“I…still do not agree with your analysis of the situation.”
Oh, no?
“Queen, we stole Vulch’s brain out of his body and are keeping him prisoner inside of our fucking body.”
“I think you are exaggerating. We do not know what is going on with him.”
Rich. To give Queen some credit, she was right. We had no idea what exactly was going on with Vulch. Back when Queen and I, uh, engulfed Vulch’s Mind avatar thing, we had seen the connections between him and his children snap like rubber bands. His black and white form had condensed into a tiny marble, and… nothing. It was a black and white marble floating in a sea of yellow, unchanging and constant.
We had come to, and Vulch was dead. His body that is. I had run several tests, including shaking him around, squeezing him, and cutting him open. Nothing. His body was entirely dead. But his Mind… Queen and I could both feel it.
As if that weren’t enough:
[Combined Mind:
Acquired by: Attaining the impossible feat of hosting multiple Minds in one body
Impossibly, you have multiple Minds within your body. This unique trait caught the gods' attention, and this Ability was granted. Efficiency of Mind = Base Efficiency x Number of Minds.
Mind Efficiency: 3x
]
There was no denying it. That single number change spoke volumes. Whether conscious, alive, or dead, Vulch’s Mind was stuck inside Queen’s body.
“I feel like if he were dead, his Mind would no longer exist.”
I didn’t know if she was right, but I also didn’t know enough about Mind to disprove her. The fact of the matter was, Vulch’s Mind was somehow accompanying Queen in eternal imprisonment, and he didn’t even have the liberty of providing sharp commentary.
I only considered his situation slavery because he had no choice but to stay and was being used against his will to further our goals. Our Mind was already powerful, even if it wasn’t boosted by Combined Minds at all. With Queen and I, our Mind became a practically unfair advantage. With Vulch? We were even stronger.
That wasn’t even the end of it.
[Tapped Mind: 0% / 94.3184%]
[Mind Locks:
* Life (5%)
* Float (0.66%)
* Kin Link (0.015%)
* Compartmentalization (0.0066%)
]
These numbers were ridiculous! Even disregarding the amount freed by Food Storage being deactivated, the amount of Mind I used for everyday applications was practically nothing. Increasing Mind’s efficiency was just unfair.
Looking at it from another perspective, I imagined how much Mind I would need for an ordinary vulture. When Combined Minds was only working 2x, it took 3%. So if the base amount was 6%, did that mean I would only need 2% to kill a vulture with my unrefined Mind attacks?
Of all things, I saw this situation as a precedent. It was possible to contain even more Minds. How many could I store? Was there a limit? Did it matter how powerful those Minds were? Despite Vulch’s powerful Mind, it was contributing to a constant. If I contained a weak Mind, who’s to say it wouldn’t have the exact same effect?
This matter, along with discovering a way to free Queen, asserted the importance of learning about Mind.
“Not only learning how to use it, but matters of the Mind itself.”
Exactly. Even if I found humans and learned how to use Mind more effectively, I would need to translate that knowledge to affect Mind itself. Vulch had known something about it. Did anyone else?
Well, obviously, there was someone. Whoever made this damn System.
“Knowledge dictates that the system is a gift of the gods. Did you not once say you had knowledge of the afterlife? Memories from before and during your death.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
…
Oh yeah, that. Wait. Wait, hold on. That was fucking important, wasn’t it? Why hadn’t I given the subject some thought sooner? We could solve so many things just by analyzing the gods of this world. They had created the System and were presumably the ones that had sent me here in the first place.
“There must be something more concrete. What else can you remember from the time after your death?”
After my death, huh? I remembered rivers of light and some sort of godly being… Was that the capital G- God!? Of course! My knowledge of the gods could come in seriously handy with figuring out Mind!
“I know. That is what we were just talking about. Can you recall other memories during your death?”
…
Oh yeah, that. Wait. Wait, hold on. That was fucking important, wasn’t it? Why hadn’t I given the subject some thought sooner? We could solve so many things just by analyzing the gods of this world. They had created the System and were presumably the ones that had sent me here in the first place.
“…What? You just said that, Enno.”
“Hm? Sorry, I spaced out a little. What were we talking about?”
“Damnation! Could this be the actions of the gods themselves? Enno, your memory has been corrupted. Every time you begin to think about your death, I can feel your thoughts neatly disappear and wander. Your memory is intact, but it is being tampered with.”
…
My death? Oh yeah, that. Wait. Wait, hold on-
“Stop! We will get nowhere with this. Whenever I interrupt your train of thought, your memories vanish before you can imagine the details. Recount the entire experience of your death to me as best you can, without interruption. It seems I can remember what you say, although you cannot.”
…
My death? Oh yeah, that. Wait. Wait, hold on…
...
Hm?
“Uh, Queen? Why are we rolling around in mud?”
That was bizarre. I had been conversing with Queen about learning more about Mind itself, and the next thing I knew, I was rolling around in some mud in the river. Beatrice was even staring at me a few meters away.
Ack! Beatrice?! I shot up, wiping myself off. How long had I been acting like a fool in front of her?
“Do not mind me, Mother. I was simply interested in your activity. By all means, continue.”
Absolutely not! Queen, what’s the deal?!
“…The shadows seemed to panic, reaching out and snatching some of the motes of light. One shadow approached Enno and grabbed him, pulling him free from his path….”
Well, that was cryptic.
“Ah, I apologize, Enno. I made you repeat your story so many times I lost track of time.”
I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.
“Should I be concerned, Queen? I don’t exactly have a photographic memory, but missing a chunk of time is not exactly comforting.”
“There is no cause for concern. In fact, I will say that this should be your first true exercise in trust. I have obtained information from you, and you cannot remember what it is you have told me. You must accept that and trust I do this for our sake.”
Could I really argue with something like that? It wasn’t as if I had a choice or anything; whatever Queen had made me tell her was deliberately escaping me. Did I really have no choice but to believe her?
“Yes.”
At that moment, I realized Queen could listen to my thoughts whenever she wanted, and it was literally impossible to keep a secret from her.
“Yes.”
Fantastic.
______
Tranquility reigned over our slice of the forest for days. The slow and steady growth strategy was working quite well, especially with the wax-making policy. The hive's core had been completed, and Bess was hard at work beginning the expansion proper. Although, I had forced her to take things a little more slowly after she finished the center.
All work and no play or something.
As the sun set over our hive, I gazed over the large slab of wax before me. This large table was placed inside one of the chambers the core’s center had, giving the space a dining room feeling. Despite the increasing darkness outside, the room was illuminated by shards of electric crystal lying around or embedded in the walls.
Today was special, so I had requested Bella to prepare food for a feast. The family would finally get to celebrate our victory in the Scavenger War and the strong beginning of the hive’s actual birth.
I wasn’t exactly expecting anything incredible. All we had was piles of raw meat and the occasional piece of charred flesh.
Instead, I saw a wax table piled high with genuine dishes.
Hexagonal medallions of still-bleeding meat sat covered in varying degrees of salt. Some medallions were dried like jerky, while others were sliced paper-thin like deli meats. There were even tiny bite-sized meat hexagons piled like finger foods.
It was as close to real food as I could have imagined.
“You’ve outdone yourself, Bella! This looks amazing!”
“Oh, you flatter me, Mother. I had lots of help from Bedivere and Belle in preparing the banquet. Dig in, everyone!”
She didn’t have to say that twice. The family descended on the feast like a pack of hungry bees, and I was no exception.
“Is this… is this piece cooked?”
“Oh, I tried something interesting with that. I know you prefer meat that is less… raw?”
The sight brought a tear to my eye. The meat wasn’t exactly cooked well, but neither was it well-done or straight raw. How on Earth had Bella managed something like this? We hadn’t made fire!
Biting into the chunk of meat was heavenly. It was way raw for my liking, but it was infinitely better than eating utterly raw meat. Bella had seasoned the steak amazingly well, and the wieldy shape made eating it much less messy and uncomfortable.
All in all… this was nice.
“Oh, I like these little chunks.”
“I am more partial to the large pieces.”
Bess and Belle seemed to be competing with their favored cuts while Bella was stuffing her face with as much food as possible. Ben and Bedivere were in the middle of an animated conversation, and the rest were eating politely.
“So I want to use my speed, that makes sense. But how do I deal with big baddies?”
“Your speed is precisely how, Brother Ben. Eventually, the larger foe will tire, and if they cannot touch you anyways, then you will eventually emerge victorious.”
“Bella, How did you manage to gather this much salt from the soil? You have been so busy with wax-making, I did not realize you were gathering so much of this mineral.”
“Oh, it's more of a side project, Beatrice. I couldn’t get over how the food tasted. So I wanted to try more! We’ve got a ton of salt; I’ll show you later so you can write it down if you want!”
“I still do not truly understand why you put so much stock in the food’s taste, but I must say, this meal feels… quite special.”
Eating dinner as a family. It was something the bees had never experienced, and it really did feel special. Sure, eating was nice, but this was… mesmerizing. Everyone talking, laughing, learning. I couldn’t wait to share this with the rest of the family.
Speaking of which…
“Everyone, I have an announcement!”
I waited for the chatter to die down, taking all five microseconds.
“Earlier today, it finally happened: my Egg Making Ability is working!”
Pause for dramatic effect and cheers!
Silence.
Er, I guess these guys cared more about respecting me than having any overt reaction. No matter. The Link buzzed with excitement, the emotions of the other bees coming through loud and clear.
“This banquet was to celebrate our accomplishments, but also to mark the beginning of a new era for the hive. Tonight, we will eat our fill. Tomorrow, this meal will fuel the next generation of bees!”
That time, whether because of my intent or some other sense the bees had, cheers erupted within the hive.