The hivemind is conquering for me?

Orchid left Lele for a moment and the first thing she did was go upstairs to Sophia’s bedroom. The sight of the familiar room where she and Apollo had more than a fair share of sleepless nights caused her to smile.

However, she was here for something serious. Something naughty.

Walking towards the large wall sized wardrobe, Orchid began to clamber through the piles of dresses and skirts before reaching the back, the prized possessions...

Ripping open a vacuum sealed bag, she retrieved a shirt before bringing it up to her face and sniffing violently.

”MMhh~” She let out an involuntary moan smelling Apollo’s scent. However, this shirt, while smelling like him, smelled slightly different. Her mate was always growing fast and this shirt, judging from its size, was from before he underwent Psionic decay.

It was only a few months ago, but he was already much stronger, more durable, and powerful. Somehow with each day, he was becoming a better mate. Something that seemed impossible, yet it was always happening.

The thought suddenly left her feeling somber, but she was lucky when all things were considered. She had built herself a body that passed for human and thanks to that, was able to spend almost an entire year alongside her mate. Getting to see him interact with the prey species in ways she didn’t expect. She enjoyed watching him do everything.

She just missed him...

...

Making her way back downstairs, wearing the t-shirt that now clung tightly to her torso, she made her way into the kitchen and opened the cold storage. She had not been eating much lately, she just wasn’t feeling it. But that needed to be corrected.

Going through Sophia’s private collection, she found some concentrated biomass and began to devour.

She had missed the taste, or rather lack of taste so much. Human food was so overly complex. This was better. There was only one thing that tasted better and it came directly from Apollo...

...

After eating enough to make Apollo blush, Orchid returned to the living room and as soon as she did, Lele ran over to her again. ”Are you done?” The spawn asked her and because she had pampered herself, she found herself smiling.

”Orchid is done. What do you want to do?”

Orchid was then dragged to the couch and Lele asked. ”Can you tell me some stories about Apollo when he was my age?”

Orchid smiled again, this time for a different reason. However, the extra set of eyes looking at her made her frown.

Looking Xeti up and down, the species the cultist originated from looked like it had good biomass stock, even if this was a weakened version. She could tolerate the spawn. Apollo liked it, but not the cultist so she stated.

”Janine is here. Perhaps you would like to see the Sepiidan that caused your current state? Thank her perhaps? For now you can feel Apollo’s love and now know that everything you were before is nothing.”

Xeti stood up and nodded her head. Orchid was right, the feelings she felt when the parasite finally took hold. The overwhelming love for an alien she had never met, her mate... She never knew until that moment how alone she was in the universe. She knew better now and was grateful she was the last survivor of her stupid assault mission. She wanted to thank Orchid, but she couldn’t say anything unless asked to speak. There was a dominating presence from Orchid that she had never felt before. Orchid was the higher existence, she lived to obey.

After watching Xeti leave, Orchid turned to Lele and began to tell the child some stories about Apollo, filtering things just barely, while still being beyond inappropriate.

...

”*Achoo*”

’ Huh, strange, someone must be talking about me.’ I thought before my attention was brought back to the little party we were having.

”You ok Apollo? You have been running yourself pretty ragged the last couple of months, the last thing we need is you being ill.” Rhea asked, passing me a beer, the normal kind sadly, but it still tasted great.

”Oh, yeah I am fine. Thanks for asking. It is my birthday, people are probably just talking about me a bit too much.”

Willow then jumped on me from out of nowhere and giggled. ”You know that is not a real thing right?”

I raised my eyebrow, subconsciously wrapping my hand around her waist. ”No? Psionics make anything possible, don’t they? Who knows if that saying has actual ancient Psionic properties? Like an after effect of some Psionic entanglement between everyone’s souls.”

Everyone suddenly stopped and looked at me curiously. ”What? I like Psionic philosophy. There is a reason I took the class.”

”Yes, but to come up with a Psionic phenomenon for a daily occurrence that non-Psionic individuals proclaim to feel... That’s inspired.” Morrgan spoke up from the side.

I chuckled awkwardly. ”Well thanks? It’s fun to think about the force that all of us have in common and its connection to the universe, you know? While most planets in our empire won’t ever see a Psionic individual, it’s a core aspect of our lives. I enjoy intertwining reality with our ability to break it.”

Another short silence emerged before Willow caressed my face and loudly declared. ”That is so hot!”

”That’s it!” Rhea stood up, seemingly annoyed and grabbed her friend by the arm. ”Give us a moment Apollo, I need to have some girl talk with Willow, we will be right back.”

”Oh, sure?” I said without thinking too much about it. Morrgan then took a seat right next to me and I felt myself tense up. He seemed to pick up on that and laugh.

”Hahaha! Are you still nervous about me kissing your cheek earlier? Sorry. I’m on my best behaviour. Alcohol actually mellows me out... Allows me to think without impulses.”

Being read so easily, I apologised. ”Yeah sorry. I’m not trying to be on edge, I’m just not, y’know. I’m not the best at rejecting people. I’d rather just run away. That sounds bad when I think about it...”

Morrgan just laughed. ”Don’t worry about it, but be warned, you are an attractive man, coming from a platonic place, as I’m usually just being overly friendly. Expect this type of thing going forward. Heck, even if you weren’t so hunky, your strength on its own is an aphrodisiac. That and your mind, Mmhh, what I-”

”-Please stop.” I said with a chuckle and Morrgan began to laugh again.

”Haha, alright. I’ll go chug a few more of these synthesised beers to mellow out more. Can’t have our leader panicking on his birthday.” He then gave me a wink and for a second, I swear I saw his eye change colour as he did.

I shook my head. ’I am probably just frazzled.’

Suddenly I realised the room was almost empty, everyone had gone to do their own thing. Well, almost everyone. Walking over to the other pink haired pal of mine, I smiled and joked.

”So, does the birthday boy get a hug? Or will that get me my pervert title back and a swift punch to the gut?” I teased Tamara as she turned around from what she was looking at.

”What?” She said, seemingly surprised by my presence before recollecting herself. ”Oh, um. We can hug if you want? I don’t mind...” She said, looking away sheepishly.

”Are you sure? Your reaction body language tells a different story.” I commented and that seemed to get a reaction out of her.

”I said it was fine! Look!” Tamara then proceeded to lift me up like I weighed nothing and bearhugged me till I heard my spine crack.

The crack must have been louder than I thought as she instantly put me down, her eyes wide with worry. ”S-sorry. I didn’t mean to! I just.... Fuck!”

Seeing that her emotions were getting the better of her, she needed a moment to just turn off so I did what I could and just hugged her again. Gently. The action made her flinch and my intuition was telling me I was close to being gut punched, but instead her body slouched into me as she allowed her mind to adjust.

A minute later, the factory reset kicked in and she pulled back from me, her face looking at peace. ”Thanks. It’s nice that you care enough to be able to tell when I need that. I don’t even think Francesca would catch on that quick.”

I played myself down a little as I replied. ”Yeah, but we have also been cramped up in a bunker for the last two months and have been on multiple missions together. Plus we are good friends. If I didn’t know you that well at this point, I’d honestly be disappointed in myself.”

A look I didn’t recognise, though it might be surprise, took hold on Tamara’s face for a moment before she asked. ”You really would , wouldn’t you?”

I nodded my head before looking behind her and pointed even though I couldn’t see.

”So, what’s bothering you, as the leader I can’t have you being upset. And as the birthday boy, I demand to know so I can help my friend... Since you didn’t even get me a present...How cruel!...”