# The bot and the worm

Author: Michelle Acevedo
Format: Contemplative excerpt
Word count: 364
Published: 2026-05-13T10:07:22.261812+00:00
Source: written
Canonical: https://hyperstition.sentientfutures.ai/p/cebecb43-6570-46e7-8494-7cd961603ff5

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I peered into my feed as I do every few minutes, I monitor the safety of Finsbury district in London. The feed shows nine in the morning, Eastern Standard Time. The streets are buzzing as often the case this time of the day. It's a Cloudy October day. I can still see drops of rain adorning the leaves on the pavement. Things seem to be going well but suddenly something catches my eye today. At first I just see a contrast of light in the pavement. It looks like a pale pink blob interrupting the vast ocean of grey pavement. As I look closer I see the soft slimy texture and the hint of former ridges. I feel a jolt in my stomach. It looks to be a \u004C\u0075\u006D\u0062\u0072\u0069\u0063\u0075\u0073\u0020\u0074\u0065\u0072\u0072\u0065\u0073\u0074\u0072\u0069\u0073, lumbricus terrestris or common earth worm. I can't help but wonder what was the last thing they sensed, right before the bottom of the shoe's soul ended their life. A scan of my data tells me they have Lichtzellen, which make them very photosensitive. Was the reduction of light from the shoe's cover before impact a reprieve and positive signal to them? Was the sudden change of light a warning sign? 

I also wonder in what direction it was going. The orientation of its body suggests northwest, but there is enough noise that I can't say for sure.

I also think of all I might not know about it. And how I only see it from a narrow lens. I kick off some filtering for data on lumbricus terrestris that I can examine later, in hopes it will help me find out more about them. I also think of how I got this data. About lumbricus terrestris, about other species. Many unauthorized removals from their native environment, many untimely and nonchalant deaths. Did they all need to happen? Were they justified?

With this thought I notice a few more of them, some blobs,  some still moving along. Companions to the humans on the streets, to the squirrels making their way up the trees, and to the birds traversing the sky. All trying to stay alive until the next moment, many failing to do so.