The Chameleon Child
by Bob Pierre

PROLOGUE

     Before the earth was even formed the universe was old, tired, and screeching to a head. All the stars were dimming, every habitable world was densely overpopulated, and all forms of life had become sentient, bipedal, and had evolved and interbred as far as they could. Millions of species would die yearly. This was more than mere extinction, they would simply cease to be, and their evolution would have run its course. The males would lose all potency, and the females would become barren. Scientists of the time termed it the “End-span”, and it was believed to be the ultimate fate of all living things as well as the universe, and that time was near. Even as the last of the sentient suns were fizzling out and light was quickly shutting off on the universe’ inhabitants, the worlds waged war: they fought over the last empty asteroids and moons as a source of livable space, they battled over the last droplets of bio-nuclear power. The younger species would be enslaved by the older ones and kept for interbreeding, as a final, desperate, but ultimately futile attempt to keep from “End-spanning”.
     In the midst of all this war, a single creature emerged, a shape-shifter whose powers extended beyond the scope of mere imitation. Shape-shifters or POLYMORPHS, were not uncommon, but none of them could take the form of anything new. This was what set this Polymorph, aside from the rest: every time she morphed, she would become something entirely new. She soon earned the unprecedented title of GENEMORPH: one who creates through shape changing. She single handedly saved the life of one species, the EMORANS, by morphing into several completely new species and getting impregnated by Emoran males. This stirred fresh new ingredients into their gene pool and would keep the race going for eons.

THE MULTIVERSAL WAR

     Irritated by the Emoran’s newfound lease on life, THE VOD, a race of natural-born soldiers, made a sport of hunting and slaying as many (Emorans) as they could find.  For The Vod, this form of genocide made for a rather entertaining…hobby. The true mission undertaken by The Vod, however, was a quest to find The GENEMORPH. He who controlled her would not only ensure the immortality of their own species, but also in effect become God by attaining the power to decide whom “End-spans” and who lives on. Furthermore, The Vod high command believed The GENEMORPH to be the prophesized vessel from which their war-messiah and race-father, VODDOK The 1st, would return.
     The COALITION of WORLDS, (A sort of “United Nations” of space), did not intend to let this happen. They sought out and protected This GENEMORPH when ever she was threatened, asking in return, only that she continue to do what comes naturally, mate and create to save species after species, even if it wasn’t their own. Very soon tensions mounted between the two most powerful military forces in pre-terrestrial history: The C.W versus The VOD, the war would ended on the lush, green planet ALTARIS 10. So ravaged, that world became, that it corroded and shrunk to 100 times it’s original size. Humans would later come to name this planet: Mars.
     The Vod lost the war, but instead of conceding defeat and allowing the GENEMORPH to save everyone, (themselves included), they slew her, in a selfish and at once spiteful act that damned all life. The VOD high command, however, had a contingency plan; they had their own POLYMORPH embody the gene structure of their people, and then fossilized her on the rock we now know as the Moon. This was done so that when any new, intelligent, curious race thaws the fossil, eons later, she would reawaken and slowly replenish the VOD species. All the other races of the Multiverse were not as fortunate. They slowly, and painfully, “End-spanned”.

THE HUMAN ERA

     It is now the future. Circa 9600 A.D. Humanity has searched the far reaches of the stars on missions of deep exploration, but have come to a grim realization: we are the sole intelligent life in the universe. On earth, humans, (looking pretty much the same as we did way back in the 21st century), have reached the end of our evolutionary cycle, a pandemic of impotence and infertility is swiftly sweeping the planet, our cells are simply burning out, and now we are in danger of “End-spanning”. Our scientists theorize that we’ve got FIVE years at best, until our inevitable demise, so the countdown begins:

YEAR ONE
     A mining crew on a LUNAR PRISON COLONY, discover the POLYMORPH fossil, once unfrozen the shape-shifter kills the miners and then asexually produces VOD males and females. Within months the VOD have the human prisoners at their mercy, slaying the weak and using the strong for forced labor. In the span of a year The Vod have overpopulated the moon, restored their ancient society and regained a fraction of their former military might, all this unbeknownst to the population of earth. For all their accomplishments, however, the VOD are still dying, and they’re on the way to “End-spanning” just a quickly as humans are. 

YEAR TWO
     The VOD army attacks earth, and the battle lasts for months. They conquer and occupy the western hemisphere and enslave the humans living there. Humanity’s last defending army holds the fort in the east. The VOD attempt to save themselves by interbreeding with the people they took prisoner, but it is to no avail, both our species and theirs are on a quick road to non-existence. Convinced that they are at the point of no-return our two species continue to wage an unrelenting, ruthless war: The VOD simply wishing to share their misery, and humans resigning to meet their last days as free men and women.

YEAR THREE
     In the Serengeti desert of AFRICA, a human shape-shifter is found. She is discovered, camouflaging herself in black and white stripes, to hunt Zebras. The natives call her “THE CHAMELEON CHILD”, our scientists soon realize the nature of what she is and think she could very well be the answer to humanity’s prayers.
     The VOD, now aware of the NEO-GENEMORPH, through spies and human traitors, want her at all costs. As new hope fills the air, the war upgrades in ferocity. A bloodier clash, there has never been. 

YEAR FOUR
     Human resistance cells are built around one mission: protecting the NEO-GENEMORPH, for keeping her safe ensures humanity’s survival. Rebels and Liberation Armies soon develop more effective ways to combat The VOD. The battle reaches a deadly crescendo In Russia and Mainland China as human resistance soldiers try to hold the fort against the thrusting alien advance. It’s a dire struggle that ranges from complex aerospace vessel battles to bitter, primitive hand-to-hand combat. Victory comes with a price tag of 5.7 billion human lives.

YEAR FIVE
     Right in the nick of time, human scientists formulate the method by which the NEO-GENEMORPH would help progress human evolution. Humanity will discover that our loneliness will be short-lived; so what if we are the only intelligent life in this universe, lots of wonders await us: multi-verse and dimensional exploration, time and astral plane travels; surely there will be peoples in these strange places to meet and befriend. We will have to mentally and spiritually adapt to accept these curious new concepts, but then... adapting... is our nature.