Humans becoming beasts. Script: Clodius

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The Planet of the Apes novel tells history from the point of view of an intelligent human thrust into a world ruled by apes.  However, little is ever mentioned of how humans devolved into beasts.  The reversion of a race of rational beings to the animal state has only happened once in history and is thus worthy of exploration.

Men and women fled deep into the jungle to escape enslavement when apes conquered the last human city.  Unfortunately, civilized man quickly found he was ill-equipped to live in the jungle where only the strongest survive and mistakes are fatal.  

Will man adapt or will nature extinguish humanity? Attributes such as speech served him well in his cities but are of little use in the wild. Predators and disease stalk the human refugees.  Even the trivial insect bit is deadly without the aid of medicine. 

If man is to live in the animal state, he must lose the ways of civilization. He possesses physical traits suited for nature but civilization tempered his willingness to use them.  Even the virtue of monogamy can extinguish humanity as it limits much-needed reproduction.  To survive among animals, man and his woman must become animals.  These plates tell that story.

  

 

Civilization becomes Simian instead of human. Simian science matches the level achieved by humans. The fall of man, after all, took several generations. Humans now live as slaves or wild animals. Scientists wish to study the state of man's regression in the wild. A mission travels deep into the jungle to capture and remove humans to a lab at the jungle's edge. The apes plan to lure humans into the camp with kindness. Social interactions and human intelligence will be observed. Such study is not possible under the use of force. Can the humans still speak? What is the level of their cognitive ability? Other disguised tests will be conducted on the unsuspecting brutes. Men and women discover the scientists making camp. The apes kindly offer food, drink, and clothing to their bare-skinned cousins. Some humans don the burlap attire while others reject it. The two species shake hands and freely converse. The willingness of some humans to remain naked is noted. The scientists interview the humans and examine their bodies with their consent. Once this phase concludes, experiments will be conducted on these unfortunate men and women. Dissections will occur. Reflexes and pain thresholds will be tested. Several humans will be subjected to brain experiments while others undergo degrading intelligence tests such as those once administered to dogs and yes, apes. The apes haven't forgotten their former state of affairs at the hands of the human race. Those still alive will be tagged upon release for later study. Mankind threw away his civilized birthright to become an animal. Now is the time to pay the price for living in a state of naked debauchery.