Music is "Control" by Halsey.

Picture is Claudia Doumit as Sarai.

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Coelioxys Sodalis

This species of bee, from the family Megachilidae, can be found all over North America and are one of the numerous kleptoparasitic bees. C. Sodalis lay their eggs in the nests of other bees, typically those related to the genus Megachile. When the eggs hatch, they are co-inhabitants of the hive with the other bees.

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Chapter Fifteen: Sodalis

"Are you ready for this, Sarai?"

"Well, no, not really, but what choice do we have?"

"That is the spirit! Just do as your grandest mother instructed. Mold your sight to mine, and you will see what I see."

I take a deep breath as Melizza crawls under the door and flies into the project center lab. "Good luck, Melizza."

My eyes close, and I start to see the outline of the room behind the door. I focus on it, trying to connect to the hive sight that Melizza gives me. At first, everything is fuzzy. She's looking at so many things at a speed that I can't comprehend, and my brain can't keep up.

"Melizza, you need to focus," I state. "This is hard enough. Can you just look ahead?"

"That would be easier said than done," she replies. "A bee is always on the lookout, but I will try to be the calmest for you, Sarai."

I sit with my back against the door, intently focused on Melizza as she flies. Slowly, my vision clears, and I'm able to see the entire project center perfectly. I've never had terrible sight, but what I'm seeing now is clearer than anything I've ever seen. I doubt any human has. Colors, detail, and distance: all of it can only come from something with compound eyes. Everything from the dozens of shelves of parts and tools to the massive machines that are creating all the noise, we can see it all.

It's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

"This is so fucking cool," I think to myself.

"If you think this is cool, you humans must have the worst sight."

"Well, you're not wrong." She continues to fly around the room, and I spot something past the shelves of materials. "Hey, fly towards that shiny thingy."

Melizza does as I ask, and a huge machine comes into view. The closer she gets, the more detail comes into view. The device is a near perfect circle with a circumference of at least a dozen feet, made of a light grey metal that reflects light from the industrial lamps overhead.

Melizza flies around the side, her eyes scanning the surface of the metal orb. "What is this thing? Is it a metal hive?"

"I don't think so," I reply.

The honeybee flies around to the front of the metal orb, and I catch sight of the only difference on the face of the machine. It's a dip in the metal in the shape of a hand.

"What the hell?"

"What do I do now, Sarai?"

Melizza looks around the project lab. On the desk nearest the giant metal orb, I see schematics and blueprints. The one I can see looks like something similar to the metal hive Max revealed this morning.

"Fly up to the ceiling," I tell her. "Then look down at the table. I wanna see what those diagrams are."

The honeybee takes off towards the ceiling, landing on the little piece of metal over the fire sprinklers. When she looks down, we're able to see the blueprints spread out across the desks. White lines on top of navy paper create multiple images of several devices. Some of the designs are unfamiliar, but one stands out from the rest: the eight-sided shape of the metal hive.

"That's it," I think. "That's what I saw earlier in class."

"It's so ugly," Melizza says with a scowl in her tone. "My hive is much more beautiful than this."

My eyes shift to the adjacent table, and I see diagrams of the mechanical bees. They're just as ugly as the hive, all metal and man-made and mechanical. They're not the biological marvel that natural bees are. They're a pathetic remake, a knockoff.

"That's even worse," I state. "Fly a little closer. I wanna see the fine print."

"No need," Melizza tells me. Suddenly, her vision shifts and zooms in like a telescope. She hasn't moved, but her compound eyes have closed in on the fine details of the handwriting of the schematic. "Is that betterest?"

"Very much betterest," I reply, using her funny form of the word.

I read the writing on the hive first. Most of it is mechanics notes, mathematical equations that I don't understand. There are a few notes in plain English, mostly about the various metals used in construction or the mold used to create it.

Then I see a note in a different handwriting. I recognize this script as Rurik Maximoff's; I've seen his writing several times over the past month from notes on my assignments. His notes make even less sense than the math or engineering ones; they're about energy input and output.

"This is gibberish," I state, annoyed.

"Look at the bees, Sarai."

I turn my attention to the other blueprints. Max's notes are even stranger on this one, but oddly enough I recognize some of them. They're not equations or variables; they're sigils and symbols. Some are exactly like the ones I saw in my research of magic.

"Are those what I think they are?"

Melizza's gaze shifts to another piece of paper, a notebook lying beside the blueprints. At first, I didn't see it. I was focused on the diagrams, but now I see more of those same symbols on the lined pages. Pentagons, sigils, and words like "ether" and "controlled chaos" and "dark magic variant" fill the margins.

"Holy shit," I gasp.

"He's a boy witch," Melizza states with just as much surprise as me.

"He's the one Vai warned me about," I state, connecting the dots. "He's the witch she told me to be careful of--" The elevator dings, the sign of someone coming up. "Melizza, you gotta get out of there. Someone's coming."

"On my way, Sarai."

I open my eyes, severing the connection to her hive sight. I pull myself up to my feet, taking cover behind the curve of the hallway. My mind is dizzy with thoughts and my heart is racing with adrenaline. Those fake bees and that man-made hive aren't electronic or solar like I thought. Not completely, at least. Partly, they're powered by magic. Rurik Maximoff's magic.

Melizza slips under the crack of the door and flies towards my outstretched hand. I pull her close, tucking her back into my scarf just as the elevator doors open. I duck further behind the corridor, seeing that I the security badge I had in my hand lies on the floor by the project center door. I must've knocked it off in my hurry.

"Shit," I curse to myself. "Too late to grab it now."

Scientists in lab coats exit the elevator and walk towards the project center. As they approach, I move farther and farther away, slipping out of sight. They unlock the door with a key-card and enter. One of them halts at the entrance, kneels down, and picks up the security pass that reads the name of Clementine Alexander.

"Um...Sarai? Should not we be leaving?"

I turn for the other direction of the hallway, tip-toeing back around to the other side of the elevator. I sneak inside, pushing the call button for the ground level.

Relieved, I lean against the back of the metal box, heaving a huge sigh. "That was way too fucking close."

"I am in agreement," Melizza buzzes in my ear. "What do we do with what we know, Your Majesty? Rurik Maximoff is not what he seems. I do not think his invention will aid bees, if that is even his goal."

My shoulders slouch, and I cross my arms over my chest. "I don't know, Melizza. I can't do this alone. I'm just one girl. I can't take down a multi-billion dollar company, it's CEO and founder, and it's current project in a few days. The Fair is next month. I...I don't know what to do."

"We needest help," she agrees.

I nod. "Wanda. My first stop has to be her. She needs to know what her uncle is up to, who he really is. She's only known him for less than a year. She knows what's at stake. Maybe...Maybe she'll believe me."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then I have other friends that can help."

"You think they will believe you?"

"Maybe, maybe not," I admit. "If not, I have you and the bees. We'll figure something out. We have to."

The elevator halts at the tenth floor, and the doors open. Standing at the entrance is, of course, Rurik Maximoff. Because we couldn't get away without running into another problem. He looks up, a phone in his hand. He sees me and gives a surprised smile.

"Sarai! Of all the places I thought I'd see you, this is one of the last on my list."

I force a polite smile and shrug, signing, "I was looking for Wanda. She said she sometimes comes here."

"You were looking in the elevator?"

I swallow, coming up with an excuse as fast as I can. "The receptionist told me you were up here. I was going to ask you if you knew where she was."

"So, were you looking for my niece or me?" When I don't respond right away, he laughs and walks into the metal box, pressing the lobby level button. "I'm just teasing, Sarai. Truth is, I don't know where Wanda is. I think she might be in class, but who the hell knows. Don't you have her number?"

I shake my head. "She's not picking up. I tried." Another lie. Great.

"Then she's probably in class," he responds.

We stand in silence as the elevator drops level by aggravatingly-slow level. Eventually, Max breaks it with, "Wanda gave me your paper after you went to the hospital. Glad to see you feeling better, by the way. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you I looked at it briefly and I'm very happy with what you girls have. I'll give it a full read tomorrow and give you your grade. I'll be announcing the winners of the Fair tickets closer to the Fair, but I'd say you and Wanda have a good chance at them."

The elevator opens again, revealing the lobby. "Here you go. Sorry about the brash exit, but I have to head back up to the twelfth floor. Sounds like my ASL translator might've gotten lost on her way to the conference room."

I exit, giving him a departing smile and wave. He waves back at me as the doors close. "Have a good one!"

END CHAPTER FIFTEEN.