Three Hands on One Tool

The crew found a hand tool embedded in the wall of an exterior workshop. It had no battery, no blade and no visible purpose. Whenever one member touched it, the tool produced a different pulse through the body.

The Swarmhost group took turns making contact. Their internal consensus changed before any individual could describe the sensation, eventually agreeing that the tool was not waiting for a hand but for a group decision.

They left it in the wall. MOTHER requested extraction. The group refused, recording the tool as an instrument whose function might be the negotiation itself.