Trash Rising Part 2
A story by Scott W. Taylor
Last time on The Totally Freaky Trash Commandos: The rich philanthropist, Harold Zarkmann has just aired the news that he intends to investigate an ancient temple in the Amazon rain forest. He has sent a team of archaeologists into the structure in the hopes of discovering ancient technologies that could be used to aid mankind, and solve many ecological problems.
We left the archaeological team and their military escorts in a bit of a pickle, as they have inadvertently triggered a booby trap that has beamed them into a hitherto unexplored section of the temple. Commander Jonathon Trash has given the order to turn back...
Though the order came too
late. They soon discovered that their exit was blocked by a dozen or more
soldiers, all wearing masks and of unknown origin. Each one was pointing a
weapon at the team.
The hooded soldier in the
lead waved his gun, indicating to the prisoners to start moving in the
direction signified.
The small party of
scientists moved away from the wall. They were escorted down a long corridor to
a room full of strange and alien devices.
‘What are you going to do
with us?’ Cinderella asked.
‘Oh, just a little
experiment’ came a familiar voice, a voice commander Trash knew well.
‘Harold Zarkmann?’ he
stammered as he looked in the direction the voice had come from.
‘The same’ announced the
man whose very fortune had funded this particular venture.
‘I want to thank you all’
Harold continued. ‘Without you fine people, all of this would not have been
possible. You are to be the first…the first souls in over a thousand years to
participate in the ultimate transformation.’
‘What is going on here?’ Cinderella demanded. ‘What are these creatures? And why are they pointing weapons at us?’
‘They are here to insure
your obedience, my child. You are to be Guinea pigs in the greatest experiment
of your lives!’
Before long the
archaeologists and their military escorts were manacled and tied to a row of
posts, and were left standing before a tall mirror. Each one caught their
reflection, watching on in puzzlement as their parallel counterparts moved,
seemingly taking on a life of their own.
‘What’s going on?’
Commander Jonathon Trash demanded while trying to pull himself free of his
shackles.
Quickly, their
reflections in the magic mirror started to undergo a staggering transformation.
Commander Trash’s
reflection began to morph into something inhuman, insect-like with giant
antennae that sprang from his head.
Jay Malloy watched on in
disbelief as his reflection turned into something more akin to a hamster caught
in the centre of a Ferris wheel.
Dirk, Danny and Cinderella, all had
the look of sheer horror on their faces as they witnessed their transformations
in the strange mirror.
Once the experiment was
over, Harold Zarkmann smiled, gloating heavily on the expressions on the faces
of his captors.
‘Magnificent aren’t they?
They are your true selves, believe it or not. They reflect the true ugliness of
the human animal. This which you see is but your inner state of being. And now all that is
left to do is to erase your physical bodies and allow your true embodiments to take your place.’
Harold threw a switch and
suddenly a bright light began to bathe the 6 hapless captives. An instant later
and the 6 bodies vanished, vaporised in a second. The shackles that tethered
their hands and feet to each post fell loosely to the ground. The room was empty
apart from Harold Zarkmann and his hooded minions.
It was at that appalling moment that the mirror’s reflections, still echoing the mutated images of the seven erased victims, began to stir. Suddenly, the reflection of Commander Trash began to ease his left arm through the confines of the looking glass. Another of the reflections did the same, instead though easing a leg through the glass, and then stepping down onto the dusty earth below.
The mirror images were
starting to break out of their confines. It was as though they were coming to
life. In fact, that is exactly what they were doing.
‘You’re trash!’ Harold
beamed while he watched the strange, mutated beings emerge from the magic
mirror.
‘I have helped you
realise your true selves’ Harold replied, bursting into laughter. ‘You see, the
ancient ones built all this technology.
They did not build it to produce a clean and sustainable planet, no, for
they realised that such a goal was unreachable. They had polluted the planet so
callously they finally realised that in order to continue their existence on a
doomed world they had to transform themselves! They were turned into beings
capable of living in oceans that had been polluted so badly. They became
adaptable, walking upon the earth and were able to breathe in the toxic fumes.
They became the creatures that crawl and scurry, the type we call vermin, and
pests. We call them rats and cockroaches. Though they are the mutated results
of a people that once, so long ago, decided to adapt and change, rather than
admit extinction.
‘Soon however, the world
began to erase all the harm they had done so long ago. Time cleansed this
world, and its air, as well as its oceans. Modern man sprang up from the ashes,
and soon began to fall into the same patterns: polluting the world again.
Cities and skyscrapers rose up like endless towers of Babel
‘You’re mad!’ shot Cinderella.
‘I think not!’ Harold
threw another switch. ‘Take a look at the screen. See the satellites in Earth’s
orbit?’
A large view screen on
the wall of the chamber came to life.
‘See them, they are
powering up. In 10 minutes they will begin transforming the human race and
there is not a damn thing any of you can do to stop it!’
To Be Continued....
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