Chrysalis

The training regime was brutal, and the hatchling ate it up. Lectures, followed by practice drills, followed by live practice, followed by a review. The brood tenders patiently explained every mistake, and stepped them through every decision, questioning the young ants’ thinking and drilling their sacrificial tendencies out of them. Then more lectures, more drills and the cycle continued. They repeated the same thing five times before they were allowed to collapse into torpor.

The moment she awoke, the hatchling was greeted by the hard stare of another, large and intimidating ant. The general was gone, replaced by a similar sized, but smoother looking ant. Its carapace was thinner and more streamlined, the mandibles not as large. When her antennae picked up the scent, she realised that this was the ant who'd been thwacked by a tender in the tunnels the previous day.

"Finally awake? Didn't realise the Colony was raising such lazy brood."

The hatchling was still tired and hungry, but she wasn't about to appear lazy! She sprung up and poked her nearby siblings with her legs to get them up and alert. The brood tenders around the sides of the chamber watched carefully as the ants came to attention.

"Good. You've been yelled at by a general all yesterday. That's grand and all. Today we'll begin teaching you how to use the greatest weapon the Eldest gave you."

The scout bent one antenna back to indicate her head.

"The story goes that the Eldest was born smart, smarter than any other ant. The rest of us though? Stupid, regular old monsters. Then the Eldest learned a way to create a brand new type of ant. A way to turn all of us into something like them. Just like that, this Colony was born."

The hatchling felt the stirring of awe in her thorax at these words. Able to change the entire Colony? Make each and every member more powerful? Such a level of contribution was… absurd.

"So if you aren't thinking, if you aren't using your Cunning to its fullest," the ant continued, "then you aren't achieving the incredible potential you've been gifted with. So today, we're going to be learning about scouting. I'm a scout, another soldier caste evolution. For the next four hours I'll lecture you on the Dungeon, expected conditions, hazards and dangers, teamwork when moving in the tunnels. Memorise it all and then we'll head out for a live scouting exercise. Understood?"

"Yes!" The hatchlings replied.

She listened intently to every word, devouring the knowledge just as her siblings did. When the four hours were up, her brain ached fiercely but there was no rest. The scout led them directly out of their learning chamber and the hatchlings were once again divided into teams with their brood tender mentor guiding them out into the Dungeon. Once there, they prowled the tunnels, crawling over the ceilings and walls as they practiced hiding, setting ambushes and tracking, then they returned to the nest for another lengthy debrief.

Then another round of lectures.

tunnels. When they were done, the hatchlings collapsed into torpor after shovelling down the Biomass that they were provided. Then they were up again, their brood tender teachers still present, but a new ant

YOU, LAZY

of flames erupted from the ant’s mouth, causing

First we will hunt for experience and Biomass in the

class down into the farm where they engaged in controlled battles against

hatchling gulped it down greedily. Then more hunting, then more drinking. The moment a student reached level five they were no longer allowed to take experience, giving the rest over to the others. The hatchling achieved level five quickly but continued to aggressively hunt with her team in order to secure levels for her

each ant formed their core and returned to the lesson chamber for an

the intricate network that made the entire Colony tick. If a single member of their class failed to understand even a part of it, they were sent back for another gruelling day of

were to be assigned their caste! This would determine the kind of work they would do for the Colony, what could be more important? The ants eagerly leapt out of torpor to

five once more. Along with a basic understanding of the roles of every caste in the Colony, this is the requirement to qualify for your first

class with serious eyes. Their antennae

amount of choice given to you. We will tell you what

She just wanted to do what

ARTISANS AND FOUR WORKERS! Soldiers to the back of the chamber!

if she picked something and another hatchling wouldn't be able to go where they felt they could best serve? Would she deny the Colony access to a talented and willing member?! How could

of her siblings had sorted themselves and only she remained standing in place. The general stood in front of her, the overwhelming scent of authority rolling off her in

wrong, student?"

me what to do," the hatchling

general looked down at

have to choose for you, then your task will be more difficult

hatchling felt only

tell me