Chapter 3: New Friesland

Memorial Plaza, New Friesland, New Company Estates

Mercedes Jackson is the regional head of security for Ansible Corp, but requested we meet here. She was a captain in the city's police **** before the war, and insisted we meet out here, instead of in her office. She's a small dark woman, hair going grey now, but her eyes are still sharp. She's standing beneath the pillar in the center of the plaza, and watches me steadily as I approach.

We had no idea what was going on, which was a fuck up on our part. We were hardly the first to fuck it up, and we wouldn't be the last, but we did fuck it up, and what happened next was partly our fault. There are still debates about that, of course, and I know there's more than enough blame to share, but still.

We were the first city to hit saturation, the first city where the problem really got completely out of control, stepped out of the shadows, and let the world know it was fucked. There were signs for a while. Disappearances, a spike in **** reports, a spike in people just not showing up to their jobs. Plus the other reports, the ones we assumed were cranks. Some new plague, rumors of a bioweapon floating around online, the usual crazy shit you have to deal with.

We were dealing with an unusually high number of callouts as well, which meant the rest of us were stretched thin. It was summer when things finally fell apart. I don't know how close we were to saturation, but we were well past the twenty percent mark.

Author's Note: Saturation refers to the full 30-45% of the population who can be affected directly by the Futa phenomenon, either shifting themselves, or becoming bound. It is now known that when more than 20% of inhabitants of a city are effected, then it may no longer be contained, or ignored.

It started at some club, reports of a riot breaking out. It was some popular spot, and it turns out a full 80% of those present were already futa or bound. They all kind of recognized each other, and realized just how many there were, how slim new pickings were getting int heir favorite hunting ground. These were all still fresh changers, young and fast and strong and concerned with nothing more than fucking. So they did.

That was the start of fuck night, and you would not believe the calls we got at dispatch. Mass orgies on the streets. Gangs of roving futa breaking into house parties and fucking everyone they could find. Futa fighting each other over who got the first turn at some new hole, just absolute chaos.

Author's Note: While futa can and do fuck each other, they are driven primarily to fuck non futa. It is believed that this is vector driven, as the recombinant virus seeks to spread to new hosts, so drives futa to fuck those not already infected.

We tried to keep the peace, keep people calm, but we didn't know what the hell was happening. Nobody did. We don't know who panicked, who started shooting first. it wasn't me, and it wasn't my precinct, but it happened. We were well armed, well equipped, but not nearly well trained enough to deal with whatever was happening. When the shooting started, it didn't stop for three days.

She looks at the memorial behind us, wrapped in names, the text is tiny, rows of black on the pale marble of the pillar.

When the riots started, when we realized how many people were dying we tried to stop it. but it was far too little, far too late. Too many people died, or ran, or just decided to take advantage of the chaos. The city burned, and the whole world watched. Everyone knew the futa existed now, and everyone learned different lessons, not always the right ones.

We learned what would happen if the futa were left to spread unchecked.

They learned what would happen to them if they weren't willing to fight for their right to survive.

Was anyone really surprised when things got a bit out of hand after that?

Author's Note: It is still not established how many people died in the New Friesland riots, or by who they were killed by. It is generally agreed however that the burning of New Friesland marked the official start of the Futa War.