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 smaller ant, threw her on her back

who w-w-w-will

think she’s

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

Brilliant roared.

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 Assistant cried out from

“L-l-leader! Be c-c-careful!”

“BAH! CALL ME BRILLI-”

in

had been built to withstand

before the room stopped shaking and Experimant felt

get a quick headcount? Sound

here,” Brilliant said, emerging

course you are…” Experimant said

to know how

“Not really-”

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

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

Come on, all of you out of the cages.

as she helped

But that’s fine, I got

I extract your brain to study it, then?” Experimant said, then realised she said it

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

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

her two front legs as

one. When 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

IT! The kick of power we got by infusing the liquid mana