Solitudes: Leiningen

by Hercat

Disclaimers: I didn’t make any money from this.

Acknowledgements: Thank you Mog for creating this AU, and all the others who contribute and make it a special place to live.

Leiningen Sanchez Vs Camponotus Pennsylvanicus

Josiah Sanchez was watching the ceiling, or rather the small portion of it that was moving. The small six legged ant industriously working its way across his kitchen ceiling. A small black dot in a very large white wasteland. Did Nathan ever feel like that? Didn’t they all sometimes - a small speck in a large and often unfriendly universe?

Not that the ant could see that.

Here they sat, seeing the same thing, and yet perceiving totally different worlds. To Josiah the surface was small, smooth and mostly devoid of interest. To the ant it was vast, - could it see vastness? - full of miniature geography, and for a creature that navigated by scent, fascinating. He could remember bits of more than one meal that had wound up there. Did the ant see a kaleidoscope of scent - a history writ large in pancakes and chili invisible to humans? Which of them was richer for what they saw? How would the world change if their perceptions changed? Would humanity still be human if such changes brought peace? Would it be worth it if that loss was the cost?

He wondered if the ant knew it was upside down. Did it simply not care? The pull of gravity negligible on a body so strong for its small size. Or was the ant, bound by its physiology, as they all were, simply not capable of noticing the third dimension it moved through so easily. And move it did! The ant swiftly made its way to the solitary hanging lamp located above the kitchen table and down the rod onto the glass shade.

What a marvel of nature’s work. The greatest mind, the most expensive labs could still build nothing so complex.

Of course, mused Josiah as the ant began circling the lower edge of the shade over and over, there were more intelligent creatures.

Josiah remembered a computer program JD had shown him. The computer, given eight simple rules had created a picture of fascinating complexity. From such simple roots is a great civilization born.

Josiah smiled picturing himself as Leiningen versus the first humble scout of a great ant army, poised to sweep down upon him, devastating all in its path. He laughed a little at that. Now he was getting ridiculous.

Half an hour later the ant had left the lamp.

Two hours later it had returned to the nest.

Three weeks later Josiah realised he had an infestation of carpenter ants.

END

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