Halfkinds Volume 1: Contact Page 12

  The project was considered a success and plans were being made to conduct phase two, which would be exposure to endangered species. This time, they would select nine groups of animals deemed to be at risk for extinction. Different breeds of wolves, gorillas, lions, eagles, rhinos, crocodiles, bears, elephants, and tigers were brought in for intelligence boosting.

  Meanwhile, the animals of phase one were done with their clinicals and would be released back to their natural environments. This was the beginning of the downfall for the humans. They were so busy with phase two that they failed to thoroughly monitor the phase one tests subjects. If they did, they would have seen that these animals were still growing smarter and smarter as time passed. In a matter of years, they became as smart as humans, right under their noses.

  But for their part, the phase one animals were quite tight-lipped about their newfound mental capabilities. They had become aware enough to know the destructive nature of mankind and kept their abilities under wraps. They knew they would be killed if they showed a slight hint of their super intelligence. Thus, they formed a secret society of phase one animals and gave the outward appearance of ignorance to hide what they really were. The intelligent groups also reproduced, increasing their numbers and spreading their intelligence to the next generations.

  Fifteen years later, towards the beginning of the twenty fourth century, phase two had completed. The nine endangered species were much smarter than they originally were. They were still held under captivity, so scientists could monitor the rate of their repopulation, but things were improving. The procreation rate within the small subgroup of animals they held was slowly increasing.

  Just like the phase one animals, the phase two animals also grew smarter than the humans had anticipated. Just like the phase one animals, they kept this all cloak-and-dagger for the same reasons. And like the phase one animals, the formed their own secret society.

  One hundred years later, by 2400, the animals of phase two had swelled to a numerous mass. The Ark Project was considered a success and it was ready to move into phase three, reintroducing these animals to their natural habitats so that they could thrive and return things to the way they were. By 2420, phase two animals were living on their own in special, adapted habitats

  The secret society of phase one animals covertly communicated with the secret society of phase two animals for the next twenty years, sharing information between the species. It was primitive by all means, with eagles relaying information between groups. But by 2440, there were super intelligent animals pretending to be savage, living among humans.

  For the dogs, cats, and chimps, maintaining this secrecy was easy. They were treated by their human counterparts well and had no reason to shed light on their gifts. For the cows and pigs, it was harder. They were still a source of food for the humans, and there were many times when they wanted to rebel. But they stayed tough. When the cattle watched them go into the slaughterhouses, they kept their act for the sake of keeping appearances. They waited for the day of rebellion, and with plans being formulated between the phase one and two animals, that day would come soon.

  Over another hundred years, by 2540, the repopulation effort was finally deemed a success. The phase two animals were taken off the endangered species list, the goal of rapid repopulation came to fruition. The humans believed their work had saved these animals, but they were right in ways far beyond their scope.

  During those hundred or so years, the animals created an underground army. The phase one and two generations had development teams that were veiled and secretly researched human technology. They learned how to modify human weapons for their own use. Hiding was easy enough, especially thanks to the air support the eagles offered. There are some places humans can’t get to because they are human. And thus, the stockpiling happened. Weapons were being created in unknown locations, preparation for an all-out assault to gain freedom.

  The plan was simple - create enough damage and fear that it would force the humans to negotiate with the phase one and two animals, now known among themselves as the Ark Rebels. The terms were reasonable, each group of animals wanted their own land so that they could cultivate societies, no longer in secret.

  A hundred years is a long time to plot and plan for an attack and there was one more thing the Ark Rebels had on their side - the element of surprise. Humans were still prospering in their peace and spent few resources on arms divisions. They only had their local law enforcement to rely on. They would be unprepared. Humans still had the numbers, but the lack of anticipation would help even the odds.

  So, on January 1st, 2541, when the humans were celebrating and at their most vulnerable, the Ark Rebels and their army of super intelligent animals struck. They planned spread assaults across major cities around the world. Gorillas, lions, and chimps ransacked Southern Africa as humans scrambled in the confusion. The same went for the wolves and bears of North America, Australia, and Europe. In Asia, the rampage was spearheaded by the tigers, with crocodiles and elephants providing ground support. Eagles still provided communications, and the animals also created low grade messenger devices. Since the dogs, cats, cows, and pigs had agents everywhere, they aided their brothers in all parts of the world.

  These rebels fought valiantly, plundering smaller cities and keeping their stance in the bigger ones. They were ruthless and killed humans left and right. It was the only way they could make a statement.

  Thirty days of fighting raged on and the humans were still dumbfounded at what had happened. Overnight, the world they knew changed and a threat they didn’t see coming invaded their homes. It took them a week to realize how things came to be, that the Ark Project was responsible for all the carnage. But within two weeks, they rallied their troops to bring things to a stalemate. By the fourth week, both sides realized the struggle was at a draw, so the humans wanted to talk to the rebellion’s leaders to map out a negotiation.

  When the leaders stated their terms, humans balked at the idea. Despite all their changes and all the good they had done, they still retained their one trait that made them human: greed. Humans are never good at sharing, and giving up their land and power was ridiculous to them. Throughout their entire existence, they had been the ones who ruled Earth and, in one short month, their reign was being threatened. They refused to give in to such threats.

  They were still dominant. The Ark Rebels had caught the humans in a weak moment, at a time they least expected. They weren’t fully armed or prepared for the battle, but the rebels knew it would only be a matter of weeks before the humans would be ready to fight. It only took a month to bring things to a tie. Even with all the repopulation and preparation, the rebels could not engage in a full war with humans because they would lose the numbers battle. There were too many of them to fend off and in a few months, the rebels’ efforts would be lost.

  But the Ark Rebels had an ace up their sleeve: weapons of mass destruction. Humans had deconstructed their WMD cache centuries ago, but the rebels had learned the technology and developed it over the past hundred years. They researched human documents and schematics. It wasn’t a nuclear or atomic bomb, but it was enough to get the job done.

  With their efforts dying and negotiations crumbling, it was time for the rebellion to act. They gave one last plea to the humans, warning them of the consequences if they did not agree to their terms. The humans arrogantly brushed off their threats. They were now winning the war and thought the rebellion could do nothing but watch their effort die. WMD’s hadn’t even come into the humans’ minds. They greatly underestimated their foe.

  On March 2nd, 2541, the rebellion launched a bomb at the coast of western China. Over a million humans lost their lives that day. This day was forever known as the Event.

  After that, the humans had the choice of walking down one of two paths. The first was to reinstate the nuclear program and continue an all-out war that would lead to the destruction of the planet. The second was to negotiate terms with the animals. They chose th
e latter.

  The rebellion got what they wanted, their own place to live. It took a few years to figure and settle the territories, but in the end each group of animals got what they wanted. The pigs got parts of Australia, the wolves got parts of Northern Canada, the lions and gorillas got parts of South Africa, and so on. Most of these places were areas already uninhabited by humans, except for a few.

  Territories had and still have names, like the Wolf’s Den for example, but the geographical designation that humans gave the land still applies. Thus, the Wolf’s Den is still known as Northern Canada to most people, though sometimes the terms get mixed around. It depends on who is talking. A human is more likely to call it Northern Canada while a wolf would call it the Wolf’s Den. The city names are the same, which leads to more confusion on what we call certain cities or territories. But most animals usually know what you’re talking about regardless of which nomenclature you use.

  Also as part of the terms, the rebellion was forced to disarm any remaining WMD’s they might have had. There are rumors that there’s a secret stash somewhere on both sides, in case it needed to be done again. But that’s only a rumor.

  Initially, the animals lived in relative seclusion from humans, so the United Species Alliance was formed to keep diplomacy between all species. After the Event, bad blood brewed for decades between the humans and their non-human counterparts. Luckily, no major wars raged on, only minor skirmishes would appear at the borders of the territories. Humans still owned most of the land on Earth. Yet, people resented their new neighbors. Many of the humans who were forced to move out of their homes remained bitter and angry.

  However, as a few centuries passed by, things started to die down, and human-animal relations started to improve. Cats and dogs have integrated within human society, with some cities being designated as cat towns or dog cities. The other animals have frostier relations with humans, but for the most part they are civil with each other.

  Separatist groups within certain species tried to replicate the Ark Project’s research. In 2803, lions tried to recreate the process on some of their feline brothers, like cheetahs, when conflicts rose between them and the gorillas. They needed more allies, so they tried to create their own. And pigs tried to do the same on frogs. But the Ark Project could not be replicated successfully, thus the result of the lions and pigs trials led to intelligent cheetahs and frogs, but not super intelligent ones. They’re smarter than the average wild animal, but slower than a human.

  When the other members of the United Species Alliance discovered this, they quickly sent a strike team to put an end to these operations. Since then, any attempts at boosting intelligence leads to the harshest of punishments. In fact, any genetic engineering is forbidden.

  The world has been this way for more than four hundred years and sometimes I find it hard to imagine what life must have been like for humans. They used to eat cows and pigs, which is ludicrous nowadays and would lead to jail time. Chicken and fish are the most acceptable meats to eat.

  I sometimes think about how strange a balance it was back then versus now. For example, cats used to be the humans’ pets, loyal companions that were cherished by them. And when the rebellion happened, mother said cats and dogs were the most resistant to engage in the carnage that the gorillas, pigs, cows and wolves were pushing for. Unlike them, they had no real reason to hate humans. They weren’t their sport, nor were they mass produced solely to be eaten. They simply went along with the plan because they didn’t want to be their pets forever, but that didn’t mean they hated humans. Even today, cats, dogs, and humans have probably the strongest relationship among species. They were given their own territory in Europe, yet as time passed, cats and dogs slowly integrated back into human land. I guess the bond between humans and their domesticated pets doesn’t change, even in the most dire circumstances.

  The relationships humans have with other species aren’t as pleasant. Most of the other animals hate humans, due to the thousands of years of abuse. I’d hate them, too, if I were them.

  Humans don’t have to worry, though. From what I read on the infospace and according to Mother, humans still are in control in the world. They outnumber all the intelligent animals combined.

  But it must irk them knowing they have competition when hundreds of centuries ago they had none. It probably burns them more because it’s their fault it happened. Maybe that’s why the world is after us. All animals, humans, cats, dogs, all of them, probably would do anything to prevent another uprising like that and I guess they think we have the ability to do so.

  The true irony of it all is that in their quest for altruism, Pandora’s Box was opened. Ever since the rebellion and the Event, humans have never been able to attain the level of peace they once did. They didn’t have to worry about each other, but they had new enemies. The arms companies quickly went back into business when the paranoia first spread and now it’s regressed back to pre-peace times. Poverty is back, as is the political game between species. During the time of peace, humans never had to negotiate with each other, politics was handled on a philanthropic level. But that can never exist now with so much animosity and fear in the world.

  Humans could have achieved so much if they didn’t have the animal uprising as a distraction. They were at the pinnacle of their technological developments, but after the Event, things slowed down. There were too many threats, too many things that veered them off the accomplishments they were so close to having. Before the Event, there was a boom in breakthroughs, but now, it’s hard to come by anything amazing. There isn’t time for it. With so much conflict and tension on the Earth, the only thing there’s time for is violence and fear. Those things never lead to anything great.

  These are lessons that mother left us with her death, the explanation of why we are hunted. Back then, the animals who rebelled were the freaks that were pushed against the wall. It seems like the world thinks we’re the next ones to start the fire and they want to put it out before it spreads.

  No matter what you think, destruction has always been the easiest answer, and now my siblings and I have to hide in a musty casino because of it. Mother was right, it’s a cruel world indeed.

  Chapter 12 – Apollo Bradley - Partners

  November 16, 3040 9:36 PM

  Our mission has been relatively quiet. When we got past the entrance of the Primm-Austen supply depot, everything looked normal. The equipment was off and the place was empty. There was nothing to raise suspicion. Commander Trevor is looking through the warehouse floors to find anything that might be a clue. Hair, feathers, blood, but his examination is empty.

  I use my nose to sniff out a trail, but nothing puts me on notice. It’s the usual aroma of rats and dust. I’ve gained a database of thousands of scents over my short career. I’ve even got some aromatic biotics, implanted memories of smells, which aid my tracking skills. It’s a pretty standard procedure for a canine tracker like myself. I know each and every one of them, so I know what is standard and what might be out of the ordinary.

  Still, you can’t be too careful.

  “Scent amplifier,” I say. Out from my helmed weapon slides a scoped device that places itself in front of my nose. Commander Trevor looks at me with a funny expression on his face.

  “What does that thing do?” he asks.

  “It’s a Cerberus Scent Amplifier, newest model, top of the line,” I respond. “It basically makes it easier for me to pick up scents that are otherwise impossible for my nose to detect. With this, I could probably tell what has been lurking as far back as a month ago.”

  “Impressive, but isn’t that going to cause like an overload of smells? I can’t imagine it’s pleasant to be bombarded with the stench of things that are months old.”

  “There are filters that help control that. I won’t smell a fart that some maintenance worker ripped five days ago.”

  “You dogs and your tech,” he says in a joking manner. “I’m surprised there’s stuff that dogs can’t sm
ell.”

  “Even with aromatic biotics, there’s only so much the body can do on its own.”

  “True. I never see wolves with something like that, though.”

  “Eh, they’re too proud and feel that technology weakens their hunter’s spirit, whatever that means. They tend to act more… stubborn than us dogs. I mean, have you met Fenrir?”

  Commander Trevor lets out a light laugh.

  “Well I’m glad your candidness is still around after all these years,” he says.

  I first met Simon a few years back. We were tracking drugs that were being created in Seadog, Florida, a booming dog city on the southern tip of the panhandle. It has wonderful beaches and top notch law enforcement thanks to the resources given by humans.

  Even though Seadog is considered a dog city, it owes its development to humans. Humans provided financial funding, and even to this day, human law enforcement helps patrol the streets when dogs need assistance. As a return, they get a small portion of the local tax charged to Seadog residents.

  Drugs were a new thing in Seadog. This place was still relatively young and, while prosperous, over time, poverty crept its way in. There was a rumor that an illegal stimulant was being produced in a sleeper operation. The drug was some sort of hyper steroid, allowing the user to enhance their physical abilities greatly for a short amount of time. On the street, though, they were known as “wall smashers” mainly because of the rage a user would feel while under the influence.

  Since humans had a strong connection to Seadog, the raid was a joint effort by the Human Council and High Dog Council. They sent a team that included Commander Trevor and me to get these drugs out of Seadog and persecute those making them.

  I was fairly young at the time, but our enforcement branch, the Dog Alliance, saw me as an agent with unlimited potential. I was smarter than my peers, faster, and had a better nose. A drug operation like this was ideal for a dog with my skills.