Description
(This story was inspired by the events surrounding COVID-19.) TWO LIVES. TWO WORLDS. ONE COLLISION COURSE. At the dawn of the twenty-second century, society is divided into two groups. The Synths a.k.a. the "Angels": lifelike androids implanted with human consciousness; beautiful, rational and benevolent. The Skins: ordinary humans who, either by choice or by necessity, don't have artificial bodies. In this different yet all too familiar world, human connection is rapidly diminishing. The invasion of a mysterious new virus will change everything and everyone. **** Archer "Archie" Anteros Cortez is a Synth living a comfortable and boring life in a condominium tower. Typically devoid of emotion, he tries his hand at keeping a physical journal. With every entry he pens and every experience he records, including his fling with a Synth debugger and his interactions with a young Skin girl who seeks sanctuary in his condo unit, Archie finds his consciousness widening. Archie's perfect little world and the entire world beyond it are about to be turned upside-down. A deadly and highly contagious virus called "Ape Seed" has risen from its icy grave in the permafrost. On Skins, it causes psychosis and a violent death. On Synths, the effects are rarer but also documented: irrational behavior linked to the vestigial emotion of agape. To contain the pandemic, lockdowns and quarantines are imposed in nations across the world. In the Philippines, the Greater Intramuros Area reactivates the flood walls, effectively locking out most of the Skins.
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