Sub-Terrain: The world beneath...

By Ethan Sarem

The only race there is, is the human race. Do you believe this?
Within the realm of Sub-Terrain, a former subway system converted to doomsday shelter, we find the final specimen of the human race, identified as Goggles for lack of better name.
Goggles lives here for ten years, having not seen another person in that time, and having lost the ability to speak properly due to voice box atrophy. As a result, he is nearly mute. He spends his days shambling through the shambles, ambling without aim or ambition… Could something change that?
The world Goggles inhabits lacks human hubris, not to mention lacks other humans… But that will change when we’re around to keep him company.
Even if civilization is brought down like the dinosaurs, the human spirit will build back better… Do you believe Goggles can build himself back better too?
The darkness will be our guiding light through this love letter to public transit… Shall we?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781678124380

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Sub-Terrain ©2022 by Ethan Sarem.

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-6781-2438-0

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from Ethan Sarem, except in the case of brief quotations for reviews and articles.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and places are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, or things is entirely coincidental.

1. Last of Species

We hold this truth to be self-evident,

that all people are created equal…

Sadly, this isn’t true

There is no white race or black race or brown race or LGBTQ race, there is only human race

It’s not crazy talk to believe this,

and anyone who says it is crazy talk

is crazy themselves

Although all people are created equal,

all aren’t endowed to

life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness

…And whose fault is that? Human hubris, something those in power wield for personal profit

Government isn’t built to withstand human hubris, if the past four years are indicator enough

And so I pose a philosophical exercise,

what would a world without human hubris be like?

The obvious way to remove human hubris is to remove humans themselves, like the dinosaurs

And I envision a plausible scenario of that, identical to what brought down the dinosaurs

Large-enough asteroid will leave crater in collective psyche, and crater in collective populace

Millions, if not billions, would die on asteroid’s impact, with millions more in aftermath

Civilization is rubbed out of existence,

with cities you’d recognize by name

no longer recognized

The concept of this isn’t new, and the ways civilization is rubbed out vary widely… However!

Civilization has the power to prevent cataclysms,

if only they decide to use that power

But they don’t in most cases, for it could be used to prevent damaging effects of climate change

What future do adults leave their children

if they squander the present, the here and now?

There is no future for anyone

if no one cares about the present,

I said this before and say it again