Shadow Seed 1: The Misbegotten (11 page)


      
Sept.
2013 –
At a joint British Petroleum and Exxon Mobile press conference, the companies unveil a deep drilling research operation project that has discovered a new element, what they term Diatainium.  It lies at the edge of the earth’s crust very near the Mohorovičić Discontinuity (or simply called, the MOHO), which comprises the uppermost reaches of the Mantle and lies at an average depth of 7 km (4.3 miles) beneath the ocean floors, and 30 to 75 km (18 to 46 miles) beneath the continental surfaces.  They have determined that Diatainium can be smelted into a super-strong, radiation resistant metal and be used as an energy source as well.  When its atoms are smashed together at ultra-high speed, they produce a huge amount of energy at nearly 0.1 of a kWt per atom.  This has given the NIA an unlimited power source.


      
Oct.
2013 –
OPEC dissolves.


      
Nov.
2013 –
NIA announces that it had made a super-high yield Diatainium infused Fission Bomb that it will use to destroy Comtet2001ct2.


      
Feb.
2014 –
Saudi Arabia seeks entrance into the Islamic Confederation, which causes a windfall and within months Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Dubai follow suit.


      
Apr.
2014 –
North Korea, pushed to the brink, asks South Korea for a formal ceasefire and truce, coupled with a new Free Trade Agreement.


      
May 2014 –
Jordan and Afghanistan seek entry into the Islamic Confederation.


      
June 2014 –
Israel granted entry into the NIA.


      
July 15
th
, 2014 –
The NIA’s stockpile of Diatainium Fission Bombs successfully explodes Comet2001ct2, which falls to earth in a shower of a million, million microscopic fragments. 
(In Later Days, this event is termed: The Shadow Seed)


      
Aug.
2014 –
With the threat of the Comet gone the NIA solidifies into a more permanent organization by unifying economic ties between North America, Europe, Asia and Indo/Australia, designating them its four regional zones.


      
Oct.
2014 –
The United Korean Peoples Republic emerges from the ashes of war and famine and immediately seeks aid form the NIA and gets it.


      
Nov.
2015 -
A new, heretofore unknown disease begins to surface in just about every corner of the world.


      
Dec.
2015 –
By the end of the year chaos rages across Africa once again as civil and regional wars erupt in Indochina.


      
June 2017 -
The NIA revamps its charter to include an overarching paramilitary component with unlimited jurisdiction within the borders of its chartered members.  China, India and Australia object to the draconian change, and drop from full membership to that of associated members with strong economic ties.  The true Northern Intercontinental Alliance if formulated, which includes the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Britain, Japan, Israel, the Nations of the old European Union and Russia.  It designates its’ world-wide capital at Houston, Texas and with regional capitals in Moscow, Paris and Tokyo.  The NIA gives favored nation status to its former members – China, India and Australia to keep trade strong.  The NIA then declares war against this new disease, combines the CDC with all of its member nation’s medicinal assets.  The World Health Organization is crippled by a 72% drop in funding.


      
Since June 2017 –
The Disease continues to grow, unabated, but it’s what it leaves in its wake that begins to change the world…  The NIA, desperate to get an upper hand, begins to resort to ever more drastic measures to eradicate it form the face of the earth.

*****

Now, with your history lesson over, you can begin to understand the setting within which I, and a few of my closest friends, lived in the summer of 2018.  But, if you really wanted to know where this story truly begins, I will have to begin in the proper place.  I will have to begin many years earlier… and not with myself.

It
began with a girl.  She was rambunctious little rebel, who, from the very first day I met her, stole my heart.  I think it was because she loved to get into trouble.  Boy, did she ever, it was like a hobby to her.  She excelled at it.

Yes!  If you want to know the true beginning of th
is story, then I will have to tell you the story of her - Katie Lorraine Chaz… the first love of my life.

*****

[His fingers dip to touch the Intrusion Dial.  He finds himself sinking deeper into his own mind.  The software is amazing.  Fuzzy reflections solidify, become tangible.  He is ready.  His fingers fly, the words are formed.]

Katie Lorraine Chaz, from the moment she hit puberty and her breasts began bud into something more than just tiny bumps on her flat chest… well, she became something of a wild child.  That was sort of expected, though.  Even at an early age, she was promiscuous and talked dirty all the time.  Every other thing she said was “eat my pussy this” and “eat my pussy that”, way before any of us really knew what it meant to “
eat pussy
”.

She had undoubtedly heard it from one of her older siblings, who were, at the time, already in their middle teens. 
It was well known even to us younger kids that her oldest sister was sexually active.  She already had one abortion by the time she was fifteen.  So, I guess the blame could be piled on them to some degree.  Although, I’m not really sure what Katie was thinking when she said things like that.  I was a curious little scamp.  I often wondered if she really did want someone between her little, tweenie labia’s slurping up the juice.  She could say it
so
dirty sometimes.  I remember getting semi-hard every time she uttered such nasty things in her child-like voice.  Her eyes were so
direct.

You see, I was born a pervert.

Back then, Katie had light brown, wavy hair, very thin.  It always wafted in the play of the wind.  She didn’t have the synthetic shit she has implanted upon her scalp today, capable of changing color on a whim.  She was much more natural in those days… before the hiding and the running…

Anyhow, she had wispy hair and a light complexion, harboring good skin.  Even through the hormonal ravages of her teen years, she never really developed a whole lot of pimples or blemishes on her face.  She was more on the small side when compared to other girls her age, but medium-sized when compared to the females of her family.  She was thin and well-proportioned even as a child.  As womanhood descended upon her, Katie’s hips formed nicely and her butt rounded; she transformed from a girl to something I could barely look away from.  Back then, to me, the most desirable feature about her was her breasts.  They were perky, a large “b-cup” or a small “c”, depending on the designer of the bras and clothes she wore.  They were pointed slightly upward and firm.  In my eyes, they were perfect, just enough to fill your hand and not waste a single bit of spongy flesh.  At least that’s how I imagined they woul
d feel like.  She had big hazel-colored eyes and a long thin nose that tapered to a point, almost as if she had plastic surgery inside her mother’s womb.  Her face was more angular than broad, her cheekbones set high on her face, her chin chiseled to a dainty point.  She was beautiful, in every way, even with her bad mouth and her surly disposition toward anything that reeked of authority.

Thus, as she aged and her body changed, Katie went from being flirty and foul tongued to experimental and eager.  She would try anything and everything new, which of course led her down the road to sex, drugs and unfortunately to grand theft auto.

(I’m not referring to that god-awful video game franchise of that bygone era either!)

No, this was an action, through a serious of mind boggling events, landed her on my doorstep and later, my ward, in the summer of 2018.  This was before the world collapsed around us and we found ourselves fugitives from the very government we believed were sworn to protect us.

So fucking naïve!

[He dives deeper.]

Nonetheless, in order to paint a more precise and exact portrait, I must digress a few more years.  I must put aside the colossal forces at work during that summer in ‘18 and explain from whence Katie Lorraine was sprung.  From this explanation, you will begin to understand how and why Katie did things the way she did.

Her mother, Giselle Agave - coining the perfect phase of a
n older generation – was a knockout.  There is no other way to describe the woman, other than to say, she was a stone-cold fox.  From the earliest onset of maturing, she attracted men of all ages just about everywhere she went.  She was not a particularly smart individual nor did she possess much depth of personality or wit or humor.  But, she did understand one thing and it was the only thing she ever needed in life – she
knew
she was beautiful.

Unlike Katie,
her mother, Giselle, was taller and longer of leg.  She had black hair with just the hint of a bend to it at the top of her shoulders.  She had brown eyes and an aquiline face with smooth pink cheeks and a long sweeping, but very delicate jaw.  She had a thin neck leading to a slender, voluptuous frame complete with broad hips and equally impressive breasts.

She was a sight to behold indeed.

In high school, Giselle, not particularly athletic or physical in any way, played the role of the girly-girl.  She dressed nicely, was impeccably groomed at all times, and often she pretended to be afraid of the tiniest little insect or speck of dirt.  Sometimes a modest warming in the weather would illicit alarm and in a flash there was an awestruck boy willing to assist her during her moment of
distress
.  Despite their numbers and varying types, she was not a slut.  She didn’t sleep around, or at least not a lot.  Not once did she take on the whole offensive line of the football team or get caught in your friendly game of “Let’s Gangbang the Drunk Girl”.  I heard, although she did have more than a few boyfriends, she never had more than one at any given time.

Truth be told, though, she really didn’t care about any of them.  Her sights were set on a dashing, debonair, suit-wearing, disco-biscuit, named Ricardo Charon.  He was
that
dude.  He was the one who knew all of the latest High Energy dance moves and twirled on his feet like a Hispanic, pompadour sporting Fred Astaire.  He was a fast talker, sly of wit and always seemed to have an ulterior motive.  It was typically concealed at the corner of his eye when he looked at you, as if he were listening; giving the impression he was paying attention.  But the topic of conversation never seemed foremost in his mind as if he were thinking of something else, something hidden and private.  It was a creepy sort of gaze, if you caught it at the right moment.  It made you wonder if he was thinking about you in ways you’d rather not know about.

Anyhow, as was normally the case, when Giselle set her mind to something or someone, she almost always got her wish.  True to form, she landed Ricardo Charon even though he was two years older than her and used to going out with girls closer to his own age.

Now, Ricardo Charon, like Giselle in a way, was really only interested in one thing in life and nothing else - Ricardo Charon.  He was tall, considering he came from Mexican stock on both sides of his family.  He was nearly five foot, ten inches tall with jet black hair.  He had a strong square jaw and piercing amber colored eyes that used to make the cha-cha’s¹ swoon.   His wide mouth boasted thin lips, very pink.  His skin was only a few shades darker than the slightest tanned Caucasian.  He was nice to look at, from the female perspective, as one could imagine.  But Ricardo wasn’t really interested in any one girl, because deep down, he was certain he was destined for much more – the dazzle and pomp of the Big Screen.  Ricardo wanted to make it big in old Hollywood.

And he w
asted little time pursuing it.

It was only a week after he turned eighteen, he filed paperwork
, without his parents’ knowledge, and had his name officially changed to Ricky Chaz.  Within months following graduation from High School, he went to a college for the performing arts to study acting.  The only thing he ever cared about.

Of course, Giselle was dazzled with thoughts of the glamorous life she would no doubt lead as the off-screen wife of a famous movie star.  So much so, she made sure their destinies remained concurrent, and begged Ricardo (now Ricky) to go with her to Grad Night, a plan
set firm in the back of her mind.  Back then, this Right of Passage for High School Graduates consisted of an overnight visit to Disneyland, which would provide Giselle with the perfect opportunity to keep Ricky in her life, forever.