Waffles 35
Waffles 35 Recovery Program (WRP),
Year 4, Day 14, Wake Up
Arthur always woke up 3 minutes before his alarm. Six Fifty-Seven.
He rolled over in his stupid giant bed and looked out the giant window overlooking the stupid beach and stupid sunrise. He laid in his bed until his alarm went off. He rolled out and groaned as he stepped out onto his balcony overlooking his 100 acre ocean side compound. Another stupid day of great food, exercise, the worlds most beautiful women, and saving humanity.
"Attitude Arthur. You've got an important job to do." He thought.
And he did.
You see, on September 3
rd
of 2035 a lovely tabby cat named Waffles ate a can of food, as he usually did. But this can contained a piece of a chicken that had been canned after it ate a mosquito that had bit a man with a cold on the balls while he took a piss on the edge of the farm in Vietnam. Waffles was taken on a plane for emotional support and coughed 3 times, infecting the entire plane. The virus spread by air and was very resilient to all standard cleaners and to radiation. One cough stayed active in the wind for thousands of miles. But there were no quarantines or hazmat suits. The cold was so mild, it had a zero percent mortality rate. It was a blip on the pathological radar, over in 1 month. No one cared until the infertility started. Waffles Fever was devastating. All males exposed lost 100% fertility, infant to geriatric. And almost everyone was exposed.
47 men remained unexposed, housed on remote oil rigs for extended times, scientists in antarctica, and several men on the space station. And there was Arthur. Arthurs town was an anomaly. No wind. No wind at all his little town of Smoot in Western Queensland for the entire month of September. The perfect geologic anomaly of magnetosphere, tides, and Tradewinds. Arthur had noted it was particularly muggy for September but otherwise didn't pay it much mind. Yet, he happened to be the only man in the town that didn't leave once during the entire month.
Given the global level of the disaster, all men were required to be tested and he'd been found in a community screening. All the men were dubbed global treasures and placed into programs in their countries. Arther felt bad about the other men's fates, quite tragic. The American's were sold to the highest bidder and disappeared, never to serve the public. The Chinese program involved sedation and was heavily robotic in nature and quickly resulted in fatal injuries. The Russians died of exertion and serving their country. The North Koreans attempted a genital transplant onto Dear Leader who died of gangrene within days, the donor was shot for treason. But the Australians got it right.
They set up a beautiful compound on a large portion of isolated oceanside and build him a lovely house. There were several other buildings on the compound and housing for the staff and his guests, a landing pad for the helicopter, but he had his own isolated area that was quite large. There was significant security outside the walls and submarines patrolled the ocean but they stayed out of sight. He knew he was always monitored but they at least attempted to give him the illusion of privacy. He had personal trainers and great gym facility. He had a personal chef as well and received amazing meals any time he requested it and they made sure he maintained his nutritional needs and stamina. All this was his for the small price of breeding 3 beautiful women each day.
As he was the only fertile man left in any of the programs, countries from all around the world contracted with the Australian Repopulate The Human Race (ARTHR) program. The women went through a rigorous screening and application program. They were rated by intellectual score, physical health and fitness, aged 20-28, and were considered to be the best chances for passing on strong genetics and genetic diversity for the future (given the genetic bottleneck, Arthur). They had attempted artificial insemination but it had failed in the majority of candidates, something with the way the virus effected ova. Instead, each week 18 genetically perfect candidates in the prime of their fertility were flown in to stay at the compound with the goal of all of them leaving impregnated. By Arthur.
He was 35 and likely had at least 20 more years of fertility, perhaps more, but he had an entire planet to repopulate, so he kept a tight schedule, 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year.
Arthur didn't mind the schedule, he'd always worked long hours and extra days. Before the Waffle Fever Pandemic, he'd worked as a miner and lived alone for most of his adult life. He enjoyed work. He was always fit and strong because of the work he'd done. He was barely five foot eleven, average looking, and not particularly charismatic.
He had a great life with a purpose. He had teams of people working to keep him comfortable and more human interaction than he'd ever had in his past life. He was treated like a king but he still felt half full. And it had been a long week. At least tomorrow was Sunday and he'd get a rest.
There was a knock on his door. That would be Marco, his personal assistant to start coordinating his day. The program felt it was important for Arthur, while bound by duty, to have as much autonomy as possible. So each morning he picked his appointments for the day, the women and the location. He also picked their outfits and the facility was stocked with any exciting lingerie he could imagine.
He finished his breakfast shake and opened the door. But it wasn't Marco.
"Good morning." The little woman chirped with a big smile.
"Oh. Good morning. Where's Marco?" Arthur asked. He'd greeted him every morning for the last 4 years.
"Believe it or not, even he gets a vacation occasionally." She laughed. She had a strong Australian accent. "I'm Lark, I'll be filling in for him for a fortnight. Shall we get down to business?"
Some names fit like spandex pants on a walrus. Larks name fit her like a silk glove. She was a short blonde with her hair pulled up in a bun. She wore glasses, a blue blouse and a matching plaid pencil skirt, black glasses. The blouse brought out her blue-grey eyes. Even in her black heels, she was still quite petite, just reaching his chin. A little songbird. She appeared to be about his same age and she was bubbling with enthusiasm. And it was contagious.
"Well, come on in." he said, his hand working to straighten his hair subconsciously. "Are you an Aussie?"