"Explain to me please, why you would ever think that sticking your head into a blast furnace would be a good idea?" I demanded of the hatchling, still dangling from one of Crinis' tentacles.
"I wanted to see what it looked like inside!" she protests.
"Inside? Inside is nothing but fire, superheated gas and liquid metal!"
"REALLY?!" she goggles at me. "Sounds awesome!"
"Yes," I nod sagely, "it IS awesome. It will also melt your face off and you will be dead."
"And that's…. Bad?" she asks.
My mandibles clack together slowly.
"Do you need more time out?"
"… I do not."
"Then tell me that it would be bad if you died."
"It would be bad if I died."
"Good."
[Put her down Crinis.]
the base of the huge metal construction, lined with bricks, reinforced stone and enchanted on the inside to resist the insane temperatures. When
that had bonded to the limestone, and out the other had poured the liquid iron which would be carted away to mould into ingots. It was then that I caught the
hanging around here, time to go meet a particular carver and say
way between the many rows of smelters, furnaces and tracks for bins
us alive with the reverberations of steel on steel. Nestled throughout these tunnels are the many workshops of the Colony, producing the various goods required by the ants and our allies. There's delicate work being done, fine wires of various metals
be up to, asking questions and generally being a pest. I tolerate it for a
need to move a
particular carver who I'd promised I'd come and meet at some point after I'd evolved. I find the insane ant hard at work at her forge, heating metal with more
you doing, you metal head?"
see my massive frame looming over
like that armour I made for you, eh? I heard
getting massive waves of 'meh' energy from Tiny once I explain what she wants. Just looking at the bland expression on his face, I can tell he's not that interested in getting his armour
to remake it for
not dead?! Would you
for a moment. Then another moment. Then
did you take your intelligence on this evolution? You kept it where I ordered you
me a thumbs up, a wide, confident grin splitting
stare at him
how high is
He raises two fingers.
to mean twenty, then you reduced lower than I left you with… but still kept it above the minimum I set… If it means two, we are going to have
turn back
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