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

w-w-w-will

think she’s

flowing through the underground pipelines and into the gate matrix. As predicted, the matrix

EVERYTHING!” Brilliant roared. “I CAN

mage was hanging upside down from her spire, so close to the unstable mass of power she could reach out and touch

“L-l-leader! Be c-c-careful!”

“BAH! CALL ME BRILLI-”

in a second. Brilliant never

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 beyond even what Brilliant was normally capable

five minutes before the room stopped shaking and Experimant felt confident

a

Brilliant said, emerging from the

course you are…” Experimant

to

“Not really-”

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

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

all of you out of the cages. We’ve

Experimant grumbled as she helped

the main ones. But that’s fine, I got a good look at what they were detecting

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

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

all the while. Assistant hesitantly made her way from the perimeter as

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

that refused to work, she 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 information

IT! The kick of power we got by infusing the liquid mana was just what we needed. See these readings? Are you seeing this!? Look at