The other day I was sitting in my spare room watching some TV when I noticed a small movement in the corner of my eye. There on the floor was a piece of a circuit board. As I watched it, the piece move slowly, haltingly, like something was struggling to move it or rather that whatever was moving had the piece stuck to its back.
I picked up the piece and found several ants clinging to it. I thought it was curious and so replaced it on the floor and let them struggle with it. I'd seen ants try to move large piece of nacho cheese Dorito in a group once. I watched them for a little while longer and lost interest.
It was a short while later when I noticed another set of ants, or perhaps it was the same ones, but they had another piece of circuit board. Now they had my interest and I watched to see where they were going, well at least I checked on their progress during the commercial breaks.
They went behind the end table I had and so I pulled it out. There behind the table I found a whole mass of ants assembling hundreds of small circuit boards into a pile. There was an AC adapter in the outlet there that I don't remember what it went to, but it now had the cable connecting to the ant's pile. I left them alone to continue what they were doing.
It didn't occur to me to wonder where all the circuit board pieces were coming from, but later that night the idea came to me that it might be from some of my projects. I build computers from spare, used or new parts and give them to friends and family. I have dozens of odd pieces of outdated equipment. I have video, sound, and network cards, and even a few old modems which I don't even use anymore. I was too tired to do anything about it then and figured I would check in the morning.
I woke well rested. When I looked at my clock I saw why I had slept in a hour and a half later than I usually would. Luckily it was the weekend. It was strange that my alarm had not gone off. My clock I use has an alarm but I don't like it. I use the one in my PDA as it works well to wake me up and isn't annoying.
As I was getting myself ready for the day I remembered the ants and went to check on their progress. They definitely had been busy during the night. What had just been a pile of circuit board, now resemble a small city seen from far above. The whole thing had a slight glow to it. This city was certainly powered up. This concerned me quite a bit. What in the world was going on? I wondered; the AC adapter was still connected. I unplugged it and the glow faded away. Hundreds of ants came running out of the structure. Not really thinking I stomped on their little city. It stuck to my bare foot and now the ants were crawling up my leg. I shook it off and it bounced to the floor. I was freaked out and tried wiping the ants off my foot and leg. They mostly dropped away once the city was back on the ground, but I still jumped around like an idiot, goose bumps running up and down my arms and shoulders. I didn't see any more ants on my leg and I began to calm down.
I saw the ants were all moving back towards their little city. Soon they had surrounded it and the whole structure slowly moving back to where it had been. OK, I thought, now what do I do? I thought about it quick moment and picked up my cell phone to call my brother. When I picked it up I noticed the heft of it wasn't right. I tried to turn it on and nothing happened. They didn't, I thought, they couldn't have, I wondered. I pulled of the back cover and the battery was still there, but behind it where I could usually see a portion of the circuit board, it was gone. I could see how they could have removed it, but it was certainly gone. I grabbed my PDA remembering that the alarm had not gone off either. It too didn't feel right. Now I was ticked off. I wasn't about to have them crawling up my arms if I tried to pick up their city. I needed to get out of there and get some help. One smart thing I thought to do before leaving was to turn off all my circuit breakers. No more free electricity for you, I vented at them. I grabbed my keys and my shoes and left.
I crossed town to my brother's place and after some explaining I got him to come. He didn't really seem to believe me but I'd convinced him to at least check it out.
When we got back to my place I took him to where the ants had been. They were gone. I'd been gone for only an hour, where could they have gone. I looked around but could find nothing. I showed him my cell phone and the PDA. He had a strange look like this is a lot to go through for a practical joke. I understood what he was thinking. I stood there thinking where could they be and then saw what I was looking for. My heart skipped a beat. My computer! NOT MY COIMPUTER! I shouted in my head. I had my own super fast, lightning quick, mega, ultra, blue LED, sweet, awesome computer sitting on the floor under my desk. Next to it, against the wall was my battery backup system. I could squeeze a couple hours of gaming out of that battery backup, before I would usually need to shut down. I could now see several wires that hadn't been there before running to that little city I had been looking for. Only now I noticed that instead of typical green or yellow-brown circuit board, there was a large amount of red. The very color my computer's motherboard consisted of. My heart cringed when I saw it, but knew it was too late. I dropped to my knees and pointed. My brother got a puzzled look on his face and then followed my pointing finger.
"What the…," he said under his breath and stepped closer. "There's got to be thousands of them. Is that part of your…?"
"Uh-hunh," I replied.
"I thought you said they were just ants?!?" he wondered out loud. "There's some bigger what look like black beetles too."
I got closer and could see the beetles he had seen. He bent over and picked one up before I could stop him.
"Strange," he said. "It's changed into what looks like a Lego."
Confused I looked at the thin piece pinched between his fingers and it certainly looked like a Lego piece. I looked around my room to a shelf where once had been a few dust covered Lego creatures I had built several years ago. They were gone. I looked closer and could see faint trails in the dust and the outlines of where my creations had been.
"What are these things?!" I blurted out as I looked back at the little city that glowed slightly.
My brother quirked, "I don't know, but I'm going to get some pictures." He took out his own cell phone and took some pictures. He took a video of the beetle that changed to its Lego shape when he picked it up. "Now what do we do?"
"How should I know? They certainly don't teach you what to do in IT school or boy scouts for things like this. Why don't you send the pics and the video to your wife? She could at least put it on YouTube. They don't seem to want to cause any harm. They didn't even bite me when I stomped on their city earlier or when I was wiping them off me. What is a beetle that turns into a Lego, going to do to you?"
"I'm going to turn the power back on so they don't keep draining my battery. I've got some old circuit cards they may not have found up in my closet. Hopefully that will keep them from spreading to my living room and my electronics down there. I noticed they were still working when we came back from your place.
During the next few days the city had double in size. There are more of the beetles now. They seem to have stopped using the circuit boards and are now using plastics to build. I've dug out all kinds of old plastic bottles, and food containers. They use it up fairly quick and seem to be content with just the things I give them. The beetles are no longer just black; they seem to keep the color of the plastics I've been giving them. I'm running out plastic though, at least the plastic I don't need. I wonder what they would do if I tried to move them. I'll see what happens if I take just a few of the ants and beetles.
I put them in a glass jar just as if they were the bugs they seem to be. Now to see what happens when I take them somewhere where there is lots of plastic, the city dump.
So far; so good, I think as I arrive at the city's dump. The bugs seemed happy to work on the "food" I put in the jar with them. The ants are nearly twice the size they were and seem ready to pop. I parked to one side of the facility where I was mostly out of sight. I opened the jar and let them slide out. I watched as they scurried off in different directions. The ants I noticed seemed to split in half just before they were lost from sight.
Quicker than I thought the plastics nearby seemed to disappear. Soon I could see hundreds of the beetles. They were clearing a section near a power pole. Several wires spiraled together in a kind of rope, were stretched up the pole and connected to the power lines. Then things really started to happen. A new structure began to be built at the base of the power pole. It stretched through the chain link fence and even formed around the links. On the other side of the fence I couldn't see what was going on, but I could hear things being moved around. Just slight scuffling sounds, but my imagination got the better of me and I began to panic. What if these creatures weren't as benign as I thought? Too late to do anything about it and so I went home.
When I got home I could hear a phone ringing inside my house. I opened the door and went inside. It was my cell phone. I picked it up and it was my brother. He was worried that he hadn't been able to reach me since last night. I told him what I had done and he told me what had happened on YouTube. There had been several hundred thousand hits on the video and then the link they had put to the pictures on Flicker was shut down because of the high traffic. He was half expecting a knock on their door anytime from some men in black.
Well I let him know that whatever happens, it's too late to stop it. The proverbial cat is out of the bag and in a place of plenty.
I then noticed my PDA light was flashing. I picked it up and turned it on. It was working too. I quickly glanced over towards my computer. The old parts I'd given to the bugs were back in their boxes. I looked to my dusty shelf. My Lego creatures were back where they were, minus the dust that had covered them. I swung my gaze back to my computer. I could see the gleaming red motherboard through the clear side covers. There were also several glass jars teaming with the ants. I think they are ready to go I thought. Everything is back where they had found it, though I don't know how.
I put the jars in a box a drove them back to the City dump. A line of cars were at the entrance but I made my way past them to the side where I'd let the other bugs out. I let the ants go free at the power pole. I noticed there was a much fresher smell to the air than had been there earlier.
I drove back up to the entrance and glanced into the yard. What I saw was not what I expected. I saw a bright green field of grass. No, it wasn't grass it looked more Lego-y. From a distance I could barely see the block shapes to the field, but it certainly wasn't quite all rounded. I could see a white picket fence being put together, but there was no one doing it and it was going up much faster than any person or persons could do. It was then I noticed the blocks were not just appearing but were being flown into place. I got out of my car and could see that all the other cars were empty too.
Several dozen people were just standing around watching things being built. In the far distance I could see what remained of the dump as it had been earlier today. There was still more than three quarters of the place still looking like a dump but it was slowly disappearing. In its place was a growing field of green. Then what looks like a blue pond appeared. It filled with crystal clear water, and now there where multi colored Lego fish swimming in it. I was watching the spectacle dumbfounded when a local TV camera crew arrived and stared broadcasting live. This was getting big I thought.
The road coming into what could hardly be called a dump now connected with the greenery. The road continued on and the green now became a blacktop road, smooth and glistening, with bright yellow dashes spitting the road in two. A brick red structure began to be built in the distance at the edge of what was left of the dump. More than half of it converted. The structure became a house, human sized. Trees began to grow and out stretched the branches which were soon covered by Lego leaves. Flowers blossomed in the flowerbeds. A tire swing now hung from the tree. A black iron fence formed around the house marking its boundaries. I was surprised that this fence actually did look like iron and not Lego. They're branching out I thought, literally.
Before long there were other houses, and a playground. After a while I began to realize I must have been there for hours. I looked around and there were hundreds of people standing around. I realized my feet were tired and I made my way to where the real grass became Lego grass. I said out loud that I could use a nice park bench to sit on. No sooner had I said it than it started to form in a nice slate color. Once completed, I sat down and relaxed. I then noticed everyone else was staring at me. I shrugged my shoulders and smiled and stretched my arms and legs. I settled back into the bench. Others now began to move out onto the shiny black road towards the house. The white picket fence kept them off the grass.
Before too many people headed down the road a toll booth appeared with a drop arm. A sign on the arm asked to please wait your turn. A couple dozen people had already passed the booth and continued on. All of them were adults.
The far end of what used to be the dump became a forest of Lego trees and shrubs. Three houses had been built and a playground. A tall man walked over to the tire swing at the first house and looked it over. He pulled on the ropes holding it in place and then tested his weight by hanging from it. The tire swing was a little low for him but as he climbed in, the ropes shortened. He sat down and began to swing. His feet didn't drag at all; it was the perfect height for him.
Several of the other adults made their way to the playground. Things there seemed to fit each one perfectly too. The crossbars that had been too low for one person had risen in height so her feet were just far enough off the ground. A swing that at first was too narrow for one stocky guy, extended so it fit him fine.
One of the others was from a TV station and was with her camera guy. She began to report on what they were seeing happen and how this place seemed too good to be true. They went into one of the houses. The ceiling and roof were clear in parts and let in plenty of light. The bedrooms had windows and shutters and a solid ceiling keeping out most of the light. There were couches and chairs and tables, but not yet any personal amenities.
I began to wake up after that. I guess there's never a dull moment in my head while I'm dreaming.
