The Ant Keeper

4

They spent the night in the guest cabins near the main house. Each of their suites were connected to a common area. After dinner, Myrme and Skoal were chatting and enjoying some cacao drinks.

"This could be the missing link, mister Skoal!" insisted the local guide. "She understands humans and the planet so well. You can't but wonder if she was sent by those almighty above, you know?"

"By the dean?" asked Skoal. Myrme broke into her usual laughter.

"Oh, you are witty! By forces beyond those, mister. From beyond space and time." She stood silent for a second. "How many years have you studied chaos?" she asked abruptly, as if she had remembered something extremely important. "The lady says you need several years of study to read some records. Why is that?" she added.

"Yes, that is true. But honestly, it is like everything else. You do need to dedicate your time. Remember though, that the output of learning, the cycle of influences between knowledge and experience, has a fractal nature. Knowing a little bit can sometimes give you understanding of the larger or higher levels. It is also known that learning has a strong power-law driven learning curve. Your first ten hours studying or experiencing would cover ninety percent of what you will learn, the other ninety hours would allow you to specific, details, and more complicated conceptualizations. Long story shorter, Myrme. Don't hesitate to study anytime you can." Skoal stood up and washed his mug.

She noticed he would go to bed and stopped him before he did. "I would also like to remember you, not to mention about my daughter's name." she said in a grave tone.

Skoal remembered the cognitive dissonance he had when entering the Ant Keeper's land. Surprised once again he turned to her.

"And why did you intentionally let her know?" asked Skoal with his usual blunt honesty.

"What do you mean, Skoal? I haven't! Oh, the One Emperor forbid! If she knows she may worry that's it." Said Myrme.

"I'm tired, Myrme. I travelled a lot today. And I've seen more than my mind can bare. Please be direct. Why would she worry that you will name your daughter Myrme?" he dragged a chair close to her and sat down.

"She would worry that I'm taking the collective dream too far. This is something like a tale or legend here. There are around two dozen villages like ours in the Eppalshian Lowlands. We all believe in the collective dream." She saw how Skoal was evidently relaxing now. The friendlier version of the officer was a signal of appreciation to honesty. She continued "The dream is basically the hope that the region will prosper. That we will all have a political industrial system that is stable, safe, and provides self-actualization for every citizen."

"That is a lot to ask, don't you think?" said Skoal.

"Well, yes. In part, yes. I know how sensitive social systems can be. But in an isolated area it is different, especially with the current knowledge and technology. We could avoid contact with other stellar objects and civilizations. And still, prosper." She smiled.

"Hmm. Let me tell you one of my discipline's maxims "As Data leads to Knowledge, Knowledge should lead to Wisdom". You better be cautious on mixing what the old lady teaches and your 'collective dream'. Theory and wellbeing of societies don't mix well. Sometimes it works, but a hell-a-lot of times it doesn't." he said.

"Well, that may be hard. You see, this is exactly about that. Both things may be even the same thing, I cannot distinguish the difference anymore." she said.

"So how is she involved in this? Has she lectured you on how to pursue the collective dream of your people?" asked Skoal. He moved in the spot trying to sit straight.

"Of course, she has. She is part of this. It would be impossible to achieve this without her. And she will worry if she knows that my daughter will continue with the tradition of the dream. She doesn't like that part of our rites. I understand, wouldn't you be freaked out if an entire region of people had the same name as you? Well. This answers your question, Skoal. And yes, I wanted her to hear she will be named Myrme too. We shall all be Myrme. In her honor." she raised her hand and gently touched her forehead.

The dissonance didn't go away. He smiled and behaved as he had understood what she had shared. He bowed to her and excused himself for the night. The room was small but had standard isolation. The clean air, noise-canceling, thermo-stasis of this place made him relax almost immediately. Skoal took an injection of stimulants to gain a couple of hours of work. He sat down and started writing. As he did, he put together what he had seen. One after the other thoughts fell into the right place. He stopped writing.

""In her honor"?" he asked out loud. "You are such an idiot, Skoal. Specially when you get tired!". He stood up, opened the chamber's door and run through the common area. He knocked on Myrme's door. After five seconds of silence, he knocked again harder and raising his voice.

"Hey lady, sorry to bother. I need to ask you a question!" he said.

A mumble and the sound of something falling came from the other side.

"It is urgent. Please?" he asked uncomfortably, realizing he had been almost objectively rude.

"Come in!" was barely but clearly heard from the room. Skoal entered the room that was surprisingly tidy. Her face appeared from a mess of four bed covers. She looked like a large caterpillar insect with a human face. "What is it, Skoal.?" She asked as politely as she could with closed eyes.

"What is the old lady's name?" he asked bluntly.

"Didn't you know? Ha! Well, Myrme of course. We chose the name after her. The collective dream would have been..." Skoal was already running through the door. "impossible!" she finished with a scream.

"Waking me up for silly questions." she whispered to herself. "He is supposed to be a researcher!". The whole mess of bed covers giggled, and she fell asleep.

Skoal blamed himself. Being bad at names wasn't an excuse this time. How could he have forgot about her name! Since his arrival to this solar system, she was constantly referred only as the Ant Keeper. The cognitive dissonance rose. But he kept focused on what was at hand. This violated the Keppler Secondary Directive. How could she dare to intervene! Stepping out of academia to misled isolated communities for her science projects. Lost in his thoughts, but with an assertive stride, Skoal walked to the Ant Keeper's home. This matter would be resolved immediately.

As his slim figure and long robes walked through the dark forest, a pair of red lights began to shine in the trees. The deeper he went into the road, more and more red eyes joined. It was the yokos. Surveilling him on every step, keeping a distance. When he got to the house, over a hundred hexapods surrounded him. For a second, he stopped and reconsidered. While he stood there thinking on what to do next, the larger yokos arrived and joined the circle. Realizing that the human's brain was malfunctioning, one of the little yokos took the initiative. He walked to the door know and opened it. A few others joined and opened the door completely. The rest rearranged the circle, so it gave Skoal a clear path to the door.

"Thank you." he said. He bowed to them, and entered the house.