Chrysalis

The wave ground on as Tiny and Crinis continued their evolution, the ants of the Colony working industriously as they always did. The never ending spawns of monsters were a blessing and curse, disrupting all usual business, but flooding the nests with Biomass and cores that were in turn used to fuel the further expansion and growth of the Colony. Queens toiled, eating and laying eggs that were taken by the brood tenders and nursed in their protected chambers. Once hatched, each larvae was cared for as if they were royalty. Fed and groomed near constantly, played with and tickled on an hourly basis. Each grub was tended by the same ant from the moment it hatched until the happy day they graduated the academy. This allowed them to maximise the utility and bonuses gained from their mentoring Skills.

It was a well-oiled machine, but one that was constantly in the process of being reinvented. The world of Pangera was ever changing and it was up to the Colony to adapt to stay ahead of it, lest they fall and become extinct. And it was exactly this worry that kept the two brood tender council members on their claws.

Theresant and Florence worked tirelessly to ensure that the next generation of the Colony were reared in the best way that they knew how, and when that knowledge changed, so too must their methods. Nothing but the most effective, most efficient methods would be acceptable for such an important task, but even these tried and true practices weren't always up to the task. Sometimes, they were forced to think outside the box, because, as strange as it might sound, not every larva, or pupa, or hatchling, was the same.

Particularly this one.

"Where has she gone this time?!" an unusually flustered Florence groaned when Theresant gave her the bad news.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't have come to you," her fellow council member grumbled to her, clearly suffering from a lack of rest.

"This is the third time she's escaped today! If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't have even believed a grub could move that fast! What did her caretakers say?"

"They're bordering on hysterical. The idea of a larva going missing is unheard of. The whole group are bordering on panic! They think they've failed in their duty to the next generation!"

The two dipped their antennae, such a feeling was beyond pain to the tenders. This could not be borne!

"Make sure they are comforted, they have not failed the Colony, but rather this grub is beyond anything I've seen before. What possible reason would a larva have to abandon the brood chambers?! And how the heck could they even do it!?"

"Calm yourself, sister," Theresant said, "we must take this situation in hand. No grub will be lost on our watch, no matter what."

"You're right, of course. Thank you Theresant," Florence collected herself and found her calm. "Do you have any thoughts as to where we should look first?"

"There must be tracks, it's a grub after all. Let's gather a team of tenders and see if we can requisition some scouts. We'll have that larva back in our care before they know it."

nest, when the brood tenders sallied forth from their chambers in search of a wayward larva. What they expected to be a quick search, soon took

as the increasingly desperate party of brood tenders raced from place to place, bursting into the blacksmith's forges and turning them upside down before turning and racing out again. Many an antennae was set to wiggling anxiously when they raided the resting chambers, disturbing the torpor of many workers and unknowingly throwing the Unnamed One's into despair by throwing their counts off. But there was nothing to be done about it, there was not a single ant in the Colony who would stand before the brood tenders and impede their work. There was no hierarchy amongst the castes, no pecking order or chain of command, but all knew that the work of caring for the young was the most important work of all. When the tenders burst into their

it was that Theresant and Florence grew increasingly frantic as they followed the trail of this

Florence burst out, "it can't possibly be this quick! It doesn't have

for a

latched onto other ants using its mandibles? That might

Florence stared at her.

don't think they'd notice?"

a larva! They are small and light. If it latched onto

could drop off anywhere in the tunnels and crawl off. We need to move quickly! What if a monster spawns

won't let it happen," Theresant promised her sister before turning to the search party behind them. "Bring your sisters," she ordered them, "we need more antennae for the

tenders outside their chambers ever witnessed descended on the Biomass farms like a storm, scattering all before them in their hunt for the grub. Chaos reigned wherever they went as more and more ants were forced to join the hunt until thousands upon thousands of

grew out of control and all industry in the Colony ground to a halt. Even soldiers were dragged into the mess, pulling the generals with them. Before she had even realised what was happening, Sloan found herself organising the central command post for the search, directing no less than fifty different search parties as they tore the territory apart in search

Eventually the pattern began to emerge as Sloan pieced together the movement of the grub and organised the searchers into a wide net, cast out to surround and constrict the territory in which the elusive larva could move. With hearts pounding in chests, the ants slowly converged, turning over every rock and leaf

of carvers working without pause, walled off tunnels and built emergency watch stations. Every ant passing in and out was inspected

would not lose the larva and their sisters would know joy when this lost lamb had been returned to the fold. They placed themselves at the forefront of the search and none were more diligent than

around a single point, an intersection of tunnels close to the edge of the Colony's territory. Hearts were in mouths all around as the thousands of ants gathered within sight

nap! I'm feeling good! Oh. Ah. Hello

right in the middle of the multitude of spectators, stretching after a

What are you doing

their eyes over the tense

What the heck has been going on while I was resting? Actually. Don't worry, I think

tilted her head, unsure as to what the Eldest meant when they moved forward, ducked down and seemingly from nowhere plucked a grub from the ground with their mandibles, holding it up for

"This what you're after?"