Read The Wild Lands: Legend of the Wild Man Online

Authors: Joe Darris

Tags: #adventure, #action, #teen, #ecology, #predator, #lion, #comingofage, #sasquatch, #elk

The Wild Lands: Legend of the Wild Man (6 page)

BOOK: The Wild Lands: Legend of the Wild Man
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The most unsettling hypothesis was that the
thing was
the
Wild Man.
The prospect sent shivers
down Baucis's spine. He had helped conceive the phrase, along with
the Scourge, decades ago with Ntelo, as a way to simplify the
dangers the surface represented. He had been as shocked as any when
the story gained traction and spiraled into myth. Now Ntelo spoke
of the
Wild Man
daily. Naturalists clung to the gospels and
preached them to nonbelievers.

Children of Spire City knew that if they
misbehaved, especially if they were wasteful, the
Wild Man
would come and take them back to the Earth. Nature gave to all, but
if someone took too much, she'd take it right back, and the
Wild
Man
was her messenger. Ntelo preached that Nature had fashioned
a defender, in man’s image, an ultimate defense against that which
sought to destroy her: humanity. Nature's first attempt at
mankind's destruction had been the Scourge, and only the righteous
had survived that, high above the surface where they couldn't harm
the Earth. The
Wild Man
was the ever looming final prophecy,
a tool conceived to make children eat their dinner and seized upon
by a populace that had seen all its old religions melt before it
eyes yet out of reach.

Of course there was a scientific explanation
for the beast, but if the citizenry gleaned onto the idea of the
Wild Man
, there would be real panic. Baucis knew how to
control dozens of
biselk
,
vultus
, and
howluchin
s in a beautiful symphony, but five thousand
misinformed fanatics was an entirely different sort of
challenge.

The entire debacle needed to be solved
quickly. Mysteries were dangerous in themselves, but a prophesy was
something else entirely. Baucis needed to track the animal to other
members of its species, then quickly and efficiently implant each
and every one with a VRC. The prophecy was of a
Wild Man
.
One. If the citizenry saw dozens of things working in the Garden
they'd say nothing, but if they saw a single interloper there could
be a panic.

If he could just find where they lived,
Baucis was sure Skup could take weaker specimens with his
vultus
flock. He regretted being so hard on the boy, but
kindness was worthless. No one else could have beaten the beast,
save his sister Urea and her
panthera
, Skup needed to see
that.

Urea seemed capable of absolutely anything.
Even as a little girl, she had begged the Ecologist to give her a
kitty, not knowing the full implications of the request. He had
finally given her one, nearly four years ago, on her twelfth
birthday, and asked that she try to share the gift. Her work with
the
panthera
had been nothing short of miraculous, and
Baucis was now poised to expand his terrestrial predator program
beyond the single flagship feline. Soon The dance of evolution
would be in full swing, with maestro Baucis holding the baton.

Baucis had worked hard to become a member of
the Council, and expand the powers of the Master Ecologist. Before
him the role of Master Ecologist had been more or less a figurehead
position. Maintaining the scant populations of large animals on the
earth had little value beyond entertainment and spiritual well
being until Baucis began to change things. He was not the first to
implant a Virtual Reality Chip inside of an animal, but he was the
first person to realize the possibilities this created for the
people of Spire City.

As a boy, he had been enthralled with virtual
synchronization. Virtual reality games had been a paltry substitute
for the reality of a human's higher consciousness (and later, he
learned, an amplified electromagnetic field) overriding an animal's
control of its own body. It was difficult. Fear could force a human
out of an animal's brain, and some animals were simply incompatible
with the VRCs. Animals needed large brains to work with devices
originally designed to stimulate a human's cerebellum. Historically
monkeys had always been used. Baucis had gravitated towards the
Spire's menagerie when he was young, and spent his entire life
studying animals, breeding and genetics, with the hope of becoming
an ecologist. That was long ago now, back when people still
believed they could return to the surface once the Scourge had
burned itself out. Once it became clear that that would never
happen, Baucis changed his dreams.

He won his spot on the Council when he
created his first Evanimals through careful breeding and judicious
control of diet. Key traits were encouraged which eventually
allowed people to pilot the Evanimals as easily as they'd play a
game on a VRC. Baucis cemented his spot on the Council when he
began using his breed of
howluchin
monkeys to grow food on
the surface.

Before then there was the rooftop garden, but
it was far to small to ever feed the Spire. The reality for most
was the taste of reconstituted nutritional paste from the
reclaimers. Baucis never thought it tasted
that
bad,
considering it was made of human and animal waste, but when he
tasted his first leaf of wild lettuce, harvested from the bosom of
the earth, he immediately saw the paste's shortcomings.

The
howluchin
s were effective
gardeners, but they were also small, intelligent and uncooperative.
Some escaped in those early days. They found glitches in a computer
system designed to run games instead of bodies and exploited them.
Others were devoured by the various predators that roamed the
surface after the Scourge. Either fate was unacceptable. The
implants were too valuable. Like all things in the Spire, they had
been manufactured before the Scourge, when people still lived on
the surface and could build anything they desired. So Baucis took
the next logical step, and conscripted bodyguards for his
gardeners. The
biselk
were the obvious choice, big hulking
brutes engineered in a proper genetics lab. They had survived the
Scourge and were flourishing. His Garden would evolve further
today, and add a new tropic layer to the pyramid it supported.

Ntelo sat silently in the meeting room when
Baucis entered. Her large, intense purple eyes flitted around the
chamber. She perspired ever so slightly beneath gossamer winged
insects painted on her fair skin. She held her folded nail-less
fingers against each other, like two spiders trapping a fly. She
alone knew the scope of Baucis's plans. It was imperative to have
the High Priestess support his aspirations. She influenced the
masses, and though the Council were ostensibly the decision makers,
a decided citizenry often swayed their opinion. He avoided the rest
of their eyes. Conniving old poker players could sense trepidation
down on the surface. It didn’t do him any good to give them a close
up view.

The Council had no official legal authority,
and instead maintained their influence simply by virtue of
reputation. One didn't get recommended to be a Counselor unless
they showed considerable knowledge of their field and the people
working in it. The important ones were all present tonight. Besides
Ntelo there was Rufus Aurelius, the Media Baron, Tennay Promethus,
the engineer, Orus Luca, the Weatherman, and Mavis Talik, the
disturbingly popular psychologist. They were all well respected,
idolized even, and few citizens would support Baucis's plans
without their full support. He could have proceeded if he wished,
but his constant need of civilians' willing surrender of their
Virtual Reality Chips and labor meant he needed no detractors.

Baucis hoped no one would bring up the
enigmatic figure that had killed his
biselk
and maimed his
most powerful
vultus
. If he could catch it, then he could
easily incorporate it into his garden. But he had already prepared
for the next stage of his Garden without knowledge of the
mysterious beast, and was ready to proceed. Baucis gambled:

“Alpha management has been successful for our
crops and our Garden's security for a long time, but there are
undeniable problems. The
biselk
lacking VRCs often eat the
crops they're guarding for us, especially when their population
grows too large for the food supply we have for them. Sometimes
un-piloted
biselk
wander off and either die or— just as
dangerous in my opinion— release their superior genetics into the
ever growing feral population. Sometimes the herbivores die,
leaving their bodies fester with disease. Most problematically
there are the feral predators, whose numbers surely increase as
they steal biselk.

He looked around the table. Most sat back,
drenched in shadows the lights of the ancient chandelier couldn't
pierce. Ntelo nodded, her face the image of encouraging
contemplation. She played her part well.

“These problems can only be solved by human
Hunters controlling predators through the same VRC system.
biselk
fear Alpha members of their species, but not as much
as they fear predators. Already, a single Hunter's presence has
reduced their desertion to almost nothing. It seems the
biselk
understand they're safe if they stay with the group,
and will not leave if a predator is present. Urea and her
panthera
have successfully isolated our population of
animals from the wild. The
biselk
will no longer go feral,
nor will they be eaten by wild predators. In short, Shepherds
always failed at what my Hunters do with ease.”

Baucis let his closing statement sink in. He
thought introducing predators was brilliant. They solved so many
problems with elegance. He hoped the Council saw them as he
did.

“And how do you control these carnivores?”
Ntelo asked. They really did make a great team. Her tone of voice
had all of the Councilors nodding in agreement. He answered the
question easily.

“Like the other Evanimals, the carnivores
will be constantly monitored during waking hours. Our Hunters are
trained to not allow them to do anything too egregious. They will
not attack any Evanimal implanted with one of a VRC, nor will they
reproduce without my permission.”

“And you're sure your Hunters can control
these natural born murderers?” Rufus Aurelius asked, his voice
goading. Sometimes the Media Baron had a way of sounding a bit
inflammatory. His eyes twinkled more than the gold paint he wore
upon his skin.

“Hunters monitor them at all times, of
course... When a predator--we've been experimenting primarily with
cats--begins to exhibit hunting behavior, it's Hunter counterpart
assumes control and notifies me. I then personally choose an
appropriate target. The Hunter, and eventually teams of Hunters,
then removes the unwanted animal, and disposes of it."

Aurelius nodded, seemingly placated. The
Media Baron loved a good show, and multiple
pantheras
would
make a grander spectacle than only one.

“I am ready to support Master Baucis,” Tennay
announced, “We have seen Urea and her
panthera
handle the
herds with ease. They have far less problems than Shepherds alone
had.” Baucis had assumed that Tennay would support him. The
engineer turned custodian understood the power of having tools on
the surface better than any other. He had actually been there.

“They'll eat meat that could feed our
humans,” Orus Luca’s bluntly stated. He was the Weatherman, a
position that largely ran itself. Baucis's gardens required rain
every three days, Orus simply followed the ecologist’s orders. He
still paraded his opinion at times, though Baucis mused that only
he believed he had any sort of power. Orus was most interested in
food from the Garden, especially
biselk
meat. The only
member of the Council with any sort of muscle mass (though his
appetite far surpassed his strength), Luca would not risk his
position or the perks that came with it. He could be placated
without effort.

“I admit my predators need to eat too, but
records show that prior to my system, we lost at least ten percent
of our herd to desertion, predation and accident. My predators eat
that amount, but only individuals we deem inferior or anarchic to
the system. We're able to use the preferred ninety percent of our
meat for human consumption, and only have to sacrifice old,
diseased or inferior individuals to the predators. Isn't order
worth more than a gamble?

Cold stares from those trapped in a
casino.

“But do we
need
the predators Baucis?”
asked Ntelo. “Sometimes I wonder if you do this all only for the
glory and grand spectacle of your beasts. They're certainly more
impressive since you've become Master Ecologist.”

Baucis smiled, Ntelo was a perfect partner,
in every sense of the word, she asked the questions he wanted,
denying others the opportunity. “It's true our citizens love to
watch the animals, especially with your brilliant spiritual
insight, High Priestess, and my predators have undoubtedly
reintroduced another aspect to the eternal game of life. But I do
this for the glory of the world we live above, not for myself. Our
ancestors engineered the original
biselk
out of the
struggling elk and bison populations that were sure to go extinct.
Did they do this to glorify themselves? Or was it to restore the
earth to a more Natural state?”

“But Baucis, what you've done is far beyond
anything the earth ever
was”
Ntelo replied. The rest of the
Council nodded, enamored like spectators at an ancient political
debate. In this event too, both sides were controlled and the
outcome predetermined.

“Mankind began to sculpt the earth long
before the Scourge imprisoned us here in sky. Before our ancient
ancestors the world was teeming with colossal and impressive
beasts, giant sloths, mammoths, bison, and my favorites, the lions,
eagles, the primates.” He hesitated, not intending to mention the
errant beast, nor meaning to place it in his own taxonomic order.
Baucis continued, smoother he hoped, “Mankind began to eradicate
animals long before they recognized their beauty or utility. If we
had their DNA I'd gladly bring them back, but we don't, we have
only the animals that we’ve managed to reach from our perch in the
Spire. Now that we survive precariously above the earth, isn't it
our privilege...nay, our
duty
, to guide that most
magnificent spectacle Nature ever devised, evolution?”

BOOK: The Wild Lands: Legend of the Wild Man
9.03Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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