Ch 2

Atop the forgotten mountain, an unknown conductor raised his baton. Tan dust like a fine mist rose from the ground and rushed together, fusing and forming a dome of solid dirt around a charred and steaming skull. A worm, which was currently enjoying a snack around the neck, felt something; felt something with it's entire, orderly, scepter shaped nerve structure, like it was a guitar string that was plucked for the first and final time. The note played was a low 'E'.

The dome contracted, and became textured as though made of bricks. From the earth below, a faint vibration was felt as rough and white quartz crystal rose up from the depths shot across the floor into the center of the structure. It levitated, pointing straight up and seemed to struggle to rise above the ground and then began to hum, a high, ringing 'E' that rose and rose.

The tip smeared away appearing to move in and away from itself, as though smudged out of reality. It was as though the entire crystal were being destroyed, evaporated and sprayed in all directions as a mass of quartz formed in sharp, nearly fluffy white spikes on the ceiling, looking almost like satellite dishes, softening the light and turning it white. Thin wafers of hexagonal crystal formed on the ground like hastily scattered tile, climbing all the way to the edge of the spiky crystal dome. A fine blue light began to accumulate inside, and a thin green covering quickly formed over the floor, a very tiny field of grass. Then, in the very center, spilling out from the skull's empty eye sockets and mouth, piles of huge, juicy worm chunks appeared, materialized out of nothing. Occasionally, a bolt of rainbow lightning, like the thinnest streamer of hair, would burst in the air around it. From the entrance, a thin blue mist began to spread, slowly wafting out before fading from view. Half a foot from the top of the dome barely perceptible letters formed from soft green light.

The Bug Dungeon

In the distance, a fly stood on a branch, asleep and anchored against the slight cool breeze. It was a horsefly, covered in fine white hairs, with red, compound eyes. The breeze shifted and it caught the smell of something it wanted very badly. It lept off and began circling the area, searching.

A sphere of green light materialized, high in the sky above The Bug Dungeon, then resolved itself into a tiny woman, slim with short hair that flowed in an unknown wind, her body clutched as though against an impact. She took in a deep breath and resumed her screaming, a sound of absolute terror, hands shielding her face.

“Oh no,” she screamed, “Oh it was supposed to be me!” she continued until she felt the breeze move through her, and even then, it was a while before she began to relax. Her eyes, blue and crying not moments before, caught sight of the fly, headed towards the mouth of. . . The Bug Dungeon. She gasped, sobbed a final time, and composed herself.

“Remember the plan,” she said, and then mastered her emotions completely, a radical shift into calm and professional focus. As though it was a natural motion, she shrunk down to the size of a gnat and made chase, following the fly as it searched around the 'dungeon' for the entrance.

It found its way in, a hulking horsefly squirming through, its body almost too large for the interior of the dungeon. It flew briskly to land on the ceiling, then jumped away from the sharp spikes that lined it, landing instead on the pile of worm guts. It tasted the meat, and then began frantically consuming as fast as it possibly could.

The small woman startled, the pile shifted, and a thick worm banded with muscle sprung out, a spike of rock growing out of it's head, removing a leg from the fly. It jumped, it flew away and buzzed around the structure. The worm coiled and launched itself at the entrance, using it's body to block it. The fly landed on the pile of worm guts and began eating again. The worm glowered, rock spike menacingly pointed at the fly. The fly ate, and as it did, it's movements became smoother, more purposeful. Red lights like the tiny drops of water in a mist formed in the air around the insect, shifting and swirling very slowly.

--

The fly was a changed creature. At some point, the nozzle like mouth of the fly had thickened and then split into ant like pincers, which it used to quickly finish devouring the worm chunks in the center of the dungeon, it's appetite seemingly endless. Its compound eyes now emitted a strong red glow, the chitinous shell of it's body thicker, and it seemed strangely interested in its surroundings for an insect. The worm had changed as well, thick black patches of photosensitive pigment covered its body, and the pink portion of it's flesh had turned a solid, bright white. The muscles underneath were enlarged, bulging. The spike atop it's head had split to two curved horns, and in green letters above them was written “The Bull Worm”.

The fly turned it's attention to The Bull Worm, and above it's head words appeared in faint red letters “The Infernal Fly”, and an aggressive orange field shone out from it's body, turning The Bull Worm's name red as well. The bull roared and launched a furious charge attack, launching itself clear across the arena, which expanded with each passing moment. The strike was a clearly meant to miss, giving the infernal fly a clear shot to the exit, allowing it to flee if it liked.

From between it's pincers, a cicada like sound came, and it flew at the bull worm. The worm coiled it's body and launched, one of it's horns breaking off a wing, while the sharp legs of the fly opened a long cut along the side of its body. The Infernal Fly crashed, kicking up grass and dirt as it skidded across the ground, The Bull Worm hit the ground hard, involuntarily flexing from the pain of its injury. The bull worm began to glow with liquid green light, and slowly the cut began to mend itself. The Infernal Fly began to shake, and all of it's wings fell off, it's legs enlarging and re-positioning themselves, the name above it's head now reading The Infernal Insect.

With static, noisy shouts, they charged at one another once again.

--

The tiny green woman watched the stalemate fight from a safe distance, invisible to them. What was most incredible to her was not the fight between the two enhanced insects, but the music that seemed to wax in and out whenever the clash became particularly intense. It reminded her of better days, the endless afternoons spent theorizing about this very thing, and then about what she had just seen. When she saw what happened to him. How the darkness just pulled him down. . .

She decided to push that one aside for right now. The bull worm had gained a sort of acid gas breath, while the fly had a little static bolt attack. Her eyes followed the fight and the logical, orderly way in which the two bugs were growing. The first was always an enhancement for their bodies, more muscles or a bigger size; The second was always an enhancement to their senses, longer hairs or more eyes. The third was the hardest to identify physically, but the most visible enhancement, their minds were augmented in some way that gave them a new pattern of attack or defense or even tactics. Then, right back to the body, and the cycle continued.

“This is beyond our wildest dreams,” she said, tears welling in her eyes, a very complicated mix of emotions burning up in her chest. “Feedback, Access, Organization, we were right! The Science of Advancement is proven!” She said, clenching her fist “Dammit! Why were we so wrong!”

--

Inside The Bug Dungeon, The Bull Worm and Infernal fly continued their clash, wounded and finally out of magical tricks with which to heal. They knew their next clash would decide it. The Infernal Insect launched its attack, and for the first time, The Bull Wurm braced itself for impact, and in a surprising counter to the insect's tackle, rammed the fly abdomen and punctured it, releasing a burst of green light that sent a visible impact through the injury. Simultaneously, the fly's eyes flashed bright and a beam of red fire burned a hole through the worm's body. Both fell, struggled, then were finally still. The Bull Worm's body broke apart in green, crystalline light, leaving nothing behind save for a burning piece of deep blue light. The Infernal fly twitched a final time, and then died, much of it's body simply melting away into a puddle of ooze, leaving a small fly skeleton on the ground, with a brightly glowing light in the center of the skeleton like an ember.

The woman felt something coming and practically blinked out to the entrance, watching from closely from a safe distance. First, a rib from the insect skeleton collapsed, and the pieces vanished before they hit the ground. Then, everything vanished all at once, the two lights, the skeleton, all the bits and pieces they had hacked off of one another, everything.

A tiny gust of wind blew through the interior of the dungeon, causing the mini blades of grass to wave slowly around the skull full of worm meat. The light in the dungeon seemed to dim, and a space atop the skull became brighter. The space of the dungeon stretched and was sucked towards the bright spot, then popped like a camera-flash, and a new, docile infernal insect appeared. It crawled a bit, then entered a resting stance. Below, in the eye socket, a white and black spotted wurm with two curved horns hid, fixated on the entrance of the dungeon. Waiting.