Chapter 173: Chapter 163: Exploration and Choices

The group was quiet as they continued following the underground pathway. Regina knew that they were all considering what just happened, and what they’d just heard. She knew the others were feeling ambivalent. Max, in particular, was concerned — mostly for her and the hive, she thought. Regina didn’t feel like talking to them about it right now, either.

Actually, now that she paid attention, she realized that most of them were speaking to other people in the psychic link. Regina left them to it, she wasn’t going to listen in. Instead, she focused on their surroundings.

The tunnel was opening up into a larger chamber. At this point, it looked more like something she would vaguely expect to see underground, something manmade instead of a natural cave system or the like. She wasn’t sure if this was originally built underground or not, though. The walls turned into smooth, worked stone, possibly some kind of old cement, which might have been used to build aboveground or underground. The sparse moss on the ceiling had clearly grown there later, although it might have been brought there by someone. It had been growing scarcer, though, making it even harder to see, although her eyes had fully adapted to the darkness by now.

“What are we going to do now?” Max asked quietly.

Regina cocked her head and listened, assessing how far the echoes traveled. Not too much, fortunately.

I guess we explore our surroundings, she said. There are probably monsters around, though. At least, it’s better to be safe and assume there are. That means we should stay together, and stay vigilant. It’s probably better not to use artificial light if we can avoid it, either.

While they walked, she quickly checked in with Tim and a few other drones. Luckily, she wasn’t far enough away from them for the distance to be a problem using the psychic link, not at her level. It did mean she had less range towards the east of their territory, though, and some of the drones she’d sent there would be out of range now. Luckily, she’d given them clear instructions, and the Swarm Drones would come back soon, as well as be checked by sapient hive members.

The range limit was still a bit of a pain, but she had to acknowledge that it could be a lot worse. Her sapient drones didn’t lose any of their intelligence and they could still communicate in other ways.

As if on cue, a System notification popped up. Regina flinched, almost expecting the light to illuminate her surroundings and draw some kind of monster, but of course it didn’t.

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