Suzy sat in a hard office chair, thinking about what she wanted to do. It felt like giving up to choose any of the options presented to her by the queen - especially if she ceded her individuality to Hive.

She shuddered. The soldiers and workers were nothing more than faceless automatons. No, if she was going to do this, it would be on her terms.

She confronted the penultimate question - did she really want to be a part of Hive? It was a disturbing, controlling, corporate machine that subverted and enslaved everyone who worked for it.

By itself, this should make her want to say no. However, she couldn’t see how this was any different than the job she had held at her old company. In certain ways, it was actually better. What other place would offer sexual satisfaction as a job perk?

And if she played her cards right, she might finally have some control over her fate, and that of her friends. Walking away or becoming a drone surely wouldn’t give her that much.

Her head felt clear for the first time in weeks. Yes, she was really going to do this. She narrowed her eyes. “I accept, but I have some conditions.”

The queen folded her lovely purple hands and waited, nodding at her assertive tone.

“I want complete autonomy to form my own Hive unit. I won’t be under your control, and you’ll have no say in how my Hive runs.” Was she demanding too much?

“A fairly standard clause, please continue.”

Feeling more confident, Suzy pushed forward. “I want my friends back. They’re to work under me, be a part of my new Hive.”

The queen dipped her head in acknowledgement of Suzy’s demands. “Usually, a corporation has huge overhead costs. However, in our case, we own our workers. There is no individuality; everyone serves Hive equally with perfect productivity. They are devoted to the cause. No other business can compete with us, because our payroll is nonexistent. This is the perfect corporate Hive. My Hive.” She gave Suzy a baleful look.

“There’s no room for sharing a Hive, but much like a colony of bees, a Hive must develop new, strong queens, and when a Hive gets too big, the colony must swarm. You, my new queen, will take a cadre and form a subsidiary from which we will consolidate our control of this world.”

Suzy’s eyes hooded. “I don’t want just any subsidiary. I want to buy Polycorp. I want to prove that I can run their company better than they can.”

“Very well, then. It will be difficult to arrange, but not impossible. You’ll start as a wholly owned subsidiary on a trial basis, but if you’re as successful as I suspect you might be, you’ll be given the opportunity to buy yourself out and run your Hive independently. No oversight, no control, just you, your friends, and your slaves. How does that sound?”

Suzy wondered if she should have asked for more, but what she was being given was already more than she had been expecting. She leaned forward. “When can I start?”

The queen’s face broke into a smile. “You already have.”

The dreamscape shifted off kilter, as if they were on a sea going vessel. A sinking feeling hit Suzy low in the gut, her stomach heaving. The queen waved her fingers, the dreamscape dissolving into tiny pinpricks of sparkling light.

***

It was warm and dark, a soft, rhythmic sound thrumming around her and in her. Beautiful music danced in her soul like a comfortable, roaring furnace.

She became aware of the sensations around her, arousal tingling like a living thing. She couldn’t move, trapped inside clingy, fleshy material.

When she flexed, the material moved with her, the slimy interior providing no purchase for her fingers. Her hands drifted in viscous fluid, unhurried as she explored her environment.

She didn’t feel panic at being trapped, kneeling with content. She was right where she needed to be - the outside world could wait.

She started to notice other features of her home, running her fingers up to her mouth, which was filled with a thick, fibrous tube. Curious, she followed the striations on its length down her neck, her throat distended with the vine’s girth.

Her tongue was pinned to the floor of her mouth, the rough surface of the vine catching against her tongue ring. Every so often, her neck would pulse and her lungs would fill, her respiration controlled by some outside agency. Her body pulsed to the beat of a slower metabolism, requiring less oxygen to run her body in its meditative state.

Curiosity satisfied, her thoughts turned to more carnal matters. Slipping her hands over aroused nipples, she moved on to her needy nether regions. Her privates were plugged with warm, fleshy nubs, similar to the tube gagging her mouth.

Multitudes of fingers were jammed inside her body, stroking and twirling in a tantalizing tango. She twisted the structure stuffed into her pussy, ass twitching at the sudden stimulation the motion provided. The long length jolted, sending a wave of ecstasy ricocheting throughout her captive body.

Her thoughts went ragged as the organic spears began to ramp up their efforts. As her pulse rate increased, so too did the rhythm of Hive, the tentacle in her mouth inflating her lungs with greater rapidity. The tentacles in her vagina and ass started alternating, pulsing and sliding in and out, bouncing her body on two dildos, the hard rods massaging her wet holes.

Suzy stopped trying to make sense of anything, riding the invaders as fast as she could. Her breasts swayed in the thick fluid, swinging back and forth with each thrust.

She held the main tentacle in her left hand, helping to guide it as it rammed into her. With her other hand, she furiously rubbed her clit, doing her best to maximize the sensations.

Thus occupied, she barely noticed when large funnels slipped over her breasts. They attached themselves with a slimy vacuum seal, immediate pressure enhancing her pleasure. There came two sharp pinches from her tits, but this was washed out by the overwhelming sexual pleasure the pod was inflicting on her.

She was starting to reach the edge of her endurance, and she pushed into the dildos harder, hoping to send herself over the edge. Before she could climax, the thick tube in her pussy stiffened, pulsing with greater strength as the rest of the tentacles continued their assault.

There came a burst of pressure, and something warm flowed deep inside her. Whatever fluid the tentacle had stored had just been ejaculated right into her core.

The thought of bearing Hive’s young, whatever form that might take, was extremely exciting. She bore down on the tentacle, shuddering as an orgasmic wave took her.

Floating in pleasure, her body was a live wire, each touch on her breasts provoking another peak of pleasure.

The white hot orgasm lasted for minutes, her ass bucking on the thick vines. There was nowhere she could go to escape the incessant stimulation. She was stuck in ecstasy.

Helpless, she writhed, embracing the pleasure of Hive birthing a new queen.

***

Time rolled on, its passage unnoticed inside the small cocoon. Periods were soon separated into two distinct sections - pleasure, and not pleasure.

Whenever the period was not pleasure, the creature inside lived only for the pleasure to return. Whenever it was time to be pleasured, the creature never wanted it to stop.

The liquid inside the pod acted as a lubricant, preventing the creature’s sensitive parts from chafing, allowing the mechanism to stimulate her longer, requiring shorter recovery times.

The creature’s brain was entirely devoid of thought, her outer mind long since stripped away. The constant cycles of stimulation chipped at her remaining strength, small but significant parts of her personality starting to become vulnerable to the eternal cycle of lust.

***

Suzy sipped from a hot mug of black tea, the bitter taste a refreshing repast when combined with savory crackers and cheese. The ambience of the outdoor café was perfect, fresh air and hushed conversations lending an air of geniality. A frilly yellow parasol protected her from the rays of the harsh mid-afternoon sun.

From her seat next to the street, she had an easy view across the entire town. Beyond a certain point, the environment frayed into an ugly purple glow, reality taking a steep step off the deep end.

With every minute, the glow came inexorably closer, her sphere of influence dwindling as the chaos outside grew. Her time was almost up. She supposed that she might as well enjoy her last calm moments before her pleasant reality was destroyed.

“Mind if I join you?” A purple figure sat down opposite her at the table, relaxing back in her chair with a newspaper.

She pointed at the page. “Look, the article is about you. ‘Local girl goes completely insane.’ Hmm, it’s not very flattering. They claim that you keep nattering on about a ‘corporate Hive’ and how everyone needs to ‘stop putting their heads in the sand’ and ‘realize they’re losing themselves to an evil corporate organization.’”

The figure laughed. “Sounds like an accurate description of the situation, here at the end of your world.”

Suzy frowned at the interruption, setting her tea down. “Fancy seeing you here. I was hoping that you would get lost… permanently.”

Her doppelganger, still dressed head to toe in purple rubber, set the newspaper down and laughed at Suzy’s impertinence. “Since I’m you, and you’re me, I’m not sure how I’d be able to get lost unless you were also lost. I suspect there’s more bitterness here about losing then there is about being lost.”

Suzy looked pained at the suggestion. “I should have known better than to buy into the queen’s offer. It was clearly too good to be true. Here I am, holding out, and for what? To last a few more seconds as an individual? To pretend that I still have the power to stop this?”

She slammed her fist on the table. “It’s so damned unfair. I had her where I wanted her, but I still couldn’t get a fair deal.”

“That’s enough,” interrupted her doppelganger. “You know exactly why we’re here. You’re afraid to accept that you’re me. You have too much pride and can’t let go. Just look at you!”

She gestured at Suzy’s conservative outfit. “You still think that you should be able to wear a pantsuit to the office! That doesn’t make any sense with what you know about how Hive works. For all that you’ve tried, you can’t escape it. I know that you have the piercings - in all three spots.”

Suzy blushed, but she shook her head stubbornly, not wanting to admit that it was true. She clutched her hands together, knowing that it was time for her to make the final decision. The one that made her scared, the one that had been hounding her across her dreamscapes for days on end.

“Come on!” said her duplicate, holding out a hand to Suzy as the road peeled away into a tumultuous purple maelstrom. “It’s your last chance. Our last chance. Don’t you want to be in control?”

Suzy hesitated, but eventually took her hand. The doppelganger smiled and pulled her in close. “We’ll have fun together… I promise. We’ll make them all love us.”

Unresisting, Suzy let her double pull her into a warm embrace. Looking into her own eyes, Suzy gently touched her slick rubber head. “Your eyes are stunning,” she said dreamily.

“So are yours,” replied her duplicate, drawing her into a strong kiss, their tongue rings clicking together.

“We’re unstoppable,” they both whispered in one voice.

A flash of light expanded in a tight sphere, washing away the encroaching darkness with a purple web of bright, beautiful music.

***

The pod shuddered, its gentle hum broken by the sound of a wet squelch as the top opened up like a flower. Wet ooze leaked out over the floor, the petals stretching, revealing Suzy in a kneeling pose.

The long vine down her throat led outwards into a stem that attached to a nearby wall. It pulsed as it pulled itself out of her throat, dropping to the floor, visibly depleted. The suckers resting over her breasts had wilted, shriveled and brown.

Suzy rocked on the tubes that attached her privates to the bottom of the egg, opening her eyes, a smoky purple flashing deep within. Nictitating membranes flashed across dark pupils, her head moving in an alien fashion.

She was sitting in a dim room, smooth walls indicating that Hive workers had given the place a thick coating. The song of Hive sang in her head, making it difficult to concentrate.

A shiny figure clad in purple stepped up to the detritus of her birthing. “Who are you?” asked the Queen.

“We are Hive,” she said huskily, her low voice harmonizing with itself.

Her throat was rough, a side effect of being inside the pod for such a long period. Slimy liquid sloughed from her body onto the floor, leaving behind flawless white onyx skin.

“And?” the Queen asked, purple eyes staring at her newly hatched figure.

“We… no, I - am Suzy,” said the new Queen, shaking her head as she fought to master herself. A childlike sense of wonder blossomed over the sharp curves of her alien face. “I am also… Hive. It is hard for me… to keep myself separate from the Hive mind. It is so beautiful!”

“Good.” The Queen’s countenance softened. “This is the reason why there are so few queens. Only the strongest can survive the birthing process without going mad.”

“What happens to those that do go mad?” asked Suzy.

The Queen looked sad. “Those that don’t make it become literal sex fiends, and must be dealt with by being cored.” She shuddered. “Imagine what could happen if a creature that lived only for pleasure got free? Not only would we be exposed to the masses, but an untold number of people could be killed by the endless lust.”

She grimaced. “Remember the Salem witch trials? Those weren’t witches, just lust-addled failures. These days we deal with them in a less public fashion.” She shrugged. “Enough of this distasteful conversation.”

Suzy was inclined to pursue the matter, but was too caught up in the wonder of Hive to stay focused on one thing for long.

The Queen shifted to a more formal pose, bowing to her. “I welcome you, Queen Suzy L’andre’layloo’lee, to Hive.”

She gestured to an overseer drone who had been watching from her post near the door to the room. The overseer touched a hidden panel, and the door recessed into the wall.

“As promised, here is your new inner circle.”

Suzy lit up as Nancy, Lainey, and Shiori stepped through the doorway, hesitant in their black boots.

The Queen smiled, retreating, “I will leave you to get reacquainted. Let me know when you are finished, and I’ll help you to get setup with your new Hive.” Waving, she left through the door, which sealed shut behind her.

Giggling like a schoolgirl, Suzy ran up to her friends, her body moving with unnatural smoothness. The tubes that plugged her sex were forgotten, the phallic protrusions slipping out with a wet sucking noise.

Her coworkers knelt before her, faces expressionless. Lainey and Shiori were dressed in the bright yellow latex of the worker caste, whereas Nancy had on her orange trainer uniform.

“My Queen!” they said in unison.

“Don’t be silly!” said Suzy, “Get up! I might be a queen, but I’m still your friend!”

Baffled expressions on their faces, her friends struggled to their feet.

“Shiori!” Suzy gushed, grabbing her hand.

Startled, Shiori stood there and looked at Suzy as though she had turned into a pumpkin. “We haven’t had a lot of time to bond, but I just know we’ll be the best of friends!”

“Yes, my Queen,” Shiori replied robotically, her gaze fixed on the liquid flowing out of Suzy’s pussy.

Suzy winked. “Wait until later, I have plans for you.”

She moved on to Lainey, embracing the plump worker in a bear hug. “It’s so good to see you! I thought I’d lost you forever!”

Lainey took a while to smile back. It was almost as though her personality was being retrieved from cold storage.

Finally, a smile lit up her face, and she burbled happily, embracing Suzy’s buxom body. Suzy brushed a delicate finger over Lainey’s lip and licked it, tasting the sweet, sticky substance that oozed from her altered body. “You definitely need to join me when I corrupt Shiori further,” murmured Suzy, pecking Lainey on the cheek.

Nancy peered at Suzy’s alien countenance, a worried smile on her face. “How do you feel, Suzy? I know that you didn’t really want to join Rankotech to begin with.”

“I feel great - better than great!” Her eyes swirled with purple promise. “I spent far too much time resisting my fate, but in the end it worked out for all of us! Without Hive, we’d be stuck in worthless, dead end, soul sucking jobs. Now, we get to work together for Hive! Instead of feeding your brains into a soulless, corporate machine, you get to enjoy endless bliss as my slaves!”

Suzy grinned. “Imagine how it will feel once we are able to accomplish our goal! Everyone working as one, in blissful service to Hive! It will be glorious!”

“I don’t know about all that,” replied Nancy. “But I do know that I love you. It was hard to see before, but now everything is clear. That’s why I knew you had to join. This place is perfect for you!”

Nancy clasped Suzy’s hands and kissed her alien cheek bones. “Wherever you lead, I will follow.”

Suzy brushed her cheek, touched at the gesture. “I love you, too,” she said tenderly. “And with your help, someday everyone will love us.”

Suzy beamed, truly happy for the first time ever. With her friends supporting her, there was no limit to how far Hive could grow.

The loneliness she had faced just a few short days ago had evaporated into Hive’s all-encompassing embrace. Sometimes it was lonely being at the top, but not when you controlled a Hive filled with loving slaves.

***

Rankotech Inc. today announced the acquisition of PolyCorp for an undisclosed amount. PolyCorp, a leader in business productivity software, offers software as a service solutions.

The acquisition will increase Rankotech’s reach in the business software industry, synergizing similar product lines to produce corporate excellence. Existing product platforms will be leveraged and extended, forming new business paradigms to approach everyday problems with unprecedented creativity.

PolyCorp will remain an independent company until the acquisition has been completed. All existing operations will be retained and upgraded to provide harmony and solidarity for future business needs.

***

If you liked reading about corporate rubber slave drones, consider looking up ‘Tick Tock,’ by Caroline Waters. That novel is set in the same universe. Thanks for reading! - Half Shim