The failure of a courier was frozen. It was gone! The message was gone, and the queen wouldn’t have sent it if it wasn’t important! They were all going to die, the whole Hive, and it was all Failure’s fault. It would be banished, left to its own devices again, or worse— recycled. It really, really didn’t want to be recycled…

It stood still, waiting, unable even to shake in fear. It didn’t resist when the soldiers came and picked it up. It went limp when they loaded it onto the gatherer’s broad back. Failure’s mind whirled in ever darker circles; nothing was left to turn into action, so it didn’t act, only feared.

Absently, Failure considered that the gatherer had a very steady gate, not even breaking its stride when it swallowed up small plants in its path. Sturdy would be a good name for it. Failure hoped that Sturdy wouldn’t be punished for Failure’s failure. Sturdy hadn’t done anything wrong. It should be allowed to stay a part of the Hive.

When night fell and the light faded from the forest, the soldiers pulled Failure down and set it on the ground. It still didn’t move, going limp on the forest floor. The rest of the group moved around it, working to take care of whatever tasks they needed to attend to before resting. Failure paid them no mind.

Sturdy opened its mouth and the soldiers pulled out some appetizing smelling balls, food rations produced by the Queen Herself for them to eat as they traveled. Failure didn’t move. One of the soldiers pushed a ration ball at it. Failure turned its head away and made no move to take the food. The soldier keener in distress. Failure didn’t move. That food would be better given to someone who wasn’t such a useless waste of flesh.

The soldier pressed the food against Failure’s mouth and chirped like it was trying to coax a larva. Failure turned its head the other way and lay down, then parted its tentacles to reveal that the message was gone, that it had failed. Also, it wasn’t a larva, and being chirped at like one was a little bit ridiculous. It wasn’t sure where the energy to feel offended came from, but there it was. It might have failed, but it was still an adult!

Now that the soldier knew that the message was gone, it would take the food back instead of wasting it on Failure. The soldiers might even leave it here, on its own, instead of bringing it back to the Hive to face the Queen’s judgment. Then, it would be Lonely instead of Failure, and it wouldn’t be able to let anyone other than itself down ever again. That would be the best possible outcome; Failure didn’t want to face a Queen’s judgement again. Maybe it would even be able to resist seeking out a new Hive to join this time.

The soldier backed off, leaving the food, and walked over to Sturdy and the other soldier. They huddled up to talk, probably about Failure. Failure waited patiently, unmoving, for them to make their decision and take whatever action they would. Probably, they would take the food back for Sturdy to store. That would make the most sense.

Maybe they would cut the memories out of Failure to bring back, so that the Queen would know what had happened without having to see the disgraced hunter again. That would make sense, too, but Failure hoped they didn’t do that. It didn’t want to be reduced to memories yet. That was just as bad as being recycled.

Carer was worried. Courrier wasn’t moving or eating, and the message was gone. Carer glanced back at the stunned hunter and saw that it hadn’t touched the ration ball. This was bad. It was bad, bad, no good, bad. Carer had sung and everything, and that had always worked with the larvae at the old Hive…

Oh, but Courrier was a full grown hunter, not a larva, even if it was acting like a frightened little one. Maybe Steady would have an idea. Steady always had ideas. Carer went to talk to Steady, the gatherer that was holding their ration balls, along with what looked like a large bush that it was methodically biting into pieces small enough to swallow whole. Carer would have called Steady Hungry if it hadn’t been so dependable.

Carer walked up and leaned against the gatherer, channeling its mind through its friend.

it thought-spoke, willing the message through its skin and into the gatherer.

The gatherer paused its cheering and slid its eyes over toward Courrier, considering.

The gatherer’s thoughts were, like its body, slow and heavy.

Carer replied.

the other soldier said. It must have leaned up against Steady’s other side while they were talking.

Carer sent its agreement back through the gatherer. It was a solid plan. Steady rumbled a thought-based assent as well.

it told them calmly.

The other soldier left to find food, and Carer returned to Courier, relieved to have a plan of action. Courrier hadn’t moved, so Carer picked up the ration ball and leaned gently against the hunter’s side.

it informed the miserable creature.

Courier replied, before refusing to transmit farther. It didn’t move, either, but Carer decided that this was the best they were likely to get for now, and carried the food back to the gatherer.