[PAN 2014] The Redemption

The Redemption


The Denver International Airport was bustling with travelers. She kept walking, heading down to the little subway cars that would take her to her back to the exit. The fever was just beginning to spring droplets of sweat on her forehead, which she wiped on her bare hand, making sure to smear it thoroughly and surreptitiously on every common-usage surface. This was her third ride in the cars. It would have to be her last. She didn’t want to collapse on the train and have medical people involved; no, this must be done in stealth. But these poor people, she thought as she took in the men, women and children who would be her fellow passengers, whose future she was trying to change, to save; she did this for them. The Redeemers would succeed, and their biometrics, their genetics and their downloads would start a new race of man, a better race, one they had carefully crafted in the lab to be intelligent yet peaceful, cooperative and to get pleasure from helping one another. They would be healthy. They would be beautiful, graceful, loving people.

Someone jostled her from behind, forcing her to fall forward a bit as they plowed through the crowd, seeking an advantageous spot in the waiting area. People stared at their phones, listened to podcasts on headphones and avoided each other’s eyes. They all stood herd-like, holding their baggage carry-ons, and waiting for the big metal box to carry them deeper into the airport where they would spread out like seeds on the wind into the United States, Europe, Japan and more – she made a point of standing close to International travelers. She had flown from Denver to Atlanta, on to Miami, then up to New York, back through Detroit, over into Toronto for a few days, then on down to Houston where she’d rented a car and driven to New Orleans, up through Alabama and Arkansas, and then back to Houston, a quick trip to Mexico City and down to Brazil, back to Houston again, then Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle and back to Denver. She’d stayed in several hotels in each place, eaten out at fine restaurants and lowly fast food places, and she’d spread the slow-timed virus over most of America to high and low alike; death knew no class system.

She pitied them, these who would die, but they would ultimately be okay. The After Realm would provide a nice place to rest their souls and they would return one day to the glory of this renewed Earth. They would all fall from the Pit into Paradise, and Praise for the Redeemers, her family, her blood and bone, would encircle the globe. Everyone would be Free. All that remained was the final implementation of the plan.

She had looked into His eyes, her Leader, her Master, her Love and known that she would be one of the Chosen for this mission. Her skills in the Lab were finished once the genetic sequencing was done, and now that the Redeemers were settled in their underground Holds throughout the world, she would step forward and lead these sad excuses of the glory of man into their Redemption. Her genes were coded for greatness in the New World.

More sweat dripped, she felt a bit unsteady on her feet as it fell into her eyes. She wiped away and a faint redness was in the liquid on her hand. She smiled. Yes. One last ride. The subway car stopped and the herd moved inexorably forward to cram into it. She was pulled along effortlessly. Once on, she clung to a pole along with three other people, taking out a scarf to wipe her brow and putting up her sweat jacket hood to hide her ill appearance. No one noticed her. These doomed people, she thought, were doomed not by The Redeemers, but by the greed, the spiritual corruption of the terrible Foe, the Enemy, the Elites. Compassion for the woman who held her little girl in her lap welled in her; she was filled with love for all these people. They would be Redeemed. A glowing, an upwelling of the beauty of what they had done filled her, and red-tinted tears filled her eyes. She dabbed them away.

Her hand slipped a little on the pole and she lost a little balance, just for a moment. This scared her a bit; she was going down fast. She could feel the progress the engineered virus, created specifically to kill fast and with no pain, just by shutting down everything like a janitor turning out the lights, room by room; it thrilled and frightened her.

She wanted to be strong now. She wanted only to complete the plan, to ride the car, to emerge and head down to the designated place in the parking lot where her inoculated Companion would gather her up in His arms on a white sheet to die and be returned to the Lab underground, to be enshrined in marble. She was the Mother of a new race, after all, and deserved this last dignity. Not to mention they wanted no trace of a Patient Zero. Each Harbinger had someone to care for them at their passing, who would remove them underground to one of the Continental Bases when their job was finished. These were the handful of Inoculated, who would not die, but do the final work of The Redemption.

There was a group of five of them that were considered Harbingers, of which she was one, spread across the Globe; The Americas, Australia & New Zealand, Asia, Africa, Eastern and Western Europe, and a brave, quiet group of twenty-two others specializing in reaching remote islands and mountain places, including bases at the poles, called the Gatherers. That’s all it would take, and it would be unstoppable.

As it was, every person that came in contact with her, her luggage, her hotel room, what she ate and drank from, her rental cars, or the surfaces she had touched, would be infected, and before they knew it, everyone that these people came in contact with, touched things that they had touched, and eventually, breathed the same general air, would be their own point of origin for the carefully designed mass extinction of the human race, as it currently manifested. The virus itself wouldn’t have any symptoms for eight weeks, and then it would be so swift that a person would have a mere five hours from onset to a painless, almost blissful death.

The Redemption Virus would spread so quickly that cities would die before anyone could even know to react. The second phase of the nano-born virus was to change its manner of transmission from simple fluids to becoming air-born in addition. That was the phase her body was in now. She could feel it. She was The Mother of Redemption, He had said. She remembered his eyes, his touch, with a flare of passion and a quickening of pulse. She was the Bride. When she was reborn in the labs, when her flesh was remade and her re-engineered body became a fitting vessel for her Soul, they would be together forever and rule the world with Love.


(continued...)

(continued...)


They had laughed together in intimate moments at how the Government Black Defense Budget dollars had funded this – all his research, all his International team-building, so deeply classified that the few who knew of it were men entirely unqualified to understand the work being done. He was the child of wealth and connection, and as such, he could have been a major power broker in political or corporate realms, but he was too much in love with the Earth and with Life for that. When he stumbled upon The Plan of the Enemy, and realized in horror, that all the peoples of the earth, save the Elite few who would either be in their space pods or deep underground in luxury and comfort, were to be killed or economically enslaved with great suffering that was justified by nothing more than hubris, something lesser broke in him and He became Reborn. He was the Companion of God; God’s Genetic Engineer, God’s Redeemer of mankind in the Flesh. His brilliance, which she had witness in the Lab on so many occasions, was scientific, artistic, soulful and would have brought Da Vinci to his knees. That she understood Him, completed His work with Him and later, became His in body and soul, staggered her mind in a wave of crushing beauty. He. Him. Everything.

She staggered a bit too much with her body, as well as her mind, when the car came to a halt in front of the International Gate, then gripped the pole tighter…she was so close. She could feel the call of the After World in each beat of her heart. People got off, and on, and the car heaved her closer to the exit, closer to the end of a perfect plan. The Bliss of if all was so complete, so utterly peaceful…it was like the songs of angels. Yes. One last ride. One final walk to the parking lot. One last breath, and then, The Redemption.


__________

Thanks for reading,

AB

I swear Denver airport is spooky!

Good read

a reply to: AboveBoard
That was absolutely beautiful, AboveBoard!
I so wish I could offer more than stars &/or flags for this contribution...or just for your mesmerizing talent.
But...this is the best I can do, for the moment...

a reply to: AboveBoard

S&F and some of these !

I really, really enjoyed that. You are a very talented writer, who reads a lot - is that right? You seem like a reader/writer if you know what I mean! There is nothing so evil as 'justified' evil - that's a (very bastardised) Miss Marple quote, but it seems apt for your excellent story.

a reply to: zazzafrazz

Thank you Zazz!

(DIA - I know, right? Though I try to make it less so by imagining its a giant white caterpillar on its back, but somehow that's still creepy...)

a reply to: WanDash

Hey, WanDash,

Thank you so much!!! I most appreciate the thumbs up and


Here's one back to you...

Cheers!
- AB

a reply to: beansidhe

Hey beansidhe,

Thanks for the feedback!

When it comes to fanaticism of any kind, I remember realizing that no one in this state believes they are actually doing something evil, no matter how horrifying their actions. Yes - the Miss Marple quote is quite true in that sense. The Redeemers are sketches in irony, fighting against Elites while actively making themselves Supreme Elite, doing just as much, if not more damage than The Plan they seek to foil, and dying to somehow rule the world made in their image.

Thanks so much for dropping by to read it!!

ps- ETA - you nailed that I am a reader - that is my favorite past-time!

- AB

Kudos for the great story!

Or is it? Lots of parallels to the Ebola outbreak IF that thing is a tailored bug.

a reply to: AboveBoard

Hi Above! Good to see ya! Very very nice Story! It pulled me in and wouldn't let go!! Loved it!!

Hey... great writing

Guess who was supposed to be working today and got dragged into your great story?

Kindest respects

Rodinus

a reply to: SyxPak

Hi SyxPak! Thanks so much for taking the time to read my story!!!

I'm not on as much lately and its good to see you folks again...



- AB

a reply to: Rodinus

Good to know that your chocolate bunny-snatching bunker still has internet, Rodinus!!

I'm happy you came to read my story - thank you so much!! I don't feel guilty at all for distracting you from work for a few minutes...now if it had been War and Peace sized, I would worry for your job!

Seriously, thanks for dropping by. I appreciated it very much.

peace,
AB

a reply to: AboveBoard


You really stuck your landing with your story, AboveBoard! Truly chilling to get inside the mind of a person doing incredible evil, but believing they are the instrument of purification and Godliness.

His brilliance, which she had witness in the Lab on so many occasions, was scientific, artistic, soulful and would have brought Da Vinci to his knees.

AWEsome.

That was great!

Well written, great plot, covered reality and added in the psych so we had the other perspective.

Really impressive!

P

a reply to: AboveBoard

Hmmmmmm choccy bunnies... *slobbers at the thought*

Erm... no... honest it was not me that ate them... just unfortunate and strange coincidences that led to their horrendous deaths...

Honest...

Kindest respects

Rodinus

a reply to: pheonix358

Thanks, Pheonix! I was really tired when I wrote this (not to mention distracted by kids) and JUST noticed two big typos! One in the TITLE and one in the first few sentences... for goodness sake!

Ah, well, thank you for looking past all that and dropping by - absolutely most appreciated! I'm trying to make the rounds to everyone's stories - looking forward to reading yours!



- AB

a reply to: AboveBoard

JUST noticed two big typos! One in the TITLE and one in the first few sentences... for goodness sake!

Hey, drop a U2U to BFFT, at least for the title one. He can change it using super mod powers.

Look, in this sort of setting where we need to do things fast, errors will occur. We don't get time for normal editing protocols. Don't sweat it.

P

a reply to: pheonix358

Thanks! I didn't even think to ask him...U2U has been sent, lets see if he chooses to swoop in and save me...(strikes a dramatic damsel in distress pose complete with hand to forehead...)

Most appreciated, pheonix!!

- AB

originally posted by: AboveBoard
a reply to: pheonix358

Thanks! I didn't even think to ask him...U2U has been sent, lets see if he chooses to swoop in and save me...(strikes a dramatic damsel in distress pose complete with hand to forehead...)

Most appreciated, pheonix!!

- AB

*Pricks up ears*

Did I hear damsel in distress?

Kindest respects

Rodinus