The larvae thrived under Arik's care, their glossy exoskeletons a testament to his Broodkeeper title.
The tunnels hummed with the ceaseless labor of the colony, but Arik saw what others could not: weakness. Tunnel Alpha-3, the main artery to the surface, bore a jagged fissure from a recent rockslide. Workers patched it mindlessly with saliva-soaked dirt, their movements dictated by the queen's pheromones. Weak. Temporary.
Arik's Environmental Scan flickered to life, its golden script overlaying his vision:
[Structural Integrity: 23%.]
[Critical Materials:
- Volcanic Ash (Binding Agent): 5 meters east, Chamber Gamma-4.
- Crushed Quartz (Reflective Deterrent): Fungal Garden 7, scattered beneath fungal stalks.
- Aphid Honeydew (Adhesive): Requires harvest from Milkweed Cluster Delta.]
[Karma: 60/100.]
[New Trial: "Fortify the Hive."]
[Reinforce 3 critical tunnels with reinforced silk and soil.]
[Reward: Karma +30 | Unlock "Silk Gland Mutation I."]
The system's logic was cold but precise. Arik pulsed the Scent of Unity, a citrus-iron pheromone blend he'd refined through trial and error. Early attempts had backfired—once accidentally triggering a worker stampede—but now, the scent carried subtle authority. Workers stiffened, antennae twitching toward him.
Follow.
The Honeydew Gambit: Pheromone Mimicry
Milkweed Cluster Delta loomed ahead, its thorny vines guarding plump aphids. Ladybug larvae patrolled the stalks, their jagged legs carving grooves in the bark. Arik's damaged leg throbbed, but his mind raced.
How to calm the aphids?
Weeks earlier, he'd observed nurse ants emitting a milky pheromone to soothe larvae. Could he replicate it? He focused, his silk glands tingling as he synthesized a new scent—sweet, lactic, harmless.
[Improvised Pheromone: "Calm Prey" (Success Rate: 62%).]
The aphids' antennae stilled. Workers swarmed, harvesting honeydew droplets.
[Honeydew Collected: 8/10.]
Then—a tremor.
A trapdoor spider, camouflaged as bark, lunged. Arik's Environmental Scan flashed:
[Tier 2 Predator: Weakness – Frontal Blind Spot.]
He dodged, but the spider's leg grazed his thorax. Think.
Spiders track vibration. Arik slammed his damaged leg against the milkweed stalk, releasing bitter latex. The spider recoiled, repelled by the toxin.
[Improvised Defense: Karma +5.]
[Karma: 60 → 65.]
The surviving workers retreated, honeydew secured.
The Queen's Interference
Tunnel Alpha-3's walls now glittered with quartz-studded silk, a predator's nightmare. But as Arik moved to Beta-9, the queen's pheromones spiked—a deafening EXPAND SOUTH TUNNEL. Workers froze, torn between directives.
[System Alert: Colony Directive Conflict.]
[Override with "Legion's Pulse" (Cost: 15 Karma).]
Arik hesitated. Overriding the queen risked destabilizing the hive's chemical balance. But Beta-9's collapse would doom the western brood chambers.
He spent the karma.
[Karma: 65 → 50.]
[Legion's Pulse Activated: 10 ants redirected for 5 minutes.]
The workers resumed, layering silk as the queen's pheromones faded to a murmur.
[Tunnel Reinforced: 3/3.]
[Trial Complete: Karma +30.]
[Karma: 50 → 80.]
[Reward: Silk Gland Mutation I Unlocked.]
Arik's thorax itched as glands swelled beneath his exoskeleton. He tested them, secreting a strand of silk—strong enough to suspend a pebble.
The Silent Plague: Unmasking Cordyceps
At dusk, Arik's Environmental Scan pinged:
[Brood Chamber 5: Anomaly Detected.]
The larva writhed, its underside mottled with black veins. Cordyceps.
How?
Arik traced the infection's origin using the scan's pathogen-tracing function:
[Infection Pathway: Contaminated soil from South Tunnel Expansion.]
[Pathogen: Cordyceps militaris (Zombie Fungus).]
[Spore Release in: 12 hours.]
The queen's mindless expansion had breached a fungal nest. Workers, oblivious, hauled tainted soil into the brood chambers.
Arik isolated the larva, sterilizing the chamber with formic acid. But spores lingered.
Airflow.
He redesigned ventilation shafts, using silk to filter spores. Workers, guided by his Scent of Unity, harvested thyme leaves—their natural oils toxic to fungi.
[Antifungal Protocol Established: Karma +20.]
[Karma: 80 → 100.]
Evolution: The Birth of a Soldier
The chamber trembled as golden light engulfed Arik.
[Karma Threshold Reached.]
[Evolution Initiated.]
His exoskeleton split, the crooked leg dissolving into black sludge. New limbs erupted—thick, jet-black, edged with serrated spines. Mandibles reforged into crescent blades, dripping paralytic venom.
[New Form: Soldier Ant (Tier 1).]
[Abilities Unlocked:]
Venom Glands: Paralyze foes for 1 hour (3 uses/day).
Burrow Charge: Shatter stone with kinetic headbutts.
Workers bowed, their pheromones trembling with primal awe.
Dominance.