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ANTHRO XI
“Wh-Who’s there?” I called to the darkness, my scruff standing on edge and my eyes fixated in the darkness.
Suddenly a fluorescent light flickered on and the room was filled with blinding ambient light. The room was small and cramped with a small metallic table and a tattered old chair sitting next to it. Much to my surprise the room was warm as I could hear the gentle mechanical sound of a nearby pump.
“Welcome, please take a seat…I’ll be with you in a second.” the voice called from another room, it was a deeper tone, very masculine yet comforting.
The sound of things being moved and tossed around as I sat upon the chair, the thin edges of the leather abrading against my hide made me feel uncomfortable. “Umm…I’m here to get marked?” I asked unsure if whoever it was knew my intention and reason for being here.
“I know…radioactivity, right? Wanting to let others know you are either radioactive, or sensitive to it, or both?” the voice recalled.
“Why…yes…how did you know?”
“I can sense it…I too have a similar sensitivity, I can tell you’ve been exposed before I can feel it from back here; you are reaming with the stuff.”
“You…do? So, my…reactions are…normal?”
“You feel dizzy right? Lightheaded, maybe like you’re going to pass out?”
“Yes…also I see differently too, my vision has some sort of veil, like an orange hue to everything I see, and…” I began but was cut off.
“Visual stimuli? Interesting…I don’t have that, but I wouldn’t doubt it’s common…”
His voice began to grow sharper as he approached the door, before it opened and for the first time I was able to see him face to face. He was a tall and lean snow leopard; his black spots dotted his white and light grey faded fur. He was much older, his fangs I could see were brown stained and yellow and he walked with a slight limp.
“So... what sort of mark were you thinking of? A trefoil of some type? Perhaps a hazard symbol? Or something else?”
“Trefoil?” I asked curiously, “Never heard of that before…”
He let out a slight chuckle, “The universal symbol for radioactivity…something the humans came up with many millennia ago…this…”
He took off his t-shirt and turned his back to me and I could see the tattoo firmly upon his right shoulder blade. The three triangles evenly spaced and angled downward, with the tips slightly concaved around a single circle in the middle, immediately gained my recognition. “Oh yes! I remember that, never knew what the name for it was though…”
I felt foolish as I was in fact human deep down, how could my ignorance let me astray on something so familiar?!
His tattoo was simple though, just the trefoil in the standard yellow colors, nothing unique, but it was quite fitting for what was needed; if only I could do something more unique…
“I like that, but I want something more to it…perhaps something…cooler? Say some sort of tribal design around it? Maybe even change the colors a bit to represent the veil I see when I’m exposed?” I suggested.
“Heh, simple enough! I’m sure I can come up with something for ya!”
“How much will it cost? I have no money on me…” I realized as I began to get up out of the chair in a panic.
“Relax! Seems to me like you are looking to join the corps, right?”, he asked.
“Yes…I am looking to assist in turning Prora into a new Earth…”
"Oh! Joining the EPTC? The Extra-Planetary Terraforming Coalition? If that’s the case, then it’s free of charge!”
“Oh, okay! May seem like a dumb question…but why?”
He stood there for a moment puzzled, no doubt thinking to himself that I was ungrateful for his offer and that I should be charged for it, but he smiled and placed a paw upon my shoulder.
“Y’see, it wasn’t but just a decade ago, that I once stepped aboard that ship…the ANTHRO. I worked in the Archeology sector, looking for remains of past civilizations on distant planets; traveling across the galaxy – I spent most of my life in space! That was until we found a planet the proper distance from it’s host star for life, its own barren moon circling it that we investigated.”
He began to put together his needle and ink reserves - various capsules of orange, yellow, black, and green as he continued his story, “Deep within the crust of the wasteland of a planet we found a metallic structure, and we knew there was once life! We tunneled deep down, and with every inch we waited for that moment to discover a body, or any physical evidence of the creatures which dwelled there.”
He stopped his story and turned to me, “Where do you want it? The mark, I mean.” and when I gestured to my right bicep he began to work. To my surprise it didn’t hurt much, only making me flinch for a moment but then I found myself distracted once more in his story to notice his progress.
“For days we dug and searched! We even lost several good members of our party from the heat, or accidental emergencies. Until finally we found an old chemistry lab with a separate chamber hidden deep within the facility. We saw several chemical tanks of liquid nitrogen, hydrogen and argon, and looked through the records written and preserved on the desks and found out we had discovered a cryogenic lab.”
I froze, and my mind began to think on his story…it seemed all too familiar and ironic.
“It was in one of the test tubes that we actually had found a human body, perfectly frozen and preserved. We got in touch with ANTHRO and they sent a medical team down to retrieve it…I don’t know what came of it after that, but that was the pinnacle of my career! I knew then nothing could satisfy my thirst for adventure and discovery than that! Since then I retired and opened a small shack here on Prora.”
My heart sank, I knew it! Of all the odds, he was the one to have found ME!
“There’s been talk about changing the planet to resemble that of how Earth used to be…I look forward to seeing that and if you or anybody is looking to make that happen, I honor your diligence with generosity…”
I couldn’t muster the words, I wanted to speak but found myself incapable, finally after a brief moment they found their way, “Y-you…found me?”
He paused for a moment, “You? No, we found a human…”
“Yes! I was the human, frozen, then thawed and turned into…a hybrid! I used to live on Earth! But my body was subjected to science and cryogenically frozen, over 300 years ago! Your team found me, and I was genetically altered by the medical team on THAT ship to become THIS!” I gestured to ANTHRO, the large ship easily visible in the distance.
“No kidding! Well what are the odds of that!? Well then, I’m most CERTAIN your tattoo is free, in fact ANY tattoo from here on out is free just for you!”
“I greatly appreciate that offer, but it is I who is most grateful!” I said with a smile.
“Well, we are BOTH very fortunate, maybe sometime, we can grab a beer or something and have a talk; we evidently have a good bit to share!” he laughed, and I replied with a chuckle of my own. “I’m almost finished up here, I think you’ll like it!”
After just a few more minutes of buzzing from the needle he stepped away, “Whatcha think?”
I looked down to see his masterpiece, the trefoil was a brilliant yellow color right on the crown of my bicep which traversed it, with a tribal thorn bisecting and surrounding the trefoil with the base of it curling up on either side, enveloping it. On each side of the two thorns about a quarter of the way up, there were two smaller thorns projecting out perpendicularly.
The thorns themselves were painted a fluorescent orange, similar to the veil which encapsulated my vision and lined with a green accent strip. The tattoo was overall everything I looked for, unique but at the same time a good indicator and sufficient mark of my condition for the EPTC.
“Oh man, it looks incredible! I can’t thank you enough!” I said genuinely.
“My pleasure, I understand you got things to do now – gonna literally change the world, but hey stop by when you can!”
“Definitely, thank you! I’m Ray, by the way”
“Terrence; pleasure to meet you again Ray!” he smirked
With the parting formalities I made my way back to Abigale’s apartment to tell her the whole unique story of me meeting the man who discovered me as my tattoo artist! She seemed very fascinated with it and gleeful that I had been marked and already had the papers to fill out to join the EPTC. With the time it took me to get my tattoo, several hours, she had made her way back to ANTHRO and retrieved the registration forms.
I filled them with earnest but quickly realized she hadn’t gotten a copy for herself, as she sat there and smiled while I filled the forms with my info and helped me with the medical portion.
“You’re not joining?” I asked earnestly.
With a giggle she explained, “No, Ray. I’m a medical technician, that’s my career, I’m not planetary engineer or terraformist. But this is a golden opportunity for YOU to be one! They will put you through school and the proper training to further YOUR career and like you said, life is short, make use of it while you can and make a difference!”.
My heart felt broken, “But…what about you?”, did this mean we would be separated? Never be able to see her again? The only person in this WHOLE world who cared about me or helped me through the trouble times.
“I’ll be on ANTHRO, where I always have been…”, she said softly.
“But…will I be there too?” I asked worriedly. “I’m not sure, for the first few years, maybe…but after that, once you’re certified…you could be either here on Prora, or on another ship entirely.”
“No…I…can’t do this…not without you!” I pleaded, putting my paws on her cute, soft face as if this will be the last time I get to see it.
“Ray…” she tried to reassure me, but I cut in, “No…I won’t! I can’t do this alone! Please!”
“Ray this is something you’ve been dreaming of! A chance to change the world, to make another home for US! To apply yourself to the universe and make a difference!” she scolded.
“Yes, but I won’t do it if that means breaking something I want more…what we have…our relationship…”
She let out a slight verbal cue that I had stole her heart as she wrapped me in her arms tightly and I returned the gesture, feeling her warm body against mine and making me feel more at home.
“No matter what happens we will always be together sweetie, we will always be in touch; our PES can link together, and we can talk, share video, audio, everything! It would almost be like we never left each other’s side!”
“But we won’t be…I won’t have you to hold or touch. It will be yet another void I will long to fill…” I said solemnly.
“Oh Ray! We will hold each other again, I swear! Nothing in this life can tear or keep us apart; not even the infinite reaches of the universe…on that I SWEAR!”
“I love you Abigale…” I said lowering my head.
She placed a paw under my chin, “I love you too, Ray…with ALL my heart!”
<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>
My submission for this week's
Thursday_Prompt
this story was inspired by this sentence indicated in the prompt for this week: The novel relationship prohibits the applied universe.
Pretty much a good little challenge and I thought it might would fit a little bit in the story as a semi-implied twist to the tale. How things go from here, we'll find out!
Hope you guys enjoy the story and if you'd like to participate in the prompt be sure to give the thursday prompt a watch and follow the procedures by writing a short tale inspired by the ensuing word or phrase given out each week and posting it as well as providing a link to the story as a link in response to the weekly prompt submission and participate in other's stories by reading and providing feedback!
I hope you all have a Happy Easter!
“Wh-Who’s there?” I called to the darkness, my scruff standing on edge and my eyes fixated in the darkness.
Suddenly a fluorescent light flickered on and the room was filled with blinding ambient light. The room was small and cramped with a small metallic table and a tattered old chair sitting next to it. Much to my surprise the room was warm as I could hear the gentle mechanical sound of a nearby pump.
“Welcome, please take a seat…I’ll be with you in a second.” the voice called from another room, it was a deeper tone, very masculine yet comforting.
The sound of things being moved and tossed around as I sat upon the chair, the thin edges of the leather abrading against my hide made me feel uncomfortable. “Umm…I’m here to get marked?” I asked unsure if whoever it was knew my intention and reason for being here.
“I know…radioactivity, right? Wanting to let others know you are either radioactive, or sensitive to it, or both?” the voice recalled.
“Why…yes…how did you know?”
“I can sense it…I too have a similar sensitivity, I can tell you’ve been exposed before I can feel it from back here; you are reaming with the stuff.”
“You…do? So, my…reactions are…normal?”
“You feel dizzy right? Lightheaded, maybe like you’re going to pass out?”
“Yes…also I see differently too, my vision has some sort of veil, like an orange hue to everything I see, and…” I began but was cut off.
“Visual stimuli? Interesting…I don’t have that, but I wouldn’t doubt it’s common…”
His voice began to grow sharper as he approached the door, before it opened and for the first time I was able to see him face to face. He was a tall and lean snow leopard; his black spots dotted his white and light grey faded fur. He was much older, his fangs I could see were brown stained and yellow and he walked with a slight limp.
“So... what sort of mark were you thinking of? A trefoil of some type? Perhaps a hazard symbol? Or something else?”
“Trefoil?” I asked curiously, “Never heard of that before…”
He let out a slight chuckle, “The universal symbol for radioactivity…something the humans came up with many millennia ago…this…”
He took off his t-shirt and turned his back to me and I could see the tattoo firmly upon his right shoulder blade. The three triangles evenly spaced and angled downward, with the tips slightly concaved around a single circle in the middle, immediately gained my recognition. “Oh yes! I remember that, never knew what the name for it was though…”
I felt foolish as I was in fact human deep down, how could my ignorance let me astray on something so familiar?!
His tattoo was simple though, just the trefoil in the standard yellow colors, nothing unique, but it was quite fitting for what was needed; if only I could do something more unique…
“I like that, but I want something more to it…perhaps something…cooler? Say some sort of tribal design around it? Maybe even change the colors a bit to represent the veil I see when I’m exposed?” I suggested.
“Heh, simple enough! I’m sure I can come up with something for ya!”
“How much will it cost? I have no money on me…” I realized as I began to get up out of the chair in a panic.
“Relax! Seems to me like you are looking to join the corps, right?”, he asked.
“Yes…I am looking to assist in turning Prora into a new Earth…”
"Oh! Joining the EPTC? The Extra-Planetary Terraforming Coalition? If that’s the case, then it’s free of charge!”
“Oh, okay! May seem like a dumb question…but why?”
He stood there for a moment puzzled, no doubt thinking to himself that I was ungrateful for his offer and that I should be charged for it, but he smiled and placed a paw upon my shoulder.
“Y’see, it wasn’t but just a decade ago, that I once stepped aboard that ship…the ANTHRO. I worked in the Archeology sector, looking for remains of past civilizations on distant planets; traveling across the galaxy – I spent most of my life in space! That was until we found a planet the proper distance from it’s host star for life, its own barren moon circling it that we investigated.”
He began to put together his needle and ink reserves - various capsules of orange, yellow, black, and green as he continued his story, “Deep within the crust of the wasteland of a planet we found a metallic structure, and we knew there was once life! We tunneled deep down, and with every inch we waited for that moment to discover a body, or any physical evidence of the creatures which dwelled there.”
He stopped his story and turned to me, “Where do you want it? The mark, I mean.” and when I gestured to my right bicep he began to work. To my surprise it didn’t hurt much, only making me flinch for a moment but then I found myself distracted once more in his story to notice his progress.
“For days we dug and searched! We even lost several good members of our party from the heat, or accidental emergencies. Until finally we found an old chemistry lab with a separate chamber hidden deep within the facility. We saw several chemical tanks of liquid nitrogen, hydrogen and argon, and looked through the records written and preserved on the desks and found out we had discovered a cryogenic lab.”
I froze, and my mind began to think on his story…it seemed all too familiar and ironic.
“It was in one of the test tubes that we actually had found a human body, perfectly frozen and preserved. We got in touch with ANTHRO and they sent a medical team down to retrieve it…I don’t know what came of it after that, but that was the pinnacle of my career! I knew then nothing could satisfy my thirst for adventure and discovery than that! Since then I retired and opened a small shack here on Prora.”
My heart sank, I knew it! Of all the odds, he was the one to have found ME!
“There’s been talk about changing the planet to resemble that of how Earth used to be…I look forward to seeing that and if you or anybody is looking to make that happen, I honor your diligence with generosity…”
I couldn’t muster the words, I wanted to speak but found myself incapable, finally after a brief moment they found their way, “Y-you…found me?”
He paused for a moment, “You? No, we found a human…”
“Yes! I was the human, frozen, then thawed and turned into…a hybrid! I used to live on Earth! But my body was subjected to science and cryogenically frozen, over 300 years ago! Your team found me, and I was genetically altered by the medical team on THAT ship to become THIS!” I gestured to ANTHRO, the large ship easily visible in the distance.
“No kidding! Well what are the odds of that!? Well then, I’m most CERTAIN your tattoo is free, in fact ANY tattoo from here on out is free just for you!”
“I greatly appreciate that offer, but it is I who is most grateful!” I said with a smile.
“Well, we are BOTH very fortunate, maybe sometime, we can grab a beer or something and have a talk; we evidently have a good bit to share!” he laughed, and I replied with a chuckle of my own. “I’m almost finished up here, I think you’ll like it!”
After just a few more minutes of buzzing from the needle he stepped away, “Whatcha think?”
I looked down to see his masterpiece, the trefoil was a brilliant yellow color right on the crown of my bicep which traversed it, with a tribal thorn bisecting and surrounding the trefoil with the base of it curling up on either side, enveloping it. On each side of the two thorns about a quarter of the way up, there were two smaller thorns projecting out perpendicularly.
The thorns themselves were painted a fluorescent orange, similar to the veil which encapsulated my vision and lined with a green accent strip. The tattoo was overall everything I looked for, unique but at the same time a good indicator and sufficient mark of my condition for the EPTC.
“Oh man, it looks incredible! I can’t thank you enough!” I said genuinely.
“My pleasure, I understand you got things to do now – gonna literally change the world, but hey stop by when you can!”
“Definitely, thank you! I’m Ray, by the way”
“Terrence; pleasure to meet you again Ray!” he smirked
With the parting formalities I made my way back to Abigale’s apartment to tell her the whole unique story of me meeting the man who discovered me as my tattoo artist! She seemed very fascinated with it and gleeful that I had been marked and already had the papers to fill out to join the EPTC. With the time it took me to get my tattoo, several hours, she had made her way back to ANTHRO and retrieved the registration forms.
I filled them with earnest but quickly realized she hadn’t gotten a copy for herself, as she sat there and smiled while I filled the forms with my info and helped me with the medical portion.
“You’re not joining?” I asked earnestly.
With a giggle she explained, “No, Ray. I’m a medical technician, that’s my career, I’m not planetary engineer or terraformist. But this is a golden opportunity for YOU to be one! They will put you through school and the proper training to further YOUR career and like you said, life is short, make use of it while you can and make a difference!”.
My heart felt broken, “But…what about you?”, did this mean we would be separated? Never be able to see her again? The only person in this WHOLE world who cared about me or helped me through the trouble times.
“I’ll be on ANTHRO, where I always have been…”, she said softly.
“But…will I be there too?” I asked worriedly. “I’m not sure, for the first few years, maybe…but after that, once you’re certified…you could be either here on Prora, or on another ship entirely.”
“No…I…can’t do this…not without you!” I pleaded, putting my paws on her cute, soft face as if this will be the last time I get to see it.
“Ray…” she tried to reassure me, but I cut in, “No…I won’t! I can’t do this alone! Please!”
“Ray this is something you’ve been dreaming of! A chance to change the world, to make another home for US! To apply yourself to the universe and make a difference!” she scolded.
“Yes, but I won’t do it if that means breaking something I want more…what we have…our relationship…”
She let out a slight verbal cue that I had stole her heart as she wrapped me in her arms tightly and I returned the gesture, feeling her warm body against mine and making me feel more at home.
“No matter what happens we will always be together sweetie, we will always be in touch; our PES can link together, and we can talk, share video, audio, everything! It would almost be like we never left each other’s side!”
“But we won’t be…I won’t have you to hold or touch. It will be yet another void I will long to fill…” I said solemnly.
“Oh Ray! We will hold each other again, I swear! Nothing in this life can tear or keep us apart; not even the infinite reaches of the universe…on that I SWEAR!”
“I love you Abigale…” I said lowering my head.
She placed a paw under my chin, “I love you too, Ray…with ALL my heart!”
<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>
My submission for this week's
Thursday_Prompt this story was inspired by this sentence indicated in the prompt for this week: The novel relationship prohibits the applied universe.
Pretty much a good little challenge and I thought it might would fit a little bit in the story as a semi-implied twist to the tale. How things go from here, we'll find out!
Hope you guys enjoy the story and if you'd like to participate in the prompt be sure to give the thursday prompt a watch and follow the procedures by writing a short tale inspired by the ensuing word or phrase given out each week and posting it as well as providing a link to the story as a link in response to the weekly prompt submission and participate in other's stories by reading and providing feedback!
I hope you all have a Happy Easter!
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 90 x 120px
File Size 18.9 kB
Listed in Folders
Comments