Laborers are the most common profession, though not by a wide margin. They are strong and fast, and they are always the first to recieve food at celebratory feasts, as they are the favorites of the Hive-Mother Over-Queen
The scientists spend most of their lives alone, gathering data in the most remote areas of the planet. They report all information to the Hive-Father Under-King at the end of each week.
Soldiers work under the direct order of the Hive-Mother Over-Queen, as their minds have a direct connection to hers. Their position as the strongest creatures on the planet means that they do not need the respect of the other citizens.
The artisans work for nobody. Their greatest strength is that they have no connection to the Over-Queen or the Under-King. Their greatest weakness is that they have no connection to anyone.
The miners are experts at gathering valuable materials out of the earth. They work closely with the diggers, but mining is considered a much more respectable profession than digging.
The transport team works closely with the miners and the gatherers to bring food and materials back to the Hive-Mother Over-Queen. Sometimes she will sing to them to express her gratitude.
The gatherers are responsible for supplying the entire population with food. The coming winter looks rough, and the gatherers may need to start traveling farther out in order to find enough food.
Few citizens choose to be diggers, but those who take up the profession know how vitally important it is. They practice digging techniques that have been passed down for centuries, and the digging community puts great emphasis on the traditions of the elders.
The researchers are masters of collecting and organizing data. They gather from the stories of other citizens, from the writings on the tunnel walls, and from each other. They bring their spreadsheets to the Hive-Father Under-King.
The field agents study every part of the planet, both above and below the surface. They study the orders of nature, and they test their own ability to change the natural orders.
The cartographers search for the farthest points from the Home. The walk for weeks, hoping to see things that they have never seen before. They report their findings to the Gatherers and the Researchers.
The Brains have a direct link to the omni-powerful mind of the Hive-Father Over-King. He uses them to process and store data, and they are content.
The tanks are built to be literally indestructible. The only way to stop them is to drive them mad. Unfortunately, this is all too common.
The slicers are entirely covered in sharp bits that make it rather difficult to give hugs without killing something. As such, they only hug their enemies. They learn a strange kind of love.
The spitters have developed a highly corrosive saliva. The cost of this mutation is that they become unable to speak. In times of peace, the spitters have been known to become writers.
The Hive-Mother Over-Queen does not enjoy seeing the viscera of her enemies scattered across the land. The janitors are tasked with keeping the bloody bits out of sight.
The dancers learn how to move their bodies in a way that mimics the world around them. When more than three dancers gather together, the trees will begin to bow to the rhythms of the dance.
The actors are also the historians. They are the only ones with a memory of their Home that does not come from the Hive-Mother Over-Queen or the Hive-Father Under-King.
The grinders grind away the faces of the mountains above the ground, and the faces of the tunnels below the ground. The leave behind images of those around them.
The whisperers gather the wind between their arms, and shape it into music. Some have learned their technique from the trees, and others have learned from the caves. The sound is so quiet that it can barely be heard.
The farthest depths of the Home are also the newest parts of the Home, since we are always digging deeper. You were born at the new frontier, but when you go back to visit, you find that there is no longer anything that sets your birthplace apart from all the other places.Still, you go back to visit, even if you are the only one.
Because of their proximity to the Entrances, the Shallows have always been a major metropolitan area of the Home. When you talk to others of your birthplace, more often than not they also report that they are from the Shallows, or at least the Grand Mezzanine.
The Cartographers brought you down from the Mountain Cave. It may have been a near-perfect environment for incubation, but it was also forbidden. Nobody admitted to being the one responsible. Every so often, someone reminds you that you are not to blame.
The Grotto is one of the few places that has remained entirely unchanged since your childhood. You go back every so often and see the same old friends. You wish that they would leave the grotto with you, even just once. There is so much that they don't know. Some have still not forgiven you for abandoning them.
There are millions out there who are just like you. Take comfort in knowing that you are never alone. Not in your thoughts, not in your desires, not in your failures, not in your dreams.
There are one hundred individuals in the Home who you might consider to be truly your brothers. You have already met a few of them. If you are lucky, you will meet many more.
There is exactly one individual in the Home who has the ability to understand you completely. Chances are that you will never meet him, but you cannot help looking.
There was nothing in the sky that night.
Obviously.
You first heard the songs of the Blue Cave-Whisperer two years ago. The music intrigues you now just as much as it does then. You have never heard him speak, but from the amount of time that you have spent together, you feel that he is the greatest friend that you have.
He technically isn't injured anymore, but he still walks with a limp. When you cross paths in the tunnels, you always stop to say Hello, even when you know that the Over-Queen is watching.
There is no need for friends here. You have plenty of colleagues, yes, but friendship has little purpose.
While less active than the insubordinate gender, the dominant gender is the most likely to instigate contact.
The leftward gender is somewhat outside of the other three genders, and is the least likely to make any kind of contact.
The most active of the four genders, the insubordinate gender is most comfortable moving quickly between different states.
The looping gender prefers to hold things in their current state, and can generate that same desire in others.
You are just looking for someone like you.
And yet, at the same time, you don't know hot to brige the differences between you.
The usual choice.
It's much simpler this way.
Often, the answer to a problem lies in manipulating the social web that will be affected. You understand that the effectiveness of the solution itself is often not as important as the reaction to the solution.
Someone needs to look through the haze of interpersonal conflicts and draw a line between what is right and what is wrong. A problem that can be made simple is no longer a problem.
You can tell that it is about to rain. That winter is around the corner. That something new - something dangerously unfamiliar - has just arrived at the Home.
You were never confident in any of your abilities. But you think to the times when you are able to sit on your own and write things that no one will ever read. That is when you feel like you belong to something.
Hubris. It's always hubris, isn't it? One day you think that you need to save the world, the next day you realize that the only way to lose the game is to think that you're important enough to make a difference. Why couldn't your critical weakness be that you -underestimate- your abilities? At least then everyone else would love you for being the underdog. But the reality is that you're just one in a million. Not even that. You are one in millions. There are millions of them, and the only two who make a difference are the Under-King and the Over-Queen.
Like a dragon who is missing the one scale that should be protecting his heart. At least Achilles' heel was difficult to see - yours is right there on your belly. It's a wonder you've managed to live this long, really. If you had any serious enemies, you wouldn't stand a chance. You've thought about wearing a large medallion to cover your sensitive patch, but it seems like so much work if you aren' actually planning on getting in any fights.
Trivial, indeed. In hindsight, something like that should really never have cause so much trouble. The problem is that you can never tell which calculation you are going to mis-calculate. You stopped triple-checking your every move long ago when you realized that it just isn't worth the constant paranoia.
I know, I know, the world should be a place where everyone can completely trust everyone else. And I admire you for holding this attitude. Really, I do. But this is not the world of the naive, and we both know the consequences of your blind optimism. At the same time, though, you have us all baffled by how much happier you seem to be in spite of everything.
If you had arms, you would wrap them around the Hive-Mother a thousand times in an eternal hug. But you would still feel empty, because even this gesture could never express what you feel for the Hive-Mother.
You are eternally grateful to the Hive-Mother Over-Queen, and you think of her every days as you go about your regular duties.
Everyone loves the Hive-Mother on some level. Perhaps you wouldn't engage her in one thousand eternal hugs, but you do think that she's pretty great.
You've put a lot of thout into this question. It's kept you up at night. And if you're completely honest with yourself, it seems as though you don't love the Over-Queen at all. Sometimes it feels like you are the only one here with any ambition - with any sense of self.
You will look into his eyes and see something that you would swear is almost human. This will give you pause, and he will gain the advantage.
You will swing for a heavy hit, but your opponent is not where you thought he would be. You find yourself momentarily confused and afraid.
Some might say that you are a pacifist, but in reality, you are simply afraid - and it is this fear that stops you from saving yourself.
We've known you to be the type who thinks that he can just talk things out and everyone will go home happy. Trust me, someone is going to fall, and you're setting yourself up for failure.
When the Over-Queen speaks, we listen.
When the Over-Queen speaks, we listen. There is no other option.
When the Over-Queen speaks, we listen. There is no other option. How could there be?
KILL THE HUMAN