and vegetation are mainly grown for food or oxygen now. Due to the amount of damage in the past and the continuing damage of this new animal and human equality, plant life was becoming scarce. Companies had to jump through a lot of hoops in order to obtain a tag to cut down trees for paper. First, they had to plead their case to the Justice for Environmental Concerns, or JEC, and state their specific use for the tree. Then, when and if JEC approves the plea, the company must enter a down payment into a lottery which contains several other companies looking to get their hands on a tree for paper. After several weeks of taking in money orders, JEC eventually announces the winner of the lottery and allows the winning company to chop down a tree, so long as it does not contain the home of any animal. The rest of the money from the other companies who entered the lottery stays in the hands of JEC, who uses the money to finance more tree and vegetation growth. In fact, while Paris was walking by a small tree that was no bigger than him (Paris stood at about 5’8”), there was a little sign under the tree that said, “This plant was made possible by the Justice for Environmental Concerns.”
“Waste of time,” Paris said under his breath, seeing that the tree looked more like a long stick with a few leaf-less branches growing on it. The leaves of the tree had all been plucked off by some herbivore, he assumed, further adding to his disgust toward humans and animals; animals eating away at the world’s source of oxygen, and humans for not stopping them the way they should. Paris saw many clones of the leaf-less tree as he continued walking, plus many more sights to be held.
To his right, Paris saw a pack of dogs fighting over a cat they had killed. To his left, Paris saw a rat with wings get picked off by a hawk in a matter of seconds. Further down the street, he saw in the Northwest rabbits eating away at some poor sap’s garden.
“Why bother human?” Paris said referencing the gardener.
To the Northeast, there was a common sight that had emerged in the cities over the years, giraffes. How were these African natives able to flourish so well in a foreign land? The answer is quite simple. When the Pacheco Captivity Laws were passed, regardless of where an animal was held, people had to immediately release the prisoners from their confines. Pigs, cows, and chickens were let loose from the slaughter houses, so they would no longer shower in their own kind’s blood. Dogs and cats no longer had to wait for their slave masters to get home with their food and drink. And, all the poor souls who were taken away from their homelands and put in zoos were now able to explore the brave new world to make a life of their own. Sure, not all former prisoners were able to adapt to life outside of prison. In fact, many of them were unable to survive in the wild. After leaving their protected utopias, many did not know how to hunt for food nor could they cope with the changes in temperature. It was like the animals committed a mass suicide when they left their old homes. How they were not able to go extinct was sheer luck. However, those who were able to survive made homes for themselves, bred young ones, and kept their species alive. So now, the human race has to deal with crocodiles swimming in sewer tunnels, apes living in two story homes, panthers hiding in bushes, and so on. All of which Paris and the rest of the struggling human race has bared witness to while surviving in the “African Occupied America.”
After walking past these many normalities along the way to work, the day became very odd for Paris; he had arrived earlier than usual. Normally, even with the three hour time gap, it would take Paris about two hours to arrive at his destination because of all the stops he had to make: letting animals move out of the streets, waiting for them to finish their meals, finding different routes to avoid them, and so on. Paris checked his watch; the time was 7:32 AM. He had left his house at 7:02 AM. It took him exactly 30 minutes to get to work.
“How is this possible?” Paris thought, “Today just felt like a normal walk to work. Did I just not care about the animals around me? Even though they could have killed me? What happened?”
Without thinking about it any longer, Paris shook off the thought and went to the platform base of his job site, Chloro Foods Inc. CFI, one of the biggest industries in the world, thrived during The Transition Period because the company was several steps ahead of everyone. They anticipated that there would be a high demand for green foods now that society had banned the selling and distribution of meat and meat products. Of course, there was a lot of competition in the business, with rival companies fighting for the same cause, feeding the population. But still, CFI crushed their competitors by using cut-throat, risky and unfair tactics. Taking away the knife that used to cut pigs' throats will never destroy the invisible blade under people’s necks; and oh how CFI let the knife carve a second smile. They were also one of the few companies that purchased a hover saucer to use as a work space. Cylon Tech, the company who makes the saucers, was reluctant to make such a deal because they wanted their technology to be used for housing complexes. But with governmental pressure and knowing that people in the food industry would need a safe and secure place to conduct business, CT reluctantly worked out a deal with CFI. A hover saucer would be leased out to CFI under the condition that the company, along with all other companies that use saucers as work spaces, must financially support CT to help them construct newer hover saucers.
Once CFI began accepting applications for a new department within the company, Paris was one of the first to apply. His decision to start working for CFI came out of logic instead of desire. For, it was very important to find a company that would not shut down due to an inability to survive the Transition Period. However, in order to fill a position at such a company, one would need to have a strong education. An education that could only be obtained from an online university,since physically being on a campus was a risk. After obtaining his degree in business, he knew that the best job to obtain was one that involved the necessities: food, water, electricity, health, and so on. His concern at the time was not the highest paying job, but one that would give him security, so long as he did his job and the company stayed afloat. So, he got a position working in the distribution department and has been working for CFI ever since.
Standing near the landing strip lines, Paris pulled out his electronic device. He pulled up a code page that was only accessible by employees and entered his complex employee number. Once Paris pushed send on his device, a message was transmitted to the platform manager who reviewed the code and then lowered an electromagnetic platform toward Paris. The platform was lowered close enough to Paris’s level where he could climb aboard but not low enough to touch the ground; this was done to make sure the platform did not accidentally crush any small animals underneath. Once secured on the platform, Paris began his accession up to the saucer which was the size of an obsolete America Football Stadium. The 20 story climb up to the 7 story high saucer was not something that bothered Paris much, for he never possessed a fear of heights. After waiting about 5 minutes for the platform to dock at the saucer, Paris finally arrived.
“Hey Franklin,” said the security officer working the platform console, “You’re here early today.”
“Yes, I am.”
“You take a different route to…?”
Paris was already out of the platform room and climbing up the stairs.
“Although I am here early, I don’t want to waste my time talking to him,” Paris thought.
After climbing four flights of stairs, Paris arrived at his floor. Several people were already at their work stations getting an early start before their actual shift at 9:00 AM. Paris had no desire to talk to any of his fellow employees, so Paris tried to stealthily move toward his desk without being noticed. His desk, along with everyone else’s, was near a window clos to the outer rim of the saucer. In the middle of the saucer were separate rooms. Depending on level of importance, each room was blocked off by a wall made of curved metal panels covered in stucco or see-through plastic. Once he completed his avoidance mission, he opened up his briefcase, pulled out his electronic pad, and plugged it into the saucer’s internet port. A folder appeared titled “CFI Seminar,” and Paris clicked on the icon. A video appeared on his screen; it began with a slideshow of animals and
