Mutation

The year was 3100. The world of long ago where humans lived in relative harmony had vanished, disappeared without a trace. Now, there was only darkness. Everyday was a battle to the death. Just to obtain enough food to get by, one had to fight for food at least thrice a day. Finding a suitable place where one would not be attacked in one’s sleep was even harder. Worse, one had to make one’s own medicines to treat one’s illnesses, or one’s wound festered from the poor hygiene, which could cause one to become a cripple if it was serious enough. Sometimes it could even be fatal. And the cause of all this was just a flock of tiny aliens, one only as big as your palm. The story of the little girl who had been attacked by them had spread like wildfire and very soon, even I, the homeless girl on the streets whose family had abandoned due to the lack of food, had heard about it. Apparently, the aforesaid little girl had innocently bent down to touch the alien creature only the size of her thumb and stretched her hand out towards it. It climbed onto her hand and nuzzled her finger. While she was stroking it, it turned savage. Opening its mouth to expose its sharp fangs, it bit her, leaving her with two small, deep wounds. Revealing a tail, it oozed an amber liquid onto her with the tail before scurrying away. What happened after that, no one knew for sure. Some say she fell into a coma for a few days, and when she woke up, she had a new hunger. Her first meal when she woke up were her own parents, they whispered. Others said that she had become a savage, who prowled the streets on all fours and hunted as beasts did, even tearing up her prey with her teeth, which were sharp as knives. However, these were all rumours. Although I had tried not to think about them, the possibility that the stories could be true plagued me every night. The aliens had not discovered the abandoned city which I lived in yet. There could be a possibility that they would never find it. However, I learnt from experience that mere wishes hardly come true. Now, I stared at the miniscule green creature in front of me in the dark, faintly lit alley. Glowing at uneven intervals, it seemed to beckon to me, its transparency changing, even becoming translucent at times. It possessed a body similar to a human, but instead of nails, it had claws. Its feet were broad and disproportionate to its body. As though in a trance, I swayed towards it, pulled by the hypnotic green light it produced as it pulsated. Suddenly aware of what I was doing, I shook my head rapidly to gather my thoughts. Although it was so small, I backed away from it slowly. I was not going to be fooled by its size. I was not going to end up like that little girl. However, what was different about the alien in front of me was that it was sleeping. It was lying on the ground, totally oblivious to my presence. Curiosity got the better of me and I thought that it might be fun if I caught this creature unawares.The thing that so many people are afraid of will be at my mercy! It shall be helpless before me! I have had enough of digging in dustbins and begging on the streets! No one shall starve me of respect anymore! My raging want for control over something engulfed me heart and soul. And I didn’t mind in the least. In fact, I enjoyed it. A crooked smile twitched my lips as I gazed at the alien. I gingerly turned it over with two fingers, taking note of its reaction carefully. It suddenly stirred and I hurriedly let go of it. After a while, its breathing resumed its former regularity and depth. I decided to take no more chances. Grabbing its head forcefully, I squeezed its body in my palms, concentrating all my strength into my fingers. It felt surprisingly soft and furry; on the outside, it looked squishy and slimy. Jolting awake with a start and a squeal of fury, it proceeded to try and wriggle out of my hands. “Hah! You will never escape! Just submit to your fate!” I reveled in my newfound power, throwing my head backwards and roaring in laughter. Suddenly, it revealed a surprisingly long tail that was about the length of my hand. Before I could react, it shot a glowing liquid from its tail, and let out a final exhausted screech. Head drooping, the light in its eyes was extinguished and all I saw was a puff of green smoke escaping from its mouth before its body went limp. Looking at the tiny body lying lifeless in the dust, I sank even further into the dark, endless abyss of pride and the lust to kill. I was jolted from my morbid reverie as a burning pain suddenly seared my hands where the liquid the alien had produced came into contact with them. I fell to my knees on the ground. The liquid, which had been the same luminous green as the alien, suddenly started to change its colour. First it turned grey, then black, then red. Just as the liquid turned red, the pain subsided and completely disappeared. I watched in horrified fascination as the liquid seeped into my skin, discolouring it as it entered. I watched in horrified fascination. As it seeped, I suddenly felt like something was not right. I looked down at my body, only to realise that I was growing claws on my hands and fangs from my mouth! The ground became closer and closer and I watched in despair and helplessness as I shrank to the size of the alien creatures. My skin suddenly changed from the normal sheen of human skin to a glowing, luminous green. I have become one of them! I laughed bitterly. The sheer irony! The hunter had become the hunted. That was the last clear thought I had before I felt my other thoughts fade away to a dull drone next to the instinct to deceive, to pull more of humankind into the depths of misery and become like me. I wanted them to feel the pain I was feeling, to feel the fire of hatred and vengefulness that burned in me, an insatiable fire. The loathing I felt for the world was even stronger than my will to survive when I was a human. I detested everything and everyone I set my eyes on. It was as if I had become a savage. A weight pulled me back from behind and I realised that I had grown a tail. A tail, indeed! I lifted it up and it contracted instinctively. A stream of liquid shot out from the back of it and fell on a piece of dented metal behind me. Upon coming into contact with the liquid, it vanished instantly. I watched, intrigued, as the sizzling liquid fell onto the ground and even partly digested some cobblestones. I was overwhelmed once again by the instinct to kill and I set out, somehow disappearing completely. Trying to look down at my hands, I realised that even I could not see my own body. An oblivious, homeless young girl clutched her backpack and gazed around, her eyes fleetingly illuminating fear. She was just outside the alley all alone. Perfect. I slowly crept up to her without so much as becoming translucent once. Contracting my tail on instinct, a stream of the same burning fluid which had caused me to mutate appeared, hitting her hard with its acidic bite. Her shrill scream of pain gave me immense satisfaction. I sat back on my haunches and savoured, still invisible, the process of her slow, painful mutation, waiting for her to become one of us, to know the hatred that we know, to feel the pain that we feel. Marianne Neo 1 Loyalty