Spiral of Ants

The Professor

So I decided if someone tried to steal Apollos microphone, it would actually work for them, but it would slowly consume them. This about a professor back in the 1700s who tried to steal it. Back then it wasn't a microphone, of course.

Yes, I am aware that this turned into a TMA statement

Lynn Rowe was a well-known and respected professor in 18th-century England. If one had a question regarding history, specifically regarding long-lost societies, cultures and beliefs, he was your best bet.

He had made a number of discoveries that had assisted scholars in understanding more than they ever could have about past civilizations, their connections, etc. Of course, though, there's only so much one man could know. Professor Rowe was a realist, and never hesitated to say when information was simply lost, which was unfortunately common. Time destroyed all, and unfortunately that included context needed to understand ancient findings.

He was showing his students a stone tablet, from centuries ago, which held the runes of multiple mythological deities, and teaching the students about each one, and their respective cults and followers.

He always particularly enjoyed the history of religion. The stories that were quite obviously made up but remarkably in-depth, the things people would do to honor these deities, ect. Of course, he noticed not much had actually changed, looking at the state of religion in his day, but it was much more socially acceptable to dig and pry at long-dead religions.

One student pointed out a rune, smaller than the rest and wedged between the runes of more prominent entities. Lynn had never noticed it before, nor did he recognize it. It had an eye in the center and tentacles spiraling outwards. He considered for a moment that perhaps it belonged to Poseidon, Neptune or some other sea-centric god. But the eye in the center is what threw him off. He could think of no aquatic god that would have an eye motif as well. So he explained to his students.

"This is a good example of smaller religions and deities being lost to time. Despite the large amount of mythology we know about today, there is a good chance that far more than we'll ever know is gone for good. Only the stories with the most followers had the luxury of being documented and remembered."

Everyone was satisfied with that answer and the lecture continued.

Professor Rowe would have never thought twice about it.

That is, if he didn't start noticing extremely similar runes. Everywhere. Relics from every corner of the earth, from every time period. It made no sense considering the cultures each rune was from had no common threads. How were these runes finding their way into the corners of every society?

When he asked his fellow scholars if they had ever noticed these runes, they all told him they hadn't. He wasn't surprised, after all they were always wedged between far more recognizable symbols.

Despite all his digging, he really couldn't find any actual information on the runes. After months of searching and frustration, he had begun to accept that maybe the answer simply wasn't available.

That was until one day at the marketplace he saw a man with markings that were very similar to the runes. He had studied cultures where poking ink into the skin was common practice, except this man's markings were pink. As far as Lynn was aware, most if not all inks used for this practice were black.

The man had an eye on his forehead, and tentacles spiraling down his arms. Perhaps this man was somehow a believer of the long lost religion he had been trying to learn about? This excited Lynn, considering he had been convinced there was nothing but dead ends left.

He headed over to the man and tapped him on the shoulder "Excuse me good fellow, I'm sorry to bother but your markings, they're quite interesting. May I ask about them?"

The man looked at Lynn curiously for a moment, before saying "My markings?"

Lynn nodded towards the man's arms, and realization dawned on the man's face "Oh! Right, those." He said lightly. Lynn could already tell this man might not be the brightest.

The man shrugged, "Sure, what's your question?"

"What do they mean?" the professor questioned, hoping that this man was somehow a worshiper of whatever forgotten deity the runes represented. That alone could guarantee answers to most of his questions.

To his immense disappointment, the man shrugged "I don't know" he answered.

The professor frowned "With all due respect, good sir, how do you not know? Do you not recall getting them?"

The man shook his head "nope. I've had them as long as I can remember"

"So you were most likely too young to recall getting them, yes? Meaning it would have been your parents doing. Is it a religious thing?" The professor was admittedly a little desperate at this point, however after all this time trying to figure out what was going on, he felt like the answer was right in front of him. He couldn't tell if this man was trying to be secretive or was actually stupid, but any which way he was feeling irritation claw at him. He wasn't letting the closest thing he had to a lead slip through his fingers.

The man once again shrugged "I don't think I have parents" he responded.

An orphan, then? Lynn couldn't help but find that odd, considering the man looked well off. It was possible for the unfortunate to climb the ranks and find riches, but with how... lacking, this man seemed in the intellect department, it didn't line up. The man wasn't dressed particularly extravagantly, admittedly but he obviously wasn't poor, with his pink satin vest and golden embroidery... and a satchel, Lynn finally noticed. A very nice satchel, with a pink eye.

Surrounded by tentacles.

There was no possible way this man was not connected.

He decided to take a different approach, "I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Professor Lynn Rowe, I work at a university near here. Are you busy at the moment? I'd love to show you something I believe you might be interested in."

The man seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding "Alright, I don't see why not".