The Final Horror - And the nature of the birth of the author of this account.

The time: Six months later, 2:00 PM.  December 1, 2061

            Matthew and Jenny sat at a table in the Starlight Restaurant in Brandywine Maryland.  A small live band was playing - a rare thing since the development of life-like synthetic entertainment.  The violinist serenaded them as they ate the first good dinner since they were allowed out of quarantine.  In deference to Matthew’s revulsion to meat, they both had salads.

            “Jenny.  We’ve been friends for a long time.  You know my feelings for you.”  He took out a small black box and placed it in the middle of the table.

            “Oh, Matthew!” she said.  “What is it?”

            “It’s for you.  It’s for us.”

            She opened it.  “It’s beautiful!”  A ring’s diamond sparkled in the romantic glow of candlelight.  “Oh, Matthew!”

            He took her hand.  “Will you marry me Jenny?”

            “Yes!  Yes!  Of course I will!”

            “And I will love you and Peter’s child until death do us part.”

            The two lovers spent the greater part of the afternoon staring into each other’s eyes.  However there was important business to attend.  Jenny had a first appointment with her obstetrician and it was time to leave.  She was glad she could go to a public doctor.  Her condition needed checking even though she was taking vitamins and doing other things for prenatal care.  Matthew stood to give her a hand.  Her belly was swollen with new life.  “Be careful Jenny.  You’re getting pretty far along.”

            After leaving the restaurant, Jenny and Matthew got into their new transport.  It was a very short hop to Southern Maryland Hospital Center.

            “This is exciting Matthew.  My first regular check-up after the reversion to human.”

            “Yes.  It’s nice doing something normal for once.  Now we don’t have to try to hide from the public.”

            “Or doctors,” she said.

            The two entered the fourth floor office of Dr. Solocie.  Matthew signed in.  They were just on time.  He smiled at the receptionist as she read the name.  “The doctor is ready to see you immediately,” she said.  “And, oh, my, you are quite advanced,” she said to Jenny.  “Are you sure you are only six and a half months along?  It looks like you are full term.”

            “No.  Just twenty-six weeks,” she said.

            “Well, maybe you have twins.”

            “Twins,” she thought.  “Maybe a boy and a girl.”

            A male nurse escorted her to the office.  Matthew stayed in the waiting room and read magazine articles off his com about his famous animal friends.

            He examined a headline. “Shep the Wonderful Dog and his faithful companion Rosco, the Ape, are starring in their first movie.”

            "Rosco?  Chimp's stage name, no doubt."  He thought to himself, “They deserve the best.  If their managers only knew exactly how capable they are.  They’re having the times of their lives.”

            He turned the page.  “Big Foot Spotted In Africa!”

            “Malcolm has found a home in the jungles of Africa.  Matthew remembered the last mail he got from Malcolm.  “He’s found a home,” he thought.  “Living off the land, doing good works where he can.”

            He watched as others came in to take their seats.  He thought about the prospect that Jenny would soon have Peter’s son or daughter, or possibly one of each.

            Inside the doctor’s office Jenny sat in a comfortable chair.  Dr. Solocie, an old, thin doctor from Sicily, greeted her.  “I am happy to meet you, Mrs. Purgea,” he said.  “I’ve heard a lot about you. And I am happy you are able to come out of quarantine. You are famous, you know.  The world is waiting for news about your pregnancy." 

            “Thank you, doctor,” she said.  “Really.  It was not that bad.  And the medicine I got worked well.  The tissue samples I sent to the scientists . . ."

            "Yes, I know.  They are perfectly restored.  You are fully and completely cured of your genetic disease.  Congratulations.”

            “Thank you.  I’m pretty excited about the baby.  I’m excited about receiving the scan.”

            “Patience,” he said.  He turned on his monitor that had a forty-inch high-resolution screen.  He took a small scanner from his pocket and laid it on her belly.  Immediately vital signs registered on a screen located on the nearby wall.  “He or she has a healthy heart,” he said as the strong and regular thump-thump sounded over the speaker.  He brought another  scanning device from a drawer in the table and placed it on her.  Instantly an image appeared on the screen.

            “God in heaven,” she said as soon as the image appeared. The doctor turned his head toward the screen.  “Nurse! Get in here!  Stat!” he ordered with near-panic in his voice.

            “There must be some mis-mistake,” Jenny said.  “God help me!”

            “There is no god.” He allowed his scanner to drop out of his hand.  “The baby.  The baby.”

            “It’s not that bad,” she said.  “Tell me it’s going to be okay.”

            The stunned doctor hesitated for a second before responding. “Madam, the laws still allow for termination under circumstances like this.  I must recommend an immediate termination of this pregnancy.  There’s no way . . . ”

            The nurse entered.  “God!” she screamed when she saw the image.  She screamed again, hid her eyes and turned away, frantically crying.

            Jenny’s heart pounded.  “Matthew!  I need Matthew.   That’s my baby.”

            Dr. Solocie cried out, horrified, pointing toward the image on the screen, “Your baby?  It's an - an ape!”

            The loud, rapid thumping sound of the simian’s heart chilled their frighted souls to the core.

            She did not abort because she understood I did not deserve to die.  Even if I did have the body of a simian, that doesn’t mean my life is not important.  Hence, the third and final tenet of Matthewism.

                                                             “No one is less than human.”

            In addition to this is the well known phrase, which the adherents of Matthewism have adopted, which was spoken by President Jackson just before his assassination: “I am human.  Let none dispute it.”

            I was born on March 1, 2061.  I am now almost two years old.

            So ends the saga of how our present society came to be.  Now you know exactly what role these courageous men and animals played.  Now you know my secret of what I am, and why I could not make myself known to the world until now.  Do you blame me?  I was one year old and fully grown when my parents secretly sent me to live in Africa with Malcolm, believing he was the only one who could possibly help to give me any quality of life. 

            I mentioned at the very beginning of this account that I am human.  In my mind, I am just as human as you are.  (Are not my writings what you would expect from a human?)  I was born of a human woman.  My birth father, originally, was human.  My adopted father was and is still human.  I am human in spirit.  My soul is human.  And, like the rest of the world, I am elated by the  demise of humanity’s worst enemy, Dr. Henry Lincoln.  It is good to finally be able to say that we will never see him, or the likes of him, again.

            I have learned to live in the quiet places farthest from civilization and do not wish to be sought out. If you hear over the gossip sites on the Internet that someone spotted what looked like a half-ape, half-man somewhere in the jungles of Africa, don’t be alarmed or curious.  It’s probably only me.