“Still,” Man Xiong continued, “I guess its a matter of perspective. End of one era, beginning of another.”

“Fair enough,” Elz said. “But what does any of that have to do with Mat being a mutate?”

“Well, there’s still more the story.

In cultures that were more closely tied to their food sources and their land, the changes were noted much quicker. And in those communities, the mutations were recorded when they began to affect the citizens. When the first few human mutations were reported, and started disappearing, many of those communities closed in to protect their citizens.

Like I said, the animals were watching and learning. They were picking up on the cunning and underhanded nature of humans, while suffering from our disregard of the environment. There were also some places where they were already working closely with their human neighbors for mutual benefit. So they were seeing the cure-affected who were being rounded up and made to vanish; witnessing the strict and proprietary laws on farming and food production that were being pushed onto the people.

So in their hidden alliances, plans were being made on how to deal with humanity going forward and how to protect those they held dear.

That was the purpose of the Orwell Summit. To introduce The Awakened as a single force to rival humanity. To ensure that the people with power saw them also as a unit with power, and not as multiple vulnerable species.”

Elz smiled. “We’ve all heard this part too. The animals standing in front of the assembly, insisting on equal rights. They wanted to change everything and, by the end of it, they got what they came for, and humans got screwed with all the new laws.

That summit marked a turning point, right? The Species Treaties came about and humans had to face the reality that animals weren’t just creatures anymore. They had become something to reckon with.”

“It was so much more than that. Truth is, it was a circus—a three-day spectacle that left the world more shaken than a hurricane.

I watched some of it on TV, As much as they would allow to be broadcast. The rest I heard from friends who had clearance to know these things. The animals, came in with a clear agenda and they were well researched and prepared. It bears repeating that they had been learning from humans how to be cunning and underhanded. So, they showed up at the United Nations, walked right into the General Assembly, and started making demands. Equal rights, they said. They wanted all sapient being to have the same treatment. They wanted to be treated like people. A lion standing at a podium, telling the world’s leaders how things were gonna be from now on.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

But that wasn’t the half of it. These creatures weren’t just talking—they were proving a point. While they were giving their speeches, they’d set up a little show on the side. They live-streamed the dismantling of weapons of mass destruction, right in front of everyone’s eyes. Missiles, nukes, you name it—gone, just like that. No one knew how they did it, but there it was, happening in real-time.

And then there was the bit that still makes me chuckle. They had cameras inside the homes of world leaders, showing pets, venomous snakes, even wildcats—sneaking around while the leaders were fast asleep. Didn’t trip a single alarm, didn’t wake a single guard. It was a warning, plain and simple. The animals were saying, “We can get to you anytime we want.”

While this was going on, Florida was being evacuated, because those monsters that the Alligators evolved into, decided to take advantage of the confusion at the Summit and declare the state their own territory. That was a whole other mess, because they weren’t working together with the delegation that showed up in New York.

Still, that helped the cause. By the end of the summit, those big shots at the UN didn’t have much choice. They were scared, plain and simple. So, they agreed to what the animals wanted, or at least agreed to start talking about it. That’s how the Species Treaties came to be—out of fear and a whole lot of confusion.

So, that’s the truth of it. The Orwell Summit was a show of force, a reminder that humans weren’t the only ones calling the shots anymore.

The one thing the animals didn’t have a true grasp of, was the depths to which humans will go to elevate themselves even above their own kind. While they were negotiating the Treaties to ensure that they were allowed to thrive and the planet was protected, the very same men that they had scared into compliance, were thinking of ways to profit and empower themselves from these new rules.

Prior to the summit, the United Territories of Humanity had not existed. The world was made up of over two hundred individual countries with their own governing bodies. And long before any of this happened there had been thoughts of uniting the world. The idea of eliminating borders between people sounded great, until we started thinking about who would be in charge.”

Man Xiong paused, and looked up.

“There was a time when even this far out in the middle of nowhere, I would be wary of saying some things out loud.”

Elz looked up at the ceiling but didn't know what he was looking at.

Man Xiong looked down in time to see the puzzlement on her upturned face. “Satellites,” he said. “There used to be satellites just floating around up there minding everybody’s business.”

He chuckled. “I guess they are still up there. But I doubt they are paying attention to these lands now that all the people are gone. They are most likely spying on the more populated areas. Plus I’m sure Mat has protected this house to the point where it doesn’t have any traceable energy signature.

Back to what I was saying. I wouldn’t even whisper this back in the city, but…

There were always people who wanted to control all the money and all the power. The real power: not from running governments, but from controlling governments; controlling populations.

The Treaties handed them the opportunity to snatch that power, and they took it.

All the rules, all the restrictions; the mandated birth control and the state-approved jobs; the restrictions on what you can plant, the jobs you can do, and where we can go; They’re not really necessary for the treaties.

They put more restrictions on us so that we would have to rely on them. And then they began the process of turning BlueBloom into big business.