by Tom Ball.
I, Deborah, said to the ape man, “I envy you! You have no cares in the World and live a life of bliss, here in the zoo.” The ape man could talk and said, “But I am not free.” I said, “We are all slaves to our decisions we make, and no one is totally free.” He replied, “But I want to see the World and have new love affairs and drink and take drugs, like free humans do…” I said, “But life for most was serious, and dog eat dog. And we humans all worry about many things. You don’t know how lucky you are,” I told him. He said, “I am tired of my existence, and bored stiff. At least worries would present a challenge.” I told him, “I will allow you into my head, using MRT (Mind Reading Technology), passively of course and you can judge for yourself what it is like to be human.”
So, I went about a normal day with him in my head. First, I went to see my current lover and as usual we had a big fight. This time the fight was about not giving him enough attention and not speaking well of him to his friends. Then I had lunch with my best friend, Suzy, and we talked about our woes with men, and I told her that I had the ape man inside my head. And she said, “I can’t believe you would do something so foolish.” Then I had dinner with my boss (I worked in the fashion and make-up industry). My boss was worried our profits were starting to decline and what could we do about it? I said to him, “We need to invest further in our ruby red line of beauty products.” He said, “I don’t think that would work,” And so on.
Next, I went out to a new disco. And showed off my new dance moves. And I hooked up with a new lover, Nate, and he loved me hard. After our loving I asked him if he ever fancied being an animal man. He said, “My life is stupid enough and I wouldn’t want to be dumber.” And I wondered about the intelligence of the ape man…
Anyway, the next day, I visited the ape man again. And he told me actually he was quite clever and would enjoy one-night stands. And he asked for me to help set him free. And I thought it was just, so I returned that night wearing a mask and cut the lock. And he mind read to me, “What do I need to do now?” I mind read to him, “You needed extensive plastic surgery in order to appear human and go to school to learn skills.” And I secretly loved the former ape man.
And the new man found his niche in campaigning for setting free other animal people.
He told the people that the animal men experiments had to stop, and all existing animal people should be given human form. And he wondered why they had done these experiments in the first place. He talked with scientists, and they said they had plans to make all animals clever and that would mean starting with would-be animal men leaders. And they had put him in the zoo, so people could see the animals of the future. And now the politicians said they were sorry they’d put him in the zoo, and he was eligible for substantial compensation.
So, he lived it up and invited other engineered animal people to his parties. Some humans complained it was a freak show and an embarrassment to humanity.
But the former ape man, said, “A new race of clever animals will take its place amongst androids, holograms and humans as true races.”
And I said to him, “The spirit of animals sounds like a good idea. Maybe some other races would like to try being animal people at least for a short time.”
I said, “Every type of animal has its own type of personality and many could be bred to become more people friendly. Just keep taking the friendliest from each litter/ birth.” He said, “Many animals are already ready for MRT communication and have advanced thoughts. Indeed, MRT will help develop the minds of animal people in itself.”
The former ape man said, “In fact I’d like to make new animal races for many types of animals.”
I wished him good luck.