Buzzing filled the hollow tree trunk as six young bees hovered in wait. I eyed each of them closely, save for Beatrice. It was naming time.
I had chosen Beatrice's name on a whim. I mean, it was just too good to pass up. But how was I supposed to come up with five new names all at once?
"Ahem," I started. Let's start with getting to know them a bit. "First off, are there any names you would prefer?"
Silence. The smallest bee practically shook with excitement and finally blurted an answer.
"Ooh ooh, I wanna be The Great Adventurer Lord of the Hive!" It said, voice nearly vibrating.
Huh? What sort of name was that?
I looked at the smallest more closely. Its voice was vaguely masculine, in a boyish sort of way. He (as far as I could tell) was about the size of my head but was more hyperactive than the other four newborns combined. His little comment about his desired name told me he was the adventurous type, and I remembered how he had flown around the tree trying to investigate it as soon as he had been born.
"That's a bit long. How about Ben?"
“Oh… Ben…”
Oh, man. He didn't seem happy about that. I thought it was an OK name, though…
"Ben," Beatrice said firmly, already using the new name, "This is the queen, your Mother, you are speaking to. Have some respect! Be grateful for the name she grants upon you so graciously!"
She got a little weird there at the end, but I wasn't too concerned about the naming. Anything was fine as long as I could remember them...
"No… Ben… Is the best name I've ever heard!" Ben suddenly shouted. This guy's positivity was practically blinding.
Like, no, seriously, it's hurting my brain. Ben's emotions were blasting me full force through the Link, intensifying after I had named him.
I needed to figure out some way to organize the Link better. Right now, it was just a jumble of feelings and thoughts assaulting me from all sides. I just wanted to get this naming over with so I could play with Mind some more.
"Alright, that wasn't so bad. How about the rest of you? It might help me give you a name if you tell me something about yourself."
I wasn't expecting much. They were just born, after all. I mainly wanted to see if their personalities were as apparent as Ben's. Hopefully, that would inspire me a little. The newborn bees hesitated. Then, finally, the big one spoke up.
"I don't have a preference, but I would like a name," the giant spoke in a surprisingly soft and feminine tone. She was by far the largest of the five new children, almost as big as me. Her arms were massive. I wonder what she was inclined to do? Since the bees were born with personalities, it was reasonable to assume they would have specialties or passions that they felt most comfortable doing, and that was fine by me. Very human-like.
"Er, Bess?"
"I like it. Thanks, Mother." Bess said, Beatrice nodding along. Wait, was Beatrice writing these down in her Mind? Was she going to record everything I did?
"Ooh, me next, Mother!"
"Maybe we should let the other go first?"
The two identical bees pushed each other like bickering twins. Well, considering how alike they looked, that seemed about right. Were... were those eyelashes? On bees? That didn't even make sense!
"Bella and Belle!"
They seemed happy with that. Beatrice tapped me on the shoulder.
"Er, Mother. I apologize, but… which is which?"
Great question. The twin-like sisters felt totally different in my Link, but physically they looked exactly the same.
"Which one of you wants to be Belle?"
Surprisingly, the more toned-down sister jumped at the chance and chose the name. That left the spunky one to be Bella.
"Now, last but not least," I pronounced. Yup, definitely not least if Queen's dreams of a flourishing hive came true.
Anyways, the last bee was a bit odd. Painfully skinny with super-long antennae, they had stayed quiet the entire time. Were they the silent type?
I was immediately proven wrong. A melodious tune buzzed in my head, flashing colors and sounds and sights. Wow.
"Your voice is… beautiful. I'll call you Beck."
Beck seemed satisfied, humming a pleasant little jingle. The others emitted feelings of jealousy about my compliment, but in my defense, Beck's voice totally caught me off guard. Unlike the others, Beck's thoughts hadn't gotten translated into my native language like the rest of the bees, instead giving me a clear idea of what Beck was thinking without words.
That is, they really, really liked to talk. Ironic.
The five bees chattered as Beatrice finished her notes. I asked her if she had an idea of who would be doing what, considering I have no idea what it is bees need to do to make a hive.
"Worry not, Mother. Through your wisdom, I have discerned a preliminary judgment of the personalities of the five new children. I will use my knowledge to ensure that their personalities fit their task, as your knowledge tells me that will be most efficient."
Huh. Beatrice was pretty reliable, wasn't she?
"I could've done that too…."
"Queen, are you… jealous that Beatrice is going to order these guys around?"
"No way! I just… never got to be the queen of my own hive…."
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Ouch. Hadn't thought of that. Unfortunately, leaving things up to Beatrice was probably best for everyone. I guess I could involve myself in the process a little to cheer Queen up…
"Beatrice? Let's work together in these early stages. I need at least a basic understanding of how the hive will function."
Beatrice nodded with tears in her eyes. Tears? Was she misinterpreting things again?
"I see. Well, I have a clear plan for Bess, Beck, and Ben. Bess's strength makes her a prime gatherer, Beck's senses would allow them to investigate the area thoroughly, and Ben's energy would make him a good builder. As for Bella and Belle, I am still unsure."
Hm. Something seemed off with Beatrice's assessment.
"How much did you take their personalities into account?"
"Heavily. Energetic, strong, sensory. Why do you ask?"
"...I think your definition of personality is a bit wonky."
"Wonky, Mother?"
"Well, Ben seems much more like an explorer than Beck, no?" I asked. It seemed clear to me that Ben was adventurous, so why not let him fulfill his exploratory nature and scout out the area all at once? Two birds and all that.
"I… suppose abundant energy could work for exploration…."
Ah, Beatrice. So young. So naive. She was smart but lacked that touch of experience that comes from living for more than a single day.
"How does exploring sound to you, Ben?"
I worried that I had set off a Mind bomb in Ben's head because he suddenly started spasming. Oh, wait. He was just excited.
"Explore?! Oh yes, I can do that! Here I gooo-" he tried to immediately take off through the exit, but I grabbed him with just a pinch of Mind, careful not to squeeze too hard.
"Sit still for a second. Beatrice will assign your work and make sure you know what to do."
"Okay!"
Geez. I glanced at Beatrice. Were those tears again?!
"You see, Beatrice. You can also ask them. If they do what they like most, their work will undoubtedly be top-notch."
"Absolutely, Mother! I will aspire to the great heights you establish!"
Fantastic. With that, I floated out of the tree to do some Mind shenanigans.
___________________
"How appetizing."
"I'm doing my best, okay?"
Queen was referring to a floating ball of ash, dirt, and salt. A ball that currently contained every scrap of food we had gathered. After the naming and beginning the job assignments, I wanted to experiment with Mind Locks, so I left Beatrice to finish up.
Even though I still didn't understand how the humans did what they did or even how Beatrice managed to evolve herself, I had plenty of wiggle room to experiment with.
[Tapped Mind:
Current Mind capacity: 93.9875%
Currently Tapped Mind: 1.6%
Tapped Breakdown:
* Telekinesis (1.6%)
]
[Mind Locks:
* Life (5%)
* Float (1%)
* Kin Link (0.0125%)
]
I had more than 93% of super awesome psychic powers to use for… pretty much anything. They were wasting away just sitting in my bee brain! Thinking of how many named bees would be buzzing around, I wondered if I would even be able to remember them all, even with this crazy Mind power.
Actually…
I gently set the dirt ball on the ground and began to think. Listening and talking to Queen and Beatrice had already become tough, and communicating would be challenging with five more bees and an undetermined amount on the way. Psychic powers were closely related to thoughts, right? Could I create a Mind Lock to organize my brain?
"Queen, could you say some random stuff? Just talk a bunch about whatever."
"Strange request, but I can do that. Hey Enno, you should make more children and also be nicer to our poor kids. Give them lots of praise and feed them good food and keep them warm and make sure they grow up big and strong and…."
Perfect. As Queen continued rambling about whatever crossed her mind, I tried to focus on her voice. I imagined my brain being separated into categories, and pressure began to build until…
[Mind Lock: {Compartmentalization} created]
Well. That was easy. I didn't feel much different, though. I checked my Locks, and the reason became clear.
[Mind Locks:
* Life (5%)
* Float (1%)
* Kin Link (0.0125%)
* Compartmentalization (0%)
]
Interesting. I could make Locks that didn't use Mind? What did they… do? For simplicity's sake, I allotted 1% to the new Lock.
My brain exploded.
“Turn… it… OFF!"
My chest heaved. My vision blurred. Wha.
Disabling the Lock was the best I could do. My breaths were shallow and quick as I recovered from the sudden pain. What the hell was that?
"That was worse than mister squirrel's counter-attack… urgh."
You're telling me. I had migraines in my previous life that were more pleasant than that! What exactly had I done wrong?
"Argh! Why can't this System make more damn sense!" This was pissing me off. How could something be so easy yet so impossible?!
I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Okay. Where might I have gone wrong?
The Lock itself likely wasn't the problem.
[Compartmentalization (1%) - Disabled
CompartMENTALize your brain. Organize and increase the efficiency of thoughts. Allows for true thought multitasking. Works in conjunction with {Combined Minds}.
]
It had been created and had a description and everything. In that case, was it the allotted Mind?
I wasn't exactly sure how allocating too much Mind to make my… mind work better was detrimental. Maybe I had been underestimating my power. Considering the tiny amount required to Link to the other bees, I decreased the allotted Mind to just 0.01%, just like Beatrice's Link.
With just a bit of trepidation, I enabled the Lock.
My brain exploded… slightly less?
"Mother, the workers will begin their tasks now."
Perfect timing! My brain still hurt, but I could still function, so this would be a decent test. Beatrice's words sounded loud and clear.
"This is quite fascinating. Our thoughts were one, but they almost feel separate now. Separate, yet together."
Queen's words were also loud and clear but different from before. It almost felt like I had two brains, one listening to Beatrice and one listening to Queen. Queen's observation was also interesting. We still felt connected, but now it felt like she could think without interrupting my own thoughts.
"Man, this is cool!"
"I agree, Mother. It is quite cool that the workers are working."
"That- Yes, it is. What have you got them doing?"
She didn't need to answer. Ben shot out of the tree base, shouting something about 'adventure' and 'greatness' as he rocketed towards the forest wasteland. Besides Belle and Beck, the rest of the newbies followed Ben out of the tree and got to work on various tasks. Bess was inspecting the dead tree's outer shell and various sticks and stones, and Bella ventured out into the forest in a much calmer manner than Ben.
"Ben has made it painfully clear that he wishes to explore the forest. Bess has expressed interest in constructing a more suitable hive, and Bella seemed…hungry?"
"Oh, great! And the other two?"
"Belle and Beck are…how should I say this? Odd. Belle seems aimless and wants to do nothing more than observe the old eggshells. Beck just wants to… talk."
Hm. I'm sure both of them would come around to some job eventually. Also, wow, this new Lock was really weird to experience. While Beatrice had gone on explaining the various tasks she had assigned, I could simultaneously peek into the minds of the five newbies and have an inner dialogue without missing a word of Beatrice's explanation.
As the hive grows and I need to think about more things at once, this power would seriously come in handy. Yup, it would come in handy dealing with more newbies.
Newbees. Goddamnit.
"Good job, Beatrice. Oh, Bess, could you come over here?"
Bess was startled by my call but flew over nonetheless.
"Yes?"
Beatrice snorted.
"Mind your manners, Bess. Speak to Mother with the proper respect."
"Sorry."
Beatrice glared at Bess. I didn't really mind the casual tone Bess had. It was less tiring than Beatrice's and Queen's overly formal and wordy speeches.
"Bess. I'm gonna attempt to create a Lock that affects the world around me, something new. Since construction is your responsibility, I would have you advise me."
I hadn't used the Locks to do anything outside myself, discounting the Kin Link. Making a Lock to, for example, maintain an impenetrable ball of dirt and food would make sense, rather than concentrating on something so trivial all the time.
I reformed the ball of dirt full of food. It took only about 0.5% to keep the ball's shape and make it float, but I also wanted to protect it somehow. Floating it off the ground kept it away from underground scavengers, and the ball kept the vultures out. Three of them circled above at this very moment, so it was clear such measures were necessary.
"A note. It's fine to have the storage ball, but how will we reach food? How will we deposit food?"
Great question.
"So you see the issue. Any advice on what to do on those fronts?" I asked. I had noticed those issues while experimenting earlier, but I had no idea how to make the ball both accessible and impenetrable. Sort of contradictory.
"The tree is currently posed to become the core of the hive. Making a sealed entrance between the ball and the tree would solve one issue. I'll prepare the tree."
Bess got to work, and I was surprised to see her seem to concentrate on the tree, a hexagonal pattern slowly being carved into the wood. Was it normal for workers to use Mind like this? Probably not. Oh, boy.
A simple enough solution. Watching Bess work, I bet I could ask her to make some sort of support so I wouldn't have to waste Mind on making the ball float. Minions were surprisingly helpful!
Protection was a bit tougher. So far, my psychic manipulation had been kinda crude. Using Mind to make the ball super hard or make some kind of force field was beyond anything I'd tried so far. Oh well, guess this ball would take my first time.