We had to build wild bee reservations just to produce unrelated Drone Bees for all the sub-hives in the Empire. And these Drone Bees needed constant replacements because of their short lifespans. Although the system was extremely stable by now, with no danger of the Bee Empire running out of big, stupid men, it was a logistical hassle.
Wouldn't it be better to avoid it with just a single gene? Not right now, but at a later point, I could create a morphotype for Queens and give it to them—
"Father?"
"Ah, right. I got distracted. Asexual reproduction is the one you don't need to mate for. Like—"
"Forget about it," Ambrosia cut me off. "You won't be taking this gene, Nectus, and this is final."
I blinked.
"Are you sure?.. It's—"
"No. We are going to mate."
"Of course, but—"
"Nectus."
Her tone left no room for argument. This was the first time Amby put her foot down like that, without giving me even the opportunity to explain myself!
