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?

core surgery skill and spin my mind up into overdrive to handle the flood of information that nearly knocks me off my

mutation advancements. Oh ho! I would not have been surprised if she had neglected my advice in order to produce more young. I believe that she considers producing young as her primary responsibility and the best way to serve the family as a whole, so it's only natural that she would prioritise it over everything

can plainly see the upgrades to

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

+5, the recoding process utilises less deconstructed mass

production Gland +5, Gives a bonus +2 to all stats for each egg

Fantastic!

the Queen about. After studying the organs carefully, I estimate that these

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 increase

in the egg production gland. +2 might not seem like much but it's enough to make my mind

would guess that for each Croca Beast that was hatched would be able to make eight worker ants, perhaps more. An extra two stats on one Croca won't make that much difference but for eight workers? The difference

fact… I can make use of

the Queen I make a few 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

result of this 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

mind from the Queen's core I immediately congratulate her on the wise choices she

more workers and the +2 to

way. [Are we ready to lay the first generation of new workers? How many are

Hold on

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

Not yet!] I

tell she is

gland to +10 for sure. If it's possible to get another +2 to all stats to stack with the existing advancement that will absolutely insane.

a moment. I can almost feel

up a huge feast from below, it'll surely get you to

you child]