Why by Thoughtful Puppet (early reader chapter books .txt) 📖

jaws sliced them to pieces. It was hardly a moment before he was on his feet and the remains of his cocoon joined the others on the ground.
“It feels strange to be so high,” Riznah said as he looked at the floor nearly five feet below. Words were already much easier to form.
“It certainly takes some getting used to,” said Ketzle.
Jeerd nodded in agreement and said, “Follow me and I’ll take you to receive your Assignment. Ketzle has to help another Youngling now.” Ketzle dipped his antennae and left.
“What’s an Assignment?”
“Oh there’s lots of them! You could be a Tender,” Jeerd stopped using words and pushed a series of images into Riznah’s mind depicting a sister moving among birth chambers dropping liquid nourishment into upturned mouths. “Or you could be a gatherer,” this time Riznah didn’t understand the images, but the feeling that accompanied them was of great danger while finding food to share with the Hive.
“What’s your assignment, Jeerd?”
“Me? Oh, I’m a laborer. We do just about anything that needs done,” he said proudly. “Not many Assignments teach multiple skills. You gotta have brains to be a laborer.”
As they spoke Jeerd led off across the cavern. They were now approaching the far side, where a long line of Younglings led to a pair of Hive members inspecting each in turn. Jeerd stopped.
“I’d love to find out what your Assignment is, but I’m needed in the Great Hall. Step into line and keep your chin up, big feller.” With that he turned and walked away.
Riznah watched him go for a moment before continuing to the back of the line. It took several hours, but eventually the hundreds of Younglings in front of him received their Assignments, dissipating into the tunnels that led out from the massive chamber. Finally it was his turn. He stood stiff with excitement as the pair of Hive sisters descended upon him with motherly attention.
“He’s got a glint in his eye, this one does. He’ll go far as a laborer Nashta,” said one as she held his face between her pincers.
“You say that every time Meira,” replied the other as she inspected one of his support legs.
“Well in his case it’s true. Look at the strength in his jaw!”
“Then he shouldn’t be a laborer. Maybe a gatherer would be better.” Nashta was now prodding different parts of his thorax. “Besides, he’s too big. This one was built to do more than coddle Younglings.”
“I think you’re right, for once.” Meira was behind Riznah, stroking his wings admiringly.
“What do you mean, for once? I’m always right. You’re the one that gets things confused.” Nashta took a long step back and ran an appraising eye over his whole form. “Yes indeed, there’s only one thing for it.”
The two voices sounded together in his mind, “Riznah, we Assign you to be a warrior!” Images of battle erupted in his mind. He saw Hive warriors defending tunnels against invaders and felt their wild lust for combat as they soared at enemy Hives. He didn’t understand most of the images, but he gathered enough from their emotions to know warriors were extremely important for the survival of the Hive. Riznah felt he should thank the sisters for selecting him for so great an Assignment. But a question burned in his mind.
“I am deeply honored. Thank you.” The sisters were beaming. “But there is a question I would ask: why do we send warriors to attack other Hives? Are they not also our brothers and sisters?”
The sisters weren’t beaming anymore. In fact, they looked horrified. What had he said? Should he apologize?
Before he could manage so much as “I’m sorry”, Nashta broke the silence. “The Queen wishes to see you, Riznah. I will bring you to her now.” She paused, then almost in a whisper added, “I’m so sorry.”
Taking his left pincer in her right, she led him quickly away. Meira watched them go with a frightened look on her face, as though she still couldn’t believe what she had heard.
What was going on? Riznah couldn’t make sense of the situation, and Nashta wouldn’t say a word the whole time they walked together. Obviously he had said something that caught the sisters off guard, but what was it, and why in the world did Nashta apologize to him?
Nashta set a quick pace, and soon they were in the Great Hall where his eyes had opened for the first time. The Queen wasn’t there, and the line of cocoon-bearing laborers parted to let them pass. He thought he saw Jeerd, but the brother didn’t acknowledge his questioning glance. As they neared the wall at the widest point of the tunnel, two hulking brothers that Riznah knew must be Warriors stepped aside to reveal a small antechamber. Nashta stopped at the entrance and shoved Riznah inside where he found himself once again in the presence of his beautiful queen. He recognized her majestic voice instantly.
“What have you done, Riznah?” she asked tenderly.
He was at a loss for words. After a moment he simply said, “I don’t know. Is this all because I asked about those other Hives?”
The queen shook her head and looked at him with pity in her perfect eyes. “Poor child. You have no idea. Zirx never do.”
“What is Zirx, your Majesty?”
“Zirx is the name we give to all who ask the question Why. My memory, or the memory of the Hive that I inherited, is ancient. It goes back to a time before the Music, when the needs of the Hive were secondary to the desires of individual brothers and sisters. When the Hive was almost destroyed by selfishness, our ancestors developed the Music to replace our need for Why. They established the Order of the Hive, and we have continued on ever since; perfectly happy in our Assignments.”
Riznah didn’t know how to feel; this was all happening much too quickly.
The Queen continued, “Occasionally one such as you is born who hears the Music but is not satisfied. Although you don’t know it yourself, eventually you will question every aspect of you and the world around you. You will question the Order of the Hive. There is no help for it, that is just the nature of who you are.”
Riznah hung his head in bitter anguish as the Queen pronounced his sentence.
“You cannot be a part of our family, as the essence of the Order requires exact obedience without question. As soon as one Zirx is allowed to stay, questions spread, for the most contagious word that we can think is Why. The needs of the individual are secondary to the needs of the Hive. I have no choice but to take the Music from you and cast you out. Please know I wish it were otherwise”
With that, the Queen reached out lovingly and touched his antennae with her own. Again, electric sparks visited every part of his body. When the Queen withdrew from contact and the current left him, Riznah winced, then clapped his pincers to his head and collapsed to the ground; writhing and crying out in agony. But no voice of comfort came into his mind; no calming melody responded to the questions he screamed with his thoughts. And the music; the deep, pure music that had filled his soul with purpose, was gone. In its place came a terrible discordant clashing, grinding, and screeching. It filled him until his only thought was to become extinct. Somehow he must find a way to end this agony; to end himself. He was unaware as the two guards entered the room and lifted him between them. He didn’t see the miles of tunnel wall they passed as he was dragged along until he was tossed out into open air. He didn’t regain consciousness when he landed on a pile of empty exoskeletons; the remains of generations of Zirx cast out before him.
Imprint

Publication Date: 02-04-2012

All Rights Reserved