Chrysalis

“MORE POWER, DAMMIT!”

“We don’t have any more! We don’t have the power!”

“It’s so close. So close! Empty the tanks, we need every drop!”

“But… but that’s madness!”

“It’s not madness… it’s BRILLIANT!”

Electricity crackled, lightning flashed and sparks fell like rain from overhead as the ants scurried to follow the orders of their leader. Atop her observation spire, Brilliant cackled, her mandibles snapping together in a staccato rhythm as the flashes and explosions lit her from below, projecting her demented shadow onto the wall.

“Th-th-the b-backup m-m-matrix is collapsing!” Assistant whimpered.

“It’s fine, we have three backups!”

“This IS the third backup!” Experimant roared.

“Not to worry, I installed a secret fourth backup matrix and didn’t tell you!”

“That’s just a lie, isn’t it?!”

Another explosion rocked the chamber and Brilliant teetered on the edge of her spire, a hair's breadth from losing her grip and falling into the swirling maelstrom of light below. The many-faceted eyes of the mage were filled with an unearthly glow, and for a long moment, Experimant was convinced she’d finally lost her mind.

“Dump the tanks and then hit the cages!” she shouted and hundreds of lab ants rushed to follow her orders.

“Th-th-th-th-th-this will overflow the matrix for sure!” Assistant said.

snatched up the smaller

w-w-w-will save the

think she’s

sending the volatile substance flowing through the underground pipelines and into the gate matrix. As predicted, the matrix blew almost instantly, rocking the chamber once more and sending deadly blasts of unstable mana arcing

roared. “I

spire, so close to the unstable mass of power she could reach out and touch it. Within her heart, Experimant said a quick farewell to the disturbed genius as

“L-l-leader! Be c-c-careful!”

“BAH! CALL ME BRILLI-”

white, then expanded rapidly, enveloping the entire room in a

down from above. The chamber had been built to withstand magic detonations, but that last one had been beyond

before the room stopped shaking and Experimant felt confident enough to

get a quick

Brilliant said, emerging from the

are…” Experimant said

want to know how

“Not really-”

with a front leg. “And that was the best experiment we’ve run so

“Y-y-you're alive?” Assistant mumbled.

all of you out of the cages. We’ve got to

Experimant grumbled as she helped the rest of the lab-ants emerge from the

got a good look at what they were detecting

then realised she said it out loud, went to apologise, then shrugged and

necessary. My brain, that is. Come on! We are on the verge of a breakthrough after this

began rummaging about, shouting and exclaiming all the while. Assistant hesitantly made her way from

come on, come on, come on… YES!” Brilliant punched the air with her two front legs as an array embedded into

it with a bite before running to the next. In short order, she’d either repaired or fatally damaged all ten of the outer detectors and started poring over the printed scent-pages

we got by infusing the liquid mana