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.

cages,” Experimant replied as she snatched up the

w-w-w-will

think she’s beyond

As predicted, the matrix blew almost instantly, rocking the chamber

EVERYTHING!” Brilliant roared. “I CAN

from her 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

“L-l-leader! Be c-c-careful!”

“BAH! CALL ME BRILLI-”

entire room in a

ducked for cover as stone and debris rained down from above. The chamber had been built to withstand magic

five minutes before the room stopped shaking and Experimant

we get a quick

Brilliant said,

you are…” Experimant said

to know

“Not really-”

Brilliant!” she boasted, slapping herself on the carapace with a front leg. “And that was the best experiment we’ve run so far! The

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

all of you out of the

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

ones. But that’s fine, I got a good look at

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

off hand, “I can project it if necessary. My brain, that is. Come on! We are on the

and exclaiming all the while. Assistant

two front legs as an array embedded into a reinforced stone pillar flickered to life. “Someone extract

next. In short order, she’d either repaired or

got by infusing the liquid mana was just what we needed. See these readings? Are