Prevolution - EN

The new World

Sometimes it only takes a blink of an eye or a millisecond for big things to happen. Things that challenge everything you've believed in and been used to all your life. Habit can be a poison. A poison that prepares itself unnoticed and makes us feel spoiled. We take many things for granted, no longer appreciate them, or much worse, begin to destroy them unconsciously. Probably this was exactly the root of all evil or just humanity itself.

For decades we committed the same mistakes over and over again, whereupon the next generation vowed to do better, only for us to end up repeating history once again in some form. But now it seemed there were no more chances. The Final Countdown had occurred, if you wanted to call it that, and catapulted us back to the beginning of our existence. Lost and lost in thoughts, I blinked once, hoping it would suddenly change like it did back then.

Back when my life was ripped away from me as well as any chance of returning. No, I am not dead, but often I wish that were the case. After blinking a few more times and realizing that my situation still wouldn't change, I stepped to the edge of the skyscraper I was standing on. Slowly I let my eyes wander over the former Berlin. There wasn't much left of it, except for the ornaments of some skyscrapers, which were now completely overgrown by moss and all kinds of plants.

The former capital almost resembled a completely overgrown forest, which could only be overlooked from one of these enormously powerful skyscrapers. Unfortunately, even at this height, I couldn't discover what I was looking for. Sighing, I took a step forward and thus ran over the edge of the roof. The ensuing fall felt good. Light and carefree. My red, wild curls danced in time with the headwind that drove through them. One of the few moments I almost felt free. But only almost, because eventually the bottom came. The hard reality that literally brought you back down to earth. Just before I could hit it, I spread the delicate, thin wings on my back, cushioning the fall.

Just inches before I hit a treetop, it broke my fall and I was able to glide gently through it until I finally landed on an expanse of grass. A few rays of sunlight made their way through the leaves above me, illuminating the surroundings around me. Gently, I shook out my wings a few times and then placed them lowered against my back again. Certainly an unusual sight for a normal human, which is why I could understand the fear towards us in a way. But not the cruelty and hatred that came with it.

I am Lavea, a so-called hybrid. Surely I didn't choose this, there was no choice in such a thing. It all started about seven years ago. Mankind was at the peak of its research, yet always wanted to go higher, further and faster. We forgot the sacrifices we had to make. Among them was the slow destruction of our nature. Even after all these years, we still did not know the reasons for the events that were gradually unfolding. Fanatics preach about the wrath of Mother Nature, because suddenly Nature began to take back what we had taken away from her by building our ever growing cities.

Suddenly plants and trees grew at a rate and in a quantity that could not be removed. Whole foundations of houses were smashed through by grasses that bored their way through the rock-hard concrete. But that was only the beginning. People fell ill with strange infections. They too became littered with all manner of grasses that spread like a plague on their skin or even in their organs. At some point the disease mutated and it was as if it began to change our DNA. All over the world people became desperate and the media ran up and down the news about people who suddenly had animal attributes.

It was as if they were slowly turning into animals. The governments of all countries tried everything in their power to prevent this invisible and above all unknown threat. But they failed. Our social and economic system broke down and everyone began to fight for their own survival. So did my parents, in their own unique way. When the first symptoms appeared in me and my little sister I was about thirteen years old and she was eight. Feelers and little wings that resembled a butterfly began to form on our bodies. 

Their fear of being infected themselves probably outweighed my parents' love for their children. In exchange for provisions and other valuables, they sold us to an organization that took care of us hybrids. Unfortunately, not in a pleasant way. They held us captive like animals, loaned us to the highest bidder, and used us as staff for all errands or other menial labor. Money had become worthless by now. Payments were only accepted in the form of services, information or things that could be used to one's advantage. Our organization, or rather the people who kept me and also others as slaves, was the sort that thought we were an aberration. A freak of nature that shouldn't exist and had no right to. A typical trait of our species, anything that didn't conform to the norm or was simply different was feared or hated.

Diversity, a word almost the whole world preached about in our age at the time, I could only laugh at. I possessed antennae and the wings of a butterfly, which is why seasoned men feared me and demonized me as the spawn of Satan. A snide sound left my mouth, probably a reflex with all these thoughts I was having again today. Instead of brooding over things I couldn't change anyway, I turned my attention back to the task at hand. I was about to run in the opposite direction, which would have led me to the former city center, when a rustling noise made me sit up and take notice. Immediately I took a crouched position. Carefully and deliberately, I stalked in the direction of the sound, then struck with lightning speed. 

Skillfully, I leaped at my target and knocked it down with my clenched body weight. Eager to deliver a light blow to the head as well to daze it, I finally wrestled my victim to the ground. Annoyed, I crossed my arms into each other while placing one of my legs on the person in front of me. Another hybrid, her name was Lilith and she had some dragonfly attributes. In fact, other than her name, I knew few details about her. The only thing that I knew for certain, was that she tried to escape from the organization very often. 

"Lilith, so here we are, again.", I sighed tiredly," How many times do I actually have to bring you back until you get it? You can't escape anyway, because of that thing on your foot!"Energetically, I pointed at one of her feet. Around it snaked an anklet that already glowed red from time to time. A common weapon of the organization to make sure that their protégés did not even try to escape. Even at a long distance one could give the victims strong electric shocks and if one made the mistake to leave the radius for the operation, it blew itself up and one had one leg less. Definitely bad conditions for an imminent escape. That's why I didn't understand why Lilith kept trying again and again. With each escape attempt she ventured further, as if to test her luck with the explosion. The red glow already meant there wasn't much distance left to set it off.

"Have you ever seen one of those things explode? Well, you don't have to worry about that, do you? Being the leader's lapdog just makes you enjoy a very different position."

For a while our eyes met, and at that moment the razor-sharp tension could certainly cut paper. Her words embittered me all the more because I knew how it looked from the outside. No one else but me knew the truth of why I didn't wear an ankle bracelet, setting me apart from the others. Yet I had my own reasons for staying voluntarily, reasons even more valid than missing a leg or death from the explosion of an anklet.

"I'm not discussing this topic with you anymore. Just do me a favor and don't give me any trouble on the way home."Reluctantly, I helped her up from the ground and began dragging her around the area afterwards. We had a long march ahead of us. Theoretically we could have both used our wings to move faster, but we couldn't go too far with them and it was incredibly dangerous. Hybrids were a popular target; especially if you were flying through the area and thus completely unprotected. This was just the new world we lived in, you had to deal with it whether you wanted to or not.

I had  gotten used to the new circumstances of life, accepted them, and then submitted to what was in store for me. Was I happy with it? Certainly not, but who asked me about it. For that matter, not much has changed in life.