Antelligent Design: Chrysalis Book Three, page 7
“Oh my god! STOP!”
“Okay!”
Sigh.
“Every member of the colony is having their species changed. I don’t know how long they’re going to be out, so try and help me keep watch. Can you do that?”
“Oh, sure. Not a problem!”
“Okay. If you’re doing that, then I might as well get started teaching these new workers. No time like the present, I suppose. Not like I can do anything here to help.”
“Alright, senior. Have fun!” Vibrant cheerfully waves an antenna as I gather up the new hatchlings and take them to the farms.
Nothing is ever simple around here.
SIXTEEN
TRAINING DAY
“Ok. Let’s try this again. The enemy is down there. We’re in a superior position where they cannot fight back. All of the advantages are ours. So, what are you going to do? What is your strategy?”
We’re positioned in one of the original four farms, clinging to the ceiling out of harm’s way. I lured a monster out to the edge of the open space and tied it down with a Gravity Bolt. The poor creature is labouring on the ground beneath us, barely able to move, whilst I teach these hatchlings how to fight.
The particular young worker I’ve been focused on twitches a little when I fully cast my attention on them. I’m not sure exactly why, but these workers seem a little cowed by me. Perhaps it’s just that I’m older and larger.
“Well, I see the monster down there.”
“Right.”
“I know I have numerical superiority.”
“Right!”
Maybe this time I’m getting through to them.
“I also know we have a positional advantage and the ability to attack our opponent when they can’t fight back.”
“Yeees?”
Here we go!
“So, I will charge down to engage the enemy, forcing myself into its jaws so that by my sacrifice, my fellow workers will be able to attack without being harmed!”
DAMMIT.
Immediately, the rest of the hatchlings respond positively.
“Ooo, that’s a good idea!”
“Curses! I should have thought of that.”
“That has to be the right answer. It’s flawless.”
The worker who suggested it is now staring at me like a puppy waiting to be praised. Almost wiggling with joy as the praise from his fellow hatchlings rings in her antennae.
Ugh. This again.
“WRONG!”
Thwack!
Swinging an antenna hard, I slap the worker on the head.
“How many times do I have to say this? You. Are. Not. To. Die!”
“Ohhh, right,” the workers chorus.
I definitely feel a splitting headache coming on.
“In none of the plans you put forward are you allowed to act suicidally. You should always act to minimise the loss to the colony to as great an extent as possible. It’s possible for you to resolve this situation without losing any workers! So that’s what you should do!”
The hatchlings look at me as if I’m speaking a different language.
This is infuriating. It’s almost as if any plan in which they don’t die is in some way unsatisfactory. I’ve been trying for over an hour to get them to value their own lives, to think of their safety as something important, but it just isn’t getting through.
Not only do they not care about their own lives, not dying seems to be a personal failure on their part. They burn to sacrifice themselves for the colony. To win something in the exchange and go down in a blaze of glory.
Maybe I’m thinking about this the wrong way. It’s clear they aren’t going to value themselves for their own sake, but perhaps I can get them to value it for another reason.
“Listen to me, all of you!” I declare.
Twenty sets of eyes and antennae turn on me with laser focus.
They’re so earnest, it’s quite cute.
“Do you wish to serve the colony?” I ask.
“Of course!”
“Yes!”
“I’ll die before this day is done for the colony!”
“Ok whoa, slow down there. I take it you also wish to serve the queen?”
“Naturally!”
“Mother is the heart of the colony!”
“I will throw my life away for the queen before she wakes!”
“Alright, you there, to the side, just chill out. Sheesh!”
I take a moment to compose myself.
“Now answer me this. Can you do more to benefit the colony, can you do more to serve the queen, when you’re alive as opposed to dead?”
They’re thinking. Seriously thinking. In any other situation, this would be ridiculous, but the fact they’re thinking at all is a massive win!
“What if…” One of the hatchlings pipes up dubiously, “we were to serve the colony for a time, and then die in dutiful service to the colony?”
“Would you be able to do more for the colony whilst still alive? Especially after you’ve taken Biomass and experience that could have gone to others. Are you selfish?”
I say the word selfish as if throwing up vile poison, and the hatchlings respond with horror and disgust.
“Selfish!”
“NEVER!”
“Be accused of selfishness? I would rather die! Unselfishly…”
I nod sagely.
“That’s right. If the colony has invested resources in you, it is your duty to repay the colony with dutiful service, NOT pointless death.”
I lean in closer.
“Not to mention, the other thing to consider. Which colony is better, one with one hundred workers or one with two hundred workers?”
They mutter amongst themselves for a moment before deciding that yes, more workers is clearly superior to less workers. The ant logic of strength in numbers is strong with these ones.
“Exactly. Now how is the colony supposed to increase its numbers if you die so easily?”
Oooh, that hit them hard, they’re starting to squirm. Time for the final strike!
“In fact, to strengthen the colony, isn’t it your duty to stay alive as long as possible? Wouldn’t throwing your life away for personal glory actually be an act of… SELFISHNESS?”
Their faces are pure masks of shock. Glorious sacrifice for the colony? Selfish! It sounds like madness, but the logic is so clear! This is all heresy to them; except I’ve laid out a strong case. The war of ideas is playing out within them.
Maybe I have them now. Please, let me have them. I really didn’t think the first order of business in teaching these hatchlings would be to convince them not to throw their lives away at the first opportunity.
I put so much work into getting to this point. Did they really think I’d let them waste it all?
I really hope we don’t have to do this with every new worker that hatches… seriously.
Slowly, the light of understanding has begun to dawn amongst a few. I decide there’s a slight chance some of them may be able to give me a non-stupid answer, so I indicate one of the quicker ants to come forward.
“Let’s try again. Your foe is there below us. We are here. How do you approach the situation?”
The hatchling considers the question. I can see the cogs turning as she thinks about what I’ve said, what her instincts say, and tries to resolve the two.
“So… I don’t… throw myself at it and… die?” she says hesitantly.
“Obviously!”
THWACK!
“It’s so simple! Get your hunting party together and attack with acid from range! You can damage your target without it being able to threaten you. With enough acid being applied, you might even defeat the enemy without them coming close enough to hurt you. See? Then all of the workers survive, the hunt is successful and the colony benefits! HOW can you NOT understand this?”
They all nod and exclaim “Oooh!” as if they’ve finally understood. These damn idiots!
Finally, I snap.
“RIGHT! Line up! Two rows of ten. I said ten! Now on my signal, you will begin firing acid at the target until you run out. NO QUESTIONS. Put that antenna DOWN. Make every shot count and focus on your Skills! Ready? FIRE!”
Nothing happens.
They watch me.
I watch them.
Slowly, I bring my antennae forward to rub at my temples.
“The signal to shoot, is when I say ‘fire’. Ok?”
“Ooooh.”
I’m dying here. I’m seriously dying.
“Fire…”
SEVENTEEN
NEW RULES
After a couple of hours, I’m able to get the hatchlings to operate in a reasonable way. The little workers chowed down on the first few enemies we defeated with acid once I’d dragged the Biomass clear of the farm. They ran out of acid quick, though, and I was forced to incapacitate the prey before letting the young ants swarm it, training their Bite Skills and gaining experience.
We repeated this process until the farm was empty, then I had them drink their fill from the water before we moved into the next farm.
I’ve only had to stop them from throwing themselves into the fight and embracing their own certain doom a few times. Progress!
Despite having intellectually understood my point that by living, they would be able to contribute more to the colony than they could by dying, the urge to throw themselves in harm’s way to protect their fellow hatchlings was overpowering.
At one point, a new monster had burst out of the farm wall whilst the hatchlings were eating. I’d known about it, of course, but before I could deal with it, one of the workers was already leaping at the enemy, screaming, “I’ll slow it down with my congealed blood! Attack from the flanks!”
Luckily, I’d been quick enough to Dash in and knock him aside before crushing the offending monster with a Shattering Bite attack.
Naturally, I then thwacked the offending ant on the head and launched into a lecture about appropriate crisis response not necessarily including immediate sacrifice. Maybe they would be in a situation that demanded sacrifice one day, but this sure as heck wasn’t it!
After instructing the ants to spend the Biomass they’d accumulated and handing out a bit of advice—none of them so much as twitched, by the way—we move on to the next farm to repeat the process.
I need to stuff these hatchlings full of experience and Biomass as fast as possible. There isn’t long until the next wave will be born, and then we’ll have two hundred of the little pests to deal with!
“We stick to the same plan as before,” I inform my class of diminutive workers as we cling to the ceiling. “We begin with an acid bombardment on the target until ammunition is expended, then we move to Bites. Remember to focus on the Skill you’re using! We want to see some juicy Level ups. Anyone who hits Level five is banned from taking more experience, we need everyone to hit five as soon as possible.”
“Yes, senior!” they shout.
In this way, the twenty little workers rush through the farms at breakneck speed. They team up to devour any available Biomass in record time, and I defeat the monsters we encounter with ease, tying them down with Gravity Bolts.
When we hit the third farm, the first worker reaches Level five. By the fifth, most of them have reached Level five and are ready to form their cores. By the sixth, they all are.
“Excellent! It’s been a great training session, troops! Plenty of Biomass absorbed, Skills developed, and Levels gained. It’s time now to form your cores. Let’s return to the nest and find a safe spot.”
“Roger!”
Dutifully, the little ants follow along behind me as we retreat to the nest proper. Just to make sure they’re looked after, I take them down into my own personal chamber at the base of the nest where Tiny sits on guard, munching on the last thing to leap out of the walls.
With a bit of encouragement, the ants settle in and spend their Levels, condensing their cores. An exciting moment for any young ant!
Whilst they do that, I hustle up the main tunnel, the awkward stillness still reverberating through the nest, to check in with Crinis.
[Nothing has been happening, Master. After the last of the workers returned, it has been very still.]
[You keep looking out and make sure we aren’t attacked. I’m counting on you to defend us if we get into trouble.]
[Of course, Master!] Crinis declared confidently. [I will allow no trash to desecrate our home.]
Well… Good. My greatest fear is that another wave of monsters will attack the surface. In which case, it would be up to Crinis and myself to hold them off for as long as possible and hope the workers start waking up.
It doesn’t take Vibrant long to find me as she darts from chamber to chamber, checking on the workers.
“Hi-hi! How are things going with the new ones?” she asks, not even pausing in her rush by me.
“It’s going well so far. I think they’ll work out… ok?” Nope, she’s gone. At least she’s keeping an eye on all of the chambers like she promised.
Time to head back down.
It’s already been a few hours into the species change, and so far, only Vibrant has awakened. It had better not take much longer. This is really stressing me out.
When I pass through the queen’s chamber, I take a moment to check in on her. The massive ant who is the mother of all members of the colony appears to be slumbering peacefully, sunk deep into torpor.
I really hope Mother wakes up soon. The colony just isn’t the same without her calming presence. Perhaps it’s just me hoping too hard, but I swear her antenna twitched when I turned away to head back down into my chamber. I tell myself it was real and that she’ll be up soon!
With the hatchlings finishing forming their cores, I take a moment to check out my mutable stomach. I had some left-over Biomass from before the hatchlings emerged, and I snuck a little here and there from the farms, so I should have enough to invest in stomach mutations.
The sooner I get this done, the faster I’ll be able to accrue Biomass points! Efficiency is the name of the game. I demand that every mouthful of food be extracted for the maximum possible points. I’ve got a ton of mutating to do, dammit!
[Would you like to upgrade Stomach to +10? This will cost 55 Biomass.]
I quickly confirm I want to upgrade the organ to +10 and dive straight into the menu, desperate to find the best option to increase my intake. I don’t have enough to get to +15, though I desperately wish I did. I’d need a hundred and ten for that, and I just haven’t had the time or opportunity to rack up those sorts of numbers.
There’s a ton of different ways to go with stomach mutations which would all lead to a more rapid intake of Biomass. Increasing stomach capacity is the easiest way, obviously. Being able to hoover in more food without getting full means more Biomass. It’s straightforward, and I don’t mind that, but I feel there may be a better way.
Faster digestion is there, which makes sense as well. As long as there’s a constant supply of Biomass, this will work well, but it still isn’t right.
Regurgitating Stomach? Oh, that’s gross! Basically a mutation to allow a monster to barf up their stomach acid as an attack. No. No thank you. I’ve got an acid attack already.
Aha! This looks a little more like it! The Discerning Stomach. It effectively halves the tier penalty when eating monsters less evolved than myself. This is just what the doctor ordered! In fact, I can take this, and then take a capacity mutation at +10, and as soon as I get the chance, take the fusion at +15, giving me a high capacity, efficient stomach.
With another upgrade waiting for me at +20, I’ll be rolling in Biomass in no time! I confirm the upgrade with Gandalf and for once, I don’t even care that I’m rolling all over the floor with my legs flailing in the air. The entire colony is asleep right now, and I’ll endure this itch if it means reaching my mutation goals! Muahahaha!
When it fades, I pull myself together, clean my antennae and dig out my personal core supply to start fusing together a few special ones. I’m going to have a happy surprise for those little hatchlings when they wake up!
Ah, the joys of being a mentor. It’s tough watching them grow up so fast!
EIGHTEEN
THE WAKING MONARCH
Sensation returned to the queen in increments. A leg twitched. Then one of her antennae crackled into life, overloading her fuzzed mind with sensory information she wasn’t ready to process.
As she drowsed, the feeling of change, of difference, rose within her. Even without being fully alert, she knew she wasn’t the same as she had been when she’d gone to sleep. Her thoughts continued to swirl in languid circles as her body came to life piece by piece. It was always thus for her. The workers didn’t enter torpor as she did. Her rest was longer, deeper and took longer to emerge from.
For this reason, she tried to rest as little as possible. If something were to happen to her family during that time, how could she forgive herself? An idle thought stirred vaguely in her mind. If her noisy child were to find out about her lack of rest, surely she would be pestered into sleeping more. It was of vital importance she conceal her tiredness.
The sensation of change grew stronger. It was difficult to say exactly what it was. Though whatever occurred, it had happened within her body. It wasn’t easy to feel the difference when the changes were applied to one’s own mind.
However, a picture was taking shape. The queen was able to feel her own thoughts moving faster than before. Even half awake, she could sense this change. Her mind felt agile and quick as thoughts moved quicker and things that had seemed complex were suddenly simpler, more manageable.
