I’ve achieved the dream of full +15, and now the time has come to surge down the path to +20! I’m evolving at full mutations this time and no giant croc is going to stop me! I may need Vibrant to hunt for me in order to get there, but it is what it is.
Alright then, I’m excited for this. Let’s take a look!
My body is a clean slate, essentially. I’m +15 across the board, except for my stomach, which is sitting nice and fully mutated already. I can pick any body part to start with, but it makes sense to start with the big-ticket items. Carapace and mandibles are the obvious choices to start with. After that, I think I’ll do eyes, just for old time’s sake.
[Do you wish to improve your True Diamond Carapace to +20? This will cost 90 Biomass.]
[Do you wish to improve your Empowered Mandibles to +20? This will cost 90 Biomass.]
[Do you wish to improve your Perimeter Eyes to +20? This will cost 90 Biomass.]
Two-seventy. Just like that. It’ll be worth it, though!
I dive straight into the carapace menu, knowing exactly what I’m looking for. I’ve picked the same thing at every turn so far, and I sure as heck am not going to change course now! Diamonds! MOAR diamonds! I hunt down the selection I want and eagerly lock it in. I can’t wait to see how thick and complete my gloriously shiny coverage will become with this next upgrade.
As for mandibles, I have more things to consider. The savage and Mana infusion mutations have both served a valuable purpose. If I had to say which of the two I’m more interested in carrying forward, though… I would have to say the infusion takes the cake. The flexibility and power provided by this option is too good to pass up. Considering I have a nice strong Mana supply, it makes sense to put it to use in as many ways as I can.
I idly consider picking up a brand-new mutation but put those thoughts to the side before long. I’d rather strengthen something I already have rather than add on another, brand-new mutation. I find the option to increase my capacity to infuse Mana to my mandibles and lock it in.
Now for the eyeballs. The ol’ seeing spheres. The domes of ocular domination. We’ve come a long way, my eyes and I. Ah, I remember the days when my vision was so poor, I could barely make out the rocks right in front of my face.
It sucked! I’m so glad I made it a priority to mutate my eyes to the point where I could actually move around reliably without tripping into the open jaws of a monster.
So far, I’ve been trying to make the best out of my compound eyes by having groups of lenses act together to create segments of clearer vision. Increasing the clarity of each individual lens has meant that I have a decent mix of both worlds, sections with good focus, and decent all-around vision.
I think what I want to do this time, is continue to improve all of the lenses. This will help my peripheral vision and sharpen up my more focused zones. This is going to be nice.
[Would you like to improve:
True Diamond Carapace +15 to Hardened True Diamond Carapace +20?
Empowered Mandibles +15 to Bright Empowered Mandibles +20?
Perimeter Eyes +15 to Heightened Perimeter Eyes +20?]
I do!
GACK!
79. Belonging
It takes some time for the itching to pass, as it always does. When I finally regain full control of my body, I pick myself up, dust myself off, clean my antennae, and attempt to move as if nothing had happened.
The soldiers keeping an eye on the room pointedly don’t look at me as I climb the wall and move up into the queen’s chamber. Things continue to operate in here as they always did. A cloud of buzzing workers rush here and there whilst the ever-patient queen stands still and unmoving amidst the chaos.
She’s not evolved.
“I will evolve in good time, child,” the queen remonstrates before I’ve even begun to speak, predicting my question with ease.
“What’s the hold up?” I ask piteously. “Most ants are happy to have the chance to evolve and dive straight in.”
Perhaps I’m being a touch selfish. I’d really wanted to see what shape her evolution would take.
The queen’s eyes are like pools without a single ripple, looking straight at me. “This decision is more important than most, and due to your… gift,” she gestures to the rare core, “I have many options to ponder. I am seeking the correct frame of mind and trying to determine the right path forward, for myself and for the colony.”
Slow and steady wins the race, eh? Not an attitude I was super familiar with, but I can recognise the wisdom in it. She’s right in the sense that for most ants, their evolution doesn’t weigh on the fate of the colony in quite the same way that the queen’s does. She’s the central figure in this family that the rest of the colony turns around, like some sort of caring, soothing hub.
Not to mention she’s the most powerful individual in the colony, with the possible exception of myself. If she’s ready to evolve, with a rare core to boot, just what will she be capable of when she’s finished? What sort of juicy options will she unlock? What kind of potent glands are available to someone with that sort of evolutionary energy at their claw tips?
I sighed.
I’ll have to wait to find out. The queen is taking this situation very seriously. As well she should.
“Did any of the twenty tell you about what’s happening topside?” I ask, somewhat apprehensively.
I hadn’t wanted to go into too much detail when I first came in. I’d been getting thwacked just on the basis of the rare core. Who knows if I’d still have a shiny, unbroken exo-skeleton on my head.
“That was not a mess of your making, child,” she tells me. “You have assisted the family by bringing news of this threat back to us.”
I can tell by the twinkle in the queen’s eye that she has seen through my scheme to try and avoid recriminations. She’s kind enough to make it clear that in this case, she feels I don’t deserve them.
“Thanks, Mother,” I chuckle.
THWACK!
Oooo… The ‘unexpected, tender moment’ thwack!
She got me that time…
“Try not to keep such critical details to yourself after asking me to do something as important as evolving, child,” Mother admonishes me. “I need to know in order to make the best decision for the colony.”
I rub my sore head and nod. That was fair, I deserved that. In pushing her to evolve and then keeping the details of the crisis that was approaching the colony, I’d put my own fear of getting thwacked ahead of the interests of the colony. A selfish thing to do.
I’ll have to get rid of that habit if I’m to avoid disappointing my family.
I move to slink out of the queen’s chamber with what remains of my dignity and the queen’s voice sounds out behind me.
“Good luck, child. We are counting on your success.”
At her words, an unforeseen emotion wells up inside me and I double my pace, unable to respond to the surging feeling. I flee from it.
I didn’t know what to say, how to express it. I’m not used to being counted on like this. I’m not used to being trusted like this. To have individuals I care about and trust, care about and trust me back in return…
My family in my past life, if they even deserved the word ‘family,’ never gave me this. They’d never accepted me as I’ve been accepted here. Had certainly never involved and trusted me.
I don’t like to dwell on my past life. I felt back then as I feel now, that plenty of people had it worse than me. But it feels a little crazy that I had to be reborn as a monstrous ant to finally be able to feel this sensation of… belonging.