As it turned out, Regina’s guess had been correct. She’d charted the ‘output’ of the Drone Breeders over a little while, both in general as well as focusing on a few specific ones at various levels, and then compared them to the records the Keepers had kept. She’d never before gone looking for exact data, but she was glad they did have those recorded. Now, it was obvious that there were more new eggs, but not at a very remarkable rate. Roughly ten percent or so, if her math was correct. That was still good and would help the hive’s growth, but it wasn’t a paradigm change.

She had less success with trying to find out what the change to the psychic link might mean. It was obvious that the Swarm Drones were a bit more capable with it now, but it also didn’t seem to be a large shift and it was hard to get any kind of exact appreciation of it. Regina dove into the minds of several drones, but all she got was a vague impression that they were a bit more communicative with each other. She’d told a few of the sapient drones to experiment with orders that weren’t immediately carried out and using the psychic link to indirectly direct Swarm Drones, but it would clearly be a larger project to figure out. Not that she would complain, it was an unexpected bonus, anyway.

She would also need more time to experiment with the Class choices at the Evolution of Swarm Drones. Those happened infrequently around the base, where the drones didn’t have to fight or overcome large challenges to get a lot of Experience. Unfortunately, Regina barely had time for it.

She had been planning for a kind of diplomatic summit for a while now. Ostensibly, it was to discuss the end of the wars and the following peace. In reality, while that was definitely part of it, she had slightly bigger plans. Not that she would just spring them on the participants. Kiara already knew, and she’d told the Nerlians enough they were also aware of what they were getting into. So far, they’d seemed tentatively accepting, even pleased, although that might be because she’d implied they would get a lot of their territory back.

And, to be fair, their government was probably aware they needed protection. They were weakened now, they’d lost soldiers and land, and there was a big political shift coming, if it wasn’t already here.

The elves would be sending observers. Regina didn’t think they would agree to join her, at least not right away. But she was planning to conduct some lengthy diplomacy, even if they had to negotiate terms for years, and to give the elves a chance to see that she really was the rising power of the continent. She was pretty sure they’d agree in time.

The Delvers weren’t exactly a nation, of course, but some of their leaders would be there, too. Regina was not going to invite the Esemen even as observers. As far as she was concerned, they could be surprised when the official announcements were spread. There were a few other, smaller nations beyond Nerlia or Cernlia who’d tentatively expressed interest in forging good relationships with the hive, and she’d invited them to send envoys. Those would probably be excluded from much of the actual talks, but it was still an opportunity she didn’t want to pass up.

Ironically, the conference would be held not too far from what might be the most important battle of the war, close to the border of Nerlia and Cernlia, by Whitor’s county, and not too far from Esemen. It was a central location, close to the hive’s main base but not too close. Regina had already offered Kiara to bring her there with flying drones, to give her more time to settle affairs in Cernlia. There was a delicate balance to be struck between not letting the momentum of their victory in the war go and giving them enough time to be sure the agreements Kiara made would be kept. It was already going to be tricky, and Kiara was taking several prominent lords along. They should know, by now, that she’d officially sworn fealty to Regina.

That was probably not going to please many of them, but with the effects of the war, many of their soldiers probably dead, and the hive’s forces on Kiara’s side, they would have to be suicidal to rebel. In a sense, everything else was window dressing; with Kiara sworn to Regina, she was, according to their customs, already her vassal and obligated to follow her commands, not an independent queen, and her kingdom likewise.

Organizing all of this took some time. Regina didn’t travel to the location yet, preferring to spend time in the base they’d built by Forest Haunt, where she had more of her hive with her and could focus on making new sapient drones with the accommodations they’d built. The nursery was full of eggs and she felt better when she was close by instead of leaving it behind, even in the middle of her hive. Not to mention the awkwardness of trying to keep up with it when she was traveling. But, she’d sent a few drones ahead, escorted by a cohort of Swarm Drones, to make sure things were ready. There was a town not too far from the spot that Regina had chosen as the site for the conference. The inhabitants were clearly a bit anxious, but also understood the economic opportunity it offered.

Well, she supposed they weren’t wrong. Envoys and observers from other countries would probably bring servants and guards, and they’d all need accommodations. Regina was prepared to shell out some gold to make sure it was all handled. Although, given the short timeline, they’d probably arrive by tamed beasts or other means, which would limit the size of the entourages they could bring. Still, Chase had reported that they were attracting minstrels and other entertainers already.

Reluctantly, she approved requests for more drones to be sent and for them to start constructing simple buildings, quickly put up with Production Drones’ products and wood. They asked for Mia to oversee, but Regina put her foot down on that. Mia had far too many other things to take care of, and it wasn’t like others couldn’t handle this.

It was just a taste of what she was soon in for, Regina suspected. As the hive grew, she had to act more like a ruler, and deciding who would delegate what was part of that. Maybe I should start holding court like Kiara, Regina snorted and shook her head. If there was one thing she wanted for a government, it was a functioning bureaucracy. And she had every intention of making one. The psychic link meant the hive could do without a lot of paperwork, though in the future they would have to use more. Still, for the mostly medieval countries around them, the governmental apparatus of a modern centralized state would be as much of a revolution as introducing guns. So Galatea said, anyway, and after what Regina had seen, she knew she was right.

Stolen novel; please report.

Still, it would be a mistake to look down on her neighbors too much. From what Galatea had also said, Regina knew they were a lot closer to the early modern period than the true Middle Ages in many ways. And they had a lot of power and capabilities due to the System and magic. I just have to remind myself of that. It was just difficult to see when looking at people living in huts without indoor plumbing while you remembered skyscrapers, virtual reality and space stations.

But Rome wasn’t built in a day. Besides, she didn’t exactly have skyscrapers herself, either.

Ironically, she was fighting against what was probably the most technologically advanced nation on the continent, or at least within hundreds of kilometers. But the gnomes had still been decisively beaten back by the hive before, and they were losing now. The gnomes held on remarkably well, Regina had to admit. But they were losing by inches — villages and small towns falling behind the front lines, tunnels blocked or closed off, roads taken by the hive. It wasn’t going to last; if nothing else, they would try a counteroffensive eventually, if only out of desperation. But Regina had faith in her commanders and her hive grew stronger every day.

The gnomes had clearly learned something since the start of the war. They were no longer as overconfident and aggressive as they’d been at the beginning. She even thought she could see some improvements in the weapons they wielded. Maybe they had put some effort into centralizing and updating the design and production of their muskets. Not that she expected them to do much good against the hive’s artillery, but it was still an interesting development. Regina made a mental note to watch their progress. If nothing else, it would give her an indication of how quickly something like that could advance with the help of magic, outside of her hive. On the other hand, there had to be a reason they didn’t have anything beyond steam engines and early firearms yet. Well, there are the gods, but … Regina frowned at the thought. She would definitely need to figure out if there was more to it, or exactly how the gods would keep culture and technology at a desired level.

The obvious answer was the System, but Regina felt like she was missing something there. She knew Leian was a System admin. But she didn’t seem like she held with the agenda. Unless, of course, Leian has been loosening some restrictions and permitting more that the others wouldn’t have approved of since I hatched …

Regina almost fell as she stood up abruptly from where she’d been sitting, feeling a cold shiver run down her back. Our hive has not had any problems with that at all, we’ve been able to adopt new technologies and create many things. Damn it all. Had Leian deliberately interfered to make things easier?

Regina thought back to the beginning, when she’d been newly hatched. She remembered the glitches and trouble with the System. Later, she’d just put it on integrating a new race like the Hivekind. After all, they hadn’t been around anymore when the System was first built, or so she’d surmised, and they were rather different than any other race she’d seen or heard of so far. Which might be because we apparently came from elsewhere? Regina felt something niggling at the back of her brain at that thought, but shoved it aside to concentrate on the matter at hand. Yes, the hive was different, with the psychic link and the way new drones were created and all, even the divide between Swarm Drones and sapient drones. On the surface, it made some sense that she’d started out with only one type and unlocked the other type later.

But still — she’d already felt like it couldn’t have been that hard to get her status working in the beginning, like maybe Leian had made things seem a bit harder than they actually were. She did seem like the type. The impression she got was very much that Leian would try to keep control of the System … but she would be smart enough not to tell the other gods that.

Regina frowned and quickly pulled on a jacket as she headed out the door, distractedly waving for Max that she didn’t need a large guard.

Leian was a System admin, and she seemed to be the only admin (or at least the highest). Galatea had told Regina that Leian was a much better mage than anyone else in the world — which included the gods. The gods came from a medieval fantasy world, as far as she could tell, where one would not find anything even remotely similar to the System. Do they even know what backdoors are, and that Leian might have built a few into it? she wondered distantly. Well, she probably had told them about some measures and maybe even given them some codes, but still kept some access and backdoors in reserve for herself. That’s what Regina would have done. Alianais might or might not be in on it, considering they were apparently friends.

Finally, Regina arrived in a small courtyard close to the edge of the hive, at an angle where it met the outbuildings that had recently sprung up around Forest’s Haunt, populated by human newcomers. She didn’t care about their houses, though, but instead went straight for the small shrine that had recently been set up there. She’d known it was here, of course, but had pretty much tried not to think about it previously.

It was very simple, just an altar with a few candles. There was a carved wooden plank with what she realized might be a circuit board hung above it, or maybe just a complicated net. A few offerings lay scattered around, candles, a few small coins, small cakes and a simple wooden doll. It looked like a very humanoid Hivekind drone.

“Regina?” She turned to watch Ash approaching her cautiously. “I, uh, hope you’re not upset about this? Some of the guys wanted to set it up; we figured Leian was fine, since she’d helped you and the hive before, and she seems to be on the side of progress.”

Regina nodded. “I don’t mind,” she told him, which was mostly true. “So, this is visited not just by humans but drones, too?”

“Eh.” He waved a hand in a ‘so-so’ gesture and shrugged. “We’re not really the worshiping type, I guess, but a few people figured that showing some respect can’t hurt.”

“Since magic, the System and the gods are actually real, it stands to reason she might gain a little bit from such tokens,” Regina said.

Ash gave a lopsided smile. “Yes, exactly.”

Regina nodded again, then turned back to the simple shrine. She looked around, and then tried not to smile when Ash presented her with two candles.

Carefully, Regina lit the candles and set them on the altar. After a moment of hesitation, she took a step back and inclined her head briefly.

“I would like to talk to you, sooner or later,” she murmured. “I think we have things to discuss.”

The flame of one of the candles flashed brighter.

Regina just stared at it, wondering if it had been a fluke. She turned to Ash, who raised an eyebrow and nodded, confirming wordlessly with his impression in the psychic link that he’d seen it too.

Regina looked back at the altar, then shrugged. “Well, I guess she’s too busy to talk right now, but I’ll take that as a good sign.”