Only Human_The Themis Files

by Sylvain Neuvel

  —What did you mean?

  —I mean…I mean you should stay here. Never leave the house, or do…anything. And whatever happens, never, ever, show up here with a boyfriend.

  [I wanna meet him! Bring him over some time!]

  Thank you, Rose…That was sarcasm, by the way. It’s bad enough you talked me into letting her take a job, we’re not doing the boyfriend thing just yet. MR. YOTYOT! OFF THE TABLE!

  [She’s helping others, Vincent, feeding people. You should be proud of her.]

  —Can you stop talking about me like I’m not here?

  —Hey, have you seen Eva? You know, the awkward one?

  —Very funny, Dad. And you’re one to talk. I see the way you look at Esok.

  —I use my eyes. That’s how I look at Esok. If I didn’t, then I couldn’t see her.

  —It’s OK, Dad! She likes you. She and I are friends. It’s perfect.

  —Why don’t we talk about something else? Turn on the wall, please. We can’t see a thing in here.

  [Did you just say: “Turn on the wall”?]

  —He did. He’s been saying it for four years. You never noticed? Dim the wall. Turn off the wall.

  —See what I’m up against, Rose. We’re the only people on this entire planet who speak English, and I still don’t sound cool enough for my kid. What do you call the wall thing, Rose?

  [Let more light in?]

  Oh, you’re so clever. Let’s eat that cake!

  [Eva, tell me about the soup kitchen. What do they have you do over there?]

  —There’s not much to tell. It’s a soup kitchen. I stir the pots. I hand out bowls of soup.

  —How many people do you feed in a day?

  —I don’t know. Hundreds. A thousand. A lot.

  [How can that be? They’re allowed the same amount of food as everyone else. You’ve seen what they give us. We could eat twice as much and still have leftovers.]

  Where have you been for four years, Rose? Half of these people don’t exist. They don’t get anything. Their children don’t get anything. Their grandchildren won’t get anything. It’s only gonna get worse unless they get rid of that stupid Council.

  —Eva. Someone could hear you.

  —They’re evil, Dad! Everyone here hates them.

  —I’m serious, Eva.

  —They’re nothing but a bunch of racist assholes.

  —They’re the only ones who can help us.

  —You said they haven’t ruled yet. They couldn’t come to a decision in four years! They’ll never do anything.

  —They will. They’ll send us home. They’re the only ones who can. You wanna go home, don’t you?

  —…

  —Eva?

  —Yeah, I do. But the way they treat everyone, everyone who’s not 100 percent Ekt, it’s wrong. Someone has to stop them.

  —I know you don’t like them, Eva. I’m just asking you to watch what you say in public. The last thing we want is to rock the boat any more than we have to. They’re already blaming us for all those protests.

  —Did you know that Esok’s people are dying?

  —I didn’t know she had any family left.

  —She doesn’t. On the planet where she’s from. They’re dying. All of them.

  —She was born here.

  —Don’t be an ass, Dad. They could cure them, you know? They could. It’s like supereasy, apparently, but the Council won’t do a thing. They’ll let a whole planet die.

  [They have a law that prevents them from interfering, Eva.]

  —Rose, I don’t think you wanna go there. Eva has…strong feelings about those great Ekt principles. I don’t want us to fight on her birthday. Besides, all of this is more or less your fault.

  [My fault?]

  Where do you think she gets all these ideas? Certainly not from me.

  [You think I…]

  No, I don’t. You love the Council. You’re—

  [I don’t—]

  I’m not done yet. You’re the one who convinced me to let her work at that soup kitchen. That place is filled with nothing but starving aliens, most of them with a bunch of illegal kids to feed. Not exactly the most Council-friendly place around.

  [I didn’t realize. I’m sorry.]

  Hey. You’re not the one telling them how many children they can have.

  [The Ekt don’t have a lot of children. They’re trying to keep a balance between—]

  —They’re trying to weed them out!

  [That’s not…]

  Oh, come on, Rose!

  —I’m afraid Eva’s got you on this one, Rose. That’s not a political opinion, it’s just math. One child per person. That’s half as many children every generation if they reproduce the way we do. These people wouldn’t be here at all if they followed the rules.

  —Why do you keep defending them, Rose?

  [I’m not defen…maybe I am. I just think it’s not as simple as it seems. They didn’t pick those principles out of a hat, there’s history behind them, there’s a reason. I agree that there might be some consequences to—]

  Might be?

  [There are some unfortunate consequences, but there’s a lot more to the Ekt than their noninterference policy. They have as close to a pure democracy as I’ve ever seen. They vote on everything, from the color of lampposts to medical-research priorities. These people have more control over their own lives than we’ve ever had.]

  —OK, Rose, that’s enough.

  [I was just…]

  I know. I know. Let’s just change the subject.

  —I can’t listen to this. I’ll see you guys later.

  [What? Why?]

  —Eva, come on! It’s your birthday!

  —Save me some cake, will you?

  —Eva! Come back inside!

  [Vincent, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say.]

  It’s OK, Rose, she’s…She’s…

  [She’s what?]

  She’s a teenager without a mother. She’s trying to make sense of the world around her, only it’s not her world. It’s…She’s also right, you know?

  [About what?]

  You do sound a little brainwashed. A “pure democracy”?

  [I said close to.]

  OK, so you know about physics. If we lived here, officially, you’d get to vote on anything that has to do with physics. If you knew about bugs, you’d get to vote on bug stuff. You’d also get to vote on mundane things you don’t need any special knowledge for, but for the important things, you’d need to know what you’re talking about.

  [I don’t see how that’s a bad thing.]

  But who decides if you know what you’re talking about?

  [There are committees that assign credentials.]

  And who decides who sits on those committees?

  [The committees choose their own members. They…]

  Now you’re getting it. If you live in Osk and your skin isn’t the right shade of olive, you don’t get to vote on anything but where to plant trees. The people here, they get to be on committees and stuff, but the policies that affect them most, anything having to do with people of alien descent, that’s not done locally. Do you think there’s anyone that looks like Esok on the Great Council of Akitast? Do you think there’ll ever be?

  [You’re saying the system is rigged against them.]

  They’re saying the system is rigged against them. I’m saying they’re not even a part of it, not in a meaningful sense anyway. They’ve been sold the illusion of democracy. And they bought it! They really bought it. They don’t want to get rid of the system. They’re asking for more representation in it. They don’t even realize that the whole thing is purposely built to keep them out. The Ekt basically renounced a whole empire, power over thousands of planets, just to get rid of al
l the aliens here. Half-aliens were just never part of the plan. They’re a compromise. They’re like bicycles in a city without bike paths. It wasn’t designed with them in mind.

  [I don’t think their decision to take power away from the emperor had anything to do with race.]

  You don’t think so? I heard the story. The emperor did something stupid, they got their ass kicked, and they wanted to make sure it wouldn’t happen again. But there’s a big difference between not meddling with other worlds, and kicking out everyone who doesn’t look exactly like you. This is entirely about race. These people got scared, 9/11-style, only much worse, and they started to fear anything and anyone that wasn’t Ekt. This is populism on steroids. These people went all in. They got rid of the scary people, the political elite. Hell, they got rid of central government altogether.

  FILE NO. EE109—PERSONAL FILE FROM ESAT EKT

  Personal Journal Entry—Eva Reyes

  Location: Assigned residence, Etyakt region

  I thought I was done. They told me it was over, then it happened again. They said my visions would go away, that I’d stop getting them as I got older. I did. Then this happened. I was at the Aptakt market with Esok. We weren’t looking for anything in particular, just nosing around. Whoever found the weirdest object would win. We play that game often, but I suck at it. It’s not that I can’t find things, but even after four years—almost five, wow—I still don’t know about the everyday stuff. Imagine someone screaming: “Hey! Look at how crazy this is!” while holding a toothbrush. That’s usually me. That time, I knew exactly what I had found. My socks. I couldn’t figure out how my old socks—I was wearing them when we got here—ended up at the market. There were holes in both of them, and I threw them away, I don’t know, two, three years ago. Esok said there, the four of us were kind of…famous and that there was a market for just about anything having to do with us, but socks? Anyway, no way I could lose with that. The funniest thing, I thought, is that they weren’t here before. I come here pretty much every day, and I would have noticed my green socks. Someone had rummaged through our garbage, found my stinky socks. Maybe they changed hands a few times, but now, whoever owned them was either desperate enough for food to sell their prized possession or realized after a few years that socks weren’t everything they were cracked up to be. I was explaining what a sock is, to Esok—I thought that was funny as hell, she didn’t. That’s when I saw it.

  Hundreds of giant robots, maybe more, walking together towards a city…It was confusing. I think it was here, in Osk. I saw the imperial palace…Hundreds more, a lot more, thousands of robots were waiting for them in line. They started fighting. More than I could count all firing at each other. It was hectic. So fast. Robots disappearing into thin air, reappearing behind the enemy. So many flashes of light, too bright to look at. It went on for a while, then it stopped.

  It was quiet. The air was fresh, like morning. I was standing where the fight took place. Half the city was destroyed. Vaporized. Giant robots standing over the ruins. They were everywhere. I could see them in all directions, all the way to the horizon. I saw people running. I—They weren’t…They were Ekt, then human. Morphing superfast from one into the other. Flickering. The palace was still there. But for a moment I thought I saw a silhouette, a skyline. Tall buildings, not like here. Maybe New York or Chicago. There was a woman, she was clearly from Earth, so scared. Terrified. I was too. She was holding a baby in one arm, running, running as fast as she could away from the robot. She was coming towards me. She kept getting closer, and closer, until she ran inside me. I looked at my hands, my legs, and I was Ekt. Then it stopped.

  Esok was in front of me, holding my shoulders. I could see her lips move, but there wasn’t any sound. It took a second or two for me to realize I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I heard my name, and I stopped screaming. There were…lots of people around us, everyone from the market, I guess. Esok told them I was experiencing the askat yetost—that’s what they call it, the visions. I was still scared of what I’d seen, mortified for making what must have been quite a scene in front of all these people. When they heard those two words, askat yetost, their faces changed. Suddenly, they were all smiles. All of them. Some just left, smiling. Others put their hands on me. You’re fine, girl. Don’t worry about it. That’s what it felt like. You’re one of us. A minute later, everyone was carrying on with their day. Business as usual.

  Esok said no one knows when my visions will stop. They’ve never seen a human, let alone one that sees things like their kids do. But she says it has something to do with becoming a woman. If she means what I think she means—I don’t know anything about her…body, or anyone else’s here—the visions should have stopped two years ago. I don’t know. I’m hoping this is the last time I see things. It reminds me of school. Everyone staring at me. La Evita loca.

  No soup kitchen for me today. I asked Esok to tell Ityets. I’m sure he’ll manage without me. I need to lie down for a while.

  FILE NO. 2120

  NEWS ARTICLE—LIZ MCCORMACK, REPORTER, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

  Arena Gunmen were A2s

  The coroner released his report today on the two armed men who opened fire inside the Tempe Arena, killing nine and injuring thirty-one before being gunned down by police. Both men scored A2 on the Bashir xenogenetic scale.

  Gene Lundman and his son Patrick were both active members of the Council of Concerned Citizens. In the video they posted online minutes before the attack, they describe their imminent actions as retribution for the government’s failure to protect God’s children and their refusal to expand the encampment to all nonwhites in the United States.

  Other advocacy groups have seized on the report to demand that A2s be required to at least register with state and local authorities so that they can be more closely monitored. The coroner’s report comes out just as a new government-sponsored study establishes a correlation between criminal behavior and higher scores on the Bashir scale.

  The ACLU was quick to call the study a self-fulfilling prophecy, pointing out that the data used by the researchers came from camps where law enforcement is almost nonexistent, and simple things like attempting to communicate with the outside are considered criminal. They also argued that any measures aimed at restricting the rights of A2s are not only immoral but also impractical since A2s represent nearly 40 percent of the population.

  White House Press Secretary Abendroth said the government is taking note of the coroner’s findings but warned against drawing broad conclusions based on an isolated incident. Asked if the administration was ruling out expanding security measures to the A2 population, he said: “Nothing is off the table at this point.”

  FILE NO. 2121

  PERSONAL LOG—EVA REYES (WITH UNKNOWN RUSSIAN)

  Location: Safe House in Saint Petersburg, Russia

  —My nie mozhem segodnya puteshestvovat’. Oni nas budut iskat’ vezdye. My mozhem zdes’ nochevat’. Eto dom druga. Zavtra my uyezzhayem pro pervom rassvete.

  —You know I don’t speak Russian, right?

  —Yes. Tebye nado shas’ spat’. Naydu nam mashinu na zavtra.

  —You know, but you just don’t care.

  —Yes.

  —What’s your name?

  —Bob.

  —Really?

  —No. You should sleep.

  —Why are you helping me?

  —A friend of a friend.

  —That makes absolutely no sense.

  —My friend, he is friend with your friend. Sleep, Eva.

  —Wait. Who’s my friend?

  —Dr. Franklin.

  —Oh! OK, and who’s your friend?

  —I not know his name.

  —Good friend…

  —He tells good stories.

  —OK…Well, whoever you are, thank you for getting me out of there. Wait, is that a map? Show m
e. Where are we going? Saint Petersburg is…here. All we have to do is get here, to Finland, right? That’s what? A couple hours by car?

  —Yes. But we go through Finland. Finland is Russian-occupied territory. I use GRU papers to get to Helsinki. Tell them I take you to genetic-research center there. From Helsinki is…complicated.

  —What does that mean?

  —We need to get to Turku, here. Take ferry to Mariehamn in Åland. There we take other boat to Sweden.

  —Why go all the way there? Why not get a boat in Helsinki to…anywhere.

  —Too many Russian Army in Helsinki. Port is very protected. Gulf of Finland very protected. Åland is much safer.

  —The map says it’s still Finland? Won’t there be just as many Russians there?

  —No. Åland is avtonomnaya territoriya, independent place. No military. Russia not send army to avoid war with Sweden, Europe. Still, much travel between Turku. Easy for us to go. You go where you want after that.

  —You’re not coming with me?

  —No. I come back for your father.

  —Don’t. They’ll know you’re the one who let me go. You won’t be safe here anymore.

  —You do not want your father free?

  —I don’t want you to risk your life a second time for him, no. I don’t think he’s in any danger. Just let him be. He can take care of himself.

  —Family is all you have.

  —Believe me, I know. That’s part of the problem. All I have now is his blood, and people are chasing me for it. Besides, I think the world is much safer with the two of us not being in the same place.

  —Sem`ya eto te kto paderzhat tebya v trudnoiy situatsyiy.

  —What the hell does that mean?

  —Hmmm…When trouble come, it is family that support you. What happen with your father?

  —Look, Bob, I’m grateful for what you did. I am. But can we skip the family counseling?

  —…

  —No? Oh, what the hell. You probably don’t understand half of what I’m saying anyway. I don’t know what happened, Bob. He…I was gonna say he changed, but I’m not sure that’s true. Things changed. He was everything to me after the aliens came. He was my whole family, my one friend. Oh, don’t give me that pitying look, or I’ll knock your yokits teeth out. We had this…bubble. This tiny bubble with just the two of us, and I felt safe inside it. Maybe that’s just not the way it’s supposed to be. Then we get whisked away to another world, and things change. I…No one knew me there. My visions, they…their whole species has them. Do you get what I’m saying? I wasn’t a freak anymore. No one looked at me the way you just did. I wasn’t…normal, but no one was. Shit, I hung out with a blue girl and some dude who was nearly two hundred years old. I found this band of misfits in the slums of an alien planet and I fit right in somehow. For the first time in my life, I belonged. My dad, he just didn’t understand. Maybe he did. Who the hell knows? Was that personal enough for you? How about we talk about something else?