"…But the first is that we might get vaccines! I'm not absolutely sure it will work out, but your suggestion will be our plan B, Worriesgone," I said.
"Vaccines?" Researchina asked, perking up as always when an unfamiliar word and a potential new technology was ntioned.
And I, as always, was happy to share the knowledge stored in my mory.
***
Vaccines used weakened versions of pathogens to activate an immune system against a specific threat. The thods of cultivating and weakening pathogens without destroying them varied, and many required technologies we didn't have.
All of these would've been near-useless against the rapidly evolving pathogens of this world. By the ti one vaccine was developed, the virus or bacteria would've had ti to evolve ten tis into sothing new.
But the dodos with perfect antibodies in their blood…
I had a really far-fetched hope for them.
However, it stayed far-fetched only until after several hours of concentrated ditation upon their dreams and mories of them, Oracles all as one confird it would work out. Maybe. Mostly.
Then, it was a matter of enacting my idea!
First, I ordered one of the dodos from the Krisha village to be brought to Hive Supremo with Tamsha. When he arrived to bend his knee and swear an oath of allegiance to , I already had a task in mind for him.
To my glee, even this skeptic couldn't help but be impressed by the Bee Empire on the way to Hive Supremo. The Agents told all about his gasps of wonder when he saw this or that.
Although he stayed wary, from ti to ti—like when I appeared in full parade gear, with a new cape from lizard feathers and a freshly-forged golden spear—Tamsha couldn't help but be awed a little.
From my side, I was just glad that he was there, looking healthier than the last ti I saw him. His wounds were going to leave scars, but they were healing steadily.
He pledged his service without complaint, although it wasn't a full oath like Farini did—just a promise to serve for an undetermined amount of ti in exchange for my knowledge.
'I have a first task for you, Tamsha,' I told him after this, hovering near his face. 'You must share your blood with us.'
'What?!' Tamsha thought, appalled. He jerked away from , imdiately going away from my thought-hearing range, only to return and almost forcefully think, 'What dark rite this is for?'
I almost rolled my eyes. Shouldn't have expected better from him!
'Oh, it's for everybody's good! And it's not a rite. But you have so of that divine dodo blood in your veins, and I want to find out if it can be shared with others.'
Tamsha stared at for a second, not even thinking about anything—just digesting his shock.
'If this is not a dark rite… I will share, Your Majesty.'
'Yes, and maybe eventually you will realize that I'm always right,' I added, sowhat grumblingly.
Tamsha wasn't going to be my only test subject.
At this very mont, following my orders, bees were putting the dodo chick he brought into a massive pen prepared just for it. With the help of thick ropes and thousands of bees, it would be held still while Physicians carefully drew blood from it.
This blood will be injected with (crude, but workable) steel syringes into the sickest bees in our hospitals.
A single bucket of dodo blood will cure hundreds—even those who would die without it.
Thanks to all the dical interventions, there weren't many ill people in the Bee Empire compared to the human lands. But the bees' population was over 8 million now. Even if just a small percentage of us got sick, it ant thousands of people in the hospitals.
There were not only regular illnesses, but also infections in wounds sustained in battles. The latter were much more common, actually, and much more deadly.
And the Hive Supremo was the largest hive in the Empire with the biggest hospital.
Like Tamsha, Physicians will gather the blood of those we cure with dodo blood injections and see if it can be given to others for even a part of the sa effect. I knew there will be plenty of volunteers for blood donation.
We just had to be careful to avoid problems with blood types, although I had no idea if bees had blood types at all.
The first blood injections happened on this very day. Like with Tamsha, dodo blood healed infected bees not instantaneously, but quickly.
Although I wasn't there to see how the hopelessly sick began to feel better and even stand up, by that evening the wave of cured people created so much joy in thoughts and conversations of the hive's citizens, that it was impossible to miss.
My daughters smiled at each other, laughed and ntioned their brood-sisters and friends being healed by miraculous blood injections when everybody thought they were almost dood.
It was a wind of hope that put a smile on my and Ambrosia's face, even if we knew the dodo were a limited and precious resource not to be overused.
By then, Tamsha's blood was also ready. So of it would be carried on dragons to Krisha village and, while it was fresh, used on a volunteer there. We already had one—there was a young woman who caught a bad flu.
As long as their blood types were compatible (and this could be checked at least partially by mixing their blood in a bowl), I hoped it wouldn't make things worse. Just in case, the bees on that dragon carried a vial of dodo blood, too.
Another part of Tamsha's blood was in the hands of Physicians of Hive Supremo. Although transmitting the blood of a human to bees sounded too insane to work, it was still sothing worth trying.
Only on a volunteer, of course, and in the smallest amounts to minimize risks—but a brave bee suffering from an infected gash on an arm was injected with Tamsha's blood.
Then I could only wait and see—because even Oracles could easily be wrong.
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