Unexpected Consequences, by Tess Wenderski

October 31st, 2020

Seven years.

It all started seven years ago.

 If only they had listened, all of this could have been prevented. The death, if only it had stopped there. But no, my creation had to change, had to mutate. Why, oh why, did I have to make it? Why couldn’t I have stopped?

 I’m writing this journal today, on the seventh anniversary of the day everything changed. I’ll try not to ramble, but after so long without human contact, my sanity has begun to fray. Please know, please understand, this isn’t what was supposed to happen. This creation was supposed to help, not lead to all of this. Please forgive me.

 My day was pretty much standard, but I was excited to go to work. I was almost finished with my newest creation: Satiation. If would be the first of its kind, a food supplement that would lead to complete fullness and had all vitamins needed for a day. It wouldn’t deplete the world’s resources and, with fewer farms, more land could be devoted to green energy.

 “Hey, Tallie! How’s it going?” my lab assistant, Peter, greeted me. “Almost done with your new project?” He had been busy with his wife, who was expecting their first child. She was sick and he had needed time off.

 “Yes, I just need to find the right combination of antibodies. How’s Shirley?”

 “Oh, she’s…doing better.” Peter’s face fell. “I’m not sure though.”

 “I’m sure she’ll be fine. Hey, after Satiation is FDA-approved, Shirley can have a free supply.”

 Peter smiled and went back to his paperwork.

 Two months later, the first commercial appeared. Bright colors, happy music, an optimistic outlook on the future of the world. An end to world hunger, cheaper, more affordable food, more opportunities to improve our well-being.

 Five months after that: the first hospital visit. I was called at 1:16 in the morning, being asked to come to Winston General. When I arrived, the doctors told me that a patient had been admitted showing similar symptoms as several others worldwide. They suggested it might be a dietary change. The looks they gave, the suspicion and mistrust, I knew what their diet had changed to. Satiation.

 Over the course of the next several months, I worked to fix my creation. People were dying. Burning pain throughout their body, brittle bones, suffocation. I had tried to stop production, but the demand was too high. I was just about to start the centrifuge, when Peter came in. “Tallie, some men are here to see you.”

Behind him stood five or six large men in military uniforms. An older gentleman was in front. He addressed me, saying, “Talbot Isabelle Genesis, we have been informed that you are modifying Satiation. This has been prohibited. Your current research is to be stopped immediately.”

 “You don’t understand, people are dying. I can’t stand by and watch…”

 “This information is inaccurate. You have been sabotaging your research because your agreed upon profit percentage is too low. Peter Judas is here to vouch for this.”

 Stunned, I stared at Peter.

 “Tallie, Shirley needs your supplement. The baby…” Peter’s protests faded away.

 Numb, I watched the soldiers grab my files, vials, and the past nine years of my life and walk away.

 With a large pension and broken dreams, I stayed in my house, watching the world descend. Satiation was in high demand. Even with the high risks, people were buying more and more. Looking back, now, I realize that there was a highly addictive substance. People could literally not get enough. To stay even vaguely functioning, increased amounts were required.

 Even scarier, the bodies of those who died still craved Satiation. They crawled out of the hospitals, the homes, up off the street to find it. The junkies, who had only surrendered their future, not their lives, watched blankly, often following the corpses to the source. Children, babies, adults, they all sought it out.

 And, now, I watch the mass of bodies swarm slowly. They are heading towards the sunset. The sunset that will rise on the same day forever.