The Selfish Gene
I
A chill fills the nocturnal skyscape punctuated with the stars stretching above the ocean: The night’s air is quiet with only a slight breeze flowing over the tranquil ocean crest. Suddenly a brilliant flash of light briefly manifests above the languid waters, followed by a deafening explosion that disturbs the once peaceful waves! From the inky depths of space, a metallic object falls from the sky into the sea below; leaving an aerial show of scarlet and amber hues of light in its wake. Streaking across the stratosphere, wildly, in numerous directions! A luminous display of explosions darting about the heavens created by huge mechanical beasts the size of battle cruisers.
Unlike the birds desperately trying to avoid the commotion, some of these aerial behemoths resembled a pack of yellow-eyed wolves: shimmering grey in color and equipped with sharp, galvanized talons of a metallic nature! They moved through the atmosphere with the same grace and agility as their organic counterparts, in their natural habitat - traversing the air like a unified pack bounding across a hilly terrain. Going at speeds exceeding the sound barrier and producing multiple bursts of thunder as they maneuvered about the sky. All the while, beams of focused energy radiate from their muzzles at an encroaching group of scarlet painted serpentine creatures and winged cretaceous beasts returning fire; equipped with an ordinance of pulse rifles in their articulated claws! Some of them lashing out with their razor-sharp talons whenever any of the dragons got within reaching distance of their four-legged quarry.
This fierce battle of mechanical titans rages on in the night sky; but two of the behemoths break away from the rest of the scrimmage, still firing upon each other as they drift further away from the fray. Of the pair amid their own struggle, a bejeweled colored dragon undulates across the dark in pursuit of a sleek, silver canine; the lettering of P.A.A.C. stenciled in black along the haunches of its left flank. The automaton narrowly dodges each shot made by its pursuer for a while, but after a few misses, its opponent releases the pulse weapon into the ocean below. Throwing waves into the air nearly 20 feet above the surface while it slithered towards its enemy with tremendous speeds: ramming into its opponent at full force!
The mechanized canid is hurtled towards the water! But before crashing into the ocean’s surface, the mechanical canine fires a javelin attached to a length of titanium cable from its left paw, and pierces through the armored hide of the cybernetic reptile. Dragging them both into the ocean with a splash! Together they sink into the icy depths of the tides as the glow in their eyes fade into a cold, colorless stare. Nothing left but their lifeless metallic husks and the effervescence of bubbles left behind floating to the surface.
***
With no trace of the aerial dogfight from the previous night, dawn approaches off the shore of a nearby island: A young lady is taking a stroll along the ebbing tides of the sandy coastline. Dressed in a tang-top, calf length jeans, and canary yellow flip-flops flicking at her feet, she took in the crisp ocean air. Delaying the inevitability of her daily chores she slips out of her sandals and enjoys the cushioned sensation of the finely crushed sediment beneath her feet, with every step she makes. But she halts in her tracks after catching a glimpse of something in the sand a little further ahead; laying halfway between the beach and tugging ocean tides.
The approaching morning light reveals the motionless body of a boy no older than the young woman, possibly even younger; but he was dressed in military wear, drenched in the ebb and flow of saltwater surrounding him. Hoping that he remained among the living, the young lady rushes over to him! After turning him over on his back she places an ear over his nose and mouth to find him breathing: a sigh of relief escaping from her lips. She took a moment to think, and after stroking a braid in her waist-long ponytail for good luck, she grabs him by the legs and struggles to carry the boy’s body further up on the beach; to prevent him from being dragged out by the receding tide. Once sure of his safety the young islander quickly rushes off in the direction from where she had originally come from, to return with help from her village.
II
Some time has passed since the unconscious kid had been discovered and the sun now sat high above the small community, located some distance up the coast where his body was found. It is a simple little place; where the houses are a crude construct of logs with thatch roofs, but lively with people cooking on open flames outside of their residences and children playing in their yards. Inside one of the cozy little huts an oil lamp hangs from the ceiling and spreads its glow into every corner of the single room abode. Laying on a couple of mats stitched together with strips of dried palm leaves and covered in blankets, the boy lay motionless. Shortly, as if by some jolt of unseen energy, his eyes immediately open and he sits up in a flash! While in the middle of studying his surroundings, however, the burlap cloth covering the entrance is brushed aside; making way for the young girl who found him, along with a young child who kept close at her heels. Caught unaware his instincts kick in! The boy quickly rolls out from under the covers, across the floor to a table on his left, from which he grabs a knife and readies himself in a defensive stance.
The girl and child stood motionless at the doorway.
“Whoa there!” She says, calmly. The little boy at her side clings to the hem of her blouse. “It’s okay, you’re safe here… No need for the knife.”
The boy carefully studies the two strangers over for a moment before lowering his weapon.
“Interesting reflexes you have there,” the girl comments, nervously. Immediately her face flushes red, as she spins around and encourages the little kid with her to do the same. They continue to face the entrance after noticing him standing there with nothing on but his birthday suit. “Um, here are your clothes,” she stammers. Her face still flushed with embarrassment she holds out his clothes, while keeping her gaze at the door.
The boy strides over to them with no compunction and slips into his trousers after retrieving his gear. As she stares at a spot on the ceiling while he dressed, the young lady goes on to explain how she had found him earlier that day and returned with some of the villagers to help carry him to her home; where the local healer tended to his health.
“You’ve been passed out for most of the day,” she continues to explain, as her hands instinctively shielded her small companion’s wandering eyes. “My brother and I were looking after you, but you recovered so quickly that I don’t think our help made that much of a difference anyway.”
She slowly glances out the corner of her eye and catches him slipping on an undershirt before sliding into his camouflage jacket. Turning around with a warm smile on her lips she uncovers her little brother’s eyes.
“My name is Kay, and this is my brother Kenny.”
She pats the little one on the head before continuing somberly.
“He’s mute. It’s been that way since our mother died.”
Kay pauses, waiting for their guest to say something; at the very least to introduce himself, after he had fastened the last button on his coat. He remains silent, however.
“Soo, what’s your name?”
“Sergeant, first class, ‘X’, of the P.A.A.C. organization and squad leader, ma’am” the rigid youth stated.
Kay looks him over for a moment.
“Pack?”
“P-A-A-C. An acronym for the Prevention of Alien Assault Coalition,”
“Oh, I see,” Kay acknowledges without truly understanding everything he had said. With Kenny in tow behind her, she walks over to the mats where X had been previously recovering and motions with her hands to have a seat. The young man marches over and sits before them, after the two had found their own spot on the mats.
“Permission to speak, ma’am?”
“Sure,” she replies with a wince, “but take it easy with the whole ‘ma’am’ routine, okay?”
“Understood!” X then takes a second to form his question. “How is it this island became inhabited? It isn’t charted on any of P.A.A.C.’s maps.”
Kenny lays his head in his sister’s lap.
“Everyone here in the village was part of The Second Exodus three years ago,” Kay begins to explain; meanwhile she gently stroked her kid brother’s low cropped, sandy curls. “Our city was attacked and destroyed by the Scree. But while they were distracted by the military, we were placed on a fleet of ocean liners and sent out to sea. Unfortunately, though, another group of the bastards were waiting in ambush a few miles out to sea and attacked us with their mechanical armor!” She pauses for a moment to collect her cool. “All but two vessels were destroyed; we escaped, although badly damaged. We were lucky enough to make it to this island, but with the radios down and no hope of making it back to civilization, everyone came to the decision to make a new life here.”
“I understand,” X responds. “The official report did declare everyone dead in the assault, after a search party had failed to locate your whereabouts.”
“I see…” Kay mutters, as tears begin to well in her eyes. She wipes them away with a slight sniffle and forces a smile at him. “Anyway, you must be hungry! I’ll make you something to eat.” With nothing else to add she and her little brother got up and left through the sack covered entryway, leaving behind a slightly bewildered X. Unable to grasp the subtle fluctuations in Kay’s emotional conduct.
III
A couple of weeks have gone by since X was found washed ashore. It took a while to get used to him, but the inhabitants accepted the newcomer’s blunt demeanor. Kay found him to be a fussy individual; bent on doing things efficiently and not one to take unnecessary risks beyond the task assigned. A guy with only a modicum of character, and yet, she could not help but find him intriguing as the days passed. The young trio had set out for a hike through the foliage thick interior of the island, earlier that day. The entire time, X, had been keeping an ever-watchful eye on his surroundings, as if expecting an ambush at any moment!
“Hey, take it easy,” Kay grins after noticing X’s intense behavior. “Nobody is around to attack us, so you can just relax. Just enjoy the scenery.”
“It’s always best to be on guard regardless of the situation,” X replies and continues to throw cautious glances at the brush around them. The young girl exhales deeply; as she kept a watchful eye over her brother, who is mindlessly slashing away at the tall grass some distance ahead of them with a stick the youngster had found on their journey.
Kay looks dubiously over at X.
“I haven’t mentioned this before,” she begins. “But you seem pretty young to be in the military…”
“I’ve been raised in P.A.A.C from birth,” he explains. “All I can tell you is that I am part of a privatized branch of the military created twenty years ago with the sole purpose of combatting Scree. Everyone in the W.O.L.F. brigade is about my age and we are the only ones capable of fighting and defeating the alien invaders.”
“Wow…” Kay uttered aloud. “You know, that’s the most information you’ve given me about yourself since you washed up on shore?”
X remains silent while continuing his surveillance of the area. But to Kay’s amusement she notices his cheeks darken with a slight blush. The youth grins and pushes an obtrusive follicle from her face, as she skips further ahead of the young man to keep up with her little brother.
“Well, anyway, I think it’s awesome that you’re a soldier. It’s the most unselfish thing someone can do. Preserving the lives of others while putting your own safety on the line takes a lot of courage.”
“It is not a matter of selflessness in my unit, since altruism is an illogical concept.”
Surprised by his chilling remark, Kay gawks at him, as the young soldier continues.
“We only fight for one reason and that’s the eradication of the Scree. Nothing more, nothing less!” He finishes, curtly.
Kay’s mouth slackens in shock as they enter a clearing that contained a cascading waterfall; towering some thirty feet up a cliff and emptying into a substantially sized pool of turquoise water. Kenny, unaware of the conversation between his sister and X, makes a mad dash towards the inviting cool waters of the pond and begins to splash along the edges of the ovular shaped lagoon. With little thought to her words, Kay reminds her little brother of his inability to swim, but still cannot get over X’s innate level of apathy. But an idea strikes her, and she asks X to keep an eye on her little brother, so she could make a quick trip back into the forest to gather some flowers that they had passed along the way. X simply nods; watching as Kay disappears into the thick vegetation.
“Altruism is an illogical concept!” X’s words continue to replay through her mind. How can he think that way? Well, maybe these flowers will help soften him up some!
Kay wandered the field; picking a menagerie of colors to include in her bouquet of emotional laxatives. But halfway through her endeavor Kay overhears the muffled sounds of erratic splashing filtering through the brush, just slightly over the rush of the waterfall. With the assortment of wildflowers in hand she quickly dashes out of the field and into the lagoon’s clearing - where she is greeted with the sight of her brother in the middle of the deep body of freshwater! Struggling to remain above the surface while X stood motionless at the edge of the shore.
“What the hell are you doing just standing there?” Kay yells at him. The young woman flings aside the flowers and rushes into the lagoon, where she swims out and grabs Ken; right before his fatigued limbs failed to keep him afloat. She manages to swim back to solid ground with her brother and rests him onto the water’s edge, allowing him to cough up any water that may have seeped into his lungs. She wraps him up in the jacket she had been wearing that day as the soldier boy quietly observes the two siblings drenched in water.
Kay scowled at X; a furious look in her eye!
“Why were you just standing there while he was in danger?”
“Anything outside the parameters of eliminating the Scree is not my concern.”
Shaking uncontrollably, Kay rises to her feet; walks over to X and punches him square in the jaw! The force of her swing sending him to the ground. His face contorts into the first expression he has ever shown in his life, as he stared up at her: The look of confusion plastered beneath his forming bruise. Meanwhile, Kay is breathing heavily, as she struggles to hold back the tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
“You heartless…!” She grunts through gritted teeth while she scoops her shivering brother into her cradling arms. Speechless and distraught over the event, Kay abruptly turns away from X and stomps past him, while tromping over the garland of flowers she had thoughtfully put together. Bewildered by her actions, X stayed on the ground; rubbing his bruised jaw.
IV
Kay hurries through the jungle with Kenny in her arms; her cheeks stained with tears, as they finally break through the flora and step onto the sandy beach of the island’s coastline. High tide had set in, leaving her to trudge through the wet sand at every pass of a flowing wave. Nearing the village gates Kay stops in her tracks. Merely a hundred yards from the sturdy pine that created a natural barrier between the beach and the village interior, Kay overhears a loud splash coming from the shoreline. After turning around to face the sudden commotion, she finds herself lost in the shadow of an enormous jade serpent emerging from the waves, as it stretched some thirty feet above her!
Some distance away, following the same path Kay took, X runs onto the beach and sees the mechanized Scree looming over the terrified girl! Unsure what the outcome would be if he engaged the Scree without proper support, the young soldier felt compelled to leave matters alone. But then again, the ache he feels pulsating through the swollen muscles and tendons in his jaw makes him think otherwise. Turning towards the ocean with his eyes closed, as if in deep meditation, X recites a few words under his breath.
V
Completely taken by fear, Kay turns around and closes her eyes as she falls to her knees, clutching Ken against her as tightly as she could! The mechanical Scree raises a leg, after looking down at them for what felt like ages; and with only a split second to spare from being crushed them under its feet, a sliver streak of metal appears out of the water. Knocking the synthetic reptile back into ocean with a flying tackle! Only after not feeling her body being crushed under tons of sentient steel, Kay, opens her eyes to find a giant mechanical wolf crouching on all fours before her. Yellow eyes aglow and the W.O.L.F-P.A.A.C lettering stenciled along its left side. Its tremendous head turns to catch a glimpse of the young girl for a moment, before returning its keen gaze towards its Scree adversary; whom was already rising to its clawed feet, once again.
Releasing a howl, which sent ripples through the surrounding water, the metallic beast begins to transform into a humanoid figure. A mechanized werewolf; fangs bared and ready to strike, with unyielding mechanical fury! Without giving his slithery opponent much time to react, the newly transformed robot pounces on the Scree yet again, and grapples with the snake-like beast. Taking them further into the churning waves; the water frothing with their relentless struggle! Thrown off immediately, however, the behemoth wolfman rises to its feet, raring to attack once again, as the dragon attempts to counter with a glowing orb of crimson forming in front of its open jaws. It hurls the ball of red energy towards its adversary. Which skillfully dodges the surprise attack, but in doing so, the mechanical shapeshifter inadvertently opened a path towards the seaside community behind him! Leaving Kay’s home vulnerable to the approaching energy attack. But with extraordinary speed the robotic canine engages the polarity engines found in the atomic generators within its arm shields, before jumping in front of Kay and her brother: Between the accelerating energy orb and her home!
The deadly sphere collides with the crossed arms of the wolf; obscuring everything behind a wake of high energy flame released on impact! It eventually recedes, however; revealing the village, Kay and the sizzling visage of the cybernetic were-beast, undamaged. This in turn prompts a high-pitched squeal to echo from the metallic serpent, as it charges recklessly at the wolf - its claws ready to pierce into its armored plating!
Propped on one knee, waiting for its berserker of an opponent, the wolf opens a hatch in his right forearm and procures a blade to its proportions; akin to the easy action of a switchblade, that kicked up a brisk whirlwind of sand behind him. In a blur the werewolf sprints towards the charging creature and executes an upwards slash that splits the jade dragon in twain! Both halves of the beast, with its internal components exposed and crackling with plasma, falls into the ocean with a tremendous splash - sending forth numerous waves to crash further up the island’s coastal plane.
Watching the mechanical wolfman retract its blade and morph back into its original four-legged form, Kay stared in awe; wide eyed in wonder. Unable to advert their gaze from the metallic titan as it approached them, Kay and Kenny, slowly got to their feet. The rest of the island’s inhabitants begin to pile out from the gate behind the siblings, to catch a glimpse of the devastating commotion that had shaken them to the core of their quiet existence; gawking at the mechanical wolf and its silver exterior gleaming in the afternoon sunlight. A waft of steam hisses from the combat unit’s head/cockpit to reveal, X, posturing in his seat. A grin spread across his face: For the first time in his genetically enhanced life, he felt alive!
