The Ant Keeper

3

In part, it was what Skoal expected. The ant keeper was right, he had read most of her academic work. Seeing the actual ant farms seemed normal at first. After all, apart from being a gigantic farm covering the inner wall of the dome, this didn't show any relevant scientific value. Until he noticed something different in one of the ants closer to him. It was clearly different from the others right beside. Twice the size, long, thin, and with over twenty legs. It wasn't a centipede; it was something between that and an ant.

"This silo is running a variation of leg morphology. I aim to detect the role of disparity in transport resources." said the ant keeper.

"Isn't this what you were sanctioned for?" asked Skoal with his usual unsuitable remark.

"Indeed, I was sanctioned for genetic manipulation on sentient subjects, organisms of the insect kingdom are not considered sentient in Ceres." answered the lady.

A basic room reading was enough to adjust the situation.

"I'm sorry. I don't intend to roam on your personal business. So, these mutations are from insects only?" asked Skoal.

"Not at all!" answered Myrme. The concern in the old lady's semblance was obvious, even for Skoal.

"Myrme!" growled the lady and immediately regained her warmth and gentle posture.

"I'm sorry, Maestra. But he should know that your propositions are not only good ideas." added the young Eppalshian.

The old lady interfered to remove Myrme from keeping the narrative.

"These silos contain many successful ecosystems from trans-species modifications. The proof is here. Differences in the individual can have non-linear effects on the society, yes. But put that to the extremes of the animal kingdom. Not humankind sure, but anything without an intelligible language has been considered." explained the ant keeper.

"So, you maintain the minimal intelligence condition. Is that why you have left everything and everyone to study them?" asked Skoal, disregarding the latent ethical implications.

"Perhaps it would be better if we visit the next silo, my dear."

The ant keeper invited them to hop in the yoko as there was no road between silos; wilderness unaltered surrounded the wooden domes. Seconds later they arrived at the other silo. Although everything looked identical on the outside, Skoal could immediately see the inner layout of this colony and ecosystem was radically different. The lights in the room were generated by the colonies themselves. It looked like a spherical diorama of living miniatures. The ants were inside of the miniatures, and these were nothing but tiny mechanical and organic exoskeletons. They still behaved like ants, moving in a cloud of little peers in apparent random directions. The miniscule robot seemed to have a clear purpose, commanded by the collective of ants. There were clear roads, digital displays, and for what Skoal could tell, a complete socio-industrial complex based on information technology.

"How?" he could mutter.

"This could be the missing link, Skoal. Or at least a simple case that defies our understanding of self, intelligence, and sentience."

The evening was filled with questions from Skoal. One after the other, each question came up naturally as the ant keeper's responses. Not long after, she was notoriously tired, and Myrme proposed to suspend the activities for the day.