“Got a funny way of showing it…” I mutter.
“What was that? I didn’t quite catch the scent.”
“Ah, nothing! Well, uh. It’s nice to see you in such good health! Managing to get out much?”
“Why yes. I leave the colony for a daily hunt in order to secure my own Biomass. The prey in the nearby tunnels is becoming rather thin, however. I may need to start ranging farther…”
They actually let the Queen out for hunts? Not that they could stop her, I suppose, but yikes. I’d love to have seen the council members’ faces when they realised the Queen was going to leave their fortress of a nest and run around in the tunnels.
“I’m going to assume you have an escort?”
The Queen sighs.
“Yes. They insist, and I don’t really want to say no, even if I do think it’s a bit of a waste. Those children could all be contributing in a more meaningful way. I feel bad for them.”
She shouldn’t.
“Mother, I think if you were to ask, you’d find that every member of your escort is more than happy to be there. I’m sure of it, in fact.”
The honour of guarding the Queen? Almost every ant in the colony would be delighted to have the chance. I’ve no doubt that every member of her guard was carefully chosen to be the best at what they do. No way the council would leave the health of their mother to chance.
This chamber really is packed with brood. Dozens of Brood Tenders pick amongst the little grubs, ensuring each is fed and cleaned, ready to take on the next step in their lifecycle and become a pupa. Pretty clear that the Queens have been busy down here.
“Looks like the rate of growth has exploded.” I tip an antenna at the young. “Are we still making sure each hatchling is educated properly?”
“Yes,” she assures me. “Although the majority of the brood are born in this nest, they are transported to the first nest during the pupal stage. When they emerge, they are taken through the training program before they enter service. I try to keep up with what is being done with the new children, just so I know they’re being taken care of.”
“Well, that’s good. I was a bit worried they’d get slack once the population started to explode. Must be hard for them to rustle up enough Biomass and XP for this many hatchlings, though…”
There really are a lot. I don’t even know how many eggs are currently being laid each day. Could it be as many as a thousand a day? That would be insane…
“This was mentioned to me once,” the Queen says. “I believe the creation of two new nests is being planned in order to extend the hunting grounds.”
TWO more nests? Already! When I left, this one hadn’t even been started. Things are really accelerating now… Things will spiral out of control pretty darn fast soon. I don’t want to pretend I’ll be able to manage this colony once the population hits the millions. If we keep expanding at this rate, that’ll be sooner rather than later.
And what sort of effect will the Vestibule have on me with that many little voices whispering in the back of my mind? They’re already so insistent. They tug at my awareness, nudging me in different directions than I would otherwise take. The Collective Will Vestibule does exactly what it says on the tin, it feeds me the Will of all of the ants within range, telling me what they want, driving me to act as the agent of that super-mind.
And they are implacable. They want me to hunt, to battle, dig, build, seek and destroy our enemies, and tend the young. They want all of those with an intensity that is beyond anything a human could achieve. Even as familiar with ants as I am, even I’m a little shocked I never seem to detect the slightest ripple of selfish desire. Always the collective, putting the colony above themselves, never a solitary thought of indulgence or relaxation.
At this point, I don’t even know what I would do if one started to think that way. Punish them? Celebrate them? Perhaps as we expand, it’s only inevitable that such an individual will be born.
As I wonder over the inevitable future of the colony, the Queen remains patient.
“What are you pondering, child? Don’t you have important work to be about? I know that many are waiting to speak with you.”
Her words shake me out of my contemplation. I have a massive list of jobs to get done. I need to share the things I’ve learned about spellcasting with the mages, I have to talk to the core shapers and pass on the techniques and strategies I learned from the sophos. Then I should meet with the council about our planning in regards to the coming conflict. Not to mention the expansion of our territory and how I might help with that. I should probably pay a visit to the surface—if I even can—and check in with the humans and the upper nest, just to make sure things are still peaceful up there. So much to do!
“Yes, that’s true. There’s a huge list of things I have to get done. Thanks for the reminder.”
I turn and march toward the nearest grub.
“What are you doing, child?” the Queen asks, confused.
“I decided to start with the most important job first. Grub tickling!”
THWACK!
21. A Busy Day in the Ant-borough
Despite receiving the justice of my mother, I stoically endured her disapproving gaze for as long as I could manage in order to tickle grubs. Their joyful wiggles warm my heart even as I quail inside, anticipating another THWACK. In the end, I can only hold out for ten minutes before I slink from the chamber, only to find myself in even more sacred territory, the egg-laying room!
Victoriant and Antionette look up at me in surprise as I crawl down through a gap in the ceiling.
“Eldest! What are you doing here?”
“Oh, you know me. Just checking in on everyone and seeing how things are going.”
“He’s avoiding work,” the Queen calls out as she enters the chamber after me.
The two younger Queens give each other a brief look.
“The eldest? Avoiding work? Surely you jest, Mother!”
“Such a thing is impossible!”
They laugh together and I hasten to cut Mother off before she can destroy my reputation. What can I use to distract her?
“Ah! Is that Aphy, the aphid queen, I see? She’s gotten big!”
It’s true, in one corner of the egg-laying chamber, a much larger than before aphid queen is nibbling on some Biomass next to her own little pile of eggs, looking very pleased with herself.
“Yes, she evolved not that long ago.” The Queen can’t help but rush over to dote on her pet with pats and scritches. “I wasn’t sure about bringing her down to this stratum, but in the end, I feel a lot more comfortable when she’s somewhere I can keep an eye on her. You do like to get up to mischief, don’t you, Aphy?”
“Chirrup!”
The much smaller bug monster makes a noise of delight as it leans into the Queen’s antenna like some sort of cat.
“The Brood Tenders take care of the aphid young as well?” I ask.
“Of course!” Victoriant chips in. “They seem to get the bonus stats from their care just as well as the hatchlings do, and each aphid will pay the colony back far more Biomass than what we spend on Aphy to get them hatched.”
“The feeding is going well in the Marsh Expanse?”
“Aphy’s children are far more useful than that,” the Queen tells me warmly, still radiating affection toward her pet. “They’ve been spread to four separate Expanses in the first stratum now.”
FOUR!
“Since when did we own that much territory?” I ask, flabbergasted.
“After you left, the expansion happened pretty quickly,” Antionette muses. “The generals, soldiers, and scouts were super excited. They were all fired up every time they found a new Expanse. I think they sent a thousand soldiers into the Red Woods Expanse on the first day they found it.”