on a lark

[alicornucopia]

She combs and combs the world aside and there is another world, just ahead, and she steps in.

The combed-away hole closes behind her. She puts her comb in her pocket.

Thanjen (Unbitwise)

Blueberry (kappa)

Hivers (Rockeye)

Comments

[allforthehive]

"She is the leader of the hive, whose wisdom helps us grow on this new world. Please wait, I will ask the warrior forces to inform the Princess of you."

It scuttles off to that 'control panel' and touches its hands to it.

"The Princess would indeed like to meet you. This place is far from the central hive, however. She will send a vehicle."

[alicornucopia]

"Okay."

[allforthehive]

"...I have been relieved of farming duties today, to escort you. What are humans like? What do humans eat? I will answer your questions about Hivers as well."

[alicornucopia]

"Humans look like me, most of them are taller though. We eat things like peanut butter and rice and chicken and bread and apples. You might not have those things here though. You look kind of like a giant bug, are you a bug?"

[allforthehive]

"That word is not quite translating in... Whatever you are using to translate. I do not know what a 'bug' is. Hivers have exoskeletons and come in many different shapes, and the Princess is the mother of hundreds of thousands of us. Hivers mostly eat sweet things, fruit and juice and sugar."

[alicornucopia]

"I don't actually know what I'm using to translate," she says reflectively. "Anyway it sounds like you are probably a kind of bug."

[allforthehive]

"If you know of 'bugs' with similar properties, then perhaps. I imagine our scientists would like to discuss it with you. How can you not know what tools you are using? It's very strange. I know you aren't speaking in my language. You can't even make the right sounds."

[alicornucopia]

"...I just don't know."

[allforthehive]

It makes an annoyed smell. "It seems irresponsible, to not know your tools. But very well... The vehicle is arriving soon. We should wait at the edge of the orchard."

[alicornucopia]

"Okay." Back out of the tunnel.

[allforthehive]

The desert continues to be hot and sandy. The Hiver doesn't seem to mind. It walks to the edge of the little orchard and sits in the shade of a tree and points.

The thing it points at is a low, wide shape making its way towards them, kicking up a fair amount of sand along the way.

[alicornucopia]

Okay, that's soon enough that she won't be sunburnt. "How long will the trip to the princess take?"

[allforthehive]

"I've never ridden one of these, but they're fast. Probably less than a tenth of a day."

[alicornucopia]

"How long are days on this planet?"

[allforthehive]

Its units of time don't match up to hers, but they mean "19 hours, 7 minutes."

[alicornucopia]

"Okay."

[allforthehive]

The big hovercraft thing continues to hover towards them. It's getting close now.

"How did you get here, anyway? If you were always on this planet, the surveyors would have found you. If you came in a spaceship, the satellites would have found you."

[alicornucopia]

"Oh, I'm not very big, I'm easy to overlook," she says. "Gosh, that's a big thing. How does it float?"

[allforthehive]

"Something with magnets. I'm not an engineer. There is metal under the sand, it pushes on the metal to fly, but it can only go so high and only where the metal is."

Hovercraft thing tilts backwards as it comes close, slowing down. When it lands, a much bigger Hiver leaps out of a window, lands deftly, and asks, "Greetings, worker. Little one, you are the visitor?"

[alicornucopia]

"Yes," she says, looking up at it but not backing away to make that any easier.

[allforthehive]

The big one steps away. "I will lower a ladder for you. The Princess would like you to come with us, Rt'zlt. Another is being sent to take over your duties for today."

"Thank you," says, apparently, Rt'zlt.

Down comes a rope-and-wood ladder.

[alicornucopia]

"Thank you," says the visitor, and up she clambers.

[allforthehive]

There are bolted-down chairs and benches in wildly varying sizes inside the thing. The big guy goes to one with controls in front of it. The hovercraft turns around and sets off after everyone is seated.

It's pretty fast. Neither of the Hivers try to talk to her.

[alicornucopia]

That's okay. She watches desert go by.

[allforthehive]

They pass a lot of cropfields, a few Hivers, and a few buildings sticking up out of the sand.

After a while the worker asks, "Do humans not have princesses? You seemed interested, as if the idea was new."