//------------------------------// // The Curious Case of the Grub in the Hive // Story: Nanobots // by Borg //------------------------------// Once upon a time in Chrysalis’s new hive, a grub was hatched who was rather unique. It (for changelings do not earn a gender until adulthood) was quite affectionate towards Chrysalis, and would go to great lengths to get close to her, and then coo contentedly until she moved away. Normally Chrysalis would have killed such an oddity without a second thought to ensure she didn’t end up with another Thorax on her hooves, but this grub was also singularly vicious. On the very day it hatched, it killed four other grubs and wounded a nursery attendant worker that got between it and Chrysalis. For lack of a better word, Chrysalis was proud of this grub’s killer instinct, and she couldn’t bear to get rid of it. As the grub went through its childhood molts it grew ever more affectionate towards Chrysalis and ever more hostile towards everything else. Chrysalis was forced to separate the grub from the rest of the hive to avoid permanent injury to productive members of the hive, and she had to visit it every hour to give the walls of its room time to heal from the mindless rage it exhibited whenever she was away. It began impacting her ability to rule, but she was too blinded by visions of it brutally destroying her enemies to see that it was a liability. Eventually the grub entered its pupal stage, and even though this freed Chrysalis of the obligation to visit and calm it, she spent more time than ever in its room, watching over its metamorphosis. It is rare for changelings to die as pupae absent outside interference, but it is not unheard of, and she worried that her precious future warrior might be one of the rare cases. So day after day she sat beside the cocoon, monitoring for vital signs as best she could and waiting for the changeling within to emerge. She was dozing when the cocoon began to split, but the sound of the pupal covering cracking woke her. Eagerly she watched as the changeling within broke open an exit, and once the hole was large enough she reached in with both front legs to help it get out. But in this moment, she was so happy to see it that her legs shared their love and transformed, blowing her clear off of them. Despite her own injury, all she could think about was whether the explosion had hurt her favorite child. Laboriously, she crawled across the room to where the young changeling lay unmoving. As she drew near, it raised its head, and for a moment she was filled with relief; but then it hissed at her just as it used to hiss at the rest of the hive. Shocked, she put up a magic shield just as it attacked; it tried a few times to break through, but it couldn’t stand up to a queen’s magic. It hissed one last time in frustration, then grabbed the transformed legs, broke through an area where the wall had been weakened by the explosion, and flew away. Just before it disappeared into the distance, she thought she could hear it cooing. And from that day on, Chrysalis never again allowed herself to play favorites. The next time a grub impressed her she killed it on the spot, just to be sure.