Oh very nice... I can understand his state of mind and actions.

Thank you very much, femm! I'm glad my intention carried across... there was a limit as to how much detail I could put in without spoiling future chapters of 'Tremble'.

I understand.

Entirely justified I'd say.

Bunners

Yeah, I'm inclined to think so too, although there's going to be a whole mountain of collateral damage.

If any of us actually had this kind of agency, what path would we choose?

Thanks for reading, Bunners!

Wow. Two pages and so much is rushing through my head now. This review may word-count higher than the submission.

I'm strongly reminded of the movie "Twelve monkeys", and that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned. My own world-view aligns quite strongly with your nameless wolf. I'd say this world and your fictional one both deserve to have the apex predator toppled.

And yet...

With the pandemic looming so very large, my knee-jerk reaction is very much the opposite. On a daily basis I see massive displays of willful ignorance or outright stupidity and I think to myself, "Why can't it just kill the idiots?" Surely many of the elderly and infirm can be categorized as 'undeserving of such a fate.' Who has the right to endanger everyone around them in so reckless a fashion?

I'm honestly torn by this scene. Ten months ago I wouldn't have been.

I'm not sure what that says about me. But I do know it means you have created something potent once again. With only 26 letters artfully arranged you have set my gray matter alight.

Thank you.

I had second, and third, and yet more thoughts about posting this, and for exactly the reasons you set out. Louise was dubious as well.

What can I say? Parts of it are absolutely real (the first mass extinction driven by a single species that the earth has ever experienced), while parts are fantasy. Perhaps mingling the two in one story was insensitive at this time, but why wait? Covid's here for a while, I suspect; would there ever be a good time to post this? I will say that the spookily familiar elements of SAL (the airbourne virus, the global pandemic, the masks, the 6-foot separation distance) were right there in 'Automatic', which I wrote well before the actual pandemic reared its head.

As ever Wire, thank you so much for the feedback. I had wanted to write a villain with relatable motivations, and by the feedback so far it looks like I've managed that at least.

(ps I haven't seen 12 Monkeys, but I will rectify that now.)

it means you are normal...

I can't take it further than that because then you breach into a philosophical area that is best left undisturbed for peace's sake...

V.

wow... there is so much there in two pages, and I think Wirewolf covered things quite well...

where you have 'idealists' you will always run the risk of self-destruction for the cause... in the beginning of COVID, with all the rumors flying, one was of infected agents simply traveling about to more quickly spread the virus...

I liked what one scientist said concerning man destroying the planet - "The world does not care if we live or die. It will keep right on ticking along even after we are gone."

Then there is my theory of the dinosaurs; they simply stopped having babies. A virus that kills causes panic, but can be fought. One that sterilizes without pain and death is not so noticed until it's too late. In a single generation you are then gone.

V.

Oh... SAL was a "bioligical weapon"....
A weapon to save the Planet.....
i Always say >>>The earth would be betterplace, if people had keener senses<<<
Humes are so dangerous to their enviroment because of their dull senses.......
Ear and nose blind...... blind in low lights........ They don´t sense the evil, they set free...
The most dangerous are Blind in mind because of inconsiderate greed ......
I Like this short Story.....
I would like it happens in real.
i´m rambling...

Ah, but they are interesting rambles! 'A biological weapon to save the planet...' - that's actually a pretty good way of thinking about it.
As you've probably noticed by now, I like to imagine worlds in which humans aren't the only sentient species.
Thank you for reading, and for the feedback!

Ah, what a story to bring out the villainous tendencies in me. While reading I kept thinking "Crush it! Crush the vial!"

I'd probably struggle a bit more to decide, in real life. The fantasy of instilling humanity with an ethical and moral awakening (and with anthro forms to boot) is personally wonderful, and a major focus of what I like to write about, but I also know it'd be transforming a lot of people against their will, and would spark a host of (sometimes deadly) societal issues.

And yet, regardless of all that, I think I'd crush the vial anyway. I don't know what that says about me.

It's been interesting to read the different reactions to this short little story! I think is all depends on ones outlook for humanity and for the planet in general. The white wolf understands full well that what he's doing will have drastic, even deadly consequences; however, he's reached the conclusion that mankind is irredeemable without some kind of extreme intervention.

I don't know if I'd crush that vial either, as tempting as it might be. I guess I generally default to an optimistic outlook for the world, however much the evidence stacks up to the contrary.