EXTINCTION WARRIOR

Chapter 2

I'm crawling on the floor searching. Not under my desk or closet floor.

"Where is it Mig?"

"Under the bed." He says yawning. My mindsight sees the dark picture he's sending – the helmet next to my boot.

I crawl over, tilt my head sideways and peer into the blackness. It's there!Must've rolled off because Mig pushed it. Probably attracted by the aroma of popcorn atoms in the scent activator.

Woka and I were standing next to a bush when we had to stop playing. We'd watched a male leopard pee all over it to mark his territory. The smell of popcorn was so intense I had an instant craving and made a big bowl as soon as I was out of my haptic suit.

I grab the helmet, and dash to my VR space on the other side of the room. It's where I can enter virtual words without crashing into my bed or my desk. Once there, I activate the padded screen that runs in a track from the floor to the ceiling.

"Activate VR screen," I tell the smartwall. The screen rolls across the room, cutting it in half. Jamming my helmet on, I shout, "SOS Island, level five!"

***

It's bright and sunny in the savanna. Storm clouds are off in the distance. I drop to the ground next to Woka, on his stomach in the grass. We're close to a watering hole.

"See her?" He asks,pointing.

"Yeah."

The tiny, tusk-less matriarch is on the other side of the watering hole. Her big ears nearly touch the ground. She's about four feet tall, at the water's edge guarding two baby elephants the size of goats. They're rolling and playing in the mud. Impalas, as small as house cats, drink nearby. Zebras and giraffes, a little bigger than me, are waiting to drink.

"Here I go," I take a deep breath and slowly stand.

"She must believe you," Woka whispers. "Whatever you say, she must accept it, or we go nowhere."

I hold my breath and walk super-slowly, crunching the dry grass that sounds like sandpaper. I get six feet from her and stop. The pachyderm queen flaps her ears. Waiting. Waiting for me to say whatever it is that's going to let us move to the next level. She has kind, brown elephant eyes, so alive, so intelligent,so real. I listen,like Taata taught me. Listen deep inside. Listen to what my heart is saying, and finally tell her, "It's our fault."

Her reply is a low rumble.It surrounds me like a cloud, like a swarm of angry hornets.

"When the giant dog arrived," she says, flapping her ears slowly,"there was endless chasing. The invader played at hunting. He disturbed everyone with his sprinting. Scattered us to the four winds in a complete panic. He has learned to catch gazelle, but I am troubled for them,as I am for the lions, cheetahs, and leopards that prey upon them."

Just for fun, Woka and I made the African wild dog a giant. Way bigger than the other animals.He's disrupting the balance in the savanna. Meantime, I'm getting really hot. Sweat trickles down the small of my back.

She goes on, swaying her head and trunk. "On his second day, he declared he was an apex predator. He had no pack and was powerless to kill his usual prey.He could only eat what the lonely hunter caught himself: mice,rabbits, hedgehogs. Hardly his preferred diet." She stops and stares, and flaps her ears, waiting patiently.

I've got to tell her more.Something else. The baby elephants crawl between the legs of five other miniature elephants gather behind her. I sense their agitation. They're getting ready to move on. All looking at me.

What else do I say? What can I say? My eyes shift to the ground, to the queen's dusty feet. My heart pounds in my ears. I take another breath.

"I'm sorry. We're really sorry." I say, my body tense and sweaty.

The dog is way too big for these small creatures and their environment. He's disturbing everything.Like in the real world when invasive species take over and disrupt the balance.

"I promise,we'll make it better for everyone!" I exclaim with all my heart.

She approaches slowly,within inches of me. She starts at my feet slowly, and gently explores my scent. Her trunk drifts back and forth up my legs, torso,shoulders, neck and head inhaling me. When she gets to my face, she exhales her warm, grassy breath. Then lifts her tail and farts.What?!

I stifle a laugh. Woka snickers. We've got to be at the end of level five now. I'm standing waiting for it to end.Waiting for her to tell us how to advance.

Like air pinched from a balloon, she suddenly lifts her trunk, and trumpets. Grassy clots of wet poop plop to the ground behind her.

"We accept your apology," she says. "Remove the dog, walk through my excrement,and move to level six."

My body goes limp,relieved but ewwww!

All at once the air fills with a chorus of happy trumpeting. The elephant queen brushes my shoulder, and the herd trots off wagging their tails in a cloud of dust.

"Excellent Luki! I would not think to apologize." Woka shouts.

"We have to walk through her poop! Smell it? It's bad!"

Woka jumps up, "Who cares?!" He shouts, and stomps through the poop triumphantly.