Burmeister is done! Hooray! He's also the newest member of the compound with Naomi, her husband, and Minerva!
Lore dump under the cut!
In one of Vespa's many sectors, Burmeister was born, and throughout his upbringing had an intense fascination with exploration, mystery, and adventure, those topics being the focus of the many books he read. He always wondered what it was like living outside the city's massive walls, in the wilderness everyone always talked about in hushed whispers and tones, and their warnings and condemnation of leaving the city only served to fuel his curiosity and imagination.
Once during his teenage years, in the dead of night, he crept out from his home and stalked through the shadows towards the city limits, ducking behind cover whenever he heard something move or someone talk. Soon, he found himself gazing up at the impressively tall wall and, looking to see if anyone was watching, flew up the side of the wall in short bursts, grabbing onto it in between as to not make too much noise, and clambered over the side and peered at the dense greatwood that lay before him. He hesitated, his goal was right in front of him, but he couldn't move his legs now. He noticed that he was breathing heavy, his mandibles and antenna quivering, and heavy weight in his chest. He was unsure of himself now, he was so confident before, but the almost pitch black darkness from which the trees loomed from seemed like it could swallow him whole if he entered. He stared hard, trying to see in the poor light, and caught movement near his peripheral.
Snapping his gaze towards it, he saw dozens of legs and a body longer than he thought possible- a Centipede. He only knew about them from books and rumors and tall tales, no one who has ever survived an encounter with one could glean enough information to understand them better, other than that they were the most largest, aggressive and dangerous creatures out there. His thoughts subsiding, he realized the Centipede wasn't moving anymore, and to his abject horror, was glaring directly at him. He felt his world spin and sink, the terror filling every inch of his body.
He only snapped out of it when a hand landed on his shoulder from behind causing him to jump. A voice asked him what he was doing there at night, and spinning around, came face to face with a Wasp, who repeated the question. Muttering something not even he could hear or understand, he scurried off back home and dove into his bed. Staring at the roof, he started to recount the experience, the adrenaline staying him from sleep, and it dawned on him that he was enjoying the feeling coursing through his veins, he must be feeling the same way the first humans who arrived on Chitisia had felt, and he craved more.
Several years later, while looking for work, a poster stopped him dead in his tracks. It was about a position in a compound out in the wilderness that involved studying Chitisia's bugs in the hopes that one day both humans and Arthropods could live together in peace. This time, there was no hesitation, and he snatched the poster and followed directions to an office where he could apply, and a few weeks later, he got a positive response. The following days were a blur as he filled out paperwork and was shipped to the site where a new chapter of his life would unfold, and his dreams would be finally actualized.
