Map of the Problematic

Map of the Problematic is a speculative fiction/medical thriller set in 2259. In it, a deadly pandemic emerges after the population is told to take infected medications.
==Characters==
Aidan Fenech
assistant (name revealed later)
Lorence Pakard
==Text==
The year is 2259. While world poverty hasn’t ceased to exist, it has receded, along with much of the corruption present in numerous political systems throughout the earth’s surface. Most illnesses have been eliminated as well. Northern Africa has experienced rapid development for two centuries, due to the Sahara’s role in greatly expanding the sustainability of solar energy.
In Northern Africa exists the Capital of Libya, Tripoli; one of a number of flourishing cities in the area. In this city resides the Mediterranean branch of the world’s flagship medical corporation, Pandora, leading the medical community in medicinal research, pharmacy, pharmacology, and healthcare. Aidan Fenech is a respected physician within Pandora’s branch in Tripoli, one reason being that bioengineering is one of the medical disciplines he specializes in.
It is August 17. As Aidan’s assistant, I am required to inform him of anything of importance, particularly what is issued by the World Health Organization. Today is one of those days, so I enter his quarters, saying, “Mr. Fenech, the WHO has warned of a new epidemic emerging in western China.” “Is there an identification of the illness?” he asked. “Unsure as of yet, but it’s expected to spread to the transport hubs of the east and, from there, the world.”
The peoples of Earth are being advised to take a variety of medications to protect from the unidentified virus. It intrigues me how dangerous mixing pharmaceuticals used to be, until Pandora spearheaded the movement of organic medicine extracted from natural products. We must hope for the best in the days to come. Fortunately, the WHO has just recently conducted regular inspection of our pharmaceuticals, and all of our products were declared safe.
To our dismay, Aidan and I see worse news than ever expected arise on the morning of the 18th. The WHO is reporting that the epidemic is steadily turning pandemic. Hospitals worldwide are overcrowding as thousands are becoming infected. Fenech is already underway at examining a sample from Beijing, saying “The virus appears to be genetically engineered to travel through various parts of the body, sabotaging it piece by piece. This is the box of plagues Pandora’s been waiting to open.” I corrected that “to be accurate to the myth, it was in fact a jar, Pithos.” He found the name appropriate, and submitted it to the WHO shortly.” This night, the UN agency accepts PITHOS as the acronym for the virus’ official name: Programmed InfecTious Human Organ Sickness.
As increasing numbers of schools and transport hubs abroad are shutting down on the 19th, Fenech looks further into the demography and geographic distribution of PITHOS. He points out that “Europe and North America are the most severely affected continents.” I seems unusual, and asked, "Wouldn’t those contain the most people likely to be informed of the virus?”. He said, “They would, and another thing to consider is how Europeans and North Americans should also have the best access to pharmaceuticals. Not one remedy appears to have helped anyone.”
On the 20th, Fenech and I head to the train station at an early time to take the Mediterranean Undersea Railroad to attend a UN summit in Geneva, Switzerland. Looking at the list of departures, we find out that almost every one has been cancelled. Strangely, one of the only departures that aren’t is set for Xining Railway Station, located in western China. Aidan said that “something’s not right.” I said to save it for the summit.
I take the time on the train to rest. I doze away before I start to dream. I see a familiar person in it, someone I know I haven’t seen in a while. In addition, I can hear my own voice calling my name, but for whatever reason, the experience almost sounds right.
Fenech gets a phone call after arriving in Geneva. After finishing, he says “Pandora’s Indian branch has found several pharmaceuticals to contain PITHOS. Their inspection records are currently being reviewed.” We find ourselves in a rush to get to the summit. Once there, we see police cars surrounding the headquarters on all sides. Cops are carrying out what looks to be the Head of the WHO, Lorence Pakard. On the way out, he shouts “Go ahead, take me away! My job is already done!” Upon looking at him, I sense my voice trying to communicate with me again. An officer told me that “Lorence Pakard is facing charges for a crime against humanity. He is suspected to have introduced PITHOS into our medications, and encouraging the consumption of them afterwards.”
With the summit called off, Fenech and I are returning to Libya to seek treatments for PITHOS. On the 21st, back in Tripoli, we work to treat someone whose brain has been victimized by it. On the behavior of the illness, Aidan reveals that “PITHOS can morph to adapt to different environments of the body. It can choose which part to anchor itself into, but fortunately, once PITHOS kills every living cell around it, the virus itself disintegrates.” “After it’s taken its course, it should be possible to synthesize new cells to replace what was lost, correct?” He answered, “For the most part, but for the brain to be treated, we would still have to turn to computing machinery to be installed.”
The operation was somewhat a success. Much of the patient’s cerebrum has been substituted by a partial robotic brain. Fenech explains “English has been programmed into the mechanic brain to recover possible loss of parts where communication is attributed to. Other memory, however, is largely irreplaceable.” I said “It’s a saddening reality. All of one’s memories and experiences shape who that person is.”
I get a call on the morning of the 22nd, saying “Lorence Pakard has been found guilty in the International Criminal Court, and is sentenced to the ICC detention centre in The Hague, Netherlands. He has requested that you visit him there.” I have never been as worried as I am now, on the train to Holland. The most important decision I’ve made in my life is going to have to face judgment.
Later in the day, I make it to The Hague and clear through the security of the detention centre. A window is all that sits between me and Lorence. He speaks, “You could have stayed with me, my son.” “Stay with you? Look where you’ve ended up now!” “It didn’t have to be like this, Dimitri. If you were there to help suppress the pharmaceutical inspection records, things would have turned out differently.” “What was the point of it all? What did you have to gain from this?” “With a severe illness present, the world’s population could have been under our control. Wouldn’t you have liked to have humanity at your will?” “What you fail to realize is that you almost had that power already, when you spread fear of the supposed disease from China.” “Perhaps it wasn’t necessary that I developed PITHOS. Fear was the only tool I needed, and I underestimated its usefulness.”
The conversation carried on. I told him that “PITHOS will eventually wane away. Your objective will never be able to impact the future for long.” “If only you didn’t follow what you heard was calling you...” “I don’t regret the path I took, father. Maybe if you had listened to your voice…”