“Look, I said I’m sorry.”

“Don’t talk to me.”

“You’re being silly.”

“Oh am I? The traitor doesn’t like my attitude to their betrayal? I find myself not caring very much. Weird.”

At the word traitor, Cobalt flinched back but her determination didn’t waver.

“They were going to build all over the place even if one of us wasn’t involved!” she declared, antennae waving wildly. “Someone had to get involved to make sure there wasn’t any damage to the overall design!”

“That’s fine! I’m not worried about that! I assume they approached you a long time ago, probably when we were building in the second stratum?” she made it a question and Cobalt nodded. “And you’re right, someone did need to make sure the integrity of our projects wasn’t compromised, I’m not upset about that.”

Cobalt made an odd figure. She still lay in the ant ‘bed’ tucked in under a rest-promoting enchanted blanket with a soft plushie resting under one leg. Interestingly, it didn’t appear to be the one of the Eldest which Cobalt had seen most often, but rather of the guardian, Tiny. Clearly they had decided to branch out with their plushie range.

Despite her gleaming carapace, impeccably brushed antennae and alert eyes, Tungstant looked anything but relaxed. She was irritated, and worse than that, quite hurt by the behaviour of her sibling.

Cobalt squirmed a little. She’d hoped, naively, that this day would never come. Of course Tungstant would figure out what they’d been up to. It had only ever been a matter of time.

“Then what are you upset about?” she demanded.

Tungstant kicked off her blanket, eyes blazing with outrage. She maintained her grip on the plushie.

“I’m upset that you kept it from me! Why wouldn’t we do this together, just like we do everything else!?”

Her compound eyes glared a thousand times at her sister, who ducked her head in shame.

“I… I thought you wouldn’t… want our work compromised like this. If I took the burden on myself, then you wouldn’t have to worry about it.”

Tungstant swished her antennae dismissively.

“That’s nonsense,” she declared. “If we worked on the adjustments together, then it would still be our work. That is why I’m angry.”

Understanding where her sibling was coming from, Cobalt could only apologise once more.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kept this from you.”

The other carver leaned back into her bed and pulled her blanket up once more.

“As long as you understand,” she huffed. “Now go away. I’m supposed to relax for another hour and you have a lot of work to do.”

“Alright, I will. I’ll see you when you come out?” she asked hopefully.

“Maybe….” came the reply.

It would have to do. Cobalt turned to leave, exiting the chamber and into the pure dark corridors that they preferred to move in. She felt better that she’d been able to mend the bridge at least a little with her sibling. They did all their major projects together, and working with Tungstant was the highlight of Cobalt’s day. The thought that it wouldn’t happen anymore after this… betrayal, had been terrifying.

She received a few greetings from them as she moved through the tunnels but she didn’t return them. Rather than a fully fledged member of the organisation, she’d been an unwilling collaborator at best. From now on, Tungstant likely would be as well.

They wouldn’t mind. In fact, they’d be delighted to have both of them working on the modifications together. Despite everything, Cobalt believed wholeheartedly that they had the best interests of the Colony at heart.

Even if they were… terrifying.

Emerging into the normal sections of the nest, she shook off her negative mindset as best she could and marched back towards the design headquarters. Mana thrummed through the air, rising in density every hour, and the wave would break sooner rather than later.

They had to be ready.

An overwhelming wall of scent buffeted her antennae the moment she stepped into the chamber.

“Cobalt! We need your advice on the south gate mechanism.…”

“The digging teams….”

“Construction delays….”

“Materials shortages are making….”

“Spawns in the tunnels….”

“Steel reinforcement….”

“Dungeon vein removal….”

A cacophony of scents washed over her like a wave. Any normal ant would be left gasping by the onslaught, but she was used to such things. After a second to think, she was in amongst them.

“I’ll meet you by the schematics in five minutes, go.”

“Have the digging coordinator report to me as soon as possible.”

“Don’t talk to me about delays, talk to me about the causes for delays.”

“Get in touch with our suppliers in the third stratum and have them provide an inventory. Our knowledge of available stock is out of date.”

“Increase the soldier patrols, I want them at least doubled. Speak to Advant.”

“Have you consulted our manuals for the steel technique? Don’t ask me a question you can get from the plans. Or else.”

“Dedicated teams are performing that work. If they’re behind, ask them why and then let me know.”

Calm and collected, she moved through the crowd, giving direction, advice, technical expertise, and often sent them scurrying for more information. She met with group after group, using their diagrams and technical drawings to explain issue after issue, detail after detail, until each representative understood well enough to take what she had said back to their teams. Once one group was dealt with, another three arrived, and so she was quickly drawn into the never ending cycle that always formed when working on these big construction jobs.

She hoped Tungstant was resting well… she’d likely need a stint with them after another few days.

It didn’t take long to fall into the groove, problems finding solutions over and over again as the grand design continued to take shape. She was deeply in discussion with a carver over the engineering involved in their retractable drawbridge project when someone shook her rudely.

“What the heck?” she turned to see a breathless scout with a claw still on her carapace.

“Report from the lower tunnels,” she said, “heat signatures have been detected growing in the walls. The wave will start in just a few hours!”

Cobalt stood stunned for only a second before she snapped to action.

“Have the other council members been notified?”

“Yes!”

“I need you to escort my runners to the dig teams. They need to be out of the lower tunnels in ten minutes. Go.”

She got a quick salute and then the scout was gone, vanishing with her enhanced movement and speed-related skills. Cobalt turned to her own advisors.

“Change in priorities,” she said, “with the wave breaking, we have to ensure the central ring is as secure as possible. I want every available set of mandibles working with the vein removal teams. Once that task is done, we switch antpower to securing gates and wall reinforcement. Every other project is dropped as of this second.”

She glared.

“That means no carvings, engravings or statues. If I find Michaelangelant out there scratching at something, I’ll have her thrown out of the fortress myself. That includes any of her disciples.”

Deep below them, they could feel a vibration building, like a tidal wave rising from the centre of the Dungeon. Soon, it would break and crash into them. They’d either be washed away in an instant or hold their ground.

She would always bet on her family.