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!

...

it may be safer than

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 way to the surface

...

a chance that we all get killed by those powerful human soldiers, burnt to death,

stay down here, will

think we have to take a

thoughts run circles inside my head. My resolution firms as

to dig a new tunnel to

slowly digests this bombshell,

Then she responds.

is the ’surface’?" she

...

how could she possibly know

new tunnel upwards, that bypasses the existing Dungeon passages and if we

is simple enough that she

for another moment, her monster intelligence mulling over this suggestion. I wait nervously for her to puzzle out

surprise she

will do as you suggest child. Where should the family

the first hurdle has been cleared! If the Queen has agreed to my plan then I might have a chance of getting the workers to cooperate. I’m not exactly sure how the pecking order works in a

For example, if one worker finds a good place to move the nest, they’ll lay down a trail and start moving the brood. If other ants find the trail, they will go and check it out and if they agree with the first ants opinion, they will join in, eventually when enough workers have agreed on a course of action, it will happen. It isn’t always so smooth of course, sometimes the workers don’t agree with each other and you’ll have two competing sets of workers each moving the eggs and larvae to

intelligent, not a mindless egg laying slave, and she is far from a helpless creature at the mercy of the workers. If anything, she is probably closer

what she can do to direct the workforce, it’s clear that they can understand my pheromone language to some extent, perhaps she

these thoughts out of my head and address the Queen once

can help get the rest of the ... family ... digging, then we can make faster progress. Hopefully we can dig our way clear of

the time 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 to grow even

antennae before retreating back to the security

collect the spoils of war. As more times goes by the number of ants showing visible signs of mutation is increasing, here and

becomes stronger then we will have a

my family now and every one of these ants is my sibling. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters that