“Marilyn,” snapped the President as he finally set foot in his Berlin office. The man was, to put it mildly, upset. He had just sent a man to die and pumped him with god-knows-what. In his heart, he knew this needed to happen, but it still wasn’t a great day for the world or the civil rights of the human race. Had he been told earlier of this virus, a different outcome might have presented itself.

“Yes, cute one,” answered the digital goddess as her face appeared on the numerous screens in the room. The speed at which she could replace the dark screensavers was dizzying as if she really was there permanently.

“Say what you want, none of this makes any sense. Pieces are moving way too fast. Can you get Laurent and Liam on a four way call, we need to coordinate. I don’t want to be caught off guard again.”

“Contestants should not collude or even speak to each other, that’s against the rules of Electoral.”

He was about to swear but held back, “Marylin, darling, I think all of what is going on requires coordination, and I doubt you can manage sensibilities. Sophie ran this show, and I was more than happy to play a supporting role when she was around, but she is indisposed . I just sent your virus and a pair of the most unstable guys to Mercury on a hunch. At a minimum I need to keep Laurent and Liam in the loop of what just happened. Doubtful you kept them informed, right?”

She ignored the question. “I did not know of the Mercurians before you disclosed their existence. I can tell you why you sent this unique pair of humans, that’s easy and logical.”

“Get them on the call. They deserve to hear your explanation. Sophie is allergic to secrecy and frankly I am starting to see things her way. Her father and her mentor deserve a notice of what I just did.”

“One moment.” Marilyn vanished and reappeared on the screen dressed as a old telephone operator, wearing think black glasses in front of a terminal in which spaghetti cables slid to connect callers. Her hair in a bun, she slid a metal piece in the wall and the image of Liam in his original form appeared. “Let me connect Laurent,” she added holding her earpiece. “Sir,” she spoke to Laurent in a nasal accent, “you have a collect call from Earth from the President, do you accept the charges?”

“Of course,” answered Sophie’s father on the other side of the line.

As the connector slid in, the fourth participant joined. Marilyn was proud of her sense of humor, no one seemed to find it amusing.

“Gents,” began the President. “I just shipped two psychopaths to Mercury in an urgent turn of events.”

“Seer,” said Liam.

“Good day,” offered Laurent.

“I had a vision, it was linked with the planet Mercury. In a crater in the north of the planet, some creatures made of sand were lost, stranded. I felt like they need to be rescued and sent either to Earth or Mars, that remains uncertain.”

“Congratulations,” offered Liam. “Over the eons, many individuals with your capacity are unable to see more than flashes or vague images. Few ever get feelings much less full visions.” The comment startled and calmed the President.

“The creatures are going to Mars,” added Marylin.

“As you will discover, the men sent to Mercury are rather independent-minded, to put it mildly. It is unclear what they actually will do.” Marilyn remained silent.

Emilio kept going, “Earlier this month, I had flashes, images of a deranged individual. I saw him in space. Then I had a very elaborate vision of Mercury and these creatures. I also saw the destruction of the planet by the core of the Sun. Moments of that vision, Marilyn dropped quite a bombshell on my lap. She gave me a vial with a bioengineered virus that uses the god bias, the Universal pull. It was baptized the god virus by a man named Takeda, a biologist. We have files on him, he is the man who created another virus decades ago.”

Both men listening knew better than to disrupt Emilio. The President added, “The virus plays genetic roulette with a host and giving it better survival chances. Marilyn believes this virus will help the Mercury mission. I am grossly simplifying this. Time was very short, we had a ship ready to visit Io, a moon of Jupiter. In hours we repurposed it is not designed for inner solar heat. We shot them to Mercury. They are accelerating at the moment around the moon in hopes of getting there on time. Our experts are unanimous, for them to land in days and send back the creatures to Mars before the finale, they must arrive on Mercury at a pulverizing speed.”

“I can land them safely on Mercury,” said Marilyn.

The three men were not thrilled. “I know Sophie would never have let you inoculate anyone against their will,” said the father of the Attractor.

“Since the man is a prisoner serving multiple life sentences, he gave consent.”

“What did he do?”

“He stole a deadly virus and tried to kill the entire human race by weaponizing it.”

“You sent a mass murderer on this mission?” puzzled Laurent.

“He followed the vision,” offered Liam. “The vision of a Seer suffices here. There must be attenuating circumstances.”

“There are,” offered Marilyn. “First, an army of martian is building up above the Center, humanity’s efforts to save their kind will not go be ignored. They were mere hours from attacking us. We may avoid a war. Next, the pair of psychopathic killers is exactly what I needed to boost my ratings. Wait until you two play them.”

“Ratings?”

“Yes. I collect energy from humans watching which I might need to defeat the Attraction if Sophie remains indisposed.”

Emilio looked at Laurent on the screen. There was something odd talking to Liam’s alien body. “What is the situation with Sophie. Anything to be worried about.”

“Sophie’s mind was struggling after her contact with the Multiverse. Frankly, for a young girl her age, she was handling the situation rather well. When she lost her mother and I, at first she changed but for sometime. She isolated herself reading Alice in Wonderland. The story relaxed her and got her mind in peace. Liam and I decided to offer her the sequel. She truly enjoyed the gift. We both think she is now healing.”

“I saw a similar shield form during the Fourth Attraction but on a planetary level. The Attractor was rendered unconscious but the energy had to be channeled it seemed. Here, she is in her own little world, protected from us. I would not be shocked, as the Attraction nears to observe the energy ball grow in size.” Liam did not sound worried.

“Bottom line is, we simply play the next game and hope this works. When Sophie returns, hopefully the Martians will be back in their hole. Let’s enjoy my game.” Suggested Marilyn.

“Last time she awoke minutes before Laurent’s game.”

“You were about to disqualify me.”

“Well, that will not happen this time. Her consent was given for every subsequent game. Just watch the ratings.”

No one was amused.