The egg started to hatch the next day.

Regina had just come back from her last trip to the river. At first, she thought she’d imagined the crack. It was a very faint sound, almost lost to the birdsong and rustle of the forest. But she hurried over to the egg to check on it anyway.

The egg was now big enough that she thought a human child could probably fit comfortably inside, if they were curled up tightly. She stared at it for a few moments, but didn’t hear anything else. Then it started to tremble faintly and the small crack she’d missed started to expand until it wrapped itself around most of the egg’s upper part.

She took a step forward, starting to go and help, before she hesitated. Regina lowered her arms and simply watched, tense, as the egg cracked further. Her fingers found the sharp stone she’d tucked into the makeshift belt around her waist and she clenched it tightly.

The first bit of the shell started to fly off. She took a step back, narrowing her eyes. She smelled someone else, a strong scent that she couldn’t quite place, but felt as if it should be familiar. It was a different kind than anything she’d gotten from the forest. Then the being inside the egg seemingly gave it a push and it started to shatter in earnest, allowing the hatchling to climb out.

Just then, a blue box popped up in Regina’s vision.

Congratulations, System Access has been unlocked for you! Welcome to the System. Full functionality should now be available.

She blinked, focusing back on the newly hatched being. Normally she’d be excited to delve into it right away, but this System had the worst timing.

What she saw was obviously another member of Regina’s species. Its body shape suggested a male, and something about the scent said the same. He was a little shorter than her, at least for now, but although he stood on two legs, he had six extremities. One pair of human-like arms much like hers, and another pair that was much more insectile, with a scythe-like appendage on the front of each. He was covered in the same kind of shell she was. After she looked at him for a moment, another blue box popped up to identify him.

Drone Warrior — Level 1

The newborn warrior tilted his head slightly, blinking his dark, obviously inhuman eyes.

“Hello there,” she said, her heart pounding quickly.

The drone warrior appeared to hesitate for a moment, before he took a step towards her. “Mother? My Queen?”

Regina felt a weight she hadn’t realized was there lift off her and let out a deep breath of relief. “Yes,” she said. She smiled at him. “Come here. We have a lot to talk about.”

There was something about him. Her instincts were pretty silent, except for a general positive feeling, but she felt connected to him in a way she couldn’t describe. It was only after she’d spoken that she started to wonder if he might be a threat, and even then the idea felt silly. This was a drone of her hive. Of course he was hers.

The warrior walked towards her, his first few steps unsteady before he seemed to find his balance. He looked around, but his gaze quickly returned to her.

“I don’t suppose you know what we are?” she asked hopefully.

He shook his head. “I’m a warrior of the hive. Beyond that, I don’t know.” His stubby antennae flicked. “We’re not human, are we? I know about them, but we’re clearly not.”

She nodded. “How do you know that?” This whole thing was strange. “How do you know how to speak this language, for that matter?”

He tilted his head again. “Because you do, I think,” he said hesitantly. “I think I get it from you, my Queen. I don’t know. There are things I know, that I just know when I need them, but that’s all.”

She regarded him thoughtfully. That might make sense, in a weird way. If newborn drone warriors got knowledge imparted to them somehow, then they could be ready to fight much more quickly. It wasn’t like any of this was normal.

“Maybe we can ask the system about me?” he asked. “I saw a blue notification earlier.”

“Alright.” She smiled. “Try to call up your status sheet. Do you think there’s a way I can see it, too?”

His gaze grew unfocused for a second, then he nodded. “I got it. I feel like you should be able to see it, too. I mean, you’re the Hive Queen.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. A moment later, with a soft ping, a window opened.

Name: N/A Drone Warrior Level: 1 Mana: N/A Con: 9 Str: 10 Dex: 9 End: 8 Int: 15 Wis: 9

Regina raised an eyebrow. “Huh. Interesting.”

The way the new warrior looked at her vaguely reminded her of an eager puppy. “Did you get it? What do you think, Mother?”

She winced slightly. I can’t be a Mom, dammit! She shifted her weight uncomfortably, suddenly aware of how she must look like to him.

A strange woman of the same species, wearing only a kind of loincloth or short skirt made of a rabbit pelt, with a vine wrapped around her forearm and armed with stones and a spear made of a stick. Her middle was still stuck with a bit of gunk, and she had a cut on her cheek from an errant tree branch of all things.

“I think it’s interesting,” she answered, pushing those thoughts aside. “You have pretty high Intelligence for a warrior, I guess, but if that’s how you’re talking to me so well, I’m definitely not going to complain.”

“Thank you, my Queen!” He bowed his head. “I hope I will be able to be useful to you.”

She cleared her throat. “Well.” First things first. “You need a name. I don’t suppose you’ve already got one?”

He shook his head.

“Alright, then I’ll give one to you. Hm.” She frowned, thinking for a moment. He waited patiently while she paced up and down a few steps.

“Max,” she finally decided. “What do you think? It can be short for Maximus later, maybe, but I guess you’d need to grow into that.”

He smiled. “Thank you, my Queen.”

Name “Max” given to Drone Warrior Lvl. 1!

She shook her head. “Alright. I guess we’ll see if that actually has any effect.” She hesitated for a moment. She should see about her own status sheet, but a part of her felt trepidation at the thought. Besides, Max was still just hatched and deserved her attention. Not to mention there were things she still wanted to investigate.

“I’ll show you what I’ve been doing, okay?” she said. “Is there anything you need?”

He shook his head as he started to follow her. “No, thank you, my Queen.”

“You can call me Regina,” she said. Then she realized she hadn’t actually given him her name before. Ugh, that was kind of rude.

She showed him the piles she’d made of firewood, other wood she’d gathered that might be useful for construction or making tools, stones, cut vines, and her abortive attempts at making a basket. It hadn’t gone well. Then she led him into the forest to point out the traps she’d attempted.

“I haven’t been out here long,” she explained, scratching her cheek. “I only hatched a few days before you, actually. I’ve killed one monster and scared another one off in that time. With your help, I hope we’ll be able to do more than that.”

He nodded firmly. “I’ll fight whatever monster you need me to. Uh, how well do these traps actually work?”

“I caught a rabbit yesterday.” Regina shrugged.

Max took a good look at the sling she was currently showing him, but he looked a little doubtful. She could guess what he was thinking. His blade limbs didn’t look well suited to this, or to other detail work, and he clearly preferred the idea of using them against bigger game. Personally, she appreciated that he had natural weapons of his own and didn’t need her to make some.

“How about we go hunting?” she suggested. “There are a few animals and maybe even weaker monsters that I think we could take with two of us. And now that I don’t need to keep watch on an egg, I can move a little farther from the camp. Besides, I could use some food, and you’re probably hungry, right?”

He nodded eagerly. “I am. That would be great.”

So they set off. Max walked besides her as well as the forest allowed, but from the way he looked around, Regina got the feeling he was trying to play bodyguard. She smiled slightly. She felt a lot better having someone else with her, and she actually did feel safer with a warrior to protect her. Although it might be more than that.

Regina dodged around a tree once, but somehow, she still knew where he was. She only realized it after she was back beside him, as seamlessly as if he’d always been in her sight. She hesitated, then closed her eyes for a moment.

She could still tell his location. She was aware of it the same way she might be able to tell the position of her fingers, even if she didn’t pay attention to them. When she focused on it, she got an actual sense of his presence. To the human part of Regina’s mind, it was uncanny. She slowed to a stop, looking at Max thoughtfully.

“Regina, is everything alright?” he asked. He glanced around as if expecting a threat to jump out of the woodwork, and his right blade lifted a little.

“No, everything’s fine,” she answered. “I just realized I don’t really understand what kind of connection we have, even if I can feel it. I get the feeling there’s more to it that we haven’t explored.”

Max relaxed a little and smiled. “You can explore it however you like, my Queen. It would be an honor.” He frowned slightly, clearly thinking hard, searching his instinctive knowledge. “I feel like you might be able to send your awareness into me? It’s hard to explain.”

“I’d like to try that. Are you okay with it?”

“Of course. I’m yours to command. No warrior of the hive would object to hosting his queen.” He sounded certain, even as he looked a bit unsure, like he wasn’t sure where this came from.

Regina nodded, then sighed and closed her eyes. This time, she focused closely on Max. The smell of him, the feeling of his presence. There was a small part of her mind that was linked to him, always. She hadn’t realized it before, although a part of her must have known.

Then she had a brief sense of disorientation, and suddenly she was even closer to his consciousness. It felt strange, and yet clear. She settled into it like she was sitting down on a seat that had been designed for her.

He looked at the forest and her, and Regina saw what he saw. It was strange to look at herself through someone else’s eyes, and she paused for a moment. She heard the way the birdsong sounded in his ears, and she smelled the forest through him. And herself. The way she smelled to him was a little weird for her. It seemed stronger than anything else, and it brought feelings of home and family, pride and determination, even if those were only vague concepts for Max.

Regina shifted. She could still move her own body, although it was difficult with her attention split. She didn’t think she’d be able to do anything that required care or concentration.

“How does this feel for you?” she asked. She slurred her words a little, and heard it through both her own body and his ears.

“It’s okay, nothing bad,” Max said. She felt the movements he used to talk. “Hard to describe. Do you want to try controlling me?”

She paused for a moment. That was possible? It did feel like it should be. “Alright.”

Then she reached in and nudged him a little. Max’s head turned, and the view she got of the trees around them changed. She carefully took a step forward with his body, noticing the way he automatically compensated for the distribution of his weight. Then she made him crouch down, and tried to move his scythe-appendage across the ground.

The result was barely legible. You needed a lot of imagination to read it as letters. But it should be possible!

Regina pulled back, then withdrew from his mind completely. The transition was just as disorienting as before, though it passed quickly. It made her far more aware of the feelings she’d gotten from Max. Echoes of which she still sensed.

The warrior smiled. He looked pleased. “Do we keep going now?”

“Yes, of course. Let’s go.” Regina shook her head and set off again.

Would it work like this with every hive drone she had? A very interesting development, indeed.