CHAPTER 10

Tree wasn’t sure what he was doing anymore. He wasn’t sure how long it had been. He had a distressing tendency to lose track of time as he meditated. He now called it cultivating because some nerds had said that was what it was called. Tree liked it because, well he was a tree and he was cultivating himself and the surrounding area. He had discovered all the trees in his immediate vicinity were linked by their roots. As he expanded and pushed his mana out he linked up with the surrounding vegetation.

He wondered why none of the other trees were able to talk to him. He seemed to be unique in the immediate area. He could talk to the humans. Queen Bitey did not like that. Tree was beginning to think Bitey was jealous. Bitey continued to direct the excavation of the soil beneath the Tree. By now there was a sizable dungeon beneath him. He could feel it stretching out down and to the sides. There were tunnels and galleries. Traps and deadends greeted anyone foolish enough to enter.

Gina and her Ginormants patrolled the upper layers. Gina was fast becoming a terror in her own right. She seemed to be getting stronger every time she killed an intruder. Tree thought she might need her own gallery. She was getting too big to fit into all the tunnels comfortably. Tree was worried that if he had the tunnels made bigger it would be too easy for outsiders to enter.

Fortunately, Tree seemed to have found an answer to that problem as well. What if he could co opt the humans outside to help in his defense? According to his memories humans were notoriously greedy. If he offered them something in return for not attacking him or if they started to defend him from outside threats.

The area around Tree was becoming dangerous. He had expanded a long way from his original starting point. Tree had connected to all the trees inside of Rollsville. Outside of the town it was rolling fields. The area was once known for its wheat fields. But now other things roamed the plains. Tree couldn’t get a good feel for what was out there. He knew it was big. Well, it was multiple big things. Bigger things ate the not so big things and there were truly monstrous creatures out there.

Whatever network or connection Tree was making seemed to rely on the roots of plants. The bigger and closer together the plants the easier it was to make a connection. Tree was expanding his area of influence as far as he could reach. He found it was easier to grow new plants on his periphery. That way he didn’t have to connect to new plants, the plants started connected to him.

Tree had surrounded the area where the humans were hiding. It was a large building they called a school. Tree was thinking about what he should do about the humans.

“Hey, Bitey. What should I do about the humans?” He asked Bitey.

Bitey slowly clacked her mandibles together. Tree realized it was her version of sighing. “I think we co-opt them somehow in the nest.” She replied.

“Add them to the nest?” Tree muttered. “That might just work. But how though?”

“Make them an offer.” Bitey replied. “Try being nice at first, but make them an offer.”

Tree sunk into deep thought. How could Tree get the humans to work with him? He thought about the ways the ants communicated. Queen Bitey spoke with her mind but Tree knew this wasn’t the way she spoke to all the other ants. Tree asked her. “Hey, Bitey. How do you talk to all your children?”

Bitey responded with another mandible clack. “The awake ones I just speak to. The little ones, we use scent. Pheromones I think you call them.”

I thought about it. Pheromones. Maybe smelly things. I wondered about flowers. I looked at all the plants I was connected to. Hmmm. There were many flowering plants that I had connected to while I was expanding my influence.