What is going on? It feels like I’m supposed to know who I am or what is going on, but I don’t know anything.
No matter where I look or what I do, all I hear is the buzzing sound of bees.
“Truly fascinating” I hear from a voice that gives me a feeling of eery familiarity.
“What is going on?” I try to say, but no words escape my mouth.
In fact, where is my mouth? Where is my body?
As I try to focus, I slowly realize what is happening, it appears as though I am in multiple bodies at the same time.
Something else is strange though, even though I have no memory of who I am, I’m pretty sure that I’m not meant to be a swarm of bees.
I experiment and realize that I can control all these bodies separately as though they are simply a separate part of my body that isn’t attached to me.
I look at my surroundings, it appears as though I am in an aquarium or other glass container of some kind. I experiment with my new bodies, trying to see what I can do.
Each of my bodies is very simple to control, with barely any attention needed for any of them, the problem is, there are close to a hundred of them and they are all packed together super close because of the container.
It seems to be that I can fly, walk, and buzz with each of my bodies, so there’s nothing noteworthy going on here.
As I examine my surroundings, I notice that there are a mix of magical potions and science equipment lying around me.
Then, I notice a figure, the one who said “Truly fascinating” earlier.
He’s an old man wearing a robe who seems to be fiddling around with a potion.
I don’t know why he thinks I’m fascinating, but maybe my condition is what’s making him act this way.
However, my instincts tell me to get out of here as soon as possible, because it feels as though the man is planning to do something bad.
“Subject is still dormant” is what I hear through the glass.
They appear to think that I’m still sleeping, or whatever it is I did earlier.
Maybe I can use this person’s assumption, that I’m not moving to my advantage.
Maybe I can catch them off guard.
I hear him exclaim “Experiment number 14, start” and then he opens the container.
I don’t know what experiment he’s talking about, but I need to get out of here.
But I can’t help but wonder, what am I doing here? How did I get here and who am I?
Although I don’t know many things about myself, I do know one thing, now isn’t the time for questions, now it’s time to act!
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Even though I’ve barely learned how to move I’m trying to escape with complex flying motions with multiple bodies all at once.
With a sudden burst, each of my bodies lifts into the air and out of the container, the man in the robes is seemingly taken aback by what is happening.
However, this is my first-time taking flight, and with so many bodies to coordinate, it was bound to be a mess.
A bunch of my bees, if I want to call them that, aren’t flying properly, with some of them landing on the ground or in the potions of the robed figure, others are unable to get out of the container or bump into each other or the robed figure.
As I try to coordinate, I notice an issue, the door is locked, and I need to find a different way out.
the robed figure, trying to re contain me, yells “No! I will not be the one responsible for the end of the world! Get back here!”.
But I do not listen. I notice an open window nearby and decide to gracefully fly through it.
And by gracefully fly through it, I mean that I frantically scramble to try to escape with as many bees as possible while a lot of them crash into the walls or the window, others fly into each other or are caught by a slipper the man threw at me.
I manage to get out with most of my bees before the man manages to close the window, but to say that my flight patterns are chaotic would be an understatement, in fact, I’m panicking, and my flight patterns are a mess.
Worse yet, I’m outside now, who knows what dangers are out here?
I decide to split up into as many groups as possible, as I do so my brain is overstimulated by what I see and experience.
I still see most of the strange room I was in because of the bees that were unfortunately left behind, most of which are getting taken out one by one by the robed figure.
Most of my bodies are still flying in an uncoordinated manner in different directions though, allowing me to see many things such as the houses of the city of the robed figure’s house, a forest, rivers, animals, people, it’s too much to keep up with.
Realizing that I need to reorganize to avoid total chaos, I decide to try to steer all my bodies towards the forest so that I can regroup.
I eventually find a secluded spot up a tree, which I decide to make my temporary home. I then try to move all my bees over to that location.
As I try to regain control some of my bees are still failing, falling into a river, getting stuck in the city, getting completely lost or are otherwise unable to get to the location.
After a lot of struggling, I manage to get my bees to the treetop.
Well, sort of.
I’m still trying to navigate what feels like thousands towards the tree while they are stuck, but most of them are here.
Now that I’m mostly out of danger, it’s time to experiment a bit with abilities as a bee swarm.
To prevent a disaster like what just happened from happening again, I’ll try to get used to using multiple bodies simultaneously.
I’ll get used to controlling this many bees by staying close together and flying around while avoiding a crash.
The brief break also gives me an opportunity to try to remember who I am.
I try to focus on my memories, on who I was before I woke up in that room, but I can’t seem to find anything.
“I can’t believe I let a strong hive mind get away!” I hear.
I get confused for a second before I realise that this isn’t my memory, it’s what the old man is saying right now.
I strain to listen to what he’s saying, but it appears as though there is only one bee left in the old man’s room.
I try to make out what he’s saying, but there’s not much more I can hear before the man takes out my last bee in the room with a quick stomp.
I try to focus on my different bodies to figure out where exactly they are, but none of them are close to the old man or able to get back into his house.
It appears as though I am now limited to the perspective of a small swarm of bees in a treetop.
But what is it he just said? Did he just call me a strong hive mind? Is that why I’m able to control so many bodies at once?
I contemplate my existence and my role in the world.
As I do so, I suddenly remember something the robed man told me, however, I can’t seem to remember if this happened before or after I became a bee hive-mind.
“You’ll need to come with me, there we can end this dispute once and for all.”
Even though I’m supposed to focus on my coordination with my other bodies I can’t help but wonder.
Who am I? What did the old man in the robes want from me?
What did he mean when he said, “I will not be the one responsible for the end of the world!”?