Chapter twenty one: Moral
Caelum stood at the entrance of the city zoo as his gaze drifted over the large arched sign overhead. The colors were still bright enough to catch a child's eye.
'Is this place popular or something?' caelum wondered as he waited in line behind a small family—a tired-looking mother, two sugar-rushed kids, and a father already complaining how much costly the tickets were.
Caelum tapped his foot out of impatience, but also because because he was already bored. The crowd buzzed around him with parents chatting and children tugging at hands, as they unwrapped their snacks.
After waiting from nearly fifteen minutes his turn came.
"Next," said the woman behind the ticket counter. Caelum stepped forward and bought a single admission.
The woman gave him a passing glance and handed over a ticket. "Enjoy your visit."
"Sure," he said, slipping the ticket into his pocket as he moved through the rusty looking metal gate.
"The zoo seems larger than i remember." Caelum felt like the zoo got bigger in the time he didn't visit, "well last time i came here was when i was in school, so it make sense."
The paths infront of him forked in multiple directions, winding between open-air enclosures, glass exhibits, and shaded resting areas.
Caelum walked leisurely through the path on the left end, where trees lined the walking trails, as if to offer bits of reprieve from the sun.
Benches were scattered here and there, most already occupied by tired visitors or energatic couples.
"Hah." Caelum let out a little sigh, 'It is more crowded than i would have liked.'
Families clustered around the more popular enclosures. Children squealed near the monkey habitat, maybe realising how similar they were to monkeys. Tourists posed near the peacocks near a small pond.
But Caelum didn't come here to be entertained. 'Now where are the bigger animals?'
He adjusted his pace and slowly began walking toward the less crowded areas, his eyes scanning everything with quiet focus. The bigger animals, the predators and their layout of the habitats.
He kept his thoughts to himself, slowly activating his willpower and invading the inner structure of the animals to take a closer look.
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Standing still near the iron railings caelum's eyes narrowed, watching a group of big monkeys swing from one branch to another.
Their movements were fluid and natural, they seemed playful but what caught his attention was the way their bodies moved in unison, after lightly activating his willpower his vision instantly changed.
The outer layer of reality peeled back like paper, revealing the complex inner workings.
Skin turned translucent, muscles flexed visibly and bones moved in perfect rhythm beneath layers of tissue. He wasn't looking at just the monkeys, he was now looking at the machinery of life.
He exhaled slowly and moved on, From one animal to the next. looking at elephants, tigers, gazelles, reptiles—peering into them as if reading through translucent books of life.
He dissected them all visually with his willpower. Their organs and their functions, He committed it all to memory so much so that he could even guess their their lifespans…
At one point, while standing in front of a tall cage where owls were dozing, he muttered under his breath, "It's not that different…at least not by a large margin, when you line it up with a human's biology."
That thought stuck something in his head as caelum leaned against the railing, he looked away from the owls, lips pressed in a thin line, as he just stood there listening to the faint rustle of leaves and the distant chattering of families.
'Humans, huh.'
If it was months ago, he would've slapped himself for even thinking about it. When he first got the quill and slowly learned what absurd things it could do, caelum had made a silent promise to never draw a human.
He was sure he will never even think about it. That line once crossed, felt like it would Morally break something in him.
Even thinking about it had made him uncomfortable back then, But now things started to feel different.
Creating small creatures had been one thing like a bug or a duck, those didn't talk or think were a different thing. But the worst part was realizing that he had already hit the limit of what he could understand using animals.
"To breathe life into something with thought? Or to sketch a being that could question its own existence?" Caelum closed his eyes slightly and murmured, "That feels like im playing some kind of god...hah, a dying person playing god."
But now things have taken a weird turn, as the quill became more than just a tool, It was his only shot. The only path that hadn't led to a dead end.
Because caelum knew what was clinging to his heart—he had seen it clearer than any doctor ever could with his willpower.
The black writhing substance was sickening and parasitic, it felt like it was tightening by the day. The doctors hadn't known what it was, but He felt that day by day, it was draining life from him.
'The more i studied with the quill, the more i realized… i won't be able to find a cure unless i understood my own biology..' he exhaled slowly, not letting his thoughts out.
He had to experiment, at least on human creations.
"I don't have a choice," he murmured, more to himself than anything
He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked up at the sky. It was starting to turn gold. The kind of light that made everything feel a little softer in the evening atmosphere.
Still the weight in his chest didn't go anywhere. Sooner or later, he'd have to Create human life and Study it.
He took one last look at the animals, watching a lion yawn lazily in its habitat, it was loud enough for only himself to hear.
"I...will find a cure. No matter what line I have to cross."
He stayed there for a while longer, letting the sounds of the zoo and the fading warmth of the evening sun warm him up, before turning and heading deeper inside.
He had a bit more time before the zoo closed.
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Caelum eventually reached the part of the zoo where the gorillas were kept. For some reason, this area was always strangely quiet.
There were no squealing kids or parents pointing at the cages of the gorills, as most of them passed by without even a glance let alone approach.
The only sound were the occasional rustle of leaves or soft grunt from the cage.
'Maybe it was because gorillas looked a bit too much like humans? That undeniable resemblance made folks lose interest, or...maybe they just didn't want to be reminded of themselves while visiting animals in cages?' caelum slowly walked while letting his wild thoughts run wild.
Stopping in front of a cage with two gorillas sitting lazily inside, Caelum glanced around.
No one else was nearby. The only person in sight was a zoo staff member feeding one of the gorillas a few cages down. The rest of the visitors were off gawking at penguins or trying to snap blurry photos of the lions.
"Perfect." Caelum focused his gaze and activated his willpower. Immediately, his vision changed completely, The world dimmed slightly as details were sharpening where he focused.
His vision peeled back the surface of one of the gorillas. The muscle structure, the bone formation and the way all of it's organs were packed tightly within, it all unraveled before him in vivid detail.
'It isn't exactly the same as a human's, but close enough that the comparison is unavoidable.' He couldn't help but think how strangely human the creature really was from the inside.
The jaw, the hands and the eyes. The way its heart beat was almost rhythmically similar to his own.
'It is without a doubt only a few evolutionary steps away from a human...' Caelum was so deep in thought that he couldn't even hear the occasional rustle of leaves anymore.
An insanely strong rib cage was protecting the chest cavity, the same heart with different heartbeat rates, The lungs were slightly larger and the limbs were obviously bigger with more muscle density.
'What if i were to create the Gorillas with a more human like structure? Or a human with a gorilla like structure?' With one final look at the creature slowly chewing a carrot inside the cage, Caelum released his willpower and rubbed his temples. His job was done
Caelum exhaled softly. 'This would be one of the core species populating the early version of the painting world. And because they are resilient plus adaptable, Maybe they will dominate the other smaller species?'
Settling his thoughts he turned to leave, but something else caught his attention.
The zookeeper down the row was tossing food into another cage—some kind of mixed fruits and grains, looked freshly cut too. Caelum's eyes narrowed as he scanned the area.
'There are No cameras in sight..and the guard isn't paying attention at all.'
Without hesitating, he slipped his hand into his coat pocket and pulled out the quill.
With one quick stroke in the air powered by just a touch of will, a metal bowl identical to the guard's, filled with the same food manifested in front of him like mist becoming matter, floating briefly before dropping into his hand.
Even the gorilla inside the cage gave a startled blink, its head jerking toward him like it just saw a magic trick.
Caelum grinned deeply. "Have fun," he muttered and casually tossed the food through the bars.
Then he quickly walked off.
The zoo had started to quiet down. Most of the visitors were already leaving, the sky slowly darkening as the sun dipped low.
Caelum walked out through the front gates and flagged down a taxi, slipping into the back seat without a single word more than his destination. The ride home was short and quiet, it was enough time for his mind to replay everything he saw in the zoo.
When he got back to his apartment, he stepped into the kitchen and stood still for a bit, "hmmmm."
"Instead of using the quill to conjure up a finished meal, i should cook something myself for the night." Caelum's expression was that of a person with conflicting thoughts.
"But of course, i will still use the quill to summon the ingredients."
As the sky outside turned deep blue and the first hints of night settled over the city, Caelum got to work in the kitchen to rest up his mind, the smell of sizzling food slowly filled the room.
The zoo visit was over, but it broke the remaining wall on his morals, caelum would have to cross the line of inevitability eventually for his own good. For it was unknown to him that his human morals have long shattered.
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