The hivemind is conquering for me?

”Mmhh! That is very refreshing. Citrusy with a sweet aftertaste. I can see myself drinking this a lot in the future, that is for certain.” Zorina admitted and took another sip.

Samantha smiled at Zorina’s compliment, at which point Savitri followed up with. ”Very tasty Samantha, I might say this is my favourite drink now, beating even Twaupo.”

”Oh hush, I know how much you love that drink, don’t butter me up.” Samantha said, blushing before turning to Keyla who had a frown on her face as she looked at the drink before realising Samantha was staring at her.

”Oh! Very yummy. Lacks a kick though, I was expecting it to be stronger.” Keyla said, prompting Zorina, who had poured herself another glass to reply.

”Well I think from the taste that it is supposed to be a liqueur? If the drink was any stronger, it would dampen the fruity flavours. Honestly, Samantha, you have struck gold. Perhaps we could discuss a partnership? With respect to your contact of course.”

Keyla smiled and leant back slightly in the chair. ”My side is a silent partnership. If you want a stake in the business, that is Samantha’s call. Her judgement is impeccable when it comes to these things after all.”

Samantha smiled subtly at Keyla before frowning after she winked at her. She recovered quickly and turned to Zorina, placing her hand on the woman’s thigh. ”I see no reason to refuse. Though perhaps we could push this talk to another day? Tonight is a special night after all.”

Zorina looked into Samantha’s eyes and smiled. ”Yes... Yes! *Ahem* Yes, you are right. Now, why don’t we talk about-”

Samantha grew worried for a moment as Zorina’s body language pointed towards Keyla, but all of a sudden a communicator began to chime from the desk in the room.

Zorina looked towards her desk and muttered under her breath. ”Lazy bastard, he knows where... Will you three excuse me for a moment?” Zorina stood up and walked over to her desk, she then took the communicator to the hallway and just before the door shut, the start of yelling could be heard as she answered before shutting in its entirety.

The moment the doors closed, Keyla rushed to Samantha and whispered in her ear. ”What the fuck, Sammy? There was no poison in there. I thought you were pulling a Perfect Poison imitation. I mean ’Sweet Surrender?’ It has the same subtext about it.”

Samantha shook her head. ”I have given her dozens of food gifts so far and each time she has had to throw them away. The amount of times she has had a poison attempt on her life is actually impressive. She is a key figure of a crime syndicate. If she suddenly felt euphoria from the drink, she would have known something was wrong.”

Savitri then spoke up, naturally being able to hear the whispering thanks to his enhanced biology. ”Plus, you didn’t notice, oh you did! My mistake Master, She only consumed her beverage after all of us gulped. Swallowed only after we had done so for a couple seconds.

It is not even about trust, as I am pretty sure mother trusts you more than anyone at this point master, it is just the family training.”

Samantha just nodded her head, already knowing this before sitting up straight in silence, there was nothing to do at this moment, so she just waited.

While she did, a sudden flash was visible from the window outside, the sky had also darkened and moments later the sound of thunder roared, prompting her to smirk ever so slightly.

’Oh this is perfect. It will sell the act even more.’

...

Keyla looked towards Samantha, who was practically jumping around the room in delight about something. She wanted to ask what, but acting out in this place was not advised, especially without connection to the under-link.

She could afford to tease Samantha in safety and privacy, but not here, not now. If something went wrong and she was forced to use her other state of existence after just exposing herself. That actually could create a trail back to Apollo and that was not something she would do.

Plus Sammy had worked really hard, she was proud of her best friend and would not screw her hard work up.

So despite the urge to speak, she just sat there. Patiently waiting for whatever came next.

...

Savitri still felt conflicted about his mother. Sure now knowing the majority of the plan and that mother would do better belonging to his Master, he just felt bad about deceiving her because even after his transformation, he loved his mother.

He suddenly felt a powerful presence bearing down on his Mindspace as his thoughts wandered. He resisted the urge to flinch and just looked up at his master. Samantha was smiling at him.

Not the fake warm smile she usually showed him when in her act. This was a warning. Danger was all he could feel from that smile. The warning? Simple. Second thoughts mean death. Not that he could even have them, he just felt a little bad, he was loyal to his master. It was wired into his DNA. Just like his reverence to Apollo, the man who they were doing this for. He deserved everything after all. Everything in the universe existed to make his life easier.

As he thought these thoughts, Samantha’s smile changed again to a genuinely happy smile followed by a slight nod before pulling her attention away

...

Almost ten minutes later, the door to the office opened, at which point Zorina hastily entered and collapsed against the door, taking a deep breath before remembering something.

Looking over to the chairs where she left her guests, her face turned mortified for a fraction of a second before quickly composing herself.

”Mother? Is everything alright?” Savitri asked, helping her compose herself further as she nodded her head.

”Yes, perfectly fine. Just a few hiccups. We were going to have the meal outside in the garden, but with the storm out there, we are switching to the dining hall. Also your father has... Requested that our guests go under a search before they are seated.”

”Are you serious?” Keyla asked, crossing her arms.

Zorina bowed her head ever so slightly and closed her eyes as she did so. ”Yes, Sorry. I trust you, but my... Kasimir is insistent.”

Savitri then stood up and sighed before looking at the two guests. ”Forgive me. This is my fault, my father still doesn’t trust me. It is understandable, we haven’t spoken in months, despite my mother telling him about my strides to improve myself, I doubt he has even bothered to listen when my name comes up. As a result that mistrust falls to the two of you also. If you are offended, we can postpone the dinner, this isn’t how I want our family to start... I mean. This. Shit.”

Samantha chuckled and softly rubbed Savitri’s arm. ”It is fine. We are guests in this house. If one of our hosts wants to protect himself from two ’innocent’ women, he is free to do so.”

Samantha then turned to Zorina who was smiling at her with genuine thanks before she asked. ”So? Should we head to where we need to go now or are we still waiting a few more minutes?

...

The group moved through the mansion, meeting up with Leo again as they did.

As they approached the dining room, a woman eight feet tall, the same size as Leo, was waiting for them, arms crossed, resting bitch face which only got worse as she saw her brother.

”Really Leo? You fall in with him for a few months and you are already becoming incompetent and not doing safety checks? Unacceptable.”

Leo took two steps forward and looked around the room and began to sniff as a frown began to form on his face. ”Strange... Thought Kitchen prep Meat? Not Fish... Oh It you. You Need Shower. Lia.”

The two then proceeded to say nothing, merely clenching fists as the brother and sister glared at each other in malice. The sound of their knuckles popping every time they tensed was audible to the whole room. Not a sound else could be heard.

Just as Zorina was about to scold the guards.

*SNAP*

Savitri snapped his fingers and spoke loudly. ”Leo, Pull back big guy, She is just following orders from my dear Father to make my life miserable. You know well enough what I mean.”

Leo turned from his sister and to Savitri before nodding, averting his gaze in shame. ”Sorry boss.”

Samantha smirked at Savitri, impressed, something Zorina spotted, but clearly from her own smirk, thought it was something else.

Lia then barked out, pissed off. ”Right, up against the wall you two. I need to pat you down.”

Samantha went to step forward, but Keyla blocked her path.

”There is a nice way to do that lady, now ask nicely and say please.”