I stood on the balcony, staring out over the city, the city that would soon fall crumbling to pieces, and that would bring the rest of society crumbling to pieces as well. I turned away. This was meant to be. These people had to die for the betterment of humanity.
“How soon can the serum be released?” I asked my scientists, who were hunched over their tables working fervently.
The lead biochemist, Dr. Khan, looked up, his eyes bright with excitement. “We are working on its mass production, Dr. Jezebel. We will have enough by about midnight tonight. Enough to kill eight billion people,” he said.
I smiled at him and smoothed my shirt, crisp and buttoned to the throat. “Excellent. At midnight tonight, we will release the plague. Contact your manufacturers and make sure all of our other locations will be ready at that time as well,” I ordered. An underling scurried to do my bidding as I walked out of the room.
As I passed people in the hallways, they inclined their heads to me respectfully, but fear lurked in their eyes. I didn’t mind; a little fear was good, especially if it helped to keep me in power. When I was nearly out of college I had begun realizing that the world is an awful place, overrun with too many awful people. I met with some of the brightest minds in the world, and we calculated that at current populations rates, the Earth would stop being able to support humankind by the year 2050. I was 2048, and thus far, it seems that our calculations had proven correct.
I strode through the labyrinth of corridors that connected our covert underground base. Swinging my hand up to the fingerprint scanner, I gained access to my office, and proceeded to enter. It was sparsely furnished, more of a lab than an office, really. “Computer, send a message to David Guo and tell him to come to my office immediately,” I said to the empty air.
Minutes later, my request had been fulfilled. David stepped into my office and sat down in one of the only chairs in the room. His hair was long and unkempt, and he looked homeless, but intelligence still sparkled in his eyes, like the remnants of a diamond. He was older than me by at least a decade, but we had been able to bridge that gap with our intellectual ages.
He quirked an eyebrow. “You wanted to see me?”
Knotting my hands together, I sank onto my lab stool. “Yes. You know what is happening tonight, I assume?”
He nodded. “I’ve heard rumors from the guards. You’re releasing the serum tonight.”
“We are releasing the serum tonight,” I corrected him. “All of us who have been working on engineering the plague for five years, including you, who helped start it all. I’m not alone in doing this.”
“You’re just trying to shake the thought that you are going to be responsible for the deaths of billions of people,” he said cooly.
I shot to my feet. “These people are not innocent. They are killing the earth just by existing. The population is at nearly ten billion people. Ten billion! The earth cannot support this large a population! You were the first to join me when I said we had to eradicate members of humankind who would not contribute to helping the Earth. What changed?”
“I haven’t changed,” David insisted, leaning forward. “You have. You were barely out of college when we started this together. We developed the plague together, and then you started getting bloodthirsty. It wasn’t just selective killing for the betterment of the Earth, it was mass murder. And when I started disagreeing with your views you locked me-”
“Enough.” My voice was deadly calm.
“Rosemary-”
“I don’t go by that name anymore,” I snapped. “That was the old me. This is who I am now. Jezebel.”
“Rosemary,” he continued, heedless to my complaint. “I know what you called me here to ask. And the answer is no. I may have stood beside you before, but now is different. I won’t help you when you release the plague. I will not help you sort out the aftermath of this slaughter.”
I flicked my tongue over my teeth in unveiled frustration. “If you’re not with me, you’re against me. Would you rather I didn’t give you the inoculant, and let you die like the rest of the people?”
His face paled. Never had he actually been afraid of me; we had known each other for too long. But now fear was etched into his features like a design in wood.
“You wouldn’t,” he said, trying to call me out.
I turned away from him. “How would you know, David? As you said, I’ve changed.”
I couldn’t see him but I could sense his defeat, the defeat he had felt after we had worked together developing the serum for three years with no success. “Guards,” I called out to the wall. Escort Dr. Guo back to his cell.”
I didn’t move until I heard the guards come and go, the click of cuffs, the low voices. By the time I turned back around, the room was empty. I truly was alone.
David didn’t understand. It seemed that nobody did, not truly, not even my loyal scientists, not even my former friend and colleague. But no matter. I wouldn’t need them after midnight. In a mere few hours I would become the most powerful person on the planet, a planet I had saved.
I returned to my bedroom to rest for a few hours before the macabre destruction that was going to take place. I felt like I had barely drifted off into a restless slumber before somebody woke me. I started to attention, already reaching underneath my pillow for the dagger.
“What? What is it?” I snapped.
In the faint light spilling in from the hallway I could see the slight cowering of my assistant, Tamela. “Dr. Jezebel, I have a message from Dr. Guo. He said that he is willing to accept your offer if you will give him in return the inoculant.”
A smile stretched my lips, slow and victorious. “Of course. Administer the inoculant to him immediately, and release him from his cell. I want him to be ready by twenty-three thirty sharp.”
“Yes, of course,” Tamela said, bowing out.
I took a deep breath to calm my excitement. It was happening. It was all happening. I glanced at my clock. In less than an hour my tirelessly sought-after plans would come to fruition, and I would save the Earth.
This time, when I stood on the balcony, the only part of the headquarters above ground, gazing out at the peaceful, slumbering city of Hong Kong, I was not alone. I turned to David. “I’m glad you made the right decision.”
He grimaced. “At least I’ll be able to steer you remotely on the right path.”
I tried not to laugh. And he thought I was naive. Pressing a button on my earpiece, I contacted Dr. Khan. “Release the serum in T minus thirty seconds.” I clicked off before he could respond…
… as strong hands shoved me against the balcony.
Stumbling, I tried to regain my footing. I looked up just in time to see David swing a slow punch at me, which I ducked. There was a reason he was a scientist and not a fighter.
“David,” I gasped. “What are you doing?”
I received my answer as he slipped a gun from the waistband of his pants.
“I’m putting down the monster that I created,” he said. He clicked the safety off. “Tell Dr. Khan there was a change of plans, and that he is not to release the serum.”
“It’s too late,” I panted. “It’s already done.”
“Do it anyway,” he growled.
My words came true, though, as David and I both heard the systematic spray of the serum being released. All over the world, the same was happening. In only an hour, people would start to experience the effects of the disease. By the same time tomorrow they would be dead, having spread the plague to everyone they came in contact with.
David’s hand lowered slightly as he gazed out over the city with a crestfallen look on his face. I pounced upon his distraction, snatching the gun from his hand and pumping three bullets into his chest.
As I watched his body tumble over the balcony, I thought maybe it was better that he met his end before the rest of the world did. It was a mercy.