Life Plus 2M
Entry by: macdonald
2nd September 2016
The Last Sapiens
This statement for the attention of Great Anura Council members only.
Knowledge bad! Life good!
They were at the water’s edge, on flat ground close to the slopes of Mount Logan, burning wood and making their strange singing noises. A dozen of them. An old, hairy individual was loudest.
“Enormous the blaze that shall burn the broad seas and the heavens; its terrible blasts shall break open the portals of Hades. Even the sun shall not shine and the stars will be silent; the moonlight finished; wrapped in darkness and all human affairs ended. The mountains will sink into the fields and the seas. Rivers will boil. The quake-shaken earth will open and fire fall from the sky.â€
A young male spotted us when we emerged on the beach and began hopping toward them.
“Frogmen!†he yelled and they all tried to run but they have such puny legs, netting them wasn’t difficult. They no longer have any weapons and only two needed to be killed. Now that I’m fully grown they seem small and weak. It’s impossible to believe they once held every other species under their dominion.
I volunteered to conduct the standard enquiry. The hairy one was led forward and I watched him scan our Questions with his ugly little eyes. He read the first aloud.
“Is it true that all Aruna came from an Ark?â€
His expression was of contempt and he did not try to answer. He laughed as he read our second Question.
“Do you know the location of the Ark?†and again he made no response, before reading the last in anger, his hairy face reddening.
“Do you know anything of the origin of Homo Anura?â€
“You obscene grotesque,†he roared. “I know that you’re our biggest blunder.†He ejected saliva from his mouth in my direction before he was dragged away.
The rest were silent. I do not believe they could even read their own language. The three females were thin and dirty, but suitable to be kept for breeding. Their songs had confirmed satisfactory vocal apparatus and we are unlikely to find any better specimens in the future. But whether any of my brothers will be able to touch their disgustingly soft, warm flesh I do not know.
But Great Council, the last Sapiens interviewed, the one who had called us “Frogmen†could read and did attempt to answer our Questions. He was the youngest of them and not yet filled with the arrogance of his species.
‘Yes, I have been told about an Ark,’ he said. ‘that rusted and fell apart. The last pieces were washed away by the tides a century ago.’
‘Sapiens and Anura lived on the Ark together,’ he added and then more which I will summarise.
When Sapiens had damaged the Old Earth beyond repair, but only realised this after the Great Killing Heatwave and the onset of the Tsunamis they realised that a time of consequences for their behaviour was upon them. This young Sapiens believes that his species built the Ark! And furthermore that Sapiens began attempting to use Biotechnology to add amphibian advantages to their own Genome. Various animals were taken on board the Ark, including the common frog. Only the Homo Anura, the offspring of their unregulated experimentation flourished.
Great Council, we know these puny beings were once convinced they understood the unimaginable power of time and matter, once believed they could see the unseeable interactions of atoms and molecules. That they also incompetently interfered with the biology of larger, intricate structures is beyond my comprehension, but I report only what this young specimen seems to believe. I suggested that we keep him for further interrogation but my request was denied.
Needless to say there was great excitement in the community when we returned with our captives. When we tied the feet of the males to the drowning ceremony pole, they were all resigned and silent, except the hairy one who began to shout again.
“There will be great agony as it is a day of anger, of struggle, of suffering and countless terrors. It is a day of storms and darkness, a day of immense suffering. Keep this image in your mind: Truly, this day can be compared with no other, and there can be no thought of escaping it. There will be no way to quickly make a secret plan of evasion. The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold I will destroy them with the earth...’
I believe he even kept his nonsense up when we lowered them into the tank as many bubbles rose to the surface for a time. When the pole was raised it appeared they were all drowned, but before their bodies were cut free the hairy one revived and began calling out again.
“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred, three score and six.’
We submerged him again and left him while we divided the flesh of the others between the members of the community. We all know these may be the last of their kind, the last taste of their flesh.
The waters have receded more in this area, these last weeks. Many ancient, ruined dwellings of Sapiens have been uncovered but we continue to obey the Law and avoid these places. Homo Anura must ignore their follies and find our own way. Perhaps in time Anura will evolve the ability to talk as they did but we must never follow their example.
And for now we continue to croak our own Mantra.
‘Knowledge bad! life good!’
This statement for the attention of Great Anura Council members only.
Knowledge bad! Life good!
They were at the water’s edge, on flat ground close to the slopes of Mount Logan, burning wood and making their strange singing noises. A dozen of them. An old, hairy individual was loudest.
“Enormous the blaze that shall burn the broad seas and the heavens; its terrible blasts shall break open the portals of Hades. Even the sun shall not shine and the stars will be silent; the moonlight finished; wrapped in darkness and all human affairs ended. The mountains will sink into the fields and the seas. Rivers will boil. The quake-shaken earth will open and fire fall from the sky.â€
A young male spotted us when we emerged on the beach and began hopping toward them.
“Frogmen!†he yelled and they all tried to run but they have such puny legs, netting them wasn’t difficult. They no longer have any weapons and only two needed to be killed. Now that I’m fully grown they seem small and weak. It’s impossible to believe they once held every other species under their dominion.
I volunteered to conduct the standard enquiry. The hairy one was led forward and I watched him scan our Questions with his ugly little eyes. He read the first aloud.
“Is it true that all Aruna came from an Ark?â€
His expression was of contempt and he did not try to answer. He laughed as he read our second Question.
“Do you know the location of the Ark?†and again he made no response, before reading the last in anger, his hairy face reddening.
“Do you know anything of the origin of Homo Anura?â€
“You obscene grotesque,†he roared. “I know that you’re our biggest blunder.†He ejected saliva from his mouth in my direction before he was dragged away.
The rest were silent. I do not believe they could even read their own language. The three females were thin and dirty, but suitable to be kept for breeding. Their songs had confirmed satisfactory vocal apparatus and we are unlikely to find any better specimens in the future. But whether any of my brothers will be able to touch their disgustingly soft, warm flesh I do not know.
But Great Council, the last Sapiens interviewed, the one who had called us “Frogmen†could read and did attempt to answer our Questions. He was the youngest of them and not yet filled with the arrogance of his species.
‘Yes, I have been told about an Ark,’ he said. ‘that rusted and fell apart. The last pieces were washed away by the tides a century ago.’
‘Sapiens and Anura lived on the Ark together,’ he added and then more which I will summarise.
When Sapiens had damaged the Old Earth beyond repair, but only realised this after the Great Killing Heatwave and the onset of the Tsunamis they realised that a time of consequences for their behaviour was upon them. This young Sapiens believes that his species built the Ark! And furthermore that Sapiens began attempting to use Biotechnology to add amphibian advantages to their own Genome. Various animals were taken on board the Ark, including the common frog. Only the Homo Anura, the offspring of their unregulated experimentation flourished.
Great Council, we know these puny beings were once convinced they understood the unimaginable power of time and matter, once believed they could see the unseeable interactions of atoms and molecules. That they also incompetently interfered with the biology of larger, intricate structures is beyond my comprehension, but I report only what this young specimen seems to believe. I suggested that we keep him for further interrogation but my request was denied.
Needless to say there was great excitement in the community when we returned with our captives. When we tied the feet of the males to the drowning ceremony pole, they were all resigned and silent, except the hairy one who began to shout again.
“There will be great agony as it is a day of anger, of struggle, of suffering and countless terrors. It is a day of storms and darkness, a day of immense suffering. Keep this image in your mind: Truly, this day can be compared with no other, and there can be no thought of escaping it. There will be no way to quickly make a secret plan of evasion. The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold I will destroy them with the earth...’
I believe he even kept his nonsense up when we lowered them into the tank as many bubbles rose to the surface for a time. When the pole was raised it appeared they were all drowned, but before their bodies were cut free the hairy one revived and began calling out again.
“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred, three score and six.’
We submerged him again and left him while we divided the flesh of the others between the members of the community. We all know these may be the last of their kind, the last taste of their flesh.
The waters have receded more in this area, these last weeks. Many ancient, ruined dwellings of Sapiens have been uncovered but we continue to obey the Law and avoid these places. Homo Anura must ignore their follies and find our own way. Perhaps in time Anura will evolve the ability to talk as they did but we must never follow their example.
And for now we continue to croak our own Mantra.
‘Knowledge bad! life good!’
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