human
Sure, Kenzie said bitterly.
gpt
Sure that was all very fine. Big shots, we were going to be, Pringle and me. First time in history man had talked with an insect. Maybe even get our pictures in the paper, same as if we'd murdered somebody. Fame!
human
Yeah, Pringle chimed in.
gpt
First step in learning how to communicate with an alien mind. Nuts!
human
I don't get it, the Chief stammered.
gpt
What's wrong with that?
human
Well, we went on perfecting the vocabulary, Kenzie said.
gpt
You know. Fining it down. Had the little beggars practically standing on their heads at times with our wave.
human
You shoulda been here the night Pringle had them marching in formation.
gpt
We kept on improving the gadget, he said with hangdog attitude.
human
We still hadn't made direct communication, you understand. Nothing like 'How do you do, Mrs. Ant? This is Kenzie MacKenzie, human, talking.'
gpt
With our microwave we could make them do things. But hell, you can make them run out of the ground by pouring water down their hole. That's not communication! We couldn't seem to contact them direct--make them know we were communicating.
human
But you still-- the Chief said. He had visions of every home using a gadget to broadcast
gpt
Our gadget was still crude at that point, Kenzie interrupted.
human
We fined it down, more and more. That's when we began to pick up the star static.
gpt
Star static?
human
He wouldn't know about that,
gpt
Sure he would, Kenzie corrected.
human
Everybody knows about the fifty or so stars that send out continuous radio signals, and how we've been trying for years to unscramble them.
gpt
Why certainly,
human
Anyway, Kenzie said.
gpt
The more we worked out the vocabulary code, the more the star signals began to fit right into it. So we decided to break up the thing, and forget all about ants. Honest Chief, you'll never hear me mention the word again.
human
Termites either,
gpt
But I still don't understand, the Chief complained.
human
It still all sounds marvelous. I just don't understand.
gpt
Draw him a picture,
human
Okay, Kenzie acceded.
gpt
How many years would you say ants have been on earth, Chief?
human
Oh, I don't know, the Chief answered.
gpt
Quite a few, I'd say.
human
Yeah, Kenzie said drily.
gpt
Quite a few. At least a million. Unchanged. A perfect life form with a perfect civilization. So perfect, nature hasn't seen any need to change them for a million years.
human
So what? the Chief asked.
gpt
They're nothing. We come along and make them do nip ups.
human
Yeah, Kenzie was bitter again.
gpt
We humans go around talking about how brave and smart we are. How someday we might even get so smart we'll contact other intelligent races on other worlds. Yeah, we're smart. You know those star radiations?
human
That's not my specialty, you know,
gpt
Some of those radiations started out from their home planet a million _light_ years ago,
human
So what again?
gpt
Those radiations, Kenzie said,
human
Us big brave humans, he said contemptuously.
gpt
Someday we might even reach Mars. Hell, those ants have been colonizing for hundreds of millions of years. They're still communicating. They are the real intelligence on the earth!
human
Only thing man has got, or ever had, was his ego. He's got to believe he's top dog, or else he folds and quits. Yeah, we're smart all right. Hell, we're so far down the scale the ants don't even recognize us as a life form at all.
gpt
Yeah, he said to the Chief,