The Heart of Man

A wrinkled, thin, and strong hand gripped a large heart-shaped locket. The Locket nestled nicely into the palm of the woman's hand. Its once brilliant silver surface was now tarnished from over a hundred years of abuse--much like she was. The silver chain that was once complete was now incomplete--the gaps held together with string. Her memories were the same. Memories that were once clear and vivid seemed like dreams. Some were lost like the parts of this chain. But the missing pieces were filled in by the string of the ragged journal in front of her...penned by her own hand. She read to remember as much as possible for as long as possible. The world needed to remember. She read the words again. "I am Rin, and I saved the World...."

Rin was 20 when she learned the story of the Great Failure. Exploding population and shrinking farmland caused mass starvation. In a historic act, all the nations on the earth set aside their differences to solve the problem of hunger. Select nations chose their greatest minds. After 10 years of trial and error, they created the Super Seed. Plants treated with Super Seed could produce four times the produce in half the space. The Seed was dispersed throughout the world so every food plant was affected. But the Greatest Minds were not so great after all. They realized too late that the Super Seed had one fatal flaw. It killed our own seed. Humans could no longer have children. Panic and anarchy ensued. The Greatest Minds became criminals in the eyes of the world. They and their families fled to an underground fortress for them to continue to find a solution and protect them from those who demanded their death. That was 100 years ago. Another effect of the Super Seed was increased lifespan. In a sickening irony, we have an extra century or so to ponder our neglect and our arrogance. No one believed they still worked on a solution--if they were even still alive at all.

The rest of humanity huddled together in small communities to survive. Food was plentiful. However, many sought power and land for themselves. Vast areas were under their control. When they wanted to expand their territory, they would send out groups of armed bandits called Scrapers to force others off with nothing but the shirts on their backs. They killed those refusing to leave.

Rin and her family lived in a small community in the hill country of what they once called Texas. She remembered the day that she learned something that would change the course of her life forever. Her parents, Janice and Mike, sat at the small table in front of the large window that faced the morning sun.

They fidgeted with their coffee mugs, concerned glances being shared between them. Rin raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you two?" She asked with a chuckle. Mike cleared his throat, not responding to the levity.

"Rin, we have a very special gift for you," Mike said in a monotone voice that seemed like he was about to tell her that her dog Jake had died.

"Dad, Is it a snake or something?" Rin chuckled, shaking her head.

"Rin, Please Just open it," He insisted impatiently. Rin shrugged, took the bag, and opened the drawstring. She pulled out a large heart-shaped locket. It was silver with a long silver chain.

"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed and embraced her father. He slowly returned the embrace, tears suddenly filling his eyes. Rin felt a sudden tightening of the embrace.

"Whoa, Dad! What's going on?" She asked as she stepped back to look at both of their tear-filled eyes.

Her mother beckoned her to sit back down.

"I need to explain." She said. "We are not just simple land farmers and tinkerers"

This revelation brought a tilt of the head from Rin. "Are...you Scrapers?" She asked.

"No, Child!" Her mother snapped, more out of exasperation than anger. "Now Hush and let me get me this out"

She continued.

"Your father and I know that the Greatest Minds are not a myth." She sighed again. "We are two of them."

Rin blinked her eyes as she looked back and forth from parent to parent.

Suddenly, a laugh erupted from her

"Ooh, you had me there for a minute!" she yelled through the belly laugh, slapping her knee.

"How did we raise such a silly child?" Janice sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Rinci Fran Johnson!" Mike yelled. Rin stopped as if someone had just slapped her in the face.

After seeing the lack of mirth in her parent's faces, the truth of the situation finally dawned on her

"How...Why...What were you thinking...?" Rin began, then jumped up from the chair causing it to squeak on the wooden floor. "So, you give me a gift to mark the day that I find out my parents helped murder the human race!?" She shouted, hands out, pacing the floor. "My parents, the murderers!" She continued. Mike began to rise from the table, but Janice grabbed his arm and shook her head slightly. Instead, she stood and walked to Rin. Janice stood directly in front of her.

"I will not defend our actions because I don't feel we need to" she insisted, then softened. "We were trying to save the world, Rin. In another generation, we would have run out of food, anyway."

Rin's shoulders relaxed a little. She turned away and ran her fingers through her hair. "So, why aren't we living in the fortress, then?" She asked, and then turned back toward her.

"You can call it our penance...our punishment...of ourselves for our failure," Mike said while rising from his seat. He walked over to Janice and wrapped his arm around her waist before continuing.

"There was no way we could allow ourselves to live in safety while everyone else was left out here to fend for ourselves. We had to learn to fight for our lives. Those are the skills we have taught you to prepare for Scrapers. We finally made our way here. By that time, the thirst for revenge had given way to the need to survive and try to enjoy what lives we had left. And then you were born."

Mike paused, then shared a look at Janice. As if on cue, Rin raised a hand.

"Wait," she said, hold a hand up, the corners of her mouth starting to curl into a slight smile. "I was born after the Great Failure? But, how is that possible?"

Both Mike and Janice nodded, broad smiles on their faces.

"It was a complete and beautiful surprise to us," Janice said. "After you were born, we set about trying to figure out what was different about us that allowed us to have children. We found some ruins of an old school called Baylor and found some genetic equipment that we could use. In addition, we found some computer equipment that we needed to operate them. Mike found some photovoltaic cells that converted sunlight into electricity and that could generate enough electricity to operate what we needed. It took ten years, but we finally found what made us different from the others."

Janice walked over to the table and retrieved the locket.

"We have compiled all the information needed to create an antidote and put it into this information storage device," Janice said as she opened the locket. Inside was a rectangular-shaped object. One end was metal. "Before the failure, we called this a Thumb Drive."

Janice closed the locket and put the gold chain around Rin's neck. Her face then became more serious. "It is now time to get this information to the fortress. Around your neck and in our bloodstream is literally the last hope for mankind." Janice continued. "We have three days to prepare and then we must set out for the Fortress"

"Can't they come to get us?" Rin asked

"No," They only have enough resources to protect what's there. but they do have resources to create a serum to get this to everyone. That's what we need. But we must make our way there. We have been in communication with them and they are expecting us."

"What? How?" Rin asked.

Janice held up a device with a glowing screen. "This is called a Satellite phone," she said. "I'll explain all that another time. But we must prepare. The path to the fortress will take us through Desert Fox's land. We must make plans to keep the locket safe at all costs." Rin nodded, knowing that nothing in her life would be the same from that time on.

The elderly Rin placed the ribbon bookmark and closed the journal, setting it on the same table where she sat that fateful day. That was the same table where she sat with her children and grandchildren to tell the stories to them. She took in a long contented breath and knew that humans could go on. Tomorrow, she would relive the great journey to the fortress.