This story is abstractly written, non-explanatory. Leave a review of who you think is speaking, and what they mean. If you're not particularly interested in that, click to the next chapter for an explanation.

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The animals were immune.

Haven't you hear a word I've said?

Amphibian, reptilian, avian, mammal.

Is he alive? Do you know where he is?

Maybe.

I gotta find him!

Why?

Got a lot of questions! Like why he made us.

Canine, feline.

What are you doing with Ray?

What is necessary.

Could you be a little more specific? 'Cause I left my copy of Wacky Cult Rituals for Dummies at home.

Ray is proving himself.

Oh, really? Well, I'd like to see you prove yourself.

I have. We all have.

MRCA. Most Recent Common Ancestor.

What is this breeding cult all about?

A millennia of zenith erection. Selective breeding.

You were chosen for me.

World population, seven billion. An immunity of less than thirty per cent.

Did I pass? Am I strong?

You did fine.

What do you need to be strong for, Ray?

For the Coming.

The Coming? What's that?

Nobody ever told me yet, 'cept it's bad if you're not one of us.

The philosophy, the legend, the rituals. The few from which it began.

There was some kind of genetic breeding going on for generations. Selected women were forced to have children. Always in threes. They kill the first two newborns. Max, the Whites had two miscarriages before Ray. When they're through, they kill the mother.

Evolution. Creation, stasis, obliteration. Theory of Mass Extinction.

Transgenic scum. You think those geeks with their chemistry sets and their gene banks have their greasy little paws on the future? You have no idea what you're up against.

From the sole it was so

The seed from which came enlightenment

Death of the one, death of the two

To weed the Garden

An ascetic trial to reach Laurel

Fe'nos tol

My dad wanted to change things with science and technology, but they said that was heresy.

So your dad got sick of the whole selective-breeding thing and started to get into the gene-splicing game?

He didn't come here until later, after the government took over.

Took over what?

Hello! Manticore!

Survival.

They say all of the same stuff that he was spouting off about for years, about how all life is sacred, blah blah blah, and how the meek will inherit the earth, and you know what? The meek will not inherit the earth. The strong will take what is theirs and crush the meek. After our long wait, our time has come.

The animals were immune.