21.Ocean Man

The oceans were the wardens of the climate. Dwax could create an algae bloom that blocked the sun from getting below the surface of the ocean. That could create a cascading cycle of death that would ruin the planet. Dwax didn't want to ruin the planet. He wanted to render it useless to the economy. That was harder to do and required some engineering. Unlike the surface, where every biome was decimated, the ocean was full of creatures that would most likely outcompete whatever he could put out. Unlike the surface, he needed a strategy. If he could accomplish what he wanted to accomplish, the planet would become high in oxygen content. Such climate conditions were very beneficial to the megafauna he wanted to create. The oxygen level adjuster came bundled with everyone's gene-harvesting organ. All they had to do was metamorphize so they could breathe the new air.

The first thing to be created was an algae-farming creature. What algae lacked the most were the minerals to construct themselves with. That was the reason that whenever there was a chemical spill, there would be an algae bloom. This algae-farming creature would swim to the bottom of the sea and pick up the dirt from the bottom. They will dissolve in the contents near the surface. Therefore, it creates an algae bloom for the ocean life to eat. Dwax wanted to create Krakens. Unlike the giants on the land, Krakens needed to compete with iron ships. They needed huge amounts of body mass.

 After creating the algae farmer, all he had to do was giantize the existing sea creatures and make them aggressive. 

First of all, the algae-farming fish should be able to dive. It also needed a sack to keep the sand in. It should also be a fish that feeds on algae. Creating the biological creature was easy. The hard part was to create behavioral patterns genetically. Instead, genes for watching and learning were easier to put in. He needed to create controllable fish to show the algae-farming fish how to farm algae. 

 The Seas were another multi-decade project for Dwax. was going to do everything in his power to make it the most inhospitable place possible. He wanted to feel the depths of the sea with unimaginable horrors.

 On the other side of the sea, people were living in houses bubbled within structures in the sea. Since they lived an airtight life, much like space vessels, the cataclysm didn't hit them. All they had to do to survive was use drones to gain resources from the ocean. The bioweapon burned out later, making the sea people the most successful survivors of the cataclysm. The seas housed approximately 800,000 people. A drop in the bucket if you keep in mind that the world's population was 18 billion before the cataclysm. Most of them were too terrified to leave. But they understood that without extra parts, their little habitats would fall apart eventually. Unlike the space habitat, they weren't being supplied by the galactic community.

 They would have to do a mass exodus to land. To a cruel, inhospitable land. Things were not looking that good for the sea dwellers, even though they survived.

As Dwax worked the sea, the fortresses were being constructed on the land. The settlers slowly arrived, one by one. Four forts were ready when the first settlers arrived. They were from a nearby star system. These upper-middle-class folk were going to find themselves in a war zone. They were the preferred working class of the galactic elite. They were both capable and submissive.

One of the fortresses was next to a forest. Abdulmuttalib and his family were one of the families assigned to this fortress. They were not too happy about that. They were expecting a suburb. Now they had to house themselves in bunk beds, like lowly soldiers. Abdulmuttalib was afraid his children were growing soft with the life they lived on the spaceship. He decided to take his children to hunt in the forest. The security warned him about the forest, but he started to ask for their manager.

Joe Fahran, the security supervisor of the fortress, came to listen to the man. Abdulmuttalib was screaming at the top of his lungs, dirtying his beard with spit. Joe Fahran rolled his eyes. He stopped the man from yelling with his hand gesture.

" I will take you and your family outside of the fortress, and you are going to touch some grass."

Abdulmuttalib was taken aback. Touching some grass? What did that mean? Were these men mocking him?

 The security forces took Abdulmuttalib and his family outside of the fortress and to the edge of the forest. Joe Fahran pointed at the first vegetation he saw.

" Go touch that."

Abdulmuttalib's son, Jafar, ran toward the plant with its big leaves. He slammed his hand on its surface. First, heat traveled through Jafar's arm. Then the pain came. Oh, the pain. The plant had genes from the Gympie-Gympie plant. 

Seeing his son in terrible pain, screaming, wailing, and crying, Abdulmuttalib got angry. He didn't raise a homosexual. Why did his son cry like a homosexual when he touched a mere plant? He ran toward his son to yell at him for making a fuss. This pathetic, homosexual behavior had to be corrected. 

He started slapping his son. 

Seeing him do this, Joe Fahran picked up a leaf and placed it on Abdulmuttalib's skin. He was holding a cigarette between his teeth and smirking.

Abdulmuttalib started crying worse than Jafar. He screamed a high-pitched scream and called for Mommy. His conduct was marginally gayer. Seeing that the remaining family members refused to participate, Joe Fahran turned toward the cameraman. 

"Did you get that? Edit it into an educational tape. It turns out we will need it."

Suddenly, a swarm of tiny insects made their way to the crowd. They started to sting them.

"Fucking mosquitoes. Let's go back. Who the hell creates mosquitoes for their planet? That's just nasty."

They visited the clinic in the fortress. It was mandatory after ten people died from unidentifiable causes. 

The doctor gave a rundown about what he needed to do.

"I'll have to lock all your genomes to protect them from editing. Otherwise, like what happened today, you would get your genome altered by mosquito injections. This time, I was able to identify and eliminate the edited parts, but I will not be able to do so every time. If you want to edit your body, you will have to do it through your gene harvesting organ."

Abdulmuttalib felt this was terrible for his future. Genetic malleability was one of the first things an employer asked for. They were becoming damaged goods in the job market. Nevertheless, he didn't want to die, so he was willing to encrypt his genome.

He felt persecuted. His hatred against the people who sold him this terrible planet started to grip his heart.

He had learned about the cataclysm and saw the skeletons littering the ruins. However, he had been sold a narrative about a global war that caused this. He thought he was colonizing a dead planet that suffered from mankind's hubris. A good and respectable person like him was going to do better and be better. He was surely the man to save this world. He was good and nice. He was going to save this planet by being an example for everybody. If everybody adhered to Abdulmuttalib's religion, there would be peace and no world-annihilating wars.

He looked at the red in his hand. It was hell. The boy was right to cry. He had cried too.

Abdulmuttalib rubbed his face. He had been assigned to a digging project supervisor technician position. They were barred from expanding outward by the forest. The underground was a good place to start expanding.

Months later, the skies were darkened with seeds and spores. Taking advantage of the windy and rainy season, the fauna was spreading like there was no tomorrow. This also served to break apart the concrete and mycelium cricks that have been used to create the insulation on the buildings. The forest was actively attacking everything that made life easier for human beings.

In another part of the world, among the survivors of the cataclysm, a tribal ritual was taking place. Rows of men, women, and children got in line in front of a giant centipede. They took oaths, and when their oaths were done, the centipede picked up a woman and injected her with a liquid. It wrapped the woman in its silk. It stacked her on the side. 

The next person came and took his oath.

"By ash, by blood, and by ink. I will spare no effort to avenge the atrocity that has been done to us. I will spare no effort to become a free person. I will show mercy to the weak, and even if it makes me less, I will do good deeds. I will not be a victim anymore."