When the world began to die, humanity continued to adapt. Hair became more akin to mud and branches that blended in seamlessly with the decaying trees, skin hardened and cracked like dirt in a draught so that they could catch water easier when it rained, eyes became Eyes and multiplied to fill whatever space was left over and they remained apex predators in their new world.
Society was mostly the same, schools taught children how their parents had survived in the hopes that they too might survive (though their methods were often abysmally outdated as the world went through drastic climate shifts on a semi-regular basis). Hospitals treated the worst injuries and illnesses, doctors travelled to those who couldn't reach them and humanity persisted.
Nobody knows when a rival species evolved or if they'd been hiding in plain sight all these years. When everyone has to cover themselves from tip to toe against the harsh world, it becomes impossible to tell human from Other.
And Other they were.
Humanoid in shape, yes, but distinctly inhuman in every other way. From their exaggerated gait caused by three extra leg joints to the way their heads tilted farther than an owl's, they were the very model of uncanniness and they were taking over, slowly but surely out-surviving humanity.
The world will always be fine, it will recover regardless of whatever creatures live on it. The world doesn't care, it isn't quite a conscious being and that's what makes it so deadly. When one thing dies, the world produces something else to fill the void, purposefully or not it maintains every ecosystem and humans were becoming obsolete.
The world was making the next best thing, whether humanity liked it or not.
Society was mostly the same, schools taught children how their parents had survived in the hopes that they too might survive (though their methods were often abysmally outdated as the world went through drastic climate shifts on a semi-regular basis). Hospitals treated the worst injuries and illnesses, doctors travelled to those who couldn't reach them and humanity persisted.
Nobody knows when a rival species evolved or if they'd been hiding in plain sight all these years. When everyone has to cover themselves from tip to toe against the harsh world, it becomes impossible to tell human from Other.
And Other they were.
Humanoid in shape, yes, but distinctly inhuman in every other way. From their exaggerated gait caused by three extra leg joints to the way their heads tilted farther than an owl's, they were the very model of uncanniness and they were taking over, slowly but surely out-surviving humanity.
The world will always be fine, it will recover regardless of whatever creatures live on it. The world doesn't care, it isn't quite a conscious being and that's what makes it so deadly. When one thing dies, the world produces something else to fill the void, purposefully or not it maintains every ecosystem and humans were becoming obsolete.
The world was making the next best thing, whether humanity liked it or not.
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