I've made another discovery! Before the delinquents could completely finish walling off the crystal, One of the old timers dropped off some nectar, and a little wisp of something came off of it, and the crystal got just a little bit brighter!

Is this magic? Have I just learned the secret? Or if it gets too bright will the crystal explode? Either way I need to keep an eye on it now. I get the adults to come build a little room around the crystal that's visible so I can send someone to check on it but it's not visible from outside. To keep the kids distracted I attempt to tell them a story with my skill. I throw together a lot of imagery and try to put some narrative on it, but I'm pretty sure I don't do a very good job. The bees don't seem to care though, I bet they've never seen anything like it. They all find a spot on the comb to rest and listen attentively, rubbing their little feet together. It's so cute! I can't beelieve it! After a little thought I decide to tell the story of Simbelmynë, the only legendary flower I could think of at the moment, and how it grew on the Barrowfield of the Kings of Rohan, and most especially on the tomb of Helm Hammerhand, and I project a chaotic slideshow series about his life and Rohan in general. At first the kids seem confused, but then I gained a new skill, basic psionics, and suddenly they were enraptured in the story. The little threads I was using to link to the bees moved around, and the complex weave of threads and mana bits in various shapes got even more complicated. I almost was disappointed to stop, but trying to figure out how to tell stories one image at a time is pretty hard. I guess all those hours talking to my friends in high school about The Lord of the Rings came in handy after all! Wouldn't my mother be surprised!

My new psionic skill allows me to overhear the young one's feelings a bit, they're definitely feeling excited, and a bit aggresive even. I overhear a loud thought about smiting their enemies with their fists as they fly off, divebombing each other and smacking each other with their tiny legs. I laugh to myself, after all, they don't have fists? Imagining bees with beefy human arms occupies my afternoon as the hive helps me move ever closer towards escape.

Chew chew chew.

Chew chew chew.

Chew chew chew.

My new psionic skill is very interesting. A lot of things are muddled, but it's useful knowing what's going on with the hive. The bee's dancing is actually a weird sign language. I say weird because it's a little hard to take the queen's lectures seriously if they involve doing a barrel roll or rubbing her tummy. They can't talk though, so I guess it can't be helped.

I guess the hive doesn't mind listening to me sometimes, but they get annoyed if I ask too much. Now that I can read a little bit of thoughts, it becomes clear the skill coerce bees was really just a one way psionic skill all along. As soon as I thought that, a notification appeared.

Skill Merged

Coerce Bees Rank 6 merged with Basic Psionics Rank 0

Basic Psionics reached Rank 5

Nice? I guess? I lost two ranks but I'm betting psionic powers work on anything with a brain, rather than just bees. Maybe I can talk to the zombies, now that I think about it.

…

…

…

…

…

…

I connected to it but I don't hear anything. I can feel it taking steps, but it's like the light's on but nobody is home. I stay connected for a while longer, when suddenly it happens. A voice speaks, and it feels like it's a long way off. But it is very loud.

...

PATROL!

DEFEND!

…

It's quiet again after that.

Am I in a dungeon or something?

Also, the queen has taken up residence in the little crystal room, and a vague sense of distress leads me to skim her thoughts. The crystal dimmed a lot suddenly. She's upset because she was admiring how it made her fur and carapace shine. Wow, what a vain bee.

I cut off the connection. Right now I'm guessing psionic powers use mana. And now I have a mana gauge and a bunch of industrious little folks who'd love to help me get more. I'd be steepling my fingers and laughing maniacally right now if I weren't a beehive. The revelation that these zombies are just empty puppets means maybe I can someday...

Being stuck where someone's heart should be is a bit gross, but so is being a human, I guess. These zombies don't have to eat, or breathe, or do anything, really. Maybe if the bees chewed all the meat off the zombie's bones it could be a skeleton. That'd be less gross. There's magic here after all.

Let's put Project : Escape From Meat Mountain on hold for a bit while I see if this is even feasible.