"Takeda, darling," resonated a female voice in the silence of the lab. Takeda was sleeping on a chair and awoke, drool at corner of his young mouth. Marilyn's trademark voice was unmistakable. “Love,” she added. The clarity of the sound surprised the virologist. It was as if she was towering above him. "Wake up, big boy or girl whatever gender you go by these days."

“Boy,” he mumbled.

Computer screens all over the lab lit, one after the other. Marilyn appeared on each forming a strange illusion the law had bobbled in size thanks to her digital world. She stood human size across several vertical screens. The beautiful creature was wearing a sexy version of the lab coat. It was left intentionally unbuttoned over a light dress, showing Takeda who had the true female body. Marilyn's coat was colored in parts like an elegant couture dress. Marilyn’s power over style and fashion was unequal.

She was, as always, stunning, not to mention competitive and more than a bit catty. Her hair and makeup were impeccable, unlike Takeda's. The virologist went to the sample refrigerator and opened it to ensure in the door, the syringes were intact and cold. The murky brown liquid remained animated by the strange virus. She was there for the experiment, not to spoil it.

Had she wanted to prevent his work from taking place, she simply had to cut the refrigeration in his sleep to neutralize the fragile creation. "I thank you for the help in Round 26.”

“I am still unclear what that was all about.”

“Emilio also thanks you. It was essential to help guide the President to these multiple converging catastrophes. He is rather busy these days, as you can imagine. Thanks to us, earth stands a chance.”

“You make no sense. What time is it?”

She continued, “Events on mars are also snowballing very quickly. I am almost ready to play Round 27. Couple more Round and we are there.”

“Where?”

She needed to deflect. "Let’s refocus. You don’t need to know any of this. I see you no longer want to create a weapon for the Chairman. I'm excited by your new endeavor. Very creative."

"By the Chairman you mean Nick, correct?"

"Yes. He is legally the Chairman of his corporation."

"Why call him Chairman?"

"I used the term in an effort to give him importance." She snorted, ruining the effect. “What lies ahead for him is unpleasant at best. He needs some respect.”

"Do you work with him? I saw on the news he was kidnapped. Is that correct? Were you involved in that abduction?"

"At this juncture in time, I have a hand directly or indirectly in everything going on. So yes, I am involved. But I'm here now because what you're doing is relevant to what must come next. Exciting."

Takeda wanted more information on his former employer, "What happened to Nick?"

"In a couple of days, the next Round 28 of Electoral will focus around this pair of gentlemen, even more fun than the one later today. To make a long story short, the Chairman is under restraint for his upcoming journey with Maltais and a hundred bobbleheads. Guess where, Mercury." She smirked. The virologist did not care. "To learn that part of the story, you simply need to tune-in to watch Electoral Round 28. It will happen before the finale; it has to. The players will play Round 27 and Sophie will visit the Purple to save us. All this is only a very small part of a massive unfolding of events that I have to manage."

"With all respect, I do not watch television."

"Either way, we have more pressing work." They both agreed.

“There is a cooling box there, to your left.” Marilyn served as the perfect lab technician.

"Before we begin,” offered the beautiful woman, “Can I ask you to stop developing your God Virus?"

“You want me to stop? Why, will it destroy the world?"

"It will change the world. No. It should actually help mankind but only for a couple of days when the bias becomes too strong as the Attraction arrives. But the game and these three next weeks require predictability, not variability. Your invention, if released, will end my capacity to forecast the future down here on earth. I need to be able to control to help. We need to make sure the President can see things happen."

"I am honored by my relevance."

"As you should be.”

“Why not lock me here?”

“Why do you think you are free to go.” It wasn’t a question. “I have determined there is a 0.27% chance you would stop your work at this point simply if I asked politely. It is therefore worth asking: any chance you'll put that work in the trash?"

"None."

“Even if I told you the bias increases slowly with time.”

“It does?”

“Of course. The energy that gives rise to the current effect, is already a million times larger than it should be. Hopkins did not think of that. The value fluctuates, it now will increase dangerously until the birthday of the girl.”

“To what value?”

She chuckled. “Human imagination.”

“One percent?”

“I am not sure why I am even telling you this. If we reach a Great Conjuncture on the eve of the final, it could be at least 5%.”

The scientist was shocked. He pointed to his Virus, “What this could change,” he spoke out loud. “Limitless.”

“Precisely.” They both knew a Virus, any Virus able to mutate at each reproduction cycle in a positive way would soon, in a matter of minutes be able to alter the host in fundamental ways.

"As expected," she joked.

Takeda grabbed the syringe and held it up so Marilyn could see it. "I am sure you are as curious as I am to see it in action. We are both intellectuals and both need to see what comes next. That's why you are here, is it not?"

"Guilty as charged." On the screen, Marilyn flipped open the power switch of a centrifuge next to her in the digital world. The instrument began to measure something.

"Will the virus work?" asked Tadeka.

“Unless I guide you, it will take you two extra weeks to figure this out and realize that while it works, there is an additional element needed. It’s very tricky to understand for humans at your level of intelligence. Your understanding of the fourth thermodynamic law, while greater than most humans, is decades from where it must be."

"Calling me stupid?” Takeda realized the creature was probably right. He was the best virologist, but no expert at this new principle.

Slowly he was setting up his experiment. It required two frogs in cages in water being boiled very slowly. As he did, she explained. "Hopkins took years to understand how the fourth law was linked with a truly positive outcome. The present is connected to the future, even if unknown. That is impossible for one with your IQ to understand.”

“Indulge me great one.”

“With pleasure. The present outcome is truly contingent on the future.”

“I am no physicist.”

Next to her in the digital reality appeared one of the coin drop machines. A person slid hundreds on the top, they randomly bounced until they came to rest on a horizontal slow dancing drawer. “This should help, come closer,” she joked.

See how this simple random game works. Coins drop if they all bounce to one side, they push themselves until they fall and I win.” Marilyn was sliding coin after coin and they were bouncing randomly. “The bias changes these odds in two and not just one way. The first is simple.” On top of the machine the jackpot award number changed. Instead it read ‘Bias 0.05%’ and her coins as she dropped them were falling randomly. “At the moment the bias is so low it’s barely observable.” On the screen, with each drop of a coin, the number increased. It reached 10% and stopped there. “See what happens here.” The coins were still dropping almost randomly but one every handful politely went exactly where it was needed to push the coin to victory. “Now here,” the number in front on the screen reached 50%. “Once here it’s easier for your puny brain to catch,” she sent a kiss his way. There, she dropped one coin which moved normally but the next just slipped and made her win one coin. She dropped twenty coins and by magic one lined up to perfection to give her a victory.

There, the machine dinged each two coins. “You get this first part.”

“I do,” he watched carefully.

“But that’s not how it works.”Behind her appeared two piggy banks. The first had a sign which read “Wise Retirement Fund” while the other had a sign which read “Unwise Cocaine Party.” She looked at them. “Got it,” she held the next handful of coins. “Here is the rub. The Multiverse is biased toward an outcome. Here, if I win money, I will either save it or blow it recklessly. See how I am not sure what she wants me to do. Maybe she loves me, wants me around and so she wants me to win and scratch toward my retirement. But maybe she hates me and wants me gone. If so, she will make me win only if I plan to blow these winnings toward my self-destructing party. Let’s see.”

So she closed her eyes and said out loud. “Every penny I win, I will save toward retirement.” She then began sliding the coins. Half fell randomly. The other half went into holes preventing Marilyn from winning. It was clear the bias was acting to prevent her from winning. Coins were aligning in the perfect way to avoid victory. Then she grabbed another handful of coins and spoke, “Now, every coin I win goes to trying to kill myself.” The coins slid and half began to align to perfection and half began ringing in the box below.

“See? You get the second part? Here the Multiverse wants me gone. That’s why some people feel like their lives are harder while others feel lucky.” She grabbed the coins from the tray and took the time to drop them in the right piggy bank.

This was complex at best. "Hum..." She made sense. "So the test subject’s capacity to do something after the test will determine the test success.”

“Yes.”

“Then I promise to release the creature outside if it survives my test. This one on the left. That should work, right?”

“Guess why I am here.”

“Why?”

“I am truly powerful at this point. I can lock you in, suffocate or imprison you. If you open that door and try to release the amphibian, I have at least a hundred ways to kill you and the frog. I will nuke Paris before I let your virus hit the street. I am here and by just being there, sadly your experiment must fail.”

Takeda was thinking.

"There is something very troubling about this law. Does God really exist?"

"God, as defined by mankind, cannot exist."

"Why?"

"Takeda, I did not come here to discuss theology. Let's conduct the experiment. I want to see your virus at work at least partly. I want to see first hand the bias at work."

"Why can't God exist? I punched a one-way ticket to hell. My past life actions were less than exemplary."

"The answer is very complex yet so simple."

"Please."

“During your entire life, have you felt lucky or unlucky.”

“I am truly lucky.”

She tried to change the subject. "May we now test your theories, I am very excited to see your virus at work. If you promise to keep it alive in the lab we might see some minor effect."

"Then let us resume."

Then he heard it, there was a sound escaping from a cabinet. It was the sound of brewing coffee. The aroma escaped and filled the room. "I figured your caffeine dependence could cloud your judgment for what will come next. You need a fix."

“Sweet of you.} He opened the door. There it was, hidden away a coffee machine. It had been told to brew a cup.

"This seems out of place. What is this doing here?"

"My second attempt to convince you not to proceed ahead. This one has a 4.23% chance of working. As you will see, it will be more convincing."

He grabbed the cup, "Are you always this cryptic when you communicate with what must feel like inferior life forms?"

"Yes. Try being clear when communicating with your cat."

"I like you." He drank the freshly brewed coffee. It had an aftertaste, smiled and kept drinking.

"The beauty of being a computer is my capacity to multitask. Your human brain does one or two things. With time, I become capable to guessing the future much like Emilio's natural gift. I see ahead. When Nick purchased this equipment, my calculations showed you were 37% likely to be the virologist asked to design the death virus. The coffee you are now drinking is laced with a form of muscle relaxant which normally will stop the beating of your heart." Takeda looked at the cup. "Worry not. Three days ago, I neutralized the effects by including a counter-molecule in these numerous coffees you purchased on rue Sevastopol." If Takeda weren't a biologist, he would have put the cup down. Instead, he took another sip. "You can drink is all security," she continued.

"I know. The taste of hexafluoride is recognizable. I was wondering why."

"I could not imagine, a year ago, you would abandon the original mandate and instead launch yourself upon this path. So the poison was no longer needed. My point is rather simple here. I have a degree of visibility into the future which makes me rather powerful by your standards. If I don't want this virus you are designing to leave this room, trust me it will not. You, that frog and your Virus will be stuck here, in this lab below the earth until the Sixth Attraction completes. You have only three weeks to wait."

Takeda grabbed the syringe, looked at its murky content and smiled. In it was the Multiverse's power to alter the course of destiny.

"Test one," said the scientist certain Marilyn was documenting his work. He grabbed two frogs and placed them in a large bath of water. "Water temperature 25 degree Celsius. In front of me are two identical frogs of the same species. I now infect both frogs with my creation, the God Virus. It is a combination of a new bacteria, a bacteriophage virus mutated and a rhino agent to make the virus airborne and a transcriptance agent."

He smiled at the camera and his digital guest. "I now know for the God Bias to work, the recipient of my virus must have a path to survival once it mutates and survives my little test. I will slowly increase the temperature of both vessels by one degree each ten minutes. If the frog on the right survives ten minutes in boiling temperature, I will personally release the frog outside in the street. The other will die irrespective if it survives in the warm water."

“Darling, nothing is going in the streets of Paris. Think about the containment, at least that might work.”

“Let’s see if the Multiverse agrees with your capacity to block its exit. I should be dead five times over. I am here to design this, it must serve its purpose. I am convinced you underestimate this Multiverse of yours, I don’t.” The man was convincing and brilliant.

He injected the virus to both amphibians and began the test. A single degree at a time, Takeda raised the temperature each time, noting skin color. Slowly, the water temperature rose. An hour later, the skin of the frog on the right, the one he had sworn to keep alive, began to turn grey while the color of the frog on the left, the doomed one, remained unchanged.

He clapped his hands. "Incredible, can you see?" he said to Marilyn.

"I can." She was scared.

"Miraculous." She was stepping back as if something was about to happen. "Look, its skin is mutating." As the frog on the left slowly died, as predicted, around 54 degrees Celsius, the one on the right seemed impervious to the change in environment. The system kept raising the temperature. The water continued to warm slowly. The right side frog closed its eyes and kept them closed as its skin began to thicken like old leather. Finally, after an hour, the frog had survived, and Takeda stopped the test, letting the water cool.

"It worked..." said the virologist to himself. In his mind, he was replaying the biological mutations which allowed the creature to survive.

“My intent has always been to release this creature in the wild. Not sure what is going on on mars right now, but you seem to be in a jam."

"That is impossible. You are either lying to me now or, somehow I will not be able to stop you from releasing the virus. There is nothing in this world capable of preventing me to stop you. Nothing, I mean nothing can occur preventing me from killing this.

He grabbed the frog and walked to the door. “Stand between us and the door at your risk.”

Her facial expression stiffened. She raised her digital hand as if to launch a spell.

Then she yelled a name, “Sophie, no!” Marilyn's voice, along with every image in the room, went dark. Emergency lights lit the way out. Takeda smiled and walked out to the street in Paris. The power outage had fallen over every part of Paris. Unbeknownst to the virologist, the outage covered the entire solar system.

Marilyn was gone from the Multiverse.