Cursed Fate Of Frenodians

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, business, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and are written only for storytelling purposes.

“How far are we with the project?”

“Mr President, It will be commenced by next week, sir. After the final successful trial, it will be infused in the drinks which will be consumed by our country's tourists and we have men who will ensure it”.

“What would be the origin story of the virus which would be shared to the media?”

“The origin of the Mortex-T virus is written to be rats and we have paid plenty of doctors in our country and doctors from other countries to give the same origin”.

“Alright, the tourists alone would be enough for now and ask the science team to prepare more of it so that we can add the virus in the water tanks at a few selected villages”.

“Villages? Villages of different countries, Mr President?”

“No, villages of our own. Tell them that it should be a primitive village and not an advanced one”.

“I don’t understand sir. With all due respect why would we do such things to our own people”.

“Jaboar, there will be a moment in the future when someone will point a finger at us for the origin of the virus because we do not have casualties. This is a precautionary move from our side. If by chance the virus starts to spread rapidly within our country, we would secretly release the vaccine for the same and write it off as a common curable bacterial or a virus infection”.

“Later we can also sell the vaccine to other countries and get profit from it, right sir?”

“No Jaboar, we are about to step into the lair of the Gods where we would soon take control of humanity. Hence, we need to tread carefully and greed is not the way to go. We would make our move strategically. The virus would soon become a global pandemic which will lead to humanity craving for a vaccine and that is when we would make our first move which would also be an indirect one. We would give the vaccine’s end product itself without the formula to one of the developed countries for free in exchange for the secrecy of its origin. We would let them sell the vaccine to other countries and only then we would ask for our share. Our vision for the future is to dominate at the world level without being at the steering wheel. Through this manner, we would enjoy all of its benefits with none of the risks”.

This is the first thing I heard after I woke up from bed. Though my intent was not to eavesdrop on my dad’s works, it was a good thing I heard this as I saw the true colour of my dad. I was dumbfounded by what I heard. People believe he is gold-hearted but inside he is the epitome of corruption. Corruption took him over and though I am ashamed of his actions I can’t let dad sink any lower and would do anything to bring him back to light.

My name is Nero and I am the son of Kallus Nydd from the country Frenodia. We live in the capital of our country known as Keia. My dad, unfortunately, is the President of my country. I study at a hospitality college and a few weeks back I joined for my first internship in one of the tourism companies. My country is ranked the best in tourism in the entire world and is one of the most developed countries because of tourism. From rich wildlife to historical battles, from ancient art to fossils of Neanderthals, from scenic beauty to various cultures, the country provides everything a tourist can hope for. I started to love my country even more once I started my work as my work brings forward all the good things about my country. I often get goosebumps when I explain about my country to the tourists.

I was determined to drain the corruption from my dad. I want him to turn over a new leaf and hence I decided to spoil his plan for the sake of the world and to save him from doing sin. I could not bring him to the light yet as that would end up him being thrown in jail and spoil his name. I love my dad very much and I need to plan for an action that can make him stop the project without outing him in trouble. My dad also loves me a lot and would do literally anything to make me happy. However, judging by his greed for domination and the number of years put into planning the project I doubt that he would give in easily. Hence, I had no choice but to take an extreme step, a step which would rattle any father’s soul. I staged my own kidnap and ask the kidnappers to demand my father’s resignation. Though this drama took days to execute, my dad publicly resigned from the post of President. I attacked him emotionally and asked him not to join back to politics again with tears as my weapon. Being a loving father he had to give in to the request. He quickly proceeded with the project before the next President was elected. The moment I was waiting for had come and I submitted all details related to the project to the International Body as I knew that at this point my country would be corrupted on every level.

A wide-scale arrest and protests took place in Frenodia that week. Each and every person related to the scam starting from lab attendants of the hospital to my dad’s secretary was caught and arrested. Although my dad was heavily fined, he was not arrested as his name was not directly mentioned anywhere. With paid testimonies and witness he was able to escape from jail time with only little damage. I requested the authorities not to include my name in the report as I do not want my dad to find out about his disloyal son and I do not want any fame at the expense of my dad. When the scam was unveiled to the world, Frenodia was never the same again. The people of my country were shocked and ashamed of the government and were looked down upon. People from other countries started to hate our people, our government and everything related to Frenodia. Tourists stopped visiting our place, trade contracts were cancelled from other countries and our name was voted by majority to be taken off from every International Organisation. Other than a few countries, every country shunned Frenodia and left us in the dust. 

Am I a hero for saving billions from a worldwide catastrophe?

No. 

Is my dad a criminal?

Yes.

Is it wrong for me to try and save my dad making only him an exception from the biggest and most evil scam in the world?

Yes.

Am I a criminal for saving a criminal?

Yes.

Is my action justified because I also saved the world in the process?

No.

Am I ashamed of my dad?

Yes.

Does treason against the country make me love my dad any less?

No.

Would I change anything which happened?

No. I would in fact, even go through this, again and again, to make my dad a clean person and protect him at all costs even if the world is against me. 

It’s been thirty years since the incident and the world still looks down upon our country. I am uncertain when the curse on our country will be lifted. I hope one day people can realise that it’s not the people who were evil but was the ruling party. I hope that if not the next generation, at least by the second or third generation my country would open up for tourists and people would start to believe in us again.