They have found him already?
That’s what I was told. The soldier scented.

How long had it been? A few hours at best and they had already found him? The city was not a small place! The tunnels stretched for miles and miles underground; the chambers numbered in the thousands. How had they been so swift?

Suddenly there was a commotion and it got our attention. I followed the messenger’s sight and found myself looking at the Princess rushing at the guards like someone possessed, shoving away any that tried to stop her. However, it was not a time to be in awe. The soldiers were already on the edge, and her aggression was only going to light up their fuse. The scent of alarm was already rising in some places.

I had to personally explain the situation to those distressed young soldiers and make them false promises: We are not yet at war; the decision is still pending; there is no confirmation from the higher-ups. Only then did they calm down and agree to not pursue the matter.

She was long gone before I managed to get away from the soldiers, nowhere to be seen when I hurried after her. The best I managed was following her on the paths she took. It caused me great distress to forcefully demand directions from cursing workers, but I did it out of duty and dread for her. Thankfully, my lame leg didn’t start acting in the middle of the chase, or managing even that much would have been difficult, if not impossible.

I knew the path to the mushroom farm but was scared of missing her on the way up, reaching the destination, and not finding her there. However, my worry was needless. She seemed to know her way around from the paths she had taken. Morning is the busiest time of the day and she had taken to a sparsely used route.

The explorers weren’t to be believed. They were odd in every way, shape, and form. This could all be a ruse set up by them to separate us or use her as bait to maybe flush out the perpetrator —a bit farfetched I know, but I didn’t want to assume safety where there was none. They were incapable of empathy; using princess as bait would be nothing new to them.

Princess had really taken charge of the situation with her bigger reach and larger frame. I had some relief in the elevator shafts and straight routes, but cutting corners was a hassle, much so while running. My lame leg simply dragged on the ground when walking, nothing bad, but woefully tangled with the other ones when running.

I was late to reach the farm. The body had already been moved by the time I got there. The workers needed to work and the farm couldn’t be closed for a single death. The whole population depended on the farms produce. The savory white mushrooms filled the bellies of more than half the city every day; there was a reason the farm extended from fifteenth to the twentieth floor.

A worker my height and build was waiting for me outside the farm. The explorers had asked her to lead me to them —which she decided against after one look at me. My notoriety preceded me. Half-angry, half-exhausted, I begged the worker to show me the way. She shoved me in a direction and yelled at me for missing an obvious trail leading toward the excess chambers; like I would know it different from the half dozen other trails --all leading in different directions-- if she hadn’t specifically told me to follow it.

I followed the trail, blaming Princess for leaving me behind and cursing the explorers for my situation. I found them occupying an excess chamber that must have been recently emptied, for it still carried the sweet smell of the mushrooms.

The long-legged one was at the entrance. Not guarding, simply standing there —waiting for me. Youse took your sweet time. She commented as I passed her. She was chewing on a freshly cut piece of mushroom. Yeah, She said enjoying the sweet succulent thing. There is still some inside. if youse have the guts to eat them. That alone uplifted my mood slightly.

Princess was inside, standing by the left wall and staring at the ceiling, whether dazed or thinking I couldn’t figure. I considered the worst for a second, but her antenna noticed me and they were enough indication of her health for me to revaluate my thoughts. So she was safe; to me, it only meant they hadn’t acted yet. No need to drop vigilance.

The giant was standing over the ant’s carcass; the nurse beside him was busy dutifully probing at the body. The other two were standing by the right end, past the corpse, both in a hushed conversation.

The ant was releasing death pheromones, and the chamber was slowly soaking in it. The intensity of the foul odor said he was dead for at least a good few hours. As for his condition — oh, it was so bad. No-one stopped me from taking a look or bothered to warn me before I did. The carcass stank strongly from up close. The foul odor made me scrunch down my antennae.
But odor wasn’t the worst thing about it. The body horrifyingly looked to have been left out in the sun to dry. His chest had sunken in and abdomen stretched as if someone had sucked it out from the abdomen. There were puncture wounds on his chest and he was missing an antenna and his left eye. Only his exoskeleton was keeping him together; the rest of him was already falling apart.

How had he degraded from a healthy individual to the macabre remains? A dizzy look told me the others didn’t have an idea.

I pulled away from it. My head swam as the death odor was suddenly too influential and personal. I heaved up and ran out of the room. My desire to eat mushrooms was gone, along with my mood.

Going so soon? Aren’t youse going to hear our precious 44’s report? When that didn’t stop me, the long-legged one tried again, this time she went straight for my heart. Are youse leaving your princess behind, wok?

I stopped and stared. She continued eating the mushroom-like I had imagined her last words. There was a call from the inside a minute later. She picked the block of mushroom and dared me to follow her. I dared.
The nurse was done checking the carcass and was ready to report. Princess was still by the wall, using it as support, but no longer dazed. Her eyes were sharp again, though mandibles clenched. She waved an antenna at me when I showed worry. I expected an apology but there was none. She still wasn’t in the right state of mind, or so it seemed.
Their captain and his first mate had turned up by 44’s side, infrared eyes on the carcass.

So what’s the story, 44? Captain asked.

The 44^th worker, the nurse, started her report with a nod.

The carcass has no signs of being dragged or lifted. Her antennae followed her words and pointed at his chest and abdomen from where it could have been held from. She continued. Mandibles would have left marks, but there are none. The puncture wounds are the right size for a stinger, but there is no discoloration of his wounds or skin. He didn’t die from being poisoned. The rest of him seems like the work of a predator. His insides were most likely sucked clean. I shuddered at the revelation; the princess antennae waved above her head. The captain stirred and the lanky soldier moved a bit closer to him. My hypothesis is that a hidden predator must have found it wandering, administered it venom and sucked it dry from the abdom—

What is this nonsense? Princess abruptly interrupted. You are calling his death a mere coincidence? She directly addressed the captain.

Of course, we aren’t, princess. The captain bit back. 44’s not recounting what had happened. She’s giving a theory based on the evidence she has found on what might have happened. There is a difference. We will find an answer if there is one to be found. We have to sift through every possibility to find the right path. This is how we do things. You asked for our help, now have some patience. Continue 44.

Once the nurse completed her report the explorers started going back and forth through various possibilities. They put the ant in three different situations and drew the outcomes. In the first situation, the termites ambushed the ant and his legion, killed, and ate them. In the second situation, the termites were bringing the ant to us. In the third and the most absurd situation, the ant ambushed the termites. They had a back and forth with each possibility, ranching and eliminating the one that led nowhere. In the end, they drew the conclusion to visit the far-city, Door-Darshan-Ji.

However, they remained inconclusive to the reason behind the ant’s death. And it angered Princess Tinbuji when they decided that it didn’t matter how or why it had been killed anymore since they had already decided to visit the far-city at a later date. It caused the Princess to protest.

His death should be making us doubt the very reason behind his presence in the mountains where he was found; not be shoved off as nothing but a false alarm. Princess clenched her mandibles, but the action only worked to set her off. I’m telling you all, his death is a warning of what’s to come. I’ll get to the bottom of this if you are not going to help. She stormed off. I stared at the explorers for a sign of compliance and went right after her upon finding none.

This time I stuck with her, even though it burned through my endurance as if I had suddenly gained a leak in the abdomen. I couldn’t let her go off like that again. It was less stressful to keep up with her than chasing her through the web of endless tunnels without any direction.

I was slowly coming to the decision that my lame leg needed to go. It would have recovered by now if it could. But now, it was only making my life harder. Seeing the Princess taking a lead again, I decided to think about it later —following her came first and I was getting tired. At least she didn’t go on another round around the city. She only barged into the farm. It wasn’t a crime to go in there; though the workers there didn’t like outside presence. But it would be a crime to damage the product or harm the workers. I confronted her before she could do any of those things.

What are we doing here?
We? She asked in temper.
Yes, we. You and I: We. I’m your royal guard, remember? I told her. Being told off brought her temper down a degree or two, and irritated her.
We, she said, and for some reason collected the chemicals before they got spread out, and tasted them. It was unusual behavior, but it calmed her down. She had been under a lot of stress lately, and I didn’t want to add to it by pointing out her behavior. So I ignored her until she was ready to hold a conversation again.

 We are going to see visit the murder scene. She finally scented.

Did the explorers say how they found him?

They said a worker found the corpse and told the soldiers. Since it was in such a highly regulated place, it was quickly removed. The soldiers had put the body in the empty chamber but forgotten about it in the excitement.
And they happened to be at the right place at the right time to ask the right soldier if he had seen anything unusual?
Well, —She was certainly surprised, but continued nonetheless— they didn’t put it out like that, they said—
I had had enough of them. Are we going to confirm their claim? I interrupted Princess, but she didn’t seem to mind but became curious.

I gave it to her straight. I don’t believe them.

She was started and asked for an explanation. The weight behind my comment had upset her. She had been eager to ask for their help, and I, someone who should have been supporting her as her guard, was against her decision. That’s what I meant when I said, ‘I don’t believe them.’ Of course, it would tick her off. However, she remained in control and calmly gave me a chance to explain myself; something I respected.

We had a back and forth argument Like the explorers. I presented the facts and claims, and she judged them.

They are cunning and cruel.
So am I. She said. It’s a part of the job.
They don’t act like the other residents. I don’t think they care much about the city.
That doesn’t make sense. They are the explorers. They find the food we eat. I believe that’s more than enough to earn them some freedom.

I couldn’t tell her about the premonitions, but I had one more thing to share that I had noticed about them.

I believe, they specifically scouted information on you before the meeting and made up a story about preparations, which you love so much, to leave a good first impression.

Finally, I had something that interested her. She asked me to continue. I did.
I also believe being outside the city all the time has changed them somehow. Not physically, but mentally. When the wave of emotion hit us at the tower, everyone was affected, but they weren’t. That shouldn’t have happened.

She waited for me to continue, then shook her head upon realizing I had said my piece. That’s just another conjunction, another theory. We don’t have time for theories. For all we know, he could have been a means of destruction, a conduit of horror none has ever seen, the kind only told in stories… She started thinking. Her antennae calmed, straightened, lowered to the ground. Something had grasped her attention —something about a story. I expected her to come up with a solution, but at the end of her contemplation, she had nothing.

That doesn’t matter. She scented out loud, and then to me. It’s not enough.

I know. I said. That is why I advise you Princess; please don’t take their words on the face value. They must have found something that they are hiding from us. We should investigate ourselves.

What do you think I’m—we are doing here? Turns out she was planning to have the facts checked anyways. She didn’t need my meddling after all.

No. It’s good to know that you have my back. She patted my head and went forward to ask for help. She said that, to me. I would have been elated if she hadn’t just been ignored by a worker carting excess mushroom to the chambers. Her confusion was a surprising thing to behold. It was tidbits of life like these that helped me see who she really was inside the hard and sharp exterior.

These workers are perfectionists and workaholics, princess. Don’t waste time stopping someone hard at work; they will ignore you again.

These farmers were a closely-knit bunch. They had been together since their times as egg caretakers. Never forced into community service, or made to work outside. They were some of the best caretakers of their generation and had spent their entire life taking care of us since the before our births. And they were bloody good at it. If the explorers deserved some freedom, then they deserved to have some ego, too.

I wanted to lead by example, but a figure purposefully darted toward us from the chambers and started screaming through scent communication after stopping at a very personal space.
You two can’t just barge in here like that. Did you even get disinfected? Come with me. She was a nurse and she only let us go after proper and thorough cleansing. Annoying as the process was, the nurse was more help than not. She not only narrated us her account of the aftermath but also provided us a worker to guide us to our destination. Her account didn’t amount to much, but the guide was a lot of help.

The little worker was hesitant at first but navigated for us without complaint. She took us to the outer ring of the farm where the workers were planting mushroom buds and fertilizing the beds. Their actions were precise and practiced.

They were but a small part of the workforce that was navigating around us, entering and leaving the deeper rings with white sweet bits clenched in their mandibles.

How many workers actually work here? Princess asked out of bafflement.
There are as many as fifty to two hundred caretakers no a floor at one time, princess.

That was a huge population of workers just managing the farm, but even ten times that number would have been justified because they produced food for a well over a hundred times that number every day. It was a thankless job, but they did it with passion.

We found the one worker among the thousands we were looking for. She was trimming the young mushrooms that hadn’t molded to the square shape yet. She wasn’t alone at work. There were three more workers helping her. A full-grown mushroom can easily grow to the size of a medium-sized chamber and damage its confinement in most cases. Such a mushroom would take anywhere from twenty to fifty workers to take care of. The one she was working upon was still only a few heads tall; hence uneatable, its excess a waste they would make fertilizer from.

³3444₈ (3^rd generation, eighth lay, 3444^th worker) our guide called and the worker turned. They want to talk to you about the carcass you found.
Princess interrupted our guide and told the 3444^th worker her objective. We want you to take us to the place where you found the corpse.

I have a lot of work to do. 3444^th worker complained to our guide. I’m busy. She didn’t even address us.
It was no joke when Princess pulled her down from the mushroom, picked her up in the mandibles, and lectured her.

You don’t tell me what I can do and can’t do. Stop wasting time and just come.

But 3444^th silence as she led us across the farm was pretty funny at the time. We couldn’t get anything out of her after the incident; I just hoped the few hushed scents that wouldn’t lead to unnecessary rumors.

The outer rings had grids a good few heads large and grew one mushroom each. There were pathways between two consecutive grids that made it easy to bypass the whole outer section of the farm. Further in, the mushrooms grew big and dense, but none touched the other directly. At the inner ring, they almost touched the ceiling. Some even had workers trimming the edges to give them the regional square shape, piling the excess on the ground for easier pickings later.

There was no straight path to the center from the inner ring. We had to go around and encompass most of the section, before cutting back toward our destination.

The air there was thick with mushroom spores. 3444^th worker was accustomed to it, but we had problems. It clogged our breathing pores and made it difficult to scent anything in the air. It was only thanks to the scent trials laid on the ground that we knew we were on the right path.

3444^th worker asked if we wanted to continue. Princess pressed forward, and I blindly followed.

A few minutes later she announced that we were there. The center wasn’t a group of mushrooms, but a single one that had grown to the ceiling. Its head encompassed the whole farm! It was the only one that hadn’t been shaped. Its white trunk was oval and thicker than four regular mushrooms combined. It was an overwhelming but beautiful thing. The fins underneath its giant grey head were stark red and continuously showered us with tiny spore that made it impossible to sense anything of use —giving credit to the worker's warning.

There was no clue to be found there. Still, Princess tried. She started vibrated her antennae at higher and higher frequencies. 3444^th worker tried to stop her. Don’t, you will clog your antennae! But the princess didn’t listen and the consequences were dire.

Princess complained about flashes of floating antennae, screaming ants and whatnots, as the 3444^th worker dragged her behind us. She released a scent of emergency the moment we reached the outer ring and the caretakers gathered. The princess was scrubbed, her antennae passed from many mouths, cleaned as best as they could. I forcibly fed her water as instructed, while the others took her care for five minutes straight; only then did Princess stop hallucinating.

She was quick to get on her feet but stumbled after a single step. I helped her find balance and held her as she fine-tuned her antennae.

It’s a no sense zone, princess. Don’t do that ever again. We don’t want more trouble on our hands. 3444^th worker told off. Soon they left us to our own, which was probably for the best.

 I bon’t beel blean. Princess scented, and spent a good few minutes cleaning her antennae some more. I followed her in the practice; and it turns out I really needed a good rub and scrub, too. Oh, how my antennae vibrated with happiness at the cleanliness of the air around. I sensed chemicals that I hadn’t been able to smell before or had forgotten were always around. It’s surprising how easily my senses had dulled and I had adapted to the condition, forgetting so much.

Princess interrupted my session; her straight antennae she was conflicted. I found something. She scented.

I wasn’t expected that.

What? I excitedly asked, and she delivered fully.

The wooden scent of a termite,