Reena is the host of Reena’s Exploration Challenge.  Reena says:

PROMPT

FOR THE NEW ENTRANTSThere is no restriction on the length or format of the piece. Write a post on your blog, and link it up here with a pingback, or copy-paste the blog link in Comments.
I eagerly await your responses.

Sarah Connor

On January 1, 2099, the United Nations, which now encompassed every country on Planet Earth, declared imminent human extinction within the next 10 years if radical steps were not taken to make accessing alternative sources of oxygen and ways of inspiration and expiration of it. The planet was scoured for the brightest and  most innovative genetic engineers. Teams were formed. No expense was spared for what they needed to get the job done.

Two of the most promising avenues were widely divergent in their approaches. The first avenue was to splice human genes with ocean-gilled fish. The hope was that if humans could grow gills, they could gain oxygen from oceans and live in the oceans. This was promising in that it meant the monstrous overpopulating swarms of humans on land could spread out in the vast underwater lands.

The second avenue was splicing human genes with trees. As humans inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, trees inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. It wasn’t too much of a stretch of the imagination to believe that there might be a way to design humans that could inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen for the non-spliced humans.

Both avenues of research depended on voluntary human research subjects to test out their theories, as petrie dishes and cell cultures could only take them so far. Non-human animal research subjects were out of the question, as they were enough like humans that you could guess if it worked on an animal it would work on a human; but they were also too different from humans to rely on the results. The genetic engineers had only 10 years to create “the cure” and the unreliable and antiquated, not to mention inhumane and barbarous, practices of non-human animal research would only slow them down.

Despite centuries of practice at trying to be non-biased and dedicated to all humans being treated equally, humans had failed miserably. Prisoners were first asked if they wanted to participate, and in exchange, their sentences would be commuted or even ended, at least for the non-violent ones. Military personnel who wanted out of the service could have their time cut in half in exchange for volunteering. Government workers could get years of service added to their tenure and be eligible for early retirement if they signed up.

For the first few years, there was a large pool of the above-named volunteers. The research was proceeding very successfully, at least as far as the end product. The volunteers themselves did not fare as well. Few, if any, were able to cash in on the promises, as they did not survive the experiments. Those who did were “changed” and not quite human anymore. Word got out fast that volunteering meant torture and usually death.

When the volunteer pool dried up, the next enticements were large sums of money, paid either to the volunteer or their surviving family members, or a 1,000 square foot home for life, rent free. Life on Planet Earth for 95% of the population was grim, as the environment was toxic, overpopulation had humans crammed into vertical apartment skyscrapers with an average apartment size of 200 square feet for a family of 4, and food was not much more than a grey paste made from plant proteins. Many volunteered knowing what they were facing but knowing their families would be much better off.

The research was now into year 8 and more volunteers were needed. They started having a lottery. As many volunteers who were needed, that many volunteers were chosen from a random lottery — of the 95% of course, never any from the 5% Elites.

By year 10, there was success with both avenues of research. Fish people, called Marlins, were now swimming in fenced off areas of the ocean. They not only had gills, but baleen filter-feeder systems  to filter food from the water. Further experiments would be needed to see if Marlins could reproduce with each other and have Marlin babies.

The tree people, called Willows, were also successfully taking in carbon dioxide and expiring oxygen. One unfortunate reality for Willows was that they were planted in the ground and had to remain stationary. More research was needed on how Willows could reproduce.

What the 95% were never told was that they would be systematically gathered and converted to Marlins and Willows until enough of them stabilized the atmosphere. The rest of the masses would be quietly taken out and exterminated.

The Plan was continuing as the 5% Elites wanted it to. They were breathing easier in more ways than one. What they never expected, and what was never revealed to them, was when trees and humans were spliced into Willows, the human part’s consciousness absorbed the timeless ancient wisdom of the trees, who could communicate with each other via fungal networks under the soil.

Cerah Connor was spliced with one of the oldest trees in CA. In years to come, Cerah would lead the uprising of the remaining humans, Willows, and Marlins, against the Elites.