Panspermia Deorum (46 page)

The
Interview

Eugene began
with identity confirmation.

“I recognise
you from the short time I worked here, and I believe your name is
Sir Charles Beveridge, 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 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 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.”

A
rapidly arranged meeting with the strategists
revealed that the files referred to by Charles Beveridge 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 Beveridge’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 such an unknown outcome there
was tangible discomfort. Nevertheless, Eugene and Brandon were
united in its endorsement. Beveridge 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 Beveridge’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 Beveridge 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 recovering 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.