Amygdala Hijack - A Genetic Engineering Sci-Fi Story of Impending Dystopia

EP. 24 - MECHS

ONCE INSIDE, PETER BUTTRESSED the armoire against the door.

He suddenly felt painfully alone. Too much had happened in the last few days, and he was suffering from the shock of loss. Ears had died, along with Stu and Polly. Molli was now gone and hopefully safe from their immediate threat in Boston. He was regretting letting her go alone and wouldn't know her status until she contacted him later that night. And there was a new, unknown plague that appeared to be sweeping across the world's major cities.

He returned to his laptop and opened multiple browser windows for various reports on local Boston traffic. Interstate 90 was clear with a few slowdown areas toward the western part of the city. With luck, Molli would be past Syracuse before darkness fell, and she'd keep driving until reaching Bemidji late morning the next day.

"Peter," he remembered her saying before she left, "I may need to pee my pants to avoid getting out of the car. Please pack some kitchen towels at the top of the garbage bags."

As the hours wore into the afternoon, the situation became increasingly grim in Europe and the Middle East. Similar cases were being reported in New York City, and Boston was next, in his mind. The President and other national officials came onto the live feeds at various times during the day, reminding people not to panic, to stay home and avoid work or public places until the threat was understood. By 5 p.m., the day seemed so long he could hardly recall their morning interview with Hats.

An hour later, the news became official. In concert with other global leaders, the President had agreed to inform the public. This wasn't an optimal time, given that most of Asia was still asleep and Europe, Africa, and the Middle East were in the late hours of the evening. Peter listened intently on a single feed.

The President began his monologue with a slow, deliberate delivery.

"Scientists around the world confirmed that virulent geedee tech agents have been dispersed in major cities across the globe. We assume this is an act of terror, but no groups have self-identified. What baffled our scientists in the earlier part of the day, when significant numbers of cases were first reported, is that this tech has an advanced ability to jump from organism to organism. They determined that one bacterium in the same family as the Bubonic Plague is the primary causal agent."

"No shit," Peter mumbled.

"This gene drive jumping or scroll mechanism appears to easily replicate withing certain other types of bacteria, allowing common germs like Staph, Salmonella, and E. coli to become carriers of the same set of virulent code. It's basically CRISPR tech turned back on itself for nefarious means, for those of you who understand. This explains why the illness spread so quickly across Europe, the Middle East, and African continents. It is imperative that all citizens stay at home until otherwise notified. Only essential services and law enforcement personnel as designated by governors or mayors in their respective areas are to be out on the streets."

Peter stopped listening for a moment. He understood what this meant. People would either obey or not obey, but the latter case was most likely.

"Who will stay in any city after this? They'll be graveyards," he thought. "Thank God, Molli has a five-plus hour head start. But she needs to get past Chicago metro and any roadblocks. Crap."

He envisioned millions of Chicagoans leaving at this moment for rural areas of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, despite the mandate to stay put.

"Damn, I should have mapped an alternate course for her between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, or even Kentucky. Stupid! How could I be so stupid?"

The lights suddenly flickered on and off for a minute, then the electricity shut off completely. He ran upstairs to peer out the bedroom window.

"Fuck. This entire section of the city looks affected."