A New World

Human beings; fascinating creatures they are. Their history is shrouded in mystery, and their actions as well as their path through history has left many wondering the same question: How did we do it?

How did they get from faceless useless brutes that use their fists and hands to break apart whatever scraps of food they happened across to the mass production of automated machinery that produces food on demand? How did they get from climbing trees to leveling forests? How did they get from perishing along their quests for a natural shelter in the form of caves and tight rock formations to boldly erecting hundreds of floors to challenge the sky’s authority?

Some might say it’s the brain that they have been bestowed by some divine being that long gave up on this world. Others argue that it’s a natural gift that helps them evolve and adapt to their surroundings, and that the progress that they have achieved was just a matter of time. Others call into question interdimensional and interstellar beings who once got in contact with this silly race of apes, gave them the tools needed, then turned around and disappeared just as quickly as they appeared after being exposed to the true horror of the human nature.

And a few think that it is but one power. One ability. One vice so despicable, so vile, and so unfathomably destructive, that those who hold it end up engulfing whatever is in their immediate surroundings. And when all is said and done, and there are no more resources to be claimed, no more wars to be fought, no more souls to be tormented, they engulf even themselves. That one vice that has resonated through history and has followed this cursed creature since the day its eyes met the light of the sun, and the day their skin felt the heat of life brush against them, is none other than greed.

Now. What is greed? It is simple, greed is but a want for more. Even more so, it is the need to consume. It is an empty void, self-consuming and ever expanding, that latches on to the heart of every human on this earth, and the more they grow and the more they take in their environment, the bigger that gaping hole gets.

Why is greed to blame? Well, it is quite simple indeed. Humans have no Gods, they never bow to any higher power, and they never fear any consequences from some morally perfect being that has yet to be seen. That is quite the statement, and some clarification might be needed. Whether God, or Gods, or deities in general exist, that is a discussion to be had in another universe, for such divine beings have no place in this world. This world is one dominated by humans and their ugly nature. Divinity has no place simply because it has forsaken this land deemed too foul and too evil for any good to shine through the clouds trapping everyone in a never-ending cycle of hatred and self-glorification at costs far too great to be processed by puny human minds.

When there’s an entire universe, a literal limitless expansion that grows exponentially by the second (as far as modern science can tell), what fool would turn a blind eye and set up a camp made of sticks and stones? Humans.

When faced with a simple matter: infinite wealth, interstellar conquest, one banner that unites planets spanning trillions of lightyears, a distance that is immeasurably great, or destruction and pure chaos for no apparent reason. Which one would humans choose? Obviously, the latter.

Why build when they can destroy. Why cooperate when they can hate. Why explore when you can abhor kinship. This is the kind of world that humans built, and this is a world where they can thrive and inflate their own meaningless existence. This is not meant as a criticism of the human nature, but rather it is an introduction into the psyche of humans. A species that was doomed to end its own existence since their feet first treaded this bountiful land. A species far too brutal to exist, and far too ignorant to preserve.

Such is the story of some who thought themselves too great and defiantly transmogrified their existence into different forms in order to trick time and cheat death. But after the dust had settled, it was proven that this foe was far too great for humanity. Not due to their shortcomings, but due to their innate flaw; greed. It is true, the potential is limitless, and discovery and deductive reasoning can bend the universe, but when misattributed to a species that knows only pandemonium, and a creature that knows only annihilation, the results are nothing short of tragic.

The truth I tell you, and the truth you shall find.

Those were but a few pages that Morgan found as breath was slowly filling up his lungs again. A few days had passed since the annual celebrations and festivities of the New World had concluded, but his world seemed a little bit odd. Gone were the heavy shackles that made him bow his head, and for once, he was able to look upright. Though his neckbones were grinding against his skin, very little was going through his mind.

The first thought that broke the unnerving silence in his head. “What is this sensation?” As his upper body expanded and shrunk, a he could feel a light tickle pouring through his nose. As he placed his hand upon his chest, he could feel a beat coming from within that he had never noticed before.

How could he have gone through life missing the sensation of breath entering and exiting his body? How could he have existed for nearly 30 years and yet failed to grasp the beat of his own heart? These questions started to flood into his brain, and he could not understand what they meant. Words were forming, ideas were created, questions were asked, language was shaped, and yet, it all seemed alien to him for he had no recollection of ever being taught how to formulate any of them.

He took his first glance around, and sweat beads started to drip along his face. Yet another sensation he had never felt before. When he instinctively pulled his arm up to wipe the uncomfortable trail off his face, he accidentally poked himself in the eye and felt a sharp stabbing pain in his face which caused him to recoil so hard that he slammed against a long iron barricade, causing a loud CLONK to break the stillness in his immediate vicinity.

The sudden explosion caused him to spring up to his feet and snap a look behind him. His breath got heavier, his mind went blank, and all he could do was look dumbfounded in the middle of what appeared to be nowhere. But it wasn’t. As shock settled in, he started to make out some shapes forming around him. Weirdly slender silhouettes shuffled all around him, all unphased by the event that nearly shortened his lifespan. As the haze started to clear, he started to make out faces, limbs such as arms legs started to become clearer and clearer. And that was finally the moment that the realization exploded in his vacant brain. “Humans! They must be!”

Humans they might’ve been, but nothing about them seemed alive. Some moved in groups while others moved in solitude. These groups were made up of what he assumed to be men and what he assumed to be women. Some had long hair tied in a perfect knot that seemed to move the air around it rather than the other way around. Others had short hair with surgically cut perfect streaks in a pattern that repeated along the whole scalp, forming a mesmerizing flow that made his head spin.

After a few moments passed him by as his eyes were still fixated on the dazzling hair, another sight stole his vision. Up until that point, he had only been gazing at the backs of these individuals marching forward like the fate of the world dependent on their ability to reach their destination. However, at this time, he was able to witness what these “humans” looked like from the front. What he saw were large bulbous eyes gaping and lidless. Their colors undulated between black and dark brown, peering at the ground as they moved forward with no expressions nor any unnecessary movement. They had short narrow noses that seemed to let in just enough air to help them keep he most basic bodily functions.