Destroyer of Worlds, Part 1
Kleber Square, Strasburg - August 2, 2011, 2:23 PM
A mall crowd moved from level to level by escalator as bland piped-in music sieved the soul from a once popular tune. One routine coffee patron stopped for his usual fare at a centrally-located Starmarks kiosk.
“Hi Norbert,” the barista said, “Mocha, one percent, no whip?”
“That’s it,” Norbert said.
The barista handed over a cup of coffee. “That will be 4.80.”
Norbert held his phone to the scanner and paid for the coffee.
“Enjoy,” the barista said.
He took the escalator down to street level to exit into the main square. However, he barely got off the escalator before he dropped to his knees and vented steam and smoke, his body incinerating itself in seconds. As Norbert’s charred body dropped to the floor, dozens of other elevator riders also collapsed and self-incinerated. Jessica, realizing what was happening, quickly stopped in her traps.
“Wait!” she said. “Don't move. I think when they move, they die. Nobody move!”
Anders and Diana’s house
Anders and Diana relaxed at the coffee table, reading the real estate section of the Constantinople edition of
Die Zeiten.
“Pempton?” Diana said.
“No,” Anders said.
“Deuteron?”
“Uh, only if we want Anna to annoy Angie all day.”
“Psamathia?”
“Only if I'm dead.”
They both laughed.
“Alright,” Anders said, “There’s a nice place in Galata. Three beds, central heat and air, lots of room for Walter and Anna. It's got a working fireplace in the bedroom.”
“We really should be looking at schools for Alex before we find a place for Anna,” Diana said.
“Agreed,” Anders said.
His phone suddenly rang. He checked it and saw he was receiving two calls simultaneously, from Anna and Angela.
“Why don’t they call me?” Diana said.
Kleber Square - 2:46 PM
Walter and Olga stopped at the yellow tape and watched the agents in hazmat suits as they inspected the dead bodies and the immobilized patrons still alive.
“What's he doing?” Walter said. “No! Over by the second woman! The one that's still smoking. No, you ninny. The next one over!”
“Walter, take off your coat,” Olga said, “It’s 75 degrees, for yebat’s sake!”
“I'm quite capable of looking after myself,” Walter said.
“Last time you did that, you showed up wearing nothing,” Olga said, “In the middle of winter. When the Rhine froze over.”
One of the agents removed his helmet. “We're good. No airborne toxins.”
“Thank you,” Walter said, immediately rushing past the tape.
“Walter!” Olga said. “Don't forget your—”
Walter ran back to her. “I need my kit.”
Olga handed the kit to him.
“Please,” Jessica begged Walter as he walked among them, “Please, do something. Help us.”
Walter noticed Norbert’s phone on the ground, and picked it up. He unlocked it, as it didn’t have a password, and its mobile payment app was still open.
“Maybe the deaths are associated with this mobile transaction,” Walter said.
“No, Walter, this is just how people pay for things now,” Olga said, "On the other side, they’ve been doing this for the last twenty years.”
“Hmm?” Walter said.
“Uh, he probably just bought that coffee,” Olga said, pointing to a spilled cup of coffee next to Norbert’s body.
“What will they think of next?” Walter said.
“My thoughts exactly,” Olga said.
At the entrance, Erich led Angela, Anders, Diana, and Anna in from the square.
“All we know so far, at 2:23 PM more than two dozen people apparently experienced spontaneous human combustion,” he said.
“You know that's a myth, right?” Anna said.
“Eh…” Anders said.
“There are survivors,” Erich said, “Remaining still seems to have halted the ignition process... for now.”
“Do we have any idea what's caused this?” Diana said.
“I'm hoping Dr. Humboldt can help shed some light on that,” Erich said.
Walter looked at one of the corpses. “Okay, my friend. Let's see what secrets you hold. Hmm. I had a watch similar to this once. Elisabeth’s uncle gave it to me. Heinrich Tesla, impoverished, by his nephew’s standards. He loved rhubarb. He was always…"
“...am I going to die?!” Jessica said, frustrated by Walter’s lack of help.
“I can't answer that,” Walter said, “Not yet.”
“What are you?” Jessica asked.
“What am…I'm human,” Walter said, “What are you? Is this an alien invasion? Are you part of a strike force to enslave us? My son would like to know!”
"No, I mean, I mean, what are you doing here?” the woman said. "Are you a doctor?”
“Oh, no,” Walter said, “I'm a scientist. Uh... May I take a blood sample? The discomfort will only be momentary.”
“That's what all men say,” Jessica said.
“Hey!” Anders said.
“You are very brave,” Walter said, “Like my daughter.”
“Go on, then,” Jessica said.
As Walter drew blood from her arm, he noticed a smudge on her fingertips.
“I'm sorry...um, where did you get this smudging on your fingertips?” he asked.
“I don't know,” Jessica said, “The escalator, maybe?”
Walter scraped off a sample of the smudge and put it in a vial. He walked back to the team and handed Angela the vial of blood. Olga helped set up a high-resolution microscope for Angela to look at the blood sample.
“Her blood definitely shows signs of a foreign incursion at the cellular level,” Angela said.
“Viral?” Anders said.
“We'll have to get it back to the lab to be sure,” Angela said.
Walter looked at the vial. “What sort of virus are you? If you were aerolized, you would have infected everyone, not just those on the escalator. If you were harbored on a water tap or a doorknob, the first few contacts would have wiped you clean. What would have kept you fresh and so infectious, my lethal friend?”
Diana pointed to the base of the escalator landing, where technicians had removed the cover.
“Hey, I think we found something,” she said.
The technicians hauled out a device attached to the handrail assembly.
“Oh, dear,” Walter said.
“This is not a virus at all,” Anders said.
“Well, then what is it?” Olga said.
“The escalator is infested with—” Walter said.
“—nanites,” Anders finished.
“Again?” Erich said.
“That machine is generating them,” Anders said, “Less advanced than the ones we’ve dealt with in the past, I hope.”
“They better be,” Erich said.
“Despite their itty-bitty size, each of them is capable of storing a tremendous amount of energy, and it would seem they can be overloaded by the biological kinetic energy stored in the cells of anyone infected,” Walter said.
“You mean, these people's movement is what's activating the nanites?” Anna said.
“That's what I just said,” Walter said.
“And the longer they are in the bloodstream, the more sensitive they become, so the slightest exertion can trigger the overload,” Anders said.
“Causing them to spontaneously combust,” Diana said.
“Like a soda pop bottle after shaking,” Walter said, “Or Cola Bier and Mentos.”
“Okay, so who would do this, and how do we stop it?” Angela said.
“I don't know,” Walter said, “I need my lab.”
“Well we can't move them, Walter,” Olga said, “How are we going to get one of these people to the lab?”
“Very carefully,” Walter said.
“We can't risk it,” Angela said.
“I don't know how long these people have left, even without moving them,” Walter said, “I can't be certain.”
“Do you have any kind of insurance?” Jessica said. “I mean, if I volunteer for your experiment and something goes wrong, what happens, you know, to my next of kin?”
“The Athanatoi takes care of you,” Diana said, “Everybody we work with is fully covered under imperial law. It's in the regs.”
“Okay,” Jessica said, “Whatever you need.”
"I'm sorry, what's your name?” Angela said.
“Jessica Holt,” Jessica said.
“Do you know what you're saying, Jessica?” Angela said.
“Yeah, I do,” Jessica said.
“I need a solid-board stretcher, uh, and some ice packs and a blanket,” Walter said.
Walter’s lab - 3:30 PM
While Walter analyzed his samples, Jessica fidgeted on a gurney.
“Must seem a little bizarre, huh?” Anders said.
“Well, I'm an emergency room nurse,” Jessica said, “Night shifts on Fridays, that's bizarre.”
“If there anything we can do to make it a little more pleasant, please let us know,” Angela said.
“Actually, there is,” Jessica said, “Could you get my phone for me, please? It's in my handbag.”
“Of course,” Angela said, getting the phone.
She held the phone to Jessica, who unlocked it and speed-dialed a number.
“Thank you,” she said, “Mike, it's me. No, I know. Um. yeah. listen, I, um, I need you to pick up Sarah after school for me, please. No, I know it's not your day, um, but, you know, please, Mike. Um, I'll explain it to you later, okay? Okay, bye. Thanks.”
“Of course,” Angela said.
“How long until this antidote is ready?” Jessica asked.
“I'll just check with Walter,” Anders said.
He walked over to Walter’s workstation. “How close are we?”
“We're starting to see first results now,” Walter said.
“But how long will it take?” Anders said.
“At this rate, it's gonna be at least a couple of more minutes,” Anna said.
“Hey Walter, her temperature's rising rapidly,” Diana said, pointing at her computer.
“How rapidly?” Walter said.
“Uh, two degrees in the past 23 seconds,” Olga said.
“What about an ice bath?” Anders said.
“No, that won't help, just try to keep her calm,” Walter said.
“Jessica, I just want you to focus on me, okay?” Angela said.
“Okay,” Jessica said.
“Anna, grab the ammonium nitrate,” Walter said.
“You want to speed up the condensation?” Anna said.
“Not unless you have a better idea,” Walter said.
“Walter, she's at 104 degrees,” Diana said.
“Uh, we need sixty seconds more,” Walter said.
“We don't have sixty seconds!” Anders said.
“Oh, my God,” Jessica said.
Angela took her hand. “Jessica, just focus on your breathing.”
“Walter!” Olga said.
“Forty seconds more!” Walter said.
Suddenly, Jessica relaxed. Her breathing slowed.
“How are you doing that?” she said.
“Her temperature’s dropping,” Diana said.
The lights went out.
“She’s…okay,” Anders said.
Jessica looked like she felt much better. “How did you do that?”
“I have no idea,” Angela said.
Walter finished his serum and injected Jessica with it.
“This should permanently remove and neutralize the nanites in your system,” he said.
“Thank you,” Jessica said, “I can breathe now.”
“You and a lot of other people,” Anders said.
Angela pushed Walter into a corner.
“Uncle Walter, do you have any idea what just happened to me?” she said.
“I could make an educated guess,” Walter said, “Cortexiphan has given you certain powers. Moving molecules so quickly you can create spontaneous combustion, yes? Well, perhaps in this case, you slowed the molecules down, causing her to cool down."
“But how did I do it?” Angela said.
“I'm afraid I have no idea,” Walter said.
“I should get her home,” Angela said.
3:45 PM
Angela led Jessica across the campus to a waiting taxi.
“You'll let me know what happens with the others, then?” Jessica said.
“I will, but now the antidote's been synthesized, they'll all be fine, thanks to you,” Angela said.
“Thank you,” Jessica said, “I don't know how you did it, but you did.”
“You know, not everybody would volunteer to be my uncle’s guinea pig,” Angela said.
“It wasn't really for me,” Jessica said, “I've got a four-foot-tall redhead at home who's constantly in dire need of Mac and Cheese and help with her math. And her father's an idiot. Well, if you ever need help getting to the head of the line in an emergency room…”
“I’m a medical doctor too,” Angela said, “If you need someone to operate on you…or if you have any more symptoms, give me a call.”
She handed Jessica her business card.
“I will,” Jessica said.
“Thank you,” Angela said.
Jessica got in the cab and drove away. Angela answered her phone.
“Hansen,” she said.
“We know who's responsible for the nanites,” Erich said.
Strasburg field office - 4:00 PM
Kurtz displayed security camera footage from the mall, where they saw David attaching the device to the escalator.
“This was taken ten minutes before the first victim was reported,” he said, "Another camera picked him up leaving the scene, but we lost him after that.”
“So what does infecting people with nanites have to do with ending the world?”Angela said.
“Everything Jansen’s done has been in service of collapsing our two universes in order to create a third,” Diana said.
“But destroying the bridge ruined that plan,” Erich said.
“As far as we know,” Anders said.
“You think he found another way to create his own universe in place of ours?” Kurtz said.
“I don't know,” Anders said.
“But we do know Jansen,” Anna said, “We know he's not going to just give up.”
Walter’s lab
Walter studied the nanites under a microscope. His eyes widened.
“No,” he said, “That can’t be. A chimeric structure in nanites. I don't believe it.”
Olga walked into the lab.
“Just got back from the office,” she said, “Jansen is definitely behind this.”
She noticed Walter’s concern. “Walter, what is it?”
“A hundred different ways to design a nanite, and he chose this,” Walter said, “It's inconceivable. Not by chance. Jansen isn't smart enough, not by himself.”
“Wait, what are you saying?” Olga said.
“Jansen didn't create these nanites,” Walter said, “They're not his design! There's only one person who would construct this particular pattern.”
“Who?” Olga said.
“Wilhelm Tesla,” Walter said.
