Erin M. McDermott

In the near future, an incurable plague has infiltrated every city in the world and the mind of every victim it meets . . . every mind, aside from that of Mr. Abram, a wealthy business magnate in Manhattan.

Mr. Abram witnessed the scourge first hand when his beloved wife fell ill before him. First, sight is turned black, then hallucinations, then with every misstep the patient takes in the dark of her mind, comes a new form of blood-letting, bone-dissolving torture. Finally, if the disease is not put on hold through induced coma, comes death.

In spite of his apparent immunity and the mountains of wealth he heaped into research for a cure, no patient on earth has yet been led to survival.

It’s not until Mr. Abram’s son also falls victim to the disease that he learns just how far his research endowments have gone. A virtual reality environment, Sheol, was created to aid and guide the patient interacting with the disease – a disease which can itself think. There is a possibility to save his boy, but the method will test the limits of a son’s faith through fear, and a father’s love through sacrifice.

What are the bounds of the love of a father for his son, and will it be enough to save him? Will it be enough to save the world in this Christian allegory?