The sheer power emanating from those words had me activating my mental defences. although barely even above standard speech level, the latent psionic power the Queen has in her words when she speaks makes it sound like a shout.
"Orchid? where's the queen?" I asked confusingly the end of the room was nothing but a big purple and white wall. "mate spawn you are looking at the queen no? here Orchid give you a better angle" dropping her back legs down so her thorax was facing upwards i understood. this was no black wall this was the queen.
standing at 80m tall the queen was by far the most eldritch thing i have seen thus far. her body had two long thin legs which it didn't seem to need. A Torso of Purple with White accents. despite the rest of the hive the queen seemed to have no chitin except where her chest? was. instead was a thick almost scaly flesh which I could tell was 100 times more durable than Orchids armour. She had four arms, two ending in gigantic scythes and 2 ending in a three fingered claw. her face was similar to Orchids pentagonal in shape but no discernible eyes instead was another thick plate of chitin with two tentacle like appendages caressing the sides of her face. the back of her head was a sight to behold. almost has the size of her torso was a humongous 'sack' adorned with large purple, pulsing spheres jutting out through holes in the sack. Smaller blue spheres were also peppered all over the exterior of the sack like jewels of a crown. Even from a distance you could feel the psionic energy bouncing and radiating of each of the spheres in an electric dance.
Fear! is what I would be feeling if 1, I wasn't used to weird looking bug monster and 2, I knew that this titan before me was in a state of pragma eros mania at my being. still despite not fearing the Queen I was still nervous as the sheer size of a creature this big invokes a fight or flight response in anything that sees it.
gulping now my nerves I decided to relay first greetings "he-hello there Queen of the hive although you already know me through the hive link its a custom in my species to introduce oneself during a first meeting. Nice to meet you I'm Apollo. Also if possible could you whisper through the link as your last words almost rattled my brain. " 'hmm a bit more formal than i would have liked oh well i should have-' bringing me out of my after thought a transparent tendril of psionic energy wrapped itself around me and brought me towards the queens face.
"Is this better my small mate?" A sultry voice entered my mind not quite whisper level but a definite improvement from before. I nodded in response a gesture the queen seemed to understand. "good I am glad to have brought easement. I would be honoured to exchange in your courtship ritual of name exchange. Alas this big body of mine possesses no name. would my Apollo be ever inclined to grant me a name as you did with little Orchid down there"
i pondered a moment the queen was different, vastly different from the other intelligent members of the hive. firstly she uses possessive pronouns. unlike Orchid who instead of using them just uses her name and the agitator just uses this one. The queen is clearly independent enough to use my and I for example.
After that short observation I got to thinking. I could feel clear expectation from the queen it seems she held a twinge of jealously that Orchid one of her, broken off, limbs had received a name before her. looking at the queens head what caught my eye was a small ring of blue beads just jutting over from her head sack from this angle. the looked like a halo of jewels surrounding her head.
"How about Jewel my queen? it means precious stone, the blue beads on top of your head gave me inspiration." the Queen said nothing just stared at me with her non existent eyes. Around 5 minutes of uncomfortable silence later the queen responded "You think I'm precious?" huh? that's what got her all 'link tied'? my explanation of the name. letting out an inward chuckle I responded "so I take it you like the name?" "of course my mate being your precious Jewel is all we desire. Everything I have is yours even my name should you wish to begin mating before the time you gave just say so and your precious Jewel shall do so." Jewel relayed this to me in a very creepy tone the type of tone in where if she had eyes they would be bulging and slightly dead and her hair would clearly be pink.
letting out a nervous laugh I said "as much as you may want to mate me, my body cant even function in that way yet. even then I don't understand how we would even go about it?"
"ah right yes my mate you are correct." she took a quick pause remembering something "ORCHID YOU MAY LEAVE TO UNDERGO THE ALTERATIONS SPECIFIED IN A NEST POD TAKE YOUR TIME AS THIS SHALL BE APOLLOS GIFT" "Yes queen Orchid understands" she said and turned around to leave. "wait" I cried out through the link "Where is Orchid going?"
"Orchid will be undergoing a gene and body augmentation I granted to her to better care for you in the future. I know you have bonded strong with this limb of mine and shall not do anything to squash that bond." " how long will you be gone Orchid?" although I couldn't see her from here the link was relaying to just below me "Orchid does not know Apollo-mate but worry not you shall see this one again soon. although Orchid shall look different it will still be Orchid." with that she turned and scurried out with.
I could feel her sadness at the parting I felt the same way but knowing it wasn't goodbye just a see you soon eased the sadness away. picking up on my feeling the queen- sorry Jewel offered comfort "you need not worry about your Orchid my Apollo I will be monitoring her progress in the nest pod the whole time. In the meantime let me feed you, you must be hungry look a gene-crafted a small tendril to feed you with."
before I was even able comment a small bud entered my mouth. the taste was very similar to Orchids exocrine milk but more richer and feint traces of psionic energy were dotted into it.
2 months later:
my time with Jewel and the hive at large has been relatively nice for lack of better words, a bit repetitious as my baby body wasn't capable of much yet, Eat, sleep and train my mental defences. no Other powers have manifested themselves yet but my Mindspace is much stronger I can now talk with Jewel without tensing my defences. still no that strong considering its just talking and I can only just defend where as with the psionic agitator , she was actively attacking with psionics.
I was now as big as a 12 month old, Apparently Psionic energy can alter your bodies growth, the super nutrients Jewel was feeding me everyday also helped. Apparently they were only using the best of the best biomass to choose nutrients out of. Usually they would go to creating new Elite caste so I felt touched by the gesture. although what I required barely put a dint in a dint in what the hive used daily.
I have just woken up from a nap, I now had my own bed made out of a Chitin frame and folded over silk drone gossamer. The second I did wake up the little blanket i had over me got up and moved to the bottom of the bed, It was a new species in the hive that Jewel had made for me which I jokingly named bed bug, it had fur all over it. designed and gene-altered from some form of conquered species out there. it permeated warmth throughout its entire body making it a biological electric blanket. crawling over to it and giving it a quick pet as thanks it cooed and shook excitedly. before it could get too happy though a transparent tendril picked me up and brought me into one of jewels clawed hands.
"did you have a good torpor my Apollo? you really like that bed bug don't you" jewels voiced through an open link making the bed bug shudder in response at the tone. "hey don't bully my blanket!" I responded seriously before we both let out a little giggle. " and I told you I don't do torpor I sleep, I'm not conscious of my surrounding in that state totally at the mercy of those around me. "then its a good think all I do is watch you when as you sleep then" she stated with upmost seriousness.
after a few more minutes of morning rituals and casual jesting, jewel relayed to me "My Apollo I have a surprise for you today"
'A surprise? I wonder what it could be?'