Issama Arlay was a beekeeper. She lived in a remote field in California, near a forest and not much else. She tended to the apiary in her field with care, and every month or so drove her truck to the nearest town and sold honey at the farmer's market there. It was a peaceful life, and one she was thankful for.
There was no rush to it. She sometimes planted new flowers or fixed up a hive that was falling apart, but besides for that and actually collecting the honey, she just enjoyed her life.
She had fields upon fields of flowers, mainly indigo and black-eyed susans, so she could frolic to her heart's content. The bees, due to just being honeybees, were friendly and fairly calm. She only really used the beekeeping suit if she was collecting honey.
There was the wonder that was the internet. Even all the way out here, she might be a hermit but she still had access to civilization. Some solar panels on the roof of her cottage and a hand-crank battery recharger meant that she didn't need power lines. So she could always watch a good movie, lay down with a good novel or audiobook, or order even more flowers to pick up on her next trip to town.
And fresh honey in her morning tea was a luxury she didn't think she could live without anymore. Truly, the slight sweetness to the brew as she had a cup to wake herself up bordered on divine. And honey cakes were alright as well, especially if dipped in the aforementioned tea.
Issama enjoyed the life she had built here. Away from the rat race of offices and corporate ladders, away from the light pollution and smells of sewage that were a hallmark of her old city, and away from the family she would much rather forget. Out here she could set her own pace, enjoy the stars and the breeze, and the only 'people' she had to worry about were her bees and the buyers at the farmer's market.
Right now, she was on her way to collect and jar more honey.
She slid on the beekeeping suit that was still slightly too tall for her. At the grand and imposing height of a whole five feet and three inches, Issama didn't cut a very intimidating figure.
Issama was, as previously mentioned, short. With hazelnut skin, chocolate-brown hair, soft amber eyes, and a slight amount of chubbiness from all the honey cakes, the beekeeper was as far from 'intimidating' as you could get. She had a small amount of muscle from building and maintaining the hives, but it was hidden by smooth and soft skin. She was a teddy bear in human form.
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She slid on the gloves and pulled her ponytail inside the neckline of the suit before attaching the helmet and walking out of her cottage. The field she owned had a small pond, her rows upon rows of flowers, and three beautiful bee hives. Three queens, each holding dominion over a white-painted hive with a few thousand worker and drone bees. The different swarms were in a slightly shakey alliance held together by their shared territory and Issama's presence.
The bees knew her by now, the suit only a precaution, so although she was swarmed on approach it was mostly curiosity that drove the bees forward. She moved slowly and cooed at her little money-makers as she approached the hive, ready to extract the treasures within. This hive was the queen Marissa's. The three queens Issama had were Marissa, Emilia, and Antoinette.
Marissa was the biggest and had the most populous hive. All the hives had a slight flavor difference in their honey, and it might be the bias of Marissa being her favorite talking, but the beekeeper thought that the biggest queen's hive made the sweetest honey. Honey she was now retrieving, for tea and maybe another batch of cakes.
Her slow advance was halted. Not by the bees. Not by her own choice. Not even by an earthquake of all things. But by the fucking sky cracking.
The cloudless expanse shattered as dark cracks spiderwebbed across it. The rents of black slowly grew and spread, building up what had to be some sort of charge as a low hum filled the air until-
THOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A beam of twisting blue energy shot down from the middle of the cracks, hitting somewhere in the middle of the forest before bursting into a shockwave. The blast spread rapidly, and was already racing towards Issama.
The bees went into a panicked swarm, all three groups flying out of their hives and choking the air with little bodies, ready to defend their homes. The blurs of black and yellow blocked Issama's vision, and by the time she stepped out of the cloud of honeybees, the shockwave had arrived.
It was a towering wall of blue energy, roiling and twisting as it expanded. It seemed to not quite fit in the world, slipping in and out of line like the very air was trying to shove it back. The entire field was blanketed by the smell of ozone, petrichor, and... blueberries? However strangely it smelled, the energy had flooded the forest and field, and she was next.
She collapsed to her knees as the energy seeped into her body, infusing her bones, blood, and skin. It flooded into her faster and faster, feeling like someone covered every atom of her being in gasoline and set it alight. The pain and energy built more and more until black crept into the corners of her vision.
The last thing she saw before passing out was a string of bright blue text hovering in her vision.
[Welcome to the System, Denizen of Universe C3RNY&65SE Subsector BL9! You have now been Integrated. Enjoy the Apocolypse.]