Seventy Third Friday Flash: Antopia

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“Come on, or we are going to be late!”

Manny clicked his mandibles in frustration. “I don't want to.”

“Do you want to learn about your past or not?”

“Okay, okay,” said Manny dragging himself away from his computer.

It was a five minute tunnel ride to the event. It was decidedly low key considering how much his big sister had been harping on about it. About a hundred other sectoids at most.

“You have me here, now what?”

His big sister shook her oval head, her compound eyes showing disappoint in him. “Such little respect. You see his gray hair and the languid way he moves?”

Manny was thinking about getting back to his game. The thing before was so fleshy and hairy, it made him cringe. “Yeah.”

“They say he's old, not much time to live, lost his appetite for food and life when his partner died.”

“And, doesn't it have a Queen, isn't there millions more of them?”

“That's the fascinating thing, there were millions of them, billions of them in fact, until a disease wiped most of them out a long time ago. Scientists found remnants of a colony underground. Breeding programs were tried. None worked. I suspect maybe they were too old and most of them had the same sexual equipment.”

Manny shrugged. “A bummer for them.”

“I don't know why I even bother.”

“Okay,” Manny went up to the glass tank. The old shriveled creature seemed to regard him with open fear. “I'm sorry you guys were wiped out and stuff. Better luck next time.” Manny whipped around. “See, are you happy now?”

“I should slap you,” said his sister raising two of her left limbs up in the air.

“Try it and I will tell mom.”

His sister shook her head. “I wonder if our species will fair any better than this poor soul and his people in the long run.”

“With annoying sisters like you around I doubt it.”

:”You know what I think this guy is the lucky one, let's go home so you can get back to your precious game.”

“Yay!”