The Holder of the Hive

In any city, in any country, go to any abandoned warehouse after dark. Approach the first groundskeeper or night watchman you meet and ask to see someone who calls herself "The Holder of the Hive". The groundskeeper or guard should crack a very wide smile at your request. A small buzzing insect will crawl out from between his teeth as he turns to slowly lead toward a side door of the warehouse. If the groundskeeper or guard does not smile or leads you to any door besides the door on the closest side facing you, immediately turn tail and run. Do not stop and do not go home. Keep moving until sunrise. When the sun has fully risen, you will know if you are safe.

If you were led to the correct door, open it and go inside. You will find yourself inside the empty warehouse. The air will be stale and oppressive and almost unbearably hot. One by one, the hanging lamps that illuminate the building will begin to go out. Close your eyes. Do not open them again until the buzzing sound you hear rises to a near-deafening level. When you open them, you will find yourself in a giant hive. An unnatural bluish light will pulse from the strange growths that surround you. The heat will have risen further and the air will be so thick it will be difficult to breathe. Stay perfectly still and do not panic. You will need to remain calm for the next step.

One by one, swarming insects of all types will begin to approach you. Slowly at first, their numbers will grow until they appear as a vast writhing, living carpet on the ground. The insects will surround you and then begin to cover your body. You must allow them to do this. If you harm a single insect, even to brush it off, all of them will begin to bite and sting you. And they will not stop until you are nothing but a pile of brittle bones that will shatter into dust at the lightest touch. Remain still until you feel the carpet of insects begin to cover your face. You must close your eyes once more and let yourself be completely enveloped with the swarm.

Eventually, if you have remained perfectly still, you will feel the bugs begin to crawl off your body. Keep your eyes closed until you feel the last one crawl away safely. You no longer need fear her little ones. She is here now and her anger is unfathomable if she catches you harming any of her children. Open your eyes and before you should appear a strange creature. It will appear to be an amalgam of various insects and a human woman of frightening and strange beauty. You must cast your eyes downward, for the Queen demands deference. She will approach you slowly and you must kneel, for the Queen also demands submission. If you fail to show her the proper respect, her snapping mandibles will make short work of you. If you have paid your respects properly, you may now rise and ask a single question of her.

The only question you may safely ask is, "What is the joy and horror of Their unity?"

The Queen will begin to tell you, in agonizing detail every beautiful joy and every terrible horror in Their original unity. You will know the glory and the terror of Their unified state. Many go mad with this revelation. Do not become one of these poor souls, doomed to feed the countless generation of her spawn.

If you endure her answer, she will then ask you, "Will you allow Their unity?"

You must answer with the following: "We will be one."

The Queen will then approach you, mandibles dripping with a strange yellow liquid. Kneel before her and extend your hand, palm open and upturned, toward her. You will feel your hand fill with the strange and sticky fluid. Close your hand tightly and shut your eyes for a final time. You will feel the insects once again cover your form. Open your eyes only when you feel them retreat completely from your body. You may then rise. You will be back in the empty warehouse. You may now open your hand. Inside will be a palm-sized chunk of amber.

The amber is Object 871 of 2538. No swarming insect will harm you. Only you can decide now if there will be joy, or horror, in Their unity.