’Well, wouldn’t it be useful for a ruler to be a lightning mage?’ I wondered to myself.
Then I realized sothing special.
Since for my personal morphotype I had twice the regular amount of gene points, I had even MORE options for limit breaks! Specifically, I could max out and then limit break ’Claws’ or ’Fire Breathing’.
Of course, I imdiately asked Undecided what this would give , and got both genes written on paper before I could even finish the question.
〔Fire Breathing X I (MAX): increases the heat, distance and reserves of fire breathing by 500% compared to the previous tier. Allows controlling fire at a range of up to 100 ters.〕
〔Claws X I (MAX): gives retractable claws that can extend for up to 30 centitres. These claws are strong and sharp enough to cut through steel.〕
I whistled.
"This is it. Fire mages are even better than lightning mages!" I said. "And these claws—I could be a real Wolverine! No, better—his claws were shorter!"
My Advisers, of course, had no idea what I talked about. But sohow—telepathically?—they must’ve understood that I wasn’t giving any important information, because both Researchina and Tabletina sat with bored faces.
Only Worriesgone’s eyes were shining with innocent curiosity.
"Father, what are the ’mages’? And the ’wolverine’?"
"Oh, my sweet girl... Later, later. It’s a long story. You can write entire theatre plays about both."
"Alright. I will wait!" Worriesgone chirped and leaned back in her seat. "And I know what gene you should take, Father."
"Huh?"
Everybody in the room turned to Worriesgone with the sa confused expressions.
"How? You didn’t even read about the last two. This is a matter that requires careful consideration... It’s a decision that can’t be undone," Researchina said.
Worriesgone shook her head, smiling.
"Well, Father shouldn’t go outside personally to smite enemies, anyway. These days are gone! Father can rest safely now and just send his astral projection out if he really-really wants to see sothing happen. And he can do that from a safe place, where it doesn’t matter if he can fight well or not."
I nodded.
"Uh-uh. I think I know where you are leading to... It doesn’t matter what I pick, since it’s all useless with my current lifestyle?"
Worriesgone shook her head even harder than before.
"No, not at all! It matters a lot what you pick. Father, the gene you upgrade must make you the happiest you could! Your and Mother’s happiness are the second most important things to the Bee Empire!" she lowered her head and muttered. "Maybe even the first... But you wouldn’t be happy if the Empire was in ruin, so it doesn’t actually matter."
Such a small statent caused quite a reaction. While I felt warm and fuzzy on the inside, everybody else looked shocked and torn by Worriesgone’s words!
"But... the Empire..." Bloodhero gritted out.
"But Father, yes!" Things-Things protested.
Researchina opened her mouth only to close it again. She looked like she had eaten a sour lemon.
’And this is how religious schisms begin,’ I thought.
This was not cool at all! Being loyal to their colony—to the Bee Empire in this case—was wired into bees genetically. Being loyal ca from their upbringing and was a result of months and months of effort.
In a battle of nature versus nurture, what would win?
I wasn’t about to find out!
"Actually, there IS a gene that can make a better ruler!" I exclaid, rising on my feet. "I’m going to upgrade the reduced sleep gene... Then I’d have more ti in the day to procrastinate... I an, to work!"
To my relief, this worked out. Tabletina began writing this down for the Archives, Bloodhero thought about what I would buy on the leftover points, and Researchina imagined her Researchers having the sa gene.
The crisis was averted.
Since my personal morphotype already had ’Reduced Sleep V (MAX)’, I had 12 gene points left. Those I spread following Worriesgone’s advice, or in other words, without bothering too much.
I bought all the genes I got at Developnt Level 12 for myself, too, because they were pretty nice. Then I maxed out the ’Fast Learner’ gene, since this was also useful for a ruler.
After I confird my picks, a wave of dizziness went over , followed by an imdiate wave of clarity. Was that the last mont of sleepiness leaving ?
My muscles also felt ready for rapid motion, while my movents got instinctual grace and quietness. It was less impressive than so of my past gene upgrades, but still a pleasant feeling—to beco stronger, better!
My girls went quiet, watching explore these changes with quiet awe and fascination.
I stretched out my limbs and made a circle around the table, but this wasn’t all.
Besides the physical things, I also felt a new ability within myself. When I sat comfortably in my chair again and closed my eyes for a mont, I could reach it.
Sothing clicked in my mind, and my thoughts flew freer. I thought about the best jobs for the future generations of bees with their genes, the Empire’s next steps in global developnt, Dalmanrach’s appearance...
All within what felt like the blink of an eye.
"Necty? Nectus."
I jolted and opened my eyes. With a start, I realized—by the lting of the candles in the candelabras—that at least several minutes had passed like this!
"Oh, wow. This ditative state felt almost like sleep!" I chuckled. "Sorry, girls. But... I think I can think about a lot of useful things in it."
Ambrosia looked relieved. She smiled at .
"Good. You did look asleep in your seat, too... Does this an that from now on we can lie in bed together while you think about important administrative business?"
I shrugged, still smiling.
"I don’t know, but I sure feel good that I won’t lose the ability to experience anything remotely similar to sleep. Sleep is very pleasant, after all... Anyway! Now that the gene picking is over and done, it’s ti to plan for the Empire’s bright future!"
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