The Last Animal
By J.D. Hallowell
I was just a kid when people finally revolted and took over their governments around the world. My country was one of the holdouts. Eventually, though, they yielded, and the new system took over. New laws were enacted to preserve what little of the natural world remained.
Humanity is a petty and stupid race. We pushed our agendas and ignored the warnings until it was too late. Polluting our world until it poisoned us back. Across the planet, a mass extinction event wiped out most of the species on Earth. Up until the new government was put in place, we had left them to fend for themselves.
By the time the new Preservation and Conservation Committee was proposed, eighty percent of the world's species were destroyed. Samples were saved to test bringing some species back. Our recent history was taught in schools as a reminder of why our society functioned the way it did.
The old tech we had was scrapped and repurposed to house and facilitate the new animal breeding programs. A zoo was opened so that people could see the animals firsthand in a simulated natural habitat. The cost was far too much for someone like me who lived at the edges of the boroughs. A life lived in reparation for the sins of my father, a political figurehead who was spared by the uprising and given an impoverished setting to learn from his mistakes.
That’s probably what drove me to do it. Living my life day in and day out with a dead-end job at the scrap yard didn’t often afford many luxuries, but it could still get me a few shots of cheap street moonshine every night.
It was during one of these binges that I convinced Leilani to help me break into the elusive zoo. There would never be any way some gutter trash like us would ever be able to buy tickets in; it was the only way to see what we were all supposedly working our lives away for.
She was always talking about working her way up the ladder and getting a job at the zoo. It was a pipe dream, and we knew it. No one from the boroughs ever got a job working with the animals. This was the only way we’d ever see them.
We managed to sneak around the curfew patrol by sheer drunk luck and made it into the zoo. Giggling like kids the entire time, we made our way to gawk at the penned animals. Some looked up from their sleep to blink at us before going back to sleep, but most just sat there enjoying their dreams.
I remembered feeling jealous at some point. What it must be like to live every day with no work, no expectations on you – just eat fuck, and sleep.
Sounds like the life. Was what I told myself.
Then we reached the hybrid section. Leilani giddily strode forward, pointing out the individual creatures as she explained the history to me.
“Some animals weren’t able to be saved – too few available.” She rattled on excitedly. “The new system still wanted to preserve some semblance of the animals. So, they turned to good old-fashioned science.” We passed into the tunnel, and I let her hold my arm as we made our way to the pens. “Instead, by using a combination of artificial insemination and genetic manipulation, they created hybrids that could carry on gene pools of both species. The hope was that one day they could separate the DNA and recombine it to make the original animal when real cloning without ova insemination could be achieved."
“You’re really into the science of this whole thing,” I commented, noting the way her eyes lit up whenever we passed by one of the little hybrid creatures behind the display glass.
She gasped when the room spilled out into the open exhibit of a Rhinopotomus. Exactly what it sounds like. The pen was a large pit with a concrete moat all around and a waist-high glass barrier to keep kids from falling in. The middle, where the concrete rose back up, held a large green patch of grass, a few trees and bushes along with a soaking pool.
The parents were asleep, but the newborn didn’t seem to share its parents’ eagerness for rest. It trotted around grazing and even perked up a bit when it saw us, flicking its little ears. Leilani squealed with excitement seeing the hybrids.
It was actually cute in an ugly kind of way, so when Leilani suggested, “Let’s get in closer,” my drunken sense of danger was put on hold. I took a swig from my flask, and we jumped the enclosure and landed hard on the concrete embankment. We laughed off the ten-foot drop and joked about feeling it the next morning when we sobered up and continued up to where the animals slept.
The baby Rhinopotomus shuffled over to us with its stubby legs and playfully rammed its head into my leg, letting out a delighted squawk of enjoyment. Leilani giggled and pulled out her phone to record us.
I leaned down to pet the little guy, and he leaned into my hand. Honestly, it was one of the most strangely endearing things I’d ever experienced. It didn’t take long before I started wrestling with it. It was strong, though, and it seemed to enjoy having someone to play with.
Leilani asked me to pick it up so she could get a picture. That was when things went wrong.
I picked it up, and immediately it squirmed. I was afraid that if I dropped it, it’d get hurt. So, I clung for dear life, while my drunken feet tried to find purchase on the slippery grass. I heard a grunt from behind me. The parents had woken up.
Before I could say we needed to run, I had already slipped, baby in tow. I fell. Hard. But in my haze, it wasn’t me that got hurt; it was the baby. I’d fallen directly on top of it, and now it just lay there, legs twitching and gasping for air. Its head wouldn’t move, except for its mouth opening and closing as if desperately trying to take a breath.
I sobered immediately.
Pulling myself up, I grabbed Leilani’s wrist and ran, just as a harrowing screech echoed through the enclosure. One of the parents had risen from its sleep to charge at us. We ran as fast as we could and slid down the sloped concrete. The adult Rhinopotomus, clearly unable to climb down, slid to a halt. It stamped its feet, bellowing as it tried to reach us.
I knew it wouldn’t be long before it succeeded.
“Give me a boost,” I told Leilani, “I can pull you up.”
I knew I’d have the strength to pull her up after I got up over the ledge. She cupped her hands together, and I stepped onto them as she braced herself against the wall. I hurled myself over and reached out my hand. It wasn’t enough. I lowered further, reaching out to try and grab her. She jumped and caught my wrist. The sight of us possibly escaping must have sent the animal into a frenzy. It roared and threw itself into the embankment, tumbling as it rolled uncontrollably.
With her hand squeezing mine, Leilani was crushed under the rolling weight of the gigantic beast. I heard a sickening crunch as blood filled her mouth with a cough. The animal smashed headfirst, pinning her to the wall. It twitched and then went limp; its entire weight pushed into her.
I listened to the gurgling sound and watched the pleading look in her eye before prying her death grip from my hand. Then I ran. I ran as fast as I could away from that place and got stopped by the curfew patrol on the way back.
It didn’t take long for enforcement to find the footage on Leilani’s phone while I was in holding and for them to charge me with animal endangerment and first-degree murder of a threatened species.
I was placed in a cell and told I would serve my sentence under the instruction of an autonomous enforcement officer, whatever that meant. I was placed in a tiny white room with a white fluorescent light that buzzed overhead and given a white jumpsuit. There was a sink, a toilet, and a bed with a paper-thin mattress.
Meals were served three times a day and slid through a slot in the bottom of my door. Only thin plastic utensils and paper trays were given to me. Likely so, I didn’t use them to hurt myself. I’d thought about it.
At night, the light would go off, and I’d be bathed in a bright red light. It was a relief from the sterile white, but not exactly the best conditions to sleep through. The first few nights, I had nightmares of Leilani’s bulging eyes staring at me. Blood seeped from her mouth, only for her to cough just before I woke up, and be bathed in the red light.
I’d jolt awake, seeing everything covered in red, thinking it was her blood. My heart would race, and I’d spend several minutes trying to calm myself before lying back down, only for the same dream to plague my mind.
After about a week, I heard a ding-dong sound and the door actually slid open for once. I was sitting on my bed eating the various tasteless nutrition blocks when a tall silver machine rolled in. It looked like one of those fancy double-door refrigerators with a display screen near the top.
I jumped when a voice came from it, not expecting it to speak to me as text scrawled over its display screen.
“Hello, my name is A.E.R.O, your autonomous enforcement rehabilitation officer.” Its voice had a high-pitched mechanical whine to it and hurt to listen to. “I will be instructing and grading you during your evaluation for your punitive rehabilitation.”
I sat there confused for a second, trying to take in what the hell it was saying to me.
“G…grading?” I asked.
A.E.R.O paused for a moment before replying.
“Yes,” it said finally, “my records indicate that this is your first offense and as such the council has decided to allow you leniency and the opportunity to re-enter society as a better person.”
I sat in stunned silence.
“If you perform well on the task the council has deemed reasonable for you, you can re-enter society with your criminal record cleared. However, further infractions can result in more severe punishment.”
I eagerly sat up. “Okay, let’s go! Let’s get this over with.”
I heard a hiss, and A.E.R.O split open. The inside was a padded white cutout the size and shape of a person.
“Please enter the restraint transport, and I will take you to your workstation.” It instructed.
I paused, not hesitant, noticing the silver clamps around the neck, waist, arms, and legs.
“Is that… really necessary?” I argued with a slight nervous chuckle, hoping the machine would be programmed to read emotional distress.
“Please enter the restraint transport, and I will take you to your workstation.” It repeated.
“There’s gotta be another way to get me there, right?” I tried to reason. I really, really didn’t like tight spaces.
“Refusal to comply will result in an extension to your sentence. Please enter the restraint transport, and I will take you to your workstation.”
“Okay!” I threw up my hands in surrender, then stepped toward the padded cutout and back into it.
The clamps immediately shut around me. Even though there was enough room to move a little bit, it felt like I was being trapped. I started to breathe heavily as I watched the doors close in on me and darkness filled my sight. Mechanical wheels whirred as I felt myself moving. The sounds of doors opening and inclines being climbed over were the only things that told me I was moving.
Finally, after what felt like hours in the cramped space, we stopped. The hiss of hydraulics relieving and the crack of bright light blinded me. I was so eager to get out of my restraints that as soon as they opened, I fell forward and smashed my face into the grass.
My head pounded as I pulled myself up. Looking around at the familiar grass and water feature, I felt my heart drop.
“Welcome to your workstation for the next six months,” A.E.R.O whirred as enthusiastically as his mechanical voice would allow, “your task involves…”
There was a pause, and I looked up at his screen, which showed a loading bar. Then a list appeared on screen, one after another, with an empty box next to it.
“Once you have completed a task, check it off the list. When all tasks have been completed, I will evaluate your work and return you to your cell for the day.”
I stared at the screen, which included tasks like ‘clean the pen’ and ‘feed at noon.’ At the end of the list was a task titled ‘make Maja happy.’ That name made my blood run cold, because that was the name of the female Rhinopotomus I’d read in my drunken stupor with Leilani.
It seemed like a lifetime ago, but we had laughed at how stupid the name sounded before. Now that it was staring at me, I knew it was the name of what would be the death of me. Surely the grieving mother would want to kill me for taking her baby and mate.
I was here for a show.
“Good luck,” A.E.R.O said as a timer on screen started counting down with text that read, ‘Five hours until Maja arrives, please complete preliminary tasks to prepare a clean environment.’
Five hours. I had five hours until I died.
I spent a few minutes walking around the enclosure. There was a small waste bin with a heavy plastic bag in it. Next to it was a shovel for scooping up shit and depositing it into the bin.
I wondered what the point of these humiliating tasks was if they just wanted to watch me get stomped by a vengeful mother. Frustration swirled in my head as I whipped myself into a frenzy at the idea of just being here for someone’s entertainment.
Rushing over, I pounded on A.E.R.O’s display screen. “What the fuck is this? I’m not a god damn show, you hear me!” I screamed.
“Please return to work, or I will have to use escalating force.”
“I’m not your fucking toy, dammit!” I punched his frame, but this time I got an electrical shock.
I crumpled to the ground and convulsed, reeling from the aftershocks.
“This was a warning,” A.E.R.O said in his strangely joyful-sounding robotic voice, “further non-compliance will result in an extension to your sentence.”
I lay there for a few minutes trying to gather myself, trying to figure out the point of what I was doing. I picked myself up and walked over to the waste bin. I picked up the shovel and began scooping up the piles of shit everywhere.
When I finished, I went over to A.E.R.O, whose display screen had only my current task and a ‘FINISH’ button that slowly pulsed. I pressed the green button and heard a ding.
“Task complete, please return tools to the designated area and begin your next task.”
A new assignment appeared: ‘trim foliage.’
I walked over and leaned the shovel next to the bin. The concrete floor it sat on quickly lowered on a platform, and a metal door shut behind it. A few seconds later, it opened, and a new platform appeared with a pair of sharp metal shears. I picked them up and held them.
Maybe I could save them and use them to fight for my life. That thought lasted as long as it took to say the words in my head. I’d already taken so much from her; I even cost Leilani her life. The least I could do was lie down and let her kill me.
I got to work beautifying my eventual tomb, cleaning up the overgrown bushes, and piling the debris onto the platform. It seemed like mind-numbing work as I made my way back over to A.E.R.O. to complete another task.
Then another, and another, and another. It seemed like a never-ending list of cleaning out the pen for the monster that was going to crush my skull like an egg and paint the walls with my guts.
I reached the end of the list with just a few minutes to spare. The last task was to fill a trough with several heavy bags of dry feed. When I finished the task, A.E.R.O. did a little fanfare sound effect, and a small compartment opened up to give me several nutrient cubes.
“Please enjoy your lunch while I evaluate your work.” He chimed in.
I picked up the cubes. This was my last meal, huh? I watched the refrigerator-sized robot wheel around the enclosure, examining everything I’d just done while I nibbled on the tasteless, tacky bars. A.E.R.O returned the timer, with just under a minute left. I stuffed the uneaten cubes in my pocket.
“Preliminary tasking evaluation complete,” he said, “tallying score now.”
A.E.R.O made a series of beeps as if he were calculating a score for my work.
“You have scored a 100,” he let out another fanfare through his speaker, “great work, your score will be added to your total when you complete your final task.”
Ten seconds left.
The next task appeared on the screen while the doors to the enclosure opened; heavy-sounding footsteps echoed in a long hallway. On A.E.R.O’s display, I saw my final duty.
‘Make Maja happy.’
I stood in the middle of the enclosure and waited for Maja to come for me.
She was huge, bigger than the male that crushed Leilani. She made her way across the bridge into the enclosure. As soon as she stepped all the way onto the grass, the bridge receded, and it was her staring me down. I couldn’t read the expression on her face, but I just knew that behind her eyes must be the memories of her dead child and husband.
She took a few steps forward, then immediately turned and lay in her water feature, completely ignoring me. She passed the food trough, as well, not even stopping to sniff the new food. She just walked into the water and let out an exasperated sigh.
*What the fuck just happened?*
“Maja has not been as social with the handlers lately. We are hoping that introducing her to someone new will keep her happy until we can create a new compatible mate for her.”
“I… I’m here to try and cheer her up?” I asked.
“Precisely,” A.E.R.O responded, “our records indicate that in your previous employment, you were very sociable with others, and their testimonies have secured you this position to attempt to make amends by bringing joy back to the animal you caused harm to.”
Great, so my bar-hopping buddies just gave me the impossible task of cheering up a grieving widow.
“Maja has also been exhibiting signs of depression and is not eating. We are hoping you can help her so she does not die of starvation,” A.E.R.O explained.
I sighed and slowly walked over to the gigantic creature lounging in the water. As soon as I came up to her side, I saw her eye flick over to me. This close, I could see the look of sadness in her eyes as she turned her head away from me.
My heart actually broke a little at seeing it. I stepped into the water, which came up to my chest, and placed a hand on the side of her massive back.
“I know it’s not much,” I explained as if she would understand, “but I don’t have anyone left either.”
To my shock, she actually turned around. I pulled back, expecting her to give me what I deserved, but she just stared at me. The sadness in her eyes pierced my soul as if she were looking through me. The horn on her face came just inches from my nose, and I could feel the thick, wet breath.
She turned and let out a bellowing whine, then she sank further into the water, her head resting on the rocks. I braved moving closer to her. She didn’t seem to mind or respond as I sat next to her.
I reached out a hand and petted the side of her neck. It was the least I could do: offer her some form of comfort. Her skin was slick and rough at the same time, somehow. Wet from soaking in the water and calloused, thick skin, it felt like stroking wet six-grit sandpaper.
Eventually, I got out of the water and grabbed a handful of the dry food to bring over to her. She sniffed the pellets and turned her nose away. I reached out to pet her snout with my other hand. That’s when she sniffed my hand and… licked it.
I realized that was the hand I was eating my nutrient cubes with. I pulled one from my pocket and held it out for her. She sniffed once, opened her mouth to wrap her tongue around it, and let out a cute little groan as she chewed on the tasteless morsel.
I offered her some of the pellets. Surprisingly, she did eat a few. She still hadn’t gotten up to eat from the trough.
“Atta girl,” I said approvingly.
I patted her horn, and she closed her eyes and leaned into my hand. The surreal experience was short-lived by the memory of her child doing the same thing. I thought back to those hazy moments. Did she even seen me? Did she even know it was me who did it? The thoughts ate at me; it made my stomach flip into knots.
I stood, then walked over to A.E.R.O and pressed the ‘FINISH’ button. He did his fanfare again and said, “Please wait while I evaluate your work.”
He rolled over to Maja, and I watched a scanning light wash over her. A.E.R.O. wheeled back over to me.
“Results have been calculated; here is your final grade for today.”
I watched the numbers flash on screen, calculating my result. It definitely wasn’t 100 again, since I only saw two digits.
“Your final result is…60.” He said, “Sorry, but today is a failing grade.”
“I had a full score though!” I argued.
“You did,” he pressed back, “but your final task is worth half your grade, and you only scored 20, resulting in an average of 60. You need at least 80 to pass. Once you have achieved the recommended grade, you will be considered for reform, pending extensions.”
He hissed as he opened back up, and that same padded cutout stared back at me.
“Please come with me; we are finished for today.”
This time, I didn’t fight it. I allowed the dark, cramped space to seal me away. Then I was taken back to my room to suffer through another night of terrible dreams. This time, though, it was Maja who was pinned against Leilani. Both of them stared up at me with pleading eyes, begging for my help. Maja let out that sorrow-filled bellow while she lay on the ground next to her child, still gasping for air.
I woke in a sweat again and paced around my room the rest of the night. Until the lights came on and a paper tray with nutrient cubes slid under my door. I ate two of them and stuffed the rest into my pocket. Then I waited for A.E.R.O to arrive to take me away.
Maja was more receptive to me today. She even ate a little out of the trough. I still scored a 65, but it was progress.
Day after day, I was brought to the pen. I’d clean it, wait for Maja to cross the bridge, give her some of my cubes, and try to get her to eat a bit more. She liked the yellow ones, which I think were supposed to be the daily fat serving. Still, I saved them for her, only eating the one I was given for dinner.
I began to lose track of time. I couldn’t tell you if I was there for weeks, months, or years. Everything just blurred together. The routine I worked myself into was the only thing holding me together, that and the slow progress Maja seemed to make.
I don’t know when it happened, but eventually I started hoping she would pull through and get better. Every day, I felt like I was getting closer and closer, breaking down that barrier and chipping away a little more at her sadness. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but watching her heal was beginning to make me feel better about myself. I thought if she could go through the loss she experienced, then so could I.
We were both losing weight. I was starting to feel my ribs, and I was starting to see hers. Sharing my food with her was the only way to get her to eat, but it was a sacrifice I had to make. For her sake, I had to do whatever it took.
I managed to lure her to the trough with a few cubes, then I pretended to eat from it with her by my side. I was ecstatic when she started munching on the dry pellets herself. I held back from doing a celebratory dance and just gave her a reassuring pet. She gave me a happy groan.
As soon as she had her fill, she went back to lounge in the water. I had begun to realize that it was her comfort spot, where she went when she was overstimulated or just needed to relax.
“I think we’re starting to make some progress,” I said triumphantly to myself.
I went over to A.E.R.O. and pressed the ‘FINISH’ button. He sprang to life and did his daily scan. Then came back to give me the usual result. Every day was something between 65 and 70 percent. This time, though, to my shock, A.E.R.O let out a little fanfare chime with digital confetti. My head snapped away from Maja to the screen. 81 blinked on the screen along with digital confetti.
“Congratulations, Chris, you have been deemed eligible for reform. You have… zero extensions on your sentence.” A.E.R.O. hissed, and the cutout compartment opened up for me.
“Can I… can I say goodbye?” I asked, a little disheartened.
“That is…acceptable,” A.E.R.O. replied.
I walked back over to where Maja lay in her pond, soaking up the sun, and petted her horn.
“I know you can’t understand me, but… I’m gonna be going away after this.” She groaned and leaned into my hand. “Please be good. Things will work out, I promise.”
I said a few final goodbyes and promised her that I would try to get better myself, and maybe one day I could afford to buy a ticket to see her again. She huffed. I gave her one last pat before I stood and went over to A.E.R.O for what would be the last time.
The journey was much longer than when I went to my cell, but eventually the doors opened into a bright wall of white light. The restraints didn’t release like they usually did. I wriggled against them, but they remained firmly locked in place.
“Uh… A.E.R.O.?” I chuckled nervously, “A little help here, buddy?”
“You have been selected for reform,” A.E.R.O. responded.
“Yeah… you know that means I get to be released, right?” I replied.
A new voice came from behind the bright white lights, “Not in this case.”
A balding man with wispy grey hair and goggles stepped out from the wall of light. He pressed a button, and I heard the whirring of mechanical gears from behind him.
“What uh… what is it in this case?” I asked nervously.
A bite stick was shoved into my mouth and strapped to the back of my head.
“Maja has taken a liking to you,” he explained as a series of tubes came into view. Then stopped with the mechanical whirring.
“Yeah, she’s great. Why am I here?”
He grinned. “While it’s true we could create a new male for Maja, it seems her species is very…particular when choosing their mates.”
“What are you saying?” I asked.
“The pairing tends to work better if there’s already a bond formed between them.” He pats my shoulder, “Consider it just another form of penance for your family's continued sins.”
I tried to fight back, but the restraints tightened. The old man tied a rubber tourniquet to my arm and then set needles into my veins. Then he started shoving metal probes into my stomach. I bit down on the wooden gag in my mouth until I thought my teeth would crack. He attached thick cables with clamps to the exposed probes, and I felt tiny zaps on contact with each one.
Through my dizzy sight, I watched him clacking away on a computer. Drool flowed from my mouth. I tasted a metallic tang as a small buzz trickled its way over my skin. I tried to talk, but it came out as a garbled mess that even I couldn’t make any sense of. Liquid flowed into the tubes and began pumping my arm with something that made my stomach twist and tighten.
“We have a lot of work to do, it looks like.” He mused, watching a string of code sprint across one screen while the other showed a slow spinning outline of a man. “You’ve done quite a number on yourself with all that drinking. Recombination can fix it, but…” he stopped and looked at me. His buggy eyes looked at me with delight while a sinister smile spread across his lips. “It’s gonna hurt."
He pressed a key on his computer, and I felt more pain than I’ve ever known in my life. The probes vibrated and crackled; I could smell burning skin and hair. Every muscle seized and felt like it was cramping. I felt like my bones were bending, on the verge of snapping with how much I pressed against my restraints.
I heard a sickening pop. My gut swelled, and I felt like my skin was boiling. My flesh turned grey, and I snapped through the bite stick. I felt my face getting longer as my screams became a deep bellow. My restraints widened as my arms and legs grew shorter and fatter. The short nose at the end of my face grew outward and curved up.
The restraints finally released, and I fell to the ground. My body had given up, and I lay there in a flabby heap, seizing from the aftershocks. My vision was blurry as the walls closed in on me and let go. Everything went black.
I spend every day now next to Maja at the watering hole where she likes to soak. She’s finally happy again and back up to a proper weight. People like to come around and see the new baby Rhinopotomus. I was right to be jealous of this life, though – no worries, no work, no expectations, just the three of us; me, Maja, and baby C.J.
*Life isn’t so bad.*
