The Ants & The Cube

The End

The ants were confused, unsure of what to do in the dark, with the temperature dropping more and more. They felt a sense of danger, yet, they kept walking on, suddenly tracking a sort of pheromone path. Suddenly, a torch ignited itself, the flame roaring into life right before their eyes. They backed away slowly, taking in the vast darkness and emptiness before them. The flame provided warmth. Slowly approaching the torch's body, which was a metallic cone frame, they came upon a small arched hole that glowed. The ants, surrounded by uncertainty, quickly ran in, coming onto a most peculiar scene. Before them stood a dark, yet luminescent room, where a sort of spider statute stood before them hundreds of meters in height and length. Near them stood little spiders, which looked like babies, surrounding the endless black floor beneath them. They froze, uncertain of how to proceed, the food lying upon their backs. They felt the cold get closer.

Uncertain, they began moving slowly, noting how nothing seemed to respond to them. Reaching the statue, its legs, like skyscrapers to them, begun moving. The statue appeared to come to life, as it slowly, and mechanically it seemed, made its way forward, crushing the tiny little spiders. Except, they did not seem to die. As its large legs moved on, the spiders beneath them turned out rather fine, as if nothing had happened. Frozen in place, the ants looked curiously, as the statue seemingly went on into the endless end of the room opposing them. Turning back around, the walls had suddenly been filled with little torches, like the one they had seen earlier. The flames roared to life, but the heat was not enough to combat the endless cold. And the darkness appeared to be getting stronger by the minute. Unsure, the ants continued on, heading down the room, which quickly turned into a narrow hallway, leaving behind them the strange scene.

As they marched down, managing their terror, doors begun to loudly preach themselves open, carving endless darkness into the wall that had little light. Then, they reached a wall, and the torches went out. Looking around peculiarly, one of them cleaning their antennae in thought, the floor suddenly gave out. Falling into an endless pit, it was not long before the ground below appeared: it was one of the tunnels of their colony. Landing upon it, they were amazed to find themselves unhurt, the little fruit they were carrying bouncing off to the other end. As they gathered their senses, they walked around a little bit, checking if this was their colony. As they did, they noticed the little cube, standing idly, slowly vanishing from place, in one of the corners. The food was delivered, and nothing of the cube appeared ever again. At least, not for these little ants.