Nectus has a theory

Worriesgone was lying on a leaf pallet in her room. A Nurse Bee Jellia-14, who led us inside, closed the door behind our backs.

The sick bee was asleep, or deeply resting.

〔Nurse Bee〕 〔Ally〕 〔Progeny〕

〔Name〕: Worriesgone

〔Health〕: 7 / 22

〔Stamina〕: 2 / 21

In the time since I last saw her, Worriesgone matured from a Cleaning Bee to a Nurse Bee—but it barely showed on her malnourished body. Her face was as pale as before—but she was better off than I feared.

Better, but not good.

"She caught another illness on top of the Paleness yesterday. Lieutenant Researcher Tabletina believes it's just a bad 'common cold', and told us how to take care of Worriesgone. Me and my squad have been following them ever since," Jellia-14 whispered.

I nodded—this made sense. It'd be easy for someone already frail from the Paleness to catch any other virus. I could only hope it was *actually* a cold and nothing worse.