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 SYNOPSIS
The Lebensborn Virus,
a novel from J. Carlton Ross, is a tale
set in the not so distant future, where chances are, anything can, and
will happen. Where lessons that go unlearned surely repeat; a long held
truism, too long ignored.
Satirically
and metaphorically rooted in the present, The
Lebensborn Virus, plays out through the experiences of a young
man, Billy
Washburn, a ward of the bureaucratic Justice System, and his
quest for meaning in his life.
From
the death of his parents when he is orphaned into the care of a IED
Boy’s Town to when the story opens, Billy finds himself relegated to a
mundane existence, segregated from society serving a term of
‘Home Confinement’; forced to work for a corrupt bureaucrat, Solomon
Augustus Wormer, as a private computer hacker.
With
time on his hands, Billy has learned how to hack into any existing data
base for his supervisor’s ulterior motives. His hope is to one day
gain his freedom, and the opportunity to reintegrate into the larger
society. That hope; however distant and futile it may seem, is the sole
motivation of Billy’s daily affairs.
While
Billy’s expertise with the inner workings of computers he hopes to
trade for his freedom is without question bordering on genius, it also
is a valuable commodity within the subterranean world of red tape and
regulations underlying government service, where power is the ability to
control perception and unfortunately, as such, works as much against
those very prospects.
Facing
many forces, not the least of which is his relationship with Sol, having
to depend on his good-will; one day, out of frustration, Billy escapes
his life of confinement upon meeting a strange and compelling, old
Outlaw, Reggie
Gleason. Reggie proves to not only be Billy’s avenue of escape,
but also, shows him in real terms, a new direction for his life to take.
Further
complicating matters is Billy’s own impulsive nature. Curious, naïve
and stubborn, Billy stumbles upon an antique computer which he employs
to procure a new lifestyle for himself and Reggie’s family of
Homeless People; successors to the role of gypsies set against the
structured society they inhabit the fringes of. Unknown to Billy, his
procurement activities bring him to the attention of the
authorities—namely, Solomon
Augustus Wormer; but, not for his apparent illegal activities.
Along with the antique computer, Billy also discovers a set of
discs he eventually hacks into, discovering in the process, the identity
of the infamous INTERFUSOR; a computer
terrorist who mysteriously disappeared after wreaking havoc on modern
society with his many disrupter viruses. Including, the use of a Nuclear Electro-Magnetic Pulse Device he employed to fuse the
components of every computer in existence throwing civilization into a
technological catastrophe until a chance discovery destined to change
the direction of technology forever.
‘PEPTICON’,
a genetically synthesized re-combination of human protein and silicon,
possesses one drawback conversely an attribute toward its future
potential. Strangely, Pepticon contains the spark of life which
scientists have not been able to explain or replicate. While lending
itself to many astounding applications; especially in computer
technology, robotics and genetics based on its protein/silicon atomic
structure, it holds the promise as well as danger of changing human life
as we know it.
Compounding the situation, Billy learns of the INTERFUSOR’s
scheme to manipulate the DNA in pepticon through a process of his own
whereby he planned to upload the persona of Hitler onto the circuits of the worlds most advanced
artificially intelligent
Androclone-computer robots in
order to gain control of the world’s economy bringing about the
installation of his dreamed of, ‘Holy
Empire’.
Billy is naïve enough to think he can use the method to upload
the DNA of an altruistic persona instead, therein saving the world from
perceived destruction. Little does Billy suspect, Sol harbors plans of
his own; envisioning himself as the future ruler of the
NEW IMPERIUM and is desperately seeking the discs, so as, he can
implement the INTERFUSER’s
scheme with himself at the helm. Sol is a dangerously ambitious, highly
capable man convinced it is his destiny to rule the world.
Philosophically opposite to Billy’s newfound mentor Reggie, who
believes the world impelled by ‘CHANCE’; both men are driven by their distinct and conflicting
definition and application of ‘WILL’; leaving Billy to form his own
opinion.
Innocently thrust into the middle of Sol’s insidious plan,
while Billy is away, the Family suffers dearly by his ruthless hand
when, under pretext, the Compound is burned to the ground massacring the
family while the love of Billy’s new life, Anisia,
is taken hostage. On Billy’s return, he finds Reggie alone amid the
devastation, left to deliver Sol’s ominous ultimatum: “Return the discs and DNA
specimen, or never see your beloved Anisia alive again!”.
Working late into the night on his computer, Billy hatches a
secret plan enabling him to gain Anisia’s release and subsequent
flight to Tahiti along with Reggie, while he in turn, becomes Sol’s
captive. Held in Sol’s bunker, Billy fears for his life and, the
prospect of never seeing his beloved Anisia again. Further, Billy
watches as Sol’s minions carry out his plan—a conspiracy involving
members entrenched in every facet of world society in a CYBER-WAR through which
the induction of the professors lebensborn virus onto the computer
systems of the world renders the world utterly defenseless against the
onslaught of Sol’s Imperium
Party takeover.
By chance, Billy escapes Sol’s clutches in a short but sweet
battle with Sol’s security men; uploads a mysterious virus of his
own and hijacks a jet to Tahiti to join Anisia and Reggie. Meanwhile,
Reggie is at wits end dealing with a distraught and hysterical Anisia;
that is, until the old-fashion telephone rings. The next Reggie finds,
he is in route to a fabulous mansion overlooking the ocean to meet with
Billy. This incredulous scenario incites Reggie’s paranoia. Suspecting
a trap or, worse yet, fearing Billy might have sold out to Sol, his
emotion is only held at bay by an overwhelming curiosity and faith in
Billy’s character.
Nevertheless, upon meeting, Reggie confronts Billy. Taken aback
by Reggie’s insinuation, Billy is compelled to explain.
When working on his scheme to upload an altruistic persona onto
the CRAY-EQUINOX I computer; Billy explains, he had been aided by a
young boy, who by chance happened to be an idiot-savant; his genius,
mathematical calculation. Exploiting this attribute, Billy was able to
crack the codes allowing access into the
INTERFUSER’s discs. While hard at work one day on the codes with
an uncooperative Jimmy, Billy made a chance observation concerning Jimmy
possessing a character of unique ‘WILL’,
unfettered by ego. You could not compel Jimmy against his Will.
With that in mind, when trying to formulate a plan of rescue
while, at the same time, stopping Sol’s insane plot, it occurs to
Billy to take a chance by mixing the DNA of another idiot-savant in with
the specimen containing Hitler’s DNA. Billy then
delivers this concoction to Sol. His hope is, the idiot-savant persona
will eventually emerge and supplant the
Hitler persona due to an intrinsic and, therefore, stronger willed
affinity with the logic and math inherent in computer technology. As a
back-up to his precarious plan, Billy employs a logic bomb as incentive
to animate the idiot-savant persona.
Sitting in beach chairs with the ocean lapping at their feet,
Reggie and Anisia witness via Satellite News Network the results of
Billy’s efforts when the
Cray-Wormer System is disrupted culminating in the collapse of the
NEW IMPERIUM as Sol and his cohorts are arrested by citizen groups
thereby restoring the world to democracy.
Concluding his explanation to the flabbergasted Anisia and Reggie
his plan was inspired by Reggie‘s philosophy of ‘CHANCE’,
Billy verbalizes it in an old, familiar idiom: “Chances are, where there’s a
Will----there’s a way!”.
Top
The
Lebensborn Virus is a full book Novel in e-book format. It is only
$9.00US You may purchase The Lebensborn Virus by following the links at
the bottom of this page.
© 1995
John Sanchez All Rights Reserved
J. Carlton Ross
Publications
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