Chapter 14: March 20, 1999
March 20, 1999, 8:03PM
A/N: This was going to be the fifth chapter that had to be rewritten from nothing. Like the others, it was entirely unrelated to the original chapter by its title apart from basic details. It was set in 1999, since 13 and 16 are, but that was all I knew. Now, it is the authentic Chapter 14, brought back again. These remarks about which chapter was gonna be written from scratch, which chapter was gonna have some resemblance to the old one, are not really necessary now. But I feel like keeping them on hand, because it's nice to remember what this project was before I made the big breakthrough and found the original documents. I was largely making do before. I'm replacing a story now.
"So… tomorrow I turn sixteen." Calvin began, holding the camera still so that it was pointed at his face. "I'm not sure exactly how I feel about that. It's kinda mixed feelings if I'm completely honest. On one hand, okay yeah, I've known that this day would be coming since the day I turned fifteen—earlier than that really, but you guys know what I mean, right?
"Anyway, we're having a party and all sorts of games and shit and I'm not looking forward to it one bit. Cake, burgers, all of my closest friends." Calvin rolled his eyes. "Friends include Andre—of course, Rachel, and a few other of my old friends who I do talk to from time to time but I think they're mostly coming for free food and cake. Whatever, fine with me. I don't care either way."
Calvin set down the camera, rubbing at his arms. "Our plan is coming under way just fine… I won't say what it is cause I don't want to jinx it, you know."
He bit down on his lip, resting his head on his arms. "I just… doing this type of thing really feels… a bit empowering. Here I am, just a measly little white, skinny, blond sophomore boy and I'm about to humiliate this huge, brute-ish senior."
The blond tilted his head, looking as if he was about to start laughing a bit. "Most people would probably feel scared or intimidated in my place. Most people probably wouldn't even think about doing what I'm going to do in the first place, but… I'm not scared. I'm anything but scared. I'm excited. I'm ready."
"I'm not like those wimps. I'm not… I'm above them and I don't care how many fucking people criticize me or insult me because they're morons. They sit in their nice little houses pretending that everything is okay. The worst thing they have to worry about is winning fucking homecoming or being head cheerleader and here I am, knowing that humanity is fucked.
"It's been fucked since the beginning of time, honestly. We shouldn't… we don't deserve living here. We're ruining this planet and we deserve to be destroyed." Calvin ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head. "I don't care how awful that sounds because it's true."
His blue eyes met with the lens of the camera, staring straight into them. "Do you know how beautiful a world without humans would be? It would be natural… and there would be no rules or laws that we live by. The things that people call "morals" wouldn't exist because there is no morality in nature. Who are those people to say what is right or wrong? What makes us so special?"
"Morality is an opinion that some god damned righteous idiot said was the law of human kind. Well guess what. Humans are animals too. We're a part of the animal kingdom and we should live by the rules of that kingdom, not by the rules of man." Calvin gave a small shrug. "Survival of the fittest, I suppose. Andre taught me these things and… I have to agree with him.
"I mean… how can you not agree with him?"
A/N: 11-3-2017.
As usual since late October 2017, the chapter is largely all-original except for a few edits from me. Remember this whole story was not my idea or my work. I'm just replacing a story that someone else wrote, uploaded, and then deleted. Chapters 1-8 are the ones that consist of my words, based off the other person's as best I could. Chapters 9-24 will be much more the original author's work, because of the much higher original content present.
Calvin Gabriel is a fascinating character. I am always impressed with that, whenever I read about him or write about him, or watch him in the movie. He is almost completely different from Andre Kriegman, and yet, he is genuinely best friends with Andre and chooses to carry out Zero Day beside him. That's because beneath the gentle, thoughtful exterior, Calvin has changed over the years. At some point, he began to feel lonely. He started to withdraw. Then he became angry, then self-hating. The anger built and grew, and Calvin, in his own words, "[locked] it inside" and "[kept] it from everyone." The result was that the decent, wonderful person Calvin once was had been utterly destroyed by May 1, 2001 in the movie. All that remained was the shell, the image of who he had been that Calvin still knew how to keep up. Calvin is not there yet at this point in 1999, but he is descending to a moral event horizon, a point from which he will never return. That's not especially uplifting, but anyone who has seen the movie knows this does not end well.
To every single person who has reviewed or will review this story- THANK YOU. I cannot say it too much. I have put hours of hard work into my own original ZD stories, and countless more hours into rebuilding the 8 deleted stories that I decided I was not going to let go. Reviews are rare on this site, and they are almost nonexistent in small fandoms like Zero Day. Those few who bother to leave feedback are, always, welcome to say anything they please. They can praise and criticize as they see fit. So to everyone who has done so, and I'll admit, to all who have thanked me for doing this work, I want to say, in the words of Will Turner, "A craftsman always likes to know his work is appreciated."