SYSTEM RESET

Go Forth and Multiply

"They're coming," Lucy pointed at the distant dots which slowly resolved themselves into large reed rafts propelled by bearded men wielding massive paddles.

"Do we have to do this?" Lucy asked, "again?" She looked questioningly at her mother who seemed more gorgeous now than she had ever seen her. Here the nakedness that they had once privately enjoyed in that distant other life was the norm. Caroline was in her element; tall, bronzed and athletic, just like Lucy, standing with her legs slightly apart, her hand shielding her eyes from the baking sun, looking out to sea. There were other women on the beach, most of the rest of the Circle and some of the grateful ancestors who had welcomed them into their lives and now shared their enhanced DNA. The men, however, had realigned their molecular structure and made themselves invisible. But they were here, standing beside the women. And concealed in the dunes behind the beach was the mobile geodesic globe fabricated by psitech from self replicating cells and propelled by the same psychic forces which allowed the Elves to levitate and fly. And since it was grafted into living DNA it could also teleport itself if need be.

But because they were no longer constrained by time the Elves did not hurry, unless they had too. Amongst the many things they had learned from their sapient ancestors was the ability to enter the minds of animals and talk to them. So now it was more interesting to walk through their world, as their ancestors had done, and to listen to the animals with whom they shared the abundant Earth. They did not judge the world of the animals, though they themselves no longer needed to kill to eat. But they cared for their needs and helped them through death, and, in return, the animals spoke to their minds and became their eyes and ears in the wild world. All save one. The minds of men could not talk to animals. They could not even talk to each other. And knowing that they were not telepaths enraged them beyond measure.

"We don't have any option," Caroline replied, "we have already been here for over a thousand years. It's taken a lot longer than we thought. We have watched them in the hope that they might be redeemed. But they are just as they will always be. We cannot share this world with them. They will not tolerate us. They can't kill us unless they catch us off guard, but they will always want to try. And we can't kill them. Therefore we will always be on guard. Better that we give ourselves to them, as we agreed. They enjoy us and then they will forget that we exist. And they will never return. This should be the last time. So let's do it and get it over with."

Lucy and Imogen could feel the reassuring presence of Mike between them. His hands reached for their hands and squeezed them in reassurance. "We won't let them harm you. Just do what you like doing best."

The primitive reed boats rolled in to the shore and beached themselves. They were the apex of a nascent technology; reed rafts bound together with papyrus ropes; crude craft which would never evolve into a nuclear submarine. The men leapt out and walked cautiously up the beach towards the rows of naked women passively waiting for them. They could not believe their luck. These females were physically like their own women, but more beautiful than them. And best of all there were no men to defend them. The primal instinct engrossed them. They threw down their spears and tore off their loincloths. Imogen was grabbed by her shoulders and hurled onto the baking hot sand. She lay back, stretched out her arms and legs into a seductive saltire and smiled sweetly at the ravening monster about to crucify himself on her. He raped her swiftly and clumsily and then withdrew panting, wondering angrily why the ecstasy of sex was so fleeting. It was always like this, all over before it had begun.

He flung himself off her and lay on his back looking at the sky and listening to his companions doing what he had just done. Only this time it was different. There were no tearful anguished screams. These women were strangely compliant, compared with the women of the other tribes they had met in their travels. He preferred women who fought back so that he had an excuse to beat them into howling submission. And where were the males? Sacrificing the males to the Gods of the Sky was a divine duty. It gave them spiritual strength. If there were no males to sacrifice at least one of these females would have to die in their place. It would be a sinful waste of willing flesh.