Chapter 463: Precautions and Justifications

Regina was tempted to simply have herself portaled to Helen’s location immediately, or to have their new prisoner brought to her, so she could personally look at her mind and interrogate her. But good sense prevailed, and she did not do that. Instead, she monitored them from a distance as her people went about the next steps.

The Empire did actually have protocols for what to do about psychics as prisoners, even if they were mostly theoretical.

First, of course, Iseis had to handle her, which was probably the trickiest part and left Regina a little anxious. Her friend had not portaled them that far, but far enough to be away from the front. Regina was lucky it was still within sight of a few flying drones in the proxy link.

Clearly, Iseis hadn’t managed to halt Helen’s fall completely. At least, not without leaving her somewhat injured and sufficiently dazed. From what Regina could tell, she might not be unconscious, but even if not, she was clearly too disoriented or dizzy to be much better off.

She would have tried to reach out to Iseis to give her further instructions, even just through Ria’s proxy link with one of her drones, but there was not enough time. As soon as they were stable enough, Iseis immediately opened another temporary portal and dragged Helen through it. Physically. Her magic was probably pretty exhausted.

Regina waited for a minute. This move would take them to somewhere still relatively close by, but far enough to be completely unaffected by the fighting; somewhere outside the range of the psychic link, and probably the proxy link too. That was, in this case, a paranoid precaution that might just do more harm than good, but it was still happening. There would be soldiers ready to assist with everything. If nothing else, June would see to that. And June herself would keep an eye on it from a distance.

Finally, after a wait that felt far too long, even though she knew it really wasn’t, they appeared again inside the range of her psychic link. Not close to the capital, of course, or even to her main hive base. Instead, Iseis had brought them directly to a facility located underneath a mostly unremarkable outpost somewhere in the reaches of Cernlia.

Helen was already asleep. Regina checked on her quickly. It looked like the sedation had taken hold properly. She held off on trying to look deeper than that for now, though. Of course, they couldn’t, and wouldn’t, keep Helen sedated continually, this was just for transport. It gave time for healers to treat her injuries without issue, as well as for cataloging her equipment, changing her clothes and all that. Out of a sense of decency, this was done by a single female soldier, but Regina supposed it still wasn’t very nice. Still, they had to do what they must. And be sure Helen wouldn’t smuggle in any weapons or tools somewhere — Regina had heard a few stories, although she doubted someone would actually hide a dagger between their breasts or anything (and the story about a pouch of powder hidden somewhere else had to be a joke).

Once that was over with, they put Helen in a prepared cell. Well, it had been hastily prepared, and people were still carrying new things in. Regina was watching closely, even from a distance, to make sure there was no security breach, and she was glad that Iseis hadn’t left yet, even if she wasn’t a psychic.

This facility wouldn’t have many guards. Having Helen closely watched all the time would just offer her potential avenues of escape (not to mention putting the guards at risk). Instead, they worked with distance, a hand-selected cadre of strong guards with training in mental shielding, and oversight by psychics. She would have to consider an updated schedule involving some of her students.

This facility was far enough away from the capital that an escaping enemy psychic couldn’t just immediately wreak havoc in the center of government, but it wasn’t that far, either — close enough that Regina could pay a visit without shifting the center of her psychic link too much, especially if she prepared a little in advance. And with her new proxy links, she decided to risk it. She wanted to speak to Helen personally, and assess her mind herself.

Although she would probably still have her executed after that. Eventually.

Regina shook her head and forced herself to focus. This would take a little while, and she had other things to take care of.

Like checking on her new proxy links. It was a bit of an odd sensation, sensing at least their anchors in the back of her mind, even if they were outside her normal range. It made them stand out a little against the background of the thousands of minds in the link. Of course, part of that was probably because she hadn’t exactly chosen the people at random, anyway.

So far, it seemed like she could sustain three proxies relatively easily, four with a bit of strain, and five, possibly, if she wanted to risk it for a short time period. Regina was hesitant to risk it right now. But she did have four of them currently. Beside Ria, there were Lily and Fred, because they were psychics as well — it simply made it much easier. Even if they didn’t have as much experience with the psychic link as some other candidates, they were pretty good at managing their parts of the link, and their ability to actually sense other minds was helpful … a bit like a replacement for her own ability, making it more as if she was actually there, Regina supposed. Maybe that was selfish, but surely the tactical benefits were still worth it.

The last one was not a psychic, but a Keeper. Mostly because Regina was curious if that would do anything. So far, it didn’t seem to make for a great advantage, but she also didn’t have many reference points. She would have to experiment with it a little more, and at least Jem was quite good at propping his proxy link up. Although he was still inside the greater psychic link, which made it a bit different. It was more like making him a proxy just intensified what was already there, effectively reducing the distance between Regina and the minds in his vicinity.

There was more to test, though. Jem wasn’t currently at the capital, but instead in the south of the hive’s core territory. The choice had made sense earlier, but if she was going to move, having someone in the capital might be best. And it let her test something else.

I’ll remove the link now, she warned him. Alert me immediately if there’s any trouble or if you start to feel unwell. Otherwise, just try to monitor your condition and that of the link in this area.

I understand, Mother, he replied.

Then Regina focused on her Ability and on his familiar mind and gradually withdrew her proxy designation from Jem. The knowledge of how to do that was mostly instinctive; maybe granted by the System, or maybe just an effect of her own innate understanding of her psychic link. She’d long suspected the System mostly just tapped into properties and capabilities they would have had anyway, as a Hivekind hive — but now wasn’t the time for such considerations.

Surprisingly, while removing this proxy link wasn’t too difficult, it did take a while. Regina had to carefully ease back on the connection between them, gradually dimming it, mentally, while keeping half an eye on the integrity of the psychic link. It was a little uncomfortable for her, and probably worse for Jem. Not the sort of thing I’d do in the heat of battle, I guess, she thought distantly. Well, she did have the impression that she could force the issue and do it more rapidly, but that would probably make it a lot more unpleasant for both of them. So not a good idea outside of emergencies.

Finally, when things had snapped into place, it felt like they had returned to a normal, stable configuration. A tiny bit of strain that she’d become used to eased, as she had one less proxy to support. There weren’t any other side effects, and she checked on Jem and the other drones near him again — the normal way, this time — to make sure that remained the case. Then Regina turned her attention to another drone.

She briefly let Ira know everything that was going on and what she was planning. I would have chosen Max, but he’ll go with me, she said. Or another Keeper, but I think this is better. You’ll have to keep me apprised of anything important and cover for me for a little while.

I’ll do my best, my Queen, Ira agreed. Regina could sense her trepidation, but she knew it was because she’d be leaving the perceived safety of the palace rather than Ira’s own role.

Wordlessly, Regina reached out and used her newest Class Skill again, designating Ira as an additional node in the psychic link. Since she was quite close to her, the effects were muted. It fell into place easily, and Regina had to consciously pay attention to determine if she could sense any of their minds better now — not really, except maybe for Ira herself. And she didn’t seem to have any trouble with it.

Alright, she said, transmitted it directly. I’ll be going then. Probably good to have Max along outside of bodyguard duties, actually.

At least it would make him complain less about her leaving the city, anyway.

Which didn’t mean Max was entirely happy about this. “Do you really have to go there yourself?” he grumbled as they departed. “I mean, I respect your desire to talk to her personally, Mother, but you could simply send one of those speaker drones.”

“Those aren’t psychics, I am,” she replied. “Trying to work through them would just put me at a major disadvantage, and I won’t hand Helen something like that.” She paused, glancing at Max. “You do realize I’m our strongest psychic, right? Without me, we simply run a higher risk of her escaping or causing some other mess, and that’s not going to improve our safety, either.”

Max still grumbled a bit, but at least he seemed to see the sense in that. Not that he was entirely wrong; Regina did also just want to speak with Helen personally.

They could have portaled in, but Regina decided to use more direct means of travel. It wasn’t far enough for the flight to take very long, thankfully, and she didn’t want to tax Iseis again right now. Galatea could have teleported them as well, but she wasn’t here currently. So she climbed onto Thor while Max got another Winged Drone Mount and they set off. She’d use the chance to monitor the psychic link as she traveled further from the capital.

Thankfully, her recent level-up seemed to have also expanded her range again slightly, and together with the proxies and the normal ebb-and-flow of people, it meant that traveling a bit should be fine. Instead, she kept half of her attention on it while also considering what she’d do with Helen, and how she might take advantage of her capture in terms of the war.

They arrived soon enough, and Regina had to contain her impatience at the hoops they had to jump through for the sake of security. Double-checking that everything was running properly was probably good, but she still felt impatient.

Then she finally got close enough to Helen to see her with her own eyes and wait for her to wake up. Not in the same room, of course; Helen was in a cell and Regina stood in the observation room separated by a pane of hardened glass, with the best enchantments they could think to try, and several wire nets. Not to mention the guard posts around them, the vents that facilitated several separate air circulation systems and would allow them to gas the cell, and the rest of the security measures. She was really glad the hive could build things like this pretty easily, this whole facility would have been a really expensive project otherwise. Well, even more expensive than it already was.

Regina waited silently as Helen woke up, watching her mind closely. Still coming out of her sedation, her defenses were weaker than normal, although not down completely. Helen had some interesting passive shields that apparently didn’t require her to be focused on them, or even conscious. Still, they didn’t block Regina from seeing her general state.

“Long time no see, Helen,” Regina spoke up. “Fancy meeting like this, right?”

She only gave her former apprentice a moment to get her bearings before she poked her, hard, with her mind.

Helen winced slightly, then sat up quickly, blinking against the light illuminating her cell. She didn’t need to waste any time honing in on Regina’s presence, although Regina did catch her briefly glancing at Max, cataloging his presence, before she looked back at her.

Regina could tell there were several things Helen wanted to say, but she didn’t; instead, she just remained quiet. Feeling her increasing anxiety and fear, her barely suppressed panic, as the situation hit home was still kind of satisfying, though.

“I have important things to do, so I’ll get right to the point,” Regina said. “Where are they?”

Now Helen just felt confused. Still nervous and increasingly angry, but it was overshadowed by confusion for a moment. She still didn’t answer.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Regina threatened before thinking better of it. God, I sound like a cliché.

At least it did finally get Helen to talk. “Where is who?” she asked back.

Well, Regina supposed she should have expected that answer. She was still irritated, but that might have more to do with Helen herself.

“Who do you think?” she asked. “I can guess the positions of your armies. No. The Mesen, Helen. Where are they?”

Helen stared at her for a moment. Her confusion still felt genuine. “Who?” she repeated. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

Regina stared back, silent for a moment. “You’re serious?” she said slowly. “Not just that you don’t know where they are or who exactly your gods might have been dealing with … you don’t even know who the Mesen are?”

Weirdly, Helen actually felt a flicker of what might have been embarrassment. For a moment, she sounded just like her student again, but Regina was too distracted to appreciate that. “I’m sure I’ve heard the name before somewhere,” she said, a touch defensively.

Yes, I’m sure, Regina thought distantly, … Because we mentioned them when talking about the past and what happened during the Cataclysm.

After a moment, she shook her head, laughing quietly. “So they really haven’t told you anything,” she said. “Your gods left you completely in the dark. Well, of course, I wouldn’t consider you trustworthy if I was in their place, either.”

Helen flushed slightly. “Laugh at me all you like, Hive Queen,” she said. “The gods are still going to grind your projects into the dust and smite all of you. And my relationship with them is none of your concern.”

“’Hive Queen’, huh?” Regina smiled with genuine amusement. “That’s cute. I wonder if your mentor knows more than you do, though. Did she lie to you or is she just a pawn, too?”

Now Helen seemed to get a bit more angry, although it was still dampened by general fear and worry. Regina felt like she understood where the woman stood pretty well. Helen had always prized survival, but she also had to know how much cause to hate her she’d given her. She was clearly starting to calculate if she might get out of this by trying to cooperate, though.

“Trying to play on my emotions and drive a wedge between me and my real mentor, Hive Queen?” she accused. “It won’t work. Honor Sazatore actually respected me and is teaching me all she knows. I trust her, because she earned my trust. Unlike someone else I could mention.”

Regina stared at her, then smirked. “I guess that’s supposed to be an insult?”

“If you’d only done better as my master, maybe we wouldn’t be here today,” Helen tried.

Regina laughed. She noticed Helen jerking back slightly and grinned for a moment, showing her teeth. She leaned forward.

“If that’s the best you can do, I’m afraid I have no interest in that fight. I have nothing to prove to you. This isn’t about that anyway.”

“You don’t want to speak about what happened between us?” Helen asked. “That does sound like you feel a certain way about the matter, or else what would have have to hide?”

Regina sighed. She supposed she did want to hash this out at least briefly, if not in the way her conversation partner wanted.

“I don’t care about your justifications,” she said, making sure Helen sensed how serious she was. “We’re not here to speak about your grievances. What you did was so far over the line you couldn’t see it from the air, and it makes them completely irrelevant. If you wanted more personal instruction from me, you could have asked. We could have made something work. Instead, you betrayed me, hurt and tried to kill innocent people and joined our enemies.” She shook her head. “It’s like complaining about the price in a restaurant by throwing Fireballs in its kitchen. Completely out of proportion.”

“I —“ Helen paused for a moment. “I may have made mistakes,” she finally said. “I had my reasons, even if I know they will seem insufficient to you. But I never wanted to kill anyone. And it was ultimately your attitude and actions that caused all this. You started a war we couldn’t win, Empress. I just didn’t want to die for your … hubris.”

“You know, you’re not the first person to say something like that,” Regina mused. “In the end, I suppose it makes a certain kind of sense from the perspective of people like you. But you should have known better, Helen. Trite as it may be … I know things you don’t. I am capable of things you are not. And you are simply using the gods as an excuse, you and traitors like you.” She scoffed. “You’re not even very religious.”

“Maybe not, but the gods are still the gods,” Helen said quietly. “Do you really think you can beat them?”

Regina shrugged, leaning back. “Like I said, I have nothing to prove to you.”

There would be more interrogations, although she wouldn’t handle all of them. For now, it was interesting to consider who might know what about what the gods were really up to, especially regarding the Mesen. Though she had hoped to find some information or at least hints here, and found herself disappointed.

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