Long Live The Queen 3/7 Ryka 2022/12/29(Thu)13:39 No. 1052829 ID: 0b790f
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And lastly, the finale. The part I'm currently on.

Arvenia emerges from the cave having accepted life, whereby she discovers that the predator has killed the other neumono hive, and finds their creche full of children. She decides to raise them herself, becoming the queen of a brand new hive.

It's the part that takes the audience, who you've drawn through the emotional pits with empathy by this point, and brings them back up to feeling okay again. Arvenia, the Lost is not a play you go to in order to feel happy, but without the catharsis of this ending, I imagine this story would leave everyone feeling too depressed for it to have lasted. Having a queen, a hive, and the feelings of a possible future ends the play on a high note, and conveniently lets the viewer slip back into their own life again, away from the fears it presents.

I really like this story. There's not much that resonates with both hivers and rogues, and Arvenia, the Lost is one of them. Why I like it, though... It's because of something very subtle, but it's something that's incredibly important to me.


It isn't a story about how a rogue can become a queen.

It's a story about how a rogue can be a queen.


"When the light rises, I will feed you. When it falls, I will keep you warm. The storms we will weather together, and when the world is cold I will call you my family."

Long Live The Queen 4/7 Queen Ryka 2022/12/29(Thu)13:40 No. 1052830 ID: 0b790f
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"Blaghlablea zarblablarbram flragblrghl"

Did we just have a stroke?

oh god she's dead

Good quest everyone. See you all tomorrow.

Uh... Is that how Hive formation normally works? Everyone has a collective seizure? Maybe we should talk to a Neurologist...
Either way, regain your calm, this situation calls for clarity and action.

That's one way to form a hive.

Let's hope it wasn't recorded for posterity, otherwise that final bit there is going to get brought up for the remainder of your days.

Good news: The rogues in the audience loved your play!

Bad news: They loved it so much that they actually believed you to be their queen and so all of their empathy caused you to develop into a queen.

So, yeah, you've got a hive now!

If performing your play about becoming a rogue made you a queen, then frankly I think you’ve done a terrible job.

This can only lead to wonderful things

>>1052846
Not unless the audience is implied to be the children, then it's method acting.

Side effects of becoming a queen include a sudden increase in size and an increase of responsibility for your new hive.

>>1052837
A large portion of the neumono simultaneously realigned to the same mental wavelength, SOMETHING is going to happen in the head of the one at the center of it. It'd probably feel like having a crowd of people suddenly occupy your head all at once. Like a network overload or something.

Method Acting: What can't it solve?!

*Standing applause while crying* Excellent! Bravissimo! It was flawless! The blabbering at the end always gets me. ALWAYS!
This play has no right being this perfect!

You're gonna have one hell of a headache when you wake up.

And you're probably gonna be pissed when you discover none of your clothes fit you anymore now that you've had a growth spurt from becoming a Queen!

>>1052973
It's a gradual thing based on the hive's empathy assuming the Queen should be bigger, not an automatic growth spurt.

Long Live The Queen Queen Ryka 2023/01/01(Sun)11:28 No. 1053039 ID: a01d89
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Okay... so.

The first thing that occurs to me is that I'm lying in a bed.

This in itself isn't that weird. I've slept a lot of places. Hotel rooms, parking lots, stairs, billboards, trunks, rooftops, and permissive restaurants to name a few; laying in furniture that was actually designed for it is comparatively normal.

What's less so is that I can't remember how I got here. I'm still in my costume. The smell of perfume fills my nose as I breathe, an unfamiliar scent from the normal must of my living space. I can hear the sound of muffled voices in the distance--maybe behind walls or something. And empathy, too, both close and further away. I try to go over what I can remember before I open my eyes or let my emotions rile up.

Woke up, checked weather. Packed costumes, got dressed. Ate a half-serving of breakfast, Arvenia's gnawing hunger is poignant and comes up several times so--Fuck, I'm hungry--uuh, checked in with the venue to ensure there were no complications, put on makeup, and...

The last thing I can remember is the lines at the end of the play. What happened to me? Did I get drugged somehow? I don't feel sluggish... if anything, I feel exhilarated, but that's probably just from the performance. Something's definitely different, though... my empathy feels like it's leaking out of me somehow. It's hard to describe--it doesn't feel bad, it just feels bigger, like it's a blanket covering more than just me... but I'm not fully in control of it all, like--

"R-Ryka...? Ryka, are you awake?"
[Empathy Layer 1: Overwhelming Joy]
[Empathy Layer 2: Concern]
[Empathy Layer 3: Anxiety]

I recognize that voice. Nellie. I've known her for a little while, she's the contact at the playhouse I was performing in. Small cerulean/redgrass little thing. She helped me with the scheduling, and was supportive when I told her about my project. I open my eyes, and hear murmuring around me. I see four (wow?) more neumono with similar empathy just in my immediate vision, all sitting close to me or lying against the edge of the bed. In short order they feel like they very badly want to speak to me, but they're indicating to Nellie with their empathy that they're ok with her talking for the moment instead, clearly not wanting to overload the conversation.

Now that I think about it, this whole scene strikes as very nice to me. Everyone's in tune with each other and cooperating, considering each other's feelings and working towards what everyone thinks is best, together. I don't think I've felt this since...

Wait.

Nellie's empathy doesn't feel like it did before.

She feels like me.

All of them do.



Oh, fuck.

I bolt upright, broadcasting alarm for a moment before calming down, but they definitely felt that.

"Ryka?! What's wrong, are you okay?" Nellie says.
[Empathy Layer 1: Concern]
[Empathy Layer 2: Overwhelming Joy]
[Empathy Layer 3: Anxiety]

"Just--just give her a minute, you saw what she was like before." Says one of the other neumono, a green male one.

I... I need to think through this. This may be the greatest thing to ever happen to me, but there's just so many implications to this, and not all of them are good.

confirm the situation, ask those present what happened.

>turned queen, so many implications to this
Such as? Has anyone ever acted their way into becoming a queen before?

>not all of them are good
Maybe not. You're all like to have challenges aplenty and there's bound to be many different types of Neumono involved who converted - likely rogues, but maybe not all, which will be a concern if their former hive comes calling. You'll have to find out who they are and balance any conflicting interests to prevent yourself from having too many points of internal contention. You'll need to take stock of priorities, figure out how you - how everyone - is to make their way from here, but...

>turned queen
But those concerns can be addressed, and in this moment you are like Arvenia having just picked up a bunch of children, even if many are likely to be adults. You've now become the story you told - and you need to create a continuation worthy of the tale.

So let the empathy and responsibility of it sink in. Sit up in bed and try to act your royal self - with a decent smidge of your regular self. There may need to be hugs, given the - and express this with bemusement - incredible vote of confidence for your play this happens to be. State something along the lines of if the work produced by your lived experience and art can be the foundation of a hive, you're not going to turn away from it.

Then get the lowdown from Nelie and the others. Is everyone okay? How many were there? Were everyone rogues? You'll have to meet them all, get their names, but you'll take questions and come with more of your own for now. How long were you out? Whose bed is this?

Well..
Great your new family with a light-hearted joke. Get some smiles going. There's quite a bit of logistics ahead but try and enjoy this moment.

>>1053042
I would say more don't act at all. Do your best to keep a steady head to be sure. But those in your hive will be interacting with you very VERY regularly now, it behooves you to be honest with them. Otherwise I agree completely. Confirm details of what just happened and take stock of who alls in your new family, have everyone introduce to each other more in depth.

Take a moment to calm yourself. Thank them for taking care of you and ask them what happened after the end of the play.

Quick! Go to the orphanage and adopt all the kids who are too old for normal hives to think they have a good enough chance of adapting, before your easy hive adoption period wears off! Or all the ones that click with you well or something. Or I don't know maybe call the orphanage and have them bring them to you? Anyway also probably the government has guidelines for this, maybe some sort of supports, so I'd get on that if I were you first.

Oh first thing give everyone a hug though!

Alright, we're fine, this is surprising and odd but it's not bad news, just weird and maybe good news.
Time to make use of your usual self-control and calm yourself, you're in a hive now so your emotions are linked to that of your hive so you'll need to stay calm in order to keep your hive calm.

First order of business, a recap. Ask Nellie what happened after you passed out, and who was affected.
Also make sure to assure her that you're fine, just catching up to the surprise everyone else must have felt.

The most important thing we need to do is stay strong, we can't afford to have our own freak out session when what we need now is strength and action to reassure our new hive.

>>1053039
Ask everyone if they enjoyed your play. I mean, yeah, it's pretty obvious they did, but it's nice to hear them say it out loud.

Now you need to figure out what you all have to do. Specifically, where will you all live now? Do you need to go tell city hall so the government can provide a building for your hive to live in?

>>1053039
Now that you're a hive, this means you've all gotta move in together, right? Does anyone know where we can find a place big enough for all of us?

well, a good first step would be to ask what all has happened while you where out, and who is in this new hive, let out SOME of the elation, to answer them, then if you're all fine (and you're a neumono you're probably fine)... than it's time to meet the hive personally

Long Live The Queen Queen Ryka 2023/01/03(Tue)12:16 No. 1053138 ID: 34c09b
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>What implications?
Rogues or not, these neumono were fully-fledged people before I showed up. If you ask rogues what they'd give up to be in a hive again, their answers can frighten you, but it hasn't escaped my notice just how much power I've gained over these people for doing essentially nothing. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

>Move in together?
>Government assistance
Finances are going to be difficult... I don't care if I sleep on a bed or on the streets, but that's not going to work if I'm responsible for more than just me. Right now, I live in a musty one-bedroom apartment, which can't even comfortably fit two people, much less however many rogues I actually formed a hive with. I... never thought I'd actually be in this position, to tell the truth; I don't know what government assistance is available.

>Has anyone ever acted their way into becoming a queen before?
No, not that I know of. Spontaneous hive formation is extremely poorly understood to begin with, and it's drenched in pseudoscience and misinformation, but if it was simple as pretending to be a queen really hard, I don't think there would be as many rogues in the galaxy. People can't not have tried that, right? You cannot convince me they haven't tried that.

>Calm down
>Don't freak out
>Make sure they know you're fine
It occurs to me that what I feel is going to start having a bigger impact on those around me than I'm used to... I'm going to have to figure that one out. Good thing my empathy is so relaxed! I can already feel the alarm fading, and everyone else seems to be calming down again in response, though they remain crowded in around me. Let's just start where we can, go from there until we need to do something different.

>Enjoy the moment
Believe me, I'd love to. The emotions in the room are making that easier, but there's so many thoughts swimming through my head right now that it's still difficult, and I'm pretty sure I'm still in some kind of shock. Still... you're right. Worrying about them right now isn't helping us.



>Confirm the situation from Nellie
Okay, that's a good step one. She almost doesn't need to, though. I can feel their empathy flowing through me and back out through each other again. It's more than just a dead ringer for mine, it's functionally identical.

"Nellie. What happened after the end of the play?"

"Oh thank god, she's lucid again." Says a snowy cerulean neumono in relief, leaning over the bed to look at me. I don't recognize that one, but she was holding in more tension than the others. It's good to see it melting away.

Nellie glances at her, then back to me, and in efforts to get closer, she climbs onto the bed, drawing back the curtains to let some light in. It's difficult to miss her smile, even if she's radiating some definite anxiousness too.

"Well it was amazing, for one thing! I know you showed me some snippets when we were marking out the scenes, but wow, I was not ready for that. You had me in tears during the second act, and that conversation with the predator! It was like you were Arvenia!"

[Shit yeah, she was.] Comes the empathy from the snowy cerulean, which sparkles a wave of amusement in the group, though it does nothing to impede Nellie's exuberance.

"But... after that, well.. It was the end, and... I don't know. It all went so fast. I just remembered feeling like for the first time ever, I actually understood the play. Like, I got what you were doing with it, and I loved it. It was like everything suddenly made sense"

I am listening to her, but I can't help but get a little lost in the moment. Everyone in the room is a similar combination of extremely happy, amped up, and anxious. I can't really blame them. The way things are looking, they're going to have a hive now.

...Just thinking that word. 'Hive'. For the longest time, 'Hive' for me was a word to apply to others. It was something they could have. Never something that I could. Not ever again. I can feel some tears welling up inside of me, but I cried that river dry so long ago that I don't think they'll come out that easily.

"...And I just felt this connection with you and this pressure inside my head started happening and I got a little woozy, and then I realized that you were going off-script and just kind of... babbling up there."

"I... what?" I don't remember that.

"Yeah, you.. It wasn't speech, you were just kind of making noises." Says a neumono in the backpack in front of me.
[Suppressed second-hand embarrassment]

"Then you fell over. And we realized what was happening, and ran up there to try to protect you." Says the one in the cap, looking up at me. His empathy is surprisingly neutral, though the happiness is still radiating through him.

"Protect me?" I asks, looking at him. He pulls his cap down over his head a bit more.

"...Not all of us are as stable as us. Lots are outside, too, but we didn't want everyone crowding you, and we seemed affected the least."
[Can someone else?]

The female that interjected with the joke takes over. "When people finally realized what was happening, it was chaos. Rogues started pouring in to get closer to you, past the aliens, past everyone. Hivers were trying to get out, I think some of the aliens got injured. And... well, some neumono can be complete bastards, you know. You're... you're our queen. We can't... We weren't gonna let anything happen to you." She was putting up a tough front earlier, but there's a lot of sadness and vulnerability surfacing in her empathy while she says that. Clearly she can be real when she needs to. The one in the cap nods firmly, and Nellie just looks kind of sad.

"Police were called in. They pulled a lot of the rogues away... It didn't seem safe to stay out there, so we brought you back here to my place because it was the closest. It's only been about an hour or two since then before you started making sense again." She says. [Anxious]



Rrgh. Of course rogues that learned about this would come charging in. It's a large open-air amphitheater and neumono are tough, of course they would try their hardest to get into empathy range. The disparity between life in a hive and life as a rogue can be enormous, and the joint government has always been poorly equipped and riddled with systemic insufficiencies when handling us, and that's when it's trying. It hasn't been that long since the answer to a neumono going rogue was killing them.

I've met the rogues that live here. I've talked with many of them. Some of them do fine. But not all rogues are equipped to live that way; they pine, constantly, for what they've lost... some of them embrace the Predator. Even for rogues, intentionally hurting someone over this is going too far for most, but when the stakes are so vast between living as a rogue and a hiver, can I really judge them for not being cognizant enough to avoid injuries? Especially if they're used to our regeneration, and are operating on blind panic for what could easily be a once-in-a-lifetime event?

Would I really not break someone's toe if I knew that it could bring me to an imagined paradise?

>Thank them
"Thank you for protecting me." I say, looking them over. I'm genuinely [Grateful]; by all accounts it sounds like I was helpless for the past few hours. "I'm still feeling a little shocked at saying this, but I'm Queen Ryka." A wave of happiness courses through the neumono in the room, and out into the ones outside as well. Good, I was hoping that would happen if I said that. "I haven't met all of you yet, and I don't know how well you know each other. We're going to have to do this again later, but we should do quick introductions."


In short order, I'm introduced to this gang of 5.


Nellie. Cerulean-redgrass female, first-generation rogue. She's pretty small. My gauge for her is that she's friendly and quick to help, but I've noticed she can seem kind of insecure at times. She's better with people than she gives herself credit for.
Rupert. A cerulean male on the taller end, an orphaned rogue that was apparently raised by human aliens. He's wearing a backpack and seems to have a sturdy head on his shoulders, but out of all of them, he seems the most uncertain of what's going on.
Lett. Jungle-cerulean male, second-generation rogue. His empathy is unusually even and mild, I wonder if he has a similar thing that I have going on. Apparently he was a pickpocket, which is pretty impressive for a neumono for a variety of reasons.
Kiara. Northern-archipelago female, like me, and apparently she's another second-generation rogue. She has the most spunk out of all of them, I'll give her that, and her empathy is stronger than the others. She's clearly had to get tough to get to where she is.
Rotali. Cerulean female, she's just about the smallest neumono I've ever seen, and I don't think she's said a word this entire time outside of introducing herself. I remember seeing her in the audience, though. She might be shy. I noticed that she's been taking glances at my costume and what remains of my ablative makeup.


"I really liked your play." Rotali adds simply to the end of her introduction. [Happiness][Shy][Anxious]

...Why is everyone so anxious? I think I've demonstrated that I'm alright at this point. Am I missing something...?

>Go to the orphanage
There aren't many neumono that fit that bill, actually. Most are adopted by one of the big hives, or by rogues trying to become queens. Other races might have a stronger presence there, but we're pretty good about this. Truth be told, if there were any rogue neumono orphans, they probably would have been part of the group that stormed the amphitheater.

So how big is the hive? Just these 5 or are there more? If so are we talking around a dozen, dozens, god forbid hundreds?

Then I guess find out what kind of resources everyone has, what skills people have, where people live, if they need to be close to you or can stay away for awhile to find out if people are going to have to move or if they can stay where their at, guess we will also need a way to make money so see what everyone does for a living... wow their's a lot of things we got to check on now that we're basically a mini nation now.

>>1053138
The most obvious anxiety ping was related to the police and rogue situation, if it's an ongoing situation there's probably some tensions that might boil over outside? Probably best to ask anyway.

>>1053140
also yeah, can you tell how big your new hive is from empathy alone? if not, probably a good idea to ask.

>Not sure how I feel about gaining power for nothing
They are as much setting a course for your life as you for them! Maybe the exchange there isn't even, but you can certainly work towards making it more equitable in the long run.

>Stampede, violence, protect you,
Well... if nobody died at least that's good, but the aliens don't fix up like neumono does, so those sorts of charges are going to cut harder against you if you get the blame for what went down, especially if you speak in defense of the rogues. Which you're probably gonna, given how much you get how they felt.

>The stable ones
Wonder whether asking Nellie and Kiara to act as a sort of communication / negotiation team might be a good move - one's got the social skills and the other seems to have the spine to not let the first get bowled over.

Rupert and Lett - though Rupert more so - are the fishes out of water here. They've never been part of a Hive and could use a rundown of how their life has changed. That said, they both seem capable - Lett being a pickpocket probably means he's, well, more available to drop everything in his life to stay by your side. Rupert having been raised by aliens probably has had a fair amount of stability in his life for a rogue and might have picked up an education and a skillset, you should quiz him more on that.

Rotali is... clearly a big fan of your work. Maybe her love of your art and her aspirations can be channeled towards something. Shame becoming a Queen will probably put a hamper on your acting career. Or maybe not.

>Why is everyone so anxious?
You could ask if there's anything threatening or time-sensitive that you need to be aware of. It could just be an underlying fear that this whole situation - and Hive - is fragile, but maybe there's something else going on too, like authorities that want to be met with ASAP, or there's a standoff outside against cops or the remaining rogues still, or there are people hurt outside who need tending, but refuse to leave your side.

It could even simply be a lack of a unifying cause - other than how badass of an actor you were - for your hive to believe in and look to the future towards with you that's starting to sink in as a sort of low-level worry. Like - "We have a Hive and a Queen - now what?"

>Challenges
If there's no immediate crisis, confer with your new family about the current challenges facing you all. For one, there's the stampede fallout. That probably needs addressing in some way - no way some your new hivemates weren't hauled off by police as well, right?

For two, you've got a fresh Hive hanging about and crowding the inside and outside of a tiny apartment - clearly that's not sustainable. To some extent you all will need to continue one's regular life for now - going to work (or going to quit from work), getting rest and medical attention (goodness, you probably have wounded, given what went down) and to make sure one won't be as missed from wherever one hails. Obviously you're not sending everyone home this instant - you want to meet them all - but arrangements must be made, whatever network of contacts one has can be contacted and you should probably look into getting a bigger place for that typical communal Hive lifestyle ASAP. You need a base of operations. Or a home, if you will.

Thirdly, the wild rumour of you being able to integrate rogues at will, or whatever it's ballooned into by now, should be... softened considerably. You've no idea how it happened - you just acted your heart out and then woke up a Queen in bed.

Fourth, and related to three, probably there will be questions from journalists and such. As an actor you should be media-savvy enough to know you should have some solid soundbites for them, as well as take advantage of the situation and the spectacle of an instance of spontaneous Queenification to promote... something. Yourself. Your new Hive. A good cause. Whatever.

>Future & acting talent
You could consider at some point put on a second performance of Arvenia, the Lost to satisfy rogue attention and drum up some extra money for your Hive. A lot of rogues might attend just in case lightning strikes twice - and it not doing so would lessen some of the pressure on you. Doesn't have to be an immediate thing though.

>A unifying cause
One thing is probably for sure. Whatever else comes, you're going to be a hive - maybe THE hive - that gives a shit about rogue rights. At least for a generation or two. You all know what it can be like.

If your new hive got the resources, you might be able form a fortresshaven for "rogues" by just buying some land or apartment in the slums equivalent, and build or renovate from there to make a rogue haven. Remember to look into the zoning or building permits; you really don't want to dig into an aquifer city plumbing or electrical.

So... what exactly are the resources, skills, expertise, and contacts your hive has?

>>1053138
>why so anxious
The distant fear of becoming a rogue again? They don't know how fragile this new Hive is, and they don't know how well they'll fit in. They could also be nervous about how well you'll perform as a leader.

First, clean yourself up a bit. Get presentable.
Then I think the first order of business is to take a census. Go out and meet your hive. Meet everyone personally, for everyone is important. Take introductions, etc. Delegate someone (perhaps Rupert, to give him something to focus on?) to do brief interviews to get an impression of everyone's skills and origins; depending on how many there are you could do that yourself. Then later, at a slower pace, you can interview each one personally and find out the details, get to know everyone better.
You'll need to decide on a name for the hive, as well as register it officially. Then you'll have to figure out what kind of business you'll be running. I'm sure everyone can support themselves individually for now, but it will do good for the hive's unity to have a central business to work for, and an ideal or goal to aspire to.

Hmm, should these five be your royal guard for now?

they could be anxious about any number of things, so it's best to just ask, assuming none of objections you'd really like to at least get up, and probably at least show your face to your new hive

Yeah, the first thing we need right now is organization and information, I have more of an idea on how to possibly handle all this once that's done with but for now it's best we make sure everyone knows everyone, then we can prepare a speech for the hive.

I will say, there seems to be a lot of diversion from significant change prevalent so far when that's what we really need. We can't really expect everyone to just continue their lives like nothing happened, so we'll need to get a little culty. By that I mean we need to act as a whole and essentially sacrifice our individual lives to make a collective one.
Basically what I propose is that everyone that's now a part of our hive and is willing to do so should sell anything they wouldn't take with them and consolidate a hive fund that we can put forward into a single building. Basically, we need to start fundraising and proving ourselves to be self-sufficient.

As shocking as this all is, time is of the essence and we must make use of this gift fully while it lasts.

Go out to meet with the ex-rogues outside and encourage them to share in the joy and comfort from this new chance you all now have.

After that, you should seriously consider going to the police station where the other rogues have been detained to get into empathy range and let them join yout hive.

>>1053228
>let them join yout hive.
I doubt we're actually still mentally "open", it sounds like it happened semi-instantly to those who were watching the play from the start during its climax.

The entire performance was about Ryka communicating Arvenia's thoughts and emotions and getting all spectating neumono to feel exactly like her, to the point that rogues ended up synchronized and attuned after the climactic lines.

Wait... We only affected rogues (or possibly soon-to-be rogues), right?

>anxious

Well, now that you're stable, it's sort of a sign that the clock is ticking, right? Or maybe even already run out. There might be another stampede when you go out. At the very least a lot of desperate people are going to be hurt. I don't know, maybe you can come up with something to say to people?... there might be a lot more than just these five who are in the room with you, too.

They could also be anxious just because this is a big life change. Everything's changed course and who knows to where, right? Maybe you can get someone from the police or government to talk to about safety and supports and stuff. Aliens, maybe. Does becoming part of a hive again make the empathic xenophobic response stronger again?

Just ask why they're anxious. Best to let out any worries now, while we're in a more safe and secluded spot. They make it sound like we've got a hive bigger than just the five of them.

Long Live The Queen Queen Ryka 2026/03/19(Thu)03:24 No. 1123589 ID: f66ffb
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>Aliens don't regenerate
No, they don't. At least, not many of them. Still, most of them heal from some injuries. I hope their wounds are of this type.

>They are setting the course of my life
That's... true. I'm the Queen now. What do they think of me? What are they going to expect of me? Whatever it is... that's what I'm going to become, isn't it?

Gradually.

Slowly.

Hm.

>The stable ones
>Royal guard
A bit of an... not antiquated, but imperfect term? If they managed to handle suddenly being dragged into a hive, and are this coherent and thoughtful, they must have very strong wills. That's a kind of quality that's hard to describe, but that I respect. I find myself already thinking about how best to assign them. I can't help but feel like they're important members of my hive, no matter what.

>Nellie and Kiara
They're not a bad match for each other, at least. Kiara definitely seems like she could handle a situation if it soured. She has a kind of rough barrier around her, emotionally-speaking, not empathically, that lines up well with the rogues I've seen that survived through difficult circumstances. I don't know what those might be, but I've been through a lot, myself. Survival is always about tradeoffs. What you can lose of yourself, and what you fight to keep.

Nellie is a lot easier to handle, mostly because I've known her for some time. She's charismatic, smart, affable, and skilled, particularly with numbers and contacts, but that's not everything she is. She's the kind of pained optimist I can empathize with, someone that sees the best in people while knowing full well that she's going to experience their worst. I've worked with her for a few performances at the playhouse.

>Rupert and Lett
It's true. Most likely, all of these neumono are thinking somewhere in their minds about how they're going to live, now. What they're going to abandon. What they might be able to keep. Even on a good day, there's going to be sacrifices. Lett is... interesting. A neumono pickpocket has to be very subtle. His empathy matches that, but it might even go further like mine if he truly can hide himself that well. Hopefully he will not need to sacrifice much.

On the other hand... I didn't expect to become a Queen, but I didn't expect even more to handle a neumono raised by aliens. Second-gen rogues tend to carry with them the trauma of their parents, but ones that never even knew second-hand what they were missing? This must be an extremely strange situation for him. I don't know how to navigate this yet; I'm going to need to know more about his life and how he's previously lived it. He seems strong-willed, but how will he feel about his human parents if he suddenly has a completely new 'family'?

>Rotali
I didn't expect her to be such an enigma, but here she is. Very happy. Very... very small, actually, but... very anxious. No... Squirmy, almost. I cannot see anything other than genuine admiration in her when she speaks to me about my play, but there's something hidden in her, a part that I can't see. Whatever it is... maybe she isn't looking at it either, though. I've seen times when a neumono blocks something out and focuses on what's in front of them, instead, and she feels like that. Even aliens seem to do that.

>The play
>Reporters
>Rumors
Fuck. What am I going to do about the play? A rampage, chaos, injuries, and somebody becoming a queen during a live performance? How many myriad of ways is this going to spiral out of my control? What are people going to think of what I've spent all this time trying to perfect, with this kind of event surroundings its only exhibition?

My magnum opus. And I only did it once.

Can I even do it a second time? After this?

...Yes. Yes, I probably could I have such overwhelming [Joy] fueling my entire being. It's hard to feel suffering right now.

But I know that the pain hasn't magically gone away, either.

...I can't deal with this right now. There are more important things going on.

>Resources, contacts, goals, cause, skills
>A place to live
Simple, I don't know. We're going to have to figure this out, though.

I cannot imagine that many of any of my hive is going to want to live apart from each other, not anymore. I don't have a lot of money. ...Rogues infrequently do. We're going to have to figure that out, too. But the size of it is going to have to depend on the size of my hive. We'll need income, we'll need to see what we're capable of affording...

What I'm capable...

What we're capable of affording? Rrgh, my head is having trouble thinking of my hivemates as separate! This is--this is a good thing! I'm overjoyed about this! But Rupert--I can't just assume everybody will be willing to sell their current lives in totality!

...Or maybe it's that I think they would be willing.

It might not be a consideration for them. But can I ask them to, knowing they likely will?

But we need a place to live.

Next step first. One foot beyond the next.

>Hive size?
There are more outside. I can feel them from here, but I can't tell just how many. Maybe in the future? I don't know. It's like our empathy is strong--stronger than it's ever been, but fuzzy. So many feelings, overlapping at once... I'm surprised. It really doesn't feel overwhelming. It does, however, feel like I'm not very used to it.

"How many of us?" I ask, turning to Nellie. "What size are we?"

The others glance around at each other.
[Empathy Layer 1: Overwhelming Joy]
[Empathy Layer 2: Thoughtfulness]
[Empathy Layer 3: Anxiety]

They could feel me thinking about logistics, no doubt about it.

"Ryka, you... you became a queen. During a performance." She says.

Well, I know, so I emanate for her to go on.

"Ryka... the theater was packed." She says, her voice getting quieter, but with a twinge of elation to it, as well.

"There's over sixty of us."

What...?

That's.

That's more than I was expecting.

I slowly pull myself up, and the five seem to get excited again.

"There's sixty three! We counted!" Rotali says, beaming up at me.

"Yeah, but... that's only the ones here. There's the police, and they took a lot of us." Lett says, pulling on his cap. "So the number should be higher, but. We don't know how..."

"We don't know how stable they are." I finish.

Shit.

I need to get over there. And everybody needs to come with me. Ascension events like this are rare. I don't know how close I have to be to them and for how long to ensure the change to their empathy is permanent. I need to go outside, first, and the five move before I even finish standing, heading out the door like a vanguard fanning out in front of me. I step past my door--

Oh.

Wow. That's--that's a lot of neumono. ...A lot of archipelago neumono especially, for some reason. I can hear them. I can feel them, their empathy filling in around me, a massive, blurry, intimate match for my own, as if I've stamped myself onto them. Which, I suppose I have. They are [Overjoyed]. It's infectious. So many are laughing. So many are crying. It's messy. It's wet.

And they notice me instantly, as expected.

"It's Arvenia!" "ARVENIA!!"
"Queen Arvenia is here!!" "QUEEN!" "OUR QUEEN!"
"SHE'S HERE!" "YES!! YES YES YES!!!" "QUEEN ARVENIA!"
"Thank you, thank you so much, thank you--"

That--that isn't my name. That isn't my name, and I need them to come with me to the holding cells. Many of these neumono used to be rogues very recently; I doubt that none of them have bad experiences with the place.

>>1123589
Hmm, if that's what they believe in their incoherent states you should not shock them by denying it. You might lose some of them. You're gonna have to act like Arvenia for a while. Maybe ease them into acknowledging you for who you are. ...it's probably a good idea for you to openly embrace the ideals Arvenia did anyway, so long as you agree with them. The performance is your foundation, so you'll have to build on it.

How did the play progress from where it stopped? Was that the final line, her welcoming her new children? Riff on that-- welcome your new children to your embrace, and tell them you will make good on your promise. All of them now have a home, though for now it is a humble one with an uncertain future. With effort and cooperation, we can all work towards comfort and stability.

>holding cells
Oh yeah we need to go get near the ones that got arrested, to make sure their empathy stabilizes. To become a member of a hive only to be stolen away, then lose the connection due to alien interference... that's fuel for a riot. It should be relatively easy to convince the police to either release the neumono on bail or let you all in so the hive can stabilize.
While we're there, we might be able to ask someone for legal advice on how to register your new hive? Putting your best legal foot forward in this situation can smooth over a lot of the oncoming troubles. Oh! Ask if anyone present has useful knowledge about laws that could possibly apply here, or be helpful in recovering those who have been arrested. If there's an outright lawyer that'd be best, because then they can represent our arrested hivemates in court if it comes to it.

Unfortunately we're going to have to move as a group... oof. That'll be intimidating to anyone watching. Make absolutely sure everyone knows that you have peaceful intentions and you believe it will work out.

OH! Call the police station ahead of time so they know you're coming over. If the prisoners are acting out, the police can tell them you're coming and that should help. You might even be able to arrange their release over the phone, if you're lucky. Just the threat of having to drag your entire hive over there should be enough to get them to cooperate somewhat-- they won't appreciate the spectacle, or having to deal with the logistical issues of nearly 70 neumono crowding into the station.

Or am I worrying too much? Would they be ok for a couple days? If this has literally never happened before then we should err on the side of caution.

Second priority after you've handled the prisoner problem is figuring out where you're all going to live. You'll want to ask if anyone has access to a compound large enough that everyone has a place to sleep. If so, that'll be our new home base. If not, we'll have to buy one by pooling resources! Or maybe contact the local government to see if they're willing to give you some financial aid?

Your hive has a dangerous cornerstone: they know what it's like to be cast aside and discarded.

They will teeter on the verge of hatred and authoritarianism, but if you can reel your hive's destructive tendencies in and hone them, you could really deal a blow to your species' greatest weakness; its willingness to kneel before fascism, to love discrimination with undeserved honor and fulfilment. For all your species' unity, nothing enables the cycle of exploitation more than showing the universe that you can create perfect bonds through absolute cruelty to 'others'. It needs to be fixed - not just for the Neumono, but for all the abandoned.

You are the prototype of this fix. Now you just have to find a way to mass-produce hivemaking. It's what your hive should build their focus around.

>Mission 1: Retrieve imprisoned followers
>Potential risks: deteriorating mental instability, heat
Well. This is gonna suck.

You're an actor in a big city, so build your leadership style around acting. Come up with a narrative, something that allows you to get the impounded Neumono out without drawing attention to yourself. Make yourself the middlewoman and not the negotiator; the police don't have any official charges, they just arrested the Neumono to prevent chaos. You need to come up with some kind of social-services or hiring agent or what-the-fudgedoodle-ever that seems most appropriate to convince the police that releasing the Neumono into your organization's care will prevent further chaos, such as the Neumono trashing the cells.

Your followers are used to being alone, even if they don't like it. Practice casting yourselves in a wide net, a chaotic mesh of individual rogues who can fuel their disguises with their own instability. This will make for a rudimentary yet effective spy network. Keep most of them at least a six-foot distance from the prison, have the gruffest followers act like hired mercenaries who don't listen to you; it makes sense for a greater organization to hire protection for its secretaries because they need to protect their image, but they don't have to respect the employees they protect.

You're in the perfect position to give a little speech. Introduce yourself (warm, excited) and thank them all for participating in this avant garde fifth act of the play (humorous). Express your commitment to them and this new hive, how you're looking forward to getting to know all of them. But full introductions will have to wait, as you have hive members to retrieve.

Organize them to march on the police station, but not in a militant way. Try to keep the tone light and celebratory. While you're organizing send Nellie and Kiara ahead to warn the cops what's coming, begin negotiations, and inquire on government assistance for new hives.

Well, on the front of the Neumono in the cells, your range, and the range of an entire hive, should be... Generous. You only need to be halfway close to the cells, not AT them.

Second, you are about to need to pull together feelings of Control, Chill, and some necessity. You need these people half calm for a little bit, and as a queen you have that power.

Third, when you get a moment, have people start introducing themselves to the hive. Kinda important to know this. have fun getting the moment.

...You are just going to be Arvenia, Even once they know your actual name, you acted her so good that you BECAME her! at minimum it will linger as a nickname
Long Live The Quest

>police
Definitely call ahead as suggested, with your most legally-savvy hivemate doing the talking.
In fact, if the police station isn't too big you don't even need to be inside in the immediate: simply standing beside the right wall should do the trick.

>living space
Temporary doesn't need to be a dedicated compound, merely a place with walls, a roof and a washroom. Renting a bunch of continuous rooms in a cheap hotel can do for the first night, allowing you to hunt for a suitable location more serenely.