The hivemind is conquering for me?

As the group of new teachers began to take a few photos of the Praetorian as they are living attractions, Hailey walked towards Nerissa causing the Praetorian to look up from her book. ”Ah, Hailey, Hello again. Congratulations on your promotion.”

Hailey smiled politely and replied. ”Thanks, though I will barely be using its benefits considering I am now in the private sector.” Nerissa hummed in agreement before rebuttal. ”True, but considering the state of the galaxy right now, I am sure you will be back in that position in no time.”

Hailey turned around a moment as she could physically feel the shocked glares of the group behind her at her apparent friendship with the Praetorian. Considering there was a crowd, Hailey spoke her next words carefully.

”By the way, I have just received word from our friend. He is back in core world territory.” It was at that moment that Gabrielle looked up from her important research for the first time towards Hailey, though remained silent a moment as Nerissa asked.

”I see and has his ailment been cured do you know?” Hailey nodded her head. ”Yes, my source tells me he appeared to be in excellent condition.” Nerissa placed her current book down to her right and picked another one up off the table in front of her.

”Intriguing. I am pleased he was not just lying for our sake. I look forward to sparring with him as agreed next month. Now if you don’t mind.” Nerissa then drowned out everyone and everything solely getting lost in this Ancient alien theses on Psionics by a species that did not understand what they even were. It was quite an interesting read how a species uncapable of using it managed to identify and counter the founders powers for quite a time before their genocide.

…

Gabrielle watched as Hailey walked away with the rest of her group and looked down into her book again. She tried to keep her mind focused, but the result was poor as she proceeded to reread the same line again and again for over ten minutes straight.

Her legs became incredibly restless as they kept on bouncing, making the book on her lap even harder to read. After another ten minutes of simply staring at the book, not even attempting to read at this point. She suddenly yelled into the quiet library. ”Fuck it!”

She rose to her feet and was about to sprint away to steal Haileys ship again, but suddenly felt a vice grasp at her shoulder and push her heavily back into the reinforced couch. Turning to the culprit who’s action was such a simple one, that she was still in the same posture reading by the time Gabrielle looked at her, Nerissa then explained her reasoning calmly.

”If you run off the Ecumenopolis 4 now and storm into that nightclub ranting about how you are Apollo’s mother. Not only are they not going to believe you, you are going to get killed immediately. The whole facility is beyond protective of Apollo, who speaking of, will most likely be spending the next month in bed with his entire harem of women and would not even care that some random crazy lady off the street is asking for him. So just sit there, shut up and read a book.”

”You really think they can kill me?” Gabrielle sneered slightly, causing Nerissa to hold no punches. ”Yes, you told me you already met the lady called Onyx. I wager her a threat by the feeling I get around her, so you definitely have no chance. Then there is the entire army of Sophia. Loyal to a fault. I mean it, unbreakable loyalty and most likely willing to mass engage you as chaff. Then Apollo’s sister in law Orchid. She is apparently a genius duellist. And to top it off, whatever power Apollo himself was able to access at the palace. You will not tell a soul, but I felt fear for the first time in a very long time when I first felt it, but when I realised he was not being aggressive, but defending himself, my intrigue for him skyrocketed. I have even looked for things similar to what I witnessed here, but I have turned up empty so far.”

Gabrielle looked at the woman next to her with open eyes. ”I think... I think that’s the most I have collectively heard you speak at once.” She said, causing Nerissa to look at her, her purple eye slits swelling with energy.

”He is the reason I left my post after all. My intrigue. It’s only natural I have a lot of thoughts on the man.” Gabrielle then looked down, conflicted on what to do now, causing the Nymph next to her to sigh.

”Just wait another month and then you can begin to initiate your fantasies to your heart’s content. Just remember what I warned you about the other month.”

Gabrielle looked down. Although she knew that her son was having relations with middle aged woman because he secretly wanted to do it with her and was making do with the next best thing, she was also aware that his other emotions could get in the way of the start of their relationship so she had to play it carefully or lose him forever for the second time.

Picking up her book once more, she opened it and declared. ”Fine, I’ll stay, but only because I want to and not because you forced me. Ok?”

Nerissa wasn’t even listening anymore. Her book was a lot more interesting than Gabrielle’s Para social relation with Apollo.

…

”Woah, what’s with all the military?” I asked my lap Keyla. We had not long ago left FTL and were now flying towards Ecumenopolis 4. Surrounding the planet was an armada of ships acting as a blockade. ”One two- Yep, Six Syracusias and a fleet of warships. Just like last time. Don’t worry Apollo, they are just acting as a deterrent for the gangs as it means the fighting down there is getting just slightly out of control. They still won’t intervene as long as the gangs don’t assault the north hemisphere though. That and their presence will encourage those still in the south to start booking it to the enlistment forts.”

”Oh, so this has happened before?” I followed up, wrapping my arms around my lap Keyla’s waist. ”Mhm.” She started as she leaned against me, closing her eyes as she revelled in the affection. ” A few months after mother found me. It was a fun war, the cartels were going mental. I got to cut a few throats here and there too.”

As we approached the blockade, the ship’s communication channel was hijacked and a voice emerged. ”~VIP Designation #18202422 With military permissions 0-0-9-5-2-1. Is there a ’short and sweet’ aboard?~”

Keyla groaned as she got off my lap and walked over to the other seat, while Orchid appeared from literally nowhere and took her seat on my lap.

”This is ’Short and sweet.’ How can I be of aid?” She said, and had to wait a few moments, before reply. ”~VIP class ship, we are sorry for the inconvenience, but your ship does not have its current permission to land on the planet due to the current unrest in the planet’s south. We have given you special permission to leave your ship inside of a military station until we can escort it to the Hyllus airfield in a weeks time as it is currently at maximum capacity.~”

Keyla sighed before responding. ”Understood command, but how are we supposed to get home? We live close to the south border in the neutral zone.”

”~Standby.~”

The communication channel then switched off as we continued to fly ahead. Keyla took that moment to admonish Orchid. ”Oi! Get off his lap! It’s my day! Don’t make me gut you again.” Orchid took the threat and with practiced precision manipulated her seating arrangement and turned the innocent sitting on the lap into a hotdog situation.

”You were busy, hybrid. Orchid was just taking the moment to enjoy myself. And you would not even be able to touch me again if we fought sober in earnest. And now that Orchid thinks about it, this seat is very comfortable. It’s like Orchid was made with the seat’s parameters to fit perfectly upon her rear.” She added with a slight sensual satisfaction in her tone

”Right, that’s it bitch! You and me right-” ”~VIP receive.~” The communication channel suddenly turned on again, causing Keyla to.” Hey! Is everything ok?” I found Keyla’s flip incredibly amusing and was also relieved I didn’t need to break up another cat fight.

”# Affirmative VIP vessel. Upon arriving at the station, two shuttles will escort you down to the strip airport. Be advised we have to have a fully armed crew inside the shuttles so only a capacity of two passengers can be inside of one shuttle and our scanners indicate three of you aboard. I advise you to choose who goes on their own. Over and out~”

Once the communication channel switched off a final time, Orchid and Keyla glared at each other for a fraction of a second, even with the respective two no longer using the hive link in this region of space, had the same exact thought as they yelled simultaneously.

”I go with Apollo!/Orchid Goes with Apollo!”