”Next stop: Luna 3. Please stay seated until the vehicle has completely stopped. We thank you for choosing SpaceVenture today. Please remember …”
The rest of the announcement was drowned out by people packing their things and leaving their seats, despite the warning. Nora watched them. Her bag was already packed, and she knew that if she would stand up now, it wouldn’t be any faster than if she waited for everyone to get out first. It was like this every morning. And most people never seemed to learn this.
When the transportation unit finally came to a halt, people left it in a hurry. Nora walked out slowly. Being early to work wouldn’t mean she could leave early too. It wouldn’t even get her any additional money. They’d just claim that the documentation machine had been broken and she had actually arrived later than she had been supposed to. And then they’d cut her pay.
It had happened before.
She walked down the street towards an office building, when something suddenly grabbed her ankle. She shrieked and jumped backward, almost falling down.
”Sorry, ma’am, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I didn’t … I’m sorry, it’s just …”
A cephi. A fucking cephi. What was it doing out here? Cephis weren’t allowed to leave their districts. Nora looked down at her ankle, expecting to see slime where the chepi had grabbed her with its tentacle. She wrinkled her nose and proceeded to walk past the thing.
It grabbed her ankle again.
”Please!” It called out. ”I can’t find my mom!” Nora turned back around and looked at the cephi. It was tiny, that was true. But could it really be a child? She never knew with those things. It was creepy enough, that they were able to speak.
Cephis were the descendants of animals called cephalopods. For millions of years, they had been mostly harmless animals, living in the ocean. Humans had known them as squid, octopuses or cuttlefish and either ignored or ate them. Only a few scientists had been interested in studying them. @suesa
It had been known that cephalopods had a certain degree of intelligence, uncommon for mollusks and even for most other animals, but nobody had worried too much about it. After all, they had still been animals.
And then several things happened.
Humanity had entered an age of technological progression, everything was going really fast in many areas. But at the same time, the planet was dying. Species were going extinct or were forced to adapt. And adapt the cephalopods did. Actively.
In basically all animals, evolution happened through the accumulation of mutations that proved to be beneficial. Bit by bit, the animals could change and adapt to their surroundings. But this process took time and the earth was dying faster than beneficial mutations could accumulate. Especially because not every mutation had a positive effect.
But the cephalopods were different. They directed their own evolution, by actively editing their RNA, which was the link between DNA and proteins. And by doing this, they evolved a lot faster and in a direction that helped them survive.
Their intelligence increased, and they made contact with humanity. But humanity didn’t like that.
Neither did Nora.
”I can’t help you. Go find some other cephi, they’ll help you find your mom. I need to go to work.”
The color of the tiny cephi turned from a hopeful yellow to a greyish blue as it withdrew its tentacles from Nora and skittered towards the side of the road. It seemed miserable. Then again, cephis always did.
Nora started to feel bad. It wasn’t this child’s fault that it was born as a weird joke of nature. In fact, humanity might have treated cephis differently if they had come from a different planet, not earth. But even after centuries of space travel, they hadn’t been able to find any aliens. They had colonized almost every solid planet and moon in their own solar system and were expanding further and further. But there was nothing.
And they were stuck with cephis.
”Ugh, alright”, Nora finally said, ”I will help you look. But don’t touch me again, you hear me? And hurry, I don’t want to be seen with you.”
The cephi turned bright orange and moved closer towards Nora.
”Thank you! Thank you!”
With the child by her side, she started walking towards the cephi district. Nora didn’t understand why cephis had been allowed to settle on Luna 3. The Moon, one of those that orbited Jupiter and had been the third to be colonized, was far from Earth and even drier than Mars. Cephis still needed a lot of water to survive, despite their adaptions, and water on Luna 3 was expensive.
Then again, the rate of hate crimes was comparably low. Nora knew of several colonies where cephis were hunted, fried and eaten on a regular basis. Protest groups had tried to stop that practice, but there weren’t enough of them. And nobody besides them cared about the weird, soft animals that suddenly gained more intelligence than they were supposed to have.
”We’re almost there”, the cephi said excitedly. ”I think I recognize these houses.”
”Great. I’m sure you’ll find your way home now by yourself.”
”Noooooo please don’t leave me!” The cephi shrieked. ”I’m scared!”
Nora sighed.
”FINE!” They kept walking down the street. Then they turned around a corner and were met by about fifty cephis. All of them were clearly adults. And they all seemed to stare at her and the child. Nora swallowed hard.
”It seems we found your people”, she said, almost losing her voice. ”I’m sure you can now …”
Something penetrated the soft skin on her neck. She reached up and had a thin dart in her hand.
”What the hell …” Everything went black.
The Cephalopods surrounded the unconscious human.
”You did well, little one”, one of them said to the child that had brought the human. ”That’s the 8th this week. If we keep this up, we will be able to infiltrate the whole base in no time.” The Cephalopod looked at another one. ”Are you ready to go through with the procedure?” It asked. The other one flashed its colors in agreement.
”I always wondered what it’d be like to steer a human”, it said. ”Cut her open so I can replace her brain.”
Sources:
Squid and octopus can edit and direct their own brain genes
Octopus genome holds clues to uncanny intelligence
Watch Jumbo Squid Speak by 'Flashing' Each Other
Picture taken from pixabay.com
Wow !! The twist was great!! Is it a series or is it over ?
The end reminds me of a movie - the host (2013) . Have you seen that movie?
I think I read the book a while back. Wasn't the inspiration tho!
And I don't know yet if it's going to be a series.
Make it 😃😃 Its good. It is said that monkeys are not the most intelligent after humans, octopuses are !! Glad to see how you placed it into a fictional character!! 👏🏻
I also started writing fiction recently. Its not that creative as yours, but i feel it deserves a read! Have a look at it in my profile if you feel like. I wish to learn from you and write better 😃
Jep. I have to agree with @reggaemuffin here. MOARR.
I honestly feel bad for evolution. People never seem to learn it nowadays too. Also the Idea of having to walk in the direction of the train that is approaching the platform. Why people? Why?
t.
This part came from a personal bit of frustrating experience. :D
Well, you made me smile quite a bit, since that was exactly what I thought.
I can see you sitting there with the constant paint of "WHY?"
Great post S.
t.
The pain >.<
I officially request 10 followup parts to it, knowing you hate me for it xD
Life's tough :P Maybe I will expand it. Need to think about that.
I can somewhat relate to this request, however I would be open to another option called "Use the same world in another story you will write in the future".
So we could get more of this, without actually continuing the story.
You should of ended it with the star wars guy yelling " its a trap!"
Never trust children that grab you by the ankles
I feel your frustration with public transport :)
Well, I am not a scientist, but I sure learnt something from this interesting story.
Never be too trusting and emotional!
If Nora had simply ignored the little cephis and moved on to work, she wouldn't have fallen prey to its trap.
I will surely keep tabs to know how this story will end.
Beautiful story, though I was some how confused along the way. I appreciate the way you explained the biology of cephis especially what is unique about them which are their ability to direct their own evolution, by actively editing their RNA which enable them to evolve faster in a way that makes them to survive. Your research really true. Thanks for sharing this post .
Check the sources I provided :) It's not 100% clear how they do it but cephalopods seem to be able to modify their DNA.
Ok... I did not expect the story to end in that way... Very interesting, you captured my attention, good job. This is a great post. Thank you for sharing.
Woooow! That was an unexpected twist in the end. I was impressed by the kindness of Nora despite the fact that she didn’t really like cephis. The cephis who acted helpless was “evil”
After all. Poor Nora!
Great writing! Keep it up!
Good and evil are often a question of perspective
I agree with you. Looking forward to your next post. I enjoy reading posts here. Thanks again
What an interesting take on evolution. I guess there's some evidence of imprinting controlling genomic regulation, but 'active evolution' really has to have some amazing advantages. What an original concept!
I also can't decide if Nora is the victim here or simply got what was coming...
A great story :) Thanks!
Eh, she's a victim of the circumstances but still got what she had coming.
Whay she had coming? You set her up to die, you did. All she did was to be nice to a lost cephi. Not like she fried them like the other humans.
But initially, she didn't want to help. She despised cephis all her life and treated them like dirt. If the little one hadn't tried so hard, she wouldn't have spent a second thought on why a child is alone in such a hostile city.
If I treat a certain group of people like dirt all my life, does it make me a good person if I help one of them just once?
Sure, Nora could have changed. I initally planned for her to become friends with the cephis. But that wouldn't be realistic, would it?
She despised them all her life. They were creepy moving things, at least that was the norm, there is nothing to say she had at a point come in contact with any to change the notion.
But here she did, she is thinking of work, the hours already counting, her place of work don't look like a friendly one. She needs the salary
Anyways, she got all this in her head. Then this creepy cephi grabs at her ankle, if she was a bad person her first instinct would have been to kick it off, but no she did not. She even thought her ankle would be covered in slime which goes to show she had never had any contact with one before now.
This could happen to anyone, we all affix a stereotype for people from a partictular place until there is a chance for meeting and our notions change.
She even listens to it, thinks to herself "well, its just a baby" . Not her fault she is in that body. See, she doesn't totally discriminate
Then she goes on to help, she would be late to her work. Though it doesn't reflect on her salary if she is early.
Anyways, it is just not fair that you set her up to die. Not fair.
Maybe. But how boring would stories be if they were fair?
damn that was intense i littereraly hadnt read a book since harry potter but since ive found steemit i keep stumbling on to these little gems looking forward to part 2 and following now
Of course you get Cthulu like assholes through editing genes. Empathy was a mistake.
:D
"Empathy was a mistake", I need that on a button.
I almost believed this. Where do your thoughts spring from?
The baby cephi was too cute to be bad, you are a joy killer. You treat us to the colors that determine its emotions, blue for resignation to fate,yellow for hope. I even smiled when its color went bright orange.
Only to tell us the baby cephi is a pawn in a bigger conspiracy. Noooo, too cute to be. We need you to continue this story.
Well, if you check my sources at the bottom of the post, there is evidence for cephalopods changing their RNA in a way that's not found in any other animal. That's where the idea came from :)
Baby cephi just wants a better world for its people. How many people walked by it that day, maybe even kicked it into a corner because they were disgusted?
Baby cephi just wants a better world.
Aha, poetic license huh . In essence you are preaching "no empathy". So Nora and the 7 others answer for the sins of a society, that saw cephis as just some other animal to be hunted and eaten, i would understand.
But if baby cephi is this good at surviving, such that its innocence is traded for a chance at the better world. I wonder what the better world has in store for her con.
As I mentioned in a different comment, good and evil are a question of perspective. In this story, there are no winners.
OMG!! Beautiful plot twist right there. I definitely didn't see that one coming . Is this part of a series? Because I definitely feel a rebellion brewing, which might lead to the near annihilation of the human race.... am I going too far? 😀
This was an absolutely great story, waiting in earnest for more like this.
Cheers!
Well, it was planned as a single story but several people are calling for a continuation sooooo ... going to change the "Short Story" part in the title to "Part 1"
A creative combination of fiction & profession. I like the idea a lot and how you built up the characters and the tension.
I stumbled over the first sentence and thought for a while, what in particular disturbed me on that. It was that I could sense you as an author behind the character. That produced a picture of you typing this story and took something from the quality of the female character itself. How about a little adjustment?
"Her bag was already packed and she was waiting for everyone to get out first. She knew that at another time in another transporter it could be her who rushed to get down the aisle first towards the exit. Not so this morning."
In addition, I would choose some paraphrases and picture worlds or even artistic expressions for what the Octopus do with their genetic material. ....Put it in other terms instead of "RNA". Like, for example, "genetic information transmitters" that someone had called "octo-codys." or so... That would give it some charm on top, in my view. Just an example of what I am after as a reader.
I would also like to read what the Octopus gang is up for. :))
I can somewhat agree with the first part, but still don't feel like changing it :P
As for the RNA: Part of my original "Branding" was, that my stories contained actual science. That has become less over time, mostly because it's really difficult to come up with good stories for interesting scientific things. But it requires me to stay as true to the facts as possible.
I think I'll give in to the overall pressure of everybody wanting me to continue this story :D Everyone wants to hear how it'll progress. Guess I'll have to think of something.
Great read indeed! Will be on the look out for part 3. I began with part 2 and that's how i learnt about this part. Its interesting how you were able to articulate evolution and heredity of these intelligent creatures. Thanks so much!
Finally, a story where not only humans are selfish assholes harming others for personal gain.
I'm ashamed of myself when I didn't see that coming. Already was going for the typical "Wow not all humans are evil, we'll let you live" but eh..
I'm happy that I can still surprise you :D
What a cool concept. Makes me want to eat an octopus, got to do my part for humanity.
Wow! Is it now bad to help these freaking creatures??
Well, I guess she ended up being late for work. Let's hope she doesn't die..
This made me laugh too hard
Lol
Oh shit, that escalated quickly! Haha - I love the idea of self-evolved interplanetary cephalopods with violent intentions! I suppose that is the last we'll be seeing of poor Nora though :)
Part 5 made more sense to me as I came back to read part 1. lol An interesting point of view! Very imaginative and clever. Going to read the rest when I have a little more time on my hands. Thanks again!
Why would you expect to understand part 5 of a series without the rest😂
lol. I decided to read part 5 since it was in my feed to see if it would catch my attention. That it did. :D
Niceeeee. Onto the next.
Wait, what? it was so nerdy, so lovely, and suddenly... I need to read more, great job.
Well, I read the first one, not bad for one start, I'm going for the next! by the way, I'm not eating octopus anymore. :)
Keep reading, you might start to reconsider
Starting on this like the ninja I am :)
Wow, this is so captivating. I do not only like but live it. Thanks for such a masterpiece.
Beautifull Writing Really interesting @suesa ✌✌✌
great story buddy
Your way of expressing ideas was awesome
Keep it up <3
Please don't call me "buddy"
This was a great read, glad that i don`t waste time here a find great content ! Consider to upvote and follow me ! See ya ! :)
You're very new so I won't flag you - for now. I generally don't like people who try to self-promote themselves in the comments under my posts and many other people consider it spam. Maybe don't do it or you'll be flagged, sooner or later.
Horror.... Horror....Horror....
I think that is real horror story. really got afraid but enjoying so much.
whatever....I think You are great writter..
god bless you
Awwwwwwww.... Got a tear in my eye... This is beautiful
Resteem and upvote done
Its best fiction story @suesa. The story were amazing and hugely. Keep it for next post.
The beginning of the story I doubt with this, after me trying to resume turned out to be very interesting content,
This story is the result of your mind?
have you ever made a fiction book?
Yes, I came up with this story, yes I've written 2 books but they're in German.
too bad I can't find it.
but I will await the follow-up story luna 4.
I am enamored with your story.
thanks @suesa
Oh, my God...
a combination of biology and fiction
this time man becomes their enemy?
earth is dying,
So, Luna 3, what is that?
Luna 3 is a colony on one of the moons around Jupiter
i understood..
yes, it's satellite
NiCe...
I’m here :)
Wow!
Now, someone went far back ^^