The world had always been ruled by those who could control power and resources. Capitalism had become a system that fed on human need, a machine that chewed up lives and spat out wealth.
“The pursuit of success and profit dominated every aspect of life. People worked not because they were passionate, but because they had no choice; their worth was determined by what they could produce.”
Society had learned to capitulate to this system—believe in it, work for it, live for it.
Elena sat at her desk in the small, cluttered office of a high-rise building in the heart of the city, the hum of the fluorescent lights above her matching the rhythm of her tired thoughts. “Her work didn’t give her meaning, and neither did her life. Each day felt like a repeat of the last, as if she were stuck in an endless loop.” What was the point? She’d asked herself this many times before, but she couldn’t find an answer.
That was when she found it—the journal, tucked away in the corner of the library at her office. “It was a journal by Dr. Alexander Stone, a forgotten anthropologist from the early 20th century. He had written extensively about the psychology of humanity—how society’s systems of power had slowly eroded individual autonomy, turning people into mere shells of themselves.”
He spoke of an ancient condition that, while dismissed by most as myth, he believed still lingered in the human psyche: lycanthropy—the belief that humans, when pushed beyond the limits of their sanity, could transform into creatures of the night, both beast and man. “The idea of lycanthropy fascinated Elena. It wasn’t just about turning into a wolf, as the myths suggested; it was a metaphor. Dr. Stone believed that lycanthropy represented a primal yearning—a yearning to break free from the chains of society and reclaim one's true nature.”
But the more he explored it, the more he understood that people didn’t really change into wolves; rather, they became consumed by something darker. “They became misanthropic, detached from society, their psychological systems deteriorating as a result of the very systems they lived under.”
Elena found herself captivated. She recapitulated the ideas in her mind, tracing the connections between Dr. Stone's theories and her own life. “She realized that she, too, had become like the creature he described. She had been turned into a mere worker, a cog in the machine. Over time, she had lost touch with herself.”
The world demanded so much of her, but it gave so little in return. “And it was all driven by a form of capitalism that demanded compliance, not creativity, and exploitation, not compassion.”
Dr. Stone’s journal suggested that people like Elena, caught in the throes of an inescapable system, would eventually reach a breaking point. “They might not physically transform into wolves, but they would transform mentally, emotionally. They would detach themselves from society. They would lose their sense of identity, slipping into the shadows of their own minds.”
That night, Elena walked home under the dim glow of streetlights, her mind racing. The city felt colder than it had ever felt before. “Every person around her seemed like another puppet, another figure driven by the demands of a world they couldn’t control.” What was the point of it all? What was the point of working, struggling, living, if it was all to serve a system that didn’t care about anyone?
As she walked, she saw a man standing at the edge of the street, his eyes wild with desperation, his clothes ragged. He was shouting something to no one in particular. “We’ve become nothing! We’ve become machines! We are the animals they’ve made us! They’ve stripped us of our humanity!”
Elena stopped. “She saw her own reflection in him, the same frustration, the same despair.”
“Do you feel it too? Do you feel like you’re not really living?” “She opened her mouth to respond, but the words didn’t come. Instead, she found herself nodding.”
“We’re all like anthropoids, aren't we? Living in a world that doesn’t care about us. Once, we were free, wild, connected to something real. But now… now we’re just pawns. We don’t live; we survive.”
His words echoed in her mind, and for the first time, she saw it clearly. “The lycanthropy that Dr. Stone spoke of wasn’t just a myth. It was real, in a way. People were transforming every day—not into wolves, but into beasts of the mind. They were losing themselves, sacrificing their identities, and ultimately their souls, to a system that didn’t care about them.”
“Maybe we’re all waiting for a transformation,” Elena said, almost to herself. “A way out of this cage.”
The man gave a hollow laugh. “Maybe. But what happens when you can’t change back?”
Her eyes widened. “What if this detachment, this loss of identity, was permanent? What if the misanthropy that so many people felt was their final state? What if, once they gave up on the world, they could never return to themselves?”
As Elena made her way back home, the journal still burned in her mind. “She had to make a choice. The system of capitalism that held people in its grip would only continue to tighten, unless they found a way to break free. But breaking free meant confronting the truth of their own humanity.” It meant facing the darkness within and understanding that the beast was not out there—it was within. “She didn’t have the answers yet, but she was determined to find them. She couldn’t capitulate to a world that wanted her to become something she was not. She had to reclaim her humanity before it was too late.”