Antelligent Design

94. All Revved up and…

It feels good to be charged up and not on the verge of a horrible death. Woo!

Thankfully, we’re able to make it to the discreet Dungeon entrance the colony prepared close to the forward HQ without too much Mana leaking out of our cores. Using my sub-minds, I turn the External Mana Manipulation up to eleven and drag the Mana down into all three of our cores with some success.

It certainly helps to Level the Skill, if nothing else. Shifting Mana in three different directions is a heck of a lot harder than just pulling it in one, putting extra strain on my sub-brains. They’re fairly cooked by the time we reach the Dungeon and I’m happy to let them recover in peace.

Not now though, now we’re back in the game!

Even better, I take my chance in the Dungeon whilst the wave is still ongoing and chomp through the spawned monsters while waiting for my core to refill. I don’t get a heap of Biomass, but I get enough to give me a nice stockpile to work with! Good thing too. I don’t think I could possibly eat any more…

I digest fast but not quite that fast, even with the upgrades.

Ready to roll, the three of us make our way topside and to the forward HQ—the planning centre of this opening stage of the war effort. I leave Tiny and Crinis on the surface and plunge into the dark chambers packed with ants of all varieties rushing in every direction, zooming at my face and then climbing straight over me as I try to get my bearings, waggling my antennae about to pick up the scent trails I need.

It’s interesting—almost frightening—at how quickly the ants are learning and adapting to new situations. As a species, we Formica Sapiens have never faced a threat like this. Heck, most members of the colony are only a few weeks old! But somehow, under the pressure of this existential crisis, the ants are pouring all of their energy, concentration and newfound mental power into absorbing everything they can.

It’s strange to sit in a room with ant monsters and listen to them propose ideas, debate, look for solutions, weigh risks. I suppose it’s only now that I’m starting to realise that even I underestimated what a difference making the colony more intelligent would cause.

Speaking of arguing ants, I find the planning chamber and the members of the council inside, along with Vibrant, already arguing over the next steps. It doesn’t take long to work out what the main issue is.

“We don’t need them,” Victor says flatly.

“I lost dozens of scouts in the last attack. I’m not going to sit on my abdomen and pretend this threat is less dangerous than it is. We must secure their assistance!” Wills spits back.

Victor twitches, visibly angered by the statement.

“I do not underestimate the threat, Wills! You should know better than anyone—” she begins to defend herself.

“Whoa now,” I break in. “I think this might be the first time I’ve ever heard any of you siblings argue with each other.”

I speak in a quiet and calm way as I crawl into the chamber. Regardless, each member of the council freezes, whether they’d been arguing or not. Seems I’d been right after all. It’s not only Wills that possesses a deep-seated fear of their teacher.

Sheesh! I’d been so nice to them when I raised them! Maybe a few thwacks will straighten them out…

The healer, Mendant, speaks first.

“Eldest, welcome back. I am pleased to see you have recovered fully from your efforts.”

Her voice is as calm and soothing as always, but I can’t help detecting a slight wobble to her antennae that betrays her nervousness.

I nod an acknowledgement to her greeting as I continue to step forward until I place myself between Victor and Wills, both of whom step back slightly.

“Now, whilst it’s nice to see some passion from the leaders of the colony,” I say mildly, “and dissenting opinions are an important part of effective decision making, let’s see if we can take a little heat out of the discussion. What’s got everyone so worked up?”

It’s certainly interesting to see this kind of conflict between the members of the council. So far, they’ve been able to reach a consensus in a peaceful manner every time. It seems that emotion is beginning to play a larger part in their thinking, which could change things dramatically. Not necessarily in a bad way, either.

“It’s humans!” Vibrant chirps. “They’ve offered to help us whittle down the horde.”

Hmm.

This is interesting. Wills, upset at the loss of her scouts, wants to bring the humans in to help in order to prevent further losses, whilst Victor doesn’t agree. Perhaps she doesn’t want to increase the number of unknown variables at play as we move into a critical stage of the battles.

It’s odd to see one of the twenty be so emotional about the loss of ant life. It’s a little cold to say it, but they are usually very callous about that sort of thing. It’s somewhat different to see ants taking on such human characteristics. Perhaps when each member of the colony is a barely thinking drone, it’s no real loss when one dies. Having developed minds and personalities, voices and ambitions, it’s becoming harder to think they don’t matter.

I can also understand what Victor is concerned about. The Ka’armodo have begun to respond to our incursions. This means things will be riskier from now on. I’ve no doubt that the trick we used in the last battle will no longer be effective, some sort of workaround having been implemented to prevent such fruitless waste. This means we need to continue to adapt and try new tactics without knowing what could be coming back our way.

Adding in extra risk factors was just a recipe for disaster…

“It’s going to be risky no matter what we do,” I muse out loud.

Wills stirs. “Exactly! More options can’t be a bad thing.”

I turn on her.

“That doesn’t mean risks shouldn’t be managed. If things aren’t properly thought through, it will be a heck of a lot more than a few dozen sisters, we end up losing.”

I stare her down and she steps back from me.

“That was my point,” Victor chimes in. “There is just too much risk in bringing a force we don’t control to battle.”

I turn around to face her.

“Risks can be controlled and mitigated. There just has to be a will to get it done.”

I stare her down in turn, forcing the general to back off.

I sigh.

“Things are getting heated, and I understand we’re all under the pump here, but you need to be able to keep emotion off the table and deal with problems as they pop up. The colony depends on you for guidance. You are ant leaders. Make sure you act like it.”

Very nice. Dignified, controlled and powerful.

“Wow-wow, senior! I’ve never heard you talk like that before!” Vibrant gasps.

Dammit, Vibrant! Give me my moment!

The two ants, who only moments ago were arguing, begin to vigorously groom themselves in an effort to calm their minds. When she finishes, Victor speaks.

“You’re suggesting we accept help from the humans?”

“Yes, but in a way that will allow us to control the risk to our efforts.”

“How are you going to do that?” Wills breaks in.

I shrug my antennae.

“Simple. I’ll go work with them and we’ll form a separate team that works independently. What could go wrong?”