Antvance into the Unknown

119. What Goes on Above, Part 2

The nest was ablaze with activity, far more than usual. Since the start of the previous wave, the Colony moved as if a fire were lit beneath it, one put there by the Eldest member of their family. The race to expand and grow before their enemies returned to challenge them had begun, and the ants refused to lose. Already, four new nests had been established and the Queens installed.

Despite those new satellite nests not even being fully complete, plans for the next round of expansion was already underway. After long discussions and planning sessions between the Queens, carvers, scouts, and soldiers, it had been determined that the current design of the Colony’s territory should be replicated in a new area.

This was to become the template for the Colony’s expansion. A central, heavily fortified main nest, with smaller satellite nests established around the periphery, all enclosed in defended checkpoints that created a bubble of security. It was their hope that each main nest would contain a gate to allow rapid travel between all of the Colony’s territory. This blueprint had been accepted by the Council, and within a day, advance scout teams were sent to traverse the dangerous tunnels to seek out appropriate sites for this next wave of expansion, this new phase of the Colony’s growth.

It was all happening so fast that it was becoming absurdly difficult to keep track of it all. Coolant had done her best to make sure things were being done as efficiently as possible, but with so many ants working in so many places, it was almost impossible to be aware of everything that was happening at once.

Hence the construction of the Antministratum.

It was with a certain sense of satisfaction that Coolant looked out over the open area at the rows of ants working diligently at their stations. Since the creation of ant writing, it had only been a matter of time before they developed the next step of this valuable technique: ant filing!

“How goes it?” came a scent from behind her.

The mage turned to see Bella standing behind her, the core shaper a key partner in making this central filing system a reality.

“As you can see,” Coolant said with satisfaction, “the work has begun in earnest.”

There were a hundred ants located here, each one analysing the many slates of work reports that were being ferried in by the numerous pets assigned to the task by the core shaper caste. They were perfect for the role, since one ant with many pets could ferry the records for a wide area. There were already observers watching and recording all of the work that had been going on within the Colony, it was just a natural step to have that data collected and collated in a central location.

Not that it had been easy to pull off.

“You really think this is going to lead to an increase in efficiency in the workforce?” Bella sounded doubtful.

“If you didn’t think so, why did you agree to help with this project?” Coolant was irritated.

“It’s pretty rare that we core shapers get invited to help with the things you all have going on. If we can provide value and prove our worth in this task, then perhaps the others will be amenable to reaching out for our help.”

It was a little irritating for Coolant to hear that her sister had committed so much time and energy to a task she didn’t even necessarily believe in, but she yielded her point. The core shapers weren’t relied on as much as they should be by the others, even when they could provide a ton of value, such as with the Antministratum.

“You’ll see, this is going to pay dividends for the Colony in no time flat. These workers here have their antennae on the core of the Colony. They know more about every movement of our family members than anyone else. If it’s possible to find places where optimisations can be made, they’ll be the ones to do it.”

The records poured in, and the flustered workers raced about the wide chamber with ruthless efficiency as stacks of slates were piled in their workspaces. Antennae waggled furiously as they read and processed the information, making their own summary records and collating the data at an incredible pace. The old slates were sent for filing whilst the new ones were gathered and examined by a separate team, who compared the work being done about the Colony to the work notices posted for their siblings to fill.

Any difference, whether too much labour allocated to one particular task, or not enough to another, was noted and sent up the flagpole until clear, concise data of inefficiencies could be seen.

“There! You see this?” Coolant proudly displayed the fruit of all this labour to her sister. “This is concrete evidence of wasted effort! With our help, this kind of waste can be eliminated from the Colony altogether, increasing the amount of work we get done as a collective.”

“Yes, but there is a great deal of labour going into making that report,” Bella pointed out. “This is only a worthwhile exercise if the efficiency you gain is greater than the time lost spent gathering all this information.”

Coolant froze.

“That’s… true.”

“And besides that, how exactly is the Antministratum going to enforce these efficiency gains?”

“Enforce?” Coolant was taken aback. “I don’t foresee they’ll enforce anything. No, they’ll make recommendations to help our siblings make more efficient choices, or they’ll have some input into the posting of work notices so the allocation of the workforce is more accurate.”

“You see them as an advisory body?”

“Y-yes.”

The core shaper thought for a moment.

“I suppose that makes sense. So where exactly are we using an excess of labour? Which area appears to be the most wasteful?”

Interested in the answer herself, the Council member began perusing the slate in front of her with an antenna, picking up the imprinted scent line by line.

“So?” Bella asked since her mage sibling hadn’t said anything.

“The Antministratum…” Coolant groaned.

Bella laughed.

However, after the kinks in the process had been ironed out, Coolant’s pet project was able to show its worth and assist the Colony in achieving an even more ridiculous level of efficiency.