Our relationship to Homo sapiens or "humans" is a highly controversial matter. Many scientists debate over whether we are to be considered “humans” or if we are a separate species altogether. While I personally am a firm believer that we are a divergent species of humans, the purpose of this article to provide a non-biased presentation of human life as it was before the event commonly referred to as the Shift.

As discovered from ancient records, humans were a hominid species that once dominated the Earth many years ago. Evolved from primates, humans were exceptional creatures in that they were the first species of sentient life on our planet. Marked with their ability to adapt to almost any environment, these creatures proved to be quite resilient in sustaining their existence. Their creation of clothing allowed them to endure the harshest of climates while their ability to make tools launched them further up the food chain, making them predators of even the fiercest animals. It is in this setting that humans began to flourish and spread across the globe.

Fast forward several thousand years. Humans have now built many grand civilizations, ranging from the Ancient Greeks to the Aztecs, which were two of the greatest societies of human history. Common aspects of human interaction include cooperation, conquer, and complete destruction of each other. Human nature was both wonderful and vile at the same time, pushing towards magnificent goals while tending to crush those that got in its way. From the Crusades to the Invasion of the Americas, human progress was almost always followed by human conflict.

This conflict is what brought on the start of what was known as World War III at the turn of the 24th century. This massive struggle, which involved practically every nation on Earth, was the direct result of a global depression that sparked many to blame one another of its cause. Despite numerous attempts by the United Nations, an international committee similar to our Conglomerate of Nations, to prevent the war, to prevent it, the war began after the nuclear bombing of Hong Kong, the capital of a nation known as China, by the United States, a nation that was severely indebted to China. As nations took sides, many feared the destruction that a nuclear war would entail. Fortunately, nuclear attacks were small in number before the event known the Outbreak, resulting in limited damage to the environment.

A group of scientists were tasked with finding a way to extend the lifespan of a soldier on the battlefield by the government of Russia, an ally to the United States. Using the advancements in genetic research that had occurred right before the start of the war, the scientists began what was known as Project Hades. The result of Project Hades was R-229, a retrovirus whose creation marked the beginning of both the Outbreak and the Shift. Although the virus was successful in its tests, its side-effects caused the project to be deemed a failure. The scientists, however, saw great potential in the virus, not for the application of war, but as a way to unify the human race against a common enemy. Thus, through a variety of methods, they unleashed the virus in several of the world’s most populated locations. The scientists’ predictions were correct, as humans joined forces in an attempt to eliminate the new threat caused by the virus. Unfortunately, however, the scientists did not foresee how quickly the virus had spread. The human race, already weakened by a global conflict, eventually went extinct at the hands of our ancestors, and the Shift was complete.

It is here that the evolution of our species begins. Despite what many people say, whether it be the retrohumanists who say that we are, in essence, still “human” or those who believe, such as I, that we are a new species altogether, many people have taken to call themselves what the humans had called us ages ago: zombies. –Daniel Yung