Chrysalis

"You must be kind of a big deal, huh?" the hatchling observes, staring up at a giant statue of me carved from glittering stone.

"Ahem! You can ignore that. Come on, we have more interesting things to see."

"This is amazing to look at," she says as I drag her away, "I wonder who made it?"

"So do I," I grumble.

One of these days I'm going to catch that blasted artist and give them a piece of my mind. Of all the things they could have devoted themselves to, making statues of me seems like a tremendous waste of time! I don’t even mind that they decided to become an artist, the carvings are all breathtaking, I just resent being the subject of so much of the work! There's tons of other amazing ants in this Colony! Every damn one of them is a hero in my book! Carve them for a change!

Alas, my plea goes unanswered and the number of carvings featuring my visage seems to have only increased within the nest over the duration of the wave. Clearly the artist has been locked in here with nothing else to do…

"Now, something for you to think about," I say in an effort to distract the young one in my care, "is what sort of work you might like to do for the Colony. A worker? A soldier? A crafter? There are nine different castes that you could evolve into and each have their own specialities and jobs that they perform best at. Workers become brood tenders, healers or Queens. Soldiers become majors, scouts or generals, though we usually just call the majors soldiers and crafters become carvers, mages and core shapers."

Eyes full of wonder as we navigate through the tunnels of the nest, the hatchling listens intently to every word I say, nodding to show she understood what I'd said.

"The brood tenders care for the young, the next generation of the family. It's their responsibility to care for the eggs, keeping them at the right temperature, keeping them clean, right up until they hatch. Then they tend the larvae, feeding them, cleaning them, tickling them and playing with them until they become pupae. Once they hatch, the tenders educate them, much as I'm doing for you now, up until they join the Colony as fully grown members. It's the most important task within the Colony and one they take very seriously."

"Why aren't I being taught by them then?" the hatchling asks curiously, "aren't they supposed to educate new ants?"

something of a different case, and I'll

remember, filled with the motherly love of the brood tenders as they care for their flock of grubs and eggs. I spy Florence beavering away on

Florence. Recognise this

leans closer before leaping back in

It can't be?!

feeding program," I proudly declare. "Although, we could probably describe this particular grub as being somewhat impatient. Honestly speaking, I was surprised myself when she went into

know you?" the former grub

you were a little difficult to take care of," I pat her on the head. "Just thought I'd drop in as

keeping one wary eye on the hatchling as though she might disappear at any second. "We are always ramping up to meet future

all species I think," I tell her, "it's just that we can do it about nine hundred times faster since we're monster ants. How long does it take to get a fresh egg to academy graduate

for a

a time saver. After that, a little over a week as a larva in optimum conditions, then a week as a pupa, and roughly twelve hours to fully emerge from the cocoon and harden. Then off to the academy where our current program takes them to tier

stats to them on birth. They gain bonuses to skill level gain and growth speed thanks to the loving care and education provided by the tenders.

a damn impressive result for

Florence. A month? Holy moly. And that's thousands of ants graduating every single day isn't it? I've no idea how you

antennae, happy to receive the

food supply, transport, maximising our harvest of cores. It's all worth it in the end though," she clacks her mandibles with joy

eh?" I give the hatchling a nudge as she stares curiously at all