Story chains

Story chains are short tales told over several days. Finishing one earns a keepsake that appears in the scene.

The Lost Larvae

Bedroom · 3 parts

1. A crumb of soil falls into the farm with three strange larvae in it. They don't smell like the colony.
2. The nurses argue, then raise the strangers anyway. They grow up quick, quiet and a little odd.
3. The young ants find their way home through a crack in the lid. A few days later, gifts start arriving from their colony.

The Rival Queen

Bedroom · 4 parts

1. The keeper's friend drops a second queen into the farm "to keep yours company".
2. Two queens, two scents, one farm. Workers start choosing sides.
3. War in the tunnels: nobody sleeps, and the crumbs go unfetched.
4. The queens settle on a border of pebbles. The rival colony stays, and sends a scout as a token of peace.

The Science Fair

Bedroom · 3 parts

1. The farm is carried to school in a box. The colony spends a bumpy morning on the bus.
2. Judges peer through the glass. The foragers put on their best trail.
3. First prize! The farm comes home with a ribbon taped to the lid and a little extra honey.

The Great Escape Rehearsals

Bedroom · 3 parts

1. Scouts test the crack in the lid. One gets halfway and comes back very pleased with herself.
2. Builders practise carrying pebbles uphill, just in case.
3. Every ant now knows the way out. Half the work for the Great Escape is already done.

The Great Flood

Backyard · 4 parts

1. Storm clouds pile up over the fence. The air smells like rain.
2. Water pours into the tunnels. The colony links legs into living rafts.
3. The rafts drift apart. Half the colony washes up by the shed, half by the tap.
4. Scouts follow scent trails across the wet lawn and the two halves find each other. Next time, they'll be ready.

The Echidna Hunt

Backyard · 3 parts

1. Something snuffles at the mound in the night. In the morning, a whole gallery is gone.
2. It comes back: spines, a long nose and a very long tongue.
3. The colony builds a nest of pebbles and roots too hard to dig. The echidna gives up and waddles off.

The Exterminator Saga

Backyard · 4 parts

1. A white van parks in the drive. A man with a tank on his back walks around the house.
2. Spray! The air stings. Foragers run home and the doors are sealed.
3. The colony waits underground for days, living on stores.
4. The smell fades, the doors open, and the colony comes back tougher than before.

Zombie Outbreak

Any · 3 parts

1. A forager climbs a grass stem, bites down and won't come home.
2. More ants are acting strangely. The nurses spot the fungus and close off a tunnel.
3. Cleaner ants groom every nestmate twice a day. The outbreak stops, and the colony learns how.

The Entomologist's Study

Backyard · 5 parts

1. A grown-up keeper kneels by the mound with a notebook. She has the same eyes as the child with the farm.
2. She counts foragers and times their trips.
3. She marks a few ants with tiny dots of paint. They are very proud of them.
4. She sits up late writing, with the window open so she can hear the yard.
5. Her paper is published. The colony doesn't read it, but somehow works smarter afterwards.

Viral Fame

Backyard · 3 parts

1. Someone films the colony carrying a whole chip across the patio.
2. The video is everywhere. People come to the yard to watch.
3. Visitors leave crumbs as offerings. The colony is famous, and very well fed.

First Contact

Space · 4 parts

1. The antenna mound picks up a pattern that isn't stars: click, click-click, click.
2. The colony answers in scent, then in light, then in maths.
3. A meeting on the dark side of the Moon: small, many-legged, very polite.
4. An alliance. The visitors send one of their own to live with the colony.

The Colonizer's Farewell

Space · 5 parts

1. A letter arrives, written long ago and sent forward in time: "To my ants."
2. Another letter, from years later, about a farm in a bedroom and a crack in the lid.
3. A third, from an old keeper, about a yard full of mounds.
4. The fourth is short. "I'm proud of you."
5. The last message is a photo of the desk farm, empty, with the light still on.