Decades ago, the Neke vanished, leaving behind their majestic palace, the Ovon. In their absence, others ventured into the Ovon and made it their home, most notably Amanita (who renovated parts of it to her own liking) and her 'pet' Twin.
About a year after Amanita's arrival, the first of a new brood of Neke hatched from their eggs, somewhere deep in the roots of the Ovon. Raised by nurse-servitors, Okyno and Atcinna have most of the knowledge of adults upon their emergence from the cocoon, but may lack some of the wisdom a proper Chitin upbringing might have provided.
As the rumours of the Neke's return began to spread, and subtle threats from Okyno reached her ears, Amanita took measures to defend her position, including employing Twin and some volunteers from her harem as bodyguards, and making [overtures] to N'Cheren?, a Chitin Queen of the Chmee brood, looking for potential allies.
Okyno, meanwhile, appeared in public and shared [tea] with Amanita. Amanita's guards were instructed to intervene before she drank it, but they failed to do so, and she was left disoriented by the effects of the tea and increasingly paranoid that the Neke had corrupted her own mind.
To blow off some steam, Amanita and Twin [decided] to disguise themselves and go on a [bender] in Bottomwarp. It might even have helped Amanita's state of mind, had she not then run amok in her own harem and apparently received some sort of memory-altering agent from one of her playthings.
Okyno, apparently emboldened by her successes, sent Amanita a [present]: a Chitin-styled dress and corset, complete with ankle hobbles, to be worn at her upcoming initiation. Amanita promptly contacted Rezeya to make some subtle 'alterations' to the dress. Rezeya nearly blew her cover, parading around the Mess in a prototype of the dress, stoned out of her head, but Amanita was impressed with the results.
Unfortunately for Amanita, it didn't save her: at the crucial moment during the ceremony, her will failed her and she [accepted the collar] of Okyno, becoming a slave to the Neke queen. Twin set out to [try and rescue Amanita] by any means neccesary - but by the time (she) [found Amanita] it was too late. It may be [too late] to save either by now. That's not stopping people from trying, however.
Meanwhile, Neke-Atcinna caught sabina wandering the newly regrown corridors, looking for Amanita, and put her to work as a nectar-provider (mammals are commonly bioengineered by the Neke to produce honeydew and silk, a fate that's befallen most of Amanita's former harem). Kehari? stumbled upon sabina and returned her to her legal owners, the Architecture - and as a reward, has become an honorary member of that faction.
It remains to be seen whether this was a terrible blunder on Atcinna's part, or a brilliant Trojan-horse manoeuvre. But Kehari and Lysette have bargained with the Architects to keep sabina... and have reportedly been drinking the nectar in great quantities. They've grown to like it and their charge Very Much, but things have been Spiraling a little out of control. But, maybe they'll have a chance to Recover, and then some.
Okyno was recently spotted [taking Amanita for a walk] near the heart of Topwarp. Amanita was perfectly lucid, if subdued, and more herself than many had feared. She managed to dissuade System from (his) plan to infiltrate the Ovon.
Returning to the Mess after a long absence, N'kenge was [outraged] to learn that Amanita had been taken by Chitins, and warned Kehari that the vixen's plan to rescue Twin and Amanita was foolish at best. N'kenge doubtless has plans of her own, but she is characteristically cryptic about them. And the Neke are characteristically [unperturbed] by them.
For more about the vanishing of the original Neke, see Elysium and the Neke.