We will switch to low-light viewing. Swarmies, can you you recognize this space in which we find Dah16? Please submit your answers now for extra credits and performance recognition.

  Do you see Dah16 shuffling her way around the individually wrapped corpus trays? Yes, this is the staging area for pretreatment of human compost before transport out of Zentrum City.

  Dah16 has pulled her shirt up over her nose. The smell would be rank to her. In the unlit space, she tugs on the membrane covering a corpus transport tray. The elastic seal is designed to discourage unauthorized access.

  Now she crouches in the darkness to feel along the dirt floor. Occasionally humans activate a reservoir of determination under certain circumstances.

  Case in point: Dah16 has found something that is currently clenched in her hand. Stand by.

  Ah, be advised, it was a small stick which quickly snapped under the strain of her attempting to open the membrane. It was a noteworthy effort and now she will likely surrender herself. Stand by, swarmies.

  Dah16 is again sifting through the dirt, on hands and knees, using all ten of her fingers. Many of us have heard tell of human persistence. Who knew it could go this far-- fascinating! She has been in the dark and in the presence of her own odoriferous, decomposing species for two minutes-- how unexpected.

  I am bringing our Deep Psych team aboard now and we welcome their insights. Here is what they share with us:

  1. Since most of you have only interfaced with groomed humans, this raw broadcast experience may seem foreign. We encourage you to watch, learn, and absorb from your position of safety.

  2. Please note that a human with “nothing to lose” may risk more than is statistically predicted.

  Thank you, Deep Psych team.

  Swarmies, in real time, I report that our Dah16 has found something else: her own sandal. She has wedged the sole under the elastic cuff and managed to leverage a small section of the membrane from the tray pan. The released puff of air would certainly be strong to human olfactory sensors, since the fungi haven't completed their decomposition process yet. We see her shrink back and vomit.

  Behavior modeling indicates that this human will flee. In fact, she does not.

  She wipes her mouth on her sleeve, re-installs her sandal, and peels back the long edge of the membrane. After allowing the fumes to vent, she wedges herself horizontally onto the tray pan, next to the corpus in-decay.

  How unusual to document a human tolerating physical inconvenience and sensory bombardment. We are fortunate to witness such rare, natural phenomena!

  What will she do? How long will she survive? When will she surrender?

  The excitement continues to build. Lodge your predictions and place your bets, swarmies.

  The warehouse roof rolls open.

  Swarmies, do you see Dah16 squint in the sudden bright light? And there she is, pulling the membrane over herself from inside the transport bundle. Those are her fleshy fingertips. She does not secure it completely because it is impossible to fully seal from the inside and, even if she could, she would suffocate herself.

  The three hundred corpus transport bundles, including the one containing Dah16, are hoisted out and loaded aboard a flatbed clump wagon with a destination of the mid-continent Management Dome.

  Thirty-five minutes later, upon arrival at the Corpus and Biological Treatment Area, the bundles are conveyed to the open-air decomposition area. The tray containing Dah16 is identifiable by the partially sealed cover and confirmed by her heat profile. We zoom in on her position now.

  Her bundle shall be stored directly on the ground in a single layer, separate from the towering stacks. No need to suffocate our human star now, is there? Of course not, swarmies! You know the Captain-President never lets us down.

  Here, at dusk, in the cooling air, we see that she remains under the membrane where the temperature hovers closer to her mammalian comfort zone.

  While Dah16 recharges, we suggest you take advantage of the time to organize your data. It is likely there will be no live stream activity to report until daybreak. As always, if any new action emerges, we will alert all subscribing swarmies immediately. Stand by.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  At dawn, Dah16 lifts the edge of the corpus membrane and we see her face. The skin around her eyes is puffy. The green fabric covering her nose is wet and stained with mucus. She tumbles onto the ground with an audible plop and shivers.

  Dah16 tries unsuccessfully to yank-release the entire membrane, possibly to use as a buffer against the cold air or for a yet-to-be-determined scheme. After unsuccessful attempts to rip it off the tray, she sets off towards the adjacent woodland habitat.

  It is unclear what direction-finding tools guide her. Humans do not possess geomagnetic-sensing organs and Dah16 has no access to navigation data. Studies have shown that random human movements spur beneficial outcomes, from time to time.

  The stacks of corpus bundles recede behind her. At a grassy area near the woods, she drops to her knees and licks the dew-covered blades. Her fingers caress the stalks, then she lies on her back for an unexplainable reason. The fabric of her tunic absorbs dampness, which seems unwise, as she stares at the pink cloud formations overhead in the sunrise sky, seemingly unconcerned with her exposure and vulnerability.

  Of note, this live stream is now closed to new subscribers. The President rewards those of us who have been loyal-dedicated from the start. Let us make the most of this privileged opportunity, oh chosen swarmies.

  Now, Dah16 walks across the boundary of the Corpus and Biological Treatment Area, triggering a sonic blast from her subdermal microcorder.

  This attention-demanding squeal, at 110 decibels, automatically broadcasts from devices that trespass official boundaries without authorization. The sonic blast shocks any ear drum. We see Dah16 writhe.

  After five seconds, the squeal stops. An announcement emanates from the device in her upper torso.

  “Alert! Return yourself. You are outside your allowable zone. This alert system will repeat louder and more frequently if you choose to remain at large.”

  The squeal-announcement cycle begins again.

  It is predicted that Dah16 will surrender within six minutes. Stand by.

  Swarmies, I have fresh data.

  An unexpected result has been encountered at five minutes after initial sonic blast-- Dah16's subdermal recording device is no longer functioning.

  This human has not turned herself in. Perimeter drone detection indicates that she has not left the 1 square kilometer zone in the remote, wooded area where she was last tracked.

  Deep Psych team offers their comments:

  1. Resilience, motivation, and stamina have not been cultivated in groomed humans for many decades.

  2. Dah16's aberrant mem therapy may be contributing to her aberrant behavior.

  3. The most likely scenario, given the limited data available, is that she is hiding, out of view of our overhead drone monitors.

  Thank you, Deep Psych team.

  Swarmies, let us rejoice! How delightful to witness a human defying the odds! I assure you, there is no risk to our Establishment. Let us continue to delve into our study, shall we?

  Our Senior Tracking Team has reviewed all data for Dah16's life to-date. Here are their findings:

  a. The mechanical caretakers in her warren have an excellent track record of suppressing human tendencies towards self-sufficiency. Under their shepherding care, Dah16 received all required childhood mem adjustments-calibrations.

  b. Despite receiving adequate mechanical-emotional boundaries in her home warren, Dah16 exhibited aberrant tendencies throughout her life. Records indicate that, on at least one occasion, she surfaced and procured her own drinking water when the sky produced precipitation. On another occasion, she was observed hiding extra food in her warren den, despite having a helpi assigned to manage her nutri provisions.

  c. Currently, we know that Dah16 left the Corpus and Biological Treatment Area on foot heading toward the adjacent, forested area where there is a partially frozen stream and possible shelter. To buffer the sonic squeal, she would have covered her ears with her palms as she ran into the forest lands.

  Swatting at the bump in her upper chest would not succeed in silencing the sonic squeal and alert cycle. Additionally, the skin would still be tender since her recorder was embedded recently at her warren, under sub-standard conditions.

  She would have exhibited human panic regarding the uncontrollable, embedded object that has become a source of pain. Her body reactions would have escalated with every repeated cycle of the squeal alert. Normally in this situation, a human would surrender. We have no data to suggest that this has happened.

  d. We hypothesize that she would have removed her shirt at the partially frozen stream and laid on her stomach across the cold sand and polished pebbles. Perhaps she would have directed handfuls of iced water across her upper chest. Then, like slaps, she would splash some on her face.

  She would pivot to sit, leaning against a boulder. She might have picked up a sharp-edged flake of slate, quite common in this region. While the alert emitted again, Dah16 could conceivably act on her plan to cut the device out of her body.

  Swarmies! What! Tell us more, Senior Tracking Team!

  e. The human's recording device does not currently respond to our attempts to connect with it, leading us to believe it has been separated from its human body. Thus, the device may be disabled and/or underwater.

  f. It is our educated guess that this human would have used the thin piece of slate to slice through the semi-healed stitches in the outer layer of her skin. She would have pressed her chin to her chest tightly in an attempt to see the work, while trying to ignore the rivulets of blood.

  A few millimeters under the surface of her skin, she would pry up the plastic disk and see the electrical cording leading further into her body, connecting to her heart's pacemaker. She would try to avoid yanking as she severed the mini-wires, likely using her teeth.

  g. At this point, the sonic squeal and alert cycle would cease. She would likely throw the disconnected recorder disk into the stream. She might have pressed moss on the self-inflicted wound and flinched back suddenly in pain, hitting her head against the granite boulder. She could now be shivering uncontrollably in a state of human shock, likely unconscious.

  Swarmies, what a thing! We are witness to truly wild human behavior! Thank you, Senior Tracking Team.