we were able to accomplish in a matter of years, with the help of some technological advances such as the hover saucers, food spheres, and wireless electronics.”
“We have made, as you put it, ‘progress’ with these advances. But we still have not made any accomplishments in solving the social class issue. Many lower class people are still in areas surrounded by animals. They’re barely capable of making it to work without getting chased by some carnivore. Many cannot afford to buy food spheres to protect their meals and practically all of them are unable to have children because the cries from a baby could attract predators.”
“I understand that these problems still need to be resolved, but we should all focus on what we can get done now instead of working on projects that would take longer to finish.”
“But to include all insects and arachnids into the definition of sentient beings and to give them the same rights as we do animals would be…”
Paris was done. He turned off the TV and quickly ate his breakfast without any thought about what was on his plate or what it might look like.
“Stupid humans,” he thought to himself again, “and stupid animals.”
Once the two finished their meals, Paris headed for the bathroom to shower and Martian followed. Paris allowed Martian to walk ahead of him to see if there were any intruders that may have slipped by while the two were sleeping. After hearing no barks, Paris entered the bathroom. As he waited for the shower water to warm up, Paris unhooked the animal proof basket that was hanging from the wall to get the soap and shampoo. These products were not as effective as they were in the past. Hanging these products up high was not enough as an animal could still become sick by accidentally consuming the product. So, proper human cleanliness became another luxury of the upper class and Paris had to wash garbage off with “a bar of shit and a bottle of piss.”
Despite the bathing situation, Paris was high on the middle class scale thanks to his job in the food industry; agriculture to be exact. After he had finished getting his degree through one of the online Universities which now dominated the collegiate education system, Paris thought it would be best to enter a field which would give him the most security during the “Transition Age”; a period in his lifetime where the human race was pushing for technological advances in accordance with the Laws to avoid harming animals while also ensuring mankind’s survival. Technologies such as food spheres, wireless electronics, and other contraptions are used to protect animals, while at the same time allowing humans to try and live their lives. Paris was lucky enough to have these advancements. But even though he was somewhat well off, there were so many times when Paris wished to be part of the upper class and to be able to live in a hover saucer. He would often think about the advantages: not worrying about ground creatures invading his home, being able to sleep on the floor of his own room, using real shampoos, soaps, and cleaners on his body and not worrying about the consequences. Freedom is what he wished for, and freedom is what he worked for.
Once Paris collected the supplies he needed and the water was warm, he entered the shower and began bathing. Taking showers always gave Paris a good laugh; Martian would stick his head in letting the water drop on his fur and then wipe himself on Paris's legs as if he were some sort of doggy sponge. He was a weird dog, but Paris loved him. Once he was done showering, Paris dried himself off and put the towel over Martian’s head, so he too could dry off.
Next on the list of morning tasks was getting dressed. Paris pulled out a foldable ladder, which was located near the wall of his room and set it up next to his bunk. He climbed the ladder up to a giant bin that was located on the edge of his bed. The bin was free standing on two poles, just like his bunk. It was about 6’x 3’ and had no cover. Paris looked at all the cloths he had, which were separated by sheets of metal, contemplating what to wear. After picking out his work cloths and descending to the ground, Paris got dressed while Martian sat next to him looking very sad; he knew that his friend had to leave the house and tried to entice him to stay by opening his eyes so wide Paris could see the whites of each ball.
Paris would always pat his friend on the head and say something witty like, “You are getting the sad puppy eyes down old friend. Next time, let’s work on you fetching my slippers, and you'll almost be like a real dog.”
Paris was now almost set to leave for work. He just had to check all the areas of his house to make sure that no animals were trapped, all the food spheres were put back in place, and the ladders were out of reach. Paris did not have to worry about any windows or doors because he had them all removed a long time ago. He had thought about getting movable flaps to help block the wind and control sunlight, but Paris never bothered to actually get them installed. And besides, Martian was always there to look after things. As Paris walked out of his home holding a brief case containing his lunch and electronic work pad, he turned around to see Martian standing on the patio mimicking the sad puppy eyes. There was, surprisingly, not a lot of training needed to get Martian to stay home and not follow Paris. The creature took orders after first hearing them which helped solidify Paris’s belief that he did not have a dog living in his home.
“Goodbye Martian, I will see you in a few hours,” Paris said, and the human began the long journey to his work place.
Chapter 2
Getting to work every day was no easy task for anyone; a person’s eyes and ears had to be open like the doors and windows of their home. Many people who had to walk to work would often walk together in one giant “walk pool” moving toward their job site, but Paris had no desire to wake up earlier than he had to in order to walk with co-workers who had pointless dialogues about pigs keeping them up all night or lizards in their bathtubs. Plus, Paris wanted to spend as little time with people as possible, so he would walk alone to work even though the risk of an animal attack was greater.
In the past, many animals would just scatter when they saw a human approaching. But after many years of exposure to one another, many animals no longer have a fear of humans whatsoever. It was very evident that something like this would happen when examining certain past events. There was the thousand deer takeover in Nora, Japan where stags, hinds, and their young flooded the city streets of Nora. The Sika deer, who were never legally allowed to be caged or penned, roamed anywhere they wished and would often come into the city during the summertime; they had no fear of humans and would often walk or lie down in the streets blocking traffic. A vehicle of considerable size could have easily driven through the beast, but such an act was frowned upon by the residents of Nora.
Today, driving a land vehicle is obsolete. The only vehicles that were in constant use were hover cars; a technology which had been around for several years but was never mass produced due to the economic feasibility of its time. However, with the passing of the animal laws, the demand for such technology was pushed to the fore front along with inventions that led to hover saucers, food spheres, and more wireless electronics.
As Paris began walking, the first thing he watched out for was anything above him. He would check every tree, every neighbor’s house, and every lamppost as he passed making sure there was no animal ready for an aerial attack. After taking a few steps forward, Paris would listen trying to identify the animal noises that were entering his ears. Something he had trained himself to do after watching several survivor videos that had been offered to the public for free. Each video was available for access through the normal media channels. If somehow a person did not have any wireless electronics in their home, they were able to receive a pamphlet in the mail, after paying a surprisingly large fee of course, that would include audio cards with the different animal sounds. Of course in this time, it was very hard to receive anything physical in the mail due to the budget cuts in the post office. Since a majority of mail was now sent electronically, the only things that came in the mail nowadays were food spheres, new wireless electronics, and supplies to ward off animals.
