I waited silently for him to continue speaking, but after several seconds of silence, I realized he wasn't going to elaborate further on his own accord.
Finally, I couldn't stand the awkwardness anymore and decided to prompt him myself. "What kind of weird things are we talking about here?"
"Well, first off, Groot got sick, " he said flatly.
"Sick?" Tenno repeated incredulously. "How?!"
"Beats me! He got red sprouts all around his body, then he grew a cocoon and hasn't come out since," Rocket snapped irritably.
"That sounds very bad. I will be over in a second," I said tentatively, hoping it wouldn't be what he thought it would be.
A new branch of the infestation must be eradicated at all costs, I just hoped it wouldn't be that, I liked the little tree, after all.
Rocket seemed relieved by my answer because he quickly added, "Great! Meet us back on the Milano then."
I sighed heavily, feeling tired and defeated mentally. This day had been stressful enough already without any extra drama added onto it.
"Fine, I'll head over now," I said resignedly. "See you soon, guys." Then I ended the call.
I activated the thrusters and piloted the Liset over to the Guardians' ship, hoping this wouldn't turn into an even bigger nightmare than it already was.
As I arrived, I landed the Liset next to the Milano and left the Liset.
Inside the Milano, I saw everyone gathered around a large table. All eyes turned toward me as I entered. They looked worried.
A red, pulsating egg in the middle of the table bound everyone's attention. It was glowing brightly and vibrating intensely. The sound it emitted was unnerving.
I stared at it curiously while approaching the group cautiously.
It was like the eggs I had seen onboard the infested ships in my home system.
The colors were a bit different, and I couldn't feel the Hivemind's presence, but that was a good sign.
After the Technopath incident, I didn't want to risk anything.
Drax nodded solemnly when I reached them, acknowledging me before turning back toward the egg again.
"Is there anything you know about this sickness?" he asked gravely.
The rest of them turned their heads in my direction.
Their expressions ranged from anxious to hopeful.
I took another step closer to inspect the egg better before answering Drax's question with a sigh. "Unfortunately, yes," I said truthfully. "In my home system, there is something we call the Technocyte Virus. It infects living beings and technology alike and mutates them into something new, fused together, then gets controlled by the Hivemind without a mind of their own. Like that, they took over planets in my home system. They usually look like abominations once they come out of their eggs. And this looks frighteningly similar to the ones I know of."
At these words, the Guardians flinched visibly, looking at me with disturbed faces.
They remained quiet for some time, digesting what I had just told them.
Then Rocket spoke up quietly. "So Groot is going to be okay then, right?"
He looked directly into my eyes as he asked this question, his expression pleading and desperate.
The others looked at him silently, waiting for my answer expectantly.
I wanted to comfort him and say yes, but that would be a lie, and I wouldn 't do that to him.
"I don't know, we don't have conscious plants in my home system," I said, trying to be careful about my approach. The Guardians looked hopefully at me as I continued speaking.
"But I don't want to lie to you guys, the virus is known to be incredibly adaptable to any circumstance," I explained slowly. "And if it is indeed what I think it is, then I need to take precautions."
Rocket nodded understandingly, his expression saddened slightly by the news.
Gamora frowned thoughtfully before asking another question. "How do we fight against it then? How do we rescue Groot?" Her voice filled with determination.
She seemed eager to battle whatever foe stood in her path to get to Groot.
"You can't really fight against an infestation without destroying the host. Even then, there are usually nests of hives that breed them, so you have to burn down every single one and then seal off the area so the infection doesn't spread further," I said grimly.
Everyone stared at me horrified.
This was not good news for anyone involved.
Drax shook his head furiously as he yelled angrily, "NO! We will not destroy our friend!"
Gamora glared daggers into my face as she added coldly, "That's unacceptable! What other options do we have besides killing him?!" She demanded harshly.
I sighed heavily, knowing full well how important it was for them to save Groot, but this was not the way.
The chance to stop the infestation from spreading right at its root would never come again. Once it gets access to the ship's jump point mechanisms, nobody will be able to stop it from killing the whole universe and unifying it into one big organism. The only thing they seem to have here is technology and no Void tech I could find until now. Except maybe Ego, who we killed, nothing I knew of this place could stop that from happening.
Except if I kill little Groot here before he bursts his cocoon and the spores get into the air filters to infest the rest of the Guardians and the ship.
"Operator, I'm in the systems again and looked through the recorded conversations till now, and I may have a solution to your problems," Ordis suddenly says from the comms.
"You could use your reawakened Void powers and try to purify the little sapling. Something like that has worked before and led to a number of functioning companions that had not lost their minds to the hive, like the Vulpaphyla, whose parts were purified by the Family on daemos and the revived, it was never successfully done on a living subject until now though" Ordis further elaborated as I went around the table to look at the egg from different angles.
"Ok, I might have a solution, but for that you guys have to trust the process"
I said while thinking about what Ordis just told me.
If I succeed then Groot would not lose his mind and become a monster, if I fail, well, I just better not fail.
The others watched my movements closely, waiting patiently for me to continue explaining.
"My Body is able to harness the power of Void energy, which can do pretty much, depending on how you use it."
Everyone except Gamora looked confused. They had no idea what I was talking about.
But she seemed intrigued by the prospect of using Void Energy.
She smiled mischievously before asking curiously.
"What kind of abilities does it grant you?"
"That's all pretty complicated, but the main point is that it allows me to maybe purify little Groot here, something that keeps his mind intact. I can't promise anything about his appearance, though, even if it works" I replied carefully.
The Guardians exchanged looks among themselves, clearly unsure whether to try it or not.
Gamora's expression hardened as she spoke firmly. "We don't care about appearances. As long as Groot is safe, then everything else will work itself out eventually."
I nodded solemnly.
There was no doubt in her voice whatsoever.
These people truly cared about each other deeply, and they didn't want to risk losing anyone again so soon.
Rocket looked weary but hopeful nonetheless. "Okay then... Let's give this a try," he said slowly.
Everyone else agreed instantly with nods and murmurs of approval.
"Alright then," I said with renewed determination.
Time to see if this works or not!
As I approached the cocoon, everyone took several steps back.
They watched silently as I closed in on the pulsating red shell. Then I felt around and this time found the void faster than last time, seemingly adapting to the changes, and pushed away from it.
I suddenly stood there in front of the Guardians, again invisible, and went over to little Groot on the table.
Now that I was in my void form and around living beings for the first time, I noticed something different. There was a golden light in the middle of their chest, which I could see through their bodies, while also letting me see their body's contour in a blue light.
He sat there unmoving inside his cocoon. His legs and arms closed around his tiny body while his golden ball seemingly slowly turned red.
I looked at him and then placed a glowing hand onto his cocoon where his head was.
The others gasped loudly as they witnessed a blue light emitting from where my hand was, a handprint, shining brightly in comparison to the soft glow that surrounded the egg previously.
Rockets eyes widened slightly at the sight before him.
His jaw dropped open as he stared intently at my reforming hands seemingly hovering above Groot.
Gamora studied my hand closely, her expression unreadable.
Drax simply smiled warmly at us both while Peter stared transfixed at the scene unfolding right before him.
The blue light intensified as I focused even harder on purifying little Groots body.
Finally, after what felt like hours, the red cocoon started to change color slowly and the red went away from his golden core.
The egg darkened until it became completely black and then broke apart into small pieces of ash.
A single figure emerged from within the debris, standing tall amongst the shell parts.
He rubbed his eyes and looked around, seemingly confused about the situation he was in.
"Hey there little one" Rocket said as he slowly lifted him up and took him into his arms cradling him, seemingly way more concerned then he showed before.
"I am Groot" he finaly said, as he seemingly fell asleep after that from exhaustion.
"There seems to be nothing wrong with him, he is still the same abomination he was before" Drax said, getting angry looks from everyone around him.
But then everyone's heads suddenly snapped to Groot again as they catched something with their sideeyes on groots back, that they didn't notice before.
Eventually Peter spoke, being the first to do so as everyone else was still stunned beyond belief.
"What the fuck is that"
Two red tendrils seemingly sprouted out of his shoulders, waving in the air like they were caught in a slow wind.
Everyone looked at them confusedly. They were all unsure about how to proceed next.
Then Gamora came forward. She reached out carefully toward the tendrils and touched one of them softly.
She gasped when she made contact with the skin. "It's soft..." she muttered quietly.
Drax frowned deeply as he inspected the new appendages closely. "How strange."
"Operator, the tendrils seem to be some kind of energy, I'm just not sure what it is. But definitely not Void energy, that is for sure."
The crew seemingly reacted all on their own, but I had something different on my mind.
The Technocyte-Virus normally mutated their spawn to the point of no recognition, this was a very mild transformation from before, so it could only mean one thing.
The only ones that got a fusion instead of mutation from the virus, that had to be perfectly in sync and would not be disproportionate, were important aspects of the Hive.
The main avatars of the Hiveminds themself.
Groot has become one of the Hives' Hiveminds.
While trying to purify little Groot here with void energy, I didn't expect this outcome.
Or, for the lack of a better word, and the absence of the rest of the hive, he is this universe's Hivemind.
That was only possible in theory before, but with the lack of a ruler of the infestation in this universe, the first one who got there also got the prize.
And the lucky one here seems to be our little Young Treeling.
This could actually work really well together.
If we don't mess it up...
Now the real question is, how do I explain that to these guys?
"Operator, may I suggest you stop using your void powers for now and return to your Warframe? The rest of the crew seems to want an explanation."
I nodded silently and removed myself from the room, taking a step back into Rhino, who was then moving again.
The guardians looked at me suspiciously while waiting patiently for an explanation.
They seemed anxious and eager to get some answers from me.
Especially Rocket, who held onto little Groot tightly as he stared at me intently.
His eyes were filled with uncertainty. "So what exactly happened?" he asked hesitantly.
I sighed deeply before answering him honestly. "To make things short, I have no idea. However, there are two possibilities I can think of."
Everyone listened closely as I continued speaking.
Rocket nodded slowly. "Well, tell us anyway."
I nodded, keeping him calm for the time being.
"The first possibility is that his body rejected the infestation and mutated into something new something similar to an Infested plant that can survive outside its home world. The second possibility is that somehow the infestation took hold of a piece of void energy I used to purify the infection and used that energy as a catalyst to fully bond with him, making him one of the Hives' Avatars, " I explained carefully.
No one said anything after hearing what I just told them. They all looked shocked beyond belief at my words alone.
Gamora frowned deeply before inquiring further on the topic.
"What does that mean exactly?" she asked curiously.
Drax scowled angrily before adding bitterly, "Are we going to need to kill our friend after all?" His voice was full of sorrow and despair at the thought of such an action being needed.
"That depends entirely on little Groot here himself," I replied quickly. "If he still retains his memories and personality, then I don't see any reason why we would need to hurt him intentionally. A mutant is no threat, especially if he does not produce spores, which does not seem to be the case, at least until now. If he is the Hives Avatar, I just hope he will keep his own personality, then he could even be really helpful in many regards."
I explained as I thought about the possibility of a tame Technocyte-Virus Hivemind on our side.