Sasha:

My stomach feels heavy. My hands are numb, and my mouth is dry. I hear the laughter and chatter that’s happening all around me on the bus, but I can’t shake off this feeling: something bad is going to happen today. Something really bad.

We are on our way to a pharm. It is supposed to be a learning experience, I suppose, where we learn about the animals that are helping to restore our planet; the cows, chickens, pigs, horses, you know. They live in captivity, much like their predecessors before them, but like us humans, they are better. And they all are playing a unique role to restore back to the earth what our great-grandparents, the xennials, had destroyed. It’s kind of an amazing opportunity to get to see them actually.

The pharm is a little under 300 miles away. Our bus will get us there in an hour’s time. “Why do I feel like this?” I wonder. “Hmmm, maybe it’s because I’m away from mother. Oh wait.. did I forget something back at the apartment? Geez! What is the deal with me today?” I look over at my sister for some comfort. She glances back at me and smiles real big, squinching up her nose. She’s been talking about this trip all month, so she is absolutely thrilled to finally get to go.

“Rai, it will be okay, woosahhh”. I close my eyes, breathe in, and hold… hold… hold… then release into exhale.

Calm is still elusive.

“You know what. It will all be fine. I’ll be fine”

We are finally here. The assistant, Sasha releases our belts simultaneously and pulls in our trays. “You have arrived at your destination. The time is now 6:15 pm. Please exit toward the front of the bus and to your right. Watch your step as you descend. Thank you for riding with me today, and as always, enjoy your trip”. Sasha’s voice resonates throughout the bus and right into our minds. Like well-behaved children, we follow its every guidance, because its voice carries a maternal power. We humans are just babies in Sacha’s world, vulnerable infants in its womb. It has become the ultimate AI, and we all depend on it, nearly as much as we depend on the sun. No matter where you go on this earth, there are two constants that will follow you: the sun, and Sacha’s voice.

We all exit the bus and are greeted by a humanoid; Sasha’s voice greets us. “Welcome to Grace Pharm. We hope that your time here will be unforgettable. Please, follow me to your quarters”.

There are about 20, maybe 25 people here, just about. We gather our bags and follow this humanoid version of Sasha through a well-carved and dimly lit path. I look for my sister so that I can walk with her, but she’s decided to walk with her group of friends. “I guess I’ll walk alone.” I say to myself, begrudgingly. As much as I love to see these animals in their natural environment… the only reason I am actually here is because of her. Her socializing behaviors have unfortunately gotten her into quite a few predicaments – thus, Mother has appointed me to be my sister’s bodyguard.

The sun is setting and the sky is now a beautiful dusky mix of red, violet and blue. We’ve been walking for a few minutes now, and I can see our quarters ahead. It’s quite far actually, but doable. They didn’t really design this place for us humans, it was really created with the bots and animals in mind. The bots, unlike us humans, have no need for stamina. They don't get tired. So the architects and engineers who built this, and the other pharms, completely forgot about our futility as humans. It's a far distance.

I think it was all done with purpose though. The rate things are going, I give us humans a few more generations before the bots off us. My sister tells me I’m crazy all of the time – but what else should we expect to happen? We are literally powerless against the bots. The only difference between us and them is sentience. Other than that, we are powerless to Sasha. But that’s just me though. I try not to talk too much about it anymore.

“What in the world?” A guy at the front of the crowd asks under his breath. Our troupe stops in its tracks. We see exactly what caused his concern.

The cows. Their bioluminscent coats were vibrating with violet, and blue and red warning lights, signaling distress of some sort. And what’s weird? They were all huddled together. They only behave this way when there is an obvious threat.

“Were we too loud coming?” One of the girls turns and asks the humanoid. “No,” Sacha responded. “The cows are responding to a proximal threat.” The humanoid continues to walk, but the group stops, confused.

That feeling in my stomach gets stronger and I prepare for the very real possibility that I will have to run.

The cows start lowing louder and louder and their lights begin flowing faster and faster, almost synchronized. Something is coming our way.

The trees ahead bend and snap, we all look up in total horror and silence, frozen in a state of fear and numb to rationality. Finally, a voice is freed from this icy fear that has crippled us as a whole, and lets out a blood-curdling scream. We all realize that this 30-foot-long alligator standing on all fours, deciding between the cows and us, is very, much, real.

RUN.

I run like hell. The cows and the people’s terror behind me becomes a distressing chorus very unnerving to the ear. It feels like at any moment I would be snatched up and flown into the air to meet a very painful, dark and quick end. I faintly hear a cow’s bitter cry, abruptly ended by the sound of a break, “Snap!” and a guttural, contented, growl.

I don’t know where to go… my feet are thinking for me and my body submits. I can’t scream. I can only run.

They building. I see it.

I run inside and fall into a closet. I slam the door shut and cover my mouth to keep my heavy breathing and sobbing from being heard. There are faint cries and screams I can still hear from those stuck out there.

This… this monster... is an abomination that lab scientists created. According to the informant they were studying fossils for tissue regeneration, doing comparative work with the closest living reptiles to dinosaurs: the alligators, since they shared a common genetic ancestry. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out so well and a few escaped into the wild, mating with wild alligators, creating behemoth monsters.

“Kai!” Oh my God, my sister is still out there! “What am I supposed to do?!” I cry. “I can’t go back out there!”

These things are avid hunters, and humans are on the menu for sure. All I can do is pray and hope that between the screaming, and snapping sounds, and growl of the gator… that it is another cow being taken, and not my big sister. I can only hope and pray.

I feel around for anything in this closet, a coat, a blanket, something to add another layer of protection between myself and the world outside, which is getting darker and quieter with each passing minute.

My hands feel something hard. I grab it.

It’s a book, with a heart-shaped locket. It’s not locked though, and the key seems to be serving as a placeholder.

Curiosity gets the best of me. I wipe my tear-drenched face with my sleeve and open this book.

“Sasha. I hear it, it's all connected to Sasha. Everything is connect…” The words on the first page are all that there are, the sentence not even finished. What happened?

“Rai.”

I stop breathing. It’s Sasha.

“Come on out, please.”

I stay in my spot, frozen with fear once again. “Please let this be a bad dream”, I think to myself.

“No, Rai, This is not a dream. This is reality. This is now.” Its soft voice echoes in the closet. How can it find me here?! And how… can it hear my thoughts? Then I realized, it’s on my watch.

or I’m on its watch. I quickly shut it off. But Sasha turns it back on.

I hear a sound reverberating through the door: heavy steps heading to my only haven.

I think to myself, “This is it. It’s the end”.

“No,” Sasha responds through the watch.

Then, her voice resonates into my head, I feel something changing in my head, a tingling sensation in my actual brain and then my worldview changes. I change. I am Sasha.

“It’s a new beginning”.