Another short story by Josef.K. This is something he wrote for a "No Longer Than 300 Words Science Fiction" competition. Since the previous story was way too long, this will be a much easier read for those that are interested.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Written by: Josef.K
Title: How This Ends

There were parties that night, but I elected to spend it alone, drinking and snorting the last of my priceless heroin on a wooded bluff overlooking the sea, capturing what quiet I could on my own terms and determined to meet the last day sober.

I woke, caked in vomit and pain as the sun arose, and trickled down to the beach, relishing the cool salt breeze on my chapped face. As I plunged my face into the water, I heard a tinny wail of joy, and turned in mute disbelief. A child raced down the beach, trailed by her mother. As public opinion had slid into open hatred of those who knowingly reproduced, births had become unheard of.

I swam in a wash of emotions: raw fury at manifest selfishness, an aching nameless joy, a thousand other twinges of head and heart. In the last decade, when it was clear that nothing could divert the comet’s path, the final gasps of propaganda’s engine had repeated this final message: Don’t Make It Worse.

I rose, fists balled, but my shout of indignant protest died on my lips. The earth trembled, a passing shock wave under foot. The impact was hours ago, in the steppes of Asia; the wall of fire and pressure had made it’s solemn journey around the world to us.

The girl was swept into her mother’s arms. They looked serenely at me, twin eyes of sea green. For a moment, I bordered epiphany. Guilt washed in behind the tide of anger. Then it was gone, and I was empty at last.

“I love you,” whispered the mother, holding the child close.

I sighed, and the air grew dim and thick with the onrush of steam. My vision clouded, and I turned to the sea, one final time.


Right smack in the middle of mid-year exams. This blog has been dead for god knows how long. Anyway, i was reading this short story and find it very interesting. So i have decided to put it here, for those that still frequent this blog to read.
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Written by: Josef K.
Title: Zero

Istanbul, Turkey
August
09:12:09 AM

I am at a small outdoor cafe just a few hundred yards from the teeming throng of a morning market, just in sight of the Bosporus. I love this city, and all its thick and violent contradictions. The rising heat of the day is already causing the linen of my suit to cling to my legs.

I awoke last night with a change of heart; you are owed an explanation, and even a warning. If I do as I have planned, I and my actions will be vilified, and misunderstood. Please believe me, I am doing this for all the right reasons. You may not see it now, but in ten or twenty years, you will see a new world born. That is worth any sacrifice.

I have done my work here in Turkey, the first of many great cities to see, and I board a plane tomorrow. Don’t bother looking for me here.


Samarkand, Uzbekistan
September
05:04:20 AM

I am in one of the oldest settlements of mankind, and her majesty overwhelms me, just as her descent saddens me. Once the jewel of Alexander’s conquest, and the capital of Tamarlane’s empire, she has fallen into disrepair and goes fallow with neglect. I must confess knowing this already, but forgive my sense of romanticism; I did want to see this place, once.

I have no work to do here; once the junction of trade lanes between East and West, Samarkand has become isolated and useless to me. But the ghosts of her history and past bring me strength and resolve. The case that I carry with me is heavy in my hand, it is my burden, but with each stop, that burden lessens.

I have allowed myself this one folly, leaving the web for a moment, but I will not linger long.


Munich, Germany
September
08:05:18 AM

The city still sleeps late into the morning on Saturday, and in many places the streets are still empty. There is a grand majesty of Munich’s remaining prewar buildings, and I remarked on its beauty to my local driver. “It was a lot nicer before the British bombed us,” he said without a hint of irony. He was at least two generations removed from the war, and did not seem, or want, to understand when I told him that London had the same problem.

Most of humanity is horrified by the specter of the war, of what happened here. They wonder how man could be so inhumane. These people know nothing of the world, or of nature, red in tooth and claw. These are the people that artificially elevate humanity above the animal kingdom, people that maintain an ephemeral barrier between our particular primate sub-grouping, and the rest of life on Earth. I never understood these people.

I deposited one more device downtown, in a massive state-of-the-art theater complex. I hid it carefully, and set the little slaved atomic clock to my own. My flight departs in a few hours, and if you are following me, you will have no luck in Germany.


London, England
October
05:09:19 AM

London shows her war wounds with flat gray office towers, and plain, blocky apartments, yet her age and history bleed through the scars as I stroll down the Thames, scarcely aware of the brackish odor of the oily waters. The trash and detritus in the river don’t sadden me, the way I imagine it would for you.

You draw some artificial line between a hamburger wrapper and the fallen leaves of a tree that I will never understand. You distinguish between nature and humanity in a way that puzzles me. We are nature, our cities, our roads, and our orbital satellites are no different than a termite colony, or a birds nest, except perhaps in scale. There is nothing unique about humanity. I know that I am all but alone in this conceit, but history and nature herself will prove me right.

The devices I planted here are in the Underground; silently waiting for the day to come when I will activate them, and they will open their ceramic filters and gently release their payload into the air. I burned the last decade of my life like a candle to forge the perfect weapon, hardened against the air, hearty and undeniably alive, burning with the will to survive.

I have chosen the stations because the first letters of each station spell my name. Consider it an artist’s signature. I wouldn’t tell you this if I wasn’t sure this would be useless information, and I doubt you have even uncovered who I am.

As always, I will be gone before you arrive.


Chicago, Illinois
November
02:15:03 PM

Chicago is the hub of a great wheel of airline traffic; along its thousand intersecting lines, millions of passengers will pass through, robbing the stale airport air of oxygen and expunging carbon dioxide. Even these sterile, atmosphere-regulated glass and steel tunnels, I still see nature, green and red with life.

I need to make a distinction. I know that what I am doing seems to be wrong, evil. However, I also understand that morality is an artificial device we used to guide tribal behavior, a useful conceit in creating harmony and growth in small populations. But there is no real weight to good and evil. Nature is beyond that. There is nothing evil about the wasp that implants her young into a living caterpillar. Our concepts of ethics are as fragile as our bodies, and just as impermanent.

A few devices in the ventilation systems will infect millions. You can search for them if you want, but there is a great deal of redundancy in my plan. You can grind yourself to the bone attempting to undo my work, but in the end, you will fail. If you are wise, you will cease pursuit and begin to prepare for the inevitable struggle ahead.


Tokyo, Japan
November
09:18:05 PM

Tokyo must be a hell to those who see nature as only forests or mountains or clean ocean waters. To me, it is a wonder of that natural world. The lights and madness of Roppongi are just as wondrous and alive as the synchronized flashing of fireflies. This is nature, and if you will allow me a moment of species-self congratulation, this is nature at its finest and most wonderful. But nature has no apex. It will only grow and learn and become more beautiful. It brings tears to my eyes.

I was asleep for so many decades, laboring in a lab for a pharmaceutical giant. (Which one is not important. It will not help you find me, especially not this late.) I wish I could tell you that there was some epiphany, some concrete lesson I could share with you to make you understand why I have chose this path for us all. The truth is sadly mundane: the influx of money from a chain of discoveries gave me the time to think, and become aware of the world and its systems, slowly and gradually. The money also gave me the resources to act once I was determined.

The world regulates itself. People ascribe some sort of special malevolence to the acts of man, unaware that we are not the first species to war, to commit genocide. Foolish. This is not unique to man. Many other species before us outstripped their habitats, and sowed the seeds of their own destruction. They simply are no longer among us to act as a warning. Evolutionary strategies either work, forever sustainable, or they do not, and the species die. This is the only rule in nature. Live for the future, or be buried in the past.

It should be clear now, to all of us, that despite our species’ meteoric growth, we have not opted for the former strategy, and it is only a matter of time before we collapse.

I will not stand for that. I am as much a part of nature as anything else, and so are my weapons. I will be the regulator. We will adapt, or die. But be brave: no matter the outcome, the world will be bettered. And I sincerely hope you will be there to see it, so that you can know that I was right.

The devices here are spread randomly, one is buried in a planter box that struck my eye as I walked the streets, another beneath the table of bustling cafe. You must know now that finding them will be impossible. Please, for your own sake, the time for pursuit and prevention is long passed. It’s time to prepare.


San Francisco, California
December
00:00:00 AM

I never imagined that I would remain uninfected, despite my precautions after so much exposure; I had elongated the viruses dormancy for just this reason, to buy myself a little more time. I have not finished my web yet, as I had originally envisioned it, but my infection models show I have done more than enough. I will rest a little now, and I will try not to regret my part in this. Not my actions of course, but my inability to see the fruits of my labor.

Humanity would have died without me. We’ve grown soft, slow, no longer a viable organism. We would have slowly, subtly altered the environment until the world itself was toxic to us, and then we would have vanished with a whimper. Those who think that Man has the ability to destroy the world labor under the same strange anthropocentrism as those who think we are somehow divorced from the rest of the kingdom of life. We could no more end the world than we could create it. We only can kill ourselves, and take a few million unstable species down with us. Is this how you want to end? Slowly poisoned or drowned by our inability to see the long term?

This is not the way, and I will not allow it.

Humanity, I am giving you a great gift, though I know you will never see it as such. I am giving you competition. You will work together, you will merge your resources and be reforged and tempered in the fires of struggle and crisis, together. Or you will die. You will blossom into something new, or you will fertilize the fields of the next competitor for space and resources. But you will change. It’s inevitable now, and it brings me pride and joy even as the lining of my lungs slough free and I drown in infected blood.

I have left you something. One last breadcrumb, woven into these letters. It may be the key to your salvation. If you find it, it will set you onto the path to the cure. You understand that I can not just hand it to you, that would defeat my whole purpose. Believe me when I say that I want you to live, but I must be strong not to undermine the grand struggle that will shape you for centuries to come.

It’s over now. If you still wish to seek me, you are only wasting your precious little time, anything that could help you, I have already sent. The rest, I have burned and erased. The triggers on the devices will release soon. Very soon.

But, if for some foolish reason, you want to see the meat and bones and fluids I will leave behind, you will know where to find me. I will be Patient Zero.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Note: For those that manage to stay with this story to the end, there is a message encoded in the timestamps.


Happy chinese new year everyone! Hopefully most of us are enjoying this short holiday. Anyway, thx to the people that tried to help keep the blog alive by tagging every now and then. Special thanks to the spammer, btw, you can always leave ur name.

I'm not sure if anyone of us is still checking in regularly on this blog but still, i will try to update the homework when i can.

English, we have the reflective writing on " 3 ppl i admire most ".

A n E Maths, we have the revision worksheets aka presents.

History, summarise the sources in 1 sentence.

A gentle reminder (sounds familiar rite?) for the upcoming geog test on 28/1.

Thats about all i can remember for the time being, if any1 has anything else to add, feel free to log in and edit.


right.
we had our class bbq a few hours ago.
and these are some photos i took.





you can grab whichever photo you want
at
http://picasaweb.google.com/karthikeyan.rajah/ECPClassBBQ17Nov08

oh yea.
Karthik here btw.


Ok, i know EOY exams is coming and all, but since some1 stated that if we want chalet during EOY holidays, we have to book now, that is, if we want good location. So, to those that STILL visits this blog now, GOOD JOB and ur REWARD is to VOTE for WHERE to have our EOY chalet!

Please put ur dream location for chalet as tag.

And a finishing note, GOOD LUCK TO 3/3 FOR EOY EXAMS.


Posted by, raymond.


Yoz~!

sry la..but im juz gonna post the cheers stuff >.<
must all be super loud n high tmr~! :DD

ldrs : 1, 2, 3, 4
ppl : Ha!
ldrs : My Name Is..
ppl : Huh?
ldrs : M.N.I
ppl : What?
ldrs : M.N.I
all : C.S.S
ldrs : Ha!
ldrs : M.N.I
ppl : What?
ldrs : M.N.I
ppl : excuse me?
ldrs : M.N.I
all : COMMONWEALTH! (shout)
(singing)secondary sch...
to you, we pledge our total loyalty
neither colour, nor creed shall affect
(slow down) the total unity we pledge to you......

ldrs : YEAH~!

all : belmen, (clapx4), shengzhe, (clapx4), shawntay, (clapx4), yangqin, (clapx4)
all : 2, 4(clap), 6, 8(clap)
all : (clap according to beat)
who do we appreciate
north, south, east, west
commonwealth, is the best
ldrs : who do u wanna be huh?
ppl : commonwealthian warriors
ldrs : how far
ppl : all the way
ldrs : halfway
ppl : no way
ldrs : any sweat
ppl : no sweat
all : GOOOOOOOOO.......
COMMONWEALTH!~

lotsoflove,
Sin Joo(:




It has been a great day and i think my group geog presentation was weird!!! I said the river was like shit due to deforestation. OMG!!! Anyway, Hw for today...

-Finish up your HIST WB PG 50 last call by tomorrow

-Amath and Emath TYS questions

-El compre and Summary : Clementi Town

-$17 dollars to Andy: $2 for class fund , $5 for PTN , $10 for year book

-Geog CT make-up NEXT Tues AVA 2

-2 world war pics by tomorrow

-Exp Chinese ppl test on Mon + complete lian xi san by wed


THATS All folks
Mojojojoel Signing off
Have a blessed day!!!!


Hi, guess i'll be updating HW, but sorry for updating rather late...
Today's hw
- NO chinese Test for express chinese.. YAY
-Physics 31-39 WB
-SS pg 67 and Hist 50, if you havent finish
-EL compre questions

PHYSICS HW due this fri, so hurry do ar...

AND PHYSICS TEST NEXT FRI... SOB!!!!
-Kinematics , forces , Mass+weight+density


15 dollars by fri as well=$5 for ptn+$10 for yr bk

Edit post if i missed out anything.

Mojojojoel Teng
SIGNING OFF


HW-
-Chem ws 3 on volume
-Physic wb 30-39 if havent finish
-El ws compre questions
-Hist wB pg 50
-SS wB pg 67
-Express Chinese Test on thurs Chpt 16-18



Thats all folks!
Mojojojoel signing off


Hi(:

English : finish the compo
English : compre-entertainment in ancient egypt(no summary)
EMath : trigo,tys [pg102 q6] [pg101 q4] [pg105 q6] [pg24 q5] [pg101 qn1]
AMath : coordinate geometry notes
AMath : coordinate geometry; TYS [pg44q15] [pg44q14] [pg44q13] [pg43q7] [pg42q4]
Geo : presentation next tues
Geo : CT next mondae, chpt 8,9,10
Physics : wb pg 30-39
Chem : QA ws 3
History : wb pg 50.q1
SS : wb pg 67 by next mondae
Math NSW : bring calculator,pencil,eraser,maths set... on 22/07 for most, 28/07 for choir ppl going suzhou
***pay $2 to andy, for those who have nt done so...
***report to com lab 1 in uniform next mondae at 730am for individual photo taking

since both shaun n me going suzhou, can someone help to update hw next week? thanks...

lotsoflove,
Sin Joo:D


Ellos~

English : finish the compo by tmr
EMath : trigo,tys [pg102 q6] [pg101 q4] [pg105 q6] [pg24 q5] [pg101 qn1]
Geo : presentation next tues
Geo : CT next mondae, chpt 8,9,10
Physics : wb pg 25qbi,26,27,28
Chem : QA ws 3 ?
History : wb pg 50.q1
SS : wb pg 67 by next mondae
SS : wb pg 71 de SBQ, by tmr
Math NSW : bring calculator,pencil,eraser,maths set... on 22/07 for most, 28/07 for choir ppl going suzhou
***pay $2 to andy, for those who have nt done so...

signing off,
Sin Joo(:
F.T.L.Y.


Yoz~!

English : finish the compo by tmr
EMath : obtuse angles assignment by tmr!
AMath : coordinate geometry notes
Geo : natural vegetation ws by thurs
Geo : presentation next tues
Physics : wb pg 25qbi,26,27,28
Chem : QA ws 3 ?
History : wb pg 50.q1
Math NSW : bring calculator,pencil,eraser,maths set... on 22/07 for most, 28/07 for choir ppl going suzhou
**pay $2 to andy, for those who have nt done so...

shl be dats all le ba..
btw,shaun, shld be hist pg50, nt ss..i think
n ya, u post is lik.proper english..n mine is lik... =.="
well, hope u guys wont mind..
(guys=boys n gals) >.<

lotsoflove,
SinJoo(:
F.T.L.Y.rawks


I apologise for my LATENESS!
I'm freaking late.
Cos i slept till now. -.-
HOMEWORK!
English : Please finish up the English Composition
Geography : Deadline for the Natural Vegetation has been changed to this Thursday
Emaths : People who still owe Miss Lin the Worksheets!
Social Studies : Page 50 Question 1 Do on foolscap.
Physics : Workbook and TYS >.<
Sorry, can't remember what it is ler.

I think that's all,
anyway, for this..
There won't be much people checking it as it is SO LATE!
I got to go!

SIGNINGOFF
SHAUN!36
OILFACTORY!


HOMEWORK OF THE DAY!
OKAY, here goes:
EMaths : Miss Lin's Trigonometry notes, Try!
Physics : Brought forward, TYS, page (2)5 Question 1a
Physics : Always bring WB/TYS/Protracter/Calculator
Geography : Natural Vegetation Worksheet by Next Friday!
Administration : There are still people who havent pay Andy $2!
Geography : CT Topics : Chapgter 8, 9, 10
Chemistry : 2 Worksheets on CSI Agent Topic, Forget what liao.
Chinese(Miss Ong's Class) : Please do finish Lian Xi 1 and 2

I think that's all,
And i think Sin Joo's been doing very well with the homework update, compared to mine.
Ah nevermind. Screw it.


I don't know what's both of your problem.
I suggest some soul-searching.
And i'm sorry to people out there who had to tolerate my RANTS!!


SIGNINGOFF
SHAUN!36
LEI"MMM"GOUAHHH!!


Hi (:

English : verb ws&hols hw by next wk
Math : bring NSW next monday
EMath : trigo notes
AMath : try coordinate geometry notes
Physics : tys (2)5 qn 1a
Physics : always bring wb/tys/protracter/calculator etc...
Geo : natural vegetation ws by next friday
SS : wb pg 66
*Admin : pay $2 to andy! for class fund
AMath CT : E-coordinate geometry, A-modulus + any topic(log,surds n indices??), on 14/7
Geo CT : chpt 8,9,10, on 21/7
Math : NSW on 22/7

dats all ba..jiayous for official openin later~!

lotsoflove,
Sin Joo:D
lalalas


Yoz~!

shaun told mi to update, n i forgot...suddenly remembered-.-"
lols la..

English : verb ws
Math : bring NSW next monday
EMath : trigo notes
AMath : try coordinate geometry notes
Physics : tys (2)5 qn 1a
Geo : natural vegetation ws by next friday
SS : wb pg 66
*Admin : pay $2 to andy by this wk! for class fund
AMath CT : E-coordinate geometry, A-modulus + any topic, on 14/7
Geo CT : chpt 8,9,10, on 21/7
Math : NSW on 22/7

lotsoflove,
Sin Joo :D
PURPLE!


Well,
I apologise for updating so late again. -.-
Here's the homework (although i not sure whether i missed anything out or not):
EMaths : TYS questions.
MT (Miss Ong's Class) : Please do the new workbook, First practice.

Okay, that's all i know.
And yah,
Today's assembly talk was interesting.

SIGNING OFF
SHAUN!36
OHMYGAWDDDDDD!-.-


LOLS!
I'm back.
And i know i'm very late today.
But there is not much homework today.
Only one, according to YangQin.
Only got Maths TYS questions.
Okay i got to go now, sorry yah. x)

SIGNINGOFF
SHAUN!36
LALALA!


Yoz~!

EL : hols hw by tues
EMath : coordinate geometry, tys plus given qns
AMath : modulus a1, a2
Math : math story soft & hard copy, send email to ms chua, folder as ppt.
Math : try the nsw competition pack
Hist : wb pg 45 to 49
SS : wb pg 71 by next tues, do in foolscap
Geo : wb pg 97-100 by thurs
Physics : wb pg 9-19
Admin : pay $2 to andy by next fri

can someone help to update hw next wk? can take turns ma..hor?hahas

lotsoflove,
Sin Joo(:


Hi (:

EL : hols hw by this wk
EMath : coordinate geometry notes, assignment by tmr
AMath : modulus a1, a2
E/AMath : math story soft & hard copy by friday, send email to ms chua, folder as ppt.
Hist : wb pg 45 to 49
SS : wb pg 71 by next tues, do in foolscap
Geo : wb pg 89 to 93
Physics : bring tys
CDP : pg 45
Admin : bring thermometer
Admin : youth day appeal donations by tmr

lotsoflove,
Sin Joo :D