Architect ants were the brainchild of precocious roboticist Gi Young. An experiment in emergent behavior and programming, they were designed to autonomously create cave-complexes suited for transhuman life. During the Fall Young was killed, his startup company dispersed, and control of the ants was lost.
Since the Fall the ants have been doing what they were made to do: tunneling out cavern systems suitable for transhuman habitation. The ants are no longer produced and cannot produce more of themselves, but were designed to be virtually indestructible and energy efficient.
The ants do not create their caverns from pre-made plans, but, just like real ants, from a simple set of rules resulting in the construction of cave systems. The largest complexes exist within the TITAN Quarantine Zone, although many can still be found near the borders. There are also a few complexes, fully inhabited, on Luna. These complexes consist of smoothly curved, circular tunnels interspersed with hemispherical domes of various sizes.
The ants themselves are one meter long, with an ant-like body, tool-mandibles, and are colored yellow and black.
Architect ants can be treated as walking automechs.