You looked around the interior of your nests initial chamber and much to your surprise, as you thought about it, it was feeling more and more comfortable to you. It was an odd sensation to you actually be underground in an environment that you didn't think would have light. But the walls of the chamber glowed softly with the bio-luminescent saliva that Divine Fire Ants seemed to have. It lit the chamber and you could watch as the workers that were there were rapidly beginning to dig deeper into the ground, going in several directions and more horizontal than vertical. Your drones, Hank, Harry, Oscar, Howard, Nathan, and Martin stayed close to her, and you figured that soon the colony would have a singular chamber for you and them to be... where you would lay the eggs forming within you.
You then glanced back over your long body to the abdomen your "waist" held your abdomen up behind of you. It was such an inhuman piece of anatomy that some portions of your mind were afraid of it to a degree, but by now, after being a Queen Ant for more than a day that fear was not only fading but you could feel yourself accepting what you'd become. You didn't want to go back. You wanted to remain a Queen Ant and lay your eggs. You wanted to be the Queen for the colony that had chosen you to be their Queen after your predecessor died without producing new Queens to take over for them. And even now, the degree to which a group of insects had seemed to make a choice beyond simple food or protection amazed you. You couldn't let them down.
"Are you okay, Christine?" came Hank's voice from behind you, "You seem rather focused on your abdomen. Are you in pain?"
"No... not at the moment," you answered him and turned your head to rub your antennae to his. "I was just looking at things and thinking how much things have changed. Two days ago I was human and just going for a walk... now... now I'm a giant queen ant and getting ready have a lot of children..."
"An understatement," Hank chuckled, "you said you'd be laying around three thousand eggs from our nuptial flight..."
"And an additional three thousand for each drone who's mated with me," you added.
"And there are six of us... which would mean you should lay around eighteen thousand eggs total," Hank replied, stating the total number of eggs you figured you'd lay, "When ants have families... they HAVE families."
"And for us especially true," you responded, you'd smile if it was physically possible, "Since you said that Divine Fire Ant Drones live after mating with the Queen..."
"Yes," Hank nodded and rubbed his antennae to yours again. You could practically feel his love through the hive mind that the colony had. "The species is too new to know exactly how long the drones live... but they do survive mating."
"Do you know how old the colony is?" you asked Hank.
"The colony was only in my lab for a few months, but I can't say how old the colony was," Hank answered, "the queen you've replaced died a few days before you stumbled into lab and my tests indicated old age... but I didn't know how old the Queen was. I've assumed that Divine Fire Ants live at roughly the same length of time that other ants of the genus Solenopsis... but after meeting you and seeing so much that is odd about the species... my assumptions could be wrong. They might live longer... or shorter..."
You looked over to Martin and Harry, who actually looked like they were supervising the construction that the workers present in the nest were tirelessly working at.
"Martin... did you... did you and the others hatch with my predecessor?" you asked him, as he had been the first of the drones to speak to you after your transformation and he had seemed to do quite a lot to give you confidence in being a Queen Ant.
"Yes, my Queen... err... Christine, I hatched with your predecessor as Queen," Martin answered.
"That means that Drones can out live the Queen..." Hank said slowly.
"Martin... how old are you? How many years have you lived?" You asked him.
"We learned about humans and their languages while in the prime... in Hank's lab, but I am afraid I can't tell you how many years I have lived," Martin said slowly, "your predecessor went through three mating couplings with I and the drones..."
You looked to the other drones that had been with the colony when you joined it and then to Hank. The other drones had helped greatly with a lot of things, but neither you nor Hank knew how old the Queen had been, and you didn't know how long it would take you to lay your eighteen thousand eggs before you'd need to mate again... so you couldn't even guess how long "three mating couplings" was.
"But your..." you began.
"We are YOUR colony, my Queen," Harold said to you.
You realized that you were comparing yourself to the queen you'd been chosen to replace. You felt a short twinge inside your abdomen, but you ignored for the moment.
"But the... my... colony doesn't look like it has that many members," you spoke, mentally multiplying the total number of eggs you would be laying by three.
"Workers age and die in the service of the colony," Oscar answered, "loved and respected for their service and in love and respect for their Queen..."
"And given what I have observed in their hunting... it's quite possible that at their smaller size, that a great many Divine Fire Ants are killed wrestling with spiders and other potential invertebrate predators," Hank added, "though... I don't know for sure on how they get along with other colonies..."
"Depends on the colony... large jawed and mobile ants are always enemies and eat everything," Martin answered, "Other ants like us... it can vary with the attitudes of the respective Queens... at our size though... only the big spotted cats, swimming lizards, and squeezing snakes could kill and eat our workers... so old enemies may now only be sources of food for us and four our children..."
You felt another twinge go through your abdomen. This one was stronger, as if muscles underneath your armor were squeezing something, and when it did so, you could feel the the smaller plates around where Hank and the others had pumped their semen into you.
"But it's still so many..." you wondered, the high number in your mental math still sticking in your head, "wouldn't the colony be much larger... extremely huge?"
"Ours will be now," Harold said confidently, which made you feel fairly proud.
"Actually... among the genus Solenopsis, the Divine Fire Ant would actually produce individually smaller colonies," Hank commented, "Other Fire Ant species have had queens producing over three thousand eggs a day and up to nine million in the course the Queen's lifespan."
"Then... that would mean..." you said slowly as you felt another twinge hit you, this one even stronger, and you got a sense of what it was. It was a contraction and the entire length of your abdomen seemed to almost ripple as you felt it hit you. The armored plates there slid a little, as for the moment it was small enough that your own eggs hadn't stretched it out yet, "that... that I need keep the colony alive..."
"As is the responsibility of any Queen," Nathan spoke from beside Hank, "We work to serve you, Christine, so that you give the colony life."
"Hank..." you said slowly, feeling another contraction hit you, "You said you observed the end of one "laying session" with my predecessor and then her mating with the other drones?"
"Yes," Hank nodded.
"How long until she started laying eggs again?" you asked, as you began to sense what was coming and what you were about to do.
"Well... in that case it took that Queen about a day to begin laying eggs again, but since she had been laying eggs before, I'd think she needed the extra time to regain her energy to produce and lay more," Hank answered, "after the first mating with all the energy there... I'd assume the timing is probably about the same as any other Ant species... a matter of hours after mating."
"It's been hours since we mated," you said to Hank, rubbing an antenna to his, "are you ready to be a father?"
"I suppose I am... not the way I pictured myself as a father... but I think I'm ready..." Hank began and then looked to you and then bounced his head back as you felt a stronger contraction hit you, "Christine... are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Hank... my love..." you spoke as another contraction hit you, this one harder and lasting longer. It didn't really hurt, but more like it was a bit uncomfortable. You lowered your abdomen to the ground so that the tip wasn't too far above the ground below you. "but... I... ungh... I believe... it... it is time... for MY colony... to... grow... again."
And as you spoke the contractions came in rapid fire until slowly and surely a lone white oval shaped egg was pushed out of your abdomen and onto the ground. That gave you great pride. It was strange at how you could feel such an emotion at being something so inhuman, as the you of two days ago wouldn't have dreamed of this as anything but a nightmare. Now though... you accepted what you were now and welcomed it. The contractions died away for the moment and you had time to relax and look at the egg you'd just laid. It was white and sat there, helpless. Anything could have come and taken it... but you and the colony had done a good job. You laid the egg in the nest, assuring its safety.
"Did... did it hurt, Christine?" Hank asked you.
"No," you said slowly, "It didn't hurt... maybe a bit uncomfortable... but not painful... and I think it'll be a few hours before I lay my next egg..."
"Your daughter will be protected and raised well," Howard assured you, "Workers! Your Queen has just laid her first egg! Prime Drone Hank's children are now being laid! Volunteers for nursery duty, front and center!"
Three worker ants came before you and looked to you.
"May we care for our sister, our Queen?" the three workers asked using the plural tense and very nearly speaking in perfect unison.
"You may," you said to them, caressing their antennae with your own to show them that you trusted them, "but stay close to me and Hank. I want to be able to touch my children and show them that I love them as much as I love you all."
"Yes, my Queen," came the triplicate reply.
And with that the three workers moved to protect and care for your newly laid egg. They moved it closer to a side wall of the chamber near you and Hank, so that way it wasn't under your feet or under anyone else's feet. It was a further sign of hopes for a good future for the colony. The colony would grow with your children contributing to it. The forages that went out again would surely return with a new "bug" caught to be either stung or forced to ingest Divine Fire Ant venom, creating the reaction that would make it grow, which would feed the colony and your daughter when she hatched. And with the nest established, you could now focus your energy on producing eggs... knowing that eventually your abdomen would swell up as more of your eggs formed.
However, a buzzing sound came from Hank's phone which was in the bag of equipment that Hank had packed to allow him to study himself as a Divine Fire Ant drone, you as a Divine Fire Ant queen, and then his and your children as Divine Fire Ant workers. The phone, however, was to allow him communicate through emails and texts with the outside world.
"Is that?" you asked.
"Dr. Benjamin?" Hank replied, "Yes... that likely is him."