Book Review: The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein - 4thwallfly

Welcome to the Fly on the 4th Wall. Today we're going back in time to review a book that is somewhat dated but reflects the period very well, xenophobes and McCarthyists be warned, we're looking at you, in:
The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein:

Cover art copyright of Bob Eggleton

'PUPPETS, MEET YOUR MASTERS

First came the news that a flying saucer had landed in Iowa. Then came the announcement that the whole thing was just a hoax. End of story. Case closed. 

Except that two agents of the most secret intelligence agency in the U.S. government were on the scene and disappeared without reporting in. And four more agents who were sent in also disappeared. So the head of the agency and his two top agents went in and managed to get out with their discovery: an invasion is underway by sluglike aliens who can touch a human and completely control his or her mind. What the humans know, they know. What the slugs want, no matter what, the humans will do. And most of Iowa is already under their control. 
Sam Cavanaugh was one of the agents who discovered the truth. Unfortunately, that was just before he was taken over by one of the aliens and began working for the invaders, with no will of his own...' - The Puppet Masters, Robert A. Heinlein [1951]

The Puppet Masters is a book about mankind's struggle against an extraterrestrial invader that can not only hide itself from humankind but also take control of human beings. It is told from the perspective of Sam Cavanaugh, an agent of the Section (a secretive intelligence agency above that of the CIA) and set in a 'future' that holds very few similarities with our present. Sam's world, for example, still features the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) as a world power that hides behind the Iron Curtain (from Churchill's famous speech). He has a mobile phone in the form of a surgically implanted phone in his cranium and drives an aircar (an old term for a flying car). The world itself has recovered from the Third World War which was implied to have been between the USSR and the USA. In this future, mankind has already spread to parts of the solar system and encountered the Venerians (Venus-inhabiting aliens). Despite this though, the tale takes place almost entirely on Earth.

A very enjoyable tale, though as a reader, you can't help but feel a bit of detachment from the book's language and setting. There's alot of slang that frankly isn't used anymore at all which adds to the sense of confusion within the story because it can be hard to tell when something is slang and when it isn't. For example, Heinlein uses the word 'burn' when describing Sam's use of a gun, which at first had me thinking (because this story was in a future setting) that the weapons involved were some sort of laser (or thermal induction weapon for the boffins), however, a single reference to an Owen gun suggests that it is just slang for 'shoot' (an Owen gun is a 1939 era sub-machine gun), which is verified by the use of the word 'heater' to refer to his gun (slang for a handgun).Unfortunately, this can make reading the book something of a struggle. Despite that though, this is still a very entertaining read and a fascinating insight into the conceptual ideas of the 'future' that were had in the 1950s. However, the book's setting is only glimpsed at through occasional remarks from the characters (acting as if the reader would be already familiar with these events).


Click below for the full synopsis (click to open/close):

The story begins with an agent receiving a confidential call through his phone, implanted in his skull. Despite having 72 hours of leave accumulated he's being called by the Old Man (military slang for a commander) to report in immediately. He enters a secret facility located under the MacArthur Station, the Section's headquarters. As he travels, he is lost in his thoughts, allowing the insight that his boss, the Old Man, is not a soft boss. The Old Man is capable of making hard calls if the situation required it. Sam's inner thoughts also reveal that the Section has neither a name, nor phone book listing. It is not known to the United Nations, nor the President, nor even the CIA. His work is strictly off the books at all times.

He meets the Old Man, who addresses him as Sam (this being the name he will adopt for the 'vacation' that the Old Man has planned with him) and introduces himself as Uncle Charlie before indicating another agent as his sister Mary. Mary is described as quite the looker for Sam and so it is to his disappointment that Uncle Charlie informs him rather pointedly that there was no incestuous relationships in the Cavanaugh family. Sam Cavanaugh was to be an 'All-American boy.' Sam is then put through the Cosmetics department and made into a red-head to match his 'sister.' The Old Man asks Sam if he'd ever heard of flying saucers, to which Sam replies that they'd all been proven as fakes since before the Disorders. However, the Old Man assures Sam that it was real, that one had landed in Iowa, a disc shaped object approximately 150ft in diameter and more worryingly, the agents sent in seventeen hours ago hadn't reported back barring a short message about 'little creatures.' Shortly after that, the Des Moines News reported the flying saucer as a hoax, firing the newscaster (news - broadcaster) responsible for the original story. The Old Man wanted he and his team to investigate why the Des Moines News had shut up for a period, why the photographs of the saucer from the space station and the Des Moines News didn't seem to match locations and why six agents disappeared. Sam is a little apprehensive that he'd been told by the Old Man to be protective of his sister meaning that of the three he was considered the most expendable.

On arriving at the UFOs location, they discover a rather obvious hoax ship rather than the one observed by the space station.  As they leave the Des Moines site, Mary confers with the group, telling them that the people they had met at that site were like 'harem guards' (meaning here devoid of a libido, an indication of both Mary's physical appearance and the uses of it by the Section). They decide to head to the Des Moines broadcast station and meet the manager, Barnes. Mary gives the Old Man a signal that Barnes picks up, forcing Sam to shoot him dead. They examine the body to discover their fears proven correct, to their revulsion they see a strange, slug-like creature detach from Barnes' back. The Old Man quickly coaxes the creature into a tin and leaves with the other two. They race back to the Section only to discover the creature had expired. After alerting their scientific team about the possible ramifications that direct contact might engender, Sam decides to make a pass at Mary and fails. Both of them are then called to the Old Man again to brief the President. Unfortunately, they are unsuccessful in convincing the President that the situation was a genuine problem and the Old Man is formally requested to take a 'vacation' leave.

A rather dejected Sam finds himself given leave once again but rather than choosing to sink into a drug-soaked haze, he decides to go out and do research on the phenomenon, heading to the Library of Congress and pulling out whatever he can from their catalogue that matches or relates to UFOs. He discovers that most of the books he wanted had already been taken by Mary no less. The two of them work together and to Sam's surprise he finds himself invited to Mary's apartment (rather than his after another attempt to flirt with her). As soon as Sam is within the apartment, Mary demands he strip so she can see if his back is clear. It is very apparent that Mary is taking the threat of the alien parasites very seriously. Through this entire period though, no news has been reported from Iowa about the flying saucer.

Having observed a roughly thirty year trend between UFO arrivals, they quickly contact the Old Man and convince him to get involved again, pulling him out of the funk he had been in since having his information dismissed abruptly. Sam comes up with a daring plan to simply bull his way into the landing site with two other agents to take a live shot of the alien invaders that they could stream directly to the President for proof, galvanising the Old Man. The Old Man then decides to appoint Mary as the President's bodyguard, with instructions to take whatever necessary action that might be required if the President ever became a victim of the aliens, including any action that would have Mary shot for treason.

Their immediate outing goes wrong from the start, the first person Sam investigates isn't afflicted by the aliens at all, a rather embarrassing moment, especially when coupled with the fact that he was broadcasting straight to the President. It only gets worse as they raid the WDES news station (the same station he had investigated with the Old Man earlier) where after rushing in and being attacked by the people ridden by the slugs they discover that their camera had blown a fuse and hadn't recorded a single image since before they were even inside the building. However, after making it back to the Section, the President having long since stopped watching the broadcast, they discover that Jarvis (the agent with the broadcasting gear) had been afflicted by the alien menace. They manage to subdue Jarvis, giving them the proof they need but the President's aide refuses to let them contact him directly, having been disheartened by the unsuccessful attempt to bring forward information. They also discover from one of the science team that the separated slug had died of asphyxiation and have no choice but to give Jarvis to a rather uncomfortable scientist as their only live alien captive.

The next morning, Sam is woken by the sound of alarms ringing throughout the Section and spots the Old Man directing everyone to obey the anti-gas and anti-radiation drills before congregating in a central point within the Section's interior. Once everyone is collected, the Old Man explains that the parasite had escaped and was no doubt amongst them even as he spoke. He forces the assembled crowd to individually approach him and strip down, male or female. By this process of elimination he finds out that his own private secretary, Miss Haines is the only person not yet checked. Miss Haines demands to know if the Old Man was the one carrying the parasite and when the Old Man decides to comply first, she makes a run for it. Sam follows in quick pursuit and finds himself knocked down for his troubles. As he lies there, he hears a struggle and the various sounds of the other agents managing to subdue Miss Haines. Sam picks himself up and begins running towards the Section exit. He makes it out, seen only by one person who calls his name (who he later identifies as Mary). On the streets, Sam mugs a passerby before making his way away from the Section.

Sam has been made a puppet out of by the alien but seems to believe on some level as if it were him in charge, even though on a deeper level he is aware that he is not. He makes an order through Western Union for a crate of children's books, though this is merely code for a crate of the actual parasites themselves. Using the best of his training he begins by spreading the parasites through the apartment he has leased in the interim. From there, he 'recruits' the building owner who happens to be a member of the Constitutional Club, a great success for the parasites due to its prestigious and well connected members. The parasites takeover the Club and manage to score a success with the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (the department that was charged with the President's safety). Sam feels little in the way of jubilation though, the effect of being 'ridden' by a parasite seems to take away alot of his drives (hunger for example) and worse, he seems unaware of his master's intentions, knowing almost nothing right up until the urge to act was given to him. One day, without warning, Sam finds his rider deciding to take him to New Orleans. He finds himself in an argument with an elderly man who convinces him to head to New Orleans with a stop off at Memphis for him. Once he's in the car though, the elderly man reveals himself as a disguised Old Man. The Old Man injects him with a soporific

Sam comes to, restrained to a bed. He is released by the Old Man and finds out he'd had his parasite removed. He panics, telling the Old Man that they needed to evacuate because he'd told the aliens where the Section was hidden, but the Old Man points out that as soon as Sam had escaped the Section's interior, he'd ordered the area evacuated and had set up a new headquarters for the Section. As Sam's memories come back to him he finds himself throwing up in revulsion. The Old Man reveals that quite a number of cities are being controlled by the aliens through their careful selection of victims. Sam freezes when he discovers that the parasite that had been riding him had been captured alive before demanding to know where it was being kept. Sam harbours a deep need to kill the alien that had been riding him, although the Old Man cautioned him about how badly they needed it for their own studies. Sam manages to share the names of those he had helped recruit at the Constitution Club and warns the Old Man about the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury before passing out.

He wakes up in the care of Doris, one of the nurses working in the Section. Davidson, the other agent besides Jarvis who had gone with Sam to the Des Moines news station arrives and shares with Sam what had happened. He himself had been shot in the arm when they apprehended the Assistant Secretary, the President was unharmed fortunately. However, Davidson shares that Jarvis had never recovered from being ridden by the alien, sinking into a coma before dying. After a few days spent recovering, the Old Man puts Sam back on active duty and takes him into the Section's science wing to see an ape that had had the alien parasite attached to it, though it becomes clear that Sam's time being ridden has traumatised him for the agent doesn't even want to get into the same room as the parasite. Eventually he gathers the strength of will to go through with it, the sight of the parasite developing an innate hatred for the slug-like creatures in Sam. To Sam's surprise, the Old Man presents his pistol to him and offers Sam the chance to kill the parasite even though the Section has no other captives. Sam manages to decline, though was sorely tempted.

As Sam and the Old Man examine the alien, it becomes apparent that the entire Section has banned all use of coats within their building to allow them easy checks to determine if an individual was being ridden or not. The Old Man begins to talk about obtaining a volunteer so that they could communicate with the aliens, although Sam is dismayed when the Old Man reveals that he intended Sam to be that volunteer. Sam declines, causing the lab techs to bring in a smaller rig for their 'prior' volunteer. The rig turns out to be a chair designed to hold the volunteer immobile while presenting their backs for the alien to be able to ride and to Sam's shock Mary arrives. She's shocked to see Sam but sits down at the chair anyway. Sam tries to pull Mary away from the chair only to be threatened with being tied up and removed. In response, Sam volunteers to take Mary's place, earning the Old Man's thanks (who addresses him for the first time as 'son', something that turns out to be literal rather than figurative). Once possessed, Sam still sees himself as 'himself' but now is opposed to the Old Man. His refusal to answer the Old Man's questions result in his being electrocuted by the Old Man's 'tickler.' Sam is tortured for the answers the Old Man seeks, discovering that the parasites intended to make slaves of mankind though the parasites saw it as doing a favour to mankind, granting them contentment through their ownership. When the Old Man begins pressing Sam for the location of their home, their nest, Sam's rider lies earning another shock, this time though, the shock is too great for the rider and it dies. Sam recovers but is furious with the Old Man, storming out of the room. He meets Mary in the corridor who seems genuinely confused at his presence in the room, she had thought she was the only volunteer, but Sam doesn't believe her. He slaps her and calls her 'bitch' before storming away from her too. Sam is filled with disgust at Mary because her presence had effectively forced him to volunteer, which he attributed to the joint machinations of the Old Man and her.

He returns to the medical ward and shares his anger with Doris, who also becomes rather incensed at the abuse of his trust that Mary and the Old Man had taken advantage of. Some time later, Mary appears, sporting a red mark on her cheek that was just about the right size to be consistent with a slap from Doris who was hovering rather angrily around her. She begs Sam's forgiveness, stating that she hadn't realised what the Old Man had intended, however, despite Sam's icy attitude she manages to get through to him before he sends her off... though Sam is still not entirely convinced of Mary's innocence. The Old Man visits him to berate Sam for his treatment of Mary, explaining that she really had been unaware of Sam's presence inside the room and had volunteered freely to be ridden by the alien without expecting a last minute reprieve. He even goes as far as saying that between the two of them, Mary was the real hero (having volunteered of her own free-will) while Sam had required a fire to be built under him (i.e. that he'd had to be pressured into it). The Old Man goes on to tell Sam that following hypnosis treatments, they'd pulled out some useful information from him about where the aliens originate from, namely Titan, one of Saturn's moons.

Later, Sam finds himself looking for Mary to apologise only to be taken with the Old Man outside of the Section. He learns that the President has not yet managed to implement any firm action yet because he had yet to brief Congress, shocking Sam to the core by the fact that even with a crisis as severe as they faced, partisan politics still had their say. Agent Sam finds himself watching his own interrogation with the US Congress though the Congress members present find themselves unable to believe both the President's and Sam's testimony, choosing instead to view the evidence as the work of a skilled actor rather than an agent. Things come to a head when one of the senators begin to give a speech that would lead up to a formal request for the impeachment of the President! However, Mary hurriedly passes a signal to the President who requests Senator Gottlieb to take the central rostrum for his speech. Under the Old Man's direction, Sam tackles him and forcibly strips the Senator, revealing an alien riding on his back. The Old Man takes control, glad that the hearing was a closed hearing with guards and locked doors, ensuring that each and every other senator was clear of the Titan menace. Sam reveals that the result was successful vote for the emergency powers to be given to the President and that thirteen were found with Titans riding them. Although, Sam makes a wry comment about the nature of bureaucracies and their inability to move with any great or immediate speed.

The first part of the human counter to the Titans amongst them is the implementation of Schedule Bareback, a nationwide initiative to require every citizen to go about with their backs bare. A broadcast is hurriedly prepared that would demonstrate Congress and the President adopting the very same scheme they were proposing. However, they discover that Congress had decided not to follow through and halt the broadcast, hurrying over with the President in tow. The President himself makes a point of standing before Congress and stripping himself before announcing he is clearly free of the Titan influence, before denouncing the Congressmen, demanding to know if any of them were working for them. Senator Gottlieb stands up and follows the President's example before drawing a gun on the crowd, demanding that they follow suit, because he had experienced being ridden by the Titan and he would be damned if he'd allow one of those parasites to live amongst them. The broadcast resumes with Congress' first 'bareback' session.

To Sam's surprise though, Schedule Bareback fails to clean up the country in one fell swoop, instead the situation continues without much change. Sam comes to realise that this is because the infected regions were simply not broadcasting the President's warnings about the Titans living amongst them. Flights over Iowa are cancelled despite the Governor of Iowa's broadcasted assurance that they had complied with the order. In an assembled meeting with the Old Man, President and the Supreme Chief of Staff, the Old Man points out that the Titans had won this round because they'd been able to out think them. The Governor of Iowa, who stripped himself on a public broadcast had cut off the footage in the act of removing his clothes and cut to a bareback. He also challenges the authenticity of footage of bareback civilians walking about Des Moines, arguing it was possible that they were simply re-broadcasting another city's 'Main Street' seeing as most Main Streets in America were homogeneous. Eager to prove the Old Man wrong, the Supreme Chief of Staff, Air Marshal Rexton opens a video-communication with a military base operating within Iowa and is greeted with the sight of a bareback man. However, when asked to turn around for the camera, the soldier in question fails to display his upper back on screen correctly before they lose the signal being told rather brusquely that there had been some 'technical difficulties.' Air Marshal Rexton confirms the next day, having worked through the night, that all of the military sites within the occupied zones were suffering the very same technical difficulties.

Sam finds Mary and apologises to her, though Mary tells Sam that he need not worry, she understood entirely. She gives him a gentle tap, telling him he was forgiven for his slap, before she punches him hard, that one for Doris' slap. After the too make up, Sam decides he can take advantage of the current meeting they had been excluded from to rush out and get himself married to Mary, who has admitted her love for him (his already having been known). However, Mary tells him it would be better to wait until the Titan issue was resolved and Sam grudgingly accepts. They are met by the Old Man who tells them that the next phase would start soon, Schedule Counter Blast. Schedule Counter Blast is a plan to raid every single news station, broadcast tower and newspaper office inside Zone Red (the occupied zone) and set to start that very night. The Old Man is unsettled and directs Sam to infiltrate Kansas City and return before Schedule Counter Blast began, his worries growing on the fact that there had been no change at all within Zone Red since Schedule Bareback had begun.

Sam makes use of an aircar to race his way towards Zone Red, through Zone Yellow (where there had been some sightings of Titans but not many). Turning on the stereo as he drove, he became aware that none of the Zone Red programmes had complied with Schedule Bareback at all. In order to avoid attracting too much attention, he decides to ground his aircar and drive into Kansas City. At a toll gate, Sam is asked to leave his vehicle for a safety test, to check his reflexes and reactions as the guards take him towards a small building beside the road. It becomes clear to Sam that this was just another way for the Titans to continue recruiting people. A doctor would request Sam to look through an eye-testing device and while he was busy looking, they would attach the Titan to him. Using some subterfuge, Sam approaches the doctors and grabs the Titans on their backs, squeezing them, resulting in the deaths of the aliens and the spasm-filled collapse of the two doctors. He then proceeds to destroy all of the Titans that were kept in stasis awaiting a host, slips the eye-tester's dust cover under his jacket and makes his way out of the building. From there, he gets waved on by a cop and drives on into Kansas City, pressing a button to switch the number plates on the Section-modified aircar.

As he drives through Kansas City he notices that despite the hot weather, the vast majority of people are not choosing to go bareback, something that alarms him as he comes to realise that around 90% of the population must logically be possessed by the Titans. He is unsure how that could be possible though, as they were aware of one flying saucer landing near Kansas City, but to recruit the entire city would require far more parasites than one saucer was capable of delivering. His suspicions are verified when he spots a closed swimming pool. For a swimming pool to outright close in summer was one thing, but for that swimming pool to declare they were closed for the season was another. Sam reasons that this must be because the city is almost entirely owned by the parasites and that they would therefore close the pools (because swimwear is by its nature more revealing) to prevent the few remaining humans from becoming suspicious of the rest of the city's Titan-ridden people. Sam is all too aware though that he had nothing in the way of concrete evidence and decides to continue his scouting of the city until he is stopped by a policeman and asked for his licence. Using the same 'grabbing technique' as earlier, he quickly disables the policeman and speeds off. Slowing down in a suburb he attempts to take a Titan captive by stopping near a man walking on the street and telling him he needed to discuss with him immediately, that he'd come straight from City Hall and needed to have a direct conference (the Titan terminology for communication between each other when two of the Titans are touched together). The man instead backs away and Sam lunges for him, aiming to grab the Titan riding him, only to have his fingers close on human flesh. He quickly escapes the scene before trying to find another person to kidnap. He strikes success the second time and is invited into the man's home to have the direct conference, though as he enters he is attacked from behind. Once more, Sam fights his way out but this time, he drags the limp man into his car (though he had already killed the man's master).

He makes his escape by driving away from the scene, activating the launching units in the aircar to get airborne and making speed for Zone Green. His reckless use of the aircar's launching units turns out to be his saviour as the car rocks from an impact delivered by an 'interceptor' (presumed to be some form of anti-air weaponry). Sam discovers that the impact had damaged one of the impellers on his aircar, preventing him from getting to Washington in time to report before Schedule Counter Blast.

Schedule Counter Blast is a disaster. As Sam indicates with a brief mention of the National Zoological Gardens, it is apparent that the Titans have a method of reproducing and very rapidly. If the Old Man had been alerted of this, the Schedule might have been cancelled and disaster averted. Twenty five minutes after Schedule Counter Blast had begun, reports stream in that location after location had been captured and secured. By the next morning it became apparent that not a single location had actually been secured, instead, the reports sent back by their soldiers had been directed by the Titans riding them. Later, Sam is sent by the Old Man to meet Dr. Vargas and Dr. McIlvaine and is subjected to a discussion between the two about the nature of the Titans and their respective biology. A live test featuring two parasite-bearing apes and a single free ape reveals the truth. The Titans are capable of cellular division when they reproduce and by doing so are able to infect other victims, and in a meeting with the Old Man, the two of them become unsure if the Titans need to attach themselves to a human back. If not, then Schedule Bareback was not enough of a countermeasure and the American people might find themselves asked to go naked which would be a difficult measure with the winter approaching. In response to his failure to obtain information from Kansas City in a timely manner, the Old Man puts Sam on sick leave.

On sick leave, Sam discovers that Mary is also on leave. She invites him over to her apartment for a drink but Sam instead begs to take her to be married. She gives in eventually, and the two head over to the City Hall to get themselves married. In this setting, marriages appear to be very unusual, no major ceremony is required for example, it is simply a matter of registering with the City Hall and deciding whether they want a renewable contractual marriage or not. Sam and Mary decide on a lifetime marriage without any contractual or renewal terms. Sam takes Mary to a cabin in the Adirondacks Mountains, away from the city, the Titans and the Section. Mary meets the Pirate, a large cat that belongs to Sam (or perhaps it is Sam that belongs to the Pirate), who is taken care of by an 'Old John' while Sam is away. He discovers that it was largely thanks to Mary that he had been rescued when he'd been ridden by the Titan and Mary tells him that her 'original' name was Allucquere (much like Sam's name, given to him by the Old Man had been Elihu). The name tells Sam that Mary must have been a descendant from the Whitmanite cult, a cult that had failed to prosper on Earth proper and moved to Venus.

As their week reaches a close, Sam manages to convince Mary to take some 'tempus fugit' (lit: time flies), a drug that decreases the passage of individual's subjective time (therefore turning a single hour into many). He finds out rather quickly though that the happiness brought on by being with Mary is dulled by the euphoria that the drug induces, causing him to rather regret suggesting they take the drug.  Mary accidentally scares the Pirate away and decides to go out of the cabin to find him after the drug had worn off. However, to Sam's shock she returns being ridden by a Titan. His attempt to grab and crush the Titan that had worked before meets failure this time, the Titans seem to have developed a hard, leathery coating to prevent such a thing happening to them. He manages to force the Titan off Mary by holding her over the coals of the fire in the cabin but as he starts to see to Mary, the Pirate ends up touching the alien and being ridden. Sam catches the Pirate and this time ensures that the Titan is burnt to death before finally tending to the Pirate. His cat dies from the wounds, though Mary manages to pull through while Sam himself has badly burnt hands.

The next morning, Mary thanks him for saving her but tells him they ought to leave the cabin and discover what had been happening while they had spent the week away. They could clearly not expect to be able to ignore the Titan issue anymore. Following up on something Dr. McIlvaine had told him, he explains to Mary that the Titans may possibly be a single organism, that the 'direct conferences' were a method of ensuring that the data the Titans had was synchronised with each other. Sam points out that this meant Mary ought not to return to her apartment in the city, it was too likely to be booby-trapped. As they enter town though, they discover that things have changed greatly since they left. They discover that Schedule Bareback had been replaced by Schedule Sun Tan when they are stopped by two cops, identified by badges attached to belts, wearing nothing more than briefs. Mary and Sam are ordered to strip down to the skin as the cops explain that they could wear fur coats for all they cared, but they wouldn't get arrested for indecent exposure, they'd be killed by the Vigilantes. Sam explains the events of the night to the cops after they are cleared and to his dismay the cops explain that they had known about dogs and even horses, but cats was a new phenomenon. One of the cops remarks that he had a cat at home, but now he'd have to deal with it which his kids would find hard.

Sam's suspicions that the Titans didn't need to be located on the upper back of a human had been proven correct while he and Mary were away on their honeymoon at the cabin. However, this information had not been shared with the general public which had nearly resulted in mankind's loss against the Titans. In the Eastern US, within Zone Green, there were fake air-raid alerts put out to which the populace responded to, shuffling to shelters. Apparently, Titans were hidden inside the air-raid shelters and after the lights inside the shelters failed, the ridden humans began to spread the Titans amongst those trapped within. The air-raid wardens were the first people to organise the vigilante movements and so, by the time Sam has returned to the Section with Mary, they discover that the Vigilantes shoot first and ask questions later if they spot any unexplained lumps on an individual. As a result of the changes in the Titan's methods of infiltrating Zone Green, dogs were hardly ever seen (and usually shot by the Vigilantes) while no citizen dared travel alone at night. He is able to see from Zone Red's broadcasts that the Titans seem to be thriving, while Zone Green is being steadily infiltrated, piece by piece. Sam is also horrified at the revelation of individual humans who were happy to serve the Titans even without being ridden by them. Sam's catching up tells him that the United Nations had voted to provide 'whatever support might be requested', though the US itself was unsure exactly what they could call for that would help their situation as the ridden victims were essentially hostages rather than an 'enemy' to be defeated militarily.

The next day, Sam finds himself in a meeting with the Old Man, discussing the viability of infiltrating Zone Red, though Sam expresses his doubts at success. The Old Man admits that he had sent in four agents already, all of whom had failed to report back. He then goes on to outline a potential plan to send Sam behind the Curtain (as in the "Iron Curtain" i.e. the USSR). It is either that or attempting to infiltrate Zone Red, and both Sam and the Old Man are certain that that option will meet further failure. He takes a course of hypnosis to refresh his knowledge of Russian and the Party Line while being told that his mission is to ascertain whether the USSR had been infested by the Titans like America was as the secrecy inherent in the USSR's system was prime material for the Titans to spread effortlessly in. Sam never gets the opportunity to enter the USSR though thanks to the landing of the Pass Christian saucer. A UFO that had landed near Pass Christian, Mississippi had been spotted by a submersible cruiser who immediately reported it and then sent a dispatch indicating that he had chosen to send a landing force to secure the saucer. The Old Man immediately scraps his prior plan and takes Sam and Mary with him to the saucer.

They arrive at the saucer, passing through a warzone in order to do so, where they spot the airlock that leads into the UFO's interior blocked by an amphibious tank, the vehicle's hull caught between the doors. Sam, Mary and the Old Man reach the mobile command centre where they are warned about coral snakes, a subtle reminder of the problems faced by Schedule Sun Tan. As they talk with the field commander, they are attacked by a tiger, though the four of them manage to kill it before the beast could close with them. The field commander explains that the first transports from the Titan lines had carried a 'regular Noah's ark' of ridden animals. They continue on into the saucer though and discover the first 'Titanian', here Sam is referring to the native humanoid species from Titan that the alien parasites had been riding, though the Titanian is dead, the Earth atmosphere being incompatible with its physiology. Within the saucer proper, they discover human being floating in tanks. The sight causes Mary to suffer a traumatic flashback and it becomes apparent that this was precisely why the Old Man had brought her to the saucer, questioning her to think back on her past, to remember those events that had traumatised her so.

At the Section, Sam, the Old Man and a Colonel Kelly discuss the merits of using a biological weapon against the Titans, though from the research that has been performed already, it is clear that any lethal virus that would kill the Titans would also kill the hosts. After the meeting with Colonel Kelly, Sam asks how Mary is doing, to which the Old Man replies that she is recuperating from the hypnosis treatment she was receiving as part of the Old Man's information gathering. From this conversation, Sam impresses the Old Man when he tells him that he had figured out that Mary had been part of the Whitmanite Cult, but the Old Man explained that she had been a child when the Whitmanites had left Antarctica in 1974. This should have put her age at around forty years old points out Sam (giving us the first clue that the date is somewhere past the year 2010). The Old Man replies that she'd spent ten or more years floating in an animation tank like those they'd found on the flying saucer at Pass Christian.

Mary was found in Kaiserville on Venus, as a child, some two hundred miles from the original landing site chosen by the Whitmanite Cult. From Mary's memories, the Old Man learns that the Titans had found the Whitmanite settlement in the 1980s. The Titans were not presumed to have been hunting for human beings on Venus but rather scouting Venus (as they had scouted Earth). When the Titans came, Mary saw her loved ones and fellows turned into uncaring slaves for the Titans, though she herself was not ridden. It is presumed that this is because she had not been considered worth bothering with at such a young age. There are many gaps in her memory due to her period within the animation tanks, however, of great interest to the Old Man was the fact that she had been removed from suspended animation (and undoubtedly infested with a Titan), yet Mary had managed to outlive the alien that had possessed her. Somehow, the Titans had failed to conquer Venus and somewhere in Mary's memories they believed the answer to their problems on Earth was hiding.

It is clear to the Section that the Titans had contracted a Venerian (Heinlein's term for 'native to Venus') disease but there were problems inherent with a Venerian solution. Firstly, there are a large number of diseases that could be contracted on Venus and secondly, the cultures maintained on Earth were nothing like the total amount and it would probably take around one hundred years that mankind didn't have available to explore and research Venus entirely, especially as Sam notes that winter is coming, which would jeopardise Schedule Sun Tan. In addition to the coming winter, the Section receives another reminder that time is not on their side in the form of the news reports coming out of the USSR. A continent-wide epidemic of the Black Death had broken out in Asia, informing Sam that the Titans had managed to infest the USSR, because having been ridden himself, he was aware that the Titans had never bothered to practice any form of hygiene at all. The collapse of the USSR to the Black Death is a warning to Zone Green what may be about to befall the possessed citizens in Zone Red.

Sam decides to attend Mary's hypnosis sessions despite the Old Man's disagreement. He overrides the Old Man before Mary and Sam watch the tapes of her memories as lifted from the various sessions. To everyone's surprise, Mary reveals that they hadn't needed to probe her for answers in this manner, that she had always known the disease that had afflicted her and killed the Titan, something she refers to as "Nine-day fever." This news is greeted with despair from the attendant doctors as Nine-day fever was a Venerian disease that carried a 98% mortality rate in those infected. Later, the Old Man meets with Sam and tells him that he is going to step down as head of the Section. The Old Man feels that Sam had bucked his judgement call and that he had been justified in doing so when they obtained the answer they'd been searching for, but the Old Man has taken this as a sign that he is no longer fit to lead the Section.

Nevertheless, a plan is put forward the utilise the Nine-day fever against the Titans, something that was decided as viable thanks to the documentation of the "Nivens vector" (a result of a discussion between Sam and Dr. Hazelhurst). The name is chosen to reflect credit to Sam who had helped Dr. Hazelhurst consider the use of the Titan 'direct conference' to pass on the Nine-day fever. Sam develops Schedule Fever, a plan to release animals ridden by Titans into Zone Red that had been infected with the fever and then to follow up with antidote treatments before the nine-day fever had run its course on the surviving human population (as Mary's memories had confirmed that the Titans had succumbed to the fever faster than she had). Testing at the National Zoo on Titan controlled apes proves that Schedule Fever is a viable tactic to deal with the Titans. Sam's pride is damaged after he talks with Colonel Kelly as Kelly points out that Schedule Sun Tan would not disappear once the Titans in America were defeated. It would be an aspect that would have to be lived with because mankind could never truly be sure that the Titans were totally wiped out, there were too many places on Earth for Titans to hide, especially with their ability to ride animals. Kelly's point is that, the world would have to remain under constant vigilance even after their victory, and that even after victory, things could not and would not go back to the way things were.

The next chapter jumps ahead to Schedule Fever, where Sam himself is present on the frontlines as he storms his assigned building and begins injecting those he can find with the antidote. Not everyone can be saved though, as evidenced by a man he finds with his wrists cut in a bathtub. Sam discovers that the man had killed his wife (indicating that his wife had not been infected at the same time as he had been). As he is helping the man's daughter he receives a call for help from his father (the Old Man). He decides to help the daughter first before racing to the park where his father had been situated. His father prompts him to hurry one more time before Sam manages to find him sitting in a Section-modified aircar. As Sam ducks to enter the car the Old Man knocks him out. Sam comes to in the aircar, tied up. His father is directing the car towards the south, revealing that he must have found the only healthy Titan left in Jefferson City. He plans to head towards Yucatan, outside the US to hole up and help his master recover from this most recent setback. As the car settles at altitude Sam spots his father suddenly growing still as the Titan on his back begins to divide. Taking advantage of his father's immobility during the process, he uses his feet to kick the car into a dive, the resulting g-force crushing the Titan between the chair and his father's body. However, the car is locked in a dive, the controls jammed. The two of them manage to survive the crash, though Sam passes out shortly after his father thanks him for rescuing him.

The last chapter is something of an epilogue, jumping ahead who knows how far as Sam indicates that he has joined the U.N.S Avenger, a starship that would undertake a twelve year journey to Saturn. He is travelling with Mary, having said goodbye to his father, for it is time for mankind to take revenge on the Titans. 'Puppet Masters - the free men are coming to kill you!'

Food for thought:

It is important to remember that this book is a product of the late 1940s, printed in 1951. Much of its content derives from events surrounding this period and the book itself is a reflection of the taste of the period. The concept of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) and their classical 'saucer' shape is a dated one. Today, the flying saucer is usually seen as a sign of parody rather than a 'serious' take on science fiction. However, during the late 1940s, UFOs were a new, exciting and popular topic. From the crash of an Air Force surveillance balloon in 1947 at Roswell, New Mexico, to the 1948 hoax at Aztec, New Mexico and from stories of 'foo fighters' by pilots who served in the Second World War, the American populace was hyped, primed and entranced at the ideas of visitors from outer space. The Puppet Masters is simply a play on those fears and wild speculations by presenting a tale that not only has a genuine UFO crash but also a sinister reason for the 'coverups' that occur shortly afterwards.

The 'enemy' is a mix of the two enemy ideologies that the American populace of the time could easily identify with (though leaning heavily left). The first being the spectre of fascism, that enemy only officially overthrown in 1945, six years before. The jackboot marching and blind obedience that the concept of fascism invokes (or ultra nationalism as it is known today) is conjured in the effortless control that the Titans (the aliens) have over their victims while the sense of secrecy and the fact that the Titans are, in fact, one connected organism creates the spectre of Communism, a unified society that seeks the improvement of the human race and the ushering in of an 'utopia', although it is an utopia that benefits the Titans first and foremost.

In some senses, this book is a play on the differences between autocracies and democracies. It makes a play on the power that control of information can have, something that was quite well known at the time. Our conception of the world around us is entirely derived on what we can find out about it. This is the story of democratic society defeating autocratic, of people who question defeating a people who don't (or in this case, can't).

On the topic of the power of control of information; for example, everyone knows that the Earth orbits the sun. Why? Because we have been informed that this is factually correct. As an individual, I have never been into space (so I've never been able to directly observe the Moon's orbit, which would prove that smaller objects orbit larger ones) and I've never touched a telescope (which would allow me to view the phases of Venus or Jupiter's four biggest moons). Effectively, this means that I have chosen to take the fact that the Earth orbits the Sun on faith, I can't really claim to know 'better' just because my view is shared by the rest of the world. The very nature of the Titans is part of that play on the power of information. Had mankind understood the threat that was arrayed against them when that UFO first landed in Iowa the war would have been a short one. Instead, the Titans manage to extend themselves not by outright dominion but by careful selection, starting with the channels of communication, the broadcast networks, then moving on to local administration, such as the police force and politicians.

The Puppet Masters makes the point throughout the book of the folly of simply accepting what we're told by the media. Heinlein was sounding a warning in 1951 of the dangers inherent in a system that controls information (such as for example... the only other major economic and military competitor after the 2nd World War; the USSR). In today's society, there's a large amount of scepticism and cynicism. We're used to the idea that the media has a slant. However, unless direct evidence reaches us, we're inclined to believe whatever the majority believes (usually the majority belief is factually correct, but not always). Remember the adage: "Knowledge is power." This is the main theme throughout the novel!

There is a subtle take at the reactionary power of a democratic government. When the Section discovers the threat of Titans, the President fails to act immediately on it, choosing to try to pick the most politically advantageous time to reveal this information. An autocratic society would have acted faster and more decisively, but democratic societies are not designed in any way or form to be 'efficient' (in a ruthless sense), they are instead designed to counter the power given to the elected officials. A system of checks and balances exist to ensure that the leader of a democratic society cannot choose to act autocratically.

There's also the whole 'public nudity' take. Schedule Bareback and Sun Tan are not very shocking in today's society. Sure, most people aren't comfortable with dropping their trousers in the middle of a street, but intellectually, we know about nudist colonies and beaches, we know that there are some people who do actually do that. It's not such a great shock. However, in the 1950s, Schedule Bareback and Schedule Sun Tan would have come across as big shocks. Naturally, there is a small point made about what we are willing to sacrifice for the promise of greater security. Initially, Sam notes that quite a few places in Zone Green expressed confusion and uncertainty about the need for Schedule Bareback, but as the Titans go from being an incorporeal fear to an actual, living, breathing fear (sometime after the air-raid shelter incidents) then the majority of resistance to Schedule Sun Tan disappears. It is a fact in life that citizens will happily give up their rights if they are convinced that the security offered will counter their fears.

All in all, the Puppet Masters is a great tale. An enjoyable story despite its quirks, though there are a few. Many of these quirks are just a reflection of the times in which the book was written. There's a very clear anti-Soviet tone throughout the book, but this should not be so surprising. America was under threat by the growing strength of Communism (and in the 1950s it certainly was growing). From the American perspective, alot of the world was arrayed against them by the late 1940s. Russia had spread Communism to Eastern Europe while Western Europe was struggling to rebuild. In 1949, Chiang Kai Shek's fascist government (supported by American equipment and funds) was forced to flee to Taiwan by the Chinese Communist Party, never to return and in 1950, the wealthy, industrialised and Communist North Korea declared war on the poorer, more agriculturally based South (with huge initial successes). At the time of the publication of The Puppet Masters, Communism was in the ascendancy. In addition to these external political factors, internally, America was still gripped by Senator McCarthy's 'Red Scare.' As such, the Titans in the book are a clear 'enemy' that any American reader of the time could immediately identify with and reject as evil.

There's nothing wrong with this. British novels (for example) tend to use the Nazis for inspiration when it comes to finding some big, evil entity for a novel (look at Harry Potter and Voldemort's SS Death's Heads sorry, Death Eaters, complete with skull motif, black robes and questionable ethics regarding the purity of the master wizard race). What is wrong is the idea that the world is so black and white. There's them and us. There's the USSR in the book that dropped atom bombs on America, and US (the United States). There's the United Nations not really doing much to help and US. Black and White or Blue and Red, your choice. That in itself I felt was a disappointing aspect of the book, the fact that the villains lacked any real complexity. There wasn't even a suggestion of survival there, the only interview with the Titans had boiled down to 'we do it because we like it.' If the Titans really do steal culture as much as they steal bodies, why then did the Titans fail to develop anything mentally more challenging than spreading themselves? Culture is more than just a single boxing match. Yes, Sam questions on numerous occasions whether the Titans were actually sentient or just had an animal level of instincts, but when he himself is possessed by them we can see that the Titans are using his intellect and training to their benefit. Human beings are complex creatures, and Sam himself is able to develop complex plans to benefit his master. It is almost disappointing that the Titans never then develop a successful or complex strategy against Zone Green beyond endless attempts to infiltrate the zone.

The other quirk is the language. It is an understandable issues, but is still jars from time to time. Slang is a good way to reach your contemporary audience, as they will understand the terms you use and identify (empathise) better because they themselves use those very terms. However, once the language changes (and language always does evolve), it remains within the text awkwardly, no longer able to create a common bond of empathy and instead invokes confusion. As mentioned at the top, I spent the initial chapters assuming that Sam was armed with a laser on the assumption that 'heater' and 'burn' were words that would apply to a weapon of that sort. However, the Internet has kindly informed me that burn and heater are slang for shooting and pistols respectively.

One last quirk is Mary. Mary is portrayed initially as a strong, fierce woman. Note I didn't say she was independent. Yes, modern feminism and concepts of gender equality were still being developed in the 1950s, but nonetheless Mary comes across as an innately depressing character. Here is the female lead to Sam's male lead. She's tough, a competent agent, but cannot for the life of her think for herself. With only one or two exceptions she ends up just being an echoing device for Sam's wishes and desires, most notably around their marriage.

That one final issue I had was the ending. Robert A. Heinlein pulls a 'Deus Ex Machina' in the form of a very convenient biological solution to the Titans. It's not a big deal, since Heinlein usually writes quite optimistic tales (even a book with a premise such as The Puppet Masters ended on a cheerful note). Earth was in the clear, though the planet must remain vigilant as mankind takes to the stars to exact some rather old fashioned revenge. However, despite all that, I reiterate that I enjoyed the story. It's a nice insight into the thinking of the 1950s, the language is hard to understand at times when the slang appears but it doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the story.

Book Review: Parasite by Mira Grant - 4thwallfly

Welcome to the Fly on the 4th Wall. This week I'll be reviewing an interesting book that came my way. Hypochondriacs be warned, this is a science fiction thriller with alot of medicine!
Well, sort of science fiction, there may not be much cosmos involved, but there's certainly science gone wild in this review of:
Parasite by Mira Grant

Cover art copyright of Orbit

This is written by Seanan McGuire under the pen name 'Mira Grant.' It is a science fiction thriller that doesn't disappoint, featuring some of those lovely things we've come to fear in the modern age: Medical science gone wild and unethical corporations. Parasite is the first of a two part series called Parasitology. The second book is called Symbiont.
If you feel a worm of doubt about this, don't worry, that's just the parasite settling.

'YOUR HEALTH IS IMPORTANT.
CHOOSE SYMBOGEN

'Every so often, some conspiracy nut starts in with "what they aren't telling you" and "the things they don't want you to know", and you know what? Not one has produced verifiable scientific evidence that the Intestinal Bodyguard™ is harmful in humans' - Dr Steven Banks, co-founder of SymboGen

A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of disease. We owe our good health to a humble parasite. The Intestinal Bodyguard™ protects us from illness, boosts our immune system - even secretes designer drugs. Now, almost everyone has a SymboGen parasite living within them.

But these creatures are getting restless. They want their own lives - and will do anything to get them.' - Parasite, Mira Grant [2013]

This is a lovely book filled with brief interludes of transcripts from various doctors and starting with Doctor Shanti Cale, the fictional character behind the creation of Diphyllobothrium symbogenesis; the tapeworm that became mankind's Intestinal Bodyguard™ and heralded a disease free world. It follows the story of Sally Mitchell, a young woman who had entered a coma during a car crash. Eye witnesses claim Sally had seemed to experience some sort of seizure at the wheel of her car before she pulled out into an oncoming vehicle. The medical experts were convinced Sally was dead and that keeping her body in life support was merely a waste of time because she had suffered 'clinical brain death.' And then Sally woke. Sally's miraculous survival from the car crash was attributed to the Symbogen implant within her, making her an instant celebrity.

However, Sally, a young woman in her twenties, came to with amnesia and doesn't remember any aspect of her prior life at all. Symbogen provided medical healthcare at their expense as she is rehabilitated following her awakening. Her personality as a result is entirely different from the Sally her family used to know as she doesn't have any of her formative years of life, nor her education. She was effectively a blank slate. Symbogen offers the free medical care in return for the opportunity to run tests and for the six years of Sally's life (here meaning her life since she woke up) she's been working with Symbogen's animal shelter.

We see the part of the world through the struggle of Sally as she comes to terms with the world around her and much of her views on the world around her are innocent (in the naive sense). She has to deal with a world almost alien to her. Exposition of the world is also revealed in the form of fictional articles that precede each chapter, giving us a small glimpse into this future. It is effectively a modern world baring the arrival of this genetically engineered Intestinal Bodyguard™ which has revolutionised the health industry.

However, as time goes on, Sally discovers that all is not well. People have begun to develop strange symptoms. Symptoms that the Intestinal Bodyguard™ is failing to stop. Symptoms that Symbogen is working hard to ensure that nobody else hears about. Sally is left in the middle of an unfolding disaster that could mean the end of the human race.


Click below for the full synopsis (click to open/close):

The story starts in 2015, opening with a transcript of Dr. Shanti Cale's successful test of Diphyllobothrium symbogenesis's compatibility with a human host. The excerpt ends with the warning that there were no notes in Dr. Cale's reports about the fate of the human test subject used to culture D. Symbogenesis.

We are then immediately taken to Sally in 2021, her body is failing despite the work of paramedics, doctors, and even life support machines. Her family is being pressed to sign an agreement to allow the hospital to harvest her organs, a move that might save dozens of other lives, but there could be no saving of her life. There was nothing they could save anymore. Sally was gone. And then Sally opened her eyes and sat up. Her organs restarted, her life restored. She couldn't understand anything said to her, nor recognise any of the people gathered around her, but that didn't matter. Sally was alive.

The first chapter opens in 2027, with Sally undergoing psychological treatment with Dr. Morrison. She is getting treatment for her amnesia though Sally dislikes Dr. Morrison intensely. She is also aware that Dr. Morrison is attempting to force her into a mold that fit a psychiatric norm, the better for being able to sell a book about Sally after Symbogen's confidentiality agreements on Sally's life ran out. However, it is here that we first get a view on Sally herself. She prefers to be called 'Sal' as in her mind, Sally is dead. The two persons, Sal and Sally are so completely different that they could not be considered the same anymore. Sal is experiencing constant dreams about a dark, red warmth, sometimes peaceful, sometimes painful. She experiences headaches on a frequent basis. Dr. Morrison wishes to restore Sal's memory and return her to a woman she was not, while Sal wishes to be allowed to continue as she is. Her family was not keen to discuss what Sally had been like in the past, but her sister Joyce revealed when drunk that Sally used to be 'a real bitch.' She hadn't got on well with her father either. Ironically, Sal gets on better with her family despite the fact she has no memories of them.

Even with Symbogen footing the bill after Sal's revival, there were still times when they had nearly lost her during her treatments. On two occasions they had lost her without understanding why, and one another two had discovered that anti-parasitic treatments resulted in nearly losing her as well. With her implanted tapeworm keeping her alive, and with too little information on what the tapeworm had done to revive Sally, Symbogen dropped the anti-parasitic treatments. After escaping the clutches of her psychiatrist, Sal rushes over to the Cause for Paws animal shelter where she was a volunteer worker. She was late though her colleague, Tasha,  assures her that her boss, a man named Will, isn't all that mad. Will arrives on scene and admits he isn't angry at all because Sal had just volunteered to clean out the cat pens. And although, they are all aware of the reality that Symbogen donates healthily to the shelter in return for Sal's continued employment there, they group of them are nonetheless friends.

After Sal is done with her shift for the day, she checks her phone to find a message from her sister, who knew how much she disliked Dr. Morrison and another from Nathan who is waiting outside. Nathan is Sal's boyfriend and also another doctor, specifically a parasitologist at the San Francisco City Hospital . He is also without an implant, and still took regular medicines to deal with his illnesses rather than take a Symbogen Intestinal Bodyguard. He appears as a calm and caring individual who is not unprepared to go that extra mile for Sal (which include allowing Sal to see his insurance statements to prove he had a good driving history). Sal has quite evidently been traumatised by her car crash. Nathan explains over the drive that Sal represented a unique study to Dr Morrison and more importantly, it gives her psychiatrist the motivation to find a way to label Sal as requiring more therapy with him, thereby giving him more access to Sal.

Over dinner, Nathan and Sal discuss her therapy session while waiting for their order. As they talk, Nathan mentions that yesterday morning, Sal hadn't recognised him. She had woken up screaming at her hands and when Nathan had asked what was wrong, she looked at him as if she'd never seen him before and promptly returned to screaming. Nathan attempts to ease the matter slightly by saying that he had been worried the neighbours would call the police, thinking he had been beating her. Nathan admits he told her late because he was aware of her appointment with Dr. Morrison and didn't intend to stress her out before that meeting. This is revealed as the reason Nathan suggested that Sal share her dreams with Dr. Morrison, because it would be better if the cause of that incident had been psychological. If it wasn't, then it could mean something was physically very wrong with Sal. Sal and Nathan finally go back to Nathan's apartment where they spend the night together.

The next day, Sal and Joyce decide to head to the mall. Or to be precise, Joyce ropes her sister into going to the mall as a method of helping relax Sal from the upcoming Symbogen review. This review occurs every six months and is an intensive check up by Symbogen, something Sal finds quite stressful (as would most people subjected to such intensive testing). However, going to the mall simply results in Sal fixating on her upcoming review. Joyce comforts her and discovers from Sal that Sal had also fought with their mother over her right to move out from her parent's house. For most adults this wouldn't be an issue, but during Sal's coma, her parents had been granted conservatorship over her until such time as her doctors declared her fully recovered. Therefore, Sal's upcoming review isn't just a medical issue, but also would be a decision that decided whether Sal was a legally competent adult or not.

Their discussion is interrupted by a scene at the mall. Joyce and Sal spot a six or seven year old girl staggering towards the exit of the mall, dragging her terrified mother along behind her. The girl is slack jawed and blind to her mother's entreaties. As they watch the scene, Joyce spotted another man staggering towards the mall's exit, acting much the same as the little girl. Joyce, who worked in medical research, had never seen symptoms like this before. The girl and man stop beside each other, their hands reaching out to hold each other, before they head for the exit. Stunned people take photographs with their cameras as EMTs (emergency medical transport) arrive on scene, separate the girl and man, strap them to gurneys and wheel them away, leaving the mall goers in a stunned silence.

On the drive back, Joyce is switching through channels trying to hear anything reported about the incident and the mall. The news reports that doctors are being baffled by cases of a sleeping sickness which is causing the victims to enter a trance-like state similar to sleepwalking. They return home, Sal having had a fight with Joyce over her distraction while driving. Joyce races past the family angry that there wasn't anything about it on the televised news before she heads upstairs to check the Internet, leaving Sal with her mom and dad. Her dad is a Colonel in the US Army, a former director of USAMRIID (United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases),and after hearing the story he tells her that perhaps she shouldn't be surprised at Joyce's reaction. The sleeping sickness has occurred often enough that terrorism was being considered as a potential reason. However, this was not public knowledge, and her father implied that Symbogen might even be involved.

The fictional article excerpts that precede the next chapter indicate that the news was reporting the sleeping sickness at the mall as the result of a potential gas leak, resulting in the strange behaviour in a few individuals. The next morning, Sal receives an email from Nathan apologising for his inability to call last night. He had been kept by a sudden surge of patients into the ER at his hospital, a surge bad enough to overwhelm the doctors on duty. Sal is dropped off by Joyce and her father at a flower store to buy Nathan a flower. Nathan however, loves and cares for carnivorous plants, the store's speciality. She goes in to meet and greet Marya, the owner, and her cat Tumbleweeds. Marya mentions that Sal was lucky, Tumbleweeds had been standoffish lately and even hissed at a few people, something unusual for the cat. Sal decides to buy Nathan a King Sundew, not an easy plant to care for, but a delight for anyone who wished to keep carnivorous plants. As they talk, Marya chides Sal for referring to the Sundew as an 'it', pointing out that 'he' or 'she' may be wrong but 'it' took away the Sundew's individuality.

Sal goes to visit Nathan at work who is overwhelmed by digital paperwork. When he manages to clear up some of his work Sal shows him the King Sundew. Nathan is thrilled at the gift and the two of them go out to eat a meal together at an Indian restaurant. Over the meal, Nathan seems distracted, prompting Sal to ask what the issue was. Nathan is reluctant to share it but Sal presses him for the details. Nathan reveals that last night's emergency had been the result of a nine car pile up on the Bay Bridge. One second nothing, the next a 'big rig' (slang for a large truck) was jackknifing across four lanes of traffic. Eleven people were dead before EMTs could get onto the scene. That in itself, despite Sal's issues with driving-related accidents, was not enough for Nathan to have been reluctant to discuss it. Nathan adds that the truck driver that started the incident and bus driver that capped it off were both suffering from the sleeping sickness and that the bus driver hadn't stepped on his brakes, he had stepped on the gas. The doctors are the hospital couldn't clearly identify who was suffering from the sleeping sickness or a coma as a result of the collisions.

That night, Sal and Nathan go for a walk along the beach. As they walk along they spot a man walking his dog, but the black labrador is pulling her feet and looking pretty miserable. Without warning, the man suddenly stops, stock still causing the dog to panic even more so. The dog breaks free and runs for Sal and Nathan. Nathan thinks the dog is about to attack but Sal realises the dog is scared out of her wits and comforts the dog. They look over to the man only to discover he has become infected with the sleeping sickness and is staggering towards them. Quite a few people had gathered to film the man with their phones. They quickly leave the scene, taking Beverly (the dog) with them. Nathan takes Sal and her rescued dog over to the hospital where Keri, one of the receptionists spends time with Sal while Nathan heads off to see if the hospital would need help (on the assumption that one man suffering the sleeping sickness would not be alone). Both Nathan and Sal are slightly in shock over having seen the man so suddenly succumb to the sleeping sickness.

Nathan asks Devi to take Sal home for him so that he can offer his skills to the ER room which was likely to require him. Sal is still terrified at the idea of getting into the car of a person who's driving history she was not aware of, but agrees for Nathan's sake. There's no one at home when she gets in and after letting Beverly roam around the house she falls asleep. By this point in the story, the article excerpts have made it clear that D. Yonagoensis was not a suitable choice for development according to Dr. Shanti Cale, the same one woman who produced D. Symbogenesis and also the same woman who has claimed that D. Symbogenesis had been based on D. Yonagoensis. The next morning, Sal is taken to Symbogen for her review. Sal meets Clave, the handler who dealt with Sal's tests and accompanies her to the various labs. It's here that we are given an insight into Sal's life. She had actually found Symbogen more comforting than her family home, at first anyway and it was only when the rounds of testing had begun that she truly understood what the place she thought of as 'home' wanted from her. Clave and Sherman are the two handlers for Sal during the reviews, though Sal preferred Sherman to Clave, she also preferred Clave to any of their substitutes.

Inside the Symbogen building, Sal is taken to an interview with Dr. Steven Banks, founder and owner of Symbogen. Dr. Steven Banks is also the only remaining doctor of the three who had developed the Intestinal Bodyguard (the other two being Dr. Shanti Cale and Dr. Richard Jablonsky, both of whom the world had not heard from for a long time). Sal doesn't like Dr. Banks, feeling very uncomfortable in his presence. Dr. Banks continues to question Sal about her health and her general well being before turning to the event that she witnessed. The questions then turn to Beverly and how the dog reacted around the man, Nathan and her. Sal rather hotly responded that she'd already been questioned about dog theft by the police and had not in any way whatsoever taken an unwilling dog.  Dr. Banks also offers Sal a position within Symbogen in their animal research division, but Sal has no intention of inserting herself even further into Symbogen. She goes on to meet Sherman who insists on teaching her some British slang before passing her off to Dr. Lo. Sal wakes up a moment later, having fallen asleep during her blood draw, something that Sherman privately warns her is dangerous, a comment that only confuses Sal.

Sal is then taken to the ultrasound chamber, which happens to be her favourite of all the tests performed by Symbogen. Just like her blood test, this is another test that most people find uncomfortable. Ultrasound chambers are claustrophobic environments (one of the few tests that lab techs offer to glue your eyes shut to prevent you from opening them if you panic), yet Sal is able to fall asleep inside it every time. After the test, she is left with Sherman where they discuss Sally and what expectations that had landed Sal with. Sal admits she actually hates Sally because her complete lack of memories means that she sees herself as a fresh and separate person, yet others see her as Sally minus the memories, meaning that they see Sal's whole life as being defined by the accident. Sherman leaves Sal with Clave but not before receiving a hug from Sal surprising Clave. Clave seems rather shocked at it and even backs away from Sal when she teases her about hugging her other handler. 

As they enter the cafeteria, Clave suddenly goes stock still and to Sal's terror, she discovers that Clave has become afflicted by the sleeping sickness and worse she's trapped between Clave and the rest of the room. Symbogen security appear and ask Sal to move away from Clave. However, Sal doesn't quite realise what has happened yet and fails to move only to find herself suddenly being choked by Clave, bringing directly home some of the horror of the sleeping sickness. Sherman rescues Sal from Clave's grip before being accosted by Symbogen security who go on to use batons on Clave, electrifying her. The scene is quite shocking for Sal but Dr. Banks, who had arrived by then, informs her that there was no other way. Before Clave is dragged away, she manages to utter 'Sally' through the pain...

The entire cafeteria floor is taken away, every man and woman present is dragged away by Symbogen security, who maintain a two to one ratio between guards and staff. They are taken to the elevators and brought to a basement floor within the Symbogen facility before a group of people wearing biohazard suits. They inform Sal they have been authorised to sedate her if she refused to cooperate. The Symbogen staff are worried that Clave had not displayed any symptoms before succumbing to the sleeping sickness. Sal can see everyone else being taken for individual screenings and she herself has a UV blacklight run over her body before being declared clear of whatever the biohazard teams are looking for. Told that Sherman hadn't made it either, Sal is let go without her bag, which was also undergoing decontamination and would be returned to her. She is picked up by Nathan and afraid that Symbogen could overhear them explains what had happened to Clave. She worries that she was somehow to blame for Beverly's owner, Clave and Sherman. Nathan helps calm her down though but goes on to demand help from her at the hospital. Nathan takes Sal in to see the current victims of the sleeping sickness they had in the wards. The doctors are aware that there is no cure at the moment but aren't even sure what tests they can run to discover symptoms. Sharing her experiences at Symbogen, they discover that the UV blacklights reveal a system of roots present in the underarms... Nathan announces that this isn't a disease, this is a parasite and wonders why Symbogen is hiding that information. Sal merely wonders what Symbogen will do when they find out they know.

The next morning, Sal is woken by Joyce having slept till nine, about the box that Symbogen had delivered to them. Within the box is Sal's bag and her items faithfully returned to her as well as an entire breakfast meal as apologies from Dr. Banks for the failure to have lunch the previous day. Over breakfast, Sal starts explaining what had happened the previous day, though her family doesn't seem keen to discuss it, except for Joyce who is shocked that Symbogen has a test to discover if people have the sleeping sickness. She is told to be quiet by her father though and the two leave almost immediately after that for the army laboratory, while Sal prepared to go to the animal shelter. She'd been talking about yesterday's events because she felt the need to discuss it, or start screaming. It is as she's getting her bag ready that she realises her notebook was left in the bag and worried about people having read what was written within she flips through it. She finds a note with a telephone number and instructions to call if she wanted to find out more. 

At the shelter, Tasha teases her for the fact that she's arrived early for a change, something Sal almost never does before they both get to work. However, haunted by the message, Sal decides to call the number given to her in her notebook. Thinking ahead, she switches on the shelter's shower to help conceal the noise of her conversation. She ends up talking with a woman who warns her not to trust Symbogen and claims that she's on Sal's side. The mystery woman invites Sal and her boyfriend to come along if she's willing to discover the truth before hanging up, leaving Sal with the curious phrase 'certain lines can't be uncrossed; certain maps will get you lost.' Sal's attempts to call the number again result in the disconnected tone. After finishing work, Sal calls Nathan and asks if she can talk with him. Nathan mistakenly assumes that it was the 'breakup' talk before Sal clears it up. Nathan is shocked when Sal repeats that strange phrase to him stating that it was from an out-of-print children's story that his mother used to read to him. He had never managed to find an existing copy of that book but he decides he will go with Sal to find this person. 

The next chapter opens with a phone call to Nathan from the hospital. Devi, his secretary brought in her wife to the ER. Her wife was suffering the same symptoms as others with the sleeping sickness. Devi had died after Katherine (her wife) suddenly attacked her while being moved into a hospital bed. The medical staff present couldn't deal with her in time. Nathan leaves for the hospital at 3am in the morning while Sal heads home where her father talks to her. Sal explains what had happened to Devi while her father expresses his concerns with Symbogen. He believes that there may be a link between the epidemic and Symbogen but could not act on it because the burden of proof falls on the government to prove that Symbogen was involved. Sal's father explains that not everyone who succumbs to the sleeping sickness turns violent, only a minority, and that the government was not going to announce what they did know about the sleeping sickness because they did not wish to start a panic. Her father leaves to head to the lab leaving Sal alone at home with Beverly. However, after preparing Beverly's food the dog fails to appear. Sal finds Beverly outside in her garden growling and on going outside, Sal finds three victims of the sleeping sickness who approach the house. Sal makes a call to Dr. Banks to report the victims who tells her to sit tight because he was sending a security team. 

The team arrives, restrains the three victims and rescues Sal. However, having entered the premises to ensure that the victims hadn't gained entry they then invite Sal back to Symbogen to talk to Dr. Banks, igniting some worry in Sal. Sal declines and the security team leave but shortly after that a ring on her doorbell precedes the arrival of a small package with a message for Sal (from the same children's story) and a street address. She decides to go with Nathan to the address, telling Nathan in the car about the events that morning. Nathan comforts her that she did the right thing as they make their way to the address. At the address (an abandoned bowling alley) they wait for ten minutes before a short woman named Tansy meets them. Tansy refuses to let them in unless they can answer the password, and when asked what would happen if they didn't have the password, Tansy begins to talk about where the most nerves in the body are located. Nathan hurriedly gives quotes the children's book though it has become swiftly apparent that Tansy is a few pebbles short of a beach. She delightfully greets them and tells them she'll take them to see Doctor C. The interior of the building contains a high tech medical laboratory that is clearly operating illegally and at the centre of this facility they meet Doctor C, an older woman in a wheelchair. It is here that Nathan greets the woman as his mother.

Doctor C reveals that her name used to be Surrey Kim but after faking her own death she joined the Symbogen research team under the name Dr. Shanti Cale. She goes on to explain how Dr. Steven Banks had convinced her to join the Symbogen research team. The official history states that Dr. Banks started with D. Yonagoensis (a species of tapeworm that parasitizes fish), however, Dr. Cale revealed that Dr. Banks started with Taenia solium, the pork tapeworm, and that it was she who began using D. Yonagoensis. She adds that the reason she was in a wheelchair now was because she knew that when Symbogen became vastly wealthy the original team would be in danger because they knew too much. As insurance she ingested one of her early prototype Instestinal Bodyguards (that she called her 'Adam') which she kept alive long enough to be able to extract segments for research but by then it was too late. The early prototypes had too much human DNA in and the amount of anti-parasitics needed to deal with the tapeworm would be fatal for the host too. Dr. Cale had gone through a course of anti-parasitics and passed enough tapeworm segments to think the parasite was dead but what was left of the tapeworm had migrated from her intestines to her abdomen and begun curling around her spine eventually creating enough pressure to permanently compromise the nerves. Dr. Cale returned to the topic of the sleeping sickness by introducing Tansy and a young man called Adam. Sal voices what she thought, that the young man was Dr. Cale's tapeworm and is congratulated by Dr. Cale for realising this.

Nathan believes that her mother had gone delusional over her long period of hiding, causing Dr. Cale to lose her temper with her son. Adam was derived from a cloned tapeworm and wasn't the original tapeworm. Adam's body was originally that of a brain-dead young man who had been on life-support for six years and was bought from the parents. The body had never been fitted with a Symbogen implant and was guaranteed brain-dead, two important factors. Dr. Cale informs Nathan that she had then implanted her cloned tapeworm into the body through the back of the skull and introduced it to the brain directly in order to prove one of her theories and, six months later, Adam woke up. Adam had been alive since that period for only a year and a half. Sal has begun panicking but Dr. Cale tells her not to worry, she had an implant before her accident and that the D. Symbogenesis was too territorial to accept another parasite. Dr. Cale goes on to mention her second experiment, namely determining whether D. Symbogenesis could be introduced to the human brain like Adam had been. The result was Tansy, however, D. Symbogenesis was not as capable when it came to meshing with the human brain giving rise to numerous neurological issues. Dr. Cale finishes by telling Sal and Nathan that this was the reality behind the sleeping sickness. To Nathan's horror, Dr. Cale explains that no real tapeworm carrying human DNA would have what it took to mesh with the human body so flawlessly and goes on to describe how the D. Symbogenesis contained DNA from Toxoplasma gondii.

Outside of fiction Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that reproduces in felines but can infect humans as well and is able to alter the behaviour of rats in ways thought to increase their chance of being preyed upon by cats. There is also some research that suggests Toxoplasma gondii can affect subtle behavioural or personality changes in humans and infection by this parasite has been associated with a number of neurological disorders, most notably schizophrenia. The classic stereotype of 'the crazy cat lady' is thought to have some relation to human infection by Toxoplasma gondii through the owned cats. 

Dr. Cale's final observation to Nathan and Sal is that there is no such thing as the sleeping sickness. It is a convenient label for a situation that most people didn't understand. The Intestinal Bodyguard is a parasite that is able to reproduce aesexually, knows how to spread through muscle tissue without killing its host and most importantly, thanks to the splice of Toxoplasma gondii, knows how to move into the brain. The sleeping sickness is actually the result of the Instestinal Bodyguard migrating from the intestines to the brain which causes serious trauma resulting in seizures, loss of motor control and the fugue-like state. Dr. Cale apologises to Sal and tells her that there is no cure. The sleeping sickness means the tapeworm is already present in the brain and that all they could hope for was that eventually someone else would wake up in that body. Sal faints.

She comes to face to face with Tansy and ends up trying to start a conversation with her, only to be told that Tansy already knew everything there was to know about Sal because she had been spying on her and that there was no point in Tansy talking because she was liable to say things she wasn't meant to and would then have to put Sal six feet under. Sal is uncomfortable in the presence of Tansy and Adam but eventually she is taken to Dr. Cale who is still talking with Nathan. Her son remains upset at Dr. Cale for leaving their family and is surprised when Dr. Cale shows him the storybook she used to read him as a child. She had taken it from their house and kept it as a reminder and gives it to Nathan. As Nathan and Sal decide to head back, Tansy dashes into the lab from outside where she'd been sledding with a police scanner to tell them that an outbreak of the sleeping sickness had occurred in Lafayette. 

Nathan and Sal head home in their car only to find themselves caught in traffic. While stuck in place, Sal asks what Dr. Cale had said of her after she had fainted and Nathan responds that she had mentioned that Symbogen needed Sal to show the good side of implants. A sleepwalker appears out of the woods trailed by a group of others that descend upon the cars. Sal spots a woman being dragged by her hair towards the woods by a sleepwalker as panic ensues. Sal and Nathan are trapped in their car by a single sleepwalker that has walked up to the car and begun to hit the glass. As others are dragged away from their vehicles by the sleepwalkers, Nathan and Sal expect the worst. They are saved at the last minute by a shot that drops the sleepwalker. Tansy has arrived, gun in hand, something that doesn't really comfort either of them despite the rescue. Tansy reveals that there had been a tracker in the book they had taken with them. She adds that the book was helping jam the bugs that Symbogen had planted before heading off into the woods, leaving Nathan and Sal. 

During the entire time that Sal had been away from her home, her parents had been in a state of panic. Sal wasn't around with only a note on the refrigerator about the events of that morning, their home number had six increasingly anxious requests from Symbogen security for Sal to contact their office and to top it off, they were called by the Lafayette Police Department. Her father dismisses Nathan and takes Sal into the house where he and her mother tell Sal she is grounded, pointing out that as her legal guardians they could impose the rule without issue despite Sal's age. 

The next morning, Sal wakes to find herself a prisoner in her own home. The new security system installed after the incident requires the users to wear an electronic tag to leave the house and everyone (including Beverly) but her has a tag. Worse, the security system extends to the home wifi and television channels leaving Sal ignorant of the outside world being unable to access the news or Internet. After six days of this, her father suddenly confronts Sal with the children's book from Dr. Cale, asking if this was the source of the signal interference in the house. Her father reveals that he had found Symbogen bugs in the house as a result of the security team's entry and that he hadn't wanted Sal to say anything until he had found the bugs, the best way he could do so was to appear unreasonably angry. Sal, angry at her treatment, tells her father that she would be moving out, even if she had to go to court with her parents. Her father explains that he and her mother had reacted so badly because this was not the first occurrence of sleepwalkers accosting people in their homes and that somehow the sleepwalkers were able to spread the infection. Her father goes on to say that the government is certain Symbogen was covering up news of the sleepwalker incidents and hiding something. What exactly, her father didn't know and Sal doesn't feel like sharing. However, her father recalled Sal's mentioning that Symbogen had a screening test for the sleeping sickness, something the USAMRIID hadn't developed yet. 

Sal demands to be taken to her father's lab to show the screening test where she discovers Joyce had been staying (in protest to her parent's decision regarding Sal's treatment). The USAMRIID laboratory features a L4 Biosafety level lab (there are four levels of biosafety in the real world, four is the highest and most secure). Her father takes her inside and explains to her that he feels that Sal is not being entirely open with her regarding what she knew about the sleeping sickness. He threatens her with the possibility of being arrested for treason. As they go on to meet Joyce and detail what she would need to display the test (simply a UV wand) her father suddenly goes quiet. What follows is a cruel trick on Sal as her father fakes being afflicted by the sleeping sickness to see how her daughter would react, but her father is vindicated because Sal immediately suggests pumping her father full of anti-parasitics. Sal is then taken to the ward within the lab to demonstrate the test on their live subjects. As Symbogen had done earlier, Sal uses the UV light to reveal the parasitic root network under the skin and explains that the sleeping sickness isn't a disease but a result of the Intestinal Bodyguard 'doing things.' Shortly after revealing the test, one of the victims manages to break free of her bonds causing chaos within the ward. Sal is left cut off with the sleepwalkers approaching her, all of them moaning her name as she huddles in a corner of the room. Her father rushes in, killing the victims that had broken free and sedating his daughter.

When Sal wakes up, she finds herself strapped down in a bed left unattended. She is terrified her implant is even now laying siege to her brain. She is tested for the sleeping sickness before being released by her father who revealed that the test was effective, that all the current victims displayed the root network and that three of their lab techs had also displayed preliminary signs of the sickness.
One of them is Joyce.

Sal asks her father for a phone so she could make a call, to try to do her best to save Joyce. She calls Nathan and immediately asks how she could kill the implant in Joyce. Nathan prescribes a series of highly toxic anti-parasitics stating that there wasn't much choice. Sal then asks Nathan to come pick her up from USAMRIID, she was going to move out as soon as she left the laboratory. Sal tells her father that maybe he didn't have her best interests in mind after all that he had done, threatening to prevent her leaving the lab, keeping her under house arrest and scaring her with his trick. She decides she is done, she wants to leave. However, her father focuses on Nathan, wondering how he knew what to do when their staff hadn't had any clues. Sal finally tells her father that the Intestinal Bodyguard had DNA from Toxoplasma gondii, something that shocks her father to the core because it brings up a truth that neither of them wanted to face just yet. Against the wishes of his staff, he lets her depart the lab with Nathan who picks her up. 

The two of them discuss their situation and Sal asks Nathan for his help in taking some of her clothes and Beverly to his home, keen to move in with him sooner rather than later, though with the way the world seems to be falling down around them, Sal cannot work up any excitement for it. They are interrupted by a call from Tansy who asks them if they had managed to escape from USAMRIID. If not, she would be delighted to try out her 'new rocket launcher' and she is entirely fine with the two of them claiming they were in a storm drain and in need of a rescue. Nathan drives Sal home and helps Sal move out, though Sal is left shocked when her mother echoes her father's earlier statements when she tells Sal that Sal was not her true daughter. When they arrive at Nathan's, he shares what Dr. Cale had told him, that the sleeping sickness had reached a critical tipping point because the implants have a method of communication with each other. This meant that for every person who succumbed to the sleeping sickness there were others still who would be infected by the very presence of that person. Tansy appears on their doorsteps with a warning from Dr. Cale that with Sal out of her old home, Symbogen may try to take her into 'protective custody' especially now that the sleeping sickness has worsened. 

When asked how, Tansy explains that the most recent victims that were studied displayed close to no damage of their brain tissue. The reason reduced brain tissue damage is bad is for the simple fact that it means D. Symbogenesis is meshing with its hosts faster and safer, meaning that some people might even have been taken over without others realising. Tansy tells Sal that Dr. Cale needed her to go to Symbogen willingly to obtain information and find out if Symbogen knew anything more than Dr. Cale and her team knew. During their talk, Tansy meets Beverly and to Nathan and Sal's surprise, Tansy loves dogs. Having sated herself playing with Beverly, the psychopathic young woman gives Sal a memory stick explaining that the device would strip the information it needed if it was plugged into any networked machine at Symbogen, letting slip that their prior agent had been Clave. Dr. Cale hopes that the information they obtain may help develop a method of communicating to the tapeworms (via the method they communicate with each other) in order to tell them to stop. The tapeworms may dislike being slaves to their host's needs, but that was always preferable to death. Nathan is shocked that her mother suddenly sees Sal as an expendable asset to be used, but Tansy points out that Nathan's mother was a woman who swallowed a genetically modified organism that hadn't been proven safe because she thought it was important. Mother or not, Dr. Cale was not above using whoever she could use. 

The next day, Sal enters the Symbogen headquarters, presenting herself to the front desk. To her surprise she actually begins crying before the receptionist as she tells them that she was here to see Dr. Banks, evidently the past few days had been more traumatic that she had realised. She is taken to meet Dr. Banks in his office, where he greets her. Dr. Banks looks tired and harried as he talks with Sal, attempting to test out an excuse he could go public with regarding the sleeping sickness. Dr. Banks tests the excuse by trying to convince Sal of the threat of off-brand parasites. He goes on to explain that in fact, the sleeping sickness was not caused by Symbogen implants but a water-based protozoan parasite released by illegal laboratories. Plausible as it sounded, the reality was knocked home for Sal when she questioned Dr. Bank's explanation, pointing out that if the protozoan parasite was small enough to avoid water filters then it would be too small to affect the brain. Dr. Banks hesitated, letting her realise that in fact the reasoning he had just expounded on was nothing more than the spin he planned to put on the sleeping sickness, making Sal's decision to try to get that information for Dr. Cale so much easier.

She fakes crying, creating an awkward situation for Dr. Banks who offers to get someone to fetch her water. Sal sobs and insists that she didn't want anyone to see her in her current state, causing Dr. Banks to smile fondly and go out himself to fetch the water. As soon as Dr. Banks is out of the room, Sal moves over to his desk and plugs the memory stick she'd been given into Dr. Banks' PC. She then grabs her notebook and a pen from the desk and sits, writing. When Dr. Banks returns and asks her what she was doing, she replies that Dr. Morrison had always encouraged her to write down her thoughts whenever she felt, but she hadn't been able to balance the notebook on her knees so she had decided to make use of his desk. Sal's writing skills after only six years of learning are legible when she tries, but the scrawls on her notebook were illegible to Dr. Banks. Sal explains that she'd been writing about Joyce, for whom she was worried for, and her mother and father, her guilt at moving out and her hopes for Joyce. She uses the action of putting away her notebook to hide her removal of the USB memory stick from Dr. Banks' computer. 

Sal shares with Dr. Banks about the recent upheaval in her life, that her mother had said she was not her daughter and how to them she was really just a stranger they had been playing pretend with. Dr. Banks shocks her by agreeing. He explains that the woman who woke up without any memory of her past life was definitely a separate person from the Sally that had suffered her accident. Because Sal had come to with no memory of her past life she was free of Sally's sins, successes and emotional baggage. However, as Dr. Banks explains that if Sally's memories returned Sal would effectively die. The person she is was not Sally. Would Sally have been willing to 'go through the broken doors?' Dr. Banks asks, confronting Sal with a quote straight from the code she'd used to contact Dr. Cale. He goes on to say that he knew about Sal's conversation over the phone at the animal shelter, the use of the shower to conceal the sound had been quite ingenious, but the shelter had been bugged by Symbogen. He had been hoping Sal would lead him to Dr. Cale, but she hadn't and now demands to know where Dr. Shanti Cale was. Worse, as Dr. Banks continued, he reveals he had known all along that Nathan was Dr. Cale's son, that in fact, Symbogen had considered the relationship between her and him as an ideal opportunity. Through Sal, Symbogen was able to keep tabs on her father (and more specifically USAMRIID) as well as Nathan, though Dr. Cale had never contacted her son, choosing instead to contact Sal first. He asks her if that was the real reason she had been in Lafayette and if that had been why she'd been present at the sleepwalker outbreak there. Sal realises that Dr. Banks was looking for another plausible excuse to feed the public. After all, it would be an easy task to portray Dr. Cale as an embittered woman who sabotaged Symbogen's products out of a misplaced sense of revenge.

Sal denies ever meeting Dr. Cale, explaining that she had turned to Symbogen because she had had no idea what to do, but was frightened that Dr. Banks was implying they'd only been nice to Sal so that they could use her. Sal begins to cry in earnest, the realisation that both her family and Symbogen were more than willing to take advantage of her for their own gain. There was something else too, something Dr. Cale had revealed, something she wasn't ready to remember yet. Dr. Banks apologises, explaining that there were no 'good' guys, that no one had only Sal's best interests at heart. He continues, adding that Symbogen was not responsible for Sal's accident and asks what Symbogen could do to convince her that they were on the same side. To Dr. Banks' surprise, Sal requests an ultrasound, explaining that she hadn't been sleeping well since the sleeping sickness had arisen and that the gel ultrasound chamber was a relaxing experience for her. Dr. Banks agrees, escorting her to the testing room. As she goes with him, listening to him talk about the sleeping sickness, she realises that Dr. Banks genuinely cared about what would happen to Sal, even more so than her parents, though he wasn't very good at expressing it and he was likely still lying to her. She could see from the way he continually looked at her, seeking approval from Sal's facial expressions. He genuinely wanted Sal to be happy. 

At the ultrasound chamber, she is left with one of the techs but when she is taken to the room itself, she is shocked by the appearance of Sherman, her handler. He hadn't been ill, hadn't been afflicted by the sleeping sickness at all. But once Sal is inside the room, Sherman confronts her, demanding the memory stick she had on her. He laughs at her confusion, explaining that there was no such thing as only two sides in any situation. There was a war coming and there was no time to coddle her when it did come. As Sherman taunts Sal he is interrupted by Tansy's arrival, the small woman armed with two pistols as she brightly greets Sherman and the lab techs. Sherman reacts, drawing a pistol and taking Sal hostage. Tansy indicates that pointing a gun at Sal wouldn't stop her, she didn't really like Sal all that much anyway but if Sherman shot Sal, she'd shoot him and 'squish him' after he came out of the hole she'd just made. Sherman tries to convince Tansy to stop working for her cause (here referring to Dr. Cale rather than Sal) but Tansy isn't so easily convinced, pointing out that wholesale destruction wasn't her thing because it would interrupt her favourite cable shows (which for Tansy and her neurological issues was probably a very valid reason). Sal escapes Sherman's grip and demands to know what is going on. Tansy reveals that Sherman was one of Dr. Cale's tapeworms (specifically subject 8, iteration 3. Tansy was subject 8, iteration 2). Sherman knocked out Tansy and locked Adam in a closet before making his escape with Dr. Cale's research. He explains that he could use the data on the memory stick to improve the interfacing between tapeworm and host, resulting in less victims of the sleeping sickness and a smoother takeover. Sal and Tansy leave the laboratory and escape Symbogen through the sewers, killing two Symbogen guards on the way out. They make their way to the Golden Gate estuary where Sal spots Nathan waiting by his car for them. Tansy however, has spotted a mob of sleepwalkers heading towards them. She buys time for Nathan and Sal to escape, throwing herself into the mob.

Sal is distraught in the car and begs Nathan to put her on a course of anti-parasitics as soon as they got into Dr. Cale's lab. Nathan reminds Sal that a course of anti-parasitics could be fatal for Sal, but she wants her implant gone. Nathan manages to convince Sal to take a blood test first, to find out how healthy her implant was. After the blood test, Nathan comes back to Sal and tells her she doesn't need anti-parasitics, telling her that her implant had died naturally, something that occurred naturally but rarely. Sal though points out that Nathan had to be wrong, even if her blood showed no protein markers for the tapeworm because she used to be allergic to dogs, badly so. If she had been able to be so close to Beverly she had to still have her implant. Dr. Cale intervenes and suggests taking Sal to the MRI scanner. The results reveal the truth to Sal. Her brain had a tapeworm wrapped tightly around it, deeply integrated. Her mother had been right, Sally Mitchell had died in the accident. 

 
Food For Thought

At the heart of Parasite is a story about growing up. A story of the struggle of adulthood and the responsibilities that lie with it. The reality is, everyone grows up, though the gap between childhood and adulthood is often very large. We discover as we grow up that the world was nothing like we thought it would be. Children enter the world with dreams of changing the world, unaware that the truth of the matter is that we are shaped by the world we grow up in instead. People are the product of their environment, the person that reaches adulthood is not an open-minded individual. His or her opinions have already been shaped during their journey to adulthood, influenced here and there by events and by other people that we trust or look up to.

The easiest example of being shaped by our environment is the process undergone by children everywhere. Through your childhood you learn from your parents what behaviour is acceptable and what isn't. Children mimic their parents because they have learnt from their behaviour what achieves results. However, children also learn from the others around them, from the people they interact with.
If the parents are uncomfortable around dogs and take extra pains to ensure their child is safe, so too will the child develop a fear of dogs. This fear can nevertheless be removed if the child is in an environment where the child can come into frequent contact with friendly dogs and their owners... provided that they interact of course.

In Parasite we see Sal, who has only been 'alive' for six years being thrust straight into an adult world because it was required of her. To all intents and purposes, she is weird. Weird because she didn't 'grow up' in a the environment that we see as 'normal.' She likes watermelon juice with tabasco and she is comforted by the smell of bleach for example. Her personality is effectively shaped by the world she grew up in but being of an adult age, she was granted more freedom to develop her personality outside of the 'norm.' The fact that she was cared for by Symbogen first simply highlights that. Her parents want Sal to fit the Sally Mitchell mould despite her complete lack of memories of her past life and even without the underlying plot, Sal would never be Sally Mitchell because she didn't have the experiences that had shaped Sally. A large portion of the book is the struggle of her identity. She is an individual whose identity is completely separate from Sally Mitchell but she nevertheless has Sally Mitchell's body. Her parents want their daughter back, not the stranger in her body. She wants to live her life as the individual she is now, not to be fit into the mould of a dead woman and as the world around her begins to change for the worse, she has no choice but to grow up fast.

In addition to this story there is a warning about the power of trust here. In the modern age we ascribe to our doctors an infallibility derived from their medical knowledge. We trust our doctors to be able to heal us and identify our problems. This is a story about an entire world that has wholly trusted their doctors with their health or specifically Symbogen, a medical corporation. Symbogen has promised a brighter and better world through their Intestinal Bodyguard which has been human tested and approved by the FDA (US Food & Drug Administration) but all they have really done is opened the door for a great catastrophe. Symbogen is a public company with a very large amount of trust given to it thanks to the Intestinal Bodyguard. The article excerpts that precede each chapter indicate very early on that Symbogen had cut corners here and there. But taking shortcuts is only cause for alarm if something goes wrong. The lack of protest to the Symbogen Intestinal Bodyguard throughout the book suggests that the general public trusted Symbogen enough that their 'shortcuts' could be waved aside.

The modern era though is hardly shocked at the idea of an 'unethical corporation.' If anything the stereotype is actually overused. Corporations are by their nature easy to see as unethical because on paper they are a faceless organisation rather than people (although, admittedly it is an organisation comprised of human beings). It is far too easy to perceive a corporation as unethical because they are run by humans who have proven very capable of unethical behaviour in the name of profit. 

Look at Chang Guann Co. A company that had been buying 'gutter' oil and selling it as lard oil. Gutter oil is another term for oil recycled from grease traps and kitchens. Chang Guann claims to have been unaware that they had been purchasing oil from an illegal factory. Mistakes do happen, but in today's society, it is very easy to perceive Chang Guann of deliberate fraud, because we're inclined to distrust the executives on account of the fact that it is hard to accept that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing (although in corporations this does happen). 

The book also throws a mirror up to our conception of what is acceptable in our society. In today's world, barring a few extreme weightloss techniques, the concept of voluntarily ingesting a tapeworm is rather revolting. Parasite is a take on how easily we can accept an offputting concept if it leads to direct and immediate benefits. People happily have their implants because of the greater levels of health they enjoy as a result. It's a glimpse of how society can embrace and adapt to huge changes in lifestyle when these changes bring with them a better standard of living. 

This book briefly touches on the concept of the soul as well. Not directly, but in a more subtle manner. When the sleeping sickness takes a victim this is because the host's implant has crawled into the brain. However, when the implant takes over, none of the original memories of the host are retained, giving a rather loose conception of the soul. Modern neuralogical science doesn't really quite get sentience yet. We know it isn't a matter of processing power (we've built computers with more processing power than humans and they don't spontaneously develop sentience). We're not really sure it's just a matter of chemical inputs in the brain simply because other animals experience much the same but don't display self-awareness. Even in today's world, we still hold close this concept of the soul. The idea that our self-awareness is not tied directly to a physical aspect of our body. The book deals with that sensitive issue by suggesting the tapeworms cannot access prior memories of their host (despite the fact they are using their brains) which implies that there is a soul because those memories were unique only to the host.

Following from the concept of the soul, consider this last, interesting concept. This story, despite its analogies to zombie plots, features the concept of engineered sentience. In the world of Parasite, the public lives healthy through ingesting sentient parasites, killing them every two years to ingest a new one (to ensure they don't grow large enough to endanger the human body). The parasites may not be human, but our treatment of these sentient creatures wouldn't exactly engender friendship. Sal's father doesn't view the victims of the sleeping sickness as people, even though there is a guiding sentience, but by what right do we have to deny the Intestinal Bodyguard its right to life? The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is based on the assumption that the most important thing in the world is humans because of our sentience. Is the term 'human' merely a word for us alone or a phrase that should extend to cover any self-aware creature? We put alot of weight into the value of a human life, treating human life as a sacrosanct thing, but is it right to place humans above the Intestinal Bodyguard?