The museum looked pretty stately and almost imposing, fitting for its apparent stature. Regina had almost expected it to be just a small house with a few dusty old artifacts and records — which was about what she’d expect from a museum in the human lands — but she needn’t have worried. The gnomes’ museum occupied a building made of dark bricks which was at least three stories tall and considerably wider, with a gate that would have even let Max through without ducking. The decorative jambs had inlaid carvings depicting various icons and abstract art.

Bea paused for a moment to take in the view, then walked forward when Lou nudged her. They had decided to send him along as a bodyguard for her. That hopefully wouldn’t be necessary, but it would also give the hive an additional set of eyes and ears to take everything in. And Lou was pretty strong, at level thirty-five, and had Evolved from a Drone Shooter to Drone Soldier. That was a very general Class, but it gave him good all-around combat abilities, not just at range.

“Come on in.” Pernakin smiled and ushered them into the building. The gnomish agent (?) still seemed as pleasant and polite as yesterday.

Janis and the others weren’t back yet. They’d decided to head on a more circuitous route, getting a bit more combat and experience in and exploring the area further. They should arrive at the city from the gnomes’ tunnels later that evening, though. In the meantime, the two remaining drones should be able to handle anything that came up, and Ken was stretching his diplomatic wings a little.

“I’m already a little impressed,” Bea said lightly, glancing around the entrance. There were no displays here, just three doors that led into other parts of the building and a stairway going up and down.

To Regina, it didn’t look too different from what you might see in a museum in the old world, at least an old or very retro one. Without any electronic security, screens, or anything like that, of course.

“Fantastic, then I will try to work up to being more than a little impressed,” Pernakin answered with a smile. He gave a nod to the receptionist, a young gnomish woman who was standing quietly behind the counter, then led the two drones into the first room.

They didn’t seem to have organized it very intently. At least not chronologically. In the first few rooms, Regina saw a variety of exhibits from various points in the city’s history through Bea and Lou’s eyes, with no clear timeline. She did note that none of them appeared to be really old, though. Nothing from before the Cataclysm.

Pernakin seemed content to just let them look, only saying a few words to explain something now and then, and Bea took full advantage of that. She eyed the various exhibits curiously. Some of them were old documents, a few with sheets of paper transcribing or explaining their contents, in addition to old works of art, and a few more practical things. Regina almost asked Bea to linger longer before a small mechanism that showed the first steam engine, invented a bit over a hundred years ago, although Bea already looked it over intently. That is a pretty long time, considering how little progress they seem to have made with it just now, though, Regina noted. I suppose with the existence of magic and everything, technological progress is just slower everywhere.

The principle seemed pretty simple and familiar enough: you burned something, usually coal, and used the rising steam and pressure difference to get mechanical motion. Apparently, the version in the museum was actually a water pump, though it didn’t seem like a very economical one. From what Regina could tell, the gnomes did use pistons and valves along with metal cylinders to create partial vacuums. Or something like that, she wasn’t a mechanical engineer. If nothing else, she was learning that it was a bit more difficult to build a good steam engine than she’d thought. Regina was pretty sure she knew everything there was to know about the basic physics behind it, but she’d have to let others experiment with it to actually build one, if she decided to go that route.

The small tour continued, though, and Regina focused on what else they could see in the museum. Technical things were all well and good, but she really wanted to find out more about history. That was, allegedly, the point.

As always, the history shown in the museum’s exhibits didn’t appear to go further than a thousand years back. Actually, a few centuries or so less than that. It was hard to be sure, since many of the oldest objects didn’t have precise dates. Regina wondered about that. Was there some kind of disaster that caused them to lose a lot of their history? I’m pretty sure they should have had a calendar, at least. But maybe there was some historical revisionism or whatever and they’re trying to sort things out?

It was interesting, but honestly, after a while, the museum’s contents all seemed to blend together. And while she was interested in history, there was really only so much a random bit of pottery could tell her. Regina could tell Bea shared that feeling, though she still showed interest in everything.

Then things changed as they went to the back of the museum. Here, the atmosphere was a bit darker, and it took a moment for Regina to realize that not only did it have smaller windows, but the walls were also painted in a darker shade. But she didn’t really care about that, not compared to what the gnomes displayed here.

Bea almost rushed into the room, but controlled herself. It was obvious pretty quickly that this one actually displayed old history. There was a burnt and twisted remnant of what looked to have been some kind of monitor or TV hanging on one wall. A scattering of keyboards, mouses, and, incongruously, old calculators and a thermostat, were hung beside and underneath it. None of them appeared to be in much better shape.

Most of the things she noted looked like they had been made maybe in the 2000’s or 2010’s. There was a more modern VR headset in one corner, which Regina only noticed at a second glance.

Bea walked around the room, staring at the displays and giving particular attention to any plaques and descriptions. Unfortunately, they weren’t exactly helpful. Many exhibits didn’t even have one, and others rarely gave more information than ‘Ancient artifact’, maybe with the time and date of when it had been found. Locations were often missing, as well, Regina noted. She wondered if some of them had been traded from other countries. Any script she could see was in Latin characters, but not everything was still legible, and there was at least one case of what had probably been Cyrillic characters.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Pernakin noted. “You are not going to find a more extensive collection of Progenitor artifacts for hundreds of leagues.”

Bea nodded and mumbled an affirmative, but she only gave him a quick glance. Instead, Bea and Lou walked deeper into this section of the museum.

There actually seemed to be a rough order this time. The relatively small first room had pretty modern stuff, but as they continued, Regina also saw a lot of older things. Some from the nineteenth century or even older, though that was rare. There was an old spyglass, like something out of a pirate movie, that had almost certainly been a museum exhibit before, too.

It was really interesting, but also weird and unsettling in a way that almost made Regina glad she wasn’t there in person. Seeing things from her memories displayed like some priceless archaeological find felt eerie - especially because they actually were.

Then, Bea passed through a sort of doorway that lacked an actual door into a new room or section of the museum, and Regina realized it could always get weirder.

This was a small section, and one wall and corresponding shelves were filled with exhibits not too different from before. There were some old gnomish things on one wall, or so she thought, at least. But on the left side, opposite the door leading into the next room, was something that made Bea visibly pause.

It looked a bit like a Drone Warrior or Harvester’s blade-limb, but different. It had a sleeker design and the color was off, a bit darker and almost reflective, gray with almost no brown, although there were still subtle swirls in the coloring.

Hanging beneath the blade were pieces of what might have been chitin, along with one object Regina found hard to identify. It might have been some kind of miniature, hand-held radio receiver, but the tech didn’t quite look right. What do I know, though?

“Quite something, isn’t it?” Pernakin asked.

He took a step to the side, casually blocking the way through the door. Lou sent that thought to both Bea and her, though Regina had already noticed.

Let’s try not to give away any more information than we have to. This could get dicey, if what she was afraid of was happening.

“What is this?” Bea asked.

“I thought you might be able to tell me.” He smiled again, though this time no one would call the expression nice. “After all, you might find it familiar.”

Lou took a small step closer to Bea. Regina switched to looking through his eyes, as well, balancing the input from the two of them. She was pretty sure that Pernakin had already seen Bea’s reaction to laying eyes on that exhibit. And the rest of them, as well, probably.

Regina gave Lou a nudge, who turned his head and scanned the display in more detail. Unfortunately, the only plaque was written in a language she didn’t know. It looked old.

Maybe we should just pretend we don’t know anything about our species? Bea asked. If this really is from the old Hivekind, then they obviously know that, Mother.

Maybe, but let’s not assume anything. Or at least let’s not make them think we know anything about this.

“I guess it might be,” Bea replied. She frowned and shrugged a little, looking puzzled and a bit annoyed. “It might be something from a people related to us, though I don’t know why you would display it in your museum.” She paused and her frown deepened. “How old is this?”

“Over a millennium.” His hand disappeared into a coat pocket, then he suddenly held a loaded mini-crossbow. “And I think you know that, even if you are playing dumb.”

Lou shifted his position. Bea glared at the gnome. “What is the meaning of this? Why are you pulling a weapon on a diplomatic envoy?”

“Because we have reason to think you are Hivekind, and thus hostile,” he said calmly. “If you really are just a new race of insectoid demi-humans, I apologize. However …”

Bea blinked, looking taken aback.

If we keep playing dumb, the next question should be ‘what’s Hivekind?’, she thought. Do I continue with that, my Queen? If he doesn’t buy it, outright denying our kind isn’t going to help resolve this.

Maybe try to deflect one more time? Ask about what he’s doing?

Regina pulled on her mandibles and focused on the museum in the far-off gnomish city. She felt like she was almost standing there herself, but she actually pulled back a little from her two drones’ minds, trying to get a more holistic feel for the situation.

There were several minds approaching rapidly. At least a dozen were already in the building. Through her connection, she gave the information to the pair right away.

Lou swore mentally and tensed, while Bea talked. “Why are you doing here, then? What is all this?”

“We needed confirmation,” he answered. “As I said, we had several indications, but nothing really definite.” He paused for a moment, then shrugged. “Confronting you was decided to be the most likely route to get more information, although …”

“I really do not know what you hope to accomplish,” Bea said.

“Even if we were Hivekind, why would it matter?” Lou asked. “This is some pretty stupid cloak-and-dagger bullshit. We’re new trade partners. And we’re certainly not a danger to your Confederation. I mean, we even sent some of our people to look into the elementals to help you.”

Regina quickly checked on the others. Janis’s group was still underway. More gnomes were entering the building where they’d let her drones stay in the city. She quickly contacted Janis and Ken and then focused back on Bea and Lou’s situation.

Just then, several more armed gnomes entered the room, all of them dressed in cloth armor or chainmail with some metal plates. Pernakin visibly relaxed a little. “Hivekind are the enemies of the gnomes and all civilized races,” he responded. “Monsters with an unquenchable thirst for conquest and bloodshed, they caused more devastation than any others in the aftermath of the Fall. Many think they were even responsible for it in the first place, and our historians have uncovered supporting evidence.”

“That sounds very questionable,” Bea said. “Like fairy tales, or simple propaganda.” She was trying to stay calm, but Regina could tell her tension would be visible now, and the fear and indignation she felt were loud and clear to her. Lou felt similarly, although he was starting to move towards grim acceptance and determination.

“I am starting to tire of these games,” Pernakin said. “Convince us you are not Hivekind, if you can.”

I don’t think there’s much point in trying that, Regina said grimly. We don’t even know what exactly they know about our species. But if you think you can, you’re free to try.

“Would you believe us even if we said so?” Bea responded heatedly. “You seem to have already made up your mind. Besides, even I can tell what you just spouted was complete bullshit, from everything I know about the Cataclysm. No single race could have done that. The gods themselves couldn’t deal with it. You don’t really believe that yourself, do you?”

“Whether I believe it or not is immaterial,” Pernakin said. He took a step closer and shrugged, his weapon still trained on them. “I notice you didn’t deny being Hivekind, though.”

“You know we’re not monsters,” Bea said. A lie, but not really a lie in this context. “We never tried to conquer anyone, and we certainly didn’t bring bloodshed!”

Pernakin paused, then shrugged again, a small smile on his lips. “Since you’re so insistent on learning what I believe … The truth is, do you know what unites people, holds them together after a great disaster and under the threat of anarchy?”

Regina and Bea knew what he meant immediately. “A common enemy,” Bea responded quietly.

“You just want the Hivekind as a scapegoat!” Lou glared.

“Sir,” one of the other gnomes who’d entered said. There were over a dozen of them, and they were blanketing the walls of the room now. “They’re probably just trying to buy time, should we indulge them?”

Bea and Lou tensed, as did Regina. There was no way they’d win a fight. Lou only had a few weapons, Bea wasn’t a warrior, and there were far too many of them. And they were right in the middle of the gnomes’ city, with nothing they could turn to their advantage. For a moment, she thought about the museum exhibits around them, but there were no weapons, nothing that would work.

When the gnomes’ attack came, it started with the others, who were still in the ‘embassy’ building. Ken and Pat had tried to barricade themselves in their rooms and looked for a way to escape. Ken was just climbing down from a window when a crossbow barrel slammed into him. The Magic Armor he had put on himself flickered and disappeared. A sniper hidden on the roof opposite, Regina realized. Ken dropped to the ground, and Pat lunged back into the building.

Then a heavy ballista bolt slammed through the window and into him. At the same time, the door crashed open and a flood of armed gnomes followed. A sword struck Pat’s head while he tried to block an ax. Regina felt a brief instant of pain from him, then his presence in her mind went dark.

She hissed, blood pounding in her ears. She could only watch as more gnomes collected Ken, who had several broken bones and a concussion from the fall. And Bea and Lou were still in danger.

“I suppose you’re right,” Pernakin said at the same time, several hundred meters away.

They attacked the others, Regina warned. You need to act now!

Lou extended his arm and shot a projectile at Pernakin. The gnomish agent tried to dodge, but the drone corrected his aim just before he let loose, and the small javelin pierced his neck.

Bea lunged forward and tried to tackle one of the other gnomes, but she didn’t even reach her before a bolt slammed into her shoulder, sending her to the floor.

Regina could only watch helplessly as Lou engaged the gnomes in combat. It was short-lived, the weight of numbers too much for him. After just a few seconds, two blades cleaved into his torso simultaneously.

“For the Hive,” Bea whispered. She stumbled to her feet and turned to face the gnomes blocking the exit.

The other gnome who’d spoken pulled the trigger on his crossbow. The bolt slammed into Bea’s chest, piercing her heart.

I’m sorry, Regina murmured quietly. There was nothing else she could do, and impotent rage was burning in her veins.

Don’t be, Bea responded, even as Regina felt her lose strength. I’ll gladly give my life for the Hive, and for you, my Queen.

Then her mind in the psychic link faded and disappeared.