Apex

He ran as fast as he could to hide behind some rusted iron and metal eclipsed by shadow. He was breathing harder than what was recommended to him and had almost collapsed from exhaustion. His heart hummed like a beehive, and he covered the nest inside his chest with his palm. The apex was even pointer now and started to pierce thru his skin even more, as his heart was leaning upon his sternum. His flesh was tender and hot to touch. Heart overcooked. Well done heart, well done the escape, from the brass dogs that had chased him for miles. The police had put a chip into the clockwork canines that matched the blood of the boy. He was at the shy age of 7, and had a lot to learn about his “disability”. I just wanted to go outside and play, he thought to himself, as he bent over and held his knees, crying now. Only small echoes of his voice comforted him. Adam had never felt the artifical sunlight touch his skin, but was only fed vitamins to help with his “condition”. He saw a few kids playing outside from the uncomfortable comfort of his nursery upon the synthetic grasses of the city, and had wanted to join them so badly.

This was the War of Famine. Years have taken a toll on the Earth as it became a world of grey rot, desolate of life. For we did not replenish anything. We were too selfish. Surely, Gaia would not have caused this. Terrible children, deserve terrible punishment. And ours was to lick the carcasses of regret. Disagreements were had between the ruling powers of the world. 84 billion people exceeded the capacity that nature could ever provide. The poorest countries had no food or plant life to sustain themselves, and pollution of air and land had driven many ethnicities to extinction. The ruling powers had to decide how to split the resources among the people but ended up splitting themselves instead. Nuclear weapons were brought back from the bleak past, to create a bleaker future. All of life matter was subjected to radiation, and billions of lives vanished.

Humans saw they needed to save their race, so they had constructed a new mother, one made from brass, clockwork, and iron, one for the sea. She was a city and submarine, all in one, and would provide a safe place for the remainder of human life to dwell until Gaia had decided the punishment of Earth’s people was done. 2,196 passengers fled for the Mother of the Sea, and boarded her vessel.

The environment of the underwater city was made up of only synthetic materials. As humans had to recreate the plant and animal life that was in their earthly cities. Automaton ruled within the submarine city, as it was a basic art that was brought within to make life more recognizable. Animals such as doves and even bugs were made of gears, and had a key in their sides, to wind them up and create the action that they would naturally have. A brass barn owl could be used as extra eyes of surveillance in the inner workings of the city, while steam-filled dogs kept order alongside the officers. There were three floors to the city. On the very bottom level is the boiler and is the noisiest of all levels. It supplies energy to the ship and is run by gears, automaton, and water that is heated up to create steam. The next floor is the common floor, in which all living and “nonliving” life reside. On this floor are the living quarters; the cafeteria, exercise facilities, recreations, and entertainment, are all found here. And on the uppermost floor, at the very top, was called the navigation station. In which the most high class society resides. They were the most educated in all the city, and would practice their craft to find new waters for the submarine city to stay active. However, despite the innovations of the Submarine City, only a few people chose to stay behind on land. These people were called the Scavengers, and they would harvest what they could from the tainted lands, and live as best they could upon the rotting Earth, in hopes that Gaia would produce a beautiful green world once again.

It was the first birth in centries and within the underwater city. The mother was well on her way. She was 7 centimeters going on 8, as the wait would not be much longer. The doctors were concerned about how the conditions of the deep sea, would have on the fetus. All the professionals had kept an eye on the baby and it seemed to be growing just fine. The labor pains intensified.

The mother was provided with makeshift equipment, as the war had made birth an artifact, a common knowledge that was lost for common people. A silver bar dangled above the mother’s head, and she grabbed onto the railing and clenched it tightly as she clenched her teeth. Tears and sweat kissed her skin and continued to roll down. She was made to go through natural birth, to see the effects it would have on the child. Her screams deafened her own eardrums. 9 centimeters. To push? Or not to push? She didn’t know. She had to go off what her body was telling her, as the doctors commands were useless now. The child inside her stomach, wrestled with her organs as it started to make its way to the world.

10 centimeters. It was time.

The mother’s heart, became a slingshot in both beats and blood pressure…. Pop! A tear….gravity wasn’t on her side. The mother, pushed against the stirrups that held her feet apart from one another, and the metal cut into her swollen feet and had given her fine striations that leaked of water and juice. Infection. We just had to get the baby out. The little one pushed through its mother, creating a scene of blood and bits to pour out. She pushed again, and another time, until the little one was finally free of its mother. Painted in feces and mucus, the healthy baby boy was born. The bleak light of the surgical room, radiated dully on the baby’s skin. The little boy had let out the strongest cry. Deafer eardrums. He was cleaned up from head to toe and looked over. 10 fingers and toes, a belly button, clear eyes still adjusting to light, mouth, and nose, rosy-colored skin. All seemed to be in order. Until they grazed over the child’s chest. Its thoracic cavity was different, it had protruded out more than a usual baby did, centuries ago. Maybe it had adapted to the conditions it's in now. One of the doctors thought. They made note of the strange phenomenon and gave the little boy to his mother. She had cradled him close, and calmed his crying, putting him at her neck. She felt the baby’s soft whispers of breath hit her skin, and taking her smell in, familiarizing himself with the world. “His name will be Adam,” She told the nurse, “The firstborn of the submarine city.”

“Doctor Mam, can I play outside now?”, Adam said to one of his many white coat friends. “Adam, what have I told you before?” The doctor continued,

“You don’t want to pull any of the fishing wire and the hooks out of your skin do you? You know how sensitive you are; you must stay inside.”

The doctor left, and Adam was alone once again.

The boy was left to his own imagination now, and tried to mimic the swimming of his pet fish, Gunner. He tucked his arms into his sides and pretended to have fins. He also used the back of his white gown as his tail to push himself through the invisible waters of his mind. He tried to run around the room, but realized he could only go as far as his wires could take him. He understood what the doctor told him before about the fish hooks inside his skin. His friends in white coats had told him that his wires were important and that the fishing lines that went into his skin, regulated his heartbeat, breathing and many other functions that he did not quite understand, but nodded in understanding anyway.

For a long time, little Adam had to stand on his tippy toes to look outside or ask a grown-up to pick him up so he could rest his hands on the window seal. But now he was like a grown up, and could just glance outside while his feet were flat to the floor. Surely if he could see outside and reach the window, he could go outside too.

Adam was age 7 now, his body was pretty developed for a child, so exploratory surgery was needed to find out what was wrong with his thoracic cavity. It kept poking out of his skin, his sternum leaning at a point. Adam, was a bit nervous, for he never had surgery before. The doctors assured him, it would be quick, and Adam trusted that everything would be okay. The doctors gave him some gas to temporarily close his eyes and take him into a different state,

and then adam fell asleep.

The surgeons steadied their scalpel and began to cut into Adam’s frail chest. It wasn’t long until they had reached his sternum. All of them had analyzed it and noticed his ribcage was wider, and that his lungs were actually bigger than most people. What a peculiar thing it was, for a child to already have adult size lungs that were still growing. They examined the ribcage and sternum closer and realized, that his bones were not what was causing his convex chest. The surgeons collectively drilled thru the sternum and revealed Adam’s heart. His heart was quite abnormal, for it looked as if it was about to hop out of his chest. Also, the apex of the heart was on the top, It was like a Situs Inversus case, only the heart was completely upside down. The ventricles still continued to pump blood strongly.

They were a new species that had upside-down hearts. They adapted their body to the harsh aquatic environment around them. Water wings sprouted out of their backs, sharp and unpredictable. Layers of these scaled featherstrains across their arms and down their spine. The rest of their body was made of tougher skin, yet more streamlined and beautifully marked, with swirled black holes up and down the sides of their bodies. Each one of these creatures had two rows of teeth and a tongue with similar markings down the muscle. Fingers and toes, slightly webbed, with talons sharp, like arrows. Yet their appearance was closely human.

The police were lined up to face these creatures, for this species had broken into the ship, through the boiler room, to take over. The police began to fire, but the creatures camouflaged to their environment, to avoid detection. They snuck up onto the officers and started to slit their throats with their talons. Blood sprayed the invisible figures and looked as if the blood droplets floated in midair. Some of the creatures went lower and tore open the metal canines that the police were using to help them fight. They continued to mow down all the police, until there were very few left. Some of the creatures used their teeth to puncture the legs of the police officers, and began to eat them while they were still alive. They were predators beyond humans, and from that day forth. History would never be the same.

Adam had pushed through the unsealed glass of the window, and was able to unhook each wire of his fishing hooks. He figured that it would be okay to live without them, just for a little while. He saw in the first time of his life grass, that had sprouted underneath the window he had looked out of for so long. They were delicately sharp, prickled with resistance. He could see each individual blade standing stiff, ready for the impact of his soles. He then got the courage to finally take a step. And then another, until he was finally outside. The present moment had never felt so beautiful. He glanced up at the ceiling of the ship and saw brass and wire hung, like sturdy vines, in such a display of eloquence. The sunlight came from a huge orb held together by stronger wire, and its rays came from mirrors that reflected light all over the city. Adam then proceeded to walk over to the children he saw playing outside once before, as he was so eager to finally get to meet people his age. But he realized the closer he got to the children, the more frightened their faces looked. The kids took a step back for every step Adam was making towards them. “Can I be a part of your game?” Adam asked the kids, but they were all silent. Adam had begun to feel a little lightheaded, and looked towards his feet and saw that it was painted in blood. All of a sudden, a loud alarm had sounded off and Adam lifted his head. The other children were gone. And Adam, was by himself once more. He looked around for the kids, and where the sound was coming from. His vision became blurred and heavy with tears, and he sat on the grass and wept. He continually felt something dripping from his chest and looked behind him to see the trail of blood droplets that led straight to him.

He had completed his transformation. Winged and dull in colors. Blue feathers were given to him by the same unnatural cosmic that gave him his heart. Skin had peeled back to reveal layers of featherstrains, woven. Coagulated blood, filled the pockets of skin upon the ground, as the process was painful to finish. The pools of skin sloughed off from his back and went down the drains of the city. He had sprouted his wings and became a new being.

A new war had begun between the two dominant species of the new world. It was as if life was trying to start over again, to undo the mess of humans to create a new species of being evolved for aquatic life. These creatures with upside down hearts were taking over, and had formed a language that was different from our own, as well as a culture. They breed quickly and efficiently, their brains were sharp and quick. A perfect mixture of savage and intellect. It had started with Adam, the boy who was first born in the submarine city. He was 32 now. He had a family of his own, all aquatic in nature. Over time, he had transformed into one of these creatures that people had now feared and had formed the revolution of the new man. He saw that he would never be treated equally to everyone else, based on the “condition” he had. He had only wanted to fight for equal rights for beings who were like him. However, the revolution got a tad bit out of hand. Many of the creatures with upside-down hearts, thought that they were the superior race, and wanted to rule over all people, as they believed that is how nature intended. The war raged on, and in the end, the result was exactly the same.