Darkness. Nothing but darkness.
And it wasn't any kind of darkness, it was the cold one. Really cold, actually. It was dark and cold, two things that I never liked much.
No, wait, I can see something else... a light, approaching me at the speed of, well, light. In an instant, it flashed me and all the blackness turned into all the colors in existence combined into one; white.
I won't lie, when I accepted their offer I thought I might die. I knew the risks, they told me it was just a prototype hence why it needed to be tested.
I think I'm getting ahead of myself, let me start from the beginning.
My name is John Young. Hmm... what else...
I was never good at introductions, it just feels so awkward to me. Almost like showing off, saying "hey look, I'm better than everyone else!" And if there is one thing I really hate, it's narcissists, can't stand them. Still, I'll try my best to tell you who I am.
As I said, my name is John Young, born in America to an immigrant family. My father is a hard working man, he's a chemistry teacher and no, he's not Mr. White or Heisenberg. You won't believe the amount of jokes I had to suffer through thanks to that stupid show, one that I enjoyed.
However, just because my chemistry teacher happened to be my dad didn't mean he went easy on me. Quite the contrary, he always made sure I did my best in his class and the others as well. It sucked at times, but his intentions were good; he wanted me to have the most opportunity after I graduate and go looking for a job.
My mother was the complete opposite of him. She wasn't that much of a great cook, but I still liked her food. The only thing I can cook is an omelet that doesn't taste that good, so who am I to criticize her. One day, I want to learn how to cook well enough for myself and my friends. I know that what I said about my mom isn't very cool, but it's true. Okay, it's also because I love junk food, mainly pizza. Mmm... pizza with green olives and extra cheese.
I'm getting distracted. Back on topic, our family wasn't... well... ah, I'll just say it.
We weren't rich, but not poor. What is it called? "Lower-Middle Class" I believe. Due to my parent's financial struggle they couldn't afford to have more than one child, that's why I have no brothers and sisters which is a bit of a bummer.
Isn't that funny, "they couldn't afford to have more than one child." That, my friends, is only a glimpse to how fucked up the world is. Excuse my foul language but worry not, there's a lot more where that came from.
Despite our below average quality of life, we were happy. In truth, I don't know if my parents were but I sure was. I had a few friends, decent grades, some free time to play video games, a roof over my head and food on the plate. We were doing fine, we were doing good, we were a family.
Why am I telling you all this? I'm getting to that.
When I finished eleventh grade, I was ecstatic. I had three months of summer vacation which seemed like forever. Every time I finished a grade, I always thought that the vacation would last for a long time, and it did. And every time it came to an end, I'd think "Man, how did this happen?" It just went by so fast, but I suppose when you enjoy something time passes by quicker. Why couldn't it be the opposite? I wish it was, that would've been awesome.
So, when I got home after the last day of school came to an end, I started off my vacation like any good teen would; staying up all night playing multiplayer shooters, trash talking the enemy team whilst using every slur in my vocabulary, yes, even the racist ones, but I didn't actually mean them. Don't give me that look! That's the gamer way. And the reactions are always funny, it's one of the reasons I love playing online.
Luckily, since my grades were fairly decent I didn't have to go to summer school. If that happened, I don't know what I would've done. I rather not think about that anymore.
That's how I spent my first days of summer vacation; being more unproductive than a prostitute. Surprise! A dark joke, and a true one. Until one fine evening I heard my dad call me down stairs. I didn't think much of that, so I went down expecting dinner to be served on the table, but let me tell you; I was in for a treat.
When I got to the living room which was directly connected to a fairly big kitchen, I saw my parents sitting at the dinning table. However, they weren't alone.
Beside my father sat another man, he wore a black suit and a red tie. Even though it was, as I mentioned, evening, he also wore a pair of tinted sunglasses. He made me feel uneasy, as if I were guilty of something I didn't do.
"Mom? Dad?" I asked, holding the fabric of my tank top to calm my nerves. I had nothing but a pair of shorts and the tank top on me, and boxers, obviously.
"Johnny, sit down please," Mom said, making me even more nervous. Who is that? Why did they let him in? Nevertheless, I listened to her and sat down beside her, facing the stranger which only further put me on edge.
"Good evening, Jonathan Young. Don't worry, I'm with the FBI."
"No! Don't take my weed, please! It's not mine, I swear!" Is what I would've said if I wanted to get myself arrested on the spot, it was also the first thought that popped into my mind. But I'm not a junkie, and neither am I interested in becoming one.
"O-okay?" I asked, sweating due to the heat outside and the rising dread. Listen, I'm not perfect, but I'm not some criminal! Why in the world would an FBI agent come to our house? Did they have some dirt on us? Did we do something wrong?
"I'm here to offer you a deal," hold up, did my father do something in the past and we now we're under witness protection?! Damn, my dad's Michael De Sa- Townley in this bitch, assuming that's the case which is extremely unlikely.
"Now hold on just a second, what the hell are you talking about?" Dad demanded, tired from work and hungry since we still haven't eaten dinner.
"Mr. Young, I assure you that my offer is more than beneficial for your... unfortunate predicament," the agent said, emphasizing the last two words. I wasn't surprised that he knew of our "unfortunate predicament", the government knows everything about us. Yet, why would they send him here?
"You don't know jack shit about us! I let you in without a question, and now you insult me?! And my family?!" Dad said, raising his voice as he spoke. Yup, that's his short temper alright. That always made him a bit of a hardass, but just as lovable too.
"Honey, language!" Mom scolded, folding her arms under her chest, glancing between the two men.
The agent sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose and adjusting his sunglasses, "I apologize if I offended you, but both of you know it's true," yeah yeah, you're right. So what? We're happy. Sure, we could do better, but I was content with what we had.
The agent lifted a chrome suitcase that was hidden between his legs, gently placing it on the table so it faced the three of us. What is he doing? Wait, is that- HOLY SHIT!
The agent opened the briefcase, revealing stacks of money inside. There had to be at least a million in there!
"Ten million dollars, right here, right now. All you have to do is hear me out," my parents were dumbly staring at the opened case, not believing their eyes. This could help us, no, save us from poverty! Okay, I'm exaggerating, but who would say no to ten freaking million dollars?! Ah, but wait, there's a catch. There has to be a twist to this, there's always one.
My father looked at me, conflicted with something. Then, he faced the man again, nodding to him in affirmation.
"Thank you," the agent cleared his throat, sliding the case aside while leaving it open on purpose for us to ogle, "I won't waste your time, so I'll keep it as short as possible. Your son has perfect genetics, excluding his impaired eyesight," hey, I'm right here you know! However, he was right. I had a pair of glasses on my desk in my room. I wasn't completely blind, but for things like watching television, playing on the computer and reading the board in school I required them. I could see the world around me, just not the little things.
"So, out of thousands of possible candidates, we offer you this; your son will participate in an experiment for a year, in exchange you will receive all the money in this briefcase," the agent explained, quickly texting someone on his cellphone.
"...What… kind of experiment?" Dad inquired, highly suspicious of the ordeal and I had to agree with him. If we take this deal, I lose a year of my life for ten million. In hindsight, it's... not that bad, I guess. Why is it so sudden though? What's the experiment? Details, people, details!
"That is highly classified. All I can say is that your son will be fine, but if you... just a sec," the agent received a text back, his eyes subtly widening before quickly going back to normal. None of us noticed that, we were too focused on figuring out what this was, and the money, "As I said, your son will be fine. If you sign this," the agent unfolded a piece of paper from the inner pocket of his suit, flattening it across the table for us to see. Well, for my parents. I had to get really close in order to see anything that was written on it, "you'll get all of this," he gestured at the opened case, it was like a steaming pie sitting on the balcony, spreading its wonderful smell.
"In addition, your son's education will be put on hold until he finishes the experiment, you will face no consequences for your participation. So, what do you say?" The agent finished, cracking a smile.
I don't know about this. What's the rush? Why now of all times? Why us? Okay, that's a stupid question, it's because my genetics are "superior". That has to be the most racist thing I've heard in my life, just wow. Honestly, just for that I say he can shove it, I'm sure my parents think the same.
I turned to them and they were whispering to each other, a hardened expression on my father and a conflicted one on my mother. On the other hand... it's ten million, ten fucking million! With this amount of cash we can buy a house in a safer neighborhood, I can go to college and we can afford proper insurance! But... I don't know, there's something off about this.
"Johnny," Mom said, gaining my attention, "If... if you want to... we won't say no..." she admitted, covering her face in shame.
"Son, we won't force you to go. I'd rather kill myself than do that, but..." he grit his teeth, fighting his greed and guilt, "Just... just think about it, okay-?"
"Yes," I replied with no hesitation. I have to, this is the opportunity of a lifetime, I can get us to a better place, to a better future. A year is nothing, just like summer vacation; it'll come and go. I could tell they needed the money, we needed the money. I understood their frustration, but they gave me the choice, they trusted me to make the right decision.
"I'll go, where do we sign?" I approached the table, standing between my mom and dad. The agent slid a pen over to us and I took it. I bent over to read the paper, finding three empty lines for each of us to sign.
However, I knew that we had to read the contract first. I refuse to fall victim to one of the simplest tricks in the book, though there wasn't much to read anyway. It basically repeated the offer the agent had given us with fancier words and the exchange of money for me. That sounds pretty messed up when you think about it.
After we finished reading the entire paper, I picked up the pen, pressing the tip onto the paper. Before I could begin my signature, my dad grabbed my wrist.
"Wait... are you sure? John, I... I know this is-"
"Dad, I understand. A year, right?" I turned my attention to the agent who simply nodded at my question.
We looked at each other for another moment, then he let me go, closing his eyes in deep thought. My palms were sweating, all I had to do was sign it and that's that...
I put the pen down, locking eyes with the agent in front, "Sir, isn't this a bit... forward?"
He raised an eyebrow at me, folding his arms on his lap, "Why's that?"
"Can we think about it? Maybe give you an answer tomorrow?" I'm having second thoughts. Something just seemed so wrong about this, I can't explain why, but it just was.
"No."
...Huh? What? THE FUCK YOU MEAN NO?!
"This is a one time offer, if you don't want the money, that's fine-" I swiftly wrote a made up signature, slamming the pen down on the table.
My parents followed in suit, albeit more collected. They signed the paper with my dad being the last and handed it back to the agent. Then, the agent got up from his chair, folded the proof of our newly made contract into his pocket and began leaving our home. Before he closed the door behind him, he parted with "Pleasure doing business, Mr. Young."
And that was that, I sold myself for ten million american dollars.
Okay, I'm exaggerating... ugh, over-exaggerating.
That's basically what happened that night, more or less, I think. Ever since I entered stasis my memory's been a bit funky. Right and left, up and down, here and there, now and then blended into each other. It wasn't exactly how it happened, but spending a year in deep sleep is an... interesting experience.
Right, that was the experiment the agent was referring to; Stasis Sleep. You know all those sci-fi books and movies about some dude being frozen in time? That's the general idea of it, they wanted to see if it worked.
After the agent returned the following day to take me to wherever he needed to, he told me about all of it during our drive. Since there was no going back, he knew there was no harm in doing so. Still, being casually told that they had cryogenic chambers ready for testing was something else, and the kicker? Area fifty-moherfucking-one baby, yeah!
To my disappointment, when we arrived at the infamous military base I didn't get to see any cool aliens or super weapons like a lightning gun, my imagination was going wild on every little detail I noticed. I was escorted into a room deep in the facility, it was normal in every way, there were even other people there which wasn't all that shocking.
What else, what else... oh! For the next couple weeks we were physically checked, given a shitload of injections, psychologically tested for any complications and other stuff I can't remember. Then, out of the blue, they told us the day had come to really start the experiment.
I was afraid, and excited, and regretful, you get what I'm trying to say. I was overflowing with emotions like a kid in a candy store. They told us that stasis would freeze us in time. There's a degree unit called Kelvin and in theory, if you could achieve absolute zero, meaning zero Kelvin, time would literally cease. That was the basis for the entire idea, and they somehow achieved that. Not absolute zero, but zero point zero, zero, zero on repeat is pretty much zero. Also, it was similar to falling and waking up from a regular sleep so we wouldn't perceive how much time truly passed.
I'm sorry, I just can't help it. After what felt like only a moment, I was finally waking up. I knew that the experiment was over since the blackness in my vision turned into a white light, slightly stinging even through my eyelids. Now, I could go back to my life and my parents, I miss them, I wonder how they are doing.
I took a slow, deep breath, testing the waters so to speak. It was cold and fresh, they had to have moved us somewhere else, or was it always cold? It was most likely a side effect induced by stasis along with memory loss. I hope it's not permanent.
I stretched my limbs, taking a deeper breath with a sigh, rubbing my eyes to rid the sleepiness.
Wait, why is it dark again? I opened my eyes to see a figure looming over me. They wore a white hazmat suit, silently staring at me through tinted goggles. Weird, why would they need that? I wasn't sick, maybe it was a precaution? Doesn't matter, it's time to leave.
"Hey doc, what time is it?" I asked, still recovering from my rest. It felt good to breathe air again and not all that compressed shit inside the chamber.
"I-it talks," the man said, shaking like a leaf.
Wait, what? "It? Dude, I'm a man," okay, I was seventeen and a half, close enough, right? Nope, that's a slippery slope. It's like that one meme where some guy proves that twelve is actually eighteen. Yeah, a very slippery slope.
"Can I leave now? Or are you going to put me into stasis again?" I joked, giving the strange scientist a friendly smile. At that he froze, not saying a single word. Did I do something wrong? No, what's wrong with him? He's acting in a very strange manner, as if he had never seen a human before. What a silly thought, of course he's human, we all are.
"Y-your teeth," he stuttered, unmoving from his place.
"Yeah?"
"They're so... small," I have been called many things in my life; loser, cunt, idiot, dickhead, moron, faggot and worse, but never small. Okay, I have been called small, just not my teeth. This man is really weird.
"Dude, are you on crack or something?" I asked, raising an eyebrow... at... him.
I hadn't noticed until now thanks to my bad vision, but he had two antlers sticking out of the top of his head. I squinted my eyes at him and noticed that he also had a muzzle, that's... not normal.
"Uh, what are you?"
"A m-m-m-m-"
"Mmm, what?"
"MOOSE!" He screamed, running out of the room I was in.
Hahaha, what? Moose? A moose? Like, an animal? Haha, nice joke, real funny.
...I don't think he was kidding.
After my brain processed what he had said, I began hyperventilating, my heartbeat skyrocketing to the max. That can't be true, animals can't talk. Only humans can, we are the only intelligent creatures on the planet. I... I don't get it. Yesterday, or what felt like yesterday, I was put into stasis for a year. I wake up and this is what I get? Where's everyone? Where are the scientists and doctors? I think he was one, wait, HE'S A TALKING ANIMAL!
I grabbed the edges of the opened pod, propping myself up on my butt. I rubbed my eyes again, trying to wake up from this wild dream. This had to be a dream, maybe another possible side effect caused by the drugs they'd injected me with? Only one way to find out.
I raised a fist, smashing it down onto the edge of the chamber. I hissed in pain, closing my eyes shut as my mind rushed through like a football player. This was no dream, that hurt like a bitch. What is this? Where am I? What happened? How?! When?! WHY?! WHY IS THIS-
The automated door the moose had ran out of opened, more figures in white with something hanging on some of their hips- oh shit, that's a gun. I couldn't see their faces, but they were all of varying stature and builds; they were different species. I could tell by their different ears and tails which were also covered by the suit.
I immediately raised my hands in the air, breaking into a cold sweat as I forced myself to calm down, pushing aside reality for just a moment.
"D-don't shoot!" I begged, my teeth slightly clattering due to the low temperatures. The thin jumpsuit they'd given me offered no protection against the cold.
"Holy shit, holy fucking shit!" One scientist said, hastily scribbling on his clipboard.
"What do we do? There was no training for this!" Another shouted.
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod-"
"SHUT UP!" A gruff voice screamed over the chattering of the small crowd, effectively silencing them. An animal stepped forth through the group; a massive bear. He was two meter tall at least, his muscles threatened to burst through his protective second skin at any moment.
I know this isn't the best time, but where are my glasses? Man, I need to get back my glasses as soon as possible. I remember what the doctor said, but he can stick it. I didn't want to see these animals, I wanted to see them.
The bear stood a few meters away from me. Despite his intimidating height, he kept a safe distance away from me, "I didn't think you'd wake up, your ship's in bad shape."
"...What?" The hell is he talking about? Hold on, I'm the one who should be asking the questions!
"Your spaceship crashed down in Aumori, you're the only survivor," he said indifferently, though there was a hint of sadness and disappointment there.
"I... what? No, no no no… HOLD THE FUCK UP!" I startled the talking animals with my sudden burst of anger, I was on the verge of total breakdown. I took more deep breaths in an attempt to cool my nerve, but it didn't do much.
"First of all, who the fuck are you? No, even better, WHY ARE… FUCK!" I pulled at the hair on my head, my face red as a tomato, "Animals don't talk, they don't walk on two, and... and... where is everyone?" My voice was quieter, a false sign. I was on the verge of breaking, I couldn't wrap my head around this, all of this. I just couldn't.
"A-as my colleague said," the moose stepped forward but not too far from the rest, "we found them dead in pods similar to yours. W-what are you?"
"Dead?" I asked, in my mind I tried to deny it. The bear said so too, there were others participating in the experiment and they didn't make it. But... spaceship? Crashed down? Why were we in space in the first place? This made NO FUCKING SENSE! If this was a dream, it had to be a fucking nightmare.
"You... you're a bear," I pointed at the, well, bear. Then, I listed the other species as accurately as I could, surprising all of them, "and I'm a human."
Why was I so calm? I'll say it again, I get it. There's no shame in admitting you don't understand something the first time, it's part of learning. Wait, no, I... I'm... Is...
Am I crying?
I touched my cheek with my index finger, catching a teardrop before it ran down my face. However, I couldn't stop the others.
"Human?"
"What is that?"
"No way, no way, no way..."
"I thought they were a myth."
"Call the... and ISA..."
Their voices became so distant, a white noise rang in my ears louder and louder deafening my surroundings. They were right there, yet so far away. What happened? Where's everyone? Everyone? We, humans, the humans. Where are the humans? What happened? Spaceship? Why? How? When? Where...
Where are my parents? My family? They... they can't be...
A hand clutched my shoulder, breaking me from my... my what? What was that? I glanced at the one who did that, it was the bear. I leaned on the side of his suit, not thinking much of it.
The floor was so smooth and clean, reflective too. I could see the other animals arguing, interacting with each other with so much life. These weren't animals, these were people. They weren't like the animals I knew, they were alive, they thought, they laughed and cried. They were human, not in the literal sense, you know what I mean.
The bear gently shook me to get my attention, his rubber glove unfeeling just like me.
"Can you stand up?" He asked. In the meantime another animal, also in a hazmat suit, had entered the room frantically waving their arms, mostly pointing at me.
"I don't know," I answered honestly, I could feel the cool air on my legs, but no matter how hard I tried, I could barely lift them. Another possible side effect caused by stasis, great.
Then, the bear did something unexpected; he put one hand, paw? Irrelevant, under my legs, the other supporting my back, and lifted me out of the pod.
I didn't mind it though, I couldn't bring myself to care about what was happening around me, it felt so surreal. I didn't have the courage, or desire, to do anything. Not out of sloth, I can't explain it, I just felt so… dead.
The bear, followed by the rest of the scientists or whatever their jobs were, took me to another room. We passed many corridors, corners and intersections, every animal we passed stared at me in awe, bewilderment, bafflement, or... I don't know. What... what's happening to me?
The new room we arrived in had a round table and a few swivel chairs. I didn't know at the time but there was a one-way mirror in one of the walls. There was also a projector hanging from the ceiling. The bear placed me in the chair directly in front of the wall where the projector would cast if it were used. Part of the team sat down in the other chairs as well, their combined attention on me could bring down mountains.
A bird, I believe an eagle, had a piece of paper in their hand. They cleared their throat before asking me, "Are... are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," I lied. Did I, though? I'm fine, right? Yeah, I'm good. I feel perfectly fine.
"What's your name?" She asked, clicking a pen.
"Johnathan Young," I replied.
"I know this is all sudden, and this is just as shocking to you as this is to us. But maybe we can figure things out, yeah?"
"Yeah," I replied with the same tone, staring at nothing in particular.
"Good, good. Let's move on to the next question," and so began a long series of questions about me, what I was, where I came from, yada yada yada. I paid no mind to what she asked me, answering without much care. Although, there were a few that I had to clear up such us: "I have eaten meat, but those animals were nothing like you. Hell, I'd consider you a different species to them. They had no moral, no conscience, nothing," and "Humans are primates," and "No, I don't have "feral instincts"." Everytime I clarified things that they found problematic, they felt relieved, even happy and mainly curious, extremely curious. Perhaps my brain was tricking me, wait, I... what the fuck is wrong with me? It's so strange, I'm like a passenger in my own body. As if I'm not really there...
Mama? Papa? Where are you? I'm scared, please help me.
Suddenly, we heard a microphone turn on with a loud buzz, quickly replaced by a clear voice, "we found something of interest in the wreckage. It appears to be a flash drive that matches the ports of our computers, we don't know how that's possible, but it is. We don't know what it contains, so we wanted to have... Mr. Young, explain anything we don't understand. Jonathan, we know you are confused, and so are we. We do not wish you any harm, we only want to understand you," huh? Yeah, sure, whatever.
A few moments later, the lights in the room dimmed and the projector flickered into life. At first it was a white screen, but after a few seconds it turned into those classic TV errors, what are they called? It's when a television doesn't broadcast any channel, so instead there are vertical strips of sharp colors. Without a warning, an alarm blared through the speakers. The animals were taken aback by the sudden noise. However, they quickly realized that nothing happened in the facility; it came from the video playing on the wall.
The background was a pitch black and the text was in olive green. At the top were the words EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM, the flag of the USA intersecting six horizontal lines. Below that was CIVIL EMERGENCY UNTIL and a bunch of dots and short lines. The date was the twenty fifth of July, a little over a year after my family and I agreed to the experiment. Below that were five more horizontal lines separating the middle and bottom parts of the video, and at the bottom was PLEASE LISTEN AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS.
The alarm ceased, followed by a female, monotone voice announcing the following message.
Warning. Warning. This is not a drill and this is not a test. The United States government has issued a civil warning to all citizens of the United States. On July 25th, a solar flare hit Earth, causing almost all electronic devices to shut down.
The video showed an animation, all in the same green and black style, of Earth being hit by a solar flare from the sun.
Do not panic. The government of the United States is currently re-establishing the network. The situation is under control, remain calm at all times. In a week, everything will return to normal-
The message cut off to static for a moment before jumping to the next one.
Warning. Warning. This is not a drill and this is not a test. The United States government has issued a civil warning to all citizens of the United States. On July 25th, a solar flare hit Earth, causing almost all electronic devices to shut down. The solar flare has weakened the ozone layer in the atmosphere allowing dangerous gamma rays to reach the surface.
The video showed another animation of the lethal waves breaking through the upper atmosphere, triangles with exclamations mark popping up all over the atmosphere.
All citizens of the United States are required to stay at home at all times to avoid radiation poisoning. If for any reason you must leave your home, wear multiple layers of clothing all over your body. Supplies will be delivered to every household between 5PM to 8PM depending on your timezone. Ration your supplies as much as possible to ensure your survival. Everything is under control, everything is-
The message cut off again, skipping to the next one.
Warning. Warning. This is not a drill and this is not a test. The United States government has issued a civil warning to all citizens of the United States. On July 25th, a solar flare hit Earth, causing the ozone layer to dissipate by 37%.
The video showed the Earth again, highlighting the damaged atmosphere and the sun's death rays.
All contact with Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America has been lost.
The video showed the map of the world, the listed continents grayed out with a skull mark in their centers.
From this onward, all gun laws have been removed due to rising insurgent activity, terror and destabilization of the federal goverment. Anyone above the age of fifteen is allowed to carry a firearm in order to defend themselves. In addition, martial law is now in full effect. Anyone seen outside from 10 PM to 7 AM will be shot on sight. Supplies will be delivered to your nearest police stations, fire stations and hospitals at 6 PM, if you are in need for food and water, do-
Once again, the video became a static screen before going to the fourth one.
Warning. Warning. This is not a drill and this is not a test. The United States government has issued a civil warning to all citizens of the United States. All citizens are required to stay at home until further notice. In the last weeks following the solar flare, background radiation has increased to 7 Gray.
The video showed a street with people walking to and from, all animarted in a simple format, before seemingly disappearing, a massive warning on the screen with 7 Gray in the middle.
If you are located near any coastal city, you are required to evacuate immediately. Sea levels are expected to rise by one 100 meters due the rising temperatures around the world which are causing the ice caps in the north pole and Antarctica to melt.
The video split into two halves; the right showed the rise of sea levels around the world, drowning entire cities. The left showed a satellite view of Antarctica, gradually melting and revealing the true landmass hidden under layers of ice.
The United States-
Again, the message abruptly ended and went to the next one. The animals were in great distress by what they were witnessing. Evidence of the existence of humans only raised many, many more questions. What's more, my unresponsive state made things worse. I believe they asked me something a couple of times, but they just weren't there. My focus was solely on the message projected on the wall, attempting to connect the dots. No matter how I looked at it, it just didn't click. I couldn't think, I couldn't speak, I couldn't do anything.
Warning. Warning. This is not a drill and this is not a test. The United States government has issued a civil warning to all citizens of the United States of America. The federal government has fallen.
I felt a sharp pain bring me back to the present. That can't be true. It can't be. I… I think I'm about to throw up.
All supply chains and camps are inoperational until further notice. Any form of local government is required to protect their citizens until the federal government can be re-established. All cit-cit-cit-cit-cit-ezzzzeeenssss RE-E-E-E-E-E-
The last message began breaking into a static of green and black, the announcer's clear speech turned into a gibberish mess. All the text displayed in the video disappeared, only two lines remained, above and below a single sentence.
May god have mercy.
Then, it shut off.
The room was completely silent, the witnesses' jaws were on the floor. No one could have even began to imagine that this is what they'd find. Humanity existed at one point in time, when? Who knows. But it's just that, they existed, meaning they no longer do. All because of an unpredictable, natural disaster. Scratch that, a catastrophe. The death of everything I knew; my world, my friends, my family, my future, my life. Now, animals rule the world. Isn't that something? I feel kinda funny, heh. The world's spinning around me, hey is that the floor-?
While the animals were staring in disbelief at the wall, my body gradually shifted off the chair until I fell off, hitting my head on the floor and passing out.
Author's Note:
Here's the fourth chapter done. This was somewhat difficult, especially in the EAS part. I had to rewrite some parts multiple times because they didn't sit right with me. Keep in mind that this is all from John's pespective hence why it might be a little weird to read. In other words, that's my excuse if you thought the way I wrote this chapter was bizzare. Overall, I'm pleased with it, it's satisfactory to finish a chapter.
Rexthunder: Really great way to get me excited. I hope it is a child.
Technically, he is. I took your review into consideration but didn't see how that would fit with what I have in mind for advancing the plot. Still, I'm glad you liked it.
Guest: I like the way the story is developing! It is very interesting! The chapter is great. I like that you are putting a good amount of detail to the characters for their introduction and that they are not blank or overseen. You described what their background and feelings were during the scenes, not just the species and what they were doing at that moment, which sucks me into the story more.
Also, your English is good, I did not notice a mistake.
Good work!
First of all, I'd like to thank you for this insightful review. That's pretty much the reason why it takes me so long to post chapters, along with my laziness, writer's block and my scheduel. This might sound unusual, but I write this way unconsciously. I mean that when I write, I try to make it immersive which goes hand in hand with my use of first person. When I add details I try to not put too many or too few, just enough to keep the flow going, so to speak. I've read other stories on differnet sites, so I'm aware of all the eyesores and common mistakes writers make. Anywho, I really appreciate your review. I have a solid plan for future chapters so I hope the wait is worth it.
PanzerVor61: I'm loving this, I'm a big fan of first contact fanfics, especially ones from the Zootopia Fandom, the starfox Fandom, and others. I can't wait for an update.
Ask and ye shall receive. I'm glad you like it. I wanted to try something like this in the Beastars Fandom because I didn't see anyone else do, and I'm glad I did. I update inconsistently because this is just a hobby of mine and I have other stuff to do. But I like it, and there will be more chapters.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Stay safe and hydrated.
-FacelessUser