Gaia

by Jeff Gardiner

  Nations came together and worked in mutual cooperation to share resources and create equality. Countries worked together and shared knowledge and resources. Communication was key and certain spokespeople were chosen to represent their nations. Those representatives demanded no personal power or status. If they communicated something badly they were replaced by a different person.

  Dictators and previously megalomaniacal presidents spoke quietly and with a new sense of reason and vision.

  Because everyone was a numen. I think that was key. When you are able to become another creature, something inside you changes irrevocably. You have a whole new understanding and view of the world. It transforms you both outside and within.

  Presidents, prime ministers, kings and queens changed before our eyes; not only into reptiles, insects, mammals and birds, but also into people who cared and who had shared a vision that changed everything. Some governments, constitutions, laws and councils stepped down and rescinded their powers.

  This was unprecedented. A truly global vision. A oneness. Planetary unity.

  And the focus became Falco. Luke. Who else?

  Luke was happy to be the focus, while also representing Europe. I spoke for the African continent. It worked well, but we knew this could only be temporary. How long did we have before chaos ensued, or we went back to how it was before?

  This reminded me of Gene. Where was he? Did he still pose a threat? Had he changed too?

  Of course we rejoiced once the electricity returned, but I thought, sadly, about those who had been in hospital attached to machines who might not have survived during the blackout. Was it a price worth paying? Who can tell?

  Luke thought about this for a while. ‘We have to look at the bigger picture, I suppose. Without the sacrifice and tragedy we would all perish anyway. That’s one way of looking at it.’

  I wasn’t wholly convinced.

  Then the written threats returned. They were short messages such as “You’re on your ninth life now, Felis!”, and “Who is more important to you, Luke? Ala or your mother?” I didn’t let them get to me. It was probably just macho, bravado-type behaviour from some group such as the ‘Numens Against Gaia’ mob who were desperate for some notoriety. Harmless stuff in my opinion. Luke took it more seriously though and became a little distant.

  The problems we faced were all the same: climate change and global warming, not to mention the hole in the ozone layer; deforestation – meaning fewer trees to soak up all the carbon dioxide, plus the loss of habitats and biodiversity; pollution of air, land and water from industries, agriculture and overpopulated cities; oceanic dead zones; toxic waste and plastic garbage; and then the most controversial of all – the unsustainable rise in the human population with their greedy desire to consume products and food – especially meat – that then results in non-biodegradable garbage on a huge scale. These things had to be tackled. Immediately.

  Falco proposed a few changes and pleaded that we try our best to keep to the new rules, however hard it became.

  To combat overpopulation two things were suggested: that people over a certain age would volunteer to be sterilised, and that a limit be put on the number of children allowed per family or mother. This was the most difficult one to argue, and would be practically impossible to enforce or check up on.

  It was agreed that ‘consumerism’ as a political and economic philosophy had failed, and should be seen as a bad thing. We, in the west, had turned into a species of shoppers – buying, using, disposing, then buying more in a never-ending cycle of possessing ‘stuff’. It didn’t make us any happier but it made the manufacturers richer. That had to end. It was all about changing our mindset. Happiness was found in the company of friends and family, or being creative or active outside.

  ‘Get a hobby’ was a phrase bandied around by adults and children. It became the thing to say if anyone dared to complain of boredom.

  ‘Just not shopping!’ Luke added. ‘That’s not a hobby. Shopping is a form of escapism. Like comfort-eating. Obviously, get the things you need but only buy the bare essentials.’

  The next suggestion was my favourite. Grow your own vegetables, fruit and salad. Share and swap with your friends and neighbours. Try not to throw things away. Re-use or pass them on to someone who needs them. Mend things! Like the old days. Darn your socks and put patches on your clothes. People in the western world had become so brainwashed and manipulated by advertising and fashion that they struggled with this very basic concept. It was assumed that when something stopped working you threw it away and bought another one. But this had to stop. The inequality in wealth was to blame. Many people in the first world had more money than sense, making them lazy and selfish.

  The next bit of advice made total sense but demanded big changes in lifestyle. Don’t use your car. Use public transport, cycle or walk. If you had to have a car, get an electric one.

  Falco spoke about outlawing all but electric cars within the next few years.

  ‘And I hope to ban all advertising.’

  Could that really happen, or was it a pipe dream?

  The next stage we witnessed was Gaia finding ways to balance out the problems. Reforestation had to be our number one priority, and Gaia had already begun this in our cities. True, this process had wreaked havoc and destruction, but it balanced out the destruction we’d wreaked on the planet. Somehow Gaia had found a way for trees to grow rapidly – within a few days – and to gigantic proportions.

  These new habitats provided space and nourishment for species to breed and grow in numbers at a phenomenal pace and in super-abundance. It was more important than ever to look after all species, especially as some of them were also our friends and family in numen form. This was the biggest change of all. Humans were no longer ‘special’ – set apart from the animal world; no longer stewards, keepers or farmers of animals, but their equals. This began a multitude of problems and complexities that none of us predicted.

  What would the complete effect be of everyone – literally overnight – becoming a numen?

  This was the next stage in human evolution, except that this stage had been hurried on faster than it would have happened naturally. Much faster – but then again, Gaia had been forced into such a measure. The numenisation of humanity was a wonderful and yet terrifying prospect. With people becoming animals, what would happen to things like personal and national identity? What would happen about border control when millions of people could simply fly or swim into any country they liked?

  Everything was up in the air. Everything.

  Things like politics and governments and jobs and education – that we’d all taken for granted – now made little sense in our new world. It was a world of opportunity and hope, but also a world of potential anarchy. Who exactly was in charge? Who was protecting the vulnerable? Who could make any sense of what was happening?

  On the problem of pollution, nature introduced another wonderful solution. Leading scientists working for the Gaia Foundation discovered the sudden presence of microbes that consumed plastic and toxic waste. An uncountable number of them – scientists estimated in centillions – could provide the ultimate solution to counteracting human pollution. These microbes were recorded in the air, seas and rivers, as well as in landfills and all waste-dumping sites around the world, and when Luke and I flew to witness them at work we could actually see the garbage disappearing physically – as if in slow motion. You had to be patient and concentrate, but it really could be seen gradually breaking down and disappearing, eaten by these invisible eco-warriors. Apparently they could even convert radioactive metals, like plutonium and uranium, into a harmless compound. I wondered how it was done.

  ‘I had it explained to me,’ said Luke, ‘but I can’t remember all the technical terms. From what I remember, all living creatures need electrons to give us energy. We get ours from sugar. These microbes, however, take their electrons from chemicals, and some of them don’t need oxygen at all. Oh, and then the best bi
t of all is that while they do this they generate electricity, and can pass electrons on to each other. They are electricity generators! Some of these cells can convert urine, sewage or seaweed into electricity. How cool is that? Get enough of these amazing things together and we can create electricity from our own garbage and crap!’

  We witnessed a miraculous event; one that combined the powers of nature with the brilliance of science. An oil tanker had been abandoned in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean a few weeks before, and after being bashed by storms had started leaking oil until it was surrounded by acres of black goo that was slowly killing all the wildlife caught in its wake. Scientists arrived, brought in on the World Wildlife Fund’s solar-powered catamaran, and on a Greenpeace ship.

  We flew overhead and watched them at work. The people involved wore white protective suits and headgear as they were rowed into the slick in rubber dinghies. Then a liquid containing the appropriate microbes were carefully poured into small areas of the oil spill at vaguely regular intervals. The catalyst being used had been recently discovered, making the bacteria work super-fast.

  I didn’t fully understand the scientific basis behind it, but what we witnessed was the black oil vanishing before our eyes. It was explained to me by a marine biologist that the microbes somehow turned the oil into carbon dioxide. Then the process continued as the biologists somehow directed the carbon dioxide towards a large, intense patch of phytoplankton, kelp, and algal plankton, which then converted it, using sunlight, into oxygen. A simple yet wondrous process.

  As Luke said, ‘This is the ideal solution: the planet healing itself. Nature in balance. Awe-inspiring stuff.’

  We were witnessing miracles, revolutions, evolution, whole paradigm shifts in human understanding, philosophy, science and technology. Our brains reeled and our sanity was tested to the limit, until we only had our imaginations left to serve us. We needed thinkers, dreamers, visionaries, artists, designers, poets, musicians and painters to lead us into the future. We’d been given a fresh chance – a blank canvas – and this time we had to we get it right. It was completely down to us.

  Chapter Thirty

  A wasp entered through a broken window and landed on a blank computer monitor. Another one buzzed in and landed on the boardroom table. Then another. Another. Until a whole colony swarmed across the dim room. The combined sound of so many wasps in one place created a loud hiss, as some remained in the air, hovering; constantly ebbing and flowing in a cloud, like a single entity breathing heavily.

  The sound of the door opening caused the resting wasps to take off simultaneously. Lights flickered overhead as twelve men and women filed into the room to take seats around the table.

  In a shimmering instant, the wasps merged and landed neatly on the floor in a single human form.

  Ladies and gentlemen; creatures and elementals. The real battle has just begun. We must seek to double our efforts and win back what is rightfully ours. Let’s use these changes to our advantage and prove that money and political power will always conquer nature. We weren’t given brains and intelligence only to return to being mere beasts of the field. Humans are the master race.

  Voices and laughter filled the room.

  PART 3

  A few years later

  LUKE

  Chapter Thirty-One

  I thrust my claws into the bark of the oak tree that rises from a ground-level paving stone by the entrance doors of The Shard, and scamper as far as I can up the trunk, circling it a few times like a squirrel to avoid the branches. I find the familiar overhanging bough that leads me to the next tree: a sweet chestnut growing from a specially adapted hole in the fifth floor wall. That takes me up to a sturdy pine whose roots curl into an apartment on level twelve. From here I gain good vantage to floor twenty which is well served for such as me by a thick and sturdy moonflower vine. There are more trees above, but as I’m panting I decide to continue using a different route.

  After a swift change into Falco, I fling myself outwards about fifty metres above ground but still not even halfway up. I turn a few times until a thermal from some lower buildings lifts me towards the sixty-third floor of The Shard. I immediately recognise my apartment from the copper beech tree that stands out among the various greens around it. It is home to many new friends whose numens are insects and birds.

  I land on the narrow balcony and transform into Luke. Retina and voice control scanners activate the lock on the sliding door. I hardly ever use the elevator, or the front door of my apartment – only really there for nonflying or non-climbing guests. I sometimes host friends who, as humans, or even as numens, struggle to get this far up into the tower block. Friends like Ceta, the young minke whale I helped to rescue, or Demi the komodo dragon; neither of them could negotiate the vertical forest of trees and vines that swathe The Shard in luxurious greenery now.

  The Shard consists entirely of apartments on the inside, mainly for those who wish to continue living as humans for the main part. Mum and Dad live on a lower floor where I can see them regularly. They have a new zest for life and are filled with many new ambitions and dreams for what is to come. That optimism is a general thing across all people across the world. Possibly a gift from Gaia.

  For those who prefer to live as other species, they choose either an adapted apartment or find a section on the outside amongst the entangled branches spiralling around this or most other city towers. The best habitats are the roofs, the cause of more than a few squabbles. However, space is more readily shared now, and there is plenty of it.

  Ownership of space and property has disappeared. ‘First come first served’ is the established rule, with family and friends looking out for each other. Things seem to work out fine. There are struggles and tensions, but all are eventually resolved with humility and understanding. The golden standard is ‘sharing’. The main agreement is that the young, the old and the vulnerable come first. They get priority in food and shelter. The fittest and healthiest come last. That sounds like it should go against nature, but it really doesn’t, because looking after others and putting them first has become the natural order of things. That is the norm.

  Hearing a buzzing from a corner of the room, I glance up out of curiosity. It’s a wasp. A little yellow and black thing walking on my ceiling. It’s a tiny creature which – sure – could sting me, but if I leave it alone, offers me no threat. I look around for others. A swarm of them would be different, especially a whole colony also known as Gene. But there’s been no sighting of or word from him since being left for dead. It means I’m suspicious of wasps when I see them. But a solitary wasp has every right to be on my ceiling, no doubt attracted by the fennel and yarrow I have growing outside one of my open windows.

  It reminds me that life can never be perfect. There will always be challenges and difficulties. But problems and enemies must never stop us from being who we really are, or from doing what we know is right.

  I make a cup of tea and switch on my laptop to check out the latest news.

  On the BBC News page there is a video with the headline ‘Hounded Out of Town’. I press play to start the clip.

  ‘Notorious gang, the Fang Club, got a taste of their own medicine when they attacked a shop assistant and made off with some jewellery. Fatimah Henderson alerted her security team who chased them down the street.’

  The images with the report, from a CCTV camera, show a pack of wild dogs in a shop causing havoc as a couple of gang members turn into humans, fill packs with jewellery and then strap them to their backs before changing back into dogs again and all careering off down the road. Then it cuts to a different camera – presumably filmed by a bystander – following a tiger and a cheetah pelting after them.

  ‘The security team sent out mind-messages for help, and within seconds were joined by over a dozen bystanders.’

  A massive host of mammals, birds, reptiles and insects join the chase. Working as a team, they split up and surround the hapless gang into submission. By the time
they close down the gang from every side, larger animals such as elephants lumber in to pin them down.

  ‘The Fang Club didn’t stand a chance and have been taken into custody. Another great example of communities policing themselves. Well done to the courageous numens willing to fight for justice and what’s right. Don’t just sit there and allow crime to continue. Stand up for yourselves and for all living species.’

  I smile and scroll down to a headline that reads: ‘Great Apes Know Their Rites’.

  ‘Wild chimpanzees in Tanzania that are not numens have been seen creating what look like religious rituals and making marks with charcoal that could well be construed as writing. The dominant male leads the others to a sacred place often with an ancient tree or rock in the centre. Dr Shend, a leading animal psychologist, describes their behaviour as ‘primitive worship to a god or a totem that repeats certain movements and sounds, and is certainly shared and copied by each ape – sometimes they move and call in unison.’

  Once the ritual is finished each chimpanzee, in strict turn, is allowed to use charcoal or chalk to make particular marks or signs that make a definite pattern each time.

  ‘The dominant male is then left alone to hug the tree or rock, as if to listen to a message, which he then takes to the others and they eat and fight playfully for the rest of that day. It’s a fascinating breakthrough in the study of sentience and advanced intelligence in non-numen species.’

  Other animals also being studied with incredible results are dolphins, rats and crows.’

  I turn to the sport pages, which are a constant source of humorous revelations. New rules have had to be drawn up for all sports and games. Every day you can read silly stories of a rugby player who turned into a rhino to score a try, or a ski jumper who used his stork wings to gain a greater advantage. Of course, these cheats are always disqualified. But now sports have to be played with teams of similar abilities. You can’t have a fair long-jump competition between a gorilla and a kangaroo.