Post Human Ch. 02

The reason for this policy was obvious: The oppressors wanted to make us as dependent of them as possible and prevent us from using their own technology against them. An effective measure as it had turned out. For most of their tech we were still completely unaware of how it really worked. The devastating war of independence had thrown us even further back, destroying a lot of valuable knowledge.

It was not much of a problem as long as the factories kept running and the power grid kept supplying energy. After the revolution, most people had foolishly believed that this would be the case for centuries to come. They had lived lavishly and wastefully, with little regard for future generations. It is easy not to care about how something works as long as it does what it is supposed to do without fault. Only towards the end of the first century of the second age of humanity, when the first supply chains started to fall apart, did people realize that they were hurtling towards a huge collapse. In my days it was common knowledge that the time of the great cities was numbered. Experts estimated that in less than a hundred years each and every Sikatis metropolis would be pretty much uninhabitable.

The only way to avoid this fate and manage a smoother transition was replacing the essential alien devices with self-made ones that we actually understood. Until then it was still a very long way though. The Primus academies stood on the very frontier of this endeavor. They were our best hope of acquiring the knowledge we needed to let our species endure once the last traces of Sikatis influence were gone. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to join them: To support the effort of rebuilding the human civilization.

Seeing both the miraculous creations left by our former oppressors and the decay which had befallen it, really visualized the magnitude of challenge. As I followed Niklas through the multi-layered streets and walkways between towering buildings, I couldn't help but notice that almost a third of all machinery we encountered was either broken or only working partly. That included lights and screens, elevators and escalators, automatic doors, garbage disposal units, security installations, hologram projectors, stationary communicators and much more. With the supply of spare parts decreasing, the city had limited replacements to devices which were completely broken and essential for everyday life.

Despite all the dysfunctional parts, as a village dweller I was thoroughly impressed by Berlin. The most stunning sight was "Der Turm". It was a huge tower, more than half a kilometer high, erected in the middle of Berlin's "Großer Tiergarten", a large, old park containing a lot of greenery within the central city. "Der Turm" had been the seat of the Sikatis administration which had governed over a large region of central Europe. Now it was a tourist attraction and home to the local administration, which reigned over Berlin and its surrounding area as an independent city-state.

Our way led us deeper into the heart of the city, which contained plenty of shops. As announced, Niklas used the opportunity to buy some new cloth for me. After having walked through the city for a while I realized the wisdom behind this idea. Wherever we went, I was immediately recognized for a tribe's man, which entailed looks ranging from derogatory and shocked all the way to outright scared; often also accompanied by conspicuous whispering. I clearly needed a different outfit than my primitive leather and wool garments.

There were plenty of stores selling cloth but few of them fit my needs. Like so many other things, fashion stores were separated by subspecies, specialized for the different proportions of each type. Due to the fact that Fortis made up only a very small fraction of the city population and usually didn't care much about the looks of their outfit, the offer was modest. Of the available garments, the larger share consisted of work attires and protective pieces. It took a while until I found some items which were acceptable for both Niklas and me, but eventually we assembled a collection which would suffice for the days to come.

We returned to the apartment to stow my acquisitions and change. Afterwards it was high time to get something to eat. I was starving. Niklas led me to what he claimed was one of the best restaurants in the city. It was located in a district which was dominated by various bars and restaurants.

Many of the local establishments were named in German, a language which some still knew but nobody spoke anymore. The Sikatis had not been fond of the many different languages of old humanity and unwilling to communicate in more than one, so they had simply picked English as the common language for our species and had forced all humans to learn and speak it. Applying the incredibly complex and foreign ways of communication used between the Sikatis themselves was simply not possible for a normal human. The resettlements and mixing of human populations throughout the world in the early phase of creating the subspecies had furthered the establishment of the common tongue. Some communities had retained their native languages throughout the centuries, but few still practiced them in everyday life.

Niklas' praise of the restaurant was no overstatement. The dishes were quite imposing both in size and quality. I had a hearty meal of two pork knuckles with bread dumplings, cabbage and potatoes which left me well-fed. When we left the restaurant, dusk had set in. The descending darkness revealed a completely new face of the city: The lights. There must have been millions of them; different sizes, different colors, different brightness all fusing together into a brilliant piece of art. There was so much to admire in this place.

Niklas proposed to go to a bar nearby and have some beers. Far too agitated to go home now, I agreed. Alcoholic beverages were one of the few things the Sikatis had not managed to take from us. While alcohol had generally been forbidden throughout humanity's long servitude, members of all subspecies had always managed to brew, ferment and distill something to get inebriated with. Drinking was considered a human cultural heritage and an act of defiance against the tyrants. After the revolution some humans dedicated their lives to rediscovering the fine crafts behind making the various drinks our ancestors had once enjoyed. The German beer brewing tradition was revived in those times as well.

The selection was ample as well as diverse and we tasted ourselves through a fair share of it. On a Fortis body, beer had hardly any effect. To get drunk we needed much stronger beverages like the Flash we made back at the tribe. Still I was absolutely content with beer. Getting intoxicated was probably not a good idea for me as long as Niklas' evaluation of my character was not completed.

Like so many other times in the past 24 hours, Niklas insisted on paying. I had not even used a single chip from the money Wilfried had bestowed upon me so far. I was starting to feel really guilty that he was spending so much money for someone he barely knew.

"Don't worry about it," he dismissed my objections with a wave of his hand.

"But you already did so much for me. I don't know if I can ever repay you."

"You don't need to. I see it as an investment. There is a potential profit for me in keeping you motivated to see this story through."

"How so?" I asked oblivious to what he meant.

He sighed. "I want to be honest with you. I am not helping you just out of the goodness of my heart. Wilfried is a good friend and I do owe him a favor or two, but the real reason I volunteered for this is that I have a personal benefit to gain from it."

He paused and I waited patiently for him to elaborate.

"As I already told you yesterday, my specialty at the academy, the field my research is focused on, is sociology. A key component to a peaceful and prosperous future for humanity is to figure out what the relationships between the different subspecies should look like in the future, how they interact with each other, what social orders and constructs will evolve and what kind of hierarchies we will establish. Since the revolution these things are in constant flux. We need to know where this journey is going and how we can influence it in the public interest.

There are various different opinions on the matter. Some believe that we need to grow closer together, remove the barriers between the subspecies and work towards restoring a common humanity. Others think that these efforts are misguided, that this will only cause unnecessary conflict and that we should focus more on utilizing each subspecies in the way best befitting them, as the Sikatis have done. There are many other approaches and of course a lot of propositions on how power distribution and organizational structures should look like in an ideal humanity. There is no right answer to this but we are trying to find the most beneficial way.

The Fortis are commonly used as an example for the incompatibility between the subspecies. The entire history of their relationship to other humans is shaped by conflict, hatred, distrust and misunderstanding. This background leads many to believe that it is better to keep or even increase the separation and differentiation. It is hard to prove or disprove this opinion because we lack concrete evidence. Projects in this area are hard to conduct and take a lot of time.

Your future undertakings might be of significance in this matter. If a Fortis stemming from a rural tribe could actually prevail at the academy and become a proper part of a sophisticated human society, it would be a good reason to reevaluate our relations and create a strong argument against judging and categorizing people based on their ancestry. And not only your personal behavior and achievements are of interest, the way other people react to them might provide many insights as well. Your case could be of tremendous value for sociological research and the future development of human societies

That is why I am interested in your endeavor as a social experiment. I would like to observe and document your struggle. No matter how it plays out, I think there is much to be learned from it. Of course I need your consent and cooperation to go through with this."

He paused, giving me time to process. The revelation of his intentions explained a lot about his actions: his eagerness to help me, his constant evaluation of my person, his effort to get me familiar with the city. He had already started his research project. Simultaneously he paid all my expanses to obtain my agreement.

It was a weird thought that an important part of my future life was supposed to be a social experiment. Interestingly it didn't really bother me. On the contrary, I was actually relieved that I did not hold the role of an indebted petitioner but was offered a deal where I held something valuable to bargain with. It seemed like a small price to pay in exchange for an opportunity to fulfill my dream. Still I would not agree so easily. Not without more details.

"So what would be my duties in this project?"

"Simple enough: The two of us will conduct interviews on a regular basis where you answer various questions and share your experiences, thoughts and opinions. You will also need to disclose certain facts about your life, your background, future achievements and failures in your academic life, professional relations, potential jobs and income, nothing too personal. I will also conduct interviews with people you associate with, as long as they agree. I will collect all this information, document the steps along the way and compile all of it into one or more project reports. You will be able to review any document before I publish it of course. I can give you more details tomorrow; you don't have to decide right away."

I nodded, relieved that I was given some time to think it over.

"In addition you could do your own report," Niklas proposed. "Present the whole topic from your point of view. If you make it into the academy you might benefit from that someday."

"But I have no idea how such a report is written."

"You will in time. Until then I recommend you to start writing a journal. Capture your everyday thoughts and events in writing, just for yourself. No need for any formalities or censorship, you don't have to show it to anyone; just keep it as record. In the future it might be very valuable as a reference for reporting about your past. Maybe start with a brief glimpse into your former life, work your way up to the present and then just update it regularly with the latest news."

It seemed like a reasonable request. I decided that I might even enjoy documenting my life. "Ok, I will give it a try."

Niklas beamed with joy at my consent. Also I had a feeling that the beer was starting to show an effect on him. He kept blathering on about the journal, tips on writing, the importance of our research and its potential effect on society.

I listened to him assiduously at first, but after a while my attention wavered as it was drawn towards a couple which had recently entered the bar. The man and woman sitting across the room, clearly in some kind of romantic relationship, were both vexingly attractive. It was primarily the woman who drew my gaze, but with a bit of envy I had to admit that the man looked also extraordinarily handsome.

They both were dressed in expensive looking and tight fitting cloth, wore plenty of fancy, decorative accessories and had extravagant hair styles. Those attributes clearly set them apart from the mass but the way they presented themselves was not the only reason for their perceived beauty. Their faces were absolutely flawless, like cut from marble. Their athletic bodies seemed like a textbook example of old humanity: Average size, perfect proportions and symmetry, healthy statures with clearly pronounced gender-specific attributes.

The man's features were more angular and he had a short beard to complement the masculine appearance. He was muscular, but not as exaggerated and bulky as a Fortis. The woman had accentuated her pretty face with makeup. Her body showed alluring curves, from a sizable chest to a slim waist, widening at the hips and extending into long, slender legs. All of that was highlighted by a black dress clinging tightly to her body.

They radiated the confidence of someone who was very aware of being admired by the people around them. I was definitely not the only one who had noticed. The exact source of their attractiveness was hard to pinpoint. It was simply a wholesome ensemble of desirable properties which I had never experienced before.

It took me a while to understand why the couple was so special; until I noticed their blue eyes. Those explained a lot. They were of the Pulcher subspecies. I had never seen a member of that particular type of human in person. They were less numerous than the other ones and usually lived in large cities, within small communities of their kind. All my knowledge of the Pulcher came from books and stories. Apparently the praise of their beauty was not overstated.

The entire emergence of the Pulcher is somewhat of a mystery. When the Sikatis separated humanity into classes they didn't really explain or justify a lot of their actions to their subjects. In most cases their intentions just became apparent over time or in retrospective. The general idea behind the separation was clear: They wanted their servants to be as specialized as possible. With this motive in mind, most of what they did made sense. The purpose of the formation of the class which would evolve into the Pulcher subspecies however, was not that obvious.

In regards to basic shape and form the Pulcher were considered to be closest to what average original humans looked like. It is hard to say how reliable this assessment is, there weren't that many pictures of old humans left and those might be biased. Given the facts that their size and stature was a good middle ground between the other subspecies and that they were the most diverse in skin color and ethnic characteristics, it was plausible though.

The Pulcher were considered to be very attractive in general. It was often claimed that they had been sculpted based on common beauty standards of old humanity at the time of the invasion. Of course it was hard to prove whether their appealing appearances had been an intentional feature of the Sikatis' plans, a byproduct of genetic alterations or simply the natural result of their breeding schemes.

They were also gifted with many of the artistic talents which had once been an inherent part of humanity. They were the only class who had been allowed to practice non-pragmatic occupations which were considered as former human culture, such as music, dancing, acting, poetry, painting and other art forms.

None of these typical properties of a Pulcher seemed particularly useful to the alien tyrants, which made their origin story a matter of much speculation.

One theory for their purpose was that the Sikatis wanted to preserve a line of the initial species. If their rule had persisted the different classes would have only diverged further throughout time. Maybe there were some sentimental or academic reasons that the aliens always kept a population of the original beings they had subjugated and transformed. Preserving parts of the art and culture of the species might be a component to this.

Some proposed that the selective breeding and extreme interventions into the natural development of living beings could have negative effects on their genome in the long term, leading to defects and malformations. A line of purer specimen could help correct or prevent such unwanted side effects. Maybe they conceived the Pulcher as a gene pool of perfectly healthy and flawless beings to take genetic material from if necessary.

Another proposition was that the main function of the Pulcher was to be a motivation and inspiration to other humans. On some occasions the most talented of them had been allowed to present their arts to a broader audience. The higher, more sophisticated human servants had not always been driven exclusively with whip and threat. Basic entertainment, the promise of reward and an outlook on a better life had also been used as incentives for hard work, dedication and loyalty.

There was even the idea that the Sikatis themselves enjoyed to watch the Pulcher pursuing their activities. Apparently it had been a common occurrence for some of them to attend certain performances. Whether they regarded those as true displays of art, saw it more as a kind of zoo or had some completely different reasons can't be answered anymore. Undisputed is the fact that the Sikatis had no form of sexual interest in humans. Their bodies and even their entire concept of reproduction were so vastly different from ours that this idea can be dismissed entirely.

"Quite the sight, ha?" Niklas remarked with a grin, ripping me from my wandering thoughts. I immediately averted my eyes, ashamed at being caught staring so openly.

"I have never seen a Pulcher before," I tried to justify my indecency.

"Thought so," Niklas said. "Don't worry, nobody will judge you for looking; least of all the Pulcher themselves; they are very aware of their effect on other humans and proud of it. To them it would be more insulting not to look. As long as staring is all you do, usually no one minds. You should not try to court them though. They normally only pick partners among their own and the idea that you consider yourself worthy of their companionship is easily seen as an insult." The way Niklas said that it sounded like he had made that experience firsthand.

"Good to know," I commented, casting another sheepish glance at the couple.