M.A.I.D.S. [season 1]

M.A.I.D.S. - Prologue

PROLOGUE:  The Fall Of Woman

 Dec. 24th, 2175

 

Tonight I have decided that I can no longer live in Man’s world, the world I forced into creation.  My arrogance, knowing no bounds, drove me to defy what can only be the ultimate design of Mother Earth by saving the human race.

I cured A.I.D.S.

Not only did the antiviral cure I created work, but I made it available for a nominal charge.  I did not want to profit in terms of wealth; the glory of being the man to invent a cure for A.I.D.S. was all I sought.  That, and the salvation of mankind.

What began as a selfish attempt at medical revenge became the most important medical discovery in history.  My husband lost his life to A.I.D.S. and I believed that if I could create a cure, I could attack the virus and avenge his death.  Such a notion is foolish, and doubly so for a learned man like myself; still, with singleminded obsession I spent five years developing the cure to A.I.D.S.  I vowed that if I succeeded I would make sure it got into the hands of as many of the diseased as possible.  It was the only way for me to honor Angelo’s death.

 February 14th, 50 years ago, I succeeded in curing the first A.I.D.S. patient.  The patient’s recovery was swift and complete; no sign of the H.I.V. virus remained in the subject after only several hours of treatment.  Of course, other medical issues took their normal course; my cure was not a panacea, so the subject’s recovering immune system was left to deal with other illnesses he had contracted as a result of A.I.D.S.  Mass-production and distribution of the cure, known as the Miracle, began immediately.

 I was hailed as a hero and, at the same time, reviled by many of my colleagues.  Humanity as a whole loved me for miraculously curing the disease.  The scientific and financial worlds were afraid of my giving out so valuable a commodity for so low a price; a single dose of Miracle retailed for $25, when I could have charged a thousand times more for it.  Using my fortune, I organized a free distribution of the Miracle in Africa, stabbing at the very heart of the pandemic.  Within months, despite the protests of my detractors, A.I.D.S. was cured.  A true H.I.V. vaccine soon followed, added to the cocktail of immunizations newborns were exposed to.

 I never realized my mistake, nor had an inkling that a mistake had been made.

 I believe it was a tabloid that first ran the story on M.A.I.D.S., the new mutated strain of H.I.V. that surfaced in the wake of my Miracle.  If Miracle was fast-acting, M.A.I.D.S. was nearly instantaneous; suddenly this new plague swept through the world, carried in the very air we breathe, turning every living creature into a carrier.  Even now, the world’s top minds are trying to discover the root of M.A.I.D.S., and also trying to find a cure for it.

 M.A.I.D.S. is a mutant strain of A.I.D.S. that strikes swiftly and to maddening effect; the strain only affects our female population.  Women began dying off in great numbers; pregnant mothers delivered stillborn daughters; traffic slowed to a crawl as female drivers suddenly lost control of their bodies, then their cars.  Complete mayhem reigned across Earth.

 Top scientists from all over the world met in Berlin, frantically pushing forward an experimental new form of medicine in an effort to save the human race.  For years scientists had been experimenting with synthetic organs, and it was believed that, by replacing female organs with synthetic ones, females could be cured of M.A.I.D.S.  At first, the procedure showed promise, as female hearts and bone marrow were replaced with synthetics.  Unfortunately M.A.I.D.S. mutated further, and more organs needed to be replaced to keep the disease in check.  Scientists had to continuously refine and redesign some of the organs, as most of them had never been tested in humans, while at the same time research and create new organs that had not yet been replicated synthetically.

 Wars broke out across the world.  Russia attacked Poland, stealing Polish women to help replace the ones they lost.  Austria invaded Lichtenstein, Iraq invaded Kuwait, and even America halted the travel of all foreign women, forcing them to stay in the United States. 

 Worldwide the few women who gave birth to sons were given the best medicine, the best treatment, and even financial boons.  The number of healthy, uninfected women quickly dwindled.  The last human woman died June 1st, 2133.  The world sat poised to destroy itself; World War 3 would be fought over women, of all things.

 The war was ugly.  Though there were no longer women to fight over, man was afraid.  Humanity was facing extinction.  Everything changed.  While countries fought each other over futility, top scientists continued to escape to Berlin, joining the team in Germany in an attempt to create life while death reigned all around them.

 November 24th, 2133:  The day when finally the team in Germany created a completely synthetic woman.  Even though her body was nearly identical to a true human body, something about the synthesis process made her impervious to M.A.I.D.S.  She was impregnated and carried to term a human son, born August 11th, 2134.  He was named Adam, after the popular Bible character.  Adam was thoroughly tested and found to be actual human flesh, despite his mother’s synthetic body.  The woman was named Synthia, a play upon a common female name and her man-made body.  Synthia became a celebrated heroine, and the shining hope for all of mankind.

 “Synthia factories” were swiftly constructed in all major countries to help repopulate the world.  Females were created and given out to healthy adult males, ages 18-35, who were ordered to reproduce.  Babies were met with financial bonuses, media coverage, and prestige.  Synthias were manufactured and impregnated.  Sons born of them were viable, healthy human children; daughters were stillborn, or more often killed by M.A.I.D.S. in the first trimester.  Eventually, through genetic manipulation, daughters were not born at all.

 A global truce was declared; women had been the cause of World War 3, and women were what ended it.  An estimated 30% of the male population had been wiped out in the wars.

 Synthias were nearly identical to the actual human women had gone extinct.  They were as intelligent and free-willed, too, and soon grew tired of their role as baby factories.  Synthias were denied equal rights because, though living, they were viewed as objects.  Synthias tried to use their power, the power of creation, to give them leverage.  Eventually most were arrested and put into prisons where they were forced to comply.  Worse than any war, within eight years after their creation, the Synthias found themselves held prisoner and subjected to atrocities.

 Synthia factories were closed to the public, temporarily going “dark” as scientists worked to “improve” the line.  Within a year, they began to re-open, and Synthias became true consumer products:  men would go to the factory and decide the exact look of their Synthia, which would be built over the course of 6 months and delivered to the man’s home for a modest fee.  Synthias retained their intelligence but not their free-will.  They were docile, tractable, and wholly obedient.  Synthias were given limited rights under the law; a true man’s paradise followed.

 How horrible.

 I leave this world now that I might do it no further harm.

 

Dr. Maury Judas