Enno is the name, and productivity is my game! Or, it will be.

With half the hive busy as can bee, that left the rest of us looking like lazy bums. I decided to do something about Beck first. Bedivere’s combat specialization was one thing, but he was incredibly powerful and versatile, so he had countless options for work. Beatrice was already actually pretty busy since I had tasked her with… basically everything I didn’t want to do. Keeping track of the workers, measuring their progress, and adjusting for minor issues.

Now Beck? Beck worked as Ben and Beatrice’s intermediary nearly full-time, but that just wasn’t enough. For one, Ben would be exploring less with the wax-making policy. For another, as Beck had self-evolved into a special subtype, they no longer had the Beeswax Ability.

Beatrice had already revealed that the workers could still make wax without that Ability, but apparently, the process was much more tedious and less efficient.

So what to do with Beck?

“You have been trying to figure out a way to replace Beck’s system with something more scalable. Why not task them with that research? Beck would be the most knowledgeable about their field.”

Perfect! What would I do without you, Queen? Hypothetically.

“Beck? I’m sure Beatrice has already notified you about the wax-making policy,” I waited for Beck’s jingle of confirmation.

“Great. Since there will be time freed up from your relaying job, why don’t you do some research? Your system is good, but it won’t be sustainable as the hive grows. I also want you to use your talents to improve the hive rather than doing busywork.”

Beck seemed delighted by the chance to flex their brain and quickly agreed. I was eager to see the results of their research. Communication has always been shown to be an exceedingly powerful tool, and we bees were masters at it. If that communication could be improved…

Well, hopefully it would be great! Now, for Bedivere.

“Bedivere, can I get a report on the hive’s perimeter?”

“Of course. Nothing of note. Two ‘squirrels’ were trying to drag away a vulture corpse, but they have been neatly disposed of.”

“Awesome. Now, is there anything else you’d like to do? I know you’re not a worker, but….”

“Actually, I have a request, Mother,” Beatrice interrupted the conversation.

“I would like to meet with both yourself and Bedivere regarding the hive’s expansion into the rest of the forest.”

Sounds good to me! When the three of us got together, I noticed we were an odd bunch. I was just a regular gigantic bee, chilling in a river. Ever prim and proper, Beatrice buzzed in place with her hands behind her back. Meanwhile, Bedivere dwarfed us, sitting calmly on the forest floor.

How on Earth did Bedivere sit with that big-ass stinger? This world was full of fascinating mysteries.

Beatrice nodded to Bedivere, who slowly returned the gesture. Looking at the two of them, I saw them for what they were: terrifying.

“Without the presence of the vultures, expansion is going smoothly,” Beatrice began, “according to Ben’s scouting and Bedivere’s accounts, there are no notable enemies in the forest. The squirrels are easily destroyed by anyone in the hive, and the insects are of no note.”

How ironic.

“As we know, our greatest obstacles will come from outside the forest. The humans and mossy creatures are the primary concern, but it is safe to assume that other strong beings were chased out of the forest in the human attack.”

That was a great point I hadn’t considered at all. The burned forest was filled with the corpses of unidentifiable animals, but who was to say they had all died? It was likely that they had run away and simply weren’t returning at the moment, for… whatever reason.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“That said, our goal is ultimately the hive’s expansion. I see two possible strategies we can take.”

With that, Beatrice sent crude but clear images into our Minds to depict the strategies. Psychic powers were just way too convenient.

The scenario showed a model of the hive’s core. The dirt balls were encompassed by a white, red, and black amalgamation of wax and bones. On that note, the hive seriously looked freaky. Not only were the massive vulture bones one of the two primary materials Bess was using, but the wax’s color was eerie. The original greyish color was stained with red and black from the ash and blood of the forest floor. Was that why Earth beeswax was yellow?

In any case, the model looked similar to the hive’s current state, albeit with a more complete core. Beatrice even included the little river and the burned tree corpses surrounding the hive.

Then the image split.

Two identical models sat side by side, and Beatrice slowly showed her plans.

One of the models had the hive amalgamation slowly expand, growing larger and larger in layers. Eventually, it was so big that it covered a massive chunk of the forest, presumably up to the border of her current map.

The other grew a bit differently. Instead of steadily expanding from the center, a ring appeared, encompassing a similarly large chunk of forest. The space between the ring and the core began slowly filling in until a solid dome formed.

“These are my two ideas. Gradual expansion, or border creation.”

I got what she was going for. The slower expansion would be to naturally grow from the hive’s center outward, while the border creation would close off the planned domain and fill it in with hive afterward.

“Which do you prefer, Beatrice?”

“I am partial to border creation. However, there are caveats to that strategy. It would take much longer and require a significant number of builders to complete in a reasonable amount of time.”

“There is also the matter of security,” Bedivere said, “We just do not have the numbers to defend such a large perimeter. In my opinion, the strengths of slow, steady growth far outweigh the border creation.”

“True, but by creating the larger perimeter, we can more rapidly solidify our hold over the forest. I would prefer to ensure we maintain control before other forces attempt to challenge our authority.”

They went back and forth for a while. As for me? I was fascinated to watch them discuss. Why did these two get along so well? Was it just me, or did Beatrice see Bedivere more as an equal compared to the other workers?

“Ah, Mother. Would you grace us with your wisdom on the subject?”

Oh, great. Now I had to think of something as good as these two’s ideas.

“Er… I do like compromises, so how about a mixture of both? Considering our limited forces, we could do slow and steady expansion for a while, then once we have more workers and warriors, we can do the border thing. Actually, that works out great! By the time those larger forces have been born, we could make an even bigger border!”

“You’re proud of that, aren’t you? How creative, not going in one direction or the other.”

Wow, okay, chill.

“Ah, I apologize… I do not know what came over me.”

“I like the idea, Mother. So then, when will you be creating these expanded forces?”

Oh, crap. I forgot I was the one who had to do that. I wasn’t exactly disgusted and afraid of hatching eggs anymore, but I couldn’t at the moment. Further, that was a lot of eggs. I would have to hatch hundreds upon hundreds of eggs to achieve our goals. Oh, god.

“I…will…get back to you on that.”

Don’t look at me with those questioning expressions! Both of you git out of here! Go do work or something!

“Very well. I will continue planning for expansion.”

While Beatrice flew off, I held Bedivere back.

“Hey, I wanted to talk to you about… that thing.”

“Of course, Mother. You have my full confidence.”

“What do you know about the… other Mother?”

Bedivere cupped his chin with his hand and gave it some thought. I wonder how it felt to be missing half your limbs? I had five and a half still, one only missing half its length. The fact that Bedivere was as strong as he was without half his limbs was just freaky.

“I do not know. I know there are two Minds within your body, which both contributed to my own Mind’s creation. I am surprised that Beck and Beatrice have not figured this out. There is any number of possible reasons I am aware of this secret. The amount of Mind used in my birth, the conditions in which I was raised. I am not sure.”

“How do you feel about it? That I’m not… that there’s another… ugh!”

Man! What did I mean?

“You are my Mother. Both of you are. Even if one of you had more influence in my birth, you both welcomed and protected me. You brought together my precious older siblings.”

He knelt and held one hand towards me, the other resting on his chest, “I have not declared so formally, but I vow to keep you all safe. My siblings. My Mothers. My hive. All shall be within my aegis.”

And with that, he flew off.

Was this guy serious? Did he think he was some sort of knight in shining armor? Forget what I said about being weirded out by my kids; I am officially weirded out!

“Even so, it is nice for someone to know. Actually, why have you not told the children about me? Is my existence so embarrassing for you?”

Pfft. As if. I guess I just assumed they wouldn’t believe me. I mean, having a talking voice in your head? Revealing that I was actually some human with no idea what I was doing? Nope, too awkward!

“This is the trust thing again, is it not? You are afraid that trusting another with this information will cause something bad to happen.”

Was it? I felt fine about Bedivere knowing about it, though.

“Of course it does. Because it is something you want others to know. It is relieving for another to understand.”

She paused.

“I think we are both happy about Bedivere’s awareness. We were simply surprised. Just as happy and surprised as when Vulch learned of us.”

That was a bit far, wasn’t it? Vulch was our enemy. Why would him learning our personal info matter?

“I admit that it felt liberating to be in Vulch’s world. I felt… truly alive again. My current state of Mind was only achieved when you and I met. This Mind of mine… it has not truly tasted freedom. Vulch’s world was somewhere I could be truly free.”

It all came back to that idea. Freedom. Why did Queen feel more alive? More liberated? It was because, for a moment, she could finally feel real.

She was trapped. My prisoner. Unable to move, unable to speak. Her children- our children- didn’t even know she existed.

I decided.

I would continue the hive’s goal of expansion, but I now had an extra objective. To free Queen.

“If only we had a teacher, some way to learn the true secrets of Mind. Vulch could have taught us if he wasn’t so intent on destroying us. He could have taught us if we didn’t….”

I was going to be sick. Bedivere knew much but didn’t know my and Queen’s darkest secret. He didn’t know the terrible fate we had bestowed on Vulch. I asked to bury his body with a notable marker as a reminder of what we had done.

After all, we hadn’t killed Vulch. We had enslaved his Mind.