09. Patient Zero

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There are people in Tear City who say that Old Earth never existed. That stories were made up about handwritten books and oil paintings. About orchestral music and tall trees. About wild horses and waterfalls. They all sound too incredible to exist. Too... pointless. Ask a wiki about Old Earth and it will reply with a pre-sanctioned statement. The 10 billion people who once populated Old Earth relied on its biosphere and natural resources for survival.

The Tear City megastructure was built to protect those who opted into new Earth society. Those who rallied against it perished in what became known as the Great Fires. Over 99.9% of all species that once lived on old earth are now extinct. Ask a wiki to describe a waterfall. and it will reply with There is no evidence to validate the assertion Me and Blake used to argue He used to tell me stories about corrupt politicians and mass rioting on the streets of old earth.

The gatekeepers of our environment fucked it right up. They spent so long in denial about the fact that there was just no turning back. It's like they wanted our world to collapse. Acid rain... Deadly increases in global temperatures, wildfires raging. They let it all happen. Global superpowers with every ability to pull together as a common force, as a people, as a planet, to resolve these issues just...

handed over all responsibility to that mega corporation insignia who forced their way into a position of dominance under the pretense of saving the planet. The real deals were done behind the scenes.

without public consultation, without any assessment of the damage. History was rewritten by greedy, idiotic, power hungry politicians who were too bloody stupid to believe that they were just being used as puppets to misdirect all of us. from the truth wow that was some rant blake you sound totally crazy right now damn it rachel wake up it annoyed him when i laughed it all off

But there was nothing to validate the assertion. He would disappear for days. And when I'd see him again, he'd be overexcited, full of stories about a secret activist group called Rare Earth reclaiming the planet. Then, the cooling engines of Tyr City failed. People began suffocating in their pods. Lethal creatures appeared from nowhere and cut down citizens in their commuter corridors.

and the Universal Council, the very people who claim to protect us, declared martial law. I was beginning to wonder if Blake had been right all along. Had the people in power really given up on us? Tia City residents were trapped like rats in a maze. And humanity was about to face its final devastating blow. Tell me about Patient Zero. Everything is connected, Rachel. Interlinked. Reliant on the pack to stay in place.

Imagine that the system of our universe is just like a pack of cards, shuffling one to the next. Removing a single card will only reveal the next in line. Too much shuffling will bring the whole lot toppling down. Patient Zero was simply the first card in a pack that was constructed using layers upon layers, decades deep. But now the pack...

is unraveling. May I advise that this is not the time for- She deserves an answer, Lithium. She deserves this answer. I do not recommend that you reveal any detail. Lithium, shut down. He's offline. How did you know how to do that? I'm a fast learner. The Meccas are bonded to me and to your father. Just as they are now, apparently. Bonded to you Please professor I need to hear this Thirty years ago a researcher on my staff discovered a signal

A mysterious code that was being sent from, well, who knows where. He became dangerously obsessed and unlocked a cipher which set a chain in motion that came with such an incredible cost. The signal changed him, made him ill. Scarred by a biomass that infected the very core of his soul. He was the first. He was Patient Zero. What did you do? I saved him. I saved the man who brought all of this devastation upon us. I should have let him die there and then, but something drove me to action it all.

A fascination with the unknown. I helped Insignia Life carry out instructions discovered in the signal without questioning the origin or intention of the message. I helped to initiate all of this. The breakdown of Tyr City, the severing of all ties with our planet, and the foolish promise of a new life on the biodomes. So many people will suffer. So many people will be left behind.

The infestation is just the first wave. An extinction-level event is coming. The Patient Zero Protocol. Lithium. Wait. What did he tell you? Emotional receptors down. How much do you know? Enough, lithium. What if I told you that 2026 is the year you launch your business? Maybe you've got an idea you just can't shake, or that hobby that everyone in your life is telling you to sell. Taking that first step and finally taking action can feel impossible.

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What the hell is that noise? I've never heard anything like it. Some kind of repetition. Is that a recording? Transmission? From where? feel dizzy look wiki don't bother you don't have to do anything for me anymore i don't want to know There are papers here. Mathematical symbols. Was this place a research centre, huh? You think they got any booze? Booze? You know, liquor, whiskey, a drop of poison.

I need to take this asthma off. I do not advise you taking off the boot. Unprotected movement in the bunker could prove highly detrimental to your health. It's okay, Wiki. I'm just gonna sit here a while and wait it out. Wait what out? How could I expect you to understand, old friend? You'll never get to experience. I'm gonna sleep a while.

We are navigating the sublevels and will be arriving at the laboratory imminently, Professor Keller. Take us in slowly, lithium. What are you doing? Getting a respirator. My dear, you can't go down there. This place isn't safe. It has many, many ghosts. Lithium, bring the data drive. Set to fly follow, two feet. Of course, Rachel and her. You said I had a choice, Professor. This is my choice.

Whatever you're looking for, I'll help you find it. Then you need to let me go, so I can find my dad. Deal? Deal. You must collect a specimen. The genetic enzyme that we cannot leave to perish here on Earth is far too valuable. Lithium will take you directly to it. But Rachel, the lab is not safe. Not safe at all. You've seen them, haven't you? Infesting to your city.

I've seen them. Your mother named them Active X5. Those little bogies make excellent security guards. Or better, to protect a laboratory which manufactured products so lethal that they could wipe out all life on Earth. than death itself and you've seen her she's incredible if you come across the aqua don't Don't even look at it. Promise me that you'll run. Lithium. Disclose primary laws. Primary laws. I do not kill. I do not...

I do not deceive. Stop. Disable primary laws. Pack a laser cut blaster. Let's go kill some creatures. What's blood? You are suffering from radiation sickness. Symptoms are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea... Stop. Wiki. Just stop. What the hell is going on? doing this there's a projection it's a a star mapper I don't recognize the system. This isn't our solar system. What do you want?

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