Chrysalis

I have to wonder what the minders are doing whilst Sarah and I engage in a mental conversation. I mean, are they listening in? I suppose it's possible. I can't sense them at all, but I suppose that isn't any sort of guarantee, considering their higher Skill levels. Perhaps this is all just part of their research, learning about people like me and our monstrous transformations. I can't afford to care too much about it, since this is such a rare opportunity.

Perhaps I've been away from the colony for too long. It's nice to have a conversation with someone who is able to reciprocate my human culture. I've still spent longer as a human than as an ant after all, and the humans I've met here on Pangera have been … a bit odd, let's put it that way. Sarah on the other hand, seems quite normal, all things considered. Despite freely acknowledging being a bit unbalanced, she comes across as well spoken and measured.

[I wasn't always this steady,] she confides, [in the first few years it was rough, as I'm sure you know. After my … death … on Earth, and being reborn here… It's hard at the start. You know what I mean.]

[You're referring to the terror and existential dread of having to fight for survival in a strange world of death?]

[Exactly that.]

[Yes, I recall. I mean, I was a tiny little ant monster. Just about every monster I saw was able to rip me apart. You started out as a bear! It can't have been that bad.]

It's odd to think of a bear giving you the stink eye, especially a giant, elephant sized bear with a distended maw that housed teeth as long as a human forearm, but here we are.

[Look, Anthony, I didn't start this size. I didn't even start as a fully grown bear. I was a cub! A little harmless bear cub!]

I'm immediately suspicious.

[Just a cub eh? A harmless little fuzzy ball of fluff, with the claws, and the fangs. How large were you exactly? Somehow I don't think you were just an average, Earth sized cub…]

[I … might have been a touch larger than normal.]

[Just a touch, huh?]

like you were a normal

regular sized ant?! Not to mention, I was

that so? I

down the chance to

of individual ants as cells that make up a larger organism when they work together. One ant is not capable of surviving, it needs its brethren to work together to provide context, decision

[So… ants are weak?]

who

an ant on its own

[Not the point!]

Anthony,] Sarah

tension to unwind a few notches in my non-existent shoulders. It helps a lot that Sarah is such a friendly,

it is, both you and James have such weird pets. No wonder you both ended up in such odd species when you

not another insect

no competition for the throne

no. I won't tell you, I don't want to ruin the surprise. They'll probably bring him out to meet you next time. They tend to be a little precious with us. The

into

to the death against other monsters that they've nurtured.

the ground and huffs with irritation, sending a cloud of dust swirling

she sighs, [something has gotten right into their heads. They've been so nice to me you know. I was half insane by the time I made it down to the second strata. I was lonely, blood crazed and starving. The isolation and constant fighting starts to chip away at your mind and before you know it you're a screaming loony. If I hadn't gotten picked up by a patrol of Shapers by chance I

happened?] I was curious

before they tried again. It took them three days before I was able to talk back to them, then another three before I agreed to meet them. After that I decided to take them up on their offer and came back here with them.

death blender now? Seems like there has been a

know and they just won't talk to me,] Sarah huffs, clearly frustrated, [I've been told that I won't be part of the 'selection' but that they still consider me a strong candidate. They won't even tell me if James will be thrown in! He better not, that would