Candy POV
The Days following Went by like lightning... Soon, Winter came. We had A huge Group over this year, And Red and I, Well... Let's just say We Confirmed our Mutual Love for Each other, And it was Slightly Painful yet Enjoyable, And leave it at that... Mom kept teasing us afterward though... "I cannot beleive The day has come Where the Son I gave birth to became a Woman... Again."
It wasn't funny, at all... I don't care how much it made Alex, Katie, And Dad Laugh.
But then the Seasons changed, and soon we Were Graduating from High-School... Alex Got Dumped... Then Started Dating A Young Soldier who had Been sent to be trained as a Computer specialist by My Dad... Cassandra was a nice Lady, Only three Years older than us... and she LOVED the fact that Alex Had a Traditionally female name, making a point of calling him Alexis Whenever She wanted to make him mad... It was Funny... until I happened to walk past the Guest room once, and hear her call him something else. I made the mistake of telling Red, and when he jokingly called Alex "Big Daddy Lexi" and Alex turned the exact color of A Strawberry, I immediately Regretted Laughing... because Alex KNOWS things about me that I'd rather keep secret... like the fact that All of my Plushies have Different names, And I used to Secretly talk to them as if they were people, or the Fact that I Used to Wish I Could Fly, just so I could poop on People's cars and blame Giant Eagles... yeah, I was A Weirdo, And Mom was NEVER shy of Sharing those memories with people... but she'd held herself back with red, because she thought it was my place to share those things...
We never expected what was coming, that August... But It was a terrible day, preceeded by the best day of my life...
It was july 31st... Red Took me to dinner... He'd Been Working in Aunt G's shop as her Assistant for a few months, And saved up for something.
We were at a Cafe back in the Undersea Plaza, When I found out what. Red Stopped And said his shoe was untied, as we were about to leave... Then Came up With a Ring box. He Proposed to me, In A scene like it came from a Romance film... And I Cried. Of course I said yes, but... I felt so Fluttery, like I was Standing on a cloud, carried aloft by a trillion butterflies...
When I got home, Mom and Katie, and Aunt G who was visiting, Squealed... Sounded like a bunch of angry bats, honestly... Then Cassandra and Alex came in, and more Squeals ensued... Surprisingly they weren't from Cassandra, But from Alex. He sounded like a balloon deflating... At first I was shocked, then laughed at his next words. "EEEEEEE! YESSSS! I WON! TAKE THAT, MOM, YOU OWE ME $300 BUCKS! I KNEW RED WOULD MAKE HIS MOVE BEFORE WINTER! HAHAHAHA!" He then took off toward his house, without even a 'See ya later'...
Then... August 1st happened. The 'New Order of Human Obedience and Management Organization' is whatthey called themselves, or NOHOMO For Short.
The Group began Attacking Government buildings, Declaring Martial law... And A group of heavily Armed men Arrived at our house, And not just ours... The military moved Us, Our Friends and Families, And Julius and Roxanne, the Married Couple who were ALSO affected by the nanoswarm, into protective custody. NOHOMO wanted all of us "changed by machines" to be publicly Executed... alongside anyone in the LGBT community... The World decended into war.
We were led to an underground bunker, just us and about 30 military families, and 10 influential LGBT Politicians and Celebrities and their families, and the current Governmental body and their families. Around 500 people in total. Then it happened. We were all rushed inside, as a siren went off... NOHOMO had launched Nuclear Weapons...
I felt a familiar Burn in my skin... And Suddenly, I FELT the Bunker... All its systems, the soldiers weapons... And the massive Gun-banks on the roof. I wasn't alone... I felt Red there too... Our A.I. Friends were in control. Then... They left us. We were guided to A small room, full of Cryo-stasis pods. Apparently, The Government has perfected the Process. And we were all put under...
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400 years later...
The Young Woman Awoke... and began a message, guided by an A.I. copy of her former self. Overthe coming months, she started it over many times... She, Chosen to be the voice of the few hundred that remained, had to get it perfect... this would be broadcast to allow the world, to any survivors from other bunkers, and any Decendants of Survivors from elsewhere, of there were any.
"This Is for anyone out there, any survivors... We Are still here. Still alive.
My name is Candace... but it wasn't always... it was Andrew once... Andy... we ended the world... But it wasn't our fault. Those who hated us, reviled us, and denied our right to exist... They are the once who ended it, in a desperate bid to destroy us. But we Survived... we will THRIVE... "
Candy smiled, as she thought about the news She and Red had gotten, just this morning... She placed a Hand on her Belly and smiled.
"We already ARE thriving. We stand as A bastion of humanity, Of Acceptance... And we welcome all... but should you come in violence, we will respond in kind."
The thought of repairing the world for her Newly Discovered Unborn Child Thrilled her...
"We will rebuild our society... and make it better. Who am I to promise this? Well... I Am ME. A man turned into the Woman I always was inside, A happy Soon-to-Be Wife, And an Expectant Mother... But most of All... What I Am... Is Human. So come, My brothers and sisters out there... come find us... For like a Phoenix, we shall rise from the ashes, and stand strong upon the foundation of our history... We are humanity... and we will march ever onward to the future... not for ourselves, but for those who follow."
Candy smiled... then hit the Erase button And started again...
"Hello. I am..."
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