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.

go around the table for a status

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

could almost

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

back

in the Colony to have received the instruction of the Eldest directly, but it was

signed again, and saw several shadows shift

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

of energy, practically bouncing with impatience as she waited for her turn to speak. She'd checked the Vibrant board within the Sanctum before she’d left and

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

spirits. They were halfway through discussing the placement of the second farming expansion when their antennae reacted to a new scent at the same

"Working hard I see…"

their focus to the ceiling, where they finally noticed the unnaturally dark shadow above their heads, a shadow that slowly materialised into an ant

time

Everyone scramble!" Sloan

The two Queens were the first to fall, two ants leapt from the corners of the room and released some

her heavy armour clanking and screeching as she tried to manoeuvre

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

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

All except one.

Too slow!" Cackling madly, Vibrant burst out of the chamber and into the tunnel, somehow sliding past

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 same

Came an

one looked up and saw that the members of her order had formed a blockade further up the tunnel, using their bodies to close

enough, the nameless one

wall of ants readied themselves for impact, bracing their legs, gripping

WHOOSH!

other side of the blockade a split second later. She stood there, completely still for a moment, as the ants behind her appeared frozen in time. Then,

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

the wall and landed on

Tsk! Need to keep up!"

SNAP!

So close!

not succeed and had run straight through, trusting that Vibrant would clear the obstruction for her, which she did. Her sneak attack,