I heard it at the depth of the colony inside my chamber. They came suddenly, in the middle of the day. The echoes of death: The disaster! — Queen Dusk, the Black ant colony.

The walk to the other side of the bridge was long but not audacious. The branches were wide, and the wind was mellow at best because we weren’t that high up. The bridge was full to the point of constriction. And we were among those walking without discipline. We had Billy with us; he was curious as to how the world looked. And so was I. With the two of us sauntering off to look around, Vice-captain Lime didn’t forget to give us the stink eye.

“What is the farm? Is it another slave camp?” I finally asked Billy. His antennas flailed about at my attention. He became ecstatic. I had simply asked him a question. He surely was one hyperactive ant.

“So you know… the surprise is taken out. React, I wanted to see how you would. Before, sir seems to have seen one.” His speech wasn’t on the level of me or even Tiny, but he sure as heck was trying. He was a new ranker, not that I couldn’t have expected more from him, but I hadn’t yet met another ant that had managed to do anything of importance at such a young age.

His answer though surely made me slightly despondent. At least there was the honeydew to check out.

The place was crawling with carriers. Hundreds were following behind us and a similar number was returning from the farm — their bodies full to the point of bursting. The sheer number of them coming and going was an experience in itself. I had seen an army but this… This constant flow of bodies walking so close to each other was just amazing. That farm must be quite something. I thought.

“So who do the carriers belong to? Are they also from the various colonies?”

I knew Lime was watching us from the corner of her eye. We were delaying her troops quite a lot, but she hadn’t once urged us to walk faster or to stop wasting time. It could be her comprise because she held a soft spot for David, but I guess, she was also seeing herself in me and Billy. She must have looked at me like I looked at Billy, reminding her of the past. Anyways, she interjected – Giving Billy a shut-up look, which was understandable.

“The various colonies only provide soldiers, but the carriers are all ours. It’s to make the trade… efficient and fair.” She said.

Even though there were already more than a few thousand carriers traveling with us, even more, were slowly arriving from the linked branches, filling the empty spaces, slowly, but efficiently.

“So what does your colony gets for handling this farm?”

“We get twenty-five percent of everything that is farmed.”

“That’s daylight robbery.”

“Well, our share was fifty percent until the army happened.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, but she didn’t further busy herself with me. Was this the first time that my charms were failing? I don’t remember the exact number but they surely were doing a poor job of keeping her attracted to me.

“Show him around Billy, and then bring him back to the tower before the firefly rises.”

Lime was strict and disciplined though she also had her charms. I had and have never heard anyone else call the Moon a firefly other than her. It wasn’t a wrong synonym to use either; for both the moon and a firefly stalks the sky only at night.

“Proper, I’ll take his care,” Billy told Lime, who nodded toward the soldiers standing at the first check post, and we parted ways.

“Alright!” the little green ant yelled. “Sweetest dew, where it brews, I know.” He was like a firecracker. I liked the little ant for some reason. He reminded me of Tiny and his curiosity was just like mine. My curiosity had brought me there to the farm. I was sure his curiosity would take him a long way, too. I was so sure of that. So long has passed since then… too long.

“Let’s go.” We two were the only were left from the group. But the rest of the ants around us kept reminding me of my status. I was just a guest. The soldiers standing on the check post gave us curious looks, but they didn’t stop us otherwise. The farm was still far from our position, but I could still at least make out its general shape. I couldn’t.

“Heard I, walks the world terrifying giants? Is it true?”

“Well…” I told him the tale of my first interaction with the world outside. I didn’t tell him my encounter with the hopper though. I didn’t want him to lose his spark. It was a terrible decision from my part. I was keeping him in the dark, but I had a good reason. I wanted him to hold his innocence for as long as he could. Not many of us live long enough to enjoy life. I was getting to understand from him how important the time between rank zero and one was. Everyone only had a few weeks at rank zero to dream, after which all were made to face the harsh reality full of bloodshed and death. And I had given up on the time of my innocence deliberately. It made me ponder my reason for going through my life as an ant. Why did I even tag along with the others? I could have run off at any moment. I guess, even though I didn’t forget my time in the underworld, I was slowly becoming an ant through and through. That’s the only reason I could think of at that time.

The walk was long. We crossed three more check posts at none of which were we stopped. At the last check post, however, we were. I could already, however, see what the noise was about. The farm wasn’t a termite farm, but it was similar to that. The slaves —if I can call them— however, weren’t kept in deep-closed pits. They were out in the open with only a single ant guarding them. I analyzed one of the creatures and it turned out to be something called an aphid: a zero ranker with next to no combat ability.

Spoiler: Status: Softback Aphid (Common)

Soft back Aphid (Common)

Level

3/10

Type

Insect

Rank

0

Job

Parasite

Health

1/1

Stamina

3/-

Stat Tier: F

Strength

0.07

Intelligence

0

Agility

.003

Constitution

.1

Dexterity

0

Vitality

.1

Wisdom

0

Endurance

.05

They were small creatures, not bigger than my head — at least most of them on the outer edges of the farm wasn’t. They had two very small antennas and humongous abdomens for their size. Wasn’t sure if Billy could see them from out there, but with my enhanced Sight, I could have been standing further at the back if I wanted to and still be able to pick up their every move in detail.

These aphids were clustered in a bunch, and every bunch was made up of five to ten of these curious little creatures. There were tens of these bunches in the three plants which I could see from out there; only God or the higher executives of this farm knew how many aphids there were on the farm. Three to five carriers surrounded every bunch with the soldier keeping an eye on the surroundings. I remember noticing a slight stiffness in the soldier’s posture, but I was so fascinated with what the aphids were doing that I completely forgot something which could have been crucial toward what happened next on the farm.

The soldier on the last check post stopped us. I sensed him releasing trace amounts of chemicals asking our identity. Even though I was already used to the weird feeling I got every time I looked at an ant —not that I remember how I looked in my past life or anything— but this primitive method that the others who couldn’t talk used was still lost on me. Not because of its complications, it was very simple. Just release the pheromone most applicable to the situation and you are done, but this was also where my sadness with it started. Pheromones weren’t versatile. One could lead a trail to something curious, release signals to warm other of danger, show mild hostility or outright call for help, but these were all the reaction most of my species was restricted to.

“Sorry.” Billy practically groveled on the floor for the soldier’s hostility. I had to tell him it was alright because he was adamant about asking punishment for this.

Like, right now the soldier was releasing a pheromone of mild hostility toward us. And the only way to stop his mild hostility from growing into complete hostility was for Billy to release another pheromone, which was like a gateway ticket. I sensed him spray me with some of it and the soldiers backed away once they sensed that I was now also one of them.

“Separated from the captain, I forgot to do it. I’m sorry.” I waved my antennas at him and rubbed his head to relax him. I couldn’t tell him that I could have created the signal pheromone unique to his species on my own if I wanted to — my pheromone manipulation skill had progressed far enough for that. But that wouldn’t have helped him calm down. It would have only confused him.

“To the aphid farm, I welcome you,” Billy said, nudging me to follow him. “Look closely where the branches part, bunched together you will see, tiny feeders. Aphids they are. Soldier’s absence, worry you might. Captives, however, are not the aphids. No was the need to make them submit. Intelligence, they lack and dew they release when fiddled.”

I could see the carriers tap the aphids back with their antennas, which would then shiver and release a crystal clear bead of fragrant dew. Even from far I could taste its freshness.

Billy arranged for me to take a sip of the dew. The carriers drew back –uncaringly- as if used to such nuisances. I didn’t hesitate either.

“Behind the aphid, you stand.” I did as told and Billy watched from the side, rubbing his antennas in anticipation. I didn’t know what he was expecting, but I sure as heck wasn’t going to let him have his fun.

“Gently, tap its back. The dew will come.” Again I did as was told and when I tasted the bead of dew, I lost control of my body. My mandibles loosened, my legs gave away, my head spun and I passed air through my skeleton. The dew was refreshingly sweet. It was none other than sugar, pure liquid sugar. I had tasted meat of all kinds since waking up as an ant, but sugar… the first dose of it made me numb to everything. Its effect was such on me that the system even decided I had experienced some kind of damage to my soul and my skills reacted to protect me.

[Soul damage resistance has risen to level 19]

Billy laughed and the carriers eased around us- possibly delighted too. There was a long day ahead, and I started it by realizing about my exceptionally big craving for things sweet.