The Last Extinction

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window of his room.

As quickly as she came up to gaze through the windows, she was quickly told to move on by the museum security. The person lined up behind her moved forward.

Ten seconds was the limit to all, and ten seconds never passed so quickly.

People paid billions of dollars to be in that room where the man in the rubber suit sat gazing out that last window into the world.

Unfortunately, Natasha didn’t have billions of dollars, but she was thankful her class got to see the window through another window.

It was only a glimpse of something- a patch of yellow, like of sand and stone. Her imaginations took on the rest of the scene. We lived on empty planet covered in dust.

Scientists told us that the world needed to be without humans for a while…a long while, but it simply puzzles them that the world is still sand and stone through that window. Thousands of years have passed since the sixth extinction.

It should have been green by now. The world should be better now that humans didn’t interfere.

School teaches us that scientists were idealizing fanatics that ruined the planet, and the world around us turned into dust and will remain so forever. Some say we aren’t even on Earth anymore, but on Mars.

Humans can only survive encased in this metal pocket.

People were getting sick inside these walls, and we’ve had three pandemics in the last 50 years. The air inside was fabricated out of a different collation of oxygen. Natasha imagined what real oxygen would feel like in her body- she imagined a sweet air like cotton candy.

All in all, her young rebellious mind was tired of where she was at and how things are.

Her eyes gazed back towards the other classmates starring through the window into the room. She wondered what the man inside the room saw- seeing the full picture, where everyone else only got a glimpse of a corner of the world.

She looked at the steel walls around her. The world of humans was surrounded by it. Walls and homes, floors and skies- all covered by the steel that shaded them from the true world. A world that would now kill them with its radiation. A world that hated humans, rightfully so. Everything must be closed off from a false promise of life outside of these walls.

All except that window which was held so much irony.

The window that took thousands of lifetimes to build and sustain, just to look at a world that hated humans. The window was worth all of the countless lives and dollars it took to build it.

Her mother had once talked about an extinct species of animal that had feathery arms it would use to glide in the air. They were fairytales I was told by my teacher; something called a “bird” which had an endless amount of sky to soar through. Natasha felt like she was meant to be a bird in this life- and now entrapped in a human form with a sky of stone grey.

Her dreams were now set: One day, she’ll be in that room with the window.

As the years went by, Natasha changed her major to an Observer and worked tirelessly to achieve her masters in the field. She had learned that an Observer’s job was overseeing the biology of the world around them- whatever limited biology it was to most people. Only Master’s in the field could one day- one time in their life- look through that window, but not without hard data to make it justified, which still made it astonishingly rare.

One Observer DID make it through in her lifetime- Thomas Orion.

Natasha found out it was the same person she saw as a child staring through the window of the visiting center- looking into the room where the man sits next to the window. She had thought he was simply a rich man, but he turned out to also be the best Observer in the field.

It was a big event when Mr. Orion would come to the Observatory where she worked, and would occasionally catch a glimpse of him walking down the halls with a team of security and researchers behind him.

Today was one of those days.

Natasha scrubbed the lens of her microscope with a micro-cleaning cloth. One eye seemed to be looking into the scope and the other looked down the hall.

Her friend Erika would always catch her day-dreaming in these moments, and tease her about it.

“Why do you think Thomas Orion is here today?” asked Natasha who was getting back to her work on micro-fungus that seemed to grow on some parts of the metal world they lived in. It was said it was causing a chemical reaction with the air- creating air pollution that made people sick.

“I’m not sure” began Erika who looked up to see the passersby outside their lab, “But I heard from Professor Munich that Thomas Orion had a new theory he was working on” she said.

“A theory?” snapped Natasha who was now surprised at the news, “How is this not being talked about all over the place?!” she said, finding it hard to believe since she has heard nothing about it.

“Well, if you actually were friends with your professors, maybe you’d get the scoop, Natasha” her friend replied, “besides, you know how things work here- confidentiality is crucial” she said.

Natasha twisted her chair to face Erika, giving her full attention now, “and Professor Munich just... decided to tell you?” she said, eying with curiosity.

Erika blushed and smiled devilishly, “It’s confidential” she smirked.

Natasha stayed inside the lab for an extra hour, telling Erika she would close up. The micro-fungus she was researching turned out to be more exciting than she had first thought. It was the closest thing to wild animals many had witnessed. Her detailed report of this specimen wasn’t due for another 2 weeks, which gave her plenty of time to do her work. She really didn’t need to stay later in the office, but Natasha enjoyed the solitude.

She had triple checked to make sure the fungus was contained properly before locking up the laboratory.

“Natasha King” a voice spoke behind her.

She turned around suddenly, almost startled at the voice in the midst of the silence.

Natasha couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

It was Thomas Orion.

She hadn’t said anything for a few moments in awe of the man who looked at him with a little concern.

“You’re not def, are you?” he began then suddenly spoke a little louder which startled her more: “ARE YOU NATASHA KING?” he asked again.

“I’m not def, Professor Orion, but thanks for checking” she finally said, but immediately regretted the sort of sassiness that came out of her mouth.

A faint smile hinted at the corner of his mouth.

He extended his hand and introduced himself (which Natasha found very silly to do so- EVERYONE knew who he was).

A question suddenly rushed out of her mouth: “What’s it like out there? What did you see?” she asked without warning.

Professor Orion gave a little sigh, almost exhausted at how many times he was asked that by people.

“You know the rules around here, Ms. King. I’m not at liberty to discus what I’ve seen outside the window” he replied.

She nodded almost too quickly, “Sorry, I apologize” she said. Natasha could tell this confrontation, these words, were probably replied dozens of times a day for this man.

“Were you looking for me, Professor?” she asked suddenly, now realizing that he had called her name rather than bumping into him in the hall.

“You’re studying the fungus that’s growing in the walls?” he asked.

She nodded, “Palpicus Autonomys- subject XZ110” she said, giving him the specific scientific terminology in case he was mistaken with any other fungus inside these walls.

“You’ll have to come with me, bring a sample” he said.

Has she done something wrong? Was she getting fired for something?

She had carefully grabbed a small sample and the professor quickly led her down the hall.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“To the Window, Ms. King…” he said, fevered with a strange excitement, “The last window to the outside world”.

Her pace suddenly quickened after hearing him. This was her time.

She ran through several security checkpoints before Professor Orion and her stood inside a sanitization room.

They stood in rubber suites as Natasha held the sealed container of fungi closely.

“This little fungi, Ms. King, do you know why you’re researching it?” he asked as one hand laid still on the door knob.

“It’s making people sick, is what I was told. I’m researching it to find a way to combat the fungus” she replied.

“This little fungus has been evolving into a new organism- responsible for the last 3 pandemics” he said and paused shortly after, “Do you know where it comes from?”

Natasha felt slightly uncomfortable now, and felt a little threatened.

“It’s the steel reacting to the atmosphere” she replied, now thinking it was all a lie told to her.

The professor made no corrections to what she said, but only replied: “You ever wondered what the world looks like now?” he asked.

He then opened the door into the small room and she saw the window.

How the outside world had anything to do with the fungi specimen was a mystery to her. As she walked into the room, Natasha forgot everything around her.

She was finally going to look through the last window into the outside world, and unknowingly in this moment- find a way to exterminate the human race altogether.