Malice

By Yang Liu

Malice concerns a man and the recovery from anhedonia in the near future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yang Liu
• Release date: Jul 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215206973

Yang Liu

No gods. No masters.

Book preview

Malice

Yang Liu

Malice

By Yang Liu

Copyright 2023 Yang Liu

Smashwords Edition

Canada Day

For our brilliant fallen comrade said the short Korean man with square features in military fatigues.

For Kim Jong Un. Said the muscle-bound soldier who was approximately six foot two and two hundred and twenty pounds.

The soldier saluted and dived into the sea from a fleet of bioships. The ship was like giant isopods with fans at the bottom of the latter half of the abdomen to propel the ship into motion and limbs at the front for work requiring dexterity. In terms of self defence, the only weapon was burying itself into the sand or use its claws to severely damage the other ship.

The soldier was bioengineered to swim underwater without surfacing to breath. He could breathe underwater through his skin. His muscles were enhanced to generate more thrust per pound than the muscles of a regular human being. For the sake of stealth, the soldier swam breaststroke at the bottom of the ocean floor near the coast. The sun was shining brightly in the sky like a giant ball of hot glowing iron; rays of light pierced the warm ocean water into the bottom of the sea floor where various fish and wildlife were illuminated in the darkness of the ocean.

The fish and wildlife of the oceans all treated this lone soldier as if it was a citizen of the sea. The fish neither avoided or fled when the soldier teared through the water. Seals would swim beside the soldier as he glided across the sea floor. For someone at such peace with himself, nobody could predict the ensuring chaos to come. To the average bystander, this man must of just being a professional swimmer going for a swim to cool off in the middle of summer or an ultramarathoner. Nobody would expect this soldier had sinister plans for the people of Canada.

Nobody would expect an attack on Canadian soil as China was not interested in war between the West. The two cultures homogenized a long time ago into one. It was not East meets West; it was East melded together into the West. At the time of the apex of bioengineering, chinese leaders strived for a multipolar world where America’s leadership would be contested by Russia and China. These people in the east simply did not agree with American leadership or the culture exports of Hollywood movies.

Rather petty to be arguing whether your kids should be pursuing what they want in life rather than what is determined by the judgement of society; people who cut hair can go own to make millions by owning their own franchises. Like some people want to become a professional athlete. Yes, it is true few people make it; there are also so many career choices concerning sports, one could go on to become a special forces soldier when the life lessons from failures all adds up to a more experienced, robust, and resilient person. After that, one could start their own band of mercenaries. One must move through one door before another door can open for them. It may take years, but things usually work out for the best in the end.

The soldier swam beneath ocean without a trail of bubbles surfacing like a scuba diver. With one stroke, he could cover the distance of a bus. Where he was going, only he knew. The only thing for sure was his sinister plan. The soldier swam and swam. He was completely naked in the ocean. The pressure from the acceleration from each stroke felt like the pressure of being born again. With no after life in mind, this soldier was headed for a suicide mission. His muscles were pumped up to the max like a body builder and his skin was a sickly green. Like a human frog in saltwater, his time in the ocean was unnatural and limited.

Out of nowhere, a pod of orcas started swimming besides him. The man felt no loneliness from being deep underwater. He felt no fear. The only thing on his mind was to avenge his fallen comrade: Kim Jong Un. The orcas started swimming slowly besides him. There were calves in the pod. The soldier took no notice of them. He kept on swimming. He swam faster and faster until he could cover two buses in one stroke. Soon he outpaced the orcas, leaving them behind.

The soldier saw a crab swimming on the bottom of the sea floor. He dived deeper into the ocean. He approached the crab from behind and grabbed it by the hind legs. It was an Alaskan King crab; enough meat to last him through the night. He ripped off the legs from the crabs and sucked the meat out of the shell. He left the body of the crab on the sea floor. He delved into the flesh of the legs with each time he sucked a shell, he would get ample amounts of meat. The legs were enough to keep him full for the night.

The soldier made it to shore of an island in the remote wilderness. Like a cave man in the wild, he sook for refuge under the trees in the boreal forests. He had a hard day of swimming and soon, he was fast asleep. He had a dreamless sleep. He did not dream of his wife or his children for he had none. He slept soundly through the night knowing his orders were to massacre thousands of people on Canada Day.

*

He woke with first light. The soldier relieved himself and the crab he ate last night had digested well. Soon he was back in the water swimming breast strokes on the sea floor. The sun had not fully risen; the sea floor was still rather dark. Nonetheless, he swam and kept swam with a zeal and fanaticism along found in the most devout of religious followers. He had one goal in mind. That was to avenge his fallen comrade: Kim Jong Un.

How he knew the Canadians were responsible for Kim Jong Un’s death was a mystery. The airship Lucas piloted had stealth technologies preventing detection. The North Koreans most likely had some sort of help from technologically advanced nations. The help they received was most likely illegal; under the government’s radar.

The soldier swam and swam with no end in sight. He swam as if it was his last days on planet Earth. Given how he wore no cloth nor carried any gear; perhaps the mission he was executing was a suicide mission. He was to avenge his fallen comrade. Kim Jong Un’s unexpected death had caused quite a stir amongst the international community. Gone was a nation producing weapons of mass destruction. For the first time in a long time, the Korean peninsula was finally reunited.

The North Korean technologies were robust and durable. They combined their key points with technologies from the South. Soon Korea was a hyperpower. Knowing all roads leads to forgiveness: in the end, all sins were forgiven. Even those done under the reign of Kim Jong Un. Sooner or later, the current generation will be gone; the next generation will take over.

The sun had just risen in the sky. The rays of light from the edge of the sun illuminated the bottom of the pristine, untouched sea bed. The soldier was swimming in an uninhabited area. Save for the occasional bears on the shore and sea gulls lining the sky, there was not much other than the pine tress making up the boreal forests.

All sorts of animals became interested in this lone soldier, swimming along the coast. Schools of fish would approach the soldier who would swim inside the massive school of fish moving forward with the fish in unison. The soldier was in the middle of the swarm.

All that fish attracted attention of hungry predators. Seals came by the dozens to feast on the fish. The seals attacked the giant ball like swarm of fish from all angles penetrating the swarm and leaving with mouthfuls of fish. The soldier had a bubble of space within the swarm. The seals all went straight in for the kill and curved around the bubble the soldier was enclosed in to only resume their path to exit the swarm. Soon the swarm dispersed leaving the soldier to swim alone again while the seals were satisfied with the fish they had consumed.

The soldier kept on swimming with immense determination and will. If he were running to his destination on land, there would be sweat visibly dripping down on his forehead. Except in this case, he was underwater with no need to sweat as the water was chilly and had a cooling effect on his body.

Soon the sun was at the highest point in the sky. The water warmed to the touch as the sun beat down upon the pristine, unpolluted water. Land was always visible. Land was always within swimming distance.

The soldier did not relent and kept on swimming without taking any breaks. In his mind, there was only person he cared about which was his comrade, his fallen comrade – Kim Jong Un. The soldier had no personal connection to the dictator and yet this Kim Jong Un held a special place in his heart.

Nobody knew why Kim Jong Un was such a beloved figure when he set the country decades behind. People were suffering because of him. Sure, capitalism is the allocation of resources based on ability or in other words, the genetic lottery won. With the advent of bioengineering, many opportunities deemed only accessible to the gifted and hardworking was now available to the masses. Bioengineering made everything vastly simpler and easier.

The idolatry of Kim Jong Un was slow to fade as the South Koreans began integrating North Koreans into their society. Kim Jong Un was still a revered figure and for some reason, a beloved icon. People’s reason to live was centered around this figure. Someone’s reason to exist should revolve around a purpose. Not a despotic, communist dictator.

The sun slowly moved across the sky in unison with the distance the soldier covered via swimming. For every hour, the soldier would have swum vast distance going from island to island. Save for the seahawks eager to catch fish swimming along side the soldier. The path the soldier swum was devoid of life much like his purpose in life now was to cause the death. In the ensuring pandemonium of terror and panic, these people would avenge the death of their brilliant fallen comrade: Kim Jong Un.

The soldier swam on and the sun inched across the sky to set beneath the oceans. Before it was dark. The soldier swam to the bottom of the ocean. He saw large siphons protruding from the sandy ocean bottom. He moved his arms back and forth to create waves of water to disturb the sand. The sand was all loose now. He pulled out a creature with a large siphon like a baby elephant’s trunk attached to a rectangular shell with round edges that could not close with the meat from the clam bulging out of its cavity. He had pulled out a geoduck.

The soldier was bioengineered to run on both conventional food and photosynthesis. The power from the sun was not enough to sustain him when it came to the maintenance and repair of his muscles. He needed protein from the wildlife to complete his mission just like how plants need trace elements and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous.

The soldier walked to the nearest island with a few geoducks in hand. He bit down at the siphon and the geoduck contracted as if in severe pain. With a few chomps, he finished the siphon and moved on to the breast. The animal tasted like the ocean. He discarded the round sphere like gonads moving on to the next geoduck. Soon there were a few shells on the beach beside him.

The sun was setting. For a few moments, the soldier enjoyed the hazy red sun sinking into the ocean illuminating the adjacent sky into a bright orange red. For a few moments, he forgot about his mission and avenging Kim Jong Un. For a few moments, he was at one with the world. Then the infuriating image of an airship covered in dust came into his mind. He remembered North Korean command telling him there was a small Canadian flag etched onto the side of the airship. His heart hardened with hatred towards the people he will kill on Canada day as the sun set beneath the dark blue oceans dotted by islands on the horizon. It was all dark before he fell asleep again.

*

He woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. He had slept well the previous night. It was in the middle of summer and the weather was warm enough to sleep naked outside. He was unphased about the mosquitos as the mosquitos had no interest in him neither. He was totally oblivious to his surroundings. His sole focus was the burning image of the airship in his head and avenging his fallen comrade: Kim Jong Un.

The soldier relieved himself. The geoducks he ate clumped together in his stool. He had a bit of problem passing his stool this morning. With effort, he managed to fully relieve himself. His diet lacked the necessary fiber to have a smooth bowel movement.

The sun was rising. It peaked out of the ocean with the bright red sky preceding where the sun will rise. The soldier set out to swim to his destination after the sun was slightly above the horizon.

Soon, there was human activity within his vicinity. There were ships propelled by fins at the rear or large hairs on the side like a diatom. The soldier dived deep into the ocean floor to avoid being detected. By now, he had burned away his muscles as the journey he took was a long one. He was nearing his destination.

Boats were sailing above him. Most were fishing boats guided by experienced fishermen. The boats had multiple people on board as the people who were not fishermen or captain of the ship were tourists looking to catch fish. They were fishing for fun.

The soldier was all business and no nonsense. To the mischievous individual, the tourists above would feel tugs on their fishing rods as the mischievous was set out to prank them. But no, the soldier just swam deeper and avoided the fishing hooks and lure floating above the seafloor suspended by a fishing line.

The soldier kept on swimming. Soon, the sun had inched across the sky towards noon. Unphased by hunger or thirst, the soldier swam with absolution as he glided across the ocean floor. Only one thing was on his mind and that was to avenge Kim Jong Un. The ships soon increased in frequency. It was summer, the tourists were all busy having fun along the beautiful coast of British Columbia.

Soon, a larger than average ship was above the soldier. The ship was a commercial vessel ferrying cars and passengers from Vancouver Island to the mainland. The ferries ran everyday of the year with no breaks in between. Even on Christmas day, the ferries were busy.

The soldier knew he was nearing his destination. Perhaps, a little more than one hundred kilometers to go. He was nearing civilization that is for sure. With unphased focus, he shifted his attention into his swimming technique. He strokes were perfect: he glided the same distance with each stroke. If he competed in the Olympics for breaststroke, he would out swim the competition by a long shot.

He kept on swimming. More recreation fishing vessels appeared above him. Since he was so deep and near the ocean floor, the vessel’s sensors could not detect him. He blended into the dull, dead ocean floor where carcasses of the dying or dead would lay to rot and be feasted upon by bottom feeders such as crabs, lobsters, and peculiar fishes.

The soldier kept on swimming for some time before he saw another ferry. This time, there were cargo ships spread out over the ocean like battleships in formation to bombard the shore. The soldier swam along the shore and was in a bay in a city of one hundred thousand people. His target was not this town but rather the large city known as Vancouver across the ocean. He surfaced from the bottom of the ocean and poked his head out of the water to see which direction the ship was going. With immense grip strength, he grabbed onto the ship and sailed with it in the direction of Vancouver.

It was Canada day. Fireworks would be lit over downtown Vancouver as a celebration of Canada’s founding day. A large crowd will gather downtown. An attack during that time of the day would be absolute pandemonium as it will be dark and crowded. Nobody could see well in the dark and under immense panic of fear or the fear from panic.

The soldier grabbed on to the ship. The ship sailed slow and steady which was a break from the distinctively different glide of swimming beneath ocean just above the sea floor. The soldier closed his eyes. He saw Kim Jong Un; all smiles and shaking hands with him congratulating him on his job well done. What job, nobody knew. North Korea, had very little in terms of opportunity and employment before the Koreas reunified.

The soldier was holding on to one of the inert dead hairs used to propel the ship forward. The ship needed maintenance. He looked forward and could see the skyline of the skyscrapers in Vancouver. The ship turned direction and headed for a more rural area of the Metro Vancouver region. The soldier let go. The forward momentum of the ship imparted on him propelled him forward for a short while. The ferry turned left parting ways with the lone soldier.

It was late afternoon and the sun would set in a few hours. The soldier looked at his destination, he was finally there. After two days of swimming, he made his way down from where he was stationed with the rest of the North Koreans all the way down to Vancouver. The soldier made his way to downtown Vancouver. He swam straight towards the establishment where the bustling lights of the skyscrapers were beginning to illuminate the darkening sky. By the time he got within attacking distance of Vancouver, it was sunset.

With the will of his mind, the soldier dolphin kicked his way from outside the harbour to inside the harbour, where people were gathering around Canada Place. With the concentrated power of will, he propelled himself into the air where in an instant his torso expanded from a green gas generated within. He was above a crowd of people when he detonated himself above them.

A noxious green cloud of gas descended upon the people. The gas was high in concentration and the diffusion into the surrounding areas was fast like butter flavoured microwave popcorn in a bachelor suite. Like a hurricane touching down upon the coast of Florida, the ensuring chaos that resulted from all the panic of people dying was an absolute disaster.

The green gas was an acrid, acidic gas where contact on skin would burn away the layer into the flesh to reveal bone. Like a mold growing on a piece of cheese, white from the skeleton was permeating from the blast into the surrounding landscape. Soon, there was a soup of bloody flesh on the ground with white bone buried in between.

At last, the soldier’s purpose had been fulfilled. His dying thought was how he was attacking the enemy to avenge his fallen comrade: Kim Jong Un. The fact that these were innocent people with nothing to do with the death of his brilliant fallen comrade did not faze him. All he cared about was maximum casualty. In his eyes, he died for his country.

In the instant that he exploded into a cloud of green, noxious gas. He felt a rush of neurotransmitters in his brain as his death was an enjoyable one. He did not believe in heaven or hell. He was an atheist. Death was the ultimate end. To him, he was dead billions of years before he was born and will be dead billions of years after he was born. He would be remembered by his people as a hero of North Korea.

Mass panic ensured the busy, crowded streets of Downtown Vancouver. People paniced away from the epicenter of the explosion, away in all directions. A stampede soon ensued. More people were being trampled to death than the spread of the noxious, green cloud in all directions. It was not before long, the cloud of green gas caught up with the trampled bodies turning them into a puddle of flesh and bones on the once sparkling pavements of downtown Vancouver.

The gas spread with less and less speed and its concentration decreased over the large structural area of Canada Place. Nobody was prepared for a terrorist attack on Canadian soil. Especially not one with advanced bioweapons and especially not suicide bombers. Suicide bombers from the middle east – Islamic Extremists – largely disappeared once bioengineering reached those places. People did not need something to do to fill their pockets with money. Resources came and went freely with little costs; nobody had to kill another human being for resources. The world emerged triumphant over the extremism with simple economics and abundance.

Soon, the entirety of Canada place was filled with slippery puddles of blood and flesh with entire human skeletons resting in the puddles partially submerged in gore. The people who were left behind by the stampeders, lay on the ground with broken bones awaiting their fate of death.

All that remained of the soldier who exploded above Canada place was his head and limbs. The explosion originated from his stomach where his organs fused together to make a bomb. The acid from his stomach was base of the acrid gas cloud. The rest was a complex serious of chemical reactions. The soldier’s head flew forward as he bloated up with gas and exploded like an over inflated balloon which sent his limbs diagonally in all four directions.

The gas was still spreading. It reached further into the downtown core. By this time, the gas was causing blindness in those affected. The gas was no longer a dense green cloud but had dissipated into the air. At this point, the gas became poisonous.

Invisible arms reached into the crowds celebrating Canada day waiting for the fireworks to illuminate the sky. The gas diffused faster than people could run. Soon, the stampeders where all cut down like men lined up to be shot in a lawless war-torn country. News of the gas could not reach the others. The invisible gas seeped into the lungs of the bystanders as they were all waiting for the big event of the night.

A mysterious illness started developing amongst the crowds. People were coughing without the full strength of their lungs as if the gas ate away at the lungs when people inhaled the gas. Blood started seeping out of the eyes of those affected while those who were saturated by the gas were coughing up blood. People were going blind and vomiting blood onto each other in the close vicinity of the Canada Day parade. People bumped into each other and knocked each other into the harbour.

People were dropping into the harbour like flies. The water in the harbour became red like the maple leaf on the Canadian flag. Bodies were floating in the water with head down and back arched up. To the North Koreans, this was a job well done. Maximum suffering. Suffering painful enough to lead to death.

The sensors on the turrets along the harbour and in the streets were all shorted out by the gas. The other end went dark. As a precaution, airships were mobilized to survey the areas gone dark. What they saw, they could not believe their eyes. None were spared in the attack. Strollers were leaking a sticky red liquid which