A week ago, Simon was enjoying life in the suburbs of New York. He had made an advanced sanitation system in high school and sold the patent for nearly 50 million dollars. He was living a great life. Then the pandemic struck. Unlike COVID-19, this disease just damages or enhances your immune system. It was particularly bad because it made everything that could spread endemic. The economy rapidly crashed. The only system able to stop it was Simons. This left him in a dangerous situation. People who were sick were seeking him out, ensuring he was exposed to the disease.
***
One fateful night.
" Are you heartless?" A young lady pushing a wheelchair glared at me. " My grandfather has FIVE DAYS TO LIVE. I know you have the cure, otherwise, how would you know how to stop a disease as soon as it happened." The woman gestured wildly as if to wipe away any disagreement. I interrupted her rant " I literally cannot make the filter anymore. I sold the memories to an insurance company in return for 30% stocks." The woman froze then. " I knew it. You just don't care about us "normal folk" You sold the key to protecting the entire world to a self-serving corporation." The lady reached into her bag and pulled out a needle and an APSDW (All Purpose Self Defense Weapon). After tasing me she used the needle to take some of her grandpa's blood. "You will have a cure ready, or you will die." Then she injected the infection into my neck.
***
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
The next few days were a blur for Simon. He was forced to create never-before-seen tools in hopes of stopping a disease that controlled immune systems. He had to start from scratch. Simon Isolated the DNA and RNA of the bacteria before he found reverse transcriptase and had to start over. He also tested the medicines on himself, Unwittingly creating new strains of the bacteria. Simon never noticed his bathroom mirror reflecting different faces. HE never noticed the lack of contact the outside world was having with him. He didn't even notice the distraught woman walking towards his lab with an AR-15.
***
Simon was disturbed from his focus by a bang.
"Well, my grandpa died. I hope you have recorded your research." Alice grits out.
Simon ducked quickly. Bullets ripped over his head shattering the vials and breaking the irreplaceable lab equipment. The bullets stopped for a moment. " Did I get him?" Alice begins to slowly walk over the broken glass. Simon starts to hide in the trash chute, hoping that Alice won't look through the trash. As he shifts around Alice gets closer.
"How did I miss him," Alice says," I tested that earlier on an entire flock of geese and I didn't miss once."
Simon crawled deeper into the trash chute. Then he heard something truly chilling. Alice started to push broken glass and volatile chemicals down the chute.
The first vial didn't hurt. It was just Saline. The second vial was sulfuric acid, meant for sterilizing the vials. It started to melt through Simon's face. He held his breath to contain the inevitable scream. The air around him started to warp. The next vial containing samples of similar diseases fell onto his face. A loud pop brought Alice to the trash chute. She Looked down hoping to find Simon. Unfortunately, nothing was left.