Formicea

Kyska's diary

(from the pheromone pots of the chamber of knowledge)

It happened!
It truly happened!
I was just assigned to a new position!
From today on I won't tend to the brood anymore.
It makes me a little sad to leave the little ones like this.
It might not be too deep of a bond, but certainly, there was a connection while I helped to raise the larvae.

Yet instead...
I am going to serve a princess as her personal nurse!!!
No greater honor could exist for a nurse like me!

One could even say it is the most important occupation that exists within the swarm!
It doesn't matter how many fiends a guardian slays, how great the efforts of a single worker are, how fast a messenger pursues his tasks, or how grand the knowledge a scholar accumulates becomes.
This all pales against the importance of a single princess!
The countless offspring she will bring into existence are ultimately the absolute center the swarm is built on.
These blessings of life are the greatest acts to contribute to the whole.
And like this, those of a nurse who is responsible for her health.

Yet it's a little strange.
I didn't know about a newly created princess.
Our numbers are stable and perfectly balanced with the amount of food we harvest.
And for some reason, the scholars are involved here.
It seems the order for my assignment came from them.
However, the scholars are the direct subordinates of the queen.
And that means the order came from her.
I'm not supposed to have even the slightest doubt here!

Maybe the queen is simply occupied.
It could be linked to the current uproar because of the most recent discovery of our patrols.
The involved drones truly found that there is a wide vacant space above us.
It came to be known as the surface.
Completely different rules apply to this new realm.
With strange new environments and hostile lifeforms.
Maybe we need for that reason greater numbers, to expand to this dangerous environment.
But no matter what happens, the swarm will prevail.

I have settled at the assigned location.
It seems this place will be the quarter of my princess.
Apparently, it was just recently established here, so the accommodations are lacking due to a shortage of time.

This is strange.
Such a treatment for a princess is absolutely unacceptable.
Yet this isn't what worries me.
Despite the general lack, I have more than enough resources here to get by.
What troubles me was that a scholar came directly to me.
To a nurse!

And he said that something is uncommon with my princess.
And that she is going through a thorough metamorphosis to build out all the princess-specific features.
I have to pay strict attention to this and tend to her respectively.
What could be wrong with her?

No, no! I haven't even seen her and am already getting flustered.
Even if something is wrong with her I'll have to make up for it.
After all, she is my princess, I'm assigned to.

My princess...

I was told she would be brought here soon.
Again I am a little agitated.
Maybe I snapped for a moment.
It seems she hasn't reached consciousness yet.
And so she will be brought by workers.
Workers!

I know that some kind of transport has to commence, but workers are rough and lack the sensibility which is required to tend to such a delicate being as a princess.
Nonetheless, all I can do for now is to wait for her.
But it seems she won't be able to take charge of her quarters anytime soon.
So I at least have to seize enough of the resources to provide for her.
It might be uncommon, to strain my competencies like this, yet a personal nurse running errands for her princess isn't.
So I definitely have the authority to do so.
And didn't they say she is uncommon?

Oh, there they come!

"Screoh!/Princess!" (Kyska)

.
.
.

Fine, what is this?
The workers who brought her left this creature just like this on the ground.
I... I don't know what to make out of this.

There is this scent.
It definitely tells me she is a princess.
But aside from that?
I wouldn't even recognize this being as my species if not for the scent.
To be precise, I couldn't link it to any known creature in my world.

Maybe I should summarize.
First, it lacks some appendages one would expect from a member of our species, and this is apparently not due to an injury.
Then, it looks strange, as it has a much lighter color on its surface than anything I am used to, yet she is no albino, that I'm sure about.

While I am at the surface.
It is... soft.
Really soft!

The whole body of this being is covered by an extremely squishy membrane, if not for a foreign layer that isn't even attached to the body.
I touched it for a moment.
This is so strange!

How can this be enough to survive anything?
She is like the larvae before their third stage.
Could this be the answer?

But no!
She is by far too large for that to be the case.

Yet this delicate.
To be honest, I am afraid to touch her any more than this, worrying it could cause harm.
There are even some discolorations on her surface.
And I fear that these might be damages.
Probably inflicted by these vexed workers on my princess.

Even more concerning, during the touch, I noticed how much heat she emits.
This might be the ongoing metamorphosis, yet with how out of the unordinary she is there might be issues with that.

But what I found most troublesome was that she has no ovipositor.
This one trait is essential for a princess!
In my worry, I searched for it.

When I concentrated on the place where it would usually be located I think I perceived something.
The heat was greater there and I believe there was some kind of shifting happening under the surface.
Perhaps I am right now witnessing a true wonder.
The forming of an ovipositor!

Yet this softness is definitely an issue.
I am not even sure if it's okay to ever let her leave her quarters as vulnerable as she seems to be.
At least the cleaning procedures have to be adjusted.

For now, I brought her with the help of some common nurses, assigned to the quarters, to her alcove where she can recuperate.
Her sleep is troubled right now as it seems much is changing inside her.
For such a soft being this must be a huge burden.
I mean, considering how she is she cannot be used to any physical hardships.

I feel dejected seeing her like this.
Despite the strange looks, this being is my princess.
And if I am honest, her sleeping looks are so innocent and truly benign.
I couldn't believe that such a creature could bring harm to anyone.
And this makes it so much more difficult.
There is truly an abundance of issues present so that I am not sure if she can overcome them all.
But I will give all I have to offer.

For her!

For my princess!