Chapter 523 The early Colony gets the worm (1/2)

When I finally come across Jim, he's s.h.i.+vering up against the wall of the tunnel as dozens of ants keep watch on him, some literally on top of him.

[Jim! You made it out, alright I see!]

[Anthony! Thank the- WHAT THE h.e.l.l IS THAT?!]

[You mean Crinis? She's my pet.]

[THAT is your pet?]

[For sure, she's great. Anyway, why are you shaking like a leaf in a storm? Something wrong?]

[Every cell in my body is screaming at me to escape from these ants. I swear they are tasting me in their minds. They look hungry, Anthony!]

[You can't tell if an ant is hungry by looking at them, Jim.]

[I can sense it.]

[No you can't! Besides, what would be the point? We ants are always hungry.]

[Nooooo. Don't eat me, Anthony! I have a family! My poor worm children!]

[You aren't going to be eaten, Jim!] I scoff at him. [If the Colony was going to eat you, you'd be eaten already! Just relax for a second.]

[It's hard to relax when literal predators are climbing on you.]

He has a good point. When it comes to insects and small organisms, ants are just about kings of the hill. Worms are just one of the near infinite number of things that ants will prey upon as they seek out the protein they need to raise the ravenous brood.

[Just take a minute to appreciate your achievement! You're free! You made it out! If you want to, you can slither into the wall and vanish. Back to the Dungeon!]

[I'm too exhausted to take it in. I think I need to rest before I can enjoy it. Besides, I can't feel at ease knowing what Sarah is going through. If she doesn't fight, then isn't she just going to get eaten. It's not right…]

He's got a point. He said before we left that he wanted to go back and rescue his friend. Now that the Colony has exposed itself, there isn't much reason not to back and try to bust her out. If it's going to happen though, it'll need to happen soon. The Golgari will get word of an active ant colony soon and will start to mobilise their no doubt considerable resources against us. We need to get in, hit the outpost and get out before that can happen. If we pull the Colony all the way back to Liria, perhaps there's a chance they never find us.

[I'll let you rest here then. I'm going to go talk to the leaders.h.i.+p and see what we can do about getting Sarah out.]

[Leaders.h.i.+p? What do you mean? What's going on with these ants, Anthony?]

[It’s… a little hard to explain. Let's just say, I made ants as smart as people?]

[You did WHAT?!] The worm explodes.

I get defensive.

[Hey! I just wanted to help out my family, you know?]

[So you made giant monstrous ants with the intelligence of humans? Do you have any idea what you've done?!]

[… made a super cool Colony of ants?]

[Oh my G.o.d. I can't take it anymore. I'm going to sleep.]

Having said so, the giant worm goes totally limp and flops on the ground under the watchful eye of his ant protectors. What's his deal anyway? I don't see how smart ants are any worse than smart apes or smart rock-skinned people. In fact, aren't they just better? I mean, I'll take my current family over my old one in a heartbeat. No time to worry about that now. I need to find whichever members of the Council were foolish enough to come all the way out here. Wherever 'here' is. Time to plan a quick smash ‘n’ grab and then we are marching home!

I find the usual suspects gathered nearby, waiting for me to turn up for a chat. They dug out a convenient meeting chamber for us to use so we don't block off the tunnel, which still has a ton of traffic moving through it as ants go about their work.

”Eldest, it's wonderful to see you again!” This from Burke.

”It's pleasing to see that this operation was a success.” Sloan tips her antennae at me.