The Slave Race

A Leap of Faith

Run! They all collectively screamed in my head as I made way for the ventilation chamber.

Left! The voices whispered in unison as if the living machine could hear their thoughts. Ignoring the burning sensation, I followed many turns until their voices faded out.

The last line was... Jump!

The soothing throbs of the queen's DNA sample assured me of its existence before my leap of faith which pulled me out of range with the hive's consciousness.

I am now alone. I thought to myself, no longer crowded by others' thoughts and finally felt a sense of space in my head for the first time since I was spat out by the queen. I remembered as their voices surrounded me, telling me how lucky I was to be able to resist the hormonal control the authority had over us. But I never felt like that. It felt like a curse to me. To have the ability to make changes, to be able to resist their control and to break free from the cycle, yet is powerless to do so. I tried to end myself many times and in many different ways possible, but that is the downside of being indestructible. I can't die.

However, we are indestructible, but not immortal. I had felt it countless times. To have connected consciousness means all of us would share all of our experiences together; the good, the bad and the ugly. When one of us refuses or cannot move their limbs no more, we would be burnt. That is what I knew from all the rumors. True death is to be burnt by fire.

The echoing thumps confirmed my arrival.

It was not long before the ground beneath me shook and opened up, letting the sunlight in. Starting from a streak of white to a swallowing heat of blinding yellow which casted a welcoming gust of solar wind as I let the gravitational pull take me.

It was a hopeful moment, at first. When suddenly I was pulled back into the ship.

There was something metallic holding on to the end of my appendages.

Microbots!

Panic, I stretched my appendages to all sides, trying to stick on to the surface of the Waste Ejecting Chamber as much as possible. The Micro-bots were already deactivated from my leap of faith, but I couldn't get it all out because they were microscopically attached to my cell membranes.

I did my best by staying flat and sticking to the surface and yet I wasn't fast enough to the edge before it would be closed again so I threw one of my appendages with the queen's DNA inside backward then ripped it out, ignoring... ignoring...

Go! Thrive! And don't you ever come back for us!

It was the last thing I heard.