Bedivere and Beck. My hopes rested on the shoulders of these two bees.
But how would I ask for their help? I was trapped here. Not only relegated to a figment of the Mind, but even further than that. The Kin Link was purely a Mind construct, but I could not access it previously. Why?
My current goal was to free Enno from the prison of memories it seems he created. I had tepidly experimented with freeing him, but it hadn’t worked so well. Nevertheless, I again attempted to directly dissolve the box he had been pushing his memories into.
The box snapped, lashing out and rapping me on my Mind. It was not terribly painful, but it was alarming. The more effort I put into freeing his Mind, the more Enno’s energy rebelled. I was confident I could overpower him, but would that be the best course of action? The man was somewhat weak-minded, as it were. Would I cause permanent damage by interfering with the B-box directly?
Thus, I needed Beck. Beck’s talent with Mind potentially surpassed any in the hive, especially when it came to Links. I had begun to theorize that the Link might be the best way to extract Enno. It would, helpfully, give me a chance to dismantle the box simultaneously, allowing a more smooth process.
But how would I communicate with Beck? I was cut off from the Link, trapped within myself. This much had been made clear since the beginning. But there was hope. Hope in the form of a gigantic warrior.
Bedivere knew of my existence. No other bee, not even Beatrice nor Beck, had known. Why? How? The difference had to be in the amount of Mind used in his creation. But there was no real way for me to contact him in my current state.
The only tool at my disposal was the B-box system in a limited form. It was the only mechanic I had been capable of manipulating for some reason. Any other Lock or Ability was closed to me, but not the B-box system. As I pondered on ways to use it to my advantage, I kept some wavering attention on the birth of the ten new workers.
They were a lively bunch, already having had the time to grow to full size and show off their own unique personalities. Belle seemed delighted by the new children, with the reason quickly becoming clear: most of them had passions and skillsets that befit her own roles. Three of them were already interested in the wax surrounding them, which told me they were either destined to be wax makers or have some task similarly associated with wax. Yet another of the ten had managed to sneak off to the miscellaneous storage room and had begun playing around with some of the objects inside.
Belle seemed particularly excited about that last one. Not only would she have full-time subordinates finally helping her meet her wax-production needs, but now another bee had finally expressed a similar passion for the bizarre human relics. She had once shown an interest in tinkering with the objects, especially the crystals, but simply did not have the time to waste on that interest. Now with her own load lightened and another expressing interest, perhaps she could finally begin to explore other areas of expertise.
I had to admit the idea was enticing. I had initially been opposed to Enno’s concepts of freedom and the like, but they have proven to be remarkably effective in boosting productivity. When the bees were allowed to pursue activities they found personal fulfillment in, the entire hive could benefit.
Which was always a win in my book.
Books. Another odd relic of humanity. Not one I had ever seen, of course. Simply implanted by Enno’s wealth of knowledge. I admit, I sometimes felt perturbed by how much of my actual knowledge came not only from another world and species, but humans specifically. I had not lived a long life myself, and barely knew of my world.
I shook those thoughts away. Enno’s knowledge was another tool for me to use, nothing more. His memories and aches affected me not.
Besides the four bees that seemed already glued to Belle’s side were other… unique personalities. Two hyperactive, immature children had nearly instantly shot out of the nursery, intent on seeing the forest, until they were stopped by Ben.
I was surprised by his maturity until he proceeded to demonstrate how they could fly and see bigger to truly maximize potential exploration. It felt obvious the trio would be somewhat of a headache.
Two other bees, in contrast, had stayed firmly in place within the nursery until they slowly crawled over to Beck’s room, where they said not a word and joined Beck in meditation. Apparently, those two also had a clear calling.
The final two were a bit... odd. I had noticed there always seemed to be at least one true oddity in these clutches of eggs. In this case, they were twofold: a bee who had begun crying upon looking out the nursery window and one who had rushed outside and immediately planted its head into the dirt.
Even Beatrice did not seem to know what to make of these two. The crying child continued weeping as Beatrice grilled it on what its talents might be, with other bees like Belle trying to coax the weeper into their own jobs. It was only when Bella came back from a gathering mission and offered to tour the child through the forest that the weeping subsided somewhat.
As for the final one… Nobody was quite sure what to do with her. Bessie, as Belle had jokingly named her, seemed content to wiggle around in the dirt and do nothing else. The name had come about when Bessie happened to pile some dirt into a hexagonal ring, which Belle humorously compared to the sturdy walls of the hive.
Bess was not pleased when she found out.
I had certainly not expected Beatrice to congratulate Belle on her observations and place Bessie under the care of Bess as the second true builder. Would such a decision hold? Only Enno could provide an overriding decision.
That was actually a sobering thought. Such a situation would ordinarily never arise in a true hive. In this case, Enno had not been able to prepare any other queens as my Egg Laying Ability had been immature, so in a regular hive, our measly swarm would pack up and leave to find another queen to replace the dormant Enno.
Of course, that would never be the case here. With Enno out of commission for the time being, a sort of hierarchy inevitably came to light. And what a flimsy hierarchy it was. Beatrice had an inordinate amount of power for a single bee; her authority overrode every other bee, even Bedivere. As the bees unquestioningly followed Enno, so too would they unquestioningly follow Beatrice’s lead.
Who would follow? Bedivere? The five original workers? I chalked it up to Enno’s concealed desire to dump his leadership onto Beatrice. Actually, Enno was likely the key to this predicament.
I needed to think like him. Hope and dream like him. Perhaps I could come into contact with the outside world. Somehow.
_______
Concern, despite my best effort, began to creep into my thoughts. Against Beck’s better judgment, I floated outside Mother’s room, drawn to her still form within. When the pressure had appeared not long ago, an indescribable terror had overcome me.
At first, I was unsure what was causing such terror. Of course, I initially believed it to simply be because I sensed Mother was in danger. When I was about to rush to check on her, and Beck chided me, I then believed the terror to be a reaction. A reaction to my own foolhardiness and panic. Was I truly trying to regain Mother’s trust with such a shallow act?
But no. Looking into the dark room, I now knew what that terror truly was.
Simple fear.
A simple notion. I was afraid. What perturbed me, then, was my realization of what my fear entailed.
I was afraid of strength. I was the strongest in the hive. I had betrayed Mother’s trust, yes, but I had done so with conviction. With the absolute confidence that my actions would help the hive. I had been impressed with Mother’s strength to make her decision to punish me, and my already firm loyalty strengthened further.
But when Mother’s experiments drew in that unfathomable pressure? That was when I truly felt fear. I did not even fear for Mother; my fear was directed at that seemingly infinite power that laid the hive low.
The others recovered quickly, bless them. They were shaken by the terrifying event, but even without the direction or influence of Mother, they went right back to work. Even the worker eggs hatched without a care in the world. In fact, Belle had begrudgingly informed me that she expected the four warrior eggs to hatch soon.
It was truly a shame that I would not be able to connect with my precious siblings outside of training, but I would accept my fate. However, the concern that had begun to worm itself into my heart and Mind was related to the state of Mother.
The others were also beginning to become restless. The newly hatched workers, while energetic and passionate, seemed lost without Mother’s guiding light.
What had happened to her? I was sensitive enough with my Mind to know her current state was not, in fact, a result of the terrifying event. The event had ended quite some time before her… disappearance. Beck had made no headway in contacting Mother at all.
The reason concern had begun to appear in me only recently, where I had been confident in Mother before, was the pull.
Recently, a feeling had begun to creep into my Mind. The faintest of buzzes conveying no meaning or emotion. And Mother was somehow the source. The thought of the buzzing was intoxicating, like a piece of my Mind that had never been there slowly appeared and drifted into place.
I hesitated. How could I not? I had to get closer to Mother, to understand this emotionless buzzing, but how? Would my actions again be considered against Mother’s sensibilities?
I carefully widened the window, tearing chunks of the walls off Mother’s room. I would personally rebuild the walls if necessary, but I had to approach her. I came face to face with her completely motionless form. What was she conveying? The buzzing was clearer but still without reasonable meaning. It was simply short buzzes interspersed with pauses-
Ah.
I was military-minded. The knowledge I absorbed from Mother’s vast wealth of information I tailored to fit such necessities, and one had seemed odd and out of place. A form of communication entailing naught but pulses and pauses. What use would something like that be? We were bees with a robust mental communication system. Mother could be odd sometimes.
But this… I remembered the feelings I had always experienced since I was born. The sense of something broken, of two things becoming one. Two mothers.
I listened to the buzzes, and my eyes widened.
“Beck! I think we may be able to recover Mother.”
Bedivere and Beck. My hopes rested on the shoulders of these two bees.
But how would I ask for their help? I was trapped here. Not only relegated to a figment of the Mind, but even further than that. The Kin Link was purely a Mind construct, but I could not access it previously. Why?
My current goal was to free Enno from the prison of memories it seems he created. I had tepidly experimented with freeing him, but it hadn’t worked so well. Nevertheless, I again attempted to directly dissolve the box he had been pushing his memories into.
The box snapped, lashing out and rapping me on my Mind. It was not terribly painful, but it was alarming. The more effort I put into freeing his Mind, the more Enno’s energy rebelled. I was confident I could overpower him, but would that be the best course of action? The man was somewhat weak-minded, as it were. Would I cause permanent damage by interfering with the B-box directly?
Thus, I needed Beck. Beck’s talent with Mind potentially surpassed any in the hive, especially when it came to Links. I had begun to theorize that the Link might be the best way to extract Enno. It would, helpfully, give me a chance to dismantle the box simultaneously, allowing a more smooth process.
But how would I communicate with Beck? I was cut off from the Link, trapped within myself. This much had been made clear since the beginning. But there was hope. Hope in the form of a gigantic warrior.
Bedivere knew of my existence. No other bee, not even Beatrice nor Beck, had known. Why? How? The difference had to be in the amount of Mind used in his creation. But there was no real way for me to contact him in my current state.
The only tool at my disposal was the B-box system in a limited form. It was the only mechanic I had been capable of manipulating for some reason. Any other Lock or Ability was closed to me, but not the B-box system. As I pondered on ways to use it to my advantage, I kept some wavering attention on the birth of the ten new workers.
They were a lively bunch, already having had the time to grow to full size and show off their own unique personalities. Belle seemed delighted by the new children, with the reason quickly becoming clear: most of them had passions and skillsets that befit her own roles. Three of them were already interested in the wax surrounding them, which told me they were either destined to be wax makers or have some task similarly associated with wax. Yet another of the ten had managed to sneak off to the miscellaneous storage room and had begun playing around with some of the objects inside.
Belle seemed particularly excited about that last one. Not only would she have full-time subordinates finally helping her meet her wax-production needs, but now another bee had finally expressed a similar passion for the bizarre human relics. She had once shown an interest in tinkering with the objects, especially the crystals, but simply did not have the time to waste on that interest. Now with her own load lightened and another expressing interest, perhaps she could finally begin to explore other areas of expertise.
I had to admit the idea was enticing. I had initially been opposed to Enno’s concepts of freedom and the like, but they have proven to be remarkably effective in boosting productivity. When the bees were allowed to pursue activities they found personal fulfillment in, the entire hive could benefit.
Which was always a win in my book.
Books. Another odd relic of humanity. Not one I had ever seen, of course. Simply implanted by Enno’s wealth of knowledge. I admit, I sometimes felt perturbed by how much of my actual knowledge came not only from another world and species, but humans specifically. I had not lived a long life myself, and barely knew of my world.
I shook those thoughts away. Enno’s knowledge was another tool for me to use, nothing more. His memories and aches affected me not.
Besides the four bees that seemed already glued to Belle’s side were other… unique personalities. Two hyperactive, immature children had nearly instantly shot out of the nursery, intent on seeing the forest, until they were stopped by Ben.
I was surprised by his maturity until he proceeded to demonstrate how they could fly and see bigger to truly maximize potential exploration. It felt obvious the trio would be somewhat of a headache.
Two other bees, in contrast, had stayed firmly in place within the nursery until they slowly crawled over to Beck’s room, where they said not a word and joined Beck in meditation. Apparently, those two also had a clear calling.
The final two were a bit... odd. I had noticed there always seemed to be at least one true oddity in these clutches of eggs. In this case, they were twofold: a bee who had begun crying upon looking out the nursery window and one who had rushed outside and immediately planted its head into the dirt.
Even Beatrice did not seem to know what to make of these two. The crying child continued weeping as Beatrice grilled it on what its talents might be, with other bees like Belle trying to coax the weeper into their own jobs. It was only when Bella came back from a gathering mission and offered to tour the child through the forest that the weeping subsided somewhat.
As for the final one… Nobody was quite sure what to do with her. Bessie, as Belle had jokingly named her, seemed content to wiggle around in the dirt and do nothing else. The name had come about when Bessie happened to pile some dirt into a hexagonal ring, which Belle humorously compared to the sturdy walls of the hive.
Bess was not pleased when she found out.
I had certainly not expected Beatrice to congratulate Belle on her observations and place Bessie under the care of Bess as the second true builder. Would such a decision hold? Only Enno could provide an overriding decision.
That was actually a sobering thought. Such a situation would ordinarily never arise in a true hive. In this case, Enno had not been able to prepare any other queens as my Egg Laying Ability had been immature, so in a regular hive, our measly swarm would pack up and leave to find another queen to replace the dormant Enno.
Of course, that would never be the case here. With Enno out of commission for the time being, a sort of hierarchy inevitably came to light. And what a flimsy hierarchy it was. Beatrice had an inordinate amount of power for a single bee; her authority overrode every other bee, even Bedivere. As the bees unquestioningly followed Enno, so too would they unquestioningly follow Beatrice’s lead.
Who would follow? Bedivere? The five original workers? I chalked it up to Enno’s concealed desire to dump his leadership onto Beatrice. Actually, Enno was likely the key to this predicament.
I needed to think like him. Hope and dream like him. Perhaps I could come into contact with the outside world. Somehow.
_______
Concern, despite my best effort, began to creep into my thoughts. Against Beck’s better judgment, I floated outside Mother’s room, drawn to her still form within. When the pressure had appeared not long ago, an indescribable terror had overcome me.
At first, I was unsure what was causing such terror. Of course, I initially believed it to simply be because I sensed Mother was in danger. When I was about to rush to check on her, and Beck chided me, I then believed the terror to be a reaction. A reaction to my own foolhardiness and panic. Was I truly trying to regain Mother’s trust with such a shallow act?
But no. Looking into the dark room, I now knew what that terror truly was.
Simple fear.
A simple notion. I was afraid. What perturbed me, then, was my realization of what my fear entailed.
I was afraid of strength. I was the strongest in the hive. I had betrayed Mother’s trust, yes, but I had done so with conviction. With the absolute confidence that my actions would help the hive. I had been impressed with Mother’s strength to make her decision to punish me, and my already firm loyalty strengthened further.
But when Mother’s experiments drew in that unfathomable pressure? That was when I truly felt fear. I did not even fear for Mother; my fear was directed at that seemingly infinite power that laid the hive low.
The others recovered quickly, bless them. They were shaken by the terrifying event, but even without the direction or influence of Mother, they went right back to work. Even the worker eggs hatched without a care in the world. In fact, Belle had begrudgingly informed me that she expected the four warrior eggs to hatch soon.
It was truly a shame that I would not be able to connect with my precious siblings outside of training, but I would accept my fate. However, the concern that had begun to worm itself into my heart and Mind was related to the state of Mother.
The others were also beginning to become restless. The newly hatched workers, while energetic and passionate, seemed lost without Mother’s guiding light.
What had happened to her? I was sensitive enough with my Mind to know her current state was not, in fact, a result of the terrifying event. The event had ended quite some time before her… disappearance. Beck had made no headway in contacting Mother at all.
The reason concern had begun to appear in me only recently, where I had been confident in Mother before, was the pull.
Recently, a feeling had begun to creep into my Mind. The faintest of buzzes conveying no meaning or emotion. And Mother was somehow the source. The thought of the buzzing was intoxicating, like a piece of my Mind that had never been there slowly appeared and drifted into place.
I hesitated. How could I not? I had to get closer to Mother, to understand this emotionless buzzing, but how? Would my actions again be considered against Mother’s sensibilities?
I carefully widened the window, tearing chunks of the walls off Mother’s room. I would personally rebuild the walls if necessary, but I had to approach her. I came face to face with her completely motionless form. What was she conveying? The buzzing was clearer but still without reasonable meaning. It was simply short buzzes interspersed with pauses-
Ah.
I was military-minded. The knowledge I absorbed from Mother’s vast wealth of information I tailored to fit such necessities, and one had seemed odd and out of place. A form of communication entailing naught but pulses and pauses. What use would something like that be? We were bees with a robust mental communication system. Mother could be odd sometimes.
But this… I remembered the feelings I had always experienced since I was born. The sense of something broken, of two things becoming one. Two mothers.
I listened to the buzzes, and my eyes widened.
“Beck! I think we may be able to recover Mother.”
