“I didn’t want us to have a name…” Leeroy hedges.
“But someone came up with one anyway?” I press. “Surely, a team with this many resources poured into them has got a name. The council loves naming stuff.”
They’re quite obsessed with it these days.
“Maybe someone did…” Leeroy mutters.
“Out with it, Leeroy. It can’t be that bad.”
“…The Immortals.”
“Oof. That’s rough, Leeroy,” I try to comfort her. I know the idea of being immune to death would be a miserable situation for her.
“Do you really mean that, eldest?” she perks up.
“No. I hope you live for a thousand years before you finally die in a tunnel collapse or something. Stop being stupid,” I reprimand her. “You’re not a hatchling anymore, you need to live and work.”
“I suppose so,” she says, but her heart isn’t in it.
“Look on the bright side,” I relent. “Now that you have this armour and a group to work with, odds are the generals are going to use you on the frontline in the upcoming battles. You’ll be right in the thick of the danger, where the fighting is hottest! That doesn’t sound so bad, does it?”
“I suppose not…” Now the gears are turning in her head. There’s absolutely no chance the generals will send her in without some plan to extract her out again, but I can let her dream a little, I suppose. I’m too soft, dammit!
“By the way, eldest, you were supposed to pay a visit to Smithant at some point soon, she’s really excited about it.”
There’s a hint of ill feeling in Leeroy’s pheromones as she mentions the name, but I don’t recognise it.
“Who’s this?” I ask.
“Smithant, the crafter who came up with this idea,” she raps her helmet with one antenna for emphasis.
“You mean it wasn’t Tungstant or Cobalt who crafted this?” I’m genuinely shocked.
“No, they hated the idea. This one nutter was obsessed with it and now I’m stuck with this.”
Fascinating!
“I’ll definitely pay her a visit!” I tell Leeroy as she turns to leave. She waves a weary antenna and I continue on my way deeper into the nest.
The place is absolutely jumping with activity. Even more crowded than before, the many layers of pheromone trails have been overlain with all-new scents. Construction teams for nests two and three, resource transportation, storage trails, even a tearoom!
Hold up. A tearoom? I have to see this. So thinking, I turn from my path toward the council chamber and scuttle along, following the path around the many twists and turns of the nest until I come to an area on the outskirts of the nest. The tunnels are thinner and narrower here, to the point I just barely squeeze in, my legs pinched up against my sides. The chambers are smaller too, with doors on them for some reason. When the heck did we start making doors?
When I make it to the end of the trail and stick my head into this so-called tearoom, I realise exactly what this area is for. Inside, I find Enid, Beyn, Torrina, and Corun engaged in conversation, seated in comfortable wooden furniture, replete with cushions, around a dainty table. The entire room is bedecked with all the trimmings of a fine human home, with cupboards, fine China, and a teapot lovingly wrought in the shape of an ant’s head.
After a moment of whipping up a Mind Mana Construct, I intrude into what was clearly a cosy conversation.
[You lot are all looking very comfortable. Any work getting done around here?]
They’ve seen me already, hard not to notice such a shiny head poking through the open door, not to mention my size.
[A great deal of work, in fact,] Enid snaps back, a little waspish. [Some of us have been negotiating on behalf of your colony for the entire day against stubborn, greedy, idiotic merchants and over-privileged morons.]
I twitch my mandibles in surprise. It’s unlike Enid to be so rude!
[Ah, thanks, Enid. How’d it all go? The colony brought you in to do all the talking, I suppose. Wasn’t my idea, you can’t blame me.]
The old mayor sighs and raises a hand to massage her brow, while Torrina and Corun sip their tea, content to observe rather than contribute.
[I apologise, Anthony. The talks have been glacially slow, and it doesn’t help that I have to explain the details in excruciating detail to the ants immediately after I finish haggling with the delegates.]
I can imagine my siblings are quite interested in learning about this sort of thing. Negotiations between rival powers aren’t something the colony has had to deal with in the past. Come to think of it, no ant would have had to deal with these issues in the history of Pangera.
[If they’re being difficult, surely there’s a few things we can do to hustle the dialogue along?]
She thinks for a moment before a slow smile curls on her face.
[If you have the time, I’m sure we can work something out…]
61. Advisors
After chatting with Enid a little more, she finishes her tea and heads off to rest. The next day of talks will prove to be an eventful one, I’m sure, given what we’ve discussed, but for now, I have two expectant-looking golgari to deal with.
[Been a while, Anthony,] Corun greets me coolly. [How were things down in the Dungeon? Anything interesting happen?]
Torrina is looking at me with her usual deadpan expression, but I can tell she’s a little more frosty than usual. It’s easy to see that something is up with them.
[Alright then, what’s gotten into you two? It’s not like you guys to skirt around the subject, goodness knows Granin wasn’t even physically capable of holding his words in.]
That gets a slight smile out of Corun, and perhaps a mild release of tension around the eyes for Torrina. Even so, they still take a long glance at each other before Torrina breaks the stalemate.
[Anthony, why do you think we are here?]
Well, that’s quite the question, isn’t it?
[I suppose because Granin thought I had potential to become an Ancient, and he wanted you two to keep an eye on me and record my progress for history? Make note of my successes and failures so you can implement the knowledge better for future subjects?]
She shakes her head.
[Not exactly. We’re supposed to be here, not just as some sort of supervisors, but as guides and assistants. We are willing and able to take on a much more hands-on role than you seem to have envisioned for us.]
[What do you mean?] I protest. [I haven’t told you what you can and can’t do at all. As far as I’m concerned, I trust you guys and you’re free to do what you want concerning your mission and myself. I just recommend you step lightly around the family, they can be a bit touchy sometimes.]
Neither of them blink at me describing a growing civilisation of thousands of murderous ant monsters as ‘a bit touchy,’ which shows me they’re acclimating pretty well to life around here. Murder ants are the norm in the nest!
[I thought this might be the case…] she sighs. [You think you’ll just leave us to our devices, and we’ll work things out? That’s not exactly how we want to operate.]
[Well, how do you want to operate? My time amongst the golgari wasn’t exactly a happy memory, you know. I’m aware it wasn’t your fault, but the Cult of the Worm’s way of doing things isn’t something I’m willing to invest in.]
[I understand your frustration, I just want you to hear ours a little.] She gestures to herself and Corun. [We can help you a lot more than we’ve been able to so far, we just need you to trust us and bring us along. When you dive off into the Dungeon for a week at a time and leave us behind, or when you take us to the surface and then vanish back underground without us, it makes it hard to be able to help.]