In fact, the Bloodscythe Ants had all but forgotten that the queen ant had once given birth to reproductive ants as well—quite recently, about half a month earlier.
At that time, the infant-faced fish had already taken up residence in the queen's brain, but it had not yet gained complete control over her will and thoughts.
In the two months following the apocalypse, the queen's mutated and strengthened body had produced far too many eggs. Every signal from her flesh told her that the time had come to give birth to a new generation of reproductive ants.
And indeed, she did exactly that.
But the infant-faced fish did not agree.
Its original purpose in parasitizing the queen was to use her as a tool to propagate its own species. If the queen were to give birth to new successors and then "die of old age," its plan would collapse entirely—and the infant-faced fish trapped within her brain would perish alongside her.
