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By now, you've heard some of the world's finest epidemiologists and virologists weigh in on the origin of the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. It's practically old news by now; the world has largely moved on. There's an almost universal consensus that the virus is zoonotic - transmitted from animals to humans - and that bats have been implicated in the original spread. This is perfectly sensible - bats are a coronavirus fan favorite, and feature heavily in the markets where the virus is thought to have originated. It's not a biological weapon, they say, after careful analysis and with reliance on years of expertise. It jumped from bats to humans in Wuhan, they insist, perhaps with another animal as the intermediary. At this point, does it even matter? It's the distant past, and we have ways to deal with this now-familiar virus. But it matters. More than anyone knows – because it's all wrong. SARS-CoV-2 didn't even originate in China. The primary research occurred in Canada, of all places - Winnipeg.
I should know. I created it.
It wasn't until quite far into development that I was forced to finalize the virus in China. The risks surrounding my work were considered too great in Canada, and security changes at that location made continuing impossible.
China was ideal for the endgame anyway - densely populated within an authoritarian, repressive regime. Wuhan was the perfect place for the release, with a BSL-4 lab just a stone's throw from a wet market - a melting pot of people and animals associated with other outbreaks. The nearby lab would undoubtedly attract conspiracy theories, putting the Chinese government into propaganda mode even more than would normally be expected. A perfect smokescreen. Even in the event of symptomatic expressions, I knew China could be counted on to deny its existence as long as possible. This would give the virus time to silently spread throughout the region and globe, setting up an apocalyptic scenario.
You're probably a bit confused right now. As much as COVID-19 has ravaged the globe, the mortality rate has been estimated anywhere from .5% to 6% - a terrible number, to be sure, but not the herald of the end times. Many people were completely asymptomatic, you're thinking. We got through it - herd immunity, vaccinations, antibodies, right? Not much of a bioweapon if it only killed the elderly and infirm.
Entirely incorrect.
The truth is far darker than anyone in the scientific community will realize for many years to come. In actuality, you shouldn't have even heard of SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19. It was only an unexpectedly large number of early mutations that caused symptoms to appear at all; that mortality was supposed to be nearly 0 – at least, initially. On this large a scale, some fatalities are expected. But virtually all of the infected are intended to be silent carriers, blissfully unaware of the demon lurking deep within. SARS-CoV-2 was never intended to be a moderately destructive respiratory virus.
It's a time bomb.
You've seen some examples already, although not many - mysterious organ inflammation far beyond anything expected of a flu-like infection. Toxic shock syndrome. Those symptoms aren't supposed to appear until much later. This is a failing on my part, and one I've paid for... dearly. My masters have ensured that.
You see, SARS-CoV-2 is a multiphase delivery system. It gains entry into the body through specific receptors in mouth and nasal tissue. From there it burrows more deeply - using the body's first-response proteins, interferons, to rapidly stimulate additional passages into deeper areas. It drills down, silently assaulting every organ one by one. Then, it replicates... quietly, lulling your immune system to sleep. And when enough cycles have completed, the shell breaks. The second phase. Phase 2 makes MERS look like the common cold; it's actually a refined version of MERS I worked on for years. The failing of MERS was never in its mortality rates; its R0 was simply too low to be worrisome.
But I encased this modified, deadlier MERS into a silent, highly transmissible wrapper. That's SARS-CoV-2. The coronavirus as you know it is just a delivery system. Phase 2 is the payload, and it will hit this world unlike any infection in history. The earth's greatest plagues will pale in comparison. The fever alone will be unimaginable, like being cooked alive from the inside. I suspect the delirium will actually be of some comfort. I fully expect the mortality rate to be 100 percent. There will be no curve; the 'curve' will be a line, straight up. Millions will express symptoms each hour; healthcare systems will collapse almost immediately. Governments will fall in days. Only those who engineered the pandemic will survive, and they'll be sure to eliminate those rare individuals with some sort of natural immunity. There's always a few. It won't be you, though.
This message, should it get out, is not intended to serve as a warning. That would imply there's an action that could be taken to halt this cataclysm.
There isn't. It's too late for that.
Everyone is infected. You had mild symptoms? Barely noticeable? Perhaps you think you never caught it at all. You did, whether you realize it or not. It's inside you, and that is all that matters.
You were supposed to have no symptoms. Those millions of deaths were unfortunate glitches - a tiny percentage that didn't work exactly as intended. The billions that did work are silent, and now hidden far beyond the reach of testing capabilities. You did not escape.
This message isn't a warning. It's too late for warnings. It's more of a suggestion.
Tell your family you love them. Let the day-to-day worries fade away, because they don't matter. Enjoy the time you have left... as much as you possibly can.
Because it will come for you. When they decide - those in power - phase 2 will begin.
And there is nothing anyone can do to stop it.
S.Z.