Read Worm Within by Cat Rambo at Clarkesworld Magazine.
The LED bug kicks feebly, trying to push itself away from the wall. Its wings are rounds of mica, and the hole in its carapace where someone has tacked it to the graying boards reveals cogs and gears, almost microscopic in their dimension. The light from its underside is the cobalt of distress.
It flutters there, sputtering out blue luminescence, caught between earth and air, between creature life and robot existence. Does it believe itself insect or mechanism? How can it be both at once?
I always get excited when I see Cat Rambo’s name in a table of contents because I know I’m in for a good ride. Not only does “Worm Within” live up to that expectation, it is seriously disturbing. Go read it and see if I’m right.
