The hivemind is conquering for me?

I could tell things would get incredibly awkward no matter how I answered that question, so I played my trump card. My emotions left my body as I turned them into iron. I just proceeded to continue where I was sitting, deadpanned looking ahead.

”Apollo?” Valerica said looking at my face deprived of emotion. ”Apollo what is wrong?” Almost everyone in the room looked on in confusion towards my current state, except the individual who was responsible for the state’s origin.

”Uh oh, we have sent Apollo into his iron shell.” Orchid said as she stood up and walked over to Apollo. ”Iron shell?” Valerica said as looked at Apollo on her lap with concern. Orchid reached Apollo at this point and helped him off Valerica’s lap.

”Yes, he suffered a traumatic event a few years ago and to cope with it he learned the ability to turn off his emotions if he is beyond uncomfortable by a situation.” Valerica felt mortified that she had done so to her new baby and began sniffling as she watched Orchid help Apollo sit down.

”Is he going to be ok?” It was Hailey who asked as Apollo was placed next to her. It was not Orchid who responded, but Apollo. ”I will be fine in due time, I was thinking about something Nerissa told me and when I was snapped to, I was not expecting to have to deal with my Psychosexual issues that not having a mother growing up have caused me. Give me a few minutes and a promise that the subject won’t come up again and I will be as right as rain.”

Orchid sat down on my opposite side and began to act incredibly well as she put on her concerned sister act. She began to stroke my shoulder with her arm and asked. ”Apollo, would you like someone to act as a body pillow? That usually helps you reacclimate to your emotions.”

I simply began to nod in response and before anyone could volunteer themselves for the position on Apollo’s lap, Keyla had already moved at a speed that impressed even the praetorian in the room and arrived at her favourite seat in all of existence.

As she smiled happily as Apollo wrapped his arms around her, she felt intense gazes towards her from everyone in the room, even mother! In response, she played ignorant to what the gazes meant and asked. ”What? Why is everyone looking at me? I am teeny tiny and am basically a teddy bear to Apollo. The rest of you are too big and it would look lewd. That is the last thing we want right now after all.” She said smugly.

Kathrine had a feeling that Apollo would want the conversation to change topic at this point so she decided to help out. ”So Sophia, how Is Janine fitting in here? Will we be graced with her company today?”

Sophia recognised what Kathrine was doing and was glad for her action. ”Janine has proved herself to be an excellent addition to my little faction. She is now my best marksman without a doubt and I sent her on her first mission yesterday so she will not be back with us for a short time.”

”Oh is that so? Good for her, I am glad she is doing well despite the lot life threw at her. What type of job is she currently doing if you don’t mind me asking.” Kathrine asked, to which Sophia picked up her drink and took a sip before replying. ”Reconnaissance.”

…

After the meeting with the two gangs yesterday, Sophia was not too trusting of the male participant of the meeting for obvious reasons. As such, she decided to send two individuals down south to investigate.

”Ugh, that’s just barbaric.” Janine said as she lay on a table next to an open window on the 27th floor of a 50 story skyscraper. ”What is?” Her handler asked as she scratched the patch of scales on her right cheek.

”I just watched some homeless man get attacked and have his implants ripped from his body and people just continued to walk past like it was normal.” Janine said, repulsed. Farah took out her binoculars and had a gander to where Janine’s scope was pointed.

”Oh yeah. Sad to say, but that is a pretty common occurrence this far south. Especially in this region, almost everyone is rocking metal due to our target’s influence.” Janine listened to Farah’s words intently. She had grown up isolated and knew little about how human society actually functioned. All she had known was the Thanatos and the Scythes for the most of her life and acclimating was still going to be tough.

After an hour or so of staring at the same location with nothing changing, Janine said. ”Hey, sorry about you being my handler for this. I bet it is rather boring for you huh?” Farah looked up from her bag of snacks and shook her head.

”Not at all, you are a nice Sepiida. Besides, you are Apollo’s best friend and that makes it my delight to work with you.” Janine looked from her scope for a moment and side glanced at Farah. She was hundreds of miles away from the club now, so she thought it might be safe to ask.

”Hey, so just tell me to shut up if I am out of line, but what is the deal with everyone’s reverence towards Apollo? You all seem to talk about him like he is the most important person on the planet. Sure he is great and I love him for everything he has done for me, but what has he done for everyone else for them to act almost in the exact same way?”

Farah paused for a moment as Sophia had been paying a decent amount of attention to her since Kathrine brought up Janine. Sophia then began feeding Farah some information that could perhaps lead Janine down a road of self discovery, for Apollo’s happiness of course.

”I am not sure about everyone else, but it Is thanks to Apollo that I am here with you today as your handler. He gave me the ability to prove myself and as such, I got promoted from simple to security. I will always be grateful to him for that and would do anything for him. I have a feeling you feel a similar way, only your genetics are holding you back from fully showing your appreciation.”

Janine frowned hearing that. ”What is that supposed to mean?” She said slightly offended. ”Oh please don’t think I am trying to be hurtful Janine, far from it. It is well known you favour the same sex, but you are also a Sepiidan, which is a species well known for their sexual appetite and desires to reproduce. Somewhere inside of you, your genetics are flawed. Apollo could fix them easily, but he wants you to remain the person you are.” Farah said, causing Janine to look at her baffled for a moment.

”Are you trying to say I only like girls because of my genes? While its true I have no desire to mate with men because of my parentage, that does not decide I like women because of my genetics. I like girls, because I like girls. There is nothing wrong with me for that.” Janine said, chastising her handler.

Farah shook her head free from mothers wording, She just did not understand opposite sex relations enough and only saw the logical side of it. Standing up, Farah walked over and placed her hand on Janine’s shoulder.

”Sorry for upsetting you, you are right. There is nothing wrong with you. Though I will say one more thought on the matter before dropping it. Have you ever had a moment where you wanted to be closer to Apollo? Have you ever wanted to kiss him or do other lewd activities with him? If so, perhaps that is your genetics trying to balance themselves out, trying to get what they want.”

Janine went silent as thoughts began to float around her head. Farah smiled before she continued. ”Look, I understand this is a rough subject for you and you could not go to Apollo about it. So if you want, Lady Sophia also dabbles in genetic sciences, the very same field Apollo does. If you want definitive answers, perhaps go and ask Sophia once Apollo leaves for home at the end of the week.”

Upon hearing those words, Janine felt her chest tighten. ’Apollo is leaving?’ She felt a rush of panic spread throughout her body at the thought of not being able to see her best friend again for an undisclosed amount of time.

She also thought about what Farah just said about her interactions with Apollo. She recalled how safe she felt in his arms and how that feeling lingers for a while afterwards. Steeling herself for a difficult discussion she began to ask. ”So, what would Sophia do- Oh, we have something!”

Janine’s train of thought was broken and her mission instincts took over. Outside of the building she had been observing, A woman with the description she was given had just left a vehicle with a large, heavily armed escort.

Picking up a communicator, she spoke into it to report her situation. ”This is initiate marksman Janine. Target has turned up at location. Handler and I will move to the next location to begin our espionage.”