In this short story, Parthosarothy K Mukherji traverses ethical fault lines and emotional depth — blending speculative fiction with a meditation on war, science, and the price of peace.
I. The Paradox of Peace
Dr. Aarin Kale had a face made for masks. Even before the pandemics, he’d worn them — the impassive gaze of the brilliant researcher, the empathetic calm of the humanitarian, the passionate glint of the idealist who still believed humanity could be saved.
When COVID-19 erupted, he was still young — but already recognized in virology circles as a rising genius. He noticed something then, something chilling: the guns fell silent. The world stopped moving, not out of reason, but fear. And in that frozen moment, peace bloomed like mold on rotting bread.
It haunted him.
II. Protocol: Silence
Over the years that followed, Aarin designed viruses like composers write requiems — intricate, mournful, and unforgettable. Each strain was unique. Each was engineered to be lethal enough to shock, but not enough to collapse.
He called them the Silence Protocols.
Protocol 1: Released during the Kashmir border flare-up.
Protocol 2: The Balkans, again.
Protocol 3: When Taiwan trembled under threat.
Each time, death bloomed — and war retreated.
The world called them “The Decade of Strange Plagues.” But no one could prove anything. No common origins. No identical strains. No fingerprints.
Because Aarin left none.