Chrysalis

The Queen was in her chamber much the same as she had been over a day ago, covered in workers and resting peacefully. She hasn't had any reason to go out and fight lately so I hope she's enjoying a period of relaxation.

Considering the measly supply of Biomass that the workers have been extracting from the surface there hasn't even been much laying to do. I'm not sure if Queen ants can get bored but perhaps she might be feeling that things have become a little dull?

[Bored?] she responds when I ask her, sounding for all the world like she didn't even understand the word, [why would I be bored?]

[Well, there isn't much to do at the moment?]

[Foolish child] she chides me, [the colony is not under threat and you have provided food and a great hope for our family. I am content, as we should all be]

How is this giant ant monster always so positive?! Such a good mother!

Before I can get too emotional I need to focus on the present.

[So you've received the Biomass we sent up?]

[Yes. The children have been working as hard as they can. They found it and brought it to me]

[awesome]

I stare hard at the Queen for a moment, trying to judge whether she's upgraded herself as we discussed. Rather than accuse my own my own mother of lying, which would be rather tactless, I try a different angle.

[Is it ok if I check on your core? There may be more that I can do to improve our chances]

[of course child]

She answers without hesitation. I seriously doubt that she's even capable of doubting her own children. I wonder if all the ant Queens are like this?

mind up into overdrive to handle the flood of information that nearly knocks me

produce more young. I believe that

can plainly see the upgrades to the three egg production

+5, increases the efficiency of the organ to produce more deconstructed Biomass per point

Biomass Recoding Gland +5, the recoding process utilises less

Egg production Gland +5, Gives a bonus +2

Fantastic!

After studying the organs carefully, I estimate that these

eggs per year once the colony gets rolling. My dream scenario would have the Queen producing about a million ants a year, so an extra 10% would represent an

is the +2 to all stats in the egg production gland. +2 might not seem like much but it's enough to make my mind boggle! That's a huge deal! The ants will be

think of the Croca beasts and how much Biomass would be needed to create one as opposed to a hatchling worker, I would guess that for each Croca Beast that was hatched would be able to

can make use of

minor adjustments, bending my mind to its limits to enforce them. I trim down on the workers a little, basically shaving one point from each stat and giving clear paths for the bonus stats to slide

trade-off is that the ants will be produced more cheaply than before but still be a little stronger in the end. Win-win! However there is a chance

the Queen's core I immediately congratulate her

are fantastic! The two efficiency upgrades will mean more workers and the +2 to

be praised in this way. [Are we ready to lay the first generation of new workers? How many are needed? 200?

Hold on a second!

to get back to growing the colony and the promises I've made about the next generation are clearly exciting for her but she needs to hold

Not yet!]

Why?] I can tell she is genuinely disappointed.

+10 for sure. If it's possible to get another +2 to all

moment. I can almost feel

from below, it'll surely get you to +10! I'll make sure the workers bring every bit of it here for you, ok?!]

you child] she