Panspermia Deorum

by Hylton Smith

  *

  Julien had been constantly in touch with the family and now he announced he was on his way back. He spoke first to Elise.

  “I’m sorry this has taken longer than anticipated but the stakes are so high for all of us, and I couldn’t seem to walk away from Eugene when he’s working so hard on behalf of everyone. I’m leaving here tonight, and I’m really looking forward to seeing you all.”

  “I’ve been so worried about both of you. When will Eugene be coming back?”

  “I don’t think we should fool ourselves, Elise. Our son is not going to take a step back into normal life for a long time. All I can say is that this scourge is a very complex organism which may be around in some form long after you and I are gone. We have to be proud of Eugene and try to visit him whenever that is possible. The civilised world is already crumbling, but if we think things can’t get any worse, we need to really open our eyes. I can explain more when I get back. Bye for now.”

  *

  Despite the chronic fatigue suffered by the head of the snake, he displayed no signs of being uncooperative. They had their suspicions that this was part of his defence mechanism. They would only be able to get a true feel for the extent of his re-conversion by specific, targeted questions. Eugene and Brandon had already devised a list of probing queries, buttered with tactical sympathy. In particular, they had anticipated resistance from him regarding an enforced cure, but he had been surprisingly compliant.

  The Interview

  Eugene began with identity confirmation.

  “I recognise you from the short time I worked here, and I believe your name is Sir Leonard Schuster, is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “According to our data, you are now free of the infection. We’d like you to tell us if you feel that this is the case, and if so, answer some questions about the infection itself.”

  “I can confirm that I now feel I have returned to my pre-infection status, and I would be more than happy to share my experience of being under the influence of the infection with you.”

  This was way too easy.

  “Do you recall detailed actions which you took, as a deviant, which have assisted the spread of the virus?”

  “Of course. I also recall what horrors I faced before I became infected.”

  “We have to understand why, as leader of this research unit, which was supposed to eradicate the virus, you became the architect of the exact opposite – proliferation of it. This may be a key factor in helping us to curb or cleanse the world of its presence.”

  “Am I limited to answering questions, or is it permissible for me to attempt to explain why you may be tackling this situation from only one vantage point?”

  “That’s an interesting prospect. Please, go ahead.”

  This was a departure from the agreed format, and Brandon shook his head. Nevertheless, Eugene encouraged the subject to continue.

  “I’m sure that at some point you will ask about purpose, agenda, strategy, and the like. However, it’s much simpler than that. When you worked here, you knew that there were discrete phases of behavioural trends after infection. In fact you have such a person standing here now. Geoffrey Nelson was a nurse. We realised that he’d escaped and registered him as deceased. He had been classified as unlikely to transition to stable phase three status. I will come back to this later.

  “The overriding force involved with this virus, like any other, is Darwinian in nature. The survival of the fittest, no emotion, pity, or morality. Survival itself is driven by instinct. Now, in phase one, there is little else at play other than instinct, to the point that carnivores do not shrink from cannibalism. Mr Nelson can confirm that. As phase two approaches, we see a characteristic unfamiliar to us when studying viral progression. Just as in adolescent humans, the onset of puberty alters behaviour. The pertinence here is the rate at which this occurs in adult hosts. This hormonally driven instinct rapidly transcends prior needs. The move to a different diet, cooked protein, vegetables – the prelude to becoming omnivorous again. We also realised that not many subjects were capable of making the final transition to phase three. As I am one such example, or rather I was such a candidate, I began to realise that we were part of a fast-forwarded survival war. I am unable to explain exactly why I could not discuss this with human counterparts, other than to say my instinct was not to trust them. I was elected to head up this eradication of a simple virus, and then I became part of the problem. Before infection I referred to the victims, none of whom were voluntarily stricken, as deviants. Having then experienced the situation from the opposite perspective, I prefer to see them as hybrids. They are still part human even if that is very difficult to grasp when dealing with only the first two phases of infection.

  “I ask you now to consider very carefully what you intend to do next. The explanation I have been given regarding my ‘cure’ creates a dilemma. You are entering a war in which you cannot win with such an ingenious yet cumbersome technique. Perhaps natural selection can help. You can verify what I’m about to say from our files. We had to accept from the emergence of the first phase three individuals, that we, the perceived elite, faced elimination by phase one and two specimens as well as humans. Survival versus morality again. Tell me, are all humans perfect? All over the planet, since the beginning of time, they have butchered one another with false justification. It is happening as we speak. We also humanely kill other species and eat them, and yet it somehow hypocritically assuages our guilt. Have most humans accepted culls of lower order species for the greater good? We, those of us who were top hybrids have countenanced the termination of infected specimens with no chance of reaching phase three. No doubt you will cry foul. Once again, consider human evolution. Out of Africa became the origin of our history, and yet today it is still the engine room of slavery. All I am trying to convey is reality. I believe, as a ‘returned human’ that you face one of two outcomes. A war between unrestricted hybrids and humans will eventually see the end of pure Homo Sapiens, and the emergence of pure Homo Diversitus. Hybrids will have served their purpose. The alternative is to oversee a shared responsibility for the future of both. It does imply that only phase three specimens are allowed to survive until a transition mechanism can be administered to those who do not yet qualify. You killed my colleagues, some of whom had developed such a treatment, and we were already administering it to phase one and two hybrids. You need to persuade me to give you access to that treatment, and remember, I’m speaking to you as a human, but on behalf of hybrids, to whom being such a mongrel was not a choice.”

  They looked at one another. Brandon provided the unanswered question.

  “What do you mean by pure Homo Diversitus?”

  “Simply that we have not yet seen the results of procreation between phase three hybrid couples. I repeat, you have to consider the hurdle of preventing such multiplication between phase one and phase two couples. That’s why we embarked upon the treatment to convert them. No doubt you will ask about future procreation between Homo Sapiens and Homo Diversitus. I’m afraid I have no answer.”

  Eugene asked about his understanding of ‘being persuaded’ to disclose this treatment. The response was unambiguous.

  “A planet-wide pledge of equality. Nothing less.”

  Chapter 58

  A rapidly arranged meeting with the strategists revealed that the files referred to by Leonard Schuster were encoded and only he knew where the decoding resided. It was a simple deciphering algorithm embedded in his cerebral recesses.

  Time had always been a factor in whether or not a solution would be forthcoming. It was accepted that the complex cure developed by Eugene and Brandon could take humans part of the way on their own, but Schuster’s view that it would be overtaken by Darwinian force was very persuasive. The moral issues were legion, but again, natural selection would bypass all such deliberation. The remaining issue was trust. They had to take this decision to the world while there was still time. In capitulating to suc
h an unknown outcome there was tangible discomfort. Nevertheless, Eugene and Brandon were united in its endorsement. Schuster unlocked the codes.

  Two Years Later

  Seeds of the Gods

  The prospect of unwritten trust on the world stage was in itself divisive. Some long-forgotten philosopher once said, ‘If all mankind was made equal today, by some mystical edict, inequality would not only survive, but rear its head in a new guise tomorrow’.

  If nothing else had been achieved, a more concerted effort to care for the planet as a whole solidified from its former cameo role.

  There were signs that Schuster’s social stance had brought credibility to the programme, and the statistical evidence backed this up with hundreds of thousands of stable hybrids.

  The Delacroix clan returned to Guiana. Sophie was pregnant. Julien was going to realise his dream of playing with his grandchildren. Eugene felt he was ready to consider a serious personal relationship of some kind, without prejudice, human or hybrid. Elise and Geraldine could get back to their horticultural passions.

  Brandon Mitchell and his two Japanese colleagues accepted an offer to work in the Schuster Foundation, whose purpose was enshrined in development of new treatments for any hybrids for whom the original serum didn’t work. These people were largely those whose original genetic makeup was impacted by evolution’s tendency to miscopy, every once in a while.

  Medical breakthrough was delivering admirably, judged by the arbiter of stability. Yet, despite the global accord on equality, and its enforcement by slow recovery of international law, prejudice lurked wherever it could find fertile ground. It had been a repetitive trait of Homo Sapiens since their emergence, and it still was. However, evolution itself was about to have an influence. The fact that hybrids could be stabilised, but retain the reinforcement of the virus-induced alterations to DNA, did not favour pure Homo Sapiens. In the face of inexorable climate change, or indeed resistance to future pandemics, they could prove to be the weaker sub-species.

  Even though panic and conflict had receded significantly, it was certain to be a long haul to perceived harmony. Julien Delacroix was in such a reflective mood, regurgitating the thought that he, more than anyone, was responsible for bringing this wretched virus to the planet. It was therefore no surprise that he had one eye on the Arctic Circle. He was too old to do anything about it, but he hadn’t forgotten that there were many undiscovered cometary pebbles in stasis under the permafrost.