TransWorld: The more things change, the more they stay the same. (759 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.94 on 24 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (View user info) at 2007-09-01 10:32:46 EDT
She flew through the night sky, her iridescent wings emitting a faint hum while they lifted her higher. As an elite courier, the majority of her jobs were to deliver organs or time sensitive documents. With the gift of flight, she could easily deliver the package in the same amount of time a land based courier would take to make it out of the door of the high-rise lab.
Since the dawn of widespread human modification, there had been great successes in splicing mammalian DNA together, and there had even been some success with avian-human hybrids. She was a member of the first generation of that breakthrough. Elegant, agile, beautiful to behold, and most importantly, fast, she was the pinnacle of man-made evolution.
Her package was a simple envelope, addressed to the department of military science, in the shiny, new Department of Defense tower. The scientist who gave it to her had told her nothing of its contents, but nobody ever did, she was just a nameless, expendable courier, paid for her delivery skills, not her opinions. There were some clues however. The where, how, when, and who were all obvious, what and why were all that were left. In a building as large as the DOD, these were almost impossible to figure out.
The news had offered some suggestions however. There had been stories recently of the latest developments in bio-engineering. One story in particular had stood out.
Recently there had been some discussion on the effectiveness of the most popular military hybrid. The gorilla men were the first in the line of military genetic engineering, and they were a great success.
Quicker, more dexterous, stronger, and most importantly, more aggressive, they quickly put homo sapien soldiers out of the picture, which had been a catalyst for the riots of 2047. Those same riots had been the proving grounds for the new "recruits." For all their benefits however, there still existed the age-old problem of free thought. With their near human intellect, they questioned orders, and mutiny was not unheard of. This problem was soon to be corrected with the development of insect-human hybrids.
Primary research had been directed toward the drones of bee and ant species, obviously the obedience problem was the task at hand for the military-science field. Humans, and previous hybrids were worried, and rightly so. They were soon to be outdated and un-needed, with only the wealthiest and most powerful left to control the world. Soon devotion to job and country would be replaced with voluntary slavery.
There had been rumors that a civil war lay in the near future, fought between the corporations with their private armies, and everyone else. To that effect, some high level scientists had disappeared, saying that if things continued on the path they currently tread, someday soon even they would find themselves un-needed.
She had started to worry about her future as well, but progress had not eliminated bills and taxes, and she still had to earn a paycheck. Could this package be containing her own downfall? She had heard the nasty comments on the occasions when she decided to walk, about her freakishness, and even something about being an abomination, and she was starting to understand why.
As she neared the building, flying lower to land, her wings suddenly stopped and were pinned to her sides. A soft rope had begun to wind around her body, as she spun around and around. She felt drunk, and couldn't see straight, but she could feel the numerous hands binding and spinning, and just before everything went black, she saw the eyes.
The civil war had begun, and she was its first victim.
User Reviews
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2008-02-26 11:48:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by LegoSockPuppet (user info) at 2007-10-08 23:08:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-09-20 12:20:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2007-09-12 14:17:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
how'd I miss this?
Submitted by haikumikoo (user info) at 2007-09-09 21:12:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
More?
Please?
Also, I was reminded of gibbons monkeys by your name, and feel the need to point out how ridiculously bad ass they would be if they had guns. I don't know if you've ever seen them, but they know kung fu. I saw them practicing first hand at the (piece of shit) L.A. Zoo.
Submitted by messmind (user info) at 2007-09-05 11:20:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
have another.
Submitted by Ballare (user info) at 2007-09-04 13:09:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by SgtHartman (user info) at 2007-09-04 12:49:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
good work man, I like it.
Submitted by zwerg (user info) at 2007-09-04 11:20:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Myk_Myk (user info) at 2007-09-03 22:19:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Here's that link again:
http://l.yimg.com/img.tv.yahoo.com/tv/us/img/site/81/22/0000038122_20070301141540.jpg
Submitted by Myk_Myk (user info) at 2007-09-03 22:00:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
beer-turtle, just because you haven't heard of it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Some of the most spectacular examples of iridescence are seen in birds of paradise; which I'm sure you've heard of: http://l.yimg.com/img.tv.yahoo.com/tv/us/img/site/81/22/0000038122_20070301141540.jpg. Some hummingbirds (the bird in the pic) are also known to have iridescent qualities. Plus, it's a work of fiction anyway...
I don't know the specie of hummingbird in the pic, but the spider is Nephila clavipes, or Golden Silk Spider.
I really enjoyed the story and the pic!
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2007-09-02 13:03:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by BranDo (user info) at 2007-09-02 09:20:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
A fine read indeed.
Submitted by DeMoNiC (user info) at 2007-09-02 00:33:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Really well written mate, I particularly like that style of conclusion. Not knowing what had bloody well just happened until glancing at the picture. Well done.
Submitted by beer-turtle (user info) at 2007-09-01 20:05:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
acknailed ya with a 0 here's a 2 to balance it back
Submitted by beer-turtle (user info) at 2007-09-01 19:13:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Ok... Irridescent is something i have only heard used to describe fairy wings and insect eyes, but never bird plumage.
Main Entry: ir·i·des·cence
Pronunciation: "ir-&-'de-s&n(t)s
Function: noun
1 : a lustrous rainbowlike play of color caused by differential refraction of light waves (as from an oil slick, soap bubble, or fish scales) that tends to change as the angle of view changes.
To be honest this TransWorld series is fun... I have 2 that I am working on right now, but the going is slow due to schoolwork commitments.
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2007-09-01 16:01:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by beer-turtle (user info) at 2007-09-01 15:18:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I am guessing your courier is also an insect, from her irridescent wings.
Dragonfly/human?
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Negative. See the photo, it's a hummingbird. I was going to make it a fly at first to go with the spider imagery, but I saw something on National Geo. last weekend where a spider ate a hummingbird.
Which is why I mentioned Avian.
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2007-09-01 15:57:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by beer-turtle (user info) at 2007-09-01 15:18:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I am guessing your courier is also an insect, from her irridescent wings.
Dragonfly/human?
Submitted by messmind (user info) at 2007-09-01 13:40:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I would like to have more choice in the ranking..Somewhere else this would be +4.
but this is not somewhere else, so +2. I like this Transworld-thing.
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2007-09-01 12:34:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
s' good
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2007-09-01 12:20:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I used to have deathly fear of those things, most likely caused by http://www.ubersite.com/m/93224
I still don't like them, but I don't tremble like a 11-year-old boy discovering masturbation when I see them anymore.
Submitted by DirtyHarry (user info) at 2007-09-01 12:01:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2007-09-01 10:37:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Before the bashing begins, I should explain that this is the result of not falling asleep until 4:00 am, and waking up at 7 am to work on a Saturday. For my first "serious writer's" post however, I don't think I did that bad.