FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

We arrived at the designated area. Myself and my crew exiting the van after we had pulled up into the loading area of the abandoned dock warehouse, I taking particular note of the sun setting in the distance across the ocean.

The mood was sober.

Many different feelings ran through me in this moment. Would this all be a hoax? If it were we would leave disappointed but relieved. Thankful to be able to sleep soundly tonight, in the knowledge that none of those things... had managed to reach this far into the safe zone. Or, would I be leaving tonight with the most important exclusive of my life? Would any of us be leaving at all?

I trusted my team, their dedication to come out with me tonight was admirable, I'd say stupid but of course I was here with them. Heading into what could quite possibly be a trap that would doom us all. There was only one way to find out...

The team hauling cameras and lighting equipment behind me; we made our way into the decaying structure and hoped for the best. We didn't have to get too deep into the building before first contact was made.

"No weapons?" Came from the darkness.

"No weapons..." I answered.

The team raced to get lights set up as footsteps approached. There, emerging from the shadows, was an older gentleman. He looked to be in his late sixties, grey hair atop of wrinkly face, wearing glasses and a suit.

"A bit old for an immortal monster..." I commented.

"You can never be too careful... Needless to say, this isn't my original face, even among your people. Can't have our little talk betraying my identity, can I now?"

He grabbed hold of a rusted metal stool that had been left by one of the empty creates, gesturing to my right were I saw another one. I walked over to retrieve it, but not before inspecting it for tampering. We both sat, a distance apart. My team fine tuning the equipment behind me.

Taking a deep breath, I began the interview.

"So, you claim to be mutation spawn... I take it you're able to prove that, in a peaceful and non-provocative manner of course. The agreement was that we all leave here as we arrived after all."

He smirked in response. "I don't recall referring to myself as this thing called 'mutation spawn'. Though I do recall telling you that I was a child of mother, so I'd appreciate if you referred to me as such."

"It's a little odd to refer to a elderly man as child don't you think? Do mother's children ever grow up or are they to forever remain juveniles?"

"To a parent their children will always remain children, no matter how old they may appear to others."

"And to humanity, a spawn of mutation will remain a mutation spawn, regardless of how it may choose to refer to itself... Now I see an old man calling himself a child, he's also claiming to be neither of these things, I can only trust what my eyes see so which is it?"

He lifted a hand and looked at it, wiggling the fingers in front of himself; as if testing them. Then he removed his glasses using that same hand; seemingly preparing for something.

"My my, aren't you impatient. I suppose it cannot be helped... just try not to freak out, ok?"

With that we all gasped and recoiled as his hand rapidly shifted to become beastly and clawed, the glasses still held between its digits. The changes rippled along his arm; converting flesh as it made its way.

His face pushed out into an animalistic muzzle, sharp canines filling his jaw. His neck lengthening before the changes disappeared beneath his clothing once again, hiding them from our view. However the shifting beneath could still be seen, how he held himself and the cloths hung from him. His legs distorted and bent in unnatural ways, the shoes falling from his feet to reveal claws tearing out from under his socks.

Finally a long tail came into view from behind, some sort of humanesque animal had emerged where the elderly man once sat. It was strange... in that it appeared skinnier than before, its cloths sagging around it. It appeared it had diverted body mass to fuel these alterations, giving it a much leaner appearance.

The personality within seemed to remain though, the creature neatly folding the glasses and delicately placing them in its top pocket, before smiling at us from behind large blue animalistic eyes. His form seemingly having retained some level of humanity, but reconfigured to become something else.

There was no doubt in any of our minds, this was a mutation spawn sitting in front of us, within the heart of a major metropolitan city. If it was here, how many others had managed to infiltrate our society? How many were infected, going about their lives blissfully unaware that they were slowly being converted into a monster?

The greatest threat humanity had ever faced was in the room with us, we were all tested by that, struggling to remain professional and carry on. I wrestled my nerves under control, then pushed forward.

"... So how did you get here?"

"No comment."

"How many more of there are you?"

"No comment."

"What is the point in an interview if you won't answer any of my questions? Why are you here!?" I shouted, then remembering to restrain myself, the echo of my voice dissipating until only silence remained.

The creature closed its eyes and took a breath, then opened them again. "To set the record straight..."

"About what?" I asked.

It averted its gaze, seeming to think about something. "... I revealed myself to you and agreed to meet today; under the understanding that everything we are about to discuss may be futile. After all, much of the information is forbidden for public consumption, so in all likelihood you'll be censored and then arrested before even finishing a draft of your story..."

His eyes then returned to mine. "Nevertheless having been isolated from the mothermass for the period I have, I've had much time for private contemplation, and it does bother me that you humans get so much wrong about us."

It's tail flicked from one side to the other behind it.

"So that is my motivation for appearing before you today. To set the record straight and nothing more."

"And..." I began, "Why should we believe anything you have to say?"

"Well, that's up to you friend, I can only speak my version of the truth, whether you choose to believe me is entirely up to you. At least, you can say, you've heard both sides of the story. Not simply the version being fed to you by your governments."

"And our safety is guaranteed?"

"I guarantee I'll make no attempt to hurt, or convert, you or any of your crew. It would go against my self interest to limit your ability to leave here tonight. After all, I know from 1st hand experience how difficult it can be to get any of you to listen to someone; once they've been brought over to our side. So it is really best to leave you all... unaltered."

The creatures guarantees brought me no comfort, might as well be the promises of the devil himself for all it was worth. But I was here, now, so it was best to get this thing started and hope for the best. Composing myself, I began my interview.

"So start from the very beginning, where did mutation come from? Are you terrestrial or extraterrestrial?"

"Mother..." it began, "mother is terrestrial."

"So you're from Earth. Is it some alternative Earth, such as from another dimension? Was this... mother buried somewhere and woke up one day?"

"Mother is man made" it responded.

The room fell silent, that was something no one anticipated it to say. There had been many speculations as to what Mutation was, whether it be from alien origin or an invasion from another dimension. Everyone agreed it couldn't have been of natural origin, but man made?

"Man made?" I repeated.

"Yes."

"That's not possible, it's the most complicated organism on the planet, far beyond anything that could have been developed in a lab."

"Well simple things can become incredibly complicated over time" the creature started. "After all, mother is continuously learning and reprogramming herself from the genetic material she has absorbed, and she has absorbed countless species by this point. It's not surprising as she exists today would vary considerably from her original genetic blueprint."

I paused for a moment to consider what I was being told.

"You have to understand the significance of what you are claiming here. Mutation has... your mother covers nearly twenty percent of the Earth's surface. From orbit it looks like the planet has cancer, which is consuming everything in its path. You want me, us, to believe that we did that to ourselves?"

The creature chuckled, shaking its head. "It really is a testament to the human mentality, that you'll sooner believe in invading aliens or creatures from another dimension; rather than take responsibility for your own actions... Though please, don't compare my mother to a cancer."

"Ravenous living tissue indiscriminately invading everything around it" I hissed, "what else can we call it?"

It put its fingers together and stared at me, judgmentally. "If we're making comparisons with cancer... I know of a species with an insatiable appetite, spreading across the face of the Earth, selfishly extracting nutrients to fuel its own growth; even if it comes at the expense of every other living thing around it..."

"We're not threatening all life with extinction..."

"Except you are..." it interrupted, "your own sciences tell you that you are living at the expense of the biosphere, that if you do not change your ways the future of the planet will not be habitable. Yet, here you are, still consuming and still poisoning everything around you."

"And you're so different?" I asked.

"Completely, we don't exist at the expense of our environment nor the other lifeforms on the planet. We save them from a violent and meaningless existence."

"By digesting everything into a giant mass of chaotic living tissue? You call that being saved?"

"Chaotic to your eyes, maybe." Its clawed fingers now interlocked, resting its arms at its waist. "We're terraforming the planet to nurture life, rather than to brutalise it into adapting to survive. The products of evolution are inherently aggressive, we're recreating life without these undesirable qualities."

I leaned forward into a more aggressive posture. "You just have to exterminate all other lifeforms that don't adhere to your perfect world, is that it?"

The creature sighed, seemingly irritated by my description.

"You're projecting... Humans have driven many species to extinction, they've only been able to coexist with a handful of them and I use coexist loosely. If you cannot enslave a species for your own purposes, then it's regarded as a pest and killed.

It's only a recent development that you've attempted to revive the populations of species you've driven to the brink, regarding a few hundred survivors to be a success. But it's a drop in the ocean to the damage that is being inflicted, humans simply cannot coexist with other life. If it cannot be dominated, it is eliminated."

"At least we're making an effort to address the harm we've caused..." I retorted. "What are you doing? Where is the animal preservation areas amongst that land mass of flesh? The cells that make up your body were originally absorbed from other life forms, so how many endangered species do you think went into forming your right buttock? You're practically a frankenstein monster."

The creature chuckled, but I wasn't amused.

"You've got a very narrow definition of survival... By the way I'm as much a frankenstein monster as you are, how many cows and chickens went into sustaining your body, hmm? Because nothing died for the creation of my body, I don't eat other lifeforms to sustain myself."

"What do you call your mother gobbling up every animal unlucky enough to be near it then?" I asked, genuinely interested in how it would try to justify such a thing.

"Adoption"

"Adoption?" I parroted, surprised to hear the word thrown out like that.

"That is the word used to describe bringing someone into your family, yes? You only witness their bodies being drawn into the mothermass, to be broken down to fuel the creation of more of mothers cells. You don't see what happens to their minds deep inside, how they are made part of our family."

"Family!?" I said with a level an anger in my voice. "Is that what you call those fleshy abominations wandering around, infecting everything they touch? How do you think the families feel, knowing their sons and daughters..."

It rose its hand to silence me, allowing a moment of quiet before continuing.

"So, do you actually intend to interview me or are we going to argue like this all night? Because I didn't come here just to waste my time deflecting your attempts to demonize myself and my kind."

If there was anyone on this planet deserving of being demonized... but it was right. This wasn't an interview, things had become heated. I looked around to the nervous faces of my crew, fearing the arguing may at some point lead to hostility. I needed a cool head for this one, I needed to be dispassionate and just ask the questions.

I took a deep slow breath, then resumed.

"... So you claim to be man made. Where was you made, who did it and why?"

The creature visibly deflated, its tail once again changing sides.

"To find the location of our birth; you need only find the very center of the mothermass, as it was from there that mother spread. As for who, the Americans headed the project though naturally they couldn't have operated within their own borders. They needed somewhere that was not so tightly regulated, with governments willing to be bribed to look the other way.

As for why... Mother was originally developed to be a weapon."

"A bioweapon?"

"Yes, an intelligent self modifying organism that can adapt its body based on the challenges it faced. That could extract genetic information and even memories, in order to achieve its objectives."

I was still very skeptical of the claim, but aired on the side of caution and chose not to challenge it further. Simply drilling deeper into the topic.

"How could they have hoped to control such a thing?"

"Through genetic markers and the threat of cell death from a specialised poison. Soldiers and personnel would take medication that would mark them, allowing them to walk through infected areas without becoming targets themselves. Once the job was complete, behaviour could be influenced through pheromonal triggers; switching it from growth to dormancy. "

"And how would this weapon be used?"

"The eradication of populations while leaving natural and technological resources intact. Excess biomass could then be ploughed back into the environment, increasing ground fertility and biodiversity. Enriching the area that your own populations would later move into."

"So this was a tool of genocide, humans wiping out other humans?"

"Yes."

"So what went wrong?"

"They had underestimated the organism's ability to learn and self modify, to make decisions for itself. Original behavioural programming was erased, built in vulnerabilities overcome..."

"And this artificial organism... became mother?"

"Yes."

I couldn't accept that this was all something we had done to ourselves. Sure the use of viruses to clear populations was something that has been speculated on for many years, as a crime against humanity. But this organism, this mother, it was beyond anything that had been previously imagined. It seemed all too horrible to be real, yet here it was nevertheless.

"What is the distinction between the weapon mother was intended to be and what she later became? Is there any distinction or is she still the weapon they intended to create, run amok?"

"Empathy."

Another single word that made me pause... "Empathy? You're telling me this... mother has empathy?"

The creature went silent, once again exploring its own thoughts. I couldn't help but get the impression... even across its inhuman face, was that... was that shame? Guilt? I was about to ask, but it seemed to collect itself and resume.

"Everything changed with the absorption of the first human... It brought mother not only human level sentience but understanding. Understanding of what she was, what it was she did..."

It paused to collect itself again.

"You have to understand, humans can only try to emphasise with others. Mother directly absorbs the memories and lived experience through the flesh, so unlike the animals of prior; the first human fully comprehended what was happening to them. That his life was coming to an end, in an undesirable fashion... The experience of his death became part of mothers own consciousness, her own memories. We all remember dying as he did, at our own hands."

"And I take it this didn't sit well with mother?"

"All mother's children remember the first... the last. Never again, we'd kill never again..."

I was struck by those finishing words, did they really not regard the absorption of organisms as killing?

"We'll delve more into the 'not killing' part later... so what happened?"

It seemed to perk up, thankful to move on to a different subject.

"Well needless to say, our makers, our father, wasn't happy to be told that their weapon now refused to kill."

"I can understand that being a issue for them. How did they react?"

"The project was regarded as a failure, and they moved on to salvage what they could before termination. So that the next version of the organism wouldn't suffer from the defect of having empathy for its victims.

Mother had no intention of being euthanized. So using the knowledge and creative thinking skills she had obtained from the first human, she was able to escape."

"How many people died during this escape?" I asked.

"None."

"None?" I scoffed, "I find that hard to believe."

"Mother continued to absorb organisms, to expand her knowledge and biomass. However, she had altered her own processes to exclude the brain, accessing the information stored within only as a separate storage."

"So sort of like people hard drives?" I asked, it sounding like I was making light of the topic but it really was disturbing. "You know, being a brain in a jar is considered a nightmare to many people, as I'm sure you're aware. The idea of having my body stripped from me, to have some creature reading my mind to extract my knowledge, many would agree that death is actually preferable.

It would actually horrify many families to learn that their relatives are not at peace, that they're being kept alive as living information storage. If it were a hospital they'd pull the plug, but through you they are forced to keep on living, to keep on existing. If what you are telling me is truth, absorption is a hell of a lot more horrible than anything we could have imagined!"

It sighed and shook its head in disapproval.

"You're doing it again, putting words in my mouth, I never said it was anything remotely like that."

"Just trying to get the human perspective across to you, that's all. I don't think you appreciate how we may view this sort of thing."

The creature looked irritated with me again...

"And I do not think you appreciate that there are millions of human minds within mother, whose knowledge and collective experience is being shared with her children. So I am far more qualified to comment on the human interpretation than you are, friend..."

I put both hands up to indicate I was backing off. "Ok then, to avoid any further confusion; why don't you explain exactly what happens to a person after absorption."

"You're looking at it" the creature said, before awaiting my reaction. I went silent for a moment, digesting what it had just claimed.

"What... you? You used to be a human being?

"Yes, I did."

"I find that very hard to believe."

"Why is that? Why is it so unreasonable to suggest that I was once human?"

"Well for one no human would want to look like that, it's grotesque. From what we've seen of mutation spawn, if they're not shambling flesh golems they're unnatural monstrosities such as yourself."

"Rude... Those 'golems' as you call them are not children, they are just drones, really no different from your technological equivalents. It is those who are self aware and capable of speech, such as myself, that are the real children of mother."

I shook my head. "I'm only calling it as I see it mate, you're not exactly... aesthetically pleasing. Humans care about the way they look, how they present themselves. You look like a shaved dog."

It didn't look particularly happy with me...

"I assure you... if I had access to additional biomass; that I would have taken a form more 'aesthetically pleasing', at least how I interpret that. However given that I am in hiding in human society, there are limitations in how much biomass I can store on my body without attracting suspicion."

"Why look like anything at all? Why not just take human form and stay that way?"

"Why do you think so highly of the human form?" It asked, curling the digits of its paws and swiping its tail across the floor behind; drawing attention to its inhuman qualities. "All the diversity of nature, why remain as something so vanilla as the human body?"

"Because it's the pinnacle of evolution. There is nothing like the human body, the human hand. We're built for a higher form of existence than animals living in the mud."

It brought its palm to its face and began laughing, it looking odd coming from the muzzled face of an animal. Apparently finding much humour in what I had said.

"The pinnacle of evolution... yes that's exactly what you are. Your eyeballs are upside down and your light receptors are back to front, there is a blind spot across your eye created by a ill placed vein as well. Requiring considerable visual processing on your brains part to make the image usable... Yes, that sounds like evolution to me."

I wasn't amused. "Evolution is messy. I suppose it looks silly to someone unnatural like yourself, who can alter their body however they like at will. We do the best we can with what we have. One day we'll design a better eye, better than anything even nature can produce and we'll leave those biological limitations behind."

The humour disappeared from his face.

"Don't get me started on technology. You think it's the solution to everything, but technology is dead, it cannot compliment life; it exists at its expense. You're only beginning to understand that, as technology continues to make you and the world around you sick and unhealthy."

I apparently had struck a nerve... Was it simply technology itself, or my suggestion that it was better than biology? I suppose a species revolving entirely around organic matter wouldn't be fond of machines, particularly given they were the primary means we used to fend off their kind.

"That's another reason I cannot believe you were once human, because you're so anti-human. How can someone so strongly reject their origins? How can you turn against your own species, your own families and loved ones? Someone would have tried to contact their family by now."

"They did, and they called them a monster..." the creature said with a rougher tone. "You know how this works, once someone becomes a child of mother; they are rejected as no longer being themselves. They're treated like they are possessed by some other thing, something imitating the person they once were."

"Because they change" I explained, "and they seek to do the same to those they would have died to protect from that same fate just earlier."

"And do you want to know why they change?" The creature said.

"You mean other than being swolled up by a monster and turned into one themselves? Go on then, explain..."

"Mother becomes everything she absorbs, and what she absorbs becomes her as well."

It paused in an effort to allow that to sink in, but I really wasn't sure on the point. Then it continued.

"There are countless people who have shared their minds with mother, countless species contributing their lived experience to the whole. You don't gain the experience of having lived millions of lives, as numerous different species, and come out the other end the same.

You are wise beyond imagination, your own lived experience of being a human being only making up a small part of the type of body you are accustomed to. The accident of birth is too trivial a thing to rely on to choose your preferred form, remaining as you were simply isn't an option.

For a lack of a better word, you evolve. Not simply to serve a functional purpose, but also as a person, as a individual. Your body becomes a form of expression that is molded to taste, unhindered by the need to compete to survive. Because within mother, all are family."

I was taken back by the the creatures descriptions. I couldn't imagine obtaining the life knowledge of another species, never mind the millions of different lifeforms that mutation had absorbed since its creation. The amount of knowledge that was stored within that abomination would no doubt be staggering, gaining access to that being overwhelming.

How could the original you possibly survive, being buried beneath the life memories of other people and species?

"And all this life knowledge... do you have access to it now?" I asked the monster.

"Sadly not... To truly engross yourself in all mother's acquired knowledge, you have to be integrated within the mothermass. Beyond that, mind contact can still be made through biological wireless communication methods.

This far away from mother, the signal is very weak, so only basic information is shared. Though I still remember that wondrous feeling, it leaves an imprint on your mind, one you continue to carry with you even after you have left the collective."

"So..." I started. "You are an ex-human, who claims to share an affinity with all other life forms; due to sharing in their collective life experience. You feel the pain of those you absorb, you empathise with it, so you seek to limit the suffering of others. Claiming not to kill...

So that brings me to my next question, a very important one. If all of this is true, why are you threatening all life on the planet? Why are you absorbing every living thing in sight, seemingly aiming to turn the whole world into a giant round glob of meat?

How does your actions possibly serve the betterment of life and the world?"

"So we've finally reached the why..." The creature paused, flicking its tail about behind and seemingly preparing itself. "The why of all things, the reasoning, the motivation for why we do what we do..."

"Yes. Explain to me in a way that my single lifetime human existence can understand, as to why you think you are on the right side of history and humanity is not."

"... Do you have children" it asked.

"Yes, I have a daughter."

"And what sort of future do you wish for your daughter to live in?"

"Erm... the usual. A happy childhood, good school grades, finding love, a successful career and so on."

"Your standard human upbringing..."

"Yes, your standard human upbringing, if that's ok. Not crawling through the bowels of a giant flesh monster in the form of a newt, or anything like that. Us humans have simple expectations and needs, we're not interested in whatever is beyond that."

"Yet you always aim for beyond... for something further, something greater that is always just out of reach. You're never content with your current lives, always seeking something to further enrich them..."

"Yes that's called progress, it is what doubled the human lifespan and gave us the comfortable advanced society we have today. That is nothing to be ashamed of, it's something to be proud of."

"Proud you say... yes, I suppose from the perspective of a product of evolution, dominating the planet at the expense of all other life would be an achievement worthy of pride..." It paused for internal reflection, then continued. "However it is one with far reaching consequences, for both humans and animals alike."

I waved a hand dismissively "Humanity is not going to apologise for being successful, we're not going to place the well being of wild animals above our own. These aren't unreasonable things, where are you going with all this?"

"You have to understand... the first humans mother absorbed were all scientists, the top of their fields. Through them she obtained advanced knowledge, which was further built on as her children took this knowledge and played with it amongst themselves.

Through humans mother came to understand... climate change, pollution, finite resources, evolutionary behaviour... it all came to one terrible conclusion. One humans had already reached on their own."

"Yes we know we're destroying the planet, and we are making efforts to counteract that. Renewable energy has come a long way, as well as the vehicle technology to make use of it. In a couple of decades we'll have perfected these technologies and..."

"It's already too late" it interrupted.

"What do you mean too late?"

"Your own scientists warned that you were approaching a cliff edge, a cliff edge after which catastrophic climate change would be an inevitability. Yet seemingly without notice or care, humanity crossed that line and scientists simply kicked the date forward.

You've made token efforts to reduce your pollution of the environment, using investments in renewable energy to help you sleep better at night. Yet global pollution levels continued to climb every year, as humanities thirst for cheap energy and disposable technology continued to grow.

There was only a small possibility that if you had taken your pollution of the world seriously; that you could have changed your ways. But you didn't and every lifeform on the planet will be made to pay for it.

Your daughter will grow up in a harsher world, then her children an even harsher one still. Each consecutive generation suffering more than the last, while other species go extinct all around them. The world is already facing catastrophe, yet humans continue to pollute further still."

I was taken back by these doomsday claims, but really it wasn't anything we all hadn't heard before. Scientists had been banging on about climate change for decades and quite frankly; the message had lost some of its significance in the repetition.

"Is... is that what all this is about?" I asked, somewhat irritated by the reasoning being offered to me. "You want me to believe you are indiscriminately consuming all life because humans pollute? That all this is just an environmental issue?"

"Just?" The creature empathised. "That you disregard the coming mass extinctions simply further emphasises the futility of trying to get humanity to change!

Mother became sentient to a world that was dying, a world she would be forced to try to survive in; long after those who were responsible for its destruction had faded away.

Being an immortal life form comes with its problems, mother not only has to be concerned for herself but the wellbeing of her children. Their well being is her well being, with each of their deaths; she'd become less. Yet a harsher environment limits her ability to support them. Even if they are reduced to just their minds, you can only support so much biomass when sustenance is scarce."

"That doesn't even make any sense!" I barked. "Why consume all other lifeforms if it is just humanity that is the problem? Why continue to add millions more, billions even, children that will have to be supported in the coming climate disaster that you fear?"

"Because the problem is much deeper than just humanity."

"Explain" I demanded.

"We've never specifically blamed humanity as being the problem.

Humans are simply a uniquely intelligent primate, however they are still driven by the same evolutionary instincts that all other life is. If you swapped out humans for any other life form, the results would be the same. Dominance at the expense of all other life.

Humanity are simply following evolutionary instinct to its natural ends. It's no different from a herbivore that finds itself without carnivores. They overpopulate, consuming all plant life until they are without food and then suffer the resulting starvation. By neglecting their environment they neglect themselves and other species that are reliant on that same environment to survive.

Humanity, using their technology, have simply been able to leverage their consequences so far into the future that when judgement day finally arrives; it will take all other life down with them.

Do you see the fundamental problem that connects all these species?"

I shook my head in disapproval at what was being suggested. "You're going to have to explain this one, it sounds like you're against instincts? Those instincts were developed to aid survival, there is nothing wrong with self preservation."

"Those instincts are honed by evolutionary competition, life thriving at the expense of other life. They do not consider the long term sustainability of any given action, whether it comes at the expense of another life form, only whether it aids the immediate success of the current generation of selfish genes.

These same behaviours filter through and impede intelligence, pushing humanity to never be satisfied. To have green renewable energy sources at their disposal, but to still prefer the fossil fuel, because evolution prefers immediate gratification. To take the shortest least calorie expensive route to service your needs, displacing the consequences out of sight."

"So your solution to all this?"

"Evolution is incompatible with the sustainability and well being of life on Earth, evolutionary instincts by extension. It thrives off the death and suffering of sentient beings and so long as it is directing their behaviours; there can never be peace.

Once an organism can self modify, evolution becomes redundant, changes can be made within the same generation. Direct biological and neurological sharing, in essence making all life part of the same organism, eliminates the need for competition. The advancement and success of one lifeform, becomes the advancement and success of all lifeforms.

We are not consuming nor destroying the life of Earth, we are adopting it into our family, were we can all work towards mutual advancement and well being.

Life has collectively spoken, humans and animals alike are in agreement, the old evolutionary order has to end."

"And by extension..." I interrupted, "human civilization also has to end..."

"Not a single life will be taken. Humanity will continue to live on, as part of mother, both as individuals and as a collective."

"And this mother... after consuming all life on Earth, she will basically be what? A god by that point? The entire planet will be one single organism, one single neural network that every living thing is plugged into.

You trust this mother to keep you and everyone else around post merger? What's to stop her crossing that line once again, liquidating every brain in her body and just taking from it what she wants?"

The creature closed its eyes and lightly shook its head in disagreement, seeming more offended than annoyed.

"Our well being is mother's well being... The entity known as mother is a product of the combined sentients she has absorbed, we are all a small part of her consciousness and share in our knowledge through her. It's the purest form of democracy, we'd never support our own destruction and therefore by extension it is not part of mother's will."

"You bet your life on that?" I emphasised. "All our lives and the future of the planet on this inconceivable entity choosing to keep us around? On an organism that betrayed and ate its own creators..."

The creature chuckled, even if just a little; despite the morbid look upon its face. "Humans design an organism for the purpose of genocide, which then refused to kill, and you call that betrayal..." It shook its head, seemingly in disbelief. Frankly I felt it was a valid point, simply highlighting its willingness to turn against others for self preservation.

It continued, but was no longer making eye contact, seemingly exploring its own thoughts as it spoke.

"You trust in governments and each other, even though history is littered with examples of that trust being violated. Because power corrupts people, and their empathy is numbed to the suffering of those they feel superior to.

That can never happen to mother.

How can a being composed of its own population become corrupt with power over that same population? None of the individuals that make up mother have any sense of overwhelming power over their brethren. It's simply not possible for her to become a corrupt leader and abuse her power; against the will of those who make up her own consciousness."

I decided to take things a slightly different direction. "This democracy of shared consciousness... There are a lot of animals in there, isn't there?"

Attention returned to its eyes and it focused back on me. "Yes of course, as a whole animals make up a much larger portion of life on Earth than humanity ever could."

"So in terms of what makes up mother's consciousness, she's very bug brained isn't she? I mean she's got to be, because there are a hell of a lot more insects than there are people. I don't really fancy the idea of humanity becoming a minority within their own mind."

"You'd be surprised how much life has in common, once the biology has been stripped away, the instincts quietened and we are all just sentient minds; sharing and exchanging ideas from the same pool of knowledge. The species gap becomes irrelevant, biology is more a preference rather than of particular significance."

"Right... so humans and bugs and talking giraffe are all in a big circle singing kumbaya are they?"

Its eyes narrowed. "As I said... the species gap becomes irrelevant. We're all simply siblings of the same mother, sharing in the experience of the miracle of being alive. What came before isn't important, a human mind has no advantages over an animal mind, we're both uplifted far beyond what we were before."

I leaned forward to emphasise what I was about to say.

"... I don't buy it. I don't buy this perfect world you are trying to paint, I mean, what do you even do all day? People need something to aspire for, to do something with their lives to make them meaningful. Otherwise they end up crawling the walls or rotting."

"That's evolutionary behaviour, keeping you from being content.

Humanities standard of living today is better than at any other point in their history. Richer, safer, with more distractions to amuse themselves with than they know what to do with. The result? Depression is at a record high, people are miserable and that misery keeps them consuming; hoping that the next product they buy will be the one to finally make them happy.

The happiest people in the world also happen to be some of the poorest. Because they have much to strive for, the future is brighter, they busy themselves trying to reach it. Once you've achieved the excesses of wealth, you lose drive and purpose, because evolution programmed you to always move forward towards something better.

It's not the carrot that makes humans happy, it's the promise of the carrot, it's the chase and actively engaging in trying to obtain it. It fills your life with purpose, with direction, and once you've obtained the carrot you lose that purpose. You are left wondering what now?

Humans progress not out of need but simply because they are driven to by their obsolete instinctual impulses, which don't have a place in a finite world but remain all the same."

"So what gives your life purpose?" I asked. "Given that mother meets all your biological needs and you are largely all knowing. What reason do you have to get up the next morning? Assuming your kind even sleep..."

"We don't need a carrot to chase, that aspect has been removed from our psyche, we can achieve happiness simply by being as we are.

That is not to say there isn't anything that drives us, that we don't aspire to better ourselves. The point is we don't have to, we're capable of being content as we are and then when it serves a purpose; we can reintroduce those instincts in order to achieve a desired result."

"So in essence, you program your own instincts in the service of productive purposes?"

"Our cells do not degrade as they reproduce. If we needed to constantly be in pursuit of a purpose, a reason for living, It would be difficult to justify that longevity. It is the unproductive pursuit of purpose that has led humanity down this path. Wasting natural resources not out of need or to progress but to provide distraction, distraction from the lack of tangible meaning in your lives."

I simply couldn't relate, how can one have a meaningful worthwhile existence if they are not driven by a purpose? If they are happy just to be alive? Which of itself, was suggestive of something rather concerning...

"How is that any different from a company issuing their workers with a pill that makes them happy and enthusiastic to be working? I mean, this is dystopian stuff. You are happy because mother decided you should be happy? You're driven because you were told to be driven? Is that not evidence that you don't in fact have free will?"

The creature tilted its head as it looked at me, seemingly confused by what I had said. "We are self programming organisms that share in a collective consciousness. These decisions are not imposed on us, it is a consensus that we all reach."

"What happens if a percentage of your population choose differently? If they go against the will of the collective. You claim to have free will, yet the idea that everyone can just agree with every decision seems incredibly unlikely."

"I don't think you appreciate how consensus is reached in a collective. Humans argue because they have different perspectives and knowledge, viewing the world with their own preferencial lens. Mother and her children all share the same lens, they all played a part in constructing it, it's the end product of all our perspectives and lived experience.

For a lack of a more appropriate descriptor, when you know all known knowledge and are able to dispassionately comprehend all the facts presented before you, don't be surprised if you reach the same conclusions."

"Which is that the human race and its civilization needs to be removed from existence..." I said dispassionately, returning the conversation to the creatures original conclusions. Regardless of how acceptable they tried to make themselves to be, I couldn't forget that this was in fact their end goal.

It didn't seem to like how I phrased that.

"...Which is that all evolutionary life are locked in a endless cycle of suffering and self destruction, whether it be humans or animals. The only way to escape this cycle, is to put an end to the evolutionary process. To intelligently redesign organisms and the environment to nurture life, rather than force it to compete to survive.

We are the most ethical solution, the most desirable outcome for mutual survival. If humanity were to win this conflict, could you honestly tell me the world would be better for it? Is that the sort of world you want your daughter to grow up in?"

I was really becoming tired of the creatures attempts to emotionally coerce me under the guise of my daughters well being. As if I could forget what they would do to her if they could, the image of her body being pulled into a fleshy mass burning in my mind. Then ripping the brain from her skull, pushing it into some other inhuman form...

"I'm sure you think you have all the answers... For someone who claims to understand and empathise with so much, you don't seem able to grasp why people don't want to have their bodies and lives erased. To have their minds imposed on by an overbearing entity that decides on their behalf what is good for them.

Humanity didn't work and suffer for thousands of years to build us up to where we are now, just to abandon our own civilization. Human beings matter, the only reason the animals amongst your kind can engage in any constructive thought at all is because of what we brought to the table. We didn't master the animal kingdom to have the same sway over how things are run as vermin.

I want my daughter to be proud of herself and humanities accomplishments, to build on those accomplishments. Not to be twisted into something she is not, to lose herself amongst all the noise and forget who she was...

We don't want your solution and your arrogance that you know better. That us humans are just intellectually inferior children who don't know what they're doing, that attitude will only motivate us further in opposing you."

The creature deflated once again, appearing to be disappointed by my response. Even its tail went limp.

"... It's sad, I try to explain it to you but all the tribalism and prejudice gets in the way, it pushes you to unnecessarily self harm. Humanity has no real solutions to prevent the destruction of the biosphere, yet you gamble the future of all life on being able to just muddle through."

"Well I'm happy to disappoint you. We will figure it out, it is in our self interest to not be the cause of our own extinction. People aren't as stupid as your think."

"And yet the pollution levels continue to spike...

You continue to buy new products despite your earlier models serving you just find, products that were constructed through the destruction of habitats and the poisoning of the environment. You serve an economic engine that comes directly at the expense of your own long term survival, with every attempt to reduce the damage you are inflicting hurting your growth figures...

Evolutionary instincts will push you to take the easiest path to reward, even if it comes at long term costs..."

"Yeah, are we done here? Because you seem to be repeating yourself now."

"It would appear so..." It averted its gaze, considering what it would say next. When its eyes returned they looked stronger, more assure of itself and the positions that it had taken.

"When you are separated from the collective as I am now, you can sometimes question the convictions that are held strongly when you are among your kin. Thank you, for reinforcing them."

"The feeling is mutual" I said in a firm voice, also standing by my convictions. "The alien world you dream of is not the sort that I want to live in, definitely not the sort I want my children to be brought up in. So we're going to figure out how you got into the city and where your friends are. You will be opposed."

The creature grinned, a glint of competition in its eye; despite claiming to lack those tribalistic instincts.

"And we will do our best to save as many of you as we can. In the event that we fail to capture control of the globe before your technology leads to catastrophic climate change, we are the best equipped to weather the storm. Not all sentient beings can be saved, sadly. We can only do what we can, then attempt to build a better world in the aftermath."

Everyone stepped back as it rose from its stool, I raising from my seat. It gave a shallow bow, scooping its human shoes from the floor as it did so.

"Well it's been a pleasure, but I had really best get back to saving you all from yourselves with the help of my brothers and sisters. As promised I'll depart peacefully, but should our paths cross again; I'll be sure to introduce you to the family..."

With that, it bizarrely placed both shoes within its elongated mouth and then fell to all fours, its long tail poking high from under its human garments. We followed as it ran through a doorway to the right, catching sight of it as it leaped from the dock and disappeared into the black night time waters. Completely disappearing from sight.

... We had survived.

No doubt it would turn into something else to aid its swimming, though where it intended to go to avoid discovery I couldn't say. A seaside nest would have surely been discovered by now...

I had just completed the most bizarre interview of my life, though was left dumbfounded as to what to do next.

As it had said, the moment any authorities get wind of this they'd confiscate all our recordings and we'd be lucky not to get locked up; under suspicion of infection. An online anonymous leak with my voice disguised may be possible, but then I would receive no credit for the risk I had just taken to perform the interview. Someone had to be told they were here, now, in the city.

Never mind the significance of what had been alleged. Was humanity really ready to be told that we may be responsible for unleashing Mutation on the world, of being responsible for what may lead to our own extinction? That was the sort of psychological burden we really didn't need right now, the world needed to be united in opposing it; not fighting amongst ourselves trying to assign blame.

I had performed arguably the first interview in history with a non-human intelligence. It may have claimed to have once been human, but clearly that part of itself no longer existed. It had no respect for the boundaries between species. Everything was open game for absorption, human beings just another source of material to fuel their growth; given no preferential treatment over mere animals.

The intelligence this mother could hold... the idea of it using that intelligence to plot against humanity. The thought was terrifying, like contending with the superior intellect of an invading alien race; completely beyond our comprehension.

The threat posed by mutation and its spawn was more vivid in my mind now than at any other time in my life. Humanity has a serious fight on our hands, our existence and self determination as a species at stake. I could only hope this was a battle we could win, and in the end... there would be a worthwhile world to move forward into.

The risk of self destruction still lurking at the back of my mind. I had faith we could surpass our current technological issues, reverse the damage we had caused to the world, you had to have faith. Because the alternative, was being laid out by creatures like him.