"Fine. But if you collapse, I reserve the right to criticize your timing in detail."
"If I collapse, I reserve the right to haunt you."
"That feels unfair. You already have enough presence while alive."
That almost made her smile. Almost. She strangled it before it could fully form.
Mikhailis crouched again and began reorganizing the ants with a few gestures and quick taps through the manual interface.
"New arrangement," he said. "Two soldier ants stay here. One at the chamber entrance. One farther back on the wider angle. If something gets past the first, the second gets the honor of taking it personally."
The two soldier ants clicked once and settled harder into position.
"Eight workers continue widening the pocket and marking the route back. Quietly. No ambitious architecture. No decorative flourishes. We are not building a summer house."
The worker ants moved immediately, biting into the next seam with their eerie little work rhythm.
