Queen Bee

Chapter 7: Saliva

Before finding Chris, Kara pondered for a moment before she decided that she was going to give Chris a cup of water with her saliva mixed into it. 

Although Kara didn’t know if saliva that didn’t come directly from her mouth would still be effective, or even what the effects of her saliva were, or what she would do with Chris after she got him intoxicated, she still decided to give it a try. It was the same as collecting data from a lab experiment so she needed to observe Chris carefully. 

She took two paper cups and filled them with water. She gargled the water twice before spitting it back into the cups to make sure there was enough saliva. 

Kara then carried the water downstairs to Chris, who was still in the bee laboratory. 

Kara found Chris in the bee observation room, but he was so distracted by his phone that he didn’t even notice Kara walking to him. . 

TwitterSF

Kara stood behind him and glanced at his phone to see him arguing with somebody on twitter. Nearly all of his words started with S and F. 

She didn’t have time to read it before Chris suddenly sensed her and abruptly turned around to see Kara peering at his screen. Kara wasn’t the slightest bit embarrassed, and kindly handed Chris a cup of water before dragging over a chair to sit beside him. 

“Hey.” Kara’s expression was natural. 

“Hey.” Chris was clearly cautious. 

“Sorry about today.” Kara made a toasting gesture before taking a sip of her water. 

Chris smiled and took a sip as well. “No worries.” 

“What happened with William today was just a one time thing.” Kara observed Chris' expression to see if there was anything different, “I don’t want anybody else to know, okay? 

“No problem.” Chris answered readily. 

“You won’t tell anyone else, right? Not even Sarah?”

Chris' expression turned a little awkward, but he quickly hid it. “I promise I won’t tell Sarah, but if she hears about it from William-”

“She won’t, I’ve already told William to keep quiet.” Kara then cut him off, saying, “He won’t say anything. Chris, I trust that you saw nothing tonight.” Kara stared at Chris. She was sure he already knew everything and had probably even peeped to watch the whole thing himself. 

Chris understood what Kara meant. “Yeah, that’s good then.”

Kara waited for a while until Chris started feeling uncomfortable and he couldn’t help but ask, “is there anything else?”

“Nope. I’ll be relying on you then.” Kara patted Chris' shoulder and didn’t specify what she needed him for before leaving. 

From beginning to end, she had never found any sign of Chris reacting to her saliva. 

Kara could only deem the effects of this experiment as unknown. 

After Kara left, Chris tidied up the laboratory as usual and picked up Kara’s cups to throw them away. 

But after throwing away his own water, Chris hesitated for a moment before remembering where Kara’s lips touched her cup. He put his own lips there and chugged her water down in one gulp. 

Early the next morning, Kara took the time before the professor arrived to force William to leave and tidy up the messy lounge. 

Before William left, she deliberately told him to contact Chris today to ensure Chris would know he didn’t want to make it public, just in case Chris thought what she said yesterday was only a joke. 

After dealing with William, Kara used the time between classes to change and visit the library. 

She had some vague hypotheses about her own powers and mutations, but she had yet to be certain. She was desperate and needed to find answers. 

It was still early in the morning when she arrived at the library, so she was lucky that it was open. Many students who had worked all night prior to Kara’s arrival poured out into the halls, scrambling to grab a bite to eat before their first class started.

Kara watched the crowd of students run around and felt almost like she was watching a crowd of busy worker bees completing their respective jobs when the day started. It was a chaotic, but magnificently beautiful sight to see.

Kara stood there, absent-minded for a few moments before turning to enter the library and heading towards 

the search computer to use the library’s online catalogue. 

Kara started searching the terms “NW Rays”, and “Mutations”, but most of the search results were tabloid-style newspapers with click-bait titles and no information. It’d spark a person’s interest, only to completely and utterly disappoint them.

NW-II

“Try the search terms ‘NW-II type rays’ and ‘skin’.”

NW-II 

A downcast voice spoke behind her. Kara absent-mindedly followed his recommendation and found an article called “A study on the long-term effects of NW-II ray exposure on the composition of stratum corneum”. 

Kara turned to look at the person who helped her and said, “Thanks.”

She looked up to see a thin man, about 185 cm tall, but with a very frail-looking body. He didn’t seem good at making eye contact with girls, and he just nodded while looking at the floor, mumbling a few, barely discernible words that sounded like “no problem.” 

“Do you want to use it?” Kara asked, gesturing at him to use the computer.

He accepted, taking her spot as he quickly typed out a few search terms before finding the relevant articles and journals. He clearly knew exactly what he needed. 

After he was done making a very long list, he stopped for a moment before starting to input search terms like “Mutation”, “Gene Analysis”, and “Protein Reconstruction”. It wasn’t long before he had printed another long list. He signed the books out before hurriedly turning to leave. 

Kara glanced at his list and found articles related to her research in mutations caused by NW rays. She quickly grabbed it before jogging to catch up with him. 

“Hey, thanks. Are you also researching NW rays?” Kara whispered when she drew close to him. “My name is Kara, I’m pursuing my Ph.D in the biology faculty right now. What’s your name?”

His lips moved, but no sound came out.

“Huh? Sorry, I couldn’t hear you.”

（Zachary）

“... Zachary.” 

（Zack）

“Can I just call you Zach?”

Zach nodded slightly. 

“Thank you, Zach.” Kara gave him a small but sincere smile. “It probably would’ve taken me forever to find what I wanted if you didn’t help me. Which faculty are you in? Are you also researching NW rays?”

Zach said quietly, “History.”

“Then you must’ve read a lot!” Kara instantly exclaimed in admiration, “If I can’t find a book, can I ask you?”

Zach nodded. 

“Thank you so much! Then can I get your contact info? Maybe your phone number? Or your email? Anything’s fine.” 

ZacharyM_History@mau.edu

Zach hesitated for a moment before writing out ‘ZacharyM_History@mau.edu’ on a page in his notebook and giving it to Kara. 

Kara was just about to accept it when a large hand suddenly swooped in and stole the thin piece of paper from Zach’s hand. 

Kara abruptly turned around and saw William looming behind her like an iron tower, looking like a devout guard assigned to protect Kara.

Quite a few people noticed the ruckus and turned over to look. 

The smile on Kara’s face disappeared. Her expressionless eyes swept over William’s face, not lingering for even a second.