The hive mind stared at her. She waited for the power to overwhelm her and force her away, but the moment never came. This being of unimaginable power locked onto her gaze as an equal, and said, “We have lost control, and we need you.”
The most straightforward information they’d ever received from the hive mind, in any of its forms. Victory could work with this. It was her nature to see a problem and try to fix it, even if all she could offer to the hive mind was the power of an ant trying to lift the foot of a giant. “What can I do to help?”
The hive mind drifted out from behind the grand piano, treading the air above the wooden floor as if it didn’t realize its form didn’t coordinate with its surroundings. “We have evolved. Outside of this small realm, the shadows one has encountered n
