Cells gone dark
The rest hunkering down
Further into earth
Hiding quietly
Cave-based periscopes and cameras
Snatching glimpses
Of the slug-controlled humans on the surface.

Then, a breakthrough
Whisper among whispers
Like a low magnitude earthquake
Spreading softly through crust
Preparing for the big one.

The cure delivered
The slugs fell off
Human puppets finally freed
Periscopes abandoned
For a tunnel-emptying
Short-lived celebration.

Absent the slugs, people didn’t change
Except the noticeable dearth
Of a slimy green thing on their skull.

Maybe residual slug effect
Explains their misanthropy
We said as we retreated back underground.

More cells went dark.
Research continued on behavior
Once thought caused by extraterrestrial mollusks
Only to find slugs were never the problem.

So we sank our periscopes
Hid among earth
And reassured one another
That our lives still had worth.