Weird thought, what if Jane Prentiss’ worms weren’t actually worms?
They are described as “around an inch long, with silver segmented bodies and blackened heads” and it was only assumed by the characters that they were worms. But that sounds nothing like how one would commonly describe worms. You might be saying that’s because of the horrors it doesn’t have to be accurate, but I say that’s true but dream logic often has some type of anchor to real world logic.
While that description doesn’t fit any worm I know, it does however fit another insect to a t. A wasp larvae. Wasp larvae are often silver/translucent, with segmented bodies and a black tip for a head. And what started Jane’s descent into the Corruption? A wasp nest. A wasp nest that sang to her of belonging and want, a song the “worms” continue to sing based on Jane’s comments.
Because Elias took the original one. Just the price of doing business. Whether that business is marriage, having any kind of say beyond whatever original agreement was with the family, or just to have the loose ends of whoever doesn’t fit in at the Institute.
