THE EXTINCTION ERA - Chapter 8
1-8
It's been five years since Bella joined the research team with the latest advanced laboratory, led by Jimmy. Through her own efforts and hard work, Bella was able to become Jimmy's assistant. The main goal of the research team is to study and find a cure for plague virus. Today, world leaders have become increasingly secretive, they're roaming the desolate lands. Laboratory members communicate with leaders through top-secret technology to discuss their research results, successes, and future plans. If one of the laboratories was captured by mutants or hybrids, they had the technology to destroy themselves and blow up everything completely. If someone was caught alive by the hybrids, there was a cruel way of torturing anyone to tell them everything they knew, even what they don't know. So, everyone knows that it is better to explode and die rather than caught by hybrids. The research laboratory traveled south to north and east to west across the Central Asia, continuing its work.
Bella entered the living room. Entering through a door that opens and closes automatically, she sat down on a sofa which has a full of screens on the front wall.
-"Last queen, show me the memory album" when Bella said this, the woman's computer voice answered echoing in the room.
-Affirmative, Bella. Loading your memories.
-I want to see the last moments of my siblings.
-Bella, are you sure? Your mood has worsened, your stress level and your heart rate has increased. Seeing sad memories at such times can increase your motivation to commit suicide by 35%.
-Very well. Then show me the last birthday of my twin brothers.
-The recording will start in five seconds. Five, four, three, two, one ...
Her twins put a big cake in front of them. They are wearing birthday hat, having such fun. Seven candles were lit on the cake. The mother said to her siblings, "-Blow your candle darlings. Do you guys have any ideas what gifts we prepared? Are you in a hurry to know, children?" Twins raced each other blew out the candles, and then unwrapped the gift boxes.
-"Wow, I got remote controlled airplane."
-"Mine is boat." Their happiness was unmeasurable.
At that moment, Bella burst into tears. Before her eyes, the memories of that happy evening with his warm family were floating.
-Last queen, stop the recording.
-Affirmative, Bella. Stop playing record.
-I want to save the last week's memories.
-Affirmative. Please place the sensors around your head.
Bella went sat down on a designated seat. She placed a dozen of wires with large stickers on the ends around her head.
-Bella, please close your eyes. Copying memories process can cause dizziness and lightheadedness. Bella closed her eyes and leaned back. A note appeared on the dashboard stating that it was being copied, and it slowly loaded from one-to-one hundred percent.
- Finished copying the memories of last week. The sensors can now be removed.
As she unplugged the sensors and walked away, Jimmy entered the room.
-What are you doing, oh you added a memory to the album?
-Yes, from last week.
-It's a good feeling to save memories and see them live. Scientists have spent hundreds of years trying to figure out the human brain. But who knew that this discovery would be made by artificial intelligence, but not man?
-I prefer to save it while it's fresh. I don't remember some of my childhood memories.
-Shall I show you one of my memories?
-What memory, Jimmy?
-It's a memory when I first encounter with a hybrid.
-Wow, I didn't know you had such memories? Why are you showing it to me only now?
-I thought I would show it when the time came. Last queen, can you show me my memories of the first time I met hybrid?
-Affirmative, Jimmy. The recording will start in five seconds.
On the screen, Jimmy was in a hurry, panting. Memories appear on the screen in the form of what one sees with one's own eyes. When you look at yourself in the mirror, you see yourself. At other times, perspective of view is in first person form. He was greeted in the basement by a masked six soldiers dressed in uniform and carrying guns.
-Jimmy, go into this room and put on protective gears. Hold on, we need to check your temperature first. Okay, it's normal.
Jimmy put on his protective mask and clothes and went back into the basement.
-Please follow us. No need to be nervous. It is in a completely harmless state. However, it is recommended that you do not go closer than three meters.
-I understood, Jimmy uttered and followed the soldiers with guns to the thick metal door. It was a locked door with a rotating handle that can be opened only from the outside. The door opened when a soldier forcibly turned the locked handle and read his ID card on the side wall. The room is very bright and has a metal table and chairs attached to the floor. The "hybrid" facing him is a new species that has been genetically engineered between humans and mutants. One eye is completely black, but the pupil in the middle is bright red, and the other eye is bright red, but the pupil is completely black. The two eyes are completely opposite, like the other side of each other. There is no hair on the head or face, so it hasn't neither eyebrow nor beard. His skin was as white as a dead man's. But he was dressed unlike mutants. He was wearing a nice leather jacket and jeans. But he was barefoot without shoes. Jimmy sat cautiously in the front seat. When Jimmy said,
-How are you? The hybrid pretended to roar then muttered
-Who are you?
-I am a scientist. A virologist.
-Oh, hahaha I see. In other word, my biggest enemy.
-Have you ever met a hybrid like you?
-"Of course. So many times. Sometimes we even had a dinner party. Parties to eat muscular men's or just women's flesh. If lucky enough, children meat" and the hybrid laughed while gritting his sawlike teeth.
- Why do you like to eat people? You can eat other animals' meat.
-"Have you ever tried to eat grass? Everything else tastes the same to us. But human flesh and blood is a high-class delicacy", after saying this hybrid's saliva of dripped on the iron table. As he did so, he turned his nose to Jimmy and tried to smell him. At that moment, the two soldiers standing next to hybrid, which was handcuffed on all fours by strong iron shackles, struck it at the same time with a long electric baton.
-Stop dripping your disgusting saliva, you ugly beast, said one of the soldiers.
-"Do you know how much I want to eat you all. How much I want to tear you apart and swallow your flesh whole. But most importantly, I want to eat you alive without taking your life first. I love to crush my prey when it's screaming and slowly dying before my eyes. I can't even remember the last time I ate human. You fed the prisoners of war during the war, didn't you? When are you going to give me food?" The soldiers laughed at his words,
-It is a wartime rule that applies only to humans. You are neither a man nor a beast. We don't even know what category to put you in.
-I'm totally different from those stupid mutants. How could a weakling like you know that my average intelligence is so much higher than yours, ha ha? the hybrid laughed out loud.
-Where are your allies located?
-I know the location. But I won't tell you. We are many, very strong. There is a whole army of mutants. But you are few and not strong enough. Easy to get sick. You know that in nature the strong remain and the weak perish. How many species of animals have been destroyed by humankind in the last few hundred years? We are a new species sent by God to destroy you humans who have grown in too many numbers too chaotically. You call us hybrids. But we call ourselves "Centaurs". Well, maybe we leave a few of you and raise them like a herd of sheep. Otherwise, what would we centaurs eat? We don't eat any sheep, cattle or fish. Even when I'm starving to death, I won't eat whatever I come across like those lowlife mutants, Mr. Scientist. Hmm perhaps I shall make you, my pet? Talk with you occasionally when I'm bored. If I don't like you, I'll just eat you alive.
-Do you know that you were not created by nature, but by humans like me?
-Absolutely. We even call one of them a Saint. He is our father.
-What kind of person is he? Where is he now?
The hybrid laughed,
-"Why would I hand over my father to you? I even heard that they are doing research on how breed us naturally. Imagine if our offspring is growing up in a woman's womb, little centaurs would burst out of their mother's womb. They going to greet with this universe by eating their mother from inside, ha-ha, he-he" the centaur laughed uncontrollably. Jimmy grimaced as he listened to all this talk and stood up,
- "I'm done with this meeting. Get me out of" he said.
-"Hey, scientist, where are you going? Hey, my pet" the centaur remained laughing behind the closing door.
Bella regained awareness and returned to the real world when the Last queen announced that the recording was over. She had never seen a hybrid/centaur so closely before.