In a flash.
Aurekan found itself in the void. It raised a hand and saw surging energy.
It had clearly left its original shell behind and was no longer using so many wearable devices, yet it could still feel the energy within itself.
If the energy within it were compared to light, then even the light released by the sun would be no more than a firefly's glow before it.
But before Aurekan could fully process its transformation, a surging hunger nearly consumed all its senses.
Hunger.
Endless hunger.
Aurekan instinctively lunged at a star, greedily drawing in its energy.
The hunger eased, but it was like a mortal eating some tasteless, disgusting food. The act of feeding brought no satisfaction to its palate whatsoever; it was simply eating to relieve its hunger. Aurekan found the feeling unbearable.
Yet the hunger had ultimately been eased. Aurekan's formidable willpower allowed it to adapt quickly and, amid the boundless hunger, retain a sliver of reason to do what it had long planned to do.
That was to experience. To feel.
Aurekan recalled many things.
The C'tan. The Necrophages.
Then, before Aurekan even realized it, its mindset had shifted to the C'tan's side.
Simply thinking of the Necrophages, that race with souls, filled it with hatred—hatred that the Necrophages had already gone extinct, leaving it unable to savor the souls of that flesh-and-blood race.
Aurekan then decided that the Necrophages had merely been a race of insects. What right had they had to shatter the C'tan?
For such an insect race, being consumed by the C'tan should have been the highest honor. Why could they not obediently accept the outcome of offering up their souls?
Those damned insects!
Aurekan wished it could immediately rush to Szarekh and Imotekh, then utterly destroy those two