TOI-700 d, 101.4 light years from Earth

Republic Hive World, 2175 A.D.

The queen concentrated, accessing parts of her mind that she had never used before as she stared at the worker drone waiting in front of her. She focused on the eyes of the drone, blocking out everything else as she reached out with her mind-self as the Hive mother had taught her to do.

She felt her mind touching the outskirts of the drone mind, searching for a way in without hurting the drone. There, I see it! She thought to herself excitedly as she found the opening that would allow her to enter.

Thoughts came to her, and she stopped, poised outside the opening.

She felt the thoughts as she listened to them, and she forced herself to stay outside the opening as she responded with her own thoughts.

More thoughts came to her.

Her fear increased as she listened to the Hive mother describe what happened to the innocent drone. She no longer wanted to do this; she did not want to hurt the drone in front of her. She sent thoughts to the Hive mother, pleading in desperation.

The Hive mother’s thoughts cut her off, and she winced from the powerful anger contained within them, an emotion she had never experienced from the Hive mother before.

More thoughts came, gentle and loving this time.

Her fear diminished as the thoughts entered her mind, but she was still filled with doubt as she continued to look into the eyes of the waiting drone.

She wanted to make her Hive mother proud, and she looked away from the drone towards the wall of the chamber.

Bandit-Friend was standing there, looking at her with his yellow eyes. Next to him was Hive mother, and she could sense her anxiety and worry as she grasped one of his claws with hers.

She looked back at Bandit-Friend, and he glanced at the Hive mother before removing his claw from hers and making claw movements to her.

~My queen, we are here for you. We believe in you. We know you will succeed and make us proud. Just focus on what your Hive mother has taught you and forget about everything else. Forget about us; it is just you and the drone. ~

The queen looked back at her Hive mother, and she felt her resolve harden as she looked into her large black eyes filled with hope and anticipation.

She looked back at Bandit-Friend, and he nodded to her slowly as he gently took the Hive mother’s claw back into his own to comfort her as she anxiously waited for her daughter to perform her task.

The queen could feel the love and trust they had for each other, and she drew courage from it, knowing that they were there for her and loved her.

She looked back at the drone waiting in front of her and reached out with her mind-self, quickly finding the opening she had seen before.

Entering it, she emerged within the mind of the drone. All around her were memories and simple emotions that floated within the large cavern she found herself in.

The queen looked at the memories as she stayed in front of the threshold and oriented herself in the new environment. Most of the memories were thoughts of its work and the tasks that it performed within the Hive.

She looked at other memories, seeing the drone as it moved throughout the Hive and touched claws and antennae with other drones during its travels.

There was a feeling of contentment as the drone touched others and performed its job within the Hive. There was also a feeling of safety and a primitive awareness that it was in a good Hive with a good Hive mother and queen that did not kill or abuse them.

There were other memories in the distance, and it seemed as if the drone had put them there for a reason. These memories were shaded and dull, separated from the others that she had already experienced.

She made her mind-self go towards them, carefully treading along the paths and making sure she did not cause a disturbance during her passage.

As she got closer, she could start to feel the emotions associated with the different memories. These were filled with fear, anguish, and death.

The queen stopped moving towards them, unsure of herself as she tried to understand why these memories were different. She pushed aside her fear and forced herself to go to them.

She finally reached them, and the emotions that came from these isolated memories became stronger, making her mind-self drawn into itself as protection.

The queen forced herself to experience the isolated memories and to feel what the drone felt as it lived in these moments of time.

The first few were of its work and life in the Hive, and there was constant apprehension within them.

Command drones and worker drones would suddenly disappear, their unique scents no longer found within the Hive as it went about its daily work.

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Food was scarce, and tasks were changed abruptly on a frequent basis, causing disruptions within the Hive that would be followed by more disappearances.

Their rest periods were shortened, their work was doubled, and exhaustion became part of their daily existence.

Worker drones could sense the fear emanating from the command drones and become infected with it, their simple minds not understanding why the ones who gave them orders had so much fear.

She forced herself to experience the other memories, her confusion mounting. Why did this drone have these memories?

Her Hive mother was not cruel, and she always made sure they had more than enough food and rest. Her questions were answered when she entered the other memories.

The queen saw through the drone’s eyes as the queen emerged from her chambers and fled the Hive. The queen was not of her Hive, and she instinctively knew it was one of the Hive mother’s sisters.

She felt the emotions of the drone as it watched their queen abandon it and the others. The command drones started giving them weapons they had never used before and ordering them out of the Hive to fight the animals.

Tens of thousands of its sisters would leave the Hive and never come back. This would happen repeatedly, and the Hive started to become empty as there were fewer drones with each passing day and night cycle.

Order collapsed, and the drones would wander aimlessly without tasks and direction as they searched for nonexistent food and water.

The drone started to hide, not wanting to be forced to leave the Hive and never come back like the others.

More of them would be forced to leave the Hive, and the drone could hear the strange, loud sounds from outside growing closer. The Hive would shake, causing terror to grow in its mind and the minds of its sisters.

Leaving that memory, she went into the last one remaining, and this one was not shaded and dull. This one was bright, full of happiness and joy.

She felt a powerful thought command suddenly enter the drone’s mind.

The drone and all the others felt it and stopped what they were doing. It was from a queen, a different queen than the one they knew before.

The queen could tell the thought was from her Hive mother, and she watched the memory as the Hive mother entered the Hive holding claws with two drones.

She could feel the remaining drones harmonize with joy at the return of a queen who touched their minds with love and tenderness, something they had never known before.

The queen saw as they left the Hive of death and sadness and went onto the Hive ship to go to their new Hive, a Hive that was promised to be free from suffering and hunger.

She made her way back to where she had started outside the threshold and searched for the essence of the drone she was inhabiting. She saw it over on the side of the cavern, looking at her with its large, black eyes.

The queen slowly walked towards it, afraid to startle it. It remained where it was and waited for her to come to it. She arrived and stared into the essence's eyes.

She stood in front of it, and she could sense that it was ready and willing to accept her control over it. She reached out with her mind-self and entered the essence.

Her vision abruptly changed, and she was now inside the body of the drone, feeling its body as her own and the different senses the drone relied on to live its life.

She could see her physical body in front of her, and she was momentarily disoriented by the jarring change of perception and the loss of self.

The queen let the moment pass and regained control. She moved the drone’s head and looked to where her Hive mother and Bandit-Friend were still standing along the wall.

She made the head move again and looked for the game, seeing the board and the pieces on top of it where it had been placed on the floor.

The queen made the body move, marveling at the new sensations as the drone body began to walk towards her favorite thing to do.

She reached it and positioned the drone body on the side with the white pieces before using a claw that was not hers to move one of the pawns/drones forward two spaces.

The queen looked at her Hive mother and Bandit-Friend and signed to them, making sure she made the proper signs with claws not used to doing them.

~Come and play with me, Bandit-Friend.~

They looked at each other and walked over, Bandit-Friend grimacing in pleasure while the Hive mother radiated strong feelings of pride. Thoughts came from the Hive mother, and she let them into the drone’s mind.

Bandit-Friend got down on the floor and moved a black piece. The game went quickly, and she won in twelve moves. Bandit-Friend grimaced widely and hit his claws together repeatedly in happiness.

More thoughts came to her.

She was not able to respond to the Hive mother, as the drone mind did not have the ability to do so. She left the essence of the drone and was standing before it again.

The queen turned around and headed towards the threshold where she had entered, and she looked around, making sure that her presence did not change or disturb anything.

She walked through the opening and called out to her body. She saw herself hurtling towards her body and could suddenly see out of her own eyes again, which were still looking into the drone’s.

The queen was ecstatic at what she had done, and she waited for the Hive mother to verify that the drone did not suffer any damage from her presence.

The drone looked at the Hive mother and turned around and started to head out of the chamber, apparently suffering no ill effects. Before the drone left, the queen sent a thought to it.

The drone froze at the thought, and she could feel the pleasure and happiness if felt at the praise it received from the queen.

It recovered quickly and continued walking, leaving the chamber and disappearing out of sight as it turned into one of the tunnels.

The queen turned to face her Hive mother, and thoughts came to her.

She felt strong pride at the thoughts of the Hive mother and responded.

Excitement coursed through her at the thoughts of the Hive mother. She had never received a prize in her life, and it took all her willpower to be calm as her mind raced with the possibilities of what the unexpected prize could be.

Two drones entered the chamber, carrying a square piece of wood that looked like the chess board but was thicker. They brought it over and placed it in between her and the Hive mother.

She looked at the surface and saw many small squares on the surface. The Hive mother lay flat on her abdomen and pulled on one side. A receptacle slid out, filled with many small, round white stones.

The Hive mother sent thoughts to her.

The queen did as commanded and pulled the receptacle out, seeing that hers was filled with small, round black stones. Her thoughts became frenetic as she tried to figure out what was going on.

The Hive mother sent more thoughts to her.

She could barely control herself as the Hive mother revealed that this prize was a new game and that she would play it with her.

She had never worked up the courage to ask if she would play the animal game with her, afraid that the Hive mother would say no and upset her.

The queen opened her mind and felt it merge with the Hive mother’s as she shared the memories of her learning how to play the game from Bandit-Friend in secret.

The Hive mother withdrew from her mind, and she knew all the rules of the new game. She looked into the large black eyes of her Hive mother, love swelling up inside of her.

The queen took a small black stone and inspected it closely with her eyes, marveling at its smoothness before looking at the surface of the new game.

In her mind, she went over the rules and objectives she must achieve to claim victory. She gingerly put the first piece within a square on the board and removed her claw, eagerly anticipating the first move of her Hive mother.

As her Hive mother looked at the board and thought about her first move, the queen looked to her side and into the yellow eyes of Bandit-Friend, who was sitting on the floor.

He was watching them with a grimace on his face as his yellow eyes moved over the board.

He looked at her, and the grimace increased in size as he nodded to her. She sent thoughts to him even though he would not be able to receive them.