Chrysalis

"How long have you got?" Advant asked, her scent distracted and her antennae wavering busily back and forth.

"Not long," replied Brendant, similarly occupied, "I'm only off shift for under an hour and I had to travel to get here."

"I also have a lot of places to be," Victor looked tired but a determined light sparkled in her eyes.

"I don't know why you don't have that much time, I usually have heaps of time. Although I suppose I do move a lot faster than you. Maybe you just need to move faster? Or talk faster? You all talk reeaaaaallly slow and it's quite annoying, you know? I'm here waiting for you to finish waaay after I've worked out what your trying to say but it would be rude to interrupt, right? Is that a monster? No… Anyway. What was I saying? Oh yeah! You're all too slow! Try being faster!"

Advant wavered in the face of the onslaught of pheromones from Vibrant before she firmed her stance and managed to process half of what her older sister had said.

"We aren't too slow, you're just too fast!" she retorted and the others each nodded their heads.

Vibrant’s evolution had only exacerbated her need for speed, and the combination of mutations and organs she had allowed her mind and reactions to keep up with her speed, which meant that quite literally she was operating on a faster pace than the rest of them.

try and converse a little faster, just to help Vibrant keep track of things," suggested Victor

complete," intoned Victor, calling the semi-council meeting to order. "Obviously we don't want to make any final decisions now, but we can work out how each of us feel the next steps should be and then go

saying, the general stepped back and gave the others space to voice their opinions. Surprisingly, it was the healer, Mendant, who

but 'what should the Colony prioritise'. Our family will continue to grow and expand, even without our input from this point forward. There have been protocols and norms established for most basic processes, and despite our sophistication, we

saying the diminutive healer stepped back in place and allowed the others to

with what Mendant had to say. The Colony has grown beyond the point where we will be able to be aware of everything that goes on and influence every decision. Instead, we need to place ourselves on the forefront of the Colony's most important initiatives so we can assist

size to the point where it was much too difficult for the twenty of them to adequately be in touch with all

grasp at authority, the council instead opted to narrow their focus and trust that the Colony would be able to handle itself. It had the Eldest as its guiding light after all. There was no

reflected on this idea for a moment before

ourselves. That means we must be aggressive in seeking that

down there?" Coolant

but it was an important moment nonetheless. What was the plan of action? What were their intentions? The Colony had risen to a new

minutes before Advant stepped

"War," she said.