Zeros And Ones: Zeros And Ones, #2 i3o24

I Condemn You Book 2

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

ZEROS AND ONES

First edition. July 13, 2021.

Copyright © 2021 J Batten.

Written by J Batten.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Chapter 1 | Defensive

Chapter 2 | The Innocent

Chapter 3 | Their Defect

Chapter 4 | Their Will

Chapter 5 | Angeline's Smile

Chapter 6 | Soggy Bread

Chapter 7 | Meet the Creator

Chapter 8 | Mass Production

Chapter 9 | Long Live The...

Chapter 10 | Can't Find a Soul to Help

Chapter 11 | One or the Other

Chapter 12 | The Plan

Chapter 13 | It's A Botch

Chapter 14 | We Can't Be A Minority

Chapter 15 | The Majority

Chapter 16 | Assume the Position

Chapter 17 | Our New History

Chapter 18 | Somewhere in Time

Chapter 19 | History Untold

Chapter 20 | Secret Society

Chapter 21 | Push Back

Chapter 22 | A Better Push

Chapter 23 | Self-Destruction Switch

Chapter 24 | He Knows

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Chapter 1

Defensive

Marissa , Marissa. Angeline tossed in her sleep, whispering to herself. Afraid of crying out and making an echo in a bellowing sound in a small refuge, she opened her eyes without getting up. Instead she waited to hear if anyone was having the same tormenting thoughts. Marissa was supposed to be among them, safe and secure. Yet, the decision had been made to use her to carry out, what they believed at the time to be, a promising plan. It was the only way they could inject themselves to the outside world and free themselves of being in the hidden shadows. Marissa had taken Angeline’s new born baby to start a new life with Shine, one of the naturals. It was deceptive but brilliant, pretending to have born a miracle child with Shine, but it didn’t go exactly as planned. Angeline could hear Marissa calling out and speaking to her, the way they do. “They’ve taken her and I still haven’t seen yours.” Marissa spoke in such a screaming thought, that Angeline felt her pain. It was not just her baby that was taken, but Marissa’s too. Shine’s people were unable to have children of their own, here on this planet. It wasn’t the right atmosphere for procreation. Now that they were stuck on a foreign planet, they had to make do. Marissa was going to be the make do and was going to be the beginning of survival for his people. Angeline spoke softly back to her, in thought, “we will find you. We will come get you. And the babies.” Her heart was broken with no real hope, but she had to give Marissa something. She was alone and afraid, locked up by Shine as his pretend wife, making babies. “When?” Marissa thought was heard in an exasperating tone. She had given up. Angeline felt it. She was ready to die. “Soon. I promise, soon.” Angeline responded mustering up some happy thoughts to send to her, but it was all a lie. Marissa had been moved from Shine’s home to another place, somewhere unknown. They moved her while she slept. Awaken and afraid, she had ended up in some lab with a team of Shine’s people. Her baby was nowhere in sight and neither was Angeline’s baby. She regretted ever agreeing to take Angeline’s as her own. She was powerless. Now, Angeline re her screams of fighting off Shine’s people. It was the last time she heard any communication from Marissa. The only thing left for her

to do and to keep her sanity, is to her strength and her will to fight, all while trying to block out the memories of her screams. Please, please, please, be alright. Angeline whispered to herself. She desperately needed happy thoughts, happy memories. Angeline ed the day Marissa left. Her little baby girl was a precious miracle. She had hugged her little tiny image of herself and kissed her cheek, while staring into her eyes. Her baby girl smiled back, satisfied she had pleased her mother. The days of yesterday had come and past. It was an abrupt reality check. At the time, she was a bit relieved, for food was scarce for all of them. They saw the baby’s tiny image that barely ate, and she feared it was going to die. In fact, she was scared they were all going to die. Yet, they managed to carry out their plan. Marissa had taken Angeline’s baby as her own, to masquerade as Shine’s miracle baby. Taking a deep breath, Angeline sat up, giving up on sleep. The plan had worked, but she fretted every day for Marissa and her baby. Marissa had officially became Shine’s prisoner, whispering to the others of the conditions she had to endure. Their ability to speak to one another using their minds was a special gift from God. They were always told to keep the communication open and to keep one another alive. More importantly, Marissa often spoke, to Angeline, of Shine wanting to bear another child, something she had never experienced. Fear took over her so badly that her nerves had taken complete control, making her shake feverishly. Shine, they had learned, had given her medicine to make her sleep. Angeline and the others did not know what was truly happening, during Marissa’s “silent” sleep. It was those medicines that kept Angeline in the dark, for Marissa couldn’t use her gift. Angeline was left to increase her focus on survival and to get Marissa back to safety and away from Shine’s experiments. The lab couldn’t be too far, she hoped. Yet, nothing made her feel truly assured. Survival had taken them to a temporary secure location with guidance from their God, Jug. He had protected them in the time of need and had mapped out a plan for their future. A simple map of survival, was to learn and train for their future. They were hidden deep inside the caves, stealing moments into the night for food, hoping to see Marissa as an escaped refugee.

God’s messages, though, had dwindled down into a few sporadic moments, for fear of his communications being interrupted and being caught by the military. They had no other choice, but to take a leader amongst themselves and pursue on course with the faith of God in them. ❖ Angeline stared at her new leader. He was laying amongst the others, still sleeping. Dayle, had worked with their God. Who else could lead, but God’s apprentice? She laid down, closed her eyes and once again tried to sleep, hoping she could block out Marissa’s screams. When day broke, Dayle was taking another headcount. They had managed to escape their worst enemy, Trent. Trent, a commander and leader of the world, was a good hunter. He had managed to reduce their numbers and they presumed he was still on the hunt. They all saw Angeline as their first blessing. She had their miracle offspring and now they needed to make more. They were going to defeat Trent with their survival skills of making more. Angeline moved methodically as she checked their garden. There was a bit of water savored in a shallow part of the cave indention, where a stream managed to escape to. They had gathered soil from outside and kept it in torn cloths. It was the only way to build an indoor garden located near the mouth of the cave. There's just enough air coming in and just enough reflected sunlight providing the energy needed for the seeds to grow. With Marissa still on her mind, she dropped a tear on one of the plants, as if it was a wish of needing some change in their lives. The headcount gave him a smile. Dayle counted three more pregnancies and was hoping for girls. But the rate of the pregnancies was disappointing. He hated the slow process and wished he knew how to accelerate it, but God didn’t teach him that. "We need to begin a new strategy." Dayle began his speech. They all turned to look and listen, some still very sleepy. “For what? We haven’t heard from God. He’s forgotten . We can’t go out without worrying about getting caught. We are all going to die.” He was a small man trying to be forgotten, as he sat scrunched in a corner in the dark.

“No. There is hope. I’ve heard from God at another eye. He speaks to us mysteriously. If he isn’t mysterious, they will know. They will find out and find him. He tells me that he has another location for us. Somewhere safe. Somewhere where we can make more of ours. More like us, so we don’t have to wait. We can make ourselves better and cleaner. We won’t be detected. He says he has left instructions for us. Rules that we can follow, to make more.” Dayle was confident with his words, but couldn’t speak with conviction for he felt it would cause his voice to raise and carry echo’s in the cave. “More? Of us? We are doing that already.” Another said. “But not as fast. We would be able to make more of us, faster. Things will be different and we will have the control we need. We must all trust in God.” Dayle walked around as he spoke, trying to reach them all to provide comfort. “We’ve all trusted in God and look at how he keeps us. We are dying. We have failed.” A young girl said, biting at her blistered lips. Her clothes was filled with muddy fragments of the cave as she blended in with the wall. “No! We are alive and well. We are making more and we will make even more. We just need to make it to the tunnel. It connects to our safe house. You will see.” Dayle continued. “What about the children? They can’t walk fast like us and they might make noise. What about the others who will have a baby? They can’t move like the rest. We won’t be able to make it. We are just what they call us, Bones.” One of the female Bones said. “Yes, we will. We will leave in small groups. There is food there, so we don’t have to carry anything. Two will come back to get another group. Each group will leave the rest and two will return for a new group; until there is no more groups. If we get caught, they will not catch us all. We are not just Bones. We have names now. We will prevail.” Dayle insisted. ‘But the children, you haven’t answered that question. They will make noise.” The female Bone fretted. “No, they won’t. God says he has something for them, to make them rest their minds during the journey. The two will bring it back and they will be quiet. We will go in the night, in the fog. There is fog for two days now and more days to

come. Now, is the time to go. Eat enough, but not too much to slow us down. And be ready.” Dayle spoke pointing to a group already standing, eager to leave. Another safe place is all they needed to hear. Anything is better than where they were. Angeline listened in the background, still trying to tend to her garden. She couldn’t bring it with her and was still scared. She wished Marissa was with them. She was worried that if Marissa managed to escape, she would not know of their new secret hiding place. Marissa was going to be left behind to always be in Shine’s shadow, not quite a real wife; but an experiment to make more of his kind. She took another shirt to place a few plants in. It’s worth a try to see if her garden can grow at their new hideout. She glanced at Dayle. He was hopeful. It was where she wanted to be. He was convinced that the plan was going well. He had bragged that Marissa was a wife now and soon they will be acceptable to Shine’s people for making more. Soon they will be able to walk out in the daylight and not hide in the shadows. He had hope. She knew it was just false hope, but it was hope. The screams were still haunting. There was something deep inside her that was unsettling. It couldn’t be that easy, she thought. ❖ The night came quicker than they had expected. There was nothing to prepare, but their extensive exhilaration. Angeline wanted to be with the first group. All day, she thought about Marissa. She was certain that she was dead. It was better than her being alive and returning to an empty cave, just to be hunted and caught again. Death would end her misery. Tonight, was the end of her misery. Angeline wasn’t the only one urging for change, but was scared. The time was now and they were still uncertain. God had promised them many things, but had left them to die. They were alone with nothing from God, but a promise to safety. With God unreachable, they had no other choice, but to trust in Dayle. The first group ran as fast as they could, trying to keep up with him. They had gotten used to the fog and kept low, watching one another’s feet. Not speaking, they counted to themselves from the time they left the cave to the time they reached the tunnel. They knew the exact number for the distance between the cave and the tunnel. It was something they learned to do, to know distances and

to map things in their minds. When they reached the tunnel there was a sense of relief and a sense of fear. The tunnel had an awful smell. It didn’t feel safe, but they had trust in Dayle and that was enough. Dayle told them not to touch the green vines. It was their enemy and would make them sick. He was their new protector. “Be careful. The outside is not our friend, but our new home is. You’ll see.” Dayle gave them a warm smile. He loved the familiarity of their new home. He ed God teaching him and showing him where to go. Dayle was on his ship then, and hoped God would one day take him home. Deep in the tunnel, covered by moss was an old door. Dayle pried it open, being careful not to damage the thick layer of moss. Once they were all in, he would need to reseal the outside of the door to make sure it was kept hidden. They rested as they slowly walked through the tunnel. It’s what they called rest, slowing down, but not stopping until they had to. They reached another door, after walking through the maze. Dayle opened it. They entered a large room with machines and beds. They couldn’t be more glad to finally see comfort. “We need two to go back with me.” Dayle opened another door where food was stored and distributed it. “If we make as much trips as we can before daylight, we can get half of our people here. And then tomorrow we’ll do it again. Then we can truly rest.” They all agreed, while some took refuge on the beds. “Anyone remaining, do not leave this room and conserve the food. We need to discuss our plans. We all must wait, so don’t spoil things.” Dayle drank a glass of water trying to catch his breath. He saw Angeline falling asleep on one of the beds. She was his hope and possible his wife. She had the strength of a leader and could make more of him. A new direction, with what the naturals call “love”. The love that came from making more. “The unborn babies must eat. They have to.” One of the male Bones said. “Of course, they can.” Dayle grinned as he looked back at Angeline, she was tired but was trying to comfort the children. Dayle made four more trips before calling it quits, making sure he took as many females as possible. They were lucky tonight and hoped the same for tomorrow night. One thing he’s learned is to do things right away, before there was no more opportunity. But he ed what God had told him, that Trent

expected that they had already moved to another location. It was what saved them, staying in the cave; while Trent kept looking elsewhere. God had his security watching over them, making Trent move elsewhere and confusing the military’s intelligence. While the others, lost trust in God, Dayle kept his. He kept up with studying and learning as much as he could. He refused to give up. He learned to map, learned to count, learned locations, learned where their enemies were and learned when to God. God depended on him to lead and to teach and to survive. He glanced at Angeline, before laying down. She was why they were going to survive. She was going to make more, enough so they can one day return to their true home and to be with God. Angeline and him with their offspring were going to one day start the ship and return to their home planet. ❖ Angeline laid still next to the children, wanting and missing her baby. They were just as tired as she was. Their eyes puzzled and with fear. They were in a new place, closed in, with lots of lights. Scared and tired, she watched their eyes close, taking them to another place. A place where they go when they close their eyes, with many pictures and memories of the day that past. God had taught them that they were dreams and dreams can be good or bad. Angeline never ed her dreams. She didn’t care to. The only thing she wanted on her mind was their future and she felt she had finally had one. The room was secure. She heard nothing; no outside, no noise. She was sure she didn’t have to be quiet. They didn’t have to be so careful anymore. The place was very secure. It reminded her of a ship, but nicely decorated. “I can’t sleep.” One of the sleepy children said. The locked doors were too much of a mystery for her eagerness. “Shh. Go to sleep. Tomorrow we will see everything. But sleep first.” Angeline whispered grinning. She ed that feeling. The feeling when she first saw a ship near the marketplace. This, too, was a ship. She was convinced she was on a ship, deep underground and secure. There were no windows, but there were bright lights. Dayle left all the lights on, brightly lit as they slept. Angeline sat up, smiling and counting. She couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t wait to hear their plan. They had a future and there was

hope. They were going to make more of themselves, just like Dayle said. Tired, Angeline got up to walk around making sure that she didn’t wake them. The rooms were all locked. She grinned to herself. Dayle didn’t trust them. She didn’t blame him. They had made mistakes before and he had become their protector as a result of it. There were a couple of doors that had glass windows. She peeked through one, after wiping the dirt away, but couldn’t understand what she was seeing. Deciding to take a peek at the other door, hoping she would get better luck on understanding what was on the other side; she saw nothing but an empty room. Her view was blocked by a furniture that gave her just a small glimpse of nothing. She grinned and imagined her new life on the other side of the door. She couldn’t wait to open it. Then the lights went out one by one, like magic, on its own.

Chapter 2

The Innocent

The flashing lights was everywhere. Angeline got scared and tried to open the door to where Dayle was, but it was locked. How could he not hear the alarm , she thought? She ran back to the other room, where everyone was pressing buttons and trying to open doors. “Who did this?” Angeline was shaking. The alarm was so loud, she was sure that the outside world could hear it. “I just pressed this button, that’s all. I was trying to turn on the lights.” Angeline didn’t care to hear. Trent had to be at the door by now and Dayle was fast asleep in a soundproof room. She wanted to die before anyone had a chance to kill her. Running back to Dayle’s room, she started banging on the door and then on the glass near the door. Her heart was pounding with the same beat, while screaming inside her assailant’s name, Trent! Squinting, Dayle barely saw his timer flash with its low beeping alarm. It was time for him to wake up, but he was still exhausted. He had made several runs back and forth from the cave last night. It was like he ran around the entire marketplace. He was relieved that they made it and was hoping the fog remained thick. His timer, a tool given to him by God, said it wasn’t daybreak yet. If he could bring the rest to the new location before midday, it would give him a head start for his plans. He sat up and opened his eyes and saw Angeline at the cutout window near the door. She was frantic. He opened the door and saw that the others were already up, shadows in the dark, moving around trying to turn off the alarm. “Calm down. It’s okay.” Dayle saw their terrified face and the sickness they felt inside. He was the only one that wasn’t scared and yet, that was what scared him. “Trent.” Angeline whispered fearfully. “Don’t worry. No one can hear the alarm outside. It’s inside only.” Dayle had difficulty accepting that he was their new leader, but saw that he had to be. No one knew the ship like he did. No one had authority in the ship like what was given to him. Yet, he had no military training and wished he knew more about

medicine. He needed assistants, people he can teach so he can relax. “We don’t know how to turn on the lights in here. This place is different.” Angeline whimpered, trying to stay calm. Dayle walked over to the control . The lights went on and there was a clicking sound releasing the locks to the doors. “I’m giving you all access to the first floor. That’s what God wants. I’ll show you around later, but for now we need to get the rest of our people.” He quickly put his clothes on. “I thought you said at night, when no one can see.” Angeline was concerned and became frightened once again. “Yes, but if the fog is still thick, we should try and get it over with. We need to finish this.” Dayle laced his boots, then scanned the room to see who would go with him. Five Bones walked away, frightened by the alarm, they didn’t need any more adventure. He then opened the door to the storage room, where he showed supplies of more food. “Here. There’s some food. I don’t think I need to remind you to eat in moderation. But now, I need two men to run with me.” He went to the door to the pathway. “I’ll be back in a minute. I want to check outside, to make sure it’s good to go.” Angeline watched him leave, then decided she wanted a room like where Dayle ended up sleeping. He left them, separated himself, why? She couldn’t understand the why? Dayle was their leader and he deserved a better rest and security, that’s why, her inner self explained. Then who was she to deserve a room for herself? She had to be something important. In the back, around the corner she found the perfect room for her. There was a miraculous flower in it. A real flower, alive, behind the glass cabinet. She touched it carefully, not to do it any harm. It’s unbelievable how the plant was still alive. She wondered how long has it been on the ship. It had to be months. “Oh, my goodness, this ship is.” Angeline spoke softly with awe, not finishing her sentence. She noticed a book without aged pages. She saw a small potted tree, blooming. They were all real. Unbelievably, nothing aged, or nothing

died. It was like time stood still. It was the perfect room for her, if she wanted to live forever. She can keep her garden in here. ❖ Dayle walked slowly down the pathway to the other exterior door, hoping the fog was still thick. His mind was filled with exhaustion of the never-ending torment of war. He knew he had to prepare his people to survive and to live, but his goal was to leave this planet. He needed to be with God and return to their home. He needed to figure out how to repair the ship and make it move. He’d rather take his chances than to stay and fight and endless war with Trent. His new private mission was to fix the ship. The ship would take him to his home planet; the one that God told him about. Beautiful clean oceans, with cities deep in the sea. Mountains pointing out into space where there lived a certain kind of people that could only breathe mountain air. He was going to live amongst the land dwellers, loving the fields of green. No wars to hide from. Beautiful homes made by artists designed with uniqueness. Most importantly he would have a wife, hopefully Angeline, and wouldn’t have to worry about anything. They, God and his people, were the best scientist in the galaxy. God said he was the most recognized. But Dayle wished he had some pictures to make his dream more visual and bring God’s planet to life. The door was there in front of him, blocking his dream from continuing. He reached the point of what separated him from the outside world, with no way to peek outside and with reality striking him in his face. He took a deep breath and chanced it, like he has always done. Opening it slowly, he saw no one and to his luck, the fog was still very thick and it was still dark like night. Two more trips before midday was going to be a killer, but he went ahead and did it. The cave was empty and they were finally all on the ship. While the last people that were in the cave felt relief to be with the others, he felt like collapsing. He locked down the ship and increased the security. He needed to rest and assured everyone that they were finally safe. Angeline followed him to his room. “Um, I found a room. It’s perfect for me. This ship.” She paused. “It’s something special. We won’t age. I found a flower still alive.”

Dayle sat on his bed, ready for a nap, but grinned. He was happy to see Angeline and to hear about her room. He wanted to ask her to share his, but held back. He was their leader and had to act like one. “Yep, something like that. God said the ship regulates time, especially when flying in space; because every world has a different timer.” He couldn’t truly explain, but he needed to make it sound like he knows what he was talking about. “So? I’m moving in there.” Angeline waited. “Of course, but we all can’t have a room. I suggest you wait. I’ll let them know you are getting that room and why. This level doesn’t have much resting rooms.” Dayle fell backwards on his bed. Angeline was grateful and decided to help take his boots off while massaging his feet, still talking to him about what was on her mind. He fell asleep with her words on his mind and her in his room where he rested, dreaming of their children with the same inspiring interest they both had. ❖ He fell asleep agreeing with everything she said. Angeline saw Dayle as a hero. He was always a hero, but today he was a special kind of hero. They had a ship that would take them off the planet to their home. She was excited. She moved everyone that was awake into another room. “Dayle says we must eat in moderation. These supplies won’t last. We are already planning what kind of food we need to store. We have several cold boxes in the kitchen. I think we should store as much as possible for our journey back home.” Angeline felt a sense of duty to take over. Simply directions to keep the ship and grow their food was enough to be convincing. “Angeline, you’re not in charge here. We’re not listening to you.” A Bone said. Angeline didn’t care. She wasn’t going to lose her position. “Dayle put me in charge of the house. I am in charge of that. He’s in charge of everything else.” Angeline insisted. “You’re lying. The only thing you are in charge of is your baby and you don’t have that!” The Bone yelled back.

“Look! Maybe you’re right, but we need to work better together.” Her voice cracked. “We’ve lost a lot of our people and I am a female. I can make more. I’m important. We need more to run this ship and return home.” Angeline was near tears, on the thought of not having her baby, but she wasn’t going to cower. There was silence. Angeline was right and they knew it. The females were capable of making more to move the ship and they’ve never been in a ship this big before. Even if Dayle didn’t put her in charge of anything, she could very well be in charge of making babies and keeping the children. She was the first that they saw who had one. The other children were from God’s collection and was left with the bunch. She was the expert. “Dayle is going to make more people his way. He said so. You females are just backup and you won’t make enough in time. Look how long it took you to have just one. You females are slow and not as strong as us men. We already know that’s not the way to live. Our people leave females in the home.” A Bone declared, with frustration. Angeline was a pest and the ship was too big and important to be bothered by a pest. “Yes, in the home.” Angeline interrupted. “And that is what this is. This ship is our home now. And it’s a ship. While you learn to fly it, we have to keep it and make more men to work the ship.” There was no point in arguing with Angeline and they decided to walk around to figure things out. She was right about one thing, they needed to work together better. They walked from room to room, not understanding every room. Some doors were still locked, but the ones that were open had controls and monitors and many things that would help them survive. It was going to take a while for them to learn this ship. But they knew the ship had promises and they now had a future. ❖ The hours went by, as they impatiently waited for Dayle to wake up. There was no natural light and the children wanted out. They were running and screaming that they wanted to go outside and smell the air. It was their screams that eventually had awaken Dayle. His door was left with a small opening, to prevent them from panicking, if another incident occurred. Going through the closet in his room, he found a lab coat and a uniform and opted for the lab coat

instead. He hoped that the others would see him as just a worker and the role of the uniforms as leaders. Dayle gave an honest smile of hope. They sat and listened. The children sitting in front, waiting for him to say they can go smell the fresh air. But instead Angeline summoned them into another room, where she showed them where they were going to garden. Keeping them busy was the only way to keep their minds off of fresh air, but the garden only reminded them of how much they wanted to get out, so she failed. She filled their hands with seeds and told them to get to work, while heading back to the meeting. “We’ve done it. We’ve made it here. They can’t penetrate this ship. God had spoken to me and had assured me that this is our safe house. It’s his old ship during the first landing.” Dayle sipped some water that Angeline handed him, as she smiled showing Dayle’s acceptance of her. Dayle was looking smart in his lab coat, which Angeline felt made him the official leader. A few of the male Bones were still tinkering with things. Dayle saw them in their roles already. “Broken?” A tall thin Bone asked, not understanding the buttons on the terminal. He was eager to start. Anything would do. “No, not at all. It works, but it’s old. Not modern. We need to learn this ship. All of it. We can use it to leave. We need to know how to repair it and how to get home.” Dayle walked over to a control and showed him the switches he was familiar with. Angeline interrupted, “and I’ve already told them that you put me in charge of keeping it. I am a female and the females can make more. We can make much more to run this ship. Can’t we?” She gave the others a firm look that she wasn’t going to give up on her new role. Dayle smiled. Angeline was simple. She learned only what she needed to. “Yes, Angeline can keep the ship. I suggest that the females listen to Angeline. She has a little girl on the outside who will eventually make more as she has done. She will keep track of maintaining the food supply and keeping the ship clean. But we need to make more now, much faster than the females! And we will!” Dayle had a new sense of energy and exhilaration. He moved around the room still unsure who was capable. They only knew how to survive. This was a new level for them, not just survival, but learning and maintaining what they

have. “I need all who wish to learn to make more and all who wish to learn to move the ship. We will train together. We must keep learning and keep teaching.” Dayle pointed them to make two groups. “You are now our scientists,” he told the group to make more. “And you are our technologist,” he told the group to move the ship. Their new titles required uniforms and he was glad to give them their official roles. Angeline and a couple of female Bones went and got the uniforms for them. ❖ That was all they needed to hear. They had a way out. The ship, Angeline, and Dayle, and their more. The two groups that were made, Dayle led them to a locked room. Inside were tables and machines. He explained that the group to make more would be working in there. Then he took the second group to another room. It was a training room, where they had to learn the ship. “This is the most important room. It’s not real, but it is for practice. We can learn how to move the ship from this room. The training is on these monitors. Every day we need to come here and learn as much as possible. The faster we learn the better.” Dayle never had a chance to learn everything, but he had faith that they will learn. The room had not just videos, but control s that appeared to be real. They simulated the processes. He had never gotten a chance to learn how to fly the ship. If he had, he wouldn’t bother in trying to make more, instead he would just attempt to leave. “What about for real? When will we take the ship from underground? And will it lift up from underneath all this dirt and rocks?” Augustus, who was a male Bone, said. “Yes, it will. This ship is huge and has the capability of moving not just itself, but anything that tries to hold it down.” Dayle wasn’t quite sure, but he needed to give them confidence and hope. “What about going outside? The children are already exhausted of not breathing

fresh air. We can’t just stay inside all the time. When we were in the cave, we at least had opportunity to go near the opening for air and sneak out for food. When will we be able to go out?” One of the female Bones asked, disregarding Angeline’s authority. Dayle responded, “Angeline will be handling that matter. She will work with me closely to prepare for a way to safely take turns going out with our men.” He grinned at Angeline as he built back her authority. Augustus sat at a desk, ready for training. Some men followed suit, waiting for the monitor to go on. “Moreover, there is fresh air in here. The ship collects fresh air and moves it around as needed to keep it breathing. And we must first map the area outside of the ship before hunting for food. We have windows in this ship that can see outside. But God said that the ship can map things on its own, so we may not need to.” Dayle explained, ing what he was taught. “And the children? What happens when there are more children?” Another female Bone said. “There is a room we can keep them in, where they can play. There are toys and activities there, but it’s on the second level above this one.” Dayle said hesitantly, not wanting to go to the second level. “You’ve been there?’ Augustus asked, interested in seeing the entire ship. “No, not yet. But God said there is and I believe him.” Dayle said. “You have the codes for the ship, all of it?” Augustus asked, looking at some instructions at his desk. “Not codes, clearance. God gave me clearance. This is where I was going some days to speak to God. He took me here before he left, to get supplies. He showed me a few things, but I don’t know everything. I suggest we be careful with everything. I don’t want to break anything. Not a thing.” Dayle was now concerned. The ship was old and breakable and no one knew anything about it. It was their last chance to freedom. Angeline started her cleaning and listening like a good spy. She wanted to learn

too, but knew she would never get that chance, for her role was to make more. Although there were no dust or anything out of place, she wiped down the tables anyway. Augustus pushed her out of the room, annoyed of her curiosity. Dayle grinned. He knew they were all excited to get things started, but they truly had no idea how much work it really was.

Chapter 3

Their Defect

Jug had recorded his work in detail, every trial and error. His notes were securely stored in the lab deep in the impenetrable ship from yesteryears. He knew no one would find it and he needed a place to store his backup, just in case Trent raided his home and lab. Due to his rushed escape, he had no chance to destroy it; but now that it was safely stored, Dayle was the perfect person to continue to carry out his plan. Dayle, with Jug’s notes, was overwhelmed. Although every detail was organized, he couldn’t understand all of his writings. They were filled with shortcuts of his native language that he had never learned. Instead he opted to rely on the videos of the process. Dayle with both George and Peter, his new assistants, worked diligently trying to recreate what Jug had done. They had managed to dig up some dead bodies of their people to rebuild them, but was unsuccessful. Dayle was stuck. He couldn’t figure out how to keep his new creation that was from the dead from dissolving into a squishy fatty mess. It just wouldn’t stay to form or hold its position. He just didn’t know what he was doing wrong. George and Peter were, also, getting frustrated with him. He studied the video several times and revised each step at each point in the video, but still there lay a dissolving blob. The skin breaking apart, the bone structure wearing away, and mushy insides. There was something he was doing wrong and there was no way to God with Trent constantly checking the outgoing communications that left the planet. George and Peter were getting tired, too. They had stopped working out of frustration. They didn’t believe Dayle knew what he was doing and wanted to completely quit, but instead Dayle told them to take a break. He needed to figure it out for himself. Dayle picked up Jug’s written notes. It was thick and bulky and would take days to go through the pages. He skimmed through looking at the drawings, but couldn’t find anything different than what he saw in the video. He played the video again and again. Jug had made it appear so easy, placing parts of the whole together and combining them into one cohesive thing. He had called his creation Bones. It was through the videos and the notes that Dayle had realized they were Bones. The bones in the process had to be of significance. It was the most important thing he had to master. It was where the flesh laid and

where it held the brains. Yet, Dayle’s Bones would just wither away turning to shrouded fragments with intentions of turning into dust. Dayle thought they fought for their survival, hidden to escape one day to a secure location and now it was all for nothing. They were failing from the start. ❖ His team was angry, both George and Peter took their frustration out on the first person they saw, Angelina. They dismissed her when she offered them a drink. Curious, Angeline went straight in to see Dayle to find out what was wrong. She walked in being careful not to disturb him. He was still studying the video. She placed his tea and meal at his desk in the corner and began to slowly leave the lab, staring at the video, trying to find what was wrong. “Angeline, can you sit with me?” Dayle felt hopeless and needed some comfort. “Me? What for?” Angeline was a bit startled. She’d rather listen and see, not to interject. “I just need a bit of company. Someone that is not working with me. I need your input.” Dayle took a sip of his tea. His face was flushed with embarrassment. He knew his assistants were already sharing that they had failed. “I don’t know science. Plus, my job is to house the ship and keep everyone fed and clean and healthy.” Angeline turned to walk away. “That’s true, but healthy involves some science. And I just need you to tell me what you think.” Dayle said. “About what?” Angeline sat down at his desk, watching him leave the monitor to eat his lunch. “I know everyone is talking about how I can’t make this happen, but it’s not easy. I thought it would be. I went over and over the video that was left for us, but still I’m failing miserably. I truly feel like giving up and to start counting down our days. We won’t survive if we don’t make more of ourselves. Trent will eventually find us and then...” Dayle paused, not bothering to state the obvious.

Angeline didn’t know what to say or how to comfort him. Their future was dependent on Dayle being successful. What was she to think? That they were having babies to be murdered one day by Trent and his military. Dayle had to figure it out. He couldn’t give up now, not under any circumstances. “Is there anything missing from the video?” Angeline asked. “No, nothing. I checked over and over, but nothing.” Dayle said. “And he left no notes, nothing in writing?” Angeline looked about, not knowing what she was looking for. “Yes, of course, but the video is much easier to see and everything is there.” Dayle said. “But maybe everything isn’t there and that’s why he had his notes.” Angeline said. “His actual steps are in the video, the notes are just a backup of what he did in the video. The video has it all.” Dayle insisted. “I don’t know.” Angeline shook her head, not wanting to get Dayle angry. He was already extremely frustrated. Dayle sighed, “maybe you’re right. I need to review the notes and compare it with the video. There could be something missing.” Angeline sat and watched him eat in silence, he looked defeated. She felt defeated too. She thought she wasn’t doing a good job of keeping the house. Dayle was an important person that everyone depended upon. She had to make him feel comfortable. She needed him to be successful, but all she knew how to do is cook, clean and garden. Dayle took his handz, a computer tablet, out to go over God’s notes, as he sipped his tea. His eyebrows raised and a smirk turning into a smile expressed his new found love for Angeline. She was right. There was much more in the notes. Why haven’t he seen it before? The overwhelming thickness of the notes, made him skim and not read. “It’s here. The temperature, the timing, everything is here. You were right,

Angeline, I skipped over so much. They need to be in the right temperature and they need to be stored and wait for parts to form. The video is in days, not in one day. How can I be so stupid?” Dayle gleamed and began to eat quickly for he had much more work to do. Angeline smiled. She was ready to leap out of there and tell the news. “Tell my assistants to return, I see where my problem is. We must prepare for another one. But this time we would do it right.” Dayle said. Angeline was already at the door and shook her head in agreement as she went to fetch the others. ❖ Dayle skimmed through the pages and stopped at a bookmarked page marked important. Slowly he read through it, blocking out his assistants’ noise as they entered the room and made preparation for another one. Dayle’s mouth dropped and his hands shook. He was devastated. “Oh, my God!” The words came with no thought in mind, but of startlement. He was scared. “What is it?” George asked. “We...” Dayle paused. “We’re not real. We’re not natural like the others. That’s why Trent is hunting us down to kill us. We are not like them.” “Of course, we are. They are fighting against our God, not us. It is because we are part of God that they are angry. We follow God’s way.” George said adamantly. “No! We are not part of God. We are not from him. We are different. He made us look like the people that bought us. He made us to sell us for profit. He made us to obey him by using technology and science. It’s here. It’s written here. They can control us! The naturals can control us.” Anger was brewing deep inside of Dayle. He thought of nothing, but the children. They, too, were made to be sold. And if he and Angeline had children, they would be controlled and sold as well.

“No, you’re wrong. God would never do something like that. He loves us. He’s protected us and brought us here. He’s provided for us and he’s promised that we will return home safely, away from Trent to live our lives freely.” George didn’t want to read. He didn’t want to know. He just wanted to focus on making more and didn’t understand why Dayle was focusing on the absurd. “No, that can’t possibly be his intentions. He want to control us and make money from us. It is Trent that is preventing him from doing so.” Dayle read more as he spoke, glued to the details written. Jug had a financial plan, who he was going to do business with, and what planets he wanted to take over. “Trent! Trent is a killer. He only wishes to kill us all. You are lost. What have you read? Let me see.” Peter walked over reaching out for the notes. The first thing he saw were images, planned out details of different kinds of Bones, appearing as different species. Peter thought for different worlds. He was making products to sell for different purposes in different environments. The second thing he saw was different kinds of technology he wanted to use in each kind of Bone. Technology that looked like real biological parts of the body, yet reacted to external technology. Shockingly they were designed like machines. Dayle pushed his “handz” towards George, who had come to them, and walked away. He waited for them to read the entire thing. Life as he knew it wasn’t true. They were not free men and they did not have free will. They had a cost to them and were controlled mentally to obey their owners, like manmade machines. George and Peter sat still, frozen. They had read the notes that was marked important. There was no words for them to utter. They, too, were frightened. What frightened them most is that they were about to do the same thing. ❖ “What are we going to do?” Dayle asked. He had now left his seat of being their leader and fell onto the table of being a product. “Maybe, we are different.” George said. “Do you really believe that? There are more pages of analysis of how much money he wants to make that I’ve yet to read. He wants to make much more of us, so he can own and rule this earth and many other earths.” Dayle sat back in

the chair, heartbroken. “Are you still going to do it?” Peter asked. “How can I?” Dayle shook his head. “I feel natural. We look like the ones who haven’t been exposed to the explosion. It’s just our skin are different.” George said. “Stop lying to yourself George. We barely look like them. This proves that we were designed. The only thing that resembles is our bone structure. Everything else was tweaked.” Peter’s voice was shaking. He never really saw himself, until now. “That explosion was all a lie. It has to be. There are some from the explosion that have babies, where their skin are like the naturals. Why do we bear offspring’s that are still affected by the explosion, where their skin is unnatural? And our hair? It doesn’t make sense. He lied.” Dayle said. “The explosion has chemicals that through to the offsprings. That’s why.” George said. “What about what is written about them controlling us?” Dayle asked. “It can’t be true.” George scrolled through the pages on the handz. “It is true and he wants us to make more that are controlled. For him!” Dayle was exasperated. “We don’t have to do this. We don’t have to continue this anymore. We should just live out our days. That’s it.” Peter said. “No! My life is important. I have to be a natural. When we are free from this world things will be different and you won’t be thinking that way.” George said. “You’re wrong. The only way we will be thinking is the way he has designed us to think.” Dayle said. “Then why are you opposing him now? Why aren’t you thinking like he wants you to think?” Peter asked.

“Because of Trent. He’s blocked the communications. We can’t our God, because of it. It’s the technology he put inside of us. It’s being blocked.” Dayle said. “So, then we can make more without the technology. And then we will be free.” George said. “I don’t know anything about this technology. The way it’s written, it’s what keeps us alive. Don’t you see it there?” Dayle pointed at the notes. “Without it, we are just empty shells.” “We must try anyway without the technology. We may be successful. Why don’t we do it that way?” George said with hope. He couldn’t believe that technology was keeping them alive. It was too crazy. “It doesn’t matter. This technology is through to any offspring. It’s part of our blood.” Dayle said. “Look, we can’t give up. We know about the technology and we know that Trent’s blocking communication helps us by stopping anyone from controlling us. We are at an advantage. We just need to use the technology against them. If everyone is like us, then there won’t be any difference and we can be free.” George said. “Like us? Like them? Are you insane. God would control everyone on this earth, if everyone was like us.” Peter said. “Maybe that is his true intentions. He wanted us to find out and to get angry and use it against others. He wanted us to spread this technology, so he can return without fear.” Dayle said. “I think we should continue to make more. But more that will obey us and not God. We will become God’s to our creation. It is our work and not God’s work, that is making this happen. He won’t be able to control them without us. Then we can ask for our freedom. He must have a way to take the technology out of us and make us live naturally. He knows much more than us.” George said as he came to his senses. “Yes, you’re right. It’s the best way.” Dayle said reluctantly, not caring to debate anymore. His assistants were grasping at straws, where he wanted to deal

with reality. He wanted to make himself real, natural, uncontrolled, with free will. If only he knew how to stop the technology and take it out of himself.

Chapter 4

Their Will

It was taking months and everyone was getting itchy; scared that Trent was going to find the ship. They were all exhausted for not leaving it. Where they once felt safe, now felt like they were trapped as a sitting duck. They just couldn’t figure out how to repair it. Dayle tried consoling them by convincing them it was practice for when they will be actually in space. They weren’t convinced or inspired. They didn’t have any movement, not even to see the sun go down. But the light of day was going to come much sooner than expected. He focused on the parts of the whole, carefully putting all the pieces together. Then it happened. Dayle did it, made his first prototypes of what was now known not as Bones, but as new people. They were people. He was never going to treat his new people as products; not like how God designed them to be. The truth of what God did had escalated his grief and everyone on the ship. God couldn’t expect them to be pleasant to him after the revelation of the truth, but it was their minds he controlled, so how could he care. Looking at his prototypes, he saw himself. Trapped. Dayle knew, safeguarding himself against God was important. He just didn’t know how. “We have wine.” Angeline giggled as she poured Dayle a glass to celebrate. To her, the prototype she saw was perfect. Handsome and with potential. Dayle forced a smile before saying, “great”. He was now a God. Someone he hated and someone he will have to beg for his life and for freedom one day. “Angeline, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” His eyes fell to the ground and his smile faded. “What is it?” She shook her head not wanting to accept any misery. “We did it. We made more. You should be smiling. We can let them go out first and we can track them. They will help us get free.” The prototype Angeline saw was secure and alone. She wanted to see him, talk to him, and especially touch him. He was a real-life living being, breathing and waiting for someone to speak to him. “Free? What is free? We will never be free, unless God makes us free. Unless he has a cure for us all. And if he does have a cure, he won’t do it. Because he has his own agenda. We’ll never be free.” Dayle was speaking more to himself than an answer to her question. It was agonizing that he had to focus on making more, instead of on how to cure himself. He too wanted to be free, in the right

way. Did they all forget about that? “Of course, we will. We have our own new people. We can use them against God and make him give us our freedom.” Angeline was still optimistic, sensing where Dayle was getting disappointed. Dayle gulped down his wine. Tired and exhausted of his success. Making another batch was going to be much easier than the first prototypes. But he wanted them better than expected. He wanted to be more successful than God, no matter what. He wanted to figure out how to secure them completely. “Sure.” He said reluctantly. It was useless talking to Angeline. She was the hope on the ship, but her hope was stifling him. He needed reality. Angeline gave him a peck before quietly floating out the door. She had hope she was going to spread. They were going to leave the ship and take the land. They needed a plan and was going to have a special meeting for developing one. Dayle was their true leader. ❖ “Dayle’s done it. We have our first people.” Angeline was delighted when she spoke and was anxious after seeing all of their smiling faces. They had gathered in one of the rooms expecting that they had failed and only had their days numbered. But good news made them see something else; a future. They were instantly talking amongst themselves planning their life as free men. Their greatest wish and desires were now accessible. They were going to have homes, trade and a normal life with children. Angeline continued her speech, “please quiet. Settle down.” She waited patiently as they drew their attention to her again, while still thinking about the prototype she desperately wanted to speak to. Did he have thought? Was he capable of feeling? Would he believe he was like them? She had so many questions to find answers to. “It will not be easy. We need a good plan. We can’t just have the security of the ship and set ourselves up to be killed. We need to figure out the best place to start our lives. We need to figure out how to keep our security off this ship and wherever we go, so we can make more and that they too can live.” Angeline’s

hope was still high as she spoke, but she saw their faces sadden with dismay. They had no security, but the ship. It was finally their time to leave, but yet still they feared for their lives. There was no safety in them. “Wait, Angeline.” One of the men stood up to speak. “Why can’t Dayle make them our security? Why can’t we make them like the military that Trent has?” It was those words that made them regain their spirits and a solution they were waiting for. They needed their own military. A way out of constantly depending on the ship and not seeing the day of light. Angeline smiled with delight. She had indeed brought hope to all of them. She was so interested in seeing the prototype and feeling his breath, that she didn’t realize their potential. It wasn’t just about increasing their numbers, but their usefulness. “I will speak to Dayle, but we still need a backup plan. While we build our military to fight we need to, also, build our life elsewhere.” Angeline continued with hope waiting for another person to find a solution. Not just military, but to build a city of useful people. “Why not here?” One of the females answered. “We need to stay close to the ship. Our children are safe here. In case of emergency, we just need to make it back to the ship.” The love of the ship was now regained over the light of day. They all agreed. The best plan was to build around the ship and to build a wall around the city. Their new military will protect them from Trent. Angeline envisioned their future like how she ed the naturals; living with beautiful homes, children playing and plenty of food. Freedom. ❖ Dayle was relieved to hear their plans. For once, he didn’t have to solve anything. It was a step in the right direction to gain more leaders and eventually replace his role. He was ready to create an army of men, but realized he didn’t know who would train them. There was no one that had officially stepped up as the head of the military. His creations would need a reason to hate their enemies and to make them fight by any means necessary. He couldn’t think of anything, but of the reasons they’ve already had and he didn’t know if it was enough hate. Programming them was the only solution. He could put a device in them, like God had done, but for their purpose. This time it was going to be a kill switch to

kill others and not for the previous purpose of killing themselves. The days of fear was going to be long gone and erased from their history. Their military was going to destroy so they can build. Dayle walked into another section of the ship and saw, what he believed to be, a storage room, which had more compartments. After long days and nights of creation, Dayle managed to create 25 men within a week. They were still stored in the compartments not quite ready to stand. He wanted at least 100 men to start, but settled for 25 in case the next batch needed to be tweaked. In the meantime, Angeline was preparing a room for them and had elected a few females that would stay with them to tend to their needs. Dayle had already educated his assistants on how to make more people by themselves and how to operate some of the gadgets on the ship without messing things up. He had moved himself to work in the tucked away room with the compartments, leaving George and Peter in the lab. In addition, George elected to train and educate the new people. He had no clue how he was going to do it, but he needed a break from the creation process. They would need to learn how to maintain themselves and how to repair themselves, if they were injured during war. Peter decided to attempt to make medicines, like the ones he had seen at the marketplace before the war. And that’s what they did. Dayle was the leading scientist. George and Peter developed their own leadership in addition to the lab. There was new hope as they began to build outside of the ship, enjoying the fresh air. There were a couple of men who had worked in building homes before, they led the others in making their first home for the females, then decided to divide it in two; one side for females and the other for the men. The women had to keep the home, Angeline insisted, so there couldn’t be any home without a female. The children had to work, too. They helped garden and pick berries for their food supply. They feared the night, when they slept, hoping that Trent wouldn’t kill them in their sleep. Fortunately, Trent didn’t make the rounds to their parts in months. Dayle believed that he may have thought they were all dead by now. The communications were still being blocked, and he couldn’t let God know they were successful. But fear took over Dayle. What if Trent was successful too? What if he was able to capture their God? They would be completely alone and

would have no way to return to the home planet and to complete safety. There was always the lingering of the unknowns that made them worrisome. It’s why he decided to focus on perfecting the military. He needed to test the kill command. The program to kill was simple. His new people were different than the originals. They were fairer in complexion and looked significantly different. All he had to do is define their enemy and their enemy was anyone that didn’t closely look like them. Their enemy were the originals, because anyone of those originals could turn against them. Dayle didn’t want to leave anything for chance. They needed to survive. Once they found a cure for themselves, he could always shut them down. It was all he ever wanted, a cure and the much need to return to their adopted homeland. He worked alone in another found room that he made into his office. He could concentrate better on how to prevent any override to his kill command. Not feeling completely confident, he stopped working as he entered the last code. He was filled with exhaustion and his mind was cluttered with grief. He was barely eating and had become frail. Stressed from being their only hope, he needed to rest, breathe, and dream of happy thoughts. Walking to his rest room was a lonely thing. How could he feel so completely disengaged from his people on the one ship they shared with the same purpose they held? He closed his door quietly as to not to wake anyone left in their section. He had gotten used to seeing in the dark, as he walked to his bed and laid flat on his back, looking up into nothingness. “I am not who they say I am.” He spoke aloud to himself with his thoughts held in suspension, unable to think. “What have I become? My God? A God? He was supposed to be my savior and now I am my only savior. He said he loved us, but we know he loves no one, but himself. Now what?” Trent was, also, on his mind. Dayle couldn’t help think that once Trent turned on the communication, if God was still alive, he will have complete control over them. They will be, no more than, just products. He wouldn’t even be able to control the very creations he had made. Where on this world can they go to block the communication, so they can be free to wage war on their enemies and to wage war on their God? It was his personal mission and the hope that he would find that place in time. He was truly racing against what he didn’t control

and what he didn’t own. Time.

Chapter 5

Angeline's Smile

And the day came, when time ran out. Communications were back up. Trent was back on the hunt. But they were not scared as they once were. Angeline had helped increase their numbers by helping the females go through the normal procreation process, as Dayle used the labs, justifiably, to make more. Leaders were developed amongst them in various ways to develop themselves. They had trained. It went better than expected and they had inched their way out of the ship in small groups at a time, building their village. Dayle took no chances and decided to remain working and living in the ship. He logged and monitored his people from within. He kept track of where and when it was safe to go outside of their homes. The good thing was he was able to spy on Trent’s communications. They were moving closer to capturing their God, Jug. Dayle was engulfed in fear. He didn’t believe they were doing enough to secure themselves. His heart had stopped when he realized they, too, may be defeated. If Trent managed to capture God, it could be done unexpectedly at God’s own hands. Once tortured he may reveal their location and everything they were doing. Angeline walked into the lab, while he was finishing his log. She was wearing a hand sewn dress that they had managed to make. The men had made tools and managed to develop strands from the vines, which the females used to sew together the skin of the animals. It’s what they called clothes. The new people’s clothes. One of the females had seen it done before the war. They had welcomed her knowledge and wished she could continue learning more, from the ships data. “Are you still here, Dayle? Why don’t you come with me today?” Angeline massaged his shoulder. Dayle shook his head, “there’s too much for me to do. They are going to capture him. They are close.” “Don’t be so ill with your words. Our God is too strong and clever.” Angeline hesitated. “Did you hear from him?” “No. But that’s exactly what I mean. If he was safe and secure, he would have risked trying to reach us. But we’ve heard nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Dayle looked puzzled and frightened at the same time. He wondered where God could

have hidden for so long without getting caught. Would it be a place for them? “We shouldn’t worry about those things that might not come. We need to have another meeting about gaining more land and attacking.” Angeline grinned. “Attacking?” Dayle was surprised. Angeline was not supposed to be involved in the military strategy, but she was everywhere. She often visited him on the ship, concerned about his well-being, and tending to his needs. He had to it that he had stayed secluded in the lab and had fallen out of touch with the others. Anything could be brewing amongst them and he would not know, if it wasn’t for Angeline. He understood they took comfort with being surrounded by their own kind of people. He realized its always been a numbers game. He vowed always to keep up their numbers, never to be outnumbered. “Yes, attacking. The military are prepared. They don’t want to wait for them to attack us. We believe we can start small and take some villages. One at a time, while you make more.” Her optimism was felt, but Dayle was too drained to actually absorb it. “Trent has war weapons and we don’t. All we have is this ship. We don’t know how to make weapons. What will we do when he uses them?” Dayle was distant with his words. “Our military has a plan and they have started making our own kind of weapons. We are going to capture one of theirs and use his mind to help us. Shine and his business loves our kind. They will submit to our women and then we will capture them.” She paused contemplating whether she should share the real hidden news. ❖ He saw her eyes hiding her deceit. “What is it?” “We’ve spoken to Marissa. She’s safe. But...” “But what?” He was alive again with exhilaration. “She needs our help...” Angeline looked away. The fact is she knew it wasn’t right what they were planning, and feared speaking their words. “We can only do so much. The military wants to use her to gain access to Shine and to capture

one of theirs. And if they have God, we will capture him too. But we can’t possibly save her and we can’t tell her that either.” Dayle sat back in his chair. He didn’t agree with them sacrificing Marissa. She had lived on the outside in the arms of their enemies. She was too valuable for them to risk her life. He saw that Angeline was a bit nervous. They had been close friends together and now she was dismissing Marissa’s existence. It was a betrayal. A forced betrayal for the greater good. “There has to be a better way. Her life has to be spared. We need to capture her first before her life is taken. She could help us. She would know what’s really going on.” Dayle had lost his momentum for he had no control of the military. Augustus did. “No, she’s been locked up and knows nothing. She’s been making more for them. They’ve been testing her more and more to use against us. The only way is to let her go, before they figure out how to completely destroy our lives.” Her voice trembled. She had seen her village grow and only wished Marissa could return to enjoy it, just as much as everyone else. But the rest of her people already had made their decision, she had to be sacrificed. Who would trust her to return without infliction on them? Dayle couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Marissa was in a lab for examination and testing. They will never be seen as natural people. They could never be mixed in with the rest. The military was right. They had to strike first and conquer land, after land, after land until they have complete control. Their enemies weren’t going to compromise; and if they captured their God, they were doomed. Angeline walked out of the lab with the confirmation that Dayle agreed to continue making more and for him to meet with the military on deciding which grounds to take. ❖ The next few weeks went by swiftly with heavy burdens of grief and despair, as war had broken out against Trent’s men. There were no spaceships in their parts. It was hand to hand combat with a few of his men. Trent had underestimated how many they were, which gave leverage to the new people. Trent’s ships were busy fighting Jug and his military elsewhere. Moreover, they

had failed to capture Marissa. Shine had learned about their uprisings and have moved his location away from the direct impact of the war. Once they heard of this, Dayle and his people had lost hope of Marissa ever being returned. The only good news they had was that Trent was now fighting several wars at the same time. He had to split his military. Dayle sat in his lab with his head down. The military men he was creating needed strategy and instructions. If they knew what the men were truly experiencing they can help with the strategy. They needed to see and they needed to instruct the men while still under the safety of the ship. Jug had left notes that he had envisioned to do in a future batch of his Bones and now Dayle decided to take a chance and make it happen. He was going to use those special eyes that Jug wanted for his business, for war. Dayle tackled it with his new batch, successfully. He sat at his desk and saw through the eyes of one of the newly created men. Now, he could record everything they did in the database of the ship. In the meantime, somewhere secure, Jug was back with his new plan, take as much Bones as possible back on his ship, destroy the landowners land, and capture his son as hostage to make his wife do as he demands. Getting back on track to be God of Gods was his mission. The war was bitterly vicious. Heads chopped off and hearts gutted. Trent had excelled some, with his new technology. An unplanned surprise to Jug who was realizing there was no way he could win the war. There was going to be many casualties. His only goal was to get to safety, leave the planet and capture his son. The best thing is just to start from scratch elsewhere. The landowner was much more advanced in science than he had thought. Not only was he fighting Trent, but he had to fight the environment of which the landowner’s people controlled. Dust, wind, storms, flood, scorching heat, everything of the elements were being used to slow them down and kill them. Jug had been cornered and was nearly captured, but managed to escape. Jug, prior to taking the risk of returning to the planet, had acquired his own newly bought and paid for military to assist him in his fight. He made a business deal with them to help overtake the landowner’s world and to have unlimited power and access to unlimited money by sharing ownership of the Bones he created. It had become open knowledge throughout the galaxy of what had happened. The other worlds were shocked and appalled and demanded that their people be returned, but Trent had grounded all ships again. No one was leaving, as per the

landowner. There was debt to be paid and all had to pay before even thinking of leaving. The councils of all the worlds involved agreed, with deep regret, to leave their dead where they were going to die; at the hands of the landowner. Then one day, Angeline ran into the lab with exhaustion. Her body was hurting her in an unusual way. She was overworked with the rest of the females, tending to the wounded and the children. Her body was bound to be as exhausted as she was. “Dayle, I’m not well. I feel sick. Something is wrong.” She held onto her side. He helped her up on the table to examine her. “What happened? Did you eat something? Did someone hurt you? I don’t see anything.” “No, no. Nothing. I just woke up and felt sick. All day I’ve been feeling sick. It just gets worse as the day goes by. I...” Angeline ed one of the wounded men with his excruciating pain and thought it must be contagious. ❖ Dayle’s mind was on something else. He had just realized that it was the backup that was placed inside of them. It had to be. A kill switch. Something he didn’t know how to turn off. He ran to get one of the military men that was training on the ship. They didn’t have any kill switch. He didn’t make any in them, because he didn’t know how. It was something he now cherished. A promising soldier of hope stood before him. “No matter what happens you need to capture God, or we will all die. He’s the only one that can help Angeline. What’s happening to her will happen to all of us. We need him alive, but we don’t need him well. Do you understand? You need to hurry!” Dayle was urgent, but all he could think about was putting Angeline out of her misery. There was nothing to give her to alleviate her pain, for it wasn’t a real pain. It was a controlled pain, by some advanced technology that he knew nothing of. The soldier left like lightening as if a clock striking at midday would end all things. Dayle grabbed what he thought to be Angeline’s only medicine, returning to her side. “Angeline, I’m going to give you something to make you sleep. That’s all I can do for now. They are going to get God. Don’t worry. It’s going to be a new day for us. You’ll see. When you wake up, we will have a potion for this.” Dayle

was whispering. He couldn’t believe the words he had spoken and had no energy to make it convincing. Angeline forced a smile before saying, “liar.” Her eyes closed with tears rolling down. The pain was too excruciating. God didn’t have the decency to at least let them die painlessly. Although, filled with pain, Angeline could only think about Marissa. Was she dead? Did she go through this already? Or, with any hope, did she make it? Maybe she escaped. Angeline took her last deep breath, as more tears fell. Dayle saw her life leave her. She didn’t even get a chance to sleep. Dayle knew the only other thing to do was to get some of his people back into the ship for security, against the kill switch. Their God was truly here.

Chapter 6

Soggy Bread

Jug couldn’t believe what he learned, that his wife and son teamed up with Trent to find and capture him. When he found out, reality had struck him for the first time, all his plans were failing and there was a possibility he would be defeated. His son that he trained to build his empire, with hopes of him taking it over, had become a dream and a bitter disappointment. Somehow, he had lost his greed that Jug had instilled in him and instead he had turned into a soggy bread; something not worth having. It was a complete betrayal and an embarrassment. The ships were everywhere on his new planet, what was once his secure hiding place, was no more. They were landing in search of a lone rogue man named Jug. But he was deep in the jungle, underground, protected by an energy source that blocked any scanning of any life forms. They left without finding him. It was proof that his son had betrayed him. Instead, he wanted to believe his son had been caught and threatened and wasn’t a traitor, but he knew his wife had his loyalty. They were both traitors. He needed to get new military and someone close to him that he could trust. Most importantly, he needed to find out what truly happened. How did they find his location? His wife, and not even his son, knew exactly where he was. Yet, he knew they were to blame. They could have said he died during the escape, anything to end the hunt. During his second escape, it wasn’t directly to the planet, he had hopped three planets before returning to his hiding place. Then he thought of the Bones, still trying to communicate with him. Night time came when he crept out of his hole, which was a bunker in the ground. The darkness seemed too bright when he came out. He was forced to hide for days, not knowing if Trent was going to return. He didn’t want to get caught, for fear that all he had done was for nothing. He took the long agonizing hike to his ship, hidden deep into the valley between the caves of the mountains. It was indeed the perfect place to hide. Many caves and crevices and a solid stone barrier that blocked communications. His ship had logged Trent’s invasion and departure. He was gone, hopefully never returning. ❖ Once in his ship, there was a sense of a sigh of relief. He ed one man he could trust. A man’s life he had saved years ago, and a man who would do

anything for him, because he also saved his daughter’s life. It was time to collect payment on a debt owed. He sent a signal out for an open, secure communication; coded in such a way that his presumable comrades would pick up on it and return the signal that it was a clear line. And indeed, they started their exasperating plethora of information exchange of how Jug desperately needed his help and how he could secure the old man’s future financially. The old man agreed knowing his beautiful daughter would benefit immediately and with endless wealth. Jug grinned as he went for one last walk before leaving the planet. He walked down his usual path to a nearby stream and heard the copycat bird. “Don’t go there.” The bird said. Jug grinned, for he knew it was the words of Trent’s men. The area was surrounded by poisonous creatures and poisonous plants that they got from the earth’s soil. “I’m here.” Jug responded to the bird. “The perfect place to catch a hunter with poison. It won’t do me any harm. I can drink the water, eat the plants and the creatures; as poisonous as they are. To some, but not me.” Jug laughed to himself, knowing that not all kinds of men can walk the planet that he is on. He splashed some water from the stream on his face, before taking a drink. Then headed out to meet the old man. The old man immediately came to his aid. They met at a secure location on another planet, where once again, Jug was engaged in another business deal involving his Bones. But this time there was something different. His clients were more than eager to participate without any guilt or resistance to the ethics of it all. They were from the corners of the planets where death and suffering existed and where there were no hope for prosperity of any future. They were indeed more than willing to survive by any means necessary. If throats had to be cut, they were willing to do it. Indeed, they were desperate for more time for living and for immediate satisfaction of gaining money. Before long Jug had his military. A vicious, ruthless and fearless bunch who had no issue of chopping their living victims into pieces to an agonizing death. They wore the star with eight points symbolizing their home of eight miserable districts on their planet, where anyone lucky enough to be alive, was said to have too much. Where anyone living had more than they should and fought savagely

for their scraps. He left with his military, set out with their weapons and hunting tools with a simple mission. ❖ The goal was to kill Trent, take over the planet and enslave his Bones to a fruitful prosperous future, with each of his military men getting a share of the benefits. The rules were simple. All who stood in their way, kill. His military stars understood clearly, “kill and take”. They came unexpectedly with a bunch of smaller ships than what Trent was used to, scattering about on the planet with open fire to destroy homes and marketplaces. They killed and took what women they found as cargo on their ship. They went into the sea firing against land to shake the earth and dividing the boundaries. They made sure that no one had anywhere to go. But Trent was ready for their savageness. He had spoken to Jug’s wife, Eve, who had said to expect anything from the monster that tried to convert her precious son into a criminal. She had agreed to work on something to stop the Bones from overpopulating and from communicating with one another. Such a task was huge, but she knew that if she didn’t try they would eventually figure out a way to leave the planet and spread their miserable lives. Trent, with Eve’s insight, had prepared by increasing his military, knowing Jug may return, as he now has. Trent downed many ships as he could, capturing as many of Jug’s military. He learned more of what Jug’s intentions were and where his hiding place was. It wasn’t long until he had built a new council in his own military. His council assisted in finding out if Jug had made any more Bones, so that they could continue to destroy them upon sight. There was very little explanation needed to convince them that this matter was more than extremely important. It was too grave. If left unaddressed, it would or they, the Bones, would replace all the naturals with their desperate need to survive. A world of unnatural people was unthinkable, let alone a universe of them. They sent a special team back out to the planet where Jug was hiding to find his ship, as the war continued. ❖ Jug was on one of those ships. Trent needed him most of all. His prisoner’s lips were tightly shut, devoted to his cause. But Trent knew how to break a man and

he was determined to get the answers to end this war. His prisoner laid flat against the stone floor with his arms and legs tied down with straps that led into the holes of the ground. Blood was everywhere from the torture the prisoner was enduring. He cried out in pain as they tighten the straps and held his head up. Trent walked around his body to see his face and to look him in the eyes. “Do you really want to continue this? Jug is not your friend. He has no problem buying new military for his cause, while you lay here dying.” Trent was soft spoken and calm. There was no erratic emotions in him. He had always been a very focused man filled with many strategic thoughts. The prisoner laughed, with one eye shut, and with sticky blood and a badly bruised cheekbone. He’s been tortured before. Everyday his life on his planet was met with some kind of aggression, with no benefits to speak of. This time he was going to gain, if he could get out of there clutches. “There’s nothing to tell. But the fate of your future is death. One way or another your kind will die and ours will raise above all you dignitaries.” He muttered. It was the last thing he truly wanted to say before he had no ability to speak. He was tired of his people being the dirt and garbage to others. He was tired of his people being dumped on and thrown away as if they had no value. Trent had halted the punches. He had wanted to try a different approach. The prisoner looked as if he had family or someone he love. He had never seen their kind before and wondered which planet they came from. They were already broken and desperate, that he knew. But would they do anything to return to their love and forfeit Jug’s madness? “You think that you are fighting dignitaries, kings, and rulers of nations? You truly believe that you are helping your kind, the lowers? You are a fool to think that way. Jug is one of them. He is a dignitary, a ruler, and wants to be a king of kings. You are helping the very people that you think you are fighting against. He already has more than anyone can conceive of and his greed for more made him venture into madness, making these creatures that he calls Bones. Creatures he can easily control to kill you and your kind putting you below them. Is that what you want?” Trent walked around his restrained body as if he was measuring him for the size of hole they were going to dig and throw him in. ❖

The prisoner, was awaken by his thoughts. He had heard Trent’s words and was now puzzled. He wasn’t aware that these people could be controlled to that capacity. Jug had told them that he could make people to be as slaves, where they never had to pay them and where they would work for free, allowing them to gain unlimited profits. His eyebrows twitched as he shook his head in disbelief, trying to endure his pain. “You are lying.” The prisoner murmured. “I am not. I have one, now, I can show you. I know how he controls them and I can show that it can be done.” Trent signaled one of his military to get the girl. She walked in scared to see such a bloody mess. The door slammed shut behind her, had frightened her even more. She felt trapped. “Why did you bring me here to see this? I don’t want to be here. Let me leave.” She said. “No. I have a point to prove.” Trent didn’t smile. He was tired of everything and wanted this whole Jug business done with. Trent handed her a weapon and instructed her to whip the prisoner with it. She refused. “No. I’m not a killer.” She said. “You are whatever I want you to be.” It was the only words that he said before telling her once again to strike the prisoner with the weapon until he told her to stop. She did as instructed without thought, without resistance, and without words of protest. She moved like a machine, methodically striking blow after blow. The prisoner screamed out, begging her to stop. She was wildly striking him all over without prejudice to where she struck. Trent stood still, stiffly watching and waiting for the prisoner’s eyes to beg him to stop. His head turned in Trent’s direction unable to speak. Trent told her to stop. She stopped in midair. Then he said. “I wish you people were dead. You’re just a bag of Bones to me. Jug’s shit.” It was just meant to be an afterthought of his disgust for her, but she took it another way for she was still under his command.

From those words, her expression got serious and tears fell down her face as she took a knife and cut her own throat leaving a surprise look on her face. It was a look of unbelievable emotions that she couldn’t stop herself from the mere suggestion that Trent gave. The prisoner couldn’t believe his eyes and didn’t quite understand what made her resist certain things Trent had said, while couldn’t resist on other things. “Are you ready to talk? There would be countless numbers of these Bones on a simple command to blunder you to death whether they want to or not.” Trent said as he hovered over the prisoner’s broken bones and bloodied ruptures, from the severe beaten he had endured. The prisoner blinked in submission. He was indeed ready to talk, to help, and to save his kind. Trent was finally going to know which ship Jug was on. They untied him and removed the girl’s dead body. After gathering his breath and being able to sip some water, the prisoner spoke. He divulged all he knew about Jug’s plan. Where they were going to set up after taking over this world. And he knew that Jug may not be on the ship, but may be on foot to a secret ship, where his Bones were hiding. Trent immediately set up a special mission to get Jug before he got to his Bones. There was no reason to capture him. It was now death to all, a mission to kill Jug and bury his Bones deep into the ground.

Chapter 7

Meet the Creator

Trent had found Jug. He was going to finally be done with him. His purpose was to destroy everything Jug, including the spaceship he was on. No more escapes, he must die. But Jug managed to escape from his ship. When it dipped down closer to the ground, he was dropped out. Trent had sent more shots against the ship, taking it completely down. Jug had made a difficult fall. He dangled on top of the tree. As he was untangling himself, he could see one of Trent’s ship landing, hidden within the dense smoke and dust that bombarded the area from the explosion. He broke a couple of branches, but managed to hang on and climb down as quickly as he could, then making his way on foot. The trees were getting sparse and the voices of the men had long dissipated into the air. It was nearly daylight when Jug reached the top of the hill. Jug had a mission to complete. His paid military was busy taking out any sign of civilization, bringing everything down to the ground. He was hoping they didn’t go too far, but was worried of their inexperience when it comes to strategy. The ground was being chard from all the explosions, creating dusty storms everywhere. If he didn’t hurry, they would indeed completely destroy everything with nothing left to live for. He was trying to get down the hill before day break to prevent becoming a complete visible target. There was only one way to go. Trent had saturated the other sides where it was less visible, hoping to capture and kill anyone that was in hiding. The vines and rocky terrain from the hill was luckily secure and made a natural stairway lacing it. Holding onto the loose vines, as an added security, he climbed down, skipping rocks, and jumping into the nearby cave just before the light of day. But unfortunately, while entering the cave, he heard them in the background screaming. “There he is! We’ve found him.” The military men tracked fast across towards the cave hoping to reach him, before he got lost into its maze. Jug slammed against the door to the entry of a secret ageway, but he could not open it. The latch was completely rusted and he feared that there may have been a collapse on the other side, sealing shut his escape route. There was no

way to double track out of there. The shadow of the man standing at the entrance of the cave blocked out all light, leaving them all in complete darkness. Trent had won. All that he had done had now come to a close. His heart was pounding extremely loud with anticipation of sudden death, but there was nothing. They all charged in, pushing him to the ground and tying his hands demanding that he follow them. “What does he want from me? I’m not going to tell him anything, so you might as well kill me now. But...”. Jug screamed. “Shut up! Shut up!” They gave him a strong blow against his back. “You can’t stop this. I have others on my team to carry this out. Your war will never end.” Jug lied. They quickly gagged him with a torn cloth, pushing and pulling him to move faster through the path to the entrance of the underground ship. Visibility came to him, Jug’s eyes widened as he realized these men weren’t Trent’s. Shocked that Dayle was successful in making a military of Bones; he couldn’t laugh, but he wanted to. His empire was going to be fruitful after all. ❖ They walked in complete darkness, with no resistance from Jug. The men had memorized the layout of every inch of the ship and was brisk and eager to show off their catch. Jug ed his section of the ship like it was yesterday. His lab and his assistants all worked together on separate projects to keep their people alive, during a time they thought they had no future. His wife and children were on another level trying to keep some normalcy. They stored extra trade products for themselves in secret, hoping for a turnaround. It was Eve’s dream to be successful and return home with the ability to start their own empire and buy a portion of land across many tribes. But none of those dreams panned out. Instead Jug had his mind on developing his own empire, through research and development. It was sparked by the constant squeezing and demands from the landowner. He ed his mentor telling him that desperation brings forth innovation. He was right, their lives were on the line and he had no choice, but to be innovative. The room he ended up in wasn’t an interrogation room. It was a bedroom filled

with old reminders of who had occupied it. They took the gag off and sat him down. Then waited, for Dayle. “What do you want?” Jug was getting restless as he tried to untie himself. He knew it was a resourceful ship, so he didn’t have time to wait. His anger was getting out of control. He was their God and he was the one supposed to be in charge. He wasn’t going to be delayed. The weapons room was on a lower level and the ship could fly. They needed to get out of there before Trent found them. Jug spoke a code out loud to initiate voice command and to override any previous controls. At that moment, Dayle entered. He forced a smile staring at his God, Jug. ❖ “Well, now, men.” Dayle spoke to his military. “Meet my creator. My God.” He spoke with no sense of ownership or love. The man that he was supposed to look up to and follow was a disappointment. He was not proud and he hated to be around him. What was once a man with great power who many feared was now powerless. He was at their mercy, on their ship, and surrounded by their village. He had nothing but the life he now breathed. Jug attempted to give commands to them, but the communications were being blocked. His words meant nothing. He had no mental power over them. The override of the ship controls were taking too long. He saw it had begun the process, but being an old ship, it took much longer than he had expected. Exasperated, he pleaded. “Dayle, you’ve brought me here for the same reasons I was heading here. Why are you wasting time and keeping me in this room?” The power in Jug’s voice was there, but only he felt it. They stood strong like real soldiers, real military, and real scientists. The ship was theirs now. “This room was Angeline’s. One of us. Not one of you. Do you know where she is right now?” Dayle spoke with intense emotions of distraught. His heart was pounding heavily. “Caught, I suppose. Why are we doing this? You’re wasting time. Trent will find this place and kill us all. We need to continue with my strategy. I can fill you in. Untie me!” Jug was stern as he waited for all the lights of the ship’s

control to go on. There were seven lights, five were on. “No. She’s not caught.” Dayle said with no sense in explaining all that they’ve been through. The man sitting before him didn’t want to know, and he believed he still had power over them. “She’s dead! She’s dead because of you. You killed her as soon as your military came.” His face was turning red and he was struggling to keep his composure. “That’s not what happened. Trent had captured people that I’ve created and reconfigured them. They were attacking me. I had to shut them down, but it didn’t work.” Realizing this wasn’t a welcoming party and they weren’t obeying, he needed to buy time to signal for help. It wasn’t what he had planned, but he was used to improvising. “Trent’s Bones?” Dayle used the words written in Jug’s notes. It’s what he had named them, Bones. But he saw no reaction from Jug. “Trent killed all the Bones when you left us. You already know that! You were trying to kill us all and take this ship. You want to make a new batch. I know that already.” Dayle paused. “We’ve lost so many.” He said filled with anger. “If I wanted to kill you all, why are you still alive? I’m telling you what you’re thinking isn’t true.” Jug yelled. One more light left. It was always the longest. “So, now you want to know how is it possible for us to live. Why your plans failed.” Dayle persevered with questions he himself had. “Well, I’m not going to tell you. The only thing you need to know is that you are going to fix this. You’re going to find a cure.” Dayle held back his tears, but one escaped. ❖ Trent was an evil soul who had murdered a good number of the Bones and all was left was a few scientists, some military, and children tucked away. Jug grinned, “there is no cure. You have a determined life expectancy. That’s how you were designed.” The last light went on. He had control. “Number 832...” Jug stated out loud as he gave the ship his identification. Dayle yelled, “tell me the cure! Tell me how to fix this!” He was not paying attention to what Jug was doing, not caring for his very own life, and just

ing Angeline. “There is no cure, you fool! You’re going to exhaust your useful life just like she did! What do you think? That you’re going to live forever?” Jug yelled, still grinning. More lights came on the ship. Then the ship spoke, James U... G... It stated his name in full as it began to hand over the full command of the ship. “No, but you’re not allowed to kill on command. You’re not allowed to do that!” Dayle took a deep breath, “just tell me how to stop this kill command thing you did.” Jug started laughing, “I have all day, but you won’t last. I can choose to wait it out. I’m not going to help you Dayle. I made you. You listen to me. I don’t listen to you. Do you get that?” Jug laughed. “Maybe you’re right. My days are numbered, but these men.” Dayle pointed at them. “They don’t have any kill switch. I made them...” Dayle spoke with pride and then whispered, “without one”. He walked out leaving his military with his command to kill Jug. Jug rolled his eyes and said nothing, but he had the silly grin still on his face. He wasn’t going to help them. Maybe Trent wasn’t going to kill him today, but they were; because there was no way he will ever help them. Dayle’s men approached him. Jug stated, “kill sequence number...”, but Dayle’s men were still coming towards him, not stopping. His command to shut down his Bones did not work. Indeed, Dayle was successful in making men without a kill command. Jug was dead by nightfall.

Chapter 8

Mass Production

Jug’s grin remained on his mind. Haunting him of the satisfaction that he had won and that they were the losers. Chilled and frozen, his grin remained. Dayle was tormented of being incomplete. Learning that Jug had even more access to the ship and that he revived it with voice commands, gave him an even more agonizing torment. Why he didn’t die immediately after Jug’s commands was puzzling. Was it because he walked out of the room? Or was it still going to happen as a delayed, slow, excruciating death? As a result, Dayle had imprisoned himself as a last farewell to his kind. He had not exposed himself to the outside since Angeline’s kill switch took place. He feared death will kill them one by one, without Trent needing to hunt them down and with Jug’s mysterious unknown voice command lingering. It was time to mass produce. A couple more scientist like him was all he needed. They locked themselves in the lab, making any necessary change in the process. They had to speed everything up. Time was of the essence. The military aided by storing the dead men from the on-going battle as supplies. Dayle suggested that they improvise by collecting any kind of dead body. He would merge them and accelerate the process. The lab pushed out body after body into the other controlled temperature room for storage. They were all on a timer. Once their time was ready, they would sprout and awaken; with a carefully recorded planned instructions on what happened and what to do. He wasn’t half the scientist that Jug was, but what did he have to lose? His days were already numbered. Ready bodies were counted and able bodies were moved into the training room. Once they were awoken Augustus trained them and Dayle collected a few to teach science. For indeed, they were always going to need to make more. Trent had not obtained their secret location from Jug. It was the only reason he could think of why he hadn’t found them. By now their village was growing, and had to be visible to Trent. The war they took against the naturals had to be recorded and recognized by Trent. Why Trent didn’t engage in a war with them, was truly puzzling. Why did he leave the naturals to fend for themselves? He couldn’t fathom. The only thing he fathomed was Jug’s grin, which made him continue to produce even more.

He had counted two months of no natural light and no natural air, since Jug’s death. It was driving him crazy. All he had was a small room in the ship where a slithery of air crept in. It was his only salvation. Even Jug’s dead body was on ice. It was the only natural being of Jug’s kind they had to compare with and to work towards solving their problem. All parts of his body was fully intact and connected. It was the only way for him to study the naturals and to compare them with the Bones to find a way to become natural. The days were methodical with a steady flow of production. The training room consisted of “why they are here” videos. After they watched the video they were then briefed and paired up to share rooms, which they were then encouraged to make more through natural process of procreation. They knew the dire importance of making more and they knew who their enemy was. They knew that they stood out and looked very much different than the naturals. ❖ Dayle didn’t want to see. He didn’t want to feel and he didn’t want to know. The devastation of Angeline was spreading through his body, causing his mind to form an internal jail that he couldn’t get out of. He walked around the ship seeing the military preparing and changing things. He was no longer running the ship his way. Angeline would have straightened things out if she was alive. She had the ship, but now the ship was overrun by men. The military was always giving directions of how to feel, how to buy, and to who they were. Dayle grinned as he ed that he had waited for this day, when he was no longer in charge. He could see Augustus in one of the rooms, daring the men to fear nothing and to feel nothing. He walked by with his head down, feeling a throb coming. “I know that many of you won’t like to hear what I have to say, nor do you like the video you had watched, but there’s no need in protesting. You either accept your fate and live among us or die with them.” Ovir, appointed by Augustus, was ahead of his level one military squad. He spoke with pride and purpose, for he had already accepted that he was just as good as the naturals, especially, after killing some during battle. They weren’t invincible. “You are better than them. You will learn more and faster. You have all been installed with technology that allows us to communicate with one another. If you’re in trouble, you will be able to tell us. It will feed back to this ship and it

will store all your messages, continuously. There will always be someone here to monitor all the messages. Do you understand?” Ovir spoke without waiting for acknowledgement or a verbal response. “We are on a mission. And that mission is life! First things first, your roommate will be trained to do female activities, one of which is of the utmost importance of making children. Once a child is born, they will be removed into a training room for just children. Your roommate will then be changed for another one. And you will continue making more again. The result will be the perfect creation from the process of making more. But we truly won’t know what that is until we continue the process to the very end.” Ovir paused a moment. The next thing he was about to tell them, always drummed up questions. “Now, for the what is going on? Naturally making more, compared to what you are, that is. What you are and what your children are is two different things. You’re connected to this ship, to the machine and your children is connected to you. We’ve discovered that our original creator, our God, made us with technology that lives inside of us and es through to the children; never leaving the body. This technology is what makes you be in full form, faster. It skips over natural growth cycle and makes you the adult you are today. So, you won’t childhood, because you don’t have one. Your mission is to keep your children alive and to take everything from the natural people and make it your own. It’s what they did. They took from the fragments of the dead and made us their own. It’s now time to take it back and own them, so they could stop owning us!” Ovir always loved his speech. He believed in it and it gave him strength. But then there was always the same questions. Someone began, “why did you make us? Why did you do it?” ❖ Although it took a shorter time period for them to learn, compared to the naturals, they weren’t going to learn on the first day, despite being connected to the ship’s computer. Their brains was fed with data at a pace that prevented them from overloading. It was to assist with their daily life and to accelerate the learning process. Indeed, it paid off, for they were able to win battles and gain land using strategy and quick thinking. Dayle labeled his creations, for he made some from the fragments of other kinds

of animals. They had acquired the traits of those animals; leaving some to prey on others. These traits Dayle couldn’t control. He regretted merging with wild animals, but supply was low and he was desperate. He was satisfied that they were mostly man. A few insignificant animal traits wasn’t going to hurt. They had the help of the machine. The ship would protect them. They just had to protect the ship. Jug’s ship was deep underground, covered with grass, moss, weeds, vines, trees, and mud. There was no reason why anyone would think that any technology would exist there, amongst the natural beauty of life. Natural life was beautiful to him. He wanted to touch it, breathe it, and swallow it up. Instead, he took security on the ship and with the second-best thing. He read. Dayle had read many books during his down time. It was to keep his sanity. But there were times he wished he lost his sanity. Becoming insane was much more freedom than trying to remain sane. He tried to develop relationships with the females, but they were so focused on their mission of making more that they didn’t bother to learn to love and share and feel, like the stories he had read in countless books. The ship was vastly resourced with information for long journeys. Yet, this journey of life was weighing heavy now and he wanted to land, literally feel the earth again and breathe the air. It was time to start to leave the ship and once again gain land and fight. There was no more hiding. They needed to take over another ship that had fighting power, preferable one of Trent’s ship. But it was no longer his thing. The military had that job. Now, he just listens to their strategy and make more. That’s it. ❖ “Cruel isn’t it.” Suzie walked in speaking in a soft caring manner. She was the new Angeline. Dayle had hand-picked her to run messages to the rest of them. “I don’t know what cruel is anymore Suzie. For I have taken the place of my God.” Dayle sat staring at the wall. He saw his shadow looking back, towering over him. His shadow, the God, made him feel insignificant, as he sat in his seat, shaking inside out of fear. “They are planning to send out the first batch to the village camp and to make weapons. I know you’ve said you wanted to get out. This is your chance.” Suzie gave him a hopeful smile, but pitied him. “I did. But you also know what that means. It may be the last time you will

ever see me. My destiny is set.” Dayle was growing physically tired from the long days and mentally he was drained. “I refuse to believe it. If there was a kill switch in you, don’t you think you will be dead already?” She said optimistically. She rubbed his back, slightly tempting him to get up. “I don’t know how it works. I wish I did. Believe me I’ve tried to find it or just figure it out. He omitted that crucial piece of information. I just...”. His voice trailed losing his thoughts as sleep was taken over him. “So, that’s a yes?” Suzie was determined to be positive. Dayle grinned. It was time. “That’s a yes.”

Chapter 9

Long Live The...

For years I’ve walked this earth absorbing its brilliance. My home had always been pure and pristine. Children laughing and running freely without worrying about any threats. Women nurturing themselves and transforming into divine contenders for their mates. Men building themselves into secure premises for their loved ones. All was well and all was right. Now, I reflect back on the decisions that I’ve made and regretted to this day. A ship landed on top of the mountains. It was quite a large ship and I didn’t know what to make of it, but I’ve decided to learn more. A group of my people went in hopes to find out why they came. We flew near the top of the mountain and decided to land nearby and walk the rest of the way. These foreigners didn’t need to know of our technology, before we need to know about theirs. They appeared, to our surprise, like us. The bone structures were different and they spoke strangely, as a result we were forced to communicate by drawing pictures. It was then we learned they were explorers and had visited other planets looking for possibilities in trade and business. We’ve never traded outside of this world before and immediately said no. We’ve then asked that they leave, but their reaction was concerning to me. It was something that I’ve felt was not right. There were children with their mothers with bags of goods standing and waiting for a trade. Hunger was in their eyes, for they appeared to not have eaten for weeks. Their bones protruding. It was clearly a long trip or they had lost their way. But they had agreed to immediately leave, right after they refueled. Refueling meant that they would need some of our resources to provide for their ship, such things as food for their people and minerals to run their ship. After some discussion we agreed to help them leave, but there was a pang in my stomach area. It was the sense that something was not right. Their intentions were to trade and yet they needed supplies and refueling? We left them as we continued to debate whether they were actually telling the truth or were invaders in disguise. We risked revealing our food supply and the knowledge of what kind of minerals we had. It was that, too, that made me feel even more sick to my stomach. ❖

It wasn’t the first time that we’ve dealt with invaders, so I’ve learned by my elders. They were not able to identify the ship before landing, and suspected it was in disguise. They discussed with me and my group of how they got rid of the previous invaders and the many lives that fell as a result. They, too, was nervous about this new ship. The elders felt, they had a strategy to take our resources and then come back to invade for more. Their boney children was at the brink of death. Their women desperate and their men weak with no energy. They needed our resources and their ship was quite big showing that they would need much. We didn’t truly know how many people were on the ship. I was told that I must work with a group of men in providing what the explorers needed; while another group formed, I expect, to prepare for war. But war never came then. Business did. Business brought life back to them. The children no longer starving and their women no longer desperate. Their men grew in size and stature, much above ours. Our resources appeared to change their dynamics. From that, they weren’t at all ready to leave. My elders decided to use our “security” on them. It’s something that cannot be explained here, but loosely interpreted, it was a way to know what they were doing and what they plan on doing at all times. We called it a “speakta”. It was then we learned that they were indeed genuine with their intentions, and so, the trade and ports began. But one good ship, doesn’t bring more. We’ve quickly had to adjust to the different kinds of people that had existed outside of our world. Therefore, we’d created a council to analyze them and from that we’ve also increased our security under different measures. Security from our allies from our galaxy came to observe, as well. They placed no trust in foreign beings. For one invaded world would mean another. ❖ Here it is now that I’m dealing with a man named Jug and his aftermath, which had never been done before. Making people from the fragments of the dead and improvising them with blood of his own and others. His actions had circumvented our security of the “speakta”. We couldn’t hear what these products were thinking or saying at first, but then we made improvements. We began to hear partial communication, but not all. It was very much muddied up, which sparked great concern among our elders. They were not natural beings and not unnatural beings. They were bi-products of the dead of naturals, with foreign intervention. The elders knew of the foreign blood that flowed through the veins of these products. They knew that the foreign blood would not be

compatible with ours. In the flesh they were two competing bloodlines which is a disastrous feat, with nothing to gain, but death. I’ve commanded Trent to capture what he could of them, and to study. Then we devised a way to manipulate them and destroy them. Yet still, there was a lingering problem. Our people. My people. Our interaction with foreign beings, created relationships both good and bad. Offspring’s were limited and needed approval from our elders. Our blood needed to be tested with theirs before mixing. There was only one kind that we were permitted to mix with. It was our ways, to be secure and to prevent genocide. And now we had to be extra careful. We created a scientific system to draw them out of our body and have their blood fear our blood to prevent mixing. It proved to be effective. Our living was protected, but our dead was not. It was then we started to tomb our dead within more dead, “the sand”. A young girl came roaming our land, smiling and talking to everyone carelessly. She was unusual to us, for we had never seen her before. Yet, her bone structure was ours. Looking into who she belonged to, made us come to a complete halt and fury. She belonged to no one. She was Jug’s creation, roaming around our land and spying. There was nothing else for us to do, but to end her life and to declare war on this kind of evil. Trent was ordered to kill on sight and to kill Jug. Every visitor and trades person had to leave. There will be no more ports to speak of. Nothing. ❖ I was foolish to think that Jug had only made one mistake against us. He was truly a strategist and a warmonger. He had stock of our blood which he had planned to use to merge himself and his kind into our society, as if he belonged. My council thought it was fruitless to continue the kind of war we were engaged in, simply because Jug could make more. We had a different type of war to tend to and it involved science. It was the very thing I was an expert in and was called to assist in the destruction of Jug and his creations. It was Jug’s blood I was after. The principal concept was to destroy his essence of being and the essence of his creations. It was a simple and easy task, but it involved participation by these creatures that Jug concocted. Therefore, I had to make one to spearhead the mission. Trent had already begun the process, for he had the foresight that I had

somehow dismissed from being consumed with anger. But my creation was different. It was from the blood of Jug, which I had obtained from the war and from his son. My team agreed the studies would help with stopping the commands Jug gave. My focus, secretly, was to end his essence of being. I had accomplished that feat and set out to eliminate his kind, for genocide was on my mind. My council spoke nothing against me. For the crime that Jug had committed would spread wildly across galaxy if it wasn’t stopped. The core of his crime rested in Jug’s essence. His ability to command and for his creations to know only of his command. That, now, will end. ❖ It was time to tell Trent to stop the war and to establish new laws for coexistence. It required that the seed I was going to implant in these creatures was going to spread among their kind until they die out. There was no way they will be able to stop its progression and they won’t even know that it was happening as they live their lives. It would through their procreation until they were no more. It was the only way to stop it from spreading. Our council agreed and other councils in other worlds agreed. Jug’s invention was a catalyst for evil doers to satisfy their greed. Jug’s presence will be no more. The laws were provided for the Bones to live on designated land and to call it their own. They were not to cross over and invade one another. They were allowed to trade with one another, but must not interact with our people. They were not allowed to steal from one another or assume another’s identity. They were basically free to do what most can do within their land and within constraints of ethical morality. All this, while the seed I’ve created fester into their lives leading to their fate of demise. Their numbers dwindling. I am indeed the landowner, as others put it. I have one job and that is to maintain the earth.

Chapter 10

Can't Find a Soul to Help

Dayle had welcomed the news. The war was over. They were finally going to live freely. He was going to spend the rest of his life trying to cultivate a cure. It was refreshing to walk into his own home and to live with his pick. He never thought he would be able to manage without Angeline, but he did. He had a beautiful wife. Somehow, he had, also, managed to dodge the kill trigger that Angeline had endured. It was happy times. He was smiling and feeling and loving and in control of his own life. In fact, he couldn’t when he last smiled. It was a strange new feeling. But the most wonderful feeling was love. His wife was “holding” their own unborn, tugging it around with laughter. She was living in a new time. Their children was going to grow up happy. No longer trapped underground in a ship waiting for a chance to live in the light of day, he comforted himself with his freedom. The landowner gave them freedom and a viable agreement. They had their own land separated from the naturals. They now had a chance. He sat staring out his window, listening to his wife in the background. Her complaint was minimal, compared to all they had experienced. He enjoyed her complaints and frustration of keeping their home. She didn’t want to fetch the herbs anymore. The garden she was keeping had become bushy and Dayle refused to help, not without her begging. She begged him, for she needed to make her daily soup. But he sat looking out the window, grinning. He was in no mood for soup again. “Let’s have something else. Every night of soup isn’t good for my soul.” Dayle frowned. “Your what?” Suzie asked. “Something that the naturals say. We might as well know what they mean.” Dayle could see the children outside screaming and yelling as they chase one another. “And what does that mean? Why can’t we have our own meaning?” Suzie stacked the pots back up on the counter, then decided to make salad instead. “It’s something about identity and what makes one different from another. They say that it is different than the spirit. Something about the spirit lives on when the soul does not.” Dayle explained without truly understanding if he got it

right. “And we have souls?” Suzie sat down next to him defeated. She no longer felt like making anything to eat. It was always the same food, nothing different. Dayle gave her a hug. “I’ll make something tonight.” ❖ Suzie’s stomach was protruding and making noise. They were both hungry, but she was tired of the limited food supply and the mundane meals. The little baby inside stretched. They both laughed as Dayle rubbed her stomach. Speaking to their little tiny baby was easy. She moved with their words, understanding every bit. Then Dayle became more serious. It was time to speak to her about what he wanted to do. He had promised to stop working, but couldn’t. “I need to beg you tonight.” Dayle whispered his words, with a gently notion initiating his beg. Suzie smiled. “I like when you beg.” He grinned, “It’s something I need to do. For us and for our people.” Her smile turned rigid. She didn’t like the for our people part. She pulled away from him and said, “I don’t want to hear this.” The people were safe now. They had land and their freedom. There was no reason to help the people. “I’m begging you to listen. Hear me out. I need to do this.” Dayle kissed her. “Do? Do what? Being trapped into that ship, not seeing daylight? Leaving me and your baby?” Suzie’s voice elevated, as if she wanted to pierce him with it. Dayle nodded to her and said, “I beg you.” He paused, “just listen. I’m not going to leave you. I’m not going back to the ship. I’ve been speaking with my assistants and we all agree that we need to hold a shop for our people. Some of them are experiencing very bad things. Things that we may experience later. We need to figure out how to stop it, now.” “Stop what? We live and we die. That’s it, Dayle. There’s no stopping what we are. Why can’t we just live our lives until it’s over? Why do you need to solve

what God had done to us?” Suzie rolled her eyes and looked away. She could feel the baby stir inside of her as if it was getting upset too. “They are suffering. How can I ignore that? These things the naturals won’t know about. Even if they did, they won’t speak to us. Therefore, we can’t get help. The few that speak to us, say they don’t know of any of our ailments. They don’t know of these pains that our people are suffering. They don’t understand what we are experiencing and they were told that they must abide by the agreement.” Dayle kept his tone in control, trying to not fuel her anger. Suzie rolled her eyes again and turned to look at him. Curious she said, “what ailments?” ❖ Dayle took a deep breath, relieved that she was becoming more understanding. “There’s memory loss, severe pain in the body, and their skin is changing. They fear that their skin is falling off their body, where they will become fleshless.” Suzie laughed at the idea of becoming fleshless. Her people were often exasperating with their wild imaginations. The truth may have been lingering somewhere between their imagination and reality, but she didn’t want to see their life of torment. Her life consisted of their house. She no longer went to their marketplace to trade. “I’m afraid that they may be right. I won’t know until we study and test them. We are going to have them come to us and stay to be treated. I’ll be home every day. But they need some hope and a place to stay where their loved ones aren’t watching them die.” Dayle waited for her final response. Suzie rolled her eyes once again, “if you promise to be home every day. Plus, promise that you won’t be so sad too. I hate that look you used to have at the ship. We’re free now and we need to act like we are.” “I promise.” Dayle said with relief. Suzie never wanted to see or hear about troubles. She just wanted to live her life as if nothing ever happened. She was young. Most of the young didn’t want to know what happened and how they came to be. They didn’t want the truth. ❖

The next day they opened shop in an old empty house. The house was located near the other shops just around the corner. It was barely noticeable, but everyone soon became familiar to it. The inside was set up similar to how they had laid it out on the ship. One room for testing, one room for recovering and another room to take in their people; which they called a performance room. The performance room started out with just a few, but soon became busy. They came in with complaints that they weren’t performing as they normally do, now with aches and pains, and flesh problems. The three of them was truly busy and was glad to have additional help. It was a similar set up as when they were on the ship. They had another Angeline, her name was Jules. Every day was a bright and happy day. She loved to keep busy, no matter what the atmosphere. She was just glad to be free on their own land. But her mother was one of the patients that was suffering. She had memory loss, always forgetting which way to go home. She was thankful she could keep an eye on her while working. Jules changed the sheets and cleaned the room effortlessly, watching Dayle and his assistant hard at work. “Is there any way I can help. I won’t be in your way.” Jules had just cleaned off the counter and was heading out to fetch them some drinks from a nearby shop. “That’s what you are doing already.” Dayle dismissed her implication. “No, I mean I want to learn this work. I want to be like you.” She hesitated to leave without an answer. “This is not for females. It’s nothing you want to deal with. Just stick with what you are doing. It helps a great deal.” Dayle couldn’t conceive of teaching her. They were all giving roles since the ship and it was clear that Jules needed to be reminded hers was to keep the home and to make more. There was no place for her in the work of science. Plus, George and Peter understood everything and could work independently. Moreover, he didn’t want to be distracted by any females. Jules smell awfully sweet and was too kind. She was a constant reminder that he needed to be home with his wife. “I’ll teach her,” George said reluctantly. “We are going to need all the help we can. There’s more people experiencing these ailments and we don’t have enough beds.” He looked around the room filled with people, trying to open the windows.

Jules smiled, “Thanks. I’ll be back.” She left for the drinks with anticipation. ❖ “That’s not how the naturals do it.” Dayle still unwilling to accept Jules new role. “You don’t know what they do. I don’t think they have a shop for ailments. They live differently. We have no choice, but to teach our own. You know better than anyone.” George was tired of arguing with Dayle. Although their people were free with their own land, it didn’t mean they were truly free. They had ailments and other obstacles that were setting in on them and time was of the essence. He didn’t think that Dayle saw what everyone already know, that if they didn’t fix themselves now, they would all be done and free from life. Dayle was just in the way. He had over-exhausted himself and should be living his life with no more worries. They needed younger, eager, and dedicated assistants to continue. “She’s a female. How can she stomach all of this?” Dayle said. “We will find out, because she’s staying. Our people need to see a joyous face and have happy thoughts. We’re too serious and Jules is filled with happiness.” Peter said as he closed the door to where the sick was. They were hearing the argument, but some were agreeing with Dayle. They didn’t care too much of having happy people around them, when they couldn’t be. Their pain was too severe to be dismissed by joy. “Then you are in charge of her. I won’t have any responsibility. And I think we all need to keep separate logs of our own work and then compare it. I don’t want anyone slowing me down. This is a new time and the growing number of sick should not defeat us.” Dayle shook his head in disbelief that they were accepting Jules, but continued, “we need to work with any unknown trials. It’s the only way we can possibly win this unknown.” “Trials for unknowns? That’s too risky. We will kill them before their time. What are you saying? That’s madness. We need to keep them comfortable for their last days.” George said. Anger was creeping in, replacing his frustration with Dayle. “No, this is about survival. This is our only chance to test them for surviving.

We can’t do it on the ones that are healthy.” Dayle persisted. He was again working with amateurs, just created. “I don’t agree. You will have to work alone. We can’t do what you are asking. What person will agree to your madness?” Peter asked. “Then we will see. I will find who is willing to take the risk and I will work with them separately. The problem will be solved before you two can conceive of an idea.” Dayle said. “Fine. Then you work alone. Jules will be with us.” Peter said. George couldn’t help himself, he had to ask, “why don’t you just go home and be happy with your wife. This doesn’t need to be your worries anymore. We are all grateful for all you have done for our mission. Now it’s time for you to rest and enjoy life.” “This is my life. This is what I do. This is what I love, solving problems.” Dayle said with fury. “And loving my wife too.” They weren’t going to dismiss him. He created the science shop, not them. Peter said, “you are not the problem solver anymore. If I was you, I would enjoy my life with my wife and children.” “Well you are not me.” Dayle said as he left to set up a separate room for himself.

Chapter 11

One or the Other

There was something in the air that wasn’t there before. A smell. A hint of the dead. It was rumored to be lingering. They burned scented candles at night to drown it out, but it didn’t work. The mood was changing into a hopeless despair. Trading had dwindled down to a near standstill. There was no need to trade, the people’s will was gone. They were more concerned with the dead bodies piling up and their never-ending ailments. Someone needed to save them, but all they had was themselves. Everything was becoming difficult. Food that was already scarce had become even more rare. Trading wasn’t helping. They had very little to trade and bargaining became difficult. Memory was getting to be the biggest problem for them and the first sign of the end. They lost money during trade, forgetting their initial agreement. The naturals would change their price to something higher than they agreed on, leaving them with little to no money. The designated traders were often the elderly, but the loss of memory went beyond the aged and onto the rest. Their muscle tissue was degenerating. Their life expectancy wasn’t measuring up to that of the naturals. The only hope they had left was the unborn children being towed in the wombs of a few surviving women. Dayle’s shop was overwhelmed with the grieving, leaving Dayle working long hard hours. Days turned into weeks with his wife’s frustration increasing and longing for him to quit. The marriage between his wife and his work was becoming self-abusive. He needed to make a choice. “Dayle, I think I’ve found an answer.” George was examining a tissue from an opened skull. His patient had died a couple of days ago and had to be put on ice, but that too was running out. The ice machine was not sufficient and he knew that they would have to eventually go back to work on the ship. It was the only way to continue their research and treatments. They had promised not to return to the ship, after being free, but now Dayle had to break it. “Tell me.” Dayle walked over to examine the dead body. “See that. It’s different than what we had seen in the past. It moved its location. Could it be this that is causing memory loss? It’s the only thing that appears to be out of place.” George wanted some kind of confirmation and a hope of possibly solving the puzzle. “Just because it’s out of place, doesn’t mean it’s the reason why.” Dayle slammed his fist down out of frustration. “I don’t know why we are doing this.

We only know how to make people, not fix them. We need help from the naturals. We need their medical data or one of them to help us. We are moving around doing things and not understanding, while people are dying.” “It doesn’t mean I’m wrong. It’s out of place.” George continued. “Okay, then put it in place! I’m sure it won’t matter.” Dayle turned his back against George. Placement did matter, but execution mattered more. Every animal had some things placed differently and still could execute performance. ❖ George frowned. There was no from him. He was beginning to hate Dayle. But yet, felt the need to ask, “what about God? We still have his body stored on the ship in that special chamber. Isn’t it time we cut him open and see the difference? We were supposed to do that and yet we haven’t. We need to know what makes him God.” “If we cut him open, while not knowing what we are doing, we would destroy the very thing we need in order to make ourselves better.” Dayle shook his head in despair. “We’ve seen other naturals dead bodies, why would his be any different?” He said removing any special power that they once believed God had. “He is God.” George said with emphasis. “What we need to make ourselves better, is him.” “No, what we need is knowledge. Not God. He won’t help us. Did you forget he refused to?” Dayle said. Peter, who felt somewhat invisible decided to speak up. “I think I have a plan, but I don’t think you will like it.” Dayle stood stiffly, waiting. “They’ve started entertainment at the trading ports. I was thinking that Shine had a good idea. We can do his kind of business and make more of ourselves with their kind without them even knowing.” Peter said timidly. “I don’t want to get involved with that kind of business. And I don’t think we

can spare any of our females for that. Look around us. We are dying.” Dayle glared at him with fury, not understanding why he would even make that kind of suggestion. “But what if our babies become naturals? We won’t have to worry about trying to fix anyone. We won’t need to be in this shop. We can live our lives and forget about this craziness.” Peter insisted, mustering up a little confidence. “Naturals? Did you forget we were made from fragments of naturals? We should be naturals if it was that easy.” Dayle had tried everything before and nothing worked. It was all about surviving as who they were and not as something they will never be. ❖ Dayle forced a cynical smile, “well, I’m done. I don’t think I can continue anymore and my Suzie needs me at home. This is for you guys now. Do what you like.” “What about the ship? God? What should we do with him?” George asked. “I don’t know.” Dayle frowned. “I need to think about my Suzie and my baby.” “Why can’t we make him over again? Like he did to us? We can use his fragments to make him again and make him tell us how to fix us.” Peter said with much more confidence, knowing Dayle is no longer in charge. Dayle laughed, “that sounds like a brilliant idea.” He paused before saying, “for madness. But that was what God was; a mad man.” “It’s not so mad.” Peter insisted. “Do you really think that the body you create will have God in it? Have you not read about the spirits and the souls? Did you not read that it leaves the body when a person dies?” Dayle argued. “Yes, but it didn’t say that it won’t return to the body. It’s going to be the same body.” Peter was more than confident that it would work. “My spirit would know not to return to this body of mine, no matter how much

it’s been recreated. What about yours?” Dayle delivered a message that Peter refused to accept. “How would God know if the body he is returning to is not natural? Spirits come and go in different bodies. They won’t know. He won’t know.” Peter said. “Then why return to that one, if he doesn’t know?” Dayle said those words with finality. He believe that spirits must be aware, if they are choosing to return to the same body. They had to know where they were going. “Maybe they would lose their memory.” Peter continued, but Dayle walked out. He wasn’t interested in debating with Peter. Peter had hope, but there was nothing left in Dayle. He was going to follow Suzie’s instructions, to live until they die. Life didn’t have to be complicated and always a fight; that’s what he loved about her. She was comfortable living out her life the best she could, until it couldn’t be done anymore. There was no need to live longer and better like the naturals. She was satisfied with the very fact that she was living freely and wasn’t fighting for her life. It was that state of being that Dayle wanted. Peter thought more about the spirit and the soul. The difference was confusing. He couldn’t understand how the naturals explained it, but ed one was just energy and the other had a more certain identity. It was what troubled him. If he brought God back to life, which one froze with the body, his spirit or his soul, or neither? Who would be in that body, he didn’t know. It had to be God. How could he not know his body? ❖ On the way home, Dayle picked beautiful colors from the ground making a bouquet of flowers. It was a small gesture of how he felt Suzie was; colorful. Unfortunately, by the time he reached the door it started to rain and dampening his spirit. “I’ve got you something.” Dayle placed the flowers on the table. “Oh, no, look at that mess.” Suzie reached for a cloth to wipe the dirt from the roots and placed the flowers in the sink. “What are you doing? I wanted you to have it. Put it somewhere to smell.”

Dayle said. “Why? I see it all the time. I don’t need to smell it.” Suzie giggled. “I just thought they reminded me of you. They are so bright and makes things look better than they really are.” Dayle kissed her. “Okay. I’ll put it on the plate so we can look at it. But it doesn’t make any sense to me.” Suzie hugged him, loving he was home. “Good. You’re going to like what I have to say.” Dayle grinned. “What’s that?” Suzie massaged the poking out from her belly, of what she believed to be the baby’s hand, smiling. “I quit. I don’t work at the shop anymore. I can’t do it. There’s no results. There’s nothing, but death. Those guys still have hope, though. They think they can mix themselves with the naturals and automatically become naturals. How crazy.” Dayle sat in his chair, ready to stare outside and watch the world. “That doesn’t sound so crazy. I’ve heard people saying Shine has his own people like us, and some of them are naturals. Maybe it is true.” Suzie rested her head on his shoulder. “I don’t know. But if it’s true, then I’m truly done.” He grinned and kissed the top of her head. “I hope it’s true. We need some miracle here. We need hope and some happiness.” Suzie said quite seriously. “I just need you.” Dayle whispered. The baby was poking out again. It was a fist, he thought.

Chapter 12

The Plan

While Dayle was living the rest of his life with his wife, the others were trying a different approach on surviving. They weren’t going to give up. Ginger was tired of being starving and watching her people die. She’s heard about some leaving and trying to find work on the natural’s land. It was her turn. The brightly colored signs were everywhere. “Looking for energetic girls who likes to have fun at work.” It went further in detail, offering free food and temporary shelter. The streets were lined with them. There were no other work available as she went into shop after shop. She didn’t know how to do anything, but go into the forest for food and setting traps for animals. She knew how to get food if there was any to get, clean her home, and make more. But the naturals had much more activity and work to be done. Nothing that she was used to. The signs were the only thing to turn to. Ginger walked ed them not knowing what to think. Was there such a thing as work that was fun by just being yourself? It was too good to be true. She saw one of the shopkeepers taking down the sign posted outside of his shop. She decided to approach the shopkeeper. He had to know more about it. It was his land. “Hey, what’s that all about?” Ginger was wearing a red loosely fit dress, that hung like a bag, hardly flattering. She had washed it several times, but it was still stained. Their clothes were often from the naturals. Clothes that they no longer wanted were given at the marketplace. It was often worn and ripped. The Bones had not developed the chance to make their own clothes. They were too focused on staying alive. The shopkeeper grimaced at her and shook his head as he threw the sign in the garbage. Then went back to work. Ginger followed him into the shop, not fully understanding why he threw the sign away. ❖ “Hey.” She tried to catch his attention again. “I heard you girl. What’s wrong with you? Are you dumb?” The shopkeeper was a tall lean man who spoke sternly. His eyebrows were thick and shaped itself into a serious exclamation, which made Ginger nervous.

“I just...” She paused not quite sure if she should continue to ask. “I don’t understand completely, but I’m not dumb.” Ginger spoke softly showing signs of fear. She thought about how the naturals taught their children. She never learned that way. She was shown what to do, hands on survival. It was the only way to learn on her land. “It’s not something you should get into.” His tone was deep and forceful with an inclination to hint that she should leave his shop. She was much too young to understand and apparently wasn’t getting the hint, for she continued to press on. “I’m sorry sir, but I really need a job. I don’t have much money and I don’t know where to look. Is there any here?” Ginger pressed on, hoping from her desperation he could offer her something. He frowned while examining her. She was poorly dressed with open toed broken into shoes. Most importantly, she was clearly a Bone, one of those manufactured people gossiped to be made from a lab. The very people that had caused misery and distress across the lands. They were a symbol of war, death, disease, and despair and now one of them was poisoning his shop. He lost many people in his area of the marketplace, who had to choose to fight war to save their life and their livelihood. The landowner ended the war and divided his land up, separating the naturals from what everyone knew to be Jug’s creation. Jug’s people were then outcasted and had their own separate land near his creations. But yet, the naturals were still suffering with Jug’s lingering existence, where ever he was hiding. Now, the shopkeeper had only one response for the poison in his shop. “No, I don’t have anything here.” He paused, “but you can find what you are looking for in the garbage. That sign is for you.” He headed her out the door and led her to the garbage can, where the sign was crumbled up. ❖ Ginger said nothing, but retrieved the crumble sign from the garbage. She saw the shopkeeper’s shadow, in the corner of her eye, slowly disappearing back into his shop as she uncrumpled the sign. He was an evil man, she thought; then decided to take a walk to the place of her future. Her faded clothes was the best she had, but it couldn’t get her a simple job with the shopkeeper. Her nerves were jittery. Although she saw others like her walking around, she felt

displaced, feeling like all eyes were on her. They had a place to go and money to make. She had despair and was losing hope. It was five blocks straight ahead. A hotel name the House of Shine. As she came close she could see it was a very expensive hotel. The entry had black shiny tall pillars on each side with the reflection capturing everyone entering as if for notoriety. There was no way she would get a job there, but she had to try. She saw through the window, waitresses rushing about serving customers. It just dawned on her that maybe it was a waitress job. Maybe she had a chance. She would get a uniform and wouldn’t need to worry about her shabby clothes. She started thinking about the money. She had walked all this way for a waitress job, that wasn’t going to pay her much, but the sign said temporary shelter and that was enough. Food, shelter, and clothing was better than where she was coming from. ❖ She walked towards the front door, with her knees uneasy and ready to collapse on the stairs. It was like this every time she looked for a job. So many no’s and very little yes, always made her uneasy. Shaking a little, she spoke to the first waitress that she could find. “Excuse me, I’m looking for a job. I saw this sign here.” Ginger showed her the crumbled sign. “Sit over there. I’ll get the manager.” The waitress pointed to a table in the back. Ginger walked with a little more confidence, because she wasn’t shown the door. She had a little bit of hope. She was feeling confident that she could do waitressing, but wasn’t sure about the fast-paced atmosphere. And then she saw the menus. Reading well wasn’t her thing, but she could well enough? She slouched in her chair while playing with the strands of her hair, now daydreaming. The manager was taking too long. All she could think about was how much money she could get from the hotel and how her life would be better. But her fantasy of her new home came to an abrupt stop, when a tall, well-dressed man, sat across from her. His face was pleasant and he seemed to be a gentleman. “You’re here and looking for work?” His voice was inviting and a bit

humorous. He studied her posture. She sat laid back in her seat, staring, shaking her legs. “Yes,” Ginger whispered nervously. “I can waitress very well.” “Yes, I’m sure you can, but the flyer is for another kind of job.” Shine had a humorous grin. They were always a bit naive, he thought. He immediately ired her appearance. She was quite skinny and frail, an attribute that his customers sometimes preferred. “Well I can do any job if you give me a chance. It says you offer temporary place to stay and free food.” All she wanted to hear is yes. She was tired of traveling back and forth trading from her land to the natural’s land. “Yes, we offer those things, but with rules. The laws on this side doesn’t allow your kind to roam the streets at night, so you have to stay inside. I don’t want to get in trouble with the police.” Shine waited patiently until she acknowledged he was serious. She shook her head in agreeance. “So, what is the job?” Ginger thought if all she had to do is follow a little rule such as stay in the house at night, she can. It was simple enough. “I’ll show you, follow me.” Shine took her hand as she got up. She walked at her usual slow tired pace. Her spirits was up, but she had no energy. He showed her the ground floor restaurants, the kitchen, and introduced her to some waitresses and cleaning crew. They then took the stairs to the first floor where the rooms were. ❖ They entered his office, where she sat down waiting to sign papers. Papers was what they do in the marketplace. She ed that, especially at a big fancy place like the House of Shine. “I want you to look at the first monitor over there. It’s better for you to actually see what you will be doing.” Shine sat at his desk and switched on the monitor, still grinning. Ginger’s mouth opened and dropped, shockingly. She lost words. Although, she should have jumped up and ran out, she sat still terrified of not knowing what

kind of man Shine really was. “Um, I don’t know about those things. I’ve never done those things before. I don’t...” Ginger felt that she was about to heave up something terrible. “Before you say no.” Shine interrupted. “You need to know that not only you get free food and shelter, you’re getting paid twice.” “Twice?” Ginger was stunned and confused. “One from me, which is a consistently regular pay and another from tips like what the waitress gets, but much more, depending on how well you do.” Shine delivered his magical smile. “How much more?” Ginger couldn’t believe it, doing dirty work with customers could get her more money than waitresses. “That girl you were watching, she makes five hundred a night from tips and that’s what I pay her for the week. Do you understand?” Shine waited. Ginger was silent for she was actually trying to do the math; but couldn’t come up with anything for all she knew how to do is count. “But I don’t know how to do those things and I don’t want to get sick. My people are already having issues on our land.” Ginger felt trapped. She didn’t know exactly how much she would get per week, but she knew it was a lot. Yet, she didn’t want to get sick either. “Don’t worry about that. We will teach you. And there’s nothing you will get sick from. We have a doctor here that helps our workers. Plus, no one has gotten sick. They make their money and some stay with us, while others move on after reaching their goal. No one will ever force you to stay. That’s not what we are all about. The only thing I ask of my girls is to do a good job. My reputation is with this business. Do you understand?” Shine spoke slowly making sure she took in his every word. “Yes, I do. I will be getting my own room? And we can eat whenever?” Ginger was sold, but needed more confirmation of her unbelievable luck. She had a plan, close her eyes and think money. “You can eat whenever and yes, you get your own room.” Shine smiled as he

got up from his desk. “Where do I sign?” It was Ginger’s turn to have her humorous smile. “Sign? There’s no contract here. I said you can leave whenever, so there’s no contract. I can show you your room and how to get your food. There’s a woman here you will be dealing with. She manages the first floor. She’ll teach you everything you need to know about your work.” Shine reached in his draw and pulled out a bunch of keys. “Okay.” Ginger grinned. ❖ Ginger followed him into a small corner room on the first floor. Her window was small, facing the back of the hotel. There was a lonely lamp on the table near the door, giving a dreamy mood. The room had its basic necessities; a bed, a small bathroom and a small closet with her very own key. Although small, it was sleek and clean, with buttons on the wall and her very own monitor. Shine told her that most of the girls buy a small keyed chest, to lock up their money. She grinned at the thought of how much money she was going to make, while feeling the covers on her bed. Then, she left with her key after eating a plate full of food. Ginger went home to pack a few things. She had a job with Shine and a real future. He told her to show up bright and early in the morning to meet Luna, the first-floor lady. It was a beautiful day no matter how shabby she looked. Just when she thought that she was going to starve to death, she was lucky. Her people was going to be left behind, but their misery was going to end. If she was successful, she could help them get better jobs on the natural’s land and survive. They weren’t going to be hungry anymore and won’t need to buy any expensive foods from the naturals. She had her dream that a lot of people from her land were going to be educated. Their ailments were going to go away and they were going to have a chance for survival. They were going to know how to do things. They were going to have money and do better than the naturals. Things weren’t going to be dire anymore. ❖

Ginger met her friend Sally that night, but she didn’t have a chance to fill her in about everything. Instead, everyone was talking about the town hall meeting. Another eminent disaster of suffering was going to be announced and everyone needed to know how they had to ration. Minus Ginger. She was now safe. They went to the town hall meeting in high spirits. Ginger talking all the way there about how beautiful the Hotel of Shine was and how rich she was going to be. She was going to dance at parties with other rich people and eat lots and lots of food. Sally was there too, in her dreams fantasizing dancing with someone natural and having natural children with no ailments to speak of. Sally wanted in and Ginger promised her she will be. The meeting started out as usual, the low count of crops, their poor trade at the marketplace, and their sickness. The town’s money was being depleted and there wasn’t enough to go around to help the needy. Ginger smiled and then spoke up confidently, knowing their troubles were going to end. “I got a good job!” Ginger laughed, satisfied she had a solution. They all turned around to see Ginger’s gleaming face. She was exuberant. It instantly gave hope to everyone. “I can make 500 a week and 500 more a day and I get free room and free food!” Ginger was almost laughing with excitement. She had saved the day. “I can give you 500 a day to help buy what we need! Things are going to get better.” It was as if the sun was still shining at night through the darkness, casting a spotlight on her. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. “What is it? What kind of job? Is it something we can do?” Their questions came at once and caused Ginger to freeze. She couldn’t explain what kind of job she was going to be doing. She just couldn’t. Her big mouth! “It’s a waitress job and I get tips!” She stumbled with her words, but she explained it was for a very expensive restaurant, the House of Shine. ❖ After the meeting, she was pulled aside in the hallway by one of the doctors in town. She ed that he worked with Dayle. His eyes were mean and

unforgiving. She hardly wanted to be alone with him. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” He asked. Ginger shrugged, as Sally gossiped away about how Ginger was going to try to get her a job, too. They were going to help the community. “Sure.” Ginger said, as she walked with George for privacy. “My name is George. Do you know Dayle and what he was working on?” George asked, worried that she may not make it as frail as she was. “Yes, he was trying to help everyone with our sickness and how to stop us from getting weak.” Ginger was concerned she was showing signs of weakness. She hasn’t had much energy lately and was surprised that she was capable of walking so much to look for a job, but desperation made people do many things. “Yes, that’s right. I worked with Dayle and I’ve heard you say you will be working at the House of Shine.” George had a concerned look, which made Ginger nervous. “Yes, as a waitress.” Ginger insisted. George lowered his voice, “we both know that he didn’t hire you as a waitress. I know what kind of business he does and how you are going make your money.” Ginger bit her lips and shook her head with acknowledgment. “It’s true.” “That’s fine with me. I know times are hard and you are making a great sacrifice for our town, but I’m asking you for a favor.” George walked her into a private room before continuing. “What is it?” Ginger asked. “We are working on trying to make our people more natural. We need to test something out. Is there any way you will be able to get pregnant with one of the naturals?” George stressed with urgency. “What?” Ginger was surprised. Did he say pregnant? She wasn’t expecting those words.

“We will watch the baby. You won’t have to worry about it. We simply need for you to try to make a natural baby. We think if you take our medicine, it may help. But we need you. You’re the perfect person for this. I know Shine won’t fire you if you have a baby. You just have to make sure you bring the baby back here to your homeland.” George persisted. “But...” Ginger was shaking her head no. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but it’s for the survival of our people. This is the only way.” George was earnest. “Sure.” Ginger was scared, but agreed reluctantly; staring at the door. She left town hall regretting her announcement and her big mouth, scared of her new life and her new-found money.

Chapter 13

It's A Botch

After a month, Ginger was upgraded to the second floor with a new floor assistant. The second floor meant that she had enough experience to make even more money, and to get closer to important people. Her dream was to have a new life, a natural one. She was making about 300 extra a day and had left poor Sally on the first floor. She had sold Sally on the same dream that Shine sold her, making more money to save their world. But it wasn’t as profitable as what Shine had explained. He forgot to mention that they were only allowed one free meal a day and that they had to buy their own bathroom supplies and most importantly, they had to pay for any doctor visit. But she put all that aside, her only goal was to make more money to help save her people. They were all depending on her including George. She hated to think about it. Getting pregnant was the last thing she wanted. But the miracle baby would be more precious than money. It meant they could live freely. The opportunity to deliver her promise to George was here. George had waited impatiently with attempts to reach out to her through other workers from their land, but she responded with a shrugged shoulder not caring. Now that she was on the second floor and making much more money, she saw herself through the customers. Big money, big house, and plenty of jewelry and great looking clothes. She wanted to be great. Her opportunity to get pregnant while on the first floor with a natural wasn’t going to give an outcome in her favor. George wanted her to sacrifice her happiness far too soon. She felt she was too young and deserved her chance to be carefree. But the despair of her people was growing and she felt the pressure when her neighbor had ed away while visiting and seeing many homes empty. There was nothing else to do, but to do and to do it now. There was gossip throughout that someone special was coming and she thought that this was her best chance to do it. Shine had invited a handpicked few to attend his private party and he was impressed with how hard she worked. She made it on his list. Ginger was excited, but was extremely nervous. She never worked in a group before and didn’t know if she would feel comfortable with an audience watching and inspecting. She didn’t know anything about entertaining her customers, like the others did. It was just work for her. Making it to the second floor, only required satisfying a few customers that bragged a lot and who was easy to satisfy. The gossip drummed up business for her. Now, she had to entertain,

look exceptionally beautiful, and make money a different way. There was no beauty tips to get from the others, but she had learned everything she needed to from the 2nd floor assistant, and had thankfully bought discounted makeup from her as well. The only thing she splurged on was her undergarments, preferring elegance for enticement. She stood together with her few friends. By default, making friends was easy. The Bones stuck together for they had to compete with the naturals. On the second floor, there were five Bones and six naturals. The naturals hated them. They knew that Shine was replacing them with Bones. They were paid less and the clients could do whatever they wanted without getting themselves in trouble. They especially hated Ginger. Two weeks ago, the second floor were all naturals. Since Ginger moved to the second floor, she had invited her friends that replaced some of the naturals, easily. ❖ Ginger had made a new second-best friend, Olga. Olga joked about the men, giving Ginger an earful and filling her with ideas of how to improve and make much more money. Olga came in with experience and had started from their land. Shine offered her security and steady money, the very things that gave her relief. She was getting old but found a new purpose of making money by doing what the others shied away from. She wasn’t going to let her mind slow down. She was immediately placed on the second floor. Olga taught Ginger everything, a favor for getting her a job with Shine. The first thing Ginger learned was to change her attitude. No downbeat moods, like “it’s just a job” attitude to show to the customer. She needed to show them she was excited to see them. Then there was style. Style was everything. It was how they identified her from the rest. Lastly, she needed confidence. She needed to believe that she was beautiful and sexy. Without that, she was nothing but a common whore, something she couldn’t be tonight. The towns ruler was coming. Her only goal was to outperform the others and add him to her list of customers. She took a sip of the awful elixir that George had given her to guarantee a natural child, and took a deep breath. Tonight, was the night. George was waiting. Their deal was going to come to fruition. ❖

The party was unusually quiet. She walked in and saw them in groups, talking business. The second-floor workers were lined up against the wall talking to one another, as they waited for their table to be cleaned. She ed in, timidly unsure of what next to expect. “What’s going on? I thought we are supposed to mingle.” Ginger sat down at the end of the table, not caring about the mess that was left there. “This is what Shine wants. He said to wait here and they will pick.” One of the Bones said. Ginger was nervous and shifted in her seat, crossing her legs and fiddling with her top to show more cleavage. “Who’s that guy?” she pointed to a heavy-set man laughing, exaggeratedly, out loud. He looked sloppy, unbuttoned, and was garrulous. But he was enjoying himself too much to notice anything wrong. Drinking, laughing, and occasionally glancing over at the girls. “The new ruler. The party is for him.” The others began to take their seat. The words echoed in her mind. It wasn’t what she wanted. She hated dealing with anyone that large, but he was the new ruler which meant more money. If she got pregnant and successfully in having a natural baby, it would mean new laws. They would be recognized as equals. George would demand it. He would want laws giving them access to medicines, that the naturals had, to cure them. It would change their life forever and saving them from a cycle of misery. But Ginger saw the fat man as a beginning of another kind of cycle. “I hope he picks me.” Ginger hesitantly said. The girls stared at her and giggled. She laughed with them ing Olga’s lessons of showing enjoyment. “Well, he might. Your name is Ginger, like the food. He looks like he likes spicy food.” A Bone said. They laughed. The hungry fat man needed something to eat, Ginger thought. Then the men slowly picked, while changing their minds once or twice, where Ginger finally ended up with the fat man. Her nightmare came true. She

wondered if the elixir was going to really work. It was to thin her blood and make it weaker so that it mixes well with his, so that she can get a natural baby. She grinned while hugging him and kissing his liquored lips. ❖ Before realizing it, the night turn into day and the day turn into weeks. The big fat man liked her and she was making good money. She ed Olga telling her to listen to them, to care, to be their second wife. It was that which attracted him and made him a repeat customer. It was the very thing that Shine raved about. Repeat customers equals repeat money. She had managed to save quite a deal of her money for herself, while still helping out her homeland. She counted her money every day, imagining a life with her own home, a husband, and children. Today was no different. The naturals money was fancy with images of plants and wildlife in the region. It had shiny film on it too. She took one and crumbled it in her hand to see if it would leave any crinkles. Nope. Then Shine opened the door with his key and without knocking. “What are you doing? This is my room.” Ginger quickly slipped her money under the bedcovers. “I should ask you that question. What do you think you are doing here?” He had a funny look on his face, not anger, not punishing but a winning expression. “What do you mean? I’m doing my job. I’m making money. Did someone complain about me?” She stood up straight, fearlessly. She had been exemplary and she had the fat ruler. Shine sat at the edge of her bed. “I know you’re pregnant. What do you think you’re doing?” Ginger never thought that the doctor would have told. Everyone said that he was a good guy and that they can speak to him about anything. He never tells. He never did. As if he was reading her mind, Shine said, “the doctor has to tell me. I’m paying him to tell me what problems may arise with my business.”

“What problem? You said you’re not forcing anyone here and we can go whenever we want to.” Ginger said. “True, but not with a natural’s baby.” Shine said. “You mean my baby. It’s mine. He has a wife and children and this baby is mine.” Ginger was fearlessly firm. “You’re in a good position Ginger. The baby, as you say it, is mine. You can’t keep a naturals baby and the ruler can’t keep it either. So, the baby is mine. And you, you can choose to stay here after or...” Shine paused smiling. “Or What?” Ginger shivered. “Or you can leave, with it behind. You decide. But your pay, I’m afraid won’t stay the same. Most of my customers won’t want you after that.” Shine grinned with such a sinister grin that Ginger felt sick. She was motionless, speechless with her lips firmly tight. She needed George. He would help her. ❖ He walked out quietly, leaving her door slightly open. Ginger got up and slammed the door shut as her fears piled up into something insurmountable. Sally had heard the news and before Ginger could calm herself down, there was a knock on her door. Ginger tiptoed to the door and softly spoke, shivering and in fear it was Shine again. “Who is it?” Her voice shaking. “Me, Sally.” The whisper came with hesitation and concern. The news had already spread. Sally’s face was flushed with embarrassment for her poor friend Ginger. She sat on a chair near the edge of the bed, waiting for her to spill it. “Why didn’t you tell me? Everyone is talking about it.” Sally blurted out.

“It was supposed to be a secret. George wanted me to help our people. We need our own kind of natural people.” Ginger spoke low, to prevent eavesdropping. “What do you mean? Why did he ask you to do this? How? Natural?” Sally was completely confused and pulled the chair closer to the bed to whisper. “He said if I take the elixir he gave me, it would help mix my blood with the naturals blood and the baby would come out our kind, but natural.” Ginger’s eyes were teary, for now she wasn’t believing in any of it. “But, I’ve heard Shine talking. Someone else had tried that and we can’t make naturals. He said that the baby comes out unnatural, no matter what. It can’t be done.” Sally couldn’t believe that Ginger was so easy to fool. “George gave me an elixir. He said it would make it work.” Ginger was gaining a bit more confidence. “Can you just help me? I’m going to need to sneak back home. Now that he knows, I have to go back home to have the baby there.” Sally’s eyes widened, not knowing what to say or what to do. “I don’t know.” Sally hesitated. “Just listen, tomorrow when we go out shopping, I’ll leave through the store door to the alley while you pretend to wait for me in the dressing room. This way I can have a head start in getting out of town. I just need you to delay them as long as you can. I’m leaving everything here, except for my money; so, no one should suspect anything right away. “Okay, okay. But this is all wrong. I’ve heard that the naturals were already trying experiments on some of our people and nothing works and they know more than us. Sometimes, the baby looks similar to them, but they are like us or they are like them, nothing of both. It doesn’t matter what anyone does. They’ve even “diluted” their blood and the baby still comes out natural. Our blood doesn’t mix and theirs is stronger. That’s just it.” Sally had heard many things since she started working at Shine’s house. This one was at the top of the list. “But maybe George knows more. Maybe we can have a baby like us, but natural, so we don’t have to have so many illnesses.” Ginger pulled her hair back, out of frustration. Sally shook her head, still disagreeing, but agreed to

help her anyway. ❖ The next day seemed to take forever to come, but Ginger’s plan was successful. She managed to make it back to her homeland and at George’s lab. In tears, she bursted out everything that Sally had told her, not knowing what to believe. “Why did you trick me into this?” Ginger screamed. “It’s not a trick. We are really trying and you agreed.” George said trying to calm her down. “But what if it doesn’t work? Then what?” Ginger yelled. “Then we will have a baby to help us figure things out.” George said casually. Ginger was dumbfounded. Her baby was going to be a lab and they didn’t care. She had ran away from Shine into the hands of another, who could have very well been called “Shine Junior”. Her room that they prepared for her had decorative painted walls with a gated verandah for her to get fresh air. But she saw only a cage with bars to look out of. They planned a strict diet with periodic testing of her blood to keep track of any significant changes. And most importantly, they had the key to her locked door. It was worse than Shine, even he let her have a key and she was free to go as she pleases. She should have stayed with Shine with her baby. Life would have been better. They didn’t care about studying her, to him it would have been business as usual. ❖ Time went by with every month in more despair. George had made a cage for her in his lab, where she was hidden away from the world. The word was out that the police was looking for her, because she had committed a crime of stealing a natural’s blood. Ginger’s bedroom was in the back away from street view. She became grateful to have a bit of some outdoor. It was woodsy and fenced off for privacy. She dragged her days out rolling out of bed near the afternoon, hiding from the daylight and from being caught seen. She rolled over and off the bed as she dragged her big stomach to the bathroom.

“Time for another one.” Ginger said to herself as she sat on the toilet and downed some of the elixir. Her stomach felt heavy as if it was pressing down on every organ in her body. Her water broke as she walked back to bed, leaving her to wobble to the door to bang on it, calling out for George. “Help!” Ginger screamed. George and Peter was in the lab fighting over their analysis when they heard Ginger screaming. George ran to her. “Please, be quiet.” He helped her to her bed and laid her down while Peter helped prepare for the delivery. It was a baby girl, just what Peter and George wanted; a female that can bear more children. The baby looked nothing like Ginger and was smaller than most babies. It shook a lot more as if it was nervous. Ginger fell asleep from their sedative, without getting a chance to even hold her baby. George feared that the drugs may have had a detrimental effect. The baby had to undergo tests immediately, in fear that it wasn’t going to make it. ❖ The test result was disappointing, not only was the baby a natural with which they thought had no connection to being a Bone, it had defects. It was barely responsive and George confirmed that the elixir had caused damage. “It’s a botch. But we have her. We can run more tests with her blood.” George said. “I agree, but what about Ginger? Don’t you think she’s going to be a problem?” Peter placed the baby girl in a cradle. “No, she’s already in trouble with the law. We need to take the baby back to the ship and let the police have Ginger.” George said. “You’re turning Ginger in?” Peter was shocked. “There’s nothing we can do. It’s her fault. She should have came as soon as she knew she was pregnant. She’s sleeping now, so she won’t know if the baby made it. With all that elixir she had been taking, we can assume the worst. We can continue our work at the ship.” George was already packing a few things as

he spoke. “There’s police everywhere. It’s impossible.” Peter said. “I’ve already got a guy to do it. They’ll be watching us, but not the guy. I’ll give the baby a sedative to sleep and he’ll make the trip to the ship.” George placed the baby in a small bag with some money and went to the door, giving the baby a dose of sedative. He was going shopping and to exchange the bag for another one, that looked just like it. George left the lab with confidence, heading out to the local market for lab supplies. He swung the bag with the sleepy baby as if he wasn’t holding anything important, smiling at each police officer he walked by. “Sir, sir, stop there.” A police officer had walked up behind him. “Yes?” George didn’t quiver. “I need to check your bag.” The officer was stern. “Why? I can’t walk on our land now without being harassed?” George complained. Another police officer approached him. “I need your bag sir. You need to come with me.” The police officer pointed to the little fingers sticking out of the blanket. George let out a sigh. His plan was, also, a botch.

Chapter 14

We Can't Be A Minority

“They’re making laws against us. We are outnumbered and they are on our land!” Little Pamela was screaming, but her voice was lost with the other screaming complaints. The town hall was full of despair and grievances. The naturals had taken control of their land, to monitor their activities. New laws spread rapidly. No one was permitted to steal the blood of naturals. But they didn’t care, they continued to steal blood any way they could. A stolen child. A stolen dead body. Anything. They weren’t allowed to mix with naturals either. The Bones were screened periodically for any illnesses and quarantined to prevent any spreading. The Bones weren’t permitted to be out late. Then they were numbered. Tattooed with numerals indicating the location where they lived and their family name. They couldn’t resist, or else. There were public executions, beheading anyone caught breaking the laws. Ginger had to face the courts. It was the first time in history that a Bone stole a naturals child and crossed the borders. It caused outrage across the naturals land and a wave of changes. They had lost their trust in any Bones and wanted to further exam them. Rumors scattered that they weren’t really damaged from the explosion at the port and that they were made from labs at the hands of an expert scientist. But many felt it was too unbelievable to be true. The question of how can a damaged natural steal a natural healthy baby to bring into a land filled with parasites and diseases was even more unbelievable which led them open to the possibility of the lab. The Bones walked in fear, dreading any public conversation that may pique the interest of the police. Pamela was only nine, but she shouted as loud as the grown-ups and ed every word her mother had spoken. “We need to kill them all!” Pamela said. “Shh!” Pamela’s mother said, shocked of her daughter’s persistent outburst. “We’re hiding in the basement. They can’t hear us. Plus, everyone else is making just as much noise.” Pamela’s face was red with anger, fuming that her mother wanted her silence while others were allowed to vent their anger. “No one is saying kill.” Her mother raised her finger at Pamela, scolding her.

But it was too late. The words kill them all echoed in the air, leaving a bittersweet revenge on everyone’s mind. ❖ “She’s right. That little girl is right. We have to do something. We can’t continue to live like this. We need our freedom. They treat us like how they treat animals. If that’s the only way we could survive, what else can we do?” The weeping, the tired, and the worn-out Bones were mentally wounded trying to survive with whatever evil of life was said to have ran through them. “No. There’s another way. We need to make more. We can’t be the minority. We need to outnumber them. We need to take control of everything and rule over them. We need to make them the minority!” The voice held the room still. The thought of ruling over the naturals was enticing and gave them new energy of hope and bravery. It was the answer they’ve been waiting for. It was the only true answer for their survival. They needed to be fruitful and multiply. At that moment they ed their God, Jug. Pamela grinned, her voice did matter. They were going to kill them all by outnumbering and replacing them. It was the perfect plan. ❖ Peter was now heading the science lab. George had been captured by the naturals and haven’t been seen since. They got George and the baby, with very little struggle. Ginger convinced herself that the baby was defective and was probably put to sleep after the naturals stole her. It was what Peter convinced her of; and the only closure that she could possess. Peter heard all that was said in the meeting and was more than willing to oblige. Making more, he could do. Fixing the dying and sick he couldn’t do. It was a losing battle. And then, there was the issue of Jug, still on ice. Now that he was the sole scientific decision maker, he wanted a new Jug, someone that would truly help them survive. In his lab on the ship, he stared at Jug’s lifeless body. Jug had a crazy evil look of satisfaction on his face, frozen in time and lifeless. Peter was deep in thought, wondering why their creator didn’t want to help them. More importantly he needed to figure out what to do about it. He had already started the process of

recreating Jug, with a new name called James. James was going to be like them, able to communicate from a distance and hear their grievances. A new species, as they have become, but James was now going to look as a natural being. The naturals weren’t going to be able to determine that he wasn’t natural at all. What’s most important was that he would walk amongst the naturals and live amongst them, helping them get the very vital information they needed on how to survive. It was the decision he made on what to do about not getting help from the original Jug. His fake Jug was going to comply. Peter had a five-man crew, working on the ship, making more, while he concentrated on the fake Jug. James was almost ready. He didn’t quite look like Jug. He was a bit lighter. Also, the skin texture was different than the naturals. James was somewhere in between, more like a new species. Peter was concerned his plans would fail, if the naturals refused to accept James, as their own. Exhausted with fighting with himself over James appearance, he heard a commotion brewing in the hallway, almost distracting him from creating a resolution. ❖ “Peter, Peter! There’s a problem.” One of his crew, Alfred, cried out loud, with distraught. “What is it?” Peter wasn’t concerned, his concentration was on his notes and he was used to them calling him on any slightest concern of theirs. “Something I’ve never seen before. It’s some kind of new disease. They say that the naturals gave it to them, to kill them.” Alfred was shaking in fear. “Let’s not jump to conclusion. We’ve been here so far and they haven’t done such a thing. The original landowner gave us rights to be here, regardless of what Jug had done.” Peter walked into the other room with Alfred. On the bed, laid a young girl with parts of her flesh falling off in various areas of her body. Peter examined her. It looked like something they had before, but this one was extreme and rumored to be contagious. “Don’t worry. I’m going to give you something to ease the pain and make you sleep. You’ll wake up feeling better.” Peter istered the drug to the girl, acting quickly and finally feeling true fear. Then went into another room with Alfred.

“At least three people have it and they are quarantined. Plus, the naturals found out that we are carrying a contagious disease. They say we are no longer permitted off our land and can’t do any more trading and that we must suffer the consequences and die.” Alfred spoke quickly, anxious to hear Peter. “What makes people think it’s them?” Peter sat at his desk to take notes. “They have nothing, but the fear of the presence of the naturals. But now the naturals are leaving our land and quarantining us. We are the disease to them. Our people think it was their plan all along to exterminate us.” Alfred fear had risen, his hands shaking. “But there’s no proof. This could very well be another one of our defects. Jug had written we had a short useful life span and then we will die. He offered no solution, no help, just death and to serve him. Those naturals are not Jug. They barely do the science that Jug had done. They fear us like we fear them. After this disease, they may very well want to exterminate us, to save their own kind.” Peter spoke softly as he concentrated on his notes, hoping his James would save them. “What are we to do?” Alfred asked. “We have to kill the disease before it spreads. That means...” Peter was interrupted. “I know what it means. We need to kill our own, to save the rest. But if it surfaces again? Then what?” Alfred asked. “That’s why we are making more. This time we need to change things a little. Instead of them being all the same, we can make them a little different. We need to go to the graveyard, the wasteland, where we can get parts of the naturals to make our own.” Alfred had given it careful thought. He knew if George and Dayle, were still doing science, they wouldn’t agree about changing things around and how he was going to make a variety of people. But it was a desperate attempt of survival. “How can we? We are no longer allowed to leave the land. If we get caught, they would surely kill us.” Alfred’s voice quivered. “We still have people at the House of Shine. I don’t think that will change.

They’ve been healthy ever since they started working there.” Peter said. “But they haven’t returned. How would we them? And how can they be healthier than us? Maybe our people are right, that the naturals did something to us to make us sick.” Alfred felt like he was going to out from despair. “We still have communication with the original landowner. We’ll send him a message and see what he says. We have that right.” Peter looked up and placed his pen down. “Why won’t the landowner help us?” Alfred said in desperation. “Maybe he doesn’t know how. Maybe it’s against his beliefs, or maybe he just doesn’t want to interfere. We need to be grateful for him, because without him we would all be dead from the war and we wouldn’t have an opportunity for hope or a chance to help ourselves. What we are going to ask him for is a way to communicate to ours with privacy. We are entitled to manage our own people.” Peter got up to open the door. He left Alfred in the room to collect his thoughts and emotions and to regain what hope he could muster. ❖ Peter walked down the long corridor into the open lab where two other crew were working in making more. He took a deep breath before speaking, making sure he wanted to proceed. “We are going to start to do things a little differently now. Since we don’t know what new diseases may come, we are going to make variations of ourselves, hoping that we can use our blood to help one another. And we are going to go off record and use other various animals that can mix with our blood. I don’t care what it is. We have to try.” Peter spoke cavalierly as if his words weren’t shocking. “Do you mean animals, such as rats, snakes, pigs?” A crew member said with shock. “Yes, I mean those very animals or any animals you can get your hands on. We have to try. We just need a little of theirs and more of ours. It’s been done before and we need to expand on it. We are going to mix these animal components with ours, so that one of our men may have a bit from the dead

naturals, a raccoon, a fox, or a pig added to our blood. It’s the only way we can test to see what works best for our people.” Peter said. “But will they be man? Or something else? Don’t you think this is too extreme?” The crew member was baffled. “Our lives are too extreme. Time is of the essence. We either live or we die. You decide, but I plan to live and I will do whatever it takes to survive. Our blood will prevail and will continue no matter what it is.” Peter exclaimed before walking out of the room. He sent a messenger to the landowner so they can reach their people that’s still on the naturals land. It was the only way for his plan to be in motion. He needed someone from the outside to gather up the dead parts and deliver it at the port for trading. They were permitted to buy food and the plan was that the food was going to be packed alongside the dead body parts of the naturals. He refused to be a minority and a dying one. Every day he made more. He needed just enough that will fill the land up and prove to the naturals that they are not diseased and that they are not dying out. It was the only way to regain trust and to remove the quarantine from their land. It was the only way to instill hope in the people. They made it a pact to keep everything secret. He didn’t want any news about him making more people. All they would know is that there was more of their kind surviving. The naturals had to get comfortable with them again and their land had to be free from any disease.

Chapter 15

The Majority

Peter was able to stabilize the disease from spreading. A sleeping poison was the best way to painlessly kill them. He was tired of watching his people agonizingly suffer through it. He was just tired. Their town was new again. New faces and new life. The energy in the bodies were the same , he thought. They had to be. Some of them appear to have memories as if they never left. They looked somewhat similar to how they were with a bit of strangeness. Peter thought it to be the animal part, showing itself; not quite there. But he didn’t care, they acted as man and the land was again moving forward. The Bones were trying to lead normal lives despite the natural’s lingering laws. They have now grown used to the naturals monitoring them at arm’s length. They still feared catching some unknown illness. It was this bit of arm’s length freedom that helped develop their normal lives. They learned more from the naturals, for the naturals preferred that the Bones do things on their own quarantined land, so they were taught. Trading was few and far between with the naturals. Their town had to develop into an independent means of survival. No more could they get most of their goods from the naturals. Gates and walls were built to keep them out, leaving just a small trading marketplace between the gate and wall. A place where the sun doesn’t shine and heavy shadows drowned between, showing nothing but an alley way. ❖ Time went by, where the Bones established schools. It was not just about survival anymore. Their town began to resemble the way the naturals lived. Pamela was now fifteen and going to an official school. Her community had started a collective school where they can learn and become workers. It was what the naturals were doing. She was a new batch of young Bones who survived the sweep of ailment and were born not made. They made the older surviving Bones proud and gave them hope. The others, in between’s, were space holders; just what they needed to keep the engine of their lives going. The quarantine was uplifted once they started seeing more Bones and the disease disappearing. Pamela had become Peter’s new helper at his lab in town. She helped clean and kept an eye on things. Peter thought she was the perfect fit. No one paid no attention to her and they spoke freely around her. In turn Pamela

divulge to him all the information she heard at the lab from the other workers and what the town’s people were saying about them. It was the only way Peter knew that his secret about the ship was not out. ❖ He was fixated on working at the lab on the ship and didn’t want anyone to be suspicious for not being around. He had something else to deal with. He had a six-year-old problem that couldn’t wait anymore. Locked up in one of the chambers was James. James came confused and wondered why Peter had made him. It was the normal question that they all had at first, but it stayed with James after he learned to read and learned about the existence of the naturals. He didn’t quite look like a natural and he didn’t quite look like a Bone. He was different and clearly stood out in the crowd. Peter had created the first Bone that was mostly from the natural and was unfragmented, but after doing tests, the result remained as a Bone. It was a disappointing blow. The naturals could easily do the test themselves. There was no way he would as a natural. His plan was fouled. No Jug to help and James wasn’t even half the man that Jug was. Jug was fearless and knowledgeable, while James curiosity about everything caused him to fret about the ethics of his existence. The ethics of mankind was puzzling. Did the naturals abide by a different ethics than the Bones? Were they being punished at the onset of creation? Why were they prone to diseases? Was there something false about them? Why, indeed, were they made? Why did Peter do it? To live or not to live a life of wondering why. Why did he look different from the naturals and the Bones? Why did Peter do it? Why did he make him so alone? ❖ Troubled with grief, James would make attempts to kill himself causing Peter to keep him locked up and constantly under surveillance. At times Peter himself wanted to kill him. He was troubling just to look at. James refused to take care of himself. He had lost all hope of existence, after reading and learning he grew more and more disdained, riddled with the questions of what life truly is.

“Let me out!” It was James normal cry for help. Peter heard it many times when he visited James. He opened the door, slowly. Looking him over, desperately wanting him to turn around. “How many times did I tell you there is no one here to let you out. In order to be let out you have to convince me that you are not going to kill yourself.” Peter said. “How can I promise such a thing?” James spoke as if he was growling with a blustering tone. “I am here to help you. It’s been six years, three of which we had to lock you up in here to prevent the naturals from finding out about this ship.” Peter explained, ing James attempted great escape. “I don’t care about your ship.” James spoke as if he was drunken. “I care about my life and what you’ve made me. You had no right. You gave me no choice. You’ve stolen from me the right to live as a natural.” “Not even a child has choices of their birth. We sometimes have to deal with what was given to us. You need to understand how to appreciate life.” Peter continued while taking notes. “It’s been six years and I am no use to you, so why do you keep me here? Let me die in peace. Let me choose my own fate. I have the right to die and correct the madness you’ve created in my mind.” James spoke in a sullen manner, holding onto his head, pulling his strands. “If I had given up, we would all be dead. Because I cared, I was determined to make more and now we are the majority. Our land far exceed that of the naturals. They depend on us for trade, for their livelihood. We can do anything now. Don’t you understand that you can be free, providing you do not betray us.” Peter said. “I will not betray you. Now let me go.” James responded as if he was speaking to himself. “But yet, I’ve tried this before with you and you did betray me. In order for our agreement to work you have to do something for me. As I had told you, I need you to present yourself as Jug. Our people’s God, who have returned to save

them. Will you do this?” Peter was adamant. “You want me to lie and say that I am someone I am not. You want me to tell them that I can do something I cannot. Instead of me killing myself, you prefer to watch them kill me after they find out that I had lied. Is this the life you planned for me?” James muttered furiously. “That’s not what I mean.” Peter walked around the room with frustration. “It’s exactly what you mean. You mean to deceive your people and gain control of their minds. You want them to trust you and look to you as their true savior for having bringing me back to life.” James said. It was the words “back to life” that sparked something inside of Peter. If indeed Jug was somewhere inside James, there was a chance in saving his people once and for all. He just needed James to wake up and believe. “I’ve done more than bring you back to life. I’ve given them hope. Our lab, now help the sick. And your presence is the hope they needed.” Peter explained. “No. Your lab is where they are sent to die, while you replace them with exact copies as if you had cured them. Their body cannot heal. It does not have the components to heal as natural people do. What you do, is deceive, as you plan to do with me. I would rather spend my days living in this containment of a home you had made for me. Your actions are truly evil and your mind has far exceeded evil.” James was calm. He had spoken many times with Peter, hoping one day he would be free. ❖ Peter walked quietly to the door and walked out not looking back. He was haunted by James ethics. His reasoning of life had become a repeated ministry to break his will. Every day it was the same thing. But today it was going to end differently. James dinner was laced with a drug stolen from the naturals that would make James do exactly what he wanted. It was just the thing he needed. His will to live far supersede James moral ethics of life. The next few days was joyous for Peter. James had become cooperative with a few trainings for him to understand the way life should be, according to the

teachings of Peter. He was willing to save his people and become their new leader. He started helping out at the lab in town and kept the secrets that Peter insisted he keep. James gave medicines that eased and comforted them, all the while noting down how long it was going to take for them to die, so that a suitable cloned replacement would take their place. The medicine that Peter gave James soothed his mind down, causing complaisant and allowing Peter to fill his mind with his ideas. James agreed and thought of a better understanding, a better vision, implanted by Peter. A stolen drug from the naturals, was his miracle drug. It helped him make a lot of smooth transactions during trading. The naturals had used it for other things unclear to him. ❖ They had stolen medicines, but sometimes had gotten caught. Since then, it was becoming increasingly difficult to steal medicines from the naturals. The medicines helped a little, but not enough to provide a cure and make them feel well again. Peter knew it was because the medicine only helped the part of them that was natural. The part of them that was unnatural would stop its process in completing the job. They had no continuity. Nevertheless, Peter had mastered transferring of energy from one body to another, like a telecomm call. The energy from the old body would be transferred into the new body; and all will see that their patient was cured. The “animals” were released from the ship. It’s what Peter called them. They were men mixed with blood and parts of actual wild animals. Peter ensured his crew that they were indeed definitely, primarily man, no matter how eccentric they looked. The animals argued with one another not having any reasoning or true understanding of the subject matter. They fought with one another for no reason, creating unnecessary war amongst themselves. But Peter could care less. They had a purpose. They were place holders until their problem was finally solved. Therefore, they were men and men are animals just like any other animals, so it didn’t matter. Yet, Alfred wasn’t convinced. He studied them especially closely. Their behavior was quite different from the others. They reacted differently when they were angry. Any kind of extreme emotions they were having made them

unpredictable and sometimes violent. Their comprehension was not the same and they took longer to learn, because as Peter puts it “their minds process information differently than ours.” That was all Alfred needed to hear, to convince him that they were not men. Alfred was consumed in keeping the wild animals from acting their true self’s, which is why he barely noticed James campaigning to win over the public and become their new ruler. Alfred created music of sounds to calm them. He sent it from the ship for them to hear. It worked temporarily. The temporarily fact scared him and the amount of “animals” that Peter had created terrified him. Knowing the truth, made it difficult for him to live a normal life without fear. Yet, Peter had no problems. He was too concentrated on James. ❖ James started living in a two-story home that he bought with his own money, from the deception of curing his people. They paid him for their relief of sufferings. He was considered a natural in their eyes. He was darker than them and had knowledge of curing them, like what they thought of the naturals. Peter had diligently, continuously provided the drug to sway James in his direction. James learned to believe what Peter pushed in his mind. He no longer needed the drug. He was capable without it, because he believed. Believing was a key component for the drug. If you didn’t believe, it couldn’t work. It was the difficult factor that required convincing one of forcible power, understanding the reasoning of why they needed to be successful and to rid them of any more grievances. It was the power of unlimited money and ownership of lands that convinced James. The very thing that Jug had convinced himself to create people. James had something of Jug in him after all. Greed. Not only did James believe that his life was worth living, he believed that his patients were to follow him as their savior. He, too, began using persuasive “medicines” to induce the mind to believe what he said. Some of these medicines made the patients believe in incredible things as hallucinations would do. They would talk and spread the rumor of James miracles and theatrics. James walked amongst them with ambition to be their new ruler. They posted many news that he was the one to further uplift them. He could bring them back to their true homeland as naturals. In just a short matter of time, they believed

fully, that James would make them completely natural again. With all the donations and adornments, he was receiving, how could he say no. Life was now truly worth living. He had a new purpose. They were now the majority on the land and the majority had no limits.

Chapter 16

Assume the Position

Peter never thought life could be this wonderful. Things were finally happening the way he wanted. The naturals were being forced off their lands. They had to share the only land that the Bones left for them and it was a land surrounded by Bones. It was a new world with new rules controlled by them. James was the new ruler with Peter at his side. Whatever they needed, they stole from the naturals. Medicines, technology, and new ideas were all at their disposal. All they had to do is to steal it. The naturals were looted daily to nearly barren. They looted the natural resources pumped from the ground that they stood on. Their food resources overgrown and depleted, leaving them with just mud to eat. Their land, and wherever the Bones went, turned into a wasteland. The original landowner was nowhere in sight and silent. There was no Trent pushing back with his military, leaving some to think he had died. James had re-engineered technology they stole from the ships they had acquired from the naturals; building bridges, hospitals, and trains. The very things that the original landowner did not want to be built on his earth. There were no restrictions, for no one told them that they couldn’t. The only thing Peter hated and regretted more than anything is not being able to go to their home planet, like Jug had promised. The naturals deleted the information off their ships and severely damaged their ships. The last message they sent out was that their conditions were severe and the security compromised. Their message was acknowledged by council who were busy at hand developing a universal plan against unnatural beings. The earth was now quarantined, with the last bit of naturals left behind living out their days to their bitter end. James had his own council , who were assigned different parts to rule over and to report to him. Peter had covered the hole where messages were sent to the landowner. The landowner was considered obsolete like a dinosaur, having no need for an expert opinion or assistance from what was and what used to be. After all they were the new landowners. They were the judges, the courts, the law. They were the scientist and the caretaker. Everywhere they went they were. Which is why James made sure he put himself everywhere. He wanted his people to know who he was and that they had a natural looking person on their side. It was the first step in his

strategic plan with Peter. ❖ James was in his office when Peter walked in. He was deep in thought, staring out the window at the busy city. It was his city with his people. Yet, they didn’t look like him and indeed wasn’t. He, too, was a Bone, but still not like them. He couldn’t help but to the years locked up on the ship, with Peter trying to convince him, to live for them. Trapped between two worlds, a Bone beneath what appears to be a natural being. He was tormented no more. His in between nature was the tool he used to demand power. The only person he felt that refused to recognize it was Peter, who was now standing in his office ready to give him orders. “We have a problem. There’s another uprising. People are spreading rumors that we are not real people and were made from the lab. The naturals are claiming they are above us. We need to stop this before it spreads worldwide.” Peter was calm when he spoke, because he already knew what he wanted to do. “That’s not new news. We’ve faced those gossip before.” James said. “These rumors are growing, spreading across the lands. People are fearful that they are going to die and won’t live out their life. They won’t have any confidence and trust in us. It will cause a widespread panic and threaten our rule of order.” Peter took a seat across from him, waiting for his predicted response. “You want me to give the go ahead for the execution of our own gossipers? To further grow the rumor?” James took a moment and turned around from the window to look at Peter, before continuing. “Do you where we were before I came to life? Do you what you said to me, and our purpose?” “Yes, you wanted to kill yourself and I told you that your purpose is to give hope to our people.” Peter replied. “What hope comes from executing our own? It would only confirm the truth that we are from the labs, originated from the fragments of the dead and mixed in with wild animals. It’s not the direction we should be going.” James said. “Yes, but they would believe it. They are already considering ourselves as not man. Our own people are doing science finding remarkable discoveries.

They’ve made the connection with our human structure that are of a wild animal. We can’t dispute them. We have a team working on the “animals” still, but there’s no breakthrough. Their offspring is having more “animal” than man. They’re concerned, but I don’t see a problem. We know how to solve it. Moreover, they are creating literature to back their findings.” Peter paused to think, not knowing what to say. “So, our threat is not the naturals, it’s our own people. It’s them believing the rumors and being swayed to think against their very own kind.” James was more relaxed than ever as he sat back in his chair, puzzling Peter, as he ed the theory of the pig, that one Bone had written about. The pig taking all for himself, not sharing with his own kind; until there was no more to have. Then he continued. ❖ “I am unique in our own kind. I’m made more from a natural than any of our kind. How can you sit there across from me and trust me? How do you know if I’m not truly working for the naturals? I may have orchestrated the uprising without you even knowing. What makes you believe in me?” James question came at a surprise to Peter. He was caught off guard, stumbling for words, but managed to have a comeback. “What are you saying? Did you do this? Against us?” Peter positioned himself to stand up, but before he did, James responded. “No, of course not. Please just sit, relax. I’m not turning on you. I’m merely enlightening you of what we must do. We need to make them believe in us and not in them. The first thing we need to do is discredit the rumors. Prove to our people that we are naturals and are real. They need to know we are defected naturals, exposed to something unnatural during our historical wars. They’ll believe that, but we need proof.” James tapped his hand on his desk. “It’s impossible to prove, James. Impossible.” Peter shook his head in disbelief. “Anything is possible. You said that. You lied and you deceived from the start and now you’re telling me that it’s impossible.” James said. Peter shifted in his seat. “I’m just saying when they do the examination they will see. It’s not just me that does science now and our people are educated. I’m

just not getting what you are saying.” James sat up straight in his chair showing an authoritative posture of assurance. “I’m saying they don’t have to be right. They don’t have to tell the truth. The people just have to believe them. We need to give them accreditation and discredit our enemies. The people will only listen to the ones we . No uprising will continue and they will believe in our rulings and our authority.” Peter took a deep breath of relief. James did have the right answer and a permanent one at that. The schools were going to be restructured with degrees and accreditations being taught what the ruler approved. Anyone caught teaching anything different would be found to be violating the laws of the land and against the truth of their people. It was a plan long thought of. James thought only to protect his rule. The longer he had power, the easier it was to do anything. His people was going to learn that he could do anything he wanted and they needed to believe in him. ❖ Yet, the uprisings continued in the inner city. They heard about the changes that were being made in the schools. They heard that the ruler said that they were being fed lies. But they believed in their research, they believed in their own scientific work that they had learned from the naturals. And they weren’t going to be convinced otherwise. They had their meetings too, and tonight they were going to make another proof to their discoveries. There was a team of elite scientist debating and acknowledging their theories having their monthly meeting in the community hall. “Look. You see this? This is what we have. It’s the very marker that identifies our kind which is different than the naturals. This is unparalleled proof of why we are the way we are. Why we cannot fight off diseases the way naturals can.” The scientist, Oman said. “If that is true, how are we surviving. The medicines work.” It was an uncertain response, but nevertheless it was heard with concern. “Do they? There are no medicines that cures our illnesses. They help us alleviate our pain. Our body either repairs itself or don’t. It’s the very food we eat that these medicines comes from. It’s the food that repairs us, not the

chemicals of the medicines. They only make us not feel the intensity of the pain, which also can be obtained by natural plant life. We are being lied to.” Oman said. It was true that no one in the room had proof that a medicine cured. They had tested the naturals they had in captivity, making them ill and watching them heal naturally. And running the same test on unnatural and watching them die. Even with the assistance of medicines there was no cure. It was simply how they were designed that determined how they healed, how fast they healed and if they healed at all. Each kind of natural healed differently, while each kind of unnatural died differently. “There are people that follow our beliefs. They are using this knowledge to exterminate the naturals, by keeping them continuously ill giving them no opportunity to heal themselves. The medicines are now riddled with destructive components that do more harm than good. We need to stop them. Killing the naturals means killing any chance of finding a solution for us.” Oman was adamant. He caused the room to grow silent. “What about the ruler? He wants to destroy our organization, he said we are enemies of his ruling.” One scientist said. “That is why we must end our public meetings. Our meetings must be silent and covert. We can no longer speak as we do and function as we do. We must be careful, for surely he will take our heads.” Oman said. They left with a new purpose and a new name to continue as an underground, undetected entity. ❖ James had heard that there were no more public meetings and the uprisings had eventually stopped. But he wasn’t convinced that it wouldn’t start up again. He learned about how close the scientist were getting to the proof. The proof would kill his rule and nobody will follow him. He, too, called for a special meeting. “You are all here to discuss the security of our people. As you know we had several uprisings and suicides on the basis of unfounded beliefs that we weren’t “real” people. Our military and rule of law had managed to subside these uprisings, but there is no certainty that they won’t return. I am proposing

something new and better, but before I do I want to hear your proposals for a permanent solution.” James spoke at the head of the table with his glass of water at midpoint. No one answered. They looked amongst themselves seeing who would assist. But only one spoke. “There is technology we’ve found from the naturals. It can be implanted to make people do things. We’ve already tested it. Why not implement it within our people? They will surely be more than loyal.” James wasn’t expecting an answer. He had already prepared to present his plan, but welcomed the new discovery. “Yes, yes. That sounds great. I must hear more about it.” James proclaimed, pretending to be interested and excited.

Chapter 17

Our New History

“It’s a simple device. They’ve used it as a telecommunication to speak to one another when exploring. But we can use it differently. We can implant it in our people at birth so they can hear our words. On occasions of uprisings, we can subdue them, rendering them powerless.” Joshua was his name. He spoke as a matter of factly, hinting that he had already implemented his plan on the land he was ruling. “There are no defects? Would it work without harming?” James asked as he thought of what he learned about the through effects of what was already incorporated in them at the time of their creation. Would this device interfere with what was already there? “It hasn’t harmed anyone that has been tested. It doesn’t interfere with our own through communication. If anything, it enhances it. We can communicate from further locations, possibly we won’t need to have these physical meetings anymore.” Joshua said ecstatically. “Are you suggesting we put it into ourselves? Isn’t that risky? Won’t they find a way to control us?” Another ruler said. “What other way can we communicate? The device is one way not two way. We, the rulers, will give the orders and they will listen. If we use it outside of our body and mistakenly leave it somewhere, someone can get access to it and destroy it or worse take control of it and turn our people against us. We have to have it in us. It’s the only way it is secure, within our personal possession.” Joshua said. There was no denying that they had the ability to communicate with one another, but it was by choice and freedom of the mind. The other rulers were skeptical of Joshua of having complete control and authority over the mind. It was great for the people to be subjected to it, but themselves it would be torture. Who would truly want to be responsible for the actions of so many? Who would want it in their loved ones? It was bound to end up in their children. Yet, no one thought of opposing James who has yet to make a decision. “I agree,” said James. “And as an added value we will now discuss my proposal.” He grinned. ❖

The room grew silent. They were expecting to hear more of Joshua’s new technology. The one that was going to change the minds of the people. How it worked? If it was removable? Can it be destroyed? Would it be temporary? But James had something better that was putting the room to a deafening silence. “Imagine us as Gods. No more Jug. Just us. We becoming the new Gods on all of the lands. They will worship us as they should, without question to our authority. They will bow and kneel to us and wait with anticipation for our commands. They will know their place under us. They will keep us as their Gods, long after we die. Imagine that?” James spoke with such force, it shook the room and stirred the energy in their bodies with excitement. “What in the world are you speaking of? Accept our rule without question? Treat us as Gods after our deaths? Have you gone mad?” A ruler said, realizing too late that he had overstepped his boundaries. “Not at all. With Joshua’s technology and my new belief system, they will learn to obey and teach their children our ways.” James said, dismissing the challenge to his authority. “A belief system. You mean, your accreditation?” “No, I mean something separate from the schools. The accreditation worked and that made me think we can expand on that idea. Our people need to know where they came from with certainty. They need to know the rules we want them to live by, throughout generations. They need to believe we are the supreme ruler over them, where our names and images will live with them. They need to know they are natural beings too.” James spoke with a rhythm they haven’t heard before, that pulled everyone in the room to his side. “How? How do you plan to do this?” Joshua asked. “Simple.” James said. “We will rewrite our history, shaping the thoughts of our people. They will know of our discoveries, of our homeland, of our power.” “Power, homeland? These things we’ve acquired from the naturals. They know already we have retrieved it from the naturals. Why would that change?” Another said. “It will change through their children and their children’s children. They will

learn of our new history of which they will hold as our true history.” James continued. “And they won’t oppose. Not with my new technology.” Joshua added, loving the idea. Deception had come easy for James. Peter was the master of deception and lies. James now wore it every day, incorporating it into his lifestyle. The fear of being immoral and unethical had long gone. The questions of why, had now been dismissed. The deeper he got into Peter’s strategy, the more obsessed he became with his plans. ❖ The meeting was a success. James had a new partner in crime, Joshua. Peter was shocked. He had never thought he would be around to hear this kind of history in the making. Peter left the meeting with the understanding that the plan was going to take immediate effect and to weed out anyone who resisted. But he wasn’t fully onboard. Once at home, Peter decided to meet with the opposition, Oman. He met Oman in the study of his home. Oman sat nervously waiting for his sentencing. He couldn’t believe that Peter just walked into his home, unannounced. He was sure that the team’s secrecy was discovered. “Just relax. I’m not here to reprimand you. I need you to listen to me. I need your trust. I think things are getting out of hand. James is making things complicated. We already have all that we need, but now he wants more. Can I trust you to be discreet?” Peter said. “Yes, what is this all about?” Oman took a deep breath. “Our survival. I no longer trust James. I believe his natural elements are taking over him. I’m not convinced that he is truly with our people. And he’s making changes that may hurt us.” Peter gave Oman a glass of his wine to calm him down, after witnessing his shaky hands and poured some for himself, taking note of his books and research materials around him. “What kind of changes?” Oman asked.

“First you need to know, if I ever find out you betrayed me in any way I will kill you and every member of your family. All of them. I need you to understand that clearly.” Peter spoke with the utmost seriousness. “Yes, of course. I understand the need for secrecy.” Oman shook his head to indicate he was with Peter, then took a sip of his wine. “James is planning to implant a telecommunication device in every new born that will shape their minds to believe he is a supreme God and of each ruler who has their own God status over their respective land. He’s planning to make into law a new “belief system” to make people learn of their power over the people and over the world; making them believe even after his death. He is planning on becoming an endless God, where he can re-appear at will through the labs and the science we implemented for cloning.” Peter spoke with fury. “Cloning? You mean copying? It’s never been done. It’s not possible.” Oman said. “It’s possible. It’s been done. I’ve done it and held it secret from the people. It was the only way we could have survived. I had to calibrate the dying sick people and replace them with new bodies and transfer the energy from the old body to the new one, before they died. I had to make more people from the fragments of the dead naturals and mixing their blood with our blood and the fragments of wild animals creating people never made before. People that your team believe to be not of man. I had to do many things to keep the life of our people and make ours from minority to a majority. And now we rule this earth. And now James want to rule over our people and take away our freedom that I struggled to have.” Peter’s face was bright red, eager to kill anything. Oman was shocked. He thought he knew everything, but he didn’t know enough. The truth of who they are and how they came to be were answered. Questions that he was researching, answered. He sat not knowing what in the world Peter was expecting of him. There was no way that anyone could stop James. “What can I do? James has the world.” Oman said. “No. He doesn’t have to. I need you to work quietly with your team to stop this device. And I need you to create a distraction amongst the people. Something that would cause an uprising, not in your name, but in the name of James’ ruling,

as if they are ing him. Let them burn down homes, destroy businesses chanting their for their almighty James. Make the masses know that the destruction was given by James, so they can fear him even more. It will cause more uprisings and the demand for his removal. They will crave for a new ruler, someone they can trust. Let them see that James only wishes to destroy. I want them to do it across all the lands. Before we know it, there will be war and war will bring the end to James reign.” Peter said. “War? But if he has the mind of the people, how can there be war?” Oman asked. “He doesn’t have their minds yet. He doesn’t have all of the people yet. This must be done now. We don’t have much time. We mustn’t give him time to implement his plan. The people will find out through war what James plans to do. I’ll take care of that part and they will hunt him down for betraying our kind.” Peter said. He walked out with his mind more at ease. He knew he had scared the daylights out of Oman. Oman now knew too much that would spearhead many uprisings with or without Peter’s help. ❖ Oman had agreed without hesitation. He had much to do and very little time. The biggest problem was convincing his team what he had been told. But he knew they weren’t going to risk the chances of it being true. He knew they weren’t going to oppose war, and now they had a reason. It was kill or be controlled. War was the new word for freedom. It had become the word for change and new ideas. It was the new word for saving themselves and the new word for life. War meant, out with the old and in with the new. Oman was going to have war. He was going to destroy Joshua and stop his technology. He had his team work on anything that would shut it down. They decided to quarantine a few people to live in a secluded area free from harm. Indeed, war came. It lasted many years. They had some doctors helping to prevent the technology installed at birth, with the attempts to reduce the numbers infected. But Joshua fought back and infected the water supply with his technology, where anybody was subject to it. Streams and rivers and dams were affected. Aquatic animals were infected causing confusion amongst them, where they swam sporadically, often confused of which direction they should go. The signals and messages sent to man was

being interpreted by other life forms. Now, man talked to one another, not knowing truly what or who they were speaking to; man or other animals? ❖ James conquered many and lost many. He wanted to know how the resistance new of his plan, but no one spoke. They knew of the telecommunication and of his new “belief system” beforehand. The resistance chanted that they weren’t ever ready to accept being mental slaves and that James was a natural who wanted to control them. The lighter Bones were preferable and safer. They learned that any Bones that were closely related to the naturals in appearance would somehow try to enslave them and make them their property. They will never have that come to light. Never. James has now become a defective Bone and anything dark was evil.

Chapter 18

Somewhere in Time

From war, Joshua died. Oman was defeated and miserably surrendered. James had stacked the dead bodies up creating a mountain of the dead. He told his military to leave the body to decay for all to see and to smell. They needed to be reminded of the history he made and for what will happen if anyone went against him. Peter couldn’t believe it. James had lost his mind. How can he kill so many Bones and leave them to rot? James ordered the military to guard the schools. Every school must enforce his new teachings of their new history of how they are naturals and how they have every right to be there. They taught the science of it all, where the children had to learn that they evolved from the sea and developed into the mammals they are today. They taught James belief system in all of the gathering houses, for the people that didn’t attend school. Everyone needed to learn his truth. But not everyone obeyed. The military killed any man that did not obey, leaving the women and children to suffer in fear. Food was scarce after the war. James began to control the water and food supply; taxing them on nearly everything they bought. Housing was limited for many had been burned down. Orphans increased, where he provided for them, so he could have complete control. Yet, there were still some resistants underground, waiting for their next opportunity. They saw nothing but death to their freedom and desperately wanted James to die. ❖ James heard about another resistance brewing. He decided to attend one of the teachings at a gathering house. Peter had went along with him with a couple of private security. They went to the City of Rose, where they had heard the resistance was greater. James walked in quietly and sat in the back hearing outcry’s of how the words they were being taught were lies. “Please listen to me. I need everyone to settle down. Our leader is here. James had lifted us all to a better place. Show him some respect.” The teacher said. The room grew silent as they turned around to see James sitting in the back of the room, with his security. The teacher regained his position of authority and comfortably continued. “These stories that you’ve heard being made in the lab is not true.

Everything about that is false. We are indeed natural beings evolved from the very sea that this world thrives from. We are of natural evolution. But before that we need to understand that all living things were created. We were all from a creation of a higher being, not of this world but of the universe. This is what have caused the confusion.” The teacher said. “You can’t ignore the facts. There has been ships found. Some scientist say there is proof showing how they made us. That we used to work for the naturals.” Someone yelled out, not caring about James presence. “And did you see this proof? Where is this scientist? I’ve heard these stories too and no one has been able to provide me with the proof I need. I am telling the truth. Our God is above this world. He has helped us with all our needs. He has given us the ability to study and to question his very existence. And here you are turning against him.” The teacher said. “Proof? Where is your proof? These scientists said the proof is in us all. They say they have proof, but where is yours, teacher?” the man yelled out, showing no respect. “My proof is within me. I appreciate the life he has given me. I will forever be grateful for my life. I will obey his words. You all must understand his love to accept us as we should accept him.” The teacher continued. “We need to listen to his words of the laws of natural life that we must obey. James is here. He has come in the form of the true God from above, our leader. Let’s begin with his laws.” The teacher said, but no one turned to look at James to give him any recognition. They were still hanging onto the words of where is the proof? There was no proof. They talked over the teacher amongst themselves. They agreed that no God saved them from war and murder. No God cured them from their sickness. No God gave them riches to live from. They were still suffering, living miserably. They knew nothing of any true God. ❖ Irritated, some people started to get up and leave. James, at that moment got up and signaled his security to guard the doors.

“What are you doing? You can’t keep us here against our will. We don’t have to stay and listen to false teachings with no proof. You think everyone follows you James? There are many who protest you and wishes for your fall! You...”. The man was adamant and wanted to continue as he walked to James, but froze when James pulled out a knife. “Sit down, now!” James said lifting his knife to the man’s throat. The room grew quiet as they shuffled to their seats. “Let me go over the laws of life, that I have created with the guidance of all our leaders and the knowledge of God. He is indeed universal and above us all.” James said as he put his knife away then walking slowing up to the front of the room. “The first law is do not go against him to demean his nature, his life, his existence, and his knowledge that of which you do not possess. And that I alone possess. He is more powerful than all of you and he has taught me all I need to know and has given me the power to make anyone fall to the ground.” James reached the front of the room and stood staring at his people. “The second law is to trust in him and in his power. There is no more of not believing in his acts. There is no more belief that you are created lesser than others. There is no more gossip that we are all going to die with no cure from our illness. There is just trust that he will save the ones who have done good with their lives and he will let go the ones who have lost their trust in him. He knows who believes in him and he knows who have betrayed him.” James spoke with such power it shook the room and placed the people in fear. But that one protester saw his chance for the door and got up to leave, running to get to it. But before he could reach it, he fell to the ground. With no one striking him down, he fell lifeless. They gathered around him and saw that he was dead. James spoke, “you see the power of our leader! He knows who has forsaken him. You ask for your proof! This is your proof. If anyone else wishes to leave go ahead. There’s the door. I will not stop you this time. Our leader is watching. Do you dare not to believe in him?” They sat back down with more attentiveness. The dead protester remained lifeless. He had fallen face down and his head to the side. His eyes stiffly looking out at nothingness, as if he was in fear and was very lost. Who in the

world had that kind of power to kill a single man without touching him, in a room filled of people? James had to be telling the truth. James saw their terrified faces, and almost heard their hearts pounding like a beating drum, loud enough to break the window glass. He almost wished that it would happen. It would reinforce his power and make them bow to him in fear. But there was one face that didn’t seem to belong and showed no fear. It was a little girl sitting quietly grinning, as if she knew the game plan. Her funny little face reminded him of someone. Then he ed who. It was Ginger, a Bone he had learned about, who had given birth to a natural child that was taken from her by the naturals very own law. Indeed, the little girl had a hint of Ginger in her, grinning with no fear. Peter saw her too, but he was more focused on the madness of James mind. He didn’t know how many more lives will fall in the gathering house. James hadn’t told him the plan. It was a spur of the moment execution. The rift between them was growing, and neither of them trusted one another entirely. The poor little girl had to watch the madness of James, kill a nonbeliever. James just didn’t care. “The third law is to love yourself and one another, no matter how different we look we are all the same. We all belong to him. We mustn’t wage war against one another out of jealously, out of inhumane reasoning, or out of any evil ways. We are all here together to live as one people, all of which are naturals.” James paused and took a breath before stopping. It was all he wanted to say. He wanted them to the death of the protester and for them to know that they must obey. The teacher continued where he left off as James walked to the back of the room. His security removed the protesters dead body as they walked out of the gathering house. Outside, the onlookers saw the security leave the body at the curb; where they normally put the garbage. The dead were, sometimes, placed out on the curb for the city to pick up. It was usually from the poor. They had no means of paying private men to send the body out for proper service and sometimes the scientist picked them up to study. James would have set it on fire, but thought better of it for the fire may cause the shops to burn down. Instead, he left it at the curb, so that gossip will run wild about their new leader and the laws of his belief system. ❖

James dropped Peter off at his house and they spoke briefly in his foyer. “This is going too far. You’ve killed one of our people to make a simple point. Do you our purpose is to save our people not kill them? And this “belief law system” that you’re making them abide by, what do you expect will come from it? Not everyone will follow. Are you planning on killing all protesters? They are requesting proof. What are you going to do when they demand more proof?” Peter was angry and wanted to kill James himself. It was a futile thought; James security was everywhere. He had become untouchable. “It sounds to me that you are a nonbeliever.” James grinned. Peter took a step back, before speaking. “What are you going to do kill me? The very man that everyone knows who has ed you and helped you get to where you are now? What would they think of your belief system when the leader can’t protect their own?” Peter spoke in desperation, not trusting the kind of man standing before him. “I’m not a killer,” James reached over to whisper in his ears. Then walked around him before saying, “I have no intentions of killing you. Is all that I’m saying, so far fetch and unreasonable? The people need stability. This is the only way. I need you to not be a protester and not get in my way. I need your Peter. Do you think you can put aside your personal feelings and do this for all our people?” He paused, “and for their will to survive?” James had a sinister grin. He didn’t care what the answer was. He wanted his security to witness Peter’s resistance. But instead, Peter felt like the bad guy. He had taught James to survive by any means necessary and here he was opposing his methods. He had killed many naturals to survive, at a time where they were outnumbered. James was trying to stabilize what he had built. It wasn’t his methods that were fearful. He rethought. It was James himself. Now wasn’t the time to go against him. He had to go along with it. Peter frowned, “you’re right. Just please stop the killing of our own people. It’s the naturals we need to worry about. I am certain they wish to destroy us. I can feel it.” “What are you afraid of? We have their power, their knowledge, their authority. We are safe. What do you feel? It looks to me that you don’t even believe in

yourself and all that you had done. You are a true coward, creating people to do your dirty work. What do you represent Peter, because it’s not our kind and it’s not yourself? You are a mere shell of a man with no purpose and no reason to live.” James said, then he turned to walk out of Peter’s house, disappointed that Peter refuse to resist. ❖ Peter was terrified after he left. “A shell of a man”, lingered on his mind. He had created a monster. Now, he had a new mission with a new purpose. As James left, he knew how to answer his questions. His purpose is to destroy James. He had failed once, but he couldn’t fail again. He needed a better strategy. One that would stick. He needed a new belief system that went against James. Competition was also a good sword in a dirty battle. James, the leader, was going to be replaced with a new one, a more powerful one; one that represented his kind with no hint of the naturals in sight. His new God was going to look like the Bones and represent the Bones and not the naturals. He wasn’t going to force the people to believe. They will believe. They will know that they were created from the hands of their kind in a clean manner, where no dirt from nature could intervene. They were going to know that they were pure and pristine, worthy to their own God. He was going to make it impossible to move the people from Peter’s belief system that offered purity, to James belief system that was heartless and cruel. Competition that will provide love and identity exclusively for his kind, was going to make James fall. The future was for his people, not for all.

Chapter 19

History Untold

Years went by with James rule of law and belief system. The naturals were also subjected to it, leaving no one to protest. Peter establishment of his own belief system, had failed. Instead it developed into various versions of James belief system. A new generation accepted it as a way of life that they learned at school. Lilly was born on the natural’s land. The only land they had, which was surrounded an occupied by a few Bones. The Bones were allowed to live wherever they wanted. Lilly’s mother had moved to the natural’s land to study and research history of why they were so different from one another. New discoveries made Lilly learn that her ancestors weren’t free people, that they were bought and sold like products on the natural’s lands. She had learned after many wars, her people raised up and conquered the naturals. Now, she sit as equals amongst the naturals in their schools, learning from them their sciences and their technology. “Lilly your homework. Please it up to the front of the class.” The teacher was busy collecting their assignments from the front row desks. “Sorry,” Lilly ed up her paper knowing she had done a poor job. She was daydreaming again. She had made a friend from her dreams and was busy gossiping about her day. It was something, yet, she hadn’t learned and knew nothing of. She was talking to others who had the same abilities, but to her it was just a daydream. School had let out shortly after and she ran home, cutting through the fences and the backyards as a shortcut. Her mother was making her favorite sweet potato pie. She could almost smell it as she opened the fence to her yard, but she saw her Nana’s bitterness displayed in her eyes. “Nana, what’s wrong?” Lilly’s grandmother sat on the front porch with a frown. The look she had when someone angered her and when she was ready to tear someone apart. Her right to fight what she deemed unacceptable. “Nothing girl. Just get to your work, why don’t you?” She rolled her eyes and tapped Lilly on her behind pushing her inside. Lilly walked inside and saw through the opened backdoor that her mother was on the back porch in a meeting with her friend. Heated in conversation, they were yelling at one another, debating. That’s why Nana was on the front porch

with a frown. She hated the meetings. Lilly thought, because Nana never went to school and didn’t understand what the fuss was about learning and knowing history, the very thing that her mother, Gladys taught. She continued to eavesdrop. “Gladys, can you really dispute these facts? The evidence was found. More research needs to be done, but it’s true.” It was Gladys’s best friend that was speaking, who was a natural. They had both went to the same school and was taught the same thing, but Lilly didn’t know why they always argued. If they learned the same, why did they dispute it? “What’s going on? What are you talking about?” Lilly had one foot in the kitchen and the other on the back porch. “Lilly, excuse yourself. This is an adult conversation. You know better than to interrupt us. Go do your homework.” Gladys spoke in a pleasant voice, smiling at her friend. They knew that children were always so curious and gossipy. Lilly stomped her feet as she left. Gladys closed the door behind her. ❖ “Look we can continue with this, but history does not change. Whatever this new discovery is remains to be proven. We don’t know how they truly got their evidence.” Gladys was determined to prove her dear friend, Shilo, wrong. “You can ignore the facts Gladys, but this is a proven fact and now opens the door to many other possibilities. How can a God create this world? We need to put things in the right perspective. Maybe someone did make people, but not in the way we were thought to believe. Why can’t you come to with that?” Shilo was adamant. “Our leader is James. Why would he teach us wrong? The things he can do. The powers he have. Have you forgotten the miracles and the healing he istered? No one has done what he has. How do you explain his power?” Gladys ed the sick and wounded from the war and how James miraculously healed them. He was a God to everyone and there was no one that could dispute it. Seeing is believing. “War had killed many of my people, Gladys, and left the land barren. What

miracles had he performed to flourish and bring back to life what war had taken? People are still suffering from sickness and injury. People are hungry and starving. They are homeless. They are suffering. Why didn’t James do any miracles about that?” Shilo said. “He is doing. It cannot be done in one day.” Gladys said. “Or maybe he is doing for your kind, while having my kind die out. I don’t care what anyone says. He is not my God. The war with your kind and mine caused great suffering and destruction. If he was a God for all mankind, then he would help everyone, not his kind.” Shilo sipped her tea that Gladys made, unknown to them, with the same herbs that James had once used to heal his people. The herb that James used to make people believe and to not resist. “Are we now at war Shilo? You are still my friend, no matter what history speaks.” Gladys gave her a warm smile. “Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a healthy debate. And maybe you’re right, we can’t explain how he healed so many. And nothing happens immediately. It’s just so many that is suffering now, it’s hard to ignore.” Shilo finished her tea and got up to leave. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow?” Gladys spoke. “No, not tomorrow. I have a meeting with one of the archeologists. I need to see it myself. I need to touch it and examine it. Now that it’s out, I need to know more.” Shilo smiled as she kissed Gladys on the cheek and walked out Nana on the front porch. Nana sat quietly watching her leave, then grinned. “The dirty evil had left the house,” she thought. ❖ “Good riddance. I don’t know why you let them in your house. I don’t like it. They are not like us.” Nana tapped the arm of the chair, from a nervous habit. “We are all the same mother. We’ve learned a lot from them and they learned from us.” Gladys reached down to whisper in her mother’s ear, “and she’s my best friend.” Gladys grinned knowing that it would upset her mother. They both walked into the house. Nana behind her as they entered the kitchen,

her fist slamming against the table. “Your father had died at the hands of those people and now you sit and drink tea with them! It’s a disgrace. They are thieves and animals. Look at them, so dirty! All covered with dirt, like shit that they came from. You eat with shit?” Nana’s words came as a blast from a weapon of words not meant to harm, but to kill. “Stop that, mother! She is my friend and you will be respectful to her and around her. We have the same God. We are all naturals. God made us all different. Don’t you believe in God?” Gladys felt victorious. There was no way that her mother would go against God. “Of course. But God did not make us the same. We are not dirt. We are not from the garbage and waste that they came from.” Nana laughed a bit. “Why would God make any of his masterpieces from waste and garbage? Do you even know what you are saying? I wish mother that you take a class or two and learn something. Education is the key to further understanding.” Gladys said. “I don’t need school to know the truth. I’ve lived the truth, over and over again. What do you know? Your mind had been tampered with the very technology that those creatures made, infecting you with madness.” Nana scolded. “You’re talking mad right now. There is no technology in me. I owe my knowledge to school and education, something I wish you would get. It’s never too late.” Gladys was in her face, bloody red with anger. But Nana didn’t care. Instead of standing down she slapped Gladys on her face so hard she wanted her skin to break. Gladys yelled out a cry before slapping her mother back furiously. They were both stubborn and unyielding, knowing that, they sat at the kitchen table not speaking. Then Gladys broke the silence. “You want to know what we were talking about? It’s quite interesting. Shilo said that a group of scientists found something in the valley near the cave. A dead man buried in the ground holding technology. Data that they are going to try to retrieve. It could be important information, something historical. But besides that, this man’s bones is unusual. It’s almost as if it’s not human, like part animal and part man. Aren’t you at least interested in that, to see if there is more to our history?” Gladys spoke softly trying to appease her mother.

“My name is Ginger, not fool. We were never part animal. We were always man no matter what they find. I will not accept any of it.” Nana said. “Well, tomorrow I’m going to go with Shilo. Now, I’m interested. Instead of debating, I can see for myself, the truth, once and for all. Even though you don’t it it mother, I know you are interested too.” Gladys said as she walked out of the room. ❖ “Far from it my dear. I already know the truth.” Nana murmured to herself. Her energy had been transferred from one body to a new one with all her memory intact. The lucky few that James and Peter created within the secret of their ship. Peter had mastered transferring energy from conception. Once the fetus was born the transfer was made. James had initially feared it to be dangerous, that maybe there was a possibility of two energy sources or two life forms in one body that would cause confusion and insanity. Peter insisted that he had killed the original energy and replaced it with the one he was transferring. The only issue Peter had was making sure the body didn’t over heat from too much energy. After their war with themselves, birth of their secret society came. It was more than immaculate, it was perfection and everlasting life. James plan of making everlasting life was successful. Peter had always regretted what happened to Ginger and had wanted to relieve his conscious of any guilt. Therefore, she was the first to be given everlasting life, as James put it. With memory intact, she continued her new life as a new born baby in a new body waiting to grow into the women she wanted to be, having many experiences she had always dreamed of. Yet, Nana was interested in the discoveries that Shilo and her dirty people have found out. The sooner she had proof that Peter’s truth was discovered, she would tell James so he could execute more of the dirty people. ❖ Gladys and Shilo met up with the group of scientists the next day. They were all naturals and Gladys felt out of place, but they continued as normal. “The technology appears old, but we’ve found a device to play it. I haven’t looked at it yet, so it will be a treat if it’s able to play. But here.” One of the scientists pointed to the Bones that they were excavating, indicating to be careful

where they walk. They were both shocked. The Bones were half human and some other kind of animal. There was a tale and the skull not quite the size of a natural human being. The mouth was open as if letting out a cry. They saw the torment that the dead Bone clearly experienced. “It must be a monkey of sorts. It can’t be man.” Gladys said. “No, it’s man, partly. Look at the fingers, the knees, the hips. The skull is different, the tale is of another animal. It appears it could be some kind of hybrid or an experiment of some kind.” Another scientist spoke with certainty as they left the excavation that was still in process, hopping onto their ride to the lab. They drove around the excavations to the lab. Gladys intrigued, watched other excavations in process, wishing she could convince them to be a part of it. The data that was earlier retrieved was in a room filled with scientist that stared at her from glances, making her feel even more out of place. She was hoping the data was still intact and could play. “If I’m right, it may be a footage of scientists at work. What a remarkable discovery it will be.” A scientist said. Shilo and Gladys sat down with eagerness. Incredibly, the visual began, but with some static. All was silent in the room as they watched Peter perform his experiments taking notes and speaking with his assistants. The naturals that were seeing it for the first time looked shocked. They were expecting people like them not like the Bones. Gladys was dumbfounded. Peter had created people from the fragments of the dead, mixing man with beast with winged creatures and all kinds. Bits and pieces of what he wanted. They could see he wanted durability and for them to last as long as naturals, hundreds of years. What came out of his experiments resembling man were stored in chambers, what didn’t resemble man he destroyed. Terrified, Gladys only saw madness. “We need to copy that data. Can you do that?” One scientist spoke. “I’ve already done so. Sorry, but I already saw it. I couldn’t wait. I made copies for the rest.” The lab attendant said.

“Good. I guess I would have done the same. Good work. We need more copies as backup.” The scientist said. “What for?” Gladys said fearfully. No one replied.

Chapter 20

Secret Society

Shilo and Gladys had to leave, for the scientist had to get back to work. Gladys left in fear of her life, wondering who she truly was and how she truly came to be. She had heard about rumors and debates, and now she had seen some evidence. Embarrassed by it all, she couldn’t speak any words. She rode with Shilo in silence and was relieved to make it home, giving her a fake smile as Shilo road away. Her mother couldn’t know, it was a secret she had to keep. Nana was cutting up carrots in the kitchen when Gladys walked in. Ignoring her, Gladys went for a glass of water. “Well?” Nana stood in her way with the knife still in her hand. “Mother, not now. I’m not interested in fighting with anyone.” Gladys said as a matter of factly. “Don’t ignore me. Did you see?” Nana pushed. Gladys placed her glass on the counter and turned to go the other way, but Nana blocked her again. “Look mother,” annoyed and furious, Gladys wanted to smack her. “There was nothing. You were right. It was a waste of my time.” She put on her face of steel of the look she means business. Nana grinned, feeling proud that Gladys was wrong and was a fool to go to a site filled with dirty people. Shilo, to her, was another fool filled with imitation, copying off of the Bones and not truly knowing how to learn about anything. ❖ Shilo returned to the site to pick up her copy. One of the scientists gave Shilo a mean look. “Why did you bring her? She’s one of them.” “She begged me. She’s my friend. We went to school together and I thought she would be interested. I...” Shilo felt guilty and couldn’t think straight. “Look, so that we understand one another, she’s no longer part of this. Did you see her reaction? She’s going to tell the officials what we’ve found, something we don’t want. This is now going underground. Just us. You don’t know anything anymore. Just tell her you’re out of it. Got it?” He was the head

scientist, Duncan. “I got it. You guys found out it was a fraud, not real. Someone scammed us and we are back to researching. No big deal.” Shilo said, still waiting for her copy. “It’s a big deal. You can’t trust anyone of them. I don’t care how nice they are to you. The moment they feel threatened they’ll form alliance and come after you. Us! Not just you, us! If you go against us, we would kill you ourselves. No more mistakes, Shilo. This is too important!” Duncan was livid. He paced across the room of the underground spaceship, where they were secretly meeting. “I swear to you, on my life, I would never betray you or this organization. I didn’t know she was going to react like that. Yes, I get it now. No one like her, ever, gets our knowledge. No worries.” Shilo pressed on with her commitment. Duncan was right she had been foolish and didn’t understand why she had let her guard down. She was normally very careful, but whenever she was with Gladys her guard went down. She had to keep her distance. “You know it’s not her fault. They have that shit in the system now. People eat it, drink it, breathe it. No one can be sure of what they are saying or doing. Shilo’s been exceptionally careful or we wouldn’t have this organization in place. It’s them and that stuff!” They called him the mad scientist, because he preferred no one knows his name and he was indeed mad at the world. “What stuff?” Shilo had her hands raised with frustration. “Drugs! It’s a pusher. What they used to use on criminals to get information. The military had it on one of the ships. They must have gotten their hands on it and now is using it for other means. They want to control us and everyone.” Mad scientist spoke, as a teacher to a pupil. “Drugs? In our food, like everyday stuff? To make us yield to them?” Shilo shook her head in disbelief, before saying “shit!”. “That’s why it’s important that we control our own food supply. In the meantime, grab that bag. It’s candy. Make sure you take one every day. It will combat the drugs they’re using.” Mad scientist spoke not with authority, but with clear knowledge he was ahead of the game.

❖ “Could we discuss the issue at hand? They’re not people. They’re not man. They’re fucking animals! You’ve seen the proof. Do we need any more than that? You’ve seen it with your own eyes, the footage, the body! There’s nothing else to do, but to kill them all! We can’t negotiate. We can’t play and we can’t allow them to continue.” The mad scientist spoke with more than determination, but with virility. “I think we all agree to that. The problem is they are voluminous. There’s too much of them. And most importantly they have our weapons and our knowledge. We have to do it where it causes no attention and it is the most effective without harming our own kind.” Duncan was at the head of the table. Shilo sat next to him, rehashing in her head the footage she saw, realizing she wasn’t getting her copy. Then she spoke. “The footage. It appears this guy, Peter, was on another ship. Probably one they’ve stolen from a natural. Didn’t these ships speak to one another? Is there any way we can get the information off that ship transferred to ours or copied? If we have their data we can use it against them. We will know exactly what they are made of and can target them specifically.” Shilo was still pondering when she spoke. She was the puzzle solver of the group; always on her toes. “That’s perfect. Can one of you make sure it happens. The sooner the better and without getting caught. I don’t believe these thieves knows everything about the ship they’ve stolen. Safeguards were put up on the onset of the war. If the ships belonged to the naturals, there’s no way that they would just hand it over to those Bones. They are foreign as far as the ships are concern.” Duncan was certain he was right. He had already gone through five underground ships easily storing the dead bodies of the Bones. The Bones couldn’t possibly access everything. Their blood was not pure. Not only did they need pure blood, they needed the right protocol which they don’t have. They say or do the wrong thing and it will lock down the ships pertinent data; in some case terminate. Each ship had its own unique security. “The answer is in their design. They were made from various sources, not just elements of the natural man. If they try to do anything to us, it will only backfire on them, because they have a little of us in them. They are like a puzzle with pieces that don’t match or fit. Their parts are not designed to work with each

other. Maybe we can use that against them. If we can use their parts to work against one another, their body would, scientifically speaking, separate. I don’t know science like you guys, but theoretically components that don’t match or complement one another will separate. There’s something that is piecing them together like glue. We just have to find out what that glue is, and then remove it.” Shilo was at her best and onto something. A minute ago, she was a threat for being too trusting and careless and now she was the greatest asset. “I like the way you think.” It was all that Duncan needed to say. They knew he had more than he was revealing. He had the solution, the glue. They saw it on his face. “Yes, Shilo nice work. But me, I’m a skeptic. If that doesn’t work, we need at least two back up plans. One of which, is to destabilize their weapons. There’s a way. The second is to just kill them, they need us, we don’t need them. And then that energy shit that the guy Peter did. What was that craziness? Transferring energy from one body into another? Do you know what that means? We’re not just dealing with a bunch of animals, we’re dealing with the living dead. People who are supposed to be dead, living in another’s body. Cheating death is a new crime of theirs or should I say an old one. This is true evil that we are dealing with. They aren’t afraid of dying, because they are already dead. Does anyone know how to kill the dead?” The mad scientist voice was in true scientific form; questioning for more. He turned to look at Shilo to see if she knew how to kill the dead, being that she was friends with one. ❖ Shilo thought about Gladys. If these people were cheating death, then Gladys wasn’t truly Gladys, she was a fraud stealing life. More importantly who knows what her evil hateful mother was. Did they ever make a mistake and transfer an animal’s energy source into a body of a man? Did Peter successfully kill the original energy source before transferring another energy source? There were too many questions of what could go wrong. Gladys could no longer be a true friend. At best she was just a pet. A friendly pet. The question was still in the air as they waited for anyone to come up with an idea. “I’m not a scientist, just a historian. But to stop transfer of energy, we would have to catch them in the act. And how can we do that? The best thing

we can do is contain the energy, trap it or just destroy it by overloading it or draining the energy until it’s no more. Either way, it has to be done quickly. We would need someone who is a technologist.” Shilo said. “Maybe so, or maybe not.” Duncan said. “There are other ways to deplete energy without using technology. We all have to go to sleep.” Duncan as usual was being Duncan; speaking in tongues not revealing much. Duncan was always evasive, but he was meticulous too and always came through. They knew he had something and he was going to see it through to the bitter end. “We need a test subject.” The mad scientist turned to look at Shilo, “why not Gladys?” He grinned. Shilo lips tightened. They couldn’t possibly expect her to give up her friend. “No, not Gladys. But her mother is quite a thorn. She’s a perfect candidate.” Shilo’s voice was breaking down. She couldn’t think about killing anyone, but knew she had to prove her loyalty. They agreed to the mother and Shilo left feeling regret of what was to come. She took deep breaths to prevent from shaking. This was the first time she was involved in a plot to murder someone she knew, and a mother, and a grandmother. She cried in bed that night, unable to sleep, constantly envisioning Gladys crying over her mother. ❖ The next day Gladys invited Shilo over to talk about what she saw. She wanted to assure Shilo she wouldn’t breathe a word to anyone and she needed to know more. Shilo arrived pretending to be her cheerful self. She walked ed Nana, giving her a warm hello. Nana looked away. “What did I ever do to her?” Shilo asked after sitting down in the kitchen. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you to just ignore that grumpy woman. She does it to me too.” Gladys smiled. “So, tell me, did they find anything else? Do they know more about the dead person?” Gladys was eager, but was nervous. She had thought it out, that if she had to return to the research site, she would. “To be honest. I have to tell you it’s nothing. The bones aren’t real. It’s a prank. Someone mended it together, making it appear as one. It’s back to

digging for them. I’m not surprise. They don’t take our people as serious scientist.” Shilo’s stomach was in knots. She couldn’t bear to lie to Gladys. She spoke with certainty and assurance to convince Gladys. “Are you joking? It looked real. What about the footage? That has to be real.” Gladys waited patiently. “I can’t explain that. I can only say since it was found with the body, it’s got to be fake too. I guess they want to make us into a joke if we present our findings. Lucky thing they found out in time. That would be embarrassing. I’m sorry I put you through all of this. Really, really sorry. I was hoping too, but sometimes these things happen.” Shilo had found her strength back. She breathed in deeply and slowly, hoping Gladys couldn’t sense she was lying. “That’s too bad, but I didn’t tell anyone. People would think I was crazy, especially if I had no proof. But thanks for coming over.” Gladys brewed her a cup of tea, which they both drank. Shilo ed the candy and was glad she had taken it before leaving her house. She did feel more alert today. The tea, though, made her stomach upset. It was then she realized that maybe the tea was the drug. “I always love this tea. Where did you say you got it from?” Shilo asked. “Oh, that little store at the corner. Liz’s shop. She sells exotic stuff. Quite a cool place. You should go.” Gladys said. “I will. Exotic is where the history is.” They both laughed. “I wanted to give your mother this as a peace offering for whatever unknown thing I did to her. So that the next time I come, she would at least smile or look at me.” Shilo grinned. She gave Gladys a box full of candy. “So, you want to make her sweet?” Gladys and Shilo laughed hysterically. “At least I’m trying.” Shilo blurted out. The candy would take a slow effect, she ed them saying. It would be about a month before she died, with no signs of anything being wrong. Shilo had already knew that caramel was Nana’s favorite candy and she wouldn’t share it.

“I’ll just add it to her batch. She won’t take it, if she knew it came from you.” Gladys said. “I thought you might say that. Good thinking.” Shilo said, forcing a smile and feeling like a murderer. Lilly came into the kitchen swirling around, loving her new dress. Gladys kissed her on her cheek, and slapped her on her behind to send her on her way. “Wait!” Gladys grinned as she gave Lilly a piece of Nana’s candy. “You get just one. You know how Nana feels about anyone munching on her sweets.” “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Lilly grabbed it and skipped away. “Do you really think she won’t touch that candy when no one’s looking?” Shilo asked. “I’m sure. Mother is so mean. She’ll take the switch and beat her knuckles if she find one missing. Believe me, she’s done it to both of us.” Gladys laughed. “Ouch, I can feel it.” Shilo said as they both laughed.

Chapter 21

Push Back

Duncan heard the good news. It took a month longer than expected, but Nana was dead. She had complications with her breathing and then heart failure. It’s not exactly what he had planned. He was expecting loss of vision, numbness, and immobility, then all the body functions failing. To him it was a failure. But it was an undetectable failure. No one suspected a thing. Outside of Shilo feeling exceptionally guilty, and her constantly reminding him that she’s done an evil thing, it was still worth it. They didn’t know in time that she was dying and the poor lady died right in front of Shilo and Gladys. It was the icing on the cake, no time to transfer energy from one body to the next. A small victory for a big plan. They were ready to begin their next step. Duncan had designed the perfect weapon, thanks to Shilo. He was going to mass produce it and kill them all. Gladys had a funeral immediately, inviting Shilo. Nana’s body was with James and Peter, but they still had the ceremony. Shilo felt sick to her stomach. She saw Lilly for the first time, as Ginger. A hint of Ginger which had always been with her, was pronouncing itself more than ever. Just anger, upset, and screaming to get out of there. She was hearing Nana screaming, all around, of how she hated Shilo. The guilt was just too overwhelming. She had no choice but to leave early. Shilo called Duncan, “the body was not there.” “Well, they can’t suck out nothing.” Was his response before hanging up. ❖ While Shilo barely slept, Duncan slept peacefully. He was ready for another one. Tomorrow was a new day. Duncan’s wife had the covers over her head. She hated to be woken up by the sun, not at all a morning person. He was naked, tip toeing around the room, thinking heavily. The drug was supposed to work in the order that he wanted. Why it didn’t was simply because each Bone was different. Their mix match fragments glued together was like rolling a dice. Therefore, the drug randomly attacked any part of the body. The only way to perfect it was to put a controlling device with it. Duncan laughed to himself. The beauty wasn’t in controlling their death; it was leaving it as random execution. There wouldn’t be any suspicion, if it was left random. His mistake

was truly an unflawed mastermind. Duncan reached over to kiss his wife, pressing gently on the covers of her head. “Love you. I’m leaving to the office.” He whispered. Still completely naked, he examined himself in the mirror studying his muscles and trying to think what small difference existed between the naturals and the Bones. If they were not man, then the muscles will shape itself differently. They were leaner. They had smaller body mass. Their very bones were different in substance. But that was the obvious. What lies beneath the obvious is what he needed. If only he could deplete their muscle mass to their bare bones, or dry them from inside out. Everything he thought of doing would have a negative effect on the naturals. The glue was the smart solution. It’s the one important thing they had that naturals didn’t have. But there had to be something else. Then the idea came. Duncan rushed dressed and left with a perfect idea to test drive, just one more time. He wasn’t looking for perfection, he was out for being thorough. He wanted them all dead, not some, not by chance, but by skilled strategy. ❖ He made it to his underground ship where his team was waiting. “Test number 2”. Duncan said, gaining full attention from his team. “What for? The first plan worked. The old bitch is dead.” A team member said. “Maybe so, but it wasn’t the way I planned. We need to be more precise than that.” Duncan said. “What’s more precise than death.” They laughed. “Timing. Execution requires perfect timing.” Duncan was very serious. He wanted the calculation to be perfect. It was more than just killing the Bones; it was about James. James was their ruler and was living as long as the naturals. Rumors were that he was a new species, but after finding the hybrid and the footage, Duncan was sure that James was cheating death. He was nothing but a phantom.

“Mr. Technologist.” Duncan spoke with such cavalier to one of his teammates. “I need you to create a time released technology, to go with the drug; releasing part of the drug at a time where it will attack the body, strategically. Can you get that done immediately! I need it now.” Duncan’s voice echoed theatrically in the room as he worked and spoke. They all shuffled around working steadfast at their stations. Time. Duncan wanted to control time. The technologist knew how to perfect time. He’s done it before, but added strategy. Each killing mechanism had its own rate of death. The loss of vision, was slow. The numbness, sporadic. The immobility was sudden. The failure of all body functions was instant. The trials were ready. ❖ They started each trial over and over again with the integration of the technology. At the end of the third week, Duncan had it. He was more than ecstatic. He had more than a plan. He was more than a mastermind. He was a supernatural mastermind. They took one of the Bones, that was captured from his prison cell, to try his drug. Duncan’s team was barely feeding the prisoner, so he was glad to receive his plate of food. They watched from the outside of the room through a one-way mirror. The time release technology was set to one hour. They watched patiently, taking notes. Prisoner Zero’s eyes became watery after 15 minutes. He then had tremors and chills after 30 minutes. In 45 minutes, it was becoming difficult for him to breathe, by coughing excessively. At exactly one hour later, he fell over completely dead. It was a success. Yet, Duncan didn’t like it. He wanted it done all in 15 minutes, no more than 30 minutes. He didn’t want any possibilities of anyone saving the Bones for an energy transfer. “We need to do this again. I want the energy level down to half, within 15 minutes and completely gone within 30 minutes max. An hour is too long.” Duncan said with disappointment.

He pressed his fingers together making a fist, digging into his palm. A bad habit for controlling his anger. “Make the technology smaller. Can you make it micro? Like dust. Like powder. I want it unnoticeable as a technology. It should be like dust. Let these damn Bones eat dust!” Duncan said. It was the intensity in Duncan’s voice that scared him. The mad scientist laughed out loud in nervousness. He was terrified of Duncan. He was holding a nickname better fit for the wild man Duncan himself. With the anger and hate Duncan held, he was an insanely dangerous man. Thankful, it was towards the Bones and not towards the naturals. His dedication to his kind of people was overwhelming, but Duncan’s presence still put fear in the air, like a visible floating stain of a virus ready to strike at any moment. Prisoner Zero’s body dried up within two hours, like an accelerated decay. They didn’t touch it. They instead vacuumed it up, once the corpse had completely turned into dust, and placed it in the incinerator to remove its last existence. The mad scientist and Duncan had dried up life forms before, but not in this way. It wasn’t new. Laser was the fastest and easiest way. They, also, used chemical explosions as another weapon. Now, they had something better and more controlled, something unnoticeable and can be placed in everyday life? Dust. That entered the food, the air, the surface. All of which people were exposed to. ❖ The mad scientist followed Duncan out of the room into the hallway, as the team went back to work. “What do you want?” Duncan was annoyed. He had another project to get to. “I think this is too dangerous. If it gets in the wrong hands, they can use it against us. I thought we were focusing on killing them without killing us.” The mad scientist said. Duncan had a sampling of the drug in a vial in his right hand. He opened it and swallowed. Shocked, the mad scientist gasped. “What have you done?” “Do you think I’m a fool? It’s harmless to us. The most it would do is make us thirsty or cough a little. That’s it. I designed it to target those evils.” Duncan

paused, then grinned. “I know that you want my formula, but that’s never going to happen. Never. You know how this works. Each scientist keeps their own. The only thing we get is the cure. That’s it.” “I didn’t forget. I just wasn’t sure if you followed protocol here. You seem to be lost, this time. Just too angry.” The mad scientist said. Duncan lifted his hands and opened his palms a bit. “It’s just me. Duncan. There’s no lost soul here. That’s what they are.” Duncan continued his stride down the hall to another lab, leaving the mad scientist watching, still unsure, of his true madness. He swallowed the weapon. Did he have the cure that no one knew about? Was it truly safe for the naturals? With Duncan and his temper, no one could be truly certain. It was his dedication to his kind that made it safe. ❖ Duncan locked the door to his second lab and went through another door. There, sitting on a couch reading a book was Prisoner One. He looked up and smiled, seeing his friend Duncan. “How’s the book?” Duncan asked. “Hmm.” Prisoner One said. “Ah, ah, mmm, ah.” He spoke as if explaining the book. Prisoner One spoke in his own way. He was the re-creation of what they’ve found, the hybrid. “Good. You like it. I’ll get you another one when you’re done. Now, let’s begin your exercise.” Duncan went through his normal routine then brought him a chipmunk to play with as a pet. Prisoner One took instant gratification. It was the perfect friend to keep him busy along with the toys. Prisoner “One” was not capable of learning like man, because he wasn’t. The hybrid looks half breed, but the brains identified him. Whatever the brain was, the animal was. Prisoner “One” walked about following the chipmunk. Then he slammed his foot on it, crushing it to its death. It was the first sign of violence that Duncan witnessed. Although One was small framed, he was incredibly strong. Duncan had no reaction, he only walked out as he saw One put the chipmunk in his

mouth. Duncan wrote in his notes that “One may see another kind of animal as possibly food”. The reasoning was unknown, his guess was common and obvious to scientists. It could be anything. Maybe not food, but he saw the chipmunk as an enemy to crush and dispose of. The only reason why One did not attack Duncan, was possibly because he was a father figure to him. Most animals recognize their parent. The next few days Duncan planned to try prisoner “One” with insects and other small animals, which had similar tail structure as his. Most importantly, the same kinds of animals that he was made up of. Just to see which one he would relate to. Hybrids are tricky. Whatever Peter was doing, was careless and extremely dangerous. The fact that they found the skeleton outside with the footage meant that there may had been some that escaped. Some living like man, without the tail; without any visible noticeable defects; except for the brains. The brains, the bones, and the blood was extremely important to identifying the kind of animal that they are. Unnatural beings wasn’t continuous like naturals. Naturals were clearly defined as one kind of animal no matter how and what they evolved from. There was no evolution that came from the Bones. They were more than one kind and they competed within themselves for identity. Duncan knew exactly what the glue was and how to replace it to destroy the bond of each part. It was another strategy. One of many backup plans he had to kill them all.

Chapter 22

A Better Push

James heard about Ginger’s death too late to save her. She was one of the few selected to live everlasting. Gladys couldn’t understand her mother’s sudden death and feared that a disease was going to spread and wipe out her kind. She went through her mother’s room inch by inch, trying to find something that she may had been exposed to, but there was nothing. James’ men went through the entire house and outside the perimeter, but found nothing. Everything that her mother was exposed to Gladys was also exposed to. His only conclusion was that the everlasting energy transfer had come to an end. An emergency meeting was necessary. The secret society, of the everlasting, needed to be aware that something had to be done. The meeting was being held at James’ mansion, nestled on a few acres up a long-winded road. It was James salvation house where he can overlook the city of what he called city of thieves. The people that he made, living life on borrowed time and enjoying every moment of it. The days of fighting for their life was over. The landowner was presumed dead and there were no sign of the landowner’s people; people that he’s never seen or wouldn’t be able to recognize if he wanted to. Gladys had known about her mother’s close relationship with James and thought that maybe he knew more. Nana had visited James several times for meetings about maintaining the land. She knew they often debated about the existence of the naturals, resulting in Nana returning upset over James refusing to kill them. Now that she had died, she wondered if James did something. Did he kill her mother? What was their last meeting about? Why did they need to thoroughly search her home? What were they looking for? What was her mother hiding from them? But James only told her that she may had been exposed to something. Yet, he found nothing. Gladys was certain that with James ruthless reputation, he killed Nana. She hated him. James left Gladys’ house giving her a hug and leaving in her jacket a spy device, similar to the one that was now cleverly placed all over her home. ❖ They met in the dining room already catching up with one another, as James entered the room and took his seat at the head of the table. He had his handz in

front of him on the table, reviewing his recent studies. The last member entering late. The room grew quiet after the house attendant closed the double doors. Their faces eager for the news. They were all very nervous. James got up to check the door again, making sure the door was locked. “As you know, we’ve lost Ginger unexpectedly. I was unable to make the transfer, so it’s permanent.” James spoke in a solemn manner. “You haven’t told us how she died. And why now?” Goober was anxious. Peter, who sat at the opposite end of James, was quiet. He was anxious too, but planned to speak after he knew more. “It was sudden. Her daughter said she was gasping. By the time we got there she was already dead. We believe that her energy just dissipated out of her.” James said. “How? What could have caused that?” Charles said. “We checked the entire house. Ginger hadn’t been out that day, so we really do not know. I’ve been researching the possibilities, but still I am not sure.” James said. The house attendant came in, using a side door, with two bottle of wine and placed it on the table. The room was silent with unspoken fear. They waited for her to leave before continuing. She was a natural. Peter couldn’t believe James carelessness of having a natural worker in his house. “There is one theory I am thinking about. It’s the one that makes sense. And then there is the other, that I’m not ready to divulge. We’ll address the first one to eliminate our fate.” James saw Peter’s face and grimaced. He was much uglier than his original state; bald-headed, overweight with beady eyes. It was the only body he had available at the time. There had been a problem with the body he had stored and that’s now actually what he wanted to talk about. “To put it bluntly, your body may be incompatible. The blood that existed in your body may be demanding more energy usage than you can ister. It’s like a tug of war effect. The bottom line is your energy is not having time to rest, even when you’re sleeping. Therefore, your body is draining your energy and may unexpectedly take more than you can give, without notice. Anything

can trigger extreme excessive consumption.” James paused. Energy can be contained in different types of body, natural and unnatural. They didn’t understand it better than James. They just know how to do, copy instructions without understanding. James had researched and studied, after accepting his fate and his position in the world. He didn’t believe in Peters dim mind. He had long concluded the body and the blood were the key factors in maintaining energy and the odds were against the Bones. He saw Peter’s face and laughed to himself. His pathetic body was poor in holding any energy especially one that had previously existed. ❖ Peter gasped. Once upon a time he was the one explaining things to James. Now, James was the expert. It was a credible theory. He almost wished he can go back in time and fix it. Almost, with the exception of the crimes he’s gotten away with. Today, he regretted discovering transferring energy. He hated the body he was in. He hated his memories and he especially hated the commitment of everlasting life with his secret selected few. It had become a nightmare. “What is the solution?” Peter said nervously. He wanted his death, but lived so long he didn’t know how he would accept it. “The solution is this little tiny machine.” James took a small chip out of his pocket and placed it on the table. “It regulates. I know you don’t want it. I know what you are thinking, that we all started with a technology inside of us already. This evil technology we don’t know nothing about and we can’t get rid of, because it es through to our offspring. It moves like worms in our body. It changes it’s form and it’s locked on to the membranes of our brain. But we have no choice.” James said. “We? You mean us. You’re different James.” Charles said. “I’m not different. I was made from the lab just like you. I have to transfer my energy too.” James said. “Too! You have yet to do it. You’ve already lived 100 years without transfer, placing certainty that you are one of them.” Goober frowned. He didn’t trust James. James was in the middle, not quite natural and not quite unnatural.

“I suppose you’re right. And I have to question whether it can be done to me. Maybe it won’t work.” James grinned. “Or maybe, I won’t need it. But this is not about me exclusively. You guys have to decide whether you want this or we can just end this secret club of ours and die one by one.” James waited for a reply. He still had his grin, because he knew they had to trust him. They shook their head in agreeance, except Peter was emotionless and made no movement to show acceptance. “Good. We can start the implant now.” James continued. The regulator had been made years ago. James were waiting for the right time for implementing it and had initially planned to use it on females with their procreation process. He wanted to regulate and control the numbers of how many more of the Bones he wanted. He wanted to control the population growth for completely taking over the world with his selection of kind. He just couldn’t make up his mind of which kind he wanted to rule the world with. ❖ They left the room, following James to his lab in the basement of his home. Everyone entered, but Peter. He stood outside of the lab door. “What is it?” James asked, closing the door to speak to Peter in private. “I don’t want it. I’m not desperate anymore. Look at me? Look at what I’ve become.” Peter said. James grinned, “what you’ve become? You’ve always wanted this. I’m the one who didn’t want it. It was me that said no!” James raised his voice in anger. “You didn’t care, instead you tortured me and forced me to live. You forced me to be like this!! Did you forget?” James took a deep breath before continuing. “It was your cause not mine. For your kind of people. They are not like me. You are not like me. I have no one like me!!” Peter’s heart jumped, realizing that James was never to had been trusted. He knows all the secrets. Their life was in his hands. “Shit! You... You’re going to kill us all.” Peter made a move for the door to tell the rest of them, but instead got James’ fist, bringing him to unconsciousness.

He gagged and locked Peter up in another room. He walked into the lab and decided instead of regulating, he was done with them. They were a problem and may interfere with his new plan. They were all Peters. James proceeded with the implants. James saw Peter’s pathetic body as a pile of garbage. He wished he could go back in time and drag it to the curb. The scientist would have found a great discovery. ❖ The implants went smoothly. The regulators opened the door to his new life and his way to escape. Time was on his side. They were on the clock to their sudden death. His great escape had come to one thing, Jug’s life. James had studied Jug’s log over and over again. Jug had a family. He had a son and a wife that would never be able to confirm his death. James had Jug’s likeness. If he wished, he could easily claim as Jug’s undiscovered son. Coming to his senses and ing his questions to Peter, he wanted something else. He wanted his death and the death of all the Bones. The answers to his questions of why was he made and how unethical it had become, was in his hands. He could finally end it. Peter was the second of the everlasting secret society to die. Peter made his life a living nightmare. He always followed him everywhere and had created his own special team of army to haunt him for the rest of his life. All he could do was live and do what Peter wanted. Now, Peter didn’t want it. He had grown tired in that gruesome body of his. After the other everlasting left, he burned Peter’s body. He was done with the evil. He would soon be done with the everlasting. The chip was going to fry their brains like a ticking time bomb, in the safety of their own homes. They never got the other theory of what happened to Ginger. James sat in his chair wishing he could fast forward to a time when there was no Bones and where he was just a figment of someone’s imagination; like dust settling in a world that was not his own. The theory of evolution. It’s unthinkable, even unimaginable, but possible. It’s the ability for the spirit to leave the body on its own. Energy can be forced to move or can willfully move on its own. It was far-fetched considering it was Ginger. What would inspire Ginger’s spirit to move on its own, away from her

daughter? Maybe there was that possibility of his own energy, when he was good and ready, leaving his body and being free to live again from his own choice and free will. His spirit would move and see the world, find out the secrets of the naturals, speak with other spirits with its kinetic powers. The theory of a living moving knowing energy, aware of its own plan. He had always wondered if there was such a thing of a natural everlasting life; of a spirit not settling and not starting over. Just maybe it could be true. Energy is energy. Energy is life. It would simply be a life form without an embodiment. James shook his head disagreeing with himself. What was he thinking? Another way to torture himself of never resting his spirit and of never truly starting over, and without physical form? It would truly be a haunting living nightmare. What was he thinking?

Chapter 23

Self-Destruction Switch

Duncan walked into his wife’s dance studio. She was practicing her routine. She was beautiful in every way. He always ired his first wife for looking so much younger than his second. Today, he felt like celebrating the future, which is what she represented. Young, vibrant, and natural. There wasn’t going to be no more Bones, just the naturals. Noticing him, she stopped and smiled. “How was last night’s party?” Clarissa said. “Productive. The future is ours. It’s just a matter of time.” Duncan said. “It could have been even better, if I was there.” Clarissa gave him a kiss. “Diana was very excited about how it turned out, but tonight is your night.” He winked, “I had to let her go. I was promising her for weeks, but I know tonight will be classy.” Duncan held her close, not wanting to let go. “Oh, so I’m classy and Diana is fun.” Clarissa said giving him a clever grin. Duncan gave her a huge hug before lifting her off her feet and carry her outside. She laughed. “Our future is now,” he whispered as they sat in their courtyard. “My dear, don’t you wonder if they were supposed to be? That our accomplishments would not have occurred if they didn’t exist.” Clarissa’s love was dance, but she had studied science on her own, helping her husband in his private laboratory. “No. There are hiccups on the timeline, but time will continue to move forward. They’re just hiccups. We would have discovered our scientific findings whether they were the reason or something else.” Duncan loved these conversations. Someone to talk to about science and push forward with new ideas. She was his better half and Diana was his soul. “Do you think Diana would agree?” Clarissa asked. “Diana? You know she’s not interested in science like you.” Duncan said.

“Yes, yes I know. She’s just interested in revenge. She lost a lot of people.” Clarissa said. “We all did.” Duncan said. “I know you guys talk a lot, what do you need me for? What is it you really want to know?” “She wants to kill someone. She wants something.” Clarissa said. “Again? Tell her no. I told her about that. Getting you to do things is wrong. I don’t like how she does this. We need to be covert. If our plan goes well, she don’t have to worry. Tell her to wait. She can have her fun after.” Duncan squeezed her. “Okay.” Clarissa said. “Now, help me get ready.” Duncan loved the fact they were both anxious to rid the world of the Bones. It was a party of the most influential. They had planned it months ago. It is a political front to bridge the tension between the Bones and the naturals. They are to discuss the possibility of new laws to pacify the tensions between the people. Clarissa was heavily into arts and often engaged with the political elites at many social functions. She was the perfect wife for Duncan, who had a successful business. Diana, on the other hand, picked up where Clarissa couldn’t. She was energetic and engaged heavily with the younger crowd. And to Duncan’s benefit, they loved each other like sisters; both helping each other in need. Yet, Duncan wasn’t foolish enough to keep them in the same house. He provided for them, each having their own home and space to continue developing the strength he needed. The party was being held at the opera center. Duncan was always fashionably late when he was with Clarissa. It was like the lights were shining especially on her as they entered the hall. Duncan was the talk of the town with yesterday’s party and Diana being exuberant. Clarissa expected it always. She ed in, enjoying what she was hearing. It was a game they played with one another. Figuring out what they did and how to move the people. The most successful was the winner. The mad scientist was there with his wife, speaking about the statistics of medicine and the many breakthroughs his hospital had made. ❖

Duncan gave the mad scientist a look, indicating that last night was indeed successful and the mad scientist returned another look indicating that everything was in place for tonight. One of the of the city council took the podium to speak, forcing everyone to take their assigned seats. “Welcome all. We are all here tonight at our first annual function to bridge the gap of all of our people. As you know there has been some destructive violence in the city, which destroyed businesses and homes of hard-working people like all of us. In order to sustain this city, we need to work together and solve our problems...” the city councilman continued, but Duncan tuned out. He was busy studying how many Bones were present. There were many and very little naturals. He laughed to himself, for the speech was primarily directed at the Bones. They were the ones that were violent and hateful. The meals were served shortly after, with plenty of conversation. It was there last annual meal, as far as Duncan was concerned. There dusty technology was mixed in with the spices and added to the sauces with nothing to detect that it was there. As usual, Duncan and his wife ate very little. They were too engrossed in conversation and like many times before acted gracefully. But besides that, it had become a routine for Duncan to incorporate the antidote in his family’s diet. They were safe, while the Bones weren’t. The waiters were naturals, waiting on the Bones as if they were the lesser. They were part of Duncan’s secret organization. They catered to the Bones as they were instructed, saving the naturals from the dust. The councilman was content with his speech hoping that the new laws will go smoothly. The naturals were living on an important set of lands. Lands that was said to hide ships they needed access to. Uprooting their ships means uprooting their homes that would cause attention to the public, something they didn’t want. Duncan knew about their plans and was always one step ahead of them. They were eating dust. The party went smoothly causing Duncan to celebrate with his wife, yet another night. Soon there will be little authority to speak of, at which he will change the status quo from the haves of the Bones making them into have nots. The dust

will be at every party, thanks to their catering service. They will all eat dust. ❖ The next morning, Duncan woke to hear the news of another heart attack from one of his projects. It normally would put a smile on his face, but it was someone from last night’s function. Yet again, no perfection. Clarissa had breakfast ready. “I thought it takes longer than that?” Clarissa said. Duncan was busy listening to the news of how the councilman died unexpectedly, but then replied. “I don’t know what happened. It must be something else he did or ate that sped up the process. I need to look into it. As long as they are calling it a heart attack, that’s all that matters. Make sure that the others know that everything is still okay. I’ll speak to you later, after I find out what’s going on.” Duncan got up to get dressed and to meet the others. ❖ There were only a few. The mad scientist was not there, but he was given the important message about the councilman. “He drank a lot of coffee and we are concluding that somehow caffeine stimulates the dust. I think we need to run some test. Coffee is becoming a big thing in the market now. We need to make sure and then make adjustments.” One of the said. “I’ve heard he was exercising when it happened. His heart must have been beating hard enough to send a trigger.” Another member said, quickly starting the meeting. “Look, whatever it is we need to test what accelerated the dust. Do we have anyone locked up that we can test it on? Did you start your individual tests?” Duncan asked, not wanting to use his “One”. “We had brought someone in last night. He’s clean, no experiments yet.” A

member said. They walked steadfast into the lab. “From where?” Duncan looked the subject over. “Who cares? Does it matter?” “Yes, it does! We’re on the radar. They started to investigate the missing people.” Duncan gave him a stern look. “And we aren’t the only one. They’re stealing people too. Our people!” The scientist said. Duncan responded in a low voice, “you didn’t leave any trace back to us?” “Of course not.” ❖ They began to do the test. The prisoner was forced to run in place as they monitored the reaction of the dust. It began to move quickly inside the body to various parts; the heart, the legs, and the arms; but it didn’t enter the brain. Then the prisoner was given chocolates. They were hoping it would work, but nothing happened. He was then given coffee. The dust reacted instantly, like fireworks inside of the body. Then Duncan saw something else. Duncan had read about it, and had studied the Bones footage, which they had acquired; but he didn’t know exactly where this “self-destruct trigger was.” It lit up like a candle in the dark after the coffee. Their machines had recorded the findings and they had visual. Duncan had the prisoner put back in the hole. He wanted to study the self-destruct trigger. The dust, when accelerated, can ignite the self-destruct trigger killing the Bones much quicker than anticipated, with his micro camera he zoomed in on the recording of the prisoner. Inside the body, where he was lit up, was a web of “veins” connecting to one another, it floated through the blood stream. It attached on to other body parts, rebuilding itself in various parts of the body. It was part biological for the rebuilding and part technological for the destruction. As far as Duncan was concerned it was brilliant, unheard of, unseen science. He wouldn’t know where to begin in recreating it. When it wasn’t ignited, it remained dormant and lived inside the body like blood vessels, floating but

without purpose. He couldn’t wait to speak to the mad scientist. He wanted him to confirm that the Bones all had it inside of them. He was the perfect person, because he had access to their blood and the people at the hospitals. They were at a crossroads, they can instantly kill a Bone without notice and from the comfort of their own home. It was like pushing a button and killing one by one. A new project to recreate the self-destruct trigger was his new mission. But first he was going to perfect the interaction between the dust and the trigger and more importantly weaving coffee into them as a normal way of life, above and over tea. ❖ His second wife, Diana was going to be the catalyst. She had always wanted a shop and now she was going to have one; a coffee shop. Diana’s coffee shop took a month to start. Then other coffee shops sprung up all over the city. Duncan’s mind felt free. He was going to witness in his life time the end of the Bones, with no one to stop it. Even if they found out about how the self-destruct switch works, there was no way to stop it. But it was impossible for them to know. Once the person was dead, the switch became dormant and undetectable. His technology, the dust, died as well and was excreted out with human waste. There was nothing to find. Both technologies left no trace, no evidence and resembled the normal components of the body. It was a perfect deadly marriage. It was truly the end of the Bones. As the days and the months went by, the sudden deaths of targeted people occurred. An increasing random number of the other Bones died as well. Diana didn’t have to wait too long to get rid of her target. Drugs were circulating in the city to keep people alive. It was the rumor that was going around. The Bones thought that the drugs were now the reasoning behind the deaths. There was always some reason of why the Bones were dying. No one truly knew. The deaths started few, then accelerated into a pattern, then slowed down again. Not everyone believed the deaths were caused naturally. Suspicion grew among the few Bones, and without proof they blamed the naturals; resulting in a project to kill all naturals before the Bones died out. They no longer outnumbered the naturals. Their lands that surrounded the naturals was becoming barren with few

people to fight. A bomb was needed. Time was running out for the Bones. They created a new kind of bomb. A bomb designed to kill the natural kind specifically. It was with atomic energy. This bomb would send high frequency energy across the naturals land, wiping them out once and for all. That was their plan. Duncan had squeezed out their plan from one of his captives and prepared a shelter for his people as they worked on a cure for the aftermath. The cure which would change everything.

Chapter 24

He Knows

The end was near. Visually depressing, but expected. The original landowner had met with Trent at a planet he was currently managing. He had been keeping track of everything with Trent and couldn’t believe the extent of what they have done in such a short period of time. But time was relative within the galaxy. What was years in one part was just months in another part. When he left, his final mission was that Jug and his people be removed off his planet and new laws established for the rest, but things turned out differently. The landowner had agreed with the galactic council to quarantine the planet. Trent left the planet with his military and monitored it as instructed, from afar. His main interest was the landowner’s people. He was unable to protect them, but still had to monitor what happened to them. In the months, they’ve seen intricate details from the eyes left on the planet. Trent made some manipulative maneuver from afar with attempts to redirect and change events driven by the madness of the people. The landowner spoke to his people in his way, sometimes visiting like a shadow at night, trying to mend before they completely destroyed. ❖ War took place between the naturals and the Bones several times in their history. It was endless, until the final one. The naturals had won, but at a harsh price. Not only did they lose many lives, they’ve destroyed the land, the vegetation, the atmosphere, the rivers. Most of the environment had suffered greatly. The few Bones that miraculously survived were captured and publicly executed with great satisfaction from the naturals. They were finally done. What the landowner saw was execution of a reflection of the naturals. The Bones were mere reflection from the visitors who they were created from. The wildness and madness of Jug. ❖ The river where the Bones had been disposed of had turned red from the chemicals which burned the bodies, a chemical called cium, killing the life of the river. It represented the blood of all who had died and had mutated into a toxic substance that life did not want to tolerate with. Trent’s eyes that were strategically located on the planet captured all that transpired. It was like

moving pictures. He saw the dead fishes floating on top of the river. He can only imagine the decayed smell that filled the air. The naturals walked without real purpose, taking pictures of the disaster. It was for their history, for their suffering; but still it felt hard and cold without purpose. Their hope of surviving was gone. Without food, water, and clean air; their days were numbered. Their problem of being outnumbered were gone. They needed to learn to breathe in a new atmosphere, to eat food that were manipulated, and to shelter themselves from the changing environment. Every living being that survived hunted, and captured whatever they could use to survive; while finding shelter. ❖ Duncan had taken many naturals underground to live in the ships that were planted throughout the lands, hoping to keep them alive until it was once again safe. With all the commotion and very little preparations for this unexpected magnitude; it was the only thing he could have done, regain the ships that the Bones stole and set up refuge for any survivor. While there, he had a team of engineers desperately trying to start the ship to leave the deadly planet, but the ship was grounded and could not start. They did not understand what it needed for fuel. There were no records onboard to help and they found damage at and near the engine. It was hopeless. They were sitting ducks. “Should I go in sir and help?” Trent asked the original landowner, as they continued to watch from afar. “No. There still is the question of the hybrid they are keeping. The land is still quarantined. Their germs will consume them and they will drop and fall to the bitter end. There is no salvation for them. The council had spoken.” The landowner said, seeing the last bit of Bones in hiding and dying. “And what of your people. They are suffering and have no refuge.” Trent proclaimed. “My people made their choice many years ago when they chose to stay. The ones that elected to leave with me has already flourished on the new lands they now rooted themselves to. Our species will continue to live. We don’t die, we on. There is a difference. I assure you they will sprout again, maybe not as you see them, but as something more potent and stronger to withstand the environmental impact that had been imposed on them.” The landowner spoke

with such strength and vision of certainty, for he had seen his people rise again and again on the timeline. They were, to him, visions of yesterdays. “And what about council? When the people die, when will the quarantine be lifted?” Trent asked. “I will speak to them.” The landowner said. ❖ Trent watched Duncan on his monitor. Duncan was walking on the ship to the room where “One” was being held. They were running out of food and some decided that taking their own life was better than waiting for nothing to save them. Duncan wouldn’t have that. His team was diligently working on food and mutating it into something eatable. Prisoner One sat in a corner terrified. His new pet that he wanted to smash and eat had somehow merged onto his skin. Duncan’s heart was pounding hard. He had never seen such a thing. He couldn’t take the chance of entering the room. Something was happening, and he felt it was because they had to let in the outside air due to malfunctions on the ship. It was the worst decision they had made and vowed never to make again. Instantly, people got sick and died within days. An unknown skin disease from the toxins they had let in. Poor “One” had been exposed to it too. He was already a hybrid and now had merged with another animal with his skin. The animal still alive. “One” still alive. He couldn’t smash the animal dead and eat it. He only cried miserably. Duncan didn’t know if it was from pain or mental suffering or both. Trent watched Duncan execute “One”. Indeed, it was too much for Duncan to tolerate. He had a bit of heart left. After all that he’s been through, he was free from the suffering of the last Bone he knew. He could no longer keep him as a pet. No more Zeros and no more Ones. No more Bones. Just naturals. Trent had given the landowner the news. The planet scanned found no more evidence of any Bones. ❖ The landowner immediately called for a meeting with the galactic council on planet star. It was dark as night. They were all miserable and in pain, to see and know the actions of man had failed them. The landowner spoke, as they waited

for the intricate details of how their people died. The landowner stood at the podium suited with his cape, with his invisible security in the mist. A dragon at heart, which he had evolved into, unheard of by all. The few visitations at his planet, to save and mend his selected people, exposed him to elements that changed and developed his very being into an evolved dragon. He has now become a complicated higher being who hid his identity from all. His head was covered by a skin fitted mask, displaying only his eyes. “You the agreement I made with the foreigners. They had to make payment to me with the coins representing their money of their home planet. Simply to drop it in the hole in the ground. A gesture of giving back the value they were taking, through their business of trade. They did not know the true meaning of it. You that the Bones sealed up the hole, vowing I will never return. Then they declared themselves what they were not, naturals. You know that I have traveled many worlds to manage and to bear life of which this galaxy demands from me. And I have done so. You know that I cannot be everywhere at the same time. You that the foreigners had something in them that provided a means for me to see and know what was going on, regardless of it, I was there. And I saw and you all have seen. I remind you that you have seen what all the foreigners had done. All that the Bones had done. And all that had happened to my people. You know as I know those foreigners are your people. You who formed council, but did not council them for your formation came after their destructive ways. I remind you, it is council that had quarantined my planet and trapped my people and yours, on a land that is not your own. It is from your free will that terrorized my people, destroyed my land, and taken innocent lives without any resistance. It was all a mere show for you to watch. I say the foreigners had broken the original agreement, the Bones had committed the same crimes as the foreigners and that the only people that will remain are my people. The rest will fall down.” The council shook their heads in agreement, for they had no position to take.

The landowner continued. “I say again. Listen to me carefully. The only people that will remain are my people. The foreigners, your kind, of which you are, will fall down. Death becomes you all. You will never rest in this galaxy. You will never rise again. You have met your end.” Upon realizing their fate, they jumped up to escape, but it was too late. Trent executed them one by one. ❖ It wasn’t long before the landowner took their planets one by one, executing all foreigners. For they were now foreign to his galaxy. Some who escaped managed to make it to another galaxy, where a void was put between the two galaxies like a gate to a fence separating what the landowner called, of Man, Beast and Winged; from the Germs. Promising his people to forever get rid of the Germs. His people evolved into beings capable of changing form, accentuating their natural human abilities; some of which had naturally developed as parts of other kinds of beings. Beings with wings that flew. Beings that swam the deep waters. Beings that changed with characteristics of some animals. A way of life that Jug couldn’t have envisioned and that Peter tried; had come naturally bringing forth unsimplified beings. And a few, an extreme few, as Dragons; that which the landowner is.

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