My eyes come into focus, and I see a towering creature above me.

HUH?

I back away, and it brings a hand down to stop me.

"I'm glad that worked," it says. "All of the other experiments exploded. Or worse..."

He is so large I can't see his expression. My eyesight is not that good. Using my antennae, I try to find an escape in the ground. Surely there is a way to get away from him.

A blast of pain goes through me. I can't remember the last time I hurt this badly.

"Oy, calm down there. I can't have you dying now."

A splash of cold liquid covers me, and the pain fades.

"It looks like your body is still adjusting. Well, that makes sense. Again, you probably should have exploded."

My head aches, and my mandibles hurt. His thundering voice hurts to listen to. I didn't know that was possible. I try to tell him to be quieter.

[Please... quiet down.]

He laughs. "You can talk? Well, sort of. It felt more like telepathy."

Telepathy? What is telepathy? He talks of experiments and exploding, and I don't know any of it. I still can't even see what he is.

"Okay, so you seem a little confused. How about this - I will let you ask three questions."

Three questions. It seems reasonable.

What does three mean, though?

"Right. You don't have an education. All right - look, just ask away."

My question comes quickly.

[What happened? Why are my thoughts so sharp?]

"Easy answer. I fed you a drop of my essence."

[What does that mean?]

"It means that I pricked myself, and gave you the resulting drop."

[Why would it have such an effect on me?]

"Because I am most certainly the most powerful creature in the universe."

I am quiet for a moment. That certainly sounds dangerous, despite not knowing what 'universe' means.

[What are you?]

He laughs again. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that right now. But you can take a look if you want."

The ground underneath me lifts, even though his arms are crossed. It appears he doesn't need to touch things to lift them. As I come closer, I see his face and am a bit disappointed.

[You're a human?]

The queen ant of the hill I belong to shared images of mountainous creatures called humans. They were clever, but not very strong in the forest. A wolf could defeat one easily. If my abilities could be improved so much from a drop of blood, I must have been truly weak indeed.

He shakes his head. "No, I only look like one because it's convenient. It's more accurate to say I'm a Cosmic."

I shiver. The word is loaded with power, and even the trees around us seem to lean away.

"Anyway, I expect you to get very powerful. I'd be sorely disappointed if you didn't."

[Powerful? I'm an ant!]

"Really."

He sets me down and walks away.

[Wait! Why did you change me? What am I supposed to do?]

But he's already gone.