Ending Our New Lives

Ending Our New Lives



Ending Our New Lives

"They think we're stupid," I said, hugging him. "They think we can't possibly plan to overthrow society. Not this violently, or by any means, actually. They live in fear of us, fear that we will rise, but they live in contempt of us, because we're different." I looked up at Frank, who was staring off in the distance.

"I know," Frank said. "And someday, this will all be over." Looking down at me, he smiled. "I promise." We kissed, and the moment seemed to last much longer than it actually did. Then, Frank's cell phone rang. He sighed and answered it.

"What?" He said. After a moment, his ears perked up, and his eyes widened. "Really?" Frank said excitedly. "Alright, we'll be there. Fill me in on any developments as they happen. And not a moment sooner!" Frank hung up and took me by the arm. "Come on!" He said urgently.

"What?" I asked. "What just happened?"

"They found it," Frank said, smiling. I stared at him.

"How?" I asked.

"Very easily," Frank said, still smiling. "We thought that it would take more time, given our resources and limited technology, but… we found a cure."

Then, Frank gave me a big, gleeful smile.

"It's finally the beginning of the end."


We ran to the research center, my heart beating in my chest. This was the ultimate weapon, one that would end the problems in today's society, a cure that could do what bullets and threats could not.

"What do you have, Billy?" Frank asked the lizard man at the front of the lab.

"We've got it," He said, grinning.

"Yeah, we know," I said impatiently. "But how?" And then Billy explained everything to us.

"Are the nanites ready to launch?" I asked. "Can they carry the capacity of the new virus?"

"Yes, they can," Billy said. "We've done extensive tests, it's possible. On behalf of all the people in my lab, I think we're ready to begin phase three!"


I'm going to back up for a moment.

When the virus broke out, scientists all over the world tried to find a way to reverse the effects. Everyone failed, and we knew why; they were trying to keep people staying human. At that point in time, who could blame them? Now, however, times had changed. It was either time to join the new species, or die.

Nanotechnology, in the "virus years" as they were called, surprisingly exploded as scientists tried to create ways to re-arrange the genetic structure of human DNA so that all remaining humans were immune. It didn't work out that way, and actually increased the likelihood of a species change. Luckily for the rebellion, at least three out of the fifteen scientists involved in the disastrous project were in our care, and had created nanites with one target:

The human race.


Two days later, this message was relayed in every major news station in the world.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the world, I address you today on a delicate topic: the government, and how it treats its citizens."

Of course, this was me, with a voice synthesizer, so no one except people "in the know" knew who it was.

"I have been chosen to address the leaders of all major countries in the matter concerning the suppression of animalia; I have been chosen by the Rebellion. For those who are surprised, yes, a rebellion group does exist, and its reach is so extensive that not one intelligence organization has found us, or any of our operatives. We are everywhere, and can be anyone.

But we don't want it to be this way. It would take a fool to ignore the social problems that exist today; we merely want to change this, for the better. We want no more bloodshed. That is why I, the Ambassador of the Rebels, would like to extend an invitation:

There is a G8 meeting scheduled in twenty five days between the eight leaders of the free world. I will be the ninth, and I will negotiate a truce. The bloodshed must end. And in twenty-five days, it will."


Two hours later, we released the nanites.


Even though I had read the message into the synthesizer, I wasn't chosen to be "The Ambassador", as we called him/her. That wasn't up for our cell to decide. Even I had to report to someone, and the decision as to who would represent the animalias would be made between the national leaders of the rebellion. The poor bastard that had to appear before the nations of the "free world" would be announced sometime in the next seventy two hours.

"Who do you think it will be?" I asked Frank that night, as we lay in bed.

"I don't know," Frank admitted. "But I wouldn't want to be in their shoes,"


Three days later, I was the lucky one who was chosen to be The Ambassador. I had faced death, genocide, and countless destruction, yet I was more afraid now than I ever had before.


Three weeks passed. The G8 conference was to be held in Washington D.C., of all places, and I was to arrive several days in advance with my "contact". As much as the governments tried to screen us all, filtering out the "terrorists", they didn't find us. Nor did they find me, days later, as I waited patiently as a "clerk" (which was a glorified name for "waitress) at the meeting hall the conference was housed in. My "job", as far as the government was concerned was to "be a good girl", and "get the leader's lunch orders". Even I had to admit, I looked ridiculous in a waitress's uniform, but it was the only way I could get in to talk to them. Luckily, there was to be a change of clothes located in a room that led to a back entrance, so my embarrassment wasn't that great. People would be going in and out of that room several times throughout the day, so not to arise suspicion when I left the room by other means (no one would be using the room while I changed, that was assured to me).

At least this plan was not thought up by me,I thought. That, I can take comfort in.

"Go," A voice said behind me. I didn't turn to see who it was, my orders weren't to know, just to get into the room and negotiate. I entered the quiet room as reporters and protestors stood outside the building, waving signs like "We don't negotiate with terrorists!" or "Save the humans!" It was ridiculous, all of it. I faked a smile, and bounced up to the table where the world leaders sat. I made sure to look at everyone one of them with a look of amazement and bewilderment before I spoke; this was to get a feel for my audience. Three of them seemed amused, another three or four looked at me with a bored expression. The only one that gave me a hard stare of hatred was the one I would have to convince.

The President of the United States.

"Hi! My name's Kelly, and… omigod," I giggled, hating myself. But, I had to play the part of a bubbly waitress, for now. "I'm sorry, but I never thought I'd be so lucky to be here!"

"Shut up and take our orders, bitch," The President said. I obediently shut my mouth and turned to each leader as they told me what they would like to have. I nodded and began to walk away, "stumbling" and catching the table to save myself from hitting the floor. I giggled nervously and stood, quickly leaving the room. I could feel the glares of the world leaders as they stared at my backside. They hadn't noticed, but as I grabbed the table, I had slipped a piece of paper that would inevitably be noticed by someone. Only someone watching very carefully would have seen me put the paper on the table, and even then, by the time anyone could react, I was gone.

Quietly, I changed out of the waitress uniform, which was very revealing, and found my change in clothes.

"I always hated business clothes," I muttered, see as someone had left a very modest business skirt and blouse. Slipping into them, I looked at myself. I looked smart, like I could be taken seriously. I noticed that I didn't have a change in shoes, so I would have to do with the pair of heels I was already wearing. No matter, an onlooker could see me as a well-kept business woman, if it weren't for me being an animalia. That was going to end soon, though.

I listened at the hidden door. There was silence on the other end.

"Gentlemen," I heard the President say. "I… somehow received a message from The Ambassador. He's here." There as a gasp and some muffled talking. I laughed quietly. It was funny how they assumed that I was a "he". Well, I had been, at one time. "He's requested that everyone but the eight of us is present," The President continued. "Or there will be no negotiations." There was silence, and then I could hear people leaving the room. I waited patiently for ten minutes, letting them sweat. Finally, I opened the door and walked in.

Eight heads turned to stare at me, seven pairs of eyes widened in surprise. One pair glared at me with hate. I stared impassively back.

"Hello, boys," I said. "Your lunch will be a bit late. In the meantime," I said, stopping at the front. "Why don't we talk business?"

"You bitch!" One of them yelled. I recognized him as the Russian President. He
had surprisingly good English. Then again, who didn't these days? "How dare you come in to interrupt us! How dare you… animals think you can mess with us!"

"Shove it up your Russian ass," I said. "If I leave, there's going to be a war. On all corners of the world." I glared at each of them as they had glared at me. "I'm going to make this quick. I'm going to make three suggestions, and if you disagree to the first two, then you will agree to the last one. No exceptions. Peace is going to happen today, whether you like it or not." I stared at each of them, waiting for any objections. None came. "Good to see you're not blind," I said, resuming my pace around the table. "Just sexist."

"Don't you even think of crossing-!" The President started.

"The first suggestion," I said, cutting him off. "Is that you all grow a pair and look around you. Can't you see? The only way out of the grave you have dug is to talk to us peacefully. Rescind the sexist laws you've created! Give animalias equal rights!"

"What proof do you have that you animals won't rise up anyways?" The President responded. I smiled. It seemed that, just as I had been chosen to represent the Rebellion, the President had been chosen to represent Humanity. This is going to be fun, I thought.

"We outnumber you, we admit it," I said. "So yes, the threat is there, as it is with every social and political change in history. But by choosing to solve this peacefully, you have the chance to become heroes. But decline," I stopped. "I can guarantee that there will be an uprising. A very violent one, as well. And I think I speak for everyone when I say that it's getting out of hand."

"We don't negotiate with terrorists," The President hissed.

"The 'terrorists' are 82% of the American population," I said. He quieted down, and I decided to try a different tactic. "What would your children say?" I asked. This got their attention. I continued. "What about your grandchildren? Theirgrandchildren? What would they say when they learn that you had a chance to avoid an all out war between our species, right now, in this room? What will the history textbooks say?" I could see that I had them now, within my grasp. Just a few more tugs on the heartstrings, and…

"That's enough of your bullshit!" The President stood up and shouted at me. "WE DO NOT NEGOTIATE!"

"Yet you're here," I said softly. "You're still talking to me." The President made no move to sit down. I sighed. Looking around the table, I could see that I had lost them in one fell swoop. They were staring at me with hatred now, as if discovering how close they came to siding with me. Okay, time for Plan B, I thought. As the President sat down, I continued my pacing.

"You don't seem to be willing to do this peacefully," I said. "So, how about we eliminate the conflict? My second suggestion is: a cure to the virus." There was silence. "Oh, come on," I said. "Surely the leaders of the world have some intelligence regarding the probability of a cure that could reverse the effects of the virus. Anyone?" Silence. I turned to the President. "Not even you?"

"It's impossible," He told me, his voice full of hate. "Animalias cannot be turned back into humans. More proof that you're nothing but animals. Smart, deceitful, talking animals on two legs." He finished. I sighed.

"Then, option three," I said. "And this one's a winter; a counter-virus." This one got nothing but blank stares and confused looks, which is what I wanted. It meant that I got to see the look of dawning on their faces as they realized what I was talking about. I resumed pacing.

"It's true that it's impossible to reverse the effects on an animalia," I said. "We've tried to do it. It doesn't work, the virus made our DNA unstable already. We can't make anymore changes without the body rejecting its own tissue." The look on the President's face told me that this was not new information for him, or anyone else at the table. "But," I continued. "It is still possible for humans to change into animalias."

Boom.

Instant panic in their eyes, then instant relief. Then laughter. I let them laugh.

"If you're talking about re-releasing the virus, forget it," The President said. "Everyone, human and animalia alike, are immune to it now. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…" I smiled.

"That's if you're using the same bag of tricks," I said. "What if, say, a new strain of the virus was released? One that only affected humans and they're species?" Now they were listening, horrified. I coughed. All this talking was making my throat hurt.

"Our scientists have modified the virus," I said. "So that only humans show symptoms of turning into animalias, and only animalias are carriers."

"How?" One of them asked. I recognized him as the Canadian Prime Minister. He seemed to be the only one who seemed to be the only one who was willing to think two or three steps ahead.

"It was quite easy," I said. "You can ask the CIA all about it later." I winked at the President, who glared at me.

"Even if you released this… counter-virus, we can develop quarantine protocols, safety measures. The virus would never spread far." The Russian President said.

"True," I agreed. "Even though that's what you tried to do last time, and you failed. But," I continued. "We've taken this into account, because there is a small chance you would succeed in containing the virus, and that just wouldn't do." I paused before saying, "What do you know about nanotechnology?"

Again with the horrified stares.

"Our scientists have developed not only a virus that is… selective of its targets, but a way to infect everyone, giving them the same symptoms simultaneously, overriding any quarantine protocol you have." I smiled. "We developed nanites with the ability to travel through any means and find human targets. Once these targets have been identified, the nanites "drop" the virus off with a small part of itself, where it waits for a signal. The nanite then leaves the body through any means, waste, sweat, etc., and moves on, repeating the process again, and again." I smiled. "Then, with a push of a button, all of the nanites within the signal's range release the virus, and everyone becomes infected at exactly the same time, with the exact same symptoms… turning into animalias at exactly the same moment."

"How long does it take?" The French President asked.

"After the virus is released, it takes twenty minutes for symptoms to show," I said. "Then, the subject loses consciousness for another twenty minutes as the transformation takes place. They don't feel a thing." I smiled.

"What you're talking about is impossible!" The President yelled. "Only the military has access to such extensive technology! And can you imagine the chaos you would put the world through if you shut the world down for even twenty minutes?" His voice rang off the walls of the room, and I waited a moment for him to settle down.

"You're right, again," I said. "The military may be the only ones who have access to the tech, but you forget that we have access to the military." I smiled. This could only get better. Time to drop the proverbial A-bomb, I thought.

"We released the nanites, fully armed with the new virus, three weeks ago." I said. "It's in the air you breathe, the food you eat, the water you drink. You, along with the entire human race, are ticking time bombs."

"No," Whispered the President.

"Oh, and don't worry about the world standing still," I said. "We have protocols too. Only clusters of city blocks, or 'sectors' will be triggered, one by one, around the world. That way, if a part of New York goes down, ambulances and fire trucks can still help those that are injured. And if you're worried about planes, the signal will only affect people on the ground, not things in the air." I explained. "See, unlike you, we're not sadistic. We actually care."

"You're monsters," The President said, disbelief riddling his face. "You've extinguished the human race." I laughed.

"You pushed us first," I said. "We just released the cure to all the species related problems in society. Look at it this way," I leaned forward. "You pretty much have to give us equal rights now, because if everyone is an animalia, then everyone is equal. And if everyone is an animalia, there are no political leaders, because only humans can do that. So no one can change the laws to state that animalias have rights as well. Can't you see? You're damned both ways!" I laughed uncontrollably. "If none of the laws change, then what? To tell the truth, I can't see any of you taking a job in a restaurant. Like I said, we're not sadistic. You still have a chance to make things right, to redeem yourselves. Rewrite the laws in time, and we'll think about not releasing the virus." I was about to continue, planning to ask the President how it felt to have his humanity about to be stripped away, when soldiers burst in, guns drawn and pointed at me. A glance told me that they were all human; no shock collars. Why am I not surprised? I wondered as I raised my hands.

"You, 'Ambassador'," The President stood, smiling evilly. "Are going to jail for a long, long, time. Don't even think of seeing the light of day again, I happen to have it in my best interests to re-open Guantanamo Bay, and to have you as its first occupant." The President's smile got even wider. Heath Ledger would be proud, I thought. This guy is a psychopath.

"Well, this is certainly a deal-breaker," I snapped. "Forget about negotiations then, and say goodbye to your humanity as well," I smiled a smile that made the President falter, and while I still had a chance, I said, "Don't you want to know when we're going to trigger the virus in this sector?" I asked him. "Lower the guns, and I'll tell you how you can stop it." The President's eyes widened, and for the first time, he turned to his peers. They all nodded, their eyes wide.

"Leave us," He told the soldiers. They lowered their weapons and left the room, and I lowered my arms. I didn't show it, but I was relieved that they were gone. "When is the virus going to be triggered? How can we stop it?"

"I did it eighteen minutes ago," I said, "When you refused to negotiate peacefully. I sent a signal that triggered the virus here, as well as several other strategic targets around the world." I smiled. "And you can't stop it." The President took a step back, staring at me. There was absolute silence in the room. Slowly, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a remote trigger. "This is what I used," I said, dropping it to the floor. I crushed it with the heel of my shoe. "Welcome to our world, boys," I said.

"You're bluffing," The President said. "You… you couldn't have just started the end of the human race… just like that?"

"I did," I said. It was true. This was the beginning of the end.

"But… you can't have," The President said, panting as if he had just run a marathon. He backed up into his chair and collapsed into it. I could tell he was trying to stay conscious. "I'm… I'm the President…" With a final gasp, he fell into unconsciousness, as did the other leaders. They made no move to stop me, only slowly falling asleep where they sat. I just stood there for a moment, staring at their bodies. At one point, they had all been women, fighting for feminist rights and arguing against the gender divide. When the virus hit, they suddenly saw themselves in positions of power, and as revenge, oppressed their oppressors, real or imaginary.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," I whispered. I turned and left the room.


All around me are familiar faces, worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races, going nowhere, going nowhere…

The reporters that had lined the hall had fallen over; only a few of the cameras documenting the event were still standing. None of them were pointed at me, which was good, as I didn't want my identity to be known. I walked calmly over the bodies of the reporters, opening the doors to the street.

Their tears are filling up their glasses, no expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow, no tomorrow, no tomorrow…

On either side of me, the protestors lay in a pile of their own kind; their signs littered the streets as they had collapsed in a sudden rush of lethargy. Cars in front of the building had piled up, their drivers unconscious at the wheel. Papers flew from open office windows and I could hear sirens of approaching fire trucks and ambulances. For fifteen square blocks, the world had stopped. Only a few animalias walked along the streets, most confused and dazed. I walked briskly down the eerily quiet street and hopped into a cab with its lights off, but its engine running.

And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had…

"Is it done?" The dog-man in the front asked.

"Yes, obviously," I said. "The virus has been released in Washington, Tokyo, New York, and in several other capitol cities around the world. The plan to eradicate the tumor of this society is proceeding according to schedule." I sighed, tired.

"Excellent," The man turned and grinned at me. "I told you, you would do fine!"

"Frank!" I exclaimed, reaching forward and kissing him. "I didn't know you were going to be the getaway driver!"

"I volunteered," Frank said, smiling. "Kelly, I'm so proud of you." I blushed.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," I said. "Just start driving, smart guy. Let's go home."

"The base?" Frank asked.

"No," I said. "Our real home. I want to see your mom and dad again." Frank grinned.

"Yes, ma'am," He said, pulling out into the non-existent traffic. "Home it is."

I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take
When people run in circles it's a very very
Mad world…