Jill Yemonto watched the display of power with a mixture of fear, shock, and awe. The Rotor, which was once vertical and overlooked the city, was now in overlooking it in a completely different way.
After the battle ended yesterday, she had taken up residence in her office to rest for the night. She was not only exhausted due to her Ability usage; the mental strain of the Link, a feeling more ethereal than concrete, was deeply affecting her. It was simply unnatural for a Mind-controlling technique like this to affect people in this way. For the mercenary leader to feel them so strongly? It was unnatural. And yet, the old bastard Harven seemed to take it in stride.
Regardless, she woke up bright and early to begin strategizing. Not only would she now be partly responsible for the rebuilding and management of the entire city, there was other business the Queen wanted assistance with. And so, she walked out of her office to meet with her upper-level management, most of which were already Linked as well. They had their work cut out for them, rebuilding a city that had not only been ravaged by urban war, but crushed under the weight of its hubris, quite literally.
It was when the shouts in the street began that Yemonto became wary. Had the bees been discovered? Were they doing something in secret, unbeknownst to her? Well, the latter was partly true.
She had run outside to witness a true miracle. The fallen Rotor was the most potent obstacle in the way of revitalization, other than the people themselves. And it seemed that the Queen was aiming to do away with both.
The Rotor’s shaft, an absolutely enormous cylinder of mostly solid metal, was floating. Jill could scarcely believe it. She was powerful and experienced, that much she could say with confidence. Despite that, she had seen feats of Mind that entered the realm of the fantastical, even compared to herself. And what she was witnessing was truly entering that upper echelon of unbelievability.
As the shaft slowly rose, Jill had a faint feeling and glanced up, spotting a figure in the mostly clear sky. Few around her noticed the figure, too enraptured by the impossible feat happening before their eyes, but the few that did fell to their knees. Were they worshiping the unknown figure? Thanking them? Jill wasn’t sure. She knew that in her case, her feelings towards the figure were clear.
Respect.
She had grossly underestimated the being she now called her Queen. The miracle of the Rotor happening in front of her was simply the affirmation of a begrudging respect that had bloomed when she killed Yafoot. Even as the shaft rose above the smaller buildings, a heavenly song began to echo in her thoughts, and she very nearly fell to her knees alongside the ignorant masses.
The connection she still had to Harven and Soipo was ablaze. Harven was lamenting and complaining, feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness radiating from his Mind. Soipo was even worse, blubbering about monsters and crowns.
Ah. Right. The kingdom and the King’s Revelation. As an influential figure, Jill was privy to sensitive information, and the City Lord’s concerns about the Revelation were no exception. It was part of why she even agreed to team up with him in the first place; she believed his fears were valid. At first she too questioned his decision to allow the knights passage, but over time she had come to accept his decision.
And now the Rotor was hovering in the air, seemingly as if it would fall and crush the people once again. Many may have felt a pang of fear at the realization, but Jill Yemonto had no such reservations. She now knew the one lifting the impossible weight was far too powerful to do something as lax as dropping it, but that was an entirely different level of anxiety.
How powerful was the Queen? How did she become so powerful? It defied all logic. How many people did Jill know of with Minds powerful enough to do something like this by themselves?
Not many, that much was certain.
“Person save us,” Jill muttered under her breath, surprising both herself and the managers gaping nearby. She was far from religious, so for her to utter a prayer, even a shallow one such as that, was cause for worry. Jill cursed at herself. What is this lack of control? This impulsiveness? Beeing Linked is influencing my Mind itself in a strange way. Hm? Beeing?
The holy sounds of rapture seemed to dim for a moment before it suddenly reached a crescendo, echoing even more loudly in the Minds of the Linked. Only for the Queen did the song become more muted, though only Beck knew that was the case. To Jill and the rest, as the Rotor began to move sideways towards the forest, it was as if a choir had settled in their Minds to celebrate the greatness of the Queen.
Of the Mother.
Eventually, the spectacle came to a close. The Rotor’s shaft and blades crashed into the forest, projecting visions of the same structure crashing into the city. Inwardly, Jill applauded. Though an irrational portion of her was bubbling to the surface, the calculating woman couldn’t help but be impressed with the display. It was truly a genius maneuver.
The simple, albeit impressive, action served several purposes. For one, it was frankly marvelous. The awe would stick in people’s Minds. For the un-Linked people of Yiwi, it meant several other things. Rebuilding would be easier. There was no need to spend time and effort removing the intrusive objects. Any belongings crushed by the collapse could be found, or possibly even fully recovered. The bodies of those unfortunate enough to be caught underneath could be found and mourned. And finally, it would give them hope. That someone was watching over them, kind enough to help.
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For the Linked, it meant something else. It was a show of force. Not that anybody who was Linked could actually resist; if neither Harven nor Jill could combat the Linker bees’ control, then certainly nobody currently in Yiwi could do so. No, the true strength was if by some miniscule chance someone’s Linker died or ran out of time without having the bee replaced, they would not dare fight. It also gave them hope, in a somewhat bizarre way. Those less informed may be inclined to believe that the Queen was a merciful creature after all. Perhaps the mercenary girl and her team had exaggerated the danger.
Jill Yemonto knew better. She lamented the failure of the small team of mercenaries. If they had just been more experienced, more crafty, more careful, then perhaps… But no. Such thoughts were now irrelevant. And possibly wrong, considering Toh was one of the first as well. In less than a week, the city of Yiwi had fallen into the clutches of a creature Jill now knew was so intelligent, such an adept schemer, and so powerful, that the future was sure to be marred with danger.
Bring it on. I didn’t reach this point by cowering or bowing. I make others bow and cower. Perhaps that won’t be true for the bees, but for others it can still be true.
___________
Yelah sat in a chair. Unmoving. Unblinking. She watched as the Rotor crested the wall and crashed into the forest without a hint of emotion on her face. She was looking out of a window in the Hayrey and Sons’ headquarters, specifically at the head of a large metal table within the board of directors’ office. Around the table were herself, Grehn, Vlugh, Dip, Rette, and the actual Hayrey board members. The young woman twitched and spun in her chair, turning back to the other humans (and penguin).
The chair sure was strange. It was metallic, but the important bits were covered in some sort of strange fabric or fur, serving as a nice cushion. A luxury the board apparently loved, considering how the same material covered the floor, walls and even the table.
“I’m on my way now. Gimme a sec,” Yelah spoke, attempting to steeple her fingers. She missed, causing her hands to tangle, so she tried again, to no avail. A delicate motion like that was still a bit hard to do in a host body at the same time as concentrating on something else.
Yelah’s team looked grim. Their faces were pained and sad, especially that of Rette. The money-obsessed girl was actually a very interesting case; although her Linker had died around the same time as the others, she couldn’t do much to help. Her injuries were still healing, as a matter of fact. Her presence here was forced upon her, and she was in actual pain, not just upset with Yelah’s current situation.
Speaking of which. On the outside, Yelah was cool as a cucumber. Calm and composed. But her voice told a different story. It was distorted and strange, completely unlike her own voice. And that was because the Queen was directly controlling her.
It was a technique the Queen had only recently figured out, but it was already being put to good use. If one were to look into Yelah’s Mind, the image she presented on the outside shattered.
Yelah was bound and gagged, crying and screaming within her own Mind. Lacking control of her own body and actions, she watched on as the Queen moved her body like a humiliating puppet and spoke with her own voice.
Of course, such a punishment was temporary. It was certainly effective, considering Yelah’s desires and ideals, but it was a bit… lax. After all, she wasn’t the only one unwittingly relegated to her own Mind without control of her own body.
“Yelah, Yelah, Yelah. I’d tell you to chill out, but I don’t really think that’ll help. I already told you this is just a temporary arrangement until I figure out a more suitable punishment. Honestly, is she overreacting or something? I mean, this is basically just your situation, Queen.”
The Queen had made such comments a few times, speaking to some other mysterious ‘Queen’ who Yelah couldn’t hear. And yet, something told her that the Queen and the ‘Queen’ who was being referred to weren’t separate entities at all.
But such thoughts were fleeting. Instead, the imprisonment was all Yelah could think of as she watched her friends look at her with dark expressions. She knew. Both Yelah and the Queen knew what ‘punishment’ truly meant. Yelah’s friends were her weakness, and the Queen fully intended to use that weakness.
Besides, it wasn’t like they were free of blame, either.
A knock on the window startled the group, except for Yelah. Her body was being controlled by the one tapping on the window, after all. The Queen undid the latch with her Mind and floated in, closing the window behind her.
She was terrifying. Sure, her body was only half as large as Yelah’s own and nowhere near Grehn’s, and her stinger was nothing of note. No, what bore down on the group, especially the board members, was the sheer weight of the Queen’s Mind. Her little stunt with the Rotor just a few moments ago left nothing to the imagination, and now they were fully aware of what the Queen was truly capable of.
“Hello! Hope you don’t mind me talking through Yelah here. I know you’re all Linked besides those two, so just let me use this time for some experimentation.”
The two un-Linked board members she spoke of tensed. They had thought themselves safe, unnoticed by the Queen, but that was obviously not the case. If someone was Linked she would instantly know, so of course someone who wasn’t Linked was just as apparent.
“Now now, I haven’t forgotten you two, my friends,” Yelah said with her warped voice. “Here, I’ve got a few Linkers specially for you. My treat.”
As the words left Yelah’s mouth, the two men leaped out of their seats and dashed for the door before the Linkers had even dismounted from their perch on the Queen’s abdomen. With a sigh exaggeratedly performed by Yelah, the weight of the Queen’s Mind pushed forwards, stopping the men in their tracks. Both of them struggled uselessly, even pouring their middling Minds into the effort. But the Queen was done with the confounded sneaking. Instead, the pure force of her Mind wrapped around the un-Linked, squeezing them harshly. There was nothing they could do to resist as they slowly floated towards the table and turned, exposing their napes.
“Man, I wish I could’ve just done this from the beginning. So much easier! Oh, sorry if I’m squeezing too hard, I just got a cool upgrade so my Mind is a bit stronger. Now just hold still… just kidding! I’m the one holding you still! Ha.”
The terrible joke, which was obviously purposefully bad, garnered no laughs from the crowd. Instead, they all watched with abject horror as the squirming executives were brought into the hive, immediately ending their struggle. The Queen released them and the pair each calmly went back to their respective seats, now with their faces as the only outlet for their emotions.
And boy, were they upset.
“Now!” the Queen spoke, still using Yelah as a medium. She was going to use this chance to experiment as much as possible, so Yelah’s fingers once again went up into a steeple. This time, she succeeded.
“I’m sure you all know why I’m here. It’s because you silly sods betrayed me. Not that I blame you, of course. Well, I do, but… Well, point is I get where you were coming from. Unfortunately for you, my understanding does not equal forgiveness. And forgive you, I certainly don’t. Because of your actions, things became absurdly complicated. Because of your ACTIONS, bees DIED,” Yelah said. Her tone grew darker and darker, her voice increasingly unnatural until the Queen felt the Minds of the other humans near the edge of unconsciousness.
Deep breaths.
“Sorry you folks had to see that. This is mostly meant for the mercs, anyway. You knew there would be consequences if you lost, and you did. You lost, Yelah and co. So now, your fates are in my hands. As for what I’m going to do with you… I still haven’t decided! Maybe the anticipation will be just as painful as the punishment itself, so I’m probably gonna have to get creative. Except you, Rette. Man, were you lucky to be so grievously injured before. I’d really think you healed by now, but oh well.”
“For now, all of you besides Rette and Dip will be coming to the hive to await retribution. Ah, not you board members. I still need you to manage Hayrey. Not all your mercenaries are Linked, after all, and I’m sure international communication will be happening soon. Rette will be helping you. I don’t think that’s really punishment, right? I’d still like her to be involved, though. You’re also going to be collaborating with the other mercenary companies from now on. I’ll be creating a connection between you and the other leadership. Well, that’s all from me. Anything else I order will be done from the Link. Say goodbye to the three mercenaries, everybody!”
Strangely enough, it took a little prodding from the Link for the humans to say their farewells.