Categories > Games > Ecco the Dolphin > The Metaspheres
One sphere travelled straight into the half-built Vortex hive, unnoticed except by one drone. The drone tried to pick up the sphere and take it to the Vortex Queen, but it could not move the sphere, and the drone's strange behavior, coupled with the fact that none of the other drones could sense what it could, convinced the Queen to send some of her drones to kill and eat the 'hallucinating' one.
But the Metasphere did not know this.
Above the Vortex hive, the battle between the Singers and the Vortex boiled; inside the hive, a lone Singer was fighting ever closer to its heart, where the Vortex Queen dwelled. The strange material of the hive made it difficult for him to look beyond his eyes, and so every new corner was dangerous, but the lone Singer was confident he could pass through it to the Queen, for he was Ecco and had survived a journey through the hive the Vortex had abandoned on their home planet. He had made it into their food preparation machine, which operated with a myriad of shifting currents, designed to disorient prey and drive them to their deaths, but Ecco was intelligent and once again empowered by the Asterite, able to swim with or against the currents as he needed to, able to fight off any Vortex drones that tried to herd him.
But now Ecco had reached an impasse. Ahead of him, covering the only route he could take, there was a wall. He had tried singing at it, both normally and with the Battle Song the Asterite had granted him, and he had tried ramming it, but nothing had worked. He swam away, trying to find a different path; when he eventually ended up back at the wall, he saw a pair of drones floating in front of it. Before Ecco could sneak up on them, one of the drones placed a forepaw on the wall, and to Ecco's surprise, a section of the wall began to open, one half going up, the other going down.
Ecco tried to dash through the opening, but one of the drones noticed the movement and rushed at him, knocking him off-balance and forcing him to fight it; with his Asterite-enhanced Battle Song, the fight was quick, but already the wall was closing again, and the second drone came at him. By the time Ecco had defeated it as well, the opening was too small for Ecco to swim through. He snapped his jaws in frustration, then looked at the area with his Song of Sight, trying to find something that could help him. He did; nearby, somehow inside the hive, was a Metasphere.
"Ah," he sang to himself, "I think that this one will help me get past this strange wall... what better thing to be in this terrible place than one of the Vortex?" Ecco swam to the glowing sphere, touched it -
- and was momentarily dazzled. The world was colored in a very different way than he was used to, given a strange purple tint. Ecco looked around, and after a little began to get his bearings again. The Metasphere had indeed changed him into a Vortex drone, as he had predicted. There were his new, two-fingered paws, tipped in fearsome claws, and behind him was the strange tail; in front of him, Ecco recognised the Vortex machinery, as well as the wall that blocked his way. Awkwardly at first, he swam up to the wall, looking along its sides for the magic place that would open it. After a little, he found a depression shaped much like a Vortex forepaw. Ecco looked at one of his paws, then rested it in the depression as the true drone had a few minutes before; the wall opened, and Ecco swam through.
On the other side, Ecco could hear the whooshing and snorting of the feeding Vortex Queen. He swam on to where there was a narrow entrance to her chambers, but as he came to the threshold, there was a resistance and a flash -
- and Ecco returned to his normal form. He closed his eyes and opened them again, colors back to what he was used to, then backed up and charged at the strange water. He still saw the flash, still felt the resistance, but the strange water was no match for his top speed, his abilities enhanced by the Asterite as they were. Ecco floated at the top of the chamber for a few seconds, looking at the Vortex Queen with his eyes and song, and then charged down to fight.
But the Metasphere did not know this.
Above the Vortex hive, the battle between the Singers and the Vortex boiled; inside the hive, a lone Singer was fighting ever closer to its heart, where the Vortex Queen dwelled. The strange material of the hive made it difficult for him to look beyond his eyes, and so every new corner was dangerous, but the lone Singer was confident he could pass through it to the Queen, for he was Ecco and had survived a journey through the hive the Vortex had abandoned on their home planet. He had made it into their food preparation machine, which operated with a myriad of shifting currents, designed to disorient prey and drive them to their deaths, but Ecco was intelligent and once again empowered by the Asterite, able to swim with or against the currents as he needed to, able to fight off any Vortex drones that tried to herd him.
But now Ecco had reached an impasse. Ahead of him, covering the only route he could take, there was a wall. He had tried singing at it, both normally and with the Battle Song the Asterite had granted him, and he had tried ramming it, but nothing had worked. He swam away, trying to find a different path; when he eventually ended up back at the wall, he saw a pair of drones floating in front of it. Before Ecco could sneak up on them, one of the drones placed a forepaw on the wall, and to Ecco's surprise, a section of the wall began to open, one half going up, the other going down.
Ecco tried to dash through the opening, but one of the drones noticed the movement and rushed at him, knocking him off-balance and forcing him to fight it; with his Asterite-enhanced Battle Song, the fight was quick, but already the wall was closing again, and the second drone came at him. By the time Ecco had defeated it as well, the opening was too small for Ecco to swim through. He snapped his jaws in frustration, then looked at the area with his Song of Sight, trying to find something that could help him. He did; nearby, somehow inside the hive, was a Metasphere.
"Ah," he sang to himself, "I think that this one will help me get past this strange wall... what better thing to be in this terrible place than one of the Vortex?" Ecco swam to the glowing sphere, touched it -
- and was momentarily dazzled. The world was colored in a very different way than he was used to, given a strange purple tint. Ecco looked around, and after a little began to get his bearings again. The Metasphere had indeed changed him into a Vortex drone, as he had predicted. There were his new, two-fingered paws, tipped in fearsome claws, and behind him was the strange tail; in front of him, Ecco recognised the Vortex machinery, as well as the wall that blocked his way. Awkwardly at first, he swam up to the wall, looking along its sides for the magic place that would open it. After a little, he found a depression shaped much like a Vortex forepaw. Ecco looked at one of his paws, then rested it in the depression as the true drone had a few minutes before; the wall opened, and Ecco swam through.
On the other side, Ecco could hear the whooshing and snorting of the feeding Vortex Queen. He swam on to where there was a narrow entrance to her chambers, but as he came to the threshold, there was a resistance and a flash -
- and Ecco returned to his normal form. He closed his eyes and opened them again, colors back to what he was used to, then backed up and charged at the strange water. He still saw the flash, still felt the resistance, but the strange water was no match for his top speed, his abilities enhanced by the Asterite as they were. Ecco floated at the top of the chamber for a few seconds, looking at the Vortex Queen with his eyes and song, and then charged down to fight.
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