They were told to stay away from the Innerlands.

It was a part of the laws that every colonist had to abide by and Bah and Gep had heard the morning rites every single day since they were larvae. Even in their vague infantile memories, before their antennae could process anything other than the comb they were growing inside of, the sounds of the other colonists’ voices echoing through their thinly layered walls programming the laws that every colonist must abide by.

And so, there was no excuse for them should they get caught.

Right now, Gep and Bah stood and looked through the hole in the barrier that stood between the world they knew and the world they knew as forbidden.

“This isn’t right,” Gep fretted. “We shouldn’t be here. We’ll be caught and punished!”

“No, we won’t,” Bah said. “No one even guards the barriers. Everyone’s just supposed to stay away from it. Nobody ever stops any colonist from going through, trust me.”

“I don’t know about that. What if you’re wrong?”

“I’m not wrong. Look.” Bah turned to him, antennae sweeping Gep’s head in acknowledgement. “Has anyone ever been brought into the center square for such a crime? No, and neither will we. Now, will you stop being such a wimp and come on. Live a little!”

Gep said nothing else to this and merely followed his friend through the hole. As they traveled through the dark untraveled tunnels to the unknown, all he could think about were the rules that every colonist recited in the center every morning;

All work must be completed by the setting of the sun
The rain is thine enemy and thine friend
Remain unseen in the eyes of the Gods
The paths of the Outerlands are the pathways to righteousness
The paths of the Innerlands are the pathways to torment
We are for one purpose and one purpose alone
Respect the laws of the colony

If the elders knew what they were doing, where they were going…a dark shame would fall upon them. That is, if they survived.

“No one’s every come back from the Innerlands,” Gep said suddenly.

“That’s a myth,” Bah said. “Plenty of colonists have come back. Haven’t you heard the stories of the bounties that have come from here? Food that need not be processed or stored? We can gorge ourselves on the feast while everyone else toils in the tunnels and fields. It is a paradise.”