Mr. Joseph’s sleep was broken by constant knocks on the door. The 30 year old hastily put on his pants, combed his messy hair to the one deemed more gentlemanly by the society and ran to recieve the unwelcomed guest. He turned the door knob so as to open it but recently it had started revolting. Afterall there’s so much a rusty old door handle can handle. After a couple or triple swift blows, the door finally accepted Mr. Joseph’s dominance. On the other side of the door there was this beautiful, tall lady, dressed in a fashionable maroon top and blue jeans, with sufficient tears in the fabric to be modern.
Mr. Joseph was startled. A girl beautiful enough to be branded by theists as a fallen angel was at his door. He could not wrap his head around this anomalous occurrence in his life. What was this fallen angel doing at his doorstep? “𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦?”, uttered the lady finally breaking the awkward silence created by Mr. Joseph who was still lost in his train of thoughts. A faint remembrance followed. A sense of familiar soothing voice was revived. It took him a while to finally remember the warmth of this person. Ten years is a long time indeed. Long enough to fade even the deepest of memories.
“Hello Margaret. How can I ever forget you? Come on in.”
The room was not in a condition to host a guest. Carpet was replaced by shirts and trousers. A dustbin that was desperate to take up the scattered food packets. A near empty closet and a carbohydrate packed open refrigerator looked miserably bad. Mr. Joseph was never a disciplined man but he was never a disaster either.
“I apologise for the state of my room. It’s been tough since you left.”, said Mr. Joseph in an apologetic low tone.
“𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.”, said Margaret in her ever calming voice. “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.”
The sight of Margaret happened to be a nostalgic roller coaster. Mr. Joseph could remember everything. Every bit of time they had spent decoding the mysteries of nature. Every argument in the debates which could nudge humanity in the right direction. Every weird way of explaining the concepts that had been laughed off. Every bit of care. Every moment of sensuality. Every bit of that bond was now being relived vividly by Mr. Joseph in that short moment.
In that moment of reminiscence, he approached Margaret, held her for a second whilst looking at her with his moist eyes and wrapped his arms around her. He burst into tears somehow trying to speak as well. “I can’t do this without you. I am in pain! I am not strong enough to bear the weight of my heart. It just keeps getting heavier and heavier. I need you Margaret. I need you.”
Mr. Joseph could feel Margaret’s heart thumping. He looked at her face and she was in tears. It had been so long since he got to look at those beautiful eyes. Margaret stroked his hair just like she used to and then like an angelic whisper, “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.” As Margaret started kissing Mr. Joseph’s lips, he could feel that eternal softness that only Margaret had. His pain was being ameliorated. There was just something so magical about her which cannot be explained.
“I am unable to wrap my head around life. Why does it not make sense? I was perfectly well without you. You were a beautiful coincidence.” *kissing continues* “But ever since you’ve left, there’s this unending void. Why does my body feel that life isn’t possible without another human when I have always survived alone? How preposterous!”
“𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧?”
“But why would organisms do this? Why let yourself be dependent on someone else? How can an organism not know that there’s no telling when you’d lose that vital person? Why make yourself so vulnerable?” *Joseph pushes Margaret against the wall while kissing*
“𝘖𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬. 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?” *𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭**𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘴* “𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.”
Mr. Joseph was troubled by the odd ways of life but at the same time there was something satisfying about knowing the ‘whys’ behind things despite them being so horrific. He had missed this. This sense of excitement. This flow of information. This selfish alliance between his cortex and limbic system. This was his drug and after such long time, he can finally get high.
Mr. Joseph started stripping Margaret’s flesh of the fabric that seemed so unnecessary at that moment. He could feel this desire to experience naked skin tissue on that curvilinear contour. The carnal desire to rub against a skin of different genome was burning so hot. The intrinsic desires demanded some time to experience this feeling and Mr. Joseph and Margaret were their puppets.
“It’s so inefficient. These primal desires. Every success that has helped humanity to advance has been through the decisions that don’t concern the need to mate.”
“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩? 𝘈𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳..𝘢𝘩𝘩𝘩..*𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳*...𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘵.”
*Heavy breathing and kissing* “Margaret, I get the need for mortal organisms to reproduce. But how can I be okay with the fact that in the upper lair of evolutionary order, there’s no way to reproduce asexually? *Margaret keeps kissing his stomach* They are not even hermaphrodites. Your only option is another organism. You can’t choose not being dependent. Isn’t reduction in ways to reproduce counterintuitive to the idea of maximum survival?”
“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.”
Mr. Joseph could see that Margaret was now ready for the act of love. This was the moment where Mr. Joseph and Margaret would contribute to the perpetration of humanity. The act would be a stern reminder that the life they harbour is dispensable. The fact that passing forward their genes was their utmost goal after fulfilment of which the life in them wouldn’t mind perishing because it would have left a supposedly better version to carry forward it’s mission to be the ultimate life form.
Mr. Joseph pushed Margaret onto the bed. As he started inserting his organ of copulation into her, he could see the pride in her eyes. The belief that they were going to create a fine organism. What if the result of their love had the ability to solve it all? Everything that bedazzled Mr. Joseph and Margaret, maybe the result could know the reason behind that. This was tempting. It’s supposed to be.
“Maybe we could somehow learn from the old tricks of life. Maybe we could use the intelligence of humanity to fasten the way to reach the ultimate life form. *act of love* *Joseph inserts it slowly* *thud* We are already figuring out functions of every single gene. All we need to do is see what improvements are made in organisms in each evolutionary upgrade, compile it to form an algorithm and then use that algorithm to identify the points in our genome which need to be edited to reach the next evolutionary level. Sort of like using the elevator instead of the stairs.” *thud*
“𝘖𝘩 𝘺𝘦𝘴! 𝘈𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭..𝘢𝘩𝘩𝘩 *𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦* ...𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴.”
“Well not artificial necessarily. The genetic recombination that occurs happened during the course of life. *thud* Our intelligence is a manifestation of the course of life. *thud* So it’s life itself trying to hasten the journey towards its goal. So maybe just evolution.”
“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨...𝘢𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩... 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰...𝘢𝘩𝘩𝘩...𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦....𝘢𝘩𝘩𝘩....𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵...𝘢𝘩𝘩𝘩... 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮.”
“Yes. Then I can get rid of this dependency. *thud* *thud* This pain that tears me. This atrocity that makes my heart split in half. *thud* *thud* *thud* I’d no longer be a slave to my limbic system. *thud* *thud* *thud* If I get rid of it, I might have a chance to be the creator of the ultimate life form. *thud* *thud* One that does not suffer.”
Mr. Joseph felt the solace that he used to experience once. He did not want this to end. “I’ve missed you Margaret. Existence is meaningless but I’ve realised that you make it worth cherishing. I hope you’ve come to stay forever.”
“𝘈𝘩 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 10 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘣 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳? 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩. 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦.”
Mr. Joseph’s hallucination helped ameliorate his pain but this sudden remembrance was devastating for him. All those memories were returning to him again. The ones which sucked the life out of him. His heart was splitting again. It was heavy again. His head was exploding. He burst into tears and cried himself to sleep. How could he handle this? How could anyone handle this?
*knock knock* *knock knock*
Mr. Joseph’s sleep was broken by constant knocks on the door. There was a girl waiting outside.
“𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦?”
“Hello Margaret. How can I ever forget you? Come on in.”
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