Difference between revisions of "The Hate"

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Malik’s fronds are almost completely dead; he bleeds from a major gunshot wound, and the APC throws its passengers around while trying to escape the city. The medication scatters everywhere, and Jade is unable to get Malik his dose. Malik completely regresses, and lashes out at Jade, choking her. Trevor shoots his father in the chest, then his eye, killing the completely regressed Malik.
 
Malik’s fronds are almost completely dead; he bleeds from a major gunshot wound, and the APC throws its passengers around while trying to escape the city. The medication scatters everywhere, and Jade is unable to get Malik his dose. Malik completely regresses, and lashes out at Jade, choking her. Trevor shoots his father in the chest, then his eye, killing the completely regressed Malik.
  
Jade and Trevor are evacuated to Puerto Rico, where it is determined that Trevor’s blood contains a permanent cure for the V. Invadens amoeba, with 100% recovery and no possibility of re-infection. Jade feels hope that the Enlightened will be able to recover their dominance, and resume their quest to spread The Love.
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Jade and Trevor are evacuated to Puerto Rico, where it is determined that Trevor’s blood contains a permanent cure for the V. Invadens amoeba, with 100% recovery and no possibility of re-infection. Dr. Wilhemina indicates Trevor, as well as 5% of naturally-born Enlightened under the age of six, have a compound in their blood that can be utilized to innoculate the Enlightened from ''V. Invadens.'' Jade gains confidence that the Enlightened will be able to recover their dominance and resume their quest to spread The Love.
  
 
==Characters==
 
==Characters==

Revision as of 17:28, 29 July 2020

The Hate
Burn-The-Ashes-PB.jpg
Title The Hate
Anthology Burn The Ashes
Published 2020
Length 17 pages
ScottSigler.com Library link

The Hate is the second story in the V. Invadens storyline that runs through the books of the Dystopia Triptych. It was published in 2020 in the anthology Burn The Ashes.

Summary

The Unenlightened and the regressed Primitives work together to fight off The Enlightened. The Enlightened no longer have such a strong presence in the population, but still remain a majority. The Enlightened are losing ground to V. Invadens, but a new hope for the Enlightened is discovered that may turn the tide once again in the favor of The Love.

Setting

Six years after the events of The Love, the primitives have fought back, reducing the Enlightened’s subjugation from 95% to barely over 50%. All four spacecraft were destroyed, and efforts are underway to replace them. The Primitives, riding the wave of V. Invadens, have seen a surge in The Hate, the term the Enlightened use for when The Love has been killed by V. invadens, and the oppressed personalities of the humans attack other Enlightened. The primitives have invaded Washington, D.C. The V. Invadens amoeba has gone airborne, and has infected approximately 86% of the Enlightened. There is no known cure, but a medication can suppress the progression of the V. Invadens, prolonging the life of the fronds and their connection to the brain.

Plot

Malik, Jade and Trevor, their son, are hiding in the house of a former Enlightened who succumbed to V. Invadens and killed themselves while still in control. Malik has called for extraction, but there is a primitive in the house they are using for refuge. Malik goes to clear out the house, but is shot while killing the primitive.

Trevor and Jade take their medication to protect themselves from The Hate. Jade takes her last remaining pill, while Trevor still has six or seven left. They all rush outside to meet with the inbound Armored Personnel Carrier. On the street, then encounter an armed primitive. Shots are exchanged without damage, until an Enlightened sniper takes out the primitive. The APC rolls up, and Malik, Jade and Trevor get in. Trevor immediately senses that Malik needs his medicing. Jade demands Trevor’s pills, and opens the bottle to find far too many pills inside. Trevor has not been taking his medication because he knows he does not need it, and knows Malik and Jade need it more.

Malik’s fronds are almost completely dead; he bleeds from a major gunshot wound, and the APC throws its passengers around while trying to escape the city. The medication scatters everywhere, and Jade is unable to get Malik his dose. Malik completely regresses, and lashes out at Jade, choking her. Trevor shoots his father in the chest, then his eye, killing the completely regressed Malik.

Jade and Trevor are evacuated to Puerto Rico, where it is determined that Trevor’s blood contains a permanent cure for the V. Invadens amoeba, with 100% recovery and no possibility of re-infection. Dr. Wilhemina indicates Trevor, as well as 5% of naturally-born Enlightened under the age of six, have a compound in their blood that can be utilized to innoculate the Enlightened from V. Invadens. Jade gains confidence that the Enlightened will be able to recover their dominance and resume their quest to spread The Love.

Characters

  • Jade, an Enlightened fugitive in Primitive-dominant Washington, D.C.
  • Malik, an Enlightened fugitive
  • Trevor, Jade and Malik’s infant son. A natural-born Enlightened fugitive.
  • Thompson, an Enlightened soldier, helping with the extract of Malik and his family from D.C.
  • Dr. Wilhemina, an Enlightened doctor who helps identify, test and distribute the cure for V. Invadens extracted from Trevor's blood.

The Viruses

The Love

The Love refers to the virulent pathogen that traveled to Earth from the sixth planet in the chain of infected worlds. Infection with The Love manifests physiologically in a number of ways:

  • Different colored fronds grow from the temples of human heads. The different colors represent different strains that categorize The Enlightened into working groups suited to their innate talents.
  • Emotions are suppressed and viewed with suspicion, as regression or counter-infection typically manifests first with emotion
  • The ability to sense when other Enlightened are nearby

V. Invadens

V. Invadens refers to the weaponized amoeba viridiraptor invadens. V. Invadens was developed by The Unenlightened to combat the The Love physiologically. V. Invadens attacks the bridge cells that connect the brain to the temple fronds, effectively severing the groupmind connection and regressing The Enlightened to the state of a Primitive, which typically manifests with anger and fury from having been oppressed by The Love.

Short Stories by Scott Sigler

A Glow in the Dark • Another Mother • Bag Man • The Case of the Haunted Safeway • The Case of the President of Hell • Chuckles Mulrooney, Attorney for the Damned • Complex God • Dale & Mabel • Dangerous Prey • Dead Man's Switch • Dear Diary • The Fifth Day of Deer Camp • Fifth Girl • The Final Blow • A Glow in the Dark • The Great Snipe Hunt • The Hate • Hero • The Hippo • The Hippo II • Iowa Typhoon • Introduction to "Plants and Animals" • Kissyman & Screamin' Jesse Dupre • Kissyman and the Succubus •  Kissyman & The Last Song •  Lady and the Wolf • The Last Child • The Laundry Demon • Little Murder Machine • The Love • Mister Double-M • Nosferatu, Brutus? • Number One With A Bullet • Passenger • Pink Torpedo • Plants and Animals • Public Domain • Puppet Master • Red Man  • Reunion • Sacred Cow • The Sadness & Joy • The Seventh Day of Deer Camp • The Sixth Day of Deer Camp • Simple Silas • Splashing Contest • The Third Guy • Those Gaddam Cookies • Throwdown • Vacation • Victim with a Capital V • The Wolf