"Irrkh!" (E)

I feel extremely strained when this new day starts.

(E)

(S)

(E)

(S)

(E)

This makes me really anxious.

I fear that the amount that comes will increase and I more and more turn into an egg-laying machine.

(S)

This... is disturbing.

It implies that I truly have now permanently to lay more.

On the other hand, it implies that I settled down on this amount and don't have to fear a further increase.

This is if I am now completely adjusted.

Yet, it feels still so wrong to me.

This means, in terms of getting used to it there is some space.

So... I shouldn't get used to it, to keep my load low.

I get up and Suki starts something like a morning cleaning.

It isn't unpleasant, since she is very attentive and does it in a soft, massaging way.

Do nobles feel like that with their maids?

(E)

(S)

It really feels strange to call them my brood.

I don't feel connected at all.

It is just so distant that such creatures shall originate from me.

Yet, Liseti didn't seem to care that much for them as well.

So maybe this is normal?

Not having any motherly feels?

I wouldn't even know how to handle them as huge they already are piling up!

Around two-hundred now?

And they all are insects!

And I am considered one too it seems.

(E)

(S)

(E)

(S)

(E)

(S)

(E)

I settle down and Suki brings some kind of breakfast of the usual contents.

I miss some variety in my diet.

This might even be the kind of thing my family could help me with.

I give them some goods I can get here and they grant me a part of their harvest in exchange.

Like this, it would feel less like some dependency from me and more like a mutual relationship.

As long it doesn't end up as some kind of sacrificial cult to calm "those below".

I'm just making things up, yet all things considered, it isn't too farfetched.

After a while, Kyska finally returns.

(E)

(K)

(E)

(K)

(E)

(K)

Well, that is some confidence.

If she wants to I'll let her.

And I will try myself too.

At least this will keep me occupied down here.

Still, I'm a bit worried about the hunters running free on the surface.

That sounds like the recipe for disaster.

(E)

(K)

That sounds a bit more assuring if only a bit as I don't completely trust the ability of hunters to assess a situation.

However, as none of these things are here, I am getting a bit bored.

This is until...

(?)

Like this, it suddenly yells from the courtyard.

(E)

(K)

It's not like I need to be here for now, but just following an ominous character is somehow a problem.

(E)

(S)

Okay, it seems I have to go.

So I venture out and see this messenger.

It is one of these winged escorts I've seen her following last time.

It looks rather sturdy and battle-proven.

There are even some scars on the carapace.

The upper claws are ending sharp and the arms have some kind of blades at the sides.

It seems messengers have here to be quite tough.

(messenger)

(E)

(messenger)

So he guides us out of the courtyard.

Kyska accompanies me while Suki stays at my place.

Again an escort forms kind of automatic behind me.

This messenger has a fast pace and always gives an impression as if he would inconveniently have to wait for me.

(E)

(messenger)

God, has this insect good ears.

It leads us to a cliff.

(messenger)

(K)

(messenger)

Making me fly like this!?

Is he sane?

This decent is stupidly deep.

I can barely lift from the ground without losing control.

And this is an overstatement.

We are heading to the higher floors and in the end, traverse a bridge to the pillar in the middle.

It really sounds fantastic.

Such a place built by these creatures.

With the sole purpose to amass knowledge.

It is proof that they have a culture and are more than just primitive insects.

Yet when I arrive there is nothing remarkable about it.

This is just one of those structures made of earth, completely coated in this strange insect applicant which makes it harder and enables them to build these vast structures.

(messenger)

This insect urges us and we go in there.

Inside I am first in a great hall.

While the color is the same as all the other built things it has in its domed shape some kind of atmosphere.

The moment I enter, I notice an insect to the side which looks, unlike all the others I have seen until now.

It features eight appendages, doesn't look sturdy, and while its build is bulky the upper claws look tender, rather soft, and overall it makes no dangerous impression.

If anything it looks weird.

Like being too big to carry itself.

Also, the head seems a bit too large in comparison to these skinny arms.

(weird insect)

(E)

(creepy insect)

(E)

(disturbing insect)

(E)

(scary insect)

(E)

(frightening insect)

I don't know anymore what I can say.

I am completely appalled how this creature is able to speak in such an objective way about something like this.

About how my humanity was completely peeled away from me.

(messenger)

He is right.

So this was a scholar.

One of the knowledgeable in this hive, who exist to oversee the gathered information to assist a princess if the need would arise, according to Kyska's explanation.

I move further inside.

Eventually, I find Liseti in a rather large room, filled with many for me not identifiable objects, pots, plates, and such.

(L)

(E)

(L)

(E)

(L)

(E)

(L)

I can see her point and it might be beneficial to have a little help.

(L)

(E)

Is she for real?

Just giving me fifty soldiers for my use?

Fifty-one that is, with Skiras.

Okay, I've got all these workers and nurses before to build my home.

But that they are distributed like this?

(L)

She is right.

This is better.

Kyska would never let me out without an escort.

And I can't really walk through the streets with an envelope of workers and guardians.

This is basically screaming bloodshed.

(L)

She leads me in this spacious room to something like a giant table with something on it.

And this looks... strange.

It is a strange structure.

Gigantic!

A mass of extending hardened branches in all directions, some accumulations, and elongating lines spreading everywhere, filling a large part of the room.

Maybe some strange piece of art?

(L)

(E)

(L)

She points at the highest point of this thing.

(L)

(E)

(L)

It's understandable.

It just got cramped here, yet ultimately they only need the underground to survive.

(L)

She points at another branch on the top, a bit away from the last one.

Wait!

We?

(E)

(L)

This isn't the worst idea.

Hysteria is a trait that comes if people can too long make their own conclusions and gather so that they drive each other into a frenzy.

(E)

(L)

She is really a schemer, even if she doesn't lie.

(E)

(L)

(E)

(L)

Over six-hundred years?!

(E)

(L)

(E)

She blinks.

Second eyelids.

This might be the first time I see her surprised.

(L)

(E)

I would have liked to whisper that last part but with those pheromones, it wouldn't matter.

(L)

(E)

(L)

She points a little below the branch at a little accumulation which represents open space.

(E)

(L)

(E)

(L)

(E)

(L)

Says the one whose blades inspire "terror" in its targets.

(L)

She hands me some kind of earthen plates she had close to this table.

They are folded together in the middle and sealed with a minuscule amount of the applicant.

(E)

(L)

I open the plates and notice that there are rough depictions.

Not unskilled, yet also no outrageous pieces of art.

They show those insects, all variants.

Many of them.

And on some, they fight.

I ask myself what she meant with breathing in, but then some scent is drifting in my nose.

The next moment, the pictures seem to shift, move and the already cryptic visible story becomes vivid.

I see gatherings, dispute, creatures like the queen I've only seen once.

They separate and each of them assembles to different places in the great underground system.

Each creating their own kingdom, shown in a simple depiction of this formerly seen world map.

Yet soon their numbers grow and they want more than the already inhabited land, or rather underworld.

As digging it out requires time, the simpler solution is to just drive away those who are at other places.

On that groundwork, a largescale conflict begins.

I see countless numbers of corpses as if they are directly in front of me.

Smell, decay, and sadness seem innate to the depicting picture.

To all these depictions it is as if I stand directly there and feel the atmosphere of the moment.

The war goes on.

Many of the queens and their respective swarms are already no more.

But while most of these swarms are growing exhausted, one grows stronger.

The secret?

While all the other swarms simply kill "the others", this one concentrates on two objectives.

The first: Kill the queen.

After that, the command structures of the opposing forces fall into disarray.

Yet it doesn't end there.

This queen is not finishing off these forces to gain territory.

She takes the princesses.

With the princesses, she can gain control over all the remaining troops and secure that new soldiers are filling her own ranks.

While casualties aren't completely avoidable, it is far more lasting than the strategy of the others.

As they cannot properly work together they fall victim to this one greatest force.

Others adapt, and in the end, four major forces remain.

Grown too large and properly securing their princesses the fights come to a stalemate.

The causalities grow, without anything of value gained.

Thus a treaty is agreed upon.

The forces decide to end the fights, retreat their armies, and agree on mandatory borders.

They also decide to destroy the fourth faction, which was located in the center and distribute the remains among each other.

Like this, the millennia-long conflict comes to an end.

The former war factions settle down and rebuild their base.

But no one can argue that the great swarm who first began to capture princesses won this conflict.

This one swarm is now in control over an unbelievable wide area in the underground, has the most princesses, and a powerful inner structure.

Our swarm.

Soon the numbers grow again, but this time under one will.

And so they expand controlled and the numbers are regulated.

The creation of new queens is forbidden.

This is part of the treaty.

Since that time only this one queen reigns over her swarm.

The very one that stung me.

(L)

(E)

(L)

(E)

(L)

So she says they would try to spare the civilians and aim for the heads.

I should make realistic assumptions.

They are a completely different species.

Naturally, humans will fear them.

And also naturally there will be some who will be hostile.

Especially the uppers who fear losing what they have might choose to attack them.

Conflicts may occur, but as much I want to prevent this, it is assuring that the insects aren't aiming for extinction.

That is soothing, as they at least won't be the hostile party.

(L)

(E)

(L)

In truth, this is what I wish for.

The chance to see my family.

I'm already deeply worried and don't know if they have a chance in this town.

Had they even time to take anything with them?

The sooner I am there, the sooner I can do something.

Yet I wanted to delay it until I can even provide anything for them.

I still don't know if these mushrooms are poisonous for humans, but since we are making fire, I could serve them meat.

And Kyska said we would gather other things like that.

By now I could maybe keep them alive and so it's opportune to depart now.

If not for the part that I am really anxious to meet them.

(E)

(L)

"I think I can manage.> (E)

(L)

(E)

(L)

(E)

(L)

(E)

(L)

What!?

My eyes are what?!

I directly touch there in my panic.

(L)

This revelation hit me, yet with my new eyelids, I was already out of the ordinary in this area.

Hey!

New eyelids!

(E)

(L)

(E)

I only close them partly and make sure the middle stays free.

(L)

It feels a little weird.

Nonetheless, I believe to can maintain this state.

(E)

(L)

(E)

(L)

(E)

Formicea!> (L)

A name.

This is giving me something to relate to.

It sounds foreign, but I guess "human" would also be unusual if one isn't used to it.

(L)

(E)

(L)

As we are done here I go out again and head back home.

However, accompanying me is the messenger that led me here.

(E)

(Skiras)

The way back is without incidents, since all the swarm entities are giving way, while at the same time they ensure that nothing foreign enters the hive alive.

Kyska seems a little bit uneasy that I will soon set out.

But she remains silent as she would otherwise oppose a princess' order.

Things just start to get weird when I come back to my courtyard.

(E)

On the courtyard stand lined up fifty creatures that are similar to Skiras.

Yet maybe slightly weaker.

They look as if they would wait for a command.

(E)

(Sk)

Ah, yes, there was something.

But that I now have an army.

(E)

There is quite some stirring in the ranks at my words.

(Sk)

Urrgh, so I have to find a balance to make sure that no one gets sliced down by these flying blades.

As I don't feel like arguing with this kind of determination, I went inside.

There Suki is already waiting.

(S)

(E)

(S)

(E)

(S)

(E)

(S)

(E)

I walk in and she directs my attention to the table.

It is full.

The table is bursting with all kinds of vessels filled with different ingredients.

Different kinds of berries, corn, plants, and even vegetables.

And at the end of the table, I notice...

burned flesh!

(E)

(S)

(E)

(S)

(E)

(S)

(E)

I go to the berries and take some.

They are sweet, but most of them have the sour-bitter taste of being plucked too soon.

The corn reminds me of bread and like this has a calming effect of normality.

The vegetables are fine too.

And the meat?

Tastes well!

It wasn't perfectly roasted, even burned to quite a degree.

But the animal must be edible.

(E)

(K)

I dig in and maybe come close to overeating by the end.

It was really nice to have this.

My stomach feels full and I feel serene.

I mean I'm nearly bursting, as I feel the pressure and...

Oh no!

"Plop"

(K)

Why does this always happen to dim my day?

"Plop, plop"

Sure, because it has to happen every day!

"Plop, plop"

There is no helping it and by now I think I can take the stress, even as disgusted I am of myself.

"Plop, plop, plop"

(K)

Kyska directs my concentration to her so that I can ignore what happens down there.

It really helps a bit.

Nonetheless, I feel dejected.

It takes quite long but then eventually ends.

(S)

I really don't want flattery for this.

The only plus is my stomach doesn't hurt anymore.

(E)

(K)

I prepare myself to sleep soon but spend the rest of the day talking with those two in human language until I am satisfied with the quotes I believe I will need to say when I arrive.

I want to be prepared for anything that might come.

In the end, I manage to solve this vexing problem with the "E" and like this can go untroubled to sleep.