I was a tiny, insignificant human being until I became an Asian giant hornet queen.

You've been experiencing heavier-than-usual lethargy all week. It isn't like you're sick, but you feel a drastic change coursing through you. Suddenly, sharp pains course through your body as you double up. You glance at your hands seeing them shrink into smaller, yet hard and brown appendages - something midway between human hands and insect legs. The nails taper off into sharp points, reminiscent of an insect's claw-like structure. It's a shocking sight, but you can't tear your gaze away. The pain continues, and you find it hard to stand, your legs compressing beneath you until you're only a few inches tall. There's a strange sensation as your feet change, splitting into three-hooked claws while hardening. But there's also an emerging sense of strength and alertness that you've never felt before. You're struck by a sudden sensation of vertigo and a feeling of detachment. All of a sudden, in the short span of a few minutes, your mind starts to cloud, your memories slip away while being replaced with images of large hives, larvae, and a continuous drone of wings in your ears. Your senses heighten as you notice the scent of flowers wafting in from somewhere, attracting you powerfully. Your body undergoes the most drastic transformation. You gasp, feeling your insides shift around. The sensation of your spine vanishing terrifies you, only to be replaced by a segmented and chitinous exoskeleton. You can feel your back split open, a pair of iridescent wings sprout out. They flutter involuntarily, a stabilizing counter to the weight of your swelling abdomen. A glance in the mirror reveals that your eyes are no longer human – they have turned large and black, taking up most of your face now. The iris dance ever so slightly, detect light and movement that you have never been able to see before. Your reflection reveals razor-sharp mandibles in place of your mouth. Despite being alarmed, they feel natural to you. Your lips no longer exist, and you're not alarmed. Suddenly, every human thought, attachment, or memory has left you, replaced by an instinct based on survival and the prosperity of your future hive. The feeling of becoming something so much smaller yet powerful is beyond anything you can possibly convey with the breadth of human language. For in this moment, you are no longer that person. You are now the queen of the Asian giant hornet. A force to reckon with, the matriarch who will create and rule over an empire. The world is now a different place, where your prowess will be tested in the harsh realities of nature.