The first Physicians

I looked at the egg, then at the writhing gnomite in my hands.

The egg was smooth, white, squishy, and a *quarter* of the mite in size.

"You know, I think this thing just *might* lay only one egg. At least one egg at a time. There's no space for more eggs inside of it, unless its ass has extra-dimensional storage! Besides, my special eyesight saw no other mites or eggs in there."

That egg has been lying out in the open—I saw it around the same time Tabletina did. Its floating status window made it nigh-impossible to miss.

Tabletina looked at the mite again, then back at the egg.

"Hm. I will cut the varroa mite open later and see. Writingdown, do you have everything on the wax?"

"Yes, Lieutenant. Ready to be archived or copied."

"Then, Father… This was a success! Now, I propose we open several more cells to practice our technique."

I nodded and stuffed the mite in my mite jar.