The hivemind is conquering for me?

Hours later, the room was silent as everyone was focused and concentrating. The silence was however broken by a high pitch.

”Yes! I did it! It’s stable!”

The room turned to the one who yelled that. Althea Florence. Who had signed up to this class in an attempt to find a cure for her brother was the first one to synthesise an enhancement formula.

I rushed over quickly before she could celebrate too much and made sure it was in fact stable. Putting on my goggles, I zoomed them in and observed the formula. It was crude by my standards, but for Althea? It was perfect for her body, for her first consumption.

I then realised everyone was looking at me, holding their breath, waiting for my verdict.

I simply stuck out a thumbs up and declared.

”It’s good.”

A wave of congratulations then went around the room and Althea was glowing with pride. I was too. Despite Janine’s snipes about me being a bad teacher, I had managed to teach something to a group of people. Something I hold very dear to my heart. It felt good.

I wasn’t going to acknowledge the fact that Althea was already an amazing scientist and practically knew all the science jargon, a win was a win and I was taking it, especially now.

Just as the hype for Althea was going down, across the room, the one absent from the congratulations, except Orchid and Nerissa, shouted to me.

”Apollo, I have done it!”

Everyone then turned to the voice that spoke up.

Jason Atropa. Jason was a quiet guy. With Althea constantly yelling at him, I had naturally asked more about his side in their dispute. On both sides of the equation his family were straight up evil. Secretly experimenting on people and then charging the people to cure them. He appeared to be the outlier. A good guy wanting to save his friend from his family’s atrocities.

I had a feeling both sides of this equation could be useful to me in the future...

Not getting bogged down in future plans though, I walked over and checked his formula. Jason was also a very skilled doctor so I was not surprised he took to this field well.

Using my goggles once more, I nodded. Like Althea’s it was perfect for him. So I nodded and patted him on the shoulder.

”It’s good.”

Another wave of cheers went out and Jason looked shy, with his power to see emotions, all the positive stimuli was a lot for him. He looked like he wanted to smile, but his eyes then spotted Althea just staring at him. I could almost see the tension between the two of them and thought of the old saying about love and hate being two sides of the same coin.

’Especially considering their history.’ I couldn’t help thinking before gathering everyone’s attention.

”Alright. Show of hands, since we have been here a few hours now, does anyone else feel like they are going to finish today? Show of hands?”

No one raised their hands, I gave Mindy a surprised look, but she began to look around, acting oblivious.

”Very well. Then I won’t have you frying your brains the rest of the day. I want my going to be heartfelt, not relief. However, since you won’t be consuming an enhancement tonight, I think it’s fair we all try the actual dispensation task. My combat stimulant.”

I then walked away and came back a moment later with three boxes. Opening both up, one had an inhaler, one a pill and the last a syringe. I then explained.

”All three do the exact same thing, just pick your preferred method of intake.”

I then picked up an inhaler. Yvonne and Pericles picked up a pill. Mindy and Hailey picked up an inhaler. And Althea and Jason picked up a syringe.

I then turned to Orchid and Nerissa. ”Come on, you two pick something as well.”

Orchid walked forward and picked the inhaler, I knew she did that just because I picked one and I found it cute. Nerissa stayed still for a moment though.

”Apollo, do you really think I should?” She questioned.

I nodded my head. ”Yes.” I wanted to explain that considering how similar her internals were to humans, it should have a similar effect. But I couldn’t blurt that out in front of everyone. So instead I took off my goggles and flashed the puppy eyes.

...

Nerissa suddenly gained control of her cognitive abilities again upon realising she had a pill in her hand. ’What just happened?’ She couldn’t help thinking as she came out of her trance.

...

I smiled at Nerissa before turning to everyone else. ”Well, although I know it is safe. The teacher should go first. Cheers!”

*Sssk*

Activating the inhaler, the effects were immediate. My eyes dilated. My senses became heightened in a moment. I wasn’t wired. I was in control of what I was able to focus on. Everything was slightly clearer, but not to an exaggerated degree.

I took in a deep inhale of the air and felt my heartbeat accelerate. It was beating like a drum, but not wildly. It was a controlled beat. increasing my blood flow.

My muscles then felt different. Not odd, but I felt more in control. While I could already bypass the mental blocks the human mind naturally puts up to prevent yourself from accidentally hurting yourself with excessive muscle force, I could now bypass that without my enhancements. As a result I could endure more weight and expel more force. Perfect for combat.

Finally, as I felt the adrenaline course through my veins, invigorating me, My mind became clear. Not my Mindspace. Just my thoughts. My reaction speed was elevated not just through chemicals, but also thanks to all the other reasons acting in symbiosis.

Proof of this is I could feel all the effects all in the time it took me to exhale that one breath.

I then turned my attention to students. The stimulant left me in perfect faculties so I smiled at them, calmly, before waving my hands to give them to go ahead.

As I watched everyone take in their respective ways of consumption, I watched and explained as they all began to check out their bodies, feeling the change. Once I was done, Yvonne started laughing maniacally.

” Ahahahaha! What is this invigoration! I feel I could take on everyone in this room by myself!”

I briskly walked over to Yvonne hearing her act like that and used a stethoscope to check her internals. She was perfectly fine after my check so I let out a sigh of relief.

”A placebo. You are thinking you have taken something like the Lyssa drug the Phalanx takes. Which is basically a rage stim. But as you can all feel, you are still in control of your mental states. You should all just feel elevated. But considering this is all your first time, let’s go for a run. That way you will feel the burn off while you are exercising and experience that as well.”

...

As everyone was leaving, Orchid took stock of the formula she ingested. It was not having the same affect as it was on the humans, but she could feel and know what it was going to do to them.

And while she knew her mate was amazing, this was actually incredibly effective. So much so that this was hive adaptable. In drones and scouts a small gland with this stored inside would be perfect for emergencies and more importantly, biomass efficient.

It would give them a small edge in their combat abilities for a short enough time for designated fighters to come help them rather than their bodies being wasted.

Orchid felt warm inside feeling this as a surge of love for her mate overcame her. Even when he wasn’t thinking about it. His actions were benefiting her, his mate.

Orchid’s breathing began to get heavy. She would need to thank Apollo-love for this gift later.

...

Nerissa was shocked. The Stim was having no effect on her mind state. But her body? She was already getting used to her new strength with daily training. But with this? This could be revolutionary. Not only to Spartari, but to her kin.

’And this was just the first phase of the drug. If Apollo manages to take this further...’

Nerissa watched Apollo as he walked ahead. The odd interaction about reincarnation the other month was still fresh in her mind.

For the longest time. The empire of her gods was in a constant state of regression followed by stagnation. Regression, stagnation, regression and stagnation.

But drugs like this? From a science considered ’new and black’ in the current period with no harmful side effects.

This was growth.

A thought suddenly emerged in her brain that then implanted itself in her heart.

’The last time there was growth in this empire was when the gods walked among us.’

As she stared at Apollo. His stature seemed to grow even more in her eyes. A phantom giant began to appear before her as the question began to grow in her mind.

’What if?’