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.

she snatched up the smaller ant, threw her on her back and rushed to the blast

w-w-w-will save

she’s beyond

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

CAN SEE EVERYTHING!” Brilliant roared.

spire, so close to the unstable mass of power she could reach out

“L-l-leader! Be c-c-careful!”

“BAH! CALL ME BRILLI-”

enveloping the entire room in a second. Brilliant never got

the blast cages, the ants ducked for cover as stone and debris rained down from above. The chamber had been built to withstand magic detonations, but that last one had been

stopped shaking and Experimant

a quick headcount? Sound

here,” Brilliant said, emerging

course you are…” Experimant said

to

“Not really-”

Brilliant!” she boasted, slapping herself on the carapace with a front leg. “And that

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

out of the cages. We’ve got

sensor arrays melted?” Experimant grumbled as she helped the rest of the lab-ants

got a good

your brain to study it, then?” Experimant said, then realised she said it out loud, went to apologise,

that is. Come on! We are on the

with energy, the little mage raced off in the dust and began rummaging about, shouting and exclaiming all the while. Assistant hesitantly made her way from the perimeter as the rest of the staff began to clean up and

as an array embedded into a reinforced stone pillar flickered to life. “Someone extract the data from that,

short order, she’d either repaired

we got by infusing the liquid mana was just