Page 111 of Owned By Two

Still, I think Fate had made a mistake and it wasmethat would make Lizzy happier than Blor ever could.

But that was a discussion I would have with Fate when I died.

We each took a deep breath, clutched our briefcase handles, and descended down the ramp.

A pair of Hive members were there to meet us, standing on the oval landing platform.

“Uhti,” the female of the pair said. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”

I only nodded.

I wouldn’t lie — Iwasn’tpleased to meet the creature.

They offered no more words of welcome, and I didn’t expect anything else.

Instead, they marched into a large white building consisting of a series of tall spires that reached so high into the sky that it was impossible to see the top.

The hallways were populated with other Hive members who all moved with the same slow, lethargic gait.

No one was in much of a rush to get anywhere.

The corridors seemed as endless as the spire that jutted into the sky and when we were finally ushered into a room, I knew with certainty that if push came to shove, I wouldneverremember the twists and turns we needed to take to head back the way we had come.

I doubted Blor could recall them either as he peered around as if he were bored.

Very lawyerly,I thought.

I had been hoping we would see Lizzy present but it wasn’t to be.

Instead, the two Hive members who had led us there sat down and their heads bowed for a moment before snapping to attention and looking at us.

The change was subtle and easily missed if you hadn’t spent much time discussing business with the Hive, but I could see right away that we were now speaking with the Overseer itself.

The eyes in the male and female counterparties were sharper, their movements quicker, and more focused.

I supposed controlling billions of individual members at the same time would use up a ton of bandwidth, reducing the ability to focus on more difficult tasks.

The entire Hive empire would now be operating on automatic as the Overseer focused its entire attention on us.

“Do you have the new contract?” the female said.

I nodded, opened my briefcase, and took the thick document out.

My plan had been to bury the new wording in the endless legalese our lawyers had previously created.

The female took the contract, removed the clip, and flicked through the pages one at a time, dragging her eyes over the text at a speed I could not believe she could actually read — never mind understand.

“Please wait,” the female said, still scanning. “This will not take a moment. The benefit of having billions of minds is sharing information between them at the same time so it’s easier to share their feedback.”

I realized then my hope of the Overseer missing the little changes was virtually zero.

I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, Blor tensing in his chair.

I wished he would relax.

The Overseer could easily share his body language with its billions of members to ascertain his true emotions and discover he was stressed, and ask a very reasonable question:

Why?

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