Demonworld Read Free

Hero?” said the tour guide. “I don’t know if I’d go that far.”
     
    That night, Wodi lay awake and thought about the obvious analogy of the bovine plant and the vats: The people of Haven also spent time in amniotic vats. And not in some metaphorical sense, either, in which a person’s job or school or neighborhood or family or social circle acted as his protection against a harsh and uncaring world; no, the people of Haven quite literally spent several of their first few months growing in warm, protective glass wombs within the halls of the Makers of Mothers, which was a very old branch of the Department of Science. If they did not, then they ran the risk of contracting a fatal disease commonly called Pharaoh’s Curse.
     
    Some children were planned and conceived artificially, the sperm and egg handled entirely by the Makers of Mothers. Some were conceived naturally, then removed from their mothers and given time with the Makers during those first few critical months. Some children were born straight from the vats. Some children were transported back into their mothers so that they could have a “natural” birth, which was fairly common among religious types.
     
    Pharaoh’s Curse had nearly destroyed the first few generations of Haven. Only Haven’s early scientific pioneers were able to save the people. Only the unnatural had saved them.
     
    Wodi thought it was strange that the people were used to the idea of growing up in vats themselves, but were quick to feel horror at the sight of the bovine plant in its own warm, comfortable vat.
     
    * * *
     
    At the age of seventeen, young Wodi took part in what was called an “act of nerd terrorism,” and would have achieved great notoriety in his homeland if not for the common sense, and fear of shame, of the local representatives.
     
    The Baiame Wiradjuri Festival, held every year in the underground tunnels of the northern laborers section, was a chaotic mix of market fair, religious celebration, costume parade, public “feats of strength” competition, science and invention exhibit, and outsider art fair with a special emphasis on artists suffering from dementia caused by the advanced stages of Neural Carbon Accretion, a dreadful neurological disease. Its attendees were usually laborers from the north, west and even the far south end of the island. Because of the garish nature of the festival, and the class of those who attended it, the festival was usually ridiculed by any outsider that bothered to notice it.
     
    So one day Wodi made a poster advertising a fictional scientist showcasing a newly-created airborne strain of SKAD-V, a sexually transmitted, fatal disease usually referred to as the “Skav virus” among laborers. The poster even showcased a doctored photo of Wodi, with a lab coat and fake beard, as he accepted a prize from some suited official, for his alleged role in the previous year’s festival. “Last year I was able to infect over a dozen individuals with the airborne Skav virus!” the poster advertised. “This year, with your help, we’ll try to infect more!” The poster concluded with the comically ominous statement, “Come and see the exhibit next to the air intake chute which leads to an air conditioning plant which will unknowingly take part in my ‘widespread dispersal’ experiment.”
     
    Quite proud of his poster, Wodi made a few copies, then posted them alongside other garish advertisements for exhibits and stalls and events at the festival. On his walk home, Wodi was again struck by inspiration, ran the rest of the way home, then made a new poster which protested the fictional event in his previous poster. He styled the new poster to read like one of the sensationalist news tabloids so popular in his neighborhood. Beside a picture of a randomly selected politician he printed in bold typeface, “KILLER MAD SCIENCE ON THE LOOSE!” and “SCIENCE RUN AMOK - LETS GET HIM.”
     
    He returned to the wide,