Looking about the chamber that had been opened for you was to a degree difficult. Not because it was dark underground, as you'd found that Divine Fire Ant saliva had some bio-luminescent properties to it that you didn't think was possible, but then you also had to admit that you weren't a scientist and thus couldn't know if any other ants had such weird abilities. But then, given that you'd started the previous day as a normal Human woman who'd gone out for a walk and was now a giant Divine Fire Ant Queen with one egg laid and more developing within you, you were pretty sure that your new species had a lot of things going for it that were not common with anything else. That bio-luminescent spit that was used to harden the internal walls of the nest gave enough light that your eyes could see a lot of the activity that was going on.
The workers that had stung and transformed you and then transformed your prime drone, Hank Pym, were moving about as they moved dirt and soil out of the chamber as they were setting about enlarging the nest. Some of this made some degree of sense, as based on what you did know about ants, those that lived in sedentary colonies didn't just build one large chamber and everyone huddled around inside that chamber. They would have several chambers for living, sleeping, food storage, areas where the eggs could be stored, usually close to the queen's chamber, and so on. Most of what had been done so far was just to make sure that you and your colony weren't caught in the open were some Amazon predator couldn't catch and kill you or a member of your colony. You'd remembered some documentary on the National Geographic Channel once talking about Jaguars killing crocodiles, or something like them, by biting through the skull. That was enough to make you worry about being killed by one of those cats. Though, your biggest fear was what humanity would do.
As people wouldn't likely respond well to an ant that was as big as a person, or possibly a bit bigger, given that you had grown the long abdomen that was behind you. Hank's partner, Doctor Benjamin didn't respond well to you and so far as you knew was betraying you to the company that he and Hank normally worked for. That gave you the fear of being put in some kind of lab and experimented on, and that was something that you didn't want. You may not have asked to become a Divine Fire Ant Queen, but you did accept it and didn't want your colony to die. You couldn't blame the mundane ants for wanting to live, and in finding that they could converse with you telepathically gave you some willingness to work with them. And a part of you was really growing to love Hank's love for you, even before he became your prime drone. That was all part of your reasoning for being suspicion of Doctor Benjamin's motivations.
But for now, there wasn't much you could do. You were safe and underground and filling with eggs, and one already laid. As much as part of you wanted to help your colony and do more than just rest, eat, and be pregnant with the colony's future, you had to admit there wasn't much more you could do for the moment. You had one party of workers out to essentially make a trail that would lead Doctor Benjamin to the body of the beetle that your workers had stung and grew to such a great size that the insect suffocated... something that Divine Fire Ants didn't have that problem with. Hank had theorized that might give Doctor Benjamin enough information to put him at ease so that a more steady "balance" could be struck between you and him, as it would assure him that your colony wouldn't "consume the Amazon." There were also other things that worried your mind, but there wasn't much more that could be done. As you had sent an email to your parents that generally explained what happened to you and hoped that they would "accept" it, but you didn't know how quickly they would find it and respond to it. All you could do there was wait.
That was partially what had you wanting to look around the nest and watch as the worker ants that had lost so much in their own lives and found you of all people to be important to them, something you really hadn't had in your life before, go about their work of building the nest. And from those desires you ran into troubles, largely because while your abdomen wasn't heavily weighed down by eggs, yet, you were still well larger than the workers. They were about half your present length as they went about moving dirt from inside the present chamber to outside it, where it was likely being placed as part of the mound to shield the colony. But because the nest only had one chamber for the moment, there was a lot of them present and any attempt you made to get a better look at things, you ended up getting in the other's way and that left you a bit depressed.
"You needn't worry yourself, my... Christine," one of your six drones, Howard... one of the five drones that had been with your predecessor as queen of the colony, "everyone knows what to do to construct a nest. You will be safe... your eggs will be safe... and for the most part the colony will be safe."
"I'm not necessarily worried about that," you answered, grateful that Howard remembered your name. He, Martin, Nathan, Oscar, and Harry were all drones that had been with your predecessor as the colony's queen and thus had no names when they were with her. And your prime drone, Hank, likely didn't name them while studying the colony as naming test subjects that numbered in the hundreds, at least, of near identical individuals would have been near impossible to keep tabs on them. Thus, when you joined the colony, you brought some things in with you, namely the concept of names. At least the male ants that would be spending their time with you the most needed names, you couldn't just call them "drone one" and "drone two." Naming the rest of the colony... and your children was something you hadn't thought on much, though it did sit in the back of your mind, but for the moment that was just another thing to think over in time. "It's just that... well... I'm not real good with just sitting still. That's kinda what lead me out of my apartment and onto the walk that took me to you... and ultimately where we are now."
"We will have to be, my dear," Hank said to her as he looked up from his observances and occasionally typing things on his over-sized smartphone/laptop, "between thinks that Doctor Benjamin has done and may do while he's worried about what we may do to the Amazon's ecology... and the fact that you have already laid an egg and it may not be too long before you lay another... it will be safer for you, down here. And while it could be boring or frustrating at times... we must have faith that things will work out..."
"Not to mention that the colony will succeed in carrying out your's and Hank's plan to ensure the colony's safety," Martin as the other drones nodded.
If you could smile with your mandibles, you would have as Hank raised one antenna and nuzzled one of yours with it. You nuzzled that antenna back, as it was one of the thinks that had made you seem to fall in love with Hank. He'd cared and was helpful and didn't get negative, and even more surprising, he'd seemed supportive of you even before he became your prime drone. Now he had the idea to work things out so that he could further study the Divine Fire Ant and ultimately publish his findings, which in its own way was a bit weird, but you accepted it. You also figured that if his studies helped Humanity accept "you" in a way, you could accept that. And given Doctor Benjamin's actions, some of that would be required.
"And know that I love you," Hank said to you, nuzzling your antennae with his.
"So do we," Martin, Nathan, Howard, Oscar, and Harry added. They also briefly came close and gently touched some portion of your body as they surrounded you, it varied from one of your antennae, a jointed leg, one of the joints where your wings attached to the back of your thorax. It was all part of the closeness that you'd also gotten from the colony that you'd grown to love. It was something more than what you'd had in the past. The only thing close to it had been your connection with your parents, which you feared would be lost when they found out you weren't human anymore.
Almost on cue, Hank's phone/iPad/laptop gave out a buzz that was heard audibly and said, "you've got mail." Hank turned to it and soon noted the pop-up that displayed the notification. He then looked over to you.
"I believe your parents got your email," Hank reported, "as there would seem to be a reply that's flashed in the notifications."
You came forward and went about following the procedures of getting to your email and then through the log in pages to see the reply. Sure enough there was a reply message to what you had sent to them. Your message had been titled "New Job." Initially, it was only to be a report on that you'd found a new job that would keep you busy and away, but after Doctor Benjamin was present at the company landing site and your existence as a living giant ant was revealed to the company that Hank and Doctor Benjamin worked for... it was figured that it wouldn't be long before they eventually contacted your parents for background information on you. You feared being rejected by them, and you'd already had at least one nightmare about that, but Doctor Benjamin's actions essentially meant that you couldn't hide anything. Thus you did try to explain your walk, stumbling into the facility where Hank worked, your becoming a Divine Fire Ant queen and then the journey to the Amazon to avoid being dissected in a lab while helping Hank with his research. Now, there seemed to be a reply and you could only hope that the response wasn't too negative. You tapped with one of your antenna on the bold "New Job" line and began to read the answer.
It read: Christine, we know some things in life have been tough for you, but we hope that this isn't some case of you running away from your problems. We will not say we are fond of ants, but if this Doctor Pym is a scientist who studies them... an antomologist, I think...
"They should mean entomologist for someone who studies insects," Hank commented to you. You ignored him and kept reading.
"He could surely work to restore your Human form," your parents' reply continued, "if you still wish to help him with his research... that is your business, but it shouldn't be an excuse to hide from things... or to run away from your problems. Particularly when it doesn't get any easier when some bio-chem company then calls the house for background information on you as well... along with supposed "hush money" over the same issue. I can believe that what happened to you was an accident, but that doesn't mean you can't own up to what has happened. Mom and Dad."
You mentally sighed at that felt the hinge in your thorax that helped allow you to breathe at your present size expand and contract. You could understand their desire for you to be Human again... and for a brief while, a part of you did want to be Human again too. But, given that the company that Hank worked for didn't know much about how the venom of the Divine Fire Ant worked before you were stung and found in one of their labs, it was unlikely that they'd find a way to reverse the metamorphosis that you had gone through. And now after being a queen ant for a few days and had laid one egg, you didn't really want to go back. You hit the reply button and typed...
"This isn't about running away. It's about learning new things, and while I was never that big on bugs... I have come to like Hank very much," you typed, "And he's had the idea that this presents a whole new way of learning things... and in some ways, he IS right. And some of that IS interesting on its own. So, I'm not running away. I'm learning new things." From there you hit send and hoped that would work, at least a bit, as there would still be plenty of other hurdles to be had.