“You call this suiting the environment? This is a hack! Difficult problems require elegant solutions!”
“What’s Ellie got to do with this?”
“Whoa there, you two. Chill out a little.”
I interrupt them before they launch into what feels like a well-worn argument and they remain silent as I inspect the model. It really is a fantastic piece of work. Every chamber is perfectly shaped to the desired dimensions, not to mention they are ‘open’ on one side to show the intricately formed interior of every space. Some of the connections between pieces are spiderweb thin, appearing as delicate as blown glass.
“How the heck do you make something like this?” I ask in wonder.
“Oh, it’s something we figured out. Certain types of rock can hold Mana, which makes them more durable,” Tungstant says.
I’m impressed as heck. What an incredible display of skill! I cast my eyes over the intricate connection of chambers and tunnels, with their elaborate defences. In the heart of the nest design lies the egg-laying and brood chambers, as one would expect, complete with tiny stone grub carvings.
“Do we even have Queens to populate this nest? I thought there were only the three here and then another group in the first nest?”
“Another six Queens have begun being raised as soon as this nest was completed,” Cobalt says. “According to our timetable, we should have the new nests in a solid, defendable state by the time they are ready to move down.”
Six more Queens? Almost doubling the rate of egg-laying we currently have… Yikes. I shake off my shock and spend a little time talking to them about whatever I can recall from Earth that pertained to construction. Some of it is just words, like “superstructure,” or “load bearing walls,” but perhaps more useful are the descriptions of famous buildings that I could still picture. The Pyramids, the Eiffel tower, the statue of liberty, stadiums, hospitals, skyscrapers. Basically, I dump everything I think of on them and leave it for them to sort out. Hopefully, they’ll be able to pull at least a little workable information from the mess I just handed over.
“Ah! Don’t forget about the council meeting. Two hours!” I call back as I leave their chamber.
They’re standing in silent contemplation and don’t respond before I’m gone. I’m sure they caught my scent, it’ll be fine. With two hours to kill before the meeting begins, I have a little time on my claws. What to do?
[Master Mind Magic Affinity (IV) has reached Level 8.]
Oh! Nice! Ever since my gruelling training with Torrina, I’ve been in the habit of constantly working my sub-brains, always handling one type of construct or another. Right now, all three brains are grinding away on Mind Magic, trying to push closer to that rank five threshold. With my feet planted firmly in the Mana-rich walls of the Dungeon, I don’t have any issue with Mana, and thanks to my Vestibule, mental fatigue isn’t as much of an issue, meaning the training has been more effective than ever!
I’d rather not, but I suppose I may as well head over to that mage training area and work on my spells. Still a long way to go before I hit that elemental fusion I’m after. I wonder what sort of Skill I’ll get when I finally manage to complete it? Well, I just hope it doesn’t suck.
23. Council Meeting
“Was it really necessary to construct a council meeting chamber? We hardly ever have a meeting…”
It’s quite nice, too. They even have what appear to be ant-specific chairs. They look like a padded bench in three sections, one for each of our body segments, joined together at the right angle for us to rest on them. Interestingly, this means there’s a specific chair for each of us due to the polymorphic nature of our colony. One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to us. The chairs are arranged in a wide circle with a low, round table carved from pure rock in the centre. Atop the table sits a flattened map of the Dungeon engraved on the surface in perfect detail.
“I can’t help but feel like this is more effort than was needed.”
Since we entered from the roof, the walls are free from openings and host an incredible panoramic carving of the twenty, with myself featuring prominently, because, of course. It’s nice to see Grant is also given pride of place, her sacrifice remembered with a wonderful mural of her service to our family. Her death still weighs on me heavily. Perhaps that’s a large part of why I needed to get away from the colony after the battle. Don’t worry, Grant, I won’t run away anymore…
“It’s fine, isn’t it eldest? These meetings are usually important, right? Seems like we should hold them in an important-looking place,” Wills gives her thoughts.
“I can see what the eldest is saying,” Tungstant muses. “This space is close to the centre of the nest and could have been used for all sorts of things.”
“Right? We can hold these meetings in any tunnel, no need to get fancy,” I press.
“Well, I think it’s nice,” says Antionette as she settles onto her chair. “We need to be worthy of the space our family has prepared for us.”
That’s a good sentiment. A little hesitant, I crawl over my own seat and gradually allow my not insignificant weight to fall on it. It’s surprisingly comfy, allowing my legs to just hang loose, without any need to support the rest of me.
“I think it’s important we clearly assess our current situation,” Victor starts. “What are our threats? Where is the enemy?”
“It may be more valuable to understand where the colony stands as a whole, as opposed to focusing on our foes,” Sloan disagrees.
“I’m more interested in that, to start with,” I say. “There’s so much happening that I don’t know about. The development of our knowledge, techniques and craftsmanship is way beyond what I expected at this point.”
Each of the council members shifts and wiggles their antennae with glee, pleased with this compliment, especially the carvers.
“We only did as you asked of us, eldest,” Mendant answers. “We tried to draw every ounce of information from the humans that we could and adapt it to our needs.”
“I’m just surprised at what you picked up. Like, the magnificent carvings and artworks,” I gesture to the walls with one antenna. “Not exactly the sort of thing I expected the colony to prioritise.”
The rest of the council shift slightly to take in the walls a little better.
“Well, to be honest, most of us didn’t really see the point of it,” Cobalt admits.
“It was really only a small group of carvers who decided to pick it up in earnest,” Tungstant says.
“Any idea why?”
“I’m not sure, you might have to ask them yourself. The rest of the carvers who specialise in construction have picked up the Skill to one degree or another. Once the bar for aesthetics had been set, we were determined that it would be uniform. Since it doesn’t detract from the function of the spaces, there’s not really any harm,” Cobalt says.
“Fine. I just want it put on the record that I’m uncomfortable with having so many images of myself hung up everywhere.”
“Uh… What’s the ‘record,’” Coolant asks.
“Like, a written record of our meeting.”
“Ooh,” they chorus.
“Let’s do that!” Mendant says.
“No problem, I’ll write it all down later and we can publish it in one of the central tunnels. That way, anyone can read it,” Bella declares.
“Alright, fine! Now what the heck is going on with the colony?”
“I’ll start!” Vibrant throws an antenna into the air. “You all talk too much! So, after you left, we took a whole bunch of new territory and Expanses, you can see them here, here, and over there.” She raises up a leg to point at the map. “We got a whole bunch of food and experience. New nest is here, other new nests going over there, and around here somewhere. We think there’s an underground city around here somewhere and—”