Chapter Forty-Two: Explanations (Pt. 1)

As Krystal and Tedford sat on a park bench under the careful watch of the Drone standing against a nearby tree, T-Bone tried to fill her in on what was really going on here and what they were up against. Krystal was a little confused at first, but seemed to catch on quickly and was surprisingly not as fazed by it as he had thought she would be. At first Krystal had tried to shush Tedford into whispering so that the Drone wouldn't be able to hear, but after a few minutes, she understood that it wouldn't have mattered because, as Tedford remembered, the Drone could hear even the inaudible. No amount of whispering could escape from the Drone's heightened sense of hearing.

T-Bone explained to her what he could remember about his few years of enslavement to the "Hive", as he called it, and even though it certainly sounded like classic Sci-Fi fodder to anyone else, she took it all in and seemed to believe every word of it.

"The Hive," Tedford explained, "is really it's own sort of thing - unparalleled by anything else I can think of. They're kind of half world guardians, half power brokers - like a world police, but with a more sinister, totalitarian spin."

Krystal was all ears, as was the Drone, who was finding this conversation to be quite amusing.

"They generally take people who are assumed dead or lost or who otherwise have no connections or reason to live. They 'hook them up' to the Hive mind, and with that comes a vast amount of collective knowledge, extrasensory perceptions, and additional abilities that would normally take lifetimes to accumulate."

Krystal's mind was racing with what this could potentially mean to mankind, if these kind of abilities were used for the betterment of humankind, but her grandiose idealisms were cut short as Tedford continued.

"The Hive existence is one of subservience and compliance. Individualism is frowned upon, and only the will of the whole is important. All Hive members have to be inducted into the Order, and with this impressive endowment of power comes great (and grave) responsibility."

Krystal asked a rather naïve question, but one that she'd been wondering from the start: "So, basically they're the bad guys, and they're fighting against the rest of us, the good guys, right?"

"Well," frowned Tedford, seeing that he would need to slow down and provide perhaps more background information, "it's not as easy as just 'good versus evil', Krystal - it's just not that simple. They're not necessarily good or evil, they're more of the grey area in between. That shady area in which things happen and only your viewpoint determines whether it was a good thing or a bad thing."

"I think I understand - but give me an example," she said, slightly flustered, but trying not to let on. She didn't want to sound stupid, and indeed she normally wasn't, but this was all so new to her. She wanted to understand this in-depth, and to do that she needed to ask some questions and try to relate it to something familiar, if that was at all possible in this case.

"Well, mosta da time the Hive is actually quite benign. Kind of a guardian organization, like a global attempt to balance out all the really good or really bad things that happen over the years. I guess you could say they be 'keepers of the balance', although they do frequently exercise a darker side. One of the overriding tenets of the Hive is that balance is perfection. They're here to maintain a balance between good and evil - neither one should have precedence over the other. Let's say, for example, that a convicted rapist escapes from jail and commits more heinous crimes. If the authorities couldn't catch up with him, the Hive eventually would - and they'd kill him. No trial, no juries - just swift vengence. Not justice, mind you, just equilibrium."

Krystal thought a moment, then spoke, "So, in essence, they thrive off of conflict. If good isn't allowed to prevail, then the world will never be peaceful. If evil never prevails, then anarchy will likewise never come to pass. What they're propagating is eternal conflict, in essence."

Tedford smiled, and the Drone was finally impressed. The Drone took several strides over toward them and faced them, still standing. "Bravo, Mr. Tedford, and bravo to you, too, Ms. Krystal. Tedford, I was beginning to think you had forgotten all about your former life and the responsibilities you assumed, but I can see now that you are quite aware of what you forsook, and therefore must realize the penalties. And you, Krystal, are a quick study. Very insightful. Tedford's slant on things is a bit skewed, in my estimation, but his skeletal explanation is sufficient to give you the general gist of our agenda."

Tedford didn't speak, just looking down at his shoes, and it was Krystal instead who answered. "Excuse me, I have a question."