The class remained slient throughout most of the teacher's lecture, only answering when he attempted to fish for responses. This same lecture was one the class, and every student for that matter, had heard in every grade at least once. The student body had to accomidate for students that came from smaller villages or townhomes, unknowledgeble to the reasoning behind their dystopian world; it meant they needed to be told in some way, and that way was by holding a mandatory lecture every year for newcomers.
The method was by no means perfect, but how could it be? With what could barely be considered 100,000,000 people in they city and 700,000,000 survivors left around the world, the level of professionality easily reached before was difficult to attain now.
The instructor continued his lecture under the deafening silence, though his not being used to it by now was certainly impossible. “What are humans? What are we? How did we come to be? For starters, we are a direct branch of Homo Sapiens, so to speak. On December 25, 2040, beings physically similar but internally separate entered the limelight of human history; though they’re still considered humans, their scientific name became Homo Variante, quite literally a ‘human variant’. This species are biologically identical to Homo Sapiens, but do not have an appendix. Instead, they have what is called a Sagus, which allows the human body to process a formerly unknown element named Oridine, what you could also refer to as “Mana” or “Magic” in various folklore.”
The instructor cleared his throat, “Oridine is a formless substance that’s shape depends on the opposite of the person’s surroundings during childhood stages. If a person is raised in naturally warm areas, the Oridine in their bodies become water-like. If a person is raised in a very dark place, the Oridine in their bodies becomes light-like, so on and so forth. After being discovered by the homo sapiens, they decided it was best to get rid of such a dangerous species, but luck was on our side. A disease that spread like wildfire starting after the Rapture event on January 1, 2047 began killing off the original humans one by one.”
The instructor drew a very simple stick figure on the board, the figure was greeted with a rather goofy looking scythe pointed directly at its head. “The scientific name is Apodómisi disease, however, a very popular name for the disease is The Reaper’s Call. As of today, only two homo sapiens exist in the world, one of which is here now, both are sadly affected by the disease, given that it has yet to die out.”
A woman near the front of the classroom raised her hand, her long sleeve shirt covered most of it, but a tattoo could barely be made out. The instructor gave the woman permission to speak, “If the original humans were eradicated by this disease, how are we unaffected by it?” She asked.
“Good question Ms. Paris!” The instructor applauded, “We aren’t affected because our bodies can process Oridine in the same manner we and the homo sapiens process oxygen. The Oridine in our bodies acts as an extremely powerful antibody that eliminates the pathogen before it can affect us, something the original humans don’t possess. So in a sense, we are completely immune to the virus. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t get it. If the Sagus is destroyed, somehow closed up, or stops functioning, we become just as susceptible to the virus as the homo sapiens are. On another note, we’ve tried transferring the Sagus gland into a homo sapien, their bodies-- namely their brains and lungs-- immediately reject the Sagus and shut down, killing them in the process.”
The instructor looked at the time and decided it was time to call it quits. “Alright then class, that’s a good introduction for today. Read over Chapter 7 and 8 and complete the online assignment for your participation grade today.”
The students left the classroom one by one, conversing with one another or checking over their notes. Reid yawned, leaned forward and pressed the power button on his monitor; it made a clicking sound, then left him to the silence of his hospital room. His room was quite spacious, but strangely highly irritating to him. The room was full of white drawers, equipment, needles, medicines, and other items, so his eyes would constantly get hurt from the light that reflected off of them. The smell of the hospital was stale and the atmosphere was unbelievably gloomy.
To add to his list of inconveniences, the nurses were no better. They all sounded so disinterested in anything he said, and always looked at him with eyes of contempt, ones that just said “Go die already.” He was used to people like that, given that he was from the very species that tried to kill off the homo varinte and was guaranteed to succumb to his disease, but it didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt his feelings. He hated being tied up in a room no one even wanted him in, since he was born Reid had been in hospital after hospital, and to no avail had a cure for his disease been found. Even then he wanted to see the outside world for himself, if even once. He knew his optimistic dreams would never come true, however. His legs were far gone by now, they felt like millions of small needles were being lodged into his skin, and when he sat them on the floor near the side of the bed they felt more like jello than feet. He was forced to look at the black ooze that trailed across his legs as well, which only served to remind him of his depressing situation as he picked his legs up and set them back in the bed.
There was more or less nothing for him to do in his room, all the books his sister brought him he finished, and he wasn’t allowed to play video games while hospitalized either. Normally he’d sit around and think about what he’d do if he could explore the world, but luckily for him, he was allowed to see said sister before he goes into his final surgery to attempt to remove the virus. If this one fails, he has the choice to either live whatever’s left of his life outside, the choice he picked, or be killed by the surgeon in question. He made his choice through a paper one of the nurses brought a week ago.
A nurse opened the door quite impatiently and startled Reid a bit. He quickly realized that she wasn’t any of his normal nurses because of her black outfit, and she didn’t look at him like a person would look at gum on their shoe. Rather, she had a very blank expression about her, no, rather she shared a completely numb expression. How many times had she gone through this? Reid thought, How many times had she witnessed a person die?
Behind her, Reid could see his younger sister Marie through the cracks of the door, and relief hit him like a wave. He gestured to his sibling in hopes that she’d notice him, but it seemed she was too busy speaking to someone he couldn’t see, most likely the doctor. The nurse cleared her throat to regain Reid’s attention, funnily enough he’d almost forgotten about her.
“Reid Hapheas, because of the doctor’s very strict schedule this month, your final surgery will occur immediately.” Her words were cold, and straight to the point, listening to her made him feel no less nervous. She opened one of the cabinets in front of him and brought out a black, rectangle-like object. She pressed down on the top of the metallic part and watched as the object shifted into a fully formed wheelchair. Compared to the frail shop stands and old-style guns, this was like an item brought from the far future. “If you would, please sit in the wheelchair and we will bring you to the surgery room.”
Reid reluctantly agreed, and slowly propped himself into the wheelchair. The nurse gripped the handles on the wheelchair and pushed Reid out of the dreary room and into the dreary hallway, where the doctor and Marie were talking. She had tears that trailed down to her chin, and her cheeks were as red as a plum, whereas the doctor had the same numb expression that the nurse had. When his eyes met with Reid’s, however, he tried his best to put on a reassuring smile for the young man.
Reid could tell by the man’s rather lackluster attempt to cheer him up that he was a good person too tired for his own good. He handed Marie a handkerchief to wipe her tears, and crouched down to speak to Reid. From close up he could see just how tired the doctor really was, “Good evening, Mr. Hapheas. My name is Doctor Howard, and I’m here to take you to your “Final Surgery” today.” Reid was suspicious of the way he emphasized the words final surgery, the man answered as if he read Reid’s mind.
“Truth be told, there is no surgery. If anything, this will be when I tell you information that will be spread to the world after your death. I don’t wish to inform you until we get there, but what I can tell you now is that Calvin Marx, your last fellow homo sapien, died yesterday. You are officially the last homo sapien on earth.” Surprisingly, Reid was more focused on what the doctor had to say next than the fact that he was the only original human alive.
Even as a child Reid felt like a pig within a flock of sheep, unable to relate, much less understand them at all. He didn’t know exactly what sense of racism made he feel such a way about them, but part of it definitely had to do with the way the nurses treated him. He gave up trying to relate with them or demand respect. It, to him, was a fruitless effort given how little effect it would have on the society at large, and ultimately, the only opinion he remotely cared for was Marie’s. Reid gave the doctor no verbal response, he only nodded his head silently. The doctor returned his gesture, and signaled the nurse Reid forgot about once again to take him to their destination.
The wheels creaked loudly as he passed room by room, filling the barren halls with a semblance of noise. Looking at the astounding amount of victims to the same disease that may very well claim Reid’s life put a pressure on his heart that he’d rather not have had. It had rarely crossed his mind how many people besides the homo sapiens were susceptible to the Reaper’s Call.
"The Sagus had only been officially recognized 60 years ago, there were bound to be problems with the other organ’s assimilation with it." His roaming thoughts etched into his mind. He looked over his shoulder at Marie, who had her head slumped down. Her face was still red, and Reid wanted nothing more than to call out to her and cheer her up, but the words that gathered in his throat and refused to come out. “Enough,” he thought to himself, “She’s perfectly healthy, speak to her, cheer her up, just speak!”
Reid’s internal quarrel was soundly interrupted by the bright light that alluded from the double doors, along with a sudden cold that crept up on him through the silence of the hospital. Dr. Howard walked past Reid and the nurse and opened the doors for them, leading to a sight that Reid had seen many times, but never got tired of: Mons Urbe, the City of Hills. The only large city to survive.
The city was quite special, as it was separated into three districts by the mountains in between them. In order, each district is named Joli, Rapha, and Hallock. All three have a trail of commune shops and homes that extend across the mountains between them, all of which are surrounded by a wall to keep demons from invading.
The biggest by far had to be Rapha, which held the local church, trading center, and what would be a tourist attraction had over 90% of humanity not perished: the Tower of Pandora. Joli was the main shopping district, and Hallock held the military and prison buildings, yet all three districts pale in comparison to the King’s castle. In the years between the discovery of the Homo Variante and the virus, the government run by original humans of course shut down with the officials’ deaths. Instead of attempting to revive such a convoluted process in such a short time--especially given that the oldest Homo Variante so far is 97--people thought a better temporary solution would be to restore a democratic monarchy. The result was a new king and the most beautiful castle Reid had ever seen.
The castle was built on white-bleached stone and dark blue roofs, fit with a luscious garden that withstood the harsh winds of winter itself. Each part of the castle was separated and connected by the halls in between them, and while it wasn’t seeable from where Reid sat, the windows had a gold outline with a creative design on them. During any season the castle was a wonderful sight to behold, but Reid thought that winter was among the best, sadly, his body didn’t feel the same way. He turned to Dr. Howard in hopes that he’d explain what’s going on to Reid so they could go back inside.
"Curse my lack of attention to detail!" He snapped internally, irritated that he paid no attention to Marie’s stuffy leather coat. Though his mouth felt as if it’d been closed shut by the arid winds of the cold, he forced them open as he initiated a conversation with the stone-faced doctor. “So, Dr. Howard, what is it you wanted to tell me?” He lifted his shaking hands like sand bags, “It’s quite cold out here, even to me. And I highly doubt Marie is any less cold.”
Dr. Howard glances at Marie, who still refused to look Reid in the eyes, “You’re right, my apologies. Well then: Reid, what is that?” He pointed at a demon from behind the walls of the Joli district. The demon leaped upon another of its kind and attacked, brutally ripping off its skin with its rugged teeth. The sight disgusted Reid, but he answered the doctor’s question as best as possible, “That’s a demon, a creature that began appearing 50 years ago, right?” He paused, wanting to tell the doctor what he truly thought of them, but decided to hold it back.
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“They eat only plants and others of their kind, yet when it comes to wildlife, they completely ignore them. Same goes for humans, they’re docile around Homo Sapiens, but become excessively violent around Homo Variante. Not much else is known about them though, for some reason their deceased bodies dissipate after a few minutes, so it’s virtually impossible to study their biology.”
Dr. Howard applauded Reid, “You know your stuff. Yes, demons are very docile, even friendly around Homo Sapiens, but it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.”
Reid raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”
“Think about it Reid, do you seriously believe these beasts just appeared out of thin air?” Dr. Howard asked, Reid felt his stomach drop. It was as if the doctor had read his mind and was saying everything he was too embarrassed to say. Whether or not they were thinking the same thing Reid couldn’t determine, yet out of a sheer burst of confidence and twisted curiosity he spoke up, “You don’t mean… those demons are actually people, do you?” Dr. Howard’s face became pale, verifying Reid’s suspicions. It must’ve saddened him that Reid came to the same conclusion, instead of answering the young man’s questions, the doctor opted to share a story with him.
“It was my 3rd year as a certified doctor when we had our first case.” He started, “I was assigned a nice middle-aged man named Oliver Green, who was also in his final stages of Reaper’s Call. He had ADHD, but his hyperactive attitude helped bring smiles to our faces in such grim times. Yet, when it came time to undergo the final surgery, his attitude switched drastically: He was far too quiet for far too long, he refused to eat, and mumbled things under his breath. I couldn’t catch most of it, but one time I heard him say “You won’t take her away from me.” The doctor sighed, then continued his story.
“I assumed he was referring to his daughter, since his wife--a Homo Variante-- was killed by government officials years ago. Yet when I attempted to calm his nerves by telling him his daughter was safe, he just… snapped. Violently. He screamed and roared to stay away from him, no warning whatsoever. I tried my damndest to calm him down, but to no avail. To make matters worse, in the last moments before it happened, I noticed his right arm was strangely malformed, yet chose to ignore it. In a putrid, grotesque manner, Oliver’s skin turned inside out on itself, yet instead of blood, a thick black ooze was expelled from his body. His bones sprung out in odd places, including his arms and head, and his eyes turned a deep red. In a raspy, hellish voice, I could hear him saying things like “I must find her”, “Give her to me”, “You did this to us.” as he murdered every nurse, doctor, and patient he could reach.” The doctor slumped his head into his rough hands, but Reid refused to talk, his entire focus was on this story. Marie stepped up to Reid and held his hand, she made it seem like she was doing it for him, but the shaking in her hand told him a different story.
“Out of some pure luck, or misfortune, he completely ignored me. I couldn’t bear to see more innocents be ripped apart by that monster, yet at the same time some foolish force made me believe that Oliver was still somewhere down there. It… it wasn’t until he almost killed his own daughter that my body decided to listen to me. I took the sharpest weapon I could find, albeit skinny, and struck the demon with it. It had an inhuman healing factor, but I never planned to cut him only once. I stabbed and stabbed and stabbed and stabbed and stabbed and stabbed and… and murdered that man in the most horrific way imaginable, in front of his terrified daughter no less! Yet I had no choice! I refused to stand in a pool of blood without having fought back, I don’t regret my choice, but I regret doing so in front of the man’s daughter of all people!”
The nurse held on tightly to the doctor, who was trying his hardest to keep his cool. Such a scene would traumatize anyone, so seeing the doctor tell his story so adamantly impressed Reid. Marie tightened her grip on his hand, refusing to let go. Her eyes were rugged from the crying she’d done, but it was obvious she was ready to break down once again at any moment. She knew what Reid was thinking, and she was more than ready to dispute it, but she knew at this stage he wouldn’t budge. She settled with staying silent for all of it, for if she tried to say anything, her well of tears would be renewed.
“Then that’s what’ll happen to me soon, huh?” Reid asked, “How long do I have?”
The doctor told his nurse he was alright, and gave Reid the straightest face he could muster, “I don’t know, truly. The transformation can occur at any time after the patient reaches 17, however it’s been different every time, even some that never transformed until after death. So I’m sorry to tell you that you can transform at any time, in any place.” He set down his suitcase and entered the passcode, opening the case with a rather satisfying ~click~. Inside was a vial filled with a black ooze-like substance in it, “In this vial is the remains of a very powerful demon, who funnily enough was only a young boy. Even now, analyzing the vial has only given us data on normal Homo sapiens, so it was deemed virtually useless. Through blood, sweat and tears, we’ve come to the current conclusion that this vial only has one use: It stimulates the genes in a homo sapien and triggers the demonic transformation.”
Reid rolled closer to the doctor to get a better look at the vial, “You actually got a vial of their blood, huh? Wish we could’ve had this earlier, maybe the dead cells could’ve been used as an antidote. It could also be used as a coating for bullets, demons healing factor may react negatively to it. Or maybe you could use it to conduct intelligence experiments like with the apes 50 years ago. Maybe even-” Reid stopped himself, he had an issue with going on tangents without keeping other’s feelings in mind. In a situation as grim as this, he felt that it was probably the worst time, but the doctor smiled at his enthusiasm.
“Those are actually viable ideas, I guess we were too busy thinking of medical applications for it, haha.” He looked up at the cloudy sky, letting the snowflakes drift onto his nose as the silence strangely helped the depressing atmosphere. “Shame you were born a homo sapien, you would’ve made an excellent Biotechnologist… Reid, you have two choices here: Live out what is left of your life, of course you will need to be under constant surveillance for the civilian’s protection. Or inject just a bit of the vial into you, the genes in your body will react and the transformation will occur, before you can hurt anyone…” Dr. Howard used the Oridine in his body as effortlessly as breathing, the invisible substance begins to take form, turning into a blazing fire, ready to strike at any time. This, is what could be considered ‘Magic’ by definition. “I will strike you down.”
The doctor gave Reid a choice, but it seemed everyone knew what choice he would make. He turned around and smiled at Marie, but she refused to look him in the eyes, “No one word out of you.” She said, “If you start spouting your bullshit like usual… I won’t be able to stay calm.”
He let out a small laugh and turned back to Dr. Howard, “Love you too, little sis.”
Dr. Howard handed the vial to Reid, to ensure him that the choice was all his. Staring at the black ooze strangely made Reid think about his rather lackluster life. He realized how little he’d seen from his mom since he came into the final stages of the virus. His father died of the same disease when he was very young, but it felt like his mother started avoiding him lately. His realization didn’t bring about any negative emotions though, Reid only smiled as he injected the needle into his left arm. Take care of Marie, mom He thought. Without hesitation, he pressed down and watched a bit of the vial go down into his arm. The thick ooze felt strangely cold, and etched its way up his arm and to his appendix, yet when he tried to stop, his thumb felt as if it were frozen in place. No matter how hard he tried, his thumb refused to take itself off the button. More and more of the ooze was being injected into his bloodstream, making Reid feel highly nauseas. Through all of the strangeness, a thick, raspy voice appeared in Reid’s mind, scaring the life out of him.
“Inject it all… not a drop left!” The voice inquired, “Accept who you are, accept it!”
Reid’s right arm became freakishly veiny. At this point he had little to no control over it, but Dr. Howard was taking no chances. The fire in his hand burned with fury, Reid could feel the sheer heat from where he sat, but refused to move to allow the doctor to deliver the finishing blow. The nurse picked Marie up and took her to a safe distance from the scene for the doctor, tears rolling down his eyes as he looked at Reid’s deforming body.
“This… will be the second man I’m forced to strike down with my own hands.” He threw the flames as hard as he possibly could, creating a trail of fire in his wake. The flames struck Reid and engulfed him in a cloud of flames, but the doctor’s efforts were in complete vain. The flames dissipated to reveal what looked like a large, crystal-like arm that shielded Reid from the blast. In truth, The doctor’s attack did hit him, and hurt like hell, but the fireball that penetrated his skin released more blood than Reid thought he had, the blood then crystallized and formed around his arm faster than the fire could engulf him. Dr. Howard prepared another fireball for a second attempt, but it was far too late. Reid’s entire body was being covered by the crystallizing blood, and before the doctor could even comprehend his situation, a giant, salamander-like creature stood face-to-face with him.
The crystallized creature looked as if it were made of pure red rubies, yet its eyes were a blinding white pigment. It walked on six legs, each equipped with three dangerously sharp claws, and a tail that was shaped like a sort of cross. To top it off, the demon was far larger than the hospital, using its large claws to hang on, the creature perched itself on the side of the building, its presence still unnoticed by the populous. It resembled nothing of the now deceased Reid Hapheas. The beast made no noises despite its large size, it only stared at the doctor blankly, waiting for the slightest of movements. Dr. Howard only stared back in the endless eyes the beast carried, through it, it was almost as if he could hear it peaking. What’s more, was taunting him, ridiculing him for his past experience with a demon. “Will you stand in other’s blood once again… doctor?” The beast mocked in its broken speech, “Simply because you fear me... more than you care for others.”
Dr. Howards’ fury became a violent spark that spurred him into action. With a guttural scream, he used as much Oridine as his body could possibly handle, commanding his own fiery army even in the blistering cold. His rage-filled eyes stared deeply at the demon that was once a promising young man, “I will end this here and now, demo--.”
The demon slapped Dr. Howard away as if he were an annoying bug, sending him flying into the hospital storage room. His blood covered the edges of the building, and his body horribly disfigured from the initial shock. Luckily, the doctor died almost instantly, but the image he left behind didn’t fare well for Marie nor his nurse. That same nurse dropped Marie in a heartbeat, foolishly gunning for the doctor. What she planned to do once-- if she even made it to him was as unclear as her reasoning for doing so. Whether it was out of anger, sorrow, love, or all three, the nurse rushed to the dead Dr. Howards’ aid with reckless abandon. She managed to dodge the beast’s first strike, using its claws as a platform to reach the doctor faster. Initially touching the demon startled the nurse, its body was far colder than it looked, sending a violent chill down her arm that almost made her lose her balance. Had she not been in motion at that moment, it would’ve spelled her death.
The nurse reached Dr. Howard’s corpse and picked him up gently, her cold hands softly brushed his hair away from his face. The doctor’s eyes were still wide open, as if he never truly realized he’d died. His body was almost as cold as the demon’s body was, his heart stopped the moment he was hit, and was completely motionless. The deluded nurse ignored every sign that the doctor had passed away, ignored the now defenseless Marie, and ignored the very demon responsible for his death. She only smiled as she held the doctor in her arms softly, entirely confident he would wake up and come up with a plan at any moment.
“It’s alright, my love.” She soothed, caressing his hair; warm tears rolled down her bright red cheeks in the freezing cold, “I’ll protect you until you awake, then we can take care of this monster quickly, per Mr. Hapheas’ request.” Her grip on the corpse tightened as she gently placed her chin on his chest, “It’s as you said, isn’t it? We’ll protect this hospital toge-”
The demon grew tired of waiting. It rose its claws and swung at the nurse in the same manner it did Dr. Howard, her life snatched from her just as quickly. Marie watched helplessly in fear as the bodies were flung from the rooftop and painted the snow on the ground, letting the blood coat the surface a deep red. What was once a prominent doctor and his assistant turned into pitifully piled corpses on an unmarked grave.
Marie’s traumatic experience didn’t end there, however. The blood that the demon swiped along with their bodies gathered in its claws, turning them both into shriveled up corpses. The blood took its home in the beast, gathering and forming an even more dense coating while clouding its crimson-like texture. Marie’s fear and sheer confusion overtook her, any power she had left to even move betrayed her as she fell to her knees. Her eyes wouldn’t remove themselves from the demon’s, she was trapped in the same spell that the poor doctor found himself in: the demon’s light, seemingly endless eyes. Its raspy voice and broken speech felt as if it enveloped Marie, sending a sudden chill down her spine as its deep tone rattled her very bones.
“Fear... none woma... need for you.” It spoke, “What we want… is...”
The demon didn’t stay to explain itself or its jumbled speech; in a rather surprising manner, it swiftly and quietly jumped into the air and onto another building, from which Marie could see its entire body. The top half of the demon, from its head to its arms, was coated in a crimson-shaded crystal which Marie reluctantly admitted looked beautiful. Its bottom half, however, was a liquid texture more akin to blood. It was shaped like a tail, and the tip was also covered in the ruby-like crystal, but it was more than likely that its shape could change.
“This really must be hell…” She thought, as her very thoughts became a reality before her eyes. The demon transformed into a formless blob of blood and jumped directly onto a fountain, perfectly centered in the middle of what was a 3-day festival for the newly appointed governor of war, Damian West; it was the same festival Marie was supposed to take Reid to after his final surgery. The blob’s appearance garnered more surprise and curiosity in the citizens than fear, mainly because most demons shared that malformed, blackened skin appearance.
Yet, before the first person could utter a single word about the mysterious creature, over two dozen people around it were sliced in half in under a split second, their blood flowing through the air like the winds themselves.
Yes, this truly must be hell, to let her watch her very world crumble before her eyes.