Chapter 605 Back in Action (1/2)
When the itching finally fades away, Crinis peels herself off the walls and regroups back onto my carapace to reveal something I didn't expect to see. Protectant, her cover dropped without me having to drag her out of the shadows for once, stands right in front of me, in the centre of the room. Exposed to my senses, she wears a nervous air, as if the simple fact of been able to be seen makes her uncomfortable.
”Didn't expect to see you, Protectant. What's up?”
Her antennae twitch in surprise.
”The rest of the nest? The surface nest? The surface? About two hundred million tons of rock and soil? I don't understand the question, Eldest.”
Sometimes I forget the ants aren't up to speed with the lingo.
”I just mean to see what's up with you. I mean - forget it. Why are you out of cover? I a.s.sume you have something to say?”
”Where have you been?”
The question is more direct than I expected, but it's pretty much what I thought she'd say.
”Right here,” I'm still not going to bow down to these babysitters.
”We couldn't see you.”
”I know, that was the point of Operation Blackout.”
As I announce the name of my scheme I can see her antennae go crazy with barely suppressed excitement. These d.a.m.n security guards are as bad as the council. They love nothing better than a truly awful plan t.i.tle.
”Why did you need to hide from us?”
I can almost see her force her intrigue away in order to focus on the point at hand.
”Sometimes an Eldest needs a little privacy. You'll just have to deal with it.”
”It makes it hard for us to do fulfil our purpose.”
”What did you think was going to happen to me here in the nest? Forget it, you'll just need to cope. We're heading out to do some grinding deeper in the strata now. I want to make sure you and your team keep levelling and progressing your mutations. You can't protect me from anything if you're too weak.”
”We'll keep ten on you at all times,” she says sullenly.
They hate the idea of getting stronger for some reason.
”That's fine. The others should probably hunt in teams of five, or ten depending on the level of the opponents. Let's move.”
Tiny is the first to move, leaping to his feet from where he sat at the entrance to the chamber, his muscles bunching with excitement as he does his little gorilla boxing shuffle, throwing mini-punches into the air. The ape is pumped up and ready to fight. In fact, even Invidia has allowed his Ches.h.i.+re cat grin to appear. Seems like the whole crew is ready to rumble.