Fabienne Gschwind - The Fallen Heroine

The list was long, and in retrospect I remembered that she had mentioned flame grenades and fire flares. At least two things I remembered. Because fire could be used to attract repros and the fire flare could be used as a distraction. But Tartelette was already speaking on:

"Oh, boy, here's your new contract."

I grabbed the sheet of paper and almost had a cardiac arrest when I saw the monthly sum and the hazard pay. That was equal three whole year's salary of my parents!

No more counting money at the supermarket, I thought happily.

"After the problem with the elite unit and the terrorist threat with their combat repros, the King President wanted to show that a great deal of funding was being pumped into building a ReS special forces system," Tartelette grinned, and went on to explain that we would also be getting our own decacopter and a small spidercopter. Gabin hooted and clapped his hands. I, too, was delighted - this flying machine would make us superheroes in no time.

I took the contract and went to read it.

"Oh don't read it, just sign it," Gabin said, showing me his contract, which he had signed in a scrawl.

No sooner said than done. I signed it. And deliberately paid no attention to the anti-termination clause that threatened us with the death penalty if we took desertion.

The anti-termination law was a standard clause and said that the employee was not allowed to resign. At the very most, he could report to the job placement center to change jobs. The same applied to the employer.

Suddenly Emily, who was studying her contract, exclaimed angrily:

"Tamara did you see that clause, the one with the Lex Ferrum?"

Thibault also looked at it, "Oh yes, that's the new economic program! It's supposed to boost the flagging buying power, with tax cuts and all that. I think it sounds good, I think it means we don't have to pay tax on our wages anymore. It's positive."

"Positive? If the king president proclaims the Lex Ferrum, we all become serfs. So that's what it says."

Emily seemed rather uncertain but Thibault insisted it was just a legal quibble.

I myself only knew the old "Lex Ferrum" - the iron law - had been a push by the nobles to reintroduce feudalism and serfdom. I had read that from my history books.

But it had nothing to do with today's economic program. In fact, in recent years, this miracle economic program has been advertised over and over again. I remembered my brother who had given a lecture on it at school. At that time I had to hold out as a spectator for his general preparation. And really, if all this was true, what the politicians brewed there, then it would be really good for the economy.

We landed in the middle of Bordeaux at the Meriadeck shopping center, where the Bordeaux unit had its headquarters. The city was completely in chaos. It had started early this morning, at a vineyard near the city limits. The winemaker had been found mangled. An employee had been reprogrammed and had to be shot by special police. The ReS unit detected repro odor, but did not detect a suspicious repro animal. Unfortunately, the headline 'Vintner mauled and a repro shot' had been played up to 'Vintner family completely wiped out by repros' within an hour.'

People had started an evacuation on their own, because the primal fear of wild animals, coupled with the new fear of repros, ran deep. Everyone knew someone who knew someone else who had an incident with a zombie animal. Most died a gruesome death, either mauled or walking as a repro themselves. So you couldn't blame the population.

Most people were well organized for it and many feared a nuclear strike. Therefore, they would travel out of town to acquaintances or friends as quickly as possible. Many owned a small second home or a snug vacation home in the backcountry that was set up for just such an eventuality.

With the local ReS unit, we visited the winery. It was not a real chateau, but a hall with modern production facilities for the world-famous Bordeaux wine.

We found nothing. The trained sniffer dogs of the Bordeaux ReS were also in action, but the trail got lost in the vineyards.

Perplexed, we returned in the early afternoon and visited the beautiful old town, which was eerily deserted. At the cathedral, we sat down in a bistro whose owners had stormed out head over heels. Emily looked around the kitchen and whipped up a few snacks. I noted in passing that we were on shows throughout. But that had to be boring for the viewers.

Then back to work, but on a bench by the Gironde River. Tartelette was running her famous simulation and we were additionally evaluating the video and multimedia that had been recorded in the area around the winery. Emily found what she was looking for and showed the images of a strange animal.

"What is that critter?" inquired Gabin. I reviewed the subject knowledge I had taught myself for the animal keeper entrance exam. After all, I wanted to make a good impression on the audience.

"An ocelot," I then said confidently. Except for Tartelette, who nodded knowingly, I received only astonished looks. I explained to them that extinct animal species had been bred from genes as part of the species conservation program.

Tartelette nodded at my explanation and then pulled out a small, old-fashioned pad of paper on which she kept jotting things down.

"Organize zoology class."

It was no further problem to track down the keeper. After all, anyone who wanted a pet needed a license and had to pass regular knowledge tests. When we arrived at the old woman's neat residence, it was clear that this ocelot was our repro, because the smell was all over the stairwell. The woman's body lay mangled on the floor.

Still, we were stuck again and didn't know where to go from there. Now CSPAR - Centre Scientifique Pour Animaux Reprogrammé - i.e. the ReS research department was added.

CSPAR was one of the leading repro institutes in Europe. It was only in the last 15 years that serious research was done on reprogramming disease. Because after the trireligious wars and the apocalypse, it had taken a long time for the infrastructure to stand again. And even longer until the people were trained again. The repro researchers are still in the dark. There is only agreement that the retroviruses that initiate gene programming are actually not retroviruses, but a completely new species.

Perhaps I need to take opportunity here to describe this repro problem from the beginning: Its origins were in the early 21st century. Shortly after the first trireligion war around 2033. Finally the breakthrough to the ultimate gene therapies had been achieved. Retroviruses could be used to cure genetic diseases such as cancer, autoimmune diseases, or other damage such as defective vision or allergies by reprogramming the defective genes correctly. The therapy was in great demand and no one wanted to wait the usual ten to twenty years of medical research. So G-Rep therapy - gene reprogramming - was introduced early. But if a therapy can cure a sick body, it can also strengthen a healthy body.

Logically, this knowledge was immediately abused in the next war, and during the Second Trireligion War, genetically reprogrammed super soldiers faced each other for the first time in history. But it did not stop at soldiers. In the meantime, it was possible to reprogram the brain structure itself. Thereby one produced will-less super soldiers who attacked everyone and everything. Logically such a thing is not to be used. But brainless, super aggressive rats, pigeons or dogs could be abused as merciless fighting machines.

At the end of the Second Trireligion War, humanity was faced with these reprogrammed, degenerated animals. Their breeders had to understand that they had messed up: The animals did not distinguish friend from foe. And in a panicked retreat, the specimens were taken out of circulation before the damage became too great. These degenerate beasts were also the reason why the second trireligion war came to an end. Everyone had their hands full trying to protect themselves from the beasts. Finally, in 2075, the death of the last reprogrammed specimen was officially declared and all retroviruses had been destroyed. At least one hoped, but of course they were still produced in illegal laboratories. The advantage was too great.