One Month Earlier
In the Middle of Nowhere
Saturday August 15, 2026 [8/8 +7]
Andaman Islands, off the coast of India
Marius Johannsen carefully tilted the child’s head back, squeezing the life-saving polio vaccine into her mouth. He then took the needle proffered by one of his field nurses and injected the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine into the little girl’s thigh.
She would be the three-hundredth person to receive the vaccines today from Marius’ hand.
One more step towards eradication. One more step towards Marius’ insane goal.
Marius looked around at the picaresque coastline of the Andamanian island. Orderly groups of medics, nurses, and other medical staff were administering vaccines to the Sentinelese peoples who were lined up to receive them.
The Sentinelese people were among the world’s last isolated indigenous peoples. Once an “uncontacted tribe”, the Sentinelese have made big steps towards welcoming outsiders onto their island recently.
Marius Johannsen was the head of Vaccines International. His mandate for VI was simple: complete eradication of vaccine-preventable communicable diseases. An immunologist by training, Marius’ idealism led him to work at various non-profits until he founded Vaccines International nine years ago.
A big part of VI’s work was outreach to people like the Sentinelese. For months, his staff had laid the groundwork of trust towards the natives. Although an island people, the Sentinelese enjoyed a thriving trade with the surrounding islands as well as the Indian sub-continent, so disease communication was an ever-present threat. Having an island “incubator” of disease would potentially negate the herd effect of immunity present in larger populations. Outreach to remote populations such as the Sentinelese was crucial to the endgame of eradication.
And it was working. The MMR vaccine was now widely spread throughout the African and Indian land masses almost to the point of elimination of the triplex of diseases that the vaccine cocktail prevented. Marius’ group won accolades throughout the world as being one of the most devastatingly effective vaccine distributors in human history.
Even as the head of VI, Marius felt it crucial that he be involved in ground operations. If he was not directly involved in administering the vaccines to those who needed them, he knew that he would not be setting the leadership example that his people needed to see. As a result of his hands-on approach to the role, his staff and his followers were fiercely dedicated to Marius’ vision.
Marius started walking down the beach, stretching his tall frame and running his hands through his silvered mane. The nice thing about being out here was the complete isolation. He had not had an inkling of communication from the outside world for nearly two weeks now. It was a wonderful break from his incredibly busy life back at home in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Marius squinted in the distance. A helicopter was coming in from the direction of the mainland.
This was unexpected. Marius did not expect anyone to come to the island for another two days, when a staff rotation was planned. Something must have happened.
Marius made his way to the makeshift helipad that was nearby the beach distribution center. He waved to the descending helicopter, wondering what news it would bring.
Little did Marius expect the world-shattering news that the heli would bring. Little did he know about the vast changes in his life and career that would soon come.
