“WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR YOU TO RESPOND? Can someone go bring salt? Maybe the Highqueen’s shell is sleeping or something. HELLO?”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!” I roared with Yelah’s voice. The surrounding fernen fell on their butts, and Feltan stumbled backward while raising his arms like a little boxer. When he realized I had ‘arrived’, so to speak, he immediately recovered. Say what you will about the guy, but he had some dignity.

“Finally! Highqueen, we have been trying to communicate with your bees, but there is simply too much lost in translation from their dance. Unfortunately, they are not as talented as Ben. Anyway, I urgently need to discuss your usage of Mind,” Feltan said with a huff. He started pointing at some fernen, who nodded with their whole round bodies before sauntering off.

“Huh? What do you know about my Mind usage?” What was this guy talking about? Were they spying on me?

“I know that you have an incredibly powerful Mind you clearly have no clue how to use! I don’t know what you’ve been doing - maybe making strange Abilities or something - but it’s been making all us fernen sick to our stomachs.”

“You guys can feel me doing that stuff?”

Feltan crossed his arms and tapped his foot, like he was talking to a stupid child. “What are you, a stupid child? I would expect someone with a such a powerful Mind to at least have some awareness of their actions. Now I know why we always felt a sense of foreboding ever since the Burning ended; you were out there, experimenting with powers beyond your understanding. But this is on a completely different level! With this empty shell of yours here, not to mention these bees, your Mind is practically in our faces, blasting us with your emotions. We couldn’t take it anymore after this most recent wave, so I had to contact you directly.”

Oh dear. So, every time I used my Mind, or even experimented a little bit, these poor fernen were getting their sensitive Minds blasted? I guess I had been doing lot’s of Mind stuff even in the small time Yelah’s body had been in the fernen glade. My new healing Ability, all the Mind Collapse stuff, ReLinkuish. And now Bobby’s ReLinkuish was the final straw. Actually, isn’t that really bad? It explained some memories the humans had, actually. I knew from their memories that they also felt a sense of foreboding, but that was before I even showed up in this world. Hm. Hold on. There was a very slight increase in that feeling they had around the time I showed up. I suppose I got lucky with the humans; they had already been feeling some sort of fear before my introduction, so the effect I had wasn’t noticed.

That wouldn’t fly in the future, no way. Not as I kept getting stronger, and especially not since I had so many Linked humans in Yiwi. If actual threats came into town, they’d sense my Mind being used in a heartbeat. Even Bob, I could see now, had felt something unusual. Thankfully, he confused it with his own apprehension about his mission, so he didn’t store the memory away or anything. But moving forward? Not acceptable at all.

“You wouldn’t happen to have some advice on that front, would you? The fernen are notoriously good Mind users, and you seem to know what you’re doing.” I asked. No shame here. If they knew a fix, then I’d gladly take it.

Unfortunately, the humans weren’t the best teachers of Mind. Besides the fact that they were a very particular species in terms of their capabilities, their understanding of Mind was overly-standardized. It just wasn’t useful for me to use Mind like they did. Humans tended to just create a ton of specific Mind Locks and activate them at will, reserving a small amount for their Abilities. There were few instances of humans using Mind in unique and strange ways - in a way, sort of like how people used certain things such as the internet in my world. Sure, there were experts, hobbyists, and whatnot, but the majority of people were content to use it in the few ways it benefited them. Mercenaries used Mind in their ways, merchants used it in their ways and whatnot.

The fernen, on the other hand, were more flexible. Free.

“In fact, I’d take any advice you can give about Mind as a whole. You guys can have multiple Abilities, right? Humans can’t do that, so your situation more closely mirrors mine in comparison. Can I leverage my ‘rule’ over you to get you to teach me?”

Feltan swayed, lost in thought. However, his answer didn’t take long. “Of course. We are under your rule and will do what you desire, as per the terms of my Battle with your Lowqueen. Even disregarding that, if it means my people will have peace of Mind, then I am more than willing to teach you myself.”

Perfect! I finally had a Mind teacher. The only problem: I’m damn impatient. I wanted to learn immediately. If Feltan were Linked….

“Hey Feltan. Wanna make a deal?”

“No.”

________

Bella was so important. Sure, Ben was currently on a quest to improve the food situation by traveling to the silly place of Lemonholm, and Beck was intently studying to figure out exactly how to re-establish an ordinary Link, and Beatrice was Beatrice. But Bella was the most important bee of all, for sure. Other than Mom, but that was a given. What would Ben do when he found more food? That’s right - call for Bella’s help. Who would Beck thank for more knowledge of how human Minds interacted with the Link? Yup, Bella. Beatrice didn’t count.

Yes, Bella was an important bee. But seriously, did Mom think she was Beatrice or something? She had plenty of responsibilities already, plus her personal project she only just got permission to continue, but now she had the Bobby stuff to deal with too.

“Listen, Rette. I’ve been talking with some other mercs, and they agree that we need to rescue Yelah if we have any hope of mounting a rebellion against the bees. She was the only one who could unite us all, as I knew she could. I believe that if we get her back, we can get our freedom back too.”

“Yoho, have I ever told you that you’re a moron?”

“Squawk.”

As Bella listened to the conversation, she took a bite of disgusting human food. What was this? It was chewy and tough, and calling the dull itch it oozed ‘flavor’ was an insult to the senses. Now, Bella knew she could be a bit dramatic about food, about as much as Mom, but she knew that even the humans found this particular snack atrocious. ‘Rock kelp’, in the true language of Mom. It was some of the only food Yiwi was producing, since the stalks that flowed out of the ground in the fields outside the city grew quickly and cheaply. Unfortunately, it wasn’t typically a food crop. Instead, they were usually grown for certain fabrics, rope, or even just fuel for fires. The stalks were simply not very nutritious, and certainly not delicious. No wonder the humans were so miserable.

Mesne, the source of these useless facts and Bella’s only source of decent entertainment, was also in the room with the other people of interest. She, along with Rette, Yoho, Dip, and Toh, were in Bobby’s visitation room, meeting the man who would become their new boss (or in Mesne’s case, business partner).

“I don’t care what you think, Rette. If anything, I’m ashamed to be talking to you. You abandoned Yelah - and Yiwi- in her time of need, and now you cowardly hide behind the monsters controlling our Minds. Where is your passion? Your desire for freedom? I expected more from a member of Yelah’s esteemed team.”

Bella watched Rette’s already pale fingers whiten further as the grip on her staff tightened, but her face didn’t change from one of minor annoyance. Toh simply rolled his eyes and Mesne was lost in thought, ignoring the entire exchange.

Bobby groaned. “This is the team I’m supposed to work with? We truly serve a cruel mistress.”

“Tell me about it,” Toh said, sighing deeply. “I haven’t had a break in over a week. That damn queen keeps making me run errands. She does know all I’ve been doing is running around doing her chores ever since she gained control of me, right? Ey Bella, you wanna put in a good word with your mama?”

Bella kept chewing and finally swallowed. She couldn’t eat this nasty crap anymore - she wanted to go home already. With a flick of Mind, she tossed the remainder of her snack to Beckham, who took a reluctant bite. His face made Bella snort.

“Guess not. Anyway, you might as well give up, Yoho. Any sort of rebellion is ages away. Best thing to do is simply bide our time until the queen makes a truly devastating mistake.”

“But that’s exactly it!” Yoho said, pointing with a smile to bedridden Bobby. “They messed with the MIS. Surely now people will come save us. Maybe even the knights! Argh, I really don’t wanna be saved by the knights, but what choice do we have? Say, Mister Bob, are your friends going to save us now?”

Bobby didn’t respond immediately, but when he did, Bella didn’t think he sounded optimistic. “In truth? Probably not. Granted, they know where I am, so they’ll at least be on the lookout for any important news from Yiwi. But they’re a heartless bunch. They probably just got word about the whole civil war and are assuming I somehow got caught up in the aftermath. It’ll take some other suspicious stuff to spur them into action.”

She might not be easting delicious food, but Bella could still relish the humans’ despair. Yes! Understand the hopelessness of fighting the hive!

“Is the MIS really as scary as everyone makes them out to be? I’ve only ever heard mercenaries talk about them like that; my parents never mentioned them being threatening at all, and I’ve never had a bad time with them,” Mesne said. She had actually been paying attention the entire time, but her focus was elsewhere. Bella did envy that multitasking brain of hers. Not that she even came close to Mom.

Bella let out another laugh at the stares Mesne drew from everyone in the room. Even the Hayrey nurse was looking at her like her head had turned into that of a bee. Mesne shifted under the weight of the stares, an unusual reaction from her. But Bella could see that the incredulous looks pricked something in Mesne’s heart a reminder of her earliest days as an inexperienced merchant. Which only made Bella laugh harder.

“Do you guys let merchants off easy, mister Bob?” Yoho finally said.

“No, not at all. Merchants fear us almost as much as mercenaries do. But… Mesne… Of Stockitall? If you’re Mesne Wayfa, I suppose it makes sense. Your parents were pretty famous back in the office. Great informants. Lovely people, supposedly. I was young at the time, though.”

“Hold on. Informants? My parents were MIS informants?!” Mesne cried. Bobby only nodded in response. Mesne finally seemed invested in the conversation, but for all the wrong reasons.

Yoho, who only had the ability to read a room with Yelah in it, lowered his voice to a whisper and started muttering nonsense. “The MIS are the worst! I had to deal with an agent of theirs once. Nobody knows anything about them, but everyone still fears them. Miss Yemonto never even questioned them when they made claims that seemed like bullshit. I heard of one guy from Ehra who suddenly disappeared one day, apparently after accidentally changing a single number on a MIS form he filed. And supposedly, if an official inquiry is called on a company, the company doesn’t survive for more than three years! They call it the Curse of Questions. Worst of all, they’re everywhere. You didn’t even know your parents were a part of it. They’re in every country, in every company, in every government. Even the king doesn’t control them, even though they work for him. I still can’t believe the other countries decided it was a good idea to allow them to work in their own territories!”

Bella snorted again, amused by Yoho’s fantasies. Even Toh and Rette and Bobby were nodding along.

Hold on. They were nodding? Like, they agreed with this lunatic?

“They know everything and nobody can do anything about them. Even the great knights don’t antagonize them, because the result would be a terrible war. Honestly, I don’t know which of the two groups is worse, although I used to like the knights.”

“Now that’s not fully true. Sure, we aren’t best buddies with the knights, but we both serve Somuia. It’s only after the Burning that the tensions became as hostile as you imply,” Bobby said. The others seemed surprised, but Bella wasn’t. That tidbit was considered public knowledge, so it was no secret in Bobby’s Mind.

In the silence that followed, Bella considered her next move. Her experiments would be proceeding more slowly than she expected with this new responsibility, or at least they would in theory. Technically, Beatrice had given the task to both her and Beckham. Surely Beckham could handle most of the intricacies. The only problem was Mesne, Bella’s primary contact. She was already busy as a bee, and now had this responsibility of expanding Bobby’s business to contend with. Bella wanted her for the experiments, but she needed the human to be less burdened. In that case…

“Listen up, all of you. I’m gonna get personally involved and help with this little side project to get it running as soon as possible. We need Bobby to get a foothold in the industry fast, so we’re gonna have to be creative. The reason Beatrice wants you to get involved, Mesne, is for your business achoomint. Ackyman? Business expertise. But in her instructions to me, she implied something. Bobby Inc - which is totally the new name by the way, ‘cause it sounds like Bob-bee - and the newly restructured Stockitall Enterprises need to become close partners. That’s the way to get immediate growth. Now, I have an idea. It’s based on my own work as a food gatherer, but I’ll tell you all about it later. For now, just listen to me! I’m your big boss, and my bosses expect great results.”

Everyone except Bobby nodded - even the nurse. The intelligence agent just stared at the air, eyes wide. Oh yeah. I’ve never actually talked to Bobby before.

“Oh, and nice to meet you, Bobby. I’m Bella.”

“Bob-bee…?”

Yes, this would be a great endeavor, Bella would make sure of it. A great and quick endeavor. As Bert, who had been given the strand of rock kelp by a nauseated Beckham, passed the final bite back to her, Bella gulped the entire piece down in one go. Disgusting. The humans were really lacking in something delicious. If they ever got the resources, she’d make them some honey personally, just to give them that taste of paradise.