In the heart of the colony, chaos had never looked so sincere.
Mira stood with narrowed eyes and twitching antennae, carefully pressing down on a thick chunk of glowing mushroom pulp with her hind legs. Beside her, Norkk and Skitt matched her movements, mimicking while squashing and grinding various mushrooms into a sticky glob. The purple ones they discovered, the earthy tan caps from the southern farm, and now, the new pink mushrooms that shimmered faintly when crushed.
The mixture sizzled as they worked, the heat from their friction and exertion combining with the natural mana within the mix. Then came the scent — sweet, intoxicating, like overripe fruit and honey left underground for decades. Mira's eyes lit up.
"This might be it," she whispered.
The moment the pink mushrooms went in, the entire pile began to glisten, almost like sugar crystals were melting into syrup.
On the other side of the chamber, Brill was in his own world, sculpting something... grand.
A giant figure. With too many legs. And oddly shaped eyes. And an antenna that definitely bent the wrong way.
Yes, it was supposed to be the Giant. Adam.
He worked tirelessly, flanked by three fellow workers. Two darted through the tunnels, bringing bundles of fresh dirt and dry mud, while Brill shaped, scraped, and carved. Every now and then, he would sneak off into the main chamber, peeking at the real Adam to check his proportions, even after Mira had scolded him three times already.
"You're going to ruin the surprise! If he wakes up I swear I will tear your limbs!"
"I just wanna see his eyes one more time!" Brill pleaded, being braver than usual. Perhaps his art was worth more than his body. Nonetheless, Mira noted it was a bit weird.
Meanwhile, in the far left chamber, Zell was in the midst of his own battle: crafting a throne. He had raided the discarded beetle shells from old raids, stacking them one on top of another, trying to match the images from Adam's tales of ancient kings.
But the throne wouldn't hold.
It broke.
Again.
And again.
And once, it bit him. Or rather, one beetle shell had simply fell, scratching his legs.
"Ow! I am going to make this work, even if it kills me," Zell muttered, half-crazed, half-glorious. Using his brawns rather than his brains. Fueled by his adrenaline.
Suddenly, a sound from the hallway. All heads turned.
The towering shape of Adam appeared at the chamber entrance, antennae slowly rising in confusion. His eyes scanned the whole scene:
Mushroom globs, glistening like candy.
A throne... no, a pile of beetle shells.
A statue... of something vaguely ant-shaped, with a broken eye and crooked limbs.
And then ants holding hands, dancing in a circle.
He blinked.
Skitt was spinning. Brill was skipping with uncontained joy. Mira was humming. Norkk was giggling — giggling! — and Zell was leading them all like the commander of a victorious battalion.
"What is happening?" he asked, slowly.
At the sound of his voice, everything stopped.
Brill dropped the statue molding paste.
Zell slipped and fell sideways into the throne — which finally collapsed for the final time.
Everyone froze.
Then, ants triggered all at once, they rushed him.
"SURPRISE!!!" they shouted together, even though it was very much not a surprise anymore.
Adam stood stunned as they hugged him, patted his legs, swarmed his shoulders, and pushed him toward the middle of the chamber. His eyes welled with emotion.
"You… all of you… did this for me?"
Mira nodded proudly. "You made us teddy bears. We wanted to do something even better!"
Brill pulled him by the leg. "Come see the statue! I made your face five times until it almost looked like you!"
Skitt silently held up a mushroom glob with hopeful eyes.
Zell motioned to the broken throne. "Uh… don't sit on it yet."
Adam's heart swelled. "You little troublemakers," he whispered, gently kneeling as he wrapped them all into a soft, careful hug. His voice cracked. "I've never had anyone… do this for me before."
Then he lifted a hand and gestured to the shadows.
From behind him, two enormous shapes emerged.... teddy bears?
One brown. One cream. Stitched from webbed fibers and dried silk, stuffed with old moss and shaped with care. Their tiny black eyes twinkled.
Everyone gasped.
"OUR OWN BIG BEARS!" Brill screamed.
Adam chuckled. "Surprise."
The ants squealed with joy as he lifted the mushroom paste and began to serve it like a feast. Every ant got a dollop. The air filled with the smell of nectar, sugar, and toasted bark.
Zell sat beside the broken throne. Adam chuckled and patted him.
"I love it," he said. "Even more this way."
The chamber echoed with laughter.
Soon Mira, Zell, Norkk, Skitt, and Brill began a slow, rhythmic dance around the center, circling Adam like it was a sacred festival, holding each other's limbs, giggling, whispering their joy in clicks and taps. They beamed with pride.
They had done it. The best gift ever.
However, …
Back in his resting chamber Adam stirred.
His eyes blinked open at the sound of distant laughter. "What's all that noise?" he muttered groggily, crawling out.
He rubbed his eyes.
He stepped into the main chamber and stopped.
His eyes widen from the catastrophic scene in front of him. A pile of beetle shells half-crushed into a chair. A terrifyingly misshapen statue that looked like it had been stepped on by a rhinoceros. Ants dancing around it like a summoning ritual. The air smelling intensely of honey and sweet rot.
Then, without warning, the system flared to life in his mind:
[SYSTEM WARNING]
— Trace compounds: Hallucinogen detected
— Trace compounds: Poison detected
Adam's eyes widened.
"Oh no."
And still, in the middle of it all, the ants screamed like maniacs, "This is the best day ever!!!"