200,000,000 Years Hence - The Central Desert.
We were in a massive desert. It was scorching hot and extremely dry.
Lincoln: This desert is huge!
Me: Yes. This desert is where the city of New York City once stood.
Lola: This desert was once the most busiest city in North America!?
Lana: This is a strange desert!
Lisa: Indeed.
Me: Let me show you where it's at now.
I form a holographic orb of the Earth and it was now completely unrecognizable. The continents were all now completely joined together in a massive hypothetical supercontinent called Novopangaea or Pangaea II. We were in the heart of the supercontinent and it was a desert that spanned for thousands of miles. The continent was also surrounded by a massive single ocean.
Lori: Wow! Look at the planet.
Lucy: Gasp! It's completely unrecognizable.
Lincoln: The world is completely different than what we saw and know.
Me: It is. This world is set 200,000,000 years into the future.
Laney: This is incredible!
Lola: It sure is. This is all completely different than what we know.
Lana: It's really hot here.
May: It sure is.
Nico: It's like a combination of the Sahara Desert and Death Valley.
Me: It does feel that way doesn't it?
Lori: It literally feels that way.
Me: Well again this is all hypothetical.
Lisa: Indeed.
Laney: This is all amazing though.
We walk around the desert and saw huge massive concrete-hard mounds that were hundreds of feet high.
Laney: What are these giant rock mounds?
Me: These aren't rock mounds Laney. These are giant concrete colony structures for future insects.
We saw strange insects come out of the mounds and scamper onto the desert floor.
Me: These are the insects. They are called Terabytes. They are the future descendants of Termites.
Lana: These guys are termites? Cool!
Lisa: Very fascinating specimens. They have much more efficient methods on how to live in a colony.
Me: They sure do.
Laney: This is interesting. Are these the soldiers of the colony?
Me: No these are the workers. They work for the colony.
I form a holographic orb and it shows the inside of the Terabyte Mound and Colony and each member of the Caste System.
Lola: Wow! The colony of the Terabytes is much bigger than the termites we know. It goes deep underground!
Lisa: Indeed. Apparently the Terabytes have a very sophisticated caste system.
Me: That's right. They have a new breed of Terabytes called Rock Borers. They combine chemicals and use sulfuric acid to drill through the limestone rock underneath the colony. Some are Water Carriers and their purpose is to drink until they're bloated with water.
Laney: What's the water for?
Me: It's to nurture the plants that they collect for the colony and they have windows in the top of the colony to bring in sunlight.
Lincoln: That is so cool! But how are they gonna bring them to the plants if they're full of water?
Me: There's a caste that only carries them to the plants.
Lori: That is literally amazing.
Nico: It sure is.
May: No kidding.
Aylene: But where do they get the plants from?
Me: I'll show you.
We go to one of the desert pools and we saw long worms with plant appendages growing on their segments.
Lana: Are those snakes?
Me: No those are not snakes. Those are a worm called the Garden Worm. They are descended from the Convoluta Worm, a type of microscopic flatworm that are like living plants.
Laney: That is amazing!
Lori: Those things are literally worms? That is strange.
Lucy: That is amazing.
May: It sure is.
Nico: Where are they usually found?
Me: Convoluta Worms are usually found along beaches, tide pools, freshwater lakes and swamps and they feed off of the sunlight to grow.
Laney: That's unusual.
Lisa: Very fascinating specimens. But you are right 2nd elder brother. Symsagittifera roscoffensis; street name: The Mint Sauce Worm is a chlorophyll worm that is bonded with plants to photosynthesize and feed off of sugar from it.
Lincoln: That's really interesting.
Lucy: How do the Terabytes get the plants from the Garden Worms.
We see a bunch of Terabytes go after the Garden Worms.
Me: You're about to see now.
We saw the Garden Worms trying to make a getaway and the Terabytes unveiled a rather interesting weapon. They fired a sticky glue and it snared the Garden Worm.
Lori: What is that stuff?
Me: It's a very strong glue that holds the Garden Worm while the Terabytes go after the Algae it has.
Lincoln: But look its getting away.
Me: That is a clever part about the Garden Worm. Its segments have a powerful chemical that dissolves the glue and it allows it to get away. There are insects in our time that have a similar feature. The Scorpionfly, whenever it gets caught in spiderwebs has a chemical substance that melts the glue from the web and this enables it to get away.
Lisa: That's correct. Chorista australis; Street name the Australian Scorpionfly has this kind of method.
Lincoln: That's amazing.
Me: It is.
We saw the Garden Worm go into a pool.
Lori: Where's the worm going?
Me: We're gonna find out now.
We go into the pool and it was really dark. Lucy loved it.
Lincoln: It's really dark down here.
Me: It is. But it's much cooler than it is in the hot desert.
Laney: That's true.
We then saw glowing green patches on the pool cave walls.
Lana: What are those green patches?
Me: Believe it or not Lana those patches are actually Bacteria.
Lincoln: Bacteria?
Nico: That's interesting.
Me: Yes. Bacteria have been on Earth for 3.6 billion years and they are one of the longest surviving organisms in the world.
Laney: That's incredible.
Lisa: Indeed.
Lucy: Wicked. But why are they glowing like that?
Me: They have a phosphorescent glow on them that gives them a bioluminescent property that lights up the cave.
Lana: That is cool!
Nico: It sure is.
Aylene: I'm glad we can't touch them.
Me: Yeah.
We then saw long worms swim by the bacteria.
Me: These worms are called Gloomworms and they eat the bacteria.
Lisa: Very fascinating specimens.
Me: They are. They survived the Mass Extinction by hiding in the caves.
Laney: That's clever.
Suddenly we saw a huge worm about three feet long swoop in out of nowhere and grab a Gloomworm in its extended mouth.
Lincoln: Whoa!
Lucy: Wicked.
Lola: What is that thing!?
Me: That big worm is called the Slickribbon and it's a descendent of a marine worm called a Polychaete.
Lisa: What an amazing specimen.
Me: It sure is. Polychaetes have been on the planet for over 500,000,000 years and they are one of natures most powerful survivors. They have survived everything nature has to throw at them.
Laney: That's amazing.
Nico: They must be really powerful to have to survive everything like that.
May: No kidding.
Lincoln: Where do they usually live?
Me: They live primarily right around oceanic hydrothermal vents in the darkness of the bottom of the ocean. Down at depths of around 13,000 to 15,000 feet.
Lisa: That's correct. The heat from the mineral rich hydrothermal vents nourishes these organisms and provides them with food and lots of shelter.
Aylene: That's amazing.
Me: It is.
Lola: I had no idea creatures like this exist in our time.
Me: Yeah. There are lots of things on Earth we don't know about yet.
Ed: That's cool!
Eddy: It sure is.
We then continue on to our next location.
Continues in Part 12