It has been a week since I woke up in this world, and all I do is work the day away, Ari said to himself. Being a slave to a colony is a lot of work.
I didn't know that ants went through all this without complaining. If only humans worked even half as hard as ants, we would achieve great things, and the world would have been a better place.
"Come on, put your back into it," said an ant to Ari as they struggled with the debris mover. As they finally pushed it out of the colony, they stopped for a minute to catch their breath, then turned over the debris, emptying the cylindrical debris mover.
After a week of living as an ant, I've learned that I'm way stronger than I thought. I'm able to lift weights that are up to a hundred times mine, which is absolutely insane.
"We are done here. Let's get back inside and continue digging," said the slave ant.
"I'll be right there. Just give me another minute or two to catch my breath," said Ari.
"Okay, fine, but hurry it up. I'm sure that you don't want those vine marks on your back," said the slave ant as he left.
Life here could have been way worse, but I'm starting to appreciate the kind of work that ants do each day. It makes me wonder why I hated them in the first place. I mean, they didn't do anything to hurt me, Ari said to himself.
Well, I better head back to the mines now. I don't want to get in trouble, said Ari. But as soon as he walked off, he bumped into a timid female ant, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Ouch! That really hurts," said the female ant in pain.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there. Are you alright?" asked Ari as he held out his hand to help the female ant up.
"Yes, I'm completely fine. Don't worry," said the female ant as she took his hand, and he pulled her up. As he examined the ant, he saw that she had beautiful wings, unlike the other female ants he had met.
She has wings. The only ant I've ever seen with wings so far was the Queen, so who exactly is she? Ari asked himself.
"Um, you are staring at me blankly, and it's really creeping me out," said the female ant.
"Sorry, it's just that you have wings," said Ari.
"Of course I do. The wings signify that I am royalty."
Wait, so she's royalty. Then that means...
"How dare you put your filthy hand on her! Stay away, you scum!" shouted an ant as he punched Ari in the face, sending him flying a couple of meters. "How dare you touch Princess Tanya, the successor of Queen Celeste, you slave trash. You will pay for that act, you lowly worm. Prepare to die," said the ant as he took out his stinger, which was in the form of a spear.
"Vladimir, please stop it. It was an accident. He didn't do anything wrong. He accidentally bumped into me and offered to help me up. Nothing else happened, I promise, so please don't hurt him any further," said Princess Tanya as she begged Vladimir to spare him.
"You're to blame, Princess Tanya. This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't run off without my permission. That was reckless; something bad could have happened to you."
"I know, I apologize for inconveniencing you," said Princess Tanya as she held her head down, feeling sad.
"Your Highness, the Queen ordered me to protect you and act as your bodyguard ever since the day you were born. Do you remember?" asked Vladimir.
"Yes, I do remember every bit of it. Whenever I'm reminiscing about the past, there is no memory without you in it, watching over me and ensuring that I'm safe," said Princess Tanya.
"I'm glad that you understand. My duty is to keep you safe, and I shall do so. So please refrain from doing anything stupid; you're this colony's future, after all. Now let's go; time is of the essence," said Vladimir.
Princess Tanya then glanced at Ari, and for a split second, he saw tears in her eyes. Then she walked away.
"I'll be sure to punish you properly after my meeting tomorrow night," said Vladimir as he looked at Ari with disgust and walked off.
So she's the next successor, the soon-to-be ruler of this colony, Ari said to himself as he got up. That Vladimir guy is really strong; he sent me flying with just one punch. What's with that bastard anyway, attacking me for no reason at all? Even if I escape getting beaten to a pulp by dying, it seems like I can't escape it even then, Ari said to himself as he sighed.
Also, I can't put my finger on it, but the Princess didn't seem too happy in that moment, said Ari as he looked back. Wait a minute, I wasted too much time up here that I forgot about my shift, said Ari as he panicked and rushed down to the tunnels to continue his digging.
After completing his eight hours, Ari went for his meal for the day.
"I'm sorry, but that's all the food that we can give out of the storage today," said a Warden.
"But there's a whole lot right there outside the storage. What do you mean by 'that's all'?" asked Ari.
"The food you're looking at right now is for the worker ants after they have done their work. There is none left for you. I worked my full eight hours, so don't tell me that I can't get my share, or we are definitely going to have a problem," said Ari in a serious tone.
"You dare to threaten me? For that, you will receive no food for a week."
"What? But that's so unfair."
"That's enough, Ari. Nothing you say will convince him to give you food. Anything you say or do will just make things worse, so just let it go. Come with me," said Evelyn.
As Ari sat down, Evelyn gave him half of her food and water.
"I thought that you had already eaten."
"Well, I should have finished, but then I overheard an ant named Vladimir telling the Warden not to give you any food," said Evelyn.
"So this was all Vladimir's doing, that bastard."
"Yes, however, there is nothing that we can do about it."
"Thank you for the food," said Ari as he started eating.
"It's the least I can do. I mean, you did save my grandpa's life."
"That's right. How's he holding up these days?" asked Ari.
"He's doing much better now, and he got back to working."
"I see, that's incredible news."
"Listen, I don't know what you did to get on Vladimir's bad side, but I'd be careful if I were you. Vladimir is no ordinary ant."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Ari.
"Before he was the bodyguard to Princess Tanya, he was actually the strongest military ant in this colony, which made him second in command and the right-hand man of the Queen. Before Tanya was born, the Queen tasked him with the duty to watch over her, which he gladly took, leaving his role as the mightiest warrior."
"How do you know all this?" asked Ari.
"All the prisoners talk. I just sit back and listen to their stories," said Evelyn.