heavy shield armor hoping to bash and protect if it's pulsing was any indication. Ariel followed like a shadow, lingering upon the cave walls with a quietness a Spyling would envy.

Minutes ticked by. When the cave end was reached without their progress contested, the small excitement of anticipation Ariel hadn't even noticed before dwindled. Is this what Infested feel when they fight? Pleased happiness from prolonged combat Ariel mentally chuckled. For all her work in attempting to cure the hyperactive virus, she likely only contributed to making it stronger. It was irony at its finest.

Emily fell with the grace of a blind Ultralisk, the ground shuttering at her impact. Ariel say next to the Infested medic, not tired but not quite as a active as she felt earlier. Like she was missing something. But what?

It didn't matter. Not now. Emily looked... perhaps slothful? She was awake, alive and aware. Just muted. And slower with her moments as she shifted into a sitting position. Ariel clicked her mandibles, the noise echoing through the cave.

"...Are you okay?" Ariel's concern became known, needed or not.

Emily's nod was so small Ariel wouldn't have noticed it if not for her perceptive vision.

Good. "That's good."

A thought erupted suddenly in the Doctor's mind. She voiced it not a second later.

"Do we need food to survive?"

That got a response. Emily's glowing orbs shifted to stare into Ariel's. She didn't know how, but Ariel felt the older medic's concern. How she knew that too was a question for another time.

Food had potential for problems, hence the concern. Should they hunt? Look for food? All of this assumed they needed it. So did they? Ah, the question repeats itself.

Ariel had no idea. Emily probably didn't either. They weren't human. Not anymore. Half Zerg, Half Human. Hybrids. Monsters.

If didn't think they needed food for prolonged survival. Then again, Infested Terrans exactly weren't meant for longevity. The weight of that single fact alone broke Ariel's heart.

What purpose did a Zerg not meant to survive have? What was their end goal? What reason did they exist past the simplicity of fighting and dying in droves, desperate for their death to have an impact.

Was that her fate? A once astute scientist and doctor destined to plummet into the pits of inevitable self-destruction?

No.

No. It couldn't be.

A spared glance at Emily held nothing, but this woman, this reverse killer, was just as much a doctor as she was. Infestation didn't change that.

The will to live was strong with her. It was a beacon for the distraught Ariel, a binding of sorts.

Emily wanted to live, to survive. It was all Ariel needed.

She would survive. Infested we're not like other Zerg. Humans we're special. Humanity was it's own species no matter the form. They weren't so easily assimilated. They were unique enough to herald their own sub-species of Zerg. Not binded, not bound to some all-encompassing hivemind, nor enslaved by a greater imposing well. Controlled, yes, but they could survive without it. Infested did not require overriding will to stay sane. It just helped give them purpose. Zerg needed control less they slaughter each other. Infested didn't kill each other, unlike the Zerg. Not naturally. It was a petty victory perhaps but Ariel would take it nonetheless.

Even as a human, there was never a end goal, just a happy go lucky philosophy that lived an extremely short life span.

Yet, if the Infested were Zerg and at the same time not, then everything ultimately swung back around to Ariel's original question.

What was her purpose?

"There isn't one..." the glass adorning woman whispered, not noticing Emily's attention was drawn.

"There isn't one!" Ariel beamed, smiling as well as her mandibles would allow. Emily spoke not words, nor did she communicate her thoughts, but that was fine.

Ariel was happy. She would make her own goal, her own purpose. She would survive, learn, adapt and grow in a way no human or Zerg would ever be able to.

It was a rather fantastic sensation to feel.

The pitch-black walls of the caves vibrated with quiet laughter as a distraught doctor and her quiet companion now sought to fulfill a reason to live for no one else but themselves, and their futures.

AN: Hey hey guys. Firstly, sorry for the mix up if you have witnessed it. I was uncertain which account I wished to post this story on (I have two). Figured that since this is a fresh start, I'd post this on a fresh account. I feel the need to just point out that some of these early Chapters have already been pre-written in advance. I stopped a short while due to irl complications, so forgive me if some of the writing it's up to par. In my opinion, it is… satisfactory, but I do promise the writing should be better over time. That being said, this was somewhat inspired by Coeur Al'Aran but in this particular instance, I have no direct references. Check him out regardless. His plots are well structured and his writing well enough to hold your attention. This idea is mine originally, but his writing style made me think of certain factors I hadn't considered earlier. Ugh, this has taken far too much of your guys time, so without further ado, hope you all enjoy!