So like if the Earth was missing even one of the keystone species like salmon or bees or whatever— Earth’s completely changed. They hold so much significance to society that if aliens invaded, they wouldn’t care about people. They’d take over insects and shit. Think about it. The productivity? The altruism? Aliens would take all our bugs and conquer the cosmos after upgrading their little bodies to cybernetic monsters for sure. But like seriously, what’s your favorite animal?

Tanner Armatis has been published by the Howling Mad Review, No Contact Magazine, and has forthcoming work appearing in the Royal Rose Magazine. He was a reader at the North American Review. His pronouns are he/him. @tannerarmatis for all Twitter tweets (mostly cats and anime references).