“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Without it I wouldn’t have been as successful as I have been. Remember, get enough sleep, wake up early, train, eat a healthy breakfast, put in hard work, be born to rich parents, and relax in the evening. It’s really that simple to become one of the elite.”

- Former CEO of XetaCorp Inc. in an Interview with ‘The realities of today and the important folk who keep the world running and ensure nothing ever goes wrong outside from the antithesis invasions’, 2042

Eventually Jenna returned, dressed in casual clothes and hair still a bit damp from the shower. She looked smoking hot. The way she could pull off casual, looking extremely good and doing that almost effortlessly was just… Wow. I knew she was beautiful, but to see her in a proper casual get up… It made my abdomen tingle with excitement.

Her pants were very tight, showing off her ass and legs incredibly well, while still covering everything up. They were in a sort of dark blue, but not jeans. Probably closer to the fabric that I had seen on my own clothes.

Her shirt was slightly oversized, hiding much of her figure but showing just enough to leave a lot to the imagination. Her chest wasn’t as big as some others, but that fit her current look quite well. The shirt was off white and left her lower arms uncovered. The only bit of skin visible apart from her neck and face.

To finish it all off she had her dark brown hair open, reaching just below her shoulders, and with the still slight dampness to it it was almost glistening.

“Damn, Jenna,” I said, giving her an appreciative once over, “If I could wear normal clothes that well, I would have to rethink my clothing choices.”

She smirked her trademark smirk, “Thank you. I’m quite confident in my looks.”

Then her eyes fell to my drones doing the food prep, or rather having finished with it, and her eyebrows rose. “What’s going on?”

“Seraphine and I talked a little. I want to know more about the whole Hive thing, so we have a mesh dive scheduled for after breakfast. She was quite right that talking about it also meant getting her drones involved. They are part of it and part of her.”

Her acknowledgement that they were part of me, part of us, warmed our heart, but despite a gentle smile we didn’t react in any way. There was still that anxiousness, even if it wasn’t as intense at the moment.

“Oh?” Jenna asked, just as Chloe got up and gently pulled me up with her, “That sounds interesting. And good to see you’re finally taking some steps into the right direction.”

Chloe blushed a little, of course, but she nodded, “Originally I wanted to do it after the meeting yesterday, but things didn’t quite work out as planned.”

She squeezed me gently at my wince, and I let her presence calm me again. It was so nice to have her there, to have them both there, really.

“But I also don’t want to daddle around any longer. It feels… It feels like I’m just running away. I gotta see it head on, figure it all out and soon, otherwise I’ll just go insane over it. And today we have some time.”

“Good to hear it. I was wondering if I needed to go ahead and force you to kiss to finally have you get over yourself,” Jenna replied with a smirk.

Chloe didn’t reply, but her blush grew, and we made our way over to the kitchen area to sit down.

“Myriad,” Jenna said with a nod at the drone in question, “How are things?”

Myriad nodded in turn, “They are well, Knight Jenna. We have ssome… lingering ssadnesss, but with your pressence, thingss are looking up.”

“Myriad?” Chloe asked, and I realised that I never told her about the name.

“Uhm, she’s the Princess drone. I had to call her something since she’s basically the spokesperson for the Hive when I’m not around, and Jenna said that it might be important for me to really separate myself from the Hive. To not get too lost in it all.”

At that she nodded, glancing at Jenna, then sat down. Jenna and I of course joined in, and soon we began to get our breakfast ready. It was a simple affair, just some bread with various toppings.

“This is good,” I muttered, picking up another slice of that weird cornbread that Chloe had, and another slice of that ham that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.

“It’s what I usually eat,” she explained, “Although it depends a bit on the day, sometimes I just get myself some cornflakes if I’m lazy. Atlas had tried to convince me to only eat protector grade food, but I like to do my own cooking and meal prep. Although,” she eyed the three drones who were taking care of all of that, “I guess that’s not something I will need to deal with often now.”

“We can leave it to you,” the first one said, both drones that Myriad told to train to become my, and of course Chloe’s and Jenna’s, personal attendant, “If you prefer we can leave meal prep to you and only clean up after.”

“You seem pretty eager to help, even with the stuff most others would find boring,” Jenna said, between bites of her own bread piled with a mix of everything.

The second drone shrugged. It made me realise I needed a better way of referring to them. Sure, to outsiders we would have to be a bit more circumspect, but they weren’t just drones. They were part of Us. So, to do it properly, at least until they might want names, the other of Us shrugged.

“We don’t mind, really. The fact alone that we can help Chloe and you makes us happy. And we don’t suffer the same burnout that you would do, or annoyance at menial tasks for that matter.”

I nodded, “That’s mainly because we have a lot of mental distraction,” I said, picking up the explanation, “We aren’t just one person thinking about their own things all the time. It helps with a lot of mental stuff. I don’t think I’d be this well put together after yesterday without them all. We all feel the same pain because of it, yes, but that also helps with enduring it. It’s not the same as with the two of you, of course,” I indicated Jenna and Chloe with a wave of my hand, “Since we are all one we don’t get the same feeling of comfort that we get with you, but it helps.”

Chloe seemed thoughtful, “It’s like those people in the mesh, who make AI copies of themselves to talk to, right?”

To my surprise Kaysa appeared, her nanite body forming from my amulet next to the three of Us on the other side of the Kitchen counter which served as the breakfast table.

“Not entirely incorrect,” she said, “Although not the same as well. It will be the basis on which I build the mesh dive to show you how Seraphine thinks and feels, since even with limitations it can work as a pretty close approximation of the real thing.”

“Can’t wait to feel it, honestly,” Chloe said between bites, “It’s hard for me to not be creeped out by it all, and I want to view it differently. I don’t want to think of Seraphine as this creepy thing, she’s a person like everyone else, just different.”

That comment made all of us smile, and Myriad spoke up.

“We are very glad to hear that. Truth be told, there iss a lot of talk about leaving you alone and let Sseraphine be the only one to interact with you. All of uss are quite terrified of, well, terrifying you to the point of leaving. We want to be with you. All of uss. But we alsso don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Nah,” Chloe said with a shake of her head, “That’s just running away. That won’t help anything. I need to get used to it. If you fight, that’s one thing, creepy as you are that just doesn’t feel as off. But to have you just… here. It’s something I need to get used to.”

“You have no idea how happy that makes us,” the first of Us said with a warm smile, “To know that you really want to go through with it, to learn more about us… We could kiss you. Which, we won’t, just making that clear, we know there are still boundaries.”

Jenna chuckled at that, “I mean, considering what I’ve seen from some alien depictions online… Do you have long tongues like that?”

In reply all three of them opened their mouths and showed their tongues. It was a good bit longer than normal, but not the kind of mouth snake that some depictions of non-human races had online.

“Yeah… I think I could enjoy a tongue like that,” Jenna continued with a teasing smirk.

Chloe blushed fiercely, but didn’t comment.

Instead she brought up something else, “You know, you can eat too, right?”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

It was of course mentioned to the three of Us who so far had only stood there, watching us eat.

“Thank you,” the second of Us said and began her own food prep, as did the others.

“We weren’t ssure…” Myriad began, watching Chloe and Jenna closely, “It’ss like walking on eggshellss around you ssometimess. Even with what you ssay… It’ss not eassy to come to termss with the fact that you are actually interessted. We’re very aware that we are weird to you, and we don’t want to push thingss.”

“I think at this point it’s pretty clear,” Jenna said before Chloe could, “Chloe is the one with the hangups, she wants to get over them, and I couldn’t care less. I won’t jump in bed with you yet, but I think you’re pretty awesome. Even with the creepy eyes.”

“Yes…” Chloe said after she swallowed, taking a deep breath, “And she is right. Outside of my own hang ups, you are pretty awesome. And you are all Seraphine, in a way, right?”

“Not just in a way,” the first of Us said, “We are Seraphine. We all are. There is some variation, but the core is the same. We wouldn’t do anything Seraphine wouldn’t do, and we like you just as much as she does.”

Both Chloe and Jenna nodded, and there was another long moment of silence in which we all ate.

“I think I’ll get the Corvette after this,” Jenna said eventually, switching the topic for a moment, “Seraphine is right that getting it early and then starting production would be very helpful. Just not quite sure about the details yet. With her point contribution I could add a lot of things to it. If I don’t go for stealth I have a slew of other options that I’m not quite sure about.”

“Hm,” I muttered, then swallowed, “Could I ask for a room that is dedicated to proper Hexclaw production? We have the Reavers and the Najav, of course, but they’re more meant for in the field replenishment, rather than a dedicated production line.”

“Sure,” she said, looking at me thoughtfully, “Not sure how that will look though.”

For this Kaysa spoke up, a small smile on her lips, “There are some options. I would recommend two rooms, if at all possible. One for dedicated production of the basic Hexclaw drones, which are relatively cheap and quick to produce, and one for specialty models. It is limited in what exactly it could produce, but it would help offset point costs, in exchange for biomass requirements.”

Jenna nodded slowly, obviously thinking it through, “I have the room. Honestly, I have more room than I know what to do with… A lot of it is for future expansion, but I could manage that. How much would it cost?”

“Surprisingly little. Mainly because of how specialised a production center it is, and because it serves no direct combat purpose. For this I would recommend the Mark VII Broodmother, one specialised and one basic. The name is a bit misleading, since for you that would just mean basically a room sized Hexclaw growing chamber, no strange alien fleshsac pushing out eggs. Each comes with its own attendant drones. They oversee the proper production, but can’t do much else. Together it would be 2000 points. That already includes the specialisation for one, of course.”

“That’s nothing,” I said, a bit surprised.

“And it leaves me with 6k from your contribution for other things, which is still a huge amount.” Jenna nodded in agreement, “Okay, I can do that. What should I spend the rest on though? Upgraded weapons? More shuttles? Defences? Maybe some leisure rooms?”

“I’d say a mix of all,” Chloe said, “If you take what we have planned, the weapon systems on that thing would already be powerful. Not quite there with some of my bombs, but more than enough for anything that it might face, even in the sky. Some internal defences would probably help, although those really don’t need to be powerful, since I would hazard a guess that at least some Sentinels and Hexclaws will be on board at any given time to defend it. A few more shuttles would be helpful for faster deployment, but since you can get them dirt cheap, even if that means they basically can only fly, I’d say spend some of it on some leisure stuff. If it’s going to be our base I want it to be comfortable.”

“True,” Jenna contemplated, “We do have two armored shuttles for us, just in case. The rest don’t need that treatment, at least not yet. I can upgrade them later. And having some leisure stuff would be nice. That will probably mean switching around the interior design a little, but Cleopatra can do that in a heartbeat. What are you looking for? A games room? I already have a very nice bedroom and bed planned, a small indoor pool, although it really is small. We could fit a jacuzzi. Maybe a bar with a window view?”

“A gym of sorts would also be great. Seraphine already asked you for a room so that her drones… That she can train in, so why not make it a proper gym as well? We probably won’t need to worry much about keeping in shape, especially once you get your body mods, but it wouldn’t hurt.” Chloe seemed to become more and more enthused with the planning.

I took the time to enjoy her trying to think of my drones as part of me, making me bump into her from the side gently.

“A medical center,” the first of Us said, “Might not be required, but best have it and not need it than need it and not have it.”

“That reminds me,” Chloe said, looking at her, “What happens if you die? Or if Seraphine dies for that matter, as gruesome as that thought is.”

Myriad was the first to answer, “If Sseraphine diess, then I take control for a little while. We cannot ssurvive for long, after she diess, the protectorss have made ssure that no Hive would be able to exisst long, even if they are well prepared.”

“And if we die, then we’re dead,” the second of Us added with a shrug, “Our voices are bound to the bodies we inhabit. We would die, our voice would vanish from the chorus and that’s that. If a new drone gets born, a new voice gets added, based on Seraphine, the moment it is born.”

Chloe frowned, “That… doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not that bad,” the first of Us said, “There is a pain limiter that is still in effect, so any of our deaths wouldn’t hit Seraphine that hard. Kaysa could deactivate it, but for the moment it will stay in place. We are alive, and that means we can die. Hive drone or not.”

“Aren’t you afraid of death? In the undercity alone dozens of the drones died,” Chloe asked, looking worried.

“Oh, we are. We all are. We share Seraphine’s survival instinct, so of course we’re terrified of death. It just isn’t as… potent? As it is for her. Or for you, for that matter.”

“I don’t like it,” Jenna said with a frown, “I almost feel like sending you into battle is immoral or something.”

“No, it’s not. It’s our purpose,” the first of Us said cheerfully, “I know we typically don’t talk about it, since we don’t want to creep you out or terrify you, but we are drones, at the end of the day. It is our duty to protect and grow the Hive, which means dealing with those who oppose it. We aren’t human, necessarily. Based on one, and pretty similar to one, but we aren’t. We are Hexclaws. The only real human in this Hive is Seraphine.”

“Yeah,” Chloe muttered, “That is terrifying. But I guess it’s par for the course. Doesn’t mean I like it.”

“If I may?” Kaysa cut in, “While in the current state any drone that dies would lose its voice and be dead permanently, there are some upgrades that can be done to ensure that the voices remain.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, curious at the mention. So far I hadn’t thought that much about it, to be honest. But if I could save the voices, then I would.

“There are some upgrades you can get that would allow all the voices to switch bodies. It’s a bit more complicated than that, since once you leave a body that body is no longer yours and it would die. Most often Hexclaws use that in a similar way to the antithesis, to repurpose damaged drones and to make a new one instead of healing the old one.”

“That sounds… very fucky,” I said, and both Chloe and Jenna nodded at my words, “I’m willing to do it, if only so that our voices aren’t vanquished, but I’m not going to even entertain that last idea. If they’re wounded they get healing, just like everyone else.”

“If that’s possible, then I’d already feel a lot better,” Jenna said with another nod, “If only because I do care about Seraphine greatly.”

“How much is it?” Chloe was the one to ask, eyeing Kaysa closely.

“A rather large amount, I’m afraid. It’s a Tier 3 Catalogue item. To get it Seraphine needs to upgrade her Hexclaw Catalogue to Tier 3, which means having at least five different catalogues at Tier 2. In her case that would be Nanite Swarms, any catalogue heavily focused on genetic modifications, such as the Vi’xan Catalogue, Ethereal Non-Combat Technologies, which is a catalogue focused around AI’s and simulations, Adaptive Combat Forms, a catalogue focused on quickly learning and applying new skills under pressure, and lastly a catalogue focused on what you would call Transhumanism. Uploading the consciousness into digital form.”

“That sounds unnecessarily complicated,” Jenna threw in, “Why would she need those?”

“There are limitations with each catalogue,” Kaysa explained, “On purpose, honestly. The protectors want to limit how much power any Samurai may be able to get, to make sure nobody gets ahead of themselves. But there is also the other reason, mainly that to make such a change happen, there needs to be some place for the voices to be, if not in a body.”

“And how do those catalogues help there?” I asked, curious to hear her reasoning.

“Well, the Nanite Swarms would be to build the implant directly into your brain and into the now fully grown Hive-Mind implant. The Ethereal Non-Combat Technologies would basically be the foundation on which your new consciousness gets simulated, with the help of a dedicated AI. The Adaptive Combat Forms catalogue is there to help you adapt to it and to get used to it, while the Vi’xan Catalogue enables you to edit your own DNA, and the genome of your drones, in such a way that it allows such changes. Finally the Transhumanism catalogue, whichever you want to get, would basically upload those voices into the simulation, and connect them into the new bodies whenever their old one dies. That’s why you need the gene edit, so the new ones can be grown with an implant that allows control. In a way it’s just a more complicated version of what you have already.”

“Hold up, you said they couldn’t reconnect to a body that has no voice anymore, right? Why? If they have an implant that allows control, why can’t they just go back to take control of it? If it’s still alive, then the implant still works, right?” Chloe seemed quite taken by the idea.

“Yes and no. Part of it is the restrictions that protectors place on Hive-Minds, to ensure they don’t get out of control. Another part is that without oversight any body will eventually die, at which point the implant no longer works.”

“Isn’t there any way around that?” Jenna asked.

“None. By design. As much as people like Seraphine are unlikely to become the next antithesis level threat, a Hive-Mind is always dangerous on a galactic scale if it grows sufficiently. You have seen the antithesis and what they can do. Even if it’s not on such a scale, they aren’t smart, people are. Now imagine someone, somehow, gets a hold on a discarded body, reverse engineers it, puts an AI into place to mimic a Hive-Mind and give it the directive to destroy all life on Earth.”

“Couldn’t they do the same by reverse engineering any of my dead bodies?” Truth be told, I wasn’t entirely convinced of that logic.

“If they would have the knowledge and technology to understand the implant by which it is controlled, yes. But that isn’t just an implant like you know it. It is purpose built for each Hive-Mind and always unique. And unless it has a very specific set of prerequisites it just won’t function. It is over engineered and over complicated, yes, but for a reason. It’s basically the last line of defence against the scenario which I just posited.”

“Fair,” I muttered, “Oh well. I guess I shouldn’t complain about safety features.”

“Yeah,” Chloe nodded, “It’s the kind of thing I’m so damn afraid about. Kind of glad they have a safety feature installed.”

By this point we were already mostly done with eating, and Chloe sighed. “Talking about it… I guess it’s time to see how it all works.”

The thought was… equal parts exciting and terrifying.