Of course, it took hours until Regina was reasonably confident about moving the mechanism she was looking at. Beyond the underground complex, the sun had already set, the forest switching from its activity patterns of the day into crepuscular ones and then nocturnal ones, animals coming out to hunt or scavenge or retreating into their burrows. She paid it little attention, except to check that there was no danger approaching.
She had been told the Hivekind had been more technologically advanced than any other people on the planet, even the gods from Haven, but Regina wasn’t sure she’d really internalized what that meant. Of course, the ability to send someone to sleep for a thousand years, even if it was just an egg with the soul of a person inside, and then wake them up with no apparent issues would have made that clear anyway. She wasn’t sure where to start with the whole ‘soul’ thing, but stasis was at least something she could conceptualize. Which didn’t mean that she’d started to understand how it worked.
But in the few hours she’d taken to investigate, she had come to a few conclusions.
First, the design principles and theory on display were different from anything she’d learned about the way magic was worked locally. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, of course. It was, however, slightly more familiar to some of the advanced things she’d talked about with Galatea; even if it still felt like the difference between learning about an early theory of atoms, like the one where they were like little solid balls, and then seeing something that manipulated electrons’ spin. Still … she supposed it made some sense. Galatea had learned at least a little of what she knew from Leian, and her people, the Aishan, had apparently created the Hivekind — at some point? It sounded like they’d been independent for some time already — so it stood to reason that they would have learned some of their knowledge from the Aishan, or that their respective magical theories would at least be related.
(Regina didn’t think about what it meant that Leian had apparently never taught anyone else (or anyone that survived or passed it on?), she had work to do and couldn’t afford to go into an anxious spiral about all of this.)
Second, she was pretty sure the device had actually used electrical technology in conjunction with magic. Only pretty sure, though, because it wasn’t like anything she’d seen before, as far as she knew. It was mostly the arrangement of parts and what looked like it might be transport lines of sort for electricity — not necessarily wires, she wasn’t sure there was any metal inside — that convinced her. And some parts that just seemed much more like complicated technological components than magical elements. Regina did think she had a grasp on the basic elements of magical theory. What materials held enchantments was different than electrical circuitry. What she saw here was still unfamiliar, of course. Maybe something biologically based in some way? That seemed like it might fit. Either way, it was very interesting. They must have survived the effects of the cataclysm, right? Maybe the differences explained how, or maybe the magical parts had shielded the electronic components.
Third, she was confident the pod could be moved, because it didn’t seem to be connected to the room or dependent on the local infrastructure. There was no direct, physical connection. The room still had a faint magical field, although it had clearly degraded, even recently. Considering the change and what she suspected were clashing magical energies — or many types? The terminology was a bit unclear — related to the Cataclysm, the ‘twisted’ mana she’d encountered before, it seemed very unlikely that the function of the pod had depended on ambient mana. There was also its function, it had clearly slowed down time in some way.
Four, that was her best guess at how it worked, anyway. It made sense and there was no other mechanism she could think of. It definitely wasn’t some kind of cryostasis physically freezing the egg. Well, probably.
It was a shame Janis couldn’t be here. June had also wanted to come, but she was busy. And while she didn’t put it in those terms, Regina wasn’t sure about sending her anywhere she’d come into contact with twisted or unknown mana, considering her condition. However, she would probably let June help her study this thing. Very carefully.
Actually moving the device took another two hours or so. She only let a few drones into the room at a time and they were very careful. She’d strictly forbidden the use of any sort of magic, just to be safe, but that also meant they had to move it with pure muscle power. Luckily Regina had a few drones with high Str stats. And then they had to actually enlarge the door to make sure the object fit through it. That was a pain and a half.
When Regina finally stepped back outside, with a group of drones, mostly Worker Evolutions, very carefully carrying the pod behind her and setting it on a special harness other Workers had just constructed, she took a moment to simply breathe. And heal the headache that had built up, for the third time this night. She should probably cut off the healing magic.
“Well, now we just need to get it in the air,” Max commented cheerfully.
Regina gave him a dark look, then turned to the other drones. “Not to worry, Mother,” Ida said reassuringly. “We’ve come up with something.”
And, wonder of wonders, it worked right away. They had constructed a kind of doubled harness around the pod, resting it on a mat that was rolled up at the edges to hold it securely, and held inside and out with silk netting reinforced by steel wires and probably other materials they’d Conjured, she felt too tired to ask. Several drones would be carrying it. Thor ended up as the lead transporter, as their strongest flying drone oriented around carrying cargo, helped by two other sapient Winged Drones.
By the time they finally got back to the base, the horizon was lightening with the dawn and Regina just wanted to fall into bed. They’d set it down outside of sight range for any of the human inhabitants of Forest’s Haunt, and would be sending it on overland, in a covered wagon, with discreet but very high security. Ida had already started organizing all of it, with Ira helping remotely.
She really should have planned more time for this trip.
Regina quickly greeted a few of the drones she encountered on the way, blearily used the long way around once to avoid a larger gathering of drones, and then stumbled into her bedroom already taking off her jacket and shoes. She crashed into the bed, pulled the covers over herself, and then just stared at the ceiling for a long minute. Eventually her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep.
After about five hours or so, she woke up still tired. Ira somehow managed to be more awake than her, although Regina could sense she was also tired, and helped her in the bathroom. She really should have washed up before bed instead of sleeping, and she had no idea how she’d even managed to get this much dirt into her wing joints. She’d have had no chance to get it off by herself. She would’ve liked a long soak in hot water, but would have to do without. Regina added a few more eggs to the hive, ignored the unpleasant aching in her core, and went to the nursery to quickly check on all the eggs and then the newly hatched drones.
Then it was time to head back to Cera. Regina was already later than she’d initially hoped to be.
As Thor lifted her into the air and took off towards the east, Regina glanced back behind them. The edge of the Great Forest loomed like a dark green barrier. The water of the little river sparkled in the sun. From here, she didn’t have a good view of the base further inside the forest without using one of her drones.
As they traveled, she found herself thinking about another issue, not the Hivekind’s technology or past, but one still related, namely how to talk to Leian. She’d tried several times, but without success. The next step she could think of was trying with a bigger and better temple for her.
The gods did use temples, so clearly they had some use. Alianais had talked to her at one, even if she hadn’t been happy to be called. Regina considered going to talk to her that way again, but except for annoying the goddess she didn’t know what it would accomplish. If temples were places of power for the gods, it stood to reason they might be strongest there, more able to shield what happened from any interference. Leian was apparently not as powerful, in terms of raw divine power at least, as some, and also had very few temples that Regina knew of, if any. At least, she had seemed to work for Alianais, whenever she bothered to remember that she was a minor goddess.
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So, if Regina built Leian a big and fancy temple, with whatever magical significance and power she could scrape together for it … and then maybe made a big and meaningful and/or magically powerful sacrifice … it should at least help her out, and if Leian couldn’t or wouldn’t talk to her right now, that should give her the opportunity. Hopefully.
And even if that intuition was wrong, it might not be a bad idea anyway. Regina didn’t necessarily know if she wanted to publicize the construction of such a temple and style herself a pious ruler, but it wouldn’t hurt to have the option. I’m not exactly lacking in big construction projects, but what’s one more? Regina smiled to herself. A part of her really didn’t like the idea of building a temple to any deity, especially one so associated with the Cataclysm and the whole mess, but Leian wasn’t exactly Deirianon and it was easier to see this pragmatically.
She should probably try and cultivate good relationships with as many of these gods as she could, realistically. Regina sighed at the thought. Building more temples? That seems like a good opening move. Maybe one for Benerron at some point? I don’t know. As a monster herself, more or less, it would hardly be unexpected. And as the god of Struggle, he would probably be opposed to Deirianon and maybe closer to Alianais — although she’d have to check that he wasn’t secretly allied with Deirianon or something. I should probably ask more questions about that. And about what Mr. ‘make a barbaric wasteland and call it peace’-god usually does. That thought made Regina snort half a laugh and she had to muffle it by ducking her chin against her shoulder. Aren’t I usually the one with the Roman empire style, what does that say about me? But the quote could be translated differently — solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant - perhaps ‘solitude’ isn’t the wrong word here either …
Are you alright, Mother? Thor asked.
Perfectly fine, she answered, making sure to only send calm assurance.
We’re almost there, he offered.
Indeed, they were. She probably should go to bed and sleep a few more hours before she started saying stupid things in front of important people. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. She’d built the machines of empire too well, perhaps, now they wouldn’t stop even for her. Or less melodramatically put — by now she had a good idea what kind of drunk she would be and was somewhat thankful she didn’t seem to metabolize alcohol — there was a bit of work waiting for her, some of which she ought to get to right away.
Although, in the end, Regina only spent a little time at her desk, going through the most important paperwork, which mainly meant signing some important documents left for her.
Then, instead of continuing with more paperwork, she went to talk to some dark elves.
Rather than receiving them in her office or a throne room, they met in a slightly more neutral location, a parlor off to the side of where some offices for several of the new Imperial ministries were housed for now, not too far from where she worked. Regina stepped inside first, ahead of Max, who leaned against the door, as a gesture of trust. Not that it really meant anything, given that Madris was here alongside Icnes Oliren, the dark elven ambassador.
Regina paused for just a moment as she entered to see them sitting close together on two of the chairs, heads bent slightly towards each other as they talked, but stopped when she entered. Regina shook her head slightly and approached them, smiling. “Excuse me for being late,” she said.
Normally she would have thought twice about apologizing, but this was Madris, after all. It would have been a bit disrespectful to not even apologize for something rude to the person who taught her psychic abilities.
“Don’t worry about it,” Madris answered, at the same time as Icnes said, “It is not a problem, Your Majesty.”
They exchanged a short look, before Icnes continued, “Thank you for taking the time to meet, Empress Regina. It is a pleasure to speak again in a more informal setting.”
“It is.” Regina nodded and sat down on an armchair opposite the two of them, separated by a small coffee table but still pretty close. “I hope you have found your stay in the Empire so far enjoyable.”
“Very much so. I dare say I found what I hoped for.” The ambassador smiled again, although the way her emotions seemed to shift slightly, as well as Madris’, meant there might be a joke Regina was missing here.
She ignored it and instead continued the conversation. Neither of the other two seemed to be in a hurry to get to a serious point, so they mostly exchanged a bit of small talk that morphed into a pretty interesting discussion of the Empire from a dark elf’s point of view and the differences in culture. Regina kept being distracted by the dynamic between the two other women, though. She noticed that Madris seemed engaged with the conversation, they were agreeing with each other more often than not, but even when they didn’t, there was none of the tension she thought she’d noticed before. Disagreement was more playful, if anything. She wouldn’t say there was no tension between them at all, though, there was still something in the tight way Madris kept her mental shields up, only letting occasional glimmers of her emotional state through, and the clearly practiced way Icnes used all her charm, but still kept glancing at Madris.
Finally, Regina decided she might as well bring it up. “I couldn’t help but notice you seem to know each other quite well,” she said leadingly.
“Perhaps not quite as well as I would wish, Madris can be mysterious,” Icnes joked with a small laugh.
“Don’t listen to her, my sister is the enigmatic one of us,” Madris returned with a small smile.
Regina raised an eyebrow just slightly. “I thought you were not part of the same house anymore,” she observed.
“We’re not,” Madris said calmly, matter-of-factly. “We were born in separate houses, anyway.”
Despite herself, Regina blinked at her. She reached out almost automatically and latched on to the opening left by Madris, who was also reaching out to establish a psychic channel of communication.
You said you weren’t related. Why did you lie to me?
I didn’t. Madris was calm, but she could feel a faint note of apology from her. I said we were in the same house once, you asked if that meant we were related, and I said not really. Which wasn’t a lie. I could have joined her house without a blood relation. We only share a father, anyway. It’s entirely possible for people to join a house with no blood ties or have no ties to some others in the house even in the normal course of affairs.
Fine, Regina said flatly. But you still didn’t tell me about her. It feels like a lie.
Madris sighed. I apologize, she said. We had a falling out, and I didn’t want to bring it all up again.
Regina took a moment to consider it, then sent her an acknowledgment. It wasn’t really her place to pry into Madris’ family drama if she didn’t want to share, and the situation had been complicated, clearly.
“Well, I’m glad you seem to have found each other again,” she said drily.
“As are both of us,” the ambassador smiled again. “I would be lying if I said it wasn’t part of the reason I wanted to take this assignment.”
“Only part?” Regina asked lightly. “So I take it you are not leaving now that you have managed to reconcile?”
Madris actually sat up slightly straighter at her words, Regina noticed. Her sister was still smiling. “Oh no,” she said. “As I said, I am finding my time here quite instructive. I am enjoying watching you work, Empress Regina, and quite eager to see what the Empire may look like in a few years. Why, my people might learn a few things from yours.”
“If they care to,” Madris muttered.
Icnes inclined her head. “Just so,” she agreed softly. Then she shrugged slightly, still as graceful as ever. “But isn’t that why we seek alliances and exchange with others, to open our minds and teach each other new perspectives on the world, beyond simple material gain? Sometimes people can be stubborn, of course, but in my experience most can be made to see reason. Madris might have less patience for diplomacy, although — she has always butted heads with the matrons, of course, but despite our differences she also commanded great respect.”
There were clearly unspoken things in this conversation, but Regina felt like she understood the gist of it. Icnes hadn’t come right out and said anything dangerous, at least not beyond plausible deniability, but she’d still given Regina an idea of her political position. And her goals. Knowing Madris and seeing that they were clearly on the same page helped.
“An admirable attitude,” Regina murmured. “Of course, diversity is a source of strength. I certainly appreciate the prospect of building closer ties with the dark elves. And perhaps my teacher’s old friends,” she added with a playful smile.
“That is gratifying to hear,” Icnes replied with another smile.
“Perhaps we could even send others into the Eternal Dark in exchange, to make it more reciprocal,” Madris suggested quietly, looking at Regina with a guarded expression. Was she testing her reaction? Her mental shields were still strong.
“I could,” Regina agreed. She tapped her mandible, thinking. “Any suggestions?” She wasn’t going to agree without reservation, but she could consider it.
Madris exchanged a quick look with her sister. “Maybe Tim?” she ventured. “He would be suited for something like this, right?”
Regina’s eyebrow climbed again before she could stop it, but she only nodded. “Perhaps after his current mission is over. I could bring it up and see if he’s interested, I would be reluctant to send him off without his approval.”
“There’s no rush,” Icnes said.
Regina looked at them thoughtfully. Tim was definitely suited, but also a provocative pick, being male, young, and something of a soldier but not a mage. Then again, Hivekind weren’t exactly like humans or elves, and they couldn’t judge him by the same standards, so maybe they’d thought this through.
For now, the conversation continued and drifted into less political topics. Clearly, dark elves were also patient, since they had all the time in the world.