Santa Of The Red Death [FICTOID]

Prince Prospero built the hermetically sealed tower just for the plague.

And why not?  He and his fellow trillionaires planned the plague years in advance, unleashing a genetically modified variant of Lassa fever on the world with the aim of killing off 95% of the population.

This would still leave roughly 400 million humans, more than enough for each trillionaire to enjoy tormenting and exploiting without the huge carbon footprint that 8 billion would produce.

More than enough to be an army of slaves, not enough to damage the trillionaires’ planet further.

And earth was their planet:  They lied and cheated and stole and now gleefully committed genocide to become absolute god-kings.

The hermetically sealed tower stood one mile high.  Absolutely airtight, not even a virus could squeeze through.  An elaborate recycling system kept the air and water fresh.  Prospero and the trillionaires felt absolutely safe and secure inside their gleaming fortress stocked with enough supplies to keep them in their sybaritic lifestyle for generations to come. 

So they were dismayed and perplexed when a jolly old fat man in a red suit suddenly appeared in their midst.

“Who are you?” Prospero demanded.  “How did you breach security?”

”The usual way,” said the jolly old man in the red suit.  “Tonight is Christmas Eve and I've come to make all the good little boys and girls happy.”

While the other trillionaires seemed mollified at the promise of presents, Prince Prospero scowled.  “You breached quarantine security,” he said.  “I'm ordering you to our mental health care facility.”

“Makes no never mind to me,” the old man said.  “You'll all be dead long before your medical orderlies get here.  I'm carrying enough lassa virus to wipe you all out in an hour.” 

The trillionaires and their sycophants and hangers on and toadies recoiled in horror.  “Quick!  Get to the medical labs!” said Prospero.  “We've been developing a new vaccine!   Line up for injections by order of wealth!”  “That'll do you no good,” said the old man.  “I already bypassed the fail-safe system and the alarm and turned the heat in the refrigerator way up.  Your vaccine is ruined.” 

The others began screaming in horror as they saw blood starting to drip from their eyes / ears / noses.  Prosperous said, “How could you do this?  What about your promise to make all the good boys and girls happy?”

“That's what I'm doing right now,” the old man said.  “Survivors outside will be much happier without any trillionaires to dominate them.”

© Buzz Dixon