Rubberwerks 2 - Part 9

"I'll handle the beans," Janice offered, surprising Sharon.

Sharon was sweeping the front of the shop, the light still hazy outside as the day was just dragging itself out of bed, along with most of the population of the makeshift town.

"You sure?"

The bags of beans were heavy, and Janice struggled with them, especially lifting them to spill into the big grinder.

"I can do it," Janice assured.

"If you say so. And I don't mind saying it turns me on a little to think that you've been working out that upper body strength."

Janice didn't reply besides the crooked smirk. While Sharon eyed her, Janice hefted the bag of beans into the hopper. Her body might have strained, but she felt nothing. She was drone, after all, and a servant to Mind. Her body would not be taxed more than was needed and could manage. Mind needed her, as she needed it. She could feel the pod beneath her, the container holding the deposit of Mind waiting to spread its influence. She had visited it already, had felt it coat her anew, enough to give her far more of itself than was needed. That fresh coating slithered from her body and into the bag she now lifted over her head. Each bean was also coated by the rubber, now being powdered into an elixir that would bring each person who drank from the ground beans and sentient droneflesh concoction closer to perfection.

The shop was loud with the sound of the big grinder. Sharon inhaled deeply. While she liked coffee, she loved the smell of grinding beans. The grinding was followed by the sound of water percolating and then the rich scent of the coffee as it brewed. It had a tang this morning, that smell, but not unpleasant.

"Do you want me to hit the open sign?"

Sharon teetered on tiptoes, searching for Janice behind the counter. Her lover was gone. She shrugged and flipped the sign, welcoming the public inside.

Janice pressed against the pod, her arms around it, embracing it like a lover. She yearned to feel the droneskin consume her once more, to do away with the facade of humanity. Her life as a human grew ever more distant. She was Mind, and she would bring Mind to others. She felt the droneskin beneath hers, eager to bubble up through her pores and erase the last of what made her not-Mind.

"You down there?"

Sharon, calling down to her from the tops of the stairs. She would go to her, and she would serve the rest of the population under the dome their needed coffee. And with it, they would become fresh hosts for Mind.

"Coming," Janice said, peeling herself from the pod and mounting the steps, wearing a smile that Janice old Mind would be convincing to Sharon.

She kissed the taller woman at the top of the steps.

"You are feeling better."

"I feel incredible."

Janice regarded Sharon with something like pity. Soon, she would take Sharon into her arms and embrace her as Hive. Tonight, when the shop was closed. Until then, there was work to be done.