Infestation

It's been a long time since the Singer last came. We can be patient, but strange things are happening that we want to ask them about. The food cloud has become thicker, and it's nice to have so much more to eat, but we can't capture it all before it reaches the wall's rock. The rock animals that cover the areas between our parts are also benefiting from the extra food--too much so. They're more dense than we have ever seen them, and this is beginning to trouble us. If they continue to grow, how will we keep them away from our holes?

The animals are encroaching. So far the parts have been able to push or sweep them away, but it's hard to do because of how firmly they stick to the wall. And the Singer still have not come. This worries us--it has never before been so long between their visits, and if they know of a way to stop the rock animals we need to hear it.

There are now far too many animals. They are a thick coating that takes hard work to pry away from the edges of our holes. Some parts that try are getting animals stuck to them. So far they are not filling any empty holes, which eases one fear at least--young parts still have places they can get into. But though the food cloud is beginning to thin out, it's still much heavier than we remember. The Singer told us no songs about occurrences like this. Are they staying away because they know they can't help us?

The rock animals don't need rock. They're growing on our parts' arms that block the atmosphere from our holes. No amount of shaking or flinging will remove the animals. Our lights shine through them, so we can still think clearly, but it's not as easy to extend our tongues to reach the cloud. If there's one thing good about this animal invasion, it's that their touch is not as irritating as the feel of the atmosphere.

It isn't such a wonderful thing after all to have plenty to eat. We have so many parts now that we've reached the limit of our wall. Holes are scarce, and the longer it takes the young parts to find shelter, the more the atmosphere hurts! It's pleasant in comparison when the rock animals cling to them.

The situation is stranger than ever. Rock animals are all over, covering every bit of every part that sticks out of a hole. Now that we're accustomed to it, we find it better than when our parts had to always change what arms were exposed to the atmosphere. We would still have difficulty eating, if it were not for the loose parts. A coating of rock animals is as good as being in a hole, it turns out, and while they wait for empty holes they can drift through the cloud collecting pieces of food and sharing with the parts that stay in the wall. This infestation has its benefits.

Another surprise! The drifting parts, when they meet, can link their arms and seal the edges of their web together. When enough join in a group, they're able to speak to each other. We can't see what they say, but with broken pieces of rock they can recreate the sound of the voices and sing to us about what they see. We've always know the Singer could travel in the world, but never thought that we could. With parts that move, we can find things the way the Singer did. Find a new wall, perhaps...or find the Singer.

Time Frame: 25-24 million years in the past