Welcome to Calic... Well not really. You're not allowed in. But
let me tell you what it's like. Once a small city, now abandoned by
humanity and left to its new rulers. The Hybrids. Also, technically
only half abandoned since half of the hybridness is humans… The other
half is dinosaurs. Now, when I say “Dinosaurs” I know some of you just
thought ‘Oh yay, new zoo.’ WRONG and that’s a stupid idea.
While the cause of the Calic Accident is still a mystery, its
effects on the population have been well documented. Forty years ago,
the citizens were not massacred but changed. Their DNA was unraveled
and mutated into a fusion of modernity and prehistory. Now Dino-human
hybrids walk the streets and hunt the radiation zones.
With humanity out of the picture, two groups vie for control of
Calic: the Carnivores, and Herbivores. Between those two groups is a
family of particular note.
Within the bones of the former Museum District, lives the
Cartoonz farm. The family of Stegosaurus hybrids (Homo Stenops), exist
within the neutrality of supply and demand. Growing plants for the
herbivores and cattle for the carnivores, they have carved themselves
a place to call home.
Our story shall focus upon the gooberiest of the Cartoonz, Ellie.
While not the biggest or strongest of the hybrids, you would struggle
to find one more kind, caring, and admittedly loud as she. Also
distractable. If you ever meet her, put all shiny things away well in
advance.
Be warned, she never travels alone. Wherever she goes, so too do
her three companions. The miniature carnosaur brothers Gary and Jeri,
who have followed her since she rescued them in her family’s field,
are nigh constant protective escorts.
The brothers fall into a category of hybrid nicknamed the “ill
evolved”. Smaller, and less mentally developed than their full sized
counterparts, they are viewed as pets by the herbivores, and
undesirable by the predators. To Ellie, though, they’re family.
To go along with the brothers, the mini-stegosaurus Bita can most
often be found squeaking away atop Ellie’s head. The baby dino might
be the youngest of the trio, but neither brother can match her
intuition for who is most in need of comfort and cuddles.
Now, by this point you may be asking yourself, what kind of story
could be told with this stego woman, and her band of friendly misfits
on a farm? Good question, I don’t have time to answer that here. But
come along and we’ll see what we can discover together.