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285673 |
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Outside it was a bright warm day in April; however, inside throughout the tunnels the temperature was a constant 65 degrees. 285673 had been awake all her life. Sleep is a luxury not afforded to her kind, mostly due to the fact that she doesn’t have eyelids. Even if she did, her physiological needs don’t include rest. She had already traveled down tunnel 287 about a dozen times that morning, and she was about to make another trip; however, since time is unimportant and sleep is not an option she wasn’t keeping count. There was a sweet sickly smell of honey traveling the chambers. The smell must have been coming from the nursery. 285673 made no note of the smell. She acknowledged that it was there, but since it had always been there—for at least as long as she had been awake, which was always—it did not reference to her to imagine whether it could ever not be there. That is, if she had the capacity to imagine. As the day continued on, a constant signal transmitted throughout the colony. Every now and then, it would transmit information about tunnel maintenance, nursery care, food locations, and job shifting; when information wasn’t being put out it would transmit a low monotonous music in order to promote diligence. From time to time the music would vary, but it would switch back and forth between the same songs. 285673 could not turn it down nor did it ever register that she could since the option had never been available. As 285673 was making her return trip from tunnel 287 she received a message, “All available worker ants in tunnel 287 report to tunnel 234 south side entrance for tunnel maintenance; also, the north side entrance to tunnel 234 needs repacking all available worker ants proceed at once…” Following the announcements, the duldrum music resumed play. Soon after receiving the message, 285673 proceeded to tunnel 234 without any thought of the contrary—if such were possible. Tunnel 234 had suffered a collapse on the west side near the south side entrance which led to nursery 46. A couple of worker ants registered 273654 and 456345 were buried under the dirt. They transmitted several times requiring assistance; however none was to be given. Instead, the protocol was to re-excavate the tunnel wall and pack the dirt. To do this the process was to chew through the dirt to include the buried ants and chop it and them into smaller pieces; following this the smaller pieces to include what was left of 273654 and 456345 would be carried to a drop off point at the north side end of the tunnel where it would be picked up by other ants who would then proceed to carry it off outside into the open—which is what the world outside the colony was referred to. 285673 had heard it being referred to this way on many an occasion. As such, the message went, “All available worker ants near tunnel 234 north side entrance proceed to drop off point and carry detriment out to the open…” As 285673 made it to the tunnel most of the excavating had already been done and most of the dirt and debris had already been carted off; so, she began to pack the walls. As soon as the tunnel 234 was back up to standard she began to make her way back down the tunnel to resume her place at tunnel 287. As she got closer to tunnel 287, the sickly sweet smell began to become more pungent. She made notice of this, but used it only as a reference point. She knew that once she made it back, the pungent smell would once again become residual and she would no longer need to discern it. As she made it to the turn off into tunnel 287 a couple of worker ants registered 345654 and 424564 were hard at work repacking the entrance. Just as she began to bypass them, the dirt from the entrance collapsed. It buried all three of them. 285673, 345654 and 424564 all began to transmit distress signals. All three transmissions were ignored. A message sounded off throughout the tunnels, “All available worker ants near tunnel 287 south side entrance proceed to tunnel 234 north side entrance for tunnel maintenance.” |