The Second Adam

Prologue: Gale Herald, 2066

Gale Herald lay sprawled like the dead on the floor of a glass bubble that barnacled off the corner of the Herald building in lower Manhattan, high above the obscene noise and traffic. Soothing music from many speakers cascaded around the circular space like water. He was breathing deeply, rhythmically, practicing the meditation his wellness coach taught him when he felt his phone vibrate against his leg for the third time. Reluctantly he opened his eyes and sat up.

His greenhouse bubble was verdant. Blooming orchids and citrus trees hung with fruit made the office feel more like a jungle than a workspace. Grape vines draped with globes of purple fruit snaked around wires strung along the side walls, and a thick potted bougainvillea roped itself up to the top of the bubble and spread like an umbrella, shadowing his desk from the sun, sprinkling it daily with showy fuchsia blooms. He would simply push them off his computer into the compost bin next to his recycling basket.

He stood up from the foam mat on the floor of his private aerie suspended above 7th Ave, padded off the glass floor, away from the part that suspended over the Manhattan Skyline, and onto the cushioned tiles at the back of the room. Outside, the evening sun slid from behind a cloud, hit the solar panels, and the waterfall began tinkling into the black-walled pond against the far wall. Walking over, he sprinkled some dried crickets onto the surface of the water and a flurry of activity erupted below the smooth surface as his beautiful koi danced around in the dappled water, gobbling up the treat. "They need me again," he told the fish and as if on cue his phone rang again. He watched them for a moment longer, then pulled the device out of his pocket and answered.

"Hey Lars."

"Gale, I'm so glad you answered." Lars said in a breathless rush.

"Did I have a choice?" Gale asked, but he said it kindly. His meditation had served him well.

"I've found another one for you," Lars said. "This makes one hundred and eleven. We're almost done!"

Gale pictured Lars' tall frame and charming smile. His child-like excitement for his job never failed to endear him to Gale, and he felt fatherly towards him, as he imagined he would feel towards a soon. Well, maybe not a son, for no one could replace Henry, but maybe an nephew. He was the closest thing to family Gale had now. He loved Lars.

"That's good news," Gale said. "How far have you gotten towards closing the deal?"

"The kid who found her in the DNA database died of the flu before we could pay him, but otherwise it's a done deal. She agreed to the contract. Papers are signed. I think she goes to the Nursery next month."

"Wow, your guys are really on the ball. You don't even need me anymore." Gale chuckled. All the stress and anxiety from the day drained from him. He loved to hear his plan, the design he'd spent his life working towards, was making forward progress.

"Gale," Lars' voice turned serious. "Don't joke. You are the brain. We need you every day."

"Alright Lars, I know. Relax. I'm not going anywhere. Tell me about this last one. What's her name?" Gale listened while Lars told him the scientific details of his latest find. An adult female who carried the exact genetic material that had helped her, and her predecessors, survive every plague yet known to mankind. Her family must have survived black death, cholera, measles, mumps, leprosy, tuberculosis, typhus, smallpox, cholera, AIDs, AIDsX, AIDsY, , influenza, malaria, yellow fever, Ebola, Zika, avian flu, all the Corona viruses, and the latest two, the wasting disease called SIN, (which wasn't caused by God's wrath, as the New Right Way insisted, but because the spongiform prions that caused idiopathic necrosis had become airborne) and that virulent flu whose name they had just shortened to PBI. Over 6 million dead. And the one they were calling The Crazies. Gale preferred not to think of that new sickness, although it was certainly doing its share of the work in furthering his plan.