The queen summoned Xicackna a few days later, not to the throne room but to the Xana-Eloba’s laboratory. The message mentioned a mission, without further details.

It was very intrigued that the young princess found herself facing the immense iron door which could now block access to the workshops of Xana-Eloba in the event of an attack. Her activities now occupied an entire section of the palace and hundreds of workers. She knew that the engineer had asked the queen to produce units specialized in new disciplines such as magic and human technology. True specialists would take at least another year to mature, but simpler specimens were already at work. Walking through the many corridors, she saw multiple experiments in progress, the principle of which she only vaguely guessed.

Finally, she reached the large room which constituted the heart of this production center: the laboratory itself. Many soldiers were stationed there, sometimes equipped with new weapons: copies and adaptations of enemy equipment.

Xana-Eloba was there too. As is often the case, Xicackna was impressed by the size that mature princesses could reach over several years. She no longer remembered the engineer's exact age, but she must have been around twenty-eight and had therefore lived a few years longer than double her own life.

"AH, XICACKNA, FINALLY!"

Xana-Eloba's voice sounded strangely, as if duplicated. Sensing the presence of the queen, the little princess understood that she was using her daughter as a direct relay. This natural ability of queens had been amplified by the System with a special skill called "Avatar" which allowed the queen to express herself and act through her consenting daughters. This went much further than being Xa-tar-Lona's preferred relay, but the girl's consciousness remained present and aware, able to regain control at any moment.

"Welcome to my laboratory!" cried the engineer. "As you can see, the places have changed a lot. I built myself a real dream factory. Here, the future of our people is born... HUM... HUM... Yes, yes, of course this is the case with the hatching chambers: I am talking here about the technological future. The weapons...and others...that will give us victory are germinating in these places. We study the System itself and one day we will bend it to our will."

"We?" the analyst asked. "You mean Queen Xa-tar-Lona and you, Xana-Eloba[1]?"

"Not only that: many small nobles, gifted in the areas where I carry out my research, carry out their own work. In a few years, they will undoubtedly get classes related to these skills they are developing."

"So, I suppose you also want to entrust me with a project related to my Analyst class?"

"Not exactly… but yes, all the same. IN FACT, I HESITATED TO ENTRUST YOU WITH SUCH A MISSION, AFTER BELIEVING YOU LOST. HOWEVER, OUR WORKFORCE IS TOO SMALL AND NO ONE HAS SUCH DEVELOPED SURVIVAL ABILITIES... IN ANY CASE, NOT COMBINED WITH YOUR ANALYTICAL ABILITIES... I WILL LEAVE IT TO XANA-ELOBA TO DETAIL YOU YOUR MISSION: THIS SKILL, AVATAR, IS EXHAUSTING TO USE FOR TOO LONG AT FULL POWER."

Regaining full use of her body, the ingenious Zcarbb dragged her little sister towards the back of her laboratory. The queen's presence persisted within her, but in a more tenuous way.

Strange machines, often half dismantled, dotted this corner. Although their usefulness was completely unknown to her, it was not them that surprised young Zcarbb the most, but the contents of large cages connected to one of these inventions.

Inside, there were more than twenty Humans! Most appeared to be simple workers, males, females and even larvae, probably captured during the raid. Others appeared to be Hunters. It was surprising that these specimens were kept alive rather than killed to extract mana stones and meat.

"I see your astonishment. Well, imagine that I have progressed a lot in understanding how the System works. I will show you my detailed documents a little later: it is important that all princesses your age understand these principles. Let's say that originally, I wondered where the energy of the mana stones came from. Apparently, Humans can see them on our corpses and extract them, while the stones that they themselves drop when they die are invisible to them, intangible even."

The engineer approached a series of levers incorporated into the machine connected to the cages. Immediately, all the captive monsters expressed symptoms of fear and began to moan. Their thoughts, which Xicackna could perceive with her skill, were quite confused and expressed suffering in anticipation.

"My theories," continued the big princess, "are that these mana stones represent a crystallization of the energy invested by the System in the different individuals who are subject to it. So, the higher level the creature, the more powerful the energy. Apparently, creatures from the same world cannot perceive their own energy crystals: I have done tests with our livestock, Humans and animals captured in their world. As such, we can clearly see that the Dungeon is special because our miners sometimes find crystals fulfilling the same function as mana stones. Too little, unfortunately, to power my machine."

"You mean that you designed a machine powered by the energy of the System?"

"More than that: a machine that uses the System! But I was talking to you about my energy problem. Can you guess how I solved it?"

"By… by a process absorbing the suffering of monsters?" tried Xicackna.

Xana-Eloba smiled and pulled the lever. Immediately, strange blue lightning flashed through the cages and their prisoners who screamed horribly.

"Almost," she said, "I designed a process that directly absorbs the life of monsters, without pumping too much so as not to kill them. In short, each monster provides me with the energy equivalent of its mana stone... or a little less... but without dying. With enough monsters, I could power... Oh, I have lots of plans!"

The mature princess was as excited as the monsters were writhing in pain. She nevertheless thought about turning off the machine so as not to exhaust its resources too much. Bringing her face closer to Xicackna, she placed her hands on her shoulders. The little princess expressed her curiosity about the use of this machinery and her sister continued her enthusiastic explanations:

"What is my machine for? Oh, I have pierced the very limits of our prison: I have designed a portal generator!"

"Portals? Like the red portals?"

"No: better! I can create... Yeah, actually I should call it a teleporter rather than a portal generator: that would be less confusing. In fact, the portal is very localized and instantaneous: everything that is then in the half-sphere that you see there is sent to our original planet!"

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Xicackna tried to speak but remained silent in astonishment. Was the time of their confinement over? Probably not: Humans would certainly not survive the transfer of the entire hive. There also remained some doubts about the effectiveness of this invention. But, if it worked, it would at least mean the end of their isolation.

"If it works!" protested the Engineer, "sensing her sister's doubt. I did a few tests and, apart from the first ones... and the ones before I found a way to bring them back too... Let's just say that now the last workers I tested it on have all come back alive and whole. The most recent ones didn't even feel nauseous...at least nothing unbearable."

The little princess was beginning to have a strong suspicion as to the necessity of her presence. She hoped she was wrong, so she relegated all her theories to a corner of her mind. Unfortunately, Xana-Eloba quickly disabused her of her illusions:

"Anyway, it’s perfectly safe now for you to use it."

"ME!" she exclaimed. "I... Is it really safe? What would I do in our world... Alone?"

"Well, Queen Xa-tar-Lona will want to give you more details in person. Let's say you have to go get us some information that will be crucial to our fight for survival. And, yes, you will be alone: feeding the machine is one thing, but starting the transfer could cost us some Human resources. Without new supply, we are quite restricted on that. Take this."

With these words she placed a small necklace around her sister's neck. This one observed it and fingered it delicately with an intrigued look. A slightly holed mana stone was passed over the strong silk thread and was engraved with mysterious symbols.

"I made this object with the help of Xubu-Lemonay… one more reason to mourn her death. It was not yet finished at that time, but with the help of Xaza-Yaban I finally finished it. This is a return stone. When you want to come back here, you will have to break it. Just avoid swallowing it: I'm not sure of the effects in this case."

Following this disturbing announcement, Xicackna joined her mother to receive the rest of her instructions. Like the other times, she was lifted and approached the noble face of the mother of all the hive. She felt both flattered and frightened by all the attention. Flattered because it meant she was useful and important. Frightened by the danger and the unknown that awaited her.

"Xicackna," said her mother, "do you know that we already knew about Humans long before they came to attack us? Although there are some doubts that it is really them, they look a lot like some monsters that our legends call "demons". Bipeds with soft skin and hands as dexterous as ours, with heads rather round than oval and a strange facial similarity to our nobility... apart from all their unsightly shortcomings, such as the absence of mandibles and antennas. The ancient legends are not very clear... Well, let's also say that it never seemed very useful to me to study them."

The queen sighed and slowly walked towards a huge slab of amber that covered part of the wall of her room, moving her imposing mass with difficulty. Many workers dedicated to this task rushed to help her move.

Engraved on the amber was a vague relief map, depicting the colony's former territory and the notable nations of part of their world. Many complex smells were implanted there, subtly describing the presence of resources and industries as well as agreements and conflicts between nations. The queen stretched one of her paws and pointed to one of the neighboring nations.

"We still do not know the current state of our world, or even if other nations have survived. Due to our disappearance, it is very likely that our vassal colonies have gained independence, if they have not been eradicated by the monsters. If any of my princesses survived, they have certainly become queens since then. We could win them over by establishing permanent access to these lands, but our current science does not yet allow this."

She tapped the same spot again and Xicackna noticed that it was scratched, testifying to a too pronounced habit of pointing out this place. This didn't mean anything good.

"My sister, Xèl-tar-Lomenia, has always been passionate about history and even myths. You will have to go to her hive of Xéméne to find information about Humans and their possible relationship to our past. It will also be necessary to analyze the state of our world and how the System has affected it. Even if you find the Xéméne hive in ruins, I have no doubt that your abilities will allow you to exploit their library... But it will take time. Remember, we can't afford to produce more return stones yet, but if you're in mortal danger, don't hesitate to use it..."

"Wait!" Xicackna exclaimed, suddenly realizing a disturbing detail. "If I believe the map and my memories... This means that Xèl-tar-Lomenia is the one who tried to steal our salt mine!"

"Indeed, we are at war with her. I guess with our disappearance, she took the opportunity to take over our mine. It doesn't matter too much at the moment. The first problem you are likely to encounter is that of your location. Our system is not yet sufficiently reliable in terms of its teleportation accuracy. Our few tests with the workers often provided only fragmentary information. Unfortunately, they do not have the vocabulary and skills to convey all the information one might want. We finally managed to guess where they had appeared and Xana-Eloba did... something... I'm still having trouble understanding how her devices work, but normally you should be sent in the right direction. You'll have to search a little, but you should find this hive."

The little princess was trembling with fear in anticipation. What if their world was invaded by monsters? Wouldn't she be sent to her death? Not to mention the uncertainty about the reactions of the local Zcarbbs: would they take her prisoner? Why send her and not someone else?

The queen felt her fears and sighed, momentarily annoyed, then immediately benevolent. She tried to reassure her:

"You know you are the most qualified for this job. Princes are currently too rare to risk them, while older princesses not only have important positions, but have also lost their ability to camouflage. You will probably have to use invisibility more than once if the situation there is dangerous. As for the younger princesses, they are not as mature as you. You have even already explored another world teeming with monsters: you have the experience."

The young Zcarbb nodded but didn't seem convinced. Xa-tar-Lona stared at her lovingly, well aware of the difficulty a princess could experience when faced with the need to put herself in danger willingly: a priori such a choice was contrary to Good, to the natural instinct which pushed all members of the hive to protect them. But as queen she had a far greater experience of the difficulties of life, though she had never faced so great a peril as that which now threatened them.

“Xicackna,” she said, “you know the proverb: ‘Every hive is born from a sacrifice; the greater the sacrifice, the larger the hive will be. ‘. This applies to all circumstances of life. The hive constantly requires sacrifice, and while in an ideal world only commoners, or perhaps males in harsher circumstances, should have to sacrifice, reality sometimes requires princesses to risk their lives as well. Sacrifice does not necessarily mean death, which would be counterproductive in your case, but for example the loss of comfort and security to ensure the survival of the hive.”

“And the queens? Should they sacrifice themselves too?”

Her mother looked very amused at this question:

“Of course: we do that all the time. Don't you think I'd like to be able to walk around like I used to? To be able to leave this room more often? Move with ease, on land and in the air? But I cannot afford it, both because of the mass of my body and because of my responsibilities towards the hive. Do you understand?”

This time, the little one seemed a little more convinced. The queen looked at her with tenderness, remembering the distant time when she too was a young and naive princess, protected and pampered, without the slightest idea of the difficulties of life.

Xicackna understood what was expected of her and that it was necessary, but it didn't make it any easier. She took a deep breath, gathering all the courage she could muster.

“I am ready. When do I go?”

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[1] In case you were wondering about the frequency of their appearance in conversations, reminding names is a mark of respect among the Zcarbbs. Also, although it will not be seen in the modern English translation, polite person is used to speak to Zcarbbs of a higher age category, while “to thou” (tutoyer) is used for those of the same category, and lower category or commoners. But as the meaning of tutoiement (thou) and vouvoiement (you) has been totally reversed in English, it would be too complicated to translate.