Genesis

Satellite footage of the moon appeared on Kidney’s display screen. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the entire crowd gasped dramatically the second it did. The sisters looked up from just off the side of the stage, and they saw it too- something incredible.

They thought it was a prop at first because the moon simply looked too small in comparison with the cartoonishly titanic machine. It was the spot they saw from the Earth. The wide tower in the sky Moongoers themselves never really got an explanation for. It wasn’t complete- just a skeleton, really- but anyone on or near Earth could tell you exactly what it was supposed to be. The enormous, all-consuming Ferris Wheel was something out of legend. Set perfectly atop the moon in the chosen photograph, it stood upright and made the planet itself look like little more than a pitiful display base. It was, undeniably- everything this world had amounted to in a singular object, towering over the very celestial body it stood on in a way that made it quite clear to anyone watching- today, man had triumphed god.

The crowd themselves couldn’t yet cheer because they still couldn’t understand what they were looking at. That was okay. Walter was used to having to explain himself.

“The image you see has not been altered in any way.” He clasped his hands together politely. “Any rumors you may have heard from Moon tourists of a giant Kidney Ferris Wheel the size of a larger meteor- they were true.”

He allowed them more time to breathe it in. It couldn’t be understated how big the “attraction” was. Humanity had never made anything like it. Like a modern Pyramid, it seemed impossible to them that it could’ve even been constructed by our own human workers . Little did the sisters know that one of those workers was their very father.

“Its name is Genesis, and when it opens later this year, it will be the largest functioning theme park attraction in the world. Largest… anything, really.” He tried getting the crowd to laugh again, but that couldn’t really be done when everyone was just taking photos of the image and hurriedly posting them everywhere they could. He thought it time to get their attention with the second blow of the one-two punch announcement.

“But such a large attraction… requires a large park as well, wouldn’t you say? It’s only sensible.” He smiled. “Today, we control… much of the moon, 93.317 percent… but it is in segmented, disparate parks… Kidneylands that only serve to divide what should be… something more.”

The audience lingered on his every word. Now he had their attention.

“We are purchasing the remainder of the moon, and creating the first theme planet, Kidneyworld.”

Theme… planet…?

Most of Frankie just didn’t want to care- they’d- they’d won, and this was over, she didn’t need to care about parks anymore- but a bit of her recognized that in this moment, she was witnessing history- even if she wouldn’t yet realize what kind it was until some time later.

The crowd eventually began to offer their excited applause. These were parkgoers, after all. Tourists. And even if many of them couldn’t afford to take a trip to the moon anytime soon, most liked to believe they’d get there by the time this Kidneyworld opened, just so that they could see it. Katie felt no different, looking up at the image of that soon-to-be planetoid theme park. The only difference was the beads of sweat running down her reddened forehead and the painful, accelerating pulsing in her heart.

“Thank you. Thank you, everyone.” Kidney’s next smile was somewhat genuine. “I hope you have a very Merry Christmas. And don’t miss our fireworks show tomorrow night. That’s all, friends.”

Kidney stepped off the platform, met by Carol and his staff. That could’ve gone better, he scolded himself.

Abruptly, the creative flinched. Someone nearby was looking right at him. He noticed he was right next to the third place sisters who were still here.

Katie bore into him with a look that he had only ever seen before in his own mirror.

For some reason, she looked horrified.