Darkness.
Ethan couldn't feel his legs.
Or his mandibles.
Or the cold stone beneath him.
Only pain.
Pain so overwhelming it became strangely distant.
Somewhere...
Very far away...
He heard Pip crying.
"Ethan!"
"Please..."
"...Get up..."
The sound echoed as if through deep water.
Fading.
Returning.
Fading again.
A blue screen hovered before his blurred vision.
[Level 5 Confirmed.]
[Evolution Available.]
[Final Catalyst Required.]
Sacrifice one antenna.
"..."
Ethan blinked slowly.
"...You're joking."
Silence.
No witty response.
No dry sarcasm.
Only the unmoving words.
"...Iris?"
A pause.
Then—
[I am not.]
Ethan almost laughed.
"...You're telling me..."
"...that after everything..."
"...I have to rip off my own antenna?"
[Correct.]
"...That's insane."
[Evolution has never been free.]
The sounds of battle slowly returned.
Stone crumbling.
Pip shouting.
The worker ant struggling to stand.
The king's calm footsteps.
Time hadn't stopped.
Only Ethan had.
The crimson king watched the tiny carpenter ant lying in the crater.
He had expected the fight to end.
Instead...
The black ant was talking to empty air.
"...Interesting."
He slowly approached.
"You still refuse to die."
The worker ant dragged herself between them again.
One foreleg hung uselessly.
One antenna had nearly been torn away.
She could barely stand.
Yet she stood.
The king looked almost disappointed.
"I admired your former queen."
"She never wasted loyal soldiers."
"You..."
"...would throw your life away."
She bared her mandibles.
No fear.
Only defiance.
Pip suddenly leapt in front of her.
His tiny body trembled.
"I..."
"...I'm scared."
He swallowed hard.
"...But..."
"...He's my friend."
The squirrel rolled beside him.
Helmet dented.
Shell cracked.
He planted himself beside Pip.
Tiny.
Shaking.
Determined.
The king stared at them.
"...Curious."
"A burrower."
"A forest beast."
"And an outsider ant."
"Following one carpenter ant."
He looked down at Ethan.
"What exactly..."
"...are you?"
Ethan heard every word.
Family.
Friend.
Following.
His chest tightened.
Back on Earth...
He had died saving a little girl he didn't know.
Now...
Creatures from another world were risking their lives...
To save him.
His eyes drifted back to the System.
Sacrifice one antenna.
He looked at his antennae.
They weren't just feelers.
They were how ants sensed the world.
How they communicated.
How they understood one another.
Cutting one off...
Would permanently change him.
"..."
"...Does it grow back?"
Silence.
Then—
[Unknown.]
"...That's not reassuring."
The king raised one massive foreleg.
"This has gone on long enough."
The worker ant lowered herself.
Preparing to take the blow.
Pip squeezed his eyes shut.
The squirrel trembled.
Ethan made his decision.
"...Fine."
He slowly lifted his head.
"If that's the price..."
"...I'll pay it."
He reached toward his right antenna.
His mandibles shook.
Every instinct screamed at him to stop.
Don't do it.
Protect it.
Survive.
He closed his eyes.
"...Sorry."
Then—
CRUNCH.
Agony.
White-hot agony exploded through his mind.
It wasn't like losing a limb.
It was like tearing away part of his senses.
Part of his identity.
Ethan screamed.
A raw, animal sound that echoed through the tunnels.
Blood splashed across the stone.
His severed antenna hit the ground.
The entire colony fell silent.
Even the king froze.
The blue screen flashed brilliantly.
One notification after another appeared too quickly to read.
Then...
A final message.
[Final Catalyst Accepted.]
[Evolution Initiating.]
[Warning.]
Evolution cannot be interrupted.
Golden light burst from Ethan's body.
Cracks spread across his crystal carapace.
Not from damage...
From growth.
The king took an unconscious step backward.
For the first time...
His calm expression disappeared.
"..."
"...What..."
"...have you done?"
The light swallowed Ethan completely.