I left the large chamber and once again headed towards the vibrations. After about 10 minutes of wandering I finally found what I was looking for.

The main chamber.

It was massive compared to what I have experienced so far. There were countless levels with tunnels leading in every direction all along the walls, circling a large pit in the middle. The bottom was impossible to see. But I finally found the source of the vibrations. A large metal object was half buried in the ceiling of this massive room. It was a large silver sphere covered in dim lights. The lights sparkled and moved around the surface. It was obviously the source of the vibrations. I was not very far from the top so I could see the object clearly and I noticed a large number of ants moving in and out of the object. This strange device was obviously doing something to them. The ants that went in left through the other side, but they came out…different.

Every ant that went in came out the other side bigger and stronger. More geared towards fighting than survival. My curiosity won over my cautiousness and I started climbing to the top. I wanted to know what was going on in there. It was only a couple levels higher, so I made it there in a couple minutes. The ants going into the sphere completely ignored me, like they were in a trance. I slipped into the line and followed them silently until they reached the sphere. There was a large opening the ants were walking into. It was too bright for me to see into, like the ants were just walking into a white wall and disappearing. I decided to be cautious after all and shrank as much as possible and stuck to the underside of the ant in front of me.

It passed through the doorway and I was shocked at what I saw.

This device had way more space inside than I thought, and it was filled with a factory line conveyor belt. Complete with robotic arms injecting and altering the ants as they go through. This is weird though; this level of technology is way different than what it was from what I remember.

My thoughts are interrupted as the ant I was hiding on was lifted from the conveyor belt it was on by a large mechanical claw. I jumped off and clung to the side of the belt next to the other ants that were coming in and watched. The ant I had been riding was taken to a large vat and dunked in a couple times before being set down in a large empty room. I realized what was going on.

Whoever’s device this is, is doing some sort of research on the ants. Testing some sort of chemical on them. The vat that the ant was dipped in was filled with a thick black fluid that oddly enough dried clear. The needles injecting the ants on another conveyor belt nearby was also filled with a black liquid. I saw that the small room below were the dipped ant was put had small silver things on the walls. I assumed they must be cameras so they could see how their experiment is going. At closer look, the small silver cameras were everywhere. I can’t believe I didn’t notice them until now.

I clung to the bottom of the conveyor belt to hide and just kept riding it. It would take me out eventually and then I wouldn’t have to worry about being found by whoever built this thing.

The ride continued as I dodged cameras and grabby robotic arms that grabbed the ants above me.

I can’t tell how long I was doing this; the insides of this device are well lit. Makes it a little hard to tell time. I couldn’t see the exit from my position, but I knew I was getting closer to it. I was running out of belt to hold on to.

I looked around at the ants and wondered who would do something like this. What was the point? What was that black liquid and why is it important?

I looked back at the ant in the observation room below and it looks the same as before. It is oddly still though, not even a twitch of the antennae disturbed the air in there.

*CRUNCH*

*CRUNCH*

*CRUNCH*

*CRUNCH*

The crunching was so loud it was giving me an extreme headache. I had to enlarge myself slightly to regrow some of my vibration dampening exterior. Now slightly fatter I look for the source of the crunching.

*CRUNCH*

*CRUNCH*

*CRUNCH*

I see nothing in here that could be causing this sound. The ant in the observation room is still not moving. The conveyor belts are running fine. None of the mechanical arms are malfunctioning.

Wait a moment.

Everything is quiet. Everything has stopped. The mechanical arms, the belts, everything.

*SHHHHHH-SHLINK*

I raise a tentacle with an eye above the belt I’m on and look around. Both doors have been shut. I struggle to hold on as the entire room feels like it has been launched straight up. But despite my best efforts I still slip off and fall towards the observation room. Increasing my soft exterior, I prepare for the landing. I just hope that the cameras are off too.

As soon as I hit the ground I shrink and attach myself to the ant again. I was reluctant to touch it after it was covered in that weird black stuff. But it seems to be dry now and I would much rather not be found by whoever did this.

The shaking and rising feeling stopped after a couple moments, but before I could look out of the room a metal ceiling slipped over the room and sealed me in. Then came a weird sense of falling and rising slowly. The ant I was attached to must have been stuck to the floor or something because it didn’t move at all.

*CRUNCH*

*CRUNCH*

*CRUNCH*

This sound wasn’t as loud anymore, but it continued for a long while before I heard

*THUD*

And felt a light drop.

After that came a light rumbling for a couple hours. During which I tried in vain to escape the tiny room. It was completely sealed off from the outside. Which made me curious about my body again.

‘Do I really not need to breathe?’

I looked at the ant behind me.

‘Does this guy need to breathe?’

As I was pondering this the rumbling finally stopped and I felt like I was being moved around again.

I slipped back under the ant to hide just in case and waited some more.

_______________________________________

Me and my ant roommate were finally released after some time. I was extremely thankful I didn’t get motion sick from all that. I looked around and tried to figure out what mess I was in now.

The ant and I were released into a large tank filled with sand and several thousand other ants. None of the ants looked like they were feeling too good. My ant was still motionless, but the others around us moved around in odd ways. Some were limping and others were only using a couple of their legs. There was one that was just walking sideways. Another one was trying to walk on two legs next to one that was doing…. pushups?

I ignored the weird ants for now and went back to looking around.

The tank we were in seemed like it was made from glass and was still open on the top. I guess they didn’t expect any escapees from the ants they captured. Through the glass I could see a large laboratory filled with people in white coats. There was a large door with a weird looking keypad on the wall next to it. That was the only way out of the room that I could see. I let go of my ant and partially buried myself in the dirt to hide. I would have to wait until the people in white coats leave to make my escape. I settled in and got ready to wait. Hopefully it won’t be too long till these people go home.