Chrysalis

So... I mean.. It’s a little odd...

I was a human before after all. I may not have lived what people would call a ... normal life ... but hey, I went to school, a bit, I saw people, I ate human food.

Now I have a giant ant Queen staring down at me and insisting that she and my many siblings are my family now.

...

For some reason I’m surprisingly ok with that.

I had a pet ant colony as a human, I kept them contained and fed them, watched the colony grow and cleaned out their spaces for them. In some ways they were the most constant members of my household, I certainly saw them every day, which wasn’t really true of anyone else.

Perhaps that is why I don’t really mind being an ant.

If I’m going to be a member of this family then I have to do my best to save them!

I start thinking out loud.

"Ok then, Queen, I don’t think we are uh, strong enough to survive the wave. If our nest is invaded from the outside as well as the inside, we could be completely wiped out!"

The Queen looks concerned and taps me with her antennae, urging me to continue.

"I think we need to move the colony! We have to get somewhere ... else. Somewhere safer".

"Do you know where we should go child?"

Err.... No?

We live in the Dungeon, and from what I’m told the entire place is going to become a death zone for up to a week!

I don’t even know that the surface will be safe from the impending danger!

...

be

the surface might actually be better. Of course that doesn’t mean running headlong into the humans, that would be suicide, but with my Tunnel Map I can clearly see where the entrance I first encountered the humans is. If we can find a

...

chance that we all get killed by

will the outcome be

we have to take

Queen has waited patiently as my thoughts run circles inside my head. My resolution firms as

a new tunnel

this bombshell, taking time to think

Then she responds.

is the

...

how could she possibly know

a new tunnel upwards, that bypasses the existing Dungeon passages and if we can dig far enough upwards, we’ll be

that is simple enough that she can understand what

this suggestion. I wait nervously for

surprise she

do as you suggest child. Where should the family

chance of getting the workers to cooperate. I’m not exactly sure how the pecking order works in a monstrous ant colony. In a normal ant colony on earth, the Queen doesn’t actually ’rule’ over the rest

they agree with the

slave, and she is far from a helpless creature at the mercy of the workers. If anything, she is probably closer to what most humans think an ant Queen is like on earth, in charge, making decisions and actively helping to direct

that they can understand my pheromone

these thoughts out of my head and address the Queen

can help get the rest of the ... family ... digging, then we can

since I spoke to Formo, I’ve already noticed the brightness of the forest has diminished. The mana is continuing to recede, just as the Sophos had predicted. The forest is going

her antennae before retreating back to the security of the nest, leaving the workers to do what they do

more times goes by the number of ants showing visible signs of mutation is increasing, here and there a worker with longer antennae, or stronger looking legs, or larger mandibles can be

workforce becomes stronger then we will have a greater chance

my sibling. I didn’t have any