It was a cold evening, when the sky had a slight Green tint to it. Masami had gone home from work to visit his brother, who had taken an early requirement do to an unexplained illness. At home, his brother had become infected by some mysterious parasite that effected him, when he was working in a government-run lab.

“Stay back, Masami. I don’t want you to get this too.” the brother said.

Masami did as his brother said, however he wasn’t sure how his brother would have gotten infected: his brother was always the sort to take necessary health precautions. Those infected by the condition would slowly lose their mind, and would eventually shape-shift into mutations where their only shelter is city sewer passage ways.

“I want you to remember to follow these instructions: wash your hands, take your clothes off and shower when you return from outside.” the brother continued on his tirade.

This wasn’t your standard pandemic however, and closer to a mental health condition that some people would be infected with, however the cause was purely that of a medical one, like Syphilis in the previous century. After the brother had finished his lecture, his brother took a deep breath, and passed onto the next world. This was his last memory with his brother, who one would have never thought would contract this disease.

But stranger things have happened.

One was when Masami met one girl, a serial killer, that would go around putting mutated specimens out of their misery in the sewer. This is the story of a bunny girl, who ran away from home, thinking her aunt went missing, and become one of the infected.

But she was immune.

If only Masami knew.

The girl that would dress in a bunny suit, her original name had been Amy in a previous life. But had stopped using it when she no longer had contact with her family, who didn’t want to become infected by her illness. In effect, this meant that in order to find food for herself, even just to keep herself alive, she would have to find an assistant to to help her grab the things she needed after grocery stores were closed.

These days, with security on high alert for rogue parasite men, places were especially caution about keeping their stores locked tight, issuing heavy fines to stores that kept their doors unlocked certain after hours to allow homeless people to get what they need. In fact this was who these measure largely effected, even though the government claimed it was to find off those who became serial killers do this illness.

The measures used to curb infections were similar: those infected would often by captured by police at night, and taken to underground facilities. Because Amy knew the risks, having lived in the underground life for some time, she would keep a bunny rabbit that would take with her to walk in clinics. Those that took her and pet on, would sometimes offer to take her to the store, without realizing that she was one of the infected. This meant that there was a rise in the amount of infection cases, and an increasing number of people that would be taken to these facilities. Other people, simply went missing.

In her underground lair, where the sun never shines, and the city light were only a vague hint, the rats in the sewer knew to stay away from the girl in the bunny suit.

Today, she picked up a girl that had fell into the city river. Her parents would rather she had drowned rather than risking saving her. The girl in the bunny suit was unsure of what to do about the girl she rescued from drowning. There was no risk to herself of being infected, but she always did not want this girl to infect anyone else on the surface world. Yet was oblivious to the fact that she was causing more infections by coming up the surface, and trying to get food, just to survive the coming Winter.

On the surface, the government doubled down on their police search, searching for a good in a black bunny rabbit suit. This wasn’t to cover up her identity, as the night was to do dark to be able to see anything without a flash light. Masami heard about the string of recent infections, and contemplated the idea of working at one of the facilities that his brother worked at, but reconsidered the idea. Instead he decided to risk going in the world, taking any precautions that he could make. He would take surgical gloves, and a pandemic mask, left over from the year 2020. He would then wear a white trench coat, so that he would be more easily seen at night. And drivers can avoid run ins.

He carried a few scalpels in a repurposed artist tool case, finding a new case for his art supplies. Eventually, rather than the cops, it was him that ran into the girl in the bunny suit. He met the girl in the bunny suit, carrying her younger sister in and pet his a harness around her back, to prevent either of his beloved from wandering off, and risking being found by the police. They were sitting on a beach near the under city lake, just below the miles of roads above them. Down here, there were no singing birds in the sky, or the sound of children playing. Those who lived down here fought for their bread and water. Here Masami sat beside her on the bench.

“You know it’s not safe to be out here.” he said.

The girls and the bunny rabbit made an agreement before that, not to speak to anyone that they did not meet in the underground sewers.

“Let me take you to my home. I can call for a taxi.”

But Masami had other plans in mind. On one hand it probably would have been more legal to let the girls be eventually found by the militarized police, but if they were to be killed, he would rather they be killed as humanely as possible, rather than slowly dissected by underground facilities. He was not entirely sure what kind of work his brother did, just that his brother would always come home miserable. As if he had seen it all.

And yet now, as Masami carried the noodle, he had to make a choice.

And he wasn’t sure which choice to make. Plus this bunny girl had her little friend to take care of. Her mother was possibly worried sick, although if infected they probably assumed she was already dead. So he spent the rest of the night, letting her little sister and their pet rabbit watch television.

Amy, on the other hand, was unable to move.

She stayed strapped to the board for the night.

Masami disposed of his needles.