Rythica was bored. Very bored. She huffed and clicked her mandibles in annoyance. She marched to the edge of her cage and tried gnawing on the bars again, knowing full well it would achieve nothing.

  The young Vex was now closing in on the one-month mark, and her mind had expanded much since she first hatched. That wasn't to say she was capable of understanding anything complex like words or having rational thoughts, but she was finally starting to get the hang of things like object permanence.

  Like all Vex, the hive queen had experienced a growth spurt shortly after hatching. One of many that would occur in the coming months. She had more than doubled in size and had shed her skin twice thus far. She now stood about knee height, not including her antennae. Her six semi-translucent, dragonfly-like wings had also grown a bit but were clearly still far too small to be useful. The queen's carapace had gotten a bit thicker as well, turning a shade darker. Lastly, the black stubble she had on the top of her head had finally grown enough to be called hair. It was still incredibly short, but she was no longer basically bald.

  However, as she was quickly experiencing, expanding her worldview had some serious drawbacks. Namely, she no longer spent the majority of the day sleeping. That was a problem as... There wasn't much else to do.

  Rythica moved back and forth around her cage, trying to take in as much of the environment as she could. She had no idea what any of it was, and curiosity burned within her.

  She saw things she didn't understand and had no name for. She saw statues, plaques, and rows of books on a large bookshelf. She saw paintings, fancy rugs, and tapestries. What were all these beautiful, colorful things? What was that tall brown thing with all those colorful rectangles on it? Why were the animals in those flat squares on the wall not moving? She yearned to know.

  The room wasn't very big, but it felt massive in her mind. It was quite literally all she had ever known. She stuck her arms through the steel bars, waving them uselessly at the objects too far away to reach. She quickly learned she would never actually be able to reach any of it, but she was determined, nonetheless.

  She longed to touch it! What did it all feel like? What did it all taste like? All the pretty colors of the books mesmerized her. She whined as she worked herself up again.

  Suddenly, there was a familiar sound, the metal clicking of a key being inserted into a lock. In her mind, that sound only meant one thing. The great terror was back!

  She hurriedly scurried to the edge of her cage and peered out, focusing on the door. As expected, the large wooden barrier swung open an instant later. There, in all his overwhelming, intimidating glory, the predator loomed. The one who tried to eat her the day she hatched.

  He was the most terrifying creature the Vex had ever seen. Which, admittedly, wasn't saying much. She had never seen anyone else. But her instincts assured her he was indeed just as big of a threat as she feared. Probably.

  The human looked over his shoulder, and then with a grunt, shut the door and clicked the lock shut.

  Rythica had grown less wary of the being as time passed. The massive creature never harmed her or tried to eat her. Or if he did, he was just really bad at it. She clicked her mandibles loudly at the predator, asserting her dominance, as was right and proper.

  As usual, he made a few annoyed sounds back before retreating to the large desk across the room. He hid behind the oddly shaped brown object. It was a terrible hiding place, in her opinion. The Vex held her head high in victory as the predator ran and hid from her once again. She was indeed something to be feared!

  She continued watching the being for some time, hoping for something interesting to happen. It was rare, but the man occasionally moved and picked things up. While it wasn't much, it was still far better than just staring at the inanimate objects around her. It was especially interesting when he messed with the colorful books she liked to look at so much. However, today he was just sitting at the desk, occasionally scratching the paper. She had no idea what it meant, or why he was scratching that white fluffy thing on the flat white thing, but that was by far the most common activity the man did. She guessed he just really liked scratching the white square.

  As she often did, she imagined eating the predator. She desperately wanted to know what it tasted like. As she imagined herself devouring the greater terror, her mouth watered. She idly clicked her teeth a few times in anticipation, but she shook herself out of the familiar daydream.

  She tried making sounds to arouse some sort of reaction out of the human, but he just kept ignoring her. Not to be denied, she picked up the volume. She was the most important thing in this room. Why was he daring to ignore her?! She was incredulous.

  Randell looked up and gave her a hard glare. It was the stare of a man who had been pushed to the very brink of having a mental breakdown. The barely contained annoyance mixed with the overwhelming exhaustion and a promise of danger within his gaze. She instantly made to challenge him again for it, but something in his eyes sent a chill down her spine. She relented and merely huffed instead.

  Her interest waned as the human continued his mindless scribbles, and she eventually turned her attention elsewhere. Was she hungry? She ate recently, but still kind of wanted to eat again, anyway. That was entertaining, at least.

  She walked over to the center of the cage where the one toy she owned was currently sitting. She didn't really know what it was, but it was large (for her), round, and bouncy. It was fun to play with once she figured it out. Her first interaction with the ball had ended up with her trying to eat it. She had failed. Many times, in fact. But eventually, she learned it wasn't food, which was a strange concept, she thought.

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  She gave it a light push with her leg and watched the toy ball roll a few centimeters. She pushed harder, watching the ball roll further this time. She pulled her leg back and made to kick the ball, but missed entirely. The ball sat there, mocking her. It had won this round, but she would get it next time!

  The ball was a constant reminder to her that this was not a kind world.

  Rythica huffed again, bored and frustrated. She was about to start making a fuss again when she heard a strange rhythmic thudding on the door. The sound made her jump, and she instantly dove to hide under her bed. What was that?!

  Rythica peeked her head out and watched as Randell stood up and approached the door, greeting someone out of view, who had knocked politely. He had stepped out of the room to greet the visitor, not letting them see inside the room, and inadvertently preventing Rythica from seeing outside. She remained huddled under the bed, trembling in fear for a few minutes, alone in the room.

  When she heard no further sounds, she slowly made her way back out to check to make sure the coast was clear. She really didn't feel like getting eaten by some dangerous predator today. She was already forced to deal with one pathetic predator as it was!

  Thankfully, she was still alone in the room. She went back to trying to kick the ball but quickly fell back into boredom. She sighed.

  After a time, Randell returned. He looked to the Vex with an expression of someone finally pulling out an annoying splinter.

  "It's about time I finally get you out of my office," he grumbled.

  Rythica listened to the human make his weird, meaningless sounds with curiosity. Well, if he wanted to make sounds together, she could do that. She began making clicking and hissing sounds back at him, throwing in a few screeches for good measure. Variety always made it more fun.

  The man gritted his teeth in annoyance and turned away, grabbing something. She grew wary, and rightly so. When he looked back, he was already sliding that skin thing over his hands, and holding the tiny dark room he put her in after washing her.

  She instantly panicked and tried to run. She wasn't a fan of the dark room. It was dark and scary, and no matter how much she hit or scratched the wooden walls, she couldn't escape. It was terrifying! She wouldn't go back! But, as usual, the predator was faster than her and she was caught almost instantly, and placed into the wooden box.

  The floor and walls shifted and jolted in random ways as the box was carried. She kept losing her balance and stumbling around in the dark, bumping into the sides of the box and tripping many times. She kept pounding on the sides, trying to get out, but it was in vain. She stayed on the floor as the moving box was too difficult to keep her balance in. She cried out, but no one heard her.

  Why wasn't the big predator pulling her back out, yet? As a Vex, she didn't have tear ducts, but her eyes would've watered were it possible. She curled up in a ball as she tried to hide herself from the scary box. Her voice became soft and hiccuping.

  Suddenly, without warning, she was dumped out of the box, and onto a soft cloth. She was dazed and the room was bright and strange and new. She scurried away as fast as possible, desperate to escape the box, and looked around for a place to hide.

  Her mind briefly short-circuited. All thoughts of the darkness box vanished as she took in her new environment.

  The small amount of time she had spent in this world had been entirely within the cage, looking at all the pretty things she could never reach. And now, she was somewhere new. And there were pretty things everywhere! And not a single steel bar in the way!

  She didn't know what any of the colorful objects were, or what they did, but she knew one thing. She wanted to taste them. She wanted to taste all of them.

  The human who had been carrying her had left and locked the steel door behind him. The loud sound of the door closing echoed across the large room, bouncing off the steel sheets covering the walls. Rythica raced past the observation window, not sparing it a single glance as she bounded toward the colored things lying all over the floor.

  They were all like her previous toy! The round bouncy thing, but different! She grabbed the nearest one. It was much larger than her old toy, but it was made out of a soft and light material, so it was very easy for her to pick up, despite its size. It was green and red and yellow and had a lot of pretty markings. It had a weird shape, too. Not round like the ball. She didn't know what it was. It didn't matter. She wanted to eat it. She shoved it into her mouth and bit down.

  Her eyes lit up and she chirped as she ripped it in half in one huge bite. It was soft and spongy and tasted as bad as the ball did. She spat out both halves with a disgusted noise. What was that taste? She hated it! She angrily kicked the remains of the untasty thing and turned to the other colorful things. She would try a different one. Those looked good!

  She went over to a new colorful thing, this time more hesitantly. Did this one taste bad, too? She tentatively stuck out her tongue. This one also tasted bad but in a different way. It wasn't terrible, but definitely not edible. She tried biting it anyway. The material squished between her teeth in a pleasant way, much to her surprise. Bad taste but fun to chew? She bit down a few times before growing bored with the activity and dropping it. But she took note of the object for further study later. She had more things to explore.

  The queen went through all the toys that had been laid out for her and tested them all. They were all made from materials that tasted bad, much to her dismay. They all had various different shapes, colors, and textures. She was disappointed that none of the toys tasted good, but she was not disheartened. She learned from her first toy that some things could taste bad and still be fun in other ways.

  She picked up one of the colorful toys that had grabbed her attention before. She squeezed it, and it let out a tiny squeak. The Vex jumped, dropping it in alarm. She made some distance from the thing. She stared at the toy suspiciously. Was it alive? She kept her gaze locked on the creature, ready to run away at a moment's notice.

  The thing just sat there. Not doing anything. After a minute or two of nothing, she crept forward again. She slowly reached down to poke the toy, but paused, hovering a centimeter away from the toy. She worked up her courage and gave it a firm jab.

  Squeeeaaak!

  She jumped in alarm at the sound. But, like the first time, it didn't otherwise move.

  Was it prey? Could she eat it? She poked it a few more times and was rewarded with more squeaks. She picked it up and sniffed it, but it just had the same bad taste and smell she had discovered earlier. It didn't taste like food. But... it still made sounds. And it was small, smaller than her.

  Rythica grinned as she squeezed it again, attacking the creature. She was playing with her very own prey! Finally! For the first time in her life, she was the predator! She felt empowered in a way she didn't realize she was missing. She had to play with it! She squeezed it a few more times, chirping in delight as the creature squeaked. She then started throwing it onto the ground. Hitting it, scratching it, biting it. She slammed the creature into the floor, over and over again. A broad, toothy grin spread across her face.

  Suddenly, with one of the blows, the creature's head popped off, leaving the body in Rythica's claws.

  Her eyes widened in shock and she dropped the decapitated body, staring at it. She looked at her hands, then back to the corpse. Did... did she kill it already? She was stunned. She really was the best predator in the world, wasn't she?

  Rythica let out a loud clack of her mandibles. A war cry of triumph and a warning for her enemies.

  She moved on, eager to find more prey to toy with.