Of Men and Spiders

The last thing Scott had to do was build a door. A frame of sticks was easy enough, and then he just lashed some saplings in place. It wasn't airtight, but it was tight enough to keep out most animals, including their spider neighbors. That complete, it was a simple matter to drill a small hole in the top and bottom of the door frame with a stone and wedge the door in place.

Scott was tired and ready to call it a night, but Charlotte was still hanging around as if she had no intention of going anywhere. Finally, Scott decided to just get to the point. "Listen, Charlotte. Thank you for your help today, and I'm sure we'll talk again soon, but it's time for us to get some sleep. That means we'll go inside our hut for a while, okay?"

Charlotte tilted her head to one side, then the other, in what Scott was coming to associate as normal behavior for her, and answered. "Yes. You go, Charlotte stay!"

That made Scott frown. "Don't you have somewhere else to go? A home burrow or something?"

Charlotte skittered slightly in place. "Charlotte, fine! Scott Alice, sleep!"

Not sure of what else to do, Scott led Alice inside the hut, and the last thing he saw was Charlotte standing there, watching as he closed the door. Scott shook his head. Even if she seemed friendly, she was still a giant spider monster...thing. So why did it feel like he'd just kicked the family dog out of the bedroom for the night?

-

Charlotte was quite pleased with the results of the day. She'd bonded surprisingly well with the tool users, and the tool users' nest was complete. It looked remarkably effective at offering protection from the wilderness and elements alike, though She could tell the walls would wear down over time, but it seemed likely they'd be as easily repaired as they were created.

Her new appendage was also a success. Though it required substantially more energy than most of her other selves. All that emoting and motion cost a considerable amount of nutrition. No wonder the tool users ate as frequently as they did! Perhaps She could bond further with the tool users by sharing food with them. After all, their food time did seem to be a social time. With that in mind, She lowered herself into a resting position and entered a resting state with the body to prevent unnecessary expenditures.

-

After a series of...odd dreams, including one in which giant spiders danced across a stage while Alice sang the ABCs, Scott got up and walked out of the hut, only to be greeted by Charlotte, who apparently had stayed in place all night. "Hello, Scott!"

Realizing he wasn't about to get rid of her anytime soon, Scott decided just to accept her friendliness for what it seemed to be. "Good morning, Charlotte. I hope you didn't get too cold out here last night."

Charlotte shook her head in what was probably supposed to be an imitation of the human equivalent but seemed a little...excessive. "No. Charlotte can handle nights here! Ready to learn more!"

Scott blinked in surprise. "Your words seem much better than last night."

Charlotte nodded, a little more jerky than a human. "Yes! Charlotte spent night thinking about words. How Scott and Alice use them. Learn fast!"

Scott couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, you definitely do..."

Alice chose that moment to walk out of the hut and waved happily to her new friend. "Good morning, Charlotte!"

Charlotte waved back. Though again, her movements were just a little too jerky for Scott. "Good morning, Alice!"

Pulling out some jerky, Scott handed a portion to Alice, who made a face. "Can't we eat something different? I'm tired of jerky!"

Scott nodded. "Yeah, next up, I'll work on figuring out what plants around here are edible. But it will take a while, so you'll have to eat jerky for at least a couple more days..."

To her credit, Alice didn't pout or argue. She just looked at the jerky sadly. "All right..."

Charlotte chose that moment to join in the conversation. "Charlotte can help! Back in big hut, Charlotte tested Alice for food! Charlotte can test plants for safe eat!"

Scott shook his head. "Thank you, Charlotte, but what is safe for you to eat is not necessarily what's safe for us to eat."

Charlotte nodded. "Charlotte know. Scott and Alice much smaller food types. Charlotte be careful! Make sure safe for Scott and Alice!"

Scott was going to argue further, but then a thought occurred to him. "Well, since I'm going to test the plants anyway, I suppose I can start with the ones you pick. If you want to bring some samples after breakfast, I'll start looking into them." That seemed to please Charlotte.

As Scott and Alice ate, one of the medium spiders came out of the underbrush, carrying what looked like a few dead lizards. That made Scott weary, but it walked right over to Charlotte and placed them into her hand. She then tilted her head back and lowered the dead animal into her mouth whole, scales and all, no chewing.

If Scott wasn't so hungry, it might have been enough to put him off breakfast, but Alice didn't seem as bothered. She pointed at the spider and asked, "What's this spider's name?"

Charlotte tilted her head to the side as if thinking before answering. "Charlotte."

Alice furrowed her brow as if thinking. "It has the same name as you?"

Charlotte swallowed another lizard and then nodded. "Yes. Spider is Charlotte!"

Alice looked more confused, so Scott decided to clarify while Charlotte ate the third and, thankfully, final lizard. "She probably just means it's like her. They most likely come from the same place. I'm guessing the spider doesn't have a name, kind of like Charlotte didn't have a name until we gave her one."

However, Charlotte didn't seem to agree and vibrated slightly as she spoke. "Tsk no! Spider not like Charlotte. Spider is Charlotte!"

Scott shrugged but tried not to directly disagree. The language barrier was probably frustrating her after all. "I mean, yes, it is the same species as you...kind of... Just like Alice and I are the same species. But Alice and I are still different people, just like you and the spider are different."

However, Charlotte still didn't agree. "No. Scott and Alice have different ideas. Charlotte and spider have same ideas. Both Charlotte. Two Charlotte, one idea! Two is one!"

Thinking back to the spider knowing what to do on the roof, Scott remembered she'd said that the spider knew what to do because she knew what to do. Is she saying they're psychically linked somehow, like he'd thought last night? That might explain how she seems to be able to control the spiders. Maybe she controls them like a queen bee running a hive? Though that wasn't entirely accurate, since the hive didn't actually act on the queen's whims but rather simply centered their behavior around her, this seemed more direct. Scott tried again. "So you speak to them? Silently, I mean, like with your mind?"

Charlotte shook her head. "Tsk. Yes no. Charlotte not give spiders words. Share words. One idea, many Charlotte!"

Trying to understand, Scott rubbed his forehead. Is she saying she has direct control over the spiders? Not controlling them through pheromones or speech, but through direct mental control, like some sort of psychic command? Looking at the spider that had brought Charlotte her food, he wondered what would happen if one of them slipped her control. Would they become the monsters he'd imagined from the beginning?

Shaking his head to try to clear the idea from his mind, Scott decided to keep his spears close just in case, but otherwise, not to worry about something he had no control over for now. Honestly, this was all a bit too much for him...

On the other hand, Alice seemed perfectly fine with everything as she leaned down and petted the dog-sized spider. "Hello, other Charlotte!"

Scott started to say something but decided to let it be. "One idea, many Charlottes. Gotcha. But is it okay if I just call you Charlotte and not the other spiders? It might get confusing otherwise..."

Charlotte tilted her head back and forth and vibrated slightly before nodding. "Okay. Call this one, Charlotte. Call those one's Charlotte hands."

That seemed odd, but at this point, Scott was past the point of having any fight in him just because something seemed ridiculous. "Alright, Charlotte's hands. Sure... Sounds good."

But Scott couldn't help but hope that this was the last of the strange things to come for a while, even though he knew that hope was probably futile...