The Bomb
Can you smell it? Can you smell the blood? This three-part body reeks of the blood of 700,000.
Tink. Tink. Tink.
Three sharp tinkering sounds jolt me back to reality.
"I, Queen of Red Ants would like to propose a toast. Today we sit here under the soil that shouts victory. The long awaited trumpet has sounded and once again the Red Ants, Polyergus Rufescens, celebrates the bravery of this colony. Our advanced technology has given us the key to victory; the multi-acid missile bombs. Only Doct #012500 and his crew could have made such a swift victory possible. This reception is dedicated to you, RATO. Here's to the Red Ant Tech Organization!"
All glasses are raised in appreciation. The excitement of the chamber is undeniable. The Red Ant government is celebrating the capture of the Black Ant Queen #1000000. The Queen had surrendered herself after the bomb killed most of her colony. The few that survived would now live on with mutilated feelers, their sensory functions basically disabled. The Black Ant colony is no more. And I am the ant responsible. Bloody, bloody hands.
I grasp my feeler in hopes to make the stench bearable. It makes me nauseous. Dizzy. I peer over the red masses of ants to find my colleague, Doctor #325100. He is explaining the science to some blurry eyed officials.
"It was a genius approach on our part. Unlike us, Black Ants do not have stings but some form of ancient acid squirts for protection. As a result, their entire body mechanism was subject to the flow of acids. The acid bombs we developed had a tremendous effect on the Black Ant colony, killing and disabling in every which direction the vapor could spread. The vapor, however, is designed not to have an effect on a Red ant in any way, with the exception of an mildy unpleasant odor. It's 100% harmless to us, of course."
He seems to be fine. Is it only me? Can you smell it? Can you smell the blood? I can, oh I can. I need to get away. My head is just bulging with pulse. But the Queen finds me first. She beckons to me with her unusually sharp feelers.
"Yes, my Queen."
"You don't look too happy, Dr. #012500. You forget that this is a celebration."
"No, my Queen, I am happy."
"This is a celebration of victory. A victory you created. It would be acceptable to show some enthusiasm."
The Queen's sharp feelers are prodding my shoulders. She stares. Her double layered eyes penetrate my own. Just like the day of the launch.
We had just completed the construction of the bomb.
"Ready to launch, my Queen!"
The young Red Ant handing the machine chirped excitedly as he looked up at the Queen in awe. An earnest little fellow.
It was about time. The deadly weapon had caused many sacrifices. Both time and money were poured into the project like larvae into the breeding chambers. But the government's drastic funding strategy did not go without reward. The Queen had no doubt that we were the most powerful colony in this region. Perhaps even the world.
"And it is time to show them."
Was it then or soon after? A young Black Ant rushed into our tunnel accompanied by our guards. He was a messenger from the Black Ant Queen. She sent messages of retreat and surrender. She wished the long and tedious war to be over. I was relieved yet disappointed upon receiving the news. This weapon was deadly, had the capacity to change the history of all antkind. This was so unmercifully fatal on such a great scale, to use it seemed to be against ethics. But then again, I had spent my life on it. My team was ready for this. For the actual experiment out of the lab. The ambiguity was driving me mad.
But then the Queen did the unexpected, ending my short pondering. She grabbed the young ambassador and swiftly stung him precisely on the soft of his head. His death was immediate. She had so easily breached the code of war.
"Queen, that is against the -"
"It doesn't matter. They will all be dead soon anyway. "
"But the Black Ants offer truce. Would it really be necessary to perform such-"
"Doctor. We did not provide half the colony's funds so you could play around with your desired pick of scientific toys. The entire colony has given up something to this project. Surely you understand, we don't care to produce what we have no need for. The launching of this bomb will serve to be exemplary to any other colonies attempting further threat to us. I refuse to let our efforts rot here without flowering."
"But Your Highness, you must fully reconsider the destructive impact this will have-"
"You created it, Doctor. I use it."
"But so many lives!"
"Lives? What lives? They are Black Ants!"
"They are still of our kind, my Queen! They are still live!" Still lives, with breath and blood. Who am I to take it away?
"I didn't think you thought that way when you were in your little labs with all the expensive equipment."
I had nothing more to say. Perhaps she is right. The Black Ants are a threat to our colony. And this expensive toy will rid us of that anxiety.
And so, under that stare of double layered eyes, I did what I was paid and decorated to pieces for. Pulled the lever. Punched the code in. Launched the damn monster.
And killed 700,000. Larvae excluded. Can you now smell it? Can you smell the blood? I reek of the blood of 700,000.
The Queen announces for the ceremony to start.
"You are decorated and placed as the chief consultant of my government. You did great honor to this colony. Even the larvae in every single chamber will be taught of your great distribution that has kept them safe to be born."
But the blood. Can you smell it? Can you smell the blood?
As the Queen dons the elaborately decorated medal on to my shiny red chest, I try to numb my feelers.
