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.

the cages,” Experimant replied as she snatched up the smaller ant, threw her on her back and rushed to

w-w-w-will save the

she’s beyond

the volatile substance flowing through the underground pipelines and into the gate matrix. As predicted, the matrix blew almost instantly, rocking the chamber

Brilliant roared.

could reach out and touch it.

“L-l-leader! Be c-c-careful!”

“BAH! CALL ME BRILLI-”

flashed white, then expanded rapidly, enveloping the entire room in a second. Brilliant never got a chance to complete

The chamber had been built to withstand magic detonations, but that last one had been beyond even what Brilliant was normally

stopped shaking and Experimant felt

we get a

said, emerging

are…”

to know

“Not really-”

leg. “And that was the best

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

of the cages. We’ve got to check

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

But that’s fine, I got a good look at

study it, then?” Experimant said, then realised she said it out loud, went to apologise, then shrugged and kept doing what

that is. Come on! We are on the verge of a breakthrough after this one, I

all the while. Assistant hesitantly made her way from the perimeter as the rest of the staff began to clean up

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

savaged 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 of

liquid mana was just what we needed. See these