Opening my eyes groggily, I looked around the room with mild confusion "ugh why do I feel like I'm hungover after an all night bender?" I thought aloud to no one in particular however a reply came anyway " Apologies Apollo-mate Orchid has been informed that the mild pain you are feeling is a species wide effect your species goes through if their mind defences are breached. there wont be any side effects as nothing was attacked but you may feel some discomfort throughout the day.
"A small price to pay considering I get to learn about my powers. Speaking of, did the agitator find anything?" I questioned looking around for her. "Where is she by the way?" Orchid turned her body around and what was unveiled made me gasp. The psionic agitator was no longer hovering in the air just above the ground. But instead was sprawled out on the ground staring deeply at me. "What- what happened" I stammered out "Is the agitator ok? Did something go wrong in my mind?"
"Be calm Apollo-mate. The agitator is fine. She is just being suppressed by the hive; the whole ship is actually." Orchid relayed to me in a calming tone. "But why? And why isn't the hive suppressing you?" I asked "Orchid is not sure Apollo-mate. When she fell, Orchid was still in torpor and the link to the hive was fully closed. When the agitator did fall, I got up to aid her, but the queen told Orchid not to get close or establish link otherwise Orchid would also be suppressed. Apparently whatever the agitator saw sent the hive into heat again like the first time Orchid lay eyes on little-mate-spawn."
My mind racing at the prospect. What could possibly be in my mind that would cause the hive into another frenzy? The first time it saw my rugged good baby looks and that set it off. Haha no, it was just the affect of my boon causing reactions in the hive, but this time? I truly had no idea what could cause such a phenomenon. "Well, no point speculating." I relayed to Orchid. "Lets just wait till the agitator gains control again and ask her. In the meantime, how about we play a game. "Oh? Which one does Apollo-mate wish to play this time?" I thought a second before saying "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with..."
About 2 hours passed by with me and Orchid just passing the time goofing off ,her own personality has been starting to take form rather well. The agitator started stirring, Orchid seeing this, crouched low with her scythe out in defence of me just in case.
"Worry not designation Orchid, This one is in control of itself once more. The desire to mate with Apollo hit harder this time as we knew what it was and did not catch us by surprise. We are truly sorry Apollo-mate, we shall begin working to shallow the feeling we get so we can still function in that state."
"There is no need for apology as nothing happened to me. That being said, what caused you to enter into that state?" I inquired. A faint sweet pheromone came of the agitator again as she remembered what she saw before composing itself. "This one told you earlier that the hive through consumption Of creatures myriad, it has gained almost all forms of Psionic power. Therefore, it is able to also determine what powers another being can use this is why. This one went into your Mindspace to discover your ability, and what we found only further proved that you are our mate. Apollo-mate has the purest form of Psychokinesis almost tapping into Omni kinesis. Apollo-mate has the potential to wield all manner of Psionic power with enough training."
Dumbfounded! I wasn't supposed to be so lucky. I was given 1 random boon and a random life, if I thought my boon was pretty low on the luck totem pole and even then by sheer luck I affected the hive. But the body I was reincarnated into must have won the lottery! It also made sense now why the hive acted in the was it did. What is the thing that any conquering species needs more than anything? POWER! The hive may be unfathomably powerful as is, but the more powerful it gets, the easier its hunts become. Less biomass lost for biomass gained. If I wasn't its mate and the boon did not work on it and if it did eat me in that bin, I would have given it a hearty boon to aid in their domination.
But I wouldn't let myself get washed away in self gratification, this is a gift beyond gifts and only a fool would not take advantage of the resources I have available to train it and I'm no fool.
"Right then, I guess we should start training my mind defences in order for me to see the queen right? How does one go about doing that? Please don't tell me its in silent meditation for years on end for the most minimal amount of progress" I groaned out. I would still do that if it was the only option but id rather enjoy myself and my powers. rather than sit in a cave for decades on end and call it a life. cultivation man...
"While that is one inefficient way you could do so apollo-mate the queen would get rather restless waiting what this one suggests is much more simplistic. This one would attack your mental defences with a small amount of my psionic might like this one did earlier only this time instead of 'massaging' my way through this one will attempt to crack it open. at first you would not be able to defend, but as this one continue to repair and strengthen your defences, you will start to be able to actively reinforce it through reflex."
This left me to ponder a moment the amount of trust needed for this exercise would be astronomical in proportions. One wrong slip, one negative emotion while the mental barrier is down would destroy a persons mind. Do I trust the hive enough to allow this training to commence? Of course I do, even if they weren't in love with me the fact that the psionic agitator has already been into my mind for an extended period of time and nothing bad happened, except for a hangover like feeling which has already passed, and like I said only a fool would not take advantage.
"Will it be strong enough to be able to converse with the queen next week?" "That depends Apollo-mate on how much you are willing to push yourself. But in theory, yes a light conversation with the queen with feel like how it is speaking to This one, that minor strain on the back of your head. While strengthening your defence will remove that feeling whist speaking to This one" The agitator replied patiently "Let this one know when you are ready to begin. Designation Orchid, stop stroking Apollo-mate, it will distract him when he is able to defend." Orchid did a classic pause not realising her unconscious action. Letting out a small chuckle at her action before steeling my mind for what is to come. "Ready."
"As you wish Apollo-mate if the pain becomes too much let this one know; it is better to take it slow than to cause a trauma." With that warning the agitator let out small amounts of its psionic power. Once it hit my barrier it made me suck in air.
"tsk." The pain was prickly like hot oil spurting on you from a pan only constantly and all over. Unable to take the damage for long my mental barrier started to crack all over. I was powerless to do anything I could only feel my barrier getting weaker and weaker totally at the mercy of the telepathic assault. Before the barrier could hit the shatter point, the pain subsided along with the attack. "Very impressive mate spawn 10 seconds even with that amount of psionic power a standard Quenicar preys mind would have been destroyed in that time. Let me fix the damage and we shall go again." Not bothering to ask what the duck a Quenicar is, I just took the compliment as is and enjoyed the soothing feeling as my defensive barrier was restored.
"How was the pain Apollo-mate.? "Orchid asked with a slight pain in her voice knowing I was in some amount of pain. 'This taxi tanks exterior is a gigantic contrast to the cute feminine voice that relays into my head. "Not as bad as I thought it would've been. If it was my body effected by the pain I think it would have hurt more." I replied. it was true if my body was coated in that oil like pain I would be screaming. That stuff makes you scream profanities if its just a drop never mind a thousand drops. "that is an astute observation mate spawn although the damage to your mind barrier will hurt its tolerance to pain is also much higher" the agitator chimed in. After steeling my self for round two I said
"Ok I'm ready lets go again."