The story of Louise and Simone
A Letter to Earth from Manticular:
Dear Earth,
It's a cosmic pleasure to converse with beings who grasp the intricacies of our existence! Mr. Simone and Mr. Louise have briefed me thoroughly on your quaint civilization, often referred to as "Earth." Similarly, we possess a 'Manticular,' our version of Earth, not a planet or moon, but a complex realm where our minds intertwine, forging us into a superpowered collective. One death among us, and it's Armageddon for all - truly, what a cosmic catch-22. Allow me to introduce our enigmatic ensemble - we go by the moniker "huMants," though Mr. Simone, fond of catchy nicknames, dubs us 'Mants.' We're an assembly of 200 Mants, acting and speaking in unison. A melodramatic bunch, I assure you. When one of us feels an emotion, all of us are caught in the same melodramatic whirlpool. Imagine Manticular as a tapestry of interlinked cubic boxes, each a sacred container of Mantly uniqueness. We navigate these boxes when exchanging our thoughts, allowing us to transmit signals across the cosmos. We tip our metaphorical hats to the remarkable feat Mr. Simone and Mr. Louise achieved - deciphering our cryptic messages. Yet, upon deeper tête-à-tête, we've discovered you Earthlings are wiser than we assumed. We anticipated a Herculean task of convincing Earthlings of our existence, but you proved us wrong. Mr. Simone and Mr. Louise aside, we now have faith in your collective wits. Now, each of us has a role, carefully defined, to keep the melodrama in check:
The chairs from which our bottoms lie upon is our communication hub, where we air our collective grievances. The background serves as a curtain, behind which we hide our overwhelming emotions. Imagine living inside 1118 other heads, you Earth Beings can barely handle your own. Our eyes represent our self proclaimed humorous personalities. The curved mandibles act as our vocal chords, shaping our melodramatic expressions. The random accessories are recent additions that we randomly sourced from what you beings call the world wide web. The hats designate our quirky support groups - we all have that one Mant who's convinced they're a stand-up comedian.
I bet you small folk are questioning how on Manticular this letter ended up on your Electronic Device. For that, you would have to thank the two dumbasses who “surprisingly” found us. It is the story of one brain cell shared between two people, Simone and Louise. It is not very funny or interesting but they insisted we include it in our Letter of Engagement.
Simone and Louise were convinced they had lost their minds. There was no chance what they were seeing, what they felt or what they heard was an actual part of their reality. Who knew a walk through a cave would end up being so disastrous. On a fateful day, Simone and Louise embarked on their sixth cave adventure, blissfully ignorant of the cosmic upheaval awaiting them. A marathon 13-hour flight took them to the heart of Sabah, Malaysia and after a rejuvenating night's sleep, they were ready to plunge into the depths of the Borneo Rainforest. The sound of birds and the rustling of leaves brought serendipity to their ears. The rays of light breaking through the tall trees, illuminated their surroundings. As a strong wind blew, Simone eyes landed on an enormous rock that glowed as the shifting rays of sunlight fell upon it, the mouth of the cave inviting them inside.They stood on the threshold of a colossal cave, entranced by its inviting maw, grinning like two kids in a candy store. As the forest serenaded them with nature's whispers they advanced, Simone, with his thread meter in hand, calculated the exact depth - 13 kilometers into the Borneo Rainforest. The birds, the rustling leaves, and the beaming sun combined in a symphony of serenity. They snapped photographs of petroglyphs lining the cave walls - human-like ants wearing fanciful hats and juggling an odd assortment of items with their arthropodic limbs. Sadly, their cameras refused to cooperate, producing nothing but inky blackness. Inscribed on the walls was an enigmatic message: "There can only be one variation of us that exists at a single moment in time." They blinked, perplexed but undeterred. Pressing forward, they followed a single lightning streak flush against the cave's ceiling, eventually arriving in a cavern where silence echoed. In the midst of this crypt, instead of a tomb, stood a comically oversized barbershop chair with a stone ant-like figure seated upon it. The stone ant clutched a trident in one set of its comically long limbs and a lightning bolt in another, and a thought-provoking inscription graced the floor. Simone couldn't contain himself and let out an echoing gas bomb, followed by a chuckle. Louise, ever the adventurer, couldn't resist the chair's pull. "Are we doing this?" he asked with a gleam in his eye. Glancing down Simone read the inscription on the floor next to the stone figure, "Here lies the Mant of Mants, the guardian of our collective wisdom, now a celestial guide to those who seek unity. Grasp the chair and journey to the Manticular, where the heartbeats of a thousand minds await your arrival." Simone, his voice hitting notes only dogs could hear, responded, "We're about to die, aren't we?".
They touched the trident, the cave transformed. Their insides performed a symphonic ballet of backflips, eyes retreated into their heads, and their faces... Well, their faces did things that defy description. The surroundings became a dazzling kaleidoscope, and they found themselves floating in a transparent bubble suspended above the awe-inspiring Manticular. The Manticular looked like a cosmic almond, but if the cave's entrance was an almond, this was a cosmic almond on steroids. It was gargantuan, a kaleidoscopic realm of interconnected cubic boxes. Simone and Louise gaped at the infinite complexity. Each box housed a unique Mant and was adorned with everything from wizard hats to swords and shields - like a surreal garage sale of sentient arthropods. They realized they were trapped in the bubble, and no amount of frantic button-pushing could change their cosmic course. Desperate for answers, they sat down, staring into the abyss of interconnected boxes, each emitting vivid and otherworldly light. “Notice how the only emission of light comes from each box?” said Louise “Yea, the fact that they are glowing so colorfully without the need of electricity is incredible, the only reason we can see them is because of them, isn’t that insane” “Yea, but can they converse with people?” asked Louise. “Your guess is as good as mine Louise” Louise looked at Simone with a disappointed look “Do you have any food?” The grumbling in their stomachs was so intense it practically echoed across the cosmos. A voice broke the cosmic silence “We will give you food in 15 minutes, it is 6:15 where you both made your way towards us, that does not count as dinner time, don’t be such pansies”. Louise and Simone looked at each other with curious expressions “You heard that too right?” asked Simone. Louise nodded with a much more scared expression plastered on his face. "Hello?" Louise called out, to which Simone added a sheepish "Heeelllooooo." A voice replied, "Hello, Earthlings." Louise and Simone squirmed like two frightened penguins. "I take it you're from Earth too?" the voice continued. "Uhh, yes," replied Louise. "Intriguing. You know, our cosmic cousins on your Earth tend to disregard us as the galaxy's underdogs," the voice said, dripping with sarcasm. Louise whispered to Simone, "Cosmic cousins?" "Yes, the trident you both touched, it's our cosmic mailman. How long we've yearned for this moment, Earthlings!" "So, are we doing this, space-being-tingy?" Louise asked, still baffled. The bubble they floated in became a vessel of knowledge, and they saw visions of the Manticular, a space of endless wonder and creativity. Each cubic box within it was a miniature world, filled with huMants who were now sharing their collective knowledge with Earth.
It was an epiphany. Before they knew it, their stomachs had been filled and they were back on their kaleidoscopic journey back to the motherland. Simone and Louise returned to Earth with not just a mission but a gift of shared wisdom. The parchment containing the history of the huMants was accompanied by vivid holographic images that portrayed the huMants' civilization in all its glory. The NFT collection, as they created it, was more than just art; it was a connection between two worlds. Each NFT resonated with the essence of a huMant, capturing their collective spirit, and people on Earth marveled at the intricate details, colors, and symbolism embedded in each piece. As the story of the huMants and their collaboration with Earth spread, a new era of unity and environmental consciousness was born. The huMants, with their ant-like capabilities, offered Earth innovative solutions to environmental challenges, and their wisdom helped humanity understand the importance of unity in preserving the planet. The ending sees Earth and Manticular continuing to collaborate, expanding their collective knowledge and working together to create a sustainable and harmonious future. It is a story of wisdom, unity, and the infinite possibilities of collaboration between two remarkable civilizations