Chapter Text
T - 15 minutes
The intern was tasked with locking up the building, well, learning how to.
The supervising researcher held out a set of keys and handed them to the intern, indicating which was the correct key and what direction to hold it to insert it into the padlock. The intern inserted the key into the lock and then turned to the right, not the left.
“No, that's the unlocking direction. You turn it to the left,” the supervising researcher corrected, shaking her head. She mimicked turning it the correct way as she spoke.
The intern let out a soft ‘oh’ and turned the key the correct way, the mechanism sliding into place with a click. The intern turned the key to the resting position and pulled it out. They then gave the ring of keys back.
Outside the facility, the intern was given the ring of keys again and locked the main doors. The other doors were auto-locked and required a badge or a passcode, so no need to check on them. The system hadn't failed on them yet, the annual check on the systems was tomorrow, so nothing should go wrong.
This time, the intern turned the key to the left, and the mechanism clicked happily. The intern sighed, withdrew the keys after turning back to the initial position, and returned the ring of keys to the supervising researcher. They both left.
T - 5 minutes
Rats found their way inside. The auto-lock system had malfunctioned, opening the doors like a supermarket's automatic sliding doors, instead of requiring verification on a badge reader or a key pad.
All of the doors with the security system failed, like it was a network error or malfunction. The security cameras didn't follow the rats’ movements, and all of the doors opened for them.
The laboratory was better than the outside, for the rats, despite the heating being off. Only three samples were out, but they were in sealed petri dishes and light boxes to see how the bacteria reacted to Clorox and UV-A, two had just one and one had both. The rats got to the petri dishes, trying and scratching to get to the agar used to grow the bacteria. They got it open with their little rodent teeth and ate it.
T = 0
The rats were dead, extra eyes, teeth, tails, whiskers, and claws formed in weird places. Not the ticks on them, those were still happily sucking away, and also finding new hosts in the lab mice. They weren't mutated. Yet.
ticks weren't immune, but they took a day or so to mutate and die.
T + 7 hours
The researchers called Hazmat. Hazmat took care of the mutated rats and mice. The ticks though…
No one thought to check for ticks. They’d be dead, if luck and chance were on their side.
T + 4 weeks
WHO and IFRC call an international emergency. Humans are dropping dead within a day of coming into contact with the bioweapon.
It spreads like the plague, and soon millions are dead, especially in cities, the United States of America, college dorms, barracks, and other close quarter living situations. Only those in space and those temporarily at the Antarctic are safe. For now.
Why did a cult form? This is supposedly a way of showing that Earth is no longer needed, and that they should ascend into the Reichen’s Holy Kingdom Above.
The cult was always there, just waiting for the right time to shine.
And their time is now.