A Change in Strategy

Chitis waited for the ceremony to begin. She was nervous, and probably would be sweating if she had the capacity for it. She, as well as all 200 other automi, stood in one of the grandest, deepest chambers of the Changeling hive. A room which had been sealed so long that it took four warrior caste changelings to crack open the thick stone door. The skill and vast quantities of Love of the builders of old was easily apparent in the intricate carvings on the walls, depicting the Changeling rise to ascendancy. Small cuts and ships in the rock caught the light of flickering green flames, and constellations of emerald stars shone from nearly every surface.

In the center of the large circular chamber, there were a series of shallow recesses in the floor. Very nearly like a pony "swimming pool", but with a much less obvious purpose. Usually this pool would be empty. The cold stone untouched for centuries since it was last used to create the Warriors. Now, it was full nearly to bursting.

The heady smell of Love wafted from the surface of the deep recess, making Chitis' mouth water at the thought. Love was in short supply at the moment, though the situation had improved somewhat since the Queen had stopped sulking and gone back to managing operations.

The Queen... she wore no regal clothing today, her chitin smooth and bare to the eyes of her adoring subjects. She stood directly in the center of the bubbling pool of Love, eyes closed in rapt concentration. Her turquoise hair, usually hanging limply by her face, was full and glorious, flowing and shimmering in an invisible wind. The holes of her legs had filled and were made whole, a form she only had the opportunity to wear when she was not starved of Love for too long.

This was it. This was the moment. Chitis had submitted the final plans to the queen, and now a grub would be made into the first Swarmling by the power of Her.

The grub had been specially chosen. It was highly adaptable, intelligent, and showed flexibility of thought unheard of in the small, squishy creatures. It was Grubby, Chitis' own ward, who would now become Bellum, her magnum opus. Chitis' wings shivered with pride. Her eyes were dark with worry.

Much as the Queen disliked having a Proxima, she was not a fool by any means. She would follow the plans Chitis had made with the skill of a master violinist sight-reading a new piece of music. This was too important for petty politics and teasing to come between them. In this chamber, the Hive was united as one, for the survival of them All.

Grubby, whose black eyes had beheld its mentor conceive of its transformation, was gently lowered into the pool by a single ancient changeling who had been hibernating here since the room was sealed.

Chrysalis breathed in. The glimmering depths of the pool shivered at her touch, a favored hound recognizing its old master. The vapor that rose from the top of the pool gathered, swirling in funnels that led directly into the gaps between her chitinous plates.

Grubby's head disappeared beneath the lapping waves of Love, and the Transformation began.

The breath was immediately knocked out of Chitis. A howling wind roared down the tunnel leading to the chamber, and many of the automi either stumbled forward or collapsed outright at the sudden vacuum of Love in the air. The Queen's horn began to glow with a pale greenish-white light. Tendrils of smoky vapor began to flow out from her, rather than in, and they sank beneath the liquid's surface.

Chitis could see nothing of the process that occurred, but she could feel everything. A phantom pain plucked at her limbs as the Queen molded and broke the grub down, disassembling it piece by piece to be remade. Almost no Love went into the physical form. It would be visually impressive, but frail. That part was over quickly.

A thump went through the chamber as the Queen created a living mind for this non-sentient creature. And not just any mind, a stunted version of the Queen herself. Special pores were pockmarked across the changeling's back. Nurseries for its brood, it would grow grubs in these tiny niches that would never grow longer than an inch or two. Large, lightweight wings meant for minimal energy exertion and easy gliding. It would not be fast, but it would survive.

And the most radical divergence of them all: the removal of the ability to change form at will. Once this changeling chose a form, that is who it would be for the rest of its life. Chitis wondered briefly about her ward. Would Grubby, in another time, have grown up to be an automi like her? Would it have had friends? A life? Now, it was an experiment. One on whom her life depended.

The removal of the Change aspects left a large amount of free energy. The Queen, following the instructions memorized from Chitis, applied these with mastery to the mental architecture of the Swarmling. Its powers could only be guessed at, and would need to be measured, but the calculated rate at which one Swarmling could gather Love... it was staggering.

Then, in went the memories. The genetic legacy of every changeling to ever live, thousands of years of skill and experience. Not all of these would go to it, there was simply too much information. Subterfuge, Cunning, Guile, Deception. These were the arts of the infiltrator, and these would be the foundation of the Swarmling's very existence.

By the time the Queen was finished, three hours of steady chanting, murmuring, and artistry had passed. The pool of Love was nearly half empty, and the pale grey form of a newly molted Changeling was visible in the pool.

Chitis' breath caught in her throat, and she stepped forward to the very lip of the stair. The ancient changeling who resided here stared at her unblinking, ready to decapitate her if she so much as thought of stepping a hoof into the pool herself. She was Proxima, not Queen. And there were traditions here, older than the stones, to be observed.

The body in the liquid shivered.

"Leave us!" the Queen ordered. Her voice, the first noise to break the silence, cracked like a psychic whip above the heads of the Automi. Everyone piled out, speaking quickly and with excitement. Only Specks spared a glance back at Chitis, who gave her be-goggled friend a wan, tired smile. She would be alright. She would be.

The ancient stone doors were dragged shut, and all natural lights went out. All that were left were the Queen, the Proxima, and the Swarmling.

The Swarmling stirred again, getting one long leg underneath it. Slowly it worked another, and within seconds it was standing shakily, knees knocking and barely able to hold its own weight. Chitis smiled, mostly because it was designed that way.

Two massive sky-blue eyes blinked slowly in the dim light of the pool, and it looked upon the Queen as its first sight of this new world.

"Who am I?" Chrysalis intoned.

"You are my Queen," the drone responded immediately, and with a confidence that bellied its tiny form.

"And who do you serve?" Chrysalis recited.

"My Hive!" the Swarmling shouted, trembling from the effort.

"And what is your purpose?" Chrysalis asked, softer.

"To corrupt the Elements of Harmony," the Swarmling replied, giving its best approximation of a devious grin. It looked more like it was about to throw up.

Chrysalis looked to the Ancient, who nodded. Then its head slumped to its chest, and the light coming softly from within it dimmed. Hibernating again, until the Rites needed to be performed once more.

"What is your name?" Chitis asked, as was her right.

The Swarmling turned to her creator and locked eyes. Chitis didn't know why, but the stare made her uncomfortable.

"I am Bellum," the Swarmling said. And the Ritual was complete.