“Goddammit woman, I told you to at least clean this place up before I got back!” “I was too busy playing cards with the guys.” You mix an elixir that is quite potent against parasite infection, in a desperate measure. You decide to mix your search for the cure with a project you’ve been working on for a while now. It is an anti-parasite elixir that might just hold the answer to beating the infection. You temper with the glass vials. You take a hammer and start to smash the glass of the vials. You then prepare your mixtures and carefully measure out the liquid to each vial. “This is so we can keep track of them.” what do you mean, about the mixtures? — You decide to stir them in with a needle and syringe. Using a needle and syringe to mix the mixtures seems like a good idea to you. Suddenly a droplet of the chemical entered into your nasal cavity. You shake your head and look around, a lightheaded sensation hits you. You’re not sure if it’s because of the infection or the fumes. You hold your breath, and stir the last mixture. You say “get over here nurse, let’s test this vial out on you” The nurse appears frightened, but able to comply. She lies down on the table. “Don’t worry, this is just a test.” You pull off the latex gloves and take a deep breath before uncapping the vial. The nurse looks apprehensive but hopeful. You quickly tilt your head back and squirt the entirety of the vial’s content directly into her open mouth. You can’t be sure how much she swallowed. “Swallow.” You say. The nurse begins to gag and struggle to breathe. You run to the fire extinguisher and aim the nozzle at her. It was naught for not used soon enough and she begins to vomit. “Call an ambulance.” you say as you begin feeling lightheaded yourself. You drop the pen and fall on the ground. In your phase of overwhelming chemical effect there was a thin red line to it’s opposite. You were fine now. You had escaped it’s command. You were cured and say “wait till the next time I administer this to a patient!” the nurse takes this to heart and as she has been your assistant for the past 5 years, she doesn’t know what you’re capable of. Not in it’s entirety. Not to it’s full effect. But she knows what you once were and that fills her with terror. and she is right to be scared. You have earned a name. And it wasn’t “Long” You are “The Harbringer.” The one who speaks of the plague. The one who slays with a single word. Your mind is a weapon. You are more than human. You are a harbringer. Able to control the minute details of the average human mind. You can make people see what you want them to see. You can make them do what you say. You can make them dance to your tunes. You can control their very thoughts. You are a messenger of death. You are truly the finest example of a man entirely separated from the herd. The next day started out innocently enough as you were awakened by the sweet sound of birds chirping. This will be the passing that it’s time to salvage what scraps of humanity still left behind at the hospital. You see several patients in the hallways. All of them infected, all of them on their way to be treated for other things. You shout at the malnourished lot of struggles and misery you walk by. “Get some food, you’re too skinny.” A few of them look at you and then one shouts back. “Bye!” nothing but happiness and joy for you today. Your day at the hospital was uneventful, but there was great news at the evening meal “We’re getting out of here today.” You couldn’t agree more. The longer that you are away from those infected, the better off you’ll be. A new drug was found to cure all cases of the infection. In an totally unrelated fact to your heavily astounding scientific work the scientist’s name who would be sure to acclaim most of the fame was Morgan, doctorate. He was the one who came up with the cure. You’re not sure who was more excited, him or the head of the hospital, Dr. Kurschner. “We have to go now.” You say. “But what about our stuff?” “I’m sure they’ll keep it safe. We have to leave soon.” you take one last sweet look at the nurse you have worked so closely with and spared her no expense at all. She looks back at you, flashing an array of emotions that included contentment, but also joy. It would appear that she was developing an attachment to you. An attachment that you never wanted. Nevertheless it was heartwarming to have at least landed in the right pot with one of your fine colleagues. “Well, I guess I’ll say goodbye to some of the patients then.” -you say, picking one at random to make conversation with. “Hey, doc. How’s it going?” the man responds, as you snap at him to shut up and look away. You wait for him to be out of earshot before continuing. “Right then, let’s go!” as you went to the door of the elevator with the two bags of medicine that were saved for you, a man with a walkie talkie approaches. “The doc’s here.” he says into it. “We’re coming out with medicine. Lots of it.” you smile and take one last look at the two that were left behind to finish up the hospital. They would do fine without you. The ride to the surface was a nice one. It gave you time to sort out your thoughts and come up with a plan. As all plans would have it, this one came with an structure to the logic that was already there before it. You would stick to it no matter what was the case. This one other scientist recognized the grin you had as you reached the surface of the hospital, and was already on his way down to greet you. “The first batch of subjects is ready for you.” he says. “Already? That was quick. Did you make sure to get a good mix of males and females?” you reply, trying to conceal the surprise that you would have so many subjects ready so quickly. “Yes, yes, we did. All so according to plan, you formulated quickly. There would be two groups of twenty in total, one that would be quarantined immediately to stop the spread of the infection. The other group you would have it, seemed less superior in mental capacities, on the whole it seemed as it figured. Still, it would be enough to work with. “Ah, excellent.” you say aloud, having realized that this was the scientist that you had first seen when you woke up. “You’re the one who found the vaccine correct?” -In your closet, as a matter of fact, he says. You look at him confused at first, wondering why he would have your vaccine, until he held up a syringe for you to see. That’s when the memories came rushing back. Oh so many memories, you wanted to shiver at what was in store for you now. You would be a harbringer. forever more a harbringer. But then, didn’t all infected become harbenders? You disconcerted with the idea of him STEALING your mixture in your advances to the cure. but then, who was you to say he hadn’t found it first and just decided to help himself? “Thanks, but how do I know that its effectiveness is the same as the one I made?” you say, somewhat cautiously. He gives a smile that seems to say he knew you would accept it. Your curiosity was peaked. A drop of yellow fluid comes out of the syringe, and he swabs the end of it with a cotton ball before putting the syringe back in his pocket. “We made sure to get the right batch of vaccine, this the only place on the hospital that has the equipment to test it for purity.” he says, casually. You say “you wont get away with this, swindlery” “So, gentlemen, I think it’s time to introduce you to the new you!” He says, turning to face the large pane of glass that separated him from the two quarantined patients. Or well, former you, to be exact. Before the infection. You watch as he pulls up the white jacket that was previously draped over him, to reveal a blood-stained white lab coat, with a strange object hanging from his belt. The object looks like a lollypop with a flat edge, with two long, thin metal arms acting as the stick and short, roughly twice the length metal blades at each end. Was this a sign or indication that he too, was a harbringer? “As I said gentlemen, the first batch of the vaccine worked! As proof, these two here are now completely human. no infection whatsoever.” You say “brilliance.” “You seem pleased?” he says, somewhat surprised. You say “Ultimately it comes as a greater beneficial effort than ever could I show displeasure about some of the work on it, the vaccination, being halfway mine.” He seems to relax at this, and puts away the object. “You’re more than welcome to use any of the labs at your disposal to do your own research, it isn’t going to be necessary anymore!”

you end it with “but one thing I’ve got to ask you first is, are you involved in being a harbringer?” He laughs, a very annoying laugh. “You don’t say. I swear, it takes all kinds. But no, I am not.” as I set in motion some of the ground involving stuff to the laboratories to track down my next steps. Next steps into a brighter future for all of mankind.