The Overlord had a head over twice the size of that of a man’s. Its body size and shape were more comparable to that of a human’s. It was hairless and had dark purple veins running in various directions under its light purple skin.

The eyes were a deep amber color with black pupils, reminding Daniel of cats’ eyes. The alien’s mouth was round like a circle, and not flattened out like that of a human. Still, none of this was as disturbing as the hands.

They looked normal all the way until the fingers, where tentacles started.  No knuckles or bones, just wavy tentacles, and there were not just ten. Each hand had at least twenty of the worm-like extensions on them. The tentacles freaked Daniel out because they were continuously moving about, touching the buttons on the console in front of the creature.

“Daniel Allen Taylor. Come forward.” The Overlord’s lips never moved.

Daniel just heard the voice in his head. He made his way farther into the round room from where the circle had transported him. Thankfully, he had his clothes on. The overseer from back on earth appeared in the power circle, stepping out right before the green ring disappeared. The transport circle lasted only ten seconds from the time that Daniel had arrived.

Daniel moved even farther into the room, which was perfectly round, with black walls. On the walls were a honeycomb design with various sizes of hexagons across the entire surface of the circular room. He couldn’t see a door anywhere. The whole place felt alien.

The Overlord was sitting at a console in the center of the room. His chair was black and looked somewhat spongy. The console was flat, and had no screens on it. Just hundreds of tiny, unmarked buttons. The numerous tentacles were resting on several of them. The only other thing notable was a black tube hanging near the Overlord’s face. It dropped down from the dark ceiling.

“Are you a God?” Daniel asked.

“Primitives conclude this. But no, I have an expiration, as do you Daniel Allen Taylor,” the voice said in his head. It was smooth, and methodical, yet also alien.

“Why did you come here? Why did you invade us?” Dat exclaimed.

“Invade? No invade. We are symbiotic. Namuh and Quid,” the Overlord said in his mind.

“I don’t understand. Namuh? Symbiotic? You crushed our world.” Daniel frowned, knowing that it was important to keep control of his anger.

            “You are Namuh. That was the original name of your race. You came from planet Namuh 1, very far from your planet, Namuh 12,973, or Earth as you named it. We are Quid. Namuh and Quid are symbiotic.”

“We were Namuh? Not from Earth?” Daniel was confounded, feeling like his brain was struggling to grasp what the Overlord was saying.

“With certainty,” the voice sounded. “Namuh is the reverse of your word ‘human.’ Your race works the name Namuh into a language on every planet. Subconsciously, you have never forgotten who you really are. You were once a lazy, peaceful race that lacked motivation or drive. Your planet was over-populated, yet you continued to produce offspring at incredible rates.”

“Then you Quid came?” Daniel guessed.

“With Certainty. We had been symbiotic with a race called the Zohr. They were a hairy simian-like race. They were also very violent and paired mates only produced an offspring every four rotations of their sun. Inefficient,” the voice explained. “We implanted the Zohr on a series of planets, but the majority of times they would merely wipe each other out in wars and infighting. Inefficient.”

“Let me guess. You Quid replaced the Zohr with us Namuh,” Dat said, starting to see the big picture.  

“With certainty. Your race produce offspring at an incredible rate. Namuh females could birth in each rotation of your sun. Still, you were lazy, so we Quid made adjustment to your DNA,” the Overlord stated.

“Adjustments? What kind of adjustments?” Daniel wasn’t sure that he wanted the answer.

“We added in small amounts of Zohr DNA. It took several adjustments, but with their violence and hatred, combined with your reproduction capacity, we came up with the perfect symbiotic race,” the voice in his head explained.

Daniel shook his head. “You keep using the word symbiotic. How do you see it that way?”

“With certainty we Namuh and Quid are symbiotic. We have implanted your race on thousands of planets where you thrive. Namuh are now the most populated race in the known universe. Your people thrive for several generations before the harvest,” the Overlord voice answered.

“Harvest?” Daniel questioned.

“Unavoidable. Once your people have nearly depleted a planet’s resources, we come and take them. Then we implant your offspring on a new world. With certainty, your DNA never ends. Sometimes we harvest early if you Namuh are about to destroy yourselves, or are about to reach advanced technology or space travel. Sometimes adjustments are needed on the DNA mixes. With certainty, we are Symbiotic,” the voice reasserted its claim.

“Our DNA may not end, but we do. You cause that,” Dat accused.

The Overlord took the tube hanging by its head into his mouth and sucked on it, then tentacled a few buttons on the console before the voice returned, “This is your original DNA provider from Namuh 1. He was called Sardu, and was a leader amongst the Namuh people, Daniel Allen Taylor.”

On one of the big hexagon squares on the wall, the image of a face popped up. It was some type of advanced viewing screen. Daniel’s mouth fell open as he stared at the oval head with large black eyes and dark skin. He was looking at one of the “grays” that people often claim to dream about.

Somehow the long-lost relatives of the human race had remained in their subconscious minds. Supposedly this Sardu was a relative of his from thousands of generations ago. He wanted to believe that the Overlord was lying, but staring at the face, he somehow knew that he was not.

The Overlord spread his tentacles across the console board and pushed several more of the buttons. Every hexagon in the honeycomb designed room flashed alive with different faces, looking more and more human as they went on. The whole room was screens. They kept flashing through face after face, spanning generations.

“Daniel Allen Taylor these are your DNA donators throughout the generations that our races have been symbiotic. With each adjustment, the race of Namuh shows slight physical changes. With certainty, you will live forever,” the voice was back in his head.

“That is why I was with Number Seven? To impregnate her so that you could send my unborn child to a new Earth . . . or, Namuh?” he asked.

“With certainty,” the voice continued. “But you were with Number Sevens, Daniel Allen Taylor. DNA screening provided that the best type of females for you to mate with were category number seven.”

“How many number sevens?” Daniel was trying to wrap his mind around the implications of what he was hearing.

The Overlord took another sip from the tube hanging from the ceiling and tentacled a few more buttons. The familial faces disappeared, replaced by ten female faces in ten of the smaller hexagon screens.

“In the seven of your earth years since we began to harvest Namuh 12, 973, you have impregnated nine number sevens. They all carry offspring with your DNA. Once the adjustment process has completed on the fetuses, then they will be implanted on Namuh 23, 852, starting another cycle,” the Overlord revealed.

“Nine?” Daniel was nearly speechless, staring at the ten women, nine of whom he had no recollection of.

“With certainty. The last Number Seven that you remember was only with you for three weeks. It was inefficient that she was expended,” the voice sounded cold, although it hadn’t changed in tone much since their conversation had begun.

“Three weeks? Impossible. I remember being with her for over six years.” Daniel struggled with what he was being told, then remembering that she had just been on vacation before his “awakening.” How could he have forgotten that?  This creature’s tarty fruit drink packed some kind of whallop!

“The memories that you have were implanted. You were with the last Number Seven for three weeks before she was inefficiently expended,” the Overlord reiterated.

“You mean murdered,” Daniel said with a hint of anger in his own voice, unsure of how any of this was possible.

“Expended,” the voice in his head repeated.

“What happens to the pregnant mothers? Do you expend them as well.” Daniel was afraid to hear the answer.

“They are implanted on new Namuh planets with their offspring, only they are banded like your so-called seekers. They are programmed with one sole mission. To protect their young. Still, many of the implants are killed by the native creatures on each planet, but eventually another new Namuh world begins,” the Overlord advised. “Expedient and symbiotic.”

“Creatures? On each planet?” Daniel was once again stunned by what he was learning in such a short span of time. His brain felt like it was going to overload.

“With certainty, yet different classifications on each world. We implanted on Namuh 6,732, where there was a desert creature that dwelled in the sand. We Quid had missed it with our surface scans. The beasts wiped out our entire implantation subjects. Such an inefficient waste.” The Overlord shook his large bald head

“Yet you ‘expend’ millions of Namuh people with each harvest. Why don’t you just mine the planets yourself?” Daniel asked, incredulous at what he was hearing.

“Unavoidable losses, but acceptable expenditures for the harvest,” the Overlord voice coldly answered, then explained, “Quid females reproduce at a rate of one offspring every four hundred or so of your earth years. This does not allow for much population growth. Plus, Quid are more cerebral while Namuh are more physical. It would not be expedient for Quid alone to implant new planets nor harvest them. Symbiotic,” the alien voice answered.

“Where do the seekers come from? How do they fit into the plan?” Daniel asked, happy to change the subject, believing that the subject was moot since the Overlord was the only Quid left.

“DNA tests show that some of you are overly violent and aggressive. They become your so-called seekers. Also, the infertile males, as well as troublemakers. It would be inefficient to expend them. Their minds are wiped clean. All are programmed with one primary focus, and work efficiently to complete the harvest,” the Overlord revealed.

“Wiped clean? Can they ever come back?” Daniel’s mind struggled to grasp the horror of a mind wipe.

“Inefficient. They never come back. With certainty they work solely for the harvest,” the Overlord explained.

“And after the harvest is complete?” Daniel asked. “Do you ‘expend’ everyone who is left?”

“Inefficient. There is no need to do anything. Within a generation, or maybe two, a depleted and dying Namuh world will expend itself.” The answer chilled Daniel.

“And the seekers? What happens to them, after they fulfill their primary function.” Curiosity was driving the man’s questioning.

“When we mind wipe them, we heightened their sense of smell. They are programmed to smell two things, at great distances. One is their primary collection item. The second is Namuh. Once they have completed their collection task, then they seek out the only remaining thing that they smell and destroy it. An expedient and efficient use of resources.”

“So that is how we really become extinct.” Daniel realized.

“In a generation. Two at the most,” the alien answered.

“Yet you are now killing us with the red beams. That doesn’t seem efficient,” Daniel pointed out.

“The harvest is more than halfway complete. The need for further seekers and pod workers is waning. Expediently expended.”

“I saw what’s inside of your overseer suits. Robots. Yet, you keep saying ‘we’. Just how many Quid are there?” Daniel inquired with great curiosity, happy to change the subject again.  

“Overseers are not robots. I am symbiotic with them, so they are an extension of me.”

“Still, you say ‘we’,” he pressed.

“There were seven Quid just a few hundred years ago. Six males and a female. We were competing for the same Namuh type planets with the same Namuh subjects. It was inefficient. I called a plenum to discuss the inefficiency of the situation. When they arrived, I expended the other males.”

“Yet, you still say ‘we’?” Daniel continued his line of questioning.

The Quid took another long suck on the tube then pushed a single button in front of him. Immediately Daniel’s ten former lovers disappeared, and a female version of the Overseer appeared on the largest hexagon. The only way that he would have known that she was female was from the one single breast in the center of her chest.

The female alien was in a glass tube floating in a transparent liquid. It looked somewhat like clear oil. A tube from above was extending into the liquid and was resting in her mouth. She looked dead.

“Is she ‘expended’ as well?” Daniel couldn’t take his eyes off the oddity displayed before him.

“My mate is suspended in an unanimated state. I placed her there after I implanted her with my offspring. I have lived for eons and eons and my culmination is nearing. My son will be birthed in a little over twenty of your earth years. I will train him to continue the symbiotic relationship with Namuh, so as to implant more worlds,” the Overlord voice informed him.

“Still doesn’t explain why you froze the old lady.” Daniel would have laughed at his pun if he weren’t so shocked right now.

“In this manner she will not age much at all, thusly providing my son and other future Quid with a mate when the time eventually comes. It is efficient,” the voice said.

“Not for her,” Daniel quipped.

“It is with certainty that your primitive mind does not understand. We are symbiotic because it is efficient,” the Overlord voice simply stated.

It’s with certainty that I do understand,” Daniel said sarcastically. “You took a peaceful race. You fiddled with their DNA and created a more aggressive breeder slave people that you place on planets to dig up the minerals. Once they’ve depleted the planet, you come and harvest the goods. You expend the children and the very old. You pair the survivors up to mate, then take the pregnant women and start all over again. Does that about sum it all up?”

“With certainty. Symbiotic,” the Overlord said.

“So how many planets do you have implanted now?” Daniel kept his questions coming, not sure how long the Overlord would allow him to continue his interrogation.

The Overlord took another deep draw on his tube and began running his tentacles over more buttons. The image of his mate disappeared, and soon all of the hexagon screens were filled with pictures of various planets.

Daniel surprisingly noted that all had water, although some had only one land mass, while others had numerous continents. The Quid pushed another single button and all the screens filled with new planets. He did this six more times. There must have been thousands of planets.

“We are always harvesting a few planets at a time, as the process can take many of your earth years. At the same time, my main force is always being prepared to start the submission process on the next developed planet. Expedient,” the Overlord shared.  

When Dat didn’t fire off another question, the Overlord did, “So many inquires Daniel Allen Taylor, yet you still have not asked why you are here.”

“Fair enough. Why am I here?” the man asked.

“I wish to be symbiotic with you Daniel Allen Taylor,” the voice revealed.

“On our first date?” Daniel joked, more out of nervousness than anything else.

“I need you to deliver to us the clans that you have brought into dissention,” the Overlord advised.

“Betray them?” Daniel asked.

“Deliver them to be expended,” the Quid explained.

“Now why would I do that? They’re my friends.” Dat shook his head in disgust.

“Because I have that which you desire most,” the Overlord advised.

“You’ve destroyed my world. You have nothing that I want,” Daniel spat out in disdain.

The Quid took another sip from his black tube and pushed a few buttons, causing three pictures to show up. One was of Daniel’s beautiful wife, Andrea. The other was the passionate Victoria. The third was the kind and caring Carmen.

Daniel’s heart leapt into his throat as he asked, “Where are they?”

Another sip and some further button pushing and an image of Carmen picking bananas in a pod came up. Also, one of Victoria frozen in a capsule flashed onto a screen. Her face was frozen in a look of shock. The third image caused Daniel’s stomach to tighten and his muscles to tense up in fear. It was Andrea, frozen in another capsule, with a very panicked look on her face.

“What about the little girl, Rosie?” Daniel was afraid to ask.

“Rosali Maria DIAZ-Uvalde. Expended,” the voice said.

“And my own two children?” Daniel whispered hoarsely.

“All children are expendable. It is efficient,” the voice explained, coldly.

“And my wife is in the tube because she was . . . impregnated?” his voice trembled, with him barely able to control his urge to attack the Overlord.

“When we arrived for harvest, she was already implanted. Andrea Angel Taylor carries your offspring,” the voice explained.

Daniel understood the “us” in his dreams now.

“How’d you capture my family?”

“The Alcatraz Ambassador turned them over to me.” The answer caused Daniel’s blood to boil even further.

“So, what exactly are you offering me?” the shaken man asked.

“Your race is driven by its urges. The Namuh side of you will deliver your friends to satisfy your mating desires. You may choose one. I will allow you to live with your chosen mate at the Alcatraz Colony,” the Quid made his offer.

“Doesn’t make sense. Surely you have the forces and power to destroy the clans yourself. Haven’t you ever been confronted by a strong resistance before?” Daniel questioned.

“With certainty. We mistakenly allowed Namuh 6 get too advanced. The Namuh there, or Umhan as they called themselves, fought hard. It took eight years and many assets to quell them and their mighty war machines. Fortunately, the Namuh on Namuh 7 had advanced much slower and we Quid had time to replenish. But to bring the main force back here to quell an uprising now would be inefficient. That is why I have brought you here to become symbiotic with my plans,” the alien voice explained.

“And if I say no?”

“I only have a very small fraction of my forces left on your planet. A harvest detachment. If you do not become symbiotic with me, then I will be forced to send the main invasion force back to Namuh 12,973, and smash the rebellious planet, losing much efficiency in the process.”

“Then return all three of them,” Daniel begged, his feelings for the women driving him.

“Inefficient. You can only mate so much. Pick one Daniel Allen Taylor,” the voice said.

It would be Andrea. Not just because he would be saving his unborn child as well, but because she was the love of his life. It would always be Andrea.

“Give me my wife,” he said. “Not because I need to mate. I choose her because of love.”

“Love? Did you experience bouts of love when you stopped the control drink? No, you experienced real emotions Daniel Allen Taylor. Anger, joy, sadness, guilt, fear, and lust. Love is a made up Namuh emotion. It does not exist.”

“Just give me my wife back,” Daniel stated firmly, not wanting to debate the philosophy of love with an alien tyrant.

“Then we are now symbiotic?” the Overlord asked.

“We are,” Daniel whispered, a tear running down his cheek.

“I will send you back now,” the Overlord said. “You will bring the resistance forces to the place you call the Eastmont Town Center in your city of Oakland. You will do this within seven sunrises on your planet. My forces will do the rest. Andrea Angel Taylor will be delivered to you once they are there. Deliver each of the resisting clans to me or I will expend Andrea Angel Taylor and your unborn offspring. That includes Oakland, Frisco, and the ones who ride the equine creatures.”

The Overlord took a long drink from his straw and pushed a button. All of the occupied screens disappeared, and one flashed a new image of the Sacramento Clan Complex Gate, with his own horse warriors exiting. “You will also deliver the Sacramento Clan.”

Daniel grimaced. This damn alien knows everything.

“It will be done, but one last question if I may? What do you do with all of these minerals, metals, and items that you harvest. I mean it’s just you really. Why do you need all this stuff?” Daniel asked, more out of curiosity than anything.

“I make things. Invent. Create. Efficiently. Perhaps in your terms, we Quids are artist,” the voice relayed.

“Seriously? All of this because you are a tinkerer?” Daniel gasped.

“Tinkerer?” the Quid voice questioned.

“Disney reference. Oh, never mind.” Daniel frowned.

The Quid Overlord took a long suck on his black tube and pushed a button. Within a second, the image of Sacramento was replaced with several images of Tinkerbell, causing the alien to say, “With certainty.”

So, all this is really about more stuff,” Daniel said, sadly shaking his head, wondering if somehow the Quid knew that his nickname for Andrea had been Tinkerbell. “More trinkets, toys, and ships.”

“Ships?” The Quid seemed confused for the first time.

“Yes, spaceships. The ones you used to get to our planet, and the other planets,” Daniel stated.

The Quid pushed more buttons with some of his right-handed tentacles. Three new scenes replaced the Tinkerbells on the largest hexes. One was of a giant pincher arm holding a Chevy Silverado in the air. Below it were thousands of vehicles in a giant pile. Other pinchers were removing tires and plastic and metals from the hanging Silverado, dropping them down various chutes.

The second was of metal parts dropping from several chutes into a huge smelting type bowl, where the items were melting. The third screen showed liquid metals flowing down a chute, where it mixed with an odd white and bluish liquid that then flowed down another chute into a form that was in the shape of an overseer.

“I am not at your planet, nor any other Namuh world, Daniel Allen Taylor. We are millions of light years away from your earth. Right now, you are on my home planet, in the only environment available here. This is the only installation. Everything is created here. It is the optimum of efficiency. With certainty, there are no ships. There have never been any ships. Primitive inefficient concept. With the power circles, distance has no meaning. We Quid never have need to leave our home world. That would be inefficient.”

A long skinny tentacle from the Overlord’s right hand slithered up to the far top right button on the console and pushed it, opening a green power circle next to Daniel. The tentacles on the left hand had never stopped moving about pushing buttons during their entire conversation. The creature was a master multi-tasker.

“With certainty, our meeting has come to a successful conclusion Daniel Allen Taylor. You now understand that we are symbiotic,” the Quid Overlord’s voice in his head stated.

“With certainty.” Dat smiled and stepped into the green power circle. With a fizzle, and in a heartbeat of time, he was back home on Namuh 12, 973.