SHORT STORY: The Story Of US by Shaun Zietsman

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I wrote this short story back in 2020. Purely for fun, filled with imagination, but partially because of a dream that I had the night before. It’s the story of US.

Let me know what you think!

“This is the story of humanity and the
essence to pursue happiness”

― written by: Shaun Zietsman

Feel free to read the story below, and let me know what you think!

Email me shaun@thesomethingguy.co.za

P A R T O N E


The year is 3022. The human population on earth has grown to
a staggering 40 billion strong. Also, just in case you were
wondering… It’s a Saturday.
Time has been gracious to our beloved mother Earth. Although
she has changed immensely in shape and gone through various
transitions of climate change, rising sea levels, new land
development and various other happenings, most philosophers
have said that the Earth has been healing and been working to
return to her former glory of Pangea. Well, a new kind of
Pangea naturally. Quite beautiful to see.
What’s it like living in the year 3022? To answer that
question I would have to take you back to a more embryonic time.
A time that historians like to refer to as the age of Jurassic man.
The period of primaeval-like life forms and oh so slightly nascent
thinking.


Let me take you back to the year 2080. This is where the real
important part of our story begins, with Professor Martin
Fechenska. A Distinguished scientist that became popular with his
divergent thinking on the topic of advancing human
genetics. Professor Fechenska spends years on finding new
methods to reverse the ageing process in humans. He believed
that by manipulating a key molecule called telomerase that had
the potential of repairing DNA he could in theory create a drug
that could slow or even block the ageing process altogether.
You see, in humans, each tiny little cell contains 23 pairs of
chromosomes, including one pair of sex chromosomes which are
called the X and Y chromosomes.
Professor Fechenska believed that he could cover the tips of these
chromosomes found inside all of the human cells in a microscopic
sheath called the telomeres. Which would result in a halting of the
ageing process and longevity of the cells.


However,
even though the professor came close to finally being able to stop
the ageing process, he always struggled with one substantial part.
Eventually, the telomeres would break down. Each time a cell
would divide, it would simply just get worn down more and more
and more until eventually, the cell would stop
dividing and die. This left Professor Fechenska distraught. What
he felt seeing how close he came each time was simply
indescribable.
Well wait a minute, I think I might be able to explain. Have you
ever been so tremendously hungry that you rush to your
favourite restaurant and order your favourite pizza? You excitedly
sit and watch from a distance how the chef puts the pizza in the
clay oven, the smell makes your mouth water and you cannot
wait to taste a slice. You then see the waiter slowly starting to
approach you with the pizza on a big wooden board and as the
the waiter walks up to you they accidentally trip and fall face-first
into the ground.

The pizza gets thrown through the air while your heart skips a
beat. It feels like the world has stopped for a split second and you
are viewing real-time in slow motion. The pizza splashes onto the
floor with melted cheese going everywhere. Your pizza is gone.
Do you know that feeling?
Well, this wasn’t what the Professor was feeling. It was far
worse. Okay, I was wrong. I couldn’t actually explain it. Yes, it was
indescribable.
The work the Professor dedicated his life towards ended. He felt
that it was simply impossible and the realisation of failure sent
him into a spiral of substance abuse and his best friend became
liquid courage, or firewater or the Juice… Alcohol, I am talking
about Alcohol people. C2H5OH. Stay with me here. These
are very old terms.
The Professor spent endless nights drinking his sorrows away
in his laboratory. After a few weeks of uninterrupted
consumption, he started becoming disillusioned with himself. He
started becoming angry and in this fury,
he started going over all of his work. An entire lifetime’s worth.
Saying every single sentence out loud. Sometimes multiple times.
The Professor could not understand how he could have been
wrong. He must have forgotten something he thought as he
muttered under his breath that this cannot be how things end for
him.
In a fit of rage, the Professor decided that he no longer
can continue… and being such an intelligent human, he felt
compelled to go out with a bang. He used his formulation of
telomeres poured a gushing amount of the alcohol he was
consuming into a beker and then simply took EVERYTHING he
could get hold of and mixed it into the chemical concoction while
screaming profanity.

The Professor then stirred the mixture and raised it into
the air. In a broken soft voice he said: “Huzzah (Ура!)” and
proceeded to swallow the entire beker in one big gulp. He
instantly let go of the beker in his hand as it fell to the floor
breaking into tiny little pieces of glass and splattering across the room.
Slowly the Professor scuffled his way to
a nearby chair and sat down. One tear rolled down his left cheek,
as he closed his eyes benumb to everything around him.

P A R T T W O


Two months later
The news of what happened to Professor Fechenska became one
of the most popular topics in the scientific community. His rise to
fame and fall in disgrace was a story everyone became fascinated
with. Why?
Because the Professor survived his hysterical episode. Actually, he
didn’t just survive his episode, he thrived in an abundance of
glory because it worked. IT WORKED! He accidentally created a
the formulation that would slow the ageing process by not only
decades but hundreds of years.
The Professor woke up that following morning feeling unlike
ever before. His skin was soft and glowing, and his eyes were the purest
blue. He has never felt this good before in his entire life. He
realised that somehow he created exactly what he so desperately
wanted. The fragile human anatomy has been upgraded. By using
tissue and cell samples from himself as patient zero, he would be
able to duplicate the process with ease. In fact, he was able to
perfect it to such an extent that it vastly exceeded all expectations
he has ever had.
Flawed by nature and susceptible to the minutest of microbes
the human anatomy was about to change forever. ‘Human 2.0 has
entered the chat’ he jokingly would exclaim to his fellow scientist.
The Professor spent months perfecting the perfect formulation
and creating the most basic way of releasing it for public use. He
created a supplementary injection containing all that he has
learned, and through one prick on your arm, he would be able to
give you the gift of near immortality.
The supplement became known as Supplement-F, the F obviously
standing for Fechenska or F for failure perhaps? Or what about F
for F**K or F for Fallacious or F for Feebleminded Feckless Fools?
Sigh, I am getting distracted here, let me get back to my story, I
am sorry about that, I am busy getting side-tracked, I am
slightly perturbed you see, the truth is,
well today is actually my birthday
and I uh…
I uh argh focus U/32-S/9!#67823FocusFocusFocus.
This story. This damned story.
I am sorry about that outburst, this is not how I normally am.

P A R T T H R E E

Immortality. Freedom.
Happiness. Rebirth.
Words that all became associated with Supplement-F.
Supplement-F revolutionised the way humans looked at life.
But don’t get too excited here when you hear those words
because you weren’t really going to become a rebirthed, free
immortal to rule the lands till the end of days if you took it.
Because well, you could still die. I mean… nothing can last forever,
right?
However, Supplement-F provided your body with enough of
everything you would ever need to ensure that you aged at an
extremely slow rate, giving you so much more energy and vitality
but also the internal cellular structure that meant never
having to be concerned about contracting illnesses and falling ill
again. Even though you did not become immune to those
diseases, your body instead was able to heal and get rid of any
kind of illness trying to damage your cells at such
a rate that you never would even know it started in the first place.
Due to this, you could theoretically far exceed normal life
expectancy.
Some scientists even making exorbitant predictions that
humans would evolve to be able to reach the age of 500 years
easily. That is if you take care of yourself of course. So no
jumping off buildings thinking you are a superhero or getting into
a debilitating car accident as yes, you could still die.
So, 500 years they say. 500 years is getting as close to
immortality as you can get and surely meant absolute bliss right?
Yeah, the humans thought that same thing, everyone could
become their own unique version of themselves. An endless amount
of time was just made available to them, superb health, glowing
skin, no depression, no fatigue. The world is your oyster and you
can do whatever you want.
After thorough trials in humans and lots of court battles
(that were won) about the validity and ethical grounds for genetic
modification through Supplement-F, it finally became available
on a voluntary process for the humans to take. Free of charge and
with a hefty disclaimer document to sign…
You know, just for in case.

The process was easy, a quick administration of intramuscular
injection and then the hard part. The part that takes 24 hours
for full gene modification to occur inside your body. This part is
what all the pesky law suites and questions about the ethical
viability were all about.
The humans who have been through it started calling it the
“worming” process. The name derived from the fact that after the
injection, you were placed in a locked but closely observed
padded room where at the end of it you felt like a million tiny
little worms were crawling throughout your body, eating and
burrowing themselves into tiny little holes, and there wasn’t a
damn thing you could do about It except scream blue murder
till your throat ran coarse and you physically could not utter
another word anymore.
Once the 24 hours are completed you would fall into a deep
slumber from the exhaustion you just endured and for the next
few days, you would be placed in a specially designed sensory
deprivation tank to ease the recovery process as much as possible.
When you finally do open those pretty soul windows of yours
you would wake up with a sense of euphoria coursing through
your veins. A permanent feel-good ‘high’ sensation. A feeling that
will remain a constant for the rest of your life regardless of how
your life might turn out from that point on. Rebirth indeed right?
Take a second and imagine the sensation of euphoria, no
negative feelings inside of your body or mind. The smell of rain,
the taste of a roasted marshmallow on an open campfire, sex! Yes,
all of that and more permanently, that is the feeling. 24 hours, 7
days a week.
Now, don’t get upset at me for bringing this up, but I am
going to pose this contradicting question to you.

Would you really even want to feel like that? Isn’t ever-changing
emotions, feelings and ideas rushing through your brain and body
what actually makes a human, a human?
Humans built their identities around their mental health
status, and the medicine they took… with a lot of side effects. What about all the
specially formulated creams that had to be applied in a strenuous
manner day and night to ensure beautiful skin? If Vincent van
Gogh was filled with euphoria only, would he have painted
what he did?
Well, humans did not really have the same thought process in
mind.
Within six months of Supplement-F becoming available for
humans, an estimated 30% of the Earth’s population voluntarily
signed up for permanent genetic modification.
Fast forward a mere 12 months and that number doubled to an
incredible 60% and by the second anniversary of the first trials
success, an outstanding 88% of the Earth’s human population have
genetically-modified their DNA on a cellular level with a new
onslaught towards life awaiting every one of them.

Two generations of humans were all that was needed to
showcase that the offspring from those who took the initial
Supplement-F, showed signs of a natural evolution in its finest
form.
Not only was the birth of newborn babies unique but they
were brought to term without a single glitch. The mother would
not experience any nausea, no false alarms no pain. The human
body adapted both mother and child to be able to bring life into
the world without a single tear to be shed unless it was one of
happiness. Perfection. Pure perfection.
From conception, the younglings were set out to capitalise
on their pulchritude of beauty. Blessed from within their mother’s
womb, with the most beautiful facial structures, healthiest organs
and the one thing that would set them apart from previous
generations. The fact, is that they will never experience misery in
their lifetime.
The new generation of humans would far succeed their
predecessors in beauty, intelligence, health and overall life in
general. This is because when the first humans took the
Supplement-F they took it while unknowingly being at a
disadvantage. It was administered to humans that have
endured various hardships such as depression and poverty. Some
faced tough challenges fighting different diseases and many took
it at a very young age versus those that took it during the
retirement years where they did not think they had many more
years left in them.
Even though the first humans that received the gene
modification now feel nothing less than euphoria, they still have
the memories carved into their mind that will shape your future
regardless of how you think you feel.

P A R T F O U R

Remarkable if you think about it really.
Can you imagine the look on Professor Fechenska’s face?
His dream of creating the perfect human hybrid that could
live up to their full potential and excel in life.
He would have been so proud, so excited, and so satisfied in his
vision becoming reality and well…he would have been all those
things if he was still with us when all of this happened.
Regrettably, he became the martyr of his own cause when he got
killed by a revolutionary group of humans who rebelled
in the 2110s, that felt his drug was an abomination against not only
God herself but also science. (Yes, they believed in both. At the
same time.)
They felt that the repercussions of such a modification could not
be determined in full and they were out for blood to try and stop
his progress. Literally.
His murder was brutal, the revolutionary group had no mercy
and to this day Fechenska is known as the forefather of the
the modern world and truly remembered for his own sacrifices, to
give others a new chance at life.

P A R T F I V E

Time moved on, and the humans reached the early years of the
2500s with a vastly different earth that has gone through an
intense transformation. The humans who never needed the
Supplement-F at birth started to have a unique perspective about
what it means to be alive and they started being known as the
Alphas. The natural leaders who many saw as superior humans.
In return, the original humans would become known as the
Zelias. The lesser race of humans whose thinking was deemed
archaic and their viewpoints problematic to the Alpha’s vision of
what life should be.
The Alphas viewpoint became a prominent talking in society
as they clearly stated that the Zelias were given this immense gift
of borderline immortality but yet, they failed to construct a better
world for humans to live in.
The Alphas decided that they have to step up instead and
create the paradise of their dreams that their descendants could
not fantom to imagine.
Eradication of disease meant that the Earth could pull its
resources together to achieve things that never thought would be
possible. Funding alone that is now at the human’s disposal could
be used to better the planet as a whole. Yes, so much
has already been done. But yet, so much possibility still lingered
in the air to enhance the experience of life on planet Earth.
After a while, the Alphas indefinitely took over the
governments across the planet. The Alphas natural leadership
capabilities and ultimate desire to create happiness on all levels
meant that the Zelias simply put, started to fear them. Fear by
itself showed the Alphas that they were doing the right thing and
that the Zelias were not fit to be in any kind of decision-making
position.
Who knew that seeing someone with ultimate confidence, an
overwhelmingly attractive physical appearance and an attitude
unstrained by negative connotations would be perceived as the
ultimate weapon of fear? Confidence is key to win at life they
always said right?

The Alphas created a distinctive plan to combat climate
change once and for all, to create nations without poverty and to
ensure each life form was given their right to be seen and
noticed as important.
Through working together irrespective of their
predispositions in life. Nation after nation, one by one, humans
started to flourish like never seen before in history. One mindset,
One Vision.
By the year 2875, all the nations on Earth unanimously
banded together forming one central government and nation.
They all pledged to no longer be known in terms of race or any
other kind of dividing system such as your geographical
locations, gender identity or anything else. No war will
ever take place again. Protection for our Animals and Plantlife
would be implemented. Helping each other and living as one
breathing organism on Earth would become reality.
Through this, what humans have always fantasized about, has
finally come true. This was known as world peace and so it was
officially declared.
From this time onwards humans would thrive on a planet with
the cleanest air they have ever had the honour of breathing. The
scenic landscapes of utter beauty started appearing all over the
planet with never-before seen and undreamed-of creatures living
freely with the humans in harmony. The environment became
perfect for new evolution to take place amongst the animal
kingdom as they no longer had to fight for their own survival and
euphoria entered into their lives as well. Animal agriculture and
other primitive thinking behaviours were written in history files
and living in symbiosis with all living beings truly meant that the
ultimate paradise has finally been formed.

For the cup that they drank from was filled with all their
needs and desires. The everyday beauty they saw, warmed their
hearts and filled their souls with happiness. They cherished every
moment and never looked back as heaven has been created, and it
turns out it was possible all along here on
earth.
The end.

P A R T S I X


Oh, wait. That’s what you wanted to hear right? Happy
endings? The family sitting under a tree on a red blanket. Freshly
squeezed orange juice and bagels in the picnic basket while the
parents watch the kids play in a big gorgeous mountain scene
behind them as the camera pans out wide to show the pretty birds
chirping away and a banner popping up on the screen
with the tag line “AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER…”
Well… the real world doesn’t always work out like that.
Yes, Karen – the real world is sometimes a lot harsher.
You see, genetic modification on a global scale affecting
billions of people including the re-breeding and breeding and
breeding of this genetically modified DNA would at some stage
perhaps, naturally evolve by itself too.
After all, Professor Fechenska did always refer to it as the
‘fragile human anatomy’ that held back the building blocks of life.
Building a brick house and masking it with a pretty exterior
doesn’t mean the mould growing inside won’t eventually take over
if left untreated.
With the earth border-lining 40 billion humans and life
expectation far exceeding projections set out from the start some
families grew to have children in the third digits, not to mention their
children’s offspring and their children’s children. With a paradise
to live on and no qualms in sight, creating bountiful families
became the norm
800 years since the introduction of Supplement-F, humans
started to become sterile with all gender identities alike unable to
produce any more kin. To be fair, why would you need to be able
to reproduce if all you have ever desired has already been made
available to you? Mother Nature at some stage will overcome the
obstacles of man-made constructs in her beautiful design and
reclaim the gifts she bestowed upon humans.
This was the start to an end, but no one seemed to notice this.
With the world finally achieving peace. Humans have
achieved everything possible to secure the best living planet for
everyone. There was nothing left to accomplish on the ground.
“…and what about space and the search for alien life forms, duh
like why are they not going to go and explore then?”
Alien life forms, what would they even look like. Would they
be blue and short with yellowish ears twice the size of our hands
or would they
look like identical to humans except for having 7 fingers instead
of 10?
You know what, Let me just rip the bandage off quickly
rather before this topic gets off track again.
We never found anyone or anything.
We are alone.
Nothing is out there.
Nothing is out there.

The search for extra-terrestrial life concluded we were
sadly all alone in the universe, we are planet Earth and that is
basically where the journey of life started and ended.
In the entire darkness of space that ironically smells like
the sweetest flavour of fresh raspberries and rum (yes space
smells like raspberries and rum!) No other life forms of any kind
were ever found.
With the Zelias ideals of what the earth could be and the
Alphas ability to create it, the humans never went on to colonize
and inhabit another planet either.
There was simply no need for it. They worked together and
they remained on earth instead of scattering out into the
loneliness of space. Throughout many space missions, satellites
and rovers returned to earth. There was just no more point in
pursuing space or the search for life elsewhere. The evidence was
profound. We are alone.
The evolutionary cycle of homosapiens has always been to
adapt, adjust, grow and take care of the need that arises from
issues being faced. Humans created and lived in a complete
utopian society day in and day out as the years progressed,
becoming stagnant in their perfect routines.
The human evolutionary process, however, decided that a new
biological trait would set in and become a dominant part of daily
life instead. Human emotions slowly started to fade away. The
excitements of life seemed less exciting, the happiness just simply
wasn’t the same anymore.
Nothing was left for them to do. Humans couldn’t get sick.
Humans couldn’t have more children.

Humans
couldn’t have more children. Humans have achieved and built
everything they could on earth and I am sure by now the
conversations have really started to
run out as well. For how long can you really talk about your
perfect life to another perfect being? Humans had no worries,
troubles, quarrels or curiosity left in them.
Curiosity is a funny word, right? I once read that in the
year 2010 humans use to be so curious about everything and used
to spend hours on something called the internet to research
information on topics that they found interesting. They would
share picturesque views of food and spend hours
watching videos of felines. CATS! But now?
Well, now there’s just nothing left for them.
The humans started to only exist instead of living a life.
There was no purpose anymore. No driving factor behind any
actions to be done. The humans became hollow shells in flesh
format, where they simply could not feel anything anymore. They
would wake up, they would sit, and when it was night time they
would return to bed, only to repeat the same process the next day.
A Thousand Years of knowledge are embedded into every
human’s brain and accessible faster than a blink of your eye. The
fact that humans are alone in the universe also doesn’t help.
With nothing left to experience, their paradise on Earth has
just become another automated planet hurdling through space at
a tremendous
speed around a sun that will eventually just burn out.

Humans have stopped.
Losing the will to create.
Losing the will to think.
Losing the will to even talk or walk.
Willingly giving up complete control of who they were,
rendering their consciousness null and void.
Humans lost all sense of humanity.
Humans lost all sense of humanity.
Humans lost all sense of humanity.
Humans lost all sense of humanity.
The year is 3022. A Saturday. A Saturday. Today is my Birthday.
I am twenty-two years old.
I am from Earth.
I am an artificial life form U/32-S/9, or US for short.
Twenty-two years ago they created me through an artificial
life form program they dubbed Juniper.
I am alive.
I am self-aware.
And I am now the caretaker of Planet Earth.
And these, well these are my Humans now.


-End-

Did you like what I wrote? Want to show your support to a small creator from South Africa? Support me by clicking the banner below and buying me a Ko-Fi (Coffee)! Stay Curious, and Stay Blessed!

Shaun Zietsman https://www.thesomethingguy.co.za

Blogger and Content Creator from Johannesburg, South Africa.

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