Chrysalis

"Where you followed?"

"I don't think so…"

"You THINK? THINKING isn't good enough!"

"Cool it! Your scent is spreading too far. Are you trying to bring them down on our heads?"

"… I'm sorry. I'm just so stressed."

"And tired? Maybe you should sleep! Torpor usually takes care of that. So I'm told, I don't do it much. I find it's too slow for my pace. So, what have you all been up to? I've been running around doing heeeaaaps of stuff. It's so busy right now! I can't believe how much stuff there is to do! Can you? And the Eldest is Evolving! That's exciting! I wonder…"

"Vibrant! I'm too tired to listen to you for too long today, can you wait a second while we try and get settled?"

The hyper-energetic soldier subsided with a sigh whilst the rest of the Council settled into the crude and cramped chamber that had been prepared for the meeting. A far cry from the luxurious carved surroundings of the normal meeting chamber, this room was intended for use as a Biomass storage chamber, recently emptied of its stockpile in order to fuel the Eldest's evolution. It was small, dark, cramped, and best of all, almost nobody in the nest knew that it was even available. Perfect for a group of ants attempting to avoid being dragged off to torpor.

They were all there, even Antionette and Victoriant. Sneaking that pair out of the nesting chamber was a feat in and of itself. It would have been impossible without the assistance of the Queen, who aided them in the interests of seeing the two younger royals get out of the egg-laying chamber more often. A sedentary life being waited on hand and foot wasn't healthy for a good Queen, in her opinion.

"You calmed down yet, Sloan?"

The general nervously rubbed her antennae through her forelegs.

"I think so. I've been so damned busy, and arranging this on top of everything else has been such a hassle…"

"I feel like those damned torpor enforcers were giving us a break during the siege. A ton of ants, including almost all of us, went well under the required amount of rest and there were hardly any dragged away. Now that the siege is over, they've been popping out of the woodwork all over the place! I lost every member of my two best teams today!" Bella complained. "They just vanished! I walked past their work area one minute, all of them where altering cores, I come back two minutes later, gone! No traces!"

They all shuddered.

"I say they've gone too far!" Advant slammed an antenna down on the rock they'd gathered around with force. "The Eldest did demand that we all sleep, but forcing us to sleep against our will? Don't they understand how much work there is to do?! There's a wave on right now!"

"They're following the commands of the Eldest," Burke wryly informed them, "are you really going to go and tell them that the Eldest was wrong and that their orders don't need to be obeyed? Or perhaps, you want to go to the Eldest and tell them that they are wrong?"

Every member of the Council felt the pain of a thousand thwacks echo from deep within their memory at those words. No. No they wouldn't be going to the Eldest and asking them to change their policy.

"Let's just focus on what we came here to do," Coolant injected wearily, "I know all of us are well past due for a rest, and we will need to enter torpor at some point. Let's make use of the time we have productively."

"Agreed!" The others chorused and they quickly settled in to conduct their business.

off, let's go around the table for a status update, starting with

on the new

offer their own perspective and wisdom. Underneath it all, though none would admit, there was also a slight fission of smug self-satisfaction. They'd done it. It

almost smell

rubbing their hard work right into the Eldest's face, one of the team members signed

signed back in a short, sharp

felt irritated by such blatant disobedience beings shown by the only ants in the Colony to have received the instruction of the Eldest directly, but it was useless emotion that hindered

she signed again, and saw several shadows shift slightly as

for the intervention of the Shadow, they would never have reached this place before the council arrived. Sneaking in with all twenty in the room already would have been almost impossible. As it was, they were limited in how many of the order were able to hide within the chamber, the other teams were positioned in the

impatience as she waited for her turn to speak. She'd checked the Vibrant board within the Sanctum before she’d left and she knew for a fact it had been three days since the last time Vibrant had rested. Even then, she'd only been in torpor for

one promised herself, there's no way out for you

discussing the

"Working hard I see…"

where they finally noticed the unnaturally dark shadow above their heads, a shadow that slowly materialised into an ant staring down at them with

time

Everyone scramble!"

two ants leapt from the corners of the room and released some sort of sleep pheromone directly onto their antennae, causing them to

and

instantly amongst the various council members and working to subdue them with expert

they were seized and rendered unconscious with strikes to the thorax, cutting off the mana supply to the brain, just as they attempted to slip into a hidden escape tunnel that they must have dug in advance. Overwhelmed, the other council members could only put up a token resistance before, with cries of dismay, they too were

All except one.

into the tunnel, somehow sliding past the waiting mandibles of the nameless one, who had positioned herself above the door for

Dammit!

the nameless one gripped with two legs and swung her body through the entrance and into the corridor, latching onto the ceiling and sprinting in the

Came an authoritative

of her order had formed a blockade further up the tunnel, using their bodies to close off the

enough, the

readied themselves for impact, bracing their legs, gripping

WHOOSH!

the blockade a split second later. She stood there, completely still for a moment, as the ants behind

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

off the wall and landed on the hard

to keep up!" Vibrant

SNAP!

So close!

which she did. Her sneak attack, launching from the wall, was so close to being