//------------------------------// // Courier/ Plauge: A final human // Story: Dawn’s Break // by Chemtest //------------------------------// From this sickly green void is a man with the same green comeing out of his mask’s eyes. I lay on the ground, and he stares down at me. He offers me a hand, “Come on, get on your feet.” I take his hand, and stand up. I check my body, marketing sure I had all my stuff. After I confirm, I look back at him, “Thanks.” He looks right at me, “It is no problem to help a fellow human, even if from a different universe. I may be the last one in my universe, but I will still help those from others.” I smile as I take in his aura of a cold businessman that surrounds him. Someone who stays cool in every situation, just like me. I offer my hand for a shake, “I’m the Courier, who might you be?” He takes my hand, and shakes, “Plauge, the last human. I already knew who you are, what you’ve done. I remember it from when I was crushed underneath that pretender of a human spirit.” I release my hand, “You do look like Survivor, just with some differences. Namely that green glow, and the aura that you put out.” “Notice a aura around a man? You must have a Perception of ten.” I laugh, “Ten?! Oh no, I am the only man in existence that has an eleven in every S.P.E.C.I.A.L trait.” He looks at me again, “Well, you did have a strong handshake even though you are weakened in the spirit’s realm. And as you said, I do look like Survivor. That is because me and him were the same man at one point. Well, he was the man. I was a part of the personality that was crushed under his.” “And what part would you be?” I can feel a smile from him, “The human side. Orderly, Violent, Superior. Meanwhile I inhabited the body that was the opposite. Kind, Chaotic, Inferior. Survivor always was in control of the body, and I had little to no input. Made him the way he is now, weak.” “So you feel he is inferior to you because of those traits?” Plauge nods, “He became something less than human whenever he fought against me five years ago. When he threw out the human race by killing me, and saving the inferior. Now no human is left in that universe, because I am not there, and he is a beast in human clothing.” “What do you consider inferior?” “Non-humans.” He spits, “Animals!” “The more I hear you talk, the more I am reminded of Hitler.” He jumps his gaze back onto me, “You dare compare me to Hitler?” “Preaching about the extinction of those inferior... yeah, I dare.” He steps closer to me, before regaining his composure, “Hitler was a monster who killed humans. I would never kill a human unless absolutely necessary. Although he does garner some respect and admiration for his charisma, leadership, military capabilities, the Weimar Republic’s leaving of the Depression, and his honeied words that managed to convince an entire country that killing humans was okay. But he was not a good man, and is far from me. The Jews aren’t even a race, those... animals are a completely different spiecies that has yet to show any capacity of the pure distructive power the human race has used and will always use as long as it exists anywhere.” “And is that all humanity is? Destruction and death?” The void materializes into somewhere else, “It would seem that’s what you think. Let’s go over your ‘greatest moments’ montage.” It turns out to be an airiel view of three different locations. *BBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!* At each place, a nuke goes off, “Seen on the left is the NCR position that you nuked. On the right is the Legion place you nuked. In the middle is the final nuke you set off when both came looking for justice. Adding both children, soldiers, mothers, fathers, the sick, and the elderly, the total amount killed is one million. And these are but the high points.” I look upon it, and take my Stetson off, “These were not the the high points of my life. Those are the lowest points ever. But here’s the difference between me and you. I see that, and learn what humanity is not. You see that as our crowning achievement.” “Because humanity is destruction incarnate.” “And that is why you are not human. You are far away from what human is. Yes, you would be a part of a human, but only a part. There is no last human left alive in your universe because you are split in two. Survivor is kind, but not violent. You are violent, but not kind. A human is both kind and violent. It is that kindness that separates Gahndi from Hitler. It is that violence that separates us and animals.” “And I keep us separate.” “But they are not animals. They may be inferior to you, but here’s how you separate yourself from Hitler. Show the kindness, and instead of killing them, protect them. Foster their growth so they one day could be a superior as you, like a child to an adult. Otherwise you are no different than Hitler who also believed he was separateing Germany from animals.” He goes quiet, and the void returns. The sickly green changes to a lush and fresh green in his mask and the void. He looks up at me, “...How? I am not Hitler, I want to be different. The idea of fostering them sounds better, but how? My kind side is trapped within Survivor, and I will not be crushed underneath him anymore.” I look him in the eyes, “Do not be subjugated. Merge with him, become human once and for all. A human is kind, a human is violent, never more one than the other. And it is up to you to come together equally, and embrace each other. Show you can accept kindness, and Survivor will show he can accept violence. Only when you both show the will to change, will you finally change.” He looks me in the eye, and nods, “I will try. Anything to become human again, not a mere spirit of a portion of human.” “Then do it as soon as possible.” “And my spirit shall be at peace once more.” The void around me starts to fade, “I guess this is my good bye.” We shake hands once more, “Good bye, Courier. And... thank you.” And with that, the void completely fades away. ——— Hope...