I Hate Systems

Chapter 171: Ants and Grass

“Indeed, there’s no wind,” Grisha licked her finger before pointing it in the air, trying to feel any sensation of moving air, shuddering as she looked at the grass, “Why are they swaying like there’s a wind here?”

“Hmm,” Compass Carburettor took out a kerchief from his pocket, rolled it into a ball and threw it onto the lawn, observing if anything happened to it. After all, he didn’t receive any Mental Energy from the grass.

That was normal, since only organisms capable of sentient thoughts generated any Mental Energy. Those that simply act based on sensory pulses through their nerve synapses didn’t have any cognitive thoughts. And hence, they never generated any Mental Energy.

Plants were the best example of this.

Compass Carburettor observed the kerchief, noticing that nothing happened to it. He then flashed light from his cell phone—one that Grisha had bought for him—on the kerchief, frowning when he noticed the grass that came into contact with the light turn still immediately.

“Take a video of this and send it to Dr. Gregesh.” He said to Grisha, for her mobile was a smartphone with great specs. The one he bought was just a basic mobile whose function as just to call and send SMS.

Even with continuous use, it lasted for a week. And if on standby, the battery backup lasted for a month. It was what he preferred, having also bought a portable charger, one that he had to power up using his hands.

There was a dynamo built within it, and a lever was attached to it. As he pressed the lever, it would spin the dynamo, creating some charge. And, this charge would pass through a circuit to generate a stable current that was stored within an internal battery.

He could then use it to charge the mobile.

They also bought some related supplies that could be similarly recharged: Flashlights, stun guns, electric lighters, etc. There were also trekking supplies and other goods related to travel.

Since they couldn’t carry much in their car, they stopped at that, planning to buy everything else on another day.

As the only daughter of the owner of a chain of restaurants, cafes, and bars, Grisha had enough money to spend, despite being a college student herself. And once she spent all money, she only had to ask her mother.

Due to how busy she was, and being unable to personally take care of her, Grisha’s mother never said no to her, causing her to become pretty pampered.

As she recorded everything on video, Compass Carburettor probed through some more, throwing on a piece of bread on the lawn. After some time had passed, he picked it up, saying, “There is no change to this.”

He then thought of something, pouring some water along the edge of the lawn, noticing a drop cascade over a blade of grass when it was rapidly absorbed.

He then intended to probe them, pricking his hand with a needle to drop a droplet of blood onto the blade of grass situated at the edge of the lawn.

And, what happened next was like he was slapped in the face.

The blade of grass gently bent over, dropping the droplet of blood on the ground before returning to its original position, shuddering for a moment, as if disgusted by the liquid.

‘Damn, I’m triggered.’ For some reason, its actions and nonchalance in the performance caused veins to pop on his forehead while his eyelids twitched in response. He then controlled himself, thinking of something else to do when he frowned, turning around as he spoke in surprise, “Wait, where’s the piece of bread?”

Upon seeing that the grass hadn’t done anything to it, he had removed the piece of bread and placed it on the road behind him.

And now, it had vanished.

‘I didn’t even sense anything.’ He frowned, feeling a sense of foreboding as he looked around, for a moment feeling that nothing was safe anymore.

“Let’s enter the house now.” He said after observing his surroundings for some time, casually placing another piece of bread on the road, acting like he wasn’t looking at it. But in actuality, he was observing it by gazing at the reflection from the small mirror attached to Grisha’s handbag.

Seeing his actions, Grisha remained in place, putting on a casual behaviour, “Yeah, let’s enter now. There’s no grass on the footpath anyway.”

“Yes…” Compass Carburettor nodded in response when his forehead was slick with sweat all of a sudden. Grisha too was the same, controlling herself from shrieking in response.

When it seemed like they weren’t paying attention to the piece of bread on the road, a small hole appeared on the tar. It was like the piece of tar was used no different to a manhole, created to cover the tunnel within.

And, streaming out from it were ants, ones that arrived near the piece of bread, took out small bites each and retreated into the tunnel before covering the hole with the piece of tar.

Three things were odd with this scene.

First was the fact that the ants behaved sneaky, like they valued their individual lives. This wasn’t their trait.

Second was the fact that their colour was purple, an odd colour that didn’t exist on any ant species situated in their country.

And third, the strangest of them all was the fact that when the ants arrived, they exited from more than twenty holes around the piece of bread. And once they retreated into the tunnels, blocking it with the pieces of tar, there was no evidence of their action.

The piece of bread only spanned as long as his little finger. But, twenty holes had formed around it on the road, shocking him.

For a moment, Compass Carburettor felt as if the entirety of the ground below him was comprised of a gigantic ant colony.

‘Considering their stealth, they are literal assassins now. Overnight, if they target the elderly among humans, they can finish them all easily.’ He shuddered, inspecting the luggage once to see that there wasn’t anything amiss in them before he accompanied Grisha, carefully entering the house.

And, once they entered the house, thousands of ants exited the road and invaded the lawn. The grass growing there acted like vines, thrashing about in return to kill the invaders, smacking to death droves of ants.

A couple of minutes later, the ants retreated into the road while the grass on the lawn slowly moved, sending the injured to the back while new ones sprouted from the ground.

Another minute later, the scene had returned to its pristine state, as if nothing had happened all along.