EXTRACT FOR
Hope Springs Eternal
(Lindsey Greene)

Hidden and fully covered head to toe in her sleek, high-tech suit, Hope stepped out doing her best to appear as unassuming and friendly as possible. "Excuse me," she called out. "Do you speak English?"

Jerking upright, the rabbit woman spun around to see a figure standing, hands up, thirty or so feet away. "I do."

"Great! I'm Hope. May I ask your name?"

"I'm Nyrene. I don't recognize your name. Are you new in these parts? Your clothing, it looks... unfamiliar."

"Please understand that I mean no offense, but I'd rather keep my place of origin secret for now. May I ask what you are?"

"What I am? I don't understand."

"You're appearance. You're humanoid, but not entirely human. Readings indicate you're part rabbit and seeing you up close I can see it. Don't get me wrong, I think you're beautiful but... sorry, I didn't mean to... please, tell me what you are. Were you born on earth, or are you from somewhere else?"

Smiling, cheeks blushing at the awkward compliment, Nyrene slowly, cautiously approached the weird newcomer. "I was born here on earth twenty-three years ago next month."

"And what are you?"

"I could ask the same of you. Your body and voice tell me you're female, but what are you that you've never seen a Biovor?"

"Biovor?"

"That's what we are. It's a combination of Bioclysm and survivor. I mean you no harm and now I'm intrigued. How do you not know what I am?"

"Remove the helmet, Joy."

"Yes Mistress."

As the material of her suit rapidly retracted down into the rest of the suit, Hope remained on guard. "I'm a human from Habitat Zenith. You know, those huge concrete domes dotting the country?"

"Human! Holy moly! We haven't seen a human since you locked yourselves in your habitats and left the rest of us to fend for ourselves in a barren, unforgiving wasteland. So, your species survives?"

"We do. And in my defense, I'm only nineteen. I had nothing to do with leaving you behind. So, do all of the biovors look like you?"

"No. We resemble virtually every animal that once existed."

"How is this even possible?"

"We've been asking ourselves that very question for more than a hundred years. Best we can understand, the bioclysm awakened many of the dormant genes all humans possess causing us to go through a rapid evolution to what we are now. Our scientists also believe the Bioclysm somehow mixed our genetic makeup with that of animals which only served to increase our chances of survival."

"Amazing! Sorry I called you beautiful, I..."

"You don't think I'm beautiful?" Nyrene asked, her demeanor suddenly becoming more saddened.

"What? Yes, I do. You're incredibly beautiful, but it was forward of me to just blurt it out like that. Sorry. Can we just start over? I'm Hope," she said, extending her right hand.

"I'm Nyrene," the rabbit-woman said, taking the offered appendage. "I think you're beautiful too. Are there more of you?"

"As far as I know I'm the first to leave a habitat since the Bioclysm."