With barely a hint of resistance, I pushed, and my Mind and Beck’s were connected. A thought, and that extra connection was gone. Push, connection. Thought, gone.
For once, the miraculous convenience of the Mind system was being a bother. If things hadn’t lined up so perfectly, I would’ve been happily going about my business just crushing things and picking eggs on a menu, but noooo. I had to put effort into it.
“Are you doing alright, Beck?”
They responded with affirmation, though I was getting somewhat concerned about their increasingly labored breathing. If they were fine, though… I pushed as slowly as I could manage. I tried to emulate the strings of the Link, reaching out and pushing into the node that was Beck.
But the problem persisted. Mainly that I was already linked to Beck. When I made my push, the imaginary tendril of Mind got tangled with the existing cord and connected in the same place without a problem. I tried pulling the tendril away, and almost instantly, that extra connection was gone. If it weren’t for the B-boxes, I probably wouldn’tve been able to process how suddenly the tendril just vanished.
I felt I was understanding the linking process a bit more, but not enough. If I wanted to apply my knowledge to the more difficult example of humans, I needed a much deeper understanding.
I tried thinking about it from another angle. How did I create the Link when it was done automatically? I always describe the feeling as pushing… something. All it really feels like is pushing, as in physical exertion, but with my thoughts. Other than that, all it really involves is a vague thought of ‘I want to make a Link.’
“Are you getting anything, Beck? Actually, we should take a break; you’re not looking so hot.”
After catching their breath, Beck took a moment to think. Meanwhile, I was wracking my boxes, trying to deconstruct the process of Linking. If I could communicate with the humans, who had grown up and lived in a world with psychic powers their whole lives, then maybe I could get some hints about this whole thing. Of course, this whole process was precisely for that purpose.
Finally, Beck started to slowly roll out some theories. Unfortunately, those theories made absolutely no sense.
‘Words of the Mind’? ‘Soulspeak’? Was Beck just making up words?
“I believe Beck is trying to interpret the pushing and pulling in their own unique way. Since Beck is so in tune with words and links, they see the process as a form of speaking as opposed to your typical idea of speaking with… sounds? From your mouth?”
“Unfortunately, those theories, while insightful to your brain, Beck, won’t help with the goal. Hm. I think I need to practice Linking with creatures other than the bees. Like how you instructed your… disciples to Link with squirrels. Maybe I could do that too? But with the goal of Linking without the squirrel noticing?”
“It might be possible, but I have noticed that you continually underestimate our Mind. Simply appearing before the humans has an impact on them. Perhaps you should first figure out how to reign in your Mind’s presence?”
I get where you’re coming from, Queen, but is it worth it? All we know is that apparently, my ‘mental power’ going ‘out of control’ when I became frustrated trying to teach Yelah about circles and x’s was a problem somehow. Judging by how they usually reacted in my presence, it was tough to tell if they were just scared or physically affected. Sure, it was actually noticeable when they became pale and shuddered and practically fell over with foaming mouths, but still.
Anyways, what was the point? The Linker Bees would hatch within the next day. Do I take that shred of time to try and become as competent with the Links as I can? Or improve the control over my Mind’s ‘scary aura’? Maybe I should even take that time to do literally anything else.
“You… you are right. In that case, I suppose maximizing the time spent practicing with the Link might be a good option.”
Fair enough. Queen agreeing with me? Means I must be totally right.
My thoughts were interrupted by Beck’s hemming and hawing. They slowly drawled an idea they had about Mind itself. I suppose I had been thinking aloud at some point because they said I had mentioned something interesting about how I create the Links.
The key was having a vague thought. Looking back, using Mind was essentially thinking of something happening, then your Mind actually did that thing. Even if that thing was physically impossible. I thought of lifting the gun, I thought of making a ball of dirt, and I even thought of thinking better.
Essentially, Beck was trying to imply that we were overthinking Mind. So, was the whole process just the power of imagination?
Imagination?!
No, there had to be something we were missing. Sure, anything we could imagine, we were apparently able to do to some degree, but if that were the case, then this world just would not work. There had to be limits. Hell, I had encountered limits myself. The power of your Mind, natural talent perhaps, even the resources available to you. If Mind was a resource management game, then we didn’t have infinite resources to play around with.
My stomach rumbled.
“Beck, we need to continue thinking about this. Let’s keep discussing this idea over dinner.”
We headed over to the clearing just outside and prepared to stuff our faces.
_______
“So, Mind acts as a wish-giving agent? How curious. I suppose it was clear, but something so fantastical seems like it should not be possible.”
Beatrice, the psychic talking bee secretary, made a good point. Mind was essentially a resource that could grant wishes, at least to some degree. I had classified our abilities as psychic powers because most aspects of Mind seemed related to, well, the mind.
“So, Mind isn’t super strong psychic powers? It’s WISH MAGIC?!”
“I do not think that could be discounted necessarily, Ben, but this time I believe Mother’s knowledge may have caused some confusion.”
“I think I understand what you mean. I’ve been spending some of my newly opened time studying the eggs that have yet to hatch, and they certainly seem like magic. And yet, some aspects of them, especially the Link and their rapid mental development, fit with Mother’s knowledge of ‘psychic powers’ to a tee.”
“Exactly. I would posit that psychic powers are, in truth, some sort of supernatural capability of people to influence reality. In short, the capability to grant wishes. However-“
“But they’re limited, ha! We can do whatever. Like Looking!”
“Yes, Ben. Like Looking. For whatever reason, ‘psychic powers’ are highly limited while our Minds do not have a limit besides their own unique aspects.”
“I feel that. If it were that easy, commanding the builders would be a snap! But I always feel like… like there’s parts I can’t get past yet. But I’m getting there, so it is possible to grow.”
“Indeed. Natural talent plays a strangely prominent role in the capabilities of one’s Mind… Of course, personal growth means that you can expand your personal power regardless, which affords you further resources. However, there are aspects I believe you have considered as odd, correct Mother?”
Hm? Me? You guys were doing fine! Keep talking!
No, that time has passed. They’re all looking at me expectantly. Damn.
What would Beatrice mean? Something I considered odd? Pretty much everything about this. I had lived here for some time, but it was incomparable to the decades of life I had in a significantly more mundane world. Think!
“Whatever you say, she will probably connect it to her actual thoughts regardless. Just mention any of the slightly strange aspects; how about the System elements? The ease of use of Mind? The seemingly limitless capabilities of Mind, to the point of attracting the attention of actual deities?”
“Ah. There’s lots of strange aspects, like the System ease of use elements of Mind’s limitless capabilities pointing at attention of actual deities.”
“You had practically limitless time to construct a satisfying response thanks to the unfathomable power of your mental boxes, and you-“
“Mother… I could not have said it better myself. However, allow me to decipher your wise diatribe to accommodate the mental faculties of the others.”
Ha! See, Queen? I’m more smarter!
“If my estimations are correct, then my astonishing talent has been commandeered by a disreputable creature undeserving of those gifts.”
Well, if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even know any of those fancy-schmancy words. So I’d say we’re pretty even.
“What Mother means is that the two important points of interest are Mind and the System created by the gods. Mind allows us to perform truly incredible feats, but have any of you tried to use Mind without the System? Because of the Systems that govern our capabilities, we are able to minutely manage our Mind usage, understand our limits, and even do things with perfectly optimized Mind usage. Beck has already described their struggles with creating Links from scratch. The gods have limited our usage of Mind in ways that allow us to use Mind efficiently and without consequence.”
“In fact, Mother is something of an anomaly. She is constantly experimenting outside of the System’s suggestions and frameworks. The dirt ball food storage slash prison is odd, as is her unique use of Links, and so much more. If we are to continue progressing as a hive, we should follow in her example and expand our Minds.”
“”’ Hear hear!”””
Hear hear! Huh!? That was just stuff I thought I could do with psychic powers! I mean, making a ball of dirt wasn’t that special, right? The force field bit was somewhat wacky, but still. Didn’t Beatrice herself do weird stuff like make mental maps?
“Try to be careful when you guys do that, though. The consequences are still something I haven’t even experienced fully.”
I took another giant bite out of the hunk of cooked squirrel meat. I suppose it was inevitable that I’d have to eat these little guys. I had to eat a whole squirrel earlier to make a few Linker Bees. At least Bella had figured out cooking at some point, apparently with the help of Belle. Speaking of those two…
I once again eyed the glob of shiny crimson liquid sitting on a dull electric crystal. The chunk of crystal was just concave enough to act as something of a bowl for the mystery substance that everyone in the clearing had looked at curiously over the course of family dinner time. Bella and Belle especially were nervously glancing at the goop and myself constantly.
Was this the experiment? Meat honey? Had Bella and Belle finally figured out a process to make honey out of flesh?
It sounded pretty nasty.
Well, it was honey in theory, right? That natural sweet? The delectable nectar? The bane of bears everywhere?
Setting down the chunk of meat, I finally made the neutralized crystal float to my proboscis. A moment of hesitation. I couldn’t disappoint the expectant looks from this strange concoction’s creators.
A sip. A single, tentative sip.
“H-how is it, Mother? Belle and I tried to make it work….”
…
…
…
A tear from my eye.
“Delicious. So delicious.”
Again learn to cry.
With barely a hint of resistance, I pushed, and my Mind and Beck’s were connected. A thought, and that extra connection was gone. Push, connection. Thought, gone.
For once, the miraculous convenience of the Mind system was being a bother. If things hadn’t lined up so perfectly, I would’ve been happily going about my business just crushing things and picking eggs on a menu, but noooo. I had to put effort into it.
“Are you doing alright, Beck?”
They responded with affirmation, though I was getting somewhat concerned about their increasingly labored breathing. If they were fine, though… I pushed as slowly as I could manage. I tried to emulate the strings of the Link, reaching out and pushing into the node that was Beck.
But the problem persisted. Mainly that I was already linked to Beck. When I made my push, the imaginary tendril of Mind got tangled with the existing cord and connected in the same place without a problem. I tried pulling the tendril away, and almost instantly, that extra connection was gone. If it weren’t for the B-boxes, I probably wouldn’tve been able to process how suddenly the tendril just vanished.
I felt I was understanding the linking process a bit more, but not enough. If I wanted to apply my knowledge to the more difficult example of humans, I needed a much deeper understanding.
I tried thinking about it from another angle. How did I create the Link when it was done automatically? I always describe the feeling as pushing… something. All it really feels like is pushing, as in physical exertion, but with my thoughts. Other than that, all it really involves is a vague thought of ‘I want to make a Link.’
“Are you getting anything, Beck? Actually, we should take a break; you’re not looking so hot.”
After catching their breath, Beck took a moment to think. Meanwhile, I was wracking my boxes, trying to deconstruct the process of Linking. If I could communicate with the humans, who had grown up and lived in a world with psychic powers their whole lives, then maybe I could get some hints about this whole thing. Of course, this whole process was precisely for that purpose.
Finally, Beck started to slowly roll out some theories. Unfortunately, those theories made absolutely no sense.
‘Words of the Mind’? ‘Soulspeak’? Was Beck just making up words?
“I believe Beck is trying to interpret the pushing and pulling in their own unique way. Since Beck is so in tune with words and links, they see the process as a form of speaking as opposed to your typical idea of speaking with… sounds? From your mouth?”
“Unfortunately, those theories, while insightful to your brain, Beck, won’t help with the goal. Hm. I think I need to practice Linking with creatures other than the bees. Like how you instructed your… disciples to Link with squirrels. Maybe I could do that too? But with the goal of Linking without the squirrel noticing?”
“It might be possible, but I have noticed that you continually underestimate our Mind. Simply appearing before the humans has an impact on them. Perhaps you should first figure out how to reign in your Mind’s presence?”
I get where you’re coming from, Queen, but is it worth it? All we know is that apparently, my ‘mental power’ going ‘out of control’ when I became frustrated trying to teach Yelah about circles and x’s was a problem somehow. Judging by how they usually reacted in my presence, it was tough to tell if they were just scared or physically affected. Sure, it was actually noticeable when they became pale and shuddered and practically fell over with foaming mouths, but still.
Anyways, what was the point? The Linker Bees would hatch within the next day. Do I take that shred of time to try and become as competent with the Links as I can? Or improve the control over my Mind’s ‘scary aura’? Maybe I should even take that time to do literally anything else.
“You… you are right. In that case, I suppose maximizing the time spent practicing with the Link might be a good option.”
Fair enough. Queen agreeing with me? Means I must be totally right.
My thoughts were interrupted by Beck’s hemming and hawing. They slowly drawled an idea they had about Mind itself. I suppose I had been thinking aloud at some point because they said I had mentioned something interesting about how I create the Links.
The key was having a vague thought. Looking back, using Mind was essentially thinking of something happening, then your Mind actually did that thing. Even if that thing was physically impossible. I thought of lifting the gun, I thought of making a ball of dirt, and I even thought of thinking better.
Essentially, Beck was trying to imply that we were overthinking Mind. So, was the whole process just the power of imagination?
Imagination?!
No, there had to be something we were missing. Sure, anything we could imagine, we were apparently able to do to some degree, but if that were the case, then this world just would not work. There had to be limits. Hell, I had encountered limits myself. The power of your Mind, natural talent perhaps, even the resources available to you. If Mind was a resource management game, then we didn’t have infinite resources to play around with.
My stomach rumbled.
“Beck, we need to continue thinking about this. Let’s keep discussing this idea over dinner.”
We headed over to the clearing just outside and prepared to stuff our faces.
_______
“So, Mind acts as a wish-giving agent? How curious. I suppose it was clear, but something so fantastical seems like it should not be possible.”
Beatrice, the psychic talking bee secretary, made a good point. Mind was essentially a resource that could grant wishes, at least to some degree. I had classified our abilities as psychic powers because most aspects of Mind seemed related to, well, the mind.
“So, Mind isn’t super strong psychic powers? It’s WISH MAGIC?!”
“I do not think that could be discounted necessarily, Ben, but this time I believe Mother’s knowledge may have caused some confusion.”
“I think I understand what you mean. I’ve been spending some of my newly opened time studying the eggs that have yet to hatch, and they certainly seem like magic. And yet, some aspects of them, especially the Link and their rapid mental development, fit with Mother’s knowledge of ‘psychic powers’ to a tee.”
“Exactly. I would posit that psychic powers are, in truth, some sort of supernatural capability of people to influence reality. In short, the capability to grant wishes. However-“
“But they’re limited, ha! We can do whatever. Like Looking!”
“Yes, Ben. Like Looking. For whatever reason, ‘psychic powers’ are highly limited while our Minds do not have a limit besides their own unique aspects.”
“I feel that. If it were that easy, commanding the builders would be a snap! But I always feel like… like there’s parts I can’t get past yet. But I’m getting there, so it is possible to grow.”
“Indeed. Natural talent plays a strangely prominent role in the capabilities of one’s Mind… Of course, personal growth means that you can expand your personal power regardless, which affords you further resources. However, there are aspects I believe you have considered as odd, correct Mother?”
Hm? Me? You guys were doing fine! Keep talking!
No, that time has passed. They’re all looking at me expectantly. Damn.
What would Beatrice mean? Something I considered odd? Pretty much everything about this. I had lived here for some time, but it was incomparable to the decades of life I had in a significantly more mundane world. Think!
“Whatever you say, she will probably connect it to her actual thoughts regardless. Just mention any of the slightly strange aspects; how about the System elements? The ease of use of Mind? The seemingly limitless capabilities of Mind, to the point of attracting the attention of actual deities?”
“Ah. There’s lots of strange aspects, like the System ease of use elements of Mind’s limitless capabilities pointing at attention of actual deities.”
“You had practically limitless time to construct a satisfying response thanks to the unfathomable power of your mental boxes, and you-“
“Mother… I could not have said it better myself. However, allow me to decipher your wise diatribe to accommodate the mental faculties of the others.”
Ha! See, Queen? I’m more smarter!
“If my estimations are correct, then my astonishing talent has been commandeered by a disreputable creature undeserving of those gifts.”
Well, if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even know any of those fancy-schmancy words. So I’d say we’re pretty even.
“What Mother means is that the two important points of interest are Mind and the System created by the gods. Mind allows us to perform truly incredible feats, but have any of you tried to use Mind without the System? Because of the Systems that govern our capabilities, we are able to minutely manage our Mind usage, understand our limits, and even do things with perfectly optimized Mind usage. Beck has already described their struggles with creating Links from scratch. The gods have limited our usage of Mind in ways that allow us to use Mind efficiently and without consequence.”
“In fact, Mother is something of an anomaly. She is constantly experimenting outside of the System’s suggestions and frameworks. The dirt ball food storage slash prison is odd, as is her unique use of Links, and so much more. If we are to continue progressing as a hive, we should follow in her example and expand our Minds.”
“”’ Hear hear!”””
Hear hear! Huh!? That was just stuff I thought I could do with psychic powers! I mean, making a ball of dirt wasn’t that special, right? The force field bit was somewhat wacky, but still. Didn’t Beatrice herself do weird stuff like make mental maps?
“Try to be careful when you guys do that, though. The consequences are still something I haven’t even experienced fully.”
I took another giant bite out of the hunk of cooked squirrel meat. I suppose it was inevitable that I’d have to eat these little guys. I had to eat a whole squirrel earlier to make a few Linker Bees. At least Bella had figured out cooking at some point, apparently with the help of Belle. Speaking of those two…
I once again eyed the glob of shiny crimson liquid sitting on a dull electric crystal. The chunk of crystal was just concave enough to act as something of a bowl for the mystery substance that everyone in the clearing had looked at curiously over the course of family dinner time. Bella and Belle especially were nervously glancing at the goop and myself constantly.
Was this the experiment? Meat honey? Had Bella and Belle finally figured out a process to make honey out of flesh?
It sounded pretty nasty.
Well, it was honey in theory, right? That natural sweet? The delectable nectar? The bane of bears everywhere?
Setting down the chunk of meat, I finally made the neutralized crystal float to my proboscis. A moment of hesitation. I couldn’t disappoint the expectant looks from this strange concoction’s creators.
A sip. A single, tentative sip.
“H-how is it, Mother? Belle and I tried to make it work….”
…
…
…
A tear from my eye.
“Delicious. So delicious.”
Again learn to cry.
