Chrysalis - Chapter 1096: Sweet Slumber

Ah, it’s nice to see everyone looking so lively in the fortress.

“You’re looking good there, siblings! Such gleaming carapaces!” I greet a squad of ants moving to the frontline.

They duck their heads in shame and rush past me, trying to conceal the beams of light reflecting from their exo-skeletons with their antennae.

Gweheheheh.

Everyone is metaphorically shining with good health while also literally shining from the torpor police’s patented wax and shine. I’ve never seen such a well-groomed group of ants.

“Make sure you don’t miss your next torpor session!” I remind them as they flee into the distance.

The reinforcements arrived yesterday to find the fortress still in the process of waking up. Quite an odd sight, I wager. With the added numbers, including a solid bolstering of the poor, overworked healers, things are running much better in the fortress. Getting a good snooze into the tired and bedraggled defenders has done them a world of good as well. Thanks to this escapade, the fortress has a decent chance of not collapsing during the wave.

I mean, I could probably have held off the wave if I went all out, but I’m a limited resource. I can’t be everywhere at once! Maybe once upon a time, I would have tried to take all the burdens onto my own back and promptly messed everything up, but I’ve matured!

We’re ants, dammit! If we don’t grasp the concept of teamwork, then nobody on this planet does!

I was able to reach out to the tree without too much trouble, and she was loath to lend me her children at first, but I told her I absolutely didn’t want any of her freaky gardens popping up around the fortress, so she should just let the kids out to play.

After bickering back and forth for a while, she eventually caved, which I knew she would. For one, the bruan’chii are insistent on repaying the debt they owe to the Colony. The tree herself is weak to the pleading of her dear offspring, so she had no choice but to give in.

“Sloan, feeling well rested?” I ask.

The general jumps a foot in the air as I approach stealthily.

“I am! Y-yes. Thank you… Eldest… for noticing.”

“How could I not notice? You’re shining so bright!”

“Haha… ha.”

None of the other generals want to look in my direction, too ashamed to front up to my obvious taunting. Which is good. I draw a little closer to Sloan.

“You understand why I had to do what I did, right? I’ve warned you before about pushing too hard and asking too much. This fortress was on the brink of collapse right at the point the wave would shift to its most intense. I would have been able to save it, probably, but how many would have died? Ambition is good, but failure is not. This isn’t only on you and Victor, it’s the responsibility of the entire Council, and every ant working under you as well. If we don’t learn our limits, then we’re going to lose and lose big in the future.”

Despite sounding harsh, I’m being perfectly sincere and honest, which is exactly how my siblings want their criticism. She nods slowly, though I see it’s difficult for her.

“I… understand, Eldest. We will do better.”

“I hope so! I really don’t want to have to keep poking my antennae in and messing with everyone else’s business. You’re supposed to be so much better than me at running this stuff.”

Well, I have the advantage of being able to ‘see’ what every ant in the entire fortress is up to at any given moment. If Sloan had access to perfect information like that, she would have seen the problem just as fast as I did.

“I understand. You won’t be troubled in future, Eldest. I swear it.”

“Hey, you can trouble me as much as you want, we’re siblings after all. As long as it doesn’t involve the imminent collapse of a nest, you know, I’d prefer we avoid that.”

I turn to go, then turn back.

“But if a nest is going to collapse, please don’t hesitate to call on me, in the event that I don’t know about it already.”

“We will.”

“Good. Great. Good luck with the defence.”

Now I turn away and head off to give her and the other generals some space. They’ve got a lot of work to do to get the defence organised again. Some sort of handover with the bruan’chii will be necessary, I suspect.

In the meantime, I’ve got a little free time to try and work out just what the heck is going on in my Nave.

Sending my consciousness inside the organ, I sink within the cathedral I carry about, entering through the Vestibule along with the torrential flow of Will, until I rest among the rows of seats, each occupied by a spirit form of the person who has taken up residence here within me.

Beyn is here, obviously, along with the nameless ones, and Enid, and many others. To be honest, I haven’t even finished going through all the chairs because… I don’t know. It’s weird. Michaelangelant is probably in here actually, I should hunt down that darn sibling of mine…. She’s got something coming her way!

It’s a little disconcerting is all, to realise how much Will you’ve accumulated from an individual, or even that they’ve been giving it to you at all. If it were only ants here, I probably wouldn’t mind, but the humans being in here is weirding me out.

At any rate, the place was full, I knew that much from my last visit here. It was full, no seats left, and I haven’t mutated it to increase the available chairs. So, in theory, nobody else should be appearing in here.

So why oh why, are there two shining, golden figures standing along the wall?

From what I can see, it’s a young woman and one huge young man. This dude is built. He must be seven feet tall! Holy moly man, how are you affording shoes?

More importantly, what are they doing in here? In the Nave, glowing all golden, standing against the wall like soldiers standing guard?

Do I have to talk to them? I have to talk to them, don’t I?

The last time I did this, Beyn started some stupid crusade, the idiot. In fact, this probably has something to do with him, I’d bet my mandibles on it. Ah well, nothing for it.