I don't think that I've read a published story weirder than this one. And I can't think of a better place to run it. (I say published because I've seen weirder things in the slush, but I really don't want to talk about those)
I really liked this one. A well told POV where she really does not know anything beyond her immediate environs, and a twisted and weird future where humans and these centipede-y things are symbiotes. I thought it was interesting how no part of the centipedes could exist without a human running them (not even the processing in the Brain!) but the humans would die outside (by what I gathered).
It did make me wonder whether there was an incentive put in place for the centipedes to stop the symbiosis if the world ever does return to a liveable state. I pictured that they would keep on forcing the humans inside even after the humans don't need it anymore, as an act of self-preservation.
And yes I did see them as being humans. Although I think the story was probably inspired by gastrointestinal bacteria, it seemed pretty clear that these were not those. The interface that went through the nose, for instance, the separate males and females. I guess I couldn't say they were meant to be humans, but certainly some higher order animals with respiratory systems, and some kinds of hands to work the intestines. So I'd guess humans.
I really didn't care for the ending though. Everything we'd seen about Mother up to then made me think that she was essentially a vehicle for humans, but separate from humans. She referred to processors and memory and being irreparable, etc, that made me think she was essentially mechanical though with some squishy interfaces. So it really didn't fit into the worldview I'd built up so farwhen the girl started turning into a centipede. So I'm going to pretend that last bit didn't happen...
