Joy Worms - Part Two
By Rob Gillham
T'gthith of the Sixteenth Iteration greets you, Metahive Mother. Success! Optimal form for communion with dominant hominids achieved. Test subject responds well to suggestion. Harmonization commences.
All evidence to date supports the view that this species is a benign psychic parasite. Once in proximity to human beings, the worms form an as-yet undefined mental connection with us, leeching off negative emotions and mitigating much of the harm to mental health associated with guilt, anger, and feelings of inadequacy.
- Dr Joyce Renfeld, Joy Worms: Towards a Framework for the Application of Extraterrestrial Invertebrates in Mental Healthcare, Proceedings of the Ninetieth Conference of the American Psychiatric Association (2036)
Brain Sucker's Out.
Protester's placard pictured on the front page of The New York Times, October 12th 2038
Worm Lady, excerpt #3:
I slept with a worm by the bed for six months, during which time I grew progressively healthier and happier. However, the creatures' condition always deteriorated within a fortnight. The mottled patches on the body grew darker and larger. At three to four weeks, sore-like openings appeared and wept a grayish sludge. At four to six weeks, the creatures would inevitably die.
The only worms that did not suffer from this degradation were the small but growing number in each generation that developed a ridged black carapace. Larger and more listless than their sluggish siblings, these hardier offshoots provided none of the worms' usual psychic benefits, however.
T'gthith of the Eighteenth Iteration greets you, Metahive Mother. Harmonization progresses tentatively. Our current form remains inefficient. Dominant hominid species displays high levels of latent aggression, poor risk perception, and limited ability to make decisions in their own best interests. They are exhausting.
Furthermore, a single hominid iteration takes a period equivalent to many hive iterations.
This is going to take longer than we thought.
Rob Gillham is an author of weird and dark fantasy short fiction. He lives in London, UK. His writing occurs in the margins of the day, where it competes for his time with playing double bass in an obscure gothic rockabilly band. Rob’s stories have appeared—or are due to appear— in Escape Pod, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Kaleidotrope, Daily Science Fiction, Tales To Terrify and Creepy Podcast amongst others. You can find links to all his published work and social media via his website: robgillham.com.
Copyright © 2025 Rob Gillham