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Ian Flint and the shadowy powers behind his government unleash an extreme plan to eliminate everyone living in the ghettos of Western Metropolis using super-virus Virion One.
Ian's son Trainee Surgeon Gerald Flint, young assassin Ivy Spires and teenage computer genius Don Allwood are determined to resist the emerging genocide and take on the power of the Master.
While Ivy safely crosses over from the wrong side of town to begin her mission in the Eastern Metropolis, Gerald tries to evade the Master's thought control and surveillance long enough to prevent his father's government from infecting millions with deadly virus Virion One. And, when he's tempted by the Master, Ivy's brother Valentine fights to stay true to the mission for which they've been training for so long.
"The Visitors [Longlisted for the Aeon Award in 2012] is a cracking story, as we say in Ireland."
Frank Ludlow, Director, International Aeon Award Short Fiction Contest.
"John's work is a welcome breath of fresh air in a field packed with too many stagnant ideas and stale stories."
E.S. Wynn, Chief Editor of Farther Stars Than These Magazine
The citizens of Western Metropolis, like eighteen-year-old Ivy and her older brother Valentine, are strictly segregated from rich easterners like Gerald. But brought together by work, and by personal connections stretching back to childhood, their paths cross just as the controlling and unforgiving Master is ready to launch his most audacious project yet.
Ivy and Valentine belong to a resistance group poised to challenge the injustices of their segregated worlds, but the authorities strike first. The government infects and incinerates people from the Western Metropolis in a bizarre act of sacrifice to their spiritual guide.
The Master operates an all-powerful system of thought control, restricting easterners from challenging the political elite he keeps in power and in return protecting from marauding westerners on the other side of his massive electronic barrier. But the border requires an immense amount of power to operate, and in the face of continuing shortages of supply the authorities have been searching for a new power source for some time. Now, they've found one, but it's even more chilling than their past outrages against their own people.
Gerald’s father Ian Flint and ruthless sidekick Hendra Tungsten are keen to exploit Gerald’s medical prowess in the delivery of Project Omega, and he is forced to vaccinate key personnel against weaponized virus Virion One before they proceed with the elimination of those people the government labels 'unproductive mouths'.
Valentine rescues his eastern girlfriend Rhea Ironbark from the botched operation that almost killed her and takes Gerald with them to the West to provide her post-surgery care. There, Gerald is introduced to their young leader Don Allwood and learns of resistance plans to use cyber warfare to bring down the Master. The group narrowly avoids getting rounded up in the clearing of the ghettos but escape to begin the uprising they've been planning for years.
Meanwhile, Gerald's uncle, Captain Frederick Nicobar of the SS Antilles, takes control of the Umbra Archipelago, where the sacrifices will take place. As he awaits the arrival of the incinerator construction teams, his misgivings grow about exactly what Project Omega will involve.