Part 1: The Colony—An Underground Megacity of Nightmare Efficiency
Aya had spent her entire first day as an ant coming to terms with three horrifying realities:
The crushing realization that her new life was somehow even worse than her office job.
The terrifyingly efficient work culture that made human corporations look like lazy summer camps.
The absolute disaster of trying to "talk" in pheromone language, only to embarrass herself repeatedly.
But none of that could have prepared her for what she saw next.
Her newly ingrained worker instincts compelled her deeper into the labyrinthine tunnels of the colony, dragging her tiny body along with the unrelenting wave of countless other ants. As she scurried forward, her antennae twitched involuntarily, overwhelmed by the flood of information carried in the air—pheromone signals from thousands of workers moving in perfect, mindless synchronization.
And then, she saw it.
This wasn't just some crude underground nest. This was a metropolis.
A vast, pulsating hive of industry that put human civilization to shame.
The colony stretched out in a dizzying maze of tunnels, each one leading to a different sector of the "city." She watched in stunned awe (and mild horror) as countless ants scurried about, each one driven by an almost robotic dedication to their tasks.
The Nursery Chambers – A massive network of soft, damp burrows lined with the squirming bodies of eggs and larvae. Nurse ants moved with delicate precision, grooming the newborns with their mandibles. It was an insect daycare where all the babies looked like twitching grains of rice.
The Food Storage Rooms – A grotesquely efficient pantry, where worker ants tirelessly hauled in an assortment of food: scraps of dead bugs, crushed leaves, and other… unidentifiable organic matter. The stench that filled the chamber was a monstrous mix of rotten sweetness and decay. Aya instinctively recoiled but had no choice but to push forward, her tiny legs refusing to disobey the colony's invisible orders.
The Resting Chambers – Aya's antennae perked up. Finally, a breakroom! A moment of peace— Oh. Wait.
The "breakroom" was just a massive, writhing pile of ants collapsed on top of each other, twitching as they slept.
Her antennae drooped in despair.
Even resting was a terrifying communal experience.
The Queen's Chamber – She had yet to see it, but the mere mention of it in the pheromone whispers sent a chill through her tiny exoskeleton. The Queen was the colony's living machine, a massive, egg-producing monarch guarded by elite soldiers. No one disturbed her unless they wanted to be ripped apart.
The Future Queen Chambers – Aya had no idea what happened in there, but judging by the reverence in the pheromones, it was either a luxurious VIP suite… or a sinister corpse-laden throne room.
As she continued her forced labor orientation, realization dawned on her.
This was just an office building.
A corporate nightmare.
But instead of salarymen in suits, it was ants. Instead of cubicles, it was dirt tunnels. Instead of getting fired, you just… died.
And that's when she saw the first horror.
Part 2: The Retirement Plan is Death. And Death Means… Dinner.
Aya had just finished a particularly humiliating shift of moving ant poop (yes, she was on janitorial duty, don't ask) when she noticed a commotion in the tunnels.
A worker ant collapsed.
At first, Aya thought, Oh wow, break time? I should do that too.
Then, she realized.
It wasn't taking a break.
It was dying.
The poor thing twitched feebly, its exoskeleton cracking, its antennae barely responding. It had spent its entire life working—endlessly hauling, building, and following orders—until finally, its tiny body gave out.
Aya felt a strange pang of sympathy.
Even as an ant, burnout was real.
And then—
They swarmed.
A wave of worker ants rushed in without hesitation.
Aya's mandibles hung open in shock.
Oh—oh, they're helping it! That's really—
CRUNCH.
They started eating it.
THEY WERE EATING THEIR COWORKER.
Aya's brain shut down.
NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?!
The dying ant twitched once… then stopped moving.
And just like that, it was food.
Aya felt her soul leave her body.
Wait. Hold on.
If I stay here long enough… THIS IS GOING TO BE ME?!
Her entire form locked up in sheer existential horror.
The other ants continued their meal as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Like this was just another Tuesday.
Aya wanted to vomit. She desperately wanted to vomit.
But guess what?
ANTS. DON'T. VOMIT.
She stood there, trembling, as her coworkers casually committed cannibalism around her.
At that moment, she realized something even worse.
There was no escape.
She would work until her body failed.
And then?
Dinner.
Her screaming soul nearly exploded out of her tiny ant body.
Part 3: Pheromones Are Still a Nightmare
Aya needed to express her sheer terror.
But since she still hadn't mastered pheromone communication, what came out instead was—
A distress signal.
A very, very strong distress signal.
Immediately, five soldier ants came charging toward her.
"What's the emergency?!"
"Where is the threat?!"
"Do we need to fight?!"
Aya, who was just panicking over the cannibalism situation, suddenly found herself surrounded by elite, battle-ready ants, glaring at her like she had just screamed "FIRE" in a crowded theater.
Frantically, she waved her antennae (which she still barely knew how to control), but instead of signaling, "Oops, my bad!"
She accidentally sent a second pheromone signal.
"DANGER! ATTACK INCOMING!"
The soldiers IMMEDIATELY went into red alert.
Mandibles clashed.
Orders were barked.
CHAOS. BROKE. OUT.
And Aya?
Aya just stood there, completely mortified at the sheer disaster she had just caused.
This was worse than accidentally hitting "Reply All" on an email.
One of the workers gently placed a piece of food in front of her.
She tilted her antennae, confused.
Through the pheromones, she sensed the message:
"Eat. You are clearly too dumb and stressed. Food helps dumb, stressed ants."
Aya sighed.
She ate the food.
And wondered, for the millionth time—
Why the hell was I reborn as an ant?