Silas Ledger arrived in a black roach coach with brass wheels.
He did not preach, rap or shake hands on street corners.
He opened a bank.
Within a month he was lending solder for roads, warehouse repairs, transportation lines and new loading docks around the Cash for Gold district.
Councilbug Vale praised the investment.
Reverend Mercy Mantis blessed the groundbreaking.
Buck Roachman certified the construction.
Mr. Countwell provided population projections.
Echo Webb recorded testimonials.
Dr. Sable Tick produced a report showing that economic optimism reduced social unrest.
Gilden had finally assembled the machine.
The new infrastructure did not merely improve Hood County.
It created a straight line from the gold warehouse to the edge of the military zone.
At the lab, Gilden placed a call to Wall Street.
He described Hood County as an emerging-resource venture.
The gold would provide the first wave of profit.
The bugs themselves were the long-term asset.
Labor.
Data.
Behavior.
Markets.
Jocko listened from the corner.
“They’re people.”
“They’re insects.”
“They seem to have made a civilization.”
“So have termites.”
Jocko put down his glass.
For once, he did not have a joke.